SCREENSHOT Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The endgame

[Parrhesia]

Yvet, what's happening to you. Why is there hyper realistic blood coming out of your face. Oh look I'm dead but I'm still writing this somehow lol.

Also I thought you had to wait for some event before being able to recruit Seeqs? I meant to ask this last time but I forgot.

You might be thinking of Gria, you need to unlock the eastern continent for them which I think is two story missions away. Seeqs are immediate, though.

Oh god please tell me she keeps that glitch.

Sadly not. It's okay, though - I have Plans for her.

Ah, the Final Fantasy Tactics names...

Glad to see they are weird as ever.

What was the weirdest name you ever found?

I remember one called loo-something that was really weird.

This still isn't a patch on Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre. The male name pool which lasted until the remake of the first TO included 'Badguy' and 'Dude'.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Parrhesia

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 12]

I have some unfinished business to deal with before picking up my moogle, and then the sidequesting will begin in earnest. The auction for Camoa is sponsored by Escher.

Get the fuck in.

Okay, so when you're area champions? The auctions still go on.

Only now, instead of auctioning control of regions, it's prizes... usually endgame gear.

We sleep for a shitton of days to wrap it back around to the moogle months so, um, the auctions are almost on again. But this should be the last timeskips I'll need all game. We pick up some quests en route, trying to take all the seasonal ones I can find.

And one that involves... combat, possibly??

I don't know if this quest has any requirements, so I don't even try and send my best performer. Only one class would qualify and we don't have them yet, anyway.

I forgot this was a mechanic! They give us a pretty flower for being champions of the region.

Playing along at all moments gets you an animist, hating moogles gets you a thief. Hating but understanding moogles...

Yeah, figured.

You'll do.

Okay, fourth time's the charm. Yeah, he's just looking for 'any woman', which means generic viera or gria since you can't dispatch special characters. If you've lost track, this is Ursla.

This quest I'm picking up because when it's off, it stays off for-fucking-ever.

I can send, say, Rodanu to go get the other stamps, but he'll probably fucking fail. I won't normally use this mechanic because it misses dialogue but there's like, nothing to miss with this quest.

Anyway... you know how earlier, journalism was dead?

Every single fucking month...

M. Seeq Templeton here outsources his editorial material to us.

He's a ranger, which uses items, a versatile exploration skillset and, perhaps the least natural weapon for a seeq, shortbows.

1. Walk all around;

2. You'll eventually get a reaction from the detector;

3. Dig! Dig like your life depended on it! Dig for all you're worth!

4. Treasure shall be yours! Bwah hah hah!

So we start wandering around the place.

He harangues us from his pitcher's mound.

We find a basic rapier, then echo herbs. And a potion.

i hate you templeton

The Templeton missions are hugely variable in quality. This is at the garbage end of that variance.

Anyway, I make a discovery not long after. You know how white magi used to know protect? So I was going to learn it through green mage for the second-

right.

That's still fine... ish. I hand her the healing staff, for Cura. Turns out Protect is still red magic, so the time wasn't wasted, but still.

Collecting the fucking stamps is on a really tight time limit and then Kyrie fails to help out with the festival.

We enable Cilawa. The Culinary Crusade are not just a punchline - they will appear.

Guinness then namedrops that he, like, totally knows Lezaford.

Again, I have an educated guess of what I might need and a grim certainty that I don't have it. So I dump Lawrn on him.

Lawrn, the Sancho of this noble quest.

We pass the spruce from Targ to another monk in Graszton, this time without turning it into a spear.

It's quite nice how androgynous some of the humans in this game are, even if they are all (bar Adele) treated as male.

She turns her back and I throw in a hundred. IIRC this quest is repeatable, so maybe I'll cheat her later on.

Templeton wants our help again smh

We are gradually going to build up this guy's career through trades.

I check my other quests... and I've missed Veis by a day. Fuck! Ah, well. Time to go check this little storm in a teacup over;

Next up on FFTA2:

TRUE HORROR.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Parrhesia

[Water Mage]

Let me help you:

You need a Juggler or a Trickster for the festival mission. Go with Juggler since you won't be getting Trickster anytime soon.

For the Wanted:Sidekick you need a Ranger.

[Parrhesia]

Yeah, I've already played ahead - but it's fine. I'm giving these missions one honest attempt and then looking up a guide for the second, since nothing's missable in this game. Occasional failure makes things more interesting!

(My educated guess for the Sidekick was a Defender, which I didn't have access to at the time, and it's only when the monk starts talking about entertainment that it's obvious you need a juggler.)

Edited October 9, 2016 by Parrhesia

[Dandragon]

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN COPYCAT IS BACK?!

Also, how many In-game years has it even been? Can Guinness drink yet?

[Parrhesia]

It's been a little over three lol

[Water Mage]

Guinness is secretely related to Ash. It's the reason for his eternal young look.

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 13]

So, where did we leave off... ?

RIGHT. YEAH.

I'll be honest, this could be a rough fight. These things can summon undead...

... while the draculas are no pushover, either.

And we need to defend this idiot.

Hey, I'm down.

Ursla is one of our two great assets here - her Burial skill, and Kyrie's Exorcism, instantly dusts undead. Wolfe was like, 10 AP away from being able to contribute, too - but we only have the one silver bow and he hadn't quite mastered it.

Yvet (now a fencer) and Nofilia can heal and thus unheal while Elm and Torch fight things.

The bombardment starts early, and it doesn't help that they can all bloody teleport...

Ursla evaporates a ghost before it can move on a 40% chance. I really wish I had Wolfe ready.

You will notice that another ghost has taken its place. Because, yes.

Then the two darkscythes delete Yvet.

fuck's sake

They heal themselves with all their attacks and their mates with all their attacks.

Nofilia opens the chest and makes this entire exercise worth it. The healing thing makes it almost a waste of time to hit more than a single focus target - all the damage is going to be from exor/burial.

Everyone dies except Nofilia and Kyrie and the fight devolves into... a slog, because it turns out the ghosts aren't very good at finishing this fight off.

Their bloody-minded refusal to fucking die sees us through, somehow.

oh FUCK OFF

Tombstones don't stay dead forever. If Wolfe had been marginally further in his silverbowmanship, then this mission would've been long over.

As it is, the action economy is really fucking shitty. Because after Ursla, one of my two people who can permanently kill people, dies, up pops another ghost.

By the way the ghosts, I'd like to remind you, can summon other ghosts. They also eventually blind Kyrie, meaning his exorcism chance is a mighty TEN PERCENT.

LET'S.

SKIP.

THIS.

TO.

THE.

END.

Jesus Christ.

Templeton has Critical: Vanish. He also does not help in any capacity.

Soon he will be joining the ghosts, because I am going to kill him.

This screen speaks for itself.

I totally overlooked it, by the way, but we've actually unlocked the full continent by now.

The Crusade control the north, with the Bangaa Brotherhood and ... whoever Pygmalion are also in the running. This auction is full of bonuses in weird places and strange timings, while the Ruins of Delgantua is just a flat line with no bonuses, just 'throw everything you have left on the table'. I fall short of Moorabella, but grab the rest.

Moorabella also has an aerodrome taking ships to the eastern continent, but it won't advance until a couple more missions of plot. By the way, piece of advice - the auctions begin in the month that you unlock them.

Don't make that month Ashleaf or you'll have to fight/run from the Veluga Pirates Every Single Time you approach Graszton.

For sweeping Graszton, we get a Genji Armour..

... for Camoa, an Ever Robe. All this gear is like, midgame at least and some of it we might end up using to the end. You really aren't meant to be getting it this soon, but... well, recruitment demanded it!

Let's finish the day on a lower-intensity note. There's a few really low-level quests in Camoa and I'd rather just blast through them for now. Isn't the last one a callback to one from FFTA?

I demonstrate my dominance of the Cyanwolf by allowing Rodanu to lead my troops.

If you were wondering why I was calling Torjin the dragoon 'Torch'...

filler.

Protect all or possibly just one tomato. Kill the roundbirds.

This is what the faerie shoes can do, by the way - Ursla can teleport now. Annoyingly with a longish animation instead of the instant ghost blinking.

Tomatoes charge heedlessly into the fray and get two-shot.

Meanwhile, layering isn't working properly. Remember, those are the kinds of chest we want.

Let us commence the urging process.

On the way, Gren discovers his niche as a charm-breaker per excellence.

The Ever Robe Which We Should Not Have Yet teaches Fencers Reflex, which allows them to evade all basic attacks with a special little stupid twirl animation. Our archers have that but only against basic ranged attacks, maybe even only basic archery.

Torch discovers why dragoons wear helmets. I've run out of spears for him, so he's doing some groundwork to unlock his other class.

This... isn't actually an easy fight, with our second string deployed across the board. Our major advantage is that Torch and Yvet are invincible, but you'll also notice that Yvet is dead - the main lamia can Doom/Charm victims with Kisses.

The head lamia also has Mana Shield, but it's far less annoying than Damage > MP of FFTA1 - it still puts damage into MP first, but spillover damage is taken as HP damage instead of just ignored.

The Torch abides. 2/3 ain't bad.

And we even get a letter of gratitude for our troubles!

Next Up:

Racism.

[ping]

I do like this line. :D

Man, I forgot how ridiculous the auctions can get if you just skip ahead to get to the big prizes.

I do remember how amazing the Faerie Shoes are and how incredible annoying some of the newspaper missions can get. -.-

One question because iirc I played this on normal: How much difficulty comes from hard mode? I did all the sidequests as soon as they were available, so I was hilariously overleveled, making most fights pretty easy. Although there was still some BS to be found in the trials or in the Cleaning missions...

Edited October 10, 2016 by ping

[Water Mage]

I'm rather fond of the Head Editor myself.

And I quite like the Bloodfire mission, the dialogue is hilarious in that one.

[Alastor15243]

I never played the previous game, its hit system turned me off too much after being used to this game... did it do anything interesting with the fact that the judges are clearly batshit insane and aren't enforcing rules that actually keep the peace or protect public order? It seems like such a wasted opportunity otherwise.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Alastor15243

[ping]

[spoiler=FFTA]FFTA's setting is literally the wish fulfillment dream of a nerdy kid (not the protagonist), with himself as the prince and his dad as the head judge. So the laws spawn from the brain of a not entirely stable child and the populace of his imaginary kingdom does feel oppressed by them. Some Guy Who Will Make A Cameo Here even sells cards that disable specific laws during a fight and he can demand a pretty steep price.

Nerdy Kid will at some points of the story make his dad strenghten the law even more, which results in more active laws, eventually three iirc. I don't believe it's explained why the prince thinks that rotating through random laws will keep him and his illusion save, but I might just have forgotten.

I'm rather fond of the Head Editor myself.

And I quite like the Bloodfire mission, the dialogue is hilarious in that one.

Ehh, the joke "Head Editor is full of himself but in truth completely incompetent" gets old after a fifth or sixth time.

I might remember this worse than it was, but weren't quite a few of his jobs escort missions? I just dislike protecting stupid, weak and/or suicidal NPCs. =/

Edited October 10, 2016 by ping

[Scarlet]

One question because iirc I played this on normal: How much difficulty comes from hard mode? I did all the sidequests as soon as they were available, so I was hilariously overleveled, making most fights pretty easy. Although there was still some BS to be found in the trials or in the Cleaning missions...

All Hard mode really does is to give enemies a damage and defense boost, meaning that they can hit for pretty absurd damage numbers at times, but if you know what you're doing, they still shouldn't give you much trouble.

...outside of the bullshit optional endgame stuff like the towers, anyway, where the bonus damage for the already stupidly overpowered enemies may very well completely wreck your face.

[Parrhesia]

There's a few times (like with the story mission I'm putting off doing - there's still a handful more sidequest updates, did people want a plot advancement soon? I think I could manage it - and also the Veluga Pirates) where Hard mode just has a bad case of Their Numbers Are Better Than Yours By Too Much (iirc in particular fighting Chita's Weaponsmiths involves all your characters doing single-digit damage to all their characters), but I think most of the time it just keeps you on your toes without being overpowering.

As for FFTA, yeah, the game didn't do the greatest job explaining it but I think it's definitely treated as A Bad Thing, they just also made the mechanic fucking awful in gameplay, too. I don't really remember if the Laws are ever explained in A2!

That said for the LP itself I think I've done all the tutorialising I need to, and thus it's time to get into the proper swing of the LP;

Edited October 11, 2016 by Parrhesia

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 14]

Ashleaf 13, the Camoa Highroad
The Clan of Worms has been called, and we must answer. An assassin by the name of Veis has petitioned for our aid. It is our job to assist. It is our duty to assist.


Which is why I was puzzled to be marching southeast, in the name of the Apothecaries - a mission that I was chosen to lead.


I pretended to be dismayed at seeing some action on the road. For appearance's sake.


Elm gave me a counterpoint; that we kill everything in sight first and look for mallows later. The motion was carried with five votes of 'yea' and one abstention, from Rodanu. I suspect this is because Rodanu is feeble.


One of the two identical moogles wasted the opportunity to attack by pilfering 'valuables', and I use the term very, very loosely.


Rodanu attempted to dissuade us from attacking the dreamhares, claiming that they were harmless.


Yvet, who I grow increasingly fond of my the day, disagreed.


She would cite, after the skirmish, the small bruise on her neck as evidence that dreamhares were, in fact, vicious. I do not think Rodanu was convinced.


Elm, meanwhile, amused himself by tearing a large canid in half with his bare hands.
Sometimes I am concerned by the company I keep.



The rabbit riled its compatriots into action by ferociously wiggling at us.
I do not understand, either.


At any rate, it does not work - even Rodanu resembles an effective soldier against them.



After the enemy was slain, I proceeded to have regrets. My only consolation was that Rodanu and Elm proceeded to make the same mistake. Unlike me, they were unsubtle about it, and shouted, allowing me to laugh at them while I wiped my hand on the fence.



It was one of the moogles that found it, in the end, with the other lying half-dead in the grass.


When we returned, Nofilia was dressed in what appeared to be a belly dancer's costume. She claimed to be an elementalist, which I suspect is a red mage with better fashion. I put this to her and she glares at me.


Guinness hands in some lesser metals and, bizarrely, a fruit to the shop in order to acquire poor-quality armour. When I ask why, he says only that he is 'sick of having it clog up the list'.
Guinness confuses me.

Ashleaf 18, the Watch of the Mountain Gods


I became convinced today that clans are assemblies of morons working on entirely arbitrary definitions of success.


The law is racism, but this is acceptable, as the only parties affected are the identical moogles, who I do not trust or care for.
Here is how we came to be there; first, Veis found us at the entrance to the mountains, and then we followed House Bowen to a mark they had been tracking. It is well that they have taken so long to actually find their mark.



I ask Veis, rhetorically, if we are watching the same three ragtag mercenaries.


Nofilia is better at lying than I. As a result, Veis ignored me and turned to her.




Nofilia's diplomacy went poorly. I felt like throttling this strange-looking man. Why is it not so simple? There are three of you. I understand that he is a fool and that the rest of his clan was eaten by an obese bird. This is not my issue. He should welcome the chance to replenish his ranks.



I begin to tell him that we have been carrying Rodanu around since formation and yet we own every piece of land on the continent outside the city of Moorabella. Nofilia tells me to shut up. I acquiesce.



I am losing my desire to help this strangely-dressed woman. I long for picking mallows again.


Nofilia reminds me of:
Item A) our duty, and;
Item B) the money.


Veis, having pledged to slay this beast, proceeds to disappear.
It is at this point at which I begin to truly despise Veis.


Yvet moves to take a proactive approach to problem-solving, but Nofilia stops her. My affection for Yvet swells at seeing her willingness to abandon this charade.


Instead, we flood the bridge and prevent the Moustache Man's progress. I laugh at him quietly. He glares at me.


Yvet twirls away from the disgusting tentacles of the fiend.


The disgusting illusionist conjures up a windstorm.
While we are standing on a rickety wooden bridge of uncertain construction and age.


Nofilia has learned new and exciting ways to hurl flame more precisely, however.


The alleged King of Marlboros turns my beloved Yvet into a puzzled frog with a death sentence, but that could not stop us.


Veis did not contribute to the fight in any way, at all.


Mistleaf 4, Graszton
I despise Graszton. And more than Graszton, I despise any man who wants me to eat poisonous toadstools.



However, there are far tastier marks. I volunteer to take part in them.


The man who wanted to reach the Aldanna Range comes calling again. I inform Guinness that Elm has volunteered for the job. I then inform Elm that one of the identical moogles has volunteered him for the job. I am cunning.


We return to Graszton at nightfall. We hear footsteps. It is the Veluga pirates, though they have considerately brought a weaker force than their highwaymen.


The law has deemed it meet that we not attack humans. Upon a brief conference, we weigh up the pros and cons.



I argue that we should kill them all without quarter.


Yvet, however, makes a moving case that allowing them to live and suffer the consequences of their crimes is, if anything, the more righteously cruel thing to do. I fall deeper in love with her, and almost fail to notice that Kyrie has signalled the charge.


I seize the high ground and begin raining arrows discriminately upon the foe. I stare at the mage. He does not know why he is being spared. I laugh.


He set me on fire. I claimed my moral victory.


I wonder if we were complacent about Grayrl. At this stage, I reflect on how it is good that I am mostly safe, on my roof, as opposed to dying, on the ground.


The barrage of magical artillery takes its toll - Torch is brought down, Nofilia and Lawrn crippled. Meanwhile, we have me, and my shortbow.
I begin to crave a larger bow.


I console myself by killing one of their moogles. I endeavour not to be distracted by the fact that his/their face looks identical to that of Gaul and Cren.


Battered, bleeding, Lord Grayrl's last action is to attempt to steal from me.
He fails.


Yvet attacks him in a fashion strikingly like how kebab meat is roasted.



They pledge that they will give up the fight. I do not believe them. Believing them seems like what Rodanu would do.
Even so, Kyrie lets them go. Something tells me our clan will regret this come next Ashleaf, as we have done the past two years.

Next up on FFTA:

More sidequests.

[eclipse]

Geez, this is a great illustration to how ridiculous the sidequests get in Ivalice. ;/

Still, this is plenty amusing. Keep it up~!

[ping]

Nofilia has learned new and exciting ways to hurl flame more precisely, however.

Flame Whip is absolutely disgusting. I think there are more enemies resistant to this than in FFTA, but Disable is just such a broken status.

My standard Viera build was Elementarist/Summoner, but I ended up spamming the Elementarist's spells most of the time. Removing a dangerous enemy just seemed more useful than the big AoE summons.

As for FFTA, yeah, the game didn't do the greatest job explaining it but I think it's definitely treated as A Bad Thing, they just also made the mechanic fucking awful in gameplay, too. I don't really remember if the Laws are ever explained in A2!

It's probably my weird sense of humor, but I always found funny how the fantasy RPG tells the player that escapism is bad.

@FFTA2: Maybe somewhere in Lezaford's history sidequests? I can't remember, either. :D

There's a few times (like with the story mission I'm putting off doing - there's still a handful more sidequest updates, did people want a plot advancement soon? I think I could manage it - and also the Veluga Pirates) where Hard mode just has a bad case of Their Numbers Are Better Than Yours By Too Much (iirc in particular fighting Chita's Weaponsmiths involves all your characters doing single-digit damage to all their characters), but I think most of the time it just keeps you on your toes without being overpowering.

Oh yes, I remember one of them being kind of a bitch even on normal. I think my only offensive mage (dunno if it was a black mage or one of the viera classes) died after I broke the law, putting the whole fight into a stalemate in which neither side could significantly outdamage the opponent's healers. Those bangaa are really tanky on the physical side.

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 15]
The Travails of Rodanu Sadler, Act Seven, Scene One



As I wandered the Baptiste Hills with the Clan of Worms, I came across the most remarkable faerie - one that loved mushrooms. Deeply. And sang about them. Badly.
The law of the day forbade cowardice, which was my predominant means of attack.



It proved a moot point.


Ursla, the foul-tempered viera archer, had acquired new clothing upon our return to Targ Wood and insists on being referred to as a sniper. When asked what this meant, she said only to picture Wolfe, only effective.





She then convinced me to enter the pub, saying only that she had 'a surprise' waiting for me.



I gave the unpleasant, callow men a piece of my mind.


They then drew arms and attacked. I stepped forward, hoping to sway them with my oratory.


This was the point at which I learned that Ursla had a rare gift for ventriloquism.

I am not fond of Ursla.


I objected strongly to one of the ruffians stealing some of my hard-earned money.


Ursla replied, perhaps disproportionately, by lodging two arrows in his throat.
This was the stage at which I felt the situation had escalated beyond where it ought to be.


After also watching on as the viera in their ranks was slain, Lawrn tired of the event and left.
For one, I am proud of my conduct. I stood my ground.


I categorically did not contribute to the offensive. I would never have done more than lay arms to restrain these out-of-control ruffians.


And if there was evidence to the contrary, well, I'm sure it's been eaten by now.


At any rate, soon after witnessing someone else slay one of the bangaa, everything went dark.


However, Wolfe assures me that the rest was seen to peacefully, with minimal force.


It seems as though our introduction to Cilawa the Gluttonous was the thin end of the wedge. The number of clans with culinary inclinations seems to only to grow and grow with time, much like their members.




Meanwhile, many petitioners in Camoa have lost animals.


As we turned to look through the other petitions, Ursla made an indelicate sound from her throat behind me. I am uncertain why Ursla was behind me. She is inscrutable.




We accept quest after quest after quest until I realise we're running out of money and also time.



Guinness tells me on the march north that he has acquired a tome of medical knowledge with which to continue aiding Cid's recovery, having traded it for a cactus fruit.



I distinctly recall a petitioner asking for the same fruit for a sick child and offering to trade his knowledge for it. I also remember us taking over a month to get to Targ, and the contract being abruptly cancelled.

Presumably there is blood on our hands.



Either way, a lizardfolk from the Iron Stomach was there upon our arrival.


Presumably, this was some kind of hazing ritual.



From a gameplay perspective, these quests need you to kill the things you're asked and then hand them in. So we had to kill Exactly Two dreamhares (the white ones) and then hand them into this guy, Tromel. We also killed a purple one but that doesn't matter - killing a third dreamhare, though, as Rodanu almost did with a counterattack, would've failed it.


While I'm talking in italics, Ocktor mails us to tell us that he struck it rich and we basically launched a career for him.

FFTA2 is a game, at its heart, about helping people.


After we buy out another contract, I become aware of the fact that we now have eighteen Gil to our name.




In my absence, Wolfe lead a small force north, to aid with a man who talked to rabbits.


It was a vicious fight, by his account, with a force of three dragons, a horde of wolves and an enthralled band of brigands coming down the hills to hunt.


It was remarkable that Wolfe pulled through, considering. It was a shame that Ursla was not killed in the desperate attack.



With the law turning against us, Wolfe claims that the identical moogles fought like demons on the bridge while the archers and artillery bombarded them from safety.

Wolfe is finally a hunter, the elite human archer. While snipers are terrifyingly good at killing single targets and inexplicably have a skill that allows them to fire twice, immediately, with no downside, hunters are more versatile and usefully learn an AOE attack that deals full damage and will later be able to deal double damage to monsters without downside. Both have above-average instead of trash stats. Wolfe doesn't have any of the useful abilities yet, but should get the AoE soon.


He mentioned, in a troubling development, that Lawrn has learned yet more dangerous forms of magic. He seemed encouraged by this, but I have travelled with Lawrn too long to not be terrified of him.


This mission is really easy. They get reinforcements, but the opposition is really weak and, by now, underlevelled.


Lawrn finished the last of them with a flourishing blast and also, in the words of Wolfe, 'kept the moogles on their toes'.


only now that all the enemies are dead. i see how it is, nofi
This is just before round 3 ends. Three of four.


I kill another wolf, the goblin that wolf summoned and then, as round 4 ends, another spawns before our poised lads can annihilate it.



Out of gratitude, Cava taught Wolfe the secrets of the beastmaster. I wonder if he was aware of Wolfe's occupation.


Cava, of course, broke the rules of his own occupation by growing too attached to an adorable but feeble rabbit. Wolfe tells me he retired. That is fine. If those skills were had by someone rougher, tougher, crueler... a slave-driver without an inch of sympathy for the beast, then I, a blue mage, could...

Ah, well... the rest scoff, but I, for one, think I could use such a man. I'll have to ask Guinness to stop by the Clan Recruiter late next summer...

I have nothing more to write. I'm out of ink, and, well...


I daren't ask to buy more.

Next time on FFTA2:

Don't spoil this, people in the know - but this class has hidden depths, and can potentially be the best class in the game. And there should be Excitement over this.

[Water Mage]

I don't know why, but I really love the portrait of the Hume hunter, it looks really good. Hume classes in general have great portraits. The reason I don't make Luso a Parivir is the fact that I like the Parivir portrait, so I always make another unit a Parivir.

Also, one other thing that Hunters have over Snipers is the fact that they are bulkier. Sniper's defenses are actually quite low. Hunters can also learn Attack+ from the Nike Bow.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Water Mage

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 16]
Combat report - Wolfe Rainsford, sergeant-at-arms of mercenary company, 'the Clan of Worms'.


Bridges. I hate fucking bridges.


Still, odds halved within minutes. Angry bird exploded by Ursla's arrows as Kyrie destroyed wolf.



While I was able to preserve an extra piece of plant matter (cause unknown) from a wolf, Ursla showed no mercy and destroyed second angry bird in single volley.


Only following the acquisition of loot from the battlefield did I permit Yvet to pick up the beetle. Maximising the bottom line is my first priority, especially as the inept management has neglected to set aside sufficient funds for my new bow that I must have.



On the march through Bisga, we encountered a disgusting-looking man. Dimly (my mind was still focused on not having successfully acquired my delicious longbow) I recalled that a disgusting-looking man had petitioned us for aid, being hunted.


In a tiresome development, they had a hill.
Dayvis wished to run.


The Rainsfords do not run.



I regretted the collateral of this decision, re: this man not dying, however I consoled myself with the thought of money. The money he would pay us. The realisation that we were, in effect, fighting over the chance to rob him filled me with bliss.


I decided to needle our 'guest'.
Dayvis did not answer.
Still, I had an excellent plan to fool our opponents.


The bandit approach to combat was to allow their one bangaa to charge to his death in order to get a single swing at Rodanu.


Their second plan, when the first failed, was to shoot Rodanu.


Ursla quietly terrifies me.



I had a cunning and excellent plan, and bellowed "Are you okay, DAYVIS the THIEF?" Rodanu stared at me, puzzled, before our opponents distracted themselves by annihilating him.


Rodanu, as usual, blamed me, like the coward unable to see the big picture that he is.


When the lines broke, their most enterprising soldier (with the lizard now dead) attacked our money head-on.


Nofilia calmly continued to set him on fire.


My plan did encounter difficulties re: the incompetence of my soldiers, but we pressed on even as our men fell around us.


But, sadly, not quite Dayvis.


Still, thanks to my heroic melee archery and the continued war crimes of Ursla, we pulled through.


Despite the ignominy of being concussed by a staff-wielding nerd.




Still, I'd recovered sufficiently by the end of the fight to regain my skills of passive-aggression.






I had also been practicing my Resting Bitch Face in the mirror, with help from Ursla and Yvet. It made my already-barbed retorts inflict physical harm.



Then the bastard ran, before I could shoot him with barbed arrows instead.


Still, by the time we had cycled to our original quarry, the law suited me perfectly fine.






I was almost in suspense.





The sweet suspense of sleep.








With them continuing their ", brother" gimmick, it was about this moment that I contemplated the sweet release of death.



I immediately stopped the conversation and attacked as soon as they were caught not speaking. The Expository Laws are a blight on this land, I swear to the gods.

I learned something today that wasn't the case in FFTA1! You'll notice that Yvet is there but won't be for the actual fight.
The lines are spoken by the first guy on the field - mostly, bangaa, viera and humans have the best lines. In TA1, if Marche was on the field, he'd hijack the lines. In TA2, this is apparently not the case. ... So Marche and Adele were underlevelled. So I planned to savestate my way through the dialogue then hurl them into the actual fight! Unnecessarily. But I'm not retaking all those screenshots.


These were dangerous men. But all was well, as Gren assured me he had perfected a secret weapon of magical origin, and could win the fight for us in a stroke...




A fantastic weapon, accelerating our every movement and motion! Victory was assured.




Our regeneration conferred to us by the law outweighed their feeble attacks.




Their only plan was to make our 3'6" unstoppable blade whirlwind angry.
I grew mad with power, as it started to fade among our ranks. "More, more!" I bellowed to Gren, who looked strangely nervous and dubious, but he pulled out the box...



Oh. That wasn't good.



It was then that I learned to stop trusting Gren.


Nofilia's newfound powers involved hurling rocks at people from the sky. Why couldn't Gren be like Nofilia?


Nofilia disabled and immobilised the fast thief, ensuring that he was very quickly going nowhere. The archer failed to provoke Guinness and died. The mage succeeded at provoking Guinness.


Which, for me, raises just one question;



How shit must the Arbiters of Death be?

Next time, on FFTA2:

Gifs.

[ping]

Man, fucking tinkers. :D I guess the Power of Restart can make them awesome, but screw that. I only used that job if my moogles didn't have any useful skills to learn and I wanted to grab their actually good growth rates.

My Fire Emblem Senses tell me that this is clearly the angelic face of a recruitable character.

[Parrhesia]

[spoiler=Update 17]
If found, please return to
caul of worms
for a
$ lots
reward. Thank you.


What a day! Today, we helped a man being attacked on the high roads. Well... maybe not attacked... I mean, blood was shed, but... I mean...



I don't know, this, like, felt like a misunderstanding? I dunno.





Ursla was her usual, direct self. She's... not very nice, I don't think, sometimes.



But this poor, troubled man needed our help.






Just as I was wondering what to do, Ursla decided that enough had been said to justify a full-scale assault!


I felt bad for the Graszton Seawaysmen. It just felt like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.




But the old red mist descended a bit.


I mean, you'd be angry too, right? A fight that didn't need to happen on a trapped (by who?) battlefield, with targeting areas outlawed... it was enough to really grind my gears!



And, okay, the fight wasn't going so hot, maybe. In fact, the humans didn't really pull their weight at all!



Ursla made a frustrated yet satisfied comment that she was "carrying [us] so hard"... what was that all about?



The boss fell in front of my eyes, but I barely noticed, too distracted dodging my evil mirror behind me! I sensed a spectacular duel ahead!


Meanwhile, the human who'd started it all just... ran away!




And, um... I think maybe Nofilia's swordsmanship's gotten a bit rusty.




The mark was tracked down, and, um... the fight went somewhat poorly at first!


This shot bounces off the inside of the wall and misses.
What the fuck.
So this shot blatantly misses for no reason, the warrior who has already crit and been missed on a 5% chance hits the soldier for average damage, which is exactly what he needs.
Consider this the canonical end to the fight because what the fuck.



Still, our job was done well. Ursla congratulated me on my performance for the first time! The only problem was, she thought I was Gren, which I thought was a silly mistake following what Wolfe insists on calling 'the Pandora Incident.'




On the road to Moorabella, we were waylaid by bandits! But not just any bandits, the Zedlei Consortium!



Admittedly they only waylaid us after engaging each of us in handshakes.



It was considerate of them to wait to set traps until after the ambush had been sprung, though!



Wolfe made a low, almost sobbing "nooooo" when Gren started smiling.


Anyway, after the fastest minute of my life, all my friends lay dying on the ground. The stage was set for my finest hour, the greatest performance of my life!




So, anyway, we moved on to Moorabella.



The leading fighter, Jeorge, explained that they did not lightly give their secrets away.


Yvet decided to not fuck around.




I'll admit, these fighters didn't really impress me, if they were meant to be the pinnacle of the art! Could our own warriors really learn from these people, I wondered as I ran one of them through?


Well, the technique of Incandescent Shouting reassured me of their ability. I was glad not to be here for nothing!
The thing is, though, they had their shouting...


We had Lawrn.






Lawrn tired of this fight.




The fighters talk a nice game about spirit and the martial arts. Guinness and, weirdly, Rodanu have learned a lot from them!


Me and Yvet, though? I think we'll be sticking to lightning and fire.
Just... not too close.

NEXT TIME on FFTA2:

i swear to god i know what i'm doing with rodanu's build

[Water Mage]

I think I see where you're going with Rodanu.

[ping]

I'm still not entirely sure. There's still another job hidden behind the fighter, but I personally like the fighter better. I prefer my debuffs ranged, thank you very much.

Also, it's a bit weird that every scrub can become a holy paladin while the fighter job is hidden away by a secret order of slightly mystic fighters.

[Dandragon]

I dont

But then im dumb