Tidus has Ace Striker, which builds meter from Abilities and Attack. And Steiner has Knight's Charge, which builds meter for Abilities and getting punched in the face.
Difficulty 120 seems to be my roadblock here with Ultima Weapon, sadly. I usually have a hard time beating anything thats above 90.
Going to have to work on those four star hones. And stop being conservative with those growth eggs. I usually just lvl to 50 and let them gain XP naturally from there but starting to feel like I need to build a maxed out hit squad.
This. Very much this.
Take a look at your available relics from banners you've pulled on, and assemble an A-Team. If you need pointers, feel free to list some of the relics you have. If you have Sentinel Grimoire, Thyrus, Platinum Sword (FFT) or Keeper's Tome, those relic's characters should be priority number 1 with a bullet to level up to 80.
You also want to level particular characters up to 65 at the bare minimum, to unlock their 2nd Record Materia, because there are number out there that are key components to building a winning team. Cloud and Tyro both get an RM that lets you start with an SB bar, Tidus, Steiner and Agrias (Steiner and Agrias available with Hero Souls) have RMs that let you build significantly more SB with actions/being hit.
Agrias has nothing of the sort. Ramza and Squall do for attacking/taking damage respectively.
Yes, my bad. Confused who got Battleforged RM. It's Ramza (who's a powerful character in his own right)
Leviathan is probably the optimal thing to use if you're going the dual white mages route and want to try to master it and clear the CM at the same time. The incoming damage is really nasty in the second half of the fight, so you're going to be spending pretty much all of your time healing. High hones won't matter so much for the attack spell, and I think (without checking the numbers) that's what gets you the best water magic bang for your buck.
ArcTangent on
0
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited September 2016
Yeah, I thought about that but the thing is waterja is well honed, and does good damage unbuffed, seems a shame to lose it. Will try removing Auron for Tidus and see how it goes. Rikku is a non starter because she can't figure out pointy metal on stick technology.
Looking for some advice on which I should focus on honing first, the four star black magic spells or spellblade ones?
I get the impression that three star spellblade attacks are still decent.
I use almost entirely 3-star spellblade attacks, and with Shout active I usually cap damage.
Can you post your team that you're running against the Ultima Weapon? Maybe we can offer some suggestions for team modifications or spells to hone based on what you have available.
Really, the most important thing on that fight is mitigation. Put shellga on your white mage. Bring a support with Magic Breakdown and Full Break if you have it. If you're bringing someone with Combat skill, normal Magic Break will help too. And the 3-star combat breaks are decent abilities and are worth having honed up.
Also, do you have any native parts of the trinity? (Hastega, Shout, Wall)?
Party is
DK Cecil LV68/80 HP5699
Mythgraven Blade (IV)
Grand Armor (FFT)
Power Belt (IX)
Abilities: Dark Bargain R1 and Armor Break R2
Soul Breaks: Blood Weapon
RM: Pride of the Red Wings
Faris LV55/65 HP 3412
Basilik Claw (VII)
Minerva Bustier (VI)
Durable Power Wristband (XIII)
Abilities: Magic Breakdown R2 and Power Breakdown R1
Soulbreak: Serpent's Gale and Master of the Sea
RM: Flash of light
Y'shtola LV56/65 HP 3175
Healing Staff (V)
Faris' Bracers (V)
Mog Amulet (I)
Looking for some advice on which I should focus on honing first, the four star black magic spells or spellblade ones?
I get the impression that three star spellblade attacks are still decent.
I use almost entirely 3-star spellblade attacks, and with Shout active I usually cap damage.
Can you post your team that you're running against the Ultima Weapon? Maybe we can offer some suggestions for team modifications or spells to hone based on what you have available.
Really, the most important thing on that fight is mitigation. Put shellga on your white mage. Bring a support with Magic Breakdown and Full Break if you have it. If you're bringing someone with Combat skill, normal Magic Break will help too. And the 3-star combat breaks are decent abilities and are worth having honed up.
Also, do you have any native parts of the trinity? (Hastega, Shout, Wall)?
Party is
DK Cecil LV68/80 HP5699
Mythgraven Blade (IV)
Grand Armor (FFT)
Power Belt (IX)
Abilities: Dark Bargain R1 and Armor Break R2
Soul Breaks: Blood Weapon
RM: Pride of the Red Wings
Faris LV55/65 HP 3412
Basilik Claw (VII)
Minerva Bustier (VI)
Durable Power Wristband (XIII)
Abilities: Magic Breakdown R2 and Power Breakdown R1
Soulbreak: Serpent's Gale and Master of the Sea
RM: Flash of light
Y'shtola LV56/65 HP 3175
Healing Staff (V)
Faris' Bracers (V)
Mog Amulet (I)
Abilities: Firaga R3 and Blizzage R3
Soulbreaks: Exhiliarating Magic
RM: Devil's Pact
Gilgamesh LV56/65 HP 4589
Kaiser Knuckles (VI)
Party Dress (VIII)
Hyper Wrist (VI)
Abilities: Life Siphon R1 amd Soaring Jump R1
Soulbreaks: Morphing Time!
RM: Gore Stained Blade II
Think the closest I have to a big buffing relic soul break is Echo's Hastening Gift.
One thing that could help, is knowing what soul break relics you have in total. For example, I see you have Mythgraven Blade, which is a three hit holy attack SB for Paladin Cecil, who is a very good character in his own right. You also have Grand Armor which allows Ramza to be your support and has a medica, Echo's Seraphic Rod can be your group hastega and shellga, etc.
It would probably also seriously help if you used monks for the massive synergy bonus to themselves and all their equipment. With hones that light, I feel like you might not even have the oomph to get far enough for SBs to matter much.
I did this fight without shout. But note that I've got record synergy out the wazzoo for FFX and each of those characters I listed has at least one SB, some have multiple SBs or SSBs.
Dismissal sounds fun, I just don't have the physical equipment to have a full team. Auron with best equipment and shout is hitting for 2.9k normal attacks. Waterja is hitting for close to 9k unbuffed. Too bad meltdown is out of the question for me.
What do you mean "normal attacks"? Are you using the attack command? You should basically never use the basic attack command ever.
Generally speaking, you never want to use vanilla Attack against a boss. You want to have at least 8 turns worth of abilities to use, and preferably 10 or even 12. Which would be two R3 abilities, or one R2 and one R4. The reason for this is that abilities do massively more damage than Attack, in addition to whatever special properties they have: even the lowly 2* Double Cut does 80% more damage than Attack.
I can wholeheartedly recommend getting Magic Breakdown and Power Breakdown to R3 if you happen to have the orbs lying around.
edit: this was in response to Dr. Chaos' setup. I assume 38thDoe's Auron is using Attack because his other skill slots were Draw Fire + Retaliate
I defeated Ultima Weapon! Even mastered it! My only monk is Snow, level 65 but has this awesome SSB that hits 4 times and raises defense. Also figured out that breaks and breakdowns stack, so even if I can't hone my breakdowns to R3, I was able to hone power and magic break to R3 and gave them to Snow, instead of meteor crush and saint's cross. I think that was made a difference with my previous tries.
My team was Pecil 80 (Lifesiphon r2 and protectga r2, used his BSB); Snow 65b (powerbreak r3 and magicbreak r3, used diamond dust SSB); Ramza 75 (fullbreak r1 and magic breakdown r2, used shout); Tyro 75 (power breakdown r2 and armor breakdown r2, used a shared regen sb) and Lenna 75 (curaja r3 and shellga r2, used pride of tycoon medica).
Oh, as for RM Pecil had Basch's increase damage when using a shield, Snow had Ramza's battleforge, Ramza had Dr Mog's and lenna had Oath of Tycoon.
I need another orbfest to get some breakdown hones. Hahaha.
Thanks for the help, even if I didn't asked for it directly, reading this thread is like a realtime strategy guide!
I might try YuRiPa's ultimates later! Hopefully it will be fine, considering I have no FFX synergy.
Joe Camacho MKII on
I edit my posts a lot.
+5
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I can attest that Maria's Song is getting a good number of daily summons (usually at least 20), while my alt account with Apocalypse Shield is getting single digits. Maybe I'd get more summons if I switched the alt to Hand of the Emperor (even though it's the same damn thing)?
Huh. I've been getting around two or three a day..
I defeated Ultima Weapon! Even mastered it! My only monk is Snow, level 65 but has this awesome SSB that hits 4 times and raises defense. Also figured out that breaks and breakdowns stack, so even if I can't hone my breakdowns to R3, I was able to hone power and magic break to R3 and gave them to Snow, instead of meteor crush and saint's cross. I think that was made a difference with my previous tries.
They don't. Rule of thumb is that anything that has the same effect/suite of effects will overwrite something that does the same thing.
Power Break and Power Breakdown are both Atk. Only the most recent one applied will be in effect.
Atk/Mag will stack with Atk and stack with Mag, but not stack with another Atk/Mag.
I defeated Ultima Weapon! Even mastered it! My only monk is Snow, level 65 but has this awesome SSB that hits 4 times and raises defense. Also figured out that breaks and breakdowns stack, so even if I can't hone my breakdowns to R3, I was able to hone power and magic break to R3 and gave them to Snow, instead of meteor crush and saint's cross. I think that was made a difference with my previous tries.
They don't. Rule of thumb is that anything that has the same effect/suite of effects will overwrite something that does the same thing.
Power Break and Power Breakdown are both Atk. Only the most recent one applied will be in effect.
Atk/Mag will stack with Atk and stack with Mag, but not stack with another Atk/Mag.
^-- This. What you (Joe) might have noticed is that you are stacking a team DEF boost (Snow) and a team RES boost (Lenna) with your other stuff, which could make a difference. Also, if you didn't have Full Break before (I see you have it now), that does stack with single-breaks, and is a big difference maker.
You should definitely try the U+ for the X event - Pecil burst should rip it a new one, I'd think.
I defeated Ultima Weapon! Even mastered it! My only monk is Snow, level 65 but has this awesome SSB that hits 4 times and raises defense. Also figured out that breaks and breakdowns stack, so even if I can't hone my breakdowns to R3, I was able to hone power and magic break to R3 and gave them to Snow, instead of meteor crush and saint's cross. I think that was made a difference with my previous tries.
They don't. Rule of thumb is that anything that has the same effect/suite of effects will overwrite something that does the same thing.
Power Break and Power Breakdown are both Atk. Only the most recent one applied will be in effect.
Atk/Mag will stack with Atk and stack with Mag, but not stack with another Atk/Mag.
Then maybe it was some kind of placebo effect because I could swear that it kept Ultima Weapon's damage low. Or that is what it appeared to me. At least lower than only using breakdowns. Perhaps having I was just really lucky timing my attacks?
If they don't stack, it is good to know now and organize my attacks.
I edit my posts a lot.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Leviathan is probably the optimal thing to use if you're going the dual white mages route and want to try to master it and clear the CM at the same time. The incoming damage is really nasty in the second half of the fight, so you're going to be spending pretty much all of your time healing. High hones won't matter so much for the attack spell, and I think (without checking the numbers) that's what gets you the best water magic bang for your buck.
It just seems like I'll be hitting the special medal conditions anyways since I want to mitigate him and water is my best aja spell. I haven't even made Leviathan yet. I'm thinking I just don't have the synergy here to do much.
Yeah as others have said, Full Break will stack with either Power Break or Power Breakdown, but Power Break will not stack with Power Breakdown. Things like Cleansing Strike (Agrias SB with -ATK/MAG) will also stack with the break/breakdown skills, but Cleansing Strike will not stack with Goddess' Bell or Hymn of Harmony since they do the same thing, just at different magnitudes. It's similar to how the low regen from Saint Cross will overwrite high regen from a soul break. The game is very much not clear about any of this, though.
+1
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited September 2016
Phew. Just barely managed to beat it (Ultima Difficulty 120) after two tries, the second with a mythril revival.
I probably am going to start paying more attentions to relic soul breaks and synergies becuase Paladin Cecil (radiant wings), Ramza (tailwind) and Josef (brave synergy) made a pretty huge difference even if it wasn't a landslide victory (it was close). Compared to where I got him to only 50% before.
Normally I just try to clear content with my favorite characters alone but they're not the best geared or loaded with soul breaks necessarily. It can prevent me from clearing some of the more fun encounters so probably going to try to start being a lil more flexible and a lil less stubborn in the future.
What if my favorite characters are Ramza, Cecil, Y'shtola, Yuffie and Balthier? :biggrin:
More seriously, it's usually not too hard to find a way to fit in a favorite or two, though it obviously helps to have relics for anybody you want to use. Some characters are perfectly viable even without any relics, though (the few ChainCharge users, any of the Darkness mages, Dragoons, Knights).
Favourite character relic pulling/party setups only gets you so far.
Woe to those whose favourite characters are Gau, Kimahri, Ricard, Strago, FuSoYa (though he gets a nice boost in about 5 months)...
I want to meet this most rare of unicorns.
Kimahri was one of my favorites from FF10 despite basically sucking. He just reminded me of a strong silent type when I originally played the game and that fits me.
My favourite characters tended to be Blue Mages. I'm not particularly chuffed about the lack of Blue Magic in the game, or how to go about making that style of skillset work, but it sucks to see some of the iconic Blue Mages relegated to the D-List, like Kimahri, Strago and Quina. Quistis only barely qualifies as having any sort of "A" game since she's the second character in the realm to have an OSB (before Rinoa! HA!) and her native skillset is at the same time both sufficient and abyssmal; she's the only character in the game without a native 5* skill at base.
EDIT: Forgot about Onion Knight, but they made up for that in spades with his level 99 stats and record dives.
My favourite characters tended to be Blue Mages. I'm not particularly chuffed about the lack of Blue Magic in the game, or how to go about making that style of skillset work, but it sucks to see some of the iconic Blue Mages relegated to the D-List, like Kimahri, Strago and Quina. Quistis only barely qualifies as having any sort of "A" game since she's the second character in the realm to have an OSB (before Rinoa! HA!) and her native skillset is at the same time both sufficient and abyssmal; she's the only character in the game without a native 5* skill at base.
EDIT: Forgot about Onion Knight, but they made up for that in spades with his level 99 stats and record dives.
Pfft. Blue magic's easy to classify/make work. Stick all the meta effects in there. En-elements, imperils, quick casts, blinks, etc, etc.
My favourite characters tended to be Blue Mages. I'm not particularly chuffed about the lack of Blue Magic in the game, or how to go about making that style of skillset work, but it sucks to see some of the iconic Blue Mages relegated to the D-List, like Kimahri, Strago and Quina. Quistis only barely qualifies as having any sort of "A" game since she's the second character in the realm to have an OSB (before Rinoa! HA!) and her native skillset is at the same time both sufficient and abyssmal; she's the only character in the game without a native 5* skill at base.
EDIT: Forgot about Onion Knight, but they made up for that in spades with his level 99 stats and record dives.
I'm pretty sure both Squall and Rinoa had OSBs well before Quistis got hers, so she doesn't even have that going for her.
On topic: favorite characters can work in teams, but you need a certain amount of XP levels, ability hones, gear, and supporting SBs before that's really feasible. Like, Gau is generally considered to be a bad character, but I used him just fine, even with no unique SBs, in the U+ Cid Mission for the opera event. It did require having him at a high level (75ish), great abilities (Powerchain and Full Charge both R3), solid equipment synergy (had a spare Sabin fist to give him), and support from a strong Relm SB (Portrait of Lakshmi) to make the team work.
Goddamn it. I knew Squall did, but I thought Banner 2 was Squalls again and not Rinoas, since a number of events after that only have 1 featured OSB for both banners.
Well, it stands to reason, since Rinoa is the heroine of the damn game. So yeah, Quistis is B-List, because at least she even has an OSB. I'll be surprised if Kimahri, Strago or Quina ever get a BSB, let alone an OSB.
So ran out of skills and RWs just getting to the last phase of the choco eater. Tried draw fire + retaliate and didn't help so much, I think.
Guess that Synergy does make a difference, which I lack. Oh well.
Draw Fire and Retaliate do almost nothing in that fight: less than 10% of his actions are single target PHY attacks. I could maybe see Magic Lure + Reflect, since that accounts for about 30% of its actions, but most of the script is taken up with AOE magic and "NAT" typed physical attacks, so it's not nearly enough defense, and probably not worth the slots to bring.
With your native Shout, you could try RW Celes' burst (Maria's Song), that should get your ATK up high enough to cover for a lack of weapon synergy, while also providing a multi-hit command that does Fire damage to exploit the weakness. Full Break (maybe save for the second half of the fight since you're still at R1), Magic Breakdown, Shell, and Lenna's +RES medica should help you weather all the magic damage. The obnoxious NAT attacks ignore DEF, so Protectga and Snow's DEF boost wouldn't help, maybe stick Power Break on one of your physical characters to help with that.
So ran out of skills and RWs just getting to the last phase of the choco eater. Tried draw fire + retaliate and didn't help so much, I think.
Guess that Synergy does make a difference, which I lack. Oh well.
Draw Fire and Retaliate do almost nothing in that fight: less than 10% of his actions are single target PHY attacks. I could maybe see Magic Lure + Reflect, since that accounts for about 30% of its actions, but most of the script is taken up with AOE magic and "NAT" typed physical attacks, so it's not nearly enough defense, and probably not worth the slots to bring.
With your native Shout, you could try RW Celes' burst (Maria's Song), that should get your ATK up high enough to cover for a lack of weapon synergy, while also providing a multi-hit command that does Fire damage to exploit the weakness. Full Break (maybe save for the second half of the fight since you're still at R1), Magic Breakdown, Shell, and Lenna's +RES medica should help you weather all the magic damage. The obnoxious NAT attacks ignore DEF, so Protectga and Snow's DEF boost wouldn't help, maybe stick Power Break on one of your physical characters to help with that.
Thanks for the pointers, I just realized that when I honed to r3 power and magic break I had s bunch of NEOs and POs, so I converted them to Greater ones and I managed to hone power and magic breakdown to r3!
Onward to Quadruple Foul!
I don't really even remember this fight. I don't know if I tried it more than like one time. I'm pretty sure my Support team is way stronger than last time though. We'll see what I can come up with for a team.
I should really crack down and hone some WHM stuff for Nightmare Evrae Altana, considering just how ridiculously tuned my WHM SBs are for the fight:
Tyro - Keeper's Tome
Y'shtola - Stoneskin II
Exdeath - Grand Cross
Penelo - Intercession, Mincing Minuet, War Dance
Rosa - Divine Heal
Ovelia - Aegis
Porom - Sync
Eiko - Flames of Rebirth
Vanille - Deprotega, Oerba's Boon
I literally have everything needed to rip Evrae Altana a new one except for hones, but wind/holy orbs are just so precious...
Man, I'm using Locke w/Valiant Strike to help clear some of my remaining Elites, and I just cannot wait to teach him Mug Bloodlust.
I'm actually debating teaching it to Tyro, so that he can carry MBD/Mug Bloodlust to go along with Keeper's Tome's dual breaks. It's not quite a PBD, but 20% ATK/DEF and 20% ATK/MAG breaks comes damned close, and any ATK buffs never go to waste on Tyro since his base stats are so low.
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silence1186Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered Userregular
Man, I'm using Locke w/Valiant Strike to help clear some of my remaining Elites, and I just cannot wait to teach him Mug Bloodlust.
I'm actually debating teaching it to Tyro, so that he can carry MBD/Mug Bloodlust to go along with Keeper's Tome's dual breaks. It's not quite a PBD, but 20% ATK/DEF and 20% ATK/MAG breaks comes damned close, and any ATK buffs never go to waste on Tyro since his base stats are so low.
Is it possible to cycle 4 breaks? I think the timing on that will be tight.
Posts
Yes, my bad. Confused who got Battleforged RM. It's Ramza (who's a powerful character in his own right)
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38thDoE on steam
Mythgraven Blade (IV)
Grand Armor (FFT)
Power Belt (IX)
Abilities: Dark Bargain R1 and Armor Break R2
Soul Breaks: Blood Weapon
RM: Pride of the Red Wings
Faris LV55/65 HP 3412
Basilik Claw (VII)
Minerva Bustier (VI)
Durable Power Wristband (XIII)
Abilities: Magic Breakdown R2 and Power Breakdown R1
Soulbreak: Serpent's Gale and Master of the Sea
RM: Flash of light
Y'shtola LV56/65 HP 3175
Healing Staff (V)
Faris' Bracers (V)
Mog Amulet (I)
Abilities Protectga R1and Curaga R4
Soulbreaks: Fluid Aura
RM: Cultured Conjurer
Kefka LV53/65 HP 3188
Seraphic Rod (I)
Serah's Gloves (XIII)
Mage's Armlet (X)
Abilities: Firaga R3 and Blizzage R3
Soulbreaks: Exhiliarating Magic
RM: Devil's Pact
Gilgamesh LV56/65 HP 4589
Kaiser Knuckles (VI)
Party Dress (VIII)
Hyper Wrist (VI)
Abilities: Life Siphon R1 amd Soaring Jump R1
Soulbreaks: Morphing Time!
RM: Gore Stained Blade II
Think the closest I have to a big buffing relic soul break is Echo's Hastening Gift.
"Grant Shell and Haste to all allies, and temporarily raise their Resistance a moderate amount."
Hadn't really considered using her since I don't really like the character but eh, I could give her a shot if it could make the difference.
One thing that could help, is knowing what soul break relics you have in total. For example, I see you have Mythgraven Blade, which is a three hit holy attack SB for Paladin Cecil, who is a very good character in his own right. You also have Grand Armor which allows Ramza to be your support and has a medica, Echo's Seraphic Rod can be your group hastega and shellga, etc.
What do you mean "normal attacks"? Are you using the attack command? You should basically never use the basic attack command ever.
I can wholeheartedly recommend getting Magic Breakdown and Power Breakdown to R3 if you happen to have the orbs lying around.
edit: this was in response to Dr. Chaos' setup. I assume 38thDoe's Auron is using Attack because his other skill slots were Draw Fire + Retaliate
My team was Pecil 80 (Lifesiphon r2 and protectga r2, used his BSB); Snow 65b (powerbreak r3 and magicbreak r3, used diamond dust SSB); Ramza 75 (fullbreak r1 and magic breakdown r2, used shout); Tyro 75 (power breakdown r2 and armor breakdown r2, used a shared regen sb) and Lenna 75 (curaja r3 and shellga r2, used pride of tycoon medica).
Oh, as for RM Pecil had Basch's increase damage when using a shield, Snow had Ramza's battleforge, Ramza had Dr Mog's and lenna had Oath of Tycoon.
I need another orbfest to get some breakdown hones. Hahaha.
Thanks for the help, even if I didn't asked for it directly, reading this thread is like a realtime strategy guide!
I might try YuRiPa's ultimates later! Hopefully it will be fine, considering I have no FFX synergy.
Huh. I've been getting around two or three a day..
They don't. Rule of thumb is that anything that has the same effect/suite of effects will overwrite something that does the same thing.
Power Break and Power Breakdown are both Atk. Only the most recent one applied will be in effect.
Atk/Mag will stack with Atk and stack with Mag, but not stack with another Atk/Mag.
^-- This. What you (Joe) might have noticed is that you are stacking a team DEF boost (Snow) and a team RES boost (Lenna) with your other stuff, which could make a difference. Also, if you didn't have Full Break before (I see you have it now), that does stack with single-breaks, and is a big difference maker.
You should definitely try the U+ for the X event - Pecil burst should rip it a new one, I'd think.
Then maybe it was some kind of placebo effect because I could swear that it kept Ultima Weapon's damage low. Or that is what it appeared to me. At least lower than only using breakdowns. Perhaps having I was just really lucky timing my attacks?
If they don't stack, it is good to know now and organize my attacks.
It just seems like I'll be hitting the special medal conditions anyways since I want to mitigate him and water is my best aja spell. I haven't even made Leviathan yet. I'm thinking I just don't have the synergy here to do much.
38thDoE on steam
I probably am going to start paying more attentions to relic soul breaks and synergies becuase Paladin Cecil (radiant wings), Ramza (tailwind) and Josef (brave synergy) made a pretty huge difference even if it wasn't a landslide victory (it was close). Compared to where I got him to only 50% before.
Normally I just try to clear content with my favorite characters alone but they're not the best geared or loaded with soul breaks necessarily. It can prevent me from clearing some of the more fun encounters so probably going to try to start being a lil more flexible and a lil less stubborn in the future.
Woe to those whose favourite characters are Gau, Kimahri, Ricard, Strago, FuSoYa (though he gets a nice boost in about 5 months)...
Steam: TheArcadeBear
I want to meet this most rare of unicorns.
Granted, Lightning or Tidus with their BSBs are better at that, but eh.
When is Gau getting the Tempest sword relic, for a Wind God BSB?
Unicorns have horns...
38thDoE on steam
More seriously, it's usually not too hard to find a way to fit in a favorite or two, though it obviously helps to have relics for anybody you want to use. Some characters are perfectly viable even without any relics, though (the few ChainCharge users, any of the Darkness mages, Dragoons, Knights).
I'm not saying that one thing automatically means the other, but I know a few furries who have admitted to Kimahri being bae, y'know?
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Kimahri was one of my favorites from FF10 despite basically sucking. He just reminded me of a strong silent type when I originally played the game and that fits me.
Hey that reminds me
*dives Cecil through the Warrior/Knight spheres*
EDIT: Forgot about Onion Knight, but they made up for that in spades with his level 99 stats and record dives.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Pfft. Blue magic's easy to classify/make work. Stick all the meta effects in there. En-elements, imperils, quick casts, blinks, etc, etc.
Guess that Synergy does make a difference, which I lack. Oh well.
I'm pretty sure both Squall and Rinoa had OSBs well before Quistis got hers, so she doesn't even have that going for her.
On topic: favorite characters can work in teams, but you need a certain amount of XP levels, ability hones, gear, and supporting SBs before that's really feasible. Like, Gau is generally considered to be a bad character, but I used him just fine, even with no unique SBs, in the U+ Cid Mission for the opera event. It did require having him at a high level (75ish), great abilities (Powerchain and Full Charge both R3), solid equipment synergy (had a spare Sabin fist to give him), and support from a strong Relm SB (Portrait of Lakshmi) to make the team work.
Well, it stands to reason, since Rinoa is the heroine of the damn game. So yeah, Quistis is B-List, because at least she even has an OSB. I'll be surprised if Kimahri, Strago or Quina ever get a BSB, let alone an OSB.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Draw Fire and Retaliate do almost nothing in that fight: less than 10% of his actions are single target PHY attacks. I could maybe see Magic Lure + Reflect, since that accounts for about 30% of its actions, but most of the script is taken up with AOE magic and "NAT" typed physical attacks, so it's not nearly enough defense, and probably not worth the slots to bring.
With your native Shout, you could try RW Celes' burst (Maria's Song), that should get your ATK up high enough to cover for a lack of weapon synergy, while also providing a multi-hit command that does Fire damage to exploit the weakness. Full Break (maybe save for the second half of the fight since you're still at R1), Magic Breakdown, Shell, and Lenna's +RES medica should help you weather all the magic damage. The obnoxious NAT attacks ignore DEF, so Protectga and Snow's DEF boost wouldn't help, maybe stick Power Break on one of your physical characters to help with that.
Thanks for the pointers, I just realized that when I honed to r3 power and magic break I had s bunch of NEOs and POs, so I converted them to Greater ones and I managed to hone power and magic breakdown to r3!
So I will try it later!
I should really crack down and hone some WHM stuff for Nightmare Evrae Altana, considering just how ridiculously tuned my WHM SBs are for the fight:
Tyro - Keeper's Tome
Y'shtola - Stoneskin II
Exdeath - Grand Cross
Penelo - Intercession, Mincing Minuet, War Dance
Rosa - Divine Heal
Ovelia - Aegis
Porom - Sync
Eiko - Flames of Rebirth
Vanille - Deprotega, Oerba's Boon
I literally have everything needed to rip Evrae Altana a new one except for hones, but wind/holy orbs are just so precious...
I'm actually debating teaching it to Tyro, so that he can carry MBD/Mug Bloodlust to go along with Keeper's Tome's dual breaks. It's not quite a PBD, but 20% ATK/DEF and 20% ATK/MAG breaks comes damned close, and any ATK buffs never go to waste on Tyro since his base stats are so low.
Is it possible to cycle 4 breaks? I think the timing on that will be tight.
MPO 129
MWO 132
MBO 152
MSO 83
MNO 81
MFO 110
MIO 122
MLO 97
MEO 99
MWiO 91
MHO 82
MDO 93
Nice
I know I'm slacking super hard on running dailies for orbs,
but holy shit.
Nice.
One needs 24 MNEO and 24 MIO to hone Chain Blizzaga from 2 to 3, right?
I need 9 more of the former and 8 of the latter, if that's true. Within sight, but not quite there yet.