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Final Fantasy: Lucky 13
Arivia
I Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered User regular
I Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered User regular
In this thread we continue our discussions on Final Fantasy XIII, including....
How it relates to past entries in the series.
Or how cute Vanille is.
Or you can keep talking about these guys, who are currently taking a break, but are bound to show up again sooner than later.
Or you can go back even further and discuss the sprite-based classics.
Just make sure to respect your fellow paw-paw daddies and mark your spoilers.
The above was stolen without shame from Professor Snugglesworth. He's a cutie!
Tips & Tricks For FFXIII (aka: probably what you came here to ask about)
Oh God Oh God The Crystarium
Stop. Chill. You cannot screw this up. You cannot put points in wrong and end up with totally useless characters. By the end of most chapters, you will have enough points to max out most Crystarium levels for all of your characters as long as you don't run around 90% of the enemies. Just put points in. That felt good, didn't it? Yes it did. Now get your hands out of Lightning's shorts, you perv.
If you're having trouble selecting crystals at a branch, try using the d-pad instead of the joystick while holding X/A.
WTF Odin Is Kicking My Ass
What's A Role Level Do?
Role Levels grant a substantial bonus to all party members when that character is using that role.
Respectively, those bonuses are:
Commando: Damage Bonus
Ravager: Chain Bonus
Sentinel: Damage Reduction
Medic: Healing Bonus
Synergist: Longer Effects
Saboteur: Increased Effect Chance
Individually, these bonuses may appear very small (one to five percent per crystal) but they add up in the end.
Money Money Money, Always Money
Unlike other FF games, you will not be raking in the gil. Most enemies don't even drop any! However, you don't need it as much - up until at least Chapter 9, you'll be fine spending no money in the stores and just living off of drops and treasure spheres.
If something goes wrong and you do need money, you can do the following
Sell Credit Chips and Incentive Chips. These are good for nothing else. Any materials you have that offer only 1 EXP (see below) can also be sold.
If you're absolutely stretched for money, the best place to grind mid-game is in Chapter 9, in the Crew Corridors of the Palamecia. Hard enemies, but you'll rake in the Chips. Return to the External Berths (which you can also clear for CP) to reset all enemies in the Crew Corridors.
A Very Short Introduction To Upgrading
Upgrading consists of applying materials to items. Each material grants a specific amount of EXP; once an item has enough EXP it will gain a level and become stronger.
Ultimately, once an item reaches a level that shows up as a star you can apply an expensive catalyst to make it even more powerful, but that's post-game/gamefaqs stuff.
In general, you want to apply an organic material or materials to drive the EXP modifier up to the cap of x3, then apply a single batch of a lot of one single mechanical component to actually get a large amount of EXP.
Captaink was nice enough to copy out the lists of the most cost-effective buyable materials from the guide:
You can buy organic components from Creature Comforts and mechanical components from Lenora's Garage. If none of the technical components show up for you, Turbojets are your best bet.
The End Boss Of Chapter 9
Collector Catalogues
At the beginning of Chapter 11, you'll be given the option to buy a Collector Catalogue for 100,000 gil, which increases the drop rate when equipped. Don't.
What Can I Do In Chapter 11?
How it relates to past entries in the series.
Or how cute Vanille is.
Or you can keep talking about these guys, who are currently taking a break, but are bound to show up again sooner than later.
Or you can go back even further and discuss the sprite-based classics.
Just make sure to respect your fellow paw-paw daddies and mark your spoilers.
The above was stolen without shame from Professor Snugglesworth. He's a cutie!
Tips & Tricks For FFXIII (aka: probably what you came here to ask about)
Oh God Oh God The Crystarium
Stop. Chill. You cannot screw this up. You cannot put points in wrong and end up with totally useless characters. By the end of most chapters, you will have enough points to max out most Crystarium levels for all of your characters as long as you don't run around 90% of the enemies. Just put points in. That felt good, didn't it? Yes it did. Now get your hands out of Lightning's shorts, you perv.
If you're having trouble selecting crystals at a branch, try using the d-pad instead of the joystick while holding X/A.
WTF Odin Is Kicking My Ass
Before the battle, use a Fortisol and Aegisol if you can. If not, start the battle off with Lightning as MED and Hope as SYN to get some buffs up. When Odin's attacking, go COM/MED just to keep your chain bonus building. When he casts Ullr's Shield, he won't be attacking - go all out COM/RAV on the silly goose. Rinse and repeat and you'll see it through. Withstanding the initial assault is the hardest part.
What's A Role Level Do?
Role Levels grant a substantial bonus to all party members when that character is using that role.
Respectively, those bonuses are:
Commando: Damage Bonus
Ravager: Chain Bonus
Sentinel: Damage Reduction
Medic: Healing Bonus
Synergist: Longer Effects
Saboteur: Increased Effect Chance
Individually, these bonuses may appear very small (one to five percent per crystal) but they add up in the end.
Money Money Money, Always Money
Unlike other FF games, you will not be raking in the gil. Most enemies don't even drop any! However, you don't need it as much - up until at least Chapter 9, you'll be fine spending no money in the stores and just living off of drops and treasure spheres.
If something goes wrong and you do need money, you can do the following
Sell Credit Chips and Incentive Chips. These are good for nothing else. Any materials you have that offer only 1 EXP (see below) can also be sold.
If you're absolutely stretched for money, the best place to grind mid-game is in Chapter 9, in the Crew Corridors of the Palamecia. Hard enemies, but you'll rake in the Chips. Return to the External Berths (which you can also clear for CP) to reset all enemies in the Crew Corridors.
A Very Short Introduction To Upgrading
Upgrading consists of applying materials to items. Each material grants a specific amount of EXP; once an item has enough EXP it will gain a level and become stronger.
Ultimately, once an item reaches a level that shows up as a star you can apply an expensive catalyst to make it even more powerful, but that's post-game/gamefaqs stuff.
In general, you want to apply an organic material or materials to drive the EXP modifier up to the cap of x3, then apply a single batch of a lot of one single mechanical component to actually get a large amount of EXP.
Captaink was nice enough to copy out the lists of the most cost-effective buyable materials from the guide:
Multiplier:
Sturdy Bone
Barbed Tail
Vibrant Ooze
Otherwordly Bone
Diabolic Tail
Transparent Ooze
Get up to x3 multiplier before you drop in tech components.
The most bang for your buck for flat exp are (best first):
Ultracompact Reactor
Supercharger
Particle Accelerator
Turboprop
Superconductor
Perfect Conductor
Chobham Armor
Bomb Core
Tesla Turbine
Sturdy Bone
Barbed Tail
Vibrant Ooze
Otherwordly Bone
Diabolic Tail
Transparent Ooze
Get up to x3 multiplier before you drop in tech components.
The most bang for your buck for flat exp are (best first):
Ultracompact Reactor
Supercharger
Particle Accelerator
Turboprop
Superconductor
Perfect Conductor
Chobham Armor
Bomb Core
Tesla Turbine
You can buy organic components from Creature Comforts and mechanical components from Lenora's Garage. If none of the technical components show up for you, Turbojets are your best bet.
The End Boss Of Chapter 9
Yeah, Barthandelus is a bitch. Check your party setup first. Whoever you've chosen should be able to have at least the following Paradigms:
-Relentless Assault (RAV/RAV/COM)
-Diversity (RAV/MED/COM)
-Solidarity (COM/SEN/MED)
and one of the following
-Hero's Charge (COM/MED/SYN)
-Safe Subversion (MED/SAB/SAB)
-Evened Odds (MED/SYN/SAB)
Combat Clinic (SEN/MED/MED) might be helpful in a real emergency, and Aggression (COM/COM/RAV) is nice if you can find the space for it.
Start off in something like Hero's Charge to get buffs up, then go to town on the Pauldrons and Ailettes. They each have an elemental weakness, so you can blow a Librascope or just look here:
At the beginning, you can get away by going after them with Relentless Assault; towards the end you want Diversity or Solidarity to hold up to the -aga spells he starts throwing around.
Once the ailettes/pauldrons are down, you can beat on the main body. Barthandelus can be staggered but not launched. You should generally be fine with Relentless Assault, although you'll definitely want to slip into Diversity after he spams Thanatosian Smile. When you Stagger Barthandelus, go all out, even into Aggression if you can.
After his first stagger, Barthandelus enters his main phase for most of the fight. Most of his attacks are the same as before, but he will rear back and start channeling Destrudo. You have roughly 15 seconds before he blows your face off with it.
By the time Destrudo hits you must have everyone pretty close to full health and be in Solidarity. Ideally, the Sentinel should have Provoked and be guarding. Destrudo hits for a ton, but you'll be okay if you're in Solidarity.
Immediately after you get pounded by Destrudo, switch into Hero's Charge/Safe Subversion/Evened Odds to heal/apply buffs/apply debuffs. Once everyone's back at full health and your cocktail of statuses is up, go back to Relentless Assault.
Note that the channelling of Destrudo resets his Chain meter, so you have to pound the shit out of him between your shit gets wrecked. IF he is in Stagger when he starts channeling Destrudo, Commandoes can very rarely restart the channel (he'll rear back and pause for a second.) It will restart, not stop, and you still need to get your ass in Solidarity fast.
If you're not getting him into Stagger between Destrudo channels, you need to retry the fight and either upgrade your strategy/Crystarium/weapons. You can grind quite easily on the mobs in the Bridge Access by just running from one end to the other.
At the very end, he may cast Doom on your party leader. Do not freak out, you have plenty of time, just stick to the plan.
-Relentless Assault (RAV/RAV/COM)
-Diversity (RAV/MED/COM)
-Solidarity (COM/SEN/MED)
and one of the following
-Hero's Charge (COM/MED/SYN)
-Safe Subversion (MED/SAB/SAB)
-Evened Odds (MED/SYN/SAB)
Combat Clinic (SEN/MED/MED) might be helpful in a real emergency, and Aggression (COM/COM/RAV) is nice if you can find the space for it.
Start off in something like Hero's Charge to get buffs up, then go to town on the Pauldrons and Ailettes. They each have an elemental weakness, so you can blow a Librascope or just look here:
Left Pauldron - Lightning
Left Ailette - Fire
Right Pauldron - Ice
Right Ailette - Water
Don't forget to use -ara spells after the stagger for splash/bonus damage!
Left Ailette - Fire
Right Pauldron - Ice
Right Ailette - Water
Don't forget to use -ara spells after the stagger for splash/bonus damage!
At the beginning, you can get away by going after them with Relentless Assault; towards the end you want Diversity or Solidarity to hold up to the -aga spells he starts throwing around.
Once the ailettes/pauldrons are down, you can beat on the main body. Barthandelus can be staggered but not launched. You should generally be fine with Relentless Assault, although you'll definitely want to slip into Diversity after he spams Thanatosian Smile. When you Stagger Barthandelus, go all out, even into Aggression if you can.
After his first stagger, Barthandelus enters his main phase for most of the fight. Most of his attacks are the same as before, but he will rear back and start channeling Destrudo. You have roughly 15 seconds before he blows your face off with it.
By the time Destrudo hits you must have everyone pretty close to full health and be in Solidarity. Ideally, the Sentinel should have Provoked and be guarding. Destrudo hits for a ton, but you'll be okay if you're in Solidarity.
Immediately after you get pounded by Destrudo, switch into Hero's Charge/Safe Subversion/Evened Odds to heal/apply buffs/apply debuffs. Once everyone's back at full health and your cocktail of statuses is up, go back to Relentless Assault.
Note that the channelling of Destrudo resets his Chain meter, so you have to pound the shit out of him between your shit gets wrecked. IF he is in Stagger when he starts channeling Destrudo, Commandoes can very rarely restart the channel (he'll rear back and pause for a second.) It will restart, not stop, and you still need to get your ass in Solidarity fast.
If you're not getting him into Stagger between Destrudo channels, you need to retry the fight and either upgrade your strategy/Crystarium/weapons. You can grind quite easily on the mobs in the Bridge Access by just running from one end to the other.
At the very end, he may cast Doom on your party leader. Do not freak out, you have plenty of time, just stick to the plan.
Collector Catalogues
At the beginning of Chapter 11, you'll be given the option to buy a Collector Catalogue for 100,000 gil, which increases the drop rate when equipped. Don't.
You can get one quite easily later in the chapter by completing a small sidequest for no gill.
What Can I Do In Chapter 11?
After you arrive on Gran Pulse, the game opens up. As in really wide up. As in oh hi real FF gameplay wide up.
Here you can run into lots of big turtles that will smash your face in one shot!
As you follow the main plotline, Cie'th stones will give you hunts (sidequests) of varying difficulty. Feel free to take those on to get some extra CP, items, and gill.
However, the majority of post-game (yes, post-game: the bonus content in FFXIII happens on a file AFTER you've completed Chapter 13) content also occurs on Gran Pulse. You can't do everything now, and you shouldn't try.
If you need money during Chapter 11, going Chocobo Treasure Finding is your best bet. You can unlock rideable Chocobos by completing Mission 14.
Here you can run into lots of big turtles that will smash your face in one shot!
As you follow the main plotline, Cie'th stones will give you hunts (sidequests) of varying difficulty. Feel free to take those on to get some extra CP, items, and gill.
However, the majority of post-game (yes, post-game: the bonus content in FFXIII happens on a file AFTER you've completed Chapter 13) content also occurs on Gran Pulse. You can't do everything now, and you shouldn't try.
If you need money during Chapter 11, going Chocobo Treasure Finding is your best bet. You can unlock rideable Chocobos by completing Mission 14.
Arivia on
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Is this place optional? Or should I grind up for a lil bit before I get out of there?
The two numbers at the end represent max str/max mag for that weapon max level. All 2nd tier take Trapezohedron to upgrade to Tier 3. Tier 3 all max out at lvl 100.
Lightning
Blazefire Saber (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Flamberge (max lvl 61) -> Omega Weapon 620/620
Axis Blade (max lvl 21) +Adamantite -> Enkindler (max lvl 41) -> Omega Weapon 315/315 + ATB Charge (like haste)
Edged Carbine (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Razor Carbine (max lvl 61) -> Omega Weapon 210/723
Lifesaber (max lvl 21) + Scarleitte -> Peacemaker (max lvl 41) -> Omega Weapon 520/520 + Improved Raise
Gladius (max lvl 26) + Uraninite -> Helter Skelter (max lvl 61) -> Omega Weapon 723/210
Organyx (max lvl 26) + Cobaltite -> Apocalypse (max lvl 61) -> Omega Weapon 750/750 + Leadenstrike(slow atk speed)
Hauteclaire (max lvl 26) + Uraninite -> Durandal (max lvl 61) -> Omega Weapon 711/711 + Stagger Lock(that character can't cause a stagger, others still can)
Lionheart (max lvl 21) + Scarletite -> Ultima Weapon (max lvl 41) -> Omega Weapon 508/508 + Quick Stagger(fills stagger gauge quicker)
Sazh
Vega 42's (max lvl 21) + Pervoskite -> Altairs (max lvl 41) -> Total Eclipses 812/822
Spica Defender's (max lvl 21) + Scarleitite -> Sirius Sidearms (max lvl 41) -> Total Eclipses 713/911 + Augment Maintenance (Buffs last longer)
Deneb Duellers (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Canopus AMPs (max lvl 61) -> Total Eclipses 608/1125
Rigels (max lvl 26) + Uranitite - > Polaris Specials (max lvl 61) -> Total Eclipses 1006/1014 + Stagger Lock (this character can't cause stagger)
Aldebarans (max lvl 26) + Cobaltite -> Sedalmeliks (max lvl 61) -> Total Eclipses 0/1150 + leadenstrike (slow attack speed)
Pleiades Hi-Powers (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Hyades Magnums (max lvl 61) -> Total Eclipses 1150/0 Paper Tiger (I think low hp?)
Antares Deluxes (max lvl 21) + Urantite -> Fomalhaut Elites (max lvl 41) -> Total Eclipses 610/616 + Chain Boost (quicker chains)
Procyons (max lvl 21) + Dark Matter -> Betelgeuse Customs (max lvl 41) -> Total Eclipses 620/414 + stagger maintenance (longer staggers)
Snow
Wild Boar (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Fatal Pride (max lvl 61) -> Save the Queen 717/717
Paladin (max lvl 21) + Scarletite -> Winged Saint (max lvl 41) -> Save the Queen 510/510 + Improved Guard (not sure what it does)
Rebel Heart (max lvl 21) + Urantite -> Warrior's Emblem (max lvl 41) -> Save the Queen 602/611 + Critical Power Surge (when critical he gets stronger)
Power Circle (max lvl 26) + Scarletite -> Battle Standard (max lvl 61) -> Save the Queen - 925/202
Feymark (max lvl 21) + Urantite -> Soul Blazer (max lvl 41) -> Save the Queen 0/1050 + Enfeeblement (negative effect not sure what)
Sacrificial Circle (max lvl 26) + Scarletite -> Indomitus (max lvl 61) -> Save the Queen 1020/1020 + Paper Tiger (I think low hp?)
Unsetting Sun (max lvl 26) + Pervoskite -> Midnight Sun (max lvl 61) -> Save the Queen 815/205 + Stagger Lock (this character can't cause staggers)
Umbra (max lvl 21) + Adamantite -> Solaris (max lvl 41) -> Save the Queen 410/620 + Improved Ward (Assists his Sentinel skills, not sure how)
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Nice
I am weak.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
I guess my main complaint is that some of the dialogue just feels "campy". (I am ignoring the lack of world map, large towns, the linear shackles, etc.)
Aside from that, I love the combat. A question I have is in regards to keeping the stagger meter climbing. If I switch to ravager and perform the same attack that I was doing as a commando (with Lightning for example), is that meter going to increase at a faster rate simply because I am a ravager instead of a commando? (Ignoring attaining a level in the role.)
I think the dialogue started off weak, but once the story started reaching a deeper emotional level of each of the characters I was extremely impressed. Of course like all RPG's its going to have some cringe-worthy lines, but it gets really good. Up to where I am, anyway.
The Dragon Quest games on the DS are leagues ahead of any of the FFs on it.
Get them.
That makes me wonder, though. Is it better for a RAV to just do one attack instead of using the entire ATB guage?
Appreciate this big-time, man.
It's Final Fantasy. I actually think the dialogue in this one is probably a step above pretty much all previous FFs except 12.
That said, I did feel a little the way you do now when I was at the ten hour mark, but I'm further in now and the character growth is just beginning to hit. I think I'm going to end up enjoying the characters much more than I initially thought I would.
Well you are never performing the same attacks, since Ravager doesn't even get access to, say, Attack. That said, Commando doesn't really build the gauge at all unless the gauge is already at zero, I think adding only .1% to subsequent hits. Commando is only important for slowing down gauge depletion; 1-2 rounds of nothing but attacking slows it to a crawl and keeps it from zeroing out while Ravagers charge up between rounds.
The slowdown effect isn't permanent but it does last for a fairly long time, so it can be feasible to do a couple rounds with Commando and then switch to full Ravager for a few rounds afterwards, switching back to Commando if you need to. This is especially useful when you're running around with only two characters, starting with COM/RAV and switching to RAV/RAV to build chain.
Yeah, I started out thinking the main cast was a bunch of silly geese. By Chapter 9, though, I actually liked all of them.
Yes, even Hope.