Radiant Dragon's FFT Oracle SCC Playlog

[Radiant Dragon]

First off, you're probably wondering what SCC stands for. Officially, it stands for Straight Character Challenge, but I prefer to refer to it as a Single Class Challenge, since that's more indicative as to what it really is, and doesn't make any assumptions about my team's heterosexuality.

For those of you who dislike clicking links, here are the more important rules:

1. The team consists of Ramza + 4 generics (special characters are not allowed). Starting from the Slums in Dorter battle, they must all be in the same class (Oracle in this case), can't use any abilities from any other class (action, reaction, support, movement - nothing), and must stay in that class for the remainder of the game.

2. Guests can do whatever they want, and they can be any class and use any abilities that they want. They're exempt from the rules of the challenge.

3. Brave and Faith can not be modified unless the SCC class can do it naturally.

4. The levels of the participating members may not exceed:

20 before the end of Chapter 1 (unless you're doing a Mime SCC, and exceed it just to unlock the class)

35 before the end of Chapter 2

50 before the end of Chapter 3

70 before entering Orbonne Monastery for the final battles

5. No cheating or abusing glitches (infinite JP, level Up/Down, Item Duping, etc.), but that should be obvious.

Onto the challenge!

Battle 1 - Defending Orbonne Monastery

Short of using Ramza to kill your guests, this battle is impossible to lose. Ramza and the right-most Knight (I forget if it's Lavian or Alicia) take care of the Archers in the east while Gaffgarion and Agrias handle everything else. The other Knight gets killed by the Knight and Chemist, and Rad did nothing important that I remember.

Battle 2 - Magic City Gariland

The goal of this battle is to get Delita the JP for Move +1 and Auto-Potion. What, you thought this was going to be efficient?

Anyway, I bring along the two Chemists and the two male Squires. I kill everything except the Chemist, and get Delita into critical so he runs away instead of getting in my way. I then use one of the Squires and the Chemists to beat on the enemy Chemist while he heals himself, and Delita (and Ramza, but he doesn't get to keep anything) reaps the spillover JP.

After the battle, I dismiss all of my generics and hire four females from the Soldier Office: Two Cancers, a Pisces and a Scorpio (I want my team to have good compatibility with each other for Pray Faith). They all have great Faith but low Brave (you take what you can get, I suppose). After some debilitation, I name my 'Stick Chicks' Ellen, Serra, Natasha and Laura, and make them all Chemists with Throw Stone secondary. Ramza goes into Priest with Item secondary, and Delita gets Auto-Potion and Move +1. I sell everything that's not equipped or a Potion/Phoenix Down, and buy an Oak Staff and more Potions and Phoenix Downs.

Battle 3 - Mandalia Plains

Natasha stays behind, since I can only bring 4 units. I elect not to save Algus because I don't like him I kind of need the Brave (well, not really. Absorb Used MP isn't a very useful Reaction Command). I move everyone to the left on the first turn, to meet Algus when he retreats, and let him and Delita deal most of the damage. Ramza deals decent damage with his staff, but the others were mostly on healing duty unless it was a kill shot.

Interim: Ramza has already unlocked Oracle, which is nice. He goes into it and learns Paralyze (he keeps Item secondary). Ellen and Serra are also able to go into Priest, so they do so and equip Black Magic secondary. Delita becomes a Chemist, with Guts secondary.

Battle 4 - Sweegy Woods

I forgot to get Delita Phoenix Down during the first battle, so I have to do it here. Thankfully, he only needs 60 JP. Ellen stays behind as I can still only deploy 4 units.

Serra runs around OHKOing the Goblins (and Algus, since he got in the way) with Ice. Ramza Disables one of the Bombs, and they're taken out by him and Algus, while Delita, Natasha and Laura triple-team the Panther.

Interim: Serra becomes an Oracle, while the others become Priests with Black Magic secondary. I walk around Sweegy and Mandalia until everyone has access to the Oracle class. The battles consisted mostly of 'Protect first turn, nuke everything with Ice on the second and third', so I don't see the need to describe them in detail.

After that, I deck my Oracles out with Oak Staves, Feather Hats and Leather Outfits. I sell my previous equipment for more Potions and Phoenix Downs. Going into Dorter, everyone has Paralyze, Ramza also has Silence Song and Serra also has Blind.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[eclipse]

THIS I have to see. I find it interesting so far. Thanks~!

[Radiant Dragon]

I decide I want Algus to be a Knight as well, so I head to Igros to get him equipment. I end up getting into another skirmish in Sweegy Woods on my way to Dorter, but a lone Skeleton and Goblin will never be considered a threat no matter what your party is.

Battle 5 - Slums in Dorter

Is Wiegraf a Beowolf pallete swap, or is Beowolf a Wiegraf pallete swap? Hmm...

I take to the high ground on the first turn, and let the enemies come to me. The top-most Archer is Paralyzed and killed by Delita and Algus. The Archer without a weapon charges me and gets killed by a combination of Staff hits and crossfire damage from a Wizard. The Wizards were both killed while charging, leaving only the Crossbow Archer and the Knight to be Disabled and chased down, with Delita and Algus providing some much needed healing and revival.

Interim: I buy some more Potions and Phoenix Downs in Dorter, and save my JP for Life Drain. Delita gets the Iron Sword and Ramza gets the Silk Robe.

Battle 6 - Sand Rat Cellar

There's a Monk with Weapon Guard here. I don't know why a Monk would need Weapon Guard, but to each their own, I suppose.

Said Monk charges Ramza and Delita's side alone, while all of his friends go for Algus's side. The Monk is easily put down with Delita's sword and a staff hit from Ramza and Ellen. On Algus's side, all of the enemies there are Disabled, and then ganged-up on and picked off. The Archer retreats and starts annoying Delita, but is put down just as easily as that Monk. It takes a while to finish the rest of the enemies, though, since Staves are not powerful weapons and Disable doesn't last very long at this point in the game.

Interim: I update everyone's equipment to Red Hats, Linen Robes (Ramza keeps the Silk Robe) and Small Mantles. I then get into two skrimishes until all of my Oracles can learn Life Drain (I'm not relying on staff attacks to defeat Miluda). A Chocobo, Panther and two Goblins in Mandalia were easy enough, but I was only barely able to finish three Skeletons and two Goblins in Sweegy before Natasha crystalized.

Battle 7 - Thieves Fort

I manage to connect a ~35% Life Drain, but miss 3 ~60% ones and an ~84%. The RNG is a fickle mistress, indeed.

Delita and Algus rush the enemies, while my Oracles hang back and target Miluda with Life Drain. Since its damage is fixed at 25% of the target's health, I only need to connect 4 times. I'm only able to connect with 3 though, but Algus is a bro (never thought I'd say that) and finishes her off.

Interim: I never get tired of watching Zalbag kill that Thief during the cutscene where Teta's kidnapped. I get stuck fighting a couple Chocobos and a Goblin on my way back to Igros, though.

Level 6 - Ramza

Level 5 - Serra, Laura

Level 4 - Ellen, Natasha

Edited July 31, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[Radiant Dragon]

Battle 8 - Lenalia Plateau

Otherwise known as the only story battle in Chapter 1 where I can use my whole party.

I had to restart a bunch of times because Life Drain keep missing Miluda, and I get overwhelmed. Regardless, the plan is to charge forward, Silence and Disable stuff on the first turn, and then target Miluda with Life Drain and run away. If she dodges too many, the surviving Oracles would try to hit her again to finish before Disable wears off of the other Knights.

Interim: Serra gets the Silk Robe I aquire after defeating Miluda.

Battle 9 - Windmill Shed

Why does Boco count as a Guest in this battle when he's fighting on the other side?

Much easier than last battle. Wiegraf moves into my Oracles' range to hit Delita with Split Punch. Three Life Drains later, he retreats.

Interim: Ramza, Ellen and Laura all learn Foxbird. Fun times shall be had. Although I should probably start thinking about getting Defense UP...

Battle 10 - Fort Zeakden

Once again, a useless Guest is taking up space in my party. This is a very satisfiying battle regardless, though.

Delita charges Algus, but the Knights kill him due to Auto-Potion failing to activate. Ramza manages to land one Life Drain on Algus before being OHKO'd by Fira, and Serra hits him with 2 before retreating to the top of the fort, allowing Ellen to make it over to Ramza's side and finish Algus before his third turn.

Thoughts on the challenge so far:

Paralyze is really, really good. While Disable still only lasts for one turn, that's all that's needed to get the enemies to retreat to give me some much needed breathing room and time to regroup. It also makes it easier to whale on them with my staves. The MVP of the last 4 battles was clearly Life Drain, however. It's amazing in Defeat Boss objectives (when it hits...), since it's damage is based on a percentage of their max HP. I'm sure that Sticks (once I get them) will be better against mooks though, unless I need the healing. Silence Song is also great against enemy mages, since it's faster than Paralyze and Silence lasts much longer than Disable. Spell Absorb and Foxbird haven't seen much use yet, and Blind is more useless than I expected (instead of decreasing hit, it increases avoid for some reason, and my avoid's pitiful).

I haven't had too much trouble with any battle yet. Dorter caused a few resets until I started being less aggressive and let the enemies come to me, and Lenalia was just annoying due to Miluda's dodge-tanking. And that one skirmish where Natasha almost crystallized, but that was more of a race against the clock than anything else. This will probably change later on, although chapter 2 is pretty easy for the most part (Agrias is ridiculous, and I finally get Sticks after rescuing Ovelia). At least now I can use Propositions to get some JP without having to grind skirmishes.

On to Chapter 2!

Level 7: Ramza

Level 6: Laura, Serra

Level 5: Ellen, Natasha

Edited July 31, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[eclipse]

I want to see how you handle a certain Chapter 3 battle. . .and the last Chapter 2 one.

[Radiant Dragon]

I want to see how you handle a certain Chapter 3 battle. . .and the last Chapter 2 one.

Which Chapter 3 battle are you referring to? Saving Rafa in Yardow, or the Riovanes sequence?

As for Cuchulainn, I'm not too worried about any of the Lucavi except possibly Adrammelch, since Life Drain is guaranteed to kill any enemy except the final boss in 4 hits, and they've all got great Faith, so accuracy isn't a problem. I'm more worried about Golgorand, to be honest.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[eclipse]

Riovanes, because it's annoying.

And may the RNG be nice to you. Goodness knows having a ~60% chance to hit Leg Shot is a cause for prayer.

[Radiant Dragon]

Riovanes, because it's annoying.

If I remember correctly, Chameleon Robe + Feather Boots makes Wiegraf easy, and I can turn him into a Chicken if I want/need to. Velius will be a race to nuke him before he nukes me, and I'll probably unequip Ramza for the Rooftop battle, to draw fire away from Rafa long enough to Life Drain one of the Assassins.

And may the RNG be nice to you. Goodness knows having a ~60% chance to hit Leg Shot is a cause for prayer.

Interestingly, I've missed plenty ~60% Life Drains, but I didn't miss any of the three ~35% ones. The RNG is really odd at times.

Edited July 31, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[Radiant Dragon]

Now that I'm back at my own computer, I can continue. Agrias and Gaffgarion make the early Chapter 2 battles ridiculously easy.

Interim: I strip and boot Rad, Lavian and Alicia, which saddens me since I love using those guys. Laura gets Rad's Chain Vest, and Agrias and Gaffgarion get Item secondary.

Battle 11 - Dorter Trade City

Trading Delita for Agrias and Gaffgarion is what I call a winning trade. Also, the Thief's reaction at the beginning of the battle is priceless.

Agrias and Gaffgarion vs. the enemies in this battle isn't even fair. Especially if the enemies are Disabled and/or Silenced. Life Drain kept my Oracles healthy while Agrias and Gaffgarion did the heavy lifting.

Interim: I do all of the Propositions available, using Igros and Zeakden to avoid skirmishes, although I still manage to get into two easy fights in Mandalia. Afterwards, everyone has Silence Song, Foxbird and Defense Up, and Ellen has Pray Faith. I outfit my Oracles with Headgear, Silk Robes and Leather Mantles before heading for Araguay Woods.

Battle 12 - Araguay Woods

I elect to save Boco, since I actually like him (unlike Algus), and it's not difficult. Boco runs into the corner as Agrias and Gaffgarion kill everything with some support from my Oracles. Goblins are not difficult enemies, and I have Defense Up.

Interim: Laura learns Pray Faith, and I strip Gaffgarion of his equipment (I leave him as a Dark Knight though, just because).

Battle 13 - Zirekile Falls

Agrias and Delita run around killing everything with Stasis Sword and Lightning Stab, while I get off a few Life Drains to finish off their scraps. I was able to reduce Gaffgarion's Brave to 1 with 2 Foxbirds, but he's apparently immune to Chicken. Shame.

Interim: STICKS!! I go to Dorter and equip everyone with Cypress Rods, Triangle Hats and Battle Boots. Ramza gets Ovelia's Wizard Robe, and learns Pray Faith.

Level 10 - Ramza

Level 9 - Ellen, Serra, Natasha, Laura

[Radiant Dragon]

Now we get to the more difficult battles of Chapter 2.

Battle 14 - Zaland Fort City

Agrias gets Move +1 before the battle, and I leave a spot open in my formation for her to take on her first turn.

Mustadio moves to the left while the Wizards go right, heading towards my party. I'm able to Silence one of them and the other is killed while he's charging. After that, Ramza and Laura go to the left to aid Mustadio and get rid of a Knight and the Archers, while Serra and Ellen stay to clean up the Wizard and the other Knight. Agrias jumps around outside the fort, Stasis Swording anything she can reach.

Interim: Ramza gets Sleep, Ellen and Laura get Petrify, and Serra and Natasha get Pray Faith. Ellen takes the Silk Robe previously owned by Ramza, to replace the one that was broken in the fight.

Battle 15 - Barius Hill

Screw Summoners and their spells that borderline OHKO my units.

On the first turns, Ellen Petrifies an Archer and a Knight with some help from Pray Faith (on both her and the enemies) as Mustadio Disables the other Knight. Then I retreat as the Summoners make their way towards me, letting them waste their MP killing Agrias (sorry, but I'm more important). Once the Summoners couldn't use their spells anymore, I move forward once again to finish the rest of the enemies with some potshots from Mustadio.

Interim: Mustadio gets Seal Evil. I go to Zaland to outfit my entire team with Battle Bamboo, Green Berets, Wizard Robes and Wizard Mantles.

Battle 16 - Zigolis Swamp

Mustadio gets put to sleep at the beginning of the fight, so he doesn't get to do much. Ramza and Ellen handle the Ghosts and a Malboro while the others go around to kill the Skeletons. The battle takes a while due to the Swamp, my Oracles only having 3 move and Life Drain being useless against all but one of the enemies.

Interim: Ellen gets Move MP Up while everyone but Ramza gets Petrify (he's a few JP away due to learning Sleep).

Goug has more Summoners. Just what I needed...

Level 12 - Ramza

Level 10 - Ellen, Serra, Natasha

Level 9 - Laura

Edited August 6, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[eclipse]

Summoners are super-slow, though. . .

[Radiant Dragon]

Yeah. The plan is to wait for them to get close enough and then hit them with Silence Song, so we'll have to see how that goes.

[Radiant Dragon]

Finished with Chapter 2, and I have to say that I'm still surprised at how easy Golgorand was.

Battle 17 - Slums in Goug

Silence Song is awesome against Summoners. Mustadio Disables one of the Thieves before falling to the Archers. I wait for the Summoners to enter my range, Silence them and then poke them to death with my Sticks. The battle was pretty easy after that, although I ended up killing Laura because she got Charmed by one of the Thieves.

Interim: I accept Mustadio so I can do the sidequests later if I want. Ramza learns Petrify while Ellen and Laura learn Sleep. I buy 4 pairs of Rubber Shoes for the Lionel Gate battle.

Battle 18 - Bariaus Valley

This battle was pretty easy. The Wizards are Silenced before they can do anything too damaging, and the Archer on Ramza's side is Petrified. After that it's just clean up, with Agrias helping to take down the Knights.

Interim: I accept Agrias because I like her (despite the fact that she's more than a little incompetent at protecting Ovelia). Ramza saves his JP for Zombie while everyone else learns Sleep.

Battle 19 - Golgorand Execution Site.

This was not as difficult as I thought it would be, but that could be because I got pretty lucky getting through the Knight's evade. Anyway, Gaffgarion was Disabled after going for my two Oracles not with Ramza, and they traded Life Drains with Night Sword for most of the battle. I used Sleep instead of Disable once, but then a Archer attacked him to wake him up, so I stuck with Disable after that.

On Ramza's side, the two Knights were dispatched with Stick damage an a Life Drain, quickly followed by an Archer. The Time Mages were annoying by casting Slow on my units, but I dealt with them once they came down to my level. Once everything else was dead, I surrounded and poked Gaffgarion to death.

Interim: Ramza learns Zombie, Ellen learns Doubt Faith and Laura and Natasha get Move MP Up. My stick chicks all get the Rubber Shoes.

Battle 20 - At the Gate of Lionel Castle

Pray Faith + Zombie on Ramza, Paralyze on Gaffgarion. Ramza then finishes him off with a Life Drain (which still heals you when you're Undead...) and two Stick whacks. The outside of the gate was ridiculously easy. Only the Summoner could harm me, so I waited for him to get in range and hit him with Silence Song. I then poked everything to death, going for the Knights first after the Summoner was dead, since even if they couldn't damage me, they could still break my stuff.

Interim: My stick chicks get their Wizard Mantles back. Everyone finishes learning Move MP Up, and some start on Absorb Used MP and Doubt Faith.

Battle 21 - Inside Lionel Castle

Since Ramza's position is fixed, by placing the others at the edges of the pre-battle formation Cuchulainn can't hit more than one person with Nightmare, so he runs down and goes for a Bio 3. It doesn't hit for fatal damage on anyone, and 4 Life Drains later Cuchulainn goes down.

Level 14 - Ramza, Ellen

Level 13 - Laura, Serra, Natasha

Edited August 7, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[eclipse]

Zombie? That's something I haven't heard of using. . .hmmm, interesting, thank you~!

[Radiant Dragon]

It'd work better if he kept his Blood Sword from the Golgorand battle, but cancelling Night Sword is still pretty useful. Unfortunately, I can't think of any other uses for the ability.

[eclipse]

Between Zombie and Vampire, which one trumps which?

[Radiant Dragon]

You mean casting Zombie on someone to get rid of Blood Suck? Hmm... Might work, I don't know. I've never tried it.

[eclipse]

1. Would Zombie get rid of Vampire?

2. Would Vampire get rid of Zombie?

3. Can you tell how much I hate Vampire?

[Radiant Dragon]

Yeah, Vampire sucks (no pun intended). Although, if you can keep one guy from getting Blood Sucked and alive, it can be pretty useful.

[eclipse]

Since you have a bunch of chicks, you can give one of them the Barrette, which protects against such nonsense.

[Radiant Dragon]

This is true. There's also 108 Gems if I need the HP, but that does rob me of a slot I could for a more useful accessory (not that the 108 Gems aren't useful, but I don't have any elemental attacks).

[eclipse]

The Barrette also protects against all the other nonsense those two chicks throw at you, which is useful.

[Radiant Dragon]

The Barrette protects against Death? I thought only the Ribbon did that.

[eclipse]

Hmm. . .I think I had the Barrette + Jujitsu Gi (or whatever that equip is called) on Agrias at the top of Riovanes, and she was fine. Not sure if your Orators can equip that.

[Radiant Dragon]

If it's not Heavy Armor (and it doesn't sound like it is), I can equip it. I might grab some of those in Yardow then, although I'm more worried about them using Death on Rafa instead of my Oracles. Anyway, more logs!

Interim: Serra learns Absorb Used MP.

Battle 22 - Goland Coal City

Your typical easy 'first battle of the chapter' battle. Even despite Olan using his first turn to shove the Mediator off of the roof which, while funny, wasn't as useful as Galaxy Stop would've been. He cast it eventually, though. My Oracles walked around poking the the incapacitated enemies to death while Olan went mano-a-mano with the Thief that went after him, since she had bad compatability with most of my units.

Interim: Musk Rods for everyone (I didn't expect a weapon upgrade after the next battle, as such they didn't really see any use), and Ramza learns Blind Rage. I debate buying some Magic Gauntlets, but decided the Wizard Mantle's evade is more important than the Gauntlet's +1 MA, although I'm starting to think that Battle Boots would be the better choice.

Battle 23 - Back gate of Lesalia Castle

Zalmo's cluelessness amuses me to no end. Not to mention his 78 Faith. Having to go around the wall and stairs was annoying, but once he got in range, 4 Life Drains put him down.

Interim: Natasha learns Absorb Used MP, and everyone gets outfitted with Iron Fans, Holy Miters and Germinas Boots, since I'm sick of only having 3 Move (Ramza gets Alma's Red Shoes instead). I stick with Wizard Robes for armor since I don't think the slight HP/MP boost from the Chamelon Robe is worth the drop in MA.

Battle 24 - Underground Book Storage Second Floor

Being on the recieving end of 1-2 range damage for a change wasn't fun. I Disabled the initial wave of Lancers that came at me, to buy me some breathing room and Life Drain my units back to reasonable health. I then run around Life Draining and poking stuff to death, recasting Paralyze here and there. Two of my girls fell, but I was able to finish the enemy off before they crystalized.

Interim: Ramza learned Absorb Used MP, which means that my Oracles have mastered the most useful abilities, so all that's really left is Doubt Faith and Blind Rage, but Silence Song neuters mages well enough. Confusion Song is situational at best, and I can't think of an instance where I'd need Dispel Magic.

Battle 25 - Underground Book Storage Third Floor

My usual plan of 'Rush the boss and Life Drain it to death' failed when I missed most of the Life Drains aimed at Izlude, so the rest of the enemies had free reign to beat on my Oracles. I ended up resorting to Stick whacks, and killed Izlude with 4 of my Oracles dead and the last one in critical.

Battle 26 - Undergrond Book Storage First Floor

I arrange my pre-battle formation so that Wiegraf can only target 2 of my units with Stasis Sword or Lightning Stab. Thankfully, Life Drain is nicer to me this time accuracy wise, and I only miss one of them. Ramza gets torched by the Wizard, but Serra puts Wiegraf down immediately afterward.

Interim: Everyone gets Gokku Rods and White Robes (screw enemy Summoners), and I buy a Chamelon Robe for Riovanes.

I don't have levels right now, unfortunately. People are around the Level 16-15 range, if I recall correctly.

Edited August 10, 2011 by Radiant Kitty