Dark Shiva is one of the Dark Aeons and spawns after you have obtained the airship Fahrenheit. Dark Shiva blocks the pathway that you would take to re-enter the Macalania Temple. There is no way to get inside the Temple until after you have defeated her. Her blocking the path means that if you did not complete the Destruction Sphere portion of Macalania Temple, you will not be able to obtain Anima until after you defeat Dark Shiva.

Location

The Dark Aeon is located just outside the Lake Macalania Temple. Warp to Lake Macalania and take the pathway back towards the Temple. As you approach, one of the guards will bar your entry and will attack you with Dark Shiva.

Battle Preparation

Each of the Dark Aeons, including Dark Shiva, is considered a superboss, and they are some of the strongest enemies that you can fight in the game. As such, you will need to ensure that your party is fully leveled, has their best weapons, and has their stats maximized as much as possible. Refer to the Advanced area of the Tips and Tricks section for additional details.

Equip your characters with armor that has the Auto-Haste ability, as Shiva is very quick, and she will get in a ton of attacks if your characters can’t match her speed. You will also want to make sure you have the Auto-Phoenix ability on your character’s armor.

Dark Shiva Stats

HP: 1,100,000
Elemental Affinities: Absorbs ice damage, Holy damage hits for double
Immune to Sensor

Battle Strategy

Dark Shiva is not too difficult to defeat as long as you can land attacks on her. Use Quick Hit often as it will ensure you can get in as many attacks on Shiva as possible. Ideally, you want to defeat her before she gets an opportunity to use her Diamond Dust Overdrive ability.

Similar to the battle against the other Dark Aeons, you need to be prepared to deal with her Overdrive attack, which will instantly kill your party members. You can either have Yuna summon an Aeon just before the attack or have your party members cast Auto-Life on one another. Just be careful, as some of Shiva’s attacks will remove the Auto-Life effect.

An onslaught of guards will attack your party after the battle, just like the last time you escaped from Macalania Temple. Continue running until you reach the Crevasse area to stop the Guado Guards from pursuing you.

Items and Rewards

You can Steal the following items during the battle:

• Mana Tablet (x2) (common)
• Elixir (rare)

And Dark Valefor will drop the following items when it is defeated:

• Dark Matter (common)
• Master Sphere (rare)