Like many others, here is my strategy on the Garuda fight from a SMN viewpoint. Forgive me if this has already been posted, but checking around I haven't seen this method used yet. Unlike 1.0 Garuda, this method will only work with a SMN, and goes against all other strategies.

SMN gets a wonderful spell called Tri-Disaster at lvl 40. This is an AoE Bind spell that lasts 20 seconds, which just by saying that should get some minds clicking. The entire battle depends on how well your SMN can use this spell, as well as the amount of DPS pumped out by the rest of your party. I won't be going over all aspects of the fight, as most already know positioning and such, only the SMN's job.

Continued in post #2... (/sigh on 1000 character limit)