Topic: Lay down your arms or die clutching them! Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics! (Read 20145 times)

R^2 · « **Reply #120 on:** May 15, 2012, 03:40:28 PM »

I run my tattered, broken, chocobo-less party up to Dort--

WHAT NOW

Word gets around fast.

Outland Mage: If you want your sister back, you will come to Riovanes Castle. And you will bring the Scriptures of Germonique with you.
R2: What importance is the book?

OM: You are not in a position to make demands. This is a luxury you do not have. So we have an understanding, yes?

I understand I'm about to cram a foot into your a--

Hey! Where do you think you're going?! Damned cutscenes.

R^2 · « **Reply #121 on:** May 15, 2012, 03:50:21 PM »

And leaving Dorter...

Delita: They've been searching high and low for you.

Ovelia: Please. I could not bear it.
Delita: That was cruel of me. I am sorry.
Ovelia: What do you mean to do with me? I am not Ovelia. There can be no value in holding me. No value even in my living.

Delita: You're right. You are not the Princess Ovelia. We do not even know your rightful name. Whether even you be highborn, or low.

Ovelia: Even this I thought a burden light enough, if it meant the kingdom would know peace. I played my part, yet still Ivalice runs red with blood. All this suffering and solitude. For what?

Delita: A puppet, ever dancing for the amusement of patrons unseen. This wretched world does not reward endeavor. It is the patron and his troupe who are receipt -- maggots grown fat on endeavor's corse. Most men but play the part they're given. Most live and die not knowing they play a part at all. But I am past all that now. I am their unwitting puppet no more. No more... I will exact from them the price of their gluttonous feast!

Ovelia: And just what is it you plan to do to them?
Delita: I will burn down this kingdom, and from its ashes build for you a new one -- a kingdom worthy of you. I will show you a world where your light will outshine the sun! A world that will know no darkness.

Delita: I will not fail you in this. On Tietra's soul, I swear to you.

R^2 · « **Reply #122 on:** May 15, 2012, 03:55:12 PM »

I head off to the Lenalia Plateau first, to restock my party with monsters.

Dragons are tough and strong, with good MA for their breath attacks. Green Dragons only get a breath attack with Beastmaster nearby, but later dragons have them innately. At Move 5, they're one of the more mobile heavy-hitters, although they can't enter water.

Later I run around Mandalia Plain for a while looking for a Chocobo, but haven't found one yet.

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #123 on:** May 15, 2012, 08:01:13 PM »

How do you pronounce Beoulve, anyway?

Classic · « **Reply #124 on:** May 15, 2012, 08:39:55 PM »

Questions answered!
Oh. Spoilers to the story.
Final Fantasy Tactics War of the lions PSP cutscenes 3/3

Bay-oolv'

R^2 · « **Reply #125 on:** May 16, 2012, 02:50:27 PM »

The Archer

Archers are the beginning of the "quick fighter" line. Two levels in Squire leads to Archer, and two levels in Archer leads to Thief.
Archers can equip longbows and crossbows, shields if they have a free hand, hats, and clothes. Longbows tend to have better attack power and can hit enemies further away if the Archer is at a higher elevation than his target, but are two-handed. Crossbows fire more directly and can be blocked by obstacles, but can "shoot through" targets; they are one-handed weapons and allow wearing a shield.

Archers' active abilities are called "Aim", and they give a little boost to the PA of a physical attack. The downside is that they take time to charge up, and it's possible your target can walk away from the area you can reach with your attack. You can check the turn list to make sure that doesn't happen, allowing you to get the most bang for your buck. Sleeping or Stopped targets are sitting ducks for the higher-level Aim abilities, which often otherwise take longer than a single turn to charge.

Adrenaline Rush gives +1 Speed each time the target takes HP damage. Archer's Bane makes the user harder to hit with bows and crossbows.

Equip Crossbows allows exactly what you'd expect. Concentration ignores the target's C-Evade, S-Evade, A-Evade, and Parry skill. Attacks can still just plain ol' miss, but the target can't dodge them.

Jump+1 increases the user's Jump by 1. What did you expect?

Archers are terrible.

Mystic
I did all my training in this job earlier in the LP, but what the hell, let's cover it. Mystic is unlocked by gaining two job levels as a White Mage. Gaining three job levels as a Mystic unlocks the Orator class.
The Mystic specializes in causing status ailments with their magic by controlling yin and yang forces. They can equip staves, poles, and dictionaries as weapons and hats and robes for protective gear.
Staves and poles use MA as their attack (rather than, say, swords and spears that use PA) and dictionaries use both MA and PA. For a caster class to use MA as their base attack stat, combined with the two-panel range for poles, makes Mystics a surprisingly solid damage-dealing fighter as well. During the portion of the game when Celebrant's Miter and Wizard Robe (total +3 MA) are the best gear to equip, Mystics are fantastic all around.

All of their spells were given the pretentious makeover in this translation, as they used to be straightforward and classic Final Fantasy names like "Blind", "Sleep", "Berserk", and "Break".
The Mystic highlights, sadly, everything that is wrong with monsters in this game. In one magic skillset we have the ability to cause blindness (Goblin Eye Gouge, Squidraken Ink), Berserk and Confusion (Mindflayer Mind Blast), decrease Bravery (Ahriman Dread Gaze), dispel positive status (Squidraken Dischord), turn targets undead (Revenant Zombie Touch), put targets to Sleep (Ghoul Sleep Touch), drain HP (Gobbledeguck Bloodfeast, Vampire Cat Vampire, Revenant Drain Touch), turn them to stone (Vampire Cat Blaster), and more. A Mystic can do more than most monster classes put together, and do it while equipping secondary, support, and move abilities; hitting harder; and wearing equipment.

Absorb MP allows the Mystic to take a hit from a magical attack, then gain the amount of MP spent on that attack.

Defense Boost decreases damage from attacks based on PA by about 1/3.

Ignore Weather allows the Mystic to move unimpaired in poisonous fens and marshes while it is raining. Talk about specific!
Manafont restores a little bit of MP every time the character moves. Combined with the Time Mage's Mana Shield, it can make a character incredibly hard to kill, as described previously.

Mystics are awesome.

The Thief:
Thieves are exactly what you'd expect if you've played a Final Fantasy game before, down to the green bandana. They are quick and (as far as C-Evade goes) hard to pin down, and can steal things, including some things that don't exist in a material form.
Training two job levels in Archer will unlock Thief, and training three job levels in Thief will unlock Dragoon.

Thief skills are all about stealing. What did you expect? Most skills target an equipment slot, removing the item equipped there from the poor sap you're robbing and adding it to your inventory. Steal Gil nabs a little bit of money. Steal Heart charms the target. Steal EXP drains a little bit of the target's EXP and adds it to your total.

Vigilance is an okay counter ability, except it only functions after you're hit once each turn. Once you're hit, you take a defensive stance (same as using the Squire's Defend ability) and increase your evasion.
Gil Snapper, named after the money-hoarding turtle from earlier games in the series, allows you to collect money equal to the damage you took each time you're hit.
Sticky Fingers negates the Ninja's Throw ability. If this ability triggers, you catch the item thrown at you and keep it.

Poach is an odd and not-terribly-useful-overall ability. If a character using Poach kills a monster, the monster is immediately removed from the battlefield without ever doing the whole "lie motionless for three turns before you die for real" thing most characters do. The corpse is sent to a Poacher's Den, located in trade cities (Dorter, Warjilis, etc.) and turned into an item that can be bought for half price there.
Most of the items are pretty useless or quickly outdated, but some few monsters give items that can't be found any other way through poaching.
Poaching also immediately removes undead corpses from the battlefield, so there's no chance of them getting back up.

Thieves are fantastically mobile, so their Move abilities are simply Move+2 and Jump+2. They do what you'd expect.

Wait R2 hold on you're describing a class you haven't even used y

Oh.

R^2 · « **Reply #126 on:** May 16, 2012, 02:58:12 PM »

I'm still looking for a Chocobo.

I'm not going to screencap a bunch of random encounters though because they're boring.

I do get Poach though.

Ah, there we go.

I head back to two adjacent blue dots on the map and do some monster breeding.

Sekhret are the last breed of Wisenkin, the slow-but-strong bruisers. Earthsplitter is a small area-effect earthquake centered on the user. Beef Up is +2 PA, giving the Sekhret something to do on otherwise-idle turns. But this guy's only level 12, so I dismiss him, and never get another one.

Blue Dragons start with an icy breath attack! They're weak to fire and absorb ice.

My lineup going forward.

Oh yeah hey the training in Monk I did back in Orbonne unlocked Geomancer btw.

R^2 · « **Reply #127 on:** May 16, 2012, 03:13:36 PM »

The Geomancer:
Geomancers call on the power of the earth to lash out at opponents with semimagical skills. They have balanced PA and MA, making them incredibly versatile characters able to use just about any secondary skillset competently.
Geomancers can equip swords and axes (a huge step up from their Final Fantasy 5 debut, where they equipped... bells. About as effective as you'd expect.) and wear shields. They only wear hats and clothes, though, so they're not very strong defensively.
Training to job level 3 in Monk unlocks Geomancer. Geomancer itself doesn't unlock anything, but training in it is part of becoming a Ninja, Samurai, Dancer, or Mime.

Geomancers gonna Geomance. Each turn, only one of the skills bought is available, depending on what kind of terrain the Geomancer is standing on. Each terrain type in the game has an associated Geomancy skill. For example, if the Geomancer is standing on a grassy area, the skill used is Tanglevine. If the Geomancer is on an area of unworked stone, it's SInkhole; while worked stone tends to cause Tremor. If the Geomancer is standing on water, it's Torrent. If the Geomancer hasn't learned the skill for the terrain he's on, the command is unavailable.
All geomancy skills do a little bit of damage (based on both PA and MA), usually of an elemental property, and sometimes cause a status ailment.
To use the examples above, Tanglevine doesn't have an elemental property, but sometimes entangles the target in enough foliage to cause Stop status. Sinkhole has no elemental property and causes Immobilize. Tremor is earth-elemental and causes confusion. Torrent is water-elemental and sometimes the mystic power of the deluge with transform the target into a frog.

Nature's Wrath responds to physical attacks and other Geomancy with whatever Geomancy skill is associated with the terrain the user is standing on.

Attack Boost increases the damage from physical attacks by about 1/3.

Ignore Terrain is rather poorly-named, since it removes the penalty to Move for going through deep water.
Lavawalking is impressive, but not very useful. As the name implies, it allows the Geomancer to move and stop over lava tiles -- but there's only one map in the game that has lava tiles, and it's optional. Standing on lava does allow the neat Magma Surge Geomancy skill, though: that's a little fire-elemental damage and a chance to kill the target outright. (Guess what kind of creatures live around open lava fields. If you guessed "The sort that absorb fire-elemental attacks", you're not wrong.)

R^2 · « **Reply #128 on:** May 16, 2012, 03:50:27 PM »

Right. Onward.

R2: Is that a scouting party from the Order of the Southern Sky?
Deserter: We're through fighting! You will not force us to return! We're going home! Better to live in the streets than to die in them! We've had our fill of blood and death!
R2: We do not pursue you! Pray heed my words! It is not our wish to fight!
Deserter: Aye, that much I'll believe. Better to strike us down cleanly when our backs are turned! Do not think us so green as to fall for your tricks! We've seen our share of those as well!

Deserter Squire: What of it?
Deserter Chemist: It's him - the heretic! I'm certain of it! If we returned with him, might they not pardon our desertion?
Deserter Squire: You'd return to camp?
Deserter Chemist: Consider it! The capture of a heretic is near as grand a feat as the capture of an enemy commander! If we delivered them his head, do you not think they would reward us with leave to return home?
Deserter Squire: The men who captured that general -were- dismissed honorably...
Deserter Chemist: If we are to return to our homes, let us do so with our heads held
high! Were we to return now, it would be to a life of skulking in the shadows.
Deserter Squire: You speak true. Let us return with him! Or at least with his head. It's not long for those shoulders anyway. He is a heretic, after all! Come, let this be our final battle! Our freedom is bought with this godless man's blood!

Yep. This battle is a slog with two Squires, two Chemists, a Thief, and an Archer. With such low-level classes it should be a cinch! The Squire in the back is equipped with a broadsword, for Ajora's sake, and we outgrew those twenty-five levels ago!

No better position to Feral Spin, really.

"Hey, isn't he the heretic? We can kill him and go home! ...And by that I mean I'm going to help him."

Two Squires and a Chemist down, one Chemist a turncoat. The Traitor makes a damned inviting target for the enemy party, and they spend a couple turns knocking him out.

So I turn around and do the same thing to their Thief.

nom

The enemies' gear is pretty poor or shop-standard, so I don't keep either the Chemist or the Thief I Enticed. Made good decoys, though.

Hey, it's...

If we were still in the same faction we were when we started the game, he'd be our enemy. Come to think of it, the Northern Sky, Southern Sky, and Church are all R2's enemy at this point...

Orran: I am. And it would seem we have you to thank for dealing with our deserters. Ha! I must admit, I'd never thought I'd see the day a Beoulve lent his aid to -our- order.
R2: The fight was not of my choosing.
Orran: I know. You do not wish to shed blood, but it cannot always be avoided. We're no different. Do you think we hunt these men down out of enmity? Craven they may be, but they've not wronged us.
R2: You knew who I was all along, didn't you?
Orran: I did. I'd seen your name and face upon a bill. Inexpiable heresy, was it not? My mind reels at the thought of what you must have done!

Killed a hero to the people and upstanding cleric of the church, is all.

R2: Have you a mind to turn me in?
Orran: Why would I do that? Our orders are to capture deserters. They say nothing of heretics already hunted mercilessly by their own. If I were one of those, I think I'd get moving before the lions at my heels thought to feast upon me as well.

R2: If the White Lion lowered his claws, the Black would follow suit?
Orran: No, I do not think it like he would.
R2: Could you deliver a message to Count Orlandeau, if you should chance to meet him? There are men behind the curtain who goad the dukes for their own gain. We are all but puppets, dancing as they pull our strings. It is those men we ought be fighting.
Orran: I can deliver the message. But why to the count?
R2: My father once told me Count Orlandeau was the only man he could truly
call friend.

Fun fact: Barbaneth Beoulve and Cidolfas Orlandeau were pretty much the other's equal in the Fifty Year War, back when the Northern and Southern Orders were on the same side fighting against an outside threat.

Orran: I am the count's adopted son. I will tell him what you've told me.
R2: Then you believe me?
Orran: I do not know the reason these men seek the Zodiac Stones. If it is for the benefit of the people, I see no reason to raise protest. But if they seek to use the legend for their own gain, I can assure you my stepfather will not sit idly by. It was not for quiet complacence he was given the name "Thunder God."
R2: You know of the High Confessor's plot?
Orran: Of it, yes. But we have no hard evidence. Our spies are working tirelessly, but I suspect you know more than they.
R2: If you did have evidence of the plot, would you then be willing to lay down your swords?
Orran: Such evidence exists?
R2: The Scriptures -- no, it matters not. I simply wish to know.
Orran: Whether or not it would the end of this conflict, I cannot say. But my father, for one, would surely sheathe his blade.

Considering the presence of your father is enough to move an entire company of troops around an area rather than through it, that's no small victory for the Northern Sky.

Why bother? I just killed the men you were hunting.

Orran: You -do- have friends - friends who would gladly lay down their lives fighting beside you! And I count myself among them!

R^2 · « **Reply #129 on:** May 16, 2012, 04:08:07 PM »

Check out that stacked-up Evade.

Hey, it's that guy.

Rapha: He uses us, Marach! We are instruments of murder to him, naught more!

Ahahahahaha...! Oh, sorry.

Rapha: To stay would be to live out our days as the grand duke's cat's-paws, killing so he might keep his own hands clean! Come, let us run away together while we yet can!
Marach: Have you forgotten who it was who saved us when we had lost our parents to the war? Grand Duke Barrington opened his heart and home to the both of us. You would repay that kindness now with treachery? We owe him a debt of allegiance. We'd have died a beggar's death were it not for him!
Rapha: Feed us he did, Marach, but we were supped on lies! I know the truth of it now. It was the grand duke himself who set fire to our village, his hand hidden by the smoke of war! And do you know why -- why he killed everyone we ever knew? It was for our gifts! You and I possess power, and power is all he craves. He burnt down our entire village that he might claim the sacred power of our mantras for his own! Opened his heart, you say? The man is not possessed of one! It is -you- who need open your -eyes-, Marach!

FACE

Rapha: You are my brother, you know of this, and even yet you--
Marach: Speak not another word! You stir a rage in me, Rapha. I am your brother and your elder, and I will not have you question me!

Marach backs off when the scout shows up.

Three ninja and two summoners. Look at all the glass cannons!

The ninja and summoners all have crazy damage outputs: the ninja to one target with their dual-wielded swords and flails, and the summoners to wide swaths of the battlefield. But for a normal party, this fight is a snap: a mage trained in Arithemeticks can literally clear the entire battlefield in a single turn, before a single enemy can even move.

R^2 · « **Reply #130 on:** May 16, 2012, 04:31:50 PM »

True to their traditions set by Edge, Shadow, and... Yuffie I guess, Ninja can throw things. Bombs have the effects of Fire, Blizzard, or Thunder spells, and here's Rapha opening the battle by taking a Snowmelt bomb to the face.

And my blue dragon taking whatever whimsical name it was they gave to the fire bomb.

R2: Did you not say you'd await my coming at Riovanes?!
Marach: I did but deliver the grand duke's message as asked. I do not need some templarate's swords to slay some petty knight apprentice!

Hey buddy I have three job levels in Knight you need to back off.

They certainly favor a dragon over you, I'd say.

Note: Rapha is chanting something there.

Some bad clipping here, but that's Choco Pellets hitting a charging summoner.

For the KO.

The ninja are not amused. IIRC all of these guys are dual-wielding, as is their nature, but all of them have both a ninja blade and a flail. The ninja blade does damage normally, but flails and axes always do random damage. Here's me getting lucky on that second incoming hit.

Not a single screencap of the attack went through, but Rapha's charge spell finally resolved. In the five-panel area (one square where the ninja is standing, plus the four squares adjacent), bright yellow light flashed into one panel four times. Not a single time did it hit the ninja.

All of Rapha's (and Marach's) skills are like that. Five-panel spread, 1-6 attacks, misses four times out of five.

Why the grand duke killed an entire village for these kids' skills is one of the greatest mysteries of the Final Fantasy universe.

Summoner with Ifrit + wounded Blue Dragon = bad stuff

Needless to say this is the end of my black chocobo.

And my blue dragon.

And my yellow chocobo.

Apparently the summoner has white magic, too.

Even auto-chugging X-Potions isn't enough to get me back up after a Ninja flurry of hits.

Moosker is surrounded and brutally mootilated.

I do what I can...

...but it's not enough.

Assa no good.

Critical!

Should fortune smile upon you adequate for Rapha to target a panel that actually has an enemy in it in her useless spray of magic, this is the damage output you get.

There's only so much I can do, and my fallen monsters start to crystallize. There goes the dragon.

siiiiigh

I have no idea how I lived long enough to do this.

There goes my chocobo.

In a stunning display of competency, Rapha stands far away and splashes magic haphazardly around the battlefield, doing about as much damage as if she'd jabbed the guy with the pole in her hands for the KO.

I needed the HP restore from Moosker's crystal, putting me out of swordin' range. So I just huck a rock at the summoner.

She steps back and starts to summon, but I teleport in behind her for the bonus damage against a charging target.

R^2 · « **Reply #131 on:** May 16, 2012, 04:44:58 PM »

Rapha: They call him King already -- King of the Forge. He fashions ever more and stronger arms, and trains mages enough for all the realm.
R2: His actions are guided from the shadows. There are others -- men who promise to eliminate the dukes Larg and Goltanna, and dub the grand duke regent.
Rapha: And you fight these men, when fighting them means you must be labeled a heretic? Why would you do such a thing? No, that is a silly question. I know the answer. But surely you must realize your efforts will earn you no thanks.
R2: I do not fight for gratitude. I am a Beoulve. I fight for the honor of my name.
Rapha: I'd not believe that for a moment. You strike me not as the sort of man to fight for things so trite. No, you see evil and injustice before you eyes and cannot turn away. You do not even think to seek reward.
R2: You mistake me for a better man. But we have spoken enough of me. What will you do now? I must make for Riovanes. They hold my sister there. What of you, now that you've escaped?
Rapha: I cannot leave. Not without my brother.
R2: There's a quarrel between the two of you, is there not?
Rapha: He refuses to accept the truth. We were orphaned in the war, you see. We lost our parents, our home -- all but our lives. The memories haunt me even now. Climbing mounds of rubble in search of any scrap of food, the air ever thick with death's foul stench... That was the life from which the grand duke spared us. At the time, I thought it sure the gods had sent him.
R2: You were not alone. He erected a great many orphanages in the war's wake. It was a noble gesture of less than noble intent. He wanted assassins. The orphanages gave him a pool of willing young minds, allowing him to select the very best to groom and train. He must have seen some promise in you and your brother.

Ahahahahahahaaah--! Oh. Sorry.

Rapha: We Galthenas are the keepers of a sacred art, passed down through the generations. My brother and I are conduits, I of the heavens and he of the nether. We channel their power through mantra. Grand Duke Barrington desired that power for his own. When our elder refused him, the grand duke put our entire village to the torch. All is grist that comes to that man's mill. If there is a thing he cannot have, he thinks it better that it not exist at all. To imagine the joy he must have felt when he discovered the two of us among the other orphans -- it turns my stomach.
R2: So when you learned of all this, you tried to flee...
Rapha: My brother and I loved the man as though he were our father. But even that did not stop him from... from--!
R2: For a man of his high station to so prey upon the weak -- it is not meet.

Ah, so he transformed into his animal form for a greater advantage in combat!

Oh, I guess it's just an animal messenger.

R2: Harm a hair on her head, and I'll have you there for company!
Frog-Marach: Rapha! You will accompany R2!

Why you gotta do that to me bro

Frog-Marach: Run, and the death of his sister hangs on your shoulders.
Rapha: You play a craven game, Marach! This has naught to do with them!
Frog-Marach: I play no -game-! I trust you to know what awaits should you try my patience any longer!

I'd say that's one...

* R^2 shades

...toasty frog.

Not even a "Yeaaaah!"? God, I hate you.

Guess I'll go restock my party now. ( ._.)

R^2 · « **Reply #132 on:** May 17, 2012, 06:46:54 AM »

Jobchange.

Look at that MA. Summoners have the best base MA in the game, and he's getting +7 from his equipment.

The Summoner
Summoners call powerful spirits -- eidolons, espers, phantom beasts, whatever you want to call them -- to fight on their behalf.
Summoners can use rods and staves, robes, and hats. They're slow and fragile, but their MA is awfully high.
Three levels of Time Mage leads to Summoner. Four levels of Summoner and four levels of Orator leads to Bard.

Summoners thankfully did away with that attack/restore/fail mechanic in their debut in Final Fantasy 3, but this is a bit before summoned monsters became "replace characters on the battlefield" like they've been since 10. So Summons are just wide-area, powerful spells that automatically ignore the Summoner's allies in the case of attacks, or enemies in the case of healing and protective spells. Moogle and Sylph are healing spells -- Moogle is faster, Sylph restores more HP. Carbunkle causes Reflect in a wide area, and Golem absorbs attacks for all allies on the field for a number of HP equal to the summoner's. The rest are various elemental or non-elemental attacks.

Critical: Recover MP works like the similar monk skill, only it recovers MP. Imagine that.

Halve MP works as advertised: if you use a skill that costs MP, it costs half as much.

Yep.

R^2 · « **Reply #133 on:** May 17, 2012, 06:55:07 AM »

You're in.

You're out.

You're in.

You exploded at Wiegraf at Orbonne, so technically you fulfilled your purpose. You're out.

You're in.

Yep.

Wait hold on--

Jura Aevis is the base creature in this line, and Steelhawk is the second. Talon Dive is their base attack, and Glitterlust steals a little bit of gil from the target.
Hawks are move 6 and can fly, like a Black Chocobo. They're a bit speedier than that other flying critter, the Ahriman, and focus more on doing damage than causing ill status.
They half wind damage but take double from earth-elemental attacks. They can counter attacks and cannot enter water, but that's kind of a given by this point.

Disposable Ninja · « **Reply #134 on:** May 17, 2012, 11:55:56 AM »

... I demand that that Steelhawk be named The Colonel.

R^2 · « **Reply #135 on:** May 18, 2012, 09:33:38 AM »

The Cockatrice is the final form of the Jura Aevis line. They replace Glitterlust with Beak (a chance to petrify the target) and Featherbomb (a ranged attack).

Meanwhile, Plague Horrors replace the Ahriman. Look of Dread is replaced with Doom, which causes the status ailment you'd expect.

Red Dragons are a little bigger and stronger than Blue Dragons, replacing Ice Breath with (oddly) Thunder Breath. They absorb fire but are weak against ice.

~~Robot~~ Roll call!

R^2 · « **Reply #136 on:** May 18, 2012, 09:39:18 AM »

The Dragoon
Back in Final Fantasy 2, Dragoons were just dudes who rode wyverns into battle. They all died out in that game, to be replaced by some jumpy spear guys.
Dragoons use spears/polearms as weapons, equip shields, and can wear heavy armor.
For some reason, training in Thief leads to Dragoon. Training in Dragoon is part of reaching the Samurai and Dancer classes.

All of the Dragoon's active abilities expand how far he can use his Jump command. Horizontal Jump lets you target enemies further away on the map, while Vertical Jump allows the targeting of enemies on different height levels. The higher levels of each are inclusive, so really any Dragoon needs only save up for Horizontal Jump 8 and Vertical Jump 8.

Dragonheart adds Reraise status whenever the user takes HP damage. It's not as good as it sounds.

Equip Polearms does exactly what you'd expect it to do.

I've talked about Ignore Elevation before, but this is where humans get it. The user can jump to any height, but height is entirely ignored by the Time Mage's Teleport, which also ignores obstacles and enemies. Why Ignore Elevation is 100 JP more than Teleport is anyone's guess.

R^2 · « **Reply #137 on:** May 18, 2012, 09:51:19 AM »

Keeping the same build for a bit. If I'd thought ahead better I'd have equipped a Flame Rod, but eh.

Raphfa's line here is so nonsensical I had to switch back to the old translation just to post it. What the hell is she saying?

You see what I'm saving you guys from?

Those Black Mages and Time Mages are actually special dead versions of the normal classes. They automatically float, are undead, and are generally considered monsters that happen to have Black Magic or Time Magic as their skill sets.

There's also a Revenant here, who shows off his Drain Touch ability constantly. As you can imagine, it deals damage to the target and restores the Revenant's HP.

Being undead, these guys are vulnerable to the normal things undead are. Namely, holy-elemental attacks...

..and fire.

Petrification is still a better way to deal with an undead menace, though. Mustadio can really clean up here, with ranged petrification attacks.

The Black Mages here know Firaga and Blizzaga.

Rapha finally realizes the danger she's in and starts hitting things with that pole she's been carrying around.

I got to move next to the Black Mage before this spell went off, but it missed him.

I did make him hit himself with his own Blizzaga spell, though.

Not that it did me a whole lot of good.

Oops! Zat is not medicine!

Dr. Feathers is a stud in this battle, thanks to Choco Cure.

The cloak this Time Mage is wearing has saved her life on multiple occasions thus far.

FALCON KICKed the bucket.

How close a call was this? Look at how low those four counters are. I'm just a few moments away from the Ghost and the Ghast reviving, and a little more time would see the Revenant and the Black Mage get back up, too.

The doctor is IN YOUR FACE.

For the next fight, I take away all of Rapha's equipment.

Our next stop in this swirling, formless void that is Ivalice...

...is stately Riovanes Castle.

We'll just walk right up to the front gate, what's the worst that could happen?

R^2 · « **Reply #138 on:** May 18, 2012, 10:05:38 AM »

Barrington: They may lack the grandeur of Lesalia's, but I find they make up for it in other ways. Castles built as seats of governance are so dreadfully plain. Would you not agree? There is such greater beauty in a fortress built for war. Ivalice herself would seem to be in agreement. Ever has she been ruled by men with power. Some might take this latest upheaval as a sign that the Crown - in its austere seat - has lost the strength to keep her under rein.
Folmarv: Your summons spoke of matters more pressing than the style of Lesalia's keep.

Folmarv: I am afraid your meaning escapes me, your grace.
Barrington: As I said a moment ago, it is -power- that rules Ivalice.

Barrington:The ones who hold true power are the ones who hold the Zodiac Stones -- the Knights Templar.
Folmarv: You think us the greatest power in Ivalice?
Barrington: The Stones are said to possess a phenomenal magick. If legend is to be believed, they were responsible for the cataclysm that laid waste to Mullonde in bygone days.
Folmarv : Ah ha ha! Oh, forgive me. I forget myself. It's just -- I would never have expected a man like yourself to believe in such utter fantasy.
Barrington: You mean to tell me that you do not? Curious. I had heard that the cardinal's death was somehow connected to the Stones.
Folmarv: Truly? As I had it, the cardinal had taken ill.
Barrington: Is that so? Might I ask, then, the reason you seek that young Beoulve? I can only imagine that he must have done to earn the label of heretic.
Folmarv: The inquisitors do not share with us the reasons for their decisions.

And Isilud.

FACE

As Isilud curls up into a fetal position on the floor, the door opens again...

Folmarv: And if we refuse?
Folmarv: And if we were to refuse?
Barrington: Then I suppose I'd be forced to unmask the Church's plot for what it is.
Folmarv: Stones alone prove naught.
Barrington: In that you are correct, ser. But it would be hard to say the same of the Scriptures of Germonique. I dare contend they might generate something more of a stir. Duke Larg, Duke Goltanna -- even the Council is like to raise an eye at those.
Folmarv: Where are they?
Barrington: Oh, who could say? You of all people must know how easily such details can elude the mind's grasp.
Folmarv: Wiegraf, see to the mage who left a moment ago. I shall attend to matters here.

A thunderclap...

Another thunderclap.

The screen fades as Volmarv begins his transformation, but the wary can catch Barrington wisely running the fuck away at left.

R^2 · « **Reply #139 on:** May 18, 2012, 10:22:05 AM »

Marach: The grand duke sees all debts paid in kind. Turncloaks are set upon by their once friends, hunted relentlessly until the end. To flee this day is to live your rest in fear, ever wondering when the knife will find its mark. Such is not a life I choose to lead. If we but finish this one last task for him, the grand duke will release us both from his service. He swore as much to me!
Rapha: Swore it on what? His -honor-? Do not tell me you believed him! The man's words are honeyed poison. I'd sooner deal with a devil. They make not such effort to conceal their lies!
Marach: The grand duke would not lie to me! We need only kill that man and take the Scriptures from his corpse, and then our chains are cut!

Why do you two think you're so goddamned important?

"Oh god he's breathing electricity at me! I know! I'll block it with this big metal shield strapped onto my arGGRAAAAAGGGGHH"

Archers on the ramparts make short work of Rapha.

how did you

If either Rapha or Marach are reduced to 0 HP in this battle, both leave, missing this conversation that would have occurred later:
R2: What have you done with Alma?
Marach: You fear for the life of your sweet sister, R2? Hand over the Scriptures of Germonique, and you both may yet live.
Rapha: His words are false, R2! Do not be taken by them! He will tell you whatever you wish to hear, and kill you both when he has what he desires! Surrender the Scriptures, and you forfeit your only leverage. So long as you hold that book, your sister's life is guaranteed!

Oh well.

There's a sneaky Knight hovering over the moat in Feather Boots, hidden in an alcove away from sight. But he's too slow to do anything but reveal himself on his first turn.

"I carry this shield to defend myself from things like this why isn't it workiAAAAARRRGHHH"

"I saw what you did to the other guy, I'm not even going to TRY to use my shieAAAAAARRRGH"

Neat.

Also neat. Shockwave is 600 JP. Not sure why some random mook had it in the first place, but I'll take it.

The doors creak open...

"...I guess."

News:

Poll

How shall I go about this?

Author Topic: Lay down your arms or die clutching them! Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics! (Read 20145 times)