Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
NaanViolence
Mar 1, 2010

by Nyc_Tattoo
I keep pulling the best support relics in the game, but there's no way I can reasonably fit Mustard into my team alongside Ramza, Faris, and Rosa. That's not even taking my poor, neglected Red 13 into account.

First world problems for sure.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Inge
Jan 16, 2007
SERIOUSLY THATS DISGUSTING I'M TRYING TO EAT
I really badly needed some Tactics, III and XIII synergy as I only have platinum sword, tyrfing, and peacemaker as the sole relics in each realm.

Got vega 42 and arcs medica rod, which both are old SBs but are nice for synergy. All up a pretty agreeable pull for 25

Also pulled Leo's imperil holy SSB in JP, which synergises very nicely with agrias OSB!

Inge fucked around with this message at 08:34 on Oct 12, 2016

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

"fun" fact I learned today: thanks to all that core SB gear having FF3 synergy, it seems like there's a lot of FF3 trash in the gacha, but there's only four 3* weapons (two fists, one throwing weapon, and one staff) and six 3* pieces of armor (three helms, two heavy armor) in the FF3 realm. If you don't have any relics, Ingus and Luneth literally do not have a single piece of synergy 5* weaponry they can use.

Assumedly, the Shock Dagger III and Wightslayer III we got in the Desch/Dissidia events will get a third piece each in upcoming events. Maybe. Hopefully.

KataraniSword fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Oct 12, 2016

victrix
Oct 30, 2007


Need some team comp and direction advice, as I seem to right on the edge of reliably clearing the ultimate fights. I think I'm somewhere past the newbie game and into the midgame I guess, whatever that means :v:

I've reached the point where just sort of bashing everything with Shout/Wall and a mix of SBs and R2/R3 abilities won't quite work on everything.

I'm sitting at 108 Stamina, still plugging away on Realm dungeons for shards and Mithril, which I'm currently tapped out on after the lucky draw.

My normal party right now is Selphie with Dreamstage for party healing and Ramza with Shout (and Hail of Stones, woo), and then three other physical beaters.

BSBs: Squall's Lion's Roar, Tifa's Meteor Crusher, Paladin Cecil's Paladin Force

SSBs: Vaan's Pyroclasm, Faris' Lord of the Seas, Tidus' Jecht Shot, Yda's Twin Snake Dragon Kick, Sazh's Caltrop Bomb and Godsend, Shadow's Shadow Fang, Yuffie's Gauntlet, and Red XIII's Lunatic High.

I also have Ashe's Maelstrom's Bolt and Exdeath's Dark Earth Shaker, but since I've been using Shout/physical, those didn't seem quite as obviously useful to me.

I just got Agrias' Kaiser Shield and Ovelia's Aegis, the former looks like it overlaps with Faris' SSB though.

I've mostly been using Selphie/Ramza and then some mix of Squall/Tifa/Cecil and Vaan/Faris. I haven't recruited or leveled Yda, Shadow, Yuffie, or Red XIII, and I used Tidus and Sazh a small bit.

Level wise no one is maxed at 80 yet (though a few are getting close). Selphie, Ramza, Squall, Vaan, Tifa, Faris, Tidus and Cloud are all MC2d, Cecil, Bartz, Ashe, Gabranth, Beatrix, Zidane, Basch, Shantoto, Exdeath, Sazh and Penelo are all MC1d.

As for abilities, I have Full Break R1, and a good spread of 3*/4* abilities honed to R2/R3, mostly stuff that was recommended here or that seemed obviously necessary for Mastery challenges or just useful for some specific character.

I have a reasonable stock of orbs, though I'm light on Power, so I could do some more ability crafting/honing if I'm missing anything obvious.

I have no greens right now, but I'm sitting on 13 Soul of a Hero and 13 MC1s, so if there are useful first stage RMs, I could grab those relatively easily. I also have a random mix of character specific MC1s and some MC2s from past events that I haven't used yet, might be some other good RMs in there.

I've barely touched Record Spheres, I tossed a few into characters I've used a bunch here and there, and I did unlock Snowspell Strike and whatever that Samurai ability are during 5 dooms, though I haven't used the latter yet.

And last, as far as equipment, I just went through my entire stock of 3*/4* weapons and armor over the last day and leveled and combined everything I could. I have duplicates of Ramza's sword, Tidus' sword, Ashe's sword, and one of Sazh's guns. Should I just combine those to reach 6*, or keep them around for realm synergy/other party members at 5*?

For immediate goals, I've reached the Dragon Zombie Ultimate fight, and I'd like to get the MC3 and be able to reliably defeat those as they arrive. I've got 4 days to whip my team into shape to beat its butt (I'm probably just using the wrong party setup right now, I made it to the third form before kicking the bucket).

victrix fucked around with this message at 11:04 on Oct 12, 2016

Panic! at Nabisco
Jun 6, 2007

it seemed like a good idea at the time
If you have native Shout and Dreamstage and can RW a wall, Squall and Pencil with Ace Striker/Battleforged RMs should be able to completely blast through Dragon Zombie with no trouble. Just have to avoid using Squall's fire moves on the second form.

e: Stack as many breakdowns as necessary. You don't necessarily need Faris around if you have Ramza, too, so you could sub her out for Agrias with Banishing Strike/Saint Cross and Firaga Strike, too.

Panic! at Nabisco fucked around with this message at 11:08 on Oct 12, 2016

Lord Banana
Nov 23, 2006
1/1 on the Lucky Draw, it was an Iga Blade. That's kind of cool, useful synergy for me but I already have Shout so I don't see myself using the BSB much.

Inge
Jan 16, 2007
SERIOUSLY THATS DISGUSTING I'M TRYING TO EAT

victrix posted:

Need some team comp and direction advice, as I seem to right on the edge of reliably clearing the ultimate fights. I think I'm somewhere past the newbie game and into the midgame I guess, whatever that means :v:

I've reached the point where just sort of bashing everything with Shout/Wall and a mix of SBs and R2/R3 abilities won't quite work on everything.

I'm sitting at 108 Stamina, still plugging away on Realm dungeons for shards and Mithril, which I'm currently tapped out on after the lucky draw.

My normal party right now is Selphie with Dreamstage for party healing and Ramza with Shout (and Hail of Stones, woo), and then three other physical beaters.

BSBs: Squall's Lion's Roar, Tifa's Meteor Crusher, Paladin Cecil's Paladin Force

SSBs: Vaan's Pyroclasm, Faris' Lord of the Seas, Tidus' Jecht Shot, Yda's Twin Snake Dragon Kick, Sazh's Caltrop Bomb and Godsend, Shadow's Shadow Fang, Yuffie's Gauntlet, and Red XIII's Lunatic High.

I also have Ashe's Maelstrom's Bolt and Exdeath's Dark Earth Shaker, but since I've been using Shout/physical, those didn't seem quite as obviously useful to me.

I just got Agrias' Kaiser Shield and Ovelia's Aegis, the former looks like it overlaps with Faris' SSB though.

I've mostly been using Selphie/Ramza and then some mix of Squall/Tifa/Cecil and Vaan/Faris. I haven't recruited or leveled Yda, Shadow, Yuffie, or Red XIII, and I used Tidus and Sazh a small bit.

Level wise no one is maxed at 80 yet (though a few are getting close). Selphie, Ramza, Squall, Vaan, Tifa, Faris, Tidus and Cloud are all MC2d, Cecil, Bartz, Ashe, Gabranth, Beatrix, Zidane, Basch, Shantoto, Exdeath, Sazh and Penelo are all MC1d.

As for abilities, I have Full Break R1, and a good spread of 3*/4* abilities honed to R2/R3, mostly stuff that was recommended here or that seemed obviously necessary for Mastery challenges or just useful for some specific character.

I have a reasonable stock of orbs, though I'm light on Power, so I could do some more ability crafting/honing if I'm missing anything obvious.

I have no greens right now, but I'm sitting on 13 Soul of a Hero and 13 MC1s, so if there are useful first stage RMs, I could grab those relatively easily. I also have a random mix of character specific MC1s and some MC2s from past events that I haven't used yet, might be some other good RMs in there.

I've barely touched Record Spheres, I tossed a few into characters I've used a bunch here and there, and I did unlock Snowspell Strike and whatever that Samurai ability are during 5 dooms, though I haven't used the latter yet.

And last, as far as equipment, I just went through my entire stock of 3*/4* weapons and armor over the last day and leveled and combined everything I could. I have duplicates of Ramza's sword, Tidus' sword, Ashe's sword, and one of Sazh's guns. Should I just combine those to reach 6*, or keep them around for realm synergy/other party members at 5*?

For immediate goals, I've reached the Dragon Zombie Ultimate fight, and I'd like to get the MC3 and be able to reliably defeat those as they arrive. I've got 4 days to whip my team into shape to beat its butt (I'm probably just using the wrong party setup right now, I made it to the third form before kicking the bucket).

Next thing you need to do is MC2 break Tyro, and grind out Dr. Mogs - this will make ALL the difference. If you have a memory lode II spare, use it right now, and egg him up. It's worth it.

There's no reason you can't beat U+ fights, although U++ you might have trouble with. try this setup, it's for max turtling, and I love it, it got me through some of the hardest content. It's not flashy, but it is effective. Without BSBs, you might suffer from a lack of DPS, but you have two so there shouldn't be any problem. It's a combination of wall + reverse wall strategies, so it's pretty conservative.

Requisites:
You need Mako Might, Dr. Mog's Teachings, Battleforged and Ace Striker post haste.
2x Lifesiphon R2
Full Break, Magic / Power / Armour Breakdowns (R2 for Full Break when you can. Preferably R3 for breakdowns, you can make do with R2 though for sure.)
Protectga / Shellga / Curaga

Selphie: Curaja and Protectga/Shellga (depends on boss damage type) : Dreamstage: RM Healing / mind up, or use lionheart.
Ramza: Full Break / Magic Breakdown : Shout: RM Dr. Mog's Teachings
Cecil: Lifesiphon + Damaging Ability: Paladin Force: RM Battleforged
Squall: Lifesiphon + Damaging ability: Lion's Roar : RM Ace Striker
Faris: Armour Breakdown / Power Breakdown : Sealord's Broadside: RM Mako Might

RW: Always Stoneskin / Sentinel's Grimoire.

So it works like this.

First round, pop shout (haste + damage up), sealord's broadside (enemy attack and magic down), and either cecil or squall summons RW wall, the other one uses lifesiphon. Selphie casts protectga or shellga.

Second round, Selphie casts curaja, Ramza full break, cecil lifesiphon, squall lifesiphon, faris power breakdown.

Congrats, your resistance / defence is +300% of one and +200% of the other, with the boss is currently sitting on -60% attack and -40% magic. You cannot be hurt.

Third round, Selphie casts Curaja, Ramza magic breakdown, Cecil lifesiphon or BSB, Squall lifesiphon or BSB, Faris armour breakdown.

Fourth round, unleash with the BSBs, while continuing to heal and cycle through the breakdowns. Cast shout and sealord's again whenever you fill the gauge. Refresh RW wall and protectga/shellga half way through the fight.

Unless you get slowed or something, Cecil and Squall shouldn't need to use Lifesiphon again, they can BSB off the back of their BSBs.

e: Wait, do you have Sealord's Broadside or Master of the Sea? Also just realised, this strategy might not help you against the dragon, because it clears all debuffs on resurrection :(

Inge fucked around with this message at 12:04 on Oct 12, 2016

Sprite141
Feb 7, 2009

I should really just
learn to stop talking.
Dammit. All I got from the lucky draw was a binding rod. Ah well, at least now I can run cid raynes, hope and vanille at the same time.

Thankfully guaranteed 5* is a thing now, because otherwise I'd have gotten poo poo.

victrix
Oct 30, 2007


Inge posted:

e: Wait, do you have Sealord's Broadside or Master of the Sea? Also just realised, this strategy might not help you against the dragon, because it clears all debuffs on resurrection :(

Thanks for the advice, it's useful for other battles regardless :v: I have Tyro at MC1, I need another MC2 event lode to pop up before I can get Dr Mogs.

It's Sealord's Broadside, the attack/magic debuff, yap. I have Battleforged, Ace Striker, and Lionheart all unlocked.

And yes, that's exactly the issue I ran into with the Dragon, it'd clear debuffs each refresh, and a few badly timed attacks before I could re-debuff it (plus running low on hones by the third fight) lead to wipes. I don't think I can quite hone every break up to R3 just yet, too many power orbs needed.

I don't have a good healing/mind up RM for Selphie right now, is there a good default I could grab with an MC1 lode? I'll use Lionheart on her in the meantime.

Maybe I should do something like swap Pecil's second ability to Protect/Shellga to double up with Selphie, since those will stay between forms (how long do those last anyway, relative to Sentinels, which I refresh right around when the first SBs are coming online).

I'll burn off some stamina right now on realms and then go try again, see exactly where I run into trouble again.

Baku
Aug 20, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Refia's Rising Sun and a (third) Blazefire Saber. So that's physical synergy for FF3, which was something I needed, a damage-dealing SSB for a Monk, which I didn't have, and a 7* sword I can reforge further for 13.

Not the world's most exciting pull, but definitely worth 25.

Inge
Jan 16, 2007
SERIOUSLY THATS DISGUSTING I'M TRYING TO EAT

victrix posted:

Thanks for the advice, it's useful for other battles regardless :v: I have Tyro at MC1, I need another MC2 event lode to pop up before I can get Dr Mogs.

It's Sealord's Broadside, the attack/magic debuff, yap. I have Battleforged, Ace Striker, and Lionheart all unlocked.

And yes, that's exactly the issue I ran into with the Dragon, it'd clear debuffs each refresh, and a few badly timed attacks before I could re-debuff it (plus running low on hones by the third fight) lead to wipes. I don't think I can quite hone every break up to R3 just yet, too many power orbs needed.

I don't have a good healing/mind up RM for Selphie right now, is there a good default I could grab with an MC1 lode? I'll use Lionheart on her in the meantime.

Maybe I should do something like swap Pecil's second ability to Protect/Shellga to double up with Selphie, since those will stay between forms (how long do those last anyway, relative to Sentinels, which I refresh right around when the first SBs are coming online).

I'll burn off some stamina right now on realms and then go try again, see exactly where I run into trouble again.

Shell's default length of stay is 35 seconds, increasing by 3 seconds for every 100 mind on the user. It's not a bad idea to slap it on Cecil for this fight, you'll want to be stacking resistance and defence, seeing as though the dragon just shrugs breakdowns off. SG / SSII lasts for 25 seconds, I think it's something like a extra second per 100 mind? I'm not sure. Faris Debuff lasts for 25 seconds as well. Problem is is pandora's box ignores RES - good thing you have Dreamstage! Try to time it for when he's just about to die. Shadow flare and all the other poo poo he throws you'll be able to shrug. Consider using Cecil's single hit self heal BSB command if he gets hit, it might do a bit less damage but it will let you catch up on your healing.

Have you busted through the nightmare dungeons? Heaps of power orbs there for the taking if you need them quick, you should be able to take out all of the bosses with the possible exception of Barthandelus, who is a fucker, which will net you about 10 major power orbs (and some others). In any case, get two R2 lifesiphons at least before getting to the breakdowns.
With Battleforged or Ace Striker, two lifesiphons will put you a hair away from a full bar. If he uses a single AOE attack, you're ready to roll.

Inge fucked around with this message at 13:05 on Oct 12, 2016

Alxprit
Feb 7, 2015

<click> <click> What is it with this dancing?! Bouncing around like fools... I would have thought my own kind at least would understand the seriousness of our Adventurer's Guild!

First world problems with having a stamina refresh ready to go right before the Eiko event. The plan is to get my refresh only moments before the event starts, of course. But in the meantime, do I do Elite realm dungeons that don't give stamina shards, or just work on Wednesdaily and worry about all that on Thursday when it's more appealing?

Also, the new dungeons have all been light on stamina. Out of all of the mainline ones, 1 out of 6 was four stages while the others were all three. Makes it easier to account for things, but I don't know why they'd be so generous.

Also also, in the short time I was rolling with a full synergy party for the FF3 classics, Desch got his next RM. So that's taken care of real quick there.

victrix
Oct 30, 2007


I did it! :neckbeard:

And just squeaked out the Champion with Pecil lying on the floor

Selphie Dreamstage/Lionheart || Shellga R1/Curaja R2
Faris Sea Lord's Broadside/Freedom's Wish (I really need a better RM than this) || Armor Breakdown R2/Power Breakdown R2
Squall Lion's Roar/Ace Striker || Lifesiphon R3/Fira Strike R2 (didn't use this at all, could have been a more useful support ability maybe? not sure what Squall can use that would help though)
Ramza Shout/Mako Might || Magic Breakdown R2/Full Break R1
Pecil Paladin Force/Battleforged || Lifesiphon R3/Protectga R1

Faris and Ramza both ended up using regular attacks by the end of the fight, so I think I need R3 breakdowns at some point, though if Pecil hadn't bit the dust on dragon 3 it might have ended a bit faster, he died one turn before he could heal himself :saddowns:

Pecil and Squall chaining BSBs with Ace Striker/Battleforged is pretty nuts, I didn't realize the BSB attacks themselves counted for charging the meter :stare:

Now uh... what do I do with this MC3? :ohdear:


Inge posted:

Have you busted through the nightmare dungeons? Heaps of power orbs there for the taking if you need them quick, you should be able to take out all of the bosses with the possible exception of Barthandelus, who is a fucker, which will net you about 10 major power orbs (and some others).

I haven't touched them yet, I figured they were U+ or U++ difficulty, I guess not?

The 5 MPOs from beating zombie dragon are handy, if there are more on offer that might be enough to hone Full Break to R2, hone the breakdowns up to R3, or pick up some other combat abilities I'm missing.

Kylra
Dec 1, 2006

Not a cute boy, just a boring girl.

Alxprit posted:

First world problems with having a stamina refresh ready to go right before the Eiko event. The plan is to get my refresh only moments before the event starts, of course. But in the meantime, do I do Elite realm dungeons that don't give stamina shards, or just work on Wednesdaily and worry about all that on Thursday when it's more appealing?

Also, the new dungeons have all been light on stamina. Out of all of the mainline ones, 1 out of 6 was four stages while the others were all three. Makes it easier to account for things, but I don't know why they'd be so generous.

Also also, in the short time I was rolling with a full synergy party for the FF3 classics, Desch got his next RM. So that's taken care of real quick there.
You have 10 days to do the event. That's up to 4800 stamina. Don't worry about it.

IcePhoenix
Sep 18, 2005

Take me to your Shida

Beat the U++ CM :toot: Thanks to all the people in the thread for posting their setups, I hadn't even thought about using the Hope BSB but that's what made the big difference for me.

Inge
Jan 16, 2007
SERIOUSLY THATS DISGUSTING I'M TRYING TO EAT

victrix posted:

I did it! :neckbeard:

And just squeaked out the Champion with Pecil lying on the floor

Selphie Dreamstage/Lionheart || Shellga R1/Curaja R2
Faris Sea Lord's Broadside/Freedom's Wish (I really need a better RM than this) || Armor Breakdown R2/Power Breakdown R2
Squall Lion's Roar/Ace Striker || Lifesiphon R3/Fira Strike R2 (didn't use this at all, could have been a more useful support ability maybe? not sure what Squall can use that would help though)
Ramza Shout/Mako Might || Magic Breakdown R2/Full Break R1
Pecil Paladin Force/Battleforged || Lifesiphon R3/Protectga R1

Faris and Ramza both ended up using regular attacks by the end of the fight, so I think I need R3 breakdowns at some point, though if Pecil hadn't bit the dust on dragon 3 it might have ended a bit faster, he died one turn before he could heal himself :saddowns:

Pecil and Squall chaining BSBs with Ace Striker/Battleforged is pretty nuts, I didn't realize the BSB attacks themselves counted for charging the meter :stare:

Now uh... what do I do with this MC3? :ohdear:


I haven't touched them yet, I figured they were U+ or U++ difficulty, I guess not?

The 5 MPOs from beating zombie dragon are handy, if there are more on offer that might be enough to hone Full Break to R2, hone the breakdowns up to R3, or pick up some other combat abilities I'm missing.

Nice!

You need 20 MPO for rank 2. You've got 5 now, you can probably get another 8 easily from crushdown + quad foul dungeons, elite core dungeons also give them out as rewards. Major ice and lightning are in northern cross dungeons I think. Start hitting them up when they open, should be soon, if you can take down zambie dragon, you can take out those bosses.

I forgot to mention, with haste, you can stretch 4 uses of all your breakdowns over 12 rounds, you dont need to alternate every round. Something like FB > PBD > Attack > repeat will keep the boss debuffed with max efficiency. I dont do it often because I always forget which debuff I need to do :v:

Inge fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Oct 12, 2016

bilperkins2
Nov 22, 2004

Fashion for Dogz
:france:

Lucky Draw results:

Peacemaker (XIII) (dupe, combined), Tyrfing (III) (dupe, not combined because III synergy), Break Blade (III) and Power Circle (XIII). Two SSB's , one of which from a realm where I had none, that's a pretty good haul. Happy with that.

Boogaloo Shrimp
Aug 2, 2004

Managed to beat the FF7 CM using the Hope BSB strat that was posted. Had almost no synergy gear and ended up using a Mythril refresh. Vincent's SB armor ended up being pretty clutch, as it enabled him to hit with the BSB command for 9999 when combined with Memento Mori.

Twelve by Pies
May 4, 2012

Again a very likpatous story

NaanViolence posted:

I got Mustard's gun

The relic I whaled so hard for on the Tactics banner last time and still didn't get it. Now I feel even worse knowing it was on this banner and I didn't get it again.

Referee
Aug 25, 2004

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

My Lucky Draw was Physician's Staff (dupe) and... Iga Blade! Needed a BSB for a Support character and now that's taken care of.

First-world problem questions: if I'm at the point where I don't really NEED to pull for anything in particular relic-wise, that probably also means I'm at the point where I could start combining duplicate 5* relics, right?

I have dupes of:

Vega 42s
Cards
Wutai Headband
Physician's Staff
Minotaur Plate
Kaiser Shield (three of these- really tempting to make an 8*)

There's nothing in here I'm really gonna kick myself for combining later, right? It's mostly all older stuff anyway.

Wilekat
Sep 24, 2007



Went for a lucky draw pull because why not. I don't what these do. I hear Hope's BSB is good? I don't actually own any of these characters so should I pick one of them up to throw it on while I grind my way through the basic stuff?

bilperkins2
Nov 22, 2004

Fashion for Dogz
:france:

IllegallySober posted:

My Lucky Draw was Physician's Staff (dupe) and... Iga Blade! Needed a BSB for a Support character and now that's taken care of.

First-world problem questions: if I'm at the point where I don't really NEED to pull for anything in particular relic-wise, that probably also means I'm at the point where I could start combining duplicate 5* relics, right?

I have dupes of:

Vega 42s
Cards
Wutai Headband
Physician's Staff
Minotaur Plate
Kaiser Shield (three of these- really tempting to make an 8*)

There's nothing in here I'm really gonna kick myself for combining later, right? It's mostly all older stuff anyway.

Kaiser Shield adds to lightning damage, so it might be worth keeping two separate ones, but that depends on if you have any predilection for lighting meta, such as having Lightning's SSB or other lightning-based SSB/BSB's. If you don't and don't anticipate whaling on future lightning-based stuff, then an 8* IS really tempting and I personally would go for it because the usage now versus potential usage later equation usually weighs on the "now" side for me.

Similar on the Vega/Cards - multiple SSB's/BSB's for people that use thrown weapons. If you have a few then keeping separate so you'll have back row synergy for them might be worthwhile.

Nihilarian
Oct 2, 2013


Wilekat posted:



Went for a lucky draw pull because why not. I don't what these do. I hear Hope's BSB is good? I don't actually own any of these characters so should I pick one of them up to throw it on while I grind my way through the basic stuff?
Deneb Duellers is a 30% boostga, useful mostly for Cid Missions, but definitely useful. Hopes BSB is pretty good damage, but lacks utility. Glaive is a bit outdated but hey, synergy.

I'd pick Hope up first, it'll be a while before Cid Missions are important for you.

Referee
Aug 25, 2004

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

bilperkins2 posted:

Kaiser Shield adds to lightning damage, so it might be worth keeping two separate ones, but that depends on if you have any predilection for lighting meta, such as having Lightning's SSB or other lightning-based SSB/BSB's. If you don't and don't anticipate whaling on future lightning-based stuff, then an 8* IS really tempting and I personally would go for it because the usage now versus potential usage later equation usually weighs on the "now" side for me.

Similar on the Vega/Cards - multiple SSB's/BSB's for people that use thrown weapons. If you have a few then keeping separate so you'll have back row synergy for them might be worthwhile.

As of now, I don't think I have any Lightning-based BSB's except for Rinoa's and I don't think she can use the shield anyway.

Chevy Slyme
May 2, 2004

We're Gonna Run.

We're Gonna Crawl.

Kick Down Every Wall.

IllegallySober posted:

As of now, I don't think I have any Lightning-based BSB's except for Rinoa's and I don't think she can use the shield anyway.

There's also the new 5* Dragoon skill in a few weeks that is Lightning damage and is absolutely insane.

Referee
Aug 25, 2004

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

CaptainPsyko posted:

There's also the new 5* Dragoon skill in a few weeks that is Lightning damage and is absolutely insane.

I'm not likely to carry multiple Dragoons on a team though- so I'd be better to have an 8* armor than multiple 5* ones, right?

bilperkins2
Nov 22, 2004

Fashion for Dogz
:france:

IllegallySober posted:

I'm not likely to carry multiple Dragoons on a team though- so I'd be better to have an 8* armor than multiple 5* ones, right?

Yeah it's all about "am I going to run Lightning-based abilities on multiple characters?" and if your answer is "probably not" or lower then you should combine because an 8* Kaiser Shield on a character toting a lightning skill is a monster.

Edit:

Kaiser Shield (5*) with/without synergy

34/17 ATK, 195/126 DEF, 130/83 RES

Kaiser Shield (8*) with/without synergy

50/22 ATK, 257/146 DEF, 172/97 RES

bilperkins2 fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Oct 12, 2016

Referee
Aug 25, 2004

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

bilperkins2 posted:

Yeah it's all about "am I going to run Lightning-based abilities on multiple characters?" and if your answer is "probably not" or lower then you should combine because an 8* Kaiser Shield on a character toting a lightning skill is a monster.

Edit:

Kaiser Shield (5*) with/without synergy

34/17 ATK, 195/126 DEF, 130/83 RES

Kaiser Shield (8*) with/without synergy

50/22 ATK, 257/146 DEF, 172/97 RES

Nice. Thank you for the info. I think I will go ahead and combine them then :)

bilperkins2
Nov 22, 2004

Fashion for Dogz
:france:

IllegallySober posted:

Nice. Thank you for the info. I think I will go ahead and combine them then :)

You may or may not want to wait until after finishing the FFT dungeons that just dropped, depending on your other FFT synergy. 3 5*'s spread across your DPS guys might go a longer way than one 8*, but that distinction is only valid in FFT dungeons, which are pretty rare.

Chevy Slyme
May 2, 2004

We're Gonna Run.

We're Gonna Crawl.

Kick Down Every Wall.

IllegallySober posted:

I'm not likely to carry multiple Dragoons on a team though- so I'd be better to have an 8* armor than multiple 5* ones, right?

Oh I didn't realize you had three of them.

Yeah, in general, two of an item, keep seperate, 3 of an item, combine, is the proper MO in this era, IMO, so long as you can afford the dark matter and Gil.

victrix
Oct 30, 2007


I beat Ultimate Weapon++ :stare:

So close to Champion, maybe three turns off, because he did one last diamond flash that killed that award and killed two characters :negative:

Used the same team I did for Zombie Dragon, but I swapped out Squall for Yuffie, using Gauntlet to blink past the big stomps (and he's interruptable with Dismissal, who knew?). With Dreamstage and Gauntlet I was able to dodge a lot of outgoing damage, which was the only way I could survive the whole fight, and it still took me several attempts and honing some abilities up to R3 to nail it.

Definite bummer to miss out on the Champion loot, I'm all tapped out of upgrade mats from the 3* upgrading binge, but no biggy, those seem fairly common.

Getting 1 each of two Crystals seems pretty crazy given you need a pile to craft any of the 6* skills, but I guess those are uh, long term projects.

On the bright side, if I cleared these (even if by the skin of my teeth), I suppose that's a good sign going forward for more MC3 event bosses.

Lyndon LaRouche
Sep 5, 2006

by Azathoth
Going through these newly released elite realm dungeons makes me realize just how much of an unstoppable freight train my physical A-team is. I can literally autobattle the trash, pop off Rosa's SSB just before the boss fight if I need to top off my HP, then it's practically press BSB/SSB buttons to win.

Snazzy Frocks
Mar 31, 2003

Scratchmo
Got two hope boomerangs, one the bsb and the other his first one, I think. I don't think it's even worth mastering the not bsb....

Alxprit
Feb 7, 2015

<click> <click> What is it with this dancing?! Bouncing around like fools... I would have thought my own kind at least would understand the seriousness of our Adventurer's Guild!

Went through and culled my Follower list so that when I want to look through it for potentially useful stuff I'm not drowning in a sea of level 10 Tyros that never played the game after the first few days. I also followed three Finishing Touch Clouds so that my RM-farming party can use them to easily kill bosses in the later stages of events.

I currently just have Shout as my RW, but hopefully I can get something more interesting/unique in the near future. If I do, I'll let you guys know!

Sprite141
Feb 7, 2009

I should really just
learn to stop talking.

Snazzy Frocks posted:

Got two hope boomerangs, one the bsb and the other his first one, I think. I don't think it's even worth mastering the not bsb....

The non-bsb has a decent stop proc rate I think. If that means anything?

kalensc
Sep 10, 2003

Only Trust Your Respirator, kupo!
Art/Quote by: Rubby

IllegallySober posted:

My Lucky Draw was Physician's Staff (dupe) and... Iga Blade! Needed a BSB for a Support character and now that's taken care of.

First-world problem questions: if I'm at the point where I don't really NEED to pull for anything in particular relic-wise, that probably also means I'm at the point where I could start combining duplicate 5* relics, right?

I have dupes of:

Vega 42s
Cards
Wutai Headband
Physician's Staff
Minotaur Plate
Kaiser Shield (three of these- really tempting to make an 8*)

There's nothing in here I'm really gonna kick myself for combining later, right? It's mostly all older stuff anyway.

My rule of thumb is: can you build a few solid CM teams that would have full RS across weapons/armors without requiring both of the duplicate items? If yes, then combining should provide the benefit of a 5*+ without simultaneously lowering your stats elsewhere.

An exception would be character-locked items like Cards, Gun-Arms, Books, Dolls, etc, which could be combined much earlier due to the fact that only 1-3 characters can use the items (the character who can use the unique SB, Tyro, and I suppose Onion Knight can use everything? Not totally sure how he works actually.) So if it's very unlikely that you'd bring Tyro along as an FFVI gambler, then combining the Cards should be a low-risk proposition.

I share several of your dupes and haven't combined them so that I can ensure maximum RS coverage for the toughest battles. The gain from a 5* RS to a 5*+ RS is less than the loss going from a 5* RS to a 5* non-RS, so I want good depth before combining. Plus combining can be done at any time, but cannot be undone, so why rush it without a pressing need? I treat it like Orbs and Rosetta Stones and the like: use them when you must, save them otherwise.

My list of dupes is now:

Ebon Armor (IV) (3 copies)
Wutai Headband (VII)
Cutting Trigger (VIII)
Ultima Sword (IX)
Wizard Rod (IX)
Power Sash (IX) (3 copies)
Celebration Blade (X)
Royal Scepter (X)
Gungnir (XII)
Vega 42s (XIII)
Binding Rod (XIII)
Healer's Robe (XIV)
Grand Armor (T)
Chameleon Robe (T)

And my sole Reforge-able item is a Zantetsuken++ (won't reforge until a new VI event comes along, just in case I need that 5* Dark Matter for something else in the meantime).

I think the current U++ is a good example of the benefits uncombined weapons can provide. Sure, the Hope BSB was an easier way to take down the boss, but suppose a similar boss didn't have such a glaring weakness. Having some pairs or trios of mage weapons or defensive armors would have been crucial for surviving that battle, whereas a single reforged rod and single reforged armor would have provided 2 very strong characters at the expense of 3 weakened ones, barring a strong set of additional RS gear.

YoshiOfYellow
Aug 21, 2015

Voted #1 Babysitter in Mushroom Kingdom

I got a duplicate Airwing and a Luminous Robe from my lucky. Somehow, despite giving no shits at all about FFT, I now have both of Ovelia's relics on hand. I should probably considering leveling her but I already have Selphie leveled with Dreamstage and have other better hastegas.

Still there's a temptation to bring her in anyways so I can dump Ramza like a bad date and just bring her Hastega along with Quina's HotE clone.

Yes I really dislike Ramza that much. :v:

Sprite141
Feb 7, 2009

I should really just
learn to stop talking.

YoshiOfYellow posted:

I got a duplicate Airwing and a Luminous Robe from my lucky. Somehow, despite giving no shits at all about FFT, I now have both of Ovelia's relics on hand. I should probably considering leveling her but I already have Selphie leveled with Dreamstage and have other better hastegas.

Still there's a temptation to bring her in anyways so I can dump Ramza like a bad date and just bring her Hastega along with Quina's HotE clone.

Yes I really dislike Ramza that much. :v:

Sorry to say this, but using both is the best option. Having a non-dedicated healer based medica is loving fantastic for oh poo poo moments. Ramza has both awsome utility and really decent damage, plus with tailwind he brings a guaranteed 40% heal with protect stapled on. poo poo is good.

Unless you plan on switching ramza's shout out for ovelia, in which no don't do that. Keep dreamstage.

YoshiOfYellow
Aug 21, 2015

Voted #1 Babysitter in Mushroom Kingdom

It would look mostly like this:

Swap Ramza (Shout) for Quina (Angel Snack)
Swap Minwu (Will of the White Mage) for Ovelia (Medica & Hastega)
Yuffie covers medica duty with Clear Tranquil.

I know it's stupid and just keep Ramza on the field instead but I may toy with it anyways because hey I have ALL of Ovelia's relics I might as well give her a shot at doing something.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

the Orb of Zot
Jun 25, 2013

Apport: the Orb of Zot
The orb shrieks as your magic touches it!
Yoink! You pull the item towards yourself.
You see here the Orb of Zot.

SageAcrin posted:

I think Diamond is less harder and more utterly and totally different to the point of requiring basically a different team if you didn't just powder Dragon Zombie.

Now, I heard Meltigemini in the event upcoming is supposed to be meaner, and looked up a few videos.

So how do you guys feel about going through two 100k no-weakness lifebars of MT magic spamming Ultimate+ defenses jerks just to reach the ignore defenses spamming U++ Diamond Weapon-like at the end(who still has 180k life, but at least has two good weaknesses)? Who also has a defense hitting spell that hits like a truck, and counters everything randomly with ignore defenses physicals?

I really cannot imagine me beating that at my hones level. Clowns are scary. :smith:

Yeah, I'm actually at a legit loss for how to handle that under CM conditions.

I might actually just throw the towel in on this one and use the A-team instead of trying for CM completion; literally everything about it seems like a horrible nightmare and the only relevant SBs I have in FF9 are Beatrix's +Party DEF SB and Eiko's Reraise SSB (for the AOE heal portion, although at this point the reraise portion will probably also be a godsend).

  • Locked thread