Final Fantasy XIII – Cie'th Stone missions guide

Mission 51: Attacus, the Soulless (Final Titan Mission)

Rank: A
Mark: Attacus
Cie'th Stone location: Faultwarrens – Sylphid Path/Gaian Path/Salamandrine Path/Nereid Path
Mark location: Faultwarrens – Titan's Throne
Reward: Genji Glove

Once you've conquered all of Titan's other challenges, you'll get to fight Attacus, one of the toughest foes in all of Final Fantasy XIII. He's got a whole bunch of HP, does very damaging attacks, is nearly impossible to Stagger (his percentile is 999.99%), and can cast Doom on your party leader when he gets down to 25% HP.
In other words, this is going to be a long and difficult fight you may have to retry several times.

Generally, Sentinels are among the least useful paradigms, but for this fight you should strongly consider bringing one in to help take the edge off of Attacus's most damaging strikes. Buffing/Debuffing via Synergists and Saboteurs is also a step you should take once the fight starts.  For the most part, however, you'll just need to hold your ground and slowly chip away at his HP total. Ravagers will generally be more effective here than Commandos, so swap them in once you feel you've evened the odds enough. It's a long, tough fight, but with some patience and perseverance, you should be able to triumph in the end.

Mission 52: Head in the Clouds

Rank: A
Mark: Zirnitra
Cie'th Stone location: Archylte Steppe – Western Benchland
Mark location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors
Reward: Gale Ring



Zirnitra is mostly the same foe you fought before during the Titan missions, and he isn't any easier this time around. Keep to a similar strategy and you should eventually come out on top.

Mission 53: Freedom from Fear

Rank: A
Mark: Zirnitra
Cie'th Stone location: Mah'habara – An Asylum from Light
Mark location: Yaschas Massif – The Pass of Paddra
Reward: Blaze Ring



Guess who? There's a few small enemies accompanying him this time around, but for the most part, it's the name Zirnitra you've come to hate fighting.

Mission 54: The Bigger They Are...

Rank: A
Mark: Gigantuar
Stone Location: Archylte Steppe – Northern Highplain
Mark Location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors
Reward: Cactuar Doll



In order to even activate the stone with this mission, you'll need to find and defeat on of the small cactuar enemies wandering around the main expanse of the Archelyte Steppe. They're not terribly difficult, though they are incredibly amusing to watch.

Once that's done, you'll open up the stone that gives the Gigantuar quest. As ridiculous as this guy looks, he is not a pushover in the slightest. At every turn, he can hit a party member for approximately 10,000 HP worth of damage –which is probably enough to one-shot you if you're on your first playthrough.

To put it succinctly: You'll probably want to strongly consider saving this quest for your second playthrough.

It is possible – though extremely difficult – to beat Gigantuar without the boosts given by a second runthrough, however, you'll need: A) characters who already have very high attack power and B) an equipment arrangement to get a "Lucky Break" bonus. And then you'll just have to cross your fingers really, really hard that you can get Lucky Break to activate before Gigantuar does serious damage.

Mission 55: Can't We All Just Get Along?

Rank: A
Mark: Neochu
Cie'th Stone location: Oerba – Deserted Schoolhouse
Mark location: Archylte Steppe – Aggra's Pasture
Reward: Growth Egg



She's back and she's bitchier than ever! And this time, she's got a whole horde of those annoying Picochus to help her out. Thankfully, Neochu is still vulnerable to the Death-spam technique of the previous encounter, which can make for a fairly simple (albeit tedious) fight. Otherwise, use some Shroud buffs beforehand and, once you're in the fray, Quake and earth-elemental spells are recommended for the best damage potential. Keep a Medic on hand at all times.  If you're not going to try and off her the cheap way, then this is another one worth considering saving for the second playthrough of the game.

Mission 56: Name: A Toothy Grin

Rank: C
Mark: Ugallu
Cie'th Stone location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors (stone circle)
Mark location: Yaschas Massif – The Ascendant Scarp
Reward: Rhodochrosite

A nice break from the difficult battles you've been fighting as of late, Ugallu is basically the biggest of the "big cat" marks. If you're taking the missions on in order and not skipping around any, this is a very easy fight even with the Munchkin backup he employs. Otherwise, keep to the use of Ice and Wind spells to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time.

Mission 57: Name: What's Yours is Brine

Rank: C
Mark: Sahagin
Stone location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors (stone circle)
Mark location: Vallis Media – Atzilut's Tears
Reward: Uraninite



More of these guys? Yeah, they aren't much of a threat by this point, no matter how big their numbers are. Kill 'em fast and enjoy your filet o' fish.

Mission 58: The Culler of Many

Rank: A
Mark: Humbaba
Cie'th Stone location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors (stone circle)
Mark location: Mah'habara – The Earthworks
Reward: Speed Sash



At the risk of repeating ourselves yet again, Humbaba isn't much different here than he was from the Titan mission – he's just got a fairly easy-to-kill Robot buddy as backup this time around. Follow a similar strategy as before and it won't be too much of a hassle.

Mission 59: Two-Faced Fiend

Rank: A
Mark: Zirnitra
Cie'th Stone location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors (stone circle)
Mark location: Sulyya Springs – Subterranean Lake
Reward: Energy Sash



We'll make this short: Zinitra again, more backup again. Still pretty difficult, be careful, et cetera.

Mission 60: Degela Vu

Rank: A
Mark: Gelatitan
Stone Location: Archylte Steppe – Eastern Tors
Mark Location: Taejin's Tower – The Cloven Spire
Reward: Mnar Stone



Remember Gelatitan? It's multiplied. You'll be taking on three of these overgrown puddles of mud for this particular hunt, which makes things considerably more challenging, as they can gang up and do a lot of damage. Keep a medic on hand to heal and work to Stagger them one at a time using your strongest spellcasters and Thunder-elemental attacks.

Skip to:
Missions 1 - 10
Missions 11 - 20
Missions 21 - 30
Missions 31 - 40
Missions 41 - 50
Missions 51 - 60
Missions 61 - 64