I did the reflect lure magic strat. I beat it, just 3 times with less than a pixel of hp he chose to use double aoes after aoes on his previous turn which prevented mastery, and since my aoe heal is just oerba's boon, i don't get the high regen or haste or whatever to carry me through like the other medicas get.
if i had more levels i'd probably be able to get through it, but wakka/tyro/vanille just don't have the hp and tank to survive bad rng. i know a mastery is possible with this strat, i just can't bring myself to waste any more time on it praying for RNG when it clearly doesn't want to participate. 6 hours S/Ling over and over is enough.
Apparently FFRK uses a lottery system for choosing abilities as opposed to purely randomly choosing them each turn, and abilities are chosen from a discrete list of possibilities without replacement until all are choosen. Here's an explanation of it that is probably better than what I could do:
You're right to be suspicious. The reasoning behind it is unfortunately rather complicated -- it was definitely intended to be 50%, but the way they decide random abilities is a lot more complicated than I thought. Let's see if I can explain this....
The system FFRK uses is something they call Lottery Boxes. They can be thought as being literally a box with a number of tickets in, each listing a specific ability to use. When a ticket is chosen, it is not replaced until the box is empty.
This doesn't matter for Turn 1, because a completely different box is used there -- no matter what ability is chosen on Turn 1, it won't affect Turn 2 onwards.
For Turn 2, we're using Omega's regular box. It has 82 tickets in. 80 of those tickets are locked to Turn 3+, leaving one ticket for Flash and one ticket for Reflect. FFRK checks that there's at least one ticket for a usable ability for this turn: if there wasn't, it would reset the box by replacing all the tickets. But since this is an unused box, this check passes naturally.
Now, what it does is it pulls up to 20 tickets, checking each one in turn, until it finds a valid ability. If it pulls an invalid ability (Blaster for example), then it throws away the ticket and tries again. The only valid tickets on Turn 2 are for Flash and Reflect, and there's only one of each out of the 82 tickets. That means there's a 56.94% chance that it will manage to pull 20 tickets without finding Flash or Reflect.
If it fails to find Flash or Reflect, it then gives up and goes through the tickets in order, looking for the highest weighted ability that is still valid. Flash and Reflect have the same weight, so all that matters is which is first in the order... in this case, it's Reflect. So it picks Reflect, throws away the ticket, and things carry on as normal on Turn 3 onwards.
===
So this means that instead of a 50%/50% chance of Flash/Reflect, it's instead a 21.53%/78.47% chance of Flash/Reflect, simply because these are extremely low weight abilities that are the only valid choices on Turn 2.
The mechanic also has impacts on other battles -- over the course of enough turns, you are guaranteed to see every ability. Most 'Lottery Boxes' have enough tickets in them (usually 100 in total) such that this rarely happens, but it can become a problem, especially if we see more enemies with locked abilities that have high weights.
The effect on this is much more pronounced for long fights where the boss gets lots of turns, like ultimate exadeath. So if you get lucky and see a bunch of single target spells early on in phase 2, then that means you are increasingly likely to see more and more AOEs as the phase goes on. If you are in a fight that is so tough that you are dependent on good luck on enemy ability choices to win, you are probably going to want that fight to be as short as possible, one way or the other. and S/L away the bad combos.
I did the reflect lure magic strat. I beat it, just 3 times with less than a pixel of hp he chose to use double aoes after aoes on his previous turn which prevented mastery, and since my aoe heal is just oerba's boon, i don't get the high regen or haste or whatever to carry me through like the other medicas get.
if i had more levels i'd probably be able to get through it, but wakka/tyro/vanille just don't have the hp and tank to survive bad rng. i know a mastery is possible with this strat, i just can't bring myself to waste any more time on it praying for RNG when it clearly doesn't want to participate. 6 hours S/Ling over and over is enough.
Apparently FFRK uses a lottery system for choosing abilities as opposed to purely randomly choosing them each turn, and abilities are chosen from a discrete list of possibilities without replacement until all are choosen. Here's an explanation of it that is probably better than what I could do:
You're right to be suspicious. The reasoning behind it is unfortunately rather complicated -- it was definitely intended to be 50%, but the way they decide random abilities is a lot more complicated than I thought. Let's see if I can explain this....
The system FFRK uses is something they call Lottery Boxes. They can be thought as being literally a box with a number of tickets in, each listing a specific ability to use. When a ticket is chosen, it is not replaced until the box is empty.
This doesn't matter for Turn 1, because a completely different box is used there -- no matter what ability is chosen on Turn 1, it won't affect Turn 2 onwards.
For Turn 2, we're using Omega's regular box. It has 82 tickets in. 80 of those tickets are locked to Turn 3+, leaving one ticket for Flash and one ticket for Reflect. FFRK checks that there's at least one ticket for a usable ability for this turn: if there wasn't, it would reset the box by replacing all the tickets. But since this is an unused box, this check passes naturally.
Now, what it does is it pulls up to 20 tickets, checking each one in turn, until it finds a valid ability. If it pulls an invalid ability (Blaster for example), then it throws away the ticket and tries again. The only valid tickets on Turn 2 are for Flash and Reflect, and there's only one of each out of the 82 tickets. That means there's a 56.94% chance that it will manage to pull 20 tickets without finding Flash or Reflect.
If it fails to find Flash or Reflect, it then gives up and goes through the tickets in order, looking for the highest weighted ability that is still valid. Flash and Reflect have the same weight, so all that matters is which is first in the order... in this case, it's Reflect. So it picks Reflect, throws away the ticket, and things carry on as normal on Turn 3 onwards.
===
So this means that instead of a 50%/50% chance of Flash/Reflect, it's instead a 21.53%/78.47% chance of Flash/Reflect, simply because these are extremely low weight abilities that are the only valid choices on Turn 2.
The mechanic also has impacts on other battles -- over the course of enough turns, you are guaranteed to see every ability. Most 'Lottery Boxes' have enough tickets in them (usually 100 in total) such that this rarely happens, but it can become a problem, especially if we see more enemies with locked abilities that have high weights.
The effect on this is much more pronounced for long fights where the boss gets lots of turns, like ultimate exadeath. So if you get lucky and see a bunch of single target spells early on in phase 2, then that means you are increasingly likely to see more and more AOEs as the phase goes on. If you are in a fight that is so tough that you are dependent on good luck on enemy ability choices to win, you are probably going to want that fight to be as short as possible, one way or the other. and S/L away the bad combos.
Amusingly, most of my good runs were short as I was using the advance strat. P2 usually was only 4ish turns to get down to magic pixel each time, majority of turns were in P1 setting up everything and making sure you didn't go into P2 while he was casting, since 3 abilities in a row was a wipe 90% of the time..
Oh damn it, I kicked Melusine's ass with all my FFV gear and a pure Advantaliate strategy. Except I forgot to equip Sleep Buster on someone and S/L until it stuck. And I lost one medal for Damage Taken, so I only Cleared it, not Mastered it.
I really want those 8 Greater Earth Orbs. I think I need to rerun this ><
Edit: Put Sleep Buster on Locke instead of Boost. It took a bit longer, and she never switched to Weak to Physical like she did on the first run, but I got it. She got off a third AoE at phase change that brought two people down to a sliver of HP, but she didn't kill anybody. Lost 2 medals for Damage Taken and that's all.
Didn't think I could do it without Wall RW, but all I needed was to stack heavy RES on everyone, Cloud included, and keep Shellga up.
So I got Rikku yesterday and have been going through early-stage event dungeons and some Realms to grind out Mythril
I just got 50, but decided to use some of my gems (not sure how I got them; probably some kind of new player bonus gift?) on the Guardian Targe one-time discount draw first.
UH YES THANK YOU GAME I AM PRETTY OKAY WITH THAT RESULT
Congrats! I am not certain Rikku is a good character, but that's definitely a nice SB to have for physical teams.
"Hyper Null-All" (party: ATK +30% as status 603 and RES +50% as status 607). Weirdly, it applies two different buffs with two different status codes. The upshot is the ATK buff doesn't stack with other pure ATK buffs, but the RES buff will stack with Shellga.
Congrats! I am not certain Rikku is a good character, but that's definitely a nice SB to have for physical teams.
"Hyper Null-All" (party: ATK +30% as status 603 and RES +50% as status 607). Weirdly, it applies two different buffs with two different status codes. The upshot is the ATK buff doesn't stack with other pure ATK buffs, but the RES buff will stack with Shellga.
Yeah, I've been hearing she might not be too great?
That's okay, though, 'cuz I highly doubt I'll get deep enough into FFRK for tier lists to even matter. Much like DBZ Dokkan battle, it's a fun time-waster I play when I can't/don't want to play a more involved game, and I'm more concerned with collecting my favorite characters than I am in doing the most challenging content.
Also I did a x11 Buster Claw Relic Draw with my Mythril and got a Shiranui, so I'm pretty happy with my draw results today.
So from the various holiday things, I now have Sentinal's Grimore, Advance, and Blasting Zone. Obviously should put one of those three as my roaming warrior - preferences?
Ok, so I only got Expert on the level 99 Yunalesca fight, which means I need a better strategy for her. I want to re-clear the 99 and get Mastery.
I also need a stronger strategy because if I only got expert on the 99, there's no way I'm gonna be able to do the 140. Note: I got mastery on the 110 and 120, so I think the 140 is doable. I just need a good strat.
Is she vulnerable to any status effects? Sleep, silence, stop, paralyze, berserk? Anything?
Any strategy is on the table for this, even ones I've never used before. This FFX event is the first time I legitimately have a shot of getting all masteries because my FFX synergy is good. I've got good items and all my characters are pretty decently leveled.
So anyway, what do I need to do to obtain mastery on both the 99 Yunalesca and also the 140 Yunalesca?
Ok, so I only got Expert on the level 99 Yunalesca fight, which means I need a better strategy for her. I want to re-clear the 99 and get Mastery.
I also need a stronger strategy because if I only got expert on the 99, there's no way I'm gonna be able to do the 140. Note: I got mastery on the 110 and 120, so I think the 140 is doable. I just need a good strat.
Is she vulnerable to any status effects? Sleep, silence, stop, paralyze, berserk? Anything?
Any strategy is on the table for this, even ones I've never used before. This FFX event is the first time I legitimately have a shot of getting all masteries because my FFX synergy is good. I've got good items and all my characters are pretty decently leveled.
So anyway, what do I need to do to obtain mastery on both the 99 Yunalesca and also the 140 Yunalesca?
For 99 Yunalesca, Shellga and Protega are great. Any Hastega SB you may have helps, and I would actually go with any of the myriad options out there as one for your RW over a Wall RW. Yuna's worst abilities are Hell Biter which can be mitigated by Protega and Power Breakdown and Holy, which can only be mitigated with Shell, but she doesn't really cast it that often. Being hasted will help you kill her faster before the sap, which can't be mitigated at all, really has a lot of time to do significant damage.
I would almost copy this for 140 Yunalesca. I just killed her, losing only one medal to actions taken. She used 3 abilities the whole fight. Absorb, which constantly missed (I did get lucky and she used it twice on Cloud in Retaliate mode, so it was auto-countered), Hell Biter which is a sure thing, and Osmose, which while it drained my abilities by 1-2 points each cast, it didn't really mean squat because I was using Advantaliate. Hell Biter only hit my characters for 300-400 a piece, but that was with SS2 up. Even without it, then that means the damage would have only been about 700-900, which is still nothing serious, and she is so prone to using Osmose that you should get by without taking much damage at all unless the game just hits you with bad AI RNG spamming Holy or Hell Biter.
Cloud lvl 80 Retaliate/tempo flurry self sacrifice RM (I don't have Ricard's yet)
Lenna lvl 70 Curaga/Protectga w Mako Might (I don't have any AoE heals, so Lenna with Gaia Gear's shared is the best I can do
Tyro lvl 65 Reflect and Boost w double hit RM
P.Cecil lvl 65 Shellga/Draw Magic (can't take Carbuncle since I won't be able to heal, so my plan is to put reflect on P.Cecil and have him draw all the single target magic to himself).
Rinoa lvl 74 Waterja/Firaja w auto-haste RM (because I don't have anything preferable.
SS2/SG RW. Tried Advance at first to blitz him down but he just takes me down way too fast without a Wall up.
I guess if I were to make any improvements, it'd be to put Boost on Cloud instead, get rid of Tempo Flurry, but give him the Double Hit RM instead. Then use the new slot for Tyro to use Magic Breakdown to try and further nullify Exdeath's offense. Everyone is in the back row except for Cloud, which makes his physical attacks completely useless. He doesn't use them often, though.
If I can get him down to a good spot, I've got Cloud and Rinoa's SSB, so if I can get him down to 20% or so while still in good shape, I can basically blast him down. It's getting to that point, though that seems to be the trouble.
EDIT: I've also got pretty good FFV item synergy. 6* icebrand on Cloud, Kotetsu on Tyro, 6* FFV axe on Pecil, Lilith's Rod on Rinoa. The only item I don't have is a MND one. Which I'm considering trying to pull for, since Lenna is going to be my primary WHM for awhile.
I was thinking of trying a Retaliate strategy. I've never done that before, and so I'm probably going to flub it up pretty hard. Is Cloud still the best one for this? I've got Auron at 65 and I have a FFX Katana, so he might have higher damage than Cloud based on synergy. What if I put the Heroic Stance RM on him to up his Katana damage?
I honestly don't even know how to do a Retaliate strategy from a specifics standpoint. Like, I understand the basic principle. Cast Advance, cast retaliate, and use your other dudes to attack your main dude to proc a bunch of retaliates. I got that. But I don't know all the nitty gritty details of how to make it work at maximum effectiveness.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Is Rinoa doing more damage than Cloud over the duration of the fight? I didn't try magic here because I don't have the hones. If not I'd replace her with something more useful since you are bringing reflect anyways. I'm sure in the time it takes to kill him he'll probably get all the medals for you.
Is Rinoa doing more damage than Cloud over the duration of the fight? I didn't try magic here because I don't have the hones. If not I'd replace her with something more useful since you are bringing reflect anyways. I'm sure in the time it takes to kill him he'll probably get all the medals for you.
So far yeah actually. Between level, synergy, the bump from mastering her SSB, and Devotion, she's 9999ing her damage with each cast. Meanwhile Cloud is doing about 4k per hit of retaliate + boost. And she's got 10 casts total, which + SB gauge from damage taken is enough to give her roughly two SSB casts, each which does probably about 20k each.
I was thinking of trying a Retaliate strategy. I've never done that before, and so I'm probably going to flub it up pretty hard. Is Cloud still the best one for this? I've got Auron at 65 and I have a FFX Katana, so he might have higher damage than Cloud based on synergy. What if I put the Heroic Stance RM on him to up his Katana damage?
I honestly don't even know how to do a Retaliate strategy from a specifics standpoint. Like, I understand the basic principle. Cast Advance, cast retaliate, and use your other dudes to attack your main dude to proc a bunch of retaliates. I got that. But I don't know all the nitty gritty details of how to make it work at maximum effectiveness.
All "Samurai" capable characters have their own niche. Cloud is the Chosen One, mostly in that he's one of three level 80 characters capable of Retaliate right now, and his weapon selection is better because swords. Sephiroth is a suitable substitute, but katanas are rare for realm synergy and daggers are weaker compared to swords. Tyro can do it all too, from the backrow with ranged weapons, and Draw Fire for high physical fights, but he hits like a wet noodle compared to the other two. Auron is Cloud without level 80 (but will be able to Draw Fire/Retaliate later) and Gilgamesh is a stronger Tyro, but again, still lacking level 80. I've had no problems running everything with Cloud, even lacking synergy for some realms, and the best SB I have for him is Braver from a 6* Buster Sword. (EDIT: Forgot about Cyan. He's Sephiroth, sans level 80, and only really good for an FFVI dungeon stomp.)
Retaliate lasts, typically, 2 rounds without haste, and good for 3 with it. So, unhasted: Retaliate, Advance, Retaliate, Draw Fire/Tempo Flurry/Double Cut/SB, Retaliate, etc for about 10-12 actions, at which point you'll need to refresh Advance. With haste: Retaliate, Advance, Retaliate (SB cast time is enough that you might be knocked out of Retaliate before you can recast, I like to play it safe), ability, ability, Retaliate, ability, ability, etc. You can easily get 18 or so actions out of an Advance with Haste.
My Cloud isn't 80, so while I understand that that would be an advantage, in this case it isn't a big deal. Cloud is 67 and Auron is 65 and has Record Synergy.
I'm gonna build a team with Auron as my Retaliator and see what happens. This will probably be hilarious since I've never done it before. I do a test run on the 99 Yunalesca to try to get the Mastery there before I take this build into the 140.
I'm gonna build a team with Auron as my Retaliator and see what happens. This will probably be hilarious since I've never done it before. I do a test run on the 99 Yunalesca to try to get the Mastery there before I take this build into the 140.
Go with Auron over Cloud, definitely, since Auron gets +10 levels for synergy. When Cloud is 80, he'll still be the go-to regardless of realm synergy because of those extra 5 levels. Only weapon synergy matters at that point.
It takes a bit to get used to the timing of your Retaliate uptime, and you'll probably end up hitting Auron a time or two, but it's not at all difficult once you get the hang of it. The thing to watch for is that your Samurai is still in a "fighting stance" even while their ATB charges. This means Retaliate is still active. When they go back to neutral/standing, you won't auto-counter.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited January 2016
Lucascraft do you have an RM that gives Sap? If not her megadeath will kill the retaliator unless you wait to get hit by hellbiter first.
Is Rinoa doing more damage than Cloud over the duration of the fight? I didn't try magic here because I don't have the hones. If not I'd replace her with something more useful since you are bringing reflect anyways. I'm sure in the time it takes to kill him he'll probably get all the medals for you.
So far yeah actually. Between level, synergy, the bump from mastering her SSB, and Devotion, she's 9999ing her damage with each cast. Meanwhile Cloud is doing about 4k per hit of retaliate + boost. And she's got 10 casts total, which + SB gauge from damage taken is enough to give her roughly two SSB casts, each which does probably about 20k each.
Wow, that's solid damage! How much magic is that? Although really it kind of makes the SSB look bad. SSB takes as long to cast as two regular abilities, and roughly the same damage?
Is Rinoa doing more damage than Cloud over the duration of the fight? I didn't try magic here because I don't have the hones. If not I'd replace her with something more useful since you are bringing reflect anyways. I'm sure in the time it takes to kill him he'll probably get all the medals for you.
So far yeah actually. Between level, synergy, the bump from mastering her SSB, and Devotion, she's 9999ing her damage with each cast. Meanwhile Cloud is doing about 4k per hit of retaliate + boost. And she's got 10 casts total, which + SB gauge from damage taken is enough to give her roughly two SSB casts, each which does probably about 20k each.
Wow, that's solid damage! How much magic is that? Although really it kind of makes the SSB look bad. SSB takes as long to cast as two regular abilities, and roughly the same damage?
About 415 MAG altogether. And I may actually be underselling her SSB. It either does 3.5k per hit, or 5.5k per hit, I can't actually remember which.
You should have Self-Sacrifice for breaking Josef's level 50 cap. Put that on Auron so he's perma-sapped, since being in Retaliate will auto-evade Hell Biter and he wouldn't normally receive the status.
I do have Self Sacrifice I think. That's Josef's RW1, right?
Ok so here's my first ever setup for a Retaliate build for Yunalesca-99.
Auron - Retaliate and ?, RM Self Sacrifice
Sasz - Double Cut and Boost, RM Mako Might (Boon)
Yuna - Curaga, Shellga, RM Light of the Fayth (I don't really have a better option here)
Rikku - Box Step and ?, RM Double Hit
For my last character slot, do I want Cecil for Magic Lure, or do I want a Mage for extra DPS?
Also, I don't know what attack to put on Auron. I have 6 uses of Power Break or 8 uses of Magic Break. He cannot use Tempo Flurry, so that isn't an option.
I also don't know what to use for Rikku's other ability.
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Bring Cecil for double cut. You want everyone but the healer triggering retaliate usually. Magic break is worthless here, she doesn't use her Magic stat.
I do have Self Sacrifice I think. That's Josef's RW1, right?
Ok so here's my first ever setup for a Retaliate build for Yunalesca-99.
Auron - Retaliate and ?, RM Self Sacrifice
Sasz - Double Cut and Boost, RM Mako Might (Boon)
Yuna - Curaga, Shellga, RM Light of the Fayth (I don't really have a better option here)
Rikku - Box Step and ?, RM Double Hit
For my last character slot, do I want Cecil for Magic Lure, or do I want a Mage for extra DPS?
Also, I don't know what attack to put on Auron. I have 6 uses of Power Break or 8 uses of Magic Break. He cannot use Tempo Flurry, so that isn't an option.
I also don't know what to use for Rikku's other ability.
Magic Break won't lessen the damage of Holy, so no real need to put in on. Power Break(down) is useful to lessen her physical hits and any Hellbiters she tosses out. If you have PBD, give it to Sazh and give Rikku Boost, otherwise, just give Rikku Power Break. Auron can still Double Cut, just don't have him hit himself because he won't auto-counter. Just tap it normally to hit Yunalesca.
I think I may just call exdeath a bust. I'd like to get Ricard's RM to prep for Yunalesca, so I may just focus on getting that, then doing the FFX event.
Advance will take you up from ~3700 damage to ~7k or 8k damage, it should be pretty mandatory for you. You'll have to stack RES gear and Shellga to survive long enough to murder her.
Are you using Renewing Cure instead of Curaga? Regen removes Sap.
Edit: This was the setup I just used for Melusine+++ last night, to give you an idea of what an Advantaliate setup usually looks like.
Cloud: Double Cut, Retaliate
Bartz: Double Cut, Armor Break
Locke: Tempo Flurry, Boost
Faris: Tempo Flurry, Magic Breakdown
Lenna: Curaga, Shellga (same deal, just bring Yuna)
First turn, everyone uses their second skill. Second turn, Cloud uses Advance, everyone else uses first skill. Third turn, everyone's back to second skill except Lenna, who continues to heal usually.
The soft ATK cap is 590 or so, so if realm synergy + Advance is enough to put you near that much ATK then Boost will have less of an impact. Armor Break/Down also has a reduced impact because of break resistance, but every little bit helps.
I think I may just call exdeath a bust. I'd like to get Ricard's RM to prep for Yunalesca, so I may just focus on getting that, then doing the FFX event.
The only advice I can give if you don't have a native SG/SS2 like me is to try a triple black mage party since you don't have advance on Cloud anyway.
I did need 3 R4 and 1 R3 'ja spell, but i also didn't have great soul breaks on my casters.
No, I'm not using any form of Regen. Just using normal Curaga. I haven't even had an opportunity to use Yuna's Christmas Candle yet.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited January 2016
Sap falls off in 45 seconds or so apparently. If you are chipping away at ~4k a swing you might have a natural fall off. He can't be re-sapped while retaliate is up. Then Megadeath will kill him.
Our next Ultimate battle has counter-revive at least.
Advantaliate strategy is mostly about killing the boss before he can kill you. You want just enough mitigation to survive long enough to nuke the boss down and prevent any single character from dying. There's no real subtlety to it, and the more people bringing Double Cut/Tempo Flurry to proc your Retaliator the better.
I think I may just call exdeath a bust. I'd like to get Ricard's RM to prep for Yunalesca, so I may just focus on getting that, then doing the FFX event.
The only advice I can give if you don't have a native SG/SS2 like me is to try a triple black mage party since you don't have advance on Cloud anyway.
I did need 3 R4 and 1 R3 'ja spell, but i also didn't have great soul breaks on my casters.
I don't have enough orbs for that, unfortunately. I've only got 1 R3, and 2 R2s. I don't even have Blizzaja crafted yet. Which is a shame, because with a 74 Rinoa, 65 Vivi and 65 Lulu, my Black Mage game is strong.
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Apparently FFRK uses a lottery system for choosing abilities as opposed to purely randomly choosing them each turn, and abilities are chosen from a discrete list of possibilities without replacement until all are choosen. Here's an explanation of it that is probably better than what I could do:
The effect on this is much more pronounced for long fights where the boss gets lots of turns, like ultimate exadeath. So if you get lucky and see a bunch of single target spells early on in phase 2, then that means you are increasingly likely to see more and more AOEs as the phase goes on. If you are in a fight that is so tough that you are dependent on good luck on enemy ability choices to win, you are probably going to want that fight to be as short as possible, one way or the other. and S/L away the bad combos.
Amusingly, most of my good runs were short as I was using the advance strat. P2 usually was only 4ish turns to get down to magic pixel each time, majority of turns were in P1 setting up everything and making sure you didn't go into P2 while he was casting, since 3 abilities in a row was a wipe 90% of the time..
took a couple mythril, and a few S/L to get it done, but its done.
Did the Reflect/Draw Fire strat with Advantaliate. Its one of 2 I have actually used Advance on.
Party setup (similar to one I saw posted earlier)
-Cloud lvl 80 - Retaliate r5, Tempo Flurry r4 - Freedom's Wish
-Pal Cecil lvl 65 - Protectga r1, Magic Lure r2 - Thief's Code
-Wakka lvl 65 - Magic Breakdown r3, Tempo Flurry r4 - Ace Striker
-Tyro lvl 65 - Reflect r2, Double Cut r4 - Dr Mog's Teachings (Sentinel Grimoire)
-Y'shtola lvl 65 - Shellga r1, Curaga r5 - Mako Might (Stoneskin 2/Medica 2)
Turn 1 is Retaliate, Protectga, Shellga, Magic Breakdown
Turn 2 is Advance, start hitting Cloud.
right before he hits 50%, refresh Protectga, Shellga, SG, and set up Reflect/Magic Lure, Refresh Advance.
Continue hitting Cloud, pray for Single Target magic of all 3 types.
I really want those 8 Greater Earth Orbs. I think I need to rerun this ><
Edit: Put Sleep Buster on Locke instead of Boost. It took a bit longer, and she never switched to Weak to Physical like she did on the first run, but I got it. She got off a third AoE at phase change that brought two people down to a sliver of HP, but she didn't kill anybody. Lost 2 medals for Damage Taken and that's all.
Didn't think I could do it without Wall RW, but all I needed was to stack heavy RES on everyone, Cloud included, and keep Shellga up.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
I just got 50, but decided to use some of my gems (not sure how I got them; probably some kind of new player bonus gift?) on the Guardian Targe one-time discount draw first.
UH YES THANK YOU GAME I AM PRETTY OKAY WITH THAT RESULT
"Hyper Null-All" (party: ATK +30% as status 603 and RES +50% as status 607). Weirdly, it applies two different buffs with two different status codes. The upshot is the ATK buff doesn't stack with other pure ATK buffs, but the RES buff will stack with Shellga.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Yeah, I've been hearing she might not be too great?
That's okay, though, 'cuz I highly doubt I'll get deep enough into FFRK for tier lists to even matter. Much like DBZ Dokkan battle, it's a fun time-waster I play when I can't/don't want to play a more involved game, and I'm more concerned with collecting my favorite characters than I am in doing the most challenging content.
Also I did a x11 Buster Claw Relic Draw with my Mythril and got a Shiranui, so I'm pretty happy with my draw results today.
I also need a stronger strategy because if I only got expert on the 99, there's no way I'm gonna be able to do the 140. Note: I got mastery on the 110 and 120, so I think the 140 is doable. I just need a good strat.
Is she vulnerable to any status effects? Sleep, silence, stop, paralyze, berserk? Anything?
Any strategy is on the table for this, even ones I've never used before. This FFX event is the first time I legitimately have a shot of getting all masteries because my FFX synergy is good. I've got good items and all my characters are pretty decently leveled.
So anyway, what do I need to do to obtain mastery on both the 99 Yunalesca and also the 140 Yunalesca?
For 99 Yunalesca, Shellga and Protega are great. Any Hastega SB you may have helps, and I would actually go with any of the myriad options out there as one for your RW over a Wall RW. Yuna's worst abilities are Hell Biter which can be mitigated by Protega and Power Breakdown and Holy, which can only be mitigated with Shell, but she doesn't really cast it that often. Being hasted will help you kill her faster before the sap, which can't be mitigated at all, really has a lot of time to do significant damage.
I would almost copy this for 140 Yunalesca. I just killed her, losing only one medal to actions taken. She used 3 abilities the whole fight. Absorb, which constantly missed (I did get lucky and she used it twice on Cloud in Retaliate mode, so it was auto-countered), Hell Biter which is a sure thing, and Osmose, which while it drained my abilities by 1-2 points each cast, it didn't really mean squat because I was using Advantaliate. Hell Biter only hit my characters for 300-400 a piece, but that was with SS2 up. Even without it, then that means the damage would have only been about 700-900, which is still nothing serious, and she is so prone to using Osmose that you should get by without taking much damage at all unless the game just hits you with bad AI RNG spamming Holy or Hell Biter.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Cloud lvl 80 Retaliate/tempo flurry self sacrifice RM (I don't have Ricard's yet)
Lenna lvl 70 Curaga/Protectga w Mako Might (I don't have any AoE heals, so Lenna with Gaia Gear's shared is the best I can do
Tyro lvl 65 Reflect and Boost w double hit RM
P.Cecil lvl 65 Shellga/Draw Magic (can't take Carbuncle since I won't be able to heal, so my plan is to put reflect on P.Cecil and have him draw all the single target magic to himself).
Rinoa lvl 74 Waterja/Firaja w auto-haste RM (because I don't have anything preferable.
SS2/SG RW. Tried Advance at first to blitz him down but he just takes me down way too fast without a Wall up.
I guess if I were to make any improvements, it'd be to put Boost on Cloud instead, get rid of Tempo Flurry, but give him the Double Hit RM instead. Then use the new slot for Tyro to use Magic Breakdown to try and further nullify Exdeath's offense. Everyone is in the back row except for Cloud, which makes his physical attacks completely useless. He doesn't use them often, though.
If I can get him down to a good spot, I've got Cloud and Rinoa's SSB, so if I can get him down to 20% or so while still in good shape, I can basically blast him down. It's getting to that point, though that seems to be the trouble.
EDIT: I've also got pretty good FFV item synergy. 6* icebrand on Cloud, Kotetsu on Tyro, 6* FFV axe on Pecil, Lilith's Rod on Rinoa. The only item I don't have is a MND one. Which I'm considering trying to pull for, since Lenna is going to be my primary WHM for awhile.
I honestly don't even know how to do a Retaliate strategy from a specifics standpoint. Like, I understand the basic principle. Cast Advance, cast retaliate, and use your other dudes to attack your main dude to proc a bunch of retaliates. I got that. But I don't know all the nitty gritty details of how to make it work at maximum effectiveness.
So far yeah actually. Between level, synergy, the bump from mastering her SSB, and Devotion, she's 9999ing her damage with each cast. Meanwhile Cloud is doing about 4k per hit of retaliate + boost. And she's got 10 casts total, which + SB gauge from damage taken is enough to give her roughly two SSB casts, each which does probably about 20k each.
All "Samurai" capable characters have their own niche. Cloud is the Chosen One, mostly in that he's one of three level 80 characters capable of Retaliate right now, and his weapon selection is better because swords. Sephiroth is a suitable substitute, but katanas are rare for realm synergy and daggers are weaker compared to swords. Tyro can do it all too, from the backrow with ranged weapons, and Draw Fire for high physical fights, but he hits like a wet noodle compared to the other two. Auron is Cloud without level 80 (but will be able to Draw Fire/Retaliate later) and Gilgamesh is a stronger Tyro, but again, still lacking level 80. I've had no problems running everything with Cloud, even lacking synergy for some realms, and the best SB I have for him is Braver from a 6* Buster Sword. (EDIT: Forgot about Cyan. He's Sephiroth, sans level 80, and only really good for an FFVI dungeon stomp.)
Retaliate lasts, typically, 2 rounds without haste, and good for 3 with it. So, unhasted: Retaliate, Advance, Retaliate, Draw Fire/Tempo Flurry/Double Cut/SB, Retaliate, etc for about 10-12 actions, at which point you'll need to refresh Advance. With haste: Retaliate, Advance, Retaliate (SB cast time is enough that you might be knocked out of Retaliate before you can recast, I like to play it safe), ability, ability, Retaliate, ability, ability, etc. You can easily get 18 or so actions out of an Advance with Haste.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Go with Auron over Cloud, definitely, since Auron gets +10 levels for synergy. When Cloud is 80, he'll still be the go-to regardless of realm synergy because of those extra 5 levels. Only weapon synergy matters at that point.
It takes a bit to get used to the timing of your Retaliate uptime, and you'll probably end up hitting Auron a time or two, but it's not at all difficult once you get the hang of it. The thing to watch for is that your Samurai is still in a "fighting stance" even while their ATB charges. This means Retaliate is still active. When they go back to neutral/standing, you won't auto-counter.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Wow, that's solid damage! How much magic is that? Although really it kind of makes the SSB look bad. SSB takes as long to cast as two regular abilities, and roughly the same damage?
About 415 MAG altogether. And I may actually be underselling her SSB. It either does 3.5k per hit, or 5.5k per hit, I can't actually remember which.
I don't believe so, no, but I also don't know what a Sap RM is called so I don't know what I'm looking for. But I don't think I have one.
How much does he hit for with Boost? If you are doing 6-9k without advance then maybe go with haste for a RW. If you are 2-4k probably go advance.
Dragoon's determination or uh Self Sacrifice I think is what you are looking for.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Ok so here's my first ever setup for a Retaliate build for Yunalesca-99.
Auron - Retaliate and ?, RM Self Sacrifice
Sasz - Double Cut and Boost, RM Mako Might (Boon)
Yuna - Curaga, Shellga, RM Light of the Fayth (I don't really have a better option here)
Rikku - Box Step and ?, RM Double Hit
For my last character slot, do I want Cecil for Magic Lure, or do I want a Mage for extra DPS?
Also, I don't know what attack to put on Auron. I have 6 uses of Power Break or 8 uses of Magic Break. He cannot use Tempo Flurry, so that isn't an option.
I also don't know what to use for Rikku's other ability.
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Magic Break won't lessen the damage of Holy, so no real need to put in on. Power Break(down) is useful to lessen her physical hits and any Hellbiters she tosses out. If you have PBD, give it to Sazh and give Rikku Boost, otherwise, just give Rikku Power Break. Auron can still Double Cut, just don't have him hit himself because he won't auto-counter. Just tap it normally to hit Yunalesca.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Also, in phase 3 of the fight she keeps Mega-Deathing Auron and killing him, even though he should be sapped. What's causing my sap to go away?
Are you using Renewing Cure instead of Curaga? Regen removes Sap.
Edit: This was the setup I just used for Melusine+++ last night, to give you an idea of what an Advantaliate setup usually looks like.
Cloud: Double Cut, Retaliate
Bartz: Double Cut, Armor Break
Locke: Tempo Flurry, Boost
Faris: Tempo Flurry, Magic Breakdown
Lenna: Curaga, Shellga (same deal, just bring Yuna)
First turn, everyone uses their second skill. Second turn, Cloud uses Advance, everyone else uses first skill. Third turn, everyone's back to second skill except Lenna, who continues to heal usually.
The soft ATK cap is 590 or so, so if realm synergy + Advance is enough to put you near that much ATK then Boost will have less of an impact. Armor Break/Down also has a reduced impact because of break resistance, but every little bit helps.
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The only advice I can give if you don't have a native SG/SS2 like me is to try a triple black mage party since you don't have advance on Cloud anyway.
I did need 3 R4 and 1 R3 'ja spell, but i also didn't have great soul breaks on my casters.
Our next Ultimate battle has counter-revive at least.
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Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
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I don't have enough orbs for that, unfortunately. I've only got 1 R3, and 2 R2s. I don't even have Blizzaja crafted yet. Which is a shame, because with a 74 Rinoa, 65 Vivi and 65 Lulu, my Black Mage game is strong.
Or I could just bring a level 80 Cloud with Blade Beam for some big damage on a RW?
I find if i'm really trying to get advance I can just run a quick 3-4 stamina dungeon somewhere to cycle the RW's and see if it comes up.
I think Advance is 150% attack boost but i'm not sure what Planet Protector is, only that it's not as much.
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