With Maliris defeated, I had to make a few annoying back-and-forth runs to make more Nero family members join the search. When I reached the entrance of Memoria, I brought my three highest-level characters (Dagger, Quina, and Freya) along to slightly increase the probability of escaping battles through L1+R1. It still never worked for me, but it might work for you. I allowed one encounter between saves throughout this whole process.
When I finally got to Tiamat, I first picked up the Rune Claws and equipped them to Amarant along with the Power Belt. I also switched Freya's Demon Killer out for Dragon Killer. Tiamat began the battle by using Absorb Magic, which was harmless. Zidane then used Soul Blade to put it to sleep. I then had Steiner use Charge!, Freya and Amarant attack, and Zidane use Soul Blade again. It's important to correctly time the selection of commands here. If you begin too early, Zidane's ATB gauge won't fill before the attacks start. If you begin too late, Tiamat will wake up before the first attack. The right time to begin selecting commands is when Zidane's ATB gauge is about 1/4 full. After this second Soul Blade, I repeated the same commands as before except I made Zidane steal instead of use Soul Blade again and had him do it before Freya's and Amarant's attacks. Zidane stole the Blood Sword, and Freya's attack finished the battle.
After the battle, I saved at the hidden save point in the next screen. I allowed two encounters in the next part because it's really difficult to get through those two longer screens without an encounter. Fortunately, these were the last random encounters I had to endure. I saved again at the next save point, then proceeded to the room with Kraken. Before engaging Kraken, I distributed Ether to everyone, then gave Freya the Dragon's Hair and Diamond Gloves, Amarant the Kaiser Knuckles and Black Belt, Steiner the Cross Helm, Diamond Gloves, Diamond Armor, and Power Belt, and Zidane the Ribbon. I also switched back to Demon Killer instead of Dragon Killer for Freya.
Zidane began this fight by attacking one of Kraken's tentacles. Kraken then attacked and missed. I then had Amarant attack the other tentacle, Steiner Shock the beast for 9999 damage, and Freya use Dragon Breath to repeat that damage and kill off the tentacles. Zidane then stole the Genji Helmet and Kraken cast Waterga, which knocked out Amarant and healed Zidane, so I had Freya revive him and Steiner use Charge! Kraken then attacked and missed again, and I finished the battle with one more Charge!
I saved in the next room, then gave Freya and Steiner another Ether and returned Freya's Steiner's, and Zidane's equipment to what they had before Kraken. I then went straight to the final boss of this challenge, Lich. Lich began by using Venom Powder on Freya, which missed. I then had Zidane steal the Genji Gloves while everyone else went all out. Lich then used Death Cutter and missed again, and one more Charge! ended the battle.
With all that over, I walked to the save point and saved with a final time of 11:36:33. After 13 months, I finally made it! I like to leave picking up the Excalibur II until after the save. This leaves a buffer of about 23 minutes for anyone who would like to follow in my footsteps. By the way, I have 16 Ethers left at the end, so you can feel free to sell a few more than I did if you're ever short on cash at some point.
Well, this will be my last post on here. Feel free to contact me with any questions or needed clarifications. Until then, goodbye and I hope you enjoyed reading this!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Nova Dragon and Maliris
And now I begin the final disc. After the initial scenes at Black Mage Village, I put Freya, Amarant, and Steiner in my party, then flew to Lindblum to start the Nero Family Side-quest. When I was finished there, I traveled to the chocobo tracks by Esto Gaza and called Choco. I then swam to the former location of Shimmering Island and dug up the Ultima Weapon. With that in hand, I returned to the Invincible and equipped my party as follows:
Freya Amarant Steiner Zidane
Holy Lance (no changes) Ragnarok Ultima Weapon
Mythril Helm Barbut Green Beret
Gauntlets Diamond Gloves N-Kai Armlet
Minerva's Plate Maximilian Power Vest
Barette Rebirth Ring Ribbon
_________________________________________________________
(no changes (no changes) Auto-Life (no changes)
except she lost Distract
Counter from MP Attack
not having a Bird Killer
Venetia Shield) Devil Killer
I then saved before heading off to Memoria. After skipping the three FMVs the battle against Nova Dragon began. I carefully planned this battle to set me up for Charge!, and it went even better than I had hoped. Steiner began the battle by attacking. Nova Dragon countered this attack, and Steiner tanked the hit. Nova Dragon then used Tidal Wave. This damaged Freya and knocked out Amarant. I then attacked some more and had Zidane revive Amarant. Nova Dragon countered Freya, but missed her. It then used Aerial Slash, which brought Freya to critical HP, yet she remained standing. The attack knocked out Steiner, but he revived thanks to Auto-Life. I kept bringing the heat with more attacks, and Nova Dragon responded with Psychokinesis, which knocked out Zidane. One more round of attacks with Charge! then finished the battle, and my entire party is ready for Charge! in my next battle. I'm not going to bother listing abilities learned anymore because they're not important at this point. I've already learned all the abilities I'm going to use for the rest of the challenge with a couple notable exceptions that will show up later.
NOTE: It's possible that Freya might not quite be reduced to critical HP from these attacks. As long as she's under 400 HP, you can still get her to critical by using HP+10% and/or HP+20%. You will have to sacrifice some abilities to activate these, so it's your call on whether to use them. You can get HP+20% from the Battle Boots, which you should have picked up in Pandemonium.
Once I regained control of my party in Memoria, I immediately got back on the Invincible, keeping my same party. I then went back to Lindblum and got the next Nero brother to join the search. With that done, I returned to Memoria and saved at the orb. I then proceeded to Maliris, getting no encounters along the way. Before engaging in the fight, I revived Zidane and gave him the Dark Matter, then gave Freya a Venetia Shield, Amarant a Green Beret, and Steiner a Venetia Shield. I also switched everyone's Man Eater for Devil Killer, also removing Zidane's Distract and Bird Killer and giving him Body Temp and Bandit as well as removing Freya's Dragon Killer and Locomotion and giving her Counter and Cover.
My battle against Maliris was perfect! Freya attacked first, then Maliris responded by attacking her but missing. Zidane then stole the Genji Armor, Steiner used Charge!, and Amarant and Freya attacked. Maliris then attacked Amarant, but Freya covered for him, dodged, and counterattacked! A few more attacks then finished it off. Maliris's dying attack knocked everyone out, but Steiner revived with Auto-Life to let me win the day! I revived everyone and gave Freya an Ether on my way to the next save point and saved with a time of 11:03:48.
Freya Amarant Steiner Zidane
Holy Lance (no changes) Ragnarok Ultima Weapon
Mythril Helm Barbut Green Beret
Gauntlets Diamond Gloves N-Kai Armlet
Minerva's Plate Maximilian Power Vest
Barette Rebirth Ring Ribbon
_________________________________________________________
(no changes (no changes) Auto-Life (no changes)
except she lost Distract
Counter from MP Attack
not having a Bird Killer
Venetia Shield) Devil Killer
I then saved before heading off to Memoria. After skipping the three FMVs the battle against Nova Dragon began. I carefully planned this battle to set me up for Charge!, and it went even better than I had hoped. Steiner began the battle by attacking. Nova Dragon countered this attack, and Steiner tanked the hit. Nova Dragon then used Tidal Wave. This damaged Freya and knocked out Amarant. I then attacked some more and had Zidane revive Amarant. Nova Dragon countered Freya, but missed her. It then used Aerial Slash, which brought Freya to critical HP, yet she remained standing. The attack knocked out Steiner, but he revived thanks to Auto-Life. I kept bringing the heat with more attacks, and Nova Dragon responded with Psychokinesis, which knocked out Zidane. One more round of attacks with Charge! then finished the battle, and my entire party is ready for Charge! in my next battle. I'm not going to bother listing abilities learned anymore because they're not important at this point. I've already learned all the abilities I'm going to use for the rest of the challenge with a couple notable exceptions that will show up later.
NOTE: It's possible that Freya might not quite be reduced to critical HP from these attacks. As long as she's under 400 HP, you can still get her to critical by using HP+10% and/or HP+20%. You will have to sacrifice some abilities to activate these, so it's your call on whether to use them. You can get HP+20% from the Battle Boots, which you should have picked up in Pandemonium.
Once I regained control of my party in Memoria, I immediately got back on the Invincible, keeping my same party. I then went back to Lindblum and got the next Nero brother to join the search. With that done, I returned to Memoria and saved at the orb. I then proceeded to Maliris, getting no encounters along the way. Before engaging in the fight, I revived Zidane and gave him the Dark Matter, then gave Freya a Venetia Shield, Amarant a Green Beret, and Steiner a Venetia Shield. I also switched everyone's Man Eater for Devil Killer, also removing Zidane's Distract and Bird Killer and giving him Body Temp and Bandit as well as removing Freya's Dragon Killer and Locomotion and giving her Counter and Cover.
My battle against Maliris was perfect! Freya attacked first, then Maliris responded by attacking her but missing. Zidane then stole the Genji Armor, Steiner used Charge!, and Amarant and Freya attacked. Maliris then attacked Amarant, but Freya covered for him, dodged, and counterattacked! A few more attacks then finished it off. Maliris's dying attack knocked everyone out, but Steiner revived with Auto-Life to let me win the day! I revived everyone and gave Freya an Ether on my way to the next save point and saved with a time of 11:03:48.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Pandemonium and Escape from Terra
When I started the game up again, I set up my party as follows:
Zidane Freya Steiner Amarant
Orichalcon Dragon's Hair Defender Kaiser Knuckles
Adaman Hat Barbut Genji Helmet Bandana
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield Venetia Shield Bone Wrist
Gaia Gear Minerva's Plate Diamond Armor Power Vest
Rebirth Ring Barette Dark Matter Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Auto-Float Auto-Float MP Attack
Alert Accuracy+ Distract Bird Killer
MP Attack Bird Killer Devil Killer
Bird Killer Ability Up Man Eater
Dragon Killer Body Temp
Level Up
Amarant is now all set with his abilities until I get the Excalibur II.
I then made my way through the Pandemonium maze, gathering the treasure along the way. I needed one encounter to set up Charge! and it went perfectly. I encountered an Abadon. I began by having Amarant attack. Abadon then cast Thundaga on Freya, which she survived with only ~100 HP remaining. Zidane and Amarant then self-KOed, and Freya attacked Abadon to finish it. Freya went up to level 30 and Steiner went up to level 20 as a result of this battle.
I then continued through the maze until I reached the moogle, at which point I delivered the letter and saved. When I reloaded, I used an Ether on Steiner, revived Zidane and Amarant, and adjusted my equipment and abilities for the next battles as follows:
Zidane Freya Steiner Amarant
Orichalcon Holy Lance Coral Sword Kaiser Knuckles
Green Beret Mythril Helm Cross Helm Coronet
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield Thunder Gloves Bone Wrist
Power Vest Minerva's Plate Diamond Armor Power Vest
Dark Matter Barette Power Belt Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Accuracy+ Distract (no changes)
Distract Distract MP Attack
MP Attack MP Attack Bird Killer
Bird Killer Dragon Killer Man Eater
Man Eater Man Eater Counter
Counter Ability Up
Body Temp
Locomotion
I also put everyone in the front row and switched Zidane's and Amarant's positions because Zidane is the weakest attacker at this point. If you only have one Power Vest then you can give Zidane a Judo Uniform instead. I then proceeded to the battles. Silver Dragon went down instantly from just one use of Charge! After the battle, Amarant learned Man Eater, Gamble Defense, and HP+20%, Freya learned Dragon's Crest and Auto-Float, Steiner learned Charge!, MP Attack, and Ability Up, and Zidane learned Detect.
Garland opened the next battle by casting Flare on Amarant. I had Zidane revive him and everyone go all out with attacks and Charge! Garland then used Psychokinesis on Zidane, so Amarant returned the favor of reviving and I ended the battle with another attack from Freya and a Charge!
When I fought Kuja, he began by casting Demi on Amarant, knocking him out, so I had to revive him again. I then continued the pattern of attacks and Charge! Kuja then cast Thundaga on Steiner, so I revived him and had to content myself with just normal attacks that round. Kuja cast Thundaga one more time on Zidane, but I didn't bother reviving him because the battle was over with more attacks and Charge! I didn't have to restore anyone's MP during these fights thanks to my leveling of Steiner.
With the fights over, I breezed through the escape and evacuation scenes as quickly as possible and then saved at the end of disc 3 with a time of 10:46:58. Just one more disc left!
Zidane Freya Steiner Amarant
Orichalcon Dragon's Hair Defender Kaiser Knuckles
Adaman Hat Barbut Genji Helmet Bandana
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield Venetia Shield Bone Wrist
Gaia Gear Minerva's Plate Diamond Armor Power Vest
Rebirth Ring Barette Dark Matter Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Auto-Float Auto-Float MP Attack
Alert Accuracy+ Distract Bird Killer
MP Attack Bird Killer Devil Killer
Bird Killer Ability Up Man Eater
Dragon Killer Body Temp
Level Up
Amarant is now all set with his abilities until I get the Excalibur II.
I then made my way through the Pandemonium maze, gathering the treasure along the way. I needed one encounter to set up Charge! and it went perfectly. I encountered an Abadon. I began by having Amarant attack. Abadon then cast Thundaga on Freya, which she survived with only ~100 HP remaining. Zidane and Amarant then self-KOed, and Freya attacked Abadon to finish it. Freya went up to level 30 and Steiner went up to level 20 as a result of this battle.
I then continued through the maze until I reached the moogle, at which point I delivered the letter and saved. When I reloaded, I used an Ether on Steiner, revived Zidane and Amarant, and adjusted my equipment and abilities for the next battles as follows:
Zidane Freya Steiner Amarant
Orichalcon Holy Lance Coral Sword Kaiser Knuckles
Green Beret Mythril Helm Cross Helm Coronet
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield Thunder Gloves Bone Wrist
Power Vest Minerva's Plate Diamond Armor Power Vest
Dark Matter Barette Power Belt Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Accuracy+ Distract (no changes)
Distract Distract MP Attack
MP Attack MP Attack Bird Killer
Bird Killer Dragon Killer Man Eater
Man Eater Man Eater Counter
Counter Ability Up
Body Temp
Locomotion
I also put everyone in the front row and switched Zidane's and Amarant's positions because Zidane is the weakest attacker at this point. If you only have one Power Vest then you can give Zidane a Judo Uniform instead. I then proceeded to the battles. Silver Dragon went down instantly from just one use of Charge! After the battle, Amarant learned Man Eater, Gamble Defense, and HP+20%, Freya learned Dragon's Crest and Auto-Float, Steiner learned Charge!, MP Attack, and Ability Up, and Zidane learned Detect.
Garland opened the next battle by casting Flare on Amarant. I had Zidane revive him and everyone go all out with attacks and Charge! Garland then used Psychokinesis on Zidane, so Amarant returned the favor of reviving and I ended the battle with another attack from Freya and a Charge!
When I fought Kuja, he began by casting Demi on Amarant, knocking him out, so I had to revive him again. I then continued the pattern of attacks and Charge! Kuja then cast Thundaga on Steiner, so I revived him and had to content myself with just normal attacks that round. Kuja cast Thundaga one more time on Zidane, but I didn't bother reviving him because the battle was over with more attacks and Charge! I didn't have to restore anyone's MP during these fights thanks to my leveling of Steiner.
With the fights over, I breezed through the escape and evacuation scenes as quickly as possible and then saved at the end of disc 3 with a time of 10:46:58. Just one more disc left!
Monday, September 1, 2014
You're Not Alone!
Now I get to blaze toward the end of disc 3. Stiltzkin appeared in the hut when I reloaded, so I bought his items. I then equipped my party as follows:
Zidane Freya Quina Amarant
Orichalcon Dragon's Hair Bistro Fork Kaiser Knuckles
Adaman Hat Barbut Holy Miter Bandana
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield N-Kai Armlet -
Gaia Gear Minerva's Plate Robe of Lords -
Rebirth Ring Barette Dark Matter -
_________________________________________________________
Auto-Life HP+10% Level Up Bird Killer
Accuracy+ Accuracy+ Insomniac
Alert MP Attack Loudmouth
Bird Killer Auto-Potion
Level Up
After exiting the hut, I picked up the Angel Earrings on my way to the inn. I went through the scene then went to talk to the girl, picking up the Elixir while I was there. Then, as Eiko, I picked up the Elixir in the inn and the Flash Hat. I then went to the entrance of Bran Bal, then went one screen to the right and immediately turned around. This opened up the path to continue on.
I sat through some long scenes, and then it was time for the forced experience battles. This part used to be considered very difficult to survive through, but it was a cakewalk with the new strategies I used. First up is Amdusias. This was the easiest of the three before, but now it almost seems hard in comparison to how easy the others were. To begin, I waited for Amdusias to cast Bio and knock out Zidane. Amdusias can counter any move you make against it, including stealing, so don't bother. Its items aren't very good anyway. When Freya showed up, I had Zidane and Freya attack, in that order. Amdusias countered Zidane's attack, knocking him out, and Freya's attack pushed the battle to the final stage. Amarant attacked once, then Amdusias wasted its turn. This allowed me to finish the battle by having Amarant self-KO and Freya attack for the win.
Next up: Abadon. With the way I've prepared for this battle, my party is well protected from Abadon's attacks. With Quina at level 28 and the other two equipped as they are, all three characters can survive Thundaga. Quina can survive any of Abadon's attacks, and will even have a net gain of HP after High Wind thanks to Auto-Potion. When the battle began, Abadon opened things up with a Blade attack that missed, and Quina and Steiner defended. Abadon then used High Wind, knocking out Steiner. Zidane then entered the battle, and Abadon immediately used High Wind again, knocking out Zidane, who revived with 1 HP. I then had Quina revive Steiner. Abadon's next move was to cast Thundaga on Steiner, which he absorbed. Steiner and Zidane then attacked. Abadon then used Blade and missed again, so Steiner got another attack in. At this point, Abadon used High Wind and knocked out Steiner and Zidane, which was just what I wanted. Quina then attacked, but his damage was too low to finish the fight. Abadon attacked with Blade again and connected this time, but Quina had no problem surviving it. Finally, Quina attacked again and finished it.
And last we have Shell Dragon. Zidane immediately fell to a Charge but revived thanks to Auto-Life. This bought Dagger into the fight. Shell Dragon then used Earth Shake, which both my characters absorbed. Zidane then attacked, while Dagger remained on standby. Shell Dragon then used Charge again, knocking out Zidane, and Dagger finished things off by summoning Shiva for 9999 damage.
NOTE: If your Dagger is gaining levels in this fight, then you will need multiple attacks and/or summonings of Shiva to end this fight. If you would prefer not to use Shiva, then you will have to resort to the trance strategy given in the guide.
As a result of these fights, Freya advanced to level 27 and Quina advanced to level 32. Dagger gained no levels, exactly as she was supposed to. I removed Quina's equipment before reuniting the party, but left Dagger alone because I don't need any of the things she has on. I then formed a party with Zidane, Freya, Steiner, and Amarant, which will be my party for the rest of the challenge. Because the fights were so easy, I decided to grab the Holy Miter before saving here. It doesn't really make any difference in the long run. My time on saving is 10:29:48.
Orichalcon Dragon's Hair Bistro Fork Kaiser Knuckles
Adaman Hat Barbut Holy Miter Bandana
Bone Wrist Venetia Shield N-Kai Armlet -
Gaia Gear Minerva's Plate Robe of Lords -
Rebirth Ring Barette Dark Matter -
_________________________________________________________
Auto-Life HP+10% Level Up Bird Killer
Accuracy+ Accuracy+ Insomniac
Alert MP Attack Loudmouth
Bird Killer Auto-Potion
Level Up
After exiting the hut, I picked up the Angel Earrings on my way to the inn. I went through the scene then went to talk to the girl, picking up the Elixir while I was there. Then, as Eiko, I picked up the Elixir in the inn and the Flash Hat. I then went to the entrance of Bran Bal, then went one screen to the right and immediately turned around. This opened up the path to continue on.
I sat through some long scenes, and then it was time for the forced experience battles. This part used to be considered very difficult to survive through, but it was a cakewalk with the new strategies I used. First up is Amdusias. This was the easiest of the three before, but now it almost seems hard in comparison to how easy the others were. To begin, I waited for Amdusias to cast Bio and knock out Zidane. Amdusias can counter any move you make against it, including stealing, so don't bother. Its items aren't very good anyway. When Freya showed up, I had Zidane and Freya attack, in that order. Amdusias countered Zidane's attack, knocking him out, and Freya's attack pushed the battle to the final stage. Amarant attacked once, then Amdusias wasted its turn. This allowed me to finish the battle by having Amarant self-KO and Freya attack for the win.
Next up: Abadon. With the way I've prepared for this battle, my party is well protected from Abadon's attacks. With Quina at level 28 and the other two equipped as they are, all three characters can survive Thundaga. Quina can survive any of Abadon's attacks, and will even have a net gain of HP after High Wind thanks to Auto-Potion. When the battle began, Abadon opened things up with a Blade attack that missed, and Quina and Steiner defended. Abadon then used High Wind, knocking out Steiner. Zidane then entered the battle, and Abadon immediately used High Wind again, knocking out Zidane, who revived with 1 HP. I then had Quina revive Steiner. Abadon's next move was to cast Thundaga on Steiner, which he absorbed. Steiner and Zidane then attacked. Abadon then used Blade and missed again, so Steiner got another attack in. At this point, Abadon used High Wind and knocked out Steiner and Zidane, which was just what I wanted. Quina then attacked, but his damage was too low to finish the fight. Abadon attacked with Blade again and connected this time, but Quina had no problem surviving it. Finally, Quina attacked again and finished it.
And last we have Shell Dragon. Zidane immediately fell to a Charge but revived thanks to Auto-Life. This bought Dagger into the fight. Shell Dragon then used Earth Shake, which both my characters absorbed. Zidane then attacked, while Dagger remained on standby. Shell Dragon then used Charge again, knocking out Zidane, and Dagger finished things off by summoning Shiva for 9999 damage.
NOTE: If your Dagger is gaining levels in this fight, then you will need multiple attacks and/or summonings of Shiva to end this fight. If you would prefer not to use Shiva, then you will have to resort to the trance strategy given in the guide.
As a result of these fights, Freya advanced to level 27 and Quina advanced to level 32. Dagger gained no levels, exactly as she was supposed to. I removed Quina's equipment before reuniting the party, but left Dagger alone because I don't need any of the things she has on. I then formed a party with Zidane, Freya, Steiner, and Amarant, which will be my party for the rest of the challenge. Because the fights were so easy, I decided to grab the Holy Miter before saving here. It doesn't really make any difference in the long run. My time on saving is 10:29:48.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Training in Terra
Wow! I can't believe what incredible luck I just had! I never expected to finish this part so soon. Anyway, now is the time for the detour that defines this path. The reason for the detour is that both Quina and Dagger require a Holy Miter for their leveling, but only one is available at this point. That means one of them has to level up enough so that character will not gain any levels in Pandemonium. This requires a minimum level of 45. Unfortunately, Quina can't afford to gain that many levels without access to Dark Gear, so I have to level Dagger. Furthermore, Dagger needs Minerva's Plate for all her leveling, and the first place that becomes available is in Terra just before reaching Bran Bal. Thus, I have to train her in Terra without the benefit of saving between battles because I can't train anymore once I enter Bran Bal.
I'm already set up the way I need to be for this training, so I got in the airship and flew to Shimmering Island. I kept my party the same when I reached Terra. I had a total of four random encounters before reaching Minerva's Plate. The first one was against two Ring Leaders. Before I could do anything, one of them used Virus Powder on Amarant, inflicting him with Virus status. This was a huge lucky break for me because it made the rest of this whole process much simpler. I revived him and cast Night to put the Ring Leaders to sleep. I then had Zidane and Dagger knock themselves out while Amarant killed the Ring Leaders with one hit each. Quina went up to level 28 as a result of this battle. Leveling Quina at this point is optional, but it helps a lot in the upcoming fight with Abadon. I revived everyone and removed Quina's gear after the battle, giving him a Yellow Scarf and activating Millionaire and Loudmouth with the increased number of magic stones Quina now has available. I fled from the other encounters I had before reaching Minerva's Plate because Quina can't afford to gain any more levels before Pandemonium.
When I got Minerva's Plate, I equipped Dagger with her leveling gear, which is the Magic Racket, Holy Miter, Magic Armlet, Minerva's Plate, and Ribbon. I also activated her Level Up ability, deactivating Loudmouth because she doesn't have enough magic stones yet. I put it back on as well as Ability Up once she had space for it. I then ran around in circles on that screen, getting into battles and leveling Dagger all the while. In another stroke of luck, I never encountered a Mover during the leveling process. Mover is by far the most difficult enemy to deal with here. Hecteyes was easily dealt with by casting Life after Zidane and Quina had knocked themselves out. I took out Ring Leaders using the same strategy detailed above. Between battles, I used Dagger's Life spell to revive everyone, thus saving Phoenix Downs. I also used an Elixir on anyone who got low on MP. I avoided selling my Eye Drops and Echo Screens in Daguerreo so I could use them in case the Ring Leaders inflicted those statuses, but I turned out to not need them. It's still a good idea to keep them, though, because they did it several times in my practice runs.
In case you don't get lucky like I did getting Amarant in Virus status, here is a link to the original strategies as given by camdad04. They work very well, although the Mover strategy relies on a fair amount of luck.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/197338-final-fantasy-ix/68411051
The strategies are in post #40.
I gave Dagger the Dark Matter once she reached level 43 because she can only gain 42 levels with the Ribbon. It's ok to do this at level 42 if you're worried that she might go straight to level 44 with the next fight. When she reached level 46, I noticed she was about 16,000 experience away from the next level, so I deactivated Level Up hoping that the next battle would be just enough so put her to the next level while keeping her at least 26,377 experience away from level 48, and it was. This is so she won't gain any levels from Shell Dragon. If Dagger gets too close to level 48 then you'll have to reset because she can't afford to reach that level without a Pearl Rouge. In the process of leveling, Dagger learned Berserk, Mini, Body Temp, Insomniac, and High Tide.
NOTE: Even if you're letting Steiner take Abadon's experience and thus don't need to train Dagger, it would still be a good idea to level her up a bit before entering Bran Bal. This will make the Shell Dragon fight easier.
When the training was complete, I changed Dagger's equipment to give her a Magus Hat, Gaia Gear, and Pumice Piece, activating Chemist, Auto-Potion, and Boost. Make sure you deactivate Level Up at this point if you haven't already! If you're not going to use Shiva, I would recommend giving her the Mythril Racket, Green Beret, Bone Wrist, Power Vest, and Black Belt (taking it from Amarant), and activating Auto-Float. This is to maximize her physical attack damage.
Once she was ready to go, I entered Bran Bal and headed straight to the hut with the moogle. I picked up the Wing Edge, freed the moogle, and picked up the letter. I then sold the spoils from Earth Guardian (Avenger, Rubber Suit, and Phoenix Pinion), and bought 9 Zorlin Shapes, 1 Defender, 1 Bistro Fork, and 1 Adaman Hat. I also bought a few Phoenix Downs, making sure to reserve 2,222 gil for Stiltzkin. If you need more cash, you can sell the items you picked up in Terra except for the Coronet. Also, the Bistro Fork and Adaman Hat are optional. If you can only afford one of the two, I would recommend the Adaman Hat. Don't forget that you can buy the Defender after the forced battles if necessary. The three battles give you a total of 6996 gil. When my shopping was done, I saved with a time of 10:13:46.
EDIT: After looking into it further, I've concluded that Movers will never appear in the screen with Minerva's Plate. Thus, I highly recommend that you not backtrack to any previous screens during Dagger's training. Also, it seems that single Ring Leaders rarely appear here. With this in mind, I looked at all the possible ways to get into one of the experience windows Dagger needs to be in and determined that these two options are the best:
Option 1:
5 battles against 2 Ring Leaders with Level Up
3 battles against Hecteyes with Level Up
1 battle against Hecteyes or 1 Ring Leader without Level Up
Option 2:
4 battles against 2 Ring Leaders with Level Up
6 battles against Hecteyes with Level Up
Both these options give Dagger just enough experience to be at level 47 without gaining a level from Shell Dragon. Option 1 is a bit faster if you can pull it off without having to run away because you got the wrong encounter, but either of these should be doable in a decent amount of time.
I'm already set up the way I need to be for this training, so I got in the airship and flew to Shimmering Island. I kept my party the same when I reached Terra. I had a total of four random encounters before reaching Minerva's Plate. The first one was against two Ring Leaders. Before I could do anything, one of them used Virus Powder on Amarant, inflicting him with Virus status. This was a huge lucky break for me because it made the rest of this whole process much simpler. I revived him and cast Night to put the Ring Leaders to sleep. I then had Zidane and Dagger knock themselves out while Amarant killed the Ring Leaders with one hit each. Quina went up to level 28 as a result of this battle. Leveling Quina at this point is optional, but it helps a lot in the upcoming fight with Abadon. I revived everyone and removed Quina's gear after the battle, giving him a Yellow Scarf and activating Millionaire and Loudmouth with the increased number of magic stones Quina now has available. I fled from the other encounters I had before reaching Minerva's Plate because Quina can't afford to gain any more levels before Pandemonium.
When I got Minerva's Plate, I equipped Dagger with her leveling gear, which is the Magic Racket, Holy Miter, Magic Armlet, Minerva's Plate, and Ribbon. I also activated her Level Up ability, deactivating Loudmouth because she doesn't have enough magic stones yet. I put it back on as well as Ability Up once she had space for it. I then ran around in circles on that screen, getting into battles and leveling Dagger all the while. In another stroke of luck, I never encountered a Mover during the leveling process. Mover is by far the most difficult enemy to deal with here. Hecteyes was easily dealt with by casting Life after Zidane and Quina had knocked themselves out. I took out Ring Leaders using the same strategy detailed above. Between battles, I used Dagger's Life spell to revive everyone, thus saving Phoenix Downs. I also used an Elixir on anyone who got low on MP. I avoided selling my Eye Drops and Echo Screens in Daguerreo so I could use them in case the Ring Leaders inflicted those statuses, but I turned out to not need them. It's still a good idea to keep them, though, because they did it several times in my practice runs.
In case you don't get lucky like I did getting Amarant in Virus status, here is a link to the original strategies as given by camdad04. They work very well, although the Mover strategy relies on a fair amount of luck.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/197338-final-fantasy-ix/68411051
The strategies are in post #40.
I gave Dagger the Dark Matter once she reached level 43 because she can only gain 42 levels with the Ribbon. It's ok to do this at level 42 if you're worried that she might go straight to level 44 with the next fight. When she reached level 46, I noticed she was about 16,000 experience away from the next level, so I deactivated Level Up hoping that the next battle would be just enough so put her to the next level while keeping her at least 26,377 experience away from level 48, and it was. This is so she won't gain any levels from Shell Dragon. If Dagger gets too close to level 48 then you'll have to reset because she can't afford to reach that level without a Pearl Rouge. In the process of leveling, Dagger learned Berserk, Mini, Body Temp, Insomniac, and High Tide.
NOTE: Even if you're letting Steiner take Abadon's experience and thus don't need to train Dagger, it would still be a good idea to level her up a bit before entering Bran Bal. This will make the Shell Dragon fight easier.
When the training was complete, I changed Dagger's equipment to give her a Magus Hat, Gaia Gear, and Pumice Piece, activating Chemist, Auto-Potion, and Boost. Make sure you deactivate Level Up at this point if you haven't already! If you're not going to use Shiva, I would recommend giving her the Mythril Racket, Green Beret, Bone Wrist, Power Vest, and Black Belt (taking it from Amarant), and activating Auto-Float. This is to maximize her physical attack damage.
Once she was ready to go, I entered Bran Bal and headed straight to the hut with the moogle. I picked up the Wing Edge, freed the moogle, and picked up the letter. I then sold the spoils from Earth Guardian (Avenger, Rubber Suit, and Phoenix Pinion), and bought 9 Zorlin Shapes, 1 Defender, 1 Bistro Fork, and 1 Adaman Hat. I also bought a few Phoenix Downs, making sure to reserve 2,222 gil for Stiltzkin. If you need more cash, you can sell the items you picked up in Terra except for the Coronet. Also, the Bistro Fork and Adaman Hat are optional. If you can only afford one of the two, I would recommend the Adaman Hat. Don't forget that you can buy the Defender after the forced battles if necessary. The three battles give you a total of 6996 gil. When my shopping was done, I saved with a time of 10:13:46.
EDIT: After looking into it further, I've concluded that Movers will never appear in the screen with Minerva's Plate. Thus, I highly recommend that you not backtrack to any previous screens during Dagger's training. Also, it seems that single Ring Leaders rarely appear here. With this in mind, I looked at all the possible ways to get into one of the experience windows Dagger needs to be in and determined that these two options are the best:
Option 1:
5 battles against 2 Ring Leaders with Level Up
3 battles against Hecteyes with Level Up
1 battle against Hecteyes or 1 Ring Leader without Level Up
Option 2:
4 battles against 2 Ring Leaders with Level Up
6 battles against Hecteyes with Level Up
Both these options give Dagger just enough experience to be at level 47 without gaining a level from Shell Dragon. Option 1 is a bit faster if you can pull it off without having to run away because you got the wrong encounter, but either of these should be doable in a decent amount of time.
Breaking the Seal
Now I march into Ipsen's Castle. On the way to Kumool, I equipped my party as follows:
Zidane Freya Steiner Quina
The Ogre Javelin Flame Saber Fork
Red Hat Barbut Cross Helm Green Beret
Bone Wrist Gauntlets Thunder Gloves Egoist's Armlet
Power Vest Genji Armor Shield Armor Mythril Vest
Power Belt Extension Lapis Lazuli Yellow Scarf
_________________________________________________________
Distract (no changes) Accuracy+ Ability Up
Master Thief Distract Millionaire
Ability Up Bird Killer
Bandit Add Status
Ability Up
With my party thus set up for Taharka, I saved with Kumool. After reloading, I marched up to the top of Ipsen's Castle, took the mirrors, and fought Taharka. Zidane opened by stealing the Mythril Claws. Taharka then attacked but missed. When Zidane's turn came up again, he stole the Elixir, and Taharka decided to curl up. On the third turn Zidane finally got the Orichalcon. Steiner then attacked and inflicted Heat, and the battle was over. As a result of this fight, Zidane learned Soul Blade and Add Status, Freya learned Dragon Killer, Cover, Body Temp, Accuracy+, and Level Up, Steiner learned Devil Killer and Distract, and Quina learned Ability Up and Auto-Potion.
I ran back to Kumool and saved again with no random encounters. This next part I kept having to redo because I changed my mind on how to proceed a lot, but my mind is finally made up. On my way out of the castle, I prepared my party members for upcoming battles like so:
Zidane Freya Steiner Quina
Orichalcon Javelin Ragnarok Silver Fork
Green Beret Barbut Cross Helm Holy Miter
Bone Wrist Gauntlets Venetia Shield Egoist's Armlet
Power Vest - Genji Armor Gaia Gear
Power Belt - Coral Ring Yellow Scarf
_________________________________________________________
MP Attack (no changes) Accuracy+ Ability Up
Devil Killer Distract Millionaire
Insomniac MP Attack Insomniac
Bandit Bird Killer
I then went through the scenes with rescuing Amarant and talking about how to break the seal to Terra. When prompted, I chose a party of Vivi, Quina, and Steiner so I wouldn't have to change it as I dropped people off. I flew straight to the Water Shrine, followed by the Fire Shrine. I then took a slight detour to visit Daguerreo. I ran in, fixed the lift, and rode it up to the weapon shop, where I proceeded to empty my inventory of all unnecessary items. Here is my sell list. An asterisk next to an item means I kept one copy of that item.
Potion (enough so that my number of remaining Potions equals my number of Ores)
Remedy
Antidote
Soft
Annoyntment
Gysahl Greens*
Phoenix Pinion
Dead Pepper*
Tent
Rising Sun
Wing Edge
Mythril Dagger
Gladius
The Ogre
Fork
High Mage Staff
Mythril Claws (only the one stolen from Taharka)
Cat's Claws
Partisan
Ice Brand
Exploda
Thief Gloves
Mythril Gloves
Thunder Gloves*
Lamia's Tiara
Ritual Hat
Red Hat
Golden Hairpin
Mythril Helm*
Gold Helmet
Fairy Earrings
Madain's Ring
Anklet
Feather Boots
Germinas Boots
Demon's Mail
Shield Armor
Plate Mail
Adaman Vest
Brigandine
Extension
After selling all those, I bought the missable items as instructed in the guide as well as a Venetia Shield. I then headed over to the synthesis shop and turned all my remaining Potions and Ore into Opal. I had 13,535 gil remaining after doing all this, so you shouldn't have any problem affording everything here. If you fall a little short for some reason, you could remove Amarant's Jade Armlet and sell that as well.
NOTE: If Steiner is to take Abadon's experience, then you need to give him his leveling gear now. Equip him with the Rune Blade (or Ragnarok), Barbut, Venetia Shield, Diamond Armor, and Dark Matter. You won't be able to level Quina on this path because s/he will need the Dark Gear for all 98 levels, so you don't need to worry about the availability of the Dark Matter in the next part.
I left Daguerreo and saved next to the airship. I then got on, dropped the last two party members off at the Wind Shrine, and traveled to the Earth Shrine. Then, I finally got to use the Earth Guardian strategy that I helped develop over a year ago. I began with an attack from Zidane and Quina casting Night. Zidane then stole the Avenger. When their ATB gauges filled up again, Zidane attacked and Quina cast Night again. Zidane then stole the Rubber Suit. Zidane then attacked one more time and Quina ate Earth Guardian, which taught him Earth Shake. After the battle, Zidane learned MP Attack and Quina learned Insomniac and Level Up.
After the party reuniting scenes, I formed a party with Dagger, Quina, and Amarant. I then landed in Blairsurpass Plains and equipped my party one more time as follows:
Zidane Dagger Quina Amarant
Orichalcon Magic Racket Silver Fork Kaiser Knuckles
Green Beret Bandana Holy Miter Bandana
- - N-Kai Armlet -
- - Robe of Lords -
- - Dark Matter Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Insomniac Level Up MP Attack
Bird Killer Loudmouth Insomniac Bird Killer
Alert Insomniac
Insomniac
With my party now prepared for Terra, I saved with a time of 09:49:39.
Zidane Freya Steiner Quina
The Ogre Javelin Flame Saber Fork
Red Hat Barbut Cross Helm Green Beret
Bone Wrist Gauntlets Thunder Gloves Egoist's Armlet
Power Vest Genji Armor Shield Armor Mythril Vest
Power Belt Extension Lapis Lazuli Yellow Scarf
_________________________________________________________
Distract (no changes) Accuracy+ Ability Up
Master Thief Distract Millionaire
Ability Up Bird Killer
Bandit Add Status
Ability Up
With my party thus set up for Taharka, I saved with Kumool. After reloading, I marched up to the top of Ipsen's Castle, took the mirrors, and fought Taharka. Zidane opened by stealing the Mythril Claws. Taharka then attacked but missed. When Zidane's turn came up again, he stole the Elixir, and Taharka decided to curl up. On the third turn Zidane finally got the Orichalcon. Steiner then attacked and inflicted Heat, and the battle was over. As a result of this fight, Zidane learned Soul Blade and Add Status, Freya learned Dragon Killer, Cover, Body Temp, Accuracy+, and Level Up, Steiner learned Devil Killer and Distract, and Quina learned Ability Up and Auto-Potion.
I ran back to Kumool and saved again with no random encounters. This next part I kept having to redo because I changed my mind on how to proceed a lot, but my mind is finally made up. On my way out of the castle, I prepared my party members for upcoming battles like so:
Zidane Freya Steiner Quina
Orichalcon Javelin Ragnarok Silver Fork
Green Beret Barbut Cross Helm Holy Miter
Bone Wrist Gauntlets Venetia Shield Egoist's Armlet
Power Vest - Genji Armor Gaia Gear
Power Belt - Coral Ring Yellow Scarf
_________________________________________________________
MP Attack (no changes) Accuracy+ Ability Up
Devil Killer Distract Millionaire
Insomniac MP Attack Insomniac
Bandit Bird Killer
I then went through the scenes with rescuing Amarant and talking about how to break the seal to Terra. When prompted, I chose a party of Vivi, Quina, and Steiner so I wouldn't have to change it as I dropped people off. I flew straight to the Water Shrine, followed by the Fire Shrine. I then took a slight detour to visit Daguerreo. I ran in, fixed the lift, and rode it up to the weapon shop, where I proceeded to empty my inventory of all unnecessary items. Here is my sell list. An asterisk next to an item means I kept one copy of that item.
Potion (enough so that my number of remaining Potions equals my number of Ores)
Remedy
Antidote
Soft
Annoyntment
Gysahl Greens*
Phoenix Pinion
Dead Pepper*
Tent
Rising Sun
Wing Edge
Mythril Dagger
Gladius
The Ogre
Fork
High Mage Staff
Mythril Claws (only the one stolen from Taharka)
Cat's Claws
Partisan
Ice Brand
Exploda
Thief Gloves
Mythril Gloves
Thunder Gloves*
Lamia's Tiara
Ritual Hat
Red Hat
Golden Hairpin
Mythril Helm*
Gold Helmet
Fairy Earrings
Madain's Ring
Anklet
Feather Boots
Germinas Boots
Demon's Mail
Shield Armor
Plate Mail
Adaman Vest
Brigandine
Extension
After selling all those, I bought the missable items as instructed in the guide as well as a Venetia Shield. I then headed over to the synthesis shop and turned all my remaining Potions and Ore into Opal. I had 13,535 gil remaining after doing all this, so you shouldn't have any problem affording everything here. If you fall a little short for some reason, you could remove Amarant's Jade Armlet and sell that as well.
NOTE: If Steiner is to take Abadon's experience, then you need to give him his leveling gear now. Equip him with the Rune Blade (or Ragnarok), Barbut, Venetia Shield, Diamond Armor, and Dark Matter. You won't be able to level Quina on this path because s/he will need the Dark Gear for all 98 levels, so you don't need to worry about the availability of the Dark Matter in the next part.
I left Daguerreo and saved next to the airship. I then got on, dropped the last two party members off at the Wind Shrine, and traveled to the Earth Shrine. Then, I finally got to use the Earth Guardian strategy that I helped develop over a year ago. I began with an attack from Zidane and Quina casting Night. Zidane then stole the Avenger. When their ATB gauges filled up again, Zidane attacked and Quina cast Night again. Zidane then stole the Rubber Suit. Zidane then attacked one more time and Quina ate Earth Guardian, which taught him Earth Shake. After the battle, Zidane learned MP Attack and Quina learned Insomniac and Level Up.
After the party reuniting scenes, I formed a party with Dagger, Quina, and Amarant. I then landed in Blairsurpass Plains and equipped my party one more time as follows:
Zidane Dagger Quina Amarant
Orichalcon Magic Racket Silver Fork Kaiser Knuckles
Green Beret Bandana Holy Miter Bandana
- - N-Kai Armlet -
- - Robe of Lords -
- - Dark Matter Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+ Insomniac Level Up MP Attack
Bird Killer Loudmouth Insomniac Bird Killer
Alert Insomniac
Insomniac
With my party now prepared for Terra, I saved with a time of 09:49:39.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Ultimate Chocobo Hot 'n' Cold
Now it's time for one last session of Chocobo Hot 'n' Cold, and it's a doozy! First I played a game in the forest where I got the Forgotten Plains Chocograph and a Chocograph Piece. I saved afterwards, then in the second game I got the last Chocograph Piece and two Dead Peppers. With that done, I rode Choco over to Treno and went to the weapon shop to have Amarant take on Amdusias. Just one attack from Amarant was plenty to end this battle immediately. I then left Treno and dug up the Mist Ocean Chocograph to gain the ability to fly, after which I traveled north to the Outer Continent, made my way to the closest forest, dismounted, and saved.
I then had to reset until Chocobo's Air Garden showed up at the Outer Continent. When it did, I flew up and played a game, making sure I got all eight items so I could get a good score. I need a total score of 10,000 points to get a Robe of Lords, so I had to play several games here to make it. I played a total of nine games at the air garden and got all eight items in each game with an average of about 1,000 points per game. (I already had about 1,000 points coming into this.) I allowed lower scores in my first few games and made up the difference later when Choco could dig better. My highest score was 1485. I probably could have done it in eight games if I'd had a lot more patience, but I just want to get this done. I had three Dead Peppers coming into this and two at the end, so I averaged just under one per game. I was never in danger of running out of them, so I think three is a good starting number. A useful trick I found is that, when exiting the air garden, you can use the square button to make Choco fly backwards. This is faster than turning around to land at the nearby forest.
With the Robe of Lords in hand, I was off to dig up more Chocographs. I got all three Chocographs that are available at the air garden, so my first stop was to get the Outer Island Chocograph with the Ragnarok and the Genji Armor. This only takes 25-30 seconds, so I figure it's a worthwhile detour. Next, I flew over to Vile Island to dig up the Fairy Island Chocograph for the needed Holy Miter. I skipped Forgotten Island because none of its contents are useful. I then landed on the Forgotten Continent and ran west to dig up Forgotten Plains. Finally, I ran to Ipsen's Castle and saved with a time of 09:29:51. Sadly, I'm no longer beating the target time, but that was to be expected at this point.
NOTE: This part could change in up to two ways depending on your perfect game preferences. If you don't want to use Shiva against Shell Dragon, then you don't need the Forgotten Plains Chocograph. You can instead go for one that gives you more money, like Abandoned Beach, or just not bother with a Chocograph. If you plan to have Steiner take Abadon's experience, then you don't need the Robe of Lords. Thus, you'll only need to play one game of Chocobo Hot 'n' Cold at the air garden so you can get Fairy Island. If you have time to spare, you could play another game for Outer Island if you want, but the time investment for you would be about three minutes.
I then had to reset until Chocobo's Air Garden showed up at the Outer Continent. When it did, I flew up and played a game, making sure I got all eight items so I could get a good score. I need a total score of 10,000 points to get a Robe of Lords, so I had to play several games here to make it. I played a total of nine games at the air garden and got all eight items in each game with an average of about 1,000 points per game. (I already had about 1,000 points coming into this.) I allowed lower scores in my first few games and made up the difference later when Choco could dig better. My highest score was 1485. I probably could have done it in eight games if I'd had a lot more patience, but I just want to get this done. I had three Dead Peppers coming into this and two at the end, so I averaged just under one per game. I was never in danger of running out of them, so I think three is a good starting number. A useful trick I found is that, when exiting the air garden, you can use the square button to make Choco fly backwards. This is faster than turning around to land at the nearby forest.
With the Robe of Lords in hand, I was off to dig up more Chocographs. I got all three Chocographs that are available at the air garden, so my first stop was to get the Outer Island Chocograph with the Ragnarok and the Genji Armor. This only takes 25-30 seconds, so I figure it's a worthwhile detour. Next, I flew over to Vile Island to dig up the Fairy Island Chocograph for the needed Holy Miter. I skipped Forgotten Island because none of its contents are useful. I then landed on the Forgotten Continent and ran west to dig up Forgotten Plains. Finally, I ran to Ipsen's Castle and saved with a time of 09:29:51. Sadly, I'm no longer beating the target time, but that was to be expected at this point.
NOTE: This part could change in up to two ways depending on your perfect game preferences. If you don't want to use Shiva against Shell Dragon, then you don't need the Forgotten Plains Chocograph. You can instead go for one that gives you more money, like Abandoned Beach, or just not bother with a Chocograph. If you plan to have Steiner take Abadon's experience, then you don't need the Robe of Lords. Thus, you'll only need to play one game of Chocobo Hot 'n' Cold at the air garden so you can get Fairy Island. If you have time to spare, you could play another game for Outer Island if you want, but the time investment for you would be about three minutes.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Esto Gaza and Mt. Gulug
When I loaded up my save, I entered Esto Gaza, then went to the right as soon as I regained control. I picked up the Wing Edge behind the counter, then sold all my Wing Edges and bought the missable items as instructed in the guide. After that, I ran to the moogle, read the letter, picked up a letter, and saved.
I then marched into Mt. Gulug. I picked up all the treasure in the top part, then equipped my characters as follows:
Zidane Vivi Freya Amarant
Gladius Flame Staff Heavy Lance Scissor Fangs
Green Beret - Cross Helm Red Hat
N-Kai Armlet - Thunder Gloves Jade Armlet
Chain Plate - Shield Armor Brigandine
Lapis Lazuli Running Shoes Lapis Lazuli Power Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract Auto-Haste Accuracy+ Bird Killer
Ability Up Distract Add Status
Bandit Bird Killer Ability Up
Add Status
Ability Up
Antibody
HP+10%
Bird Killer and Antibody were simply left on from before, so I kept them on because they'll use them again later, and they have magic stones to spare for now. I believe I failed to mention it, but Freya has had Antibody activated ever since Tantarian. I just never really noticed it until now. With that done, I lowered the bucket by pulling the lever down three times, then picked up the Wing Edge in the next room, delivered the letter and picked up the next one, then saved.
Now it's time to take on the Red Dragons. The first one is the most annoying because of the high chance of an encounter along the way. In the battle that finally succeeded, Vivi cast Stop right away, and Amarant inflicted Venom with his attack, ending the battle in short order. After this battle, Zidane mastered Annoy, Clear Headed, Bandit (finally!) and Devil Killer. I thus changed his equipment to better take advantage of the remaining battles, giving him the Exploda, Black Hood, Thief Gloves, and Power Vest. I then returned to the moogle and saved again.
The next Red Dragon battle was easier as I didn't have to worry about random encounters this time. In this battle, Freya stopped the first Red Dragon with her attack. The remaining one dived at Freya but missed. Amarant's attack failed to inflict Venom, but Vivi succeeded in stopping it. With this battle, Freya mastered Devil Killer and Add Status. She doesn't have anything better to equip in those slots at the moment, so I didn't bother changing her equipment. I just picked up the Demon Mail, took care of the Mognet business, and saved with the last moogle.
The last Red Dragon battle has only one dragon, so it was much easier. A single swipe from Amarant ended this battle as soon as it had begun. After this battle, Zidane mastered Ability Up and Accuracy+ and Amarant mastered MP Attack. I then switched everyone's equipment to prepare for Meltigemini as follows:
Zidane Vivi Freya Amarant
Exploda Flame Staff Holy Lance Kaiser Knuckles
Black Hood - Mythril Helm Green Beret
Thief Gloves - Diamond Gloves Jade Armlet
Power Vest - Shield Armor Chain Plate
Germinas Boots - Barette Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract Accuracy+ MP Attack
Master Thief Distract Bird Killer
Ability Up MP Attack Devil Killer
Bandit Bird Killer Ability Up
Devil Killer
Ability Up
Antibody
HP+10%
I then marched into Mt. Gulug. I picked up all the treasure in the top part, then equipped my characters as follows:
Zidane Vivi Freya Amarant
Gladius Flame Staff Heavy Lance Scissor Fangs
Green Beret - Cross Helm Red Hat
N-Kai Armlet - Thunder Gloves Jade Armlet
Chain Plate - Shield Armor Brigandine
Lapis Lazuli Running Shoes Lapis Lazuli Power Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract Auto-Haste Accuracy+ Bird Killer
Ability Up Distract Add Status
Bandit Bird Killer Ability Up
Add Status
Ability Up
Antibody
HP+10%
Bird Killer and Antibody were simply left on from before, so I kept them on because they'll use them again later, and they have magic stones to spare for now. I believe I failed to mention it, but Freya has had Antibody activated ever since Tantarian. I just never really noticed it until now. With that done, I lowered the bucket by pulling the lever down three times, then picked up the Wing Edge in the next room, delivered the letter and picked up the next one, then saved.
Now it's time to take on the Red Dragons. The first one is the most annoying because of the high chance of an encounter along the way. In the battle that finally succeeded, Vivi cast Stop right away, and Amarant inflicted Venom with his attack, ending the battle in short order. After this battle, Zidane mastered Annoy, Clear Headed, Bandit (finally!) and Devil Killer. I thus changed his equipment to better take advantage of the remaining battles, giving him the Exploda, Black Hood, Thief Gloves, and Power Vest. I then returned to the moogle and saved again.
The next Red Dragon battle was easier as I didn't have to worry about random encounters this time. In this battle, Freya stopped the first Red Dragon with her attack. The remaining one dived at Freya but missed. Amarant's attack failed to inflict Venom, but Vivi succeeded in stopping it. With this battle, Freya mastered Devil Killer and Add Status. She doesn't have anything better to equip in those slots at the moment, so I didn't bother changing her equipment. I just picked up the Demon Mail, took care of the Mognet business, and saved with the last moogle.
The last Red Dragon battle has only one dragon, so it was much easier. A single swipe from Amarant ended this battle as soon as it had begun. After this battle, Zidane mastered Ability Up and Accuracy+ and Amarant mastered MP Attack. I then switched everyone's equipment to prepare for Meltigemini as follows:
Zidane Vivi Freya Amarant
Exploda Flame Staff Holy Lance Kaiser Knuckles
Black Hood - Mythril Helm Green Beret
Thief Gloves - Diamond Gloves Jade Armlet
Power Vest - Shield Armor Chain Plate
Germinas Boots - Barette Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Distract Accuracy+ MP Attack
Master Thief Distract Bird Killer
Ability Up MP Attack Devil Killer
Bandit Bird Killer Ability Up
Devil Killer
Ability Up
Antibody
HP+10%
This is the last I'll ever see of Vivi in this challenge, so he is stripped of equipment. I saved again and then headed off to take on the boss. I went through the tedious scenes and took on Meltigemini. I began the battle by having Freya and Amarant attack. Meltigemini then knocked out Eiko with a physical attack, Zidane stole a Vaccine, and Freya attacked again for the win. If Freya's attacks aren't in the high end of her range, Amarant might need to attack again. I got a bit lucky here. After the battle, Zidane learned Lucky Seven, Locomotion, Master Thief, Stone Killer, Gamble Defense, Counter, and Alert. Freya learned Reis's Wind, Insomniac, Ability Up, Jelly, Distract, and Chemist. Amarant learned Countdown, Clear Headed, Body Temp, Devil Killer, and Beast Killer.
With that done, it was time for more long scenes. I skipped saving in Lindblum because I'm not going through these long scenes more than once, but I made sure to pick up the letter for Kumool. When I finally got control of the Hilda Garde 3, I put Quina, Freya, and Amarant in my party. I immediately docked to get the treasures on board, then went to Pinnacle Rocks to loot it. I then flew to Chocobo's Forest and called Choco, then saved with a time of 08:57:57.
With that done, it was time for more long scenes. I skipped saving in Lindblum because I'm not going through these long scenes more than once, but I made sure to pick up the letter for Kumool. When I finally got control of the Hilda Garde 3, I put Quina, Freya, and Amarant in my party. I immediately docked to get the treasures on board, then went to Pinnacle Rocks to loot it. I then flew to Chocobo's Forest and called Choco, then saved with a time of 08:57:57.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Desert Palace
Now, with the rest of my characters, I get to go through the Desert Palace. I started by lighting the first candle and grabbing the Promist Ring, completing my collection of 10. I then went into the next room, activated the staircase, and ran up to the candelabra. I ran back down, collected the Fairy Earrings, then returned to the moogle to save.
After that, I proceeded through the rest of the palace, lighting all the candelabras and collecting all the treasures from the bloodstones. One thing to note is that, in the last room where you solve the puzzle to activate the staircase, it's unnecessary to ever light the candle on the far left (under the portrait). The only thing it does is unlock a hint about how to solve the puzzle. I got the treasures from the two bloodstones, activated the staircase, and then equipped my party as follows before saving:
Vivi Freya Quina Dagger
(no changes) Holy Lance Fork Magic Racket
Mythril Helm Green Beret Black Hood*
Diamond Gloves Magic Armlet* Egoist's Armlet
Chain Mail Mythril Vest Silk Robe
Power Belt Fairy Earrings Opal
_________________________________________________________
HP+10% Ability Up Ability Up
MP Attack
Bird Killer
Ability Up
Insomniac
* These pieces of equipment are unnecessary; they're simply what optimizing gave them, and there's nothing better for them to wear in those spots.
NOTE: If you're not going to use Shiva against Shell Dragon, then give Dagger the Feather Boots so she can master Auto-Float.
With that done, it was time to take on Valia Pira. I started the battle by having Freya attack. She did 5082 damage (her maximum with her current setup). Valia Pira then got a turn but wasted it by casting Reflect. I then had Quina cast Night and Freya attack again for the win. This strategy relies quite a bit on luck as Freya only has a 9/49 chance of dealing enough damage this way. If Vivi's turn comes up before Quina's you can try having him cast Sleep instead of using Night. This only has about a 1/5 chance of succeeding, but it can save you time if Quina's starting ATB gauge is low. After the battle, Freya learned HP+10%, Bird Killer, and MP Attack, Quina learned Clear Headed and Body Temp, and Dagger learned Cure, Locomotion, Level Up, Loudmouth, and Shiva.
I removed Dagger's equipment after the battle, but left the rest because nobody's going to need what they've got before they're in my party again. Afterwards, I returned to the moogle to save again after the battle and then prepared Vizuino's trick for card arrow manipulation. I want six arrows on my Namingway card, so here's what I did. I reset the console and loaded my last save in Treno. I bought a whole bunch of cards, then examined them. I saw that the 14th card I bought was the first one to have six arrows. You'll probably want to check to make sure it's the same on yours when using this trick. I then reset the console again and bought 13 cards before doing a soft reset and loading my current save. I got two random encounters with Zidane's group before reaching Kuja, but thankfully, battles don't affect the card arrows. I made a party with Vivi, Freya and Amarant when I got the chance, picked up the Namingway card, and left. I made it out of the palace with no more encounters.
When I arrived at the Lost Continent, I ran halfway to Esto Gaza and saved. After saving, I checked my Namingway Card and it does indeed have six arrows. My time is now 08:27:11.
After that, I proceeded through the rest of the palace, lighting all the candelabras and collecting all the treasures from the bloodstones. One thing to note is that, in the last room where you solve the puzzle to activate the staircase, it's unnecessary to ever light the candle on the far left (under the portrait). The only thing it does is unlock a hint about how to solve the puzzle. I got the treasures from the two bloodstones, activated the staircase, and then equipped my party as follows before saving:
Vivi Freya Quina Dagger
(no changes) Holy Lance Fork Magic Racket
Mythril Helm Green Beret Black Hood*
Diamond Gloves Magic Armlet* Egoist's Armlet
Chain Mail Mythril Vest Silk Robe
Power Belt Fairy Earrings Opal
_________________________________________________________
HP+10% Ability Up Ability Up
MP Attack
Bird Killer
Ability Up
Insomniac
* These pieces of equipment are unnecessary; they're simply what optimizing gave them, and there's nothing better for them to wear in those spots.
NOTE: If you're not going to use Shiva against Shell Dragon, then give Dagger the Feather Boots so she can master Auto-Float.
With that done, it was time to take on Valia Pira. I started the battle by having Freya attack. She did 5082 damage (her maximum with her current setup). Valia Pira then got a turn but wasted it by casting Reflect. I then had Quina cast Night and Freya attack again for the win. This strategy relies quite a bit on luck as Freya only has a 9/49 chance of dealing enough damage this way. If Vivi's turn comes up before Quina's you can try having him cast Sleep instead of using Night. This only has about a 1/5 chance of succeeding, but it can save you time if Quina's starting ATB gauge is low. After the battle, Freya learned HP+10%, Bird Killer, and MP Attack, Quina learned Clear Headed and Body Temp, and Dagger learned Cure, Locomotion, Level Up, Loudmouth, and Shiva.
I removed Dagger's equipment after the battle, but left the rest because nobody's going to need what they've got before they're in my party again. Afterwards, I returned to the moogle to save again after the battle and then prepared Vizuino's trick for card arrow manipulation. I want six arrows on my Namingway card, so here's what I did. I reset the console and loaded my last save in Treno. I bought a whole bunch of cards, then examined them. I saw that the 14th card I bought was the first one to have six arrows. You'll probably want to check to make sure it's the same on yours when using this trick. I then reset the console again and bought 13 cards before doing a soft reset and loading my current save. I got two random encounters with Zidane's group before reaching Kuja, but thankfully, battles don't affect the card arrows. I made a party with Vivi, Freya and Amarant when I got the chance, picked up the Namingway card, and left. I made it out of the palace with no more encounters.
When I arrived at the Lost Continent, I ran halfway to Esto Gaza and saved. After saving, I checked my Namingway Card and it does indeed have six arrows. My time is now 08:27:11.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Oeilvert
So, Zidane and co. tried to break in to Kuja's palace and got caught immediately. When Kuja sent me to Oeilvert, I took Steiner, Amarant, and Eiko with me. Before going anywhere, I equipped Zidane with the Germinas Boots, Amarant with only a Ritual Hat and Leather Plate, and Eiko with only the Running Shoes. I also activated Auto-Haste just for fun. I got into a battle on the way to the Hilda Garde. During the battle I had Eiko attack Amarant to get him in critical HP. With the way I've set them up, she will do 100 or 108 damage, guaranteeing critical range. She has now completed the last useful thing she can do in the entire challenge, so I had Amarant knock her out before fleeing so I don't have to bother with her anymore.
After the battle I boarded the airship and we took off for the Forgotten Continent. When I arrived I made a change that was originally suggested by camdad04 but for some reason never made it into the guide. Instead of heading north to the chocobo tracks, I went south into the canyon. I turned right and then left, stopping to save at the fork where going right takes you to Oeilvert. You don't have to run quite as far as I did; I got really lucky as this was my first try. When I reloaded, I turned left and ran the remaining distance to some other chocobo tracks and called Choco.
Now it's time to dig up some treasures! I started by riding north just a little bit and used a Dead Pepper on the mountain crack to get the Genji Helmet along with some other junk. I then went west and used another Dead Pepper to dig up the Dragon's Hair and Gauntlets. All these things won't be used until Pandemonium or later, but it's most convenient to dig them up now. If you don't have enough Dead Pepper right now, you can wait until you can fly to dig these up, but it will be a bit longer of a detour. NOTE: If you're going to have Steiner defeat Abadon, then you should skip the crack with the Genji Helm as it has nothing useful for you.
There's still one more thing to dig up here, and it's the most important of all! I headed south to unearth the Dusk Plains Chocograph and obtain the almighty Kaiser Knuckles. With all that done I rode to Oeilvert, dismounted, and entered. I collected the Mognet letter and bought everything according to the guide, but I skipped saving because getting to the chocobo tracks from my previous save point was really easy.
In Oeilvert, I collected the Remedy and ran up the stairs to activate the orb thing and then collect the two treasures up there. I then went back down the stairs and followed all the directions except that I delayed equipping everyone until right before I was ready to save again so I would only have to enter the menu once. I swapped Zidane's and Amarant's positions and equipped everyone according to what the guide instructs, including the Shield Armor. The only change I made was that I had Zidane keep the Germinas Boots on because I don't have a Reflect Ring.
After saving, I collected the Gaia Gear and went to face Ark. Skipping the FMV of the ride down takes just as much game time as simply letting it play, so it's not worth the hassle. When I fought Ark, Zidane got the first turn and stole the Elixir. Ark then used Propeller Wind to no effect because everyone had Clear Headed activated. Amarant attacked and Steiner used Charge!, causing Amarant to attack again. Zidane then stole the Power Vest, and Ark used Propeller wind again. Before finishing Ark with Amarant and Steiner's turns, I had Zidane steal one more time, and he got the Holy Lance this time. Thus, I picked Ark clean, and as a bonus, it dropped an Ether. As a result of this battle, Amarant learned Curse, Add Status, Stone Killer, and Bird Killer, Steiner learned Insomniac and Man Eater, and Zidane learned Flee. He would have also learned Bandit if he hadn't died in that one fight in Alexandria, but this will be remedied before too long.
I made sure to remove everyone's equipment before grabbing the Gulug Stone. Next comes the most annoying minigame for doing a speed run of this game. When trying to get the key as Cid, I refrained from tapping circle as fast as I possibly could to avoid screwing up, but I still managed to get caught once. Despite that, I still made it to the hourglass with about four minutes left on the clock, and I hate this minigame so much that I'm fine with losing a little time here. When the party got together, I picked up the letter and saved with a time of 08:11:19.
After the battle I boarded the airship and we took off for the Forgotten Continent. When I arrived I made a change that was originally suggested by camdad04 but for some reason never made it into the guide. Instead of heading north to the chocobo tracks, I went south into the canyon. I turned right and then left, stopping to save at the fork where going right takes you to Oeilvert. You don't have to run quite as far as I did; I got really lucky as this was my first try. When I reloaded, I turned left and ran the remaining distance to some other chocobo tracks and called Choco.
Now it's time to dig up some treasures! I started by riding north just a little bit and used a Dead Pepper on the mountain crack to get the Genji Helmet along with some other junk. I then went west and used another Dead Pepper to dig up the Dragon's Hair and Gauntlets. All these things won't be used until Pandemonium or later, but it's most convenient to dig them up now. If you don't have enough Dead Pepper right now, you can wait until you can fly to dig these up, but it will be a bit longer of a detour. NOTE: If you're going to have Steiner defeat Abadon, then you should skip the crack with the Genji Helm as it has nothing useful for you.
There's still one more thing to dig up here, and it's the most important of all! I headed south to unearth the Dusk Plains Chocograph and obtain the almighty Kaiser Knuckles. With all that done I rode to Oeilvert, dismounted, and entered. I collected the Mognet letter and bought everything according to the guide, but I skipped saving because getting to the chocobo tracks from my previous save point was really easy.
In Oeilvert, I collected the Remedy and ran up the stairs to activate the orb thing and then collect the two treasures up there. I then went back down the stairs and followed all the directions except that I delayed equipping everyone until right before I was ready to save again so I would only have to enter the menu once. I swapped Zidane's and Amarant's positions and equipped everyone according to what the guide instructs, including the Shield Armor. The only change I made was that I had Zidane keep the Germinas Boots on because I don't have a Reflect Ring.
After saving, I collected the Gaia Gear and went to face Ark. Skipping the FMV of the ride down takes just as much game time as simply letting it play, so it's not worth the hassle. When I fought Ark, Zidane got the first turn and stole the Elixir. Ark then used Propeller Wind to no effect because everyone had Clear Headed activated. Amarant attacked and Steiner used Charge!, causing Amarant to attack again. Zidane then stole the Power Vest, and Ark used Propeller wind again. Before finishing Ark with Amarant and Steiner's turns, I had Zidane steal one more time, and he got the Holy Lance this time. Thus, I picked Ark clean, and as a bonus, it dropped an Ether. As a result of this battle, Amarant learned Curse, Add Status, Stone Killer, and Bird Killer, Steiner learned Insomniac and Man Eater, and Zidane learned Flee. He would have also learned Bandit if he hadn't died in that one fight in Alexandria, but this will be remedied before too long.
I made sure to remove everyone's equipment before grabbing the Gulug Stone. Next comes the most annoying minigame for doing a speed run of this game. When trying to get the key as Cid, I refrained from tapping circle as fast as I possibly could to avoid screwing up, but I still managed to get caught once. Despite that, I still made it to the hourglass with about four minutes left on the clock, and I hate this minigame so much that I'm fine with losing a little time here. When the party got together, I picked up the letter and saved with a time of 08:11:19.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Promist Ring Detour
Now it's time to buy those Promist Rings. With careful calculations I've been able to determine that having 132,000 gil at the end of the auctions will be enough to get me through the rest of the challenge. I could actually go a bit lower by selling some more things in Esto Gaza, but I decided this was good enough. With my current gil, this gives me target prices of 20,400 for each Promist Ring, 16,000 for the Dark Matter, and 23,000 for the Thief Gloves.
NOTE: If you're going to have Steiner take the experience from Abadon, then you're going to need some more money to compensate for the fact that you won't be doing an extensive training session like the one I'll be doing later. You basically have two choices. You can either increase the amount of gil you finish the auctions with to 170,000 or you can use an extra Dead Pepper to get the mountain crack on the Lost Continent when you go there. The contents will sell for 38,000 gil, making up the difference quite nicely.
In my first auction I bought a Promist Ring and the Dark Matter. I allowed myself to go over budget because it will be easier to make up the difference when I don't have to buy the fourth-slot item anymore. I then equipped the Promist Ring and saved. In my second auction I got the Promist Ring for a price considerably lower than my budget price, so I went ahead and left without getting the Thief Gloves just yet. I got them in my third auction for pretty close to my target price. At this point I was 1,500 gil over my budget, so I adjusted the target price for the remaining Promist Rings. I bought two more rings, equipping one to each member of my party and having one more in my inventory. I then went back to the Blue Narciss and put Eiko in my party, equipped her with the remaining Promist Ring, then switched in Steiner, Freya, and Amarant.
At this point, it was time to do some more Chocobo Hot & Cold. On my very first try I got Green Plains, a Chocograph Piece, a Dead Pepper, and a decent limit bonus, so I was very happy with that. It took quite a while after that to get a good second game but I eventually got a game with Forbidden Forest, another Chocograph Piece, and two Dead Peppers. I need two Dead Peppers at a minimum right now, so having three is nice.
With that done, I ran up to the South Gate entrance on Bohden heights to get the Elixir Card that Steiner couldn't reach earlier, then returned to Treno to buy the rest of the Promist Rings. It wasn't too difficult to buy the rest of them now that I didn't have to worry about getting anything else. I ended up buying the Mini-Cid in my second-to-last auction, but I kept it because the auction went super fast (1:23 save to save), and I got the Promist Ring for about 18,000. This made the last auction slightly more annoying, but it didn't give me too much trouble.
Now that I'm finally done with that accursed auction house I can get back to the story. Before I did that, I made a few more stops. I looted the South Gate entrance below the mist on the Alexandrian side, then dug up the Forbidden Forest Chocograph. I then hopped over to Gizamaluke's Grotto and traded my Kupo Nut for an extension. After that, I hit both sides of North Gate, getting a good view of the rainbow only visible there on disc 3. With all the gates looted, I climbed the mountains again to dig up the Green Plains Chocograph, then swam across the ocean to reach the Black Mage Village. The scenes there didn't take long, and then I was off to Kuja's secret palace. I saved next to the quicksand with a time of 07:50:25.
NOTE: If you're going to have Steiner take the experience from Abadon, then you're going to need some more money to compensate for the fact that you won't be doing an extensive training session like the one I'll be doing later. You basically have two choices. You can either increase the amount of gil you finish the auctions with to 170,000 or you can use an extra Dead Pepper to get the mountain crack on the Lost Continent when you go there. The contents will sell for 38,000 gil, making up the difference quite nicely.
In my first auction I bought a Promist Ring and the Dark Matter. I allowed myself to go over budget because it will be easier to make up the difference when I don't have to buy the fourth-slot item anymore. I then equipped the Promist Ring and saved. In my second auction I got the Promist Ring for a price considerably lower than my budget price, so I went ahead and left without getting the Thief Gloves just yet. I got them in my third auction for pretty close to my target price. At this point I was 1,500 gil over my budget, so I adjusted the target price for the remaining Promist Rings. I bought two more rings, equipping one to each member of my party and having one more in my inventory. I then went back to the Blue Narciss and put Eiko in my party, equipped her with the remaining Promist Ring, then switched in Steiner, Freya, and Amarant.
At this point, it was time to do some more Chocobo Hot & Cold. On my very first try I got Green Plains, a Chocograph Piece, a Dead Pepper, and a decent limit bonus, so I was very happy with that. It took quite a while after that to get a good second game but I eventually got a game with Forbidden Forest, another Chocograph Piece, and two Dead Peppers. I need two Dead Peppers at a minimum right now, so having three is nice.
With that done, I ran up to the South Gate entrance on Bohden heights to get the Elixir Card that Steiner couldn't reach earlier, then returned to Treno to buy the rest of the Promist Rings. It wasn't too difficult to buy the rest of them now that I didn't have to worry about getting anything else. I ended up buying the Mini-Cid in my second-to-last auction, but I kept it because the auction went super fast (1:23 save to save), and I got the Promist Ring for about 18,000. This made the last auction slightly more annoying, but it didn't give me too much trouble.
Now that I'm finally done with that accursed auction house I can get back to the story. Before I did that, I made a few more stops. I looted the South Gate entrance below the mist on the Alexandrian side, then dug up the Forbidden Forest Chocograph. I then hopped over to Gizamaluke's Grotto and traded my Kupo Nut for an extension. After that, I hit both sides of North Gate, getting a good view of the rainbow only visible there on disc 3. With all the gates looted, I climbed the mountains again to dig up the Green Plains Chocograph, then swam across the ocean to reach the Black Mage Village. The scenes there didn't take long, and then I was off to Kuja's secret palace. I saved next to the quicksand with a time of 07:50:25.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Chocobo's Lagoon and Catoblepas
Now it's time to get some essential Chocographs. I followed the roundabout way you have to take to get to Chocobo's Lagoon and got the Dawn Lagoon Chocograph in my first game. I then saved and went back in. I decided not to insist on getting a Chocograph and Chocograph Piece in the same game because it's so difficult at this point. Instead I played a game and got a Chocograph, then immediately played another game without saving and got the Chocograph Piece. On my way back to the Blue Narciss I selected Dawn Lagoon and checked to make sure I had Dusk Plains.
When I got back to the Blue Narciss I sailed over to the Chocobo tracks by Chocobo's Forest and called Choco again. (On one attempt I got a random encounter on my way to these tracks, which was really annoying.) I went and dug up Dawn Lagoon for the mountain transformation, then ran over the mountains to Treno and entered. I ran to Mogrich, equipped Vivi with the Running Shoes and activated Auto-Haste, then saved.
With that done, it was time to take on Catoblepas. I used Vivi because I no longer have a Needle Fork. According to the Battle Mechanics FAQ, Vivi's Stop should have a 16% chance of working against Catoblepas, which is slightly better than the Needle Fork. However, Stop takes a few seconds longer due to the spell animation. With Catoblepas defeated, I unequipped Zidane and Vivi and purged my inventory of things I don't need. I bought a Coral Sword and sold all of the following except where noted:
Remedy
Antidote
Soft
Magic Tag
Tent
Mage Masher
Multina Racket
Mythril Rod
Stardust Rod
Ritual Hat
Mage's Hat
Headgear
Feather Hat
Mythril Gloves
Chimera Armlet
Mythril Armlet
Leather Wrist
Oak Staff
Ice Staff
Lamia's Flute
Golem's Flute
Healing Rod
Silk Shirt
Magician Cloak
Survival Vest
Cotton Robe
Magician Robe
Mythril Armor
Desert Boots
Glass Buckle
Madain's Ring
Coral Ring (all but one)
Yellow Scarf (all but one)
Gold Choker
Fairy Earrings
Angel Earrings
Cachusha
With my backpack much lighter, I saved once more in preparation for buying Promist Rings. I now have 355,319 gil and my time is 07:19:15.
NOTE: I forgot that I still had things equipped to my other characters that could have been sold. If you sell more than I did here, you will need to adjust your target gil amounts accordingly.
When I got back to the Blue Narciss I sailed over to the Chocobo tracks by Chocobo's Forest and called Choco again. (On one attempt I got a random encounter on my way to these tracks, which was really annoying.) I went and dug up Dawn Lagoon for the mountain transformation, then ran over the mountains to Treno and entered. I ran to Mogrich, equipped Vivi with the Running Shoes and activated Auto-Haste, then saved.
With that done, it was time to take on Catoblepas. I used Vivi because I no longer have a Needle Fork. According to the Battle Mechanics FAQ, Vivi's Stop should have a 16% chance of working against Catoblepas, which is slightly better than the Needle Fork. However, Stop takes a few seconds longer due to the spell animation. With Catoblepas defeated, I unequipped Zidane and Vivi and purged my inventory of things I don't need. I bought a Coral Sword and sold all of the following except where noted:
Remedy
Antidote
Soft
Magic Tag
Tent
Mage Masher
Multina Racket
Mythril Rod
Stardust Rod
Ritual Hat
Mage's Hat
Headgear
Feather Hat
Mythril Gloves
Chimera Armlet
Mythril Armlet
Leather Wrist
Oak Staff
Ice Staff
Lamia's Flute
Golem's Flute
Healing Rod
Silk Shirt
Magician Cloak
Survival Vest
Cotton Robe
Magician Robe
Mythril Armor
Desert Boots
Glass Buckle
Madain's Ring
Coral Ring (all but one)
Yellow Scarf (all but one)
Gold Choker
Fairy Earrings
Angel Earrings
Cachusha
With my backpack much lighter, I saved once more in preparation for buying Promist Rings. I now have 355,319 gil and my time is 07:19:15.
NOTE: I forgot that I still had things equipped to my other characters that could have been sold. If you sell more than I did here, you will need to adjust your target gil amounts accordingly.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Tantarian and Obtaining the Blue Narciss
Tantarian wasn't as bad this time around as I remember him being. Perhaps it was because of the new strategy I used. Lucky Seven goes out with a bang here as the guide calls for it to do 7777 damage three times. Thankfully, this is the last time Lucky Seven will be needed. Since I hate Lucky Seven, I played around with the strategy to instead rely on getting 7777 twice and 777 once. This triples the chance of Lucky Seven working out how I want it to.
At the start of the battle, Amarant went first and used an Ore on Zidane to bring his HP to 117. Zidane then brought out Lucky Seven for 7777 damage, opening Tantarian. I then had Freya use Lancer, Vivi cast Fira, and Amarant attack. Surprisingly, Lancer does not close Tantarian despite it both looking and acting like a physical attack.
Amarant's attack caused Tantarian to close, and Zidane immediately followed up with another Lucky Seven for 7777 more damage, opening it again. Vivi and Amarant then repeated their attacks, causing it to close again. I didn't have Freya attack this time because my previous attacks had been on the high end, and I wanted to make sure Freya could deal the final blow with Tantarian open. For reference, here are the possible damage values with the way my characters are set up:
Freya's Lancer: 500, 520, 540, 560, 580
At the start of the battle, Amarant went first and used an Ore on Zidane to bring his HP to 117. Zidane then brought out Lucky Seven for 7777 damage, opening Tantarian. I then had Freya use Lancer, Vivi cast Fira, and Amarant attack. Surprisingly, Lancer does not close Tantarian despite it both looking and acting like a physical attack.
Amarant's attack caused Tantarian to close, and Zidane immediately followed up with another Lucky Seven for 7777 more damage, opening it again. Vivi and Amarant then repeated their attacks, causing it to close again. I didn't have Freya attack this time because my previous attacks had been on the high end, and I wanted to make sure Freya could deal the final blow with Tantarian open. For reference, here are the possible damage values with the way my characters are set up:
Freya's Lancer: 500, 520, 540, 560, 580
Vivi's Fira: 1334, 1392, 1421, 1479, 1508
Amarant's attack: 819, 832, 871, 897
Freya's Jump: 555, 585, 600, 630, 645
If you care to do the math, having Freya use Lancer twice, Vivi cast Fira twice, and Amarant attack twice, along with the aforementioned required Lucky Seven damages will leave Tantarian with about 20 HP if the attacks all do average damage. This is why I held off on the second Lancer. Anyway, after all that Zidane used Lucky Seven one last time for 777 damage, opening Tantarian for a third time. I then had Freya jump and Vivi cast Fira on the party to knock everyone out. Freya then finished it off when she landed. As a result of this battle she learned Lancer, High Tide, Bug Killer, Man Eater, Locomotion, Undead Killer, and Gamble Defence.
With the battle done, I had to go through some scenes and skip a lot of dialogue, then run around Lindblum to get the three potions. I skipped saving with Mogki because there's nothing luck based here, though I did pick up his letter and deliver it to Moodon. I also skipped picking up the Elixir next to him because it's not missable and I don't need it. While I was in the Business District, I stopped at the synthesis shop and made 99 Cotton Robes, 99 Desert Boots, and a Glass Buckle, all purely for profit. I got all the other treasure mentioned in the guide.
When I finally got to the Blue Narciss, I put Vivi, Dagger, and Quina in my party just because they were the most convenient. Vivi is the only one I actually need in my party. I then sailed to the island with the chocobo tracks by Chocobo's Lagoon and saved with a time of 07:09:39.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Detour to Dali and Defending Alexandria
There's not a whole lot that's remarkable about my trip to Dali. I bought 99 Wrists, Leather Hats, and Leather Shirts, then picked up all the missable treasure in Dali and turned in the coffees at Observatory Mountain. When I got back to Treno I ran straight to the card stadium and handily defeated the champion by playing defensively.
After going through some scenes, including giving orders to the Pluto Knights, Steiner and Beatrix rushed out to defend the streets of Alexandria. I didn't bother going into the menu at first. I simply faked out the Mistodon by moving right and then left so I could get around it without fighting. The first battle went really quickly. Both Steiner and Beatrix started with their ATB gauges close to full, so Steiner knocked himself out and Beatrix cast Life on the Mistodon to kill it. In the second battle, I managed to cast Life on the second Mistodon before it could act, so Beatrix only got hit twice. After the battle, I had Beatrix cast Cura on herself, then I removed all of Steiner's and Beatrix's equipment except I gave her a Bronze Helm to mitigate some of the magic damage.
The next Mistodon I fought didn't get a turn before Beatrix killed it with another Life spell. The one after that cast a Fira spell before getting the Life treatment. After that, I had Beatrix use an Elixir on herself before dispatching the Mistodon with yet another Life spell. The last battle always has Beatrix's ATB gauge initially set to empty, so she will get attacked three times in that battle. This is where the Bronze Helm comes in handy. She survived and killed them both with Life spells. In all the times I've done this, I've never had Life miss, so I'd say it's very reliable.
When I gained control of Zidane, I equipped his group as follows:
Zidane Freya Vivi Amarant
Exploda Partisan Flame Staff Cat's Claws
Ritual Hat Barbut Mage's Hat Ritual Hat
Chimera Armlet Mythril Gloves Magic Armlet Bone Wrist
Brigandine Plate Mail Magician Robe Chain Plate
Black Belt Barette Gold Choker Power Belt
_________________________________________________________
HP+20% (no changes) (no changes) Devil Killer
Distract MP Attack
I also moved Amarant to the front row. Being thus prepared for Tantarian, all that was left was to run to the moogle and save with a time of 06:45:24.
After going through some scenes, including giving orders to the Pluto Knights, Steiner and Beatrix rushed out to defend the streets of Alexandria. I didn't bother going into the menu at first. I simply faked out the Mistodon by moving right and then left so I could get around it without fighting. The first battle went really quickly. Both Steiner and Beatrix started with their ATB gauges close to full, so Steiner knocked himself out and Beatrix cast Life on the Mistodon to kill it. In the second battle, I managed to cast Life on the second Mistodon before it could act, so Beatrix only got hit twice. After the battle, I had Beatrix cast Cura on herself, then I removed all of Steiner's and Beatrix's equipment except I gave her a Bronze Helm to mitigate some of the magic damage.
The next Mistodon I fought didn't get a turn before Beatrix killed it with another Life spell. The one after that cast a Fira spell before getting the Life treatment. After that, I had Beatrix use an Elixir on herself before dispatching the Mistodon with yet another Life spell. The last battle always has Beatrix's ATB gauge initially set to empty, so she will get attacked three times in that battle. This is where the Bronze Helm comes in handy. She survived and killed them both with Life spells. In all the times I've done this, I've never had Life miss, so I'd say it's very reliable.
When I gained control of Zidane, I equipped his group as follows:
Zidane Freya Vivi Amarant
Exploda Partisan Flame Staff Cat's Claws
Ritual Hat Barbut Mage's Hat Ritual Hat
Chimera Armlet Mythril Gloves Magic Armlet Bone Wrist
Brigandine Plate Mail Magician Robe Chain Plate
Black Belt Barette Gold Choker Power Belt
_________________________________________________________
HP+20% (no changes) (no changes) Devil Killer
Distract MP Attack
I also moved Amarant to the front row. Being thus prepared for Tantarian, all that was left was to run to the moogle and save with a time of 06:45:24.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Hippaul Racing
Well, I think I've had a long enough break. This part is mostly long scenes with a bit of treasure hunting and racing thrown in. With the initial scenes out of the way, the first thing on the agenda is racing Hippaul to get the Athlete Queen. For me, skipping levels up to 50 is easy, 55 is somewhat of a challenge, and 60 is difficult. The way I did this was to race 11 times to get Hippaul up to level 55, then going to save, viewing the Artemicion ATE along the way, stealing Hippaul's treasure, and reading the letters. I then went back and mashed those buttons for all I was worth to skip to level 60. It took several tries, but I succeeded. With that done I coasted through the rest of the races one level at a time.
Now, Athlete Queen in hand, I went to Ruby's theater and sat through the scenes until I got control of Zidane. Then I was able to collect the rest of the treasure in Alexandria, including the gil in Ruby's theater. I skipped saving again with Kupo to save some extra time. Reaching the castle triggered some more long scenes until the party arrives in Treno. There, I watched the two ATEs to get the Chimera Armlet, then registered and entered the card tournament. I lost my first card game because of a fluke card battle at the end (this is why I hate Tetra Master). I guess I should have saved after all. Oh well. I won the two games after that without much difficulty. I then ran to Mogrich, read the letter, then skipped town. I ran some of the distance to South Gate and saved with a time of 06:25:20. I beat the target time for this section by a few minutes even with the lost card game, so I'm keeping it.
EDIT: I've since learned that there's a faster way to do this. Upon arriving at Treno, you can watch 'Memories by the Water" and then leave Treno immediately. When you get back, you can read the letter with Mogrich, then watch 'City People' and play all three rounds of the tournament. I don't feel like going back and doing it over, though, so I'll leave this as an opportunity for anyone following in my footsteps to gain some time back on me.
Now, Athlete Queen in hand, I went to Ruby's theater and sat through the scenes until I got control of Zidane. Then I was able to collect the rest of the treasure in Alexandria, including the gil in Ruby's theater. I skipped saving again with Kupo to save some extra time. Reaching the castle triggered some more long scenes until the party arrives in Treno. There, I watched the two ATEs to get the Chimera Armlet, then registered and entered the card tournament. I lost my first card game because of a fluke card battle at the end (this is why I hate Tetra Master). I guess I should have saved after all. Oh well. I won the two games after that without much difficulty. I then ran to Mogrich, read the letter, then skipped town. I ran some of the distance to South Gate and saved with a time of 06:25:20. I beat the target time for this section by a few minutes even with the lost card game, so I'm keeping it.
EDIT: I've since learned that there's a faster way to do this. Upon arriving at Treno, you can watch 'Memories by the Water" and then leave Treno immediately. When you get back, you can read the letter with Mogrich, then watch 'City People' and play all three rounds of the tournament. I don't feel like going back and doing it over, though, so I'll leave this as an opportunity for anyone following in my footsteps to gain some time back on me.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
The End of the Ugly Desire
Now, I'm already equipped for the battles ahead, so I charge right in. When prompted, I switched out Amarant and put Dagger back in.
The first battle started out with Eiko casting Silence and Vivi casting Stop. Eiko managed to silence one of the Mistodons, but Vivi missed. I then had Zidane use Soul Blade on the silenced Mistodon, rendering it mostly harmless. The non-silenced Mistodon cast Fira on Dagger, knocking her out, and the other one used Mist, which the other three survived. Zidane and Vivi healed themselves with Auto-Potion, and the battle advanced to the next round. Eiko tried again at silencing but failed. Vivi cast Stop on the Mistodon that didn't have any status effects yet and succeeded! The other Mistodon then aimed a Head Attack at Eiko and knocked her out. Vivi cast Stop again but missed, the Mistodon attacked again and also missed, and Zidane, having nothing else to do, revived Eiko. Vivi then cast Stop one more time for the win. Zidane mastered Beast Killer after this battle.
The next Mistodon went down from just one casting of Stop, making Vivi's success rate 3/5 for this segment. This is within my acceptable range, so I kept it. Zidane mastered Undead Killer after this battle. Thankfully, this is the last time I'll ever have to rely on Vivi's Stop succeeding multiple times without saving in between. With the battles out of the way, I read the letter from Stiltzkin and saved.
Before running down to catch up with Dagger, I removed all of Eiko's equipment, leaving her with an Air Racket. I also gave Vivi the Flame Staff and removed his Power Belt, giving it to Amarant. Finally, I gave Zidane a Yellow Scarf and a Bandana. On my way down I was accosted by another Mistodon, but Vivi dispatched it with his last remaining MP. Zidane learned Insomniac and Bird Killer from this fight, which caught him up on all the AP he missed from getting knocked out in that one fight in Alexandria except for Bandit, which he'll make up later. After going through all the scenes, I saved at the end of the disc with a time of 05:49:52. Now it's on to disc 3!
The first battle started out with Eiko casting Silence and Vivi casting Stop. Eiko managed to silence one of the Mistodons, but Vivi missed. I then had Zidane use Soul Blade on the silenced Mistodon, rendering it mostly harmless. The non-silenced Mistodon cast Fira on Dagger, knocking her out, and the other one used Mist, which the other three survived. Zidane and Vivi healed themselves with Auto-Potion, and the battle advanced to the next round. Eiko tried again at silencing but failed. Vivi cast Stop on the Mistodon that didn't have any status effects yet and succeeded! The other Mistodon then aimed a Head Attack at Eiko and knocked her out. Vivi cast Stop again but missed, the Mistodon attacked again and also missed, and Zidane, having nothing else to do, revived Eiko. Vivi then cast Stop one more time for the win. Zidane mastered Beast Killer after this battle.
The next Mistodon went down from just one casting of Stop, making Vivi's success rate 3/5 for this segment. This is within my acceptable range, so I kept it. Zidane mastered Undead Killer after this battle. Thankfully, this is the last time I'll ever have to rely on Vivi's Stop succeeding multiple times without saving in between. With the battles out of the way, I read the letter from Stiltzkin and saved.
Before running down to catch up with Dagger, I removed all of Eiko's equipment, leaving her with an Air Racket. I also gave Vivi the Flame Staff and removed his Power Belt, giving it to Amarant. Finally, I gave Zidane a Yellow Scarf and a Bandana. On my way down I was accosted by another Mistodon, but Vivi dispatched it with his last remaining MP. Zidane learned Insomniac and Bird Killer from this fight, which caught him up on all the AP he missed from getting knocked out in that one fight in Alexandria except for Bandit, which he'll make up later. After going through all the scenes, I saved at the end of the disc with a time of 05:49:52. Now it's on to disc 3!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Scarlet Hair
I now proceeded once again into Madain Sari. I rushed to Eiko's house, going through the scenes and grabbing the Kirman Coffee and the Survival Vest. The other chest just has a Phoenix Down, and it'll still be there on disc 4, so I left it. Zidane was already set up for the upcoming fight in the previous circuit, so I went straight to it.
I couldn't use the strategy in the guide because I had no way of mastering Distract beforehand due to not getting the Reflect Ring, so I used Zjankku's strategy instead. I managed to get a perfect battle for this one. Zidane went first and attacked, then Scarlet Hair attacked and missed, prompting a counterattack from Zidane. When Zidane's turn came up again, I used Lucky Seven for 7777 damage and the win. I could have gotten by without the counterattack if Zidane had landed a critical hit, which happened once, but the Lucky Seven in that attempt didn't do enough damage. After the battle, Zidane mastered Bright Eyes, Bug Killer, Body Temp, and Distract.
Before going anywhere, I made sure to remove all equipment from Dagger, leaving her with an Air Racket. After a bunch of scenes, Amarant then joined the party. Finally, everyone has joined! I gave Amarant Dagger's spot in my lineup, then left Madain Sari and saved. When I reloaded, I equipped my party as follows:
Zidane Amarant Vivi Eiko
The Ogre Cat's Claws Oak Staff Lamia's Flute
Ritual Hat Ritual Hat Ritual Hat Lamia's Tiara
Mythril Armlet Bone Wrist Magic Armlet Bone Wrist
Brigandine Adaman Vest Magician Robe Adaman Vest
Black Belt Coral Ring Power Belt Madain's Ring
_________________________________________________________
HP+20% Insomniac Insomniac
Protect Girls Auto-Potion
Ability Up
Auto-Potion
I also healed Zidane and Vivi and moved Zidane and Amarant to the back row. I then ran through the mountain path for the last time, ran to the base of the Iifa Tree, and saved. My time is now 05:37:31.
The Ogre Cat's Claws Oak Staff Lamia's Flute
Ritual Hat Ritual Hat Ritual Hat Lamia's Tiara
Mythril Armlet Bone Wrist Magic Armlet Bone Wrist
Brigandine Adaman Vest Magician Robe Adaman Vest
Black Belt Coral Ring Power Belt Madain's Ring
_________________________________________________________
HP+20% Insomniac Insomniac
Protect Girls Auto-Potion
Ability Up
Auto-Potion
I also healed Zidane and Vivi and moved Zidane and Amarant to the back row. I then ran through the mountain path for the last time, ran to the base of the Iifa Tree, and saved. My time is now 05:37:31.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
The Iifa Tree
And so I have now reached the Iifa Tree -- possibly the most difficult part of the challenge to survive through. Once Eiko broke the seal, I equipped my characters as follows:
Zidane Dagger Vivi Eiko
Mage Masher Mythril Rod (no changes) Golem's Flute
Headgear Lamia's Tiara Feather Hat
Mythril Armlet Magic Armlet
Survival Vest Magician Robe Silk Shirt
Black Belt Madain's Ring Ruby
_________________________________________________________
HP+20%
Protect Girls
Auto-Potion
I had one encounter on my way to Mocchi, which I escaped from immediately. After reading the letter and saving, I started to head down the tree. I had a total of six random encounters on my way to the bottom. When Dracozombie came up, I followed the strategy in the guide to get Dagger zombified, then cast Life to finish the battle. From that point on I made sure Zidane was fully healed after every battle, but I left Vivi and Eiko knocked out. I also changed equipment a bit, giving Dagger a Mythril Vest and Coral Ring and Vivi an Oak Staff, Magician Robe, and Peridot.
I ran away from all battles as soon as possible, casting Life on Dracozombie or using a Soft on Stroper in those times when Zidane got knocked out. I've found that giving Zidane HP+20% helps more than anything else with his survival. I didn't worry about Zidane's trance gauge because I'm not going to use it, but it still got pretty close to full. On one of my attempts Zidane actually tranced during the forced Zombie battle.
When I reached the area just before the lift I switched Zidane's Headgear for a Ritual Hat so I could give the Headgear to Vivi. I also revived Vivi and Eiko and healed Vivi. The first forced battle then came with three Zombies. I had Zidane use an Elixir on one and Eiko cast Life on another. I then waited for the last Zombie to act before having Vivi use Thundara on my party and Dagger cast Life on the last Zombie. I wanted to make sure the Zombie didn't get a turn when Dagger was the only party member left standing!
For the next battle, I decided to take a risk because my run down the tree was done in only average time. I went straight into the battle without reviving anyone. The Dracozombie got a turn immediately and used Lv5 Death, which was harmless, and Dagger took it out with another Life spell.
At the bottom, I got the treasures and equipped my party for Soulcage. I revived Vivi and Eiko, then removed everything from Zidane except the Black Belt and revived him with a Life spell, giving him 37 HP (important for Lucky Seven later). With that done, I optimized Zidane and gave him the Diamond. I gave Dagger the Fairy Earrings and Stardust Rod. Vivi got the Silk Robe. For abilities, I activated Distract, Man Eater, Counter, and Ability Up on Zidane, and Ability Up on Dagger and Vivi. Finally, I put Zidane in the front row. In the battle, Soulcage went first and used Lv5 Death, which again did nothing. Zidane then stole the Magician Cloak and Eiko cast Life to end the battle. Vivi learned Stop, and Dagger learned a slew of abilities: Ability Up, Reflect, Confuse, Auto-Potion, and Body Temp.
After skipping the FMV, I ran out a short distance on the world map and saved. My Zidane is already set up exactly how I want him for the next fight, so all I had to do next was get to just outside Madain Sari with no encounters, which didn't take too long. I then saved again with a time of 05:24:43.
Zidane Dagger Vivi Eiko
Mage Masher Mythril Rod (no changes) Golem's Flute
Headgear Lamia's Tiara Feather Hat
Mythril Armlet Magic Armlet
Survival Vest Magician Robe Silk Shirt
Black Belt Madain's Ring Ruby
_________________________________________________________
HP+20%
Protect Girls
Auto-Potion
I had one encounter on my way to Mocchi, which I escaped from immediately. After reading the letter and saving, I started to head down the tree. I had a total of six random encounters on my way to the bottom. When Dracozombie came up, I followed the strategy in the guide to get Dagger zombified, then cast Life to finish the battle. From that point on I made sure Zidane was fully healed after every battle, but I left Vivi and Eiko knocked out. I also changed equipment a bit, giving Dagger a Mythril Vest and Coral Ring and Vivi an Oak Staff, Magician Robe, and Peridot.
I ran away from all battles as soon as possible, casting Life on Dracozombie or using a Soft on Stroper in those times when Zidane got knocked out. I've found that giving Zidane HP+20% helps more than anything else with his survival. I didn't worry about Zidane's trance gauge because I'm not going to use it, but it still got pretty close to full. On one of my attempts Zidane actually tranced during the forced Zombie battle.
When I reached the area just before the lift I switched Zidane's Headgear for a Ritual Hat so I could give the Headgear to Vivi. I also revived Vivi and Eiko and healed Vivi. The first forced battle then came with three Zombies. I had Zidane use an Elixir on one and Eiko cast Life on another. I then waited for the last Zombie to act before having Vivi use Thundara on my party and Dagger cast Life on the last Zombie. I wanted to make sure the Zombie didn't get a turn when Dagger was the only party member left standing!
For the next battle, I decided to take a risk because my run down the tree was done in only average time. I went straight into the battle without reviving anyone. The Dracozombie got a turn immediately and used Lv5 Death, which was harmless, and Dagger took it out with another Life spell.
At the bottom, I got the treasures and equipped my party for Soulcage. I revived Vivi and Eiko, then removed everything from Zidane except the Black Belt and revived him with a Life spell, giving him 37 HP (important for Lucky Seven later). With that done, I optimized Zidane and gave him the Diamond. I gave Dagger the Fairy Earrings and Stardust Rod. Vivi got the Silk Robe. For abilities, I activated Distract, Man Eater, Counter, and Ability Up on Zidane, and Ability Up on Dagger and Vivi. Finally, I put Zidane in the front row. In the battle, Soulcage went first and used Lv5 Death, which again did nothing. Zidane then stole the Magician Cloak and Eiko cast Life to end the battle. Vivi learned Stop, and Dagger learned a slew of abilities: Ability Up, Reflect, Confuse, Auto-Potion, and Body Temp.
After skipping the FMV, I ran out a short distance on the world map and saved. My Zidane is already set up exactly how I want him for the next fight, so all I had to do next was get to just outside Madain Sari with no encounters, which didn't take too long. I then saved again with a time of 05:24:43.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Mountain Path and Madain Sari
After what happened last time, it seems the RNG is having mercy on me. I got the Oglop card and got to Suzuna on my first try. Before saving, I gave Eiko an Air Racket and removed her Glass Armlet and Sapphire, gave Zidane the Gladius and Gold Choker, and optimized Dagger, then gave her the Stardust Rod and Fairy Earrings. I left Vivi's equipment alone. I also activated Ability Up for Dagger and Vivi, deactivating Loudmouth in order to do so.
Hilgigars turned out to be not so bad, despite how much I hate Lucky Seven. I managed to get through this fight in about ten tries. I actually had two successful battles, but I had an encounter on my way out after the first one. In the battle, Hilgigars opened with an attack against Dagger that missed. I then had Eiko attack Zidane for a guaranteed 18 damage. Vivi then cast Blizzara and Zidane finished with Lucky Seven. As a result of this battle, Zidane learned Man Eater and Auto-Potion, Dagger learned Float, Clear Headed, and Silence, and Vivi learned Slow and Insomniac.
I gained a bit more time by not saving after Hilgigars, but continuing straight to Madain Sari. There's not much to say about this place because it's mostly scene skipping. However, I did not collect the Ore (don't want to change the 3 Ore I have) or the Kirman Coffee because I can get that easier later.
Upon exiting Madain Sari, I saved on the world map before proceeding back to the Mountain Path. It was surprising how many of my attempts on the next part failed because of getting an encounter on the world map. Anyway, I got on the path, grabbed the Ether and the Green Stone, then went to trade in the stones. I then headed back out without saving and toward the Iifa Tree. Back on the world map, I saved halfway to the Iifa Tree with a time of 05:04:15.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Black Mage Village
It took many hours of attempts, but I finally made it through the forest with no encounters. When I arrived at the village, I first went to the weapon store, picked up the Elixir, and bought 2 Stardust Rods and 2 Steepled Hats for use in synthesis. I actually synthesized only one of the Stardust Rods; the other is for me to use later. After that, I picked up the letter from Mogryo and headed left to watch the required ATE with Vivi. Then I went to the inn and watched the scenes.
In the morning, I read the letter from Stiltzkin, then went to the synthesis shop and bought 47 Cotton Robes (finally using up all my Wrists and Steepled Hats), as well as a Desert Boots, a Glass Buckle, a Madain's Ring, a Barette, and a Gold Choker. I'll be using Madain's Ring and the Barette later; everything else is just for some extra profit. Make sure to buy a Mage Masher and synthesize an Exploda if you didn't get the Gladius from Lani.
With that done, I climbed up the ladder to overhear the conversation in the item shop, then climbed down, picked up the 2,000 gil, and went to the item shop. Once there, I picked up the Ether, bought 11 Potion and 2 Soft, and sold all but 3 Ores, all but 1 Yellow Scarf, and all of the following:
Cotton Robe
Ice Brand
Magician Shoes
Mage Staff
Annoyntment
Bronze Armor
Iron Sword
Butterfly Sword
Tent
Glass Buckle
Ether
Echo Screen
Remedy
Phoenix Pinion
Desert Boots
Mythril Fork
Mythril Spear
Feather Hat
With my inventory now cleared out, I asked for the usual and climbed up the ladder to get the Black Belt. I then made one more trip to the weapon shop and bought the following:
1 Magic Armlet
99 Steepled Hats
3 Ritual Hats
1 Leather Plate
1 Chain Plate
7 Mythril Vest
I already have the other things the guide tells you to buy here. With the shopping all done, it was time to leave. I got on Choco and rode back to Conde Petie. I picked up the gil and the Diamond, then got married. :) After the ceremony, I saved in the grocery store with a time of 04:49:28.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Fossil Roo and Arrival on the Outer Continent
There's not a whole lot to say about this segment. It's mostly just avoiding encounters and picking up treasure. I made my way through Fossil Roo, grabbing all the treasure along the way. I skipped the second save with Mogki because getting from there to Kuppo is easy. It took me 12 hits (the maximum) to free Kuppo, but I still gained over the target time overall thanks to the save skipping.
I saved with Kuppo, then grabbed the Survival Vest on my way out of Fossil Roo. It was surprising how many times I had to reset because of an encounter on my way to and from the Survival Vest. I definitely recommend saving before that if you skip the previous save like I did. Once out of there, I ran all the way to the Chocobo tracks without a save or encounter. I did my business in Conde Petie according to the guide, then left and saved outside Black Mage Village. My time is now 04:40:48.
I saved with Kuppo, then grabbed the Survival Vest on my way out of Fossil Roo. It was surprising how many times I had to reset because of an encounter on my way to and from the Survival Vest. I definitely recommend saving before that if you skip the previous save like I did. Once out of there, I ran all the way to the Chocobo tracks without a save or encounter. I did my business in Conde Petie according to the guide, then left and saved outside Black Mage Village. My time is now 04:40:48.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Lani and the Elixir
The first order of business upon loading up my save is to go get Quina back in my party. Once I had the frog lover again, it was time to equip my party. Here's how I set everyone up:
Zidane Vivi Dagger Quina
Mythril Dagger Mage Staff Air Racket Needle Fork
Bandana Magus Hat Mage's Hat
Bone Wrist Bone Wrist Mythril Armlet
Survival Vest Silk Robe Magician Robe Cotton Robe
Germinas Boots Coral Ring Power Belt Gold Choker
______________________________________________________
Protect Girls Insomniac
Alert Loudmouth
Insomniac Auto-Potion
Bandit
This setup is to maximize my chance of success against Lani. Lani will always begin the battle with a physical attack against Dagger and will thereafter always target Dagger with every spell if she is standing. The Magician Robe and Power Belt guarantee that she will survive this first attack. If Lani then decides to use another physical attack, Zidane will cover for her and will probably survive thanks to the Survival Vest. If you don't have a Survival Vest you can give him the Adaman Vest, but then he'll probably get knocked out if he takes a hit for Dagger.
After getting everyone ready, I entered Fossil Roo and ran like mad from Armodullahan. In the battle against Lani, she opened with an attack against Dagger, as expected. I then had Dagger attack Quina for 45 damage and Vivi attack Quina for 44 damage, leaving him with 1 HP (you know what that means!) The chance of them both doing the correct amounts of damage is 1/3. Lani then took her second turn and blasted Dagger with a Fira spell. Zidane then stole the Gladius, and Quina finished it with Limit Glove. I would have preferred to steal the Coral Sword, but the Gladius is good enough for me.
With Lani out of the way, it was time to backtrack and get Armodullahan's Elixir. Before setting out, I gave Vivi the Ice Staff, Zidane the Adaman Vest, and Quina a Bandana, Bone Wrist, and Survival Vest. I also activated Quina's Add Status and Insomniac. The Add Status was for in case Quina got a chance to try and petrify an enemy before Zidane got a turn, but that never happened in my successful run.
I took no chances regarding my party's HP. Before setting out and after every battle I made sure my party was fully healed. I did not want Zidane getting knocked out! The first battle was fine; Zidane was able to Flee right away. The second battle was against two Abominations, so I took the opportunity to learn Night as the guide instructs. However, one of them slapped Zidane and did 120 damage! I didn't think this was possible. I suppose this is an instance of the monster at the top of the list being stronger for no apparent reason as Camdad04 has brought up before. This slowed me down a bit, but I was able to revive Zidane and escape.
After that encounter I reached the Elixir. I then ran up into the next room and back to reset the encounter rate, helping me get through that room without an encounter. I had two more uneventful encounters on my way back to where I fought Lani and celebrated when I made it with a total of only four encounters! I then pressed forward into Fossil Roo, bought Stiltzkin's deal, read the letter from Kuppo, and saved. My time is now 04:30:09. I lost a little bit of time due to my equipping during this circuit instead of the last, the longer strategy against Lani, and having Zidane get knocked out. However, I think the time I saved by not synthesizing the Exploda in Lindblum balances out the time for the Lani fight, so between the two circuits it's still a net gain for me.
Zidane Vivi Dagger Quina
Mythril Dagger Mage Staff Air Racket Needle Fork
Bandana Magus Hat Mage's Hat
Bone Wrist Bone Wrist Mythril Armlet
Survival Vest Silk Robe Magician Robe Cotton Robe
Germinas Boots Coral Ring Power Belt Gold Choker
______________________________________________________
Protect Girls Insomniac
Alert Loudmouth
Insomniac Auto-Potion
Bandit
This setup is to maximize my chance of success against Lani. Lani will always begin the battle with a physical attack against Dagger and will thereafter always target Dagger with every spell if she is standing. The Magician Robe and Power Belt guarantee that she will survive this first attack. If Lani then decides to use another physical attack, Zidane will cover for her and will probably survive thanks to the Survival Vest. If you don't have a Survival Vest you can give him the Adaman Vest, but then he'll probably get knocked out if he takes a hit for Dagger.
After getting everyone ready, I entered Fossil Roo and ran like mad from Armodullahan. In the battle against Lani, she opened with an attack against Dagger, as expected. I then had Dagger attack Quina for 45 damage and Vivi attack Quina for 44 damage, leaving him with 1 HP (you know what that means!) The chance of them both doing the correct amounts of damage is 1/3. Lani then took her second turn and blasted Dagger with a Fira spell. Zidane then stole the Gladius, and Quina finished it with Limit Glove. I would have preferred to steal the Coral Sword, but the Gladius is good enough for me.
With Lani out of the way, it was time to backtrack and get Armodullahan's Elixir. Before setting out, I gave Vivi the Ice Staff, Zidane the Adaman Vest, and Quina a Bandana, Bone Wrist, and Survival Vest. I also activated Quina's Add Status and Insomniac. The Add Status was for in case Quina got a chance to try and petrify an enemy before Zidane got a turn, but that never happened in my successful run.
I took no chances regarding my party's HP. Before setting out and after every battle I made sure my party was fully healed. I did not want Zidane getting knocked out! The first battle was fine; Zidane was able to Flee right away. The second battle was against two Abominations, so I took the opportunity to learn Night as the guide instructs. However, one of them slapped Zidane and did 120 damage! I didn't think this was possible. I suppose this is an instance of the monster at the top of the list being stronger for no apparent reason as Camdad04 has brought up before. This slowed me down a bit, but I was able to revive Zidane and escape.
After that encounter I reached the Elixir. I then ran up into the next room and back to reset the encounter rate, helping me get through that room without an encounter. I had two more uneventful encounters on my way back to where I fought Lani and celebrated when I made it with a total of only four encounters! I then pressed forward into Fossil Roo, bought Stiltzkin's deal, read the letter from Kuppo, and saved. My time is now 04:30:09. I lost a little bit of time due to my equipping during this circuit instead of the last, the longer strategy against Lani, and having Zidane get knocked out. However, I think the time I saved by not synthesizing the Exploda in Lindblum balances out the time for the Lani fight, so between the two circuits it's still a net gain for me.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
To Pinnacle Rocks and Beyond!
There's one last obstacle to face here and that's Ralvuimago. To face him, I set up my characters as follows:
Zidane Vivi Dagger
Mythril Dagger Ice Staff Multina Racket
Bandana Magus Hat Feather Hat
Glass Armlet Bone Wrist Bone Wrist
Mythril Vest Magician Robe Cotton Robe
Gold Choker Magician Shoes Cachusha
The Magician Shoes are to boost Vivi's magic. Zidane needs the Gold Choker so he can make up some of the AP he lost from getting knocked out in his last Bandersnatch fight. I also made sure to revive Zidane and give Vivi an Elixir. I left all their abilities the same.
In the first round of the fight I had Zidane steal a Phoenix Down, Vivi cast Blizzara, and Dagger defend. Ralvuimago then used Ultra Sound Wave on Zidane, turning him mini. I then repeated Zidane's and Vivi's commands, stealing the Adaman Vest. Ralvuimago then tried to stab Vivi but missed. One more round ended it. Zidane failed to steal the Oak Staff, but I did get the extra Ether drop so I'm satisfied. As a result of this battle, Zidane has mastered Antibody, Vivi has mastered Add Status, and Dagger has mastered Life, Shell, and Chemist.
The major problem with this boss is that it likes to use MT Thundara which wipes out your party. The strategy in the guide makes this a non-issue, but it takes much longer to carry out. It takes so long, in fact, that it's impossible to make the target time following that strategy. With these things in mind, I created an alternate strategy that could be used. It's meant for those times when there's a strong chance Ralvuimago will get a turn before Vivi does. Here's how it goes:
Dagger goes first and attacks. Ralvuimago will then curl up. Zidane should steal every chance he gets. Vivi should focus on his first turn, then cast Blizzara twice once Ralvuimago opens up again. Ralvuimago will get one opportunity to attack between castings of Blizzara, so hope it doesn't mess you up. The second casting of Blizzara will defeat the boss unless Vivi does minimum damage both times. If this ends up being the case, one more attack from Dagger will finish it. This strategy is safer than the one I actually used and is still pretty fast.
With that out of the way, I arrived at Pinnacle Rocks. The only thing really worth mentioning is the fact that the guide's target times assume you don't go back to read the letter from Stiltzkin, so I skipped it. Lindblum is mostly just dialogue skipping, plus a bit of business with Mognet and picking up treasure. I skipped the shopping as I have no need for an Exploda right now. That can wait until I reach the Black Mage Village.
I also skipped saving at the Dragon's Gate because Pinnacle Rocks and Gizamaluke's Grotto aren't too difficult to get through with no encounters. I rode Choco over to the grotto, gave Moguta a Kupo Nut for an Elixir, then hopped back on Choco, headed to Qu's Marsh, got off, and saved. I'm not adjusting my equipment yet because I need to change Quina's as well when I get him. My time is now 04:19:29.
Zidane Vivi Dagger
Mythril Dagger Ice Staff Multina Racket
Bandana Magus Hat Feather Hat
Glass Armlet Bone Wrist Bone Wrist
Mythril Vest Magician Robe Cotton Robe
Gold Choker Magician Shoes Cachusha
The Magician Shoes are to boost Vivi's magic. Zidane needs the Gold Choker so he can make up some of the AP he lost from getting knocked out in his last Bandersnatch fight. I also made sure to revive Zidane and give Vivi an Elixir. I left all their abilities the same.
In the first round of the fight I had Zidane steal a Phoenix Down, Vivi cast Blizzara, and Dagger defend. Ralvuimago then used Ultra Sound Wave on Zidane, turning him mini. I then repeated Zidane's and Vivi's commands, stealing the Adaman Vest. Ralvuimago then tried to stab Vivi but missed. One more round ended it. Zidane failed to steal the Oak Staff, but I did get the extra Ether drop so I'm satisfied. As a result of this battle, Zidane has mastered Antibody, Vivi has mastered Add Status, and Dagger has mastered Life, Shell, and Chemist.
The major problem with this boss is that it likes to use MT Thundara which wipes out your party. The strategy in the guide makes this a non-issue, but it takes much longer to carry out. It takes so long, in fact, that it's impossible to make the target time following that strategy. With these things in mind, I created an alternate strategy that could be used. It's meant for those times when there's a strong chance Ralvuimago will get a turn before Vivi does. Here's how it goes:
Dagger goes first and attacks. Ralvuimago will then curl up. Zidane should steal every chance he gets. Vivi should focus on his first turn, then cast Blizzara twice once Ralvuimago opens up again. Ralvuimago will get one opportunity to attack between castings of Blizzara, so hope it doesn't mess you up. The second casting of Blizzara will defeat the boss unless Vivi does minimum damage both times. If this ends up being the case, one more attack from Dagger will finish it. This strategy is safer than the one I actually used and is still pretty fast.
With that out of the way, I arrived at Pinnacle Rocks. The only thing really worth mentioning is the fact that the guide's target times assume you don't go back to read the letter from Stiltzkin, so I skipped it. Lindblum is mostly just dialogue skipping, plus a bit of business with Mognet and picking up treasure. I skipped the shopping as I have no need for an Exploda right now. That can wait until I reach the Black Mage Village.
I also skipped saving at the Dragon's Gate because Pinnacle Rocks and Gizamaluke's Grotto aren't too difficult to get through with no encounters. I rode Choco over to the grotto, gave Moguta a Kupo Nut for an Elixir, then hopped back on Choco, headed to Qu's Marsh, got off, and saved. I'm not adjusting my equipment yet because I need to change Quina's as well when I get him. My time is now 04:19:29.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Escape From Alexandria
Wow! I am in shock over how well this segment went! I started out by moving Freya to the front row and heading up the stairs. With Freya at level 8 and set up as previously indicated she can survive most of Beatrix's attacks and dish out decent damage as well! The only things that can knock her out are Shock and two normal attacks in a row. Thunder Slash will actually heal her thanks to the Coral Ring (this is why I got 3).
In my fight I had Steiner and Freya attack non-stop. Beatrix used Shock once so I had to have Vivi use a Phoenix Down, but at least it was only one. Zidane showcased his thieving ability well by stealing successfully 3/3 times. The fight ended pretty quickly with all the damage being poured on.
Next comes another benefit of raising Freya's level as I did. When Beatrix joins you here, she starts at Freya's level, which in my case was 8. This makes her strong enough that Climhazzard is guaranteed to kill the Bandersnatch. Thus, Freya is free to knock herself out immediately. Unfortunately, there is a chance she won't do enough damage to do it in one hit, so you may have to do it twice like I did or have the Bandersnatch finish her off for you.
Now it's time to get ready for the big Stop fest. I equipped my party as follows:
Zidane Steiner Vivi Dagger
Mythril Dagger Ice Brand Oak Staff Mythril Rod
Bandana Mythril Helm Mage's Hat Mage's Hat
Glass Armlet Silver Gloves Bone Wrist Bone Wrist
Mythril Vest Chain Mail Magician Robe Silk Robe
Yellow Scarf Coral Ring Gold Choker Cachusha
_________________________________________________________
Protect Girls HP+10% Auto-Potion Ability Up
Insomniac Insomniac
Auto-Potion
Bandit
The next battle against the Type C's went really well. Vivi stopped the first mage immediately. Zidane stole a couple Potions and a Tent. Vivi got toasted with a Fira spell, but I was able to revive him and finish the battle with two more Stops. Steiner mastered Bird Killer after the battle, and I replaced Vivi's Gold Choker with the last Coral Ring and activated Insomniac.
The next Bandersnatch battle went perfectly. I stopped the first one immediately, and the other one wasted its turn using Tongue. Vivi then stopped the second Bandersnatch to secure the win. The battle after that went pretty well except that the Bandersnatch knocked out Zidane before I was able to cast Stop. I was planning to use the AP from all these battles, but luckily I've managed to make some tweaks to my later plans so everything will still work out. I don't want to have to go through this again -- not when Vivi got a perfect 6/6 record on Stops!
The final two Bandersnatch battles went perfectly as well. Beatrix got the first turn and used Climhazzard immediately. In the last battle, Steiner used an Elixir on Beatrix before getting knocked out by the Bandersnatches. Beatrix then used Climhazzard one last time to finish out this series of battles.
With all that done I ran straight to Mosh, picked up his letter, and saved. My time is now 04:00:30, which means I did this part in 14:17. That adds another two minutes to my lead over the target time!
In my fight I had Steiner and Freya attack non-stop. Beatrix used Shock once so I had to have Vivi use a Phoenix Down, but at least it was only one. Zidane showcased his thieving ability well by stealing successfully 3/3 times. The fight ended pretty quickly with all the damage being poured on.
Next comes another benefit of raising Freya's level as I did. When Beatrix joins you here, she starts at Freya's level, which in my case was 8. This makes her strong enough that Climhazzard is guaranteed to kill the Bandersnatch. Thus, Freya is free to knock herself out immediately. Unfortunately, there is a chance she won't do enough damage to do it in one hit, so you may have to do it twice like I did or have the Bandersnatch finish her off for you.
Now it's time to get ready for the big Stop fest. I equipped my party as follows:
Zidane Steiner Vivi Dagger
Mythril Dagger Ice Brand Oak Staff Mythril Rod
Bandana Mythril Helm Mage's Hat Mage's Hat
Glass Armlet Silver Gloves Bone Wrist Bone Wrist
Mythril Vest Chain Mail Magician Robe Silk Robe
Yellow Scarf Coral Ring Gold Choker Cachusha
_________________________________________________________
Protect Girls HP+10% Auto-Potion Ability Up
Insomniac Insomniac
Auto-Potion
Bandit
The next battle against the Type C's went really well. Vivi stopped the first mage immediately. Zidane stole a couple Potions and a Tent. Vivi got toasted with a Fira spell, but I was able to revive him and finish the battle with two more Stops. Steiner mastered Bird Killer after the battle, and I replaced Vivi's Gold Choker with the last Coral Ring and activated Insomniac.
The next Bandersnatch battle went perfectly. I stopped the first one immediately, and the other one wasted its turn using Tongue. Vivi then stopped the second Bandersnatch to secure the win. The battle after that went pretty well except that the Bandersnatch knocked out Zidane before I was able to cast Stop. I was planning to use the AP from all these battles, but luckily I've managed to make some tweaks to my later plans so everything will still work out. I don't want to have to go through this again -- not when Vivi got a perfect 6/6 record on Stops!
The final two Bandersnatch battles went perfectly as well. Beatrix got the first turn and used Climhazzard immediately. In the last battle, Steiner used an Elixir on Beatrix before getting knocked out by the Bandersnatches. Beatrix then used Climhazzard one last time to finish out this series of battles.
With all that done I ran straight to Mosh, picked up his letter, and saved. My time is now 04:00:30, which means I did this part in 14:17. That adds another two minutes to my lead over the target time!
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