I decided to be a dick to Mateus and brought Garnet's chain. Turns out, Ashe and Reno blew through his HP so fast Ashe didn't get the chance to do much more than Glint up.
wow wow wow...still need to power up. The 180 difficulty fight is eating my team with Power of the Land. Then I tried a magic team and forgot all about the Reflect mechanic. Stupid fun game.
Anyways, man is there a way to speed up my major orb farming? I figure I'm used to powering up real fast with the fest banners. Man with my limited supply Vitality Motes (both 3* and 4*) I think the only way is to keep honing up my 5* abilities. I still can't clear all the mote dungeons reliably.
wow wow wow...still need to power up. The 180 difficulty fight is eating my team with Power of the Land. Then I tried a magic team and forgot all about the Reflect mechanic. Stupid fun game.
Anyways, man is there a way to speed up my major orb farming? I figure I'm used to powering up real fast with the fest banners. Man with my limited supply Vitality Motes (both 3* and 4*) I think the only way is to keep honing up my 5* abilities. I still can't clear all the mote dungeons reliably.
Win the 180 fights consistently, that'll speed up your Major Orb income. :P Also, figure out a way to do the raid dungeons every week if you aren't already, that will help a good deal with orbs, motes, and even some 6* crystals.
I recommend mages for the IX snake, even with the threat of Reflect. The counterhits from physical attacks are usually a bit excessive from that monster. Something you may not be aware of is that most mage BSB commands are not subject to reflect, so if you go slow and steady at the beginning of the fight to make sure you don't accidentally melt your own face when Reflect goes up, you can turn off your brain somewhat once they get into burst mode. edit to add: apparently this version of the snake only uses Reflect once, when it gets to 50% HP. So just be cautious when it's near half HP, dispel it, then go back to work. Don't forget to bring either Esuna or Ultra Cure to deal with berserk. Wear earth and/or lightning resist accessories if you have them.
If you really need to, you can bring one physical character, just have that character sit idle until the snake uncoils after each physical hit. Then you won't have to deal with any counters.
Fry on
+1
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Why does FF IX have so many variations on a snake boss that curls up or flattens or cartwheels or whatever anyways?
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Not sure I can Cid Mission Meltigemini. Just can't keep people healed with Eiko BSB, even making Beatrix into an off healer.
I equipped all of my poison resist HAHA.
Not sure I can Cid Mission Meltigemini. Just can't keep people healed with Eiko BSB, even making Beatrix into an off healer.
I equipped all of my poison resist HAHA.
I got through it, but it was pretty hairy. Sucks that Melti absorbs dark, otherwise Kuja with Dire Heal would be great. You can fit some self-heal with Amarant and/or Zidane and that'll take a little pressure off.
Apparently Ultimate Venom Powder applies a massive MND debuff (-60%, 60 second duration) if the poison lands. It makes a noticeable dent in how much Eiko can heal, I was fortunate enough that my build has a party MND buff to partially counteract it. You could try equipping Eiko for poison status resist, or you could have someone cast Grace on Eiko after every UVP to overwrite the MND debuff. Also helpful: Enkidu active magicite for emergency healing; whichever magicites have passive +healing and +MND
Fry on
0
silence1186Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered Userregular
Not sure I can Cid Mission Meltigemini. Just can't keep people healed with Eiko BSB, even making Beatrix into an off healer.
I equipped all of my poison resist HAHA.
I got through it, but it was pretty hairy. Sucks that Melti absorbs dark, otherwise Kuja with Dire Heal would be great. You can fit some self-heal with Amarant and/or Zidane and that'll take a little pressure off.
Apparently Ultimate Venom Powder applies a massive MND debuff (-60%, 60 second duration) if the poison lands. It makes a noticeable dent in how much Eiko can heal, I was fortunate enough that my build has a party MND buff to partially counteract it. You could try equipping Eiko for poison status resist, or you could have someone cast Grace on Eiko after every UVP to overwrite the MND debuff. Also helpful: Enkidu active magicite for emergency healing; whichever magicites have passive +healing and +MND
I had to use Grace on Eiko so she could heal effectively. Her BSB's command medica went from ~800 to 1800 after I counteracted the debuff.
0
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited July 2018
I did better this most recent run giving Eiko kirin, at least regen isn't impacted. Wish I could bring Elarra everywhere.
Hmm. I suppose I could pry Assault Saber off Beatrix and just have her heal and grace until she gets into BSB mode.
Interesting about the if poison powder connects part but I think he fires it off too often for Unicorn to help.
Also holy crap its 60 seconds? That's insane! I remembered reading that but thought it was 5 seconds or so.
Ultimate Venom Powder is only once per phase, but it is guaranteed on turn 1 at the start of the fight, which is way before Unicorn or Affliction Break would be able to help.
0
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
With that timer though it may as well be for the whole fight. 3 minutes is well outside of RW wall's duration.
Mateus is a real bastard. His chain magick counts as two turns rather than a 2-hit attack. So he wiped out half my party through Last Stand while I had an instant heal queued up.
I was able to use Crystal Tower as a bit of a showcase for new toys. Bolded SBs in spoilers are new from Summer Fest. I beat Mindflayer and White Dragon with all-magic teams, the latter with a VI CM team. Neither of those teams was possible before Fest.
Mateus:
Lightning USB / LMR, LM2
Sora (dispel!) / BSB / LMR, LM-Lightning / TGM
Faris magic breakdance, SB, USB1, USB2 / MM
Ramza PBD / FB / BSB2 / LMR, DMT
Elarra USB / LD, Ace Striker
Sora's 4* white comes in handy, as usual. Lightning and Sora lifesiphoned to their SBs, Faris used wrath to progressively mitigate the heck out of Mateus, and Elarra always seemed to have her USB handy when I needed it at the end. I dealt with the first slow by holding off on Ramza's BSB entry until after. I dealt with the second scripted slow using a luckily-timed recast by Ramza. There was no third slow. Lightning and Sora kill things dead fast.
Sapphire Weapon:
Bartz USB / LMR, LM2
Squall LMR, LM2
Vaan BSB
Onion BSB / LD
Eiko USB / LD
Sapphire Weapon was the hardest for me, because I didn't look at anything but Mog's text before the CT fights, and Mog lies like a rug. SW hits at least as hard with physical attacks as magic. I had to reconfigure for this fight to give Vaan PBreak in order to not fall down early. Onion brought shellga and Eiko brought hastega. I'd rather have had protectga and the high regen bard ability. Eiko's USB remains top-notch for not dying.
Mindflayer:
Vivi BSB2, USB / LD, MM
Ashe USB
Garnet CSB, BSB2, DMT
Penelo USB
Y'shtola BSB / LD
Y'shtola opened with hastega. Garnet and Vivi's buffs (CSB and BSB2, respectively) were adequate for everyone to be doing 7500 or better per hit with summons and chaingas at the start of the chain. Everything died fast. Y'shtola's BSB is still quite good for keeping people standing, but the cast time and lack of a third buff contrast sharply with stronger healers - she's good, but she's not top tier anymore (sniffle). Penelo died at the end. On the other hand, cutting things close put Vivi in trance.
White Dragon:
Kefka SSB
Celes BSB1 / MM (Bringing chaingas! Low damage, but did what I needed.)
Terra USB, ASB / LD
Mog dances / BSB / DMT
Relm BSB / TGC
Without physical attacks to counter, the dragon seemed more like a kitten. Terra (+40% fire equip) and Kefka (+40% dark equip) did big damage (and the quickcast effect from Kefka's SSB was appreciated at the end), and Mog's BSB is a great mage-shout and nice for patch healing when necessary. I picked up Mog's BSB from the 5 mythril dream select, and I'm completely satisfied with the result.
Regrouped and killed Mateus proper-like. Swapped Vivi out for Rapha in my lightning team and focused the Azers down first. There was sell some bullshit to deal with, but deal with it I did.
On today's episode of Team Poison Refuses To Acknowledge Its Obsolescence, we revisit the Crystal Tower and fight an enemy for which Leila's burst command 2 is actually relevant. Team Poison probably could've used Edgar instead of Quistis, so as to inflict Bio Weakness with Chainsaw, but the siren call of DOOMTRAIN is irresistible.
Instant hit + imperil sounds pretty good. Not gamebreaking, but it seems like a good piece of kit for an Ice team. As for comparing him to actual ice users... is he not one? Dude has access to Icicle Shot, and the LMR2 lets him Dualcast it, right?
Instant hit + imperil sounds pretty good. Not gamebreaking, but it seems like a good piece of kit for an Ice team. As for comparing him to actual ice users... is he not one? Dude has access to Icicle Shot, and the LMR2 lets him Dualcast it, right?
Eh, I think I may be a bit harsh on him, sure. It's a workable kit, just nothing mind blowing. Ice generally isn't a crowded field, yet I'd have to go out of my way to slot him in a team.
Finally made Midgardsormr sub-30 work. It only took ridiculous Bartz multicast luck (multiple quadcasts!) and Eiko using her BSB early. Earth dragon snake thing mastered in 28.49. Holy cow that boss takes a pounding.
7/8 down, Hades to go. He’d be easy sub-60, but it’s sub-30 or bust. Marche and Old Man USBs command it.
I suppose it can be used on content the break is good for, but that thing is useless for top end stuff
That's not as uncommon as you'd initially think. There are some high-end USBs out there that would lose out to their burst entries for raw damage alone, with their other effects intended to make up the difference.
That said, I'm pretty sure Noel's BSB loses to his USB for overall DPS, since the multiplier difference is something like 0.04 (after totaling up all the hits), and the BSB isn't instant-cast. There's an argument to be made for Enice (BSB) vs Imperil Ice (USB) in terms of which brings more DPS, but that depends upon the team, with more DPSers improving the efficacy of teamwide advantages like Imperil.
That being said, if Noel with his USB is facing people like a kitted-out Squall, Rinoa, or Ayame for team slots, I can see the struggle he faces for relevancy, even if I don't think his USB is bad.
Enlong on
0
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Melty down!
Had to make Grace and ended up using Steiner USB.
Even with enelement and much more spellblade damage he was only hitting 6-8k a hit for blazing quadstrike.
Vivi was doing decent with non enelement BSB +command 2>chain fireaga
Quinoa dropped many frogs and magic broke, full broke
Eiko healed and used kirin to take the poison off
Beatrix came along as Heal/gracebot then Emptied her meter into BSB>OSB>OSB
Needed enkidu for healing as well.
Posts
This was so much easier than last tower even with 3/4 spamming slow/dispel/taking forever.
Even brought red x with no sb or legend dive to save spots for harder battles.
38thDoE on steam
Anyways, man is there a way to speed up my major orb farming? I figure I'm used to powering up real fast with the fest banners. Man with my limited supply Vitality Motes (both 3* and 4*) I think the only way is to keep honing up my 5* abilities. I still can't clear all the mote dungeons reliably.
mind flayer + imps was extremely spicy
Win the 180 fights consistently, that'll speed up your Major Orb income. :P Also, figure out a way to do the raid dungeons every week if you aren't already, that will help a good deal with orbs, motes, and even some 6* crystals.
I recommend mages for the IX snake, even with the threat of Reflect. The counterhits from physical attacks are usually a bit excessive from that monster. Something you may not be aware of is that most mage BSB commands are not subject to reflect, so if you go slow and steady at the beginning of the fight to make sure you don't accidentally melt your own face when Reflect goes up, you can turn off your brain somewhat once they get into burst mode. edit to add: apparently this version of the snake only uses Reflect once, when it gets to 50% HP. So just be cautious when it's near half HP, dispel it, then go back to work. Don't forget to bring either Esuna or Ultra Cure to deal with berserk. Wear earth and/or lightning resist accessories if you have them.
If you really need to, you can bring one physical character, just have that character sit idle until the snake uncoils after each physical hit. Then you won't have to deal with any counters.
38thDoE on steam
I equipped all of my poison resist HAHA.
38thDoE on steam
I got through it, but it was pretty hairy. Sucks that Melti absorbs dark, otherwise Kuja with Dire Heal would be great. You can fit some self-heal with Amarant and/or Zidane and that'll take a little pressure off.
Apparently Ultimate Venom Powder applies a massive MND debuff (-60%, 60 second duration) if the poison lands. It makes a noticeable dent in how much Eiko can heal, I was fortunate enough that my build has a party MND buff to partially counteract it. You could try equipping Eiko for poison status resist, or you could have someone cast Grace on Eiko after every UVP to overwrite the MND debuff. Also helpful: Enkidu active magicite for emergency healing; whichever magicites have passive +healing and +MND
I had to use Grace on Eiko so she could heal effectively. Her BSB's command medica went from ~800 to 1800 after I counteracted the debuff.
Hmm. I suppose I could pry Assault Saber off Beatrix and just have her heal and grace until she gets into BSB mode.
Interesting about the if poison powder connects part but I think he fires it off too often for Unicorn to help.
Also holy crap its 60 seconds? That's insane! I remembered reading that but thought it was 5 seconds or so.
38thDoE on steam
38thDoE on steam
Mateus:
Sora (dispel!) / BSB / LMR, LM-Lightning / TGM
Faris magic breakdance, SB, USB1, USB2 / MM
Ramza PBD / FB / BSB2 / LMR, DMT
Elarra USB / LD, Ace Striker
Sora's 4* white comes in handy, as usual. Lightning and Sora lifesiphoned to their SBs, Faris used wrath to progressively mitigate the heck out of Mateus, and Elarra always seemed to have her USB handy when I needed it at the end. I dealt with the first slow by holding off on Ramza's BSB entry until after. I dealt with the second scripted slow using a luckily-timed recast by Ramza. There was no third slow. Lightning and Sora kill things dead fast.
Sapphire Weapon:
Squall LMR, LM2
Vaan BSB
Onion BSB / LD
Eiko USB / LD
Sapphire Weapon was the hardest for me, because I didn't look at anything but Mog's text before the CT fights, and Mog lies like a rug. SW hits at least as hard with physical attacks as magic. I had to reconfigure for this fight to give Vaan PBreak in order to not fall down early. Onion brought shellga and Eiko brought hastega. I'd rather have had protectga and the high regen bard ability. Eiko's USB remains top-notch for not dying.
Mindflayer:
Ashe USB
Garnet CSB, BSB2, DMT
Penelo USB
Y'shtola BSB / LD
Y'shtola opened with hastega. Garnet and Vivi's buffs (CSB and BSB2, respectively) were adequate for everyone to be doing 7500 or better per hit with summons and chaingas at the start of the chain. Everything died fast. Y'shtola's BSB is still quite good for keeping people standing, but the cast time and lack of a third buff contrast sharply with stronger healers - she's good, but she's not top tier anymore (sniffle). Penelo died at the end. On the other hand, cutting things close put Vivi in trance.
White Dragon:
Celes BSB1 / MM (Bringing chaingas! Low damage, but did what I needed.)
Terra USB, ASB / LD
Mog dances / BSB / DMT
Relm BSB / TGC
Without physical attacks to counter, the dragon seemed more like a kitten. Terra (+40% fire equip) and Kefka (+40% dark equip) did big damage (and the quickcast effect from Kefka's SSB was appreciated at the end), and Mog's BSB is a great mage-shout and nice for patch healing when necessary. I picked up Mog's BSB from the 5 mythril dream select, and I'm completely satisfied with the result.
Except Noel because wow that USB sucks.
...I guess he might be ok for ice stuff if I had his bsb2, but even then he's p.terrible compared to actual ice users.
Eh, I think I may be a bit harsh on him, sure. It's a workable kit, just nothing mind blowing. Ice generally isn't a crowded field, yet I'd have to go out of my way to slot him in a team.
I suppose it can be used on content the break is good for, but that thing is useless for top end stuff
7/8 down, Hades to go. He’d be easy sub-60, but it’s sub-30 or bust. Marche and Old Man USBs command it.
That's not as uncommon as you'd initially think. There are some high-end USBs out there that would lose out to their burst entries for raw damage alone, with their other effects intended to make up the difference.
That said, I'm pretty sure Noel's BSB loses to his USB for overall DPS, since the multiplier difference is something like 0.04 (after totaling up all the hits), and the BSB isn't instant-cast. There's an argument to be made for Enice (BSB) vs Imperil Ice (USB) in terms of which brings more DPS, but that depends upon the team, with more DPSers improving the efficacy of teamwide advantages like Imperil.
That being said, if Noel with his USB is facing people like a kitted-out Squall, Rinoa, or Ayame for team slots, I can see the struggle he faces for relevancy, even if I don't think his USB is bad.
Had to make Grace and ended up using Steiner USB.
Even with enelement and much more spellblade damage he was only hitting 6-8k a hit for blazing quadstrike.
Vivi was doing decent with non enelement BSB +command 2>chain fireaga
Quinoa dropped many frogs and magic broke, full broke
Eiko healed and used kirin to take the poison off
Beatrix came along as Heal/gracebot then Emptied her meter into BSB>OSB>OSB
Needed enkidu for healing as well.
38thDoE on steam
Yes.
i wish black crystals weren't on the last day.
Hoo boy. Time to workshop some FFV teams. I think Kelger is going to be a big part of my strategies.
I've seen a decent number of Earth teams (Lenna/Kelger/Dorgann/Bartz/Galuf or Faris) or Fire teams (Lenna/Krile/Galuf/Bartz/Faris).
You need to deal between 900-5400 damage in an attack to get him to open.
So either low level, or like....use a magic attack with a physical user, or something like that.