FFRKV: Now We Post Like Men! And Ladies! And Ladies Who Dress Like Men!

[Starwulf]

I got the FF Portal app gifts, and I don't have the app. 10 Mythril are surely hard NOT to notice. They were on the Gift Box, and very clearly stated them. Maybe you should point that out to DeNA?

Chaos Bahamut has been mind-boggling, but that's mostly because of my bane in all Ultimates; I just can't get SG to stay active on the proper periods of time. Best I've got to beat him is to less than 20% of its HP, and suddenly I get an Inferno that deals...I dunno, triple damage? I'm sure of that because a second Inferno not too long after was fully mitigated. I know I got a solid party, so...maybe I should just equip Armor Breakdown instead of Steal Defense?

So, to rest, I decided to go on the FFVI event, which I pretty much steamrolled with Setzer (and the last bit with Setzer and Kefka at levels 23 and 18, respectively). Not too shabby - next one is the "must equip and use Kick" Cid's Mission, which...shouldn't be so hard. I mean, Sabin is at a pretty high level.

Oh yeah...remember how I said Sabin wasn't really a great Monk, and that his saving grace was that his SSB was pretty awesome? Apparently, the RNGods found that comment hilarious, because I got the Tiger Fangs on a 1-pull. Suddenly, that Tentacles ++ fight looks like a piece of cake, considering I got Edgar's Drill...and Locke's first thrown weapon, meaning Mirage Dive.

Yeah I think I probably will shoot them a message here in the next day or two. I absolutely agree, 10 mythril is very, very noticeable, and I remember I logged in immediately after reading Red Fel's post that the rewards had arrived, and there was no such items in my gift box.

Grats on the Tiger Claw pull ^^ I actually got a 5* from a 1-pull as well, but as usual it wasn't anything useful(well, it's a stat stick for a realm I don't have, so I guess it is useful in that sense), some IX dagger or sword, totally forgot the name of it, but it looks like it's encased in diamonds or something. Lol, just looked it up, and it in fact is called "Diamond Sword", hehe. Since I have the policy of pulling again after a 5* pops up, I did another 1 pull and got some chakram for the VI realm, "Moonring" 4*. Shame I don't have another copy of it, could have been useful to have a 4*+ ranged item for a realm that's NOT V, lol.

[Slayn82]

Oh yeah...remember how I said Sabin wasn't really a great Monk, and that his saving grace was that his SSB was pretty awesome? Apparently, the RNGods found that comment hilarious, because I got the Tiger Fangs on a 1-pull. Suddenly, that Tentacles ++ fight looks like a piece of cake, considering I got Edgar's Drill...and Locke's first thrown weapon, meaning Mirage Dive.

Congrats on the pull, T.G. Oskar, it's an awesome relic in my opinion. Just keep your eyes on the Figabros, they always had a thing for Terra. Maduin's horn probably forced them to step up their game to spend some more time with her.

I wish my team Celes attracts this amount of effort from Locke and Setzer someday. Weird that the two roguish types with dead girlfriends went after her. For now, she got the company of two other Generals in Beatrix and Basch.
----

And I'm gonna take a moment to say it: I enjoy very much this thread and all its members, be team posting, theoricrafting, reminiscing about older games, after action reports, stories and everything else.

Can't wait for BSB fest to roll and see what you guys pull after all this time hoarding Mythril. Always the finest luck for all of you folks.

[danzibr]

On vacation. No wifi, weak cellular, tried to load the new event, now game won't open. Can't play the game until tomorrow night. Few hundred lost stam.

[Red Fel]

So, to rest, I decided to go on the FFVI event, which I pretty much steamrolled with Setzer (and the last bit with Setzer and Kefka at levels 23 and 18, respectively). Not too shabby - next one is the "must equip and use Kick" Cid's Mission, which...shouldn't be so hard. I mean, Sabin is at a pretty high level.

It isn't too hard at all. In fact, if you use Sabin with Kick and Punishing Palm, and Cyan with Fire Blossom (and Yukikaze, if you like, because Blind is useful), a lot of those missions become fairly trivial. There are a lot of group battles, which means AoEs are helpful. There are a lot of Fire-vulnerable enemies. Punishing Palm ensures that Kick, which is already strong, deals plenty of damage.

Oh yeah...remember how I said Sabin wasn't really a great Monk, and that his saving grace was that his SSB was pretty awesome? Apparently, the RNGods found that comment hilarious, because I got the Tiger Fangs on a 1-pull. Suddenly, that Tentacles ++ fight looks like a piece of cake, considering I got Edgar's Drill...and Locke's first thrown weapon, meaning Mirage Dive.

Grats on the pull!

And yeah, Tentacles are a piece of cake, even without SBs. My party:

• Edgar: Banishing Strike, Blind Shell, Ronso Pride RM.
• Sabin: Punishing Palm, Kick, Fist of Dawn RM.
• Terra: Firaja, Blizzaja, Blood of Espers RM.
• Relm: Curaja, Protectga, whatever that WHM dualcast RM is.
• RW: Ramza (Shout).

Total breeze. Terra's -ja spells cut off huge chunks of health. Sabin's PP-powered Kicks dealt massive AoE damage. Edgar was present. Shout offset the Tentacles' Slow ability. The fight was over so fast I didn't even have time to use SBs. I suppose I could have brought Dr. Mog's Teachings or Mako Might and opened up with a can of SB fury, but I didn't really care to, and I didn't lose a single medal. So, yeah. Tentacles are easy with a full-synergy VI party.

Next stop, Storm Dragon. ****.

[Hunter Noventa]

Spent a pile of eggs to break Edgar, Sabin and Cyan (Might as well bring someone with synergy for the Fire Blossom mission) and then auto-battled my way through most of the event. I really really really like Pulse Kindness and Black Mage's Awakening for that.

[danzibr]

I think I'm going to give away my account. Any takers? If anyone wants details, I'll give them.

[Forbiddenwar]

Looking at character ranks and there must be a typo. Or does Cyan and Gau have over 300 attack at level 80?

[tyckspoon]

Looking at character ranks and there must be a typo. Or does Cyan and Gau have over 300 attack at level 80?

Typo. Sephiroth's lvl 80 attack is 186, and having the highest attack is basically the reason he exists.

[Hunter Noventa]

Typo. Sephiroth's lvl 80 attack is 186, and having the highest attack is basically the reason he exists.

The sad thing is never use Sephiroth, but I have two of his decent Soul breaks (Nibelheim Nightmare and Shadowflare). The only other person I have two SBs for is Cloud, but only one of them is even useful. (Braver and Blade Beam)

[Jurai]

I have exactly one Soul Break for every character I have Soul Breaks for. It's kind of hilarious.

[Forbiddenwar]

I got a katana really early ( my first pull I think) so Sephiroth was essential in my early game, especially when I ran out of abilities. But I don't use him much anymore.

[Hunter Noventa]

I have exactly one Soul Break for every character I have Soul Breaks for. It's kind of hilarious.

Heh. I still don't have a good native Wall. I've got a couple variations of Medica (Dreamstage, Hymn of the Faith), Boostga/Hastega in the form of Shout, but no proper Wall.

[Jurai]

Heh. I still don't have a good native Wall. I've got a couple variations of Medica (Dreamstage, Hymn of the Faith), Boostga/Hastega in the form of Shout, but no proper Wall.

I have Captain's Command, Divine Guardian, and Sync for Hastega, the shared SB Holiday Mittens Boostga, and Sync for a Medica, but no wall.

[spectralphoenix]

Well, gave Chaos Bahamut a try and went splat. Would have been nice if Dr. Mog had mentioned that Umbral Vise can't be drawtaliated and CB Hastes himself. Not sure if I'll do this one - I don't want to burn a bunch of Stamina or mithril on this guy.

[Merlin the Tuna]

Well, gave Chaos Bahamut a try and went splat. Would have been nice if Dr. Mog had mentioned that Umbral Vise can't be drawtaliated and CB Hastes himself. Not sure if I'll do this one - I don't want to burn a bunch of Stamina or mithril on this guy.

Yeah, that's definitely one of those things that highlights how awful it would be to play the game without all the stuff that gets datamined and posted to reddit.

Just wrapped up the Figabros+++; kind of a weird event, pacing wise. Two boss rushes is odd on its own. The first is a total anti-climax since Kefka cannot deal with Carbuncle at all. But then the actual boss rush has Dulhallan - whose strongest attack always targets your lowest HP character, the jerk - and Deathgaze - who isn't quite Garuda but still starts every fight with a 33% chance to make you S/L. Then the weirdness of running a limited party in the ++, culminating in a walkover of a +++ fight. Though I guess some of the speedbumps may have been due to me having kinda bad FF6 synergy outside of a pair of oath veils. (Which, to be clear, are amazing. Drew those in an 11-pull during the Relm event, and they've basically been fixtures on my black & white mages regardless of realm.) Might need to target Celes's sword in BSB fest.

The 4-man Cid Mission on the ++ is definitely the trickiest bit. I ended up running Celes to cover weaknesses, Terra to sling Ruingas, and the bros to phone Agrias for a Hallowed Bolt RW for damage+mitigation. Took a few tries for the stars to align, but Sabin and Edgar only being level 25 meant they were basically dead weight; I don't think Terra or Celes (both ~level 50) could've carried a team on their own if I had brought Relm along.

[Red Fel]

I think I'm going to give away my account. Any takers? If anyone wants details, I'll give them.

Wossamatter, chief? Feeling burned out?

[danzibr]

Wossamatter, chief? Feeling burned out?

Eh, I wouldn't say that. Got burnt out twice on this game, plowed through.

This always happens with me and these endless-type games. Like WoW, RO, DragonVale, whatever. Rush to the end, do some end-of-game stuff, lose interest. I find myself playing out of obligation rather than enjoyment.

[tyckspoon]

The 4-man Cid Mission on the ++ is definitely the trickiest bit. I ended up running Celes to cover weaknesses, Terra to sling Ruingas, and the bros to phone Agrias for a Hallowed Bolt RW for damage+mitigation. Took a few tries for the stars to align, but Sabin and Edgar only being level 25 meant they were basically dead weight; I don't think Terra or Celes (both ~level 50) could've carried a team on their own if I had brought Relm along.

I was going to say.. I found it a very easy fight, but I've got the Figabros at 65 and took along Terra and Celes at 70+ for muscle. Terra throwing summons, Celes with Ruinga, Edgar and Sabin just kinda there. Probably could have done it with just Terra and Celes except for probably getting taken out by having the damage too concentrated.

[T.G. Oskar]

Hmm...apparently it's a stellar pull? It's fun and hits hard, that I can say. Easily more than Terra's Magitek Missile.

I actually got a 5* from a 1-pull as well, but as usual it wasn't anything useful(well, it's a stat stick for a realm I don't have, so I guess it is useful in that sense), some IX dagger or sword, totally forgot the name of it, but it looks like it's encased in diamonds or something. Lol, just looked it up, and it in fact is called "Diamond Sword", hehe. Since I have the policy of pulling again after a 5* pops up, I did another 1 pull and got some chakram for the VI realm, "Moonring" 4*. Shame I don't have another copy of it, could have been useful to have a 4*+ ranged item for a realm that's NOT V, lol.

Hey, think of the following - you have a FFIX weapon. I don't. Not ONE weapon. Lots of armor, yes, but not ONE weapon (at least not a natural 5*).

Just keep your eyes on the Figabros, they always had a thing for Terra. Maduin's horn probably forced them to step up their game to spend some more time with her.

I wish my team Celes attracts this amount of effort from Locke and Setzer someday. Weird that the two roguish types with dead girlfriends went after her. For now, she got the company of two other Generals in Beatrix and Basch.

I'm sure Gil and Ramza will keep them in check. I still have fits of rage over a specific site that merely insinuated a love relationship between Terra and Sabin. That said, the drawings were pretty good...both the Sabin solo ones and, OBVIOUSLY, the solo Terra ones. More than obviously, of course.

Don't worry, tho - you'll get at least one for each. I got a lot of FFVI relics right now: Terra's SSB, Edgar's SB, Locke's SB, now Sabin's SB, plus the Assassin's Dagger and the 7* Crystal Mail. This officially makes it the realm with the most relics, right in between V and X. Guess the game realizes this is the game I refuse to rate because it would be massively unfair to place at anything lower than 1st place (yeah, 1st place) by acknowledging its flaws. Hence, by not being rated at all, but mentioning just how much I enjoy it, I'm not really forced to choose which is better.

It isn't too hard at all. In fact, if you use Sabin with Kick and Punishing Palm, and Cyan with Fire Blossom (and Yukikaze, if you like, because Blind is useful), a lot of those missions become fairly trivial. There are a lot of group battles, which means AoEs are helpful. There are a lot of Fire-vulnerable enemies. Punishing Palm ensures that Kick, which is already strong, deals plenty of damage.

Well, Punishing Palm and Kick are already a good combo. If you have Shout, Pressure Point is also pretty good, especially against enemies with incredibly high Defense. Fire Blossom is only good on specific occasions; Darkmoon has roughly the same damage modifier and has a rider effect, so more often than not I'd default to Darkmoon over Fire Blossom.

I wonder if they'll make a 6* Samurai ability that combines all three into one 3-hit AoE attack that causes Blind, Silence and Stop? Start with Yukikaze, follow up with Darkmoon, end up with Fire Blossom. Maybe call it "Beautiful Three"? And it'll appear whenever Squeenix decides to port Romancing SaGa 3 over here.

EDIT: Got to the Tentacles with a 4-man party. As expected, Edgar and Sabin had to be there, obviously Terra was as well (lv. 80, yo!) and Celes was also there because of hitting elemental weaknesses and stuff. It was quite challenging, if only because Bio is so annoying, but eventually did it by having Edgar tank (physically and magically), Terra mostly doing AoE damage with Summons (R2 Ifrit and R3 Shiva), Celes pinpointing her elemental damage (beating the Ice-weak Tentacle first), and Sabin focusing on Kicking everything into oblivion. Could have been a bit more efficient, but it worked. Got the Figaro Bros. Memory Crystals II; Edgar is not yet level 65, but it's close enough to have him cap and LB again soon enough. Sabin...still needs some time. I should make a storytime about Sabin and steroids performance-enhancing Omelettes...

Funny enough, Sabin's Phantom Rush, at level 50, was doing almost as much damage per hit than Terra's Magitek Missile, at level 80 (though not by much). Even if it's 10 hits, it's most likely that Sabin will outdamage Terra's SSB at level 80? Then again, it might be because Attack is easier to raise, even if Sabin's ATK is naturally lower than Terra's MAG (around 287 ATK vs. 451 MAG, IIRC)

[Slayn82]

I went for the Cid Mission with Edgar geared for physical tanking (Draw Fire4/Banishing Blade4/Knight's Charge), Sabin for AOE Attacking (Kick4/Exploding Fist1/Pugilist Lore), Terra for magic (Firaja4/Shiva4/Attunement II), and Mog for mitigation (Multibreak2/Curaja4/Dr. Mog) with a shared Shellga Bracer. RW was Divine Guardian. First turn Terra used the RW, Mog dance, Edgar drew fire, Sabin used Explosive Fist in an upper tentacle. Then Sabin and Terra used their AOEs, while Edgar alternate attacks between the upper tentacles, and used the Crossbow once SB was ready. Killed all except the tentacle that absorb Ice on 3 rounds, who took 2 extra rounds to finish.

Against the Storm Dragon, used a mage party from U+ Cagnazzo, switching Yuffie for Mog, and letting Edea, Rydia and Rinoa nuke him while Minwu watched.

About SSB damage, it's always easier to fit an Armor Break/down somewhere than to fit a Mental. And also it's easier to get cumulative attack buffs than Magic Buffs. That +30% atk from Exploding Fist on top of the Realm Synergy probably made Sabin's damage get that big.

But for instance, outside of X realms, without a RS, I'm happy if Lulu's SSB deal 16K damage on a enemy without Weakness to Ice under FB. A Celes, Beatrix or Zell SSB can reach close to 20K without RS, using Shout + Armor Breakdown+ FB - meaning, if Ramza is around.

Edit: this doesn't means in any way Mage is always worse than physical meta. Give a RS weapon to my Beatrix, and she will plateau somewhere in the 25 - 28 K range because of atk soft cap. Give a RS mage weapon to my Lulu, and an Ice vulnerable enemy, and she can reach/break the 40K damage range. Bring a +20% Mag (Edea), Mental Breakdown and a Wall Breaker (Wakka/Irvine), and she will Moogle March Massacre. Niche, but super effective.

[Red Fel]

Well, Punishing Palm and Kick are already a good combo. If you have Shout, Pressure Point is also pretty good, especially against enemies with incredibly high Defense. Fire Blossom is only good on specific occasions; Darkmoon has roughly the same damage modifier and has a rider effect, so more often than not I'd default to Darkmoon over Fire Blossom.

I'm not disagreeing with respect to Darkmoon vs. Fire Blossom. But (1) Fire Blossom is required for one of the missions, so I stuck it on there and specifically so that I didn't have to think about it, (2) there are a lot of Fire-vulnerable enemies, as mentioned, and (3) I had already honed Fire Blossom a bit during my attempts at that VII Ultimate that ate everyone. I think it was the Bahamut with the minions? I've blotted out the trauma, I think. Pretty sure my Darkmoon is still R1.

So, that.

Funny enough, Sabin's Phantom Rush, at level 50, was doing almost as much damage per hit than Terra's Magitek Missile, at level 80 (though not by much). Even if it's 10 hits, it's most likely that Sabin will outdamage Terra's SSB at level 80? Then again, it might be because Attack is easier to raise, even if Sabin's ATK is naturally lower than Terra's MAG (around 287 ATK vs. 451 MAG, IIRC)

About SSB damage, it's always easier to fit an Armor Break/down somewhere than to fit a Mental. And also it's easier to get cumulative attack buffs than Magic Buffs. That +30% atk from Exploding Fist on top of the Realm Synergy probably made Sabin's damage get that big.

*SNIP*

Edit: this doesn't means in any way Mage is always worse than physical meta. Give a RS weapon to my Beatrix, and she will plateau somewhere in the 25 - 28 K range because of atk soft cap. Give a RS mage weapon to my Lulu, and an Ice vulnerable enemy, and she can reach/break the 40K damage range. Bring a +20% Mag (Edea), Mental Breakdown and a Wall Breaker (Wakka/Irvine), and she will Moogle March Massacre. Niche, but super effective.

I do think that DeNA is shifting away from mage meta and towards physical (SSB) meta. Lifesiphon is a Combat skill. A lot of the new, strong SSBs with rider effects are multi-hit physicals. As mentioned, it's always easier to squeeze in Armor Break than Mental Break. And while Attack scales more quickly (see also Shout meta), Resistance is really skyrocketing on bosses (unless they're specifically designed to be fought by a mage party). All of that combines to create a scene where physical combat is dramatically increasing in value.

All that I'm saying is that I have Black Materia, Last Resort, and Magitek Missile. Only the first is physical, and I've listed them in descending order of damage output. Black Materia is consistently brutal, doing upwards of 24-28k on the low end (and more after boosts) plus Sap damage, Last Resort is at least respectable, doing upwards of 20-28k on the low end (unless the enemy has Holy resist), barring particularly Resistant bosses, and Magitek Missile tends to barely exceed 21k, maybe 24k with synergy. Without boosts, Black Materia and Last Resort are close; with boosts, Black Materia tends to outshine Last Resort consistently.

[Hunter Noventa]

I do think that DeNA is shifting away from mage meta and towards physical (SSB) meta. Lifesiphon is a Combat skill. A lot of the new, strong SSBs with rider effects are multi-hit physicals. As mentioned, it's always easier to squeeze in Armor Break than Mental Break. And while Attack scales more quickly (see also Shout meta), Resistance is really skyrocketing on bosses (unless they're specifically designed to be fought by a mage party). All of that combines to create a scene where physical combat is dramatically increasing in value.

And then when everyone is settled into a physical meta, they'll start whirling it around again I bet.

[spectralphoenix]

If they're going to require specific characters for the tough fights, it would be nice if they were characters who could contribute to the medal requirements. That said, I was able to beat it without too much trouble by putting Hand of the Victor (Celes' blizzard strike RM) on Edgar so he could do a little ice damage, which freed up a slot on Terra for Ruinga. Then Sabin ran pp + kick and I brought Relm for healing and mitigation.

[Greg_S]

And then when everyone is settled into a physical meta, they'll start whirling it around again I bet.

Mages are getting a little better. Dark bargain and dark zone was a big step forward for darkness users, and the self-boost of dark bargain helps add some viability to mages in a shout team, even against neutral foes. The chain-ga 5* spells are coming down the road, and mages will get en-element sbs to work with to boost those. (Physical users get en-element and imperils too, so it's not like physical gets any worse)
One of the things holding mixed teams back right now is the lack of ATK/MAG boosts. Everything is single-type only, so as boosting becomes more important with the stupidly high defenses of ultimates, it rewards teams that load up on a single damage type. Celes' BSB gives an ATK/MAG boost, which will help too.

[danzibr]

What's this chain-ga 5* spell business?

Also, since nobody wants my account, might as well plow on >.>

[Greg_S]

What's this chain-ga 5* spell business?

Also, since nobody wants my account, might as well plow on >.>

In a few months, we'll be getting new 5* BLM: Chain Blizzaga first, then Chain Thundaga, Firaga, and Chain Stonega for Earth. These hit twice for 5.9x damage per hit. For reference, Maduin/Valefor are 2x/4.9 non-elemental damage, and the total 11.8x damage is a bit lower than Flare's 1/12x, but in practice, the damage should be higher with two hits.

In looking at the PDF, I see that the latest JP FF4 event introduced Titan, a new 5* summon that's slightly weaker than Bahamut, but is earth elemental, so both Rydia and Rinoa have SB options to boost its damage.

[Red Fel]

And then when everyone is settled into a physical meta, they'll start whirling it around again I bet.

Mages are getting a little better. Dark bargain and dark zone was a big step forward for darkness users, and the self-boost of dark bargain helps add some viability to mages in a shout team, even against neutral foes. The chain-ga 5* spells are coming down the road, and mages will get en-element sbs to work with to boost those. (Physical users get en-element and imperils too, so it's not like physical gets any worse)
One of the things holding mixed teams back right now is the lack of ATK/MAG boosts. Everything is single-type only, so as boosting becomes more important with the stupidly high defenses of ultimates, it rewards teams that load up on a single damage type. Celes' BSB gives an ATK/MAG boost, which will help too.

This.

What's this chain-ga 5* spell business?

JP is seeing the debuts of new multi-hit single-target spells, such as Chain Blizzaga (2-hit 5.9x Ice BLM damage).

Also, since nobody wants my account, might as well plow on >.>

Hey, don't push yourself too hard. If it starts to feel like a job, it's time to take a break. Take a day or two, take a week if you want. Quit if you really have to, but if you enjoy the game, just take some time off and come back refreshed.

[danzibr]

In a few months, we'll be getting new 5* BLM: Chain Blizzaga first, then Chain Thundaga, Firaga, and Chain Stonega for Earth. These hit twice for 5.9x damage per hit. For reference, Maduin/Valefor are 2x/4.9 non-elemental damage, and the total 11.8x damage is a bit lower than Flare's 1/12x, but in practice, the damage should be higher with two hits.

In looking at the PDF, I see that the latest JP FF4 event introduced Titan, a new 5* summon that's slightly weaker than Bahamut, but is earth elemental, so both Rydia and Rinoa have SB options to boost its damage.

Whoa. 'Das nice. Especially that Chain Stonega. Really making Advantaliate obsolete.

Hey, don't push yourself too hard. If it starts to feel like a job, it's time to take a break. Take a day or two, take a week if you want. Quit if you really have to, but if you enjoy the game, just take some time off and come back refreshed.

True, true. Thanks Red Fel.

For me, if I have it, I'll play it. It really bothers me to lose even a single stamina. Losing a daily login bonus... now that's killer. In general, I'm an all or nothing kind of guy. For now, all.

[Chen]

Whoa. 'Das nice. Especially that Chain Stonega. Really making Advantaliate obsolete.

Advantaliate is for beginners who lack both gear and hones. These are all 5* abilities so getting even one honed decently is tough work.

[danzibr]

Advantaliate is for beginners who lack both gear and hones. These are all 5* abilities so getting even one honed decently is tough work.

While I agree that Advantaliate is for beginners who lack both gear and hones, I think it extends a bit beyond that, especially when Drawtaliate reflects several of a boss's attacks. If you have a character with high attack and you're spending 2 ability slots on Draw Fire and Retaliate, it's not that much more investment to go full Advandrawtaliate, and it even gives your healer things to do when there's nobody to heal. In particular, I have DG, and find the Heavy Regen + Haste leads to Garnet doing nothing quite often on certain bosses if I don't go Advan(draw)taliate.