Record Keeping Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Scar]

I actually have tidus and yunas relics.

[Cotigo]

GHOST EDIT: No, I don't. I am seriously considering cap breaking Cloud for that, however.

Welp, learned a few things.

With this new SB, I don't necessarily need Protectga. Getting through the first phase before I got my SB bar filled did take 5-6 S/Ls, but that is something that can be savescummed through. Once the battle got started, my buff SBs were being cycled through pretty regularly and I don't think either of them were ever down. When I lost this match, I didn't lose because he was dealing too much damage. I lost because I couldn't keep the dragon down, and when I ran out of jumps I couldn't deal damage to him. He was at about 50% life. Given my total lack of ranged damage aside from magic, which gets halved while the boss is in the air, I'm gonna NEED at least 20 shots of jump. Gilgamesh is in, gonna hone regular jump to R5 for my next attempt.

That having been said, I'm still in want of damage. Not only did I go though my 8 jumps, but all my breakdowns were gone and I had blown through my R3+R4 Blizzajagas. Admittedly, some of them were pretty much wasted because the boss flew into the air and halved the damage (2500 vs. 5000 on Blizzaga, 5000 vs 8000 on Blizzaja), but the difference doesn't add up enough to have knocked the boss down.

Now, I NEED ice damage for mastery. For some reason I don't quite understand, my ice SB doesn't proc weakness but instead gets defended against, which is complete BS but whatever. So, no, I can't just get a second round of wind jumps/aera strikes and call it good. And, if I'm not going for Mastery, then why am I bothering? The real reward is the Fire Crystal, after all.

Stemming from that, I have a few options, all of which involve blowing my EXP eggs on a Level 50 character, of which I have enough to level up only one.

1) Swap Faris for Freya (Power BD, Wind Jump R3-4 or Jump R5)

Benefits:

A) No farming Ice Orbs. Terra staying in the fight means I can just use my Normal Wind Orbs to make a damaging Jump instead of farming Saturday when I've got shit to do, people to see and places to be.
B) Two characters staggering jumps means the Silver Dragon won't be flying back into the air for the majority of the fight, keeping Terra's damage up to par.
C) I get rid of a character who deals almost no damage at all during the fight relatively in exchange for someone who will be dealing constant damage.

Downsides:

A) I have to have Faith AND Strongwater for this to be viable. That's a valuable skill slot that could go to Diaga, or more healing.
B) No real damaging SBs. Most tutorial videos kinda rely on having some burst damage like this and this team has none of it.
C) No Full Break, which will make the initial phase without Protectga all the more save-scummy. This is honestly the thing I think makes this setup unviable more than anything else.

Possible Tweaks:

I could spend Friday Night/Saturday morning blowing mythril to get Ice Jump and ditch Terra, freeing up the Faith Skill Slot and letting me keep Full Break.
Also potentially lets me put the 5* Jump Skill, Armor BD, or something else on Freya.  This is basically exchanging damage for durability, though, but it may be necessary.

2. Swap Terra for Zack (Indoor Spell, Blizzara Strike), Slap a crap bow on Faris since she's not dealing damage anyway

Benefits:

A) Air Strike, Air Strike, Air Strike: This is my only damage SSB, and it's pretty dang good. It's basically free (RANGED! ... pretty important for this fight) Dismissal that hits for about 9-10k damage.
B) Keep Full Break no matter what, boosting my durability in the early part of the fight when I'm still kinda frail.
C) Frees up the Faith skill slot for Diaga on Aerith, or something else if that ends up sucking

Downsides:

A) Absolutely have to farm on Saturday and spend mythril if I want to pull this off, and as I said I have places to be this weekend. I can still do it if I'm up Friday night, though, which may well be the case. Ain't doin' shit then.
B) Faris is still doing basically nothing but being a sponge/protectga battery once her charges of PBD and FB are gone, meaning it takes longer to deal the damage I need to deal. Air Strike mitigates this to a degree but no you don't win wars of attrition in this game.
C) I WILL have to pay attention to liftoff timings since only one person Jumping cannot keep Silver Dragon grounded the entire fight.

Possible Tweaks:

Instead of Diaga, give Aerith Blizzaga for the sole purpose of mastery reqs and hone Aera Strike instead. Don't know how many castings I can squeeze out but the damage shouldn't be too much less.

3. Swap both FARIS and Terra out for Zack/Freya

Benefits:

A) Two people jumping to keep SD grounded,
B) three people hitting weaknesses that get buffed by the same spell (Strongwater),
C) Air Strike,
D) Drain Strike/Drain Dive taking pressure off healers
E) AND I probably have room for Diaga.

Downsides:

A) No Full Break,
B) Farming Saturday
C) Farming Sunday to get both Z&F up to 65

Basically if I could guarantee I'd have R3-4 Ice Jump (R4 Aera Strike or second R4 Wind Jump are both basically guaranteed) by the end of Saturday, and both Freya and Jon SnowZach to 65 by the end of Sunday, I think this is the way to go. Otherwise, one of the other options will have to do.

Please let me know if my decisions are faulty or I'm missing something. I have a feeling that I can actually beat this one but it's going to take some preparation and I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something/fundamentally misunderstanding something.

EDIT: I meant Swap FARIS and Terra out for Freya/Zack. Aerith is kind of a lock regardless of strategy.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I honestly like 3 best. Full Break is only 3* break-level stat busting and its biggest perk is stacking with breakdowns. At R1, to boot, it doesn't sound all that decisive and you need the extra damage. EDIT: Also, on Aerith + Blizzaga: hitting weakness, it has a higher effective mult than Diaga (9.8x against 8.5x) -and- can be Faith-boosted (Faith only raises MAG, not MND, which is the stat Diaga runs off). However, her Magic score is -considerably- lower than her Mind, so you may want to run some calcs first. THAT SAID, it could either mean freeing an ability slot or a -fourth- person hitting weakness at worst. Sounds worth a shot mixing and matching strats.

It's a pity you don't have ranged weapons worth a damn, though, ranged Spellbladers like Bartz, Balthier and Lightning sound like a godsend for that fight.

EDIT: using Rallying Etude instead of Water of Strength could mean slightly better action efficiency (MT ATK boosting!), but it's 15%+ ATK to Water of Strength's what? 30% boost? That's a huge drop (unlike Mana's Paean's 15% vs. Faith's 20% for MAG).

[Cotigo]

Mm, yeah after sleeping on it I agree 3 is best.

In addition to being a huge drop in buff, that also means I would have to swap out Aerith for Kefka, and… yeah, I can't really swing that. If I don't have Protectga from the outset, Ineed her MT healing to keep my head above water.

As far as Diaga vs. Blizzaga, Aerith only has 3* BM IIRC so Diaga's mult is actually higher before applying weakness.  What's the weakness mult, anyway? 2x?

Edit: Doy, Drain jump means no Power BD, which yeah I kinda need. I'll probably run two cure spells

Edit 2:  Based on this feedback, I think today after work I'm gonna blow eggs on Zack, swap Faris out for him, and try with Terra running PBD and Blizzaja. It's not as good as Option 3, but I looked at my work schedule and I'm not gonna have a lot of time on Monday to mix and match, so I'll make due today.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Weakness is 2x. Blizzaga is 4.9x normally, with weakness, it goes to 9.8. Diaga is 8.5 and doesn't hit weakness in this fight. It's not a -menial- difference, but does feel like something that may by overcome by the Mind/Mag gap, since Aerith Mag just isn't special for a mage while her Mind is very good.

[DjinnAndTonic]

So what does the team you've actually decided on look like? You've swapped it so many times, I'm not sure which five you're using.


On the grinding front:
Maxed at 65: Tyro, Aerith, Sephiroth, Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Garnet, Vivi, Eiko, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Balthier, Lightning

Over 60 (aka Sweetspot between Useful and "Not Wasting EXP": Cloud*, WOL, DKCecil, PalCecil, Rydia, Tellah, Terra, Tifa, Zack, Auron, Vaan, Fran, Sazh, Thancred

Over 50 (aka "Got their RMs" or "Needs work to become Useful"): BM, RM, WM, SUM, RNG, BRD, GLD, Gordon, Ricard, Josef, Cyan, Irvine, Kimahri, ~ Luneth, Arc, Refia, Kain, Golbez, Sabin, Edgar, Quistis, Ashe, Snow, Y'shtola

50 or Within Egging distance of 50 for when their Crystal comes out: Dragoon, Ninja, Maria, Galuf, Lenna, Locke, Red XIII, Steiner, Vanille

Needs leveling before Orbfest ends: SAM, DRK, Spellblade, Firion, Leon, Edward, Mog, Strago, Barret, Zell

That's 21 possible characters to bother leveling during Orbfest. Not including Cloud, who once he level-breaks, I need to get as much EXP in him as possible. Level 80 is going to murder the next few Events. (Or it'll require it, either way I want it sooner rather than later...)

[Veryslightlymad]

I thought this was the level 80 Cloud crystal, but when I grabbed it, it said "You already have this" and converted to a growth egg.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Cloud's MC2 is a bonus battle reward. The Jenova Life ++, more precisely. So, it's coming on Saturday.

[Cotigo]

So what does the team you've actually decided on look like? You've swapped it so many times, I'm not sure which five you're using.

Gilgy (Jump, Wind Jump)
Zack (Drain Blade, Aera Strike)
Terra (Power BD, Blizzaga)
Aerith (Water of Strength, Curaga)
Mog (Faith, Curaja)
Stonera skin

Is the combination I'm currently S/Ling. I actually got really close (3/5HP, 5 charges of Wind Jump and 3 Aera Strikes left, buffs up, then the moment Power BD lapsed the fucker used Twister 3 times and wiped out my party... which Re-raise helped with, but re-raise doesn't keep your buffs so I was fucked the next round which also was a Twister attack.

This setup is pretty viable, but relies a lot on luck to get through. I have a couple of tweaks I can try (notably, I forgot to feed Zack eggs before going into battle, and amazingly it's still viable), namely giving Gilgamesh 2 Wind Jumps instead of 1 and swapping Drain Blade (which is not really that good here... may be better if Zack was L65) for Indoor Spell, but I think I've got a solid chance of doing it with this build. Saturday Orb Farming may get me R3 Blizzaja, though the better option is still to swap out Terra for Freya and get Ice Jump.

I'm pretty confident that if I don't get this tonight I'll get it Sunday night for sure. I am unreasonably happy about that.

EDIT: Looooool. I ran out of gas RIGHT at the last second. I had just a little bit of HP left and then no more Aera Strikes or Wind Jumps...

BUT I FUCKIN' DID IT. Hell yeah. No mastery though. If I hadn't run out of gas, I'd have gotten it.  I think I'm still gonna feed Zack eggs and make some tweaks and get mastery tonight. In the meantime, fuck yes first Divine battle beaten. I'm unreasonably pumped.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

On your setup: I think Lifesiphon is a better idea than Drain Strike because

a) burst damage. You already pointed out you need that. Zack's second SB isn't -that- hot on offense, but its mult is good enough and it's multihit, which is the big draw.
b) turn cancel. Gives you much needed breathing room, especially if you can save up multiple gauges of SB.
c) actually slightly higher damage than Drain Strike even before factoring in the SB building over time. 1.8x vs. 1.7x mult.
d) Drain Strike needs equipment realm synergy or buffing better than Water of Strength for its healing to really pay off.

Only question mark is really how honed your Lifesiphon is, since, even at R3, you might end up having issues keeping it up long enough? Sounds like it needs at least two hones to really shine longterm.

This said, I think you can pull it off at this point.

[Cotigo]

Oh, didn't see this post before I edited. Yeah, I beat it, and I basically agree. Lifesiphon would have been way better than Drain Strike, as would Zack not being L55 (Oops. >_>), as would having a second Wind Jump instead of Jump (5000 vs. 2000 while Silver Dragon is in the air, 9000 vs. 5000 while grounded.

That having been said, in the winning run Drain Strike was useful when SD was being a dick and MT-hitting me while Aeris was between SB charges. Still, more Turn Cancels makes that less of an issue overall.

I do think I'm going to make those tweaks and get mastery tonight, though. The only reason I didn't get it this time was that I ran out of gas riiiiiiight at the end, and swapping out Jump for Wind Jump and Drain Strike for Life Siphon should more than make up the difference.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Is Drainra Strike not a thing yet in JP?

[Cotigo]

Not as far as I can tell? The really good JP Excel doc doesn't list it, and I'm in battle at the moment going for mastery so I can't check. The only 4* Drain spells are Drainga (BM) and Drain Dive (Dragoon)

EDIT: Oooh yeah, I should have this one in the bag. Levelling Zack brought his Aera Strike damage from 5500 to 7500. Unnf.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Ooh, shiny new Cactuar summon! I don't care that it sucks, I loves me some summons... <3

[Cotigo]

Look at me being the worst human being ever.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

jesus christ why

The only reason I'm saving that piece of junk is converting it back to orbs once the mechanic becomes available.

[Cotigo]

FUCK. Beat it with everyone alive, but did not get mastery because I took too many turns.

Gonna farm Ice orbs after midnight tonight and try to get enough for R3 Blizzaja, and Swap Strongwater from Aeris to Mog and give Aeris Faith. Mog ends up having way more free turns than Aeris since her SB is clutch as opposed to something that just needs refreshing toward the end. Those two things should net me mastery on Sunday for sure.

[DjinnAndTonic]

You play for your reasons, I'm gonna keep catching 'em all~

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Second phase 2 day, I already got a Major Orb! ... it's another Major White. Useless. In fact, I only got four Greater Holy Orbs so far, all the rest has been Greater Earth and Greater White. There just isn't much I need to use those on (R4 Quake isn't really an idea with Ruinga in tow and the only real GW demands are Diaga, which I only need to hone once more eventually, and Curaja, which is a lot later down the line for actual usefulness). Oh well, not like I was expecting a lot out of this phase. Tomorrow shall be more fruitful.

[Shale]

Hey, I'm just glad to finally have a summon.

Also, I went back to the Midgar Highway fight with Boon and got the mastery. Yay!

[Grefter]

You play for your reasons, I'm gonna keep catching 'em all~

I am here to crush your dreams and show you how much better I am.  Bow down bitches.

[DjinnAndTonic]

In a shocking twist, I'm actually doing much better on lucky orb drops than Snow today, it seems. I've gotten 6 Major Orb drops today despite not using any refreshes AND squeezing in the last two fights of the Cloud event today.

[Cotigo]

Once again, all of your luck falls on completely useless things. When SSBs become common in Global you'll get them frequently but only for really crap characters. And only damage SSBs.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

The silver lining is that I -was- in serious shortage of 3* White Orbs, so when the event ends, I'll be able to get stuff like R4 Mana's Paean/Reflect/Berserk/Silencega. Still need Phase 4 to replenish my nearly dry Power Orb stock, though. Silver lining #2 is having an absolutely insane amount of Holy and Earth Orbs to convert with in the long term. If the new UI comes up by December, R2 Meteor may be a reality relatively soon.

In other news, Red Mage's almost L50 and Bard's L48. Let's see who is next on the list of units to level up...

*Sees L1 Leon.*
*Sees L1 Zell.*
*Sees L1 Edward.*
*Sees L1 Spellblade.*
*Sees L1 DARK KNIGHT.*

... help.

[Veryslightlymad]

Edward's not terrible!