Let's Play? FFT (PSP)!

[eclipse]

With blessings (?) from Grandjackal, I'll be doing a FFT run (a sorry attempt at efficiency), but this will be on my trusty PSP. Here's the differences:

Pros:

- Two new characters

- One comes with one-of-a-kind items

Cons:

- UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENES

- Some of the job level requirements (if not all) have been changed to the Japanese PSX version

It's not much, but it's enough to warrant its own run. So, without further ado. . .

BEFORE THE STORY BEGINS

Ramza becomes Ramza, and is a Capricorn, for the sake of damage output. In the intro battle. . .I have Focus? SWEET! I proceed to use that once, and that's enough to nearly OHKO the archers. Rad decides to help by casting Fire. The battle ends like how most battles featuring random scrubs vs. three story-important characters usually ends. NEXT!

Battle 1: I am just starting and what is this?!

My generics are. . .whoa. . .

- Some dude with more Brave than Ramza

- A chick whose sign is Cancer, with a ton of Faith

- A Chemist who's ready to level

- Some guy named Bruno

Three of the four will be ditched as time goes on. For now, team set! With that, I run off~!

Seems like only one person knows how to throw rocks, and that's the chick. On the upside, I seem to have a lot of fast units. I let the enemy come to me, then beat them up. They fall fairly quickly, but one manages to crystallize, no thanks to the super-chicken enemy Chemist. One of my guys now knows the very-hard-to-get Antidote. Whee me. All in all, fairly quick, even if I wasn't in a good position to attack most of the time.

Battle 2: Can we change the future by killing the dude with the bad hair?

What do you mean, NO?! ARGH!

Turned the chick into a Chemist, turned my previous Chemist into a Squire, and made Delita useful by turning him into a Chemist. It seems that one of my other Squires came with Phoenix Down~! JOY!! Ramza had just enough JP to learn JP Up, so I add that to his arsenal post haste. He'll get Yell and Move + 1 before transitioning to Chemist. I need as many people as possible to learn JP Up as fast as possible, or I'm gonna have problems in the future. Stocked up on Potions for the next battle. I'm gonna need a steady supply of them.

Everyone moved towards the middle, as planned. I used some Stupid Shoving Techniques to force an enemy to move, so I could always get a shot as his flank. The thief dodged a 75% chance to end the map, so it took an extra round for me to finish.

My entire team is at level 2-ish, and everyone that's not Ramza knows how to throw rocks. Everyone that matters knows how to use Phoenix Downs. I'm so not looking forward to the next battle.

Battle 3: Monsters hate Algus' hair

Went nuts with Potions and Phoenix Downs. . .then remembered that I forgot to buy armor in Eagross. I'll need to backtrack for that, if I want to survive the Dorter battle. Algus went Chemist, to be useful.

I had to KO the bombs quickly, or they'd explode, which sucks. I picked off what I could, though things took a bit longer than they should've because the monsters chased after Algus, who went and ran to the other end of the map. Ramza was also incompatible with most of the map, which made things even slower. I managed to win with my lady Chemist shanking things left and right. When Delita and Algus are focused on keeping me alive, it becomes so much easier!

I'm breaking for the night. I want to attempt Dorter when I'm not exhausted.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[Radiant Dragon]

Wait, you can skip cutscenes in the PS1 version? I never knew that... Regardless, I'll be following this.

[eclipse]

If I could skip the cutscenes, I would. If there's a way to skip the cutscenes, I'm not seeing it.

[Radiant Dragon]

Ah. Then why did you list unskippable cutscenes as a difference between the two versions?

[eclipse]

Animated, unskippable cutscenes. Pretty sure they weren't in the original one.

[Original Alear]

Animated, unskippable cutscenes. Pretty sure they weren't in the original one.

They were not.

[Radiant Dragon]

Oh, you were talking about those.

[eclipse]

Yep. When those scenes appear, I put the PSP down and do something more productive.

Battle 4 - Why is Ramza hitting like a little kid?

Reclassed two male generics to Knights, and my female Chemist to Wizard. They'll need it.

This mission usually involves things like stupid magic all over the place and dodgy enemies. Instead, it involved my Wizard dealing massive damage with Thunder, while one of my knights walked up to the other mage and OHKO'd the dude while he was casting. The lone Knight fell pretty quickly to Thunder and stabbing, while the two far archers decided to come down their high horse and. . .yeah, it was bad for them.

The lone archer at the top took the longest, because Ramza did a whopping 12 damage to him. I murdered Algus and Delita on the way, for more experience, then eventually got a Knight to bash his face in.

Ramza had enough JP to learn Move + 1, so I can reclass him to Chemist for Auto-Potion. My two Knights will remain that way, Algus will go Squire so he can die, and my Wizard will have a field day.

Battle 5 - Wizard time~!

Kept Ramza as a Squire for one more battle, because I needed him to get himself across the map. Reclassed Algus to Squire for bait reasons.

My Wizard 2HKO'd everything that wasn't the Archer. Everyone else mopped up after her. This battle was refreshingly easy. The next few battles won't be. AAAHHH!!!!

Edited July 22, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

This time, something more substantial for an update.

Skirmish 1 - Over the river and through the woods, to continue the story at Eagross

The two things in hats went down very quickly to Blizzard. The two bombs were smacked around with Knights. Ramza went Chemist and Yelled at everyone. The End.

Battle 6 - No you stupid lady, get back here (part 1)

Said stupid lady decided she liked running away better than fighting. Delita went on item duty, while my two knights and wizard chased her down. Ramza used himself as bait, while Yelling at my Thunder machine. By the time I was done, the only enemy alive on the map was a Thief, at critical health (that's what you get for aiming stupid Rod puns at my lady Thunder Wonder). Algus got himself killed nicely, and Delita did a wonderful job handing out items.

Skirmish 2 - Seems I have company

On my way back to Eagross (again), I got hit with two Goblins and three Chocobos in Mandalia Plains. Let it be known that Chocobos are the bane of efficient runs. I had to wait a turn for one of them to come back from across the map, so I could fry him. Everything else didn't stand a chance.

After that madness, Ramza and my mage are at level 5, and my two knights are at level 4. I have a generic level 3 physical unit in the wings, to fill in whenever I can't use a story character. Once I get Mustadio, I drop him for good.

Battle 7 - A shining example of how the RNG can screw with efficiency

A 90% Blizzara missed, and that made the map twice as long as it should've been. I also lost one of my knights. The only reason why I kept this run was because my Wizard learned Cure, Protect, Shell, Haste, Fira, and Poison off a crystal. . .and my dead knight replenished her MP, so she could freeze the boss into oblivion.

Ramza got enough JP for Auto-Potion. Time to make this hurt.

Battle 8 - One round for all

Reclassed Ramza to Wizard, and had him learn the usual three spells. He got a spare Thunder Rod. Reclassed female Wizard to Time Mage

One Thunder from Ramza + one Blizzara from my Time Mage = map over. Everyone got exactly one turn in It was glorious.

Battle 9 - Ramza sparkles in sunlight. And snow.

Reclassed Delita to Knight, so he'd draw fire for as long as possible.

Algus is an ass, and will always target Delita. I took advantage of this, and had him draw fire, while Ramza cast weather-assisted Blizzards in Algus' direction. My other generic knight and Ms. Pointy Hat went after their evil twins. Ramza kinda put a stop to that fight before it went anywhere (2 Blizzards and a smack from a random generic put a stop to that fight).

LEVELS AT THE END OF PART 1:

Generic time mage: 7

Ramza the wizard: 6

Generic knight: 5

Generic soldier: 4

Part 2 begins! WHEE!

I re-evaluated everyone, then decided that Alicia would temporarily replace the generic soldier. I gave my two guests generic equipment, and gave the good stuff to my guys. Onward!

Battle 10 - Why is Dorter home to stupid battles?

My two Knights acted as sponges for damage, while Ramza and the Time Mage did as much mayhem as they could. With stuff flying all over the place, it eventually became a contest between my two knights and guests versus an archer. I won before my Time Mage decomposed.

Battle 11 - Self-improvement

Reclassed Ramza to Squire for JP. Reclassed both Knights to Archers.

One Haste was enough to get my team going. Goblins fell either to arrows or Blizzard. Ramza Yelled at random people. This was a very, VERY easy map, and there's not much to say about it otherwise.

Battle 12 - Hooray for scripted defections!

Reclassed Ramza back to Wizard, once he learned Cheer. I will be abusing this tech like no tomorrow.

My archers were able to take slight advantage of the terrain, and my Time Mage went nuts with the usual spells. Ramza Cheered himself up quite a bit. Here's what I'm aiming for:

- Ramza at 97 Brave before the chapter ends

- Time Mage being reclassed to Summoner after learning Short Charge (which is far more beneficial than Half MP)

- My two physical units giving Ramza enough passive JP to unlock Monk and Thief

Levels so far:

Ramza = Time Mage = 8

Alicia = 9

Generic dude = 6

Battle 13 - In which Mustadio survives

Ramza is now a Time Mage. If I can get him to learn Short Charge before Lionel Castle, that would be totally peachy. For all intents and purposes, he is a melee Time Mage whose job is to raise his own Brave. Wrap your head around that for a bit.

If you position everyone away from Ramza, the mages will aim for them, rather than Mustard-head. This means that Mustadio can do useful things like shoot people. My generic Time Mage went on a Blizzara spree, while my Archers returned fire over the walls. Ramza beat an enemy archer to death with a staff. All in all, awesome.

Battle 14 - Balias AAAAHHH!!!!!

I had to do this one quickly, because Ramza's Auto-Potion didn't kick in often enough. In the end, the only thing left standing was Alicia at low health. I got my Blizzaras and whatnot in, and everyone survived in the end, so yay?

Battle 15 - Who put this stupid plant in the swamp?!

I seem to have a Black Chocobo in my party. I brought it along, because if I can get it to gain some levels, I can drastically alter my strategy for Lionel Castle.

Haste first, kill stuff later. Those monsters are horridly weak to Fire, and the lone Malboro went down in a heartbeat to Blizzard. Mustadio sniped, Ramza made himself feel better, and all was right with the world.

Battle 16 - I know it's supposed to be scary, but I have more reach than you

Reclassed Alicia to Chemist, and gave her Mustadio's gun. Ditched Guts for Black Magic.

Between two Thunder producers, an arrow dude, a Choco Ball, and a gunner, the opposition didn't stand a chance. First, hit the thieves before they can get in range to do damage. Then, hit the summoners, so that they'll tie themselves up with Moogle, rather than you. Save the archers for last, as they don't do that much damage, and they can't multi-target.

This is a strange instance where you want speed over power in your mages. . .but White Mage's power nerf is a tad too much. Time Mages have it right, and as a bonus, you can smack stuff with a staff when you're out of MP.

Now, about Mustadio. . .he will be essential for the rest of this chapter, and will continue to be useful until Chapter 4, where he will be replaced by someone who does his job and far more. Leg Shot keeps pesky things from running away, and Arm Shot is my only hope of completing Chapter 3 with minimal headache. I'll continue this log in the next post.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

New day, new post.

Battle 17 - This still isn't a fair fight

Ramza Cheered himself on, while his lackeys and Agrias mopped up. She totally didn't need my help.

Battle 18 - I love height agnostic things!

Ramza and my magic lady were busy blasting things to oblivion. Mustadio hit Gafgarion and the two enemy Time Mages with Disable, then managed one more lucky Disable on an approaching bulky dude. Agrias managed to Stop Gafgarion, which spelled his doom. Alicia the Chemist outranged the enemies. Despite all that, it was a very close battle (everyone that wasn't Agrias was at critical health at the end).

My Time Mage learned Short Charge, and will now be running around as a Summoner. Ramza's pretty close to learning that, as well. I need to do the "skip Lionel" trick to get some shopping done, then I will see if I'm ready for Lionel Castle.

Levels so far:

Ramza: 11

Mage lady: 12

Alicia = Mustadio = Agrias = 13

Skirmish 3 - Not this place again!

Had to go all the way to Eagross to get that bow I missed earlier.

This time, a wild Monk appeared. I ran everyone over ASAP. Ramza's almost at Short Charge. A little more, sir!!!

Skirmish 4 - What is up with me and these forests?!

The enemies were fairly numerous and all over the place, so I used the time to have Ramza Cheer himself all the way to Short Charge. Everyone else nuked.

Skirmish 5 - I'm ready for Lionel Cast--AAAAAHHH!!!

Got hit with this one right after Araguay Woods. I'm allowed to scream.

Reclassed Ramza to Black Mage. I was on top of the falls. The enemy was on the bottom. They died as they tried to climb up to me. Tee-hee~!

Skirmish 6 - NO

I think a lone Chocobo got close enough to do damage to me. How irritating.

Battle 19a - The Black Chocobo Map

Reclassed my Summoner to Time Mage. I need Haste more than summons.

The goal of this map was to get my Black Chocobo to Ramza, so that he could hop on and leave Gaffy behind the gate. I managed that (somehow), while the rest of my team handed out Disables/spammed Stasis Sword/handed out Thundaras. Ramza escaped with the chocobo by the skin of his teeth. I took a couple turns to heal up, then cast Haste on Ramza (while still astride the chocobo), so that he could fly over the wall again, trip the gate, then run away before Gafgarion could do anything. Once Gafgarion got in range, I had Mustadio use Leg Shot, then outranged the old man to death.

Battle 19b - Intermission

You run around as an overleveled Delita and kill stuff. If you lose, turn in your gamer hat forever.

Battle 19c - Calling you fat is a compliment

I had previously bought a bunch of things that negated the stupid little countdown, so Ugly decided to Bioga me instead. This gave me one turn to scatter. Ramza and my other mage went nuts with magic, Agrias did what she does best, Mustadio kept the boss from moving, and my Chemist shot him. He went down after 1.6 rounds (one round of pain from everyone, plus Time Mage, Mustadio, and Chemist).

Level check (end of chapter 2):

Ramza = Alicia = 14

Generic mage = 15

Agrias = Mustadio = 16

Skirmish 7 - Under Fire in the Desert

More like Thundara, but whatever. Stuff died quickly, and that's all that mattered.

Battle 20 - Training, but funnier

Ramza and the generic lady went Summoner. Mustadio became a Chemist, and Agrias became a Knight. Time to do this.

The point of this map is to smack enemies while they're bound. Problem was, Orran kept missing half the enemies. It didn't matter, because Thief Dodge doesn't work against Summons, Agrias, and guns (basically, everyone in my party). Free JP, check!

Battle 21 - I like you better when you're casting

Kept Alicia back at base.

Everyone wailed on the boss. Any other enemy deaths were collateral. It's not a bad idea to KO a random enemy, because the boss will attempt to revive him/her, and will be stuck casting for a long time. This is a good thing for you.

Before running towards Orbonne, I go down to Goug to buy some better guns. I also leave my generic summoner and two other people at the bar, in the hopes that they'll gain some JP. In the process. . .

Skirmish 8 - Araguay Forest hates me

My Summoner is being temporarily replaced by a Red Chocobo.

Goblins and their ilk are no match for my team at this point.

Skirmish 9 - Oh no, Balias Hill! Wait, it's Chapter 3!

Reclassed Agrias to Chemist, in the hopes that she'll gain enough JP to get Auto-Potion (Maintenance is gravy).

So I got three Chocobos, two Bombs, and a slow-moving target instead of the usual mess I get in Chapter 4. One Chocobo reached me. The rest were sniped to death.

Somehow got out of Goug, and picked up my units. Time to go to Orbonne! WAIT!!

Skirmish 10 - Desert Hunting

With my shiny new guns, only the lone bird made it anywhere near me.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

New day, new post.

Battle 22a - Thank goodness for incompatibility

Arrows are more useful than guns on this map, but I didn't feel like reclassing anyone.

The Dragoons were slaughtered as they came up the stairs, because my generic female mage hits hard like that. Once that threat was gone, I rushed downstairs to deliver justice to the two Time Mages and the Chemist who spent all his time unsuccessfully casting Raise on a very incompatible Dragoon (36% hit rate).

Battle 22b - I'm sure some books were damaged in the making of this game

Agrias learned Auto-Potion, so I reclassed her to Knight so she can wield Swords permanently.

How to beat this map in three easy steps:

1. Give everyone more range than the enemies (summons and guns are sufficient).

2. Wait for boss to mosey into range.

3. Open fire.

Battle 22c - Run like the chicken you are

It did not matter that Wiegraf's opening shot wiped out my backup Chemist and Ramza. Mustadio turned him into target practice, Agrias hit him with techs, and my living Summoner unleased Ramuh on him. I was able to end the map before Ramza turned into a crystal.

Levels after this excursion:

Alicia - 17

Ramza = mage chick = 18

Agrias - 19

Mustadio - 20

Exclusive Battle 1 - Screw efficiency, I want items!

Reclassed Ramza to Squire, and gave him a little bit of White Magic.

The goal of this map was to keep Luso alive, and have him kill as many enemies as possible. Behemoth Kings and Dark Behemoths are super-de-duper rare, and Luso's Squire job gives him the innate Poach ability. Therefore, I had to get the Behemoths down to near-critical health so that Luso would smack them FTW. I got really lucky, and now have the Stoneshooter and Artemis Bow at my disposal. The Stoneshooter hits like a tank, but the user starts off petrified. I might get it, enable Re-equip, and have a certain someone go nuts with it (by doing it this way, you bypass the petrification).

I'm getting the Artemis Bow, because it hits really hard. Luso needs to go Archer for a bit, anyway.

Now, about Luso. . .he will be Alicia's permanent replacement. Luso comes in at level 25, and has all of Ramza's Squire abilities, combined with innate Poaching. He also has the JP necessary to learn JP Up off the bat, which means grinding should be far less painful. He's kinda slow, so I want to feed him as many Thief/Ninja levels as possible. Here goes!

Battle 23 - Go Artemis Bow!

Reclassed Agrias to Monk (with Equip Swords), Ramza to Summoner, and Luso to Archer.

The enemies decided to huddle together, so I had Ramza and the other summoner use Ramuh on the group, which did something like 300 damage per unit when all was said and done. The remainder went down to whatever was handy.

Battle 24 - A corral shootout that didn't involve too many guns

Why do the enemy summoners take, like, no damage from most of my team? ARGH!

Fortunately, the Ninjas took plenty of damage, so I didn't have to worry about them. Ramza with White Robe tanked the summons, then proceeded to Cheer on Luso, who shot their faces in with his pixie bow. It took a touch longer than I thought it would but I didn't expect my own summons to do 45 damage. >_>

The intermission battle doesn't deserve its own write-up.

Battle 25 - I see too many dead people

The enemy non-monsters didn't take much damage from my Summoner duo, but they couldn't do squat against Agrias and Luso. Mustadio took something along the order of a Ghost, a Firaga, and a Fira before he went down. I need to restock before heading to Riovanes Castle. Levels before heading in:

Ramza = mage chick = 20

Agrias = Mustadio = 21

Luso - 27

Edited July 25, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

Same deal as last time.

Battle 26a - Floating treasure chests, woohoo

Who cares about height when you can summon? Agrias hit Stop on the rightmost Knight, which meant that Ramza could climb the tower in peace. Mustadio hit Disable on the leftmost Knight, which allowed Luso to walk up the tower and basically shoot the archers in the face. By the time Disable wore off, everyone was on the roof, sniping at that lone Knight.

Battle 26b - This would've been less stupid if I was a Pisces

Seeing as Wiegraf did way more damage than Auto-Potion would heal (168 melee), I decided to reclass Ramza to Squire and use the good ol' Tailwind/Focus strategy to knock him into oblivion. To give you an idea of how stupid this is, Ramza went from level 22 to 27 in this battle. If I had a sign with bad compatibility, I might be able to get away with being a mage (basically Tailwind up, and throw rocks until Wiegraf's health is down enough to attempt a OHKO).

Battle 26c - Super Ramza to the rescue!

With something on the order of 25 Speed and 35 PA, what do you think happened?

Battle 26d - I used up all my Luck for the rest of the game

Reclassed Luso and Mustadio to themselves.

I couldn't disable Rafa, but she was kind enough to run away. She was hit by a subdual art, then smacked with swords, and about to be hit with Ultima (which would've been fatal). Luso couldn't reach her, so he smacked the chick closest to him, and put her to sleep. Agrias then showed her who was Queen B around these parts. Battle over before Rafa died. Didn't learn Ultima, but I'll have another shot at it later.

With that over, I am very close to getting the second exclusive. Luso was overpowered; this other guy is The Cid Before Cid.

Skirmish 11 - Almost the easiest thing ever

Four floaty ghost thingies. Which don't like Ifrit. NEXT!

Skirmish 12 - WTF?!

One Bomb two squares away from my Summoner. Three Grenades and two Ahmarins really close to each other. I have two Summoners with Ramuh. What do you think happened?

Battle 27 - WHOOPS

Mistook this for another battle, and left Mustadio behind for a Black Chocobo. Still wiped out the enemies fast. Ramza couldn't do much damage to the archer, but Agrias sure did!

Fairy's an odd summon. Ramza summoned it, and it healed Luso for 45 and Agrias for 158. Go figure.

Edited July 26, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

Yet another day's post. This one won't be too long (I hope).

Skirmish 13 - Intentional

Reclassed Luso to Chemist for this battle only.

Agrias was 6 JP short of Maintenance, and Luso was short something like 80, so I figured a single random battle would be enough enough for both. One shoot-out with Ahmarins and Grenades later, and my entire party can Maintain itself. This is necessary, because the next map sucks like that.

Battle 28 - Maintenance

Equipped everyone with Maintenance, then proceeded to go to town on the enemies. Meliadoul decided to smack everyone up close and personal. Not too many people were scratching her. . .except for Ramza and his rage-induced Blizzara. Luso would've done a hell of a lot, if he could hit her. Two Blizzaras and some assorted other stuffs later, and the map was over.

Skirmish 13 - This had the potential to be annoying

When you're on the bottom of a hill, and you see an Archer, two Yellow Chocobos, two birds of no importance, and some bull thingy staring at you, it could be bad. . .or it could be that you gave Agrias all the Speed you could muster, so she ran around using various Holy Sword techniques on the unsuspecting enemies, so you didn't have to waste too much time with these scrubs.

Skirmish 14, 15, 16 - Stupid desert

Reclassed Luso to Thief.

All three get lumped into this, because they were all fairly standard (and because I kinda made a mistake triggering a battle, so wound up getting one extra desert battle because of it). Whatever wasn't in range died to summons, guns, Holy Sword, and Shank!Luso. Luso + Green Beret = death on wheels.

Exclusive Battle 2 - NOW I break the game

Reclassed Ramza to Wizard.

Ramza in Wizard form can't take hits. That's okay, because Agrias can resurrect him with 100% accuracy. Balthier did most of the work, with Luso turning himself into a target to draw everyone together for a nice Ramuh summon, courtesy of my generic mage. I'm gonna miss her once I get the final character for my team.

Balthier is permanently replacing Mustadio. He's level 35 (with Ramza being next-highest at level 31), comes with awesome gear, all the techs Mustadio had AND a set of thieving techs, a full-support Monk set, and the rest of Chapter 4 to abuse it on. Expect greatness out of him.

Edited July 27, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[Original Alear]

Battle 4 - Why is Ramza hitting like a little kid?

He never had a mummy who raised him, right?

[eclipse]

Ramza has is hard enough without the "your mom" jokes.

Skirmish 17 - Where was I?

Oh, right, headed back to the story.

Balthier is absolutely insane. He's taking potshots at the enemies, and there's nothing they can do about it. At neutral, he's doing 144 damage with Ras Algethi. Everyone else. . .Luso went on Cheer duty, Agrias killed stuff via sword-wielding monk Holy Sword, and my two magical users laughed at the height difference.

Battle 29 - I didn't know fish in a barrel had feathers

Everyone who wasn't a Sky Pirate got in 2-3 turns. Balthier got in 5. The chocobos that challenged me (a bunch of yellow and one red) went down in amazing time.

Battle 30 - In which my guest was bored

1. Deploy a Black Chocobo.

2. Have Balthier ride on the chocobo.

3. Position oneself carefully on the roof.

4. Shoot the boss twice.

Everyone else scraped together a few JP.

Battle 30 - I brought a knife to a gun fight

. . .so Luso could continue to use Cheer.

Otherwise, Balthier shoots twice, and my magic users each get a shot in. Had to revive my Summoner after the Glacial Gun went nuts on her (yay Agrias).

Edited July 28, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[Radiant Dragon]

Are you going to get Beowolf, Reis, etc. eventually, or just skip them?

[Original Alear]

Ramza has is hard enough without the "your mom" jokes.

When you think about it, he really doesn't. I mean, when does he show interest in the opposite gender the whole game? Too much an aristocrat for that, far as I can tell.

[eclipse]

Are you going to get Beowolf, Reis, etc. eventually, or just skip them?

Since this is a pathetic attempt at an efficient run, I will be skipping everyone else. Luso is unavoidable, and Balthier is ridiculous (otherwise, I would've skipped him, too).

[Radiant Dragon]

Since this is a pathetic attempt at an efficient run, I will be skipping everyone else. Luso is unavoidable, and Balthier is ridiculous (otherwise, I would've skipped him, too).

Beowolf's fun, though. No charge-time Oracle with durability that can turn people (with less than 60 Brave, admittedly. Otherwise it takes two shots.) into Chickens at will?

[eclipse]

Beowolf's fun, though. No charge-time Oracle with durability that can turn people (with less than 60 Brave, admittedly. Otherwise it takes two shots.) into Chickens at will?

I'm a tad short of room on my team (which will be Ramza, Luso, Agrias, Balthier, and Cid). Also, Chickens run, and I need to chase them down.

Otherwise, I'd grab Beowulf and start breeding monsters.

[Radiant Dragon]

Fair enough. I'm actually planning on starting an Oracle SCC later on today. Maybe I'll make a playlog out of it...

[eclipse]

Fair enough. I'm actually planning on starting an Oracle SCC later on today. Maybe I'll make a playlog out of it...

DO IT! DO IT!

*is shot repeatedly*

[eclipse]

No, I didn't forget.

Battle 31a - I chose randomly

Turns out the south side is funny. Balthier went shootout-happy on the pests to the right, while Agrias mowed stuff down on the left. Somehow, Luso went to the left, and my squishies were with the dude with the rifle. It didn't take too long for things to die, since all the shields in the world can't dodge a Summon.

Battle 31b - Where Phoenix Down is better than that monk skill

One of the Wizards pulled a OHKO on my Summoner, so it became a race between her counter and Balthier's gun. The latter won, thanks to dirty tricks such as "you can shoot someone right in front of you by targeting a panel behind them", "people stuck in casting animation take way more damage than normal", and "compatibility works both ways".

Skirmish 18-20 - Agrias needs to learn to share!

Reclassed Ramza to Summoner, Agrias to Knight, and Luso, Balthier, and Cid to Chemist.

The goal of these three skirmishes was to get my three Chemists to learn Auto-Potion, then reclass them into something better. Problem was, Agrias went nuts, and took most of the experience. Luso did more Cheering than anything.

Battle 31 - Reset once because Ramza failed to activate a 96% chance to Auto-Potion. Twice.

Reclassed Agrias to Geomancer and Luso to Knight.

With Excalibur at his side, Luso ran around, gaining as much JP as he could. Agrias' Holy Sword techniques still hurt, Cid managed to squeeze a few shots in, and Ramza's amazing Summon reach came in handy. Balthier. . .shot stuff.

Battle 32 - WTF Salamander?!

Had Balthier Seal Evil one of the ghosts, while Ramza fried the other one. Balthier, being the stubborn dude that he is, refused to go down without a fight. He got several shots in before an Archer put him down for good. Cid wasn't fast enough to do anything of note, and Luso and Ramza made it up the ruins to bring chaos to the dead guys.

Skirmish 22 - Now I need to go shopping again

Reclassed Agrias to Archer. With the way she's growing, it's plenty possible that I might be able to unlock something good for her.

The enemies on the mountain were slow, and on the other end of the mountain. That gave my team enough time to set up and whatnot, which lead to much pain and suffering once those generic monsters came into range.

INTERMISSION: Luso's job will be to Cheer everyone up to 97 Brave, unless stated otherwise.

Battle 33a - You're not Ultima Demons!

Reclassed Luso to Squire, mostly so he can start smacking things.

I didn't pay attention to which assassin got too close to Cid, Balthier, and Agrias, but she didn't last very long, anyway. Luso snapped Ramza out of his Charmed state by throwing a rock in his face.

Battle 33b - Winning with 108 beads

Equipped Cid and Luso with anti-vampire stuff.

Cid was stopped, and this turned out to be for the better. Everyone wailed on him, while the rest of my guys ran around raising hell. Elmdore's evasion didn't work on Ramza's summons or Agrias' Holy Sword techs.

Battle 33c - Is it so hard to cast Ultima?!

Reclassed Ramza to Wizard, and forgot to give him his summons.

Algus may have some of Cid's stuff, but Cid and Agrias were able to pile on more damage than he could heal. Everyone else blicked Ultima Demons.

Battle 33d - Zerg cameo

Zalera looks like one. >_>

Remembered to stick Ramza with his summons.

Cid was doing 280-ish damage to Zalera, with Balthier adding 144. Zalera isn't the sturdiest thing around, so he went down fairly quickly.

Skirmish 23-25 - Because the story said so

Reclassed Luso to Monk and Agrias to Archer.

They were more annoying than anything. . .that's what happens when you need to cross the map to get places. . .

Battle 34 - Homecoming

What a lovely little family reunion this is.

Reclassed Agrias to Thief. Not that she'll unlock what she needs to, but she's insanely fast, and I like that.

Cid and Agrias hit the people on the bridge, while Luso continued to work on everyone's Brave. Mostly everyone is at 85+, which makes me very happy. Ramza kept people alive with Fairy. Balthier ran around shooting people.

After the cut, Balthier hit with Leg Shot, and everyone else beat the crap outta the Lucavi before he could do anything.

Battle 35a - Ohkay. . .

Balthier and Cid beat up the guys in back, while everyone else bumrushed the front. It didn't take long for stuff to die.

Battle 35b - Two hits

One from Cid and one from Agrias ended the map. The enemies didn't even move.

Battle 35c - The other reunion

I hate vampire status. . .but I find it funny that the AI aimed for my vampire, and killed him before he could do any more damage. Everyone else kinda beat up Zalbag in the worst kind of way.

Edited August 7, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[eclipse]

GAME.

Before going to The Point of No Return, I decided to buy a few extra equips in Eagross, Gariland, and Dorter. I got hit with this on the way back:

Skirmish 26 - Just a little more!

The randoms gave just enough JP to Agrias and Luso so that Luso could go Ninja. PERFECT. Got around to teaching Balthier Barrage (four hits at half damage each. . .so altogether, double damage to a single target).

Battle 36a - Last generic battle

With my new, super-fast support (Luso), it didn't take long for things to die in a hurry.

Battle 36b - If you didn't exist, I wouldn't have to go shopping

Agrias takes a ton of damage from the boss, so I used her as bait to get him to come forward. Everyone else beat the living crap out of him for breaking my Black Garb.

Battle 36c - Two hits (again)

One Barrage and one Cid-flavored Hallowed Bolt later, and the boss died. How sad.

Battle 36d - WHY can't I redeem you?!

Made the chemist run away, then used my faster units to get close and lay down Holy Sword techniques.

Battle 36e - I think he hits hard?

Balthier hit Leg Shot, then everyone else let loose strafing fire on Dreadlocks. He had just enough time to Stop Balthier, then he made the grave mistake of casting something. . .and then Agrias objected, and ended the map.

Battle 36f - Two in one

Reclassed Agrias to Holy Knight, and gave her Excalibur. Cid got Ragnarok, the Thief Cap, and the Hermes Shoes.

With those adjustments, Luso and Cid had something like 12 Speed, Balthier had 14, Agrias had 8 and Haste, and Ramza was the slowpoke at 9.

Ajora can be hit with Arm Shot, so I did that, cleaned out the Ultima Demons, then pummeled her. She was still Disabled when her angel form died. Meanwhile, Alma made herself useful, and put her special Aegis on everyone except for Agrias and Balthier (the former already had Haste, and the latter didn't need it).

Once Ajora went Fallen Angel, she got Dispelga off on Alma, then was in the middle of casting something when she died. Barrage is ridiculous (464 damage to Ajora while she's casting, to be exact).

Now, my impressions:

Ramza - Pity I couldn't make him faster. He was a bit frail, but his early Guts helped him to level when he otherwise wouldn't have. Somehow ended up the lowest at level 40.

Agrias - Holy Sword is amazing. She doesn't have Cid's damage output, but those techs still do respectable damage, and they never, EVER miss. She can also go Monk, use Equip Sword, and wear a Barrette, and do perfectly fine. I kinda wanted her to go Ninja so I could have her act as hit-and-run with Holy Sword, but that didn't quite happen.

Luso - Since he's got all of Ramza's Guts techs, without Ramza's Faith, he could go physical, so Ramza could go magical. Luso as a Ninja was able to hand out support in insane time, and he hits really hard, too.

Balthier - If Ras Algethi, Mirage Vest, and his innate Speed weren't enough, he gets Barrage, which makes him about as broken as Cid. He's fast enough where he can snipe at enemies, then get out of the way before they can attack him. About the only person immune to this is Elmdore, but his two ladies aren't!

Orlandu - I call him Cid because he's Cid. Excalibur is awesome, his techs are awesome, and unlike Agrias, he can equip clothes and hats in his "Squire" class. He doesn't need a second ability, because he's that ridiculous with his first one.

TL;DR: Give everyone Auto-Potion, jack their Speed, and watch stuff die. The End.

Since this team amuses me to no end, I'm going back in to grab everything I missed, including Midlight's Deep. I will be using Chicken!Rafa for item hunting (maybe)

Edited August 7, 2011 by Clipseykitty

[Radiant Dragon]

Yeah, I usually just stick Item on Cid, give him Phoenix Down and call it a day too. I don't go the magical route for Ramza very often for some reason, though. I don't know why.