| Final Fantasy XII Discussion [POTENTIAL SPOILERS]; Yes I know this is in the wrong spot... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 18 2006, 02:32 PM (1,551 Views) | |
| The Frostbound Prince | Dec 18 2006, 02:32 PM Post #1 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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Yes, before anyone yells, I know this is in the wrong section. But since this board has no life beyond random responses to Seifer's Adel thread, I figure I will post this (which I wrote for another site) and see if it can inspire discussion about the game and possible strategies we can share amongst ourselves. So think of this as just a general FF12 thread...you can talk about your own stats, discuss game and plot elements, the characters, or any strategies you have or need. If you modly people want this moved, whatever, but yeah, I figure, maybe with something (potentially) active on this board that is somewhat strategy related, we might get some more activity in general. THERE WILL AND MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS AND SUBSEQUENT POSTS. IF YOU DON'T WANT SOME ISSUES RUINED FOR YOU, DON'T READ. IF YOU DO READ, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. _______ I am going to begin with some of my stats at the point in the game I'm at....if people show interest in the thread, I will add my strategies I've used thus far, as well as discuss some of my thoughts/feelings on the game, its characters, plot and all that jazz. But until someone else replies, I will stick with what I wrote on the other site: my stats. THERE BE SPOILERS HERE, YE BE WARNED. ---as a note, only minor spoilers [character names, weapons, Espers, vague plot references, city/location names, certain monsters, and sidequest/etc. references will be made. Nothing really all that shocking, unless you're dead-set about not reading anything about the game until you play it yourself. It should be safe, for the most part. If you think I'm getting too specific for your taste, skip down to the next paragraph. But I do not specifically go into plot details or expand on much, so unless names and places ruin things for you, then this post is safe for you.--- I cannot, however, guarantee the posts written after this will not contain more specific spoilers. That said, you have been warned. Read on if you will. Current location (game/plot-wise): Just finished clearing Draklor Laboratories, now at Balfonheim Port, supposed to be heading to the Holy City of Giruvegan. More specific location: Spent about 5 hours exploring the Cerobi Steppe after getting to Balfonheim, bought most, but not all, of what I need from Balfonheim with the money I made. Signed up/was informed of the new Marks available. Also finished off the Ann's Letter sidequest and got the Ring of Renewal as a reward. Currently back at Balfonheim, trying to decide my next move. Some notable accomplishments at this point: Party level average: 50, with Ashe and Balthier at level 51. Licence Grid: Both Penelo and Balthier have completely filled their licence grids, minus Espers. Penelo finished shortly after Balfonheim, and Balthier about 300 LP after her. Remaining party memebers need less than 500 LP to finish off, and are left with a single bottom-half corner to fill in. Vaan needs just over 500 [the lower-right section of the bottom half], Fran needs about 400 [upper-left and one lower-left licence on bottom section], Basch needs 350 LP [upper-left of lower section], and Ashe needs 225, the bottom and top left licences in the lower section. This does not include the LP needed for the remaining 10 available Espers. Espers: Belias (on Vaan), Mateus (on Ashe) and Adrammalech (on Balthier). Got Adrammalech, the Wroth, the Esper of Lightning, from Zeritan Caverns. Acquired him shortly after making it to Archades, after stealing from him 30+ times in an attempt to steal the rare High Arcana. Only managed to get 3, although I stole 25 Capricorn Gems and probably a similar or greater number of Pebbles (-_-U) from him as well. Made short work of him when finally settling in to battling him. Not a single party member died. Was about party level average 46 when attempted. Both Belias and Mateus are plot-driven acquistions, with Belias, the Gigas, as the Fire Esper and Mateus, the Corrupt, as the Ice Esper. Mateus junctions a "Goddess of the Demense of Ice" very Adel-like to his chest for protection. Very cool (hehe, subtle ice reference to the ice summon). I have used none of my summons, as the 2 times I did attempt to use them (in the King Bomb optional boss battle, Belias and then Mateus, in seperate attempts) the character died before the Esper could have a single turn. Weapons: Have some fairly decent weapons, such as the Defender (+91 Greatsword..?), Yoichi Bow (+75 Bow with Bamboo [+2 with Poison] Arrows), and, most importantly, the Zodiac Spear (+150 Spear), the game's best weapon. All characters can use the Zodiac Spear, although it tends to be on Balthier (as my principal equipper-of-spears) primarily, and then Ashe, Vaan, and Basch, with Penelo rounding out at least likely to use it. Fran might have had it equipped for a few battles in the Cerobi Steppe recently, but she mostly sticks to the Bows, her current one being the Yoichi Bow. Ashe and Basch tend to stick with swords and shields, including the Diamond Sword, while Penelo tends to use Katanas, Ninja Swords, and Greatswords, the Defender being her weapon of choice. Balthier, as stated earlier, has pretty much stayed with Spears, although he is also into Greatswords most recently, as they are more powerful at this point. Vaan has bounced between a few different weapon types, initially using Daggers, switching over to Poles, then getting into all the other weapon types the other characters have used. Contemplating trying him as Unarmed with the bonuses involved to see if he does decent damage that way. Items: -Key Items: All Monographs, allowing superior drops from all types of monsters. Also the Canopic Jar, allowing monsters to drop Arcana. Various other less important plot and sidequest-related key items, including the Feather of the Flock, Dusty Letter, Blackened Fragment, Stone of the Condemnor, Windvane, Site 3 and 11 Keys, Sluice Gate Key, Barheim Key, Merchant's Armband, etc. (all I can think of offhand). -Loot: One of every item I've gotten, minus the Deimos Clay, Hokarty's Flame, and Phobos Glaze, which I sold for being able to obtain the Canopic Jar on the Bazaar. A Sandalwood Chop, which gets me into the upper echelon of Archades (this was gotten immediately after getting to Archades, even before I took the taxi up to continue the plot). 50+ Arcana, thanks to the CJ. 3 High Arcana, 4 or 5 Feystones. 30+ Teleport Stones. Also a Salamand and a Gnoma Halcyon -Items: 99 Potions and Phoenix Downs, 30+ Hi-Potions (which I use often due to Gambits, which I must look into changing), 20+ X-Potions. About 10 Elixirs. 25 Remedies, between 20 and 60 of each of the single-status curing items, except 93 Antidotes, 99 Eye Drops, and 5 Vaccines [which just became available]. 20 to 30 of each of the Fangs, 3 to 30 of the various Motes. An Eksir Berries, a Dark Matter, 40 Knots of Rust. 14 Bacchus's Wines, 10 Hi-Ethers. That pretty much covers all the available items at this point in the game. Also 30+ Ethers, all of which found in chests, since I have yet to attempt to go to the location from which I can buy them...although I should go soon. -Accessories: 6 Golden Amulets (doubling LP, equipped on party minus Penelo and Balthier), 3 Embroidered Tippets (doubling EXP, equipped on Pen and Balthier, who are both currently party members to actually obtain the bonuses), 4 Bubble Belts (doubling Max HP), 1 Ring of Renewal (Auto-Regen plus stat increases), 1 Dawn Shard (key item, reduces MP to 0 but raises Magic Def +20). At least one of every available accessory. -Weapons: Those listed above, and at least 1 of every weapon currently available. -Ammo: Besides 1-3 of each of the Onion type of ammos, I have: Parallel Arrows, Fiery Arrows, Bamboo Arrows, 3 Lightning Arrows, 2 Long Bolts, Lead Bolts, Silent Shot, Aqua Shot, Wyrmfire Shot, and Poison Bombs. -Armour: Not really all that interesting, so I'll skip it. Again, at least one of every available armor, minus the new ones in Balfonheim, which I am working the Gil up to afford. -Skills: Every available Magick and Tecknik available at this point in the game, including Curaja (party healing for high recovery [4000HP+], Blizzaga, Thundaga, and Firaga, Bubble (doubles Max HP), Faith (increases Magick power), Bravery (increases physical attack damage), Syphon (recovers MP [like Osmose]), Dispelga, Steal, Wither, Shades of Black, Revive, etc.... Clan Primer: -Hunts: 24+ Hunts completed, including the Trickster (easy minus keeping your fellow Clan-er alive), the Antlion, and the Gil-Snapper. Besides the ones just made available at reaching Balfonheim, I have only 3 Hunts remaining unfinished: Bloodwing, Roblon, and Carrot. Avoided these because Bloodwing is in the Barheim Passage, and Roblon is in the Deadlands, both of which are places I have yet to feel comfortable going to. Carrot's battle included another of my Clan-ers helping me, which since Carrot is a Malboro, I've been putting off, since I'm afraid the battle will kill my Clan friend like Trickster kept doing to my help then. Thinking I might wait till I get Araise (the auto-life spell, being there is one), since once the clan-er dies, you can't revive them. -Bestiary: Most available monsters at this point, minus possibly those in the Zertinan Caverns, Nabreus Deadlands, Necrohol of Nabudis, Henne Mines, Barheim Passage, Lhusu Mines, Garamsythe Waterway, and the Feywood. These places I either avoided out of fear the monsters would rape my party horribly (points out Nabreus Deadlands, Necrohol of Nabudis, and Barheim Passage, as well as hidden zones in Lhusu Mines, Garamsythe Waterway, and Henne Mines. Also, some areas I haven't fully checked as yet, such as the Zertinan Caverns and Feywood. Mostly, if I don't have a monster, it's because I'm afraid it's still too uber for me. Although at level 50, I should try to go back to these places I tried earlier and see if anything's changed. In specific, I have, for the not-completely-ridiculous-to-find monsters, both pages of information on them, as well as all 6 on the Urutan-Yensa, 5 of 6 pages on the Seeq, and 3 pages on the Baknamy. Notable exceptions to my "have both pages of info" rule: Emeraldititan, Scythe Mantis, Bogey, Cerberus (2 left), Mu (1 left), Mandragora Prince, Top Stalk, Onion Queen, Alarune King, Pumpkin Star, (the previous 5 unavailable at my current area of travelling inside the Feywood), Feral Croc, Archaeosaur, Piranha, Antares (1 left), Crystal Bug (1 left), Dark Mare, Dragon Aevis, Emperor Aevis, Hecteyes, Hybrid Gator, Zombie Mage, Skull Warrior, Salamand Entite (1 left), Bug, Gazer, Mimeo, Spectre, Mimic, Water Elemental (1 left), Baritine Croc, Wild Snake, Great Tortoise, and Wild Saurian. Most of these are the rare or less common of the monsters in their respective areas, or I'm flat out avoiding going back to them to fill them in. Some noteworthy additions to my bestiary in general: Killed one Salamand Entite (at roughly level 47 party average). I believe Ashe, Basch and Vaan survived this...Vaan or Fran. The rest of my party was massacred. If the characters would have focussed on killing the Entite, and not on stealing/attacking the Urutan-Yensa below it, I would have had less deaths. Also defeated a couple Storm Elementals, Ice Elementals, a Water Elemental, and have tried, unsuccessfully, to take on 3 other Entites, the Gnoma Entite, Undin Entite, and either the Slyphi or Mardu Entite. All of these battles started off with the Entite attacking me, instead of viceversa, and they did too much damage to me before I could do anything worthwhile to them, so instead of facing a game-over in the event it wiped out my whole group, I booted it out of there instead. Life good, death bad. Anyway, I stole from each of them successfully before leaving anyway. Even got a Gnoma Halcyon for the trouble against the one. ---Rare Monsters: Besides the Bosses, Espers, Marks and regular monsters, there are also Rare Monsters, 80 of them to be precise. Of them, I have 19 currently. They are: Aerieel, Greeden, Bull Croc, Etherian, Wary Wolf, Lindbur Wolf, Pineapple, Crypt Bunny, Spee, Rain Dancer, Razorfin, Minibug, Aeros, Nekhbet, Cultsworn Lich, Negalmuur, Grey Molter, Fideliant, and Grave Lord. Of those, I have fought the Aerieel, Spee, Rain Dancer, Nekhbet, and Grave Lord more than once. I will soon be going to the places of the ones I'm missing (at least the other 31 I can get without going through the Hunt Club) and fill in some of the blanks. As for the remaining Bestiary, the only other notable is that I have defeated the King Bomb, an optional boss (at about level 35, only Ashe, with like, 200 HP, survived right to the end), the Second Demon Wall, and Adrammalech, of course. -Sky Pirate's Den: I have (of the 30 possible collectables) Balthier [attacking 300 times], Fran [magick-casting 200 times], Migelo [selling 1000+ pieces of Loot], Basch [killing 500+ foes], Trickster [defeating it], Penelo [having 100,000 gil], Vann [successfully stealin 50+ times], Mimic [obtaining all rare goods on the Bazaar], Ashe [party level average 50+], Reks [obtaining 500,000 Clan Points], Montblanc [completing a 50-Chain], Gurdy [spending 1,000,000+ gil], Chocobo [taking 50,000+ steps] and Vayne [using 100+ Technicks]. Ashe was my most recent addition, as Vaan JUST turned level 50 before I saved last. Vaan and Balthier were my first two collectables, followed by Fran, Vayne, Basch, and the Chocobo. Trickster and Mimic were the next newest acquisitions after Ashe, then probably Reks, even though I now have three times that many Clan Points (something like 1552020 Points, meaning as soon as I finish the SPD and my Hunts, I will automatically become the Highest clan rank of Order of Ambrosia, as I need 1 million points to do so, which I already obviously have. Other notables: Clan Rank: Paragon of Justice, World Map(s) completely explored up to the point in the game minus: Necrohol of Nabudis, Nabreus Deadlands, some of the Zertinan Caverns, and the hidden / possible as-yet inaccessable areas of the Lhusu Mines, Feywood, Barheim Passage, Henne Mines, and Garamsythe Waterway. Current Equipment: (note: descrip will be given of armour/weapons first mention only) -Vaan: Defender (+91 Greatsword), Chakra Band (increases HP, Strength and Magick Resist), Platinum Armour (increases Defense and Strength), and Golden Amulet (Doubles LP). -Balthier: Zodiac Spear (+150 Spear, best weapon in game), Hypno Crown (increases Magick Resist, Strength and Magick Power), Platinum Armour and Embroidered Tippet (Doubles EXP). -Fran: Yoichi Bow (+75 Bow), Bamboo Arrows (+2 Arrows with Poison effect), Hypno Crown, Platinum Armour, and Golden Amulet. -Basch: Diamond Sword (+80 Sword), Crystal Shield (increases Magick Evade 10 and Evade 25), Gaia Hat (increases Max HP, Magick Resist and Magick Power), Platinum Armour and Golden Amulet. -Ashe: Claymore (+82 Greatsword), Astrakhan Hat (increases Magick Resist and Magick Power), Platinum Armour and Golden Amulet. -Penelo: Claymore, Gigas Hat (increases Magick Resist and Magick Power; Max HP+530), Platinum Armor and Embroidered Tippet. Gambit Set-up (general): 1 - Ally:Any - Raise (or Phoenix Down with Basch) 2 - Ally:HP<40% - Hi-Potion (will soon be changing this to X-Potion when I can afford more than the 20 I have) 3 - Ally:HP<60% - Curaga 4- Ally:any - Blindna 5- Ally:status=confuse - Smelling Salts 6 - Ally:any - Esuna (to heal anything else) 7- Ally:any/Ally:status=silence - Echo Herbs (for Silencega and such) 8 - Foe:ice-weak/fire-weak/wind-weak/[insert-weak here] - spell of that element 9 - Foe:HP=100% - Steal (only active on one party-of-three group at a time, allows stealing initially, must manually steal afterward if you miss and have done damage to enemy) 10 - Foe:flying - Blizzaga/Firaga/spell or Technick of your choice (for non-Bow'd chars) 11 - Foe:party leader's target - Attack (keeps other chars attacking same enemy) 12 - Foe: nearest visible - Attack (for party leader specifically, and in case party leader is healing/etc., so other members keep the hurt on enemy). Give or take a few permutations for different chars and whether I have them as my party leader, designated stealer or various other. Balthier, Ashe, Vaan and Fran tend to be party leaders more often, in that order, and Penelo, Vaan and Ashe tend to be my stealers based on whose in my party, in that order. The party leader also tends to have the Zodiac Spear equipped, since it allows me to control if and when s/he attacks, so that on weak enemies, the Stealer has a chance to do her/his job before the party leader annihilates them. Also, once I have (or being I currently just bought) new gambits, I will be updating them, such as instead of Ally:any for number 1, it will be ally:status=KO ....actually, I do have ally:status=KO, so yeah, just change that in your minds then. Also change ally:anys for the Blindna and Echo Herbs to status=blind and status=silence respectively. The above set up for Gambits works well from about level 25-30 on, I've found. I never got into Gambits until after finishing off the Mt. Bur-Omisace events, and then clearing out the bottom section of Golmore Jungle for the skeleton breeding grounds they become. With the above set up (minus the silence, confuse an flying set ups) worked well in handling all the Skeletons (and the Grave Lord rare monster that pops up about 20-30 monsters in), so long as you are at least about level 30 or so, and have some good weapons. Some sections of this area breed an obscene amount of skeletons, so it can be difficult if you don't have a good gambit system, weapon set up and decent level set up beforehand. But once you do, it makes it easy to go from about level 30 to about 42 in a few rounds. Also, you can use the chain level (usually 90+) to get lots of awesome items to sell at the Euryt Village, and can use the Petrify spell on Hellhounds and Pathers (plus Haste if you want them to die faster and can handle the damage they do) to have them drop similarly awesome items. Just avoid killing anything (turn off Gambits here), and avoid the Malboros and Treants since you can't Petrify either. This way you can build up lots of gil and a decent level (since you get 900 EXP per skeleton, and usually get about 90 skeletons a go, plus all the monsters you need to clear out to get to the breeding grounds) fairly fast and early. This is mainly the reason I am level 50 at this point in the game...and has made everything (mostly) I've faced since fairly easy, or at least not ridiculously crazy. For more info on this Golmore skeleton trick, ask me. Anyway, besides that, I also have all 3 of each character's Quickenings, and have seen the following concurrances [which you get if you achieve specific requirements while Mist-chaining]: Inferno, Torrent, Windburst, and Ark Blast. I also may have gotten Cataclysm at one point, but I'm not sure. I am working towards Luminescence, White Out, Black Hole and possibly Cataclysm. Last but not least, the list of Gate Crystals [in order of me touching them] that I have access to...this shows when I got where/to each place's crystal, pretty much: Rabanastre Dalmasca Estersand Nalbina Fortress Bhujerba Dalmasca Westersand Ogir-Yensa Sandsea The Tomb of Raithwall Jahara Mosphoran Highwaste The Salikawood Barheim Passage Eruyt Village The Henne Mines Golmore Jungle Mt Bur-Omisace The Stilshrine of Miriam The Phon Coast Tchita Uplands The Sochen Cave Palace Archades The Lhusu Mines The Port at Balfonheim --a note (spoilery more than usual): this matters because at some points in the game, you can access different gate crystals earlier than you have to based on the plot. Take some of mine, for example. I didn't have to go to Nalbina until after the Stilshrine. Mosphoran and Salika are after Nalbina. Barheim is an optional crystal, which I accessed before going to Eruyt Village. Same goes with the Lhusu Mines Crystal...while you have been to both of those early game, their gate crystals (as opposed to the usual save crystals) are both only accessible later in the game in sidequest-esque exploration. That is why I listed the order of which I got them, cuz it tells where I went first when.-- And I guess that wraps up my sharing for today. Any questions/comments/rude remarks, lemme know. I am here to help...and also be awesome ...wow, that was really long... *waves goodbye to 2 hrs of his life* |
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1:48 PM Jul 11