Crisis Core: I have completed all missions!
...except Minerva. I'll get to her in a bit!
The cave of wonder ranged from interesting to just plain annoying. Tonberry spam was cute, but the level and general way Tonberries fight (Teleporting behind you thus frames of invincibility (Read: Real Life Time Wasting)) made the mission overstay its welcome. The Kactuare or whatever were just stupid, though, probably my fault for not wanting to use too many Phoenix Downs, let alone that late when I already know you can steal 99 from Minerva.
Birds must die. They're fast, and hit too hard for their own good. Just really freaking annoying.
Tonberry Jesus = Win, however. There's no denying that!
Great Marlboro took a while to kill, due to high defenses and HP. Granted, already had Genji shield so I just had to watch my HP Score (he does actual damage, though hadn't twinked for defense yet, just merely Ziedrich + Genji Shield for damage buffers.)
THe 2nd to last mission was actually neat. A bunch of normal humans with endure status, thereby showing what happens if you can't flinch them...and they swarm you about 7 at a time. Uh, yeah, just fun smash fest. Boss was a bit annoynig.
The Genji Glove is what I expected; Sniper Eye + Brutal. This is pretty meh compared to the Shield, but...Break Damage Limit is too important this late, so it coming with a bonus makes it a staple. Similar to how Break HP Limit is similarly invaluable hence why the Genji Armor is on. Genji shield is hax and is kept on.
Genji Helm is...kind of boring. AP/MP Cost 0 and Libra? Meh, I'd care if throwing Ethers/Somas was more annoying than it is, and I still have plenty of Elixirs.
Ziedrich, as a result, got the 4th slot, since it is awesome. +100 to all important stats = yay!
...and I'm not sure how I'd survive without it; how do FAQs even CONSIDER recommending the Genji Helm over Ziedrich against Minerva?
My first fight with her? Well...
At 170~ in both defensive stats, her opening move was Crimson Flare...which did 99999...keep in mind I have Auto Shell and Auto Protect too. I had a Phoenix Down on...tossed another...then get hit with her feather attack that did 45kx2 (would have done more but dying didn't let the other hits go through <.<; ), dodged Thor Hammer, then ate another Crimson Flame and died.
(At this point I went to sleep since I just wanted a preview of Minerva, given it was 2:30 AM, but not important!)
Anyway, I'm seeing why it was suggested you get your defensive stats that high. So I get my Vitality and Spirit up to 250~; I'm only level 96 so I figure some level ups can cover the rest or something. My attack is maxed, my HP is 75k~ (990% Gil Toss Materia; why Gil Toss? IT just happened to be what was created a while back when I made my 800% HP materia, I buffed that up to 990%. I'd have gone to 999% but...the amount of SP it costs to get 9% more HP, when you're dealing with damage THIS high, its not worth it), Magic somewhere in 220s~; originally didn't twink this, but then realized (after losing once) that I'd like my magical DMWs (Apocalypse and Meteor Strike mainly; the summons still hit hard enough) to do ACTUAL DAMAGE, so yeah.
My set up is Dispel Blade (Mastered, so its 50% more admage, and has +100 Attack), Curaga (...need to Master this, though, healing isn't my concern, it'd just be a nice extra!), Ultima (Magic Boosting materia!), Gil Toss (w/ 990% HP), SP Turbo (Could try to raise it to SP Max, but...SP Barrier killed my SP and didn't seem to do much, so not sure I'll care. Also, this is my Vit Materia), and a Dispel Materia (yes, redundant with Dispel Blade, but this was formed when I was working on SPirit Twinking somewhere along the way.
Equips are Genji Shield, GEnji Glove, Genji Armor and Ziedrich, as I noted before!
Abbreviated!
Curaga
Dispel Blade w/ +100 Attack
SP Turbo w/ +80~ Vit
Dispel w/ +80~ Spirit
Gil Toss w/ +990% HP
Ultima w/ +55~ Magic
So how did I fare against Minerva?
...she kicked my ass twice. Well, no, I hold up fine, with all those Phoenix Downs, but...then she starts whipping out Judgement Arrow.
At first it did some value over 60k, when I had 90k~ HP (Break status), figured it was Gravity! I did notice that I lost Phoenix Down status...and soon, realized I had 0 MP and AP. Um, ow, ok, Elixir, Phoenix Down, back in the fight!
She did this again, I survived again! Same thing!
...then she does it eventually when I had 30k HP...I see a big 60k~ appear...then I remember what it does to Phoenix Down status...you can see where I'm going...
Basically, the fight is coming down to, in the second half, KEEP MY HP AT MAX. Or at least above 70k. I was wondering how the game was balancing her for Phoenix Down spam, and well, now I know; she just finds a way to ignore it outright with her big ultimate attack, ick!
Now, the rest of her moves?
With my 250~ defenses, *AND* Auto Protect/Shell? Here's what I've been seeing!
Note: MY HP is about 75k at max.
Crismon Flare: 45k, fluctuates a bit as I've seen it hit as high as 60k once. Also not realistically dodgable since its got perfect tracking and NEVER LETS UP until it hits, though, Defend to the rescue (Defend in this game is like 87.5% damage reduction, so yes, its a big deal.)
Krysta: 40k. Also a pain in the ass to dodge.
Thor's Hammer: 45k. Not hard to dodge, but it tends to bitch slap fast, and is often chained with other moves.
Photon Feathers: 5k a shot...note this move can hit up to like 15 times depending on your position...
Flash Slash: 15k damage, hits many times, usually enough to murder you, and given the way its animation is, she often likes to fire Thor's Hammer right when this move finishes, if you weren't dead.
I know this isn't all of her moves but yeesh. They really did go all out with her. Pretty much everyone of her attacks is a solid 2HKO, and some can OHKO if you're not careful. Thank God for Phoenix Downs. Judgement Arrow is just cruel.
I'll beat her eventually, but yeah, she's what I expected; an actually interesting and fun super boss, who is well balanced against the most obscene twinking.
Also, I know some of you are thinking "Why isn't Costly Punch on that list" and well, frankly? Wouldn't change much. Zack's full combo, which takes about equal time to pull off, does about the same damage to her with Dispel Blade; if SP Turbo gets mastered, it'll do a lot more.
