If Gaius is doing over 90 damage to you, it sounds like you're trying to fight him with characters who are three ranks lower than him. My advice would be to focus on making sure all everyone's items are at least equivalent to Rank V before challenging him. Hope that helps!
Hi, thanks for your response. It doesn't help because at this point in the game, you only have access to rank 3+ gear from the gas station and upgrades which is rank 4 equivalent according to the menu. The only rank 4 gear I have (which I think I may have gotten from the sidequest bounties but there aren't any left to do) forces passive elements that actively heal enemies if their element is green/nature over every ability, so when Gaius switches his element they're rendered useless and take double damage from weakness. That's an issue that extends to all fights. Are players really expected to run from fights and switch around the gear every single time they encounter an enemy that they're disadvantaged against because of forced blanket passives? Every time?
So if Gaius requires rank 5 gear and rank 4 isn't available in the gas station at this point, how do I get it and do they all have forced passives?
You should have access to Rank V+ (Effectively VI) gear at this point. Chapter 1 caps you at Rank III. Chapter 2 caps you at Rank V. Remember that you unlock the next tier by having everyone wearing 3 trinkets of the previous rank+.
You can also load up everyone with 5 Battle Energy once you're using Rank V+ gear to get an effective Rank VII, which should really drop the damage you're taking if you're still having difficulty.
THANK YOU so much for saying how gear unlocks. I couldn't understand why I was getting rinsed in every fight, even though I was leveling up my gear.
I admit this has been frustrating to play, but that is because I have no familiarity with the FF13 style of battles and I have no idea where the game tells you that you NEED to level up your gear to unlock the next tier at the shop. Fingers crossed I can catch up enough to where I don't have to completely restart!