Record Keeping Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Magic Fanatic]

1/11 Onion Staff dupe here.  Man, this LD was awful for a bunch of people then.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I'm not too annoyed because at least my pulls on FF8 event banner 2 were great. Fujin's Burst, Rinoa's CSB, BSB2 and LMR, which seriously amps up my mage teams -and- hands me a get out of Magicite Fenrir for free card.

[Cmdr_King]

Dupe Fang OSB and Sirius Sidearms (I have Sazh's burst so... +10?).  I'm pretty set for FFXIII but hey, OSB weapon+ isn't horrible for 25 mythril.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

After MC3ing Fujin, I decided to cap-break Tidus and Kuja in order to make use of their OSB and Burst, respectively. I'm likely cap-breaking Nabaat next, since a Kuja/Nabaat/Raines trifecta sounds -insanely- powerful. After that, probably Gordon, since I'm done with Red XIII. I don't really have plans to pull on any even this month (apathetic about FF7 content since I already have Terra's OSB/USB combo, FF4 got delayed to September and I'm not sure I care about FF15 yet. Second event sounds like a better bet to pull on), so I don't really have to save MC3s for the month. I need to figure out what to do about my Wisdow/Spirit 5* motes besides Legend Diving Terra, though. Tough choice between starting Raines or diving Vanille.

[Shale]

I've ignored the FF2 torment until now because my synergy for the realm was garbage before I picked up Firion's burst, but I finally gave it a shot. For D200 and D250 I brought Tifa, the owner of my sole en-earth, as the star of the show. Otherwise I relied on Onionburst to clear trash as usual, Faris for dances and the AOE reverse wall, Y'shtola to heal and provide backup SS2, and Firion for extra damage and emergency magic blinks. Plus the trash let him build up to eight-hit Chain Strikes! Both fights were unpleasant slogs, but not impossible.

D300, though...that was just fun. Finished the three-man CM with Leon, Gordon and Minwu as my FF2 reps, with Agrias and Ramza rounding out the team. Ultra Cross Slash abuse, of course. Gordon and Minwu are full-time healers and bring Pro/shellga. Ramza Shouts, Chants and then starts breaking stats. Leon uses HOTE for even more ATK. Agrias spams Divine Ruinations that start at 4x20K per use under SOLDIER mode and scale up from there as the imperils start to stack, and Leon uses Darkborn Blade to deal a comparatively piddly 3x22K. Never needed to use abilities for either of them.

That leaves just the D200 CM and the FF2 mote CM as the only stuff I have left to clear, and both of those are going to wait for another cycle, I think.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

You may be able to pull off the mote CM without too much effort just with Firionburst, methinks. The fight's so heavily slanted towards magical damage that the MBlink can do a huge number on the losers and they're still sporting last year stat spreads. The D200 CM takes a bit more effort (I managed with Minwu BSB as my trash-clearing method way back when, but I also had Gordon's AoE ATK+MAG debuff, Josef's ATK buffing SB and his healing SSB, along with a then full kit for Leila with her Boon clone and SSB. My Leon still had the same tools as yours), though.

[Meeplelard]

4/11

Fang's OSB (Dupe), Delita's BSB, Sazh's BSB, Arc's SSB2 (Dupe)

Can't really complain about that, even if the Disco Ball turning into a dupe is disappointing

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Dropped 50 myth on the Vincent May Cry banner, came out with Shelke's SSB and Nanaki's USB. WELP. I might have to Legend Dive him now, he can cover all my buffing needs besides Mind by himself and I -did- need a status blink SB. A -Wrathable- status blink SB that also doubles as a Hastega and a crazy flexible stackable ATK buff? Don't mind if I do. For MAG buffing, I can run his BSB too.

[Shale]

You may be able to pull off the mote CM without too much effort just with Firionburst, methinks. The fight's so heavily slanted towards magical damage that the MBlink can do a huge number on the losers and they're still sporting last year stat spreads.

I'll be damned, it worked. Required a shit-ton of S/L, but I was able to make it through with a 2.5 white mage setup (Maria and Minwu healing, Gordon carrying FB/Protectga) thanks to some old Turk Bombshell RWs and timely use of Firion's burst entry so I'd never have to deal with multiple awake enemies.

[Meeplelard]

I fought Tonberry legit, won twice, because I didn't get mastery on the first since he decided to abuse netcode and make instant attacks have a 10 secnod charge time.

Sap completely kills netcode and ****s with everything, they should never put it on an MP Fight again.  Also that fight was stupid and should feel bad.

[Shale]

Haven't played JP for a while but there's a spellblade lucky draw going on that looks shiny so I logged in and tried my luck. Two disco balls.....Bartz OSB and Orlandeau OSB. So I guess I should pick it up again?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Vincent May Cry bonus battles, in stark contrast to FF8 event battles, were remarkably straight-forward. Gobbled up those Wisdom motes, full-dived Fran, Raines, Balthier and moved forward on Fujin's. Took the opportunity to grab a MC3 lode for Nabaat as well, since she plays very well off Raines and Kuja shenanigans. Also started on Terra's Legend Dive, capping out her MAG and picking up Fire magic boosts.

[Meeplelard]

The only tough part about VMC I found was Shelke's Dispel.  Even with all the resistance I blasted them with magic and won.  The "/Non" thing really comes in handy!

Haven't done the MP yet.  I mostly LD'd Terra myself, finall getting her LM1.  Still have to wait until I acn get her LM2 which apparently is key to her using Soul Breaks at a speed that would make Ninja skills blush.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Forgot to mention I also completed Fran's Legend Dive. 20-seconds-long breakdowns and 35-seconds-long SBs sounded really tasty, especially considering Fran's my best debuffer by miles (I have all her SBs sans Whip Kick and Vanquished Cries, neither of which is terribly relevant for my reasoning). Fran + Fujin would make for a completely beastly debuffing force on magic-heavy fights and they also work great in mage parties due to stacking RES debuffs. Not terribly useful for Magicites, I guess, but I think I have enough stuff to manage all of them sanely... well, all but Liquid Flame. I really hope Tidus OSB and Rikku BSB are enough there.

[Shale]

Shelke was a pain in the ass just because of the timing needed to refresh buffs after her dispel and also keep Wall from lapsing, but other than that the FF7 event caused little trouble. CM was a piece of cake thanks to Cid! Shout, so that was nice.

Rebirth Rufus was not only easy, but a welcome change from all the omni-resist bosses lately. God, those things are monotonous.

FFT Torment: SMASH. I completely brain-farted the Jump Start by bringing Protectga instead of Shellga so by the time Cloud USB ran out and I was slugfesting Belias, he managed to nuke everybody but Orlandeau. Who then killed him with BSB command 1 and came away with mastery. Just need a few spirit motes and I can fully dive Raines...

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

FFT Torment: I finally managed to do the 200 CM (I lacked Rafa -at all- to make it viable, since Heathen Frolic Sarabande more or less solves the boss fight... just for it to be delayed months and have to face a bevy of new FFT-related toys, including four BSBs and an OSB Belias is weak to). Jump Start involved Beatrix dropping 190k Knight's Protectors and 75k Saint's Cross under Chant and Cloud EX Mode. Cloud USB meta is silly.

[Shale]

Oh, also, instead of a proper event this week we're getting "beginner dungeons" for FF7, 8 and 10 that come with the biggest trap banners in the history of everything -- lucky draws that include every 5* item for each realm, including uniques. So there's an FF7 lucky where instead of a chance at Force Stealer, you get a chance at Buster Sword/11.

Yay?

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I'm a simple man: I see a half-price draw, I pull, as the Reddit meme says. I treat Lucky Draws as silly gambles anyway, whatever I get, I get, since my account's well past the point where I actually -need- anything, just pick up whatever.

EDIT: and pull I did. Dropped my leftover gems from FF8 event banner 2, got Telescopic Baton and Barret Bracer dupes. Got annoyed, dropped 50 Mythril, got Tifa's Crystal Glove (well, I -didn't- have fists for FF7, so I guess that's something?), Vincent's Glove (yes!) and a dupe Wizer Rod. I guess this does update my mage equipment for FF7 and I won't say no to a decent BSB whose equip also boosts fire. I can equip pretty much a full party with fire boosting armor now, which isn't bad, especially considering how stacked my fire SB stash is (I also have Vincent's Enfire SSB and he can use Wrath... I mean, it's kinda ghetto compared to his USB, but it's functional).

[Meeplelard]

Oh, also, instead of a proper event this week we're getting "beginner dungeons" for FF7, 8 and 10 that come with the biggest trap banners in the history of everything -- lucky draws that include every 5* item for each realm, including uniques. So there's an FF7 lucky where instead of a chance at Force Stealer, you get a chance at Buster Sword/11.

Yay?

Technically, it's FF13, not FF8.  Just look at the game's global icon for why it's those 3 games.

That said, I'm skipping because I'd rather save my mythril, and the only thing I think I could really benefit from FF7 is an Aerith BSB for CMs, which I've been lazy about these days anyway.

Beat the DoC event, in any event, as well as Apoc Seifer and Rufus.  Gotta get to doing Torments at some point.

[Cmdr_King]

... I know it's a trap, but...  fuck it.

*25 Mythril Later*

Four shinies!

Seymour Burst, Jecht Burst, Lulu Burst (Dupe), Rikku SSB2.  Huh.  That's simultaneously really good and also doesn't really improve my FFX situation.  But hey amazing for the trap banner.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I pulled and got Paine's burst, Auron's second burst and Lulu's Hairpin. I know the Hairpin's completely outclassed now, but it's kind of an affectionate relic of the past, I guess (and uh it's my best mage hat for FFX? man, that realm is really starving for hats, only FFXII is worse at it). Also, I -did- need a water burst for Liquid Flame. Wish I had gotten Paine's second SSB to make it better, though.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

New Torment, new posts.

D200 FFXII Torment CM

L99 Ashe (Ruinga/Valigarmanda)
L99 Fran (Full Break/Hydroburst)
L99 Balthier (Steal Power/Lifesiphon)
L80 Penelo (Curaja/Heathen Frolic Sarabande)
L80 Larsa (Ultra Cure/Faith)

RW: OK BSB

The fight with Mateus was kinda ugly because he ganked both Larsa and Penelo past the halfway mark, but ultimately things worked out because Ashe's BSB is honestly kinda scary offense even after a year of power creep. The one thing that remained the same on all of my attempts against all Torment difficulties was her presence in my party. Balthier uh wasn't very good against the boss, but he was pretty solid against the trash with Lifesiphon/BSB/Steal Power spam. The lack of Protectga/Shellga stems mainly from Larsa having his Mighty Guard+Stoneskin SSB. Fran's debuffing SB array was pretty instrumental here, I could actually juggle Shatterheart and Gaze of the Void with 35-second-duration debuffs from her LD. I'm kinda amazed, really.

D250 Torment

L99 Ashe (Ixion/Valigarmanda)
L99 Shantotto (Chain Thundaga/Sudden Thunder)
L99 Raines (Wrath/Wrath)
L99 Faris (Multibreak/Heathen Frolic Sarabande)
L99 Y'shtola (Curaja/Shellga)

RW: Rikku's USB

Not much to say. Shantotto spreads her damage further and wider than Ashe, but packs considerably less punch per blow. Both were pretty good at keeping damage up, though. Raines was there mainly for chewing through the trash like a chippershredder and providing a second MAG buff. I actually didn't bother with Protectga because the trash has crappy physicals against back row PCs. Once the first Raines BSB went up, it was just a matter of going through the motions. Mateus' AoE Reflect sounds scary in theory, but in practice, you pop up a healer BSB with a Medica and laugh.

Jump Start Torment CM

L99 Ashe (Ixion/Valigarmanda)
L80 Penelo (Multibreak/Heathen Frolic Sarabande)
L99 Fran (Full Break/Magic Breakdown)
L99 Garnet (Bahamut/Curaise)
L99 Y'shtola (Curaja/Faith)

Second verse, same as the first. Not actually any harder than the D250. Ashe's BSB is such a workhorse against the lightning-weak.

[Shale]

D200 and 250 down so far, both pretty simple with Ashe and Shantotto bursts for offense. My one failed run wasn't due to Mateus himself but Onion Knight getting Slowed by the very last trash enemy right after using VOF; the enemy was dead before I could think "wait, that's bad" and since I didn't bring Wrath I couldn't refresh buffs on schedule during the boss fight, leading to a cascading mess.

The D300 might be the first Torment JS that I try and slugfest instead of using Ultra Cross Slash to nuke -- I'll see how I can do with Gabranth's AOE dark SSB and Basch slinging Aegis Strike. From everything I've seen Wall is a must in this one, so I can't bring Kain to a three-man CM team.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

It actually sorta depends on how your debuffing stackability goes? Running Fran and Penelo alongside typical Wall+Shellga, none of the pieces in the fight could break four digits outside Ultimate Blizzaja (which is piercing) and I ran no Ice resistance at all. With ice resist equips, you might well forfeit Wall if you can stack at least four layers of magical mitigation. Sleep resistance is mostly a wash unless you run a very heavily physical party, by the way: in five runs or so, I saw -one- casting of Sleep Gas.

This now makes me wonder how bad could I butcher Mateus' offense if I added Fujin's burst into the mix. Mmmmmm, choices.

[Shale]

Okay, that was way less durability than I was expecting. SOLDIER mode on Vayne (who I forgot was an FF12 character when planning this fight), three shots of BSB entry, dead Mateus. Didn't have room for a lightning ability and still mastered.