What Rough Beast Slouches

Your guide to the 'What Rough Beast Slouches' side quest in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Learn how to find and defeat Aeronite for Nolan.

Alright, let's talk about a tough one: the 'What Rough Beast Slouches' side quest in _Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII_. This is where you'll face off against the game's superboss, Aeronite. Nolan, a guy you'll meet in the Temple Ruins, asks you to hunt this beast down and bring him back a sample of its flesh. You get access to the Temple Ruins as part of the main quest in the Dead Dunes. Aeronite shows up in the Giant's Sandbox area starting on Day 7. It looks like a shimmering energy field, and its location actually moves around counter-clockwise depending on the time of day. Keep in mind, if you don't keep staggering it, it'll just up and leave the fight! So, you'll need to be on your toes. ## Quest Log * Quest Begins: You'll find Nolan inside the Temple Ruins, in a fenced-off area on the upper level of Scorched Earth. He'll give you the mission to hunt Aeronite. * Quest Complete: After you bring Nolan the sample, he'll have some rather… unique thoughts about aging and eating extra-dimensional beast flesh. Let's just say he's pretty satisfied with his 'putrid mound of flesh'. ## Walkthrough To start this quest, head into the Temple Ruins from the southern entrance. You'll need to go through the path east of the cactuar waystone, the one guarded by an Earth Eater "Earth Eater (Lightning Returns)"). Once you accept Nolan's request, you'll get the [Study of Despair](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Lightning_Returns:_Final_Fantasy_XIII_items#Study_of_Despair "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII items") notes. Now, for the main event: Aeronite. It appears as a distortion in the Giant's Sandbox from Day 7 onwards. If you manage to strike it first, you'll start the fight with 10% of its HP already gone. Preempting it for a 25% HP loss isn't possible, so just landing the first hit is good enough. The key here is to deal consistent damage and stagger Aeronite four times. If you don't, it'll fly away, and you'll have to find it all over again. Once you defeat it, you'll get [Monster Flesh](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Monster_Flesh "Monster Flesh") to take back to Nolan. For detailed strategies on fighting Aeronite, check out its dedicated page. ## Rewards Completing this quest for the first time nets you 8200 gil, the [Pro's Beret](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Pro%27s_Beret "Pro's Beret") adornment, Max HP +160, Strength +12, and Magic +16. If you tackle it again in a New Game Plus, you'll get 12300 gil, Max HP +90, Strength +6, and Magic +10. Just defeating Aeronite itself is also quite rewarding. You'll get a trophy/achievement, 50,000 gil, 9.00 [EP](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Energy_Points "Energy Points"), and the [Falcon Charm](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Falcon_Charm "Falcon Charm") accessory (which boosts ATB recovery speed by 70%). There's also a chance to get rare components like [Holy Forgefire](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Holy_Forgefire "Holy Forgefire") and [Demonic Forgefire](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Demonic_Forgefire "Demonic Forgefire"). On [Hard Mode](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Difficulty_level#Lightning_Returns:_Final_Fantasy_XIII "Difficulty level"), you're guaranteed to get Disaster "Disaster (Lightning Returns)").