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I thought FF2 was the best FF. They did that battle system once and then could never use it again because it was just too perfect. Also the whole killing off half the world's population. Vil posted:Couldn't you have just thrown a Magic Lamp Odin at them? The trench even has a lamp-recharging spot. Keep in mind I had Sandworm kill my Berserker rather than start the battle dead, and I fought Tyrannosaur legit rather than cheese him with a Phoenix Down. I'm trying to play "legit" until I actually need to cheese stuff to win.
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Jun 26, 2012 10:47
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 Hilariously, the video I took for NeoExdeath was so long that the video refuses to load, thus I have no death pic for him. Seriously, it took over 30 minutes. At least this should suffice. The Rift wasn't too hard. I changed my tactics to having my Red Mage wield the Chicken Knife and spam Focus. Pretty much had no trouble from any of the bosses on the way to Exdeath with that combo and Berserker. I spent the first phase of Exdeath boosting myself with Hero's Rime/Swift Song while my Berserker took him down. The second part was a mix of my Bard alternating between Doublecast Cura and Swift Song, my Monk throwing items, my Berserker 'Serking, and my Red Mage using Focus. Though Grand Cross did zombify two party members, the worst thing it did was inflict old on my Berserker, making her useless. Once it got down to the final part, I landed a killing blow with my Monk, who I forgot could actually hit worth a drat thanks to Hero's Rime boosting the crap out of his damage output. Oh well, more preparation and that foresight and it probably wouldn't have taken thirty minutes to kill him. Overall, it gave me new appreciation for these jobs. Doublecast is still useful even with just Red Magic, since layering Protect is useful. Monks can still be useful with Equip X abilities, as my Monk was dealing 2k damage with the Titan Axe. The ever-useful Berserker with Equip Harps can wreck poo poo with a Rune Axe. Hero's Rime is loving amazing for long battles. Overall, Bard was my MVP, due to Equip Harps boosting Berserker, Songs being awesome, and being better with Doublecast than Red Mage. Monk's the stinker since even weaker magic can be useful, and Red Mage has better equipment options. Still, Monk was great for the beginning, and I didn't really have trouble with any boss besides Byblos. A nice team that compliments each role well yet still manages to have a nice challenge factor. Overall, a good run.
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Jun 28, 2012 04:52
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So I've decided to spend tonight soloing the end game of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years with Edge. I'll be doing this with no import data, so no bonus stuff carried over from saving files. Everyone will be dead until I get to choose my own party, in which case I'll choose only Edge. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.
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Jun 30, 2012 00:14
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...Welp. When you begin The Gathering without any import data, Edge starts at L25 and the party starts with 10,000 Gil. The first priority is to go to Kaipo, as they sell three very important items. Tents, which will recover Edge and change the moon phases without reviving the rest of the party. HiPotions, which heal 500HP and save Heal Pill MP which could go to other spells, and Spider Silk, which casts Slow and is the best debuff in the game. The second priority is to grind to L32. Baron area has probably the weakest enemies, and even they will knock Edge around. A couple levels later, and Edge can start to hold his own. At L32, Edge gains an extra attack multiplier, which is nice, and also learns Mirage, which is self-Blink. Two free evasions is huge considering Edge can't take a hit. I decide to tackle Eblan first, as it has some gear that could improve Edge. Before I can tackle the boss there, I need to take care of the two Melt Golems. Each Melt Golem has 20k HP, and Edge deals 500 damage on an Attack-boosting moon. With four Spider Silks, I can get off five attacks before the Melt Golem wears off Mirage. Luckily, he doesn't use any other attacks (I saw Blaze once out of the fifty-something physical attacks), so I manage to wear them both down. The party is revived for the boss, so they can take hits while I throw Spider Silk at it and set Mirage. For the first phase of the fight, it simply uses physical attacks. It's speedier than the Golems, so I can only get off three attacks. Well, it also has a powerful fire attack that does 700-800 damage, but Edge has 1500 HP, so I just use a HiPotion or two. Second phase, it'll have one round between its big attack where it uses a physical attack and then immediately cast Fira for 500 damage. Still not a big deal, it just means one turn using a HiPotion instead of an attack. Third phase, it casts Firaga for ~1600 damage, more than my max HP. I may have to come back to Eblan later.
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Jun 30, 2012 02:14
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The problem is that Edge takes a bit of prep to become a god. A lot of his awesomeness comes from his excellent equipment options, options he doesn't have access to from a clean start. He's probably the worst initial character of the party during The Gathering, at least until he gets access to some good equipment and gains some levels (since his Tale has him sharing experience with four other characters and a bullshit-difficult Challenge Dungeon). That said, it turns out Mithril Knives are stronger than his starter weapons, so there's that. Kaipo can actually be a decent grinding spot, as I can two-shot the moths there under the Attack+ moon and they give 6-7k experience. I'd love to find a way to deal with Eblan just so I can buy a ranged weapon and deal full-damage from the back row. Once I do that, then things will get a lot less painful. Edit: Hey, a few levels and some better knives helped! Was able to do 700 damage an attack instead of 500, and the extra HP let me survive Firaga. Twenty-something HiPotions and three X-Potions later, and I survive. While I wanted to get a ranged weapon, the 32-power katana is just so tempting, especially since one of the treasure chests in Eblan is a 35-power lightning katana. Hopefully I have enough pure offense to make up for Edge's frail self. If not, I'll get a Chakram and back-row it for awhile. Edit 2: Forgot about the Ribbon and the easy monster guarding it. Gained a couple more levels, which just barely let me kill the Great Malboro before Doom killed me, netting myself the Black Belt Gi. Then I went to Agart and found the Diamond Armlet there, so I think armor-wise I'm set for the first third of this challenge. Tried the Mysidia boss, almost had it but two brutal attacks in a row killed me right at the end, though if I kept healed I would've got it. I'll try again later, with maybe another level or two under my belt. Two hours in, and I'm up 14 levels and Edge is finally becoming somewhat reliable. Still fragile, but an awesome offense and agility combined with Mirage and Heal Pill make up for that. I'll pick up again in a couple of days. Mega64 fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jun 30, 2012 |
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Jun 30, 2012 02:53
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Hey, looks like someone hacked away all the laws in FFTA.
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Jun 30, 2012 13:11
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Zombies' Downfall posted:Is the balance in TAY a lot like normal FF4? Because one thing I always found funny is that other than maybe swapping out Rydia for Yang or Porom, the party they give you for the endgame actually is the best possible party you could make from the people in the game. This was kinda fun to realize in FF4A. I wouldn't say balanced, but the game does a lot more with FF4's gameplay and gives such a large variety of characters that it makes things that much more interesting. Some characters are a large step above others, and some just suck, whether because of their lackluster abilities and stats (most of the Eblan Four, Harley), or because the way mechanics work go against the character (Agility is a very important stat in the game, and is part of why Edge is so awesome. On the flip side, Cid is horrible because his Agility is so low). Basically, each tale gives you a set party, each with a different set of characters with different strengths and weaknesses (Yang's Tale is all Monks, while Palom's Tale follows two mages). If you import all this data into the game, you can have as many as 22 people to choose from in the final dungeon, which is very long and has a ton of bosses. It's a big shame the story itself is so loving horrible, because the gameplay itself isn't actually that bad if you ignore the high encounter rates and the completely bullshit Challenge Dungeons (which are optional anyway). Certainly an evolution of FF4's gameplay, keeping the same basic structure while adding enough to add some actual strategy to combat.
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Jul 1, 2012 03:38
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Put in some more time in my FF4TAY Edge solo run. Managed to survive the Mysidia boss's final attack, and from there the Agart fight was a breeze. At this point, Edge is starting to embrace his godhood and with some HiPotions easily took care of the Lodestone Cavern and its boss. My biggest get there was a Light Curtain, which let me survive the Dark Sage chest and snag the Mage Masher, a nice upgrade for Edge. All that's left now is to go to the Cave of Eblan and trade in my tails. Haven't decided what I want yet, but it should be easier to figure out considering I'm only using one character and all. I don't think I need the Limit Ring since Edge won't really be reaching the damage limit, but then I probably don't need three of the other tail things either. Probably getting the Blue Tail since Blue Armor is pretty great, but everything else doesn't seem that impressive, especially considering many of them are accessories and thus won't really be that useful. Might just get the Limit Ring for the hell of it, then. Anyway, I think I'll be fine for the last stage of The Gathering, and from there I don't have to worry about any pesky teammates constantly reviving on me. Edit: Took a couple tries, but I made it through Eblan Cave, getting a Rainbow and Blue Tail, some new katanas for Edge, and enough EXP to get me to L50, the max for The Gathering. From there, the boss of the level was a breeze, as their Black Magic on a down moon couldn't do much to Edge. Even Meteor hit for under 1k, with Edge having over 3k at this point. Now I'm at the end game proper. The real fun begins! Edit 2: poo poo, looks like I missed my chance for the Giant's Glove. That would've been handy. Oh well, not like there's a shortage of awesome accessories in the end game. Mega64 fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Jul 2, 2012 |
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Jul 1, 2012 20:41
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Ahahahahaha. Yeah, The Gathering is definitely the hard part of this challenge. Just finished the first half of the final dungeon, and it was a breeze. Edge starts getting some really nice equipment options, including the Murasame and Moonring Blade, as well as the Red Scarf and Protect Ring. More about the latter two in a minute. While I could go into individual boss strategies, there's really no need since I used the same strategy in most: Throw a Spider Silk to inflict Slow, put up Mirage, and go on an all-out offensive, using X-Potions or Healing Pill to heal as necessary while reapplying Mirage immediately after it runs out. Edge is fast enough to get three turns to a slowed boss's one on average, so he has time to bring the hurt and heal/buff as necessary. While there are deviations for certain bosses, there weren't really any major ones worth hiding in spoiler tags. Random encounters alternated between lucrative and, especially in the last section, brutal, though that's because I ran with an attack-boosting moon in the front row. The last few areas have enemies with huge EXP rewards, the last area in particular averaging 20k-30k EXP to Edge. I ended up finishing the first half at L64, and I could easily level to L99 if I wanted to try my hand on the bonus bosses. A couple of observations: Ninjutsu is much stronger than you think, as Edge's powered-up techniques can wreck enemies with a weakness. I saw them hit the damage limit against some of the weaker mobs, for the record. Healing Pill with an ability-boosting moon can outheal an X-Potion, which is handy. Second, seems there's an interesting glitch where if you have one piece of armor absorb an element and another resist a bunch of elements, you'll absorb all the elements you resist. With the Fire Scarf's fire absorption and the Protect Ring's Fire/Ice/Lightning Resistance, Edge actually absorbs ice and thunder attacks as well as fire. Pretty handy against, say, Dark Sages who primarily use elemental spells until alone. Now I have the Blue Armor and the Limit Ring, so I'm pretty much set until I get the final pair of katanas. I'll stick with the Blue Armor's fantastic defenses unless I need to absorb elements. Other than that, I think I'll be set for the second half of the dungeon. It's amazing how awesome Edge is in this game. He's switched from a master-of-none in the previous game to a master-of-all.
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Jul 2, 2012 03:48
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Vil posted:I do grant that neither of them would play well with a berserker. There's a certain amount of prep time that you often want to do while the boss is at high HP and relatively harmless (e.g. the beginning of the final battle), and the berserker is having none of that poo poo. Toad's Kiss would nullify your Berserker (Maiden's Kiss + Dark Matter) until you're ready for him to kick rear end. Might be another mix or two that would do similar things. Bellmaker posted:Monk: Oh how the mighty have fallen. Monk destroys the first world doublehandedly (heh), but right around Mua Forest they take a sharp nose dive into suck. The Kaiser Knuckles helped a bit, but my monk was basically the !Mix master in the latter third of the game. Even Equip Axes wasn't getting the job done. Probably my weakest class overall, not what I would have expected going into this. Did you give your Monk the Titan Axe? I found it actually did decent enough damage to keep up with my Berserker until the Rift, dealing around 2k damage a hit. Of course, by the end your Monk's still better off doing utility stuff while your good characters wreck the enemy's poo poo, so it's a minor improvement. Beaumains posted:I feel like high Agility kinda ironically shines when no other party members are around to slow you down with their own turns. But yeah, I read your LPs, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find a little challenge run update hidden in this thread. Please post how it winds up. Agility's probably the best stat even with a full party, especially since you can skip turns in TAY. It lets Edge get a ton of turns, especially once you Slow an enemy and can run laps around them. Plus he gets a ton of stat-boosting equipment that really boosts his damage, especially if you give him a Giant's Glove (which I missed  ). Combined with his handy Ninjutsu, and the only major problem Edge has is taking physical hits, and even that can be fixed by giving him a ranged weapon and sticking him in the back row.Between my FF3 solo run, the FJF, and this, I've really been on a challenge run kick lately. Maybe I'll do a FF5 Same Character Class challenge next or something like that.
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Jul 2, 2012 13:16
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So I've hit a snag in my solo Edge run. There's a boss that only casts two things: Doom and Haste. They don't even so much as attack. The problem is that there is no way to block Doom with equipment. Doom gets through instant death protection and cannot be blocked. It can be reflected, but the boss casts Doom before Edge can act, and I don't think even maxing my Agility will work here. My only hope would be if I can get a Preemptive Strike on the boss, which I don't think works for bosses. I think my only option is to bring along an extra body to throw Phoenix Downs while Edge attacks. If anyone has any better suggestions, I'm definitely open. TAY essentially stole its mechanics from the GBA version, so anything that would work there should work there, if that helps.
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Jul 2, 2012 22:11
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Maybe I'll try Extreme Mode, where I use cheats to unlock all the jobs immediately and have them all available. Maybe even add Freelancer/Mime and the GBA jobs to the mix. Getting the later jobs could actually make the early parts of the game more difficult since some won't really have good equipment options yet.
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Jul 3, 2012 20:05
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So I've been working on my FF4TAY Edge solo run, and I ran across an interesting glitch in one of the later floors of the final dungeon. Boss spoilers below. You can die on the floor with Death Gaze and Ultima Weapon without getting a Game Over. Just die to any non-Ultima Weapon enemy (including Death Gaze), and you'll be back where you were before the battle, except with 0HP. If you get into another random battle on this floor, the battle will instantly end, and you'll go back to where you were. Keep in mind that the game will go to the title screen as normal if you do this on any other floor or against Ultima Weapon. Besides that, I still have no loving idea how Death Gaze's stupid irritating bullshit gimmick is supposed to work mechanically, though I finally beat it. As for the Doom-inflicting boss, I just bit the bullet and had Edward revive Edge once he fell (I tried Ceodore but he and Edge always died at the same time), and then threw a Lunar Curtain to make the fight a joke. Other than that, the only other trouble I had was with another boss that casts Doom, though it's part of a larger variety of attacks, and I managed to reflect the first cast and barely beat it before its second casting killed me. Some bosses are more tedious than others, but overall it's been pretty simple. All I have left are the three super-bosses, another story boss, and the final boss. I think two of them won't be a huge problem (though one casts Doom so I'll have to use up the rest of my Light/Lunar Curtains), but the other one can inflict Stop, which gets through Ribbons and can ruin my day. Don't think there's anything I can do to prevent it, either, and I don't know if it ever wears off. Oh well, I'll mess around with them later. As of right now, Edge is L87. It's not too difficult to level that high when you're soloing and can kill off a lot of monsters with relative ease, doing 4k damage from the back row a hit.
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Jul 4, 2012 16:35
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Beat one of the TAY's three super-bosses. Lord Dragon's biggest threat was Doom, but I used both my Light Curtains and managed to reflect the one time it was cast. Other than that, spam X-Potions and Elixirs as necessary, recast Haste through Masamune when Cursed Elegy cancels it out, and attack like hell. As for the other two super-bosses, one can inflict Stop and I can't do anything about it. The other can use Laser late in its battle, which deals 9999 to Edge. I could try to gamble with it not using Laser at all, but I already got lucky enough last battle not seeing it for a long time, so I don't know if I'll try again. Stuck on the penultimate story battle, as the boss is pretty drat fast with tons of nasty Black Magic. I'll probably swap to a Black Magic - moon, even if it means I lose out on the fun of dealing 5k damage a hit with an Attack + moon. Hopefully that'll let me heal less often and balance out the reduced damage. Otherwise, I do have twelve more levels I could grind...
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Jul 5, 2012 01:58
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The Prologue pops up in a lot of FF games, usually during the beginning or ending. It's probably most memorable in FF4, though it's appeared as early as the first game.
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Jul 5, 2012 10:44
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Just get to work on FF15 already, SE. I know you've sunk a lot of money on FF13 and have to recoup your losses by rehashing the same engine under the supposed idea that you're creating this vast intricate story of interdimensional casinos and throwing Moogles off cliffs, but Final Fantasy XIII-3 isn't exactly the game people are clamoring for. If you're that desperate for money, you could always remake FF4 again for the Wii U. The main screen could be fancy 3D while the tablet screen would have the original 2D sprite graphics.
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Jul 6, 2012 05:20
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Finished my FF4: The After Years Edge solo run. Last time, I was at the penultimate story boss. I was having trouble because its black magic would wipe me out, so I tried a BM- moon. There's two problems with this boss. 1. It can use Binding Glare, which inflicts Paralysis. 2. It can cast Death. The White Tiger Mask can prevent paralysis, while the Ribbon can prevent Death. I ended up leveling up to 99 because I could (I was L87 before and it doesn't take that much EXP for the extra 12 levels), but the simple trick was to farm for Light Curtains since Death can be Reflected, which also helps for the boss's Flare and Tornado spells. The last five floors before this boss have very rare encounters, but you can steal Light Curtains from them. As a bonus, this game lets you steal multiple items from the same enemy. So after one lengthy battle in the area, I ran out with 24 Light Curtains. From there, it was a breeze. Next, the final battle. First phase does nothing but Drain/Osmose. Second mimics your attacks but does nothing else, so I got hit with Binding Glare a few times and made it out well. Third form has Meteor, Flare, and Holy, but a Light Curtain can nullify the latter two, and Meteor only takes off 3k or so damage from Edge's 6k HP. Last phase can heal for 9999 (irrelevant since Edge does over 10k in the three turns he gets to the final boss's one after Haste/Slow), do a physical attack for ~1.5k (Blink nullifies it), an attack that does ~1.5k and inflicts Sap, and an attack that does 4k, plus Black Hole/Holy, meaning I can't reflect it and have to reapply Haste/Blink. That said, it wasn't too difficult, and I didn't even have to throw anything. All in all, not a bad challenge. The first third is definitely the worst part, assuming you're not importing data from Edge's Tale and start with a L25 weakling who can barely scratch the enemies around Baron. Once he has good equipment, he'll start raining death on everyone. Edge's biggest and perhaps sole flaw is that he can't really take a physical hit too well, though stick him in the back row and have him at a high enough level and he'll evade a ton of attacks. Other than that, his weapons are great (throwing weapons great for back row and flying enemies, his two ultimates casting Haste and Blink), his speed lets him run circles around enemies, Smash&Grab (aka Mug) can be handy, and Ninjutsu can be surprisingly useful and powerful. Plus he alone gets the Fire Scarf, which combined with the Protect Ring lets him absorb Fire/Ice/Thunder attacks, very handy for some enemies/bosses. I don't know if this challenge is really that feasible for characters who aren't Edge. I don't think anyone else gets elemental absorption, farming for Light Curtains when you can't steal them is a major pain, and some characters can't really use Haste. Then again, some characters can do ton more damage, or have much better defensive magic, so who knows. If I tried another solo game, I'd probably go with Rydia. Don't know how far I'd get with that one, though. Now to figure out what I want to do next. Maybe that "Extreme" FJF I was talking about.
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Jul 6, 2012 21:03
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Dr Pepper posted:Obviously do a Leonora solo She might actually be feasible with lots of grinding, since she learns all white magic and gains access to black spells like Stop and the -agas. Plus her biggest problem, the insane grinding needed to gain her most powerful spells, actually works in her favor in a solo run since it's much easier to gain EXP for one. Plus I'd have to actually import data to use her since she won't appear in the end-game unless you import Palom's Tale. Of course, the problem would be soloing that tale considering Leonora doesn't learn the -ra spells until L41. 
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Jul 6, 2012 22:27
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Hedera Helix posted:Harley solo. Admit it, you know you're going to do it eventually. Hmm, actually getting to use the Economical Ring (doubles effectiveness of items) means X-Potions would essentially act as Elixirs. That's a lot of money saved for Gil Toss. But then you factor in Harley's horrible stats and equipment options and realize there's no way it could ever be worth it. Dr Pepper posted:I don't think anybody would begrudge you using Palom for beating Palom's Tale and maybe getting some nice things from the Challenge Dungeon. I'd probably have to use Palom to beat the boss of that tale, but otherwise I think soloing the rest is feasible. And it'll be a cold day in hell before I ever do one of those drat challenge dungeons again.
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Jul 6, 2012 22:34
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Don't have a PS2, and while my computer can run a PS2 emulator, it's not that stellar with it. Plus I've never played X-2, so I probably wouldn't do a challenge run for my first time (though maybe I'll get around to it once I get more cash). I probably wouldn't start a challenge until tomorrow anyway, but I'll probably do something with FF5 ("Extreme" FJF, or a regular FJF where you can't mix and match abilities with other jobs), or maybe a FF4 solo Cecil run. I know 3-6 the best so I'll probably stick to those. Thinking about it, I always wanted to see a FF6 hack that limited spells to certain characters. Only Terra/Celes/Relm would get Firaga/Blizzaga/Thundaga, Locke, Shadow, and maybe another character or two would get the Slow/Haste spells, Sabin and Cyan would focus on buffs, Strago and Gau would get some of the odder spells, and so on. It'd keep characters distinct and would actually add some strategy in choosing your party. Then just rebalance some things (make SwordTech not suck, give Sabin more magic-boosting equipment, maybe lower the insane buffs Terra, Celes, and Edgar get from equipment, etc) to keep choices more interesting. Maybe not that practical, but I think it could be a fun little idea.
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Jul 7, 2012 12:28
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Wheresmy5bucks posted:Actually, second thought, you could do it if you restricted the hell out of equipment like FF9, and made espers give no magic. I like it. The smaller spells could be relics that everyone could learn, like Cure and the L1 elemental spells. Several people could learn some of the more intermediate spells through weapons and armor, and then each character would have their own exclusive ultimate spell. Of course, then things would have to be rebalanced a bit, and chests would have to be changed to have these items, which would make exploring for unique items much more fun not knowing where things would be. It could be a fun little hack that would add a bit of fresh air to a game many have played to death already. Maybe I'll dick around and see what all I can accomplish before I inevitably lose interest like I always do with these things.
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Jul 7, 2012 18:35
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So I decided to do a solo Cecil run in FF4A. So far, it's arguably been easier than a full party. Died once when a TinyMage countered with Hold and it wouldn't loving wear off. Otherwise, it's a breeze. Just finished the Antlion, though, so things should get more difficult soon at least. But having Cecil actually gaining levels this early on is rather handy, and it's crazy how many enemies hit him for only 1 damage. I'll post more in-depth stuff here (you know, if there's anything actually worth talking about), but I'm posting stuff on my Twitter (in my profile) as well as I play, since I might as well put the thing to use and all.
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Jul 7, 2012 22:30
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From Mt. Hobs on, the enemies actually hit pretty hard, though nothing too scary. MomBomb was tough after splitting, especially since the GreyBombs hit hard and they all decided to Explode at once. Cecil's Darkness attack actually came in handy for this fight, the only time I bothered using it. Fabul was a breeze, and I grinded for Gil around Mysidia to get the Paladin gear and some HiPotions. Ran away from randoms in Mt. Ordeals. First form Scarmiglione, one HiPotion at each cronie to kill them, then stabbed Scarmy while healing up from his Thunder counters. Second form was much easier to deal with. Did my class change, my very first battle against seven ghouls of various kinds bumped me to L10. I left Mt. Ordeals at L15. Hopefully that'll be enough for the next dungeons. It's been easy so far, but I imagine it'll be getting tougher soon.
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Jul 8, 2012 00:40
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Moldy Taxes posted:I would imagine he'll deal with it the same way I did when I was six and too stupid to realize what Magnetic Cave meant in terms of my equipment: running away from absolutely everything. It's how I dealt with Mt. Ordeals, and it's how I plan to deal with the Magnetic Cave. At least for Mt. Ordeals you can spam HiPotions to end encounters, though there's absolutely no reason to, as you'd probably end up losing gil in the long run and the levels you gain there as a Dark Knight are wasted anyway. It's not like you actually need to legitimately fight anything while gimped. From my FF3 and TAY Edge solo runs, I've found the extra EXP you gain from having less party members usually compensates for having only one person to control. The main problems are instant death (Trap Doors are going to be a loving bitch) and debilitating status effects like Stop and Paralysis, two status effects that Ribbon doesn't block (at least in TAY, which literally ripped its code from FF4A). I think the loads of extra HP I'll have will make up for most of the challenge in the game.
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Jul 8, 2012 04:58
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Saigyouji posted:I thought a solo Cecil run of FF4 was impossible unless you grinded to high heaven, due to the Trap Doors? Then again, maybe I'm wrong. I'm already at my first big roadblock, Cagnazzo. Once you get him down to low enough HP, he'll move to healing mode and heal for over 500HP. Currently I'm hitting around 300HP damage. Thing is, this thing can trigger immediately after I hit him, so it ends up becoming a stalemate. Berserk doesn't help things either. Not sure how I'm supposed to do this one without tedious grinding, as I only have L1 spell items which do no damage, and his tsunami does much less damage late in the fight. As for the Trap Doors, I just have to hope I can outspeed them, I guess. That or amass a shitload of Light Curtains somehow, which I doubt I'd be able to do.
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Jul 8, 2012 22:00
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Srice posted:http://www.garath.net/Sullla/FF/SC1.html Nice find, thanks. Though it's pretty irritating to find that the person had success with a strategy that isn't working for me. Wonder if it's to due with ATB differences between the SNES/GBA versions (playing the European version of FF4A since the US version had issues with its ATB). Maybe I'll try to nullify Caggy's Haste once he gets to the healing stage?
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Jul 8, 2012 22:31
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GreatRedSpirit posted:Do you have any ice magic items? Sulla's playthrough is incorrect with Caig's weakness: He's a reptile and has the reptile ice weakness except when he was the water shield up where it shifts to lightning. Throw those at him and see what happens. All I have is Ice-1, and that also does only 1 damage during his shell phase.
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Jul 8, 2012 23:35
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The White Dragon posted:Don't they sell a Thunder Rod in Baron? Maybe Mist? Run out, grab one from the store, use-as-item; I'm pretty sure there's no "class" restriction for spell-use items in FF4. I'm also pretty sure Thunder will scare him out of the shell? That might only cancel Tsunami, though. You have to be able to equip a rod to use it, apparently. Bought one at Baron, didn't work for Cecil. No matter, as a combination of actually moving to the front row and throwing a Spider's Silk to cancel out Haste let Haste + Berserk work. That's one major obstacle down for now, at least.
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Jul 9, 2012 01:29
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Beaumains posted:It's been years since I've done this challenge, but basically you need to weigh all factors and use the proper combination of items, equipment, and row positioning to get through. Every enemy can be beaten with the right tactics. Row positioning is huge. It took me until the Baron Waterway to realize that if I went to the back row, I wouldn't get my poo poo kicked in, and I'd still be dealing close to normal damage. Of course, enemies didn't really start doing damage until Mt. Hobs. Of course, this also means I was stumped on Cagnazzo until I realized, "Hey, he doesn't really physically attack until the end. Maybe the extra damage would be enough to get through his healing!" A Spider's Silk probably helped. quote:Don't throw away or sell anything. IIRC, even the Prisoner shirt gives immunity to sleep and that's basically required to beat a Golem enemy that inflicts sleep on every attack (and who guards the Blood Sword, I think, which is extremely important to get). Stuff like that. I found such a Golem in Eblan that guards the Sleep Blade, along with four Skuldiers. I used Hourglass to cheese that fight, then managed to chip away at Mad Ogres with much healing to snag the Silver Apple. Screw the Blood Lance, though. I kind of regret not bringing more Gold Needles for Barbariccia, though. I have Esuna, but that means I'll be burning through Ethers instead of Needles. Then again, it's not like I'll ever use White Magic outside of free out-of-battle healing soon. quote:But yeah, with Trap Doors you'll just have to level to 57 or so and use the Avenger sword. Not much getting around it. Considering I'm already L30 or so, I'll probably be at 57 anyway by the time I reach there. Good to know the Avenger will work with them, though. quote:Edit: I'll also say I remember a doll enemy in the Tower of Zot dropping items that cast Blink. I remember the drop rate being OK. You may want to get some of these. I actually noticed this. It'd be tedious, but I probably should get 99 of them since I don't think these guys appear outside the tower. Might as well while I'm at Zot. I'm loving this challenge more than I was expecting. For someone who can only attack and cast weak White Magic, a solo Cecil game requires a lot more strategy than a usual full party. The White Dragon posted:All this talk about FF4 reminds me of the first time I ever played it. I had so much trouble with Baigan because I relied heavily on casters. That Wall was a gigantic roadblock for me. I used to have trouble with Baigan and the Magus Sisters as well, because gently caress Reflect. Of course, now I realize that Cecil and Yang are more than enough to rip through Reflect, plus Cid gets the Gaia Hammer which casts Quake on them for decent damage. And yeah, Cagnazzo is a huge joke when you have Thundaga and Blizzaga available. It was nice to actually have him be challenging for once, even if the challenge was through his bullshit healing. Odin's still tough as hell for me, though. I struggled with him during my LP of the game, and I ended up having to kill Rosa just because she was useless and I needed every second I could get. Of course, part of this was because I didn't have Kain to dodge his Zantetzuken. Speed-based battles kind of suck in this game because the ATB can be so wonky. The White Dragon posted:It's like, we talk about how games are super easy and poo poo, but it's because these days we know what grinding is. If we still approached them from the perspective of our childhoods--"I'm sure I can do this if I try something else this time"--they still have quite a lot of strategy and thinking outside the box involved. I mean, it's how I'd design a game: if a player wants to grind, let 'em! For everyone else, there'd be a clever strategy or three for every boss if you just charged in with nothing but a save file at your back--plus of course y'know a really cheap-rear end cheesy way to do it--and I wouldn't doubt that players would formulate their own no-grind methods to best an enemy. It's how we all did back in the day! That's why I'm enjoying these challenges I'm doing. I've memorized a lot of the games I've played a kid so well that I know many ways to cheese a boss, though I'm always learning new ways. But these challenges force me to do things like use spell items that aren't Slow/Haste, or to use the row system to my advantage. Grinding is a big part, but that alone won't stop an enemy unless I grinded to insane levels, and screw that.
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Jul 9, 2012 12:11
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Beaumains posted:Oh, hey, Mega, make sure to save Hourglasses to get through the Marlboros guarding the Avenger. I really don't think there's any other way through them. And you really don't want to miss that sword, as I'm sure you remember from the LP. And don't forget the Magemasher does x4 damage to "mages" and Cecil can equip knives... I had quite a few moments where I prevailed/saved resources by utilizing the fact that Cecil can equip a whole bunch of stuff. Outfitting him with Edge's gear that just boosts Str and Agi is (situationally) a great idea. Thanks for the tips! I managed to get through Barbariccia without stone immunity. It's all about getting off Slow before she spins. Once she spins, she's immune to magic (which is what roadblocked me during a Rydia solo game until I gave up). With that and Haste, I was able to keep dealing damage while healing/curing Gradual Petrification after three castings. The worst part is the incredibly lengthy cutscene before each attempt. Calcabrina was a pain because I was one tick away from killing the final doll twice, thus having to fight the full form, who had nasty spells like Confuse and Hold. I still took it down, though, and the next boss was a cake. About to do the Tower of Babil right now. Can't wait to do that long tedious dungeon. But hey, more loot!
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Jul 10, 2012 10:49
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e: Beaten.jannik posted:Sorry for bring this up again, I know this question has been answered a number of times in the old thread, but I just can't find the post right now. FF1/2: GBA or PSP versions, probably GBA is best since that one contains both games and is probably cheaper at this point. PS1 also has both, but the GBA has more new stuff, though it's actually rather decent. If you don't mind old-school Nintendo difficulty, give the NES originals a try (though you'll need a translation for FF2). Think they're both on iOS as well. FF3: NES version. DS version is the only official US version, though it's also on iOS, Android, and coming to PSP. All these are the 3D remake and essentially keep the same old-school Nintendo difficulty without really tweaking anything, so it's like playing the NES version, except it's significantly slower-paced and has more balanced jobs rather than the NES version's approach of replacing jobs with better jobs. Either way, the game is difficult and has a lot of bullshit moments, though the battle system's still a step up from FF1/2 (your attacks actually redirect from a dead enemy). FF4: PSP. It comes with the game's sequel (don't play it), and is the GBA version with souped-up graphics. The GBA version works if you don't have a PSP. There's also the DS remake, which is rather faithful to the original except adding new abilities, ramping up the difficulty at places, and the whole 3D graphics with voice acting, but it's more targeted to those who have already played FF4 before. For a first-timer, get the PSP version. Skip the SNES US release, it removed a lot of items/abilities and has a lackluster translation, though the Japanese SNES translation would suffice. Still, you'd be skipping out on the extra content of the PSP/GBA versions. Skip PS1's load times. Honestly, the challenge here is finding a system that FF4 isn't on. FF5: GBA is really your only choice unless you want to play the SNES translation instead, but GBA has extra content. Again, PS1 has bad load times and a horrible translation to boot. FF6: GBA again for the extra content. That said, some may argue the SNES version has a better translation, while others the GBA. Both are fine, so go with whichever is more convenient, and again skip the PS1 version because of load times.
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Jul 11, 2012 11:03
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Kyrosiris posted:Almost all passive abilities are natively inherited by the Freelancer/Bare/Suppin (based on translation) job, including stat boosts. The only ones that aren't, IIRC, are Berserk (from Berserker) and Undead (from Necromancer). I think all of the passive abilities from the GBA jobs won't be inherited, which is a shame, because Long Reach would be handy. Couch Life posted:If I've learned one thing from doing the Four Job Fiesta it's that Red Mages are loving useless. Doubly so when they're the last job you get. They're also useful if you don't have any magic users at all, like I did. Just equip a rod and do some decent damage. The -ra spells are still semi-useful in the second world, and by the third world you'll hopefully have Doublecast. Having Protect is also very useful for some bosses. Of course, I had a Bard to make better use of Doublecast than a Red Mage could, so that helped me a bit. But it's still better than having absolutely no magic, especially if you want to do the Fork Tower. Azure_Horizon posted:13 and 13-2's plots are actually not that complicated if you read around a little and seek out some of the subtler clues. I'd go so far as to say they're simpler than most FF games, it's just that their presentation is a bit wonky. Which games would you say they're simpler than? Only one I can really think of that would be more complicated is 7, and that has a bad translation and a wonky EU behind it. Even reading the Datalog while I played, I had no idea about there was even a goddess named Etro, let alone she pulled a literal deus ex machine for your party until you mentioned it in the 13-2 LP. I know you're clarifying the story and not so much defending it, but man would things have been much simpler if at the end the party simply ended up not turning into C'ieth or crystal, thus actually going with the "defy fate" thing and not dealing with the whole Etro bullshit. But then they wouldn't have their hook for a sequel, and SquareEnix invested too much money into this game not to reuse assets for at least two more games. Any idea whether the final scene was intentionally written that weirdly to open the doors for a sequel? Mega64 fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jul 12, 2012 |
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Jul 12, 2012 10:52
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Maybe it's meta-commentary about how you need to let go and accept loss by not going crazy with sidequests, as the type of person who would do every single annoying thing in the game will end up with a derpy sports star and oh god maybe this was a mistake. I'd love to give X-2 a shot one of these days, considering how much praise its battle system gets. I just need some spare cash first.
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Jul 13, 2012 13:43
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Are you playing the NES or DS version? Generally for that game the best defense is a good offense. Dual-wield and go to town on the enemies. Might not work as well on the DS version, but generally it's a good idea for the NES version. Of course, shields are pretty nice as well, especially around the end game when they start boosting stats. If you really want to be defensive, it's very difficult to get through a Viking in the back row with a shield. But usually having your Knights or whatever physical classes plow through everything will work well enough. How far are you, anyway?
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Jul 18, 2012 00:08
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Try using a Bard. Their harps can give some awesome party-wide buffs, including Haste. Hell, you may want to do Bard and three physical fighters. Definitely get rid of the Black Mage, as this is the point where Black Magic is pretty useless for a long while, especially since he can't pull his weight in random encounters, which is where this game can really be a pain. I've only been that far once in the DS version, and it's been awhile, so I can't really give much better advice than that, unfortunately. I do remember the regular enemies kicking my poo poo in around this time, though, so it's not just you (some comfort, right).
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Jul 18, 2012 00:51
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FF3 NES is pretty drat fun. Of course there's some bullshit areas, and there's many, many ridiculously-designed dungeons. But it's still fun, and there is actual strategy in picking classes, even if the game outright tells you at times what classes to use. Yeah, some classes are completely useless (Bard), and some get outdated very quickly (Red Mage), and Black Magic stops being useful after leaving the Floating Continent, but there's still many useful party combinations that can help out. You can go all-out offense, which is generally useful, but you can also make an impenetrable tank that simply cannot be killed. Or you could gamble with an Evoker's summons, or try to kill stuff with Geomancy. Or just dodge entire turns of attacks with a team of Dragoons. The game really opens up once you get your third set of jobs. And that's to say nothing of the game's amazing music, the solid graphics (for an NES game, of course), or even the game's simple-yet-cool-at-times story, which has probably one of the more unique themes in the series. The DS version on the other hand...Yeah. I don't blame anyone for hating that one. They didn't rebalance actual combat that well, and they didn't even try to make it more user-friendly for those who didn't want NES hard. Not even a loving save point for the final dungeon?
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Jul 18, 2012 10:57
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Interlude is also pretty drat short (it's what, two or three hours?) and overall pretty meaningless. It's just a short segue between FF4 and TAY. Can't really hurt to play it because it's short, but it doesn't really add anything important besides a couple very minor details about TAY. As for TAY, I'd only recommend it if you love FF4's gameplay. The story is pretty bad, and the game itself is 80% recycled content from FF4. That said, it does expand a lot on the original's gameplay, with a couple of mediocre new mechanics, a bunch of new characters, and an end game that lets you choose a party from as many as 22 characters. The end game is probably the most fun part of the game, as the dungeon is huge and there are a loving ton of bosses, yet there's tons of opportunities to heal up, restock items, and change your party. Which is kinda funny because the end game is also where the game's story really starts to go downhill.
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Jul 22, 2012 20:27
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Schwartzcough posted:I think FFXII is the only one in the series where Berserk is a godly status. Most games it's a pain in the rear end. It's also pretty awesome in FF4, I learned recently. Your character will attack much more quickly thanks to not being as restricted by the game's wonky ATB, and their attack power gets a nice boost as well. Of course, it's usually overkill anyway, but it can come in handy (and makes the Avenger sword one of the better weapons in the game due to its auto-Berserk).
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Jul 24, 2012 11:14
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The problem with a FF6 sequel is finding a ham-fisted way to bring back magic, as it's completely and utterly gone at the end of the game. Basically, they'd have to retcon the ending, and I really doubt they could pull that off well. I'm almost dreading whatever stupid explanation they could come up with to justify that. Plus, there's not really much else for the story to go. Maybe a prequel for the War of the Magi could work, but I'd rather Square-Enix try making an actual original game rather than continuing to coast on past games.
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Jul 24, 2012 18:23
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 11:30 |
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The new FF6 game should be all about how Gau learns rages from other enemies. It would be 90% horrible minigames, of course.
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Jul 25, 2012 02:04
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