More FFX -
Picking up in Macalania Woods, the randoms here start to get bulkier. That or I haven't been using some PCs as often as I should be, I dunno. If it is the latter, it sorta highlights who is worse in the party. Anyway, why do I say that? Well, the armored moles and the lizards in this area can actually survive 1 hit from Auron and 1 hit from Tidus. Uh oh. Thankfully, I had the foresight to keep elemental weapons. They are actually quite good for the main game, and here, after equipping, I could OHKO again. It was also a good warning sign that I needed to use both a little bit more since otherwise I may not be able to OHKO those types for a while. Eventually, Auron reaches his Str+4 node and now he goes from barely OHKOing to overkilling. Good job, Auron. Also of note are Chimeras and Xiphos. Both enemies are quite tanky and in the case of the former, can also be quite damaging. You probably are starting notice a bit of a pattern with these types of enemies. And yep, they can be petrified, although in the case of the Chimera, it has some resistance to Petrify so it takes Wakka somewhere between 5-6 hits before I get it. In the meantime, Yuna can try to predict the element its going to use to block it or I can have Tidus attack in hopes of getting a Slow proc. At this point, I get to O'Aka and grab the Sonic Steel. Wakka (takes out both unique randoms amongst others) > Lulu (can overkill with magic and generally covers all other enemy types if need be) > Yuna (healing battery + null spells) > Tidus (Slow Procing) > Auron (can tank) > Kimahri (can somewhat tank/steal) > Rikku (has nothing but steal).
Spherimorph is a bit interesting. I forget if he has a pattern. IIRC he does not. Regardless, he's a wuss cause his damage is really low. It's low enough that Hasted Yuna can probably outspeed his damage with Pray. Despite that, Haste is not the solution to this fight because his P.Def is pretty high and he counters everything except his weakness. Since most of the fighters have bad MDef I don't want to try and slug it down this way. Instead I have Yuna poke it with her rod, then get Lulu to cast the corresponding spell. Auron comes in at some point and hits it with Magic Break, thus rendering his offense to be even worse than normal. At that point, it was pretty academic. I suppose I could've Hasted both Yuna and Lulu, but eh. Just doesn't feel as important for this fight since his offense was so trashy and when you hit weakness on him, he goes down quick. Lulu (damage + tanks most damage) > Yuna (tanks most damage + infinite healing because bad boss offense) > Kimahri/Rikku (Use damage if you care) > Tidus = Auron (Haste is negated by counters and bad MDef makes him a bad point character. Auron has Magic Break, but nothing else) > Wakka (has nothing of note, again).
The road to the temple is pretty short and nothing terribly exciting happens along the way. I do however manage to steal enough Arctic Winds to add Iceproof to Tidus' Lightning Proof armor. Most of these enemies are taken out with the corresponding character, so there's not much to note there. BUT, with the Sonic Steel now, putting Tidus into the party allows characters who around the same speed as him to often get 2 turns at the start of the battle. Very useful for getting Rikku in to do 2 steals, or to steal then swap to someone else.
Once we start moving to the Temple, we get a mini boss rush. First up is Crawler. Crawler might actually be the first real "tough" boss. No real holes, starts off with a Silent Lake effect and when you do hit his weakness he counters with something that does a lot of damage (2HKOs everyone but Kimahri and Auron). Getting rid of Negator doesn't solve the fight either since it is bulky enough that you will likely get hit by Mana Beam and Mana Beam comes close to OHKOing (and probably does on a few people I think). There are several ways to go about it, but the way that made the most sense for me was to have Rikku/Kimahri toss Electro Marbles on Negator, which 2HKOs it. This puts Crawler into his Mana Beam phase. I then Shell Yuna since she won't be attacking and can serve to anchor the team, bring in Auron and have him use Guard while Lulu starts casting Magic. Eventually, I swap up this pattern to using Rikku with Items just so I can rebuild Overdrive. At 900 damage per Thundara, this boss has 16000 HP, so it takes quite a few hits before it truly goes down. I do Haste up both Lulu and Yuna but don't think this really made that much of a difference just because of all the counters in between. Shout outs to Crawler's AI by the way, who ended up deploying Negator when he was 1 turn away from unleashing Mana Beam. In the words of Wakka, "Stupid Machina. They just stopped their own magic too". Ranking orders here start getting difficult to determine. But for this fight, Rikku/Kimahri > Yuna > Lulu > Auron > Tidus > Wakka. Thrown Items > Wakka for attack Negator, do the same amount of damage as Lulu afterwards and Kimahri can take more hits even. Rikku has Mix Overdrive which can do about 6k damage. Yuna can tank Mana Beam and generally won't be at risk of dying since she won't be attack so she serves as a pretty good anchor. Lulu could too but you want her to be attacking and she's slower than Rikku/Kimahri, doesn't deal any more damage, becomes deadweight when Negator is present. All this adds up to feeling worse than the others. Auron can tank physical hits, which I think beats Tidus' Haste here. Counters really negate the turn advantage bonus and his damage is awful for this, let alone having worse durability for Mana Beam/tanking assault hits if he uses a Lightning Weapon. Wakka has nothing (bad damage, Negator can be taken out with the item users).
After Crawler is the Syemour/Anima/Seymour chain. The 2 Guado Guardians can be a pain if you don't know how to handle them and let Seymour get carried away with spellcasting. But since I do know how to handle them and the most efficient way is to drop a Petrify grenade on them. Good show Kimahri. You could also Stone Breath for similar results and that would work pretty well too. Once those two guys are dead, the first phase of Seymour isn't really a problem. He 2HKOs but there's always time to heal. I buff up Tidus and since Kimahri has REFLECT now, he probably owns Seymour phases for free. I'm not aware Seymour even has Dispel, but it was pretty funny watching him commit sudoku as he bounces a L2 spell on himself. Anima...well, I dunno. The game makes it pretty clear you should summon Shiva for this (thanks to Tidus/Wakka having lines), but I know you can beat it without having to. Did I actually try this? No. Oh well, just chalk it up to Yuna /w Aeons > everyone forever. I suppose though that Tidus would be the best dude here since he can Haste some folks and that Talk command Strength bonus is pretty good. I assume Oblivion is magic, so you could probably Shell through it, but the ID all over the place is icky. Seymour then comes back and wants to acquire Yuna's soul or something. Unfortunately for him, I still have Reflect Up and he proceeds to nuke himself. Tidus being Hasted, hits him once, Slows him as an insult from the Stunning Steel, then wrecks his face in with a Spiral Cut overkill. I get 2 Black Magic Spheres instead of 1 as a result. Kimahri > Tidus > Yuna > Rikku > Lulu/Auron/Wakka. Kind of weird, but Kimahri being able to beeline to reflect sorta wrecks Seymour's face pretty hard. Then he has Use/Ronso Rage to negate the Guado guards in one swoop. Tidus' Haste/Slow game works well enough if you can get it set up and he has a Strength bonus this fight. Yuna can at least try to stave damage off with Nul spells. The other four don't really do much as far as I can tell. Seymour begins Shell'd, so he Lu can't really damage him...Auron's sluggish and Guard can't redirect magic damage, Rikku/Wakka are still non-existent on boss damage right now. I guess Rikku could throw items, but Kimahri can do that too...and is a bit bulkier. So I guess she's fourth or something.
Exiting out of the temple gives us a couple of Guado Guard fights. And again, if you saved up that OD, Kimahri can one shot. Or you can slug them down, steal their potions and generally laugh at them. Wakka owns them for free since petrify doesn't care about Auto Potions. With 2 Black Magic Spheres, I decide to give Kimahri and Yuna an offensive spell. The reasons for this is just because there's no one else who can really use these (all the boys and Rikku have bad magic). I split it 1 a piece for balance. Yuna picks up Watera and Kimahri grabs Thundara. Just in time for Wendigo too. I assume he starts Berserk? Otherwise, that's a lot of damage. Sensor doesn't say he is though, so I don't bother trying to Esuna him or something. Instead I make Auron Power Break, then Guard and Haste up Yuna. The guy hits pretty hard every couple of turns (about 2700 damage /wout Power Break), but its ST and Auron can usually tank the hit. Usually. I do have Light Curtains, but no Protect. Later, when it goes into its counter attack phase, I just bring in my mages, swap Kimahri to his Magic+20% Halberd and watch as he outdamages Lulu.
EDIT: Apparently, it is vulnerable to Sleep. You learn something new every day
Kimahri (has Dispel, best magic damage, decently bulky, use Light Curtain) > Wakka (owns the guards, then sleep owns the first phase) > Lulu (damage, less bulky and slower, but evade) > Auron (Power break + damage re-direct) > Yuna (Heals + adds some damage) > Tidus (can Haste but questionable offense) > Rikku (no offense sans Use and needs someone else to take out guards)
After that fun chain of bosses, we get to Bikanel. This place is huge by the way and there are lots of enemies. New fodder enemies are introduced in the form of machines. Rikku and Kimahri one shot these with Steal. Lulu can Overkill with Thundara if you want. The others don't do anything notable against them. Also, more birds and they don't resist magic. I would make a point for Lulu again, but now Wakka can too. After awhile, he doesn't even need the Fireball to do it. The wolves prove to be the only enemy I struggle to KO again, but Lancet ignores their evasion and eventually Tidus gets caught up again without needing to hit weakness. Let's talk about the unique enemies there.
There are 4: the Land Worm, Zuu, Sandragoras and Cactuars. Land Worms are massive HP tanks (45000) and take forever to slug down. They are also immune to most statuses, so taking one down is a pain. The one thing they are susceptible to is Demi, but Lulu's not far enough on the grid to learn it. This is a problem. However, it so turns out that they carry Shadow Gems on them. So Rikku/Kimahri can go ham from stealing then immediately using the gem. They can also be ejected, so Auron can knock them out. The other three can't do much...well Tidus can Slow, but it would still take a while to slug it down. Kimahri's magic is strong enough that he can overkill these once their HP is low enough, so he's better than Rikku in that sense. Zuus are also HP tanks (18000 HP) and can't be petrified. Still, they are vulnerable to Demi, Slow and Darkness. Of the three, Darkness is the most available, so Wakka can keep it under a control for a while as you try to take it down. The Shadow Gems work here too, but you need to have stolen them ahead of time. Past that Kimahri beats everyone on raw damage, and eventually the fight does come down to that, so he wins. Cactuars are the opposite - they are dodge tanks. Low HP, very high evasion. Overdrives can get them, so can thrown items, so Rikku/Kimahri own them. Also, they drop a crazy amount of AP and initiative weapons. Both very cool. Lastly, you can steal Chocobo Feathers/Wings off them so you can get the Hastega effect early! They are pretty rare though and have a tendency to run. As for Sandragoras, they exist as blockades. The scariest thing they can do is Confuse you. BUT, since Auron is so slow, I have Tidus swap in and have Auron use Guard to eat the confuse it. From there, Wakka can petrify it, while someone else heals confuse. Order this time is tough cause everyone is good at something. There are no randoms here that Lulu specializes in and she lacks Demi for the two she would be good with. All in all, this is probably her worst performance thus far, but still she can Overkill birds, which is something. Wakka too also isn't as good. Everything that you can petrify gets OHKO'd by the respective character. He sorta gets the Zuus though, the bulk of the damage comes from others. Most likely Kimahri > Rikku > Wakka > Tidus > Lulu > Auron. Kimahri has damage, can Lancet to keep his MP Up, OHKOs mechs, and can take out Land Worms/Zuus/Cactuars. Also Al Bhed Potioning. Rikku has all of the above, but no damage so she's bad against Zuus. Wakka can petrify Sandragoras, takes out flyers, and at least neutralizes Zuus. Tidus is all about Sonic Steel. But its that good. Lulu can at least take out birds + other randoms, and has damage for the tank randoms. Auron has more damage than Wakka/Tidus and maaaaaaybe Lulu but that's about it.
I'm aware that there are random battles in Home but I proceeded fast enough to get only into 1, so this wouldn't be very reflective. As for the forced fights...well Kimahri owns these for free if you've had some foresight to withhold on learning some of his Ronso Rages. Since his OD bar instantly recharges, he can use Lancet to learn Fire Breath and Aqua Breath and get a free OD bar in a few of the force fights. Stone Breath owns all the encounters and since you probably don't have a ton of Petrify grenades, this is the most reasonable way of MT killing everything. The other is through Use and dropping bombs like Smoke Bombs or Sleeping Powders. So Kimahri wins again! Hurray.
Airship randoms - see above. I only got into like 1 or 2. I did steal enough Bomb Cores in that time to Customize Fire Proof to one of Lulu's Elemental Proof armors though. Then we get Evrae. Evrae...I dunno. The safest way to kill him is actually at range. So I bring the ship out, and buff dudes with Protect/Haste/Cheer and toss Al Bhed Potions for healing while Cid bombs it with 3 Missile Salvos for about 7200 damage. I then have Wakka work on chipping it down at about 1700 damage a hit. Eventually, he draws himself closer to me. I Power Break him to keep his claw damage miniscule and eventually trigger his Haste Limit. Interestingly enough, he only seems to counter Slow with Haste. If you Dispel the Haste, he doesn't recast it. I did not know this until this playthrough. Without his Haste, he's chump change at this point. 11000 HP is easy to take down and Tidus even gets an overkill for like 6000 damage. Stone Gaze was really the only thing to worry about. I guess Poison Breath too, but the one time he was going to use it, Cid had a turn before it so I just moved out of the way >_>. Oh, and as for who has Protect/Dispel since Yuna isn't in the party? Our blue Ronso hero *single tear*. Kimahri (has Dispel/Protect, MT healing with Al Bhed Potions, decent bulk, Lancet for long range chip damage) > Tidus (Haste/Slow speed game, decent enough damage after Cheer) > Auron (Power Break for close range keeps everyone safe, especially after Protect. Decent damage) > Wakka (long range poking) > Rikku (Al Bhed Potions/Stealing) > Lulu (has nothing because boss halves all elements).
Bevelle series...these fights can be a pain OR a complete joke. It was a complete joke this time because all the guards are vulnerable to sleep and I have like 20+ Sleeping Powders still from Bikanel. So Rikku/Kimahri laugh at them pretty bad. As for the mechs, Lulu/Tidus/Kimahri makes the best team for damaging them. I do bring in Wakka and Auron a few times for AP, but they aren't notable here. Down in Via Purifico, Watera helps Yuna with the Maze Larvae, but for the other fights, I largely rely on Lulu/Auron here. Kimahri's great when he gets Thunder weakness, but everyone sorta struggles with the Lizards except Lulu, who can kill them with spells. Auron tanks, doesn't do much else, but he doesn't have to really. Still probably LVP, as Yuna can heal and can cast an offensive spell to chip in. Nothing to note for Underwater though. Boss gets 2x Phoenix Down'd so the only real determinant is Speed.
Bevelle pathway - the mechs hit really hard. In fact, the Cannon dudes OHKO most people sans Wakka/Auron! However, they do have Water Weakness and Wakka now, is caught up in Power, so Lulu/Tidus/Wakka makes the shortest work of them. Yuna can too with Watera - really a question of do you value more evade or want slightly more power (yes Yuna has more Mag than Lulu at this point...go figure). Auron's not really notable since he's just too slow and doesn't have a Water OR Fire strike weapon...whelp. Rikku is bad sans Steals since the mechs immune like every status. Tidus (Sonic Steel if need be + Damage from Weakness) > Wakka (doesn't get OHKO'd, damage) > Lulu (more evade than Yuna) = Yuna (more damage than Lulu), Auron (can redirect damage to him, isn't OHKO'd. Okay on damage but really slow) > Rikku (nothing but Stealing).
At Flux, and uh...Reflect still owns him. Just now, Yuna also has it. Haste also owns him. I don't think he can be hit with Slow cause otherwise this is pretty pathetic. I Haste Up Tidus/Auron and have Kimahri/Yuna cast Reflect on the three and then just watch as Auron and Tidus do lots of damage against him. He does have a MT attack, but it deals like 500 damage or something, so Kimahri Al Bhed Potions it away. Eventually, he gets Flare, but by that point, it's too late. I have Tidus Spiral Cut his face in again for more Overkill bonus. Kimahri (has Reflect, MT healing from use) > Yuna (Reflect) > Tidus (Speed game + Talk bonus) > Auron (talk bonus for damage) > other three (none of them really add much)
