Chrono Trigger/The Final Battle

Chapter 26: The Final Battle (1999 A.D. / ???)

Introduction
If you take the time portal inside Lavos's shell after you defeat the outer portion in the Black Omen, you'll wind up back at the End of Time, where Gaspar will congratulate you on freeing Zeal. Also, all the villagers who previously commented on the Black Omen will now just talk about the weather instead. Depending upon which period you destroyed the Black Omen in, you may be able to go back and face it again, but all the bosses will be gone except for Zeal herself, and Lavos's outer shell will already be destroyed.

There's not much left at this point aside from fighting Lavos, although you can collect clones and Poyozo dolls for everyone if you want, as mentioned in the last chapter. Keep in mind however, that if this is your first time playing through the game after you beat Lavos, since you went through the Black Omen you'll be able to start a New Game+ carrying over all the old data from your game. A few special items don't carry over, and none of your money carries over, so if you want to save your cash you should probably spend it all on items you can sell. Medina after you defeat Ozzie offers the best rates on items compared to their resale value. When you're ready, fly the Epoch into Lavos, take the bucket at the end of time, or go through another version of the Black Omen to confront Lavos again. The outer shell will be gone, but he has two forms to go.

Lavos's Second Form
You'll have the same party for this and the next form, so here's what you need to keep in mind: you'll probably want a strong healer, I prefer someone like Frog or Robo who can heal the whole party although Marle does have Life 2, Cure 2, and Haste. You'll need a strong physical attacker since one of Lavos's forms can only be damaged by physical strikes, Ayla's Triple Kick, Crono's Confuse, and Robo's Uzzi Punch are all decent choices. However, the best way to deal damage by far is powerful triple techs or single techs such as Dark Matter, Luminaire, or Flare. Choose your party however you like, if you're going for all the endings you'll probably end up doing this with every conceivable combination anyway, just make sure you equip the best equipment and have status protection. One last comment is that since a New Game+ is based upon the contents of your save file when you save, there's absolutely no reason not to use all the Megalixers and Elixirs that you want, since this is the point of no return.

This form has three parts, Lavos' left arm, right arm, and body. The body will have too high defense to damage at first, so just use your most powerful magic attacks to damage the left and right arms. The left arm will probably die first, then the right arm, and the body will remove its defense when it casts obstacle. Heal as necessary, its attacks may do in the 500 range in the best case, and keep wearing it down, it'll break apart eventually.

Lavos's Final Form
And now for another cutscene and dialogue between characters. You'll now do battle with Lavos's final form, surrounded by two bits. The gimmick here is that the left bit absorbs all magic attacks and heals the others, so you'll need to attack it with the best physical attack you have. The center form, Lavos, will use some devastating magical attacks on you. And the right bit will have high defense at first although it will shut off its defense after the other two parts die, and will revive the other two parts of Lavos. You should start by killing the left bit with your best physical attacks, use your strongest magic against Lavos, and keep using your strongest magic when the right bit shuts off its defense. The right bit has the most HP, and the battle ends when you defeat it.

Triple Kick, Confuse, and Uzzi Punch all work well against the leftmost bit, as well as regular attacks. But don't use any magic until it's dead unless you want to heal it. After it's dead, concentrate on Lavos and the other bit and heal as necessary, you might as well use all those MegaElixirs too. Lavos's attacks will vary depending upon what time period shows up in the background. Just keep attacking with your strongest magic, holding back when the right bit turns on its defense, and it won't have a chance to do much. Eventually Lavos will die, the time portal around him will collapse, and you'll see a sillouhete of the left bit appear just as you fade away...

Well, that's all folks, so check out the endings if you want or get ready to start a New Game+.

Challenging Lavos
If you challenge Lavos during this chapter, you should get The Main Ending, although you may be able to reach this chapter without Crono as well, in which case you would get The Reunion Ending. There are several variations depending on whether or not you crashed the Epoch into Lavos, spared Magus, and a few minor ones depending on how you completed Fiona's sidequest and how many cats you have. The basic theme of the ending is that Crono and company get honored for their work in saving the past, and have a farewell party. You should also have activated the New Game+ by finishing the game in this chapter, so you can now restart your game with ridiculously powerful characters and try for some of the other endings.