Topic: Lay down your arms or die clutching them! Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics! (Read 20152 times)

R^2 · « **Reply #220 on:** June 01, 2012, 04:15:24 PM »

Midlight's Deep is a ten-floor dungeon. As they said back in Warjilis, it's pitch-black in there. And even if you kill all the monsters on a level, you don't proceed to the next -- you have to find the exit on an unmarked panel somewhere on the level you're exploring.

Encounters are either super-crowded, with ten or more creatures staring you down, or are against small groups of units that have ten or twenty experience levels on you. Honestly, the ones where you're crowded are usually harder.

So why bother? Midlight's Deep has the best treasure in the game, if you know how to find it. Like many optional maps, Midlight's Deep has hidden items -- much like the volcano where we found the Materia Blade did. If you step on a tile that has an item, you're hit with a trap unless you have the Chemist's "Treasure Hunter" move ability set. (That's right, kids, no Teleporting here if you want the treasures.)

If you have Treasure Hunter set, you have Bravery% chance of getting a Phoenix Down. If you don't get a Phoenix Down, you get a treasure you probably can't find anywhere else!

I didn't screencap it, but for this dungeon, R2 is an Orator with Mettle as his secondary skill. He can Intimidate his own Bravery down to get the good treasures, then Shout it back up so he doesn't suffer permanent Bravery loss.

The stated goal for each level is "Defeat all enemies!", but it's also "Find the hidden exit before you do that!"

Assa lotta goblins.

Sometimes monsters will obligingly point out where the traps/treasures are for you. (If by random happenstance an enemy unit has Treasure Hunter set as their Move ability, they will totally swipe the item out from under you.)

She's a cursed dragonkin with ice breath. He's a three-headed flying monstrosity who spits lightning. They fight goblins!

Intimidate down...

First treasure. The Blaze Gun is like the Glacier Gun I have equipped, only it shoots Fire/Fira/Firaga spells instead. Since half the monsters in the game are weak against ice, there's not much reason to use the Blaze Gun.

Since your army is too dumb to bring a torch with them into the most dangerous unlit hole this side of your mom, spirit crystals can provide some much-needed illumination.

There are five panels that might hold the exit to the next level. It helps to know which ones they are, so you can beeline for them with, say, a flying monster.

After several crystals, it gets decently lit in here.

Not that it matters, since right after that crystal dropped, the last goblin's Doom counter ran out and he slumped lifeless to the floor. One level down, nine to go.

R^2 · « **Reply #221 on:** June 01, 2012, 04:29:51 PM »

Oh, the other treasures in the first level were Kiyomori, another Glacial Gun, and an Elixir. I got the Elixir and the Kiyomori, but eh.

Not a single treasure here is worth looking for. (Blood Sword, Save the Queen, Elixir, Elixir)

There were four archers, but why screencap every step of a dull battle in the dark?

Since we may have to keep one enemy subdued while we search for the exit/treasures, I pick up the ability to give such boring speeches that the targets fall asleep.

The next level -- the Hollow -- has some more variation in the enemy party.

But they damn near tapdance over this tile.

Riding a chocobo does not let you harvest treasure.

It's hard to find an enemy who casts high-level magic like this, but Midlight's Deep would be the first place to look.

Base power 6, but gives PA+2 and MA+1. Other treasures: Yoichi Bow, Elixir, Elixir. I skip them.

That's four Mystics, two Cockatrices, a Jura Aevis, and two Black Mages.

This battle's a bloodbath. R2, Reis, and the Stooges all go down -- Cockatrices are nasty this late in the game -- so I have to finish as quickly as possible before they crystalize.

No exit, no items, but it wasn't our final destination.

R^2 · « **Reply #222 on:** June 01, 2012, 05:17:11 PM »

Let's try that again.

Increases the wielder's Faith to 100. Sometimes does the same to targets struck with it in attacks.

Sometimes procs a Charm effect.

Strengthens fire-, lightning-, and ice-elemental attacks. I guess it's for Geomancers.

This is a battle against nine Dryads and an Elder Treant, skipping the Treant monster that bridges the two examples of the line. I haven't sought any out for this game, because they're terrible. Their good HP is balanced by a weakness to fire (they're made of wood, see) and they always attack all four adjacent panels but do miniscule damage.

Elder Treants can buff allies with Protect and Shell, and regular Treants, not pictured, can heal allies. They're one of only two monsters who can, but why not use a yellow chocobo?

You can't see it on account of the darkness, but this map is a spire of rock with an underground river spiraling down the slope that surrounds it. Monsters that can't enter water -- most of them, including Dryads -- can walk on this river, but suffer the usual movement penalties for moving through water. Chocobos and fliers have a huge movement advantage.

In fact, between the pile of corpses and the movement penalty, the remaining enemies can't climb the slope to get to my party. Ha ha.

She's a cursed dragonkin with fire breath. He's a three-headed flying monstrosity who spits fire. They fight trees!

Treasures here are Excalibur (we have one already), Iga Blade (a ninja knife) and two Elixirs. I skip them.

+20 HP (abysmal), +2 Speed, add: Invisible.

That happens too sometimes.

This gun shoots Thunder spells.

You KO my Dark Behemoth, you replace my Dark Behemoth. (This one's twelve levels higher.)

Had to finish early to save Reis and the Robit, who died early on.

R^2 · « **Reply #223 on:** June 01, 2012, 05:28:57 PM »

Next up, The Crossing.

Described as an ordinary staff you could find anywhere. It's attack power 8, no special abilities. I'd rather have the PA and MA boosts from the Mace of Zeus.

Ninja sword. Not collected: two Elixirs. I don't even have the skill to use them anyway.

Hot damn, an enemy Arithemetician.

From aaaaaall the way across the battlefield. Arithemeticks are awesome.

Always Protect and Shell. Oh my yes.

Highest attack power yet, and always Regen. Skipped: Elixir.

That's a lot of Orator practice.

Best HP boost from headgear in the game, immune to Sleep and... Doom, I think. Not collected: Maximillian (armor, +200 HP, no abilities); Venetian Shield (halves fire-, lightning-, and ice-elemental damage); Elixir.

Yep. That was level 9. We're almost done.

R^2 · « **Reply #224 on:** June 01, 2012, 05:45:21 PM »

Our next foe has the most powerful summon spell in the game, and the only way to learn it is to be hit with it while in the Summoner job. So we're going to do that.

Mana Shield and Manafont should let us survive the attack, since it does 500-700 damage.

You "feel the vibes"? The patch didn't change Elidibus' text!

Elidibus has the thirteenth Zodiac stone, Ophiuchus. Why the other Lucavi don't ever bring him up is anyone's guess.

Elidibus has four attacks. Snakecharmer is his basic one that he almost never uses, he just lets the giant snake bite an adjacent target. He's more fond of Midgardsormr (area-effect poison summon), Poisonous Frog (turns area targets into frogs and poisons them), and the summon spell Zodiark.

For this battle we're given a guest Byblos, which is basically a Reaver who isn't trying to kill us. It has a unique "Byblos" skillset.

It's not that Byblos is that strong, overall. He has a skill called Manaburn, which does HP damage equal to the target's current MP. Since Lucavi have HP and MP totals well over the damage limit, Manaburn does 999 damage to Elidibus. (If it ever does less, the battle has gone on far too long.)

Unlike the Assassins and Ultima, there's not really a reliable way to get Elidibus to cast Zodiark. See that dead frog over there between Byblos and Dr. Feathers? That's R2, after Poisonous Frog and Midgarsormr. I never had a chance.

Energize is basically Chant, sacrificing some HP to restore twice that amount to the target. Parasite causes status ailments. Vengeance does damage equal to the difference between Byblos' current and maximum HP. And Manaburn, as previously described, does as much damage as the target currently has MP. Byblos can't enter water and is weak to fire attacks.

Wait, we didn't get any treasure!

Reentering Terminus pits you in a random battle. Here it's healers galore, with two White Mages and a gaggle of Chocobos.

Beating up on Byblos without killing him just lets him use Vengeance all the more effectively.

Yeah, by the time I got up here there were enough spirit crystals dropped to fully light the room. Anyway, Chaos Blade is attack power 40 (compare the next highest weapon, Ragnarok, at 24), gives the wielder Regen, and sometimes petrifies targets.

Chirijiraden is just a fuckoff strong katana.

And we're done with Midlight Deep.

R^2 · « **Reply #225 on:** June 05, 2012, 12:32:53 PM »

A mook battle? At this stage of the game? Do I really need to show how I beat a bunch of Knights and Monks anymore?

R^2 · « **Reply #226 on:** June 05, 2012, 12:44:50 PM »

You know what's fun?

Going into one of the final battles of the game with only two characters.

Loffrey, you fool. You just brought magic to a robot fight.

I think it's pretty odd that the men working for actual demons make this big a deal of R2 being declared a heretic.

R2 retreats for this battle. Niku goes it alone.

It's massively tedious, because the mages only stop doing this when every. last. one. of. them. has been Hasted.

My first idea was to use Rousing Chant to give Niku a little speed boost and make this battle a little less maddeningly tedious, but it didn't land after three tries, so I switched to the song that restores a little HP instead.

R2: Something reminiscent of our battle with Celia and Lettie. You are no mortal man.
Loffrey: No, that I am not. I am something far greater. Folmarv has made it possible for me to leave behind ignorance, the frailty of the flesh. I am given the gift of life eternal. A joy you can never know.

I know you're not a Lucavi, because I have eleven of the thirteen stones -- including one you apparently don't know even exists.

R2: What drives you to do what you do? What is it you seek?
Loffrey: Questions... so many questions. But your search for answers is beyond vain. They wait beyond me, forever beyond your reach?

I like saying "beyond" until it stops sounding like a real word anymore! Beyond beyond beyond!

With their magic useless against a Faith 0 target, the mages resort to bonking Niku with sticks.

Considering his innate counterattack and high bravery, it ends how you'd expect.

The last one ran out of reach.

Loffrey's Unyielding Blade against someone who doesn't wear equipment is about as useful as magic against a guy with no Faith.

A sigil on the floor begins to glow.

A surprisingly simple incantation.

The spell we'd heard fragments of on the floor above, now in its entirety.

R^2 · « **Reply #227 on:** June 05, 2012, 12:48:01 PM »

R^2 · « **Reply #228 on:** June 05, 2012, 12:53:13 PM »

Fun fact: although it's never viewable on the world map, the Necrohol actually has a dot. It's in the middle of the sea, between Limberry and Midlight's Deep. Mullonde sank in a series of disasters when St. Ajora died, remember?

He brought Samurai, Ninja, and Time Mages.

I brought Esperath.

Most units in this fight -- R2, Niku, Cletienne, and both Time Mages and Samurai -- didn't even get to move.

Esperath · « **Reply #229 on:** June 05, 2012, 04:28:36 PM »

I AM THE STRONGEST

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #230 on:** June 05, 2012, 06:04:16 PM »

Quote from: R^2 on June 05, 2012, 12:32:53 PM

Quote from: R^2 on June 01, 2012, 05:45:21 PM
Byblos can't enter water and is weak to fire attacks.

Yep, sounds about right.

Classic · « **Reply #231 on:** June 05, 2012, 06:10:22 PM »

Do dark behemoths and regular behemoths have different extra skills?
I feel a little bad being an objectively worse version of Esperath.

...
By which I mean, I feel bad for Esperath being likened to me.

R^2 · « **Reply #232 on:** June 05, 2012, 07:43:10 PM »

Behemoths get Gigaflare (MA*7 damage, which is a lot). King Behemoths get Hurricane (percentage of target's max HP damage). Dark Behemoths get Almaguest (caster's max HP - current HP damage).

Dark Behemoth's high HP totals mean Almaguest can do lots of damage. Behemoth's surprisingly good MA means Gigaflare always does. I'd call monster skills in favor of regular Behemoths, HP and PA in favor of Dark. You're both special in your own way.

Friday · « **Reply #233 on:** June 06, 2012, 04:48:40 AM »

I really always felt that the end game of Tactics was sort of a let down. I don't know exactly why. I guess after all the political intrigue and the complicated plots and assassinations and manipulations, having the final act be "chase a guy down who is trying to revive Satan" just felt oddly generic.

I guess it's better than giant space Satan out of nowhere.

R^2 · « **Reply #234 on:** June 06, 2012, 06:24:05 AM »

You're not wrong, and it may be because Japan is terrible at foreshadowing. "Oh, so Formalv is actually the first of the Lucavi! He's trying to revive their leader, and needs Alma's body to do it! Now it all makes sense!" would have a lot more dramatic punch if you found it out two battles from now rather than eight battles ago.

R^2 · « **Reply #235 on:** June 06, 2012, 10:43:03 AM »

Look at all those monsters he brought. It's almost like this is... is...!

Like any good Pokemon battle, I get a share of the loser's money on my way out. Why I still get money at this point in the game, when I can't go back to any shops, is beyond me. It's not like I can throw it at enemies with Zeninage in this game.

R^2 · « **Reply #236 on:** June 06, 2012, 11:00:58 AM »

Why... why didn't the patch retranslate this bit of dialog?

Formalv: I do not understand. Why does Virgo not awaken? The spirit of the High Seraph lingers in this place, I am sure. What could be amiss? Mayhap you are not the vessel of Saint Ajora after all. No. No, it cannot be that. Virgo stirred at your presence. You must be the one.

We rumble in.

Formalv: They have come.

R2: It is over, Folmarv! You will not rouse Virgo! End this! Release my sister!

Formalv: Of course...It is but a matter of blood! You see, do you not? She wants for blood. The Angel of Blood must slake her thirst ere she rise again. The land has drunk deep of blood in the chiliads since Saint Ajora's death. Yet still she covets more. So be it. Once more to world of light, there to steep the earth in blood's sweet rain. *chuckle* Worry not. You will not live to see the storm.

WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING

Hashmal: Angel of Blood, in all things you I serve. No wine more deep, no searing coal more hot than this, the crimson blood for you I spill!

Too slow to move before Hashmal, he drops a Lucavi-only spell that stops R2, Brent, and Doom in their tracks.

That's no Choco Meteor.

That... that's a regular Meteor.

Ouch.

Taking a role that would later be filled by Chaos, Walker of the Wheel, Hashmal here has powerful spells in the four "crystal" elements (rather than the usual fire-ice-lightning triad). He has some powerful fire spell whose name I forget, Flood, Quake, and Tornado.

But Esperath catches him charging, taking full advantage of the attack boost.

Man, I was sure I got the glimmer this time. It's an odd placement for it, since it looks like it's coming out from Alma's dress. "Virgo" indeed.

Now we're back to the patched translation. What an odd gap.

Hashmal tears out his own heart.

Again, that glow is coming from an awfully low spot on Alma's body.

Possession complete.

R^2 · « **Reply #237 on:** June 06, 2012, 11:20:12 AM »

It. Is. On.

Possession... not 100% complete.

It's the same "Zodiac stones are doing something but not transforming a person into a Lucavi" animation from when Marich was revived.

Alma: I... I will be. But Ajora -- you must kill her... quickly...

Wait, something's not right.

Ajora is already speaking in iambic pentameter

Pff, four Ultima demons? Is that all you got?

Upon transforming, she messes up her meter.

You don't say.

Doom cleans up some minions but misses Ultima.

I expected Manaburn to be the Lucavi-destroyer it was back in the fight with Elidibus, but apparently Ultima just doesn't have that many MP.

She does have a special teleport animation, though.

Yep, it's a two-phase battle. This glow takes away the Ultima Demons, though.

R^2 · « **Reply #238 on:** June 06, 2012, 11:32:15 AM »

Revive Alma.

She's gained a bunch of levels since Orbonne.

Even Brent, having healed Alma to full, gets in on the attack.

Alma still has Aegis, which adds Protect/Shell/Haste/Regen/Reraise to one target. Ultima has Dispelga, which removes those statuses and more from a group. Aegis isn't that useful for what it's intended for, but Ultima's AI tries to strip away beneficial status before she starts knocking around HP -- so as long as Alma can keep Aegis going, Ultima keeps spending her turns removing it. It makes for a ridiculously easy final battle.

That said, Alma drops an Aegis on Ted.

I should've checked Alma's equipment during the battle to see what she's equipped with. She sure makes dodging this strike from a three-story-tall flying skeletal horror look easy.

Doom used Tri-Thunder.

Hit 3 times!

As before, it's Doom who deals the deathblow to the LP's final boss.

Like any Final Fantasy final boss, Ultima gets a drawn-out disintegration sequence.

R^2 · « **Reply #239 on:** June 06, 2012, 11:35:50 AM »

Mourners: Faram.

Mourner: For all the children of the house to be taken at once -- the gods are cruel.

Mourner: For three centuries house Beoulve stood, but no more.

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 20152 times)