My S Rank playlogs

[Life]

Keeping it afloat... I just got FF13 plus my job is way too time-consuming so I'm trying to finish my runs.

Chapter 28 - Valorous Roland

Team: Eliwood, Priscilla, Nino

Notes: Eliwood in the middle, Prissy on the left and Nino on the right. Prissy actually had to Thunder Crit Kaim to give Eliwood the Killing Edge critkill. That's how freaking impossible Kaim is. I finished the chapter in 10 turns, though.

Nino is officially the best character (statistically) when trained. That doesn't make up for the fact that it's a complete bitch to train her in 26, 26x and 27, mind you.

Also, to beat Exp in this chapter, both of the guys on the left and right should be unpromoted. That being said, I needed Prissy to kill Kaim so... yeah.

Eliwood      2.96  |41|15|20|15|13|15|12|
Priscilla    8.50  |28|18|19|21|22| 7|16|
Nino         3.64  |33|15|22|21|20|10|21|

Chapter stats:

Tactics - 10/10

Exp - 415/850

Run stats:

Tactics - 261/305 (5 stars)

Exp - 32715/30100 (5 stars)

[Integrity]

Hey, welcome back. :D

You still planning to go straight into HHM after this one? Curious, is all.

[Life]

Hey, welcome back. :D

You still planning to go straight into HHM after this one? Curious, is all.

Yep. Problem is that FFXIII, ToV, Borderlands and my job are all cutting into FE7 time. But I'll try to get in at least one update a week at the least.

[frat_tastic]

If you haven't yet, you should make a ToV log topic.

Seriously, all 7 characters? I mean I liked the game, but I don't know if I could sit there and play it 7 times through in a row. I guess maybe with some grade shopping, since moves get better the more you use them, but that seems like a lot.

Who have you finished it with so far btw?

[Life]

If you haven't yet, you should make a ToV log topic.

Seriously, all 7 characters? I mean I liked the game, but I don't know if I could sit there and play it 7 times through in a row. I guess maybe with some grade shopping, since moves get better the more you use them, but that seems like a lot.

Who have you finished it with so far btw?

I was thinking of a ToV playlog. My goal is to get all of the achievements (I'll control Raven when I go for the titles since I need to activate all 23 Secret Missions in the same playthrough with 6 and 17 being complete bitches) so I'll probably get it.

I'm currently at Tarqaron on my Yuri run but I'm messing around now with Synthesis stuff. Part of 100% completion means a completely full Collector's Book which I'm trying to get.

[Integrity]

Yep. Problem is that FFXIII, ToV, Borderlands and my job are all cutting into FE7 time. But I'll try to get in at least one update a week at the least.

Off-topic, but you're still playing Borderlands?

I couldn't get into that after about ten hours. It just blended into sameyness. :/

[Life]

Off-topic, but you're still playing Borderlands?

I couldn't get into that after about ten hours. It just blended into sameyness. :/

Borderlands is great because of all of the missions. I can go wherever, shoots skags and spiderants, collect stuff, shoot more skags, buy awesome weapons and shoot even more skags.

[Life]

I'm telling you, I will finish this run as soon as I finish Victory or Death. Until then...

Chapter 29 - Sands of Time

Team: Eliwood, Marcus, Rebecca, Hector, Erk, Priscilla, Lyn, Wil, Raven, Isadora, Heath, Rath, Geitz, Nino, Jaffar

Notes: Time to pull out the unpromoted units. Erk, Raven, Rath and Wil all saw action this chapter and destroyed shit since this is an archer heavy level. Erk and Wil teamed up with Eliwood to deal with the northern archers and shamans while Raven and Rath helped Marcus and Rebecca hold the southern room.

I love how Marcus gets the Brave Axe uncontested mostly because everyone else doesn't need it. Hector and Geitz are fast and Isadora only has D Axes. I've never played Marcus this late in the game but if I ever do again, he's getting the Brave Axe unless Hector gets Spd screwed or Dorcas/Bartre needs it for some lategame Exp.

Nino's a beast. She has great growths and the Afa's Drops on her. If only she came much earlier in the game... And Jaffar was just used as a filler Thief who has durability.

Eliwood      3.73  |42|15|20|15|13|15|13|
Marcus       6.53  |35|18|16|11|10|10| 9|
Rebecca      3.27  |36|18|19|21|13| 7|11|
Hector       7.57  |46|19|21|17|12|23|10|
Erk         15.12  |25| 8|12|17| 8| 5| 8|
Priscilla    9.39  |28|18|19|22|23| 7|17|
Lyn          2.39  |33|16|23|21|14|12| 8|
Wil         14.04  |26|15|11|12|11| 7| 2|
Raven       16.53  |33|13|16|18| 5| 8| 3|
Isadora      2.70  |29|13|12|16|11| 9| 6|
Heath        5.04  |47|21|19|15|10|13| 5|
Rath        16.10  |33|13|13|16| 6| 8| 4|
Geitz        7.08  |44|19|12|15|12|12| 4|
Nino         4.25  |34|16|23|21|21|10|21|
Jaffar      15.12  |36|19|27|24|10|17|12|

Chapter stats:

Tactics - 12/11

Exp - 1981/2050

Run stats:

Tactics - 273/316 (5 stars)

Exp - 34696/32150 (5 stars)

Where am I supposed to get 61.5 levels from in VoD? What were the developers smoking?

Edited May 28, 2010 by Life

[Integrity]

Where am I supposed to get 61.5 levels from in VoD? What were the developers smoking?

SIXTY-ONE?!

*checks*

Holy fuck. 61.

I don't think it's impossible. You've got a LOT of promoted units in there - I seem to remember one of the three possible flanks getting Priscilla from a fresh promoted to /20 and still having enemies to spare on NM...

[Interceptor]

Well, at least your Tactics buffer is nothing short of commanding, so you can take as much time as you want to farm up tons of CEXP. It's a shame that Nergal didn't install an Arena for you. Bring lots of weapons!

[Integrity]

Actually, I don't think Lifey COULD burn 40 turns over the turn limits in the remainder of the game, with his style.

[Life]

Well, at least your Tactics buffer is nothing short of commanding, so you can take as much time as you want to farm up tons of CEXP. It's a shame that Nergal didn't install an Arena for you. Bring lots of weapons!

Fuck man, I'm not even playing efficiently. This is just build-up from not fucking shit up. I had a 19 turn buffer walking out of The Dread Isles.

At this point, I kinda regret not abusing FFO's arena. Rather stupid of me since I was way up on turns but I thought I was doing well with Exp.

[Interceptor]

At least your method in this run is good practice for HHM, which is going to have 0-req chapters to sap your Tactics buffer.

[nflchamp]

VoD has a ton of EXP if you go around actually killing everything.

[Life]

Another Funds analysis!

Net Funds: 703743 G

5* Funds: 860940 G

80% of Ranking: 688752 G

Leeway: 14991 G

I am going to spam really good weapons in VoD. It's gonna be epic.

[Life]

I didn't want to make this post until I finished VoD but I'm going out so I should do it.

Chapter 29x - Battle Preparations

Team: Eliwood, Lowen, Dorcas, Serra, Kent, Isadora, Heath, Nino, Jaffar, Vaida

This is the standard "get preparations and destroy the arena" set-up for trying to maximize Exp. I stocked up on a lot of Silver weapons but I tried to keep my cash above 25k so that I can buy a Physic and Ocean Seal/Fell Contract in VoD to make sure that I don't screw up Funds. Dorcas and Jaffar were my big arena users but Eliwood, Nino, Heath and Kent all got a shot at fighting too. Looks like I'm fielding Lowen and Kent in the next chapter, though.

Eliwood      4.00  |42|15|20|15|14|15|13|
Lowen       11.31  |29| 9|10|11| 5|12| 1|
Dorcas      11.51  |38|13| 9| 8| 8| 8| 1|
Serra       18.09  |32|10| 8|13|17| 4|13|
Kent        10.90  |29| 9|11|10| 6| 8| 4|
Isadora      2.70  |29|13|12|16|11| 9| 6|
Heath        5.47  |47|21|19|15|10|13| 5|
Nino         4.80  |34|16|23|21|21|10|21|
Jaffar      17.61  |37|19|28|25|10|17|12|
Vaida        9.00  Base

Chapter stats:

Tactics - 6/5

Exp - 616/0

Run stats:

Tactics - 279/321 (5 stars)

Exp - 35389/32150 (5 stars)

OK, here's the story. I need 41300 or 413 levels for the 5 stars. I currently have 353.89 levels. If I round that off to 354 levels, I'm still missing 59 levels in 2 chapters (one with multiple 20/20 bosses). This is going to be really tight. I called it back in like chapter 15 and I'm saying it again now.

The good news is that I get Nils next chapter. The bad news is that he's sitting at 19.19 since I spammed Ninian earlier. Shit.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Life

[Balcerzak]

At this point, I kinda regret not abusing FFO's arena. Rather stupid of me since I was way up on turns but I thought I was doing well with Exp.

I was kind of confused by that choice, but I was impressed by the amount you went over on XP that chapter regardless, and assumed it was a calculated choice.

VoD has a ton of EXP if you go around actually killing everything.

A ton, yes. But even destroying the reinforcements and going over the tactics limit, I still only managed ~40. That's roughly 2/3 of the requirement. It's mind-bogglingly staggering. Unless I misremembered things and really fouled up, VoD is just one of those ones where you go into it knowing and accepting your rank will take a heavy hit by the time you come out the other side.

OK, here's the story. I need 41300 or 413 levels for the 5 stars. I currently have 353.89 levels. If I round that off to 354 levels, I'm still missing 59 levels in 2 chapters (one with multiple 20/20 bosses). This is going to be really tight. I called it back in like chapter 15 and I'm saying it again now.

The good news is that I get Nils next chapter. The bad news is that he's sitting at 19.19 since I spammed Ninian earlier. Shit.

I've also been calling it for a while as well. I honestly believe EHM might really be a more difficult mode to rank than HHM, and if it weren't for the programming error, I really have to wonder what things might have been like for the latter.

Anyway, if you go back to my earlier post with the numbers, you'll see you should be able to to hit 55 levels of XP gain in a relatively manageable fashion in VoD and Final. It's just a question of milking out 4 extra levels from somewhere, and I'm pretty confident you can find a way.

My Ninils was at something like 18.53 too, so don't worry about my numbers including too much more progress on rank just from his contributions than yours will.

[icey]

I stumbled onto this thread today, and I just wanted to let you (Life) know that I really enjoyed reading your thread.

I've been following the FE7 tier debates on GameFAQS for a long, long time, though I never posted. I never really fully agreed with the tier list though, and your play log kind of helped me realize that there are a LOT of misconceptions that people still have about S Ranking right now. For instance, a lot of the arguments on GameFAQS were about how the Snipers and Lyn sucked, but you used Snipers/Lyn quite successfully in your playthroughs. Also, the GameFAQS arguments put a lot of emphasis on supports... I can see from your play logs that supports might be kind of overrated - though I guess how useful supports are depends on play-style too.

Another thing I noticed is that you adapted the units you used or promoted according to how RNG-blessed/screwed they were. On GameFAQS, some of the debaters made it seem that one should *always* be using a "fixed-team" (Hector, Raven, Guy, Erk, Serra/Pris, etc.), and I can see from your play logs that this is not the case, considering that you used many characters that they would consider conventional... e.g. Wil, Rebecca, Louise, Rath, Nino, and so on.

Also, I enjoyed reading about the differences in the ranks between all the modes . When I get around to S-Ranking HHM, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on my exp rank, and when S-Ranking the normal modes I'll keep a closer eye on funds.

tl;dr version: I really enjoyed this thread and it really opened my eyes to the misconceptions I had about S-Ranking. Keep it up .

[Life]

I stumbled onto this thread today, and I just wanted to let you (Life) know that I really enjoyed reading your thread.

I've been following the FE7 tier debates on GameFAQS for a long, long time, though I never posted. I never really fully agreed with the tier list though, and your play log kind of helped me realize that there are a LOT of misconceptions that people still have about S Ranking right now. For instance, a lot of the arguments on GameFAQS were about how the Snipers and Lyn sucked, but you used Snipers/Lyn quite successfully in your playthroughs. Also, the GameFAQS arguments put a lot of emphasis on supports... I can see from your play logs that supports might be kind of overrated - though I guess how useful supports are depends on play-style too.

Well, most of that list was because of me. I had a bunch of misconceptions too from the first time that I S-Ranked HHM. Playing all of the modes really opened my eyes up.

Another thing I noticed is that you adapted the units you used or promoted according to how RNG-blessed/screwed they were. On GameFAQS, some of the debaters made it seem that one should *always* be using a "fixed-team" (Hector, Raven, Guy, Erk, Serra/Pris, etc.), and I can see from your play logs that this is not the case, considering that you used many characters that they would consider conventional... e.g. Wil, Rebecca, Louise, Rath, Nino, and so on.

Actually, that's the point. However, I actually had a pretty good idea of my set team for the first 3 modes even though some stuff changed in the middle (didn't know that Rath would get so good that he'd warrant a promotion, for example). I wanted to test out these characters and decide for myself how accurate the list really was.

Also, I enjoyed reading about the differences in the ranks between all the modes . When I get around to S-Ranking HHM, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on my exp rank, and when S-Ranking the normal modes I'll keep a closer eye on funds.

tl;dr version: I really enjoyed this thread and it really opened my eyes to the misconceptions I had about S-Ranking. Keep it up .

Yeah, Exp is a bitch in EHM. And Funds really had me tighten my belt on E/HNM since I didn't want to mess up Tactics or Exp at the same time.

Also, I'm still working on the run, just so you know. I've fielded Dorcas, Bartre, Lowen and Kent and I'm desperately trying to get enough Exp so that I don't have to do stupid things in the final chapter.

[Life]

Update! Well, not much.

Almost beat VoD and then Limstella nailed Bartre with Bolting to kill him. Damn it. I then realized that I forgot both the Member Card and Silver Card so it looks like I have to try it again completely.

I might start my HHM run before finishing EHM but I'm worried that I'll never finish EHM if I do that. Either that or I'm restarting EHM again since not spending turns at the arena in FFO really killed me.

Also, Bioshock and an unnamed MMORPG (not WoW) have been keeping me from playing. Oh and my new job has too, what with all of the free roller-coaster rides I can go on.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Life

[Life]

I'm BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Gotta beat ENM and HNM quickly first. I'll then restart my EHM run from scratch with links to both runs on the first page.

[Integrity]

WHAT

WELCOME BACK

[Balcerzak]

Welcome back and good luck again. :)

[chococoke]

Yay!

USE LOWEN!

[Silvercrow]

Good to see these picking up, they're interesting to read and I'm thinking of trying something similar myself (although I dunno if I'll make a playlog topic for it or anything). I've never really been much of an efficiency player but seeing logs like these intrigues me.