Game

[Himu]

The only part of 12 that falls apart is the story and since story doesn't matter, game is consistent throughout. I should know, I beat in 29 hours and the whole game flows together much better than FF13.

Replay FF12 and you will like it more.

Nah, the gameplay falls apart too when everybody becomes awesome at everything and there's nothing unique about any of the characters and you just get your good gambits up and then auto-fight through it all. 

hunts, the latter half of the game's hunts are superior to the first half's. Trickster, Gilgamesh, and more are the best boss fights in the series.

[demi]

When did I renounce jrpgs? 

"three strikes and you're out"

[Himu]

I have renounced FF, not jrpgs

[demi]

Ooook man. You already more two-faced than Bebpo as it is

[Himu]

What. I have criticized FF on a regular basis since the merger.

[Himu]

The only part of 12 that falls apart is the story and since story doesn't matter, game is consistent throughout. I should know, I beat in 29 hours and the whole game flows together much better than FF13.

Replay FF12 and you will like it more.

Nah, the gameplay falls apart too when everybody becomes awesome at everything and there's nothing unique about any of the characters and you just get your good gambits up and then auto-fight through it all. 

hunts, the latter half of the game's hunts are superior to the first half's. Trickster, Gilgamesh, and more are the best boss fights in the series.

Hell Wyrm
Fafnir
Yiazmat

Pharos
Giruvegan

And although it's a legit complaint, complaining about similar characters is silly given the options at your disposal. Give your characters roles and it gets more awesome.

[Junpei the Tracer!]

The beginning of Chapter 12 was fucking awesome.

[Don Flamenco]

Yahtzee


you can put your hand on a stove for 20 hours and it'll eventually stop hurting    finally a public voice to destroy the "herp derp wait 20 hours its gets amazin' derp" fans

[demi]

Wow, Attacus tore my pussy wide open. Guess I'll go back to that one later. Might have to start doing some CP grinding now.

[naff]

12 is better than 13 by far.

12 falls apart, but the first half is basically the best jrpg ever made.  13 is never anywhere near that level.

I don't love FFXII for it's story or characters, even though I think they're good the battle system trumps all. I think people either found it too easy because they only played the story hence they never really understood the power of the system, and to be honest I'll agree with Demi in that I thought the story was pretty balls but it never bothered me either and it was interesting enough. Hell I didn't realise how fuckin badass the battle system truly was until I had finished the story and was missioning through the hunts. In the end it doesn't matter what you say, FFXII was universally better received than FFXIII and that definitely says something about how fucking good it was, I'm not saying I'm going to like FFXIII less than XII. I have never played it, my question initially was simply why doesn't Demi like it? I still don't really know why, but something grinds his gears about pretty much everything in that game.

Also, the second half of 12 is better for gameplay, I guess the first halfs story was better. I loved playing that game, story was secondary even though it was pretty good (for a Final Fantasy game...).

I never got a Zodiac spear. I was pissed for about 1 minute then I didn't care.

[demi]

What's a good CP grind method? My options are:

- Vanille Death Farm which TAKES FOREVER (80k w/ growth egg)

- This Sazh method I havent tried yet: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=950899&topic=54106868
- His stats for this method are way weaker than mine, I imagine I could do this much easier (80k w/ growth egg)

[OptimoPeach]

I can't believe the almost universal critical praise for FFXII... yet from the fans, the game gets so much hate. Probably the biggest dichotomy between game journalists and fans when it comes to a game. For the record, there are plenty of things XIII does wrong, but I'm having a much better time with it than XII. It's probably the best FF since X.

GTA 4

[demi]

The Sazh method works wonders. I gaze in awe at the might of Sazh. Probably the best char at this point... give him a Genji Glove and 

[iconoclast]

That Sazh method seems pretty similar to the Fang method. Got her 2200 strength, used a summon to down a turtle and then killed them before they got up. But at lower levels, Sazh does seem to be a little better at it.

Vanille Death method is no good for farming. It's only good when you need a cheap kill against an enemy that's far stronger than you, like the Neochu. Though I did see a video of her hitting a Long Gui for 999999 with a Death spam glitch, but my Vanille was too weak to get that to work.

[Third]

I have a Genji Glove. Time to try the Sazh technique.

[demi]

I wrote it down so it is easier to understand- behind spoiler:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sazh (Leader) / Snow / Fang

Paradigm 1: Syn / Com / Sab - Bully (Starting)
Paradigm 2: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 3: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 4: Rav / Com / Com - Aggression
Paradigm 5: Rav / Com / Sab - Smart Bomb

Start Fight

Summon

Haste Bravera (Sazh)

-------- CERBERUS

Attack x 5 (Auto-Chain)

Blitz Blitz

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood

Cold Blood

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood (Summon leaves)

-------- BULLY

Haste Bravera (Snow & Fang)

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood (Stagger at this point)

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz (999% at this point)

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz
-------- CERBERUS

(Turtle Wakes Up at this point - should be DEAD by then, if not... oops)

[close]

You dont even need a Genji Glove for this, but if you did it will go much quicker. Probably dont even need to Summon if you have a Genji Glove.


The best spot to grind is way back at Eden, at that spot where the glass breaks under the turtle. There is a Adamantoise right there, next to a save. So you can simply exit->reload when you beat him. And there are weak soldiers you can grind for TP too.

[iconoclast]

Once you can kill the turtles without using TP in 1:30-2:00, you are better off repeating mission 63 and looping around Gran Pulse while killing the 4 other turtles so you are at least making decent money. You don't need to worry about grinding CP specifically, since you will easily max out the crystarium and have 999999 CP by the time you get the Treasure Hunter achievement. Maybe people have found a better spot since I did it, but that worked best for me.

Just FYI I had about 3 million gil when I started upgrading all of my weapons and accessories for Treasure Hunter and I only had a couple hundred thousand to spare when I finished. I farmed the 6 Traps and 5 Dark Matters myself, so I didn't need to buy any.

[demi]

I read a tip that you should focus on the ACcessories first. So you can sell them afterwards, and gain back 3+ mil GIL and use that towards the weapons


Either way... I'm in it for the long haul

[iconoclast]

Yeah the accessories are cheaper to upgrade and you can sell them all off once you finish. I started with weapons first and that made it more of a hassle, since half way through I ran out of money and had to clear out all the weapons I already upgraded. It doesn't really make much of a difference though, unless it turns out you're short on gil and have to go grind some more.

[demi]

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tGk0t9IGhI8Ge3MWhvTxZOw

Good checklist to use for weap/accessories

[demi]

Found a much better grind spot.

Repeat the Gigantuar mission (54) -> but dont fight him. Instead, just hit retry to be thrown back to the field, where 2 Adamantoise (or tortoises) await you. Repeat as necessary.

Also, I've fought 25 of these and only earned 7 Ingots. Yep... this is fun

[demi]

Not a single Trap today

[Mr. Gundam]

I've only done the first 11 missions so far, but I stumbled upon the Gigantuar mission (#54)... will I die if I tackle it right now?

[tiesto]

On to Chapter 12! Gonna hopefully wrap the main game up this weekend, then go on all the hunts. Doubt I'm gonna go through the trouble of upgrading all the weapons/accessories, and I prob. won't 5star all the hunts.

[demi]

I've only done the first 11 missions so far, but I stumbled upon the Gigantuar mission (#54)... will I die if I tackle it right now?

yes

[MCD]

Stopped somewhere in chapter 4 after playing for a whole day, damn my eyes getting all blurry otherwise I'd have played more.

Just came here to say that this is the best FF to date and you can't prove me wrong.

[Mr. Gundam]

I've only done the first 11 missions so far, but I stumbled upon the Gigantuar mission (#54)... will I die if I tackle it right now?

yes

That's what I figured. Thanks.

[iconoclast]

Yeah you'll need at least 10,000 HP on everyone to fight the gigantuar. Though there is a really goofy strategy for fighting him, so you might be able to do it before then. Maybe.

[demi]

Yeah you'll need at least 10,000 HP on everyone to fight the gigantuar. Though there is a really goofy strategy for fighting him, so you might be able to do it before then. Maybe.

Nah, I dont think he would be able to. You need some high STR to clean him while staggered, I think.

I bet he could do the Sazh method and farm a ton of CP though from turtles

[demi]

On to Chapter 12! Gonna hopefully wrap the main game up this weekend, then go on all the hunts. Doubt I'm gonna go through the trouble of upgrading all the weapons/accessories, and I prob. won't 5star all the hunts.

5 staring the hunts is more easy than you might think. You would have to do some CP farming for maybe the last 5 - even if you want to beat them regularly you will have to do a bit of farming. Might as well go for 5.

[demi]

No traps today either. I think I killed 30 turtles. Got like 10 Ingots though. I have about 3 million GIL waiting to be used. Course I cant do shit until I get a trap~

[tiesto]

Beat Chapter 12, hopefully I will have the main game finished by the end of Easter. Gonna be out all day tomorrow and a bit of Easter tho. We'll see... can't wait to get to these hunts. Only have about 10 or so done, hopefully the rest won't be too time consuming. I wanna move on to ROF.

[iconoclast]

I had really bad luck at the start with Traps too, but after I got one of them I got another four relatively quickly. Since you have a lot of gil, you should probably do the trick that gets you an extra two Traps after you get your first one. It costs around 1.2 million gil IIRC, but you should have enough to spare.

You probably already know how to do it, but I'll post it anyway: get a Dragoon Lance (Fang weapon), max it out completely (ie. forge her ultimate weapon and bring it to level 100 to star it) and then dismantle it. You'll get 3 Traps back and like 15 platinum ingots to sell and some other junk. Should be worth it, but by the time I was done I had an extra Trap to spare from the time it took me to grind back up to 3 million gil.

[demi]

woo baby, my first trap. considering just upgrading a Milstlninn and getting 3 traps from that. maybe will keep fighting until i get Master's Seal achievement first.

[Himu]

army of one is the coolest limit break in the series.

[MCD]

This is indeed the only good FF.

[demi]

Army of One is so beast, I love it. GOD TIER when dealing with the bosses at the end. Marks or otherwise.

[Himu]

Army of One is so beast, I love it. GOD TIER when dealing with the bosses at the end. Marks or otherwise.

bebpo annihilated

switch to com when army of one is activated and watch lightning rape

[Bebpo]

post-genji gloves maybe, pre-genij gloves you can do far more damage with 3 attackers in the same amount of time.

[demi]

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt

Cant hear you while my Lightning deals 99999 damage 11 times against final boss

[Bebpo]

that's not a whole lot of damage in this game...

[demi]

Considering its the limit before Genji Gloves... yes, it is

[demi]

STILL no Traps.

Getting Ingots like nothing though. Up to 4.5 million GIL now.

Thinking just dismantling 2 Genji Gloves and then dismantling a level 3 item. This is ridiculous.

[Rman]

The drop rate for Traps are 1 percent, so this is expected.  Long Gui's have a 5 percent drop rate for Traps.  What's with SE and these ridiculous hoops they're making the player go through to get Ultimate Weapons?  I thought FFX was bad with Blitzball and lighting dodging, but farming traps is even more tedious.

[demi]

Long Guis are more of a hassle to fight though, so I'll take the quicker 1% (plus more with the Connoseir Catalog)

[Rman]

Demi, did you complete the Mark Missions yet?

[demi]

Not yet, only have 5 more to go. I was grinding Turtles to max the jobs out first. I have 4 million GIL and it doesnt look like any more traps are dropping, so I am gonna have to go the expensive route.

[Rman]

I wonder if the game has hidden switch that turns off trap drops if you possess more than 3.  Seems so based on the online commentary.

[demi]

I only have 1... lol

[Rman]

Yeah. I only got 1 myself.  I was dumb and upgraded Light's weapon instead of Fang's which can net more Traps when you dismantle it.

[demi]

Genji Gloves dismantle for a Trap. There are 3 GGs in the game.

I was gonna do this

- Dismantle the other 2 Genjis (since really only need 1 for Fang)
- Use one trap to upgrade Vanille's weapon to make 3 more traps (she doesnt use the thing anyway)

[Third]

I wrote it down so it is easier to understand- behind spoiler:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sazh (Leader) / Snow / Fang

Paradigm 1: Syn / Com / Sab - Bully (Starting)
Paradigm 2: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 3: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 4: Rav / Com / Com - Aggression
Paradigm 5: Rav / Com / Sab - Smart Bomb

Start Fight

Summon

Haste Bravera (Sazh)

-------- CERBERUS

Attack x 5 (Auto-Chain)

Blitz Blitz

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood

Cold Blood

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood (Summon leaves)

-------- BULLY

Haste Bravera (Snow & Fang)

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood (Stagger at this point)

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz (999% at this point)

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz
-------- CERBERUS

(Turtle Wakes Up at this point - should be DEAD by then, if not... oops)

[close]

Thanks for writing it down. I think I've killed 20 of the adamantoise beasts and still no trapez  :'(
I'd rather farm Long Gui's. Drop rate seems to be much higher. But I have to clear one missions before they roam grand pulse.  I just can't beat the two Raktavija shitheads. Mark 62. They are so hard.

[iconoclast]

You should make sure your characters are maxed out before you fight the Long Gui's. Once you get the strategy down for them you should be able to take them out in two knockdowns (or maybe one knockdown if you use Death with Vanille and do the commando glitch).

[Rman]

You should make sure your characters are maxed out before you fight the Long Gui's. Once you get the strategy down for them you should be able to take them out in two knockdowns (or maybe one knockdown if you use Death with Vanille and do the commando glitch).

Commando Glitch?

[Third]

Cast Death and immediately switch to commando with Vanille. Death spell will do 999999 damage if timed right.

[Rman]

I wrote it down so it is easier to understand- behind spoiler:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sazh (Leader) / Snow / Fang

Paradigm 1: Syn / Com / Sab - Bully (Starting)
Paradigm 2: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 3: Com / Com / Com - Cerberus
Paradigm 4: Rav / Com / Com - Aggression
Paradigm 5: Rav / Com / Sab - Smart Bomb

Start Fight

Summon

Haste Bravera (Sazh)

-------- CERBERUS

Attack x 5 (Auto-Chain)

Blitz Blitz

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood

Cold Blood

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood (Summon leaves)

-------- BULLY

Haste Bravera (Snow & Fang)

-------- SMART BOMB

Cold Blood (Stagger at this point)

-------- AGGRESSION

Cold Blood

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz (999% at this point)

-------- CERBERUS

Blitz Blitz

Blitz Blitz
-------- CERBERUS

(Turtle Wakes Up at this point - should be DEAD by then, if not... oops)

[close]

Thanks for writing it down. I think I've killed 20 of the adamantoise beasts and still no trapez  :'(
I'd rather farm Long Gui's. Drop rate seems to be much higher. But I have to clear one missions before they roam grand pulse.  I just can't beat the two Raktavija shitheads. Mark 62. They are so hard.

I was having trouble with them, but I was able to 5 star them. 

Here's what I did:
Party:

Light/Hope/Fang

Paradigm Decks:
Evened Odds: med/syn/sab to cast debuffs on both enemies.  I start the battle this way--they're susceptible to many including imperil
Relentless Assault: rav/rav/com to build the chain bonus
Combat Clinic: med/med/sen to heal and survive the multicast spells. switch to as soon as you see the multicast message on the screen
Regeneration: syn/syn/syn to quickly restore your buffs

I go into the fight with both Fortisol and Aegisol, so I can focus on debuffing with Fang.  I use Light as the party leader and use her Army of One repeatedly to build the chain bonus to 999% after I break the enemy, while Fang and Hope attack away.

For the first enemy, I also use my summon if I know that I won;t be able to finish him with my main party during the break.  Odin is will be an instant kill for that first one.  Once you beat that first dude, you're in the clear.  Repeat the process and heal up and get your buffs reinstated.  The summon clears them, but it also revives and heals members.

[demi]

I'm gonna try a Long Gui / Shaolong Gui when I get Master's Seal achievemnt. I need Dark Matters anyway.

I did the Ratijkaka mission last night too.

Here's what I did:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fang (leader) / Hope / Light

Paradigm 1: Rav / Med / Rav
Paradigm 2: Sab / Med / Sab (default)
Paradigm 3: Rav / Rav / Rav
Paradigm 4: Com / Med / Com
Paradigm 5: Com / Rav / Rav
Paradigm 6: Sab / Syn / Rav


- Use the Shrouds beforehand
- Try and give everyone Quick Stagger (I had only Light for this)
- Spend money if you have to, and give everyone Witch's Bracelets and upgrade them. Aim for 40-50% Magic Resistance
- Throw Slow + Imperil on both (or at least Slow)
- Whittle them down with Rav, either use Paradigm 1 so Hope can heal, or Paradigm 3 if you can take the heat
- Dont be afraid to use Renew (2 TP) if you're low or someone dies
- If you get LUCKY, you will get instant stagger. Otherwise, just muscle away at it
- When one is out, immediately go all out on it (Paradigm 5)
- It will probably debuff you, so quickly go to 6 and have Hope haste you, while you Deprotect it
- Toss a Highwind at it when the Stagger is about to end (equip Genji Glove for this)

[close]

This was very luck based... Quick Stagger is a huge help. Use Sazh to make it even better to trigger the Quick Stagger (see Gigantuar mission)

Even though it felt like I took too long at my level, I did it in plenty of time. So just muscle away even if it feels like you're taking too long

[demi]

What's a good strategy for Guis? I can do Shaolongs, but I know I can do better. What's a good Hope final weapon? I'm undecided on Oshitirvani or Hawkeye...

I'm just gonna do the 2 Summon method on a Long Gui for the achievement.

[iconoclast]

I can't even remember my strategy entirely.

Start off with sen/sen/sen to guard the ultima, and then start debuffing. IIRC, slow works on them so try to get that up there ASAP (I could be wrong here, it might only affect the Shaolong Guis). Make sure everyone is fully buffed along with Enfire on their weapons before you stagger him. Once he's staggered, go Com/Rav/Com or Com/Com/Com to do as much damage as possible. I think even with Hope doing physical attacks com/com/com works out better because of the Enfire.

After a while he'll hit you with quake/roar/ultima back to back, and the only way to survive that is if you quickly switch to sen/sen/sen before it hits. That's the important thing to remember basically.

I went with Hawkeye for Hope because it has the highest magic, and he almost never uses strength. Worked fine for me.

[demi]

Damn I'm so close. 2 more achievements (Long Gui + All Items)

Just need 4 Dark Matters & 5 Traps. Maybe I can grind Long Guis using the summon trick and restart if I dont get a drop. No big deal otherwise. Will just do some Dismantling

Then spend money on 5 Adamantites... then it's off to spending money - accessories first, of course. Need that scrilla.