[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

I can't imagine having a 'main team' - my only anchor is Vaan (currently level 45), and all of my other guys are at 37 because I keep them rotating in and out at all times. They're all pretty powerful, and I've got a good balance with 3 ranged attackers (Penelo has a crossbow) and 3 melee attackers.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER_2825

yea what i would do is either have one of your characters gambits set up so that those spells come before attacking or what i do is if i know there is a boss fight ill cast the spells a screen beyond that boss fight and then when im done ill just run into the fight, i like to do my spells before so i dont have to waste time in the fight casting them becuase then by the time im done with that i have to cure everyone before i can even begin to deal with the enemy at hand. whichever you prefer though

Holy schnikies, dude. Punctuation marks are your friends. Yikes.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Man, I ran around that stupid crystal at level 40 and almost got myself killed for about an hour and a half continuous, and had nothing to show for it but a depleted supply of phoenix down when I was done.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, playing at home rather than on my GameBridge at school, I find myself wanting to get the official guide for convenience's sake, but I'm too much of a cheapskate. With the GameBridge I'd just have the game going on my upper monitor and GameFAQs open on the lower screen.

I think I'm going to head off to Nabudis for essentially the first time today.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'll definitely have to take that into account, thanks. I'll probably just venture in a little at a time and remain near a save point while I get my feet wet, just to make sure I know what I'm getting into. I don't like dying.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Sick, all this manipulating odds and retrying save games is making me really dread moving on to later levels of the game.

So I went through the Nabreus areas and all the accessible areas of the Necrohol today. Started out with my guys averaged at about level 49 and ended up with the average around 53. Didn't really have an issue with anything, although some of the level VI hunts were bothersome for a while. I was expecting more to be down there, but I guess I have to wait until I can open those doors. Not much stopping me from ridding myself of Reddas now. :/

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'll have to take a look, but I think I've only got 3 or 4 more hunts to go before I'm done with all the ones that can be had before I off Reddas, so yeah, I guess I'll finish those ones up and move on. He's stuck with horrible HP in level 50, so I find myself mending him half the time in large battles. He's was a good target for all of the Oversouls' Annuls, though.

Those shots are pretty sweet. Did all y'all involved with the bestiary/compendium/whatever you were going to call it find someone with a GameBridge to help you out on screenshots yet?

FELIPE NO

GameBridge is a USB device that lets you run gaming systems that use audio-visual cables and/or S-video cables to connect. When I'm at school, I typically run my PS2 through to my monitor and have GameFAQs or Gamingforce open on my laptop screen, and multitask. It allows for easy screenshots, and I know they were looking for some way to get good screenshots, but that's the last I heard of it. Mostly just curious how everything was getting along with that.

Upon checking the mark hunting faq, I still have Gilgamesh, Piscodaemon, Carrot, Fafnir, Catoblepas, and Behemoth King as options before Pharos. I think. My PS2 is hooked up in my basement and I'm too lazy to go check. We'll see how many of those I get through tomorrow. I have a sneaking suspicion my gaming time will be greatly reduced by family activities.

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Is that the warped nightmare thing you're talking about? He wasn't so bad. I think the reason I do alright and rarely have to raise my characters is that I have them smartly outfitted, I always make sure I have a good balance in my active team (typically two melee and one range/mage, though with Reddas I sometimes go for two range/mages), and I have everyone with haste, regen, and bravery or faith, plus protectga and shellga if I'm fighting a more difficult enemy. It's pretty rudimentary, but it hasn't failed me yet. Even venturing into the great crystal in level 42 I was able to get completely and hopelessly lost and still get out with my skin, along with plenty of decent loot items to boot.

How ya doing, buddy?

The Baknamy haven't been too bad because I've got Vaan pretty strong and with a Cat Hood, so he hits more often than not, and I ended up getting one of the stronger guns probably before I was supposed to for Balthier, and he rarely misses (and hits them for something in the 4000s, typically).

I actually got pretty far into the Great Crystal before I realized I was in over my head. At least 8 or 9 platforms. Once I got to the second platform of Mom Bombs I knew I had to get out, but instead of turning around I went forward to see if there was a save point or something I could replenish my health at. Ended up finding one and turning around to get back when I realized there was no other exit. Mind you, I hadn't realized that there were maps of the place online, either, so I was going the whole thing blind. It was quite the experience.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Deathgaze was much longer than I'd anticipated, as I didn't know he'd have a paling that cut out physical damage for the first 80% of his life. I should have waited until Reddas was gone for that one, as he blindly went in getting himself killed repeatedly, then the thing cast Reverse on itself and he started healing it. Oh, well. Carrot was far easier than I expected, too - it didn't really get anything off before I killed it with all normal physical attacks. :/ And I'm only averaged out at level 53.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Lionking-Cyan

How should i level my secondary characters, without getting bored?

RPGs might not be for you, sir. This is a timeless quandry.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, as I recall the only thing that kept me alive against the Mousse was having Fran and Balthier attacking from range and abandoning Vaan to all of the melee and status attacks. I haven't yet used an esper against a hunt, though - I think I'm a bit afraid to, because it doesn't have gambits that I control, so I'd be unable to predict what it's doing. I like to be in control.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I didn't have access to the Nihopalaoa at the time. I think I was in the low-30s for my level at the time - the other slime hunt in there was so easy (same 2 range attackers and Vaan absorbing all the lightning attacks he was throwing out) I figured the Mousse would be cake, too, but it wasn't to be so. And for some reason I've never really been successful using sleep on hunts. :/

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Yeah, though the bombs are neutral I always ended up waking them up anyway. They're not that bad. The whole area really isn't too bad, just a few spots that are mostly annoying. Especially if you're already leveled to the late 40's.

FELIPE NO

I tend to keep Golden Amulets on the three characters not in the active party and Embroidered Tippets on the active party only, since LP are still assigned even when inactive. Then again, Vaan is almost always in my active party, so he doesn't get an Embroidered Tippet at all most of the time. He's still 5-7 levels higher than everyone else.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Metal Sphere

The reward? A piddling Yoichi Bow, something I had since way back after beating White Mousse.

You're kidding, right? I'm not even going to bother with the quest.

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

I couldn't agree more; getting the celestial weapons in FFX was fun and challenging. Even Catcher Chocobo. Getting the most powerful weapons in FFXII is a matter of pure luck for some of them, and hours of collecting rare items for the rest.

I disagree with Catcher Chocobo and on some levels the lightning dodging. Everything else was pretty fun. At the very least, it was varied enough to keep things interesting. Always trying to get rare loot sounds like it'll get pretty inane pretty fast.

Spent the whole day to and from NYC and tomorrow's busy, so I'll have to get back to the game on Monday. Until the Rose Bowl starts.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Triple Triad was so dang easy, though. That took some of the fun out of it. I preferred blitzball to triple triad. I think I prefer the hunts to blitzball, though, because the results are more immediate. The Den is kinda silly as a side-quest, if you can call it that. Only completionists will really care about it. Luckily there are enough of us completionists that it is at least worth having, to some extent.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

100 bolts would have been more doable. 200 bolts is overkill - anyone who can do 100 can do 200, it's just making you jump through ridiculous hoops. The chocobo race was ALL luck once you got the hang of it. Having to get under 0.0 seconds net time? Overkill again.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

lol Spat, that's the sort of thing I could see myself doing, and now you've got me wanting to make an account of everything still to be done on my game. I was going to not be ocd about this game. That also means I'll be looking up what sidequests (non-hunt-related) there are, since I haven't done that yet. Drat.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

So I just went for the Diabolos in the Lhusu Mines and basically got schooled. I wasn't ready for all the status effects plus taking out my guys in 2-3 hits. I had him basically down to nothing, but had to run because he still had a paling against physical attacks and I was almost out of MP in all my living characters. It's the first time I've been that close to death in a long time.

Liking the Gilgamesh stuff, though - can't wait to get to the second part of that battle. Almost forgot to pick up the Genji Gloves. =o

I was speaking idiomatically.

Second time cutting through the Diabolos wasn't nearly so bad. Didn't even have to switch out of my primary group (at the time). One big reason is that he didn't spam curse at me so often this time, so I didn't have to deal with disease.

Gilgamesh Part II, on the other hand, was a beast that took me almost an hour and a half. I had to heal so much - I hadn't really prepared myself for him, and had half my characters in even-numbered levels, which meant I slept whenever they were active. Reddas was level 50, and to make matters worse Vaan was 60 - which meant that level 3 disable and level 4 break also hit him. Enkidu raped me until I could finally get him down, then I had to lay low on the damage at times so I could get the Genji stuff stolen - and then most of it is worthless where I'm at already (though the armor's upped countering is quite nice). Here's to hoping Penelo with the Murasame makes it all worth it.

I have only the Fenrir hunt left before I head off to the Pharos.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Oh yeah, palings. I now hate those with a fiery passion. There's something wrong with getting an enemy down to almost no life, then having them put up a dual physical/magical paling and having to wait it out and survive until it dissipates. Is there any way to speed the process or end a paling?

I don't recall the gate crystal being that bad. Then again, it seems like the battles everyone else finds difficult have been pretty easy for me, whereas the ones that you all have said were cake have wiped the floor with me.

FELIPE NO

Just finished Fafnir (I always get the names Fafnir and Fenrir mixed up :P). I used the cheap way using the bottleneck in the SE, though, because I didn't feel like another 2 hour battle. Reflect on everyone, one buffer with opal ring, and a lot of thundagas later...yeah. Can't decide if I want to do the Great Behemoth now or after furthering the storyline, 'cuz I'm getting a bit tired of the hunting. Plus I probably ought to do at least an hour of hardcore leveling before I move on, because I'm still at an average of level 54.

I couldn't disagree more on the Gambits - not having to keep track of who has run out of haste/bravery/regen/whatever I want is very nice, keeping Libra on is great, having my melee guys use Telekinesis on flying guys automatically, automatically watching my HP levels is really nice, especially while money grubbing and/or leveling, when I don't want to have to think too hard about it. Of course anything short of that is still workable and possibly even effective, but Gambits just make everything easier. Autopilot for battling.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

It's already been mentioned multiple times: if you're trying to get to 80ish, Dead Bones chaining in the Nabreus Deadlands is typically the way to go.

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