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Hobgoblin2099 posted:I was under the impression that Dark Aura was a Kingdom Hearts ability. Foreshadowing Ba'Gamnan's appearance in Kingdom Hearts 3.  Schwartzcough posted:So barrier is a different buff than protect + shell? Can you have multiple buffs at once? Yeah, you can have lots of buffs and debuffs. The icons over the character's heads cycle through the buffs a character has, but since I'm using mostly static screenshots, it's kinda hard to tell. Yeah, Fran's Sleep Arrow is... I'm just-on-principle-something-will-prove-me-wrong not calling it entirely useless, but it's entirely useless. Blind Arrow is pretty helpful, since regular attacks are so frequent, if Fran keeps the same target, she can keep them blind until she kills them. And, since keeping her foes blinded reduces the amount of hits she takes, it's helpful like that. ok Amazing fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 04:59
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ok Amazing posted:Yeah, Fran's Sleep Arrow is... I'm just-on-principle-something-will-prove-me-wrong not calling it entirely useless, but it's entirely useless. Blind Arrow is pretty helpful, since regular attacks are so frequent, if Fran keeps the same target, she can keep them blind until she kills them. And, since keeping her foes blinded reduces the amount of hits she takes, it's helpful like that. By that logic, wouldn't that mean that if Fran stuck to a lonely, magic-using target (like say a powerful Esper or boss) in which Blind wouldn't be all that useful since it only affects physical attacks anyway, you could keep said enemy perpetually at bay via Sleep Arrows until other party members catch up? This is assuming that there are some bosses not immune to narcolepsy. Also, I'm really saddened that the game went out of its way to give Ba'Gamnan his own unique gambits that you'd only see if you were the type to grind everyone as much as possible.
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Dec 4, 2013 08:50
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Fran is 'meant' to be played as a switching targets character - potentially she could Sleep several targets by just switching from target to target, since Sleep Arrow is a buff that allows her attacks to cause Sleep, rather than a debuff. The amount of micromanaging and speed buffs needed for that to happen makes it near useless, though. There's really not much point in using Fran now (for reasons I'll mention much further down the road.) I'll try to get a write-up for the level 3 Espers up sometime this week, as well.
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Dec 4, 2013 09:10
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In the future you might want to consider spreading out the updates a bit more, 6 pages of screenshots for what's essentially half the game or more makes for a bit too dense of a thread.
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Dec 4, 2013 15:12
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Did you mention earlier that each of the quickenings charge up by a different method? If I'm not misremembering, what are they?
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Dec 4, 2013 16:43
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FishOnAPiano posted:Did you mention earlier that each of the quickenings charge up by a different method? If I'm not misremembering, what are they? It's actually roughly the same - Quickenings charge when the leader and their Espers deal, receive, or heal damage, and I think there might be a higher weightage if the leader is doing all of those. This means groups with a lot of Espers will generate Quickenings faster, and frontline characters like Vaan or Filo will charge it faster as well. Absorbed damage does contribute to Quickening building, which is why Decoy Bit is far and away Filo's best ability since it'll result in less damage taken while building her Quickening (when she gets it.) Vaan builds his Quickening at one of the fastest rates thanks to his accessories, frontline position and his natural attack speed, which is nice because Pyroclasm is one of the better Quickenings and is literally his only option to clear out groups.
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Dec 4, 2013 16:56
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Looking forward to your next Esper post, ApplesAndOranges, those are cool.AnotherGamer posted:In the future you might want to consider spreading out the updates a bit more, 6 pages of screenshots for what's essentially half the game or more makes for a bit too dense of a thread. Updates have been coming a bit slower now which should please you, but I just pretty much update when I feel like it, and if that made for a dense thread then that's just how I felt like updating and I won't apologise.  With that said, updates should be coming in a bit slower overall from now on actually. I've been busier IRL lately and stuff so yeah.
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Dec 5, 2013 00:18
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Update #31: Audience at the Auralith + (End of Chapter 6) New logbook entries: Executing the Plan
Cancelling the Plan
Soundtrack: Airship 1 (Near the Water)  Further up the mountain, the location of our next mission opens up. But first, the usual.  ...Um Filo?   "Look on the bright side. At least Llyud hasn't taken much notice." "Yeah, but... but... Ow! Ow ow! Ow ow ow!" "What are you doing?" "Stretching my ears. I wanna look more like Fran. What do you think?" "You're gonna have to pull a lot harder than that." "My ears are getting sore. Maybe I should ask Penelo for some dancing tips instead..."Filo will continue to jump around and thumbs up (which is apparently pulling her ears  ) as long as we aren't talking to anybody else on the airship.  "You have to put a lot of thought into wooing a mature woman such as her." "Mature is right." "If you think I care about how old she is, you've got it all wrong, Vaan!" "Well, good luck. You're gonna need it." "What kind of man is Fran attracted to, I wonder." "You shouldn't encourage him." "I told him I didn't want to, but he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer." "Well, you're both wasting your time, if you ask me. I don't even wanna know what Balthier would think of all this." "Oh, right, Balthier. Hmm... Any idea what Fran likes, Vaan? I know I should just ask her, but I'm too shy."This first part of the update has been dedicated to those of you who forgot Motomu Toriyama was the director of this game.   "So they have. I've received a letter, flowers... all manner of things I don't know what to make of." "Sorry about that. Try not to let it bother you, okay?" "Why would it bother me? It is not the first time such a thing has happened." "Wait, you don't mean... Balthier?" "Yes, though his methods were somewhat... different. There is a large cavern among the mountains of the Ymir Qul. There you will find Balthier." "Huh?" "We've known each other a long time now, haven't we?" "Penelo?" "Will we always be together? You wouldn't leave me, would you, Vaan?" "I'm not going anywhere - and you know that, Penelo." "I just wanted to hear you say it. Balthier and Fran share a really strong bond. That's how I want us to be." "You were saying that the Yarhi are messengers of the Eternal, right?" "Yes." "So how do you think they feel about what's happening to Lemurés?" "I do not know. Do the Yarhi think and feel as we do?"Lets leave, before Filo does anything else to her ears.  - Audience at the Auralith: Fran leads the party through a cave deep in the Ymir Qul. Within beats the sacred heard of the mountain. Is the curtain about to rise on a new act of their adventure?Soundtrack: Boss Battle 3 (Esper Battle)         - Objective: Defeat the Judge of Wings! At least one ally must survive. Balthier must survive. -  Fran is brought instead of Filo, because there are a lot of Shivar here, so Filo and Llyud are fragile. I prefer to replace Filo, as I don't find her Gambits fit my playstyle, but it depends on how you play I guess. Soundtrack: Boss Battle 2 (Desperate Fight)  This battle is prolonged at the end, but not difficult. The esper the Judge of Wings has summoned is Mateus, The Corrupt.  First, capture the summoning gates close to spawn, in the southeast and southwest. As standard, capture them just to stop things from spawning, you probably won't get use out of both of them. The Judge of Wings and Balthier don't start fighting impudently, so you have plenty of time.  You can take the fight to the Judge, or use a level III esper to lure the Judge to you. I choose to bring the fight to the Judge, but if you wanted to lure the Judge close to you, you'd get the esper in her aggro range, and flee to bait her down to you. Your esper will probably die, but can be re-summoned. As I just said, that's not what i'm doing here.  Once capturing the lower summoning gates and bringing the fight to the judge, you need to juggle defeating the minor enemies, capturing the remaining summoning gates, protecting Balthier, and defeating the Judge of Wings and Mateus.  After capturing all the summoning gates, the rest of this battle is trivial.   - Wind Soul grants all allies Haste and enables all magicks and abilities to be executed with no wait. - And she wasn't even here to see it. Oh well, I think this is the first mission in which the party member receiving their Quickening is allowed to be absent. There are going to be two missions in this update - but between them, a trip to the airship bridge. Soundtrack: Airship 1 (Near the Water)  "He is very... unique."     Well, we've been waiting for our reunion with Balthier for a while, so no more stalling, let's get on with the next mission, and... Soundtrack: Balthier's Theme (Destiny)  ...oh.   "Had I wished to be found, I'd not have hidden the entrance, now would I?" "I grew tired of waiting." "Not the answer I wanted to hear, so I'll pretend I didn't."  "Ah, Vaan. See to our uninvited guests for me, would you?"  "I'm using this machine to destroy the Stone."  "Vaan, please. Why must everything be so difficult with you?" "What's gotten into you? Is this how the 'leading man' is supposed to act?" "High time I stepped out of the limelight." Soundtrack: Boss Battle 1 (Slash of the Sword)    "Ah, so long I've waited for this!"    "I don't want to fight you!"   "If you won't change your mind, I'll have to change it for you!" - Objective: Stop Balthier! At least one ally must survive."   Soundtrack: Boss Battle 1 (Slash of the Sword) continues. I went through this fight twice, to show off two different strategies. The first one is a crude strategy that involves going after Balthier first, and shows off more dialogue, which is why i'm showing it first. The second method is a really smart strategy that's good for people struggling in this mission.    As you can see, you start off with a summoning gate of your own. Ba'Gamnan gets one too, over to the southwest. Now, at first it looks like a pretty clear shot to Balthier, but... just apply some buffs and get your level III esper ready now.  Enemies will spawn in your way! These guys will ruin your day if you don't know they're going to spawn there, so people doing this mission for the first time might get caught off guard by it.  They're not really so hard though, if you know they're there, and after defeating them, put on some new buffs and set up some traps.  The Golem are pretty easy to take out, with Kytes fire. When you get in close enough to Fran and Balthier, more Sagittarius will spawn on either side of them.  All these ranged units are pretty nasty to Filo and Llyud. I just looked away for a second, I swear! It's a good thing Penelo can revive units from KO now. If she revives Llyud, Llyud can then revive Filo.  Ba'Gamnan gets sick of waiting and joins the fray. Ba'Gamnan attacks Balthier too - those two hate each other.  - Objective: Defeat Ba'Gamnan! At least one ally must survive. -  Espers will occasionally spawn before the Auralith. Ba'Gamnan started the fight with some espers, who will follow him here now. They don't arrive before he runs out of HP.  "Do take care of Balthier for me, eh?"    Let's return to the start of the fight, and take a look at the other, and better way of completing it.  For this strategy, bring some level I flying espers. I picked Ramih, but most any one will work. You want espers without any gambit abilities, as the AI in this game tends to be aggressive - as in, if there's a foe within range of a gambit, come hell or high water, your esper will go for that. Normally, that's beneficial, but we don't want that here.  Summon a few Ramih to Llyud's side - I have three here and it works, but you could summon a couple more to be safer. Anyway, flying units can go over the pool in the center of the field. Have Llyud fly out into the middle of the pool, and cast Vanishga on his group.  Then move just the espers to the north-west, up between Balthier and Ba'Gamnan.  As with last battle, Sagittarius spawn on either side of Balthier and Fran when your units get too close. Don't worry about it, your Ramih should still be under Vanish, so they won't get attacked.  Vanish wears off after 20 seconds. (Or when your esper uses an attack, which is why we wanted an esper without gambits) At this stage, Ba'Gamnan should notice the Ramih and kill them. Also notice Ba'Gamnan has a Titan esper and Tonberry, neither warned about on the preparation screen of the battle or relevant in the previous strategy I employed.  If you've lured Ba'Gamnan close enough to Balthier, which doesn't have to be close really, the two will start fighting! These two sides will take big chunks out of each other, without you doing any dirty work.  You can safely capture the summoning gate Ba'Gamnan was using!  And even this one, right behind the fight.  With your pristine team, you can just pick off whichever side lost the skirmish, and you're done! It might take a few tries to get the first part right, but once you've cinched it, it works really well. If it's just not working for you for whatever reason, use Llyud himself as the bait, and have Penelo revive him when she gets over there. Soundtrack: Boss Battle 2 (Desperate Fight)   "You're gonna destroy this entire world!"  "Oh, I couldn't agree more."    Soundtrack: Sad (White Room)       
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Dec 5, 2013 09:01
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I'm going to take an aside to talk about Wind Soul, which is probably the second best Quickening in the game. More accurately, Wind Soul grants Haste to all allies, and resets all ability cooldowns. If you might recall, Filo also learns an ability called Decoy Bit, which absorbs some damage for herself and any Espers under her before disappearing. So what's the gameplan, if you're in a lot of trouble? 1. Summon lots of Espers under Filo 2. Set her Gambit to Decoy Bit 3. Manually explode traps under enemies for lots of damage 4. Use Wind Soul whenever it fills up (which it will, at an alarming rate because of Filo's fragility) 5. Repeat from 1/2. This strategy isn't unstoppable, mind - Filo can't use Quickenings if she's Stopped, Confused, Disabled or Slept, and some maps which prevent the use of Espers severely slow down the rate of building Quickenings, but otherwise, it's an option for cheesing a lot of otherwise difficult battles.
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Dec 5, 2013 09:08
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ok Amazing posted:This first part of the update has been dedicated to those of you who forgot Motomu Toriyama was the director of this game.  Oh yeah... that explains things.
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Dec 5, 2013 09:59
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ApplesandOranges posted:I'm going to take an aside to talk about Wind Soul, which is probably the second best Quickening in the game. Neat, and I'll try to show off that strategy some update in the future. (Actually since there's obviously lots of opportunities left to show if off, I pretty certainly will.)
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Dec 5, 2013 11:13
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Schwartzcough posted:
I'm betting one of those gifts was a dressphere.
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Dec 5, 2013 16:10
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ok Amazing posted:Updates have been coming a bit slower now which should please you, but I just pretty much update when I feel like it, and if that made for a dense thread then that's just how I felt like updating and I won't apologise. That's not exactly what I meant, I don't really care whether you update once a day or a week or a month and actually prefer threads that are updated more often, but you should consider moving updates to the next page if there's not that many posts between your updates like most people who post SSLPs do. For example, let's take the recently finished Valkyrie Profile COTP LP: it averages at a bit under 3 updates per page, which is a pretty decent number overall. It was also updated decently often, and both LPs have similar amounts of screenshots per update. Yours, on the other hand, averages at around 4.5 updates per page at this point, which tends to be a bit too dense, as stated previously. Either way, I do understand that more popular threads end up getting more posts between updates but it's OK to hold updates "hostage" and ask people to post more if they're roughly 10 posts away from a new page. Keep up the good work regardless, maybe I'll actually be motivated enough to beat the drat game myself even though I don't really care that much about RTSes.
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Dec 6, 2013 16:06
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AnotherGamer posted:That's not exactly what I meant, I don't really care whether you update once a day or a week or a month and actually prefer threads that are updated more often, but you should consider moving updates to the next page if there's not that many posts between your updates like most people who post SSLPs do. Last page was fairly crowded, but I think on page 5 or 6, I did move the thread on a page when it was getting closer to the bottom. Still, i'll take your advice into account, if there's any more problems like that i'll try to get things moving. Usually, when I post a fanart, that's me trying to get things moving. Sometimes it works too, which is nice. But I guess i'll be more aggressive about it in the future. Maybe apathy took control last page, as I find chapter 6 a bit boring. The end is pretty exciting, but overall, I guess I assumed chapter 6 was universally boring and nobody could say much about it. Which is me being lazy, and my fault, so i'm sorry. I guess i'll try to space things out even more then, sorry if I came off a bit rude in my last reply to you. Anyway, yeah I am for real busier IRL so it should give some more time for replies to build up as well. Glad to have you sticking around.
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Dec 7, 2013 00:31
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In ok Amazing's defense, getting post counts is honestly kind of variable. When I was lucky, I did get 2 updates a page. But I also had pages in that thread where I had 5 updates on a single page. My previous LP usually had 4-6 updates on a single page, and that had screenshots at 800x600, which massively clogged up the page. The sad truth is that you just can't predict when you'll get people posting. The best that I've found is to try to get updates in at night-time when more people are likely to be around, but even that's not a guarantee. So while I understand the frustration of having lots of updates on a single page, it's also just as frustrating for the LPer at times, especially since they don't want to keep asking people to post to the next page. Hang in there, ok Amazing. Back on topic, I'm not too fond of the next chapter, but luckily it's a fairly short one. The good news is there's a bit of new stuff at the end of it.
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Dec 7, 2013 00:52
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Update #32: Never Alone Soundtrack: Sad (White Room)       "I can see right through myself!" "Are we... are we dead?"  "Vaan will find a way to help us." Soundtrack: Genjyunomori (Eruyt Village)   The darkness is blinding, no matter where we run. The only other person here is Llyud.    - Anger, sorrow. You are no stranger to what he feels, Vaan. -    Music stops.  - The world you see exists only within your mind. It is the world in which we live. Your thoughts betray your doubt and suspicion of Balthier. But is that truly how you feel? - Soundtrack: Theme of Love (Ai no Theme)  - You said you would never let yourself forget that which is truly important. Who's important to you, Vaan? You know the answer. Don't let it slip away! -   Making our way over to the group of Alrunae causes us to leave to the world map. Soundtrack: Genjyunomori (Eruyt Village) plays on the world map, rather than the usual theme.     Lesrekta, Isle of Illusions is populated by entirely unfamiliar locations. The End of Dreams is where we just came out of. There is a melee battle at Illusion's Home, but our destination awaits at The Neverwood. - Never Alone: Vaan wanders aimlessly after walking in an unknown land. Why did Balthier destroy the auralith? Where is everyone? Lose and alone, Vaan calls out to his friends.Soundtrack: Revealed (The Forgotten Capital)    "The island of the Yarhi, I should think. The land beyond the summoning gates." "How did we get here?" "When Balthier destroyed the auralith there was a blinding light. That light must have guided us here. But why would he do this?"  "I'm sure he must've had some reason." "We must look for them."      "I guess they can't hear me. If you can hear me, then help me fight our way to each other!"- Objective: Defeat all enemies! All allies must survive. -  In this battle, Vaan is the only leader to summon espers to his aid. Our foes, however, are basic espers - the same three we started the game with, in addition to Malboro - so you should pick whatever level II melee espers you feel would help you the most. I select Golem, due to their ability to inflict immobilise, but there is no wrong choice here. Soundtrack: Dungeon 4 Field - Dungeon 4 Battle (An Imminent Threat)    Our arena is littered with foes, foraging points, and treasure nodes. In this game, strength in numbers has always been advised. By pressing X, you can select all your units at once and give them all the same command, and it's a command I employ a lot. In this battle, since units are scattered from the start, and making this by mistake can be lethal, so don't let muscle memory trick you.  Penelo and Llyud make a strong team. Both have experience with combat before, and any damage Llyud takes can be healed quickly by Penelo. You can start moving them around to get chests and meet up with Vaan. However, their combined damage output is low, as Penelo can't even attack.  Filo and Kytes are children, and have always been very fragile. Decoy Bit can give Filo a bit more of a chance, but the strategy with these two would be for them to deal damage before they can take damage. However, you might also want to just leave them be, as there is no imminent danger. A few failed attempts of this mission were a result of me putting too much pressure on this pair.  Vaan reaches a foraging point. He could use the health. If his party members were in danger, they'd feel the healing effects of the foraging point too...  "What was that?" "Be thankful for small favours!" "Did you feel that?" "It must've been Vaan!" "Yeah!"Penelo and Llyud wander close to Vaan...  "Are you all right?" "Vaan? Where are you?" "They're all right. Come, we must move on."And the trio head over to help Filo and Kytes.  "Since Vaan's not here, I guess it's up to me to watch out for ya. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to ya, Filo!" "(laugh) You sound just like him!" "Looks like they're okay."Once everyone is back together, they can compensate for each other's weaknesses, in a way which makes clearing the rest of the espers off the map trivial.    "Whaddya mean, sorry? Who do you think you are?" Soundtrack: Boss Battle 1 (Slash of the Sword)  There's still treasure left to obtain. After knocking the Great Malboro with a couple of debuffs, I send everyone around to grab it.  As long as everyone stays together, there's no danger. Soundtrack: Genjyunomori (Eruyt Village)    While Vaan is looking for his companions, his companions are looking for him. Next time, we continue our mutual search.
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Dec 8, 2013 12:07
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What just happened at the end there? You gathered everyone up, then they disappeared again, then a Marlboro showed up and everyone re-appeared? And then you won the battle and they disappeared again? I'm confused!
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Dec 9, 2013 06:54
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Just as a point of discussion, I'd like to ask if anyone has any speculation on what's going on, including storywise, and pertaining to certain characters (like, what's going on with Balthier or the Judge of Wings or Llyud or stuff)? I'll be bowing out of any speculation talk, because as somebody who's played this game before, anything I could say would muddy the discussion. But I'd still be interested in reading it, and those who haven't played the game can chat among themselves and stuff.ApplesandOranges posted:In ok Amazing's defense, getting post counts is honestly kind of variable. Aw, thanks.  Schwartzcough posted:What just happened at the end there? You gathered everyone up, then they disappeared again, then a Marlboro showed up and everyone re-appeared? And then you won the battle and they disappeared again? I'm confused! Yeah actually, that's exactly what happened.
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Dec 9, 2013 07:05
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My theory: Balthier is the leading man and always knows more than anyone else. I think there's a reason Balthier sent Vaan into this dream world and it doesn't have a malicious intent behind it.
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Dec 9, 2013 07:43
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ReturnOfFable posted:My theory: Balthier is the leading man and always knows more than anyone else. I think there's a reason Balthier sent Vaan into this dream world and it doesn't have a malicious intent behind it. Or perhaps he realized that Vaan actually being important to the story goes against the laws of nature, and could cause widespread destruction by its sheer impossibility, thus, he knew he had to stop him, for the sake of the world.
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Dec 9, 2013 15:30
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Something I want to know is where the hell is everyone else? Why haven't we seen Ashe or Basch or even Larsa? I mean, they brought back Redda's goons of all people. It feels like the game is approaching it's halfway point and there's a good chunk of the cast missing.
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Dec 9, 2013 18:29
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Level III Espers - Part One Level III Espers are special - you can only have one in your troupe, and many of them are only unlocked as you progress through the story or do certain jobs from Tomaj. You also can't start with one, so they're useless on maps without summoning gates. To compensate, they are very powerful and usually immune to a lot of statuses. The following list covers Espers available up til the end of Chapter Six. Note that many Espers won't have some links available til later on when you get more of them. Ultima (Neutral Ranged) - Requires Shiva or Ramuh Gained after finishing Mission 57: Otherworldly Beauty Immune to all statuses except Poison and Slow. ~Revitalize: Restores HP and removes debuffs from one ally. ~*Eschaton: Deals heavy damage to all foes in a line extending from the user. Ultima is the only Level III Healing Esper. While her healing heals statuses as well as HP, the question is if it's worth giving up your level III slot for it. Chances are usually not, and Eschaton isn't enough to make up for the loss of damage for running her. Just run more Carbuncles and use Penelo if you need Esunaga. Ramuh (Lightning Flying) - Requires Sagittarius, Ultima, or Tiamat Immune to all statuses except Silence and Slow. ~Judgement Storm: Deals Lightning damage to one foe. ~*Judgement Bolt: Deals heavy Lightning damage to foes in a circle and inflict Silence. As the Lightning Flying representative, Ramuh is unfortunately saddled with Silence for his status effect, which is generally bad. Ramuh is alright, but there are usually better options so you'd usually pull him out if you need to fight a lot of Cuchulainns. Tiamat (Lightning Ranged) - Requires Ramuh Immune to all statuses except Blind and Slow. ~Plasma Storm: Breathes lightning in an arc, dealing damage to any foe in range. ~*Mighty Guard: Casts Protect and Shell to all allies in range. Tiamat is special in that she's the only level III Esper with a defensive cooldown ability. Mighty Guard is a very nice option for defensive purposes and is an option for tough boss fights. However, Tiamat is also a fairly slow attacker, and Plasma Storm covers a good range but is limited considering she's a ranged Esper. Decent Esper for Boss fights and some Jobs, but I'd usually pick something else for other maps especially since Sagittari easily make up for not using her. Belias (Fire Ranged) - Requires Ifrit Gained after finishing Mission 4-5: Rite of Despair in the storyline. Immune to all statuses except Sleep and Slow. ~Painflare: Deal Fire damage to one foe in range. ~*Firaja: Deal heavy Fire damage to foes in a circle. Belias lacks status effects (a common theme of Ivalice Espers), but has solid Magic to make up for it. Shiva is likely better, but Belias is still capable of very good damage especially if you buff him. Ifrit (Fire Melee) - Requires Wyvern or Belias Immune to all statuses except Blind and Immobilize. ~Burning Strike: Strike one foe twice, dealing Fire damage. ~*Hellfire: Surround self with spiralling flame pillars, dealing damage to foes surrounding the user and inflicting Slow. Ifrit has good Strength and Burning Strike hitting twice makes up for his okay attack speed. Hellfire inflicts a mediocre status and requires foes to be near him, but overall Ifrit's an okay choice till better Espers become available. Titan (Earth Melee) - Requires Cu Sith or Hashmal Immune to all statuses except Confuse and Immobilize. ~Landslide: Deal Earth damage to all foes in a line. ~*Gaia's Wrath: Surround self with crumbling rock, dealing damage to foes surrounding the user and inflicting Immobilize. Immobilize is a strong effect and Titan has very good defensive stats, making him a good pick for a Melee Esper. Not being immune to Confuse and Immobilize hurts him, so take caution around Lamia and Golems. Hashmal (Earth Ranged) - Requires Titan or Odin Immune to all statuses except Blind and Sleep. ~Roxxor: Throws a boulder, dealing Earth damage to foes in a circle. ~*Stoneja: Deal heavy Earth damage to all foes in a circle. Hasmal has a considerably slow attack and his basic projectile isn't very fast, but he does have good Strength and Stamina and both his attacks hit multiple foes. An okay choice, but I feel Shiva is still better. Odin (Neutral Melee) - Requires Hashmal or Mateus Gained after completing Mission 5-4: The Dance in the storyline. ~Zantetsuken: Deal damage to foes surrounding the user and knocks them back. A lack of status immunities is bad and Odin also doesn't have the best Mind. Zantetutsken is also kind of counterproductive since Odin's a Melee and needs foes surrounding him to maximize damage. Velis' lookalike isn't of that much use. Mateus (Water Flying) - Requires Odin or Leviathan Gained after completing Mission 6-4: Audience at the Auralith in the storyline. Immune to all statuses except Silence and Immobilize. ~Flash-Freeze: Deal damage to foes in a line extending from the user. ~*Blizzaja: Deal heavy Water damage to foes in a circle. Mateus is a handy Flyer since he has decent Range on his standard attack and there are several maps later on with multiple Fire enemies. Despite his lack of status effects, he's one of the better Rank III Flyers for most maps. Just be very careful using him against Sagittari. Leviathan (Water Melee) - Requires Shiva or Mateus Immune to all statuses except Silence and Stop. ~Barracuda Dive: Spins, dealing damage to foes surrounding the user. ~*Tidal Wave: Creates a tidal wave that surges forward from the user, dealing heavy Water damage to foes in range. While Leviathan's offenses aren't the best, he has very good defenses and health and excellent attacks, dealing damage to foes around him. Tidal Wave is a fantastic move as well since its range is quite impressive for a Melee Esper. Excellent all-around Esper. Shiva (Water Ranged) - Requires Cuchulainn, Leviathan or Ultima Immune to all statuses except Sleep and Disable. Weak to Fire instead of Lightning. ~Triple Slap: Fires three projectiles straight forward in a line. ~*Diamond Dust: Shatters ice crystals in a circle, dealing heavy Water damage to foes in a circle and inflicting Stop. While fragile and possessing a counterproductive weakness to Fire, Shiva ties with Belias for the highest Magic, and when backed up with Haste, can deal very rapid damage to foes with Triple Slap. Diamond Dust is also one of the best Esper attacks especially due to Stop and will massacre Flying units. Pairs well with Filo since Filo can protect her with Decoy Bit while Shiva Stops foes ganging up on her.
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Dec 9, 2013 20:56
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ok Amazing posted:Just as a point of discussion, I'd like to ask if anyone has any speculation on what's going on, including storywise, and pertaining to certain characters (like, what's going on with Balthier or the Judge of Wings or Llyud or stuff)? I'll be bowing out of any speculation talk, because as somebody who's played this game before, anything I could say would muddy the discussion. But I'd still be interested in reading it, and those who haven't played the game can chat among themselves and stuff. Well, we saw a "vision" of Balthier confronting the Judge of Wings a while ago, and him getting blasted or some such. So we're probably supposed to be thinking that he's being mind-controlled into evil, but my guess is that's a red herring. I think this is just a case of "character knows crucial plot information but refuses to just share it for no good reason besides narrative convenience." I'm sure there's a TV Trope for that, but I don't know what it is. So yes, Balthier probably knows that the crystals are suppressing the Aegyl's emotions to keep them subservient, and the only way to liberate them is to destroy the crystals- but he won't just come out and say that until Designated Plot Twist Time.
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Dec 10, 2013 06:25
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Schwartzcough posted:I think this is just a case of "character knows crucial plot information but refuses to just share it for no good reason besides narrative convenience." I'm sure there's a TV Trope for that, but I don't know what it is. So yes, Balthier probably knows that the crystals are suppressing the Aegyl's emotions to keep them subservient, and the only way to liberate them is to destroy the crystals- but he won't just come out and say that until Designated Plot Twist Time. That's exactly what I'm expecting as well.
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Dec 11, 2013 05:02
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Update #33: Reminiscence Soundtrack: Field 2 - Battle 2 (State of Urgency) The intro before battle uses the field theme.     "Vaan's here in the forest, too, right?" "He's useless on his own." "(laugh)" "I hope we find him soon."- Objective: Find Vaan. All allies must survive. -   The flowers here remind me of the switches mechanic we saw early in the game.  There is no preparation screen for this battle. Vaan has the Cache, Vaan has the espers, and we don't have Vaan.  The hard boarders between segments of the map signify where walls of vines are. The flowers on the vines signify which flower you need to interact with in order to lower the vines, and get through them.  There's ...something up to the north, where the yellow arrow on the map points to. This feels like our goal, so I guess we'll head up there. Right now, where we're standing, there is a treasure chest nearby. I didn't think we'd find our first treasure in this mission so soon.  "Not much of a treasure. Just some musty ol' book." "Hmm." "Might as well take it, just in case." "You're not supposed to say that! Vaan is!" "Oops! My mistake!"The treasure chest contained a Connoisseur's Guide, a weapon's crafting recipe book. And this conversation sounds similar to the conversation we had when we found the first recipe book. We didn't even know Llyud back then, and now, it's hard to imagine things without him.  Interacting with the flower lowers the corresponding vines. Opening one set of vines closes another. As we step through the gate of vines just opened, Filo and Kytes get impatient when it comes to finding Vaan.  To the west, we found a golden yellow flower, which opens another set of vines. All our foes in this level are basic espers, as with the last battle. This battle is a lot less lethal, since we can utilise our strength in numbers from the start.  "You don't think anything happened to him, do you?" "He wouldn't just leave us behind... would he?" "You know Vaan. He'd never leave any of us when we're in trouble." "I know." "That's right!" "That doesn't mean he won't get a good scolding when we find him!"After a bit more of a walk, Llyud decides to share his thoughts to Penelo.  "I feel a pain in my chest, as though a spear has pierced my heart." "You miss Vaan... don't you? When you lose something - someone - important to you, that's how you feel." "I see. So even in loss, there is something to be found." "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were making a joke." Finding another pink rose, it lowers the last gate of vines.  Finally, we reach the ghostly figure to the north. Soundtrack: Genjyunomori (Eruyt Village)  "Where is he?" "Vaaaaan!"   "Vaan?" "Vaan!"  "We must will it. I, too, wish to find him." "You do?"   "We'll wait for you up there, Penelo." Soundtrack: Theme of Love (Ai no Theme)   "But you don't have to face those doubts alone." "So if that's what you're worried about, don't. I'm used to it." "But it never lasts, because I know you're with me."        Next time, we find another familiar face in the World of Illusion, one who has a new plea for us.
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Dec 12, 2013 01:56
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*Two steps later, Vaan disappears again*
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Dec 12, 2013 03:55
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Interesting speculation so far, keep it coming! I've heard a lot about Balthier, but what about some other aspects of the plot? Any other mysteries left hanging that you want to tackle? Again, if you've beaten the game, don't muddy up the speculation, but it's just cool to read isn't it? It's been very fun for me to read it, anyway. Thanks to everyone who posted some!Schwartzcough posted:*Two steps later, Vaan disappears again* Penelo, you're meant to turn off Vaan's blinking when you're not turning.
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Dec 13, 2013 08:34
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I'd speculate, but I've already played this game. Why isn't the guy complaining about too many updates posting to move the next update to the next page?
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Dec 14, 2013 18:52
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Update #34: Where the Heart Lies Soundtrack: Genjyunomori (Eruyt Village)  With everyone reunited, we head to the End of Dreams for some quiet reflection.  "I wanna believe Balthier, but how can I forgive him after what he did?" "I got so caught up in my own problems, I wasn't there when the rest of you needed me. I'm sorry." "None of us should try to bear our burdens alone. We all have to take the bad with the good."  "I thought you said you liked Penelo's cooking?" "I'm gonna start by giving Balthier the benefit of the doubt. Once we get out of this place, we'll see what he has to say for himself."  From here, we can have a bit of a chat before heading onwards, and we will.  "A treasure? "My anima. It is... difficult to explain. It's as though a small flame burns from within me." "I think you explained it just fine." "Something has changed in me, I'm sure of it. If only I could put words to this change." "Forget words. Just let out a big shout, right from your gut." "My gut?" "Yeah, you know. Just clear your mind and -raaagh!- scream." "'Raaagh'?" "That's the idea. But louder!" "Someday I will laugh as you laugh." "Didn't you hear the voice? It said this was the World of Illusion, the home of the Yarhi." "You heard it too?" "Uh-huh. At first I thought it might be you." "Whoever it was, I don't think it was the Judge of Wings." "Neither do I. There was a gentleness in the voice. And something familiar... I feel like the voice was trying to lead us somewhere." "It's like... like I feel something else inside me." "That voice did say something about anima taking form here. Who knows what could happen in a place like this." "Yeah, maybe that's it. It just seems like everything we feel is so much stronger here. I'm still a little scared of this place... But I'll be okay, now that you're back." "Of course I am. Who else would I be?" "Just making sure! Y'know, Vaan. I'm sure glad you found us. If we'd lost you, I don't know what we'd do... (sniff)" "I'm not buyin' this act for a minute." "(laugh) Sure is good to have you back! I think it's Penelo who found ya. You two have known each other for so long, you've got a special bond that's hard to break!" Filo will ask you if you're sure before you go, and there's no point lingering here any longer.  Soundtrack: Theme of Love (Ai no Theme)  "What do you mean?" "Well, up until now, I'd have given anything to explore a place like this. But now, I don't know. I guess I'm worried about you and the others." "Aww, you're just a big old softy, aren't you."  Our destination is Illusion's Home, again. There is a melee battle in the Neverwood. Compared to other battles in this area, the next one is a pretty sharp difficulty spike, so you might want to fight it just in case. - Where the Heart Lies: Reunited with Vaan, the party searches with renewed determination for a way home. A strange voice beckons to them, but where does it lead?Soundtrack: Revealed (The Forgotten Capital)       - This is the realm of the mind - our world. -    "Are you the one who's been doing all this?" "Forgive me. But I needed you to hear our tale."  "What you did - getting inside our heads, toying with us - it isn't right!" - Objective: Endure the attacks of the Yarhi! At least one ally must survive. -  Vaan, you might not get into these situations if you didn't raise your sword at the first sight of antagonism? Like, I mean... oh nevermind. Our foes level II espers are a prickly mix of elements, so to avoid fuss, I bring along a neutral Tonberry. My level III esper is Hashmal, because two of the three enemy level II espers are weak to earth. This isn't a battle you want to be fussy in, so I only bring 4 types of Esper. Soundtrack: Dungeon 5 Field (The Sochen Cave Palace)   "We are as Mydia said - imperfect, incomplete." "We don't want to fight you. Please..." "I am beyond control."  This fight can be very tricky, if you don't know what you're doing, especially considering how cushy the last few have been.  There are a couple of summoning gates to capture, and a simple-looking multipath arena in front of us. You only need to capture 1 gate, I capture 2 out of force-of-habit, but either or really.  Get your level III esper guy out as soon as you can, of course. You'll notice these glowing cyan markings on the ground, that resemble the patterns of summoning gates. Enemy espers will spawn indefinitely from them, and there's nothing you can do about that. There are four, in the corners of the area.  What you can do, is kill some chocobo and...  ...Here's a wave of enemy espers now. While your team is fresh, they shouldn't be too much of a hassle. We're closing in on Velis now.  "It is a world created by the auraliths, made real by the stolen anima of the aegyl." "The aegyl gained the power to summon so they could fight the beasts that preyed on them. And with each summoning, the Stone consumes more of the summoner's anima." "But how?" "Do this long enough, and you will have none left. You will succumb to the same fate as the aegyl."  "Hear my plea... while there is still time." - Objective: Defeat Velis! At least one ally must survive. -  Velis resembles Odin, as you may expect after having unlocked Odin after the first time you fought him. That means he's a melee type, and elementally neutral.  Back at where you are, you'll need to take on Velis while you're still in good shape. The waves of foes will not relent, so you need to find an opportunity and capitalize on it.  For me, this opportunity was using Vaan's quickining to blast a hole in the ring of espers surrounding Velis. You should buff and attack right away, or the ongoing waves of enemies will wear your strength down and kill you.  This is a hard fight, because it goes against the conventional wisdom of "kill everything". You cannot kill everything here, it is impossible, so you need to approach the fight with a focus on taking down Velis, and surviving everything else.   Soundtrack: Sad (White Room)   "Your anima can't be gone! It can't be!" "..."  "You are not the ones I'm trying to help."     - To wrest away the last shred of emotion left to her, he had her summon me. He did this well knowing the imperfect, incomplete creature I would be. - Soundtrack: Theme of Love (Ai no Theme)  "The harvested anima find rest here, in the World of Illusion - Aegyl and Yarhi both slaves to Feolthanos's will."  "But you wouldn't need us for that." "No, there is more." "Through Mydia, Feolthanos is gathering the power of the anima collected in the auraliths. He means to use this power to lay siege to the world below - to Ivalice." "What can we do?" "You must reach the auraliths before Mydia does and destroy them. This will free the anima trapped within." "Had he not succeeded, I would not have been able to bring you here. You should thank him." "Well, we have gotten pretty good at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat."  "Don't worry, Llyud. Before we're through, you'll be feeling anger, sorrow - it'll be great. Because that's part of life, too."  "Destroy the auralith, and free the last of the stolen anima. Then all that will remain is to defeat Feolthanos himself. Do this, and the aegyl, the Yarhi and Mydia will be whole once more."    "In you I see... hope."   Next time, we leave the World of Illusion, and confront Balthier with everything we've learned.
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Dec 17, 2013 06:21
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You'd think Vaan would get his Important Sword earlier on like Tidus in FFX or Frog in Chrono Trigger.
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Dec 17, 2013 06:31
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:You'd think Vaan would get his Important Sword earlier on like Tidus in FFX or Frog in Chrono Trigger. Hey - we almost had a laughing scene between Vaan and Llyud here - I think we dodged a bullet.
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Dec 17, 2013 06:36
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A moot point if memory serves, the sword's a piece of poo poo compared to the crafted equipment. The bit with Penelo is pretty though.
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Dec 17, 2013 06:58
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SSNeoman posted:A moot point if memory serves, the sword's a piece of poo poo compared to the crafted equipment. It STARTS as a piece of poo poo. With patience it can break absolutely everything else to pieces. Shinji117 fucked around with this message at 07:22 on Dec 17, 2013 |
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Dec 17, 2013 07:15
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Shinji117 posted:It STARTS as a piece of poo poo. No spoilers for this game, not even in spoiler tags, please. Could you edit out the bit of your post in the with spoiler tag, like, just leave in the bit I've quoted? I can live with that. And I'll be talking about this when the game catches up, so don't sweat it!
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Dec 17, 2013 07:20
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Unfortunately, it'll be some time before Vaan earns enough LP to equip the sword. So the Judge of Wings busted the first auralith. I guess she needs to break it to harvest the accumulated "anima"? Looking back at that update, does the game ever explain what happened with that vision/flashback of her facing Balthier? It seems like the Judge jumped him from behind using Shiva, so does that mean she just knocked him out and left him there in typical villain fashion?
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Dec 17, 2013 08:42
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Schwartzcough posted:I think this is just a case of "character knows crucial plot information but refuses to just share it for no good reason besides narrative convenience." I'm sure there's a TV Trope for that, but I don't know what it is. So yes, Balthier probably knows that the crystals are suppressing the Aegyl's emotions to keep them subservient, and the only way to liberate them is to destroy the crystals- but he won't just come out and say that until Designated Plot Twist Time.
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Dec 17, 2013 14:42
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I drew a picture of Cu Sith, who's missed Cu Sith? (I'm going to post an update either later today or tomorrow, and we're a few posts away from a new page, so it we could get there it would be sweet.)
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Dec 21, 2013 01:03
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Cu Sith should've been a playable character.
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Dec 21, 2013 01:50
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Incidentally, are we supposed to be picking up a weird romance vibe between Cu Sith and Tomaj?
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Dec 21, 2013 07:29
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| # ? May 5, 2024 13:28 |
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Schwartzcough posted:It seems like the Judge jumped him from behind using Shiva, so does that mean she just knocked him out and left him there in typical villain fashion? Probably. The only thing the Judge of Wings could have done besides that is kill him, and that clearly didn't happen.
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Dec 21, 2013 08:39
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