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[FFBE] Accumulate4Akstar 2019! Or maybe the next limited 7? Ah, let's do the trials!

EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
edited September 2018 in Games and Technology
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What is Final Fantasy Brave Exvius?
A mobile game for iOS and Android, produced in collaboration between Square Enix (Final Fantasy et al) and Gumi/Alim (responsible for Brave Frontier). The game’s story is based around a young knight named Rain and his friend and stepbrother Lasswell, who one day encounter a strange sight: a young girl trapped in a crystal. Following her words, they encounter the power of “Visions,” or the ability to summon warriors from other places and times to assist in battle.

Note to new or returning players
You can now make 7 star units with dupe 5 stars, and it means that you can spend even more resources failing to get OP units! Whooo!


I've played Brave Frontier and liked/hated it. How does this compare?

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is an expanded spin on Brave Frontier, with whom it shares some similarities. It's another gacha game, meaning you will earn in-game currency, coming in the form of Friend Points and Lapis, to summon new units on a seemingly unfair spreadsheet of hidden factors that emerge in the form of unique characters, and many familiar to the world of Final Fantasy. This game, though, adds the usual Final Fantasy elements of equipment and materia, giving a surprising depth to the gameplay as units can be mixed and matched with different abilities and stats boosted or modified.Each unit can equip up to 6 types of equipment and 4 materia, but each unit also has limitations and advantages to what they can equip and use.

You mentioned Final Fantasy characters? I love Final Fantasy!

FFBE has a wide variety of characters from Final Fantasy, with its own beefy roster of unique names original to FFBE. Characters from Final Fantasy 1 all the way to 15 and even outliers such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Type-0 are represented. We have pretty much all major FFs represented at this point. Yay!

The roster of characters in game is a mishmash of various Final Fantasy games and units exclusive to FFBE, although most people care about the FF characters. As previously mentioned, characters are added to the gacha, usually alongside special events that tie into the game they're from (unless it's just more FFBE exclusives). Unlike other games of this type, the rarity isn't just in the higher rank of the unit, but also the characters themselves.

Further, different units are good at different things. Some are chainers, some straight damage or support, healers, and so forth. Good units often do a useful mix of those abilities.

Here's a link to a site that will update regularly as the global version gets more characters, and ranks the units by various categories to back up the reasoning for their position in the tier list. Unit Rankings

I'm new, and got a bunch of these characters out of my first 11-pull. Are any of these good? I love Shadow/Sabin/Penelo!


Unfortunately, your Shadow/Sabin/Penelo are some of the worst characters in the game. Yes, they are beloved Final Fantasy characters, but that doesn't exclude them from being King of the Trash Heap. Someone has to be, right? A lot of early characters are mainline Final Fantasy units, but by nature of power creep, they’ve been long overshadowed by new units. Different units are powerful or weak in different ways, and just because a unit is popular in their original Final Fantasy series doesn’t mean they will be useful in FFBE.

However, FFBE is unique in that many older units are perfectly viable. Good team composition and strategy can make mid-tier units very good, and sometimes spending a bit of time thinking through a tough fight can result in eeking out a well-deserved win. Many players are F2P (they spend no money) and have a good roster of units, or are otherwise able to tackle some of the hardest content in the game.

If you're just starting out and want to know who to look for, note that as we are 18 months into the game, the hardest content tends to require some fancy gear and "rainbow" base units. If you see a rainbow crystal, rejoice, for it will grant a 5* base unit, which range from useful to very powerful and can easily secure a spot on your team! Now, get 2 of them!

The state of the game:

Pull for 5 star units, as they have the best future, and most, when they get to 7 stars, will carry your team.

Helpful Links:

ExviusWiki: Best source for Global version information, with maps for exploration dungeons, quest guides, and unit details.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Reddit: The reddit community for FFBE, containing info and updates for both the Japan and Global versions. Check here if you want to know what kind of stuff we'll get 5-6 months in advance since Japan gets it first. Also contains useful player-submitted guides, and has a Wiki which is up to date with the current state of Japan's game, so you can look ahead at unit enhancements and trust masteries, that sort of thing.

Friend ID List!:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HfEIPxz_tV42C8dhfSiuVsWJ_f2YQhXiNg5BwiuJCik/edit?usp=sharing

To find your friend ID in the game, tap Home in the upper right corner (on most screens), then the Menu icon in the upper right, then Player Info on the left. Your ID should look like this in your little character card: 123,456,789. This is also where you change your greeting, and rename your character if you like. Adding friends is the only way to use your "guest character" limit break in combat, and only your current party's Leader is shared to friends. Remember to set a Companion Party from the Options in the Main Menu! This way, you will always have a party set up with a specific character that will be shared to your friends, and you should never ever edit that party except to change the Leader if you want to change who you share.

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Posts

  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    Decided to gear up my Zargabaath because having a team with both OG Ramza and Merc Ramza was rubbing me the wrong way, and now I also have a source of team mitigation. Gonna throw Cowered Courage on Zargabaath as well so he can use it in his rotation for even more physical mitigation.

  • DK_AzraelDK_Azrael Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Letting you guys know that I cleared up some spaces and sent friend requests to a bunch of you, if I didn't add you and you want to add me feel free 009,004,073. I freed up *a lot* of spaces, I have like 61 free spaces right now. I usually have either a 1230 Sephiroth or 1203 Trance Terra up.

    DK_Azrael on
  • GriswoldGriswold that's rough, buddyRegistered User regular
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    FFXIV: Brick Shizzhouse - Zalera (Crystal)
    Path of Exile: snowcrash7
    MTG Arena: Snow_Crash#34179
    Battle.net: Snowcrash#1873
  • DK_AzraelDK_Azrael Registered User regular
    Griswold wrote: »
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    As far as it goes, I would at least consider WoL. He's a super solid tank and you'll probably continue to use him for a while unless you pull Wilhelm or Basch, and even with Wilhelm, he doesn't get an AoE physical cover until 7*. WoL has a really good kit with his provoke, AoE physical cover, and his breaks, and with his equipment selection, he's super easy to gear for 100% evade. WoL has been an MVP for me since I pulled my first one.

  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Griswold wrote: »
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    If you don't have Basch then I would say enhance and put DEF/HP/MP into WoL.

    EDIT: I wouldn't bother with the others. You will pull a better healer than Y'Shtola soon (even Luka and Aria are better). Minfilia is good in the right situation but doesn't need pots. Same for Rikku.

    tsmvengy on
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  • TeaSpoonTeaSpoon Registered User regular
    My perspective on the matter is skewed. I did pot some of those units when they were still fresh and the meta hadn't left them behind. I eventually pulled better units and now my old units are collecting dust.

    My advice would be to only pot units that can be useful in relatively recent content. That said, this is a gacha game. Who knows when you'll pull someone better and you might need units to fill roles right now.

    Definitely don't pot Minfilia or Y'shtola, though. There are plenty better options. Rikku is still decent and I still occasionally use WoL, despite having all the non-limited 5* tanks. I also occasionally use Mystea for her ailment-resist ability (while using her magic cover) and Shylt is essentially her with, I think, a break-resist ability instead.

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    tsmvengy wrote: »
    Griswold wrote: »
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    If you don't have Basch then I would say enhance and put DEF/HP/MP into WoL.

    That way you can pull a Basch!

  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    After fully enhancing Zargabaath, I've been counting the days until I pull CGNichol and completely invalidate that expenditure.

  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    Griswold wrote: »
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    Why is Lila benched? She's still pretty amazing for a 6*. Anything with low SPR like the Iron Giant trial she's great at.

    Either way, WoL and Shylt are your best options. I'm still using Mystea as my magic tank and WoL sometimes if I need an evade tank that can break everything.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • LorekLorek Registered User regular
    Cruor wrote: »
    After fully enhancing Zargabaath, I've been counting the days until I pull CGNichol and completely invalidate that expenditure.

    It only took me like 2-3 weeks I think? Whatever the difference was between the CG Nichol banner and the CG Mog King type banners.
    I tell myself I did it on purpose to trigger just that; it helps the pain at night.
    Another good mantra is that Zargabaath's 7* will surely be way better than CG Nichol's, right? Right?

  • PapaganderPapagander Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    It might be because if you don't have amazing gear/materia, she doesn't seem to outperform the others all that much. I can barely get CG Fina/Ayakka to 600/700 spirit. It would take a lot for me to get Lila there. I've actually got two, but I was only ever able to gear them to about 400-500 SPR range (without sacrificing my healer's gear). They were still decent at that range, but didn't seem to be anything to write home about.

    So yeah, idk. I might see what my gearing situation is like now (i've got some better SPR materia finally). I just know that around when I got her, I didn't have the gear to utilize her. It might also hurt that I cannot perfect chain anyone.

    Edit: I should mention my best staff is the FFX one from when Yuna was released. And I only just recently master my first Patriotic Recall, which is easily my best SPR materia (i might have a 20% from a bundle or trial somewhere too).

    Papagander on
    “There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.” ... also, "Ah, turn blue!"
    XBOne | LyrKing
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    7* Ramza having easily more hp at 112 than Basch does is a bit ridiculous.

    He nearly has more SPR than Basch too, and is only missing 250 DEF to otherwise be a better damn tank than he is. Of course, now I'm interested in just how ridiculous 7* Basch's stats will be when we get there.

    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • GriswoldGriswold that's rough, buddyRegistered User regular
    Trajan45 wrote: »
    Griswold wrote: »
    I'm so afraid of spending crysts and pots, especially after I dumped a bunch of pots into Lila and then promptly benched her forever.

    My main candidates for stat/ability enhancement are Minfilia, Y'shtola, Rikku, WoL, and Shylt, but I know as soon as I invest heavily into any of them I'm bound to pull a unit that obsoletes them in their role.

    Anyone have recommendations here?

    Why is Lila benched? She's still pretty amazing for a 6*. Anything with low SPR like the Iron Giant trial she's great at.

    Either way, WoL and Shylt are your best options. I'm still using Mystea as my magic tank and WoL sometimes if I need an evade tank that can break everything.

    Benched for 7* Nalu. I just don't have the slots in my default party. I'll keep her around for appropriate trials.

    Thanks for the recommendations, all.

    FFXIV: Brick Shizzhouse - Zalera (Crystal)
    Path of Exile: snowcrash7
    MTG Arena: Snow_Crash#34179
    Battle.net: Snowcrash#1873
  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    I should sit down and try some more trials, now that I have actual equipment. Last I took down was Ultros and his buddy, so going up from the bottom next would be...

    Aigaion? Oh boy. That guy sounded like a serious thing.

    Steam ID: Right here.
  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    I should sit down and try some more trials, now that I have actual equipment. Last I took down was Ultros and his buddy, so going up from the bottom next would be...

    Aigaion? Oh boy. That guy sounded like a serious thing.

    He's much less of a thing now. Wilhelm at 6* can facetank his punch, Wilhelm at 7* laughs at the puny robot. Going body first is doable with just about every damage dealer now, and it only really takes time if you go the arms first route. You just gotta make sure to have some sort of mitigation up to survive the World Destroyer rounds, but that's easy now as well.

    Aigaion is actually a very straightforward and relatively easy fight now. I just did it today out of boredom and to test my Merc Ramza's ability to tank it. He passed with flying colors.

  • JakarrdJakarrd In the belly of OklahomaRegistered User regular
    That is one I have to do next, though I'm not sure what i'm going in with.

    Pulled step up 5 on squall banner. Rinoa 2 so there's a 7 star, and I pulled my first noctis ever so there's another tmr to farm and it will replace my d20. Woohoo!

    Greetings Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada.

    76561197990097905.png
  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    Back up to 200% in trust Moogles after spending 400% worth when 7* batch one happened. Glad to be building back up a little bit in preparation for the likes of Roy/Kryla 7*.

  • JakarrdJakarrd In the belly of OklahomaRegistered User regular
    And that's the story caught up for now. I may go for my missing espers tomorrow or try for some trials.

    Greetings Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada.

    76561197990097905.png
  • TipharesTiphares Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    So I finally did all of my SO raid pulls tonight. Thank goodness for Nox and macro-ing that mess. Also, it made the cactuar fusing go so much faster.

    Just a friendly reminder. The FFVIII MK currency and the SO raid summons both disappear this week. Get it done by Thursday!!! I still need to buy the 100 gigantuars and fuse them... tomorrow.

    Tiphares on
  • TeaSpoonTeaSpoon Registered User regular
    I thought the FFVIII MK shop closed next week.

  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    Free Daily netted me BSSakura #2! Pentacast Final Thunder here I come...whenever her 7* is released.

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Man with Lightnings STMR I have Randi at 1900 ATK. If I had another Elfreeda it would be higher than that.

  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Cruor wrote: »
    Drascin wrote: »
    I should sit down and try some more trials, now that I have actual equipment. Last I took down was Ultros and his buddy, so going up from the bottom next would be...

    Aigaion? Oh boy. That guy sounded like a serious thing.

    He's much less of a thing now. Wilhelm at 6* can facetank his punch, Wilhelm at 7* laughs at the puny robot. Going body first is doable with just about every damage dealer now, and it only really takes time if you go the arms first route. You just gotta make sure to have some sort of mitigation up to survive the World Destroyer rounds, but that's easy now as well.

    Aigaion is actually a very straightforward and relatively easy fight now. I just did it today out of boredom and to test my Merc Ramza's ability to tank it. He passed with flying colors.

    I'm intending to not 7* Wilhelm yet, so it'll probably be WoL on tank duty if I can swing it. And honestly a lot of it doesn't sound super survivable, not gonna lie. I do have mitigation, between WoL's own mitigation on cover plus the 30% general mitigation my support offers. But, like, the heck you do on World Destroyer turns? It's a magic attack, so unless I'm missing something WoL can't cover it. But if I bring Mystea, she would get splattered by the fact it's all physical damage. And it's nonelemental, so I can't rely on resistances to mitigate either. Is it just "have autoraise on everyone by the time WD hits and understand everyone is getting exploded"?

    Drascin on
    Steam ID: Right here.
  • LuvTheMonkeyLuvTheMonkey High Sierra Serenade Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    Honestly, yeah. Most strategies when it was first released used Rikku as a mandatory member.I used her and purely let her build LB (which is easy enough) for WD turns + having reraise on my A2, who I knew was going to eat the punch every turn (it always targets the highest ATK unit on that turn). It's honestly a fight about control more than anything else, I did it with all missions done using Luka as my solo healer and minimal TMRs.

    LuvTheMonkey on
    Molten variables hiss and roar. On my mind-forge, I hammer them into the greatsword Epistemology. Many are my foes this night.
    STEAM | GW2: Thalys
  • TipharesTiphares Registered User regular
    edited August 2018
    TeaSpoon wrote: »
    I thought the FFVIII MK shop closed next week.
    Yeah, sorry. The event ends on Thursday but you can still spend the currency until next week. Might as well just get it all spent asap so you don't forget.
    Drascin wrote: »
    I'm intending to not 7* Wilhelm yet, so it'll probably be WoL on tank duty if I can swing it. And honestly a lot of it doesn't sound super survivable, not gonna lie. I do have mitigation, between WoL's own mitigation on cover plus the 30% general mitigation my support offers. But, like, the heck you do on World Destroyer turns? It's a magic attack, so unless I'm missing something WoL can't cover it. But if I bring Mystea, she would get splattered by the fact it's all physical damage. And it's nonelemental, so I can't rely on resistances to mitigate either. Is it just "have autoraise on everyone by the time WD hits and understand everyone is getting exploded"?
    The other option is to setup a long chain and have a decked-out Olive friend just blow him up on turn 1. So you would need a buffer, breaker, chainer x2, and Olive.

    Tiphares on
  • CruorCruor Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    Cruor wrote: »
    Drascin wrote: »
    I should sit down and try some more trials, now that I have actual equipment. Last I took down was Ultros and his buddy, so going up from the bottom next would be...

    Aigaion? Oh boy. That guy sounded like a serious thing.

    He's much less of a thing now. Wilhelm at 6* can facetank his punch, Wilhelm at 7* laughs at the puny robot. Going body first is doable with just about every damage dealer now, and it only really takes time if you go the arms first route. You just gotta make sure to have some sort of mitigation up to survive the World Destroyer rounds, but that's easy now as well.

    Aigaion is actually a very straightforward and relatively easy fight now. I just did it today out of boredom and to test my Merc Ramza's ability to tank it. He passed with flying colors.

    I'm intending to not 7* Wilhelm yet, so it'll probably be WoL on tank duty if I can swing it. And honestly a lot of it doesn't sound super survivable, not gonna lie. I do have mitigation, between WoL's own mitigation on cover plus the 30% general mitigation my support offers. But, like, the heck you do on World Destroyer turns? It's a magic attack, so unless I'm missing something WoL can't cover it. But if I bring Mystea, she would get splattered by the fact it's all physical damage. And it's nonelemental, so I can't rely on resistances to mitigate either. Is it just "have autoraise on everyone by the time WD hits and understand everyone is getting exploded"?

    6* Wilhelm, even unenhanced, should do better than WoL, honestly. And for WD rounds you can either use Water damage the round before to lower the damage or use Yan/Rikku to put up an AoE Re-raise beforehand. Yan would be great for Aigain for her litigation, non-magic healing, and Re-Raise.

    Also, with sufficient SPR, WD is survivable even without lowering the damage or using Re-raise.

  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    I guess I could see not awakening Wilhelm to 7* if you're worried about making most physical cover fights trivial.

  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    Is there another FFXIV raid we have not gotten yet?

    steam_sig.png
  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    Hrm. I wonder if Yan would get her LB on time. It's very slow going and she can't equip the only thing I have with High Tide (a breath of rose dagger I was enhancing). Worth a shot I suppose.

    Steam ID: Right here.
  • LuvTheMonkeyLuvTheMonkey High Sierra Serenade Registered User regular
    She does have the LB fill rate boost for the whole party as one of her Chi abilities, I bet she'd easily have a full gauge every 5 turns.

    Molten variables hiss and roar. On my mind-forge, I hammer them into the greatsword Epistemology. Many are my foes this night.
    STEAM | GW2: Thalys
  • ReignerReigner Registered User regular
    Also every time lvl 120 7* Wilhelm gets hit he 100% LB rate buffs the whole party.

    Exodus Server: Venstra Rei
    FFBE: 838,975,107
    Dokkan: 1668363315
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    There's a MAG sword that gives you Water Blade, right? That would be useful to toss on one of your units.

  • ReignerReigner Registered User regular
    Lumiere from the Kunshira Story event yeah.

    Exodus Server: Venstra Rei
    FFBE: 838,975,107
    Dokkan: 1668363315
  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    There's a MAG sword that gives you Water Blade, right? That would be useful to toss on one of your units.

    Yes, Lumiere from a few story events ago has Waterga Blade.

    steam_sig.png
  • LuvTheMonkeyLuvTheMonkey High Sierra Serenade Registered User regular
    You can also pack Fish Scales in your item list. I didn't bother with the water damage thing having re-raise available, but it may be worth trying.

    Molten variables hiss and roar. On my mind-forge, I hammer them into the greatsword Epistemology. Many are my foes this night.
    STEAM | GW2: Thalys
  • DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    There's a MAG sword that gives you Water Blade, right? That would be useful to toss on one of your units.

    One of my primary damage dealers is Onion Knight. I'm covered on the water damage front, don't worry :P.

    Steam ID: Right here.
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    urahonky wrote: »
    There's a MAG sword that gives you Water Blade, right? That would be useful to toss on one of your units.

    One of my primary damage dealers is Onion Knight. I'm covered on the water damage front, don't worry :P.

    Oh yeah I forgot, sorry! OK is the best.

  • ZomroZomro Registered User regular
    Very slow on the news release today. Only have news for the extra story event stages, Diabolos and Tetra Slyphid 3* and maintenance.

    I remember another time where the news came out real late, so it might be like that. If there's anymore news it'll be later today or even after maintenance ends.

  • ReignerReigner Registered User regular
    Theyve said before were getting a story update Friday. That, cryst caves, 3star espers. Maaaaybe Item World? If were lucky we get a Gabranth banner, otherwise its probably some developers choice filler.

    Exodus Server: Venstra Rei
    FFBE: 838,975,107
    Dokkan: 1668363315
  • CiriraCirira IowaRegistered User regular
    I can put my Wilhelm up to tank if you want Dracsin or I can put Olive back up geared for machine killers to murderize the robot.

This discussion has been closed.