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Malak's HP is usually so low from running massive boosting gear that it's better to just toss a Phoenix Down or Reraise on him and not worry about his health. I've been watching a guy's run on Youtube and he has exclusively used Item for healing and revival and it works just fine.
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Apr 7, 2013 08:04
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After quite a lot of reading I caught up to the end of this LP, and would like to say how much I have enjoyed it. That said, I would rather read about it than play it as I know that it would just irritate me beyond measure. My issues with the 1.3 mod itself aside, reading this has given me an itch to play War of the Lions on PSP, which I bought ages ago and rather forgot about. What turned me off of it was the slowdown, but I understand that there are now patches to address this. I have tried to figure it out alone, but I have not been able to figure out how to patch a PSP game. If it is not too much of a derail, could someone help me out? I was always rather appalled that WotL came out in such a state, but I am glad that somebody took it upon themselves to address a problem that never should have existed in the first place.
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Apr 8, 2013 04:18
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JustJeff88 posted:After quite a lot of reading I caught up to the end of this LP, and would like to say how much I have enjoyed it. That said, I would rather read about it than play it as I know that it would just irritate me beyond measure. I don't know much about PSP patching, but this thread on GameFAQs was made by someone trying to apply the patch, there are some video links posted and explanations, and someone says that it helped. The only thing I know is that you have to run CFW on your PSP to apply the patch.
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Apr 8, 2013 09:46
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Episode 35: Zeltennia Cathedral It's been awhile since we had some major plot development, but now that we've finally reached Zeltennia, we can meet up with Delita and get the lowdown on the current state of back-stabbing in Ivalician politics.  Prufrock does have a sense of irony, it seems, but not many manners. All business, no pleasantries. Let's hear what Delita is up to, then.  Welp. Murder the two most powerful men in the country? Sure, why not?  Yeah, Prufrock is as taken aback as we are. We knew that the Church was out to seize power from the royal family (lead by Larg) and the aristocracy (lead by Goltana) but I'm sure that everyone expected them to do so politically.  Outright assassination seems a little more blunt that what we've come to expect from all the scheming, but in the end the Church's agents decided on the direct approach. Now, because it's been so long since any of this has been at the forefront of the game (remember that we just spent a whole chapter chasing the Templars / Holy Stones / Alma across Ivalice) we get a nice little recap here. Chapter 4 is about to reintroduce the whole civil war plot, so it's appropriately placed.  Remember that the Lion War has been really hard on the peasantry, with famine leading to starvation and mass migrations of refugees only making things worse. Not to mention everyone who was already dissatisfied with the nobility after the 50 Years War (remember the Death Corps!)  The translation doesn't really get this point across, but part of the way that Goltana and Larg intend to deal with all the unrest is to try to end the war really quickly. The current situation is pretty unsustainable, and even though neither leader would admit it, they've sort of backed each other into the corner, where basically the only option is to press on. Things have just about reached a boiling point and both the Hokuten and the Nanten are gearing up for one big battle, winner-take-all.  During this time, the Church has been stirring up unrest on both fronts, while simultaneously portraying itself as the place the peasantry can turn to. Sort of a light to guide the common man in these dark days. (Ostensibly, gathering up the Zodiac Stones is a part of this plan, though we of course know better.)  The next move in the Church's plot, which we've just learned, is to knock off the heads of both factions in the Lion War, creating a pretty immediate power vacuum. (Barinten, remember, was angling to be the one the Church put in to fill that void, before he got thrown off the roof of his own castle by a demon disguised as a sexy lady.)  Right. Larg has the support of the royal family, Goltana is backed by of most of the aristocracy, and the Church decided to appeal directly to the people. It's kind of easy to think of the Church as the 'bad guys' given that they're the faction Prufrock and co. spend most of the game fighting, but it's not like Larg or Goltana are any better. They're both willing to throw away who knows how many lives in their tug-of-war for the regency, and we've seen just how little they actually care about the people they rule.  But back to us. We're apparently the biggest thorn in the Church's side right now.  Though it's not really the stones that the Church ought to be worried about. We're still carrying the Germonik Scriptures around, after all, and that book is a bomb that could change Ivalician politics pretty drastically if it ever got out.  Just a reminder that Delita has got schemes all his own going on. We're not really sure what those are right now, but we know that he's up to something more than he's letting on.  Stone. Cold.   Keep in mind that we still don't know whether Delita knows about the Shrine Knight's real agenda or not. He's probably being used just as much as he's using others, and may not even know it. What's interesting is that, on this subject, Prufrock keeps silent. He doesn't even try to warn Delita to keep any eye on the Templars. Maybe we can't trust Delita, who is, after all, working with the Church (at least superficially). Or maybe our hero thinks that even his old friend wouldn't believe his rather fantastic stories about demons and Holy Stones. Nobody else has.  Of course, we can't even conduct a clandestine meeting in a church without some interruption. I wonder who this could be...  I mean, it's not like most people in the country are trying to kill us or anything.  Anybody surprised to see Zalmo back for seconds can just go ahead and   Delita is like some weird supervillain: he must kill anyone who discovers his secret identity! (Actually, he just can't be seen chumming around with #1 on Ivalice's Most Wanted list.)  Just like last time, the goal is to take out Zalmo, though just like last time, we'll be taking out his team first. He's got essentially the same backup as last time, too, except that the Priests have been upgraded to Sages, which can be pretty dangerous if you let your guard down. This map obviously has a lot of big elevation changes, but between them there's also lots of flat areas. With a little attention to positioning, incoming AoEs should never catch more than one or two units at a time. Get careless, however, and its easy to accidentally cluster up, which will be rather quickly punished.  Speaking of Zalmo, it seems he's learned some new tricks since the last time we fought. Holy Sword gives him some solid offensive options, and his PA is surprisingly high for an old geezer. More importantly, however, he's carrying a  rare steal The Venetian Shield cuts incoming Fire / Ice / Lightning damage in half and has the second-best Evasion in the game. And now it belongs to us.  Teleport is a really good choice on the map. I always appreciate it when enemies have smart setups.  Zalmo wastes no time showing off his new sword skills. (Fortunately, Prufrock dodges like a boss.)  Yeeesh. Monks are starting to pick back up again, as PA values begin to surpass the WP of store-bought weapons. (Also, good compatability.)  Fortunately, Prufrock has matched Zalmo's Damage Split with his own. Nothing like turning an enemy's strong attack back at them.  Rafa's next up, and takes a quick Teleport up top to (hopefully) blast those Sages, showing off Sky Demon's incantation in the process.  Not only does Sky Demon have the biggest damage modifier, it's also one of the easier skills to boost (via the Earth Clothes) meaning it can put out some impressive numbers.  No kills, but taking off a good two-thirds of each Sage's health is pretty good.  As at Zirekile Falls (waaaaay back when) Delita fights as a Guest character in this battle.  He's set up as a pretty solid tank that can deal okay damage. The Reflect Mail, as its name suggests, adds Always: Reflect, and we've already seen how strong the Defender is against physical attacks. Even if he somehow does manage to go down, the Angel Ring will bring him right back up again. Delita is in for the long haul.  Damage Split is the only reason this Wave Fist doesn't drop Prufrock before he gets a chance to act. Damage Split is very strong.  With Fluellen sitting this one out, Prufrock's carrying the Whale Whisker, and puts it to good use dropping that Monk in a single strike.  The AI's sense of timing tends to fluctuate between 'inhuman' and 'idiotic'. In this instance, it falls squarely into the latter, as half the enemy team (both Sages and a Monk) immediately begin charging slow offensive spells. Because of the way the Tactics clock works, it's usually a very bad idea to try to cast a slow spell on the first turn, since everybody with a lower position on the AT than the caster is going to act before the spell finishes charging. The Sage there is working up a big fat Toad 2, and Agrias is just having none of that poo poo. The best debuff is K.O.  Likewise, a nicely-timed Dark Sword drains 100% of that Monk's MP pool, leaving him unable to complete the Stop spell he was charging.  MacDuff has got a pretty standard sword skill kit for this point in the game. Unlike Agrias, he can't wear a hairpiece to boost his MP, and the loss of the +1 Speed from the Carabini Mail does hurt. However, he makes up for it with that monstrous 13 PA. Dude is swole as gently caress.  Mustadio may not be quite so strong, but he is, as always, lightning fast. Fast enough to have gone once already and still beat that Sage's spell to the finish line.  With no MP, that Monk is left   That Stop took so long to cast, in fact, that he ends up getting an immediate turn with which to try and redeem himself. Spoiler alert: he doesn't  Rafa, meanwhile, fails to catch him with a Space Storage. She's currently carrying a Wizard Rod for delicious +2 MA, but another Whale Whisker might be a better choice for some instant single-target damage when Holy would take too long to cast.  Just like the first time around, Zalmo will spend 95% of his turns casting Life 2 to bring back any K.O.'d members of his posse...  ...which can get annoying when they start chain-reviving.  The upside is that, since they're so busy sandbagging, we don't have to worry about any incoming offense, and are free to dish out the pain unhindered. They're basically doing a whole lot of not losing which is not the same as winning at all.  Just to be on the safe side, though, we go ahead and start wrecking Zalmo's MP to stop those revivals.  AoE damage is a good counter to single-target sandbagging, as MacDuff demonstrates.  Steal Armor / Helmet sneaks around Damage Split nicely. Since it's not actual damage, just a lowering of the target's HP total, there's nothing to split back. Plus, that Light Robe will look good on MacDuff; Always: Regen will make him even harder to take out with HP damage.  More sandbagging. It's kind of a theme with Zalmo and co.  But oh, what's that? Three units clustered next to the edge of the map, and with Rafa right there to exclude the last panel.  Eat it, Revive. Eat it hard.  D-d-double kill.  Yeah, more of this poo poo. At least you guys don't have to sit through the long-rear end animation every time.  Really, this rematch is a little disappointing.  At this point, it's easy enough to just brute-force our way through.  If we'd had to stare down a bunch of damage like this (Martial Arts + Attack UP is a pretty potent combination) from the outset, then this battle might have been a bit of a challenge.  But really, with all the special units we can field, not to mention Delita as a guest, we can just put so much power on the board that an even number of generics just can't keep up.  Never fear, though. If anything, the game is just trying to lure us into a false sense of security.  Trust me, there's plenty more challenge ahead.  With his armor taken, his MP drained, and his team K.O.'d, Zalmo can't really put up much of a fight.  Ladies and gentlemen, the death of Inquisitor Zalmo.  Later on... (After some unfortunate has cleared the corpses from the roof...)   Prufrock seems to have a lot of faith in Count Orlandu; let's hope it's not misplaced.   Recall that when we last met Olan Durai (son-in-law to Orlandu) he promised that if we could give some kind of evidence that the Church was corrupt, the Count would stand with us. Now, back then, Prufrock hesitated, on account of the fact that he might have needed the Germonik Scriptures to exchange for the safety of his captive sister (or at least to keep her alive until he could rescue her). Now Vormav's got Alma, and he certainly hasn't made any demands, so I guess it's time to lay the cards on the table.  Enter a young lady, dressed in strange magician's clothes.   It seems that our reputation precedes us. Anyway, this is Balmafula. She's an agent of the Glabados Church and is something of a cross between Delita's assistant and Delita's handler.  That boiling point mentioned earlier? Yeah, that's happening now.  Ambushed by an Inquisitor and we just missed the Count? Today is not Prufrock's lucky day.  But more importantly, the stalemate in the Lion War is about to come to a very bloody end.   And so we have our next goal: try to stop the fighting, and thus the Church's plot to seize power in the aftermath.  This isn't the first time these two have shared a handshake before parting ways, but it just may be the first time that it seems like they're doing so as equals.  Of course, Delita is sure that he still has the upper hand.  And who knows? Maybe he does. J. Alfred Prufrock fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Apr 8, 2013 |
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Apr 8, 2013 20:19
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Your summary of the storyline makes it so much easier to follow, Prufrock. Keep up the good work. Delita being Delita is always wonderful to watch. Final Fantasy's best character at work 
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Apr 8, 2013 21:04
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I can't get enough of this LP, I'm sort of comically over-excited to see how the rest of the game plays out in 1.3. Also you've caused me not only to play through FFT again, but also to recently start an Archer SCC. I had important poo poo to do! 
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Apr 8, 2013 23:04
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I like the context of the PSX version of the church scene over the PSP version. The tension feels a lot more real with people in the church, and seeing Ramza and Delita trying to keep their voices down. The PSP version, how it's just another stage for two actors to monologue, felt a lot less real.
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Apr 8, 2013 23:14
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J. Alfred Prufrock posted:
A sad underuse of the Defender, actually. The Defender gives "Always: Protect," which doubles your evade rates. However, since he doesn't have the Weapon Guard reaction equipped, he doesn't get any evasion from the Defender itself. Knight Swords are two-handed, so he doesn't have a shield, and he's not wearing a mantle. That means the only thing getting doubled is his mediocre 10% class evasion from the front only, bringing it to 20%. Probably the best thing to do with a Defender is to put on the best mantle you can find and equip the Abandon reaction (which doubles your evade rate again). Although I'm not sure if it doubles your already doubled evade, or if it just doubles the original values again. In other words, with a 20% evasion mantle, would it double to 40, then double again to 80, or would it add 100% of the evade value (20%+20%), then add 100% of the evade value again ((40%)+20%)? I know the evade rate among items is multiplicative rather than additive, but both Abandon and Defend should straight-up double the individual evasion rates.
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Apr 9, 2013 18:50
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Apparently it's multiplicative, per the BMG:code:
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Apr 9, 2013 19:17
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Oh that is an absolutely ballin' strategy to use. I might have to try it if I ever find the time to pick up 1.3 again 
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Apr 10, 2013 03:22
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UmbreonMessiah posted:Oh that is an absolutely ballin' strategy to use. I might have to try it if I ever find the time to pick up 1.3 again It's not totally foolproof, though. I believe the AI ignores the success chances of attacks except when they're 0%. So while Defend+Abandon+Mantle could get you to 100% physical and magical evasion easily, this will force the AI to start using attacks that get around evasion. You would be surprised how many attacks ignore evasion. Meanwhile if you have, say, 97% chance to block (as with the old Brave-manipulated Blade Grasp), the AI would waste all their turns using attacks that get blocked. You might be best off with something like the Wizard Mantle and its 18% evasion- quadrupled that's 72% evasion from the sides and back, and better from the front due to class evasion. With 10% class evade quadrupled to 40%, that .6 x .28 = 16% chance to get hit from the front. The next mantle gives 25% P/M, which becomes 100% P/M, which will force unblockable attacks. Of course, some units can pretty much be shut down with 100% evasion, so I guess it depends on the fight. Also, I think more attacks are evadeable in 1.3 than Vanilla, so it might actually be a more viable strategy here.
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Apr 10, 2013 04:01
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this is my favorite LP and it inspired me to attempt to play 1.3 again! I as usual am having issues with the chocobo roundup bit, but once I have a few hours free I will attempt to try again. thanks for the excellent thread prufrock.
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Apr 12, 2013 10:28
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Schwartzcough posted:Also, I think more attacks are evadeable in 1.3 than Vanilla, so it might actually be a more viable strategy here. Still, with Blade Grasp removed from 1.3 except on certain monsters and bosses, evasion becomes far more viable because you can't just use your Brave as your Evade% anymore. Magic being much nastier and more frequently used also means MEv% is actually worth bothering with, unlike in vanilla. Exploiting the 100% Evade setup is not worthless, however. This is especially true if only some of your team has it. Say you wanted a particular character to be targeted above all else... well, make them the only one without 100% Physical/Magical Evade and watch what happens. Just make sure they've got a plan for staying alive.
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Apr 12, 2013 14:24
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Episode 36: Bed Desert Last time, we met up with our old friend Delita, and learned that the Hokuten and Nanten are gearing up for the final, bloody battle of the Lion War, during which agents of the Glabados Church plan to assassinate Dukes Larg and Goltana, along with the leaders of their respective armies, and then quietly turn Ivalice into a theocracy. Being the plucky band of heroes that we are, it's up to us to find a way to stop the battle, or at least stall it long enough to expose the Church's plot (probably with the Germonik Scriptures, the book that says that fantasy Not-Jesus was actually a false prophet and kind of a jerk). To do that, we'll need to get to...  ...Bethla Garrison, which has pretty much been the center of the fighting (along with nearby Lesalia) for the duration of the Lion War. The bulk of both the Hokuten and Nanten forces, along will all the leaders on both sides, are marching there now, so we'd better get a move on. Taking the most direct route, Prufrock and Co. must cut through...  ...the middle of the desert. Ivalician geography is kind of screwy, I have to say. There are a couple of random deserts that sort of seem like they're just stuck in the middle of things. Anyway, the map showed this location in a nice cheery orange, so we know it's going to be an eventful trip. Let's see what chance brings.  Shrine Knights. Lovely.  Where there are Templars, there's usually trouble.  I'm actually leaning towards 'no' on this one.  That's it Prufrock! Just get the Templar to explain his nefarious plot in precise and unnecessary detail so that we know exactly how to foil it. Any villain worthy of the name will spend at least a few minutes monologuing before they atta-  ...or not.  Funny that Delita never mentioned this particular part of the plan.  Right now the Nanten are entrenched in Bethla, so the Templars figure that, if the Hokuten look weak, Goltana will jump at the chance and order his troops out onto the plains for a pitched battle, turning a potential siege (which could take a long time) into an assured bloodbath.  Also, the Church needs to draw Goltana and Count Orlandu out into the open, where its assassins can reach them.  Now, in order for this plan to work, Goltana has to take the bait, but we know that both sides are getting desperate to get the war over and done with, so that's a pretty safe bet to make.  The fact that Delita didn't tell us that the Church was sending the Templars to break out the chemical warfare leaves open a bit of room for speculation. There are three big possibilities.  1) Delita knew about the Templars, and chose not to tell us. 2) Delita didn't know about the Templars, because the Church chose not to tell him. 3) The Church didn't know about the Templars, because they're up to something on their own.  When any one of those groups is involved, it's hard to say who's being used. With all three in the mix, it's drat impossible.  Another assassination mission. Balk and his team have a much more offensive bent than the Inquisitors we just fought. Both the Monks are set up for maximum pain delivery, the Oracle has Planar Magic secondary and is carrying a Whale Whisker, and the Death Knights are, well, Death Knights. It's also worth nothing that the player's team does, in fact, start the battle with the Poison status on every unit vulnerable to it. It's a nice little intersection of cutscene and mechanics. Now, as for Balk himself...  ...yeah. If you thought two crossbows as crazy, how about two mother loving Magic Cannons? Oh, sorry, two boosted Magic Cannons. That the player can't steal (Engineers have innate Maintenance, remember). Balk is basically a murder machine, and is almost fast enough to start lapping our slower characters too. Fortunately, while he does have boss resists and a boatload of HP, he lacks any elemental protection or Zalmo's pain-in-the-rear end Damage Split, so he's not too difficult to take out with a direct assault, provided you take a few steps to mitigate all the crazy damage a pair of boosted Magic Cannons can do. We'll see.  With that whopping 13 Speed, the newest Templar easily takes the first turn. He lines up a shot and draws his first pistol...  NOPE  Hamedo doesn't just counter melee attacks. As long as the attacker is in range of the user's weapon, Hamedo can fire, and Mustadio has matched Balk's firearm with one of his own (albeit a different model: the Engineer Rifle, 10 WP and +2 Speed). Turns out Mustadio has the fastest gun 'round these parts.  Going next, Quick-Draw Mustadio lobs some chemical weapons of his own. Fortunately for us, Mustadio's packing a more potent mixture than the stuff Balk threw at us (though apparently in a smaller AoE). His bomb thankfully only added Poison, while Mustadio's also adds Slow, which is the important part for us. Slowing down those Death Knights should give the rest of the team enough time for a direct assault.  Bringing Malak along turned out to be a mistake, and bad compatibility + innate Defense UP really turns his damage to poo poo. At least with Two Swords he hits twice. Hopefully 120 is still enough...it may be a photo finish.  But then this happens.  Sometimes the AI gives you a gift, and a Flare 2 right on Balk's head will make up for Malak's poor showing.  Fluellen continues to do what she does, which is deliver vicious beatings.  This is actually a mistake that a lot of players make: wasting time removing the Poison. While you'll want to get around to dealing with it eventually, (remember that Poison doesn't wear off on its own) getting the battle under control is much more important.  Even without a shield, Malak is drat hard to hit from the front, owing to a sick nasty 30% natural Evasion, plus a Mantle, plus Abandon.  And here's the last Unholy Sword attack. Death Strike is roughly analogous to Holy Sword's skill Split Punch, with the same range and damage. It has a chance to apply the very rare Blood Suck status (which we'll be seeing later) but is mostly useful for the times when the user doesn't need the HP from Night Sword and just wants to do more damage.  After MacDuff, the Oracle's big Flare 2 fires.  It doesn't deal super impressive damage to Balk, but it does in fact make up for Malak falling a bit short, which is all we need.  Oh, and it also totally gibs Fluellen (they must have had great compatibility). Now, that was enough to put Balk into critical, at which point a funny thing happens...  Reaction skills don't check whether the user can actually hit the target, just that they're in range. In this case, two poor souls standing between Balk and the Oracle get to eat some Meatbone Slash instead. RIP  And here we see why getting Slow on the two enemy Death Knights was important: it gave Prufrock just enough of a window to get a Short Charge'd Summon off.  Muthafuckin' BAHAMUT TIME bitchez.  Lookit that fire. Dragon King all up in the house.  And that's a wrap.  Now, every single previous experience tells us that Balk is about to teleport away, only to return about ten battles down the line for a rematch.  But nope. He just falls over, face first in the dirt.  And then he and all the other Shrine Knights mysteriously disappear. Where did they go?  Were they even real to begin with?  Who knows? The important thing is: victory is ours. Though we've no time for gloating, there's still a battle to stop!  Meanwhile, in Bethla Garrison, the leader of the Nanten and faithful Goltana supporter, Count Orlandu, finds himself being placed under arrest.  We know that there have been plenty of rumors regarding T.G. Cid's loyalty to the Duke. Orlandu's protests against the war and constant pressing for peace talks has won him very few friends among the other aristocrats.  On top of that, he's pretty much the only noble that the common people still seem to respect and trust, which ironically makes him even more suspicious in the eyes of his peers.  If anyone in Goltana's court were to lead a popular uprising, Orlandu would certainly be the man to do it. But all this is old news, and up to now the rumors have remained just that.   Well, I'm sure we can all see where this is headed...   It's almost entertaining how easily Goltana is getting played here, but then if there's one quality almost every politician has in spades, it's paranoia. Goltana knows the people no longer trust him, and that they do trust Orlandu. It's pretty easy to see how a few whispers could escalate into the Duke locking up his only truly loyal supporter for treason.   How perfectly tragic. It's just like something Ol' Bill would write.  And with that, 'Thunder God' Cid, the hero of the Fifty Years War, is taken to the dungeon.  Can't say it's a surprise to see these two.   Of course the Church has been telling Goltana that any day now he'll be getting an official endorsement. I'm sure they've got someone saying the same thing to Larg somewhere right now.  And look who just got put in charge of one of the two most powerful armies in Ivalice.  His portrait doesn't show it, but I can only imagine Delita cracking the biggest, most poo poo-eating-est grin right now.
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Apr 12, 2013 21:39
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 If Barinten's gun wasn't enough to kill Malak, that sure as hell was!
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Apr 12, 2013 22:57
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That Meatbone Slash was equal parts hilarious and brutal.
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Apr 13, 2013 00:22
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Zeikier posted:
I now have the mental image of something to the effect of Malak's top half getting blown to bits by a cannonball, only for him to get back up without a scratch after the battle's done... Then a panel of him taking a single shot and being perma-dead short of divine intervention. 
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Apr 13, 2013 00:38
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Waitasecondthere, Meatbone Slash works with dual wielding? I see potential when used against later zodaic monsters and their gigantic health pools.
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Apr 13, 2013 00:56
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Prufrock, you're making me like this plot more. With your summaries, I can actually make sense of what's going on. Also...what was wrong with that Oracle, why did it aim right at Balk? I've never seen them just backstab the chapter boss like that... Sorites fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Apr 14, 2013 |
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Apr 14, 2013 07:26
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Hamedo works with guns. Since most units are melee I couldn't see it being useful most of the time, but against dual wielding magical gun users that is perfect.
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Apr 14, 2013 16:20
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Krysmphoenix posted:Hamedo works with guns.
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Apr 14, 2013 16:35
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Sorites posted:Prufrock, you're making me like this plot more. With your summaries, I can actually make sense of what's going on. Collateral damage. The AI balances damage done to itself vs damage done to the player, and doesn't factor in that more damage will be coming in.
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Apr 14, 2013 17:16
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Upper Class: Death Knight The Death Knight (not to be confused with the WotL Dark Knight) is a partly-new job class that gives PSX players access to the infamous Dark Sword skills, along with a couple of new attacks. The Unholy Sword skillset is quite strong, with an excellent tanking skill, a decent anti-caster skill, and one decent AoE. The job itself, however, is disappointingly unimpressive, featuring largely unremarkable stats and no real strong points.  Night Sword does damage equivalent to a normal physical attack, but does so at range (and with unlimited vertical tolerance) and most importantly drains HP. The player gets to see Night Sword in action early on with Gafgarion, so just about everyone ought to be familiar with the fact that it makes the user incredibly hard to K.O. Combined with the right setup and proper positioning to draw lots of attacks, Night Sword can simultaneously deal damage and waste enemy actions, a strong combination indeed. Dark Sword is much more important now that sword skills cost MP (and particularly so with the Death Knight's tiny MP pool taken into consideration). While having to spend a turn refuelling instead of doing more damage (and possibly refilling HP) isn't always ideal, it's not hard to find a magician or other enemy that needed that MP, which brings us to the other big use for Dark Sword: smacking around spellcasters. Emptying a target's MP pool as they're charging up a big spell will not only prevent whatever bomb they're about to drop from going off, it'll also reduce most casters to scrawny nerds with sticks (note, actual Sticks are an exception) until somebody spends an action to refill their MP. Death Strike is a new 1.3 skill and gives the Death Knight a much-needed damage option. (WP + 2) is well worth the 16 MP price tag, and it's nice to be able to hit harder than a normal physical attack once in awhile. Night Sword remains the staple Unholy Sword attack, owing to its low cost and the fact that you'll usually want the HP, but Death Strike will still see a lot of use. The status proc is kind of a let down, though: not only does it run into the normal problems with immunity, but even when it does go off, Blood Suck has a tendency to backfire. Unholy Explosion, the Death Knight counterpart to (what else?) Holy Explosion, is the job's only AoE attack, which makes it a very important part of the lineup. The damage is good and a 5-panel linear AoE is solid. The MP cost, however, is quite steep; even though 30 MP may not seem like much, Death Knights have atrociously small MP pools, so even at higher levels it can be difficult to use Unholy Explosion more than twice without having to spend an action recharging with a Dark Sword, Hi-Ether, or Chakra. --- After checking out its wicked cool skillset, the actual Death Knight job is largely disappointing. About the only thing really good about the job is its high HP total (equivalent to a Monk, but then the Death Knight can also wear Armor) which isn't all that impressive considering that its signature attack is Night Sword. The Death Knight's PA is passable, but only just, coming in at the equivalent to a Marksman, and weaker than a Ninja or Lancer, both of whom also have other ways to boost their physical damage. Its MP pool is surprisingly small for a sword skill user, which can lead to some problems when trying to use its more expensive attacks like Death Strike and Unholy Explosion more than a couple of times. The MP issue is further compounded by the job's inability to wear robes like most knights, which all makes the Death Knight's better-than-average MA a bit confusing. Really, the problem with the Death Knight's stats is not that it can't do anything well, it's that it can't do anything better than another job. While in theory this could be a way to try and balance its strong skillset, in practice it just means that 99% of the time the correct play is to stick Unholy Sword on a Knight and be done with it.
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Apr 14, 2013 20:37
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J. Alfred Prufrock posted:Dark Sword is much more important now that sword skills cost MP (and particularly so with the Death Knight's tiny MP pool taken into consideration). While having to spend a turn refuelling instead of doing more damage (and possibly refilling HP) isn't always ideal, it's not hard to find a magician or other enemy that needed that MP, which brings us to the other big use for Dark Sword: smacking around spellcasters. Emptying a target's MP pool as they're charging up a big spell will not only prevent whatever bomb they're about to drop from going off, it'll also reduce most casters to scrawny nerds with sticks (note, actual Sticks are an exception) until somebody spends an action to refill their MP. So the order would be something like: 1.) Enemy casts Bahamut 2.) Death Knight uses Dark Sword, reducing MP to zero 3.) Enemy #2 uses Hi-Ether, restoring the MP back to where it needs to be 4.) Bahamut goes off Or is the AI not smart enough to recover MP to avoid this, even if the CT works out?
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Apr 14, 2013 22:34
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Unholy Sword is alright, but missing Lightning Stab/Stasis Sword is kind of a big deal. The PSX 1.3 swordskillers only can have two of: Lightning Stab/Stasis Sword, Night/Dark Sword, or Holy/Unholy Explosion, but... The DK job is quite a bit better in WotL since you can slap it on anyone, better PA/MA modifiers (120 instead of 115/110), and a couple extra WotL only attacks to use. An Agrias with Holy AND Unholy swordskills AND Life/Esuna? Oh my.
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Apr 14, 2013 23:25
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MagusofStars posted:When you drain a caster's MP, is it possible for you to drain away the enemy's magic and then have another enemy's CT come up *before* the spell goes off and toss a quick Hi-Ether, so the spell still casts properly? MP checks happen twice: Once when you start casting the spell - you can't start casting it without enough MP. Once when you finish casting the spell - you get the NO MP message if you don't have enough MP when the spell is supposed to go off. Anywhere in between, your MP can fluctuate as much as you want with no ill effect.
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Apr 15, 2013 01:42
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I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Archael. His insights into all these changes at this point in the game would be interesting, between the Chocobo fight and the re-vamped special classes.
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Apr 15, 2013 03:26
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PFlats posted:MP checks happen twice:  Actually, you CAN start casting without the required MP. If it has a charge time, you'll get a message saying the spell will fail after the charge. Then it will still let you choose your target. You can have an ally restore the caster's MP before the charge finishes and send the spell off. The AI never tries casting without enough MP and hoping it'll be restored, because that would require strategic play between units, which the AI is... not so great at.
Ramengank fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Apr 15, 2013 |
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Apr 15, 2013 05:18
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likecnsnnts posted:I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Archael. His insights into all these changes at this point in the game would be interesting, between the Chocobo fight and the re-vamped special classes. Wait what happened to Archael? I was hoping for some insights of why he made the choices he did too.
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Apr 16, 2013 04:11
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I'm still here. I read every update and comment. Very busy at work!  Unrelated: I'm watching the movie Sphere! Been ages since I see this.What would you guys like insight on?
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Apr 16, 2013 06:06
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Archael posted:What would you guys like insight on? Dictionaries. I've been trying to use them for the heck of it (I'm playing Content so I don't need to play at complete min-max mode). Maybe I'm missing something about these weapons but... 1) PA/MA is a crappy formula. Made crappier by the fact that I don't think a single "hybrid" class has dictionaries available to them (Geomancer, Priest and Samurai are those that I'm thinking of). They're all so skewed towards MA that there's no real incentive to build PA either IIRC. Edit: I forgot about Sage, those guys have good hybrid stats now that I checked. 2) I think most weapon choices for mage classes is a trade-off between good passive stats (Rods) vs being able to use them as beatsticks as backup for when you need something dead right now and don't want to charge. Any class that has dictionaries might as use Sticks or Guns (I might have missed a class) for using the attack command though. Heck, sticks are one of the best mage weapons for attacking and they come with +1 Mov as a cherry on top. Dictionaries are surprisingly empty in the passive stats department. (I suggest +PA because it's quirky.) 3) Can't dual-wield them or double-hand them (I'm not sure about the latter), which weakens the Attack command. You gotta rely on a 25% spell proc on those weapons which makes me uneasy. Outside of auto-attacking, I'm really not sure if anyone's going to put Precision or Break on their dictionary mages... 4) The 3 range (exactly 3 squares) doesn't really seem that much of an improvement over say... well, Sticks IMO. Then again this is hard-coded... (Yeah I know Marche can use them decently, but I mean generics wise) Davzz fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 06:21
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The new Sage class has decent/good PA and MA stats. And having 3 range IS a bonus- it puts you out of counter/hamedo/meatbone slash range of most other weapons, it lets you attack at an angle, and prevents most units from getting behind you after you've attacked them, unless they have really high Move scores. That said, I don't see much point to using them either, compared to weapons that provide stat boosts. They're certainly improved over Vanilla though, not just for their procs but because there are a few classes that can use them effectively now, between Marche and Sages.
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Apr 16, 2013 06:36
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I think I'd like some more clarity on the design choices behind the Death Knight. It's got neat skills, but as Prufrock and others have pointed out, it's a tad weak. Is there a particular reason for this?
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Apr 16, 2013 15:14
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UmbreonMessiah posted:I think I'd like some more clarity on the design choices behind the Death Knight. It's got neat skills, but as Prufrock and others have pointed out, it's a tad weak. Is there a particular reason for this?
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Apr 16, 2013 15:24
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Nakar posted:I think people are really underrating Night/Dark Sword. I think they mean why the Death Knight itself has low-ish stats, and the best plan is to just take the skills elsewhere.
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Apr 16, 2013 15:27
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Orange Fluffy Sheep posted:I think they mean why the Death Knight itself has low-ish stats, and the best plan is to just take the skills elsewhere. I mean Agrias's base class isn't that great either, but her skillset is. It has its upsides, of course, but it's still slow as poo poo. But you definitely like using her swordskills when possible, regardless of what class she actually ends up in. So I wouldn't really say the Death Knight's class is all that terrible. But there is one upcoming class that is patently godawful, but that skillset...
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Apr 16, 2013 15:51
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UmbreonMessiah posted:I think I'd like some more clarity on the design choices behind the Death Knight. It's got neat skills, but as Prufrock and others have pointed out, it's a tad weak. Is there a particular reason for this? Death Knight is not weak. His stats aren't spectacular, but his skill-set is and his gearing options are. Malak, who also has an amazing skill-set ON TOP OF amazing stats and gearing options, might be a little on the overpowered side, which might be blurring your perception a little. Malak, comparatively, probably needs a nerf. Specials aren't supposed to automatically have god-like stats in their base jobs. This is especially true if their skill-sets are very powerful. There has to be some drawback. If you take said amazing skillset into a generic job to make better use of it, then you're eating the limitations of that generic job. This is why you can hit harder with Unholy Sword as a Knight but you're forced into the Knight job to do so. Keeping Malak in Hell Knight is a no-brainer though, and while there should be good reasons for using specials in their base job, perhaps the case with Malak is too one sided. Archael fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 21:45
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Bear in mind too that special character classes replace Squire. Squire in 1.3 does not have very good stats to begin with, so basically every special character is still doing much better than Squire. I mean look at how good Mustadio's Speed is; yeah, he misses out on Basic Skill and sometimes that's a pain, but it's not major and Snipe is good. If you really need Basic Skill, you've always got Ramza and Guts. I do wish Ramza's Ubersquire had slightly better growths and modifiers though, but he's already one of the most powerful support units around so I guess he needs to be a little bit more average than some.
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Apr 16, 2013 21:51
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Nakar posted:Bear in mind too that special character classes replace Squire. Squire in 1.3 does not have very good stats to begin with, so basically every special character is still doing much better than Squire. I mean look at how good Mustadio's Speed is; yeah, he misses out on Basic Skill and sometimes that's a pain, but it's not major and Snipe is good. For the purposes of this conversation, while squires were terrible (less HP, MP, and PA growth than a White Mage), a lot of special classes didn't compare well either. All the special characters we have so far except for Ramza (that were in the original game) have straight up worse growths than a White Mage. So while they have better growths than a squire, they're universally worse than a tier 2 unit, so it doesn't matter too much. Just to give an idea: Squire, Chemist, Mystic, Time Mage, Orator, Arithmetician, and Bard/Dancer all have worse stat growths than a White Mage. On the Magic side, Black Mage and Summoner avoid this only because of their superior MP growths (9 and 8 respectively, instead of 10). On the physical side, the only unit with a higher HP growth is Monk (9 instead of 10). Every other class avoids making this list because of the fact that they actually modify speed (Ninja, Thief) or have better than poo poo PA growths (Knight, Archer, Geomancer, Dragoon, Samurai). Of the PA growth classes, Knight and Dragoon were essentially the same and only lost to 2 of the other 3 in MP stat growths. What's the point of this long winded discussion? In terms of leveling for maximum stat growths, only a few classes mattered. Ninja, Knight/Dragoon, and either Summoner or White Mage (White Mage is more balanced, Summoner gives much better MP returns). You could completely ignore Knight/Dragoon too if you have access to Mime, which gives frankly ridiculous stat growths as well. If nothing else in this game, the stat gain table needed a serious rehaul.
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Apr 16, 2013 22:27
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Twiddy posted:If nothing else in this game, the stat gain table needed a serious rehaul. I'm almost done a playthough of WotL 1.313 and next up is a run where I plan to modify every humanoid job to ~10 HP/MP, ~200 SPD, 45 PA/MA growths, and then use the job modifiers to differentiate. At 200 speed growth, level 99 characters with 100 SPM jobs end at 8 base speed with thieves and ninjas at 10. Corvinus fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 00:20
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