Mission 14: Defender of the Flock

Guide to Mission 14: Defender of the Flock in Final Fantasy XIII. Learn enemy weaknesses, strategy, and how to defeat the Sahagin and its allies to unlock Chocobo riding.

Alright, let's tackle Mission 14, also known as 'Defender of the Flock.' This one's all about dealing with a Sahagin problem that's bothering the local chocobos. You'll need to head into a canyon that we previously cleared a blockage in during Mission 12.

Location:

Make your way deep into the canyon you cleared out in Mission 12. As you get closer to where the 'stone' (the mission marker) is, you'll notice the path ahead is no longer blocked. Head into this newly opened, narrow canyon extension. Keep going until you reach the very back of it, and you'll trigger a cutscene. You'll find yourself in a wide-open area at the end of the canyon. There's a save point nearby, but be careful – approaching it will trigger another cutscene that kicks off the mission fight!

Enemy Info:

• Mark: Sahagin
• Stone Location: Archylte Steppe - Western Benchland
• Mark Location: Archylte Steppe - Font of Namva
• Class: C
• Additional Foes: Sahagin, Ceratosaur x2
• Prerequisite: Mission 1-13

Strategy:

This battle isn't too brutal, but it's pretty important. You'll be up against a group of Sahagins along with some other water-dwelling enemies, including two Ceratosaurs. These guys are weak to both fire and thunder attacks, so make sure your party's paradigms are set up to exploit that. Focus on setting up your defenses and offenses accordingly, and you should be able to take them down without too much trouble.

Successfully completing this mission is a big deal because it awards you the Gysahl Reins, which means you can now ride Chocobos! This is super useful because Chocobos can reach high ledges that your party normally can't. Plus, many of the areas you can access with Chocobos have teleports, and their speed and ability to dodge enemies will definitely come in handy as you explore.

If you happen to repeat this mission later, you'll get Bomb Shells x3 as a repeat reward.