Chaos hunters, rejoice. A fan-favorite mascot makes its return to the Final Fantasy series in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and these little guys are every bit as dangerous as in other games. For those that are unaware, Tonberries (and later, Master Tonberries) are super-dangerous enemies able to inflict random statuses such as paralyze, silence, and slow, as well as deal high damage with their normal attacks and instant-kill combos. Here’s how to beat Tonberries and Master Tonberries in Stranger of Paradise.
Tonberries have several abilities that it will use at random, which we’ve helpfully listed below:
- Leadfoot: Adds a temporary slow effect to your party. This is an AoE centered around the Tonberry.
- Hush: Adds a temporary silence effect to your party. This is an AoE centered around the Tonberry.
- Numb: Adds a temporary paralyze effect to your party. This is a conal effect shot out from the Tonberry.
- Chef’s Knife / Master’s Knife: Both do the same thing, which is deal a high amount of health and break gauge damage.
- Doom and Gloom: Instantly breaks the gauge of anyone who steps into the flames.
- Deathwish: After a short delay, the Tonberry will teleport to it’s target.
- Everyone’s Grudge: Fires multiple blasts of negative energy in a cone. This can and will kill players that do not dodge or parry this move. Everyone’s Grudge is an instant ability that is Steal-able.
The key strategy to taking down Tonberries is to have a weapon that deals high stagger effects, such as a Mace, or better yet, a two-handed weapon such as a Battle Axe or a Greatsword. The goal is stagger it out of it’s Knife or status attacks if possible. When it aims at you for Numb or Everyone’s Grudge, you must parry or dodge it. Parrying is simpler, because you can simply mash the block button to avoid taking damage — if you are at full break gauge.
Keep in mind that Tonberries can combo their Knife attacks into each other. If you are staggered by a Knife attack, you can expect a follow-up, and this will kill you even at high health. The best windows of opportunity to get damage in on Tonberries is during their animations for Leadfoot, Hush, and Doom and Gloom. Heavy stagger abilities like Aftershock or Shield Bash are helpful to interrupting the more dangerous attacks.
