play the gap and limit break is all you really can do
Cheap b*stard got me there a few times too
I see focused thrust helps increase stagger but I don' seem to have that move in my abilities. It's making it impossible to beat him.
The freaking bullshyt from me not having it is because I didn't master the ability.
This fight single handedly is the worst boss fight I've ever played in a FF game. Whoever designed this fight needs their ass beat. No way in hell should you have MULTIPLE phases to a boss fight where you make one final phase so difficult that you can't adjust your build right before the fight.
At least let you bring up the menu right before the final cutscene before you start the fight. Here it's just straight up fukking difficult.
I did not have this much issue fighting the last boss in XVI. This final battle absolutely lowered the game overall in my eyes. Loved it, 9/10 but this last fight is truly bullshyt. They need to patch it and allow you to open the menu before the fight starts. I could excuse almost everything else in the game but THIS is absolutely a negative and I'm the biggest fan of this game.