BTTP: Final Fantasy XII (Advice Needed)

mynameisguido

So, around the time it originally came out, I bought Final Fantasy XII. The license board system and the gambits took a little getting used to, but I was proceeding as I normally do through these games, and all was well. Until, that is I got to

the Judge Ghis battle on the Leviathan

. He absolutely and totally annihilated me. But that's fine, I'm used to that happening to me on occasion. So I set out to kill some of the guards, get some more license points and be better prepared for the battle. Unfortunately, when I tried to actually kill some of the guards, I'd eventually get overwhelmed and die. Over and over again.

I tried this off and on for about two days, until I concluded that I was screwed. I was about 20 hours in according to my clock, and I was going to have to start over. I did so, but having just gone through the story before it was difficult to go through it again. I put it down for a while, only to pick it back up earlier tonight. And I'm enjoying it again, but even knowing what the license board looks like, I'm extremely confused as to what parts of the board I should be prioritizing for what characters, and don't want to go as far as I did before only to get stuck all over again.

So, whoever is willing to give advice, I would like some tangible, concrete advice regarding character builds and the license board, as well as more general advice regarding what I need to make sure to do in order to not get stuck next time.

Thanks in advance.

Magus`

Use multiple saves?

mrgilmorean

Character specialization served me very well throughout the game. The early boss battles seemed to require one character who was a healer. In terms of which weapons to go with, I found most melee weapons to be more or less on par with each other. Lower damage weapons (eg. daggers) have a faster attack rate and tend to have a higher combo rate as well. There are stat differences between the characters but I think they are minor enough that you don't have to worry whether Basch is really going to make the best thief. I found the speed at which equipment is doled out to be slower than the speed at which you can unlock its license so I prioritized the stat/ability boosts.

Good luck. It is a fantastic game.

Ah_Pook

steal a Gladius from the Lindbur Wolf in the Westersand, level up a bunch and put all the LP into HP and stat boosts (the lower left part of the license board), and get everyone in your main party at least one quickening. do all the available hunts for a ready source of XP/LP.

honestly i got so ridiculously overpowered from just wandering around exploring, randomly stealing that Gladius, and doing hunts and stuff that the game has been ridiculously easy so far. if memory serves i killed that Judge with a single Quickening chain.

my party for the entire game has been Vaan as the tank, and Balthier and Fran with their ranged weapons as backup/hearlers. its worked very well thus far.

Magus`

By the end of the game (and for the side missions) everyone in your party will need to be at LEAST proficient in healing if not flat out everything.

Ah_Pook

i just got to balfonheim and everyone has the top part of the license board filled already. once you get the golden amulet that gives you double LP points you run out of stuff to actually spend them on pretty quickly. at least i did.

but yea everyones going to end up being about the same, minus whatever weapons you throw on them.

Meister

Get Quickenings. Not only does each quickening after the first give you a new mp bar (i.e. 2 quickenings = double normal mp), but they're also really strong. For example, on that boss you had trouble with, I just did a 3 quickening chain (do a quickening, then press the buttons above the time bar to initiate another quickening) and killed him in one hit.

Magus`

Quickenings get noticably more and more useless as the game goes on (or at least, in my experiences). They're good for a strong finish, though.

Ah_Pook

having the extra MP is pretty crucial though, even if you never use the actual quickenings

Fencingsax

You can't even defeat the guards? What I did was simply farm the alarm guards outside the save room.

Meister

Fencingsax wrote: »

You can't even defeat the guards? What I did was simply farm the alarm guards outside the save room.

Yah, seriously, I just kept killing them, and then going back inside to regain health. It's pretty much impossible to lose if you stay near the zone border, because you can just go back and refill your hp/mp.

turtleant

Some tips on Judge Ghis

1 Fran is your friend: Fran starts this fight with the beserk status effect. use this to your advantage. Beserk increases a charecters speed, attack, and defense. A good way to start this fight is to manually tell Fran to attack Judge Ghis, thus distracting him for a bit. This leads to step 2.

2 Kill the Cronies: You start with 2 minor judges behind you. Kill them imeadietly. They have a bad habit of interupting your actions.

3 Belias is thier to help: Summon Beias as soon as Judge Ghis knocks out Fran. Now this is important, If Judge Ghis attacks you, run away from him since he doesn't have a ranged attack. (iirc) This will make him waste time and let Belias really pound him. If he attacks Belias, keep Belias alive with cure and/or potions. If Belias gets his final attack in, it will really drop Judge G's life.

4 Quickening for the win: Bring fran back to life quickly, then drop a big Quikening chain on him. It should kill him or...

5 The long haul: You'll just have to finish him off the old fashioned way. Spread your charecters out around the battlefield. Since the Judge doesn't have a ranged attack it will make him waste time running from one charecter to another. This gives you plenty of time to heal/revive anyone he seriously damaged. Make him play monkey in the middle.

Hope this helps.

scootch

I had one character on: dead character use pheonix down -> party health less then 30% use potion -> cast barrier and shield on self -> enemy health 100% attack -> attack closest .

had 2 characters on: dead character use pheonix down -> party health less then 30% use potion
-> cast barrier and shield on self -> enemy health 100% steal -> party health at 70% heal -> attack leaders target.


I did my laundry, came back and the fight was over.

Summon and quickenings are waste of mana imo. even more so as you get closer to the end of the game. save your mana for the heals... you can last forever in a fight. make sure you steal a lot. free potions and phoenix downs are the easiest items to get and most useful.

mynameisguido

Fencingsax wrote: »

You can't even defeat the guards? What I did was simply farm the alarm guards outside the save room.

It's been several months since I've even tried this bit, but all I remember is that I'd be walking around trying to get license points/gold/etc. and eventually I'd get wiped out. I'd do fine at first but eventually the stupid way I used my license points up to that point caught up to me and I'd get wiped out.

I may try that method though---if I can avoid having to go through that other stuff again it'd be quite nice. I guess my problem was that I was trying to take on too many.

Fencingsax

mynameisguido wrote: »

Fencingsax wrote: »

You can't even defeat the guards? What I did was simply farm the alarm guards outside the save room.

It's been several months since I've even tried this bit, but all I remember is that I'd be walking around trying to get license points/gold/etc. and eventually I'd get wiped out. I'd do fine at first but eventually the stupid way I used my license points up to that point caught up to me and I'd get wiped out.

I may try that method though---if I can avoid having to go through that other stuff again it'd be quite nice. I guess my problem was that I was trying to take on too many.

Just renew your HP at the save point every so often.

scootch

Fencingsax wrote: »

mynameisguido wrote: »

Fencingsax wrote: »

You can't even defeat the guards? What I did was simply farm the alarm guards outside the save room.

It's been several months since I've even tried this bit, but all I remember is that I'd be walking around trying to get license points/gold/etc. and eventually I'd get wiped out. I'd do fine at first but eventually the stupid way I used my license points up to that point caught up to me and I'd get wiped out.

I may try that method though---if I can avoid having to go through that other stuff again it'd be quite nice. I guess my problem was that I was trying to take on too many.

Just renew your HP at the save point every so often.

yah.. definately, if you think you're too low on the pts, stick close to the save point. remember to steal from the guards. it's a good way to replenish your phoenix down and potions for the boss battle. items activate faster than magic, giving you an edge in emergencies.

Meister

turtleant, you're thinking of a different fight, and also your post has some minor spoilers for him.

mynameisguido

Hmm...just thought of something. Can I beat Ghis without any Quickenings? One of my major foul-ups when going through my license board is that none of them have Quickenings at this point---this was one reason I started a new save file.

Meister

mynameisguido wrote: »

Hmm...just thought of something. Can I beat Ghis without any Quickenings? One of my major foul-ups when going through my license board is that none of them have Quickenings at this point---this was one reason I started a new save file.

Yes, it's definitely possible. Especially if you level up a bit on the guards, which won't take that long. Also, it's no biggie having no quickenings that early in the game, although you'll want to get them soon (if not for the quickening itself, then at least for the mp).

Junpei

Yes, you can

The Ghis fight is all about keeping your range on him really. You can use Fran in her bezerk to keep him occupied while you deal with the other annoyances but once that's done all you need to do is keep range on him and you are golden.

On my first play through I think my set up was Fran, Balt, Basch(or Vaan).

Basically the most important thing for all your characters to know is some form of heal, even the most basic heal is a life saver if gambit'd correctly.