Grandjackal's Final Fantasy 8 Playlog!

[grandjackal]

So, now we rove about in our giant mobile college! However, we're not really ready to tackle Centra Ruins, we want to save that for later. Head for Balamb for now, since it is a target for Galbadia. Indeed we arrive to see it has been occupied. We trick the guards in however, by making them think we got info on Ellone to report to them (it's a good thing they don't have profiles on us or anything!!!). He tells us to go report to the captain or lieutenant. I decide my team of Squall, Irvine and Zell. I am choosing Irvine because even though his limit isn't awesomesauce Wishing Star, I don't have to deal with that stupid damned mutt of Rinoa's. Stop by the hotel and betold we gotta go find the captain, who's currently on patrol. Now starts a fuck of a goose chase. Go to the train station, see them try to mess with the balamb conductor to deliver food, then talk to the guy standing just outside the platform who tells us it's time for the captain's nap (wtf?), saying "woops, i mean he's on patrol". So where would he go to nap that's not the hotel? Well, guess he'd go to one of the residents and just shack up there, he sounds lazy enough. Go to Zell's house (feel free to check out his room. If Irvine's on your team, you get a special scene. Save point too) We talk to his ma, find out that there's some grey haired woman with an eyepatch wondering around, so we know Fuujin's here...I think I have a good idea on who the commander and captain are. Go to the dock and talk to the guy who's near a dog, he tells you the captain just got done fishing. Head back to the train station, check out there, then head back to the Dinct residence, check it out there, then head for the dog, and it will lead you right to the captain. Sorry, Dinct first, THEN dog, then train station.

....Oh hey, long time no see!

Boss: Raijin and 2 guards

Raijin Stock: Thunder, Thundara, Shell, Protect

Stealable: 2 Str Ups

Have some thunder and wind resistant stuff equipped to elem-defenses, because the following two bosses love to use them. In fact, if you're working with Thundara, feel free to leech off him in hopes to be nearly immune to it! Just survive to get his Str-Ups, then one Renzokuken should do it. Careful though, he hits fast and hits pretty mean. If you're low healthing it and for some reason lack cures, he'll give you a pounding.

12 AP, not bad.

Now, to meet up with the captain.

Boss: Fuujin and Raijin

Fuujin's the wind using magical half of the equation. Mug, and steal what wind magic you can, because wind magic is good. Also, PANDEMONA! After you're done with her, KILL HER FIRST. Tornado sucks, and you don't want your team eating it. In fact, don't even worry about stealing, because she's absurdly fast, and can mess your low health team up pretty quick. Feel free to rob Raijin blind though, he's incompetent in comparison.

1 Megalixer, Combat King 002, and 20 AP is delicious.

Quez learned Mag+40%! Brothers learned HP+40%! Diablos learned Mag+40%! Now for Elem Def x2, HP+80% and Darkside!

Pandemona Get! Finally, my magician gets an Str junction GF, and it has Str ready to go! Even juicier is that it has Spd-J!

It's weird that these two are still on Seifer's side, and claim they are doing this onlyfor him rather than the sorceress, despite this being a direct command from the sorceress. Would this mean that this isn't actually the sorceress's orders, and come straight from Seifer? Does Seifer wish to appease reality? Perhaps Raijina nd Fuujin are the symbolism of Bonding that Seifer had with Squall, and since now they attack Squall's home of Balamb, it is a reflection of how suddenlycoldly distant they are, considering the whole being murdered by him thing. Funnoy how it's symbolized by one guy being casual, and his partner kicks the crap out of him with only commands coming out of her mouth (again, reflecting Squall's submissiveness).

We return to Balamb, wondering what the fuck we do next. Selphie comes up...Dammit, I know what's coming, but I really don't wanna deal with it. We're going to Trabia. I can see why Selphie wants to go, but...I don't. I really don't. So, we're gonna stop by Balamb first to pick up a fresh new card. Dude in front of the hotel is open for a challenge, and he's got Pandemona's card. Pandemona is a weird and...Frankly unecessary card. two 7s on the bottom and left with an A at top and a 1 on the right makes it a mid-right card...Of which I don't need, because my cards can already trap everything. I win an Elnoyle in the process, and decide to play him a few more times just because I saw an Elastoid in his deck, and I only need 1 more Steel Pipe. In the process of that, I win another Elnoyle, and a final Elnoyle (what are the odds?) in the process. I won't worry too much about not getting a Blue Dragon, because we're about to go to a place that has them as wild enemies, so I can just card one there while I'm up there. Now I have an Energy Crystal, 6 steel pipes, and the Pandemona can be refined into 100 Windmills. 100 Windmills is infinite Tornados, though you only really need it for Str. The rest can be put into making Pandemona just fall in love with whoever has it equipped. Really though, summons are pretty useless in this game, so don't bother. Even more, Wind isn't exactly an element that hits a lot of weak spots.

Anyways, now that you have that errand done, head for the northern continent and look around for a mountain range htat sort of rings around, as that's where Trabia is. However, I'mma take the time to hunt down a Blue Dragon in the forests around here for the card so I can get an ever-so-valuable Fury Fragment. They have about 3K HP, so there's some leeway with them. Even mugged a fragment off it. 6 AP too, not too shabby. So now I head for Trabia Garden, not that I want to...But I have to. Goddammit. I've been dreading this part all game long. Nothing hard or bad, just...there is a scene here that is intolerable. It is completely unforgiveable, it is a sin to all man...The Orphanage Scene. I'm not even gonna bother talking about it, I'm just gonna skip right over it and discuss about actual shit to do while we're here. I will only say this is where reason and logic start to go out hte window and the character development slips(as if there was any, but it's incredibly noticeable now). It's a stupid scene, but it shows this is when Squall's mind starts to slip, as it makes excuses for lost information, mixing up fantasy with reality, and even a noticeable quote from Irvine saying "I think if we try to think of reasons why, it won't make sense anyways". No shit. It also ends with a note of trying to fight Edea despite not wanting to (Fighting reality is indeed stupid, but the reality is that Squall's dying. I wouldn't want to face that so suddenly either, but jeez man...THIS is your stall tactic!? This stupid-ass scene!?).

Suffer the scene, then head back in. Her friend will be by the fountain, and you can win Selphie's card off her. There's also drawpoints here containing Thundaga (by the fountain), and motherfucking AURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (and it's in hte motherfucking BOMB no less!). Aura for those of you who don't know is a spell that increases hte crisis level of a character, so at low health you're bount to get the more juicy limits, such as more time on Irvine and Zell's limits, and more hits with Squall's. Best part is, it allows limits even when you're n hte white health, so soon I can start making use of all that health I haven't been using. I draw 4 for now, but you can get more when you come back. Oh, and there's a drawpoint at the graveyard containing...Zombie!?! Bahahahahaaaa!! Oh, that is rich. Selphie's card is a lower left corner, but again I already have a hand that trumps just about anything, and this isn't even that helpful. Anything concerning the low corners I already have taken care of anyways. You can keep it if you want, or refine some other card. Selphie's card itself refines into 3 Elem Guards. *Runs around the garden to get back to the balamb ship, realizes there's mesmerizes here* Oh cool! *Draws some Esuna, steels one of their blades, cards 2 of them*. Score, some Regen for me! Wow, even dropped a Life Ring! Lucky day, lucky day!

Now, to get to Edea's House...Oh wait a minute! The game doesn't fucking tell you where it is! Well let me tell you, because it's in a real obvious place. *Ahem* It's at the lower left corner of the southern continent that has no civilization of which you have to get around that stupid FH bridge to reach. What, that's not obvious? Well clearly you haven't been playing enough FF8 where NOTHING is obvious, and you basically have to guess for half the game! But of course, there's nothing there for you to see, so just get back in, and what the hell is Galbadia Garden dong there!?!

This starts the next big thing, and we are nearing the end of disk 2. First half of this attack is to clear out the epic metal Galbadian attack swarming the school. Go to the quad, get things started. You start as Zell, Rinoa, and whoever Squall didn't pic. Switch your junctions to them (Again, make Selphie's useless ass the carder), Zells tops to give Rinoa the ring he asked off you (what the hell did you need that for, you unprofessional twat? Oh, he's going to make Rinoa a copy *Rolls eyes*). As a note, there are SAMs here, along with the new and improved Galbadian Commandos, who are basically uber versions of normal grunts, who have great magic, and will not hesitate to status your ass to hell and back. Anyways, head for the front gate after Rinoa falls off. You switch back to Squall and his team, so switch your shit back to them. Run to the 2nd floor classroom to deal with 4 commandos. Irvine's shotgun shells come in mighty handy here. 12 AP, damn.

Leviathan learned Mag-J! Now for Spr+20%! I remember when I used Recover. I also remember the time I was a giant noob.

Now head for the bridge again. The doc is there, and we decide to bring the fight to them now. However, it's up to Squall to rescue Rinoa (Which everyone is hellbent about). You'll find a kid on your stuck path, so go help him out to get assaulted by a hover soldier. Search around and hit the emergency button. Kick the crap out of the soldier and commandeer his hover thingy. After rescuing Rinoa, head left to the weirdly landed Garden. Before the door, there is a drawpont around here that contains more motherfucking AURAAAAAAAAAAAA-I draw 12, so now I have a juicy 16. Before we go in though, Rinoa asks what the monster on his ring is, and Squall makes note that it's a Lion known for their strength and pride (2 things Squall does not have). It's named Griever, oddly enough. Hmm...We'll get back to that.

So now we're in Galbadia, and my team is Zell and Irvine.

Galbadia Garden

There's actually 2 things to do here. Your first mission is to somehow get downstairs to fight Cerberus. Yes, for some reason, the dog of hell is here. The left path of the save point is locked (1 and 2 locks), and the way forward won't open, so head right. Also, Galbadians and some badass enemies like Death Claws are around here. Try to get out of here as fast as possible.

Ifrit learned Elem-Defx2! Now for uhh...Waiting until he's level 10 for Ammo Refill!

The right path, first door leads nowhere and the distant door is locked (3 lock), so take the stairs. 2nd floor has Fuujin and Raijin who ask you to take care of Seifer forthem, because it seems they just want the old guy back. Well, he's not coming back. Fuujin's side leads absolutely nowhere, while Raijin's path has a dude with a level 1 Card Key to open 1 locks. Head back downstairs and go left of the save point to unlock the 1 lock. You'll find yourself at the hockey rink. One of the goals has a Protect drawpoint, and the rink has hockey players to fight (dead serious). 3 AP a pop though, not bad.

Siren mastered Magic Bonus! Now for it to fuck off, because it has nothing else worth learning. I notice Squall has both Ifrit and Siren, but whatever. I equip themboth, because I don't want such overkill Str at the moment, and I'm most likely gonna get levels here unintentionally anyways. Might as well benefit.

Locker room still has Life, as a note. Anyways, exit on the other side of the rink (familiar halls now, we're on the ground floor), and across the hall is a student with card key 2. Head south to unlock a door, since the north end (the wway to Cerberus) is locked with a lvl 3 lock. This path leads to the hallway before the rink, so it's a shortcut. Go back to the stairs, head for the third floor. The door there is now unlockable. This leads to some bleachers above the sports center, so jump down (you can't go back, not that it matters). You'll find a doorway back to the savepoint, and a shell drawpoint. Now the little lobby beyond the drawpoint is an area that contains Death Claws. Be a bit careful of them, they're annoying. 4K HP, a team attacking move, and it can cause sleep. Not even really worth fighting. Luckily, the area ahead also leads to cerberus nice and easy.

Bring it on, bitch!

Side-Boss: Cerberus

Stock: Quake, Double

Stealable: Spd-J Scroll

Don't give this asshole a chance to breathe. He's got Quake and Thundaga, along with a physical that hits the team, so be sure not to stay around for long. He's got nothing to stock you need/don't already have. Dispels are great to have if you're mugging him. You'll definitely want it too. Spd-J Scroll? Fuck yeah!

His card and 30 AP is your prize.

Ifrit learned SumMag+10% because he is not at level to get Ammo Refill yet! Siren learned some pointless skill!

Cerberus Get! Cerberus basically has any junctioning you would need, and Abilityx3. Going right to Squall for that, will give Spd-J Scroll to one of Zell's GFs so I can have a full team of Spd junction. Equipping Slow to speed, and now Zell is hilariously fast. 2 attacks before most enemies can get anything in. 2 Duels before an enemy counter? Fuck yeah. Head upstairs just a bit back (you'llrecognize this as the place you were at when you were at Galbadia earlier). To the left is the elevator that ultimately leads to the sorceress. It's got a lvl 3 lock, but keep tabs on this place.

Shiva learned Spr+40%! Carbuncle learned HP+40%! Leviathan learned Spr+20%! Now forElem-Def-J (wish Doomed enemies didn't give EXP, then it might be worthwhile) and Spr+40%!

Anyways, go around to the right path, and make note of this ring, cause on the other end is the true final battle of disk 2. Go downstairs to Cerberus's area and hed down the left path.

Diablos learned Darkside! Now for Enc-Half, since I'm running out of good abilities to learn.

Second door is a girl with the lvl 3 card. Save, and head back for the elevator. So now we see Seifer for the first time in a long while along with Edea. Seifer proceeds to be a douche, so we kick his ass.

Boss: Seifer, the revenge

Stock: Fire, Thunder, Dispel, Haste

Stealable: Mega Phoenixes (6)

Uh oh, he upgraded to ra spells! I'm about at disk 3, bosses are just learning to use ra spells. He also has a move called Demon Slice, whch does a painful 500 damage, so if we're low health, this is granted to most likely one hit you. However, he's too dumb to use nukes, so just sit tight, grab dispels until you mug the...Is he getting faster? Come on Irvine, steal from him already, this is getting annoying! FUCK, aga spells! What the hell is going on!? AHHH, HE'S OUTRUNNING SPD JUNCTIONED ZELL!! So I didn't know this, but apparently the longer you stay in this fight, the progressively more badass Seifer starts to become. So anyways, steal the...MEGA PHOENIXES! Fuck you, Seifer! *Knocks you the fuck out*

20 AP is our reward.

Diablos learned Enc-Half! Pandemona learned Spd-J! Now for Enc-None and Str+20%!

So now Seifer's out for the count, and Edea warps to say Edea's in another castle (or at least in another part of it). Save, head downstairs and go to that place I told you about earlier.

Super Boss: Wounded Seifer and Edea's Rematch

Seifer's Stock: Fire, Thunder, Dispel, Haste

Seifer's Stealable: 1 Hero

Edea's Stock: Blizzard, Demi, Esuna, Alexander

Edea's Stealable: Royal Crown

God, love that music.

Anyways, Seifer is nowhere near in the shape he was upstairs. Steal his stuff and kick his ass out of the way. Now the real challenge begins. However, before we do that, I want to note yet another noticeable transition. As from the end of disk 1 when Edea woke us up to a horrible reality, it is here we start to see things noticeably start to fade. Seifer seems mindless now in his want to be the sorceress's knight, and in killing all who stand before her. This is highly unusual of him, even considering he knows who Matron is (out of all people, why would he care?). First, realism disappeared on us, and now logic is starting to fade. Also, before Edea, take the time to cast Haste on yourself.

GET ALEXANDER!

Now, Edea is done fucking around. She opens up with Maelstrom, which Curses you. Curse prevents you from using limits, and is a gravity nuke so it brings you all closer to death for her to easily pick off. Furthermore, you can't remove Curse, you have to wait for it to run out. Cast Meltdown on her, and have Squall wail away with his lol+60% boosted Tornado Str. However, I got lucky in that her Maelstrom did not curse Squall. She picked off Zell before I could whip it out, but screw it, she is FAST. Even with Haste, she was keeping up with me normally. Not like I need Zell alive to get the AP to the summons.

50 AP? Dayamn!

Quezlearned Elem-Def-Jx2! Ifrit learned dumbshit ability! Siren learned dumbshit ability! Nothing really left for them now.

ALEXANDER GET! Alexander has no helpful junctions outside of perhaps Elem-Def-Jx4 (easy to set up for absorption), but he has amazing stuff to learn. High Magic Refill, Revive (it's full life for free. Full heal sucks, but reviving for free sure doesn't), and Med Data which upgrades to Med Upgrade. I actually want to learn Med Data first, because bosses and absorption for the upcoming Esthar (Which is about as sterile as it gets to those things) will not be the big problem here, so might as well try to get up Med Data. I give him to Irvine, because he doesn't happen to have a Spirit junction.

So Edea is dealt a blow, and a huge blast of pink smog erupts from her, and Seifer falls. We then see Rinoa walk as if possessed (reality getting to her?), walking for Seifer (her first love, a meeting of force and softness), and raises him from death. Seifer stands, and walks off. Rinoa faints...Edea awakens, and for a brief moment remembers us. She fears this moment of waking up, and wonders if she has protected Ellone. So reality wishes to protect regret, and fears the moment. Perhaps Squall is wanting to not touch upon regrets on his dying moments?

So ends disk 2. Now onto the weirdness of disk 3, because it's only gonna get freakier.

We awake at balamb, wondering if it's all over (we DID sort of complete the objective all SeeDs had). Squall wonders what happened to Rinoa, since she has not woken up. We are told to enter Edea's House (how would Nika know about Edea's House? He states it s plainly, as if he's always known. We see here Squall's mind really is starting to break down). Royal Crown can learn the Mag+60% ability, but something tells me to leave it for now (since Magic simply cannot rival the power of limits from Zell, rvine and Squall). Head for Edea's house, see it's a shithole. Cid's there to meet us (Where the fuck have you been this entire time?). I think now with whatever is out of her gone, and with Cid basically out of the picture, they take on a more mother/father symbolism, perhaps the calm understanding and human parents Squall wished he had (since in real life, we don't know exactly how shitty his parents are, just that Squall's a melodramatic bitch). Or, at least that's another sort of symbolism they can take. From here on, try to take it more symbolic than literal, because things are ust going to stop making sense from here on out. She says she was possessed by Sorceress Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future (See what I mean?). Her objective is to find Ellone. So, this sorceress wishes to do something regarding regret. It is noted that Ultimecia is filled with anger and hate, but perhaps that is merely more from Squall's feelings at everything now as he starts to fade into a more emotional state as logic leaves him. Edea (reality) says that losing herself to Ultimecia was all she could do to keep from getting Ellone. So Squall's mind is clearly desperate to not face reality. She then mentions Sorceress Adel, who was the iron fisted ruler of Esthar during the Sorceress Wars. Perhaps we will get to her when we further analyze Esthar. All that is known is that Sorceresses can transfer their powers to anyone at random, but that is impossible because Adel is technically still alive. The fear is that Ultimecia might send her powers back of hate and anger into the selfish Adel in order to carry out her plan, whatever it may be. Again, if we look at this literal, this is pretty cheesy. However, if we look into it crazily, we might understand this is a simple way of saying that Squall does not want to face the negative reality of his life as he fades. He is clinging to life as we speak. Squall has heard enough, and seems more worried about Rinoa. Why does he seem more clinging to her than ever before? Huh. No wonder Squall fals in love with her more and more, as her symbolism seems more likely to be a more major role, that of Life. Cid asks if she died, and Squall answers with an insanely loud NO!!!! I think I'm right on the money. Time compression is mentioned. Why would she want this? This sounds like dividing hte universe by 0. This is perhaps Squall simply clinging more, to the good times of the past, what could have been, just to make the now more bearable. Ultimecia IS in his mind, after all. It's funny how this is mentioned while he's thinking to himself about his newfound Rinoa obsession. I love being right.

Now to find the White SeeD Ship. Ok, so we know it's a sea ship...So our hint is...The Sea. That's a fuckload of sea, and a slow ass vehicle we're driving. Hey game, GIVE ME A FUCKING HINT WILL YA!? Fucking christ, is it that hard!? Don't make an mportant part of the game to move the stupid story forward as tedious as finding the Ocean chocograph! It's hte one time I needed to use a map from the internet...AND EVEN THE FUCKING INTERNET KNOWS WHERE IT IS!! RRRRRR!! Are you fucking kidding me, game!? Fuck it, maybe Rinoa's comatose ass knows. Oh, I was supposed to visit her first. Was unaware of that. I could have sworn the game TOLD me to find the ship! Goddammit. Well, we go comatose too, and now I can oddly enough choose who conks out with me to be either Kiros or Ward. Seems that Laguna's gonna star in an ameture film (no!) because they need the money (NO!!), and his role is to play the gunblade-wielding knight to the sorceress in the movie, defending her from a red dragon. This is either the writers of this game's story spitting in our faces, or proof that this is a dream because this is a direct mockery of Seifer and Edea, and even Laguna says that the gunblade is a stupid weapon. It's at this point, a real fucking scary monster comes down, the Ruby Dragon, and it's not a costume either. Unfortunately, I have to fight it with a shitty weapon, similar to the fight with the hover soldier in balamb. It's simpler though, because it's easier to time. Once you get that done with, Laguna books it (I would too, Ruby Dragons suck!). Go back and save, and rejunction all your shit (WHY DID THEY REMOVE EVERYTHING!?), then go fight it. Wait, what? I can run into a random encounter up here? That's dumb! It's like a 5 second scene, come on guys! could almost consider the Ruby Dragon a mini-boss. It has Aero and Fira (you never see Fira), and has about 7K HP. I accidentally kill it not less (Did not expect Desperado to do 7K damage), but I still mugged an Inferno Fang off it. 14 AP too.

Shiva learned Elem-Def-J! Carbuncle learned Status Def Jx2! Pandemona learned Str+20%! Now for Elem-Defx2, St-Def-Jx2 and Str+40%!

Laguna before running off from this hellhole notices a weird thing in the distance...Then fades. Apparently Ellone went back to the wrong part, and sends us back to a more appropriate part to Matron, where we see Laguna wondering where she went (probably looking for her). Kidnapped by Esthar soldiers, traveling the world to...Find her...Oh my. They were looking for a successor to Adel, and that is a sort of weird way to do it. Esthar is sounding stranger and stranger by the second. Despite her wanting to find out if she could change the past, she learns that she cannot. She wanted to guide Laguna back to Raine to see his newborn baby before Raine had died. She cannot help you, as she has not met Rinoa before (Life without regret, keheheh). All this to realize that Ellone is on the White SeeD ship, which is Edea's ship, so maybe Edea knows. GEE, thanks game for wasting my time! We couldn't make that connection before!? This game is on drugs! RRRR!!

So talk to Edea, and she gives you a letter to let you on their shp and tells you they like Centra's landscape, noting that they are by the inlets. And of course by inlet, they mean next to a cliff by a bunch of fucking islands. We board the ship, and we actually talk about Ultimecia, as if they would believe us. Obviously they don't and tell us to fuck off, so we show them the letter. We meet...Zone and Watts there, oddly enough. These two are still idiots, and they're about to set sail into nothingness after this. However, it seems Ellone went off ot Esthar when they boarded and kidnapped her. Also, give the Girl's Next Door that's been rotting in your inventory since disk 1 and give it to Zone for free, and he'll give you a Rename Card and a Shiva Card. Refine it for 100 North Winds, otherwise known as infinite Blizzagas. There's also a Holy drawpoint at the captain's quarters.

So...Seems we're going to Esthar. However, we cannot get there normally. We have to break at Fisherman's Horizon, and head over via the bridge down a lone dusty track, Squall hefting Rinoa along. It seems all hopes hang in Esthar. Ellone's, Laguna's, Squall's, even Edea's. Despite the radical things they do, I am willing to say Esthar is Hope. One is willing to do wild things in hopes of a better future, as some would say. Even walk through a deathly cold hell to cling to life (eh, eh, am I right or what?). We get to the other end, and...Zell and Quistis are waiting for us??? He doesn't even question how they got there first. With how the dialogue goes now though, you can tell Squall's gotten a bit...loony. Not the "loony in love" sort of way, but more the "maybe you should get yourself checked out" sort of loony. Edea, oddly enough, comes for the ride and I can slip her onto my team. Irvine and Selphie come from up ahead (they all were here first???).

First impressions on Edea: Lvl 26...I'm tempted, if only for the super swag Edea can bring from the powered up monsters, since leveling should still be no problem thanks to card...I bring her for the hell of it, because super swag sounds great to me. Her magic on top of it is hilariously stupendous.

So, now we're at the Salt Basin. Going up the right fossil spine leads the way forward. This place is annoying, mainly because there are still enemies here that are forced EXP, such as groups of left and right hands of Visages (you cant card the hands).

Cerberus learned Spd-J! Now for Spd+20%!

You'll reach a drawpont with Thundaga, and a cliff to jump down. Head towards the flickering horizon. Head right for a save point, then head left. Frm the pit comes the most bland boss animation ever as it's just click and dragged into view, as if some random excuse to throw a boss fight in.

Boss: Abaddon

Stock: Cura, Esuna, Dispel

Stealable: Power Wrist

This thing is undead, and like all undead boss fights, is a dissapointment. Take what you can from it, steal it's stealable, toss a phoenix down. *Yawns*...Wait, that didn't work? Oh shit! Uhh, well, just bomb it with whatever. *Blasts it twice with superpowered Holy that nearly rivaled Renzokuken in the hands of Mag+% boosted Edea* Ok, survived that. *Does a Renzokuken, still alive* JEEZ! *Duels, finally kills it* ...Ok, bosses are getting tougher. Making mental note.

40 AP, Damn!

Siren learned dumbshit ability! Brothers learned HP+80%! Diablos learned Enc-None! Leviathan learned Spr+40%! Setting Ifrit to learn Ammo Refill, and Spr Bonus for Leviathan. As for Brothers and Diablos, they're done caring.

We see a flickering screen, and it has a holographic latter and a tunnel in the sky, leading to seemingly nowhere. So, we go in, it plays that sexy-ass music that played in the galbadian missile base, and we ride to Esthar, land of the future and hopes and dreams! We get a beautiful view of this stunning metropolis like no other! Aaaaaand then we get cockblocked by another Laguna scene. We see Esthar basically starve the bastard in prison to make him work faster on Lunatic Pandora, whatever the hell that is. He also like a moron knocks a moomba off tossing him a tool when the damn thing's doing a balancing act on a railway to fix something up. Luckily, the thing was on a safety harness, and Laguna's stupid. Apparently though, they found Laguna the perfect leader. A nice guy, friendly to everyone, and just stupid enough to control with ease. We decide these Esthar punks are enough, so Laguna fights back...With his gun!? They didn't disarm him!? See what I mean? Kiros and Ward come in from the other cells trying to fight off these punks themselves, so now my team is altogether (and I forgot to heal Squall, who's hanging on by 15 HP). You'll fight 2 Esthar Soldiers (1 human, 1 Cyborg) and a Gesper. Easy enough. So we decide to hightail it out of there. It's weird, I specifically recall there being a magazine where you find Odine's goofy ass. Well, it's not there, so move on I guess. I'll be sure to stop by there later. Outside the prison is a save point and a drawpoint containing MEGADETH! Actually, just Death. Death, as usual, is basically useless. I go back in to find Odine...Oh there's the magazine! Weapons Monthly First Issue! It contains the stuff needed for the everpowerful Lionheart (1 Adamantine, 4 Dragon Fangs, 12 Pulse Ammo), Shooting Star (2 Windmills, 1 Regen Ring, 1 Force Armlet, 2 Energy Crystals), Exeter (2 Dino Bones, 1 Moon Stone, 2 Star Fragments, 18 Screws), and the Strange Vision (It's for Selphie, so it's useless). Going back down to find Odine, yadda yadda yadda, we got in a fight because we were stupid enough to go back in prison. 2 guards, and an ELASTOID!! They have Dispel and Stop, their cards for steel pipes are great, and you can mug 2 Dynamo Stones off them. We head for Odine Labs to help rescue Ellone. One last fight, and that's the last of the Laguna scenes.

We awake once more, and get escorts to Odine's at the presidential palace. We're told to leave Rino there and go to Lunar Gate, and to look around hte city. I opt to take a look around hte city, because Esthar has the most kickass store around. The Bookstore has August issue of weapons for any other stuff you need to look over, Combat Kings 003, and the last 2 pet pals stuff of which are easy as hell to find and pontless as hell to learn. The pet shop has pet pals 5 and 6, one of which teaches the lovely Wishing Star! I head for the town entrance, leave, and save.

Break time! Esthar, it has wonderful things, such as Gaylas for Mystery Fluid which gives us the everuseful Meltdown, of which is great for Vitality, and is an awesome spell in general. There are also Malboros around for Malboro Tentacles, of which are useful for several reasons. I am also venturing close to the point of Ragnarok, which means Centra Runs and the Deep Sea Research Center. Gonna be a busy disk 3, even if it makes absolutely no fucking sense.

[grandjackal]

So now it's time to leave Esthar. As anote, even when you leave the town proper, you still gotta navigate out of the mess that is it's world map form, and it's a piece of shit. You want to head north, basically. You can encounter Gaylas here, and nab many a Mystery Fluid off them for the everuseful Meltdown ability. On the plains however is filled with Malboros, of which you'll want to mug. If you can card any on top of mugging, even better. Whatever makes those 6 tentacles easier to get. Tons of Mesmerize too, for a lot of useful Mesmerize Blades for Regen.

OH SWEET, Propogator Card off a Mesmerize! But like all rare drop cards, it's a mega dissapointment. G-Mega-Potion.

Ifrit learned Ammo Refill! Nothing he learns matters now. I refine the Energy Crystal into 10 Pulse Ammo, because I don't care to use Rinoa at this point. Don't really need her.

I stop by the Prison to get some Death, and I am noticing that as I am wondering about hte plains, I care less and less about if I kill or Card. Obviously it's still good to card, but there is little game actually left. With how devestatingly powerful I am now and how weak enemies are in comparison, I have a lot of leeway to let enemies power up a bit. In fact, it might be beneficial since Squall is so insanely powerful now he OHKOs outside of crit, and having him participate in battle is quicker than trying to card everything (while before this point it was actually prett simpel to set something up to carding, or there weren't enemy swarms that were entirely cardable (at worst, it was like 2 GIMs). You might be asking me "Why am I not using Enc-None then?" and I have 2 answers. 1. I still got stuff I want to learn, and 2. I would like to have...A game. I am playing a game, and if I just slap on Enc-None, I'm gonna go mad, since all that's left of the small parts of disc 3 is it's incredibly retarded story. Do not go to Sorceress Memorial or the Lunar Gate quite yet. Not only do we want to run into whatever Malboros we can down here (rare encounter I'm learning), we want to go somewhere else first (and the memorial is currently pointless). Go to the Tear Point, and pick up Solomon's Ring. This will be helpful later, but for now it's just something we're keeping. I prefer to have it now than later.

Know what? Fuck it, I'm farming for Malboros. Grinding is more fun than actually playing the game at this point. So just let this be known. In a normal efficient run, Doomtrain is basically impossible unless you happen to find a bunch of Malboro cards off random players throughout the course of the game (You'd need a grand total of 24, have fun. I could barely gt 10 Elnoyles). As I do my little stint, I notice among hte many Mesmerizes I fight that I am getting a weirdly high number of Propogator cards off them. I can't be that stupendously lucky, so think that maybe higher magic makes the chance of rare card drops more frequent. I also notice a weird part of land sicking out to a lake, and I go investigate. I dunno why I had this sort of flash of memory, but I hit x and I find an Aura drawpoint! Yeah, there's hidden drawpoints on the world map, I had completely forgotten about that! Well cool, 2 more Auras is always nice.

Pandemona learned Str+40%! Now for Spd+20%

Shiva learned Elem Def Jx2! Carbuncle learned St Def Jx2! Doesn't really matter what they learn now.

Know what's funny? I'm actually finding this more fun than moving on. I actually get the chance to do something involving enemies, and beating them in the face without penalizing myself for doing so. The game has literally gotten so repeptitive that at this point I just want to get off the rails and do something for myself for a change. OH SHIT, HEXADRAGON! I get a Tiamat Card out of it.

Leviathan learned Spr Bonus!

Find a Gayla finally, get a Jumbo Cactuar card off a Glacial Eye. Did I mention Malboros have a stupid low encounter rate? I find another Hexadragon and I knock 6 Dragon Fangs off him, so I have enough for Lionheart. In fact, that's more than enough for Lionheart. All I need now is to get an Energy Crystal off an upcoming Elnoyle for another 10 Pulse Ammo, and I'm set. They seem to drop easy when they're in the lvl 20 set power. Just fought another one, dropped another set of 6.

Alexander learned Med Data! Now for Med Upgrade!

As I wonder aimlessly among the plains of Esthar, it basically dawns on me. Even if I weren't grinding like this, that's basically what the game is. Just my team doing enough damage, then waiting for my carder to finis things off. You see, any other RPG you would just kill shit, and that would be done. But no, the game penalizes you for wanting to have fun. Even if I were to continue, the game would not evolve. I've been doing basically the same damn thing since disk 1, and all boss fights have been anticlimactic crap I can do in 1 move, much less one full turn with my team. If we're going by those rules (since I have so far Mugged useless shit), Abaddon is the hardest fight for being able to take more than 3 limit breaks (which is a full turn, so it still responds with "dying" ). Gawd, I just want to play FF7 now, because this game is dumb on top of boring. Disk 2 is as fun as it got, and disk 3 and 4 basically have very little actual game in them (disk 3 is purely sidequests. If you opt not to do them, disk 3 ends as quick as it starts). I can enjoy a broken game, as long as it's cracktastic fun. But this is cracktastic boring. There is so much shit the game gives you, and yet little point in using most of any of it. The majority of the game is either A. It's piece of shit story, or B. Managing all my shit with refilling or upgrading, or C. The fucking card game. A vast minority of the game is actually...Game. Even the game is boring, because as stated, you do the same shit from disk 1 all the way to end. On top of that, all the luck. You need to not land crits on accident, and you need to land every card or else it's basically time wasted. Cards is the biggest thing of luck in this game, and it's retarted. Luck is pretty much the only reason some late boss fights last if you actually give a shit to Mug things. Hell, Squall can basically win this game on his own, considering everything can't survive more than 3 Renzokukens.

Alexander learned Med Upgrade, and I'm just about done giving a fuck about anything about this game. Bahhh, taking a break. Actually, I have to ask. Are you guys even interested in watching the rest of this crapffest of a game being played through? Generally, everything's the same. Card monsters (none of them are actually dangerous. Not once have I faced a sense of urgency when fighting a random encounter. I have had a character at 4 HP, and I didn't even give a fuck if he died, much less that he was close to it), and boss fights are basically "Renzokuken his ass", and most of my playthrough isn't a "playthrough", but more a coping with it's rock stupid story or that fucking card game. Because if you're as about done with this as I am, I'm willing to move on to FF7 right now.

*Starts playing Symphony of the Night for a bit, in order to remember what fun feels like*

[Life]

Alexander learned Med Upgrade, and I'm just about done giving a fuck about anything about this game. Bahhh, taking a break. Actually, I have to ask. Are you guys even interested in watching the rest of this crapffest of a game being played through? Generally, everything's the same. Card monsters (none of them are actually dangerous. Not once have I faced a sense of urgency when fighting a random encounter. I have had a character at 4 HP, and I didn't even give a fuck if he died, much less that he was close to it), and boss fights are basically "Renzokuken his ass", and most of my playthrough isn't a "playthrough", but more a coping with it's rock stupid story or that fucking card game. Because if you're as about done with this as I am, I'm willing to move on to FF7 right now.

Actually, I'm currently raging at FF7 for its sidequest shit... namely, the Gold Saucer. I think I'm going to shoot the guy who created the Battle Square since that's the only way to get Omnislash or the Champion Belt (I kinda want that before I do Wutai but fuck it).

[grandjackal]

Actually, I'm currently raging at FF7 for its sidequest shit... namely, the Gold Saucer. I think I'm going to shoot the guy who created the Battle Square since that's the only way to get Omnislash or the Champion Belt (I kinda want that before I do Wutai but fuck it).

There is a key difference between FF7 and 8.

FF7's sidequests are mindnumbingly insane in how much time they eat up to accomplish shit you don't really need (Meteorain does perfectly fine, fuck Omnislash). On the other hand, has actual game, so I don't have to care about sidequests.

FF8's sidequests are actually fairly straightforward and seem sidequest-like. On the other hand, the only reason to ever do them is to kill time and try to squander actual FUN from the game because fun is a precious resource in FF8 that doesn't last long. I have to care about side quests because it's the only thing fun about FF8.

[Life]

Personally, I think you should do an FF6 run. We could go toe to toe (we pretty much like the same games but play them with different styles) so it would be interesting to see how we both take the WoR in that game since I have a pretty set order of how I like to do shit (get Locke either last or second last while Narga gets him ASAP) which is probably different to yours.

Edited January 9, 2011 by Life Admiral

[grandjackal]

Personally, I think you should do an FF6 run. We could go toe to toe (we pretty much like the same games but play them with different styles) so it would be interesting to see how we both take the WoR in that game since I have a pretty set order of how I like to do shit (get Locke either last or second last while Narga gets him ASAP) which is probably different to yours.

Problem with 6 is (despite the fact I actually wanna play it so bad), I don't own it. I lost my copy of FF6 couple years back, and I can't find it anywhere (I refuse to emulate, and internet's burned me a few too many times). I was hoping they'd have it on the playstation network, but alas they do not. Whenit comes to world of ruin though, considering I am most likely not going to bother with learning Ultima on everyone? I'd probably get Edgar first for Drill, Chainsaw and Autocross, then I'm not sure who'd I'd get next. Celes would basically be the one person with Ultima, Edgar's kickass, so is Sabin, then I have a fourth slot. I'd probably give it to Gogo, but at the end of the day I gotta use everyone on the team anyways. BUT, for most of hte World of Ruin, my main team would probably be Celes, Edgar, Sabin and Gogo.

Anyways, I'm probably just gonna ditch this log, start up FF7. FF8 at this point just cannot keep my attention anymore. When grinding is more fun, and someone at 4 HP insists no sense of urgency, I feel you have made a bad RPG.

[Life]

Problem with 6 is (despite the fact I actually wanna play it so bad), I don't own it. I lost my copy of FF6 couple years back, and I can't find it anywhere (I refuse to emulate, and internet's burned me a few too many times). I was hoping they'd have it on the playstation network, but alas they do not. Whenit comes to world of ruin though, considering I am most likely not going to bother with learning Ultima on everyone? I'd probably get Edgar first for Drill, Chainsaw and Autocross, then I'm not sure who'd I'd get next. Celes would basically be the one person with Ultima, Edgar's kickass, so is Sabin, then I have a fourth slot. I'd probably give it to Gogo, but at the end of the day I gotta use everyone on the team anyways. BUT, for most of hte World of Ruin, my main team would probably be Celes, Edgar, Sabin and Gogo.

Well, you're forced to get Celes, Edgar and Setzer in the WoR (and a quick raid of Team 3 in Kefka's Tower yields the Fixed Dice which is basically why I always go and grab Mog ASAP.

Also, I switch around people in the WoR, depending on bosses. Like I don't bring uncontrollable people to Cyan's Mind or Owzer's Mansion (fuck you Poltergeist) while I quite sometimes having Umaro on my team (he's better than Cyan and Gau because I hate going Rage hunting...).

Actually, fuck Chrono Cross, Imma go do a log for FF6. You know, a game I quite enjoy.

EDIT: Tools are only kickass in WoB. They kinda slow down in the WoR since the strongest tool you have is Drill (I say this because of Chainsaw's tendency to go for the ID move) and you buy that back in Figaro Castle before Zozo. Narga disagrees with me but I feel that Edgar does incredible damage in the WoR as a Dragoon as long as he's not holding the Longinus (no 2x boost from jumps).

Edited January 9, 2011 by Life Admiral

[grandjackal]

Well, you're forced to get Celes, Edgar and Setzer in the WoR (and a quick raid of Team 3 in Kefka's Tower yields the Fixed Dice which is basically why I always go and grab Mog ASAP.

Well if we're going straight to Kefka's Tower, then undoubtedly we're taking Mog, and I suppose thats a good thing for Setzer...But I don't give a shit about Setzer, so that's why I bother getting hte others first and saying "Fuck the dice".

Also, I switch around people in the WoR, depending on bosses. Like I don't bring uncontrollable people to Cyan's Mind or Owzer's Mansion (fuck you Poltergeist) while I quite sometimes having Umaro on my team (he's better than Cyan and Gau because I hate going Rage hunting...).

I'd much prefer Gogo or Mog over Umaro

Actually, fuck Chrono Cross, Imma go do a log for FF6. You know, a game I quite enjoy.

Lol, Chrono Cross ain't cutting it for you either eh? Yeah, I'm probably just gonna sack FF8 and go right for FF7. Infact, I'll start the log here in a while.

EDIT: Tools are only kickass in WoB. They kinda slow down in the WoR since the strongest tool you have is Drill (I say this because of Chainsaw's tendency to go for the ID move) and you buy that back in Figaro Castle before Zozo. Narga disagrees with me but I feel that Edgar does incredible damage in the WoR as a Dragoon as long as he's not holding the Longinus (no 2x boost from jumps).

Drill and Chainsaw are still good,and while the Autocrossbow isn't as insane as it once was,it's still a group hitting ability, so he still racks up damage over time. His tools are versatile in WoR, just not braindead "shoot and kill" as they are in WoB. He can either try to get one strong enemy killed fast, or team of enemies killed later (Without costing MP, though eventually that means dick due to Economizer Ultima...But then again, what doesn't? In the end, he's still got Drill for bossfights). Drill in the end beats Setzer being luck based, Locke being a failure, Terra being Celes without Runic (or Ultima for that matter, since she's just an inferior Celes), Gau being time consuming, Umaro for failing, Cyan for failing, Relm for failing, and even Shadow for being...meh by then.

[Narga_Rocks]

Terra > Celes. And Relm is a pretty good mage too.

Aside from Terra having more magic to begin with and getting more time on the +2 magic espers (Celes has a little bit of time on +1s before Terra comes back, but Terra should get more bonuses anyway even with Celes being around for a level or two in WoR before getting Terra back. Assuming you don't run nearly all the time like I do), Terra also has Morph. Epic for boss fights before you get the defence ignoring spells that aren't affected by the 2x damage thing that works on all the aga spells and stuff like that.

Plus she gets better spells from leveling up anyway if you don't want to give them quite as many spells along the way. And the spells you can learn from the espers you get after Celes leaves are better than many of the spells you get before she leaves. And she doesn't have all that much time with them anyway (busy during the opera).

I just don't see how Celes is better. All she has is Runic and that's not even all that important aside from a few select battles. Doubling damage during boss fights has got to be more important.

[grandjackal]

Terra > Celes. And Relm is a pretty good mage too.

Aside from Terra having more magic to begin with and getting more time on the +2 magic espers (Celes has a little bit of time on +1s before Terra comes back, but Terra should get more bonuses anyway even with Celes being around for a level or two in WoR before getting Terra back. Assuming you don't run nearly all the time like I do), Terra also has Morph. Epic for boss fights before you get the defence ignoring spells that aren't affected by the 2x damage thing that works on all the aga spells and stuff like that.

Plus she gets better spells from leveling up anyway if you don't want to give them quite as many spells along the way. And the spells you can learn from the espers you get after Celes leaves are better than many of the spells you get before she leaves. And she doesn't have all that much time with them anyway (busy during the opera).

I just don't see how Celes is better. All she has is Runic and that's not even all that important aside from a few select battles. Doubling damage during boss fights has got to be more important.

When you've got Ultima+Economizer...It doesn't really matter. That's pretty much the only reason I ever bother with a mage characer, and I am only gonna have 1 Ultima user.

So...

[Narga_Rocks]

At that point they are pretty much even. It does however take a rather long time before you reach the point of having Economizer + Ultima. In the interim, Terra > Celes. And since they are mostly even once they have ultima (Terra will do a bit more damage due to more magic power but it's probably minor since on single enemies they'll do 9s by level 50 or something anyway if you like going that high) you might as well give that to Terra. It's not as if there is any reason to have access to learning Ultima before getting Terra anyway.

[Life]

Drill in the end beats Setzer being luck based, Locke being a failure, Terra being Celes without Runic (or Ultima for that matter, since she's just an inferior Celes), Gau being time consuming, Umaro for failing, Cyan for failing, Relm for failing, and even Shadow for being...meh by then.

Actually, a couple problems with this line.

Terra - Actually better than Celes (Trance is offensive, Runic is defensive and way too situational) and gets the Minerva Bustier. That means that she absorbs the big 3 elements and nullifies everything else. In a single piece of armour. That's fucking nuts.

Relm - Highest Magic in the game and this actually means something. If you give her the time to learn Bio ASAP from recruiting her in the Esper Mountains, she keeps up with Terra and Celes who have been around all game. This isn't like using Est since Bio is 8x and is just a bit weaker than Fira/Blizzara/Thundara on a character with 50 base Magic. Granted, Sketch is pure shit but her stats more than make up for it. Cat Ear Hood doesn't hurt either while the Nutkin Suit isn't bad.

Shadow - Hi there, throwable nuke! Shurikens and Fuma Shurikens are dirt cheap in this game at their respective points in time. Not to mention that you can buy Flametongue/Ice Brand/Thunder Blades for elemental damage.

Locke - Valiant Knife and Master's Scroll. Doesn't take the 1/2 damage penalty. Fuck him for making me beat the Phoenix Cave though.

Setzer - With the Moogle Raid, Setzer gets the Fixed Dice early and Master's Scroll lets him hit 4 times also without the reduced penalty. On average, you're looking at 20k just for a single "Attack".

The rest fail though. You also forgot to mention Strago.

[Narga_Rocks]

Actually, a couple problems with this line.

Terra - Actually better than Celes (Trance is offensive, Runic is defensive and way too situational) and gets the Minerva Bustier. That means that she absorbs the big 3 elements and nullifies everything else. In a single piece of armour. That's fucking nuts.

Celes can use that equipment, too. Granted they are the only two. And yes, it is awesome, though actually it nullifies four elements (fire, thunder, ice, wind) and halves the other 4 elements (poison, earth, holy, water).

This also makes it a nice armor for training near maranda, if you are into that, since Hoovers like using something that is wind elemental.

Setzer - With the Moogle Raid, Setzer gets the Fixed Dice early and Master's Scroll lets him hit 4 times also without the reduced penalty. On average, you're looking at 20k just for a single "Attack".

What happened to liking consistency? First Edgar and his 75% chance at only hitting twice, now Setzer and his unpredictable dice + offering (can't even pick targets).

Also, Relm is unlikely to have the highest magic. I can't seem to find a site that is actually smart enough to tell you the starting stats of everyone, but I think it was like 39 and 44 or something? A 5 point difference between Relm and Terra? Unless you are like me and enjoy staying at level 6 until you get Relm (except Shadow since he runs away before recruiting Strago so I can let him level a bunch between getting to the island Thamasa is on and actually visiting Strago which lets me then level everyone else to Shadow's level before the IAF and getting Shadow back (which would auto-level him without Esper bonuses if I didn't keep everyone at or below his level)), Terra will probably get at least 3 levels between when you get her back and when you get Relm. These should obviously have +2 mag on each, and that's +6. Assuming I'm remembering right about the difference in mag.pwr, Terra will now have the lead. And Relm gets auto-leveled to your average which will probably mean she'll be the same level as Terra and with lower mag.

Oh, and Terra is much much easier to get in the wor than Relm, so Terra will probably again have extra esper leveling before you can get Relm. Again, unless you love running like I do.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

What happened to liking consistency? First Edgar and his 75% chance at only hitting twice, now Setzer and his unpredictable dice + offering (can't even pick targets).

Once you break the damage cap, consistency goes out the window. Setzer is almost guarentee'd to break 9999 damage with 4 rolls of the Fixed Dice.

Note, this doesn't include Cyan because fuck Bushidos.

Also, Relm is unlikely to have the highest magic. I can't seem to find a site that is actually smart enough to tell you the starting stats of everyone, but I think it was like 39 and 44 or something? A 5 point difference between Relm and Terra? Unless you are like me and enjoy staying at level 6 until you get Relm (except Shadow since he runs away before recruiting Strago so I can let him level a bunch between getting to the island Thamasa is on and actually visiting Strago which lets me then level everyone else to Shadow's level before the IAF and getting Shadow back (which would auto-level him without Esper bonuses if I didn't keep everyone at or below his level)), Terra will probably get at least 3 levels between when you get her back and when you get Relm. These should obviously have +2 mag on each, and that's +6. Assuming I'm remembering right about the difference in mag.pwr, Terra will now have the lead. And Relm gets auto-leveled to your average which will probably mean she'll be the same level as Terra and with lower mag.

Oh, and Terra is much much easier to get in the wor than Relm, so Terra will probably again have extra esper leveling before you can get Relm. Again, unless you love running like I do.

There's your problem right there. I don't go out of my way to kill myself for stat boosts. I usually have the team at around level 20 at this time and I don't mind. In fact, I like it since I don't have to pray every time I get hit by an attack.

[Narga_Rocks]

What? The entire point here is that if you don't stay at level 6, Terra will get at least 3 stat boosts compared to Relm. Terra will have more mag.pwr than Relm.

This is "unless you suck at moving around your espers, Terra has more magic power". If you think Relm having the most magic is worth mentioning, it is only logical that Terra being able to easily have more magic is also worth mentioning.

The only time that Relm has more magic power than Terra is if you either

a: go out of your way to keep levels low

b: ignore the ability to boost magic power at level up

And what game are you playing? Survival is easy in WoB at level 6. Just needs planning, really (and only matters on bosses, since I run from everything else and nothing OHKOs). And it's not like I take on the imperial air force at level 6. I do that at around level 15. It's just that I'm able to get every single character the maximum amount of stat boosts. My level 15 against IAF is probably like your level 20, actually, in terms of raw power. Not in terms of my hp, of course, but in terms of damage that I deal to it. At least for my magic characters, if you don't bother moving around Espers for +mag.pwr boosts and +str.

[Life]

What? The entire point here is that if you don't stay at level 6, Terra will get at least 3 stat boosts compared to Relm. Terra will have more mag.pwr than Relm.

This is "unless you suck at moving around your espers, Terra has more magic power". If you think Relm having the most magic is worth mentioning, it is only logical that Terra being able to easily have more magic is also worth mentioning.

The only time that Relm has more magic power than Terra is if you either

a: go out of your way to keep levels low

b: ignore the ability to boost magic power at level up

I'm saying that I don't go out of my way to train magic on the Veldt. I think you can see where that's going.

[Narga_Rocks]

I'm saying that I don't go out of my way to train magic on the Veldt. I think you can see where that's going.

What does that have to do with raising Terra's Magic Power stat to be > Relm's?

[Life]

What does that have to do with raising Terra's Magic Power stat to be > Relm's?

Well, see, when I do my magic training DURING the game, I level up without having the right Espers on. And I'm not going to be assed to change them right before a leveling.

FF6 is not a hard game that you need these boosts. They just make it easier.

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, see, when I do my magic training DURING the game, I level up without having the right Espers on. And I'm not going to be assed to change them right before a leveling.

FF6 is not a hard game that you need these boosts. They just make it easier.

So basically, Relm's extra 5 magpwr is somehow an important victory over Terra and Celes, just it isn't important enough to be bothered to do something about it? It's not like missing a couple of battles' worth of AP (I think ffvia calls it that now, but magic points in the original translation) is going to hurt any. Besides, Zoneseek teaches Osmose. Osmose is an amazing spell but you can probably live without learning it instantly. Especially since the cave to the sealed gate is so full of undeads. Switching back and forth to Zoneseek to both learn Osmose and at the same time gain magic power seems like an excellent idea.

It's arguably less painful than constantly resetting djinn after every battle. But then I guess you don't do the unleash method and enjoy burning PP.

[grandjackal]

Just letting you guys know the FF7 log is up. You guys are free to argue about FF6 stuff here though, certainly more fun than talking about FF8.

[Narga_Rocks]

Just letting you guys know the FF7 log is up. You guys are free to argue about FF6 stuff here though, certainly more fun than talking about FF8.

Exactly. I'm glad you understand. :P

[Life]

So basically, Relm's extra 5 magpwr is somehow an important victory over Terra and Celes, just it isn't important enough to be bothered to do something about it? It's not like missing a couple of battles' worth of AP (I think ffvia calls it that now, but magic points in the original translation) is going to hurt any. Besides, Zoneseek teaches Osmose. Osmose is an amazing spell but you can probably live without learning it instantly. Especially since the cave to the sealed gate is so full of undeads. Switching back and forth to Zoneseek to both learn Osmose and at the same time gain magic power seems like an excellent idea.

It's arguably less painful than constantly resetting djinn after every battle. But then I guess you don't do the unleash method and enjoy burning PP.

I'd consider that a cheap shot except for the fact that Psynergy is fucking broken in GS3. And regains very quickly when you consider that there are very few random wild battles in that game (GJ will back me up there).

And don't make me laugh with Zona Seeker. It's important to remember that Zona Seeker teaches Osmose at a 15x rate. So 6 AP and whoops, all we're doing is learning Shell (Zona Seeker is great for bosses though) at this point. It's a waste of perfectly good AP. Not to mention that Shiva also teaches Rasp and Osmose on top of 5x Blizzara.

To me, learning the spells takes precedent over stat boosts. It's quite easy to beat the game with the stat boosts. It's considerably harder when your best spell is Blizzara for the end of the game (cause the good stuff only teaches spells at 2x rates at best).

[Narga_Rocks]

phoenix teaches fire3 at 3x.

And you laugh at zoneseek, but keep in mind Terra only needs 3 levels of it to beat Relm in magic power. And how much in the sealed cave gives you 3 AP per battle? Not much, if anything. So that's 3 battles before leveling in which she can use Zoneseek. And tada, she wins.

Also, I'd argue that 20 magic power (10 levels worth of good esper distribution) is worth more than 10 battles of AP.

As for Shiva, are you learning all 3 ara spells or no? If so, Maduin until at least 60 each. Not to mention Maduin teaches Bolt2 faster than Ramuh and even if you want to learn Poison that's only 20 battles (so 40 points of bolt 2).

Now you've got 40 to go on fire 2 and ice 2. If you want drain (takes a while and isn't even that good, so unless you are on the snes version abusing intangirs I'm not sure there's a point) then go ahead with learning the rest of fire 2 and ice 2 on ifrit and shiva.

In any case, at most that's 8 AP with Shiva to learn the rest of ice 2. 32 points toward Osmose. you still need 5 AP on Zoneseek to learn Osmose.

Oh, and 100 / 15 = 7 AP needed, not 6, btw.

Chances are, that's giving you 3 battles on Zoneseek to get points.

Also, if you want muddle or imp or float on Terra (not sure why you would since if you have limited AP you are probably better off putting those on low mag power characters) then that's an Esper that gives +1 mag pwr. More interestingly, Maduin also gives +1 mag pwr and he's way better for learning the ara spells. It's simply unlikely that Terra won't have more mag pwr than Relm if you aren't running from everything and if you have any form of planning whatsoever.

In GS1 especially (no HM exists), you can OHKO nearly everything in random encounters with djinn unleashes. Mia and Ivan may sometimes need to combine, but that's still 3 enemies that die per round, and you rarely face more than 3 in a battle. Its just strange for me to see people say "this class has this psynergy that does nice damage for 10 PP" or whatever in that game when you can one round most random encounters with unleashes for free.

[Life]

Pretty sure that Relm comes at a lower level than Terra (3~4 levels below party average). If what you're telling me is true (keeping Terra at level 6 until Relm and Strago join, then by your whole Esper boost theory, Relm still has higher Magic than Terra and even more so because of being a lower level.

[Narga_Rocks]

Relm has the same level as your average. NOBODY has a - in their adjustment. Many have a +, like Locke has a +2 (so level 3 Terra makes a level 5 Locke) and Edgar/Sabin have a +2 (so 3, 5 terra and locke makes a 6 edgar, and 3, 5, 6 makes a 6 sabin). But Relm = average level (rounded down, if applicable).

Mog has a +5, so poor Mog will never be lower than level 11 at jointime. Not relevant at the moment, but I can't help but mention it all the time since it annoys me.

Now, yes, depending on your party you could have a Relm a couple levels below Terra. Like, if you have levels between, say, 15 and 25, with Terra in the 22 to 25 range, then Relm would probably arrive around 20 and have the potential to get past Terra in mag.pwr. Plus she's gotta learn Osmose and the Maduin spells and Terra will have learned them by now so if you don't like swapping espers for mag. pwr then there's that as well.

As for my games, of course Relm has higher magic than Terra. It's only by 5, though, because they are both level 6 with no esper boosts at that point. But we were talking about a game where you don't run like crazy.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Narga_Rocks