Record Keeping Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Shale]

Yeah, I'm still boggling at my luck with bursts over the past couple of months. Ramza's seemed like a booby prize at the time, but with that added to OK's, Agrias', Minfilia's and now Raines', I've got one hell of a holy arsenal.

Edit: It probably goes without saying, but Cid went through the rest of the XIII event like a hot knife through butter. GodDAMN that's good damage. Haven't done MP Barty yet, but he and Agrias are going to have a lot of fun there, I think.

[Meeplelard]

Honestly, Bart's ST is so drastically overrated.  There was never a single failed run where I went "man, I wish I had a way to counter Baptism in Ruin or his counters!"  No, my losses were always a result of dispel -> Destrudo, and my winning run was, fittingly enough, because someone charged Stoneskin II right before he Dispel'd, so recovering was a lot easier.

Not to mention the first phase is a joke.  In MP, a winning team is gunning down the Pauldron and Ailette in no time at all, such that he will only ever use his garbage ST moves, and the stronger stuff is AoE anyway.  For this reason, people suggesting setting around the ST stuff feel like they're actually hurting themselves, not helping, since they're actively missing the real threats of the fight.  Stopping some extra damage doesn't hurt, sure, but it should not be the priority people are acting like it is.  Not to mention, the counters aren't even that common, and good fights tend to do as much DPS in as little actions as possible.

[Magic Fanatic]

So, Demon Piglets D250 beaten.

Ashe L97 - Meteor R3/Chain Stonega R3 - Dusk's Decree - Ace Striker
Hope L97 - Chain Firaga R2/Bahamut R3 - Divine Judgment - Battleforged
Exdeath L80 - Curaja R5/Shellga R2 - Grand Cross - Mako Might
Papalymo L97 - Blizzaja R4/Protectga R2 - Ley Lines - Dr. Mog's Teachings
Y'shtola L97 - Curaja R5/Wrath R4 - Stoneskin II/Asylum - Knight's Charge
RW: Onion Knight's Vessel of Fate.

...This fight took me a LOT of resetting to do.  But I did it!

[Shale]

Edit: It probably goes without saying, but Cid went through the rest of the XIII event like a hot knife through butter. GodDAMN that's good damage. Haven't done MP Barty yet, but he and Agrias are going to have a lot of fun there, I think.

UPDATE: Fun was, in fact, had. D160 Bart got exactly one action after dropping below 50% life.

[Clear Tranquil]

I think I might have the makings of a mage team now?

I'm thinking something like,

Onion Knight - Onion Gauntlets
Terra - Blood Sword/Tiara
Alphinaud? - Veil of Wiyu, Evoker's Doublet
Papalymo? - Wizard's Glove.
Ysh'tola? - Healer Circlet, Thyrus (also have Healer Robe, and Omnirod)

Could be something when it gets going?, other options could maybe throw in Palom with his Asura Rod, Vivi with Flame Staff, or Vanille instead for her Burst healing and Command 1, though not sure if having Wall is essential or not. Oh yeah I also have Strago Morning Star and Desch Sword I think. I have Krile Fire Lash but apparently Papalymo is better or something and I have Edward's Burst but this is physical and not magical?
~

[Cmdr_King]

Seeing some teammates use it in MP battles, Y'shtola's burst is kinda broken.  With that and two Magic boosters (Papalymo's Wizard Glove is his Faithga/Hastega/Fastcast SSB yeah?), your mages should basically destroy all that live, definitely.  Alphinaud and Terra are good DPS too, probably better overall than Vivi.  I'm not sure what the commands are on Vanille's burst, although the entry being instant certainly gives it some situational use over Y'shtola.

[Shale]

I got to try out Vanille's burst in a multiplayer run where the owner disconnected, and it is really nice. Instant entry is great and it buffs her MND so the MT heal is strong. The downside is that she needs it, because it has a Chain Diaga attack instead of a ST heal.

EDIT: and yeah, CT, that is a BRUTAL mage team. Papalymo and OK's buffs stacked will make OK and Alphinaud hit like trucks with their bursts.

[hinode]

Y'shtola BSB activating right after Last Stand procs on six PCs in multiplayer is a thing of beauty.

[Meeplelard]

I thought I had a good mage Meta Team, but CT's just put's mine to shame.

Finished FF9 event stuff, including CM.  Cid Mission was pissing me off until I realized damage wasn't the problem of the fight, it was Climhazzard + Sap, much like the original U. Beatrix, so I went in with Asylum as my RW instead of Wall, and that made all the difference  Still took a few tries, but having a cushion for Stock Break, an additional 2 Medicas I could throw out at a whim, with lower-medicas I can throw between, yeah.  Also helped that I adjusted Garnet from Pure Offense to an Off Healer, giving her Curaise.  Rest of the team was Eiko (Healer), Kuja (Darkness Mage), Beatrix (Gaia Cross + Lifesiphon), and Quina (Breaker.)

U++ Zidane...well, I have to give them credit, that was tough for different reasons than usual.  It's not his damage that gets you (it's not shabby, but it's nothing stand out by U++ standards...probably subpar even?), but rather just how he manipulates turns so much.  Constantly using Steal to get Haste and kill one PC's speed, having Dismissal AND Confusion (my first run, he had Terra locked out of doing anything constantly confusing her...on that note, I really hate RK confusion; there's no reason it should reset the ATB Gauge upon healing it if you aren't charging an attack.  I don't think ANY FF game has had confusion function this way.)  Winning Run mostly was Terra being able to get off her Fire Beam -> Scorching Flame Combo to mostly blast past his lower phases (his HP seemed relatively low too, thankfully.)


The MPs....well, the U+ version I had to do twice because the first group had no means of adding Slow.  Oops.  Otherwise, won in single attempts.  Also, Dived Alphinaud to get Black 5, so he can now actually make use of his BSB + Meltdown combo.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I think I might have the makings of a mage team now?

I'm thinking something like,

Onion Knight - Onion Gauntlets
Terra - Blood Sword/Tiara
Alphinaud? - Veil of Wiyu, Evoker's Doublet
Papalymo? - Wizard's Glove.
Ysh'tola? - Healer Circlet, Thyrus (also have Healer Robe, and Omnirod)

That's a godlike mage team right there. Terra for obscene burst DPS (hand her R4 Wrath and whatever you may want to pad out your options from her skillset), Alphinaud for sustained DPS and utility, Papalymo for damage/white magic utility, OK for support and utility - if he's sufficiently dived, you can run him as both support and magic DPS with good enough synergy, Y'shtola with R4 Wrath to spam the fuck out of SSII and Asylum. Wrathspam's actually good enough to sustain both SSII and Asylum, and depending on your slot situation, you can find space even for Aetherial Pulse time and again, saving two ability slots otherwise reserved for Proshellga. OK and Potato both running Hastega makes for kinda poor synergy, but that's so minor with the compound DPS potential. The only thing I lack from your setup there is Terra's Tiara (have her Burst instead), but even then that's world-destroying magical power. Vanille has situational use over Y'shtola (surprisingly good damage on her Light Eternal, instant AoE Curaga is nut-bustingly good), but she wants parties that have ways to stack MND buffs as well to make the most of her solid offensive potential.

[Meeplelard]

I'll just note that Terra w/ Ace Striker + Wrath Combo is incredibly effective.  If nothing else, it's excellent for just blasting past those pesky weak phases.  Use wrath until she has 2 Gauges, then Fire Beam -> Scorching Flame.  If she somehow gains another gauge in the interim, another Scorching Flame!  If not, give her something like Meltdown, Chain Firaga or Bahamut to work clean up.

I'd say you may want a good synergy weapon for that strategy to work, but with both Onion Knight/Alphinaud and Papalymo's Boosts, you now have 2 +30% Boosts with a potential 3rd from an RW, so there you go.

Speaking of Alphinaud, if you can, I would recommend getting him to master his Magus Sphere.  Black 5 is a big deal for him, since he's one of the best users of Meltdown if he has his burst.  En-wind + the ability to recharge gauges?  He can easily get away with like R1 Meltdown + R2 Tiamat, refill the gauge during his burst, and fire again, and should have enough charges between Bursts.

I'd say the one thing that team lacks is a Support 5 but then remember Onion Knight can cover that.  I guess the REAL thing your team lacks is a Dancer for MT fights, but that's a very niche scenario.

Curiously, what back up mages do you have for your Mage Meta team?  Never hurts to have those should a situation arise.  For example, as good as Terra's set up is, it loses a fair amount of punch if the enemy resists Fire, so you may want a substitute there. 

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Ace Striker/Battleforged on your BSB/En-element+OSB Support 4 mage is a seriously legit combo and is totally worth it as long as you have good enough synergy/base equipment to at least aproach 500 MAG with decent optimization before buffs. This is particularly great for Quistis and Raines, who also have a stackable self-MAG buff among their burst commands. Regardless, any Support 4 mage with a Burst/OSB En-element option (or just generally insane like Raines is) goes seriously far. Long gone are the days when Wrath was a waste of a slot, that sucker's enough of a mainstay on my teams that I ended up crafting two of those to R4.

[hinode]

Oh that reminds me, but could you please change your RW to Vessel of Fate or Aerial Burst or Scorching Flames, CT? I auto-follow anyone I know is an active DLer regardless, but I am basically never going to actually pick Deprotega from the RW list nowadays.

[Meeplelard]

Ace Striker/Battleforged on your BSB/En-element+OSB Support 4 mage is a seriously legit combo and is totally worth it as long as you have good enough synergy/base equipment to at least aproach 500 MAG with decent optimization before buffs. This is particularly great for Quistis and Raines, who also have a stackable self-MAG buff among their burst commands. Regardless, any Support 4 mage with a Burst/OSB En-element option (or just generally insane like Raines is) goes seriously far. Long gone are the days when Wrath was a waste of a slot, that sucker's enough of a mainstay on my teams that I ended up crafting two of those to R4.

Yeah, amazing how much better Wrath becomes when Support 4 Mages get actual (offensive) Soul Breaks worth a damn. 

[Magic Fanatic]

Just because I think I did well considering my FF9 synergy is kinda bad...

U+ CM Mastered.

Garnet L79 - Curaja R5/Protectga R2 - Divine Guardian - Dr. Mog's Teachings
Eiko L76 - Curaja R5/Shellga R2 - Emerald Light - Knight's Charge
Beatrix L79 - (Wasted Slot)/Banishing Strike R4 - Rose of May - Mako Might
Kuja L76 - Momento Mori R3/Dark Zone R3 - Dread of Death - Ace Striker
Quina L78 - Entrust R3/Full Break R3 - Mending Touch (shared from White Robe) - Battleforged
RW: Vanille's Transcendent Dream

Steiner down first, then Beatrix.  Quina died fairly early into the fight, and Kuja managed to get one last Dread of Death for about 26K damage while his Doom Timer was at 0.  Tense fight.  Not doing it again.

Next up was the U++...  That fight was a complete joke, even with the boss constantly Hasting himself.

[Shale]

After the realm lucky draw I'm now the proud owner of a spare Gold Hairpin (extra +water hat! I could do worse) and Yda's burst. I really didn't need more XIV synergy, but it looks like it'll be fun to play with, especially since I can juggle stoneskins a bit easier since I also have Asylum.

Also, I beat the Steiner/Beatrix Cid Mission after something like a dozen attempts. managing Climhazzards with no mitigation SBs is a pain.

[Cmdr_King]

Edea's old original SSB... and Agrias' Burst.  Because Minfilia and her Curtana needed a new best friend.

[Magic Fanatic]

The DU LD gave me...  Garnet's Royal Gown.  Nothing too useful, but maybe I'll find a use sometime in the future.  Granted, it's also competing with Divine Guardian, when my only other FF9 Hastega is Eiko's Emerald Light.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Lucky Draw net me another Evoker's Doublet and Garnet's Dagger of Resolve. Well, that's a way to pad out my mage bursts and the dagger itself is a neat stat stick in a realm where my magical synergy could honestly stand to be more inclusive (so... many... flutes...). As for the Doublet, well, I guess I now have my first 8* robe running off current tech. My FF14 synergy is so goddamned stupid.

EDIT: Yeah, Garnet's burst is definitely cool enough. Not that much offense, but sustainable enough and I can field some terrifying options for Holy (Raines' Imperil Holy SSB, Hope's Enholy Burst and Palom's tri-elemental stackable MAG debuff SSB stand out among those), and even adds up for a backup healing option. Not really a -strong- Burst, but at this point, variety trumps all unless I'm doing Torment dungeons.

EDIT2: Also, Garnet's second SSB is -great-. Stackable MAG buff with a rare as hell ID (only shared with Raines' BSB, IIRC?) and a 3000 HP buffer effect? That's seriously sweet.

[Nitori]

http://i.imgur.com/3NU5lKf.png

hello my old friend, i missed you from jp

[Clear Tranquil]

Niiiice~

FFXIII banners, was hoping for Raines Burst, would even have been happy with Hope stuff for holy shenanigans, or Serah's bow for mag/mind buff, or even Snow relic, or Sazh's or anything really since XIII synergy is kind of lacking now aside from having practically everything for Vanille Oerba's Boon aside and Lighting's Burst relic. Ended up with only one relic which was Cid's Finery (Super Soul Break)

FFIX banners, banner two gave me Hamelin, Kuja's Gloves and Royal Gown, banner one gave Kuja's Terra Legacy.

Hey everyone, thanks for all the replies and advices. Glad what I have is feasible for a mage team. I was worried a lot of honing or grinding for lots of different abilities might be involved but that doesn't seem to be the case so much. Getting well honed Wraths for Yshtola and Terra ( and Alphinaud?) might take a while though since I only have 36 Greater Fire orbs. Hopefully upcoming events will reward them. I will create another Wrath to the one I usually use for Wakka in physical team and see how it goes from there.

Meeple, I also have Vivi's Burst, Palom's Super, Strago's Morning Star, and Desch's Sword  Also now two relics for Kuja from current FF9 banner. Oh right I also have Papalymo's does ice magic thing, can't remember if that's a super or just a regular soul break though.

Sure, I could change my Roaming Warrior. Changed to Vanille's Burst for now while I get things organised~

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Alphinaud can't use Wrath (no Support 4), so he struggles more with gaining gauge at least until he gets his BSB in place. Afterwards, Wind Blade spam makes up for it due to its instacast-granting properties.

[Clear Tranquil]

Ah ok, cool thanks. So I levelled up Yshtola, Alphinaud, and Papa to L50 so far. Onion Knight is already at L99. Is there a FFVI event coming up soon that hands out Terra (I don't have her for some reason though I thought I did) or should I just grab her from the Hall of Rites. Also I'm thinking of using the Memory Crystal IIIs I have so far on Terra and Cloud.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Grab her from the Hall of Rites, Souls of a Hero are handed out like candy. And you have two big-name Terra SBs, you should -definitely- use one of your MCIIIs on her. Cloud, as you have his OSB, is also a solid candidate and his RM4 is very good.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Beat the Ultimates and MP battles on FFX event. Ultima Weapon is quite possibly easier than the Black Waltzes were - weakness to -Holy- alongside being a completely straight slugger? I just brought Hope and Vanille with their BSBs and went to town. Woohoo, 36k damage Purificators with only Faith+Deployment Tactics (well, and Burst's stat boosts, they matter for mages). Ridiculously, I was the top offensive unit in the group, since everybody else was either utility, physical or derp (BSB SQUALL AGAINST A BOSS WHOSE BIG SCHTICK IS HAVING TEN BILLION ELEMENTAL RESISTANCES OH YES SPAM THOSE COMMANDS THAT DEAL 10% OF HOPE'S PURIFICATOR IN DAMAGE. At least Paladin Force still has worth when hitting weakness). Oh well, no big deal.