Description¶

To acquire the Mateus Esper, you’ll need to continue the story until you reach the Stillshrine of Miriam. As you venture into the depths, you’ll encounter Mateus, the second story-based Esper in the game, and you must defeat him to be able to call upon him in battle.

Stats¶

Resistances¶

Strategy¶

In the chamber beyond the Sword of Judgment you’ll find that, like in the Tomb of Raithwall, an Esper guards the treasure of the Dynast-King. In keeping with the dominant element of the area in which you find yourself, the Esper here, Mateus, is an Ice elemental Esper, and is joined in this battle by five Ice Azers. These Ice Azers appear like Ice Elementals, but fortunately are far weaker, possessing under 3,000 HP. They can, however, be annoying, especially in tandem with Mateus’s offensive prowess, as they can utilize Blizzard, Curaga and Sleep magicks. They can drop Ice Magicite, an Ice Stone, a Feystone, or an Ice Crystal and you can steal Ice Magicite, a Feystone or an Ice Crystal from them, if you bother stealing. They are weak to Lightning, absorb Ice, and are immune to every other element.

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Mateus is joined by several Ice Azers, who will pelt you with various magicks during the fight (left). While it may be tempting, magick may not be the best answer to Mateus or his Ice Azers, as he’s fond of using Reflect (right).

Before you go blasting them with Thundara, however, be wary of Mateus, as he’ll start the fight with Reflect active. Mateus is no joke, offensively, but getting hit with your own magick is likely far more dangerous to you than Mateus on his own will be. You can remove Mateus’s Reflect with Dispel, but he’ll immediately cast it again. If you want to utilize magick in this fight, you’ll have to either cast Reflect on your entire party so you can bounce magick off yourself (which will interfere with healing, of course) or stick to magicks that don’t target Mateus; Thunder isn’t as potent as Thundara, but it’s much safer.

In addition to Reflect, Mateus can also cast Slow and use the technicks Flash-Freeze and Chain Magick, the former of which will deal Ice damage to one character, while the latter will free him of the burden of filling his ATB bar when casting spells. All in all, his basic melee attack - while still painful - is his least effective attack. When pressed (his maximum HP are below 50%) he’ll start mixing Blizzaja into his routine, which will deal heavy damage to the entire party and possibly inflict the Sap status. Given that most of his attacks deal Ice damage, wearing an Ice Shield, a Lamia’s Tiara, and/or a Tourmaline Ring comes recommended, especially since the latter will also prevent Blizzaja from inflicting Sap. Mateus takes extra damage from Lightning, so if your Uhlan is up to snuff, equip them with the Storm Spear and they’ll do well.

Of all the status effects, Mateus is only susceptible to Oil and Slow, both of which are of dubious value considering he can bypass ATB considerations for his spells entirely, and he only takes 50% damage from Fire attacks in the first place. Like the Ice Azers, he takes no damage from any other element besides Fire (half damage) and Lightning (150% damage). He absorbs Ice.

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If you Dispel Mateus’s Reflect, you may get enough of a window to use Thundara to clear up Mateus’s minions (left). Be wary, however, as he’ll use Blizzaja when he’s hard pressed (right).