[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

Omega was easy once I figured out what the trick was. (I had both of my other team members cast reverse and decoy on me, and he went down without too much trouble.) Yiazmat was just stupid the way he kept getting 10+ hit combos on me. I had to keep running away to rebuff. Reducing the damage done from 9999 to 6999 was as stupid as hell, Cyclone was stupid, the one hit kills were stupid, the massive non-stop combos were stupid; the whole thing just stunk of lame and fail.

But the stupidest thing of all was when he would cast Reflectga on my party, forcing me to use immediately turn my gambits off and use Dispelga on them. I then had to run away and rebuff, losing a character or two or even my whole party in the process. Once, I didn't realize what he had done, and I reflected a Renew onto him, fully restoring his health. Good thing I saved...

All in all, it took me 15 stages to kill him. Burn in hell, Yiazmat.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

Omega was easy once I figured out what the trick was. (I had both of my other team members cast reverse and decoy on me, and he went down without too much trouble.) Yiazmat was just stupid the way he kept getting 10+ hit combos on me. I had to keep running away to rebuff. Reducing the damage done from 9999 to 6999 was as stupid as hell, Cyclone was stupid, the one hit kills were stupid, the massive non-stop combos were stupid; the whole thing just stunk of lame and fail.

That's how I would describe those final few bars. I mean, holy shit, this clown was going bananas on my characters with OHKOs, Deathstrike and insane combos. The rest of him was actually unbelievably easy, but it's that last part of him that really sticks out.

IMO, if the whole fight was like that, he'd easily win the Most Difficult Boss award for the FFs, if only for the pure cheese that he embodies. What amazed me was how rarely he used Cyclone. Maybe if the fight had gone on longer, it would've been thrown into the mix more, but he seldom touched his special. HP critical thing is applied to all monsters, but it sucked even more so in this case since he isn't even in crit and it rises.

It was brutal though, even more so towards the end. Definitely not welcome in the final stages.

Quote:

But the stupidest thing of all was when he would cast Reflectga on my party, forcing me to use immediately turn my gambits off and use Dispelga on them. I then had to run away and rebuff, losing a character or two or even my whole party in the process. Once, I didn't realize what he had done, and I reflected a Renew onto him, fully restoring his health. Good thing I saved...

Holy shit...

I would've blown a fucking gasket at that. I only saved after I had exhausted either phoenix downs (reason why I ended stage 1, after 65% of his health was gone) or Gold Needles/Chrono's Tears (reason for ending stage 2). Stage 3, as I mentioned earlier, I was forced to leave when he went insane in the last few bars and has only 1/3 of his final bar left.

If I had Renewed him in any of those, I would've shit bricks because I'd end up having to redo the hard part again or be forced to sit through tedium once more.

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All in all, it took me 15 stages to kill him. Burn in hell, Yiazmat.

Hell it doesn't even matter how many stages you got it over with, just that the bastard's dead. BTW, I used Phoenix Downs for a long bit because Arise' animation often took too long + it saved MP which was getting kind of kind due to the constant healing+reviving+buffing.

Oh, and something Omega related: Use the Whale Whisker on him when his HP is critical and his defense rises. It was one of the few weapons outside of the Tournesol that was doing 1800-2000 points of damage to him at that point.

Edit: Just remembered that the rare game down in the Pharos Subterra (Abyssal) is a subtle nod to Vagrant Story. It's name? Vagrant Soul, a Leamonde Entite derivation (Lea Monde).

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

So the Giant Crystal and the area before that have been annoying me. I think I'm done wandering through rooms and killing the same four monsters already.

I also completed a few more hunts and am now a Riskbreaker. That's so cool. I don't even need to do any more hunts, but I probably will.

My party, at about level 45-ish, has become:
Basch with that Disable hammer, Auto-Libra, and Auto-Protect. Curagas at 30% HP.
Ashe with, I think, a Crystal Sword and Auto-Shell. Curajas at 30% HP.
Vaan with some Immobilize crossbow bolts and Auto-Haste. Curagas at 40% HP.
They've all got Raise and Esuna, and I spread out the rest of the status recoveries amongst them.

Every battle is like this:
Basch Exposes while Vaan Immobilizes.
Then Basch Disables while Vaan Steals.
Ash and everyone Attacks until edges of monster are golden brown.

I should have stuck with my plan of giving everyone a specific job.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I just ventured into Barheim Passage to hunt down the Bloodwing.
My party is in their mid-40s but I was owned by the constantly respawning Dark Bones and Spectres. Everytime I cleared out some of the Dark Bones and moved onto attacking Bloodwing again, my characters would move around and more Spectres and 'Bones would appear.
It was brutal, and in the end I died because I went up against three Dark Bones and two Spectres along with Bloodwing himself.

I lost an hour's worth of leveling up and exploring.

Most amazing jew boots

You can clear those Dark Bones and Spectres out, go and save, and come back and they won't respawn. That's what I did, and it was cake once I had Bloodwing. The only problem is that Bloodwing himself will be attacking as you're fighting off the Dark Bones, which is rather annoying.

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

Originally Posted by Matt

I just ventured into Barheim Passage to hunt down the Bloodwing.
My party is in their mid-40s but I was owned by the constantly respawning Dark Bones and Spectres. Everytime I cleared out some of the Dark Bones and moved onto attacking Bloodwing again, my characters would move around and more Spectres and 'Bones would appear.
It was brutal, and in the end I died because I went up against three Dark Bones and two Spectres along with Bloodwing himself.

I lost an hour's worth of leveling up and exploring.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that skeleton/undead type monsters often spawn based on location rather than simply idling around. That's why you can't just run willy nilly in those places (like Henne or the Subterra) or you'll get mobbed. Even if you're considerably stronger than them, the fact that they interrupt your healing spells and constantly use status effect attacks will give you a hard time.

I killed a ton of rare game last night, most of them the easy kind to lure out. Finally got my revenge on the Biding Mantis over in the Needlebrake in Golmore. My hunch was right, in that he had probably cannibalized some stray monsters and jumped up to level 99.

Lastly: Anyone ever get the concurrence Luminescence? The damn thing require 5 Rank 3 Quickenings and none of the rest. Simply getting a second 3rd one is nothing more than pure luck. Black Hole is definitely easy to reach if you've got the hang of Quickenings.

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

Hey I just finished Barheim Passage too! It was easier than expected, unless I accidentally pissed off a bomb and it called its friends over. The bloodwing was pretty easy. I shades of blacked -kuroi mahou - it until it succumed. But the battle that was MOST interesting was the Zelera: Death Seraph battle. That one was EASY PEASY. Most of his attacks are pretty weak, and even his death spells didn't do much due to my difference in levels. 5 minute timer? PFFF its just meant to scare you. I downed him not even 2 1/2 minutes. If your guys are doing 1500 per hit, then that's more than adequate. Just put your gambits as:

1) Phoenix Down
2) Esuna
3) Attack

And then heal manually. He's not going to hurt you that badly. And why is that chick on his arm sorta hawt in a gross disgusting way. Oh wait.

Anyays I keep hearing about this bad guy Hunter that Mont Blanc is so worried about, which is obviously the dude:

Morrid, or whatever that Bangaa's name is

. When does he show up?

Also, I'm going to do The Great Cockatrice Escape quest now. Is it hard?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Metal Sphere

Lastly: Anyone ever get the concurrence Luminescence? The damn thing require 5 Rank 3 Quickenings and none of the rest. Simply getting a second 3rd one is nothing more than pure luck. Black Hole is definitely easy to reach if you've got the hang of Quickenings.

I have gotten Luminescence several times, but the guide's concurrence listing is incorrect. Luminescence actually requires 3 Level 1, 3 Level 2, and 3 Level 3 quickenings. I have not gotten White Out, though, which I expect is the one that actually requires 5 Level 3 quickenings.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Spatula

Hey I just finished Barheim Passage too! It was easier than expected, unless I accidentally pissed off a bomb and it called its friends over. The bloodwing was pretty easy. I shades of blacked -kuroi mahou - it until it succumed. But the battle that was MOST interesting was the Zelera: Death Seraph battle. That one was EASY PEASY. Most of his attacks are pretty weak, and even his death spells didn't do much due to my difference in levels. 5 minute timer? PFFF its just meant to scare you. I downed him not even 2 1/2 minutes. If your guys are doing 1500 per hit, then that's more than adequate. Just put your gambits as:

1) Phoenix Down
2) Esuna
3) Attack

And then heal manually. He's not going to hurt you that badly. And why is that chick on his arm sorta hawt in a gross disgusting way. Oh wait.

LOL, Spat likes goth chicks [/mouthbreather]

Zalera was actually really easy, I don't know why people have Adrammelech as the easiest one to down, when ole Z has nothing more than Death spells to spam. Oh, and I like how there's not 1, but 2 massive cosmic powers near Rabanastre (one directly underneath) and no one realizes they're there.

Quote:

Anyays I keep hearing about this bad guy Hunter that Mont Blanc is so worried about, which is obviously the dude:

. When does he show up?

Keep completing hunts and you'll find out soon enough. I'll give you one hint though: One of the marks given to you is fake.

Quote:

Also, I'm going to do The Great Cockatrice Escape quest now. Is it hard?

The only one remotely difficult is Chit in Eruyt village. Even with instructions on where to look for the dewdrops, it took forever. The reward? A piddling Yoichi Bow, something I had since way back after beating White Mousse.

Quote:

I have gotten Luminescence several times, but the guide's concurrence listing is incorrect. Luminescence actually requires 3 Level 1, 3 Level 2, and 3 Level 3 quickenings. I have not gotten White Out, though, which I expect is the one that actually requires 5 Level 3 quickenings.

Wow, another error on the part of the guide? Looks like Luminescence is far easier to get than I thought. I've already seen White Out several times, so this definitely means I'm closer to getting Gabranth. Oh, and the graphic for Black Whole is the same as Darkja. All the Concurrences seem to match a particular summon's battle special (the ones they use before you get them).

FELIPE NO

Adrammelech was pretty tough actually. I thought the shambling coprses really made things difficult, hitting me and almost constantly downing KOing a lot of my guys. There's a nother side quest that I can't seem to complete, its the lovestruck man and the viera. The viera doesn't seem to be where she's supposed to be, even after looking at the guide, and the dude says "oh I saw another viera somewhere etc".

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

Originally Posted by Spatula

Anyays I keep hearing about this bad guy Hunter that Mont Blanc is so worried about, which is obviously the dude:

. When does he show up?

Also, I'm going to do The Great Cockatrice Escape quest now. Is it hard?

Hey Spat,
Ba'Gamnan is the head-hunters name. He's that green bangaa that tried to ambush your party back in the Lhusu mines when you first went there (he's a sworn enemy to Balthier which you know already).

Spoiler:

There's going to be a post for a level 5 creature named Belito by Montblanc. It's a fake hunt - Mongrid (the GOOD bangaa) will step out of the clan hall and be waiting for you whenever you decide to go to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. Go to the Yellow Sands and enter the Zertinan Caverns. Go northeast (up and right) and you'll come out of the Zertinan Caverns to a dead end in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea Withering Shores. Thats when the fight takes place. You'll have Mongrid with you, but he won't provide much help. You'll also be facing Ba'Gamnan and 3 of his bangaa friends, so it's probably best you have your characters at Lvl 45+ and Protected, Shelled, Hasted, Regenerated, Bravery, and Bubbled before you walk to the end.
I lost the first time because I didn't expect it, so I reset and played through the storyline. Got Reddas as a guest after I made it through the Great Crystal, so it became a 5v4 battle. Much easier.

The Great Cockatrice escape - its not that hard. You just have to go find em and retrieve them.

Spoiler:

One cockatrice is in the northern part of Rabanastre square. You need to catch him by walking up to it when it walks/runs around. This cockatrice will NOT return to Giza until you find another cockatrice, which is in Euryt Village (Fran's sister has it). Feed that cockatrice some shiny objects located throughout the village (about 10 of them) and that one will go back to Giza. Then the Rabanastre one will go after you talk to it again.
Next, teleport to the Dalmasca Estersands, where you'll find another cockatrice hiding from the small orange wolf at the South Bank. You have to get that cockatrice to see Torri - she's at the North Bank. When you get the ferry boat going you'll need to get the boy and the wolf in the ferry first, then get the cockatrice over after that. It's EZ.
There's also another cockatrice in the chocobo stable at Balfonheim Port. Talk to one of the moogles walking around, and he'll say he doesn't have enough gil to get a chocobo from Gurdy. Talk to Gurdy, and he should lend the cockatrice to the cheap moogle, in which he'll take off. A short time later, that moogle will return to Balfonheim port, saying that the chocobo (well, he thought it was one of those) just ran off on him. It returned to Giza.

The rest of the cockatrices, I'm unsure about. Might be one in Archades somewhere but haven't bothered to look. Any other questions, let me know. Happy Trails!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Spatula

Adrammelech was pretty tough actually. I thought the shambling coprses really made things difficult, hitting me and almost constantly downing KOing a lot of my guys. There's a nother side quest that I can't seem to complete, its the lovestruck man and the viera. The viera doesn't seem to be where she's supposed to be, even after looking at the guide, and the dude says "oh I saw another viera somewhere etc".

Wow, what level did you take Adrammelech on? He didn't even come close to OHKOing my characters and I was around the same level as the Mallicants just outside of his mpa. As for the Viera, you may have inadvertently spoken to her and that causes her location to change. Did you check all the spots it says to look for her?

Edit: Damn Tomahawk, spoil it will you. =/

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Oh uh, I'm sorry. Don't mean to spoil it but I'd rather have him know what to do BEFOREHAND rather than get his ass kicked by those bangaas and have to reset after that long walk through the area.

Adrammalech wasn't hard. First esper I obtained that was sidequest-based. Just pounded away at him before he had the chance to cast his most powerful attack.
The 2 espers I'm having trouble with are Chaos and Queklain. I need some anti-silence boots vs Chaos, and a ribbon would help vs Queklain.

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

Originally Posted by Tomahawk

Oh uh, I'm sorry. Don't mean to spoil it but I'd rather have him know what to do BEFOREHAND rather than get his ass kicked by those bangaas and have to reset after that long walk through the area.

Adrammalech wasn't hard. First esper I obtained that was sidequest-based. Just pounded away at him before he had the chance to cast his most powerful attack.
The 2 espers I'm having trouble with are Chaos and Queklain. I need some anti-silence boots vs Chaos, and a ribbon would help vs Queklain.

He could find that out by going to a mark hunting guide, many of which don't even tell you who it is until after the directions are given. A simple rephrasing of a few lines and you'll be good to go, but it's too late now anyway.

Neither is even that hard, though I'd give the nod to Cuchulainn in terms of being able to hand you your ass if you're not careful. Chaos' battle is slow because magic in this game is extraordinarily weak and slow, and Aeroja will hit you hard and confuse you if you're not prepared for it.

Ole Cuchulainn has that nasty field effect, and disabling capabilities that'll screw you over if let him. Neither is all that hard, but make sure you defeat their companions first. Throw on Confuse immune items (Bowline-sash) when Chaos readying Aeroja, and Disable immune items (Blackbelt, IIRC) to prevent being disabled by Cuchulainn. I never got to see him use his special, and I forgot what attack disables you. I believe it's Pulsar Wave.

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

Originally Posted by Metal Sphere

Neither is even that hard, though I'd give the nod to Cuchulainn in terms of being able to hand you your ass if you're not careful. Chaos' battle is slow because magic in this game is extraordinarily weak and slow, and Aeroja will hit you hard and confuse you if you're not prepared for it.

Ole Cuchulainn has that nasty field effect, and disabling capabilities that'll screw you over if let him. Neither is all that hard, but make sure you defeat their companions first. Throw on Confuse immune items (Bowline-sash) when Chaos readying Aeroja, and Disable immune items (Blackbelt, IIRC) to prevent being disabled by Cuchulainn. I never got to see him use his special, and I forgot what attack disables you. I believe it's Pulsar Wave.

Ya, about Chaos - I probably won't fight him until I get my hands on Flare, Scourge and Scathe spells (non-elemental damage). I think I read somewhere that Chaos is vulnerable to only one element, but it changes periodically? Well, to add to the harsh battle, I want to begin the fight by stealing a few Feystones from the elementals surrounding him before I attack them. I could use those Feystones to trade in for High Arcana.

Oh, and Metal, Cuchulainn is the esper located in the

Spoiler:

Garamsmythe Waterway, right? Thought its name was Queklain... the one where you light the 2 middle stones and proceed down directly south of the waterway control suite.

Sounds like we're talking the same esper - just clear it up for me.

Last thing, is your PS2 screwed up? You mentioned it before, that it croaked. Tell me the details of its error and I could help you out. If its having trouble reading your discs I can offer you the step-to-step solution in fixing it yourself.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Tomahawk:

Spoiler:

Please use these tags [ spoil ] [ /spoil ] with the spaces removed if you're going to discuss not only plot/story elements but also gameplay specifics. Minor aspects are usually okay to just be floated freely out there, but things like optional bosses, how you fought them, where they're located, some people would like to discover those things for themselves and still be able to venture into this thread.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Tomahawk

Ya, about Chaos - I probably won't fight him until I get my hands on Flare, Scourge and Scathe spells (non-elemental damage). I think I read somewhere that Chaos is vulnerable to only one element, but it changes periodically?[/b] Well, to add to the harsh battle, I want to begin the fight by stealing a few Feystones from the elementals surrounding him before I attack them. I could use those Feystones to trade in for High Arcana.

Before you start stealing, make sure you kill off the Chaosjets by hitting them with the opposite element. Fire > Water, Lightning > Ice, Earth > Wind. Then steal away and beat him down. It's still slow, no matter how you slice it.

Quote:

Oh, and Metal, Cuchulainn is the esper located in the Garamsmythe Waterway, right? Thought its name was Queklain... the one where you light the 2 middle stones and proceed down directly south of the waterway control suite. Sounds like we're talking the same esper - just clear it up for me.

Yeah, The Impure? That's Cuchulainn, though he was known as Queklain in FFT. Yup, open both on each side and find the switches on both sides, then close the two in the middle and follow that until you get to that large square area. Bam-bam-boom and the fight begins.

Quote:

Last thing, is your PS2 screwed up? You mentioned it before, that it croaked. Tell me the details of its error and I could help you out. If its having trouble reading your discs I can offer you the step-to-step solution in fixing it yourself.

Oh, I managed to find a great website that told me how disassemble, clean and fix the problem I had. Of course, this is a temporary fix since it's old and will probably crap out completely one of these days. Thanks for the offer though.

FELIPE NO

OK no problem. My friend had a problem with the laser reads. Found out how to do it, except that in the process of cleaning the laser, the DAMN LASER RIBBON FELL OUT! It's that little orange strip that attaches from the back of the hard drive to the laser itself. Gawd, I've had the thing for a month now and I don't have the mini-equipment to fit the strip back into place.

This PS2 brand of his, it's an old one. Probably the first brand of PS2s that came out, and that orange ribbon has to be TWISTED before connecting at both ports. If this piece ever falls out of place on your PS2, may God help you in finding a way to put it back in. Don't EVER lift the PS2 hard drive up to look under it, or some strips will fall out and you'll have to dismantle it further to have a chance of putting them back in.

Anyway, ok, looks like Dr. Uzuki sent me a complaint as well, so I'll edit my posts. Sorry about it, I'm still a newbie to this forum.

Spoiler:

Yay, I just spoiled myself LOL

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

Ah, well, it's not the hugest deal in the world, particularly given the age and length of the thread. But it is what passes for kosher everywhere else around here as well, so it can only help you to learn now. Thanks for tagging your post.

On topic, I got burned out on this game about a month ago. When it got to the point where I wasn't bothering to explore new areas and just making a beeline to the capital, I knew it was time to take a break. I guess that later midgame lull is just as real as everyone complains about it to be. Probably will pick this back up after I'm done fiddling around with my replay of Phantasy Star 4.

Most amazing jew boots

I'd like to learn the mug/poach skill. When and how do I get this skill? I hate having to gambit steal then manually attack each time. That fat Cuchulainn looks the most creepy, while Zalera Death dude looks more ominous foreboding presence. I learned that you could cast very high level (Scathe, and all sorts of high level BLACK magic) using Shades of Black, even if you haven't learned it nor have the scroll from the magic shop. Also, I have access to all the Grimoire books, except the $250,000 urn potty thing. =/

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Spatula

I'd like to learn the mug/poach skill. When and how do I get this skill? I hate having to gambit steal then manually attack each time. That fat Cuchulainn looks the most creepy, while Zalera Death dude looks more ominous foreboding presence. I learned that you could cast very high level (Scathe, and all sorts of high level BLACK magic) using Shades of Black, even if you haven't learned it nor have the scroll from the magic shop. Also, I have access to all the Grimoire books, except the $250,000 urn potty thing. =/

Nalbina, it's actually available very early in the game. Check the Technick vendor there and it's available for 7k.

Heh, if you think Cuchulainn looks creepy, you're going to enjoy Blight (his special) once you get him. Zalera is very weak depite his menacing appearance, and if you read his info after picking him up you'll know why he has that chick there. I don't remember seeing the rest of her body, but he is "holding" her.

The urn? When it shows up, after you've traded in the loot from the Trickster, Gil Snapper and one other hunt, it appears as Foreboding Urn or something like that. The item itself is the Canopic Jar, and it makes enemies drop Arcanas for more often than normal. It literally becomes the pebble item from that point on (though you still get that useless crap).

Most amazing jew boots

Ya, that mid-game lull is worth complaining about.
In FFX, it didn't take excessive hours to obtain the Celestial Weapons. You just needed to find the weapon itself and the crest somewhere in Spira. The sigils were obtained by a variety of mini games (dodging bolts, blitzball, chocobo racing, etc.). Blitzball is by far the best side-game made in any FF in my opinion - I'm a sports-stats freak, so thats probably the cause.

FFXII is just way too long to endure sometimes. My stats:
140+ hours played
Vaan = Lvl 63 (Save the Queen, Defender)
Balthier = Lvl 59 (Fomalhaut + Silent Shot)
Fran = Lvl 59 (Perseus Bow + Ice Arrows)
Basch = Lvl 52 (Holy Lance, Gungnir, Golden Axe)
Ashe = Lvl 48 (Deathbringer)
Penelo = Lvl 52 (Deathbringer)

I just can't believe how hard and irritating it is to acquire the rare loot needed to unlock the better weapons.

Spoiler:

It took me about 3 hours last night to re-acquire 2 Broken Spears from skull warriors in the Tomb of Raithwall in order to get the Gungnir. It took me about another 2 hours today to get 3 Beastlord Horns for the Sagittarius Bow. I also beat Exodus, and now only ONE ash wyrm spawns at his place on the Empyrean Seat - need to get 3 moon rings from that damn thing

Oh yeah, I'm only at the 2nd Ascent to the Pharaos Lighthouse, so there's no chance I'll be able to complete the game with advanced weapons in under 200 hours. Obtaining rare loot on a 1/100 random chance from creature drops is... like I said ... so irritating. Thiefs Cuffs is only good in the beginning when you need to sell good loot for extra gil. Mid to late game, they're useless.

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

Originally Posted by Tomahawk

Ya, that mid-game lull is worth complaining about.
In FFX, it didn't take excessive hours to obtain the Celestial Weapons. You just needed to find the weapon itself and the crest somewhere in Spira. The sigils were obtained by a variety of mini games (dodging bolts, blitzball, chocobo racing, etc.). Blitzball is by far the best side-game made in any FF in my opinion - I'm a sports-stats freak, so thats probably the cause.

FFXII is just way too long to endure sometimes. My stats:
140+ hours played
Vaan = Lvl 63 (Save the Queen, Defender)
Balthier = Lvl 59 (Fomalhaut + Silent Shot)
Fran = Lvl 59 (Perseus Bow + Ice Arrows)
Basch = Lvl 52 (Holy Lance, Gungnir, Golden Axe)
Ashe = Lvl 48 (Deathbringer)
Penelo = Lvl 52 (Deathbringer)

I just can't believe how hard and irritating it is to acquire the rare loot needed to unlock the better weapons.

Spoiler:

It took me about 3 hours last night to re-acquire 2 Broken Spears from skull warriors in the Tomb of Raithwall in order to get the Gungnir. It took me about another 2 hours today to get 3 Beastlord Horns for the Sagittarius Bow. I also beat Exodus, and now only ONE ash wyrm spawns at his place on the Empyrean Seat - need to get 3 moon rings from that damn thing

Oh yeah, I'm only at the 2nd Ascent to the Pharaos Lighthouse, so there's no chance I'll be able to complete the game with advanced weapons in under 200 hours. Obtaining rare loot on a 1/100 random chance from creature drops is... like I said ... so irritating. Thiefs Cuffs is only good in the beginning when you need to sell good loot for extra gil. Mid to late game, they're useless.

You can steal Beastlord Horn from:

- Fenrir, while ascending the Pharos
- Humbaba Mistant, in the Necrohol
- Catoblepas, a Rank VI/VII mark

There's your 3. For the Moon Rings, you'll need to go to the Upper Layer of the Grand Crystal in Giruvegan and kill the Ash Wyrms there. They drop Moon Rings fairly often. Sagittarius Gems can be had from Oiling/Hecteye drops or stolen from Foobars in the Deadlands. I prefer the latter, as it's faster due to the Thief's Cuffs. Those things don't get useless, ever, as that's the preferred way to get items (if they can be stolen). You could simply zone one screen and come back and try again rather than zoning twice to force a respawn.

At 260 hours, here's my team:

Vaan = Lvl 99 (Excalibur, Durandal+Z. Escutcheon)
Balthier = Lvl 99 (Tournesol, Fomalhaut+Windslicer/Dark Shot)
Fran = Lvl 99 (Masamune)
Basch = Lvl 99 (Whale Whisker+Jade Collar/Battle Harness, Golden Axe+Venetian Shield)
Ashe = Lvl 99 (Gastrophetes+Grand Bolts)
Penelo = Lvl 99 (Sagittarius+Assassin's Arrows+Cat-Ear Hood, Durandal+Z. Escutcheon)

The game simply has a lot of content. The most important thing to remember is to take your time.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I don't think Zelera is holding the chick, the chick top torso up to her breasts are part of Zelera's right arm, which makes it even more creepy. I think that's more creepy than FFX Amina and his overdrive (the undead underbelly, or FFVIII Ultimecias' true form underside). I guess power just makes people ugly.

With the canopic jar, so I hope not all my loot becomes basically Arcanas and I only sell them for like 10 gil. That's useless. I'd rather have a ton of assortment stuff to sell.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Spatula

I don't think Zelera is holding the chick, the chick top torso up to her breasts are part of Zelera's right arm, which makes it even more creepy. I think that's more creepy than FFX Amina and his overdrive (the undead underbelly, or FFVIII Ultimecias' true form underside). I guess power just makes people ugly.

Oh? I never summoned him enough to notice. Now that you described it, that's even creepier. Well, yeah, his info explains why she's there. Now, about Ultimecia, do you mean that final shit that she was dangling from (she fused with Greiver?) right?

I agree that all of those follow the "power corrupts" theme that is very strong in FFXII.

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With the canopic jar, so I hope not all my loot becomes basically Arcanas and I only sell them for like 10 gil. That's useless. I'd rather have a ton of assortment stuff to sell.

No, you still get the other loot. It's just that you also get Arcanae on top of that, so you can make items that require them.

FELIPE NO