Final Fantasy Record Keeper IX: Having Sworn to Whale, Must I Live My Life in Debt?

[Hunter Noventa]

And both Ark and Full Throttle Ark are down. Exploitable Wind vulnerability for the win(d)!

... I'm not apologizing.

My team for Full Throttle:

• Luneth: Eternal Wind BSB, skills are irrelevant. Scholar's Boon.
• Bartz: Aerora Strike, Tornado Strike, Hand of the Crystals OSB. Love's Wake.
• Zidane: Stellar Circle 5 BSB and Meo Twister OSB, your argument is invalid. Truthseeker.
• Ramza: Magic Breakdown, Full Break, Shout SSB. Flower of the Sea.
• Y'shtola: Ultra Cure, Shellga, Stoneskin II SB. Healer's Prayer II.
• RW: Y'shtola (Asylum).

The only change for regular Ark was that, instead of damage boosters, I gave fast-SB chargers (Dr. Mog and Mako for Ramza and Y'shtola, Knight's Charge, Ace Striker, etc. for the rest).

Get Shout and wall up immediately, because this guy can hit with his heavy attacks within a round or two, and you want the Hastega and defensive buffs. Get Zidane's BSB up ASAP (but after Shout), because (1) Imperil Wind, and (2) Power and Armor Breakdown commands. Save Luneth's BSB until after Zidane's to maximize effectiveness. When Luneth's BSB recharges, trigger it immediately to take advantage of his existing En-Wind. Seriously, eight En-Winded Wind hits against an Imperil Winded enemy, dealing at-or-near damage cap each, that's a satisfying chunk of damage. Save Zidane's and Bartz's OSBs until the boss is around half health, they basically just knock him down. It's obscene.

This was so much more gratifying than the last one.

Grats Red. Sadly the only big sources of Wind Damage I have are Luneth and Fujin's SSBs, And Alphinaud's BSB. No OSBs means I'm not even going to try it, since they're practically required to survive these things.

[Merlin the Tuna]

Likewise down for me. For the Apoc+, I went with

Zidane: Lifesiphon, Thief's Revenge - BSB
Fang: Lifesiphon, Sky High - reverse wall SSB
Tyro: Full Break, Affliction Break - wall, USB
Minfilia: Mag Breakdown, Protectga - last stand + boostga SSB
Eiko: Ultra Cure, Shellga - BSB
RW: Shout

In full throttle, the Lifesiphons became Mug Bloodlust (Zidane) and Full Charge (Fang), and I went with Cloud BSB2 as my RW instead.

The Full Throttle version was definitely easier, but Fang providing a wind-elemental reverse wall gave a lot of breathing room for both. Tyro's USB ended up being a pretty handy tool since I was already carrying Minfilia; that combo meant that I was finally free of needing to RW Shout, and a proper en-wind BSB gave the extra oomph to make up for my team being so support-heavy.

The goofy thing, of course, is just getting all the various buffs & debuffs up when you've got the whole fire hose at your disposal. Zidane opened with Mug Bloodlust, threw out a BSB around the time boostga went up, used his BSB mugs, then two more imperils, then a couple of Thief's Revenge casts when the fight was already over. Tyro went USB -> instacast wall -> Affliction Break -> Full Break. And let me tell you, it feels weird to bring an army of support units and not have Full Break up until the fourth round.

This one really is dramatically easier than Proudclad - definitely worth throwing yourself at it even if you don't have the perfect BSB/OSB/whatever. And hey, you get refunded even if you lose!

[lord_khaine]

Hi, just a couple swift questions.
Whats the smartest thing to do with Mythril and Soul of heroes?

[Maryring]

Mythril: Save mostly for Lucky and Special banner pulls, occasionally for Realm pulls iff there are realms that have little synergy, or someone you really love on the crew list. Don't use it to win an event fight. Close and reopen the app instead to retry the fight.
Souls: Use it on characters you've got a decent relic for. Leftovers go to characters you like.

[SuperPanda]

I've been guilty of using mythril on some event fights and I agree with Marrying. As a general rule things which aren't hidden behind a paywall can eventually be obtained even if you can't get them now. (There are some exceptions but you'll usually see us talking about them).

On souls - I tend to say "characters you like" > "have relics for" but that's because I'm well into the nostalgia ride of this app and already have a potent arsenal and roster. While starting out the power of character relics cannot be overstated. I would probably have even used "Mama's boy" regularly if he'd been my only character with a relic (I did get something for him long after my VII cast was well outfitted. Yuffie stole it for a time before switching back to a set of Tifa's gloves. He hasn't used it outside of sun daily to master it and give up his record materia).

On other notes: the Tree is so much easier than the turtle. Okay so I know it isn't fair since I'm comparing U+ tree to AP turtle. Still before wall was up the tree was hitting AoE for less than 1k and it just wilted under my Holy onslaught. Agrias had blizzaga strike but didn't get a chance to use it - the tree didn't get to act after setting itself on fire and hitting us with imperil.

Cecil BSB, Agrias BSB, PeneloBSB, Y'sh Wall, Minfilla BSB.

The white mages brought pro-shell round 1. Minfila hit full break while Cecil did damage and Agrias called Shout. Round two saw penelo dance break its attack, minfilla life siphon, Y'sh walked, Agrias and Cecil did knight strikes. Round 3 saw Penelo burst, Y'sh heal and the rest the same.

Round 4 was penelo command 1, minfila burst, Cecil burst.
Round 5 was Agrias burst and tree "flame on"
Round 6 was another penelo burst which killed it.

No one dipped below 2/3 health.

[Red Fel]

Grats Red. Sadly the only big sources of Wind Damage I have are Luneth and Fujin's SSBs, And Alphinaud's BSB. No OSBs means I'm not even going to try it, since they're practically required to survive these things.

I'll be honest, having now gotten several OSBs... I'd probably have preferred BSBs. Oh, OSBs are great and nice in a boss fight when the boss has one of those "attacks eleventeen times with max damage when at 10%" modes, but I'd still prefer something I can get consistent utility out of. With many of my BSBs and how I deploy them, I can frequently go straight from Burst mode into the next BSB with maybe one turn in between, if that. If I'm targeting a weakness, no delay at all. Especially on Full Throttle, where it's available as soon as I want it.

So, yeah. Don't assume an OSB is a survival ticket.

Hi, just a couple swift questions.
Whats the smartest thing to do with Mythril and Soul of heroes?

Mythril: Save mostly for Lucky and Special banner pulls, occasionally for Realm pulls iff there are realms that have little synergy, or someone you really love on the crew list. Don't use it to win an event fight. Close and reopen the app instead to retry the fight.
Souls: Use it on characters you've got a decent relic for. Leftovers go to characters you like.

Emphasizing this.

With regard to mythril, either spend it on Lucky Draw banners - they're half price - or on "Festival" banners. We have a few more Lucky Draws coming up soon, and we get another every time we get a Dungeon Update; we've also got a five-banner Festival coming up, featuring OSBs and BSBs aplenty. Ideally, spend either 5 mythril (1 pull) or 50 mythril (11 pull) - don't bother in between. A 1-pull is your way of testing the waters, and we're all weak from time to time, but otherwise save up for an 11-pull, because it contains a guarantee of at least one 5-star relic. Which is what you're after.

As for souls, exactly what Maryring said. If you have a relic for a character, but don't have that character, buy that character. If you like a character, but don't have that character, buy that character. Keep in mind that every event gives you a bunch of characters - usually four or more - for free, or Growth Eggs if you already have those characters, so it's pretty easy to fill up. But if you're in a rush, either because you have a relic or a favorite, buy that character.

Oh, as for the tree: Celes BSB. That is all.

[oxybe]

To play off what Maryring said, there are a few different types of draws to look for:

Mog/Tyro/Keeper select: At this point these feature relics that are useful, like shout and Sentinel Grimoire, but the offensive ones have been powercreep'd away. Feel free to safely ignore unless you don't mind going BartzCalibur/11 or the older Terra/Squall BSBs. They still have some goodies and a few of the items you can pick from are still pretty nice, it's just showing it's age in a very visible way.

Weekly Realm Event banners: This is normally where new relics are introduced and if you're looking for that new Beatrix or Vivi relic, this is your best chance to get it, barring reoccurence on a realm banner (which could take months), a fest or a lucky draw. My lower lip has been nearly bleeding I've been biting it so much to stop me from pulling for Beatrix (SERIOUSLY BANNER 2... 3 RELICS FER MAH BAETRIX I DON HAVE?), Zidane and Vivi so I can save mythril for the upcoming FFXII banner, 3 potential lucky draws and the extremefest we're getting... Sigh. I need more mythril.

Lucky draw banners: These are themed after something. We just had an inordinate 6 of these banners to pull from, themed after certain ability schools: Black Mage lucky draw, White Mage, Summoner, Celerity, Combat & Support. There are also Dungeon Update Lucky Draws, where you can pull relics from the 3-4 realms it adds to the dungeons. These are SSB and better. Lucky draws's big deal is that they are half price and while the pool of relics is usually huge (the combat lucky draw banner had what... 120+ relics to pull from? normally you can expect ~50 though. combat is just kind of a common ability) so it's pretty hit and miss at times. Sometimes you get great pulls, other times you go Tiny Bee/11. But at least it was a half-price Tiny Bee.

Fest banners: Think of these as condensed awesomeness. Lots of BSB & OSBs and a few good SSBs per banner. May or may not be vaguely themed, but rather then pulling to make a given realm better, these are more to kick start your A-Team or give it a power boost.

Banner 1 of 5 from the JP version of the upcoming fest has a 4/6/2 on the USB,OSB/BSB/SSB ratio, and the others have similar counts, give or take a OSB~BSB.

These are picked from between all realms so you can usually expect some quality stuff here from all over the place. Tifa's Oversoul, I don't particularly care for, but the Maria, Refia, Prishe, Eiko are all great items I could find use for, and while Celes' Excalibur is an older SSB relic, it's runic ability can make or break some boss fights... in the right situation it's extremely potent. Note that is the banner from when Japan had the fest ~6 months ago and these banners usually change a little bit.

We're probably going to get to see the banners soon as we're expecting maintenance and Summer Fest was just announced in-game to start at 5pm (PST) on the 20th.

Other uses for mythril is to increase your on-hand storage for items & abilities when needed. Anything but storage & banners though... I wouldn't recommend, but if you really need that 5star orb from a boss now and it's not coming anytime soon as a boss drop and you can't wait for the dailies, feel free to revive for the buff. I don't recommend it (I do recommend shutting the application down before your hp hits zero and actually die, the game will reload the fight from the start and you won't have wasted your stamina), but it's your mythril.

Souls of heroes... save until you start pulling. Once you start getting more SBs for characters you don't have, I recommend going to kongbakpao. check the upcoming events and see if the character is going to be released. If not, use the souls to get those heroes if you don't mind waiting a few weeks..

As a few final notes: ExDeath can't wear hats. Helms, he's fine with... But Captain Treeface McGee does not appreciate hats. It also turns out I should pay more attention to my dailies: I still had yet to do the Mondailies for their mythril. :P

[T.G. Oskar]

Well, this event was much, much easier.

Ultimate: Mastered Atomos with FF9 team. They've grown quite a bit since last time, what with the shower of relics I've gotten for all of them. Went with a team of Beatrix, Quina, Freya, Zidane and Garnet (IIRC). It was pretty easy, requiring no Wall, and with enough time to spare (25 sec. on the Doom counter). Used an instant-heal Ultra as an RW.

U++: CM'ed Dracozombie, then Mastered with a different team. CM was done with Beatrix (mostly for Saint Cross and Protectga, i.e. the Holy damage dealer), Vivi (Firestarter), Zidane (DPS), Garnet (Healer) and Quina (debuffer). Managed to use Pumpkin Head on the darn thing, but it wasn't enough at first. Winning run had Quina as the only survivor, desperately using Burst Commands to survive. Afterwards, went with a much stronger team: still had Beatrix and Quina, but replaced Vivi for Terra (why have a Firestarter when you can have an Intermediate Fire Goddess!?), Zidane for Locke (yay, Imperil Fire! Plus stacking ATK/MAG debuff) and Garnet for Vanille (again, her instant-heal Burst Medica is a lifesaver, but she also has a Holy damage attack as her Burst Command 1). Took me another set of tries, but that allowed me to master it.

Apoc: So much for Ark. With a better Wind team, I went with some basics - Zack (Imperil Wind), Zidane (for his OSB; else, I would have used Cid or Alphi), Quina (a constant, of course), Vanille (healer) and the Keeper (Wall, plus Ninja magic damage). Took me a handful of tries, and I had to retry it again because I couldn't master it at first (two lucky shot kills), but I Mastered him eventually. With Ramza or Cid using their SHOUTS! as RW, Zack was dealing sufficient damage, while Zidane did quite a number with Dash & Slash. Of course, the key here was to weaken Ark enough to deal Overflow damage with Zidane's Meo Twister, which of course did the trick every time. Had enough bar for 2 uses at most, but it was enough. Mastery run had Zack set up enough charges to Imperil Ark twice or thrice, have Zidane almost cap with Meo T, and then Zack finished him with a third Meteor Shots. After the Proudclad Apoc, this was definitely a milk run.

MP Ult.: Entering into a good PUG was tough, but ended up with a physical Holy focused team. Went with Quina and the Spoony Bard, and the Bard managed not just to survive the battle, but also provide the only Boostga for the team. Capped Divine Ruinations and THUNDER GOD STRIKES did a number on it. Sadly, Quina was taken down relatively quickly, so zhe couldn't provide that much support. Mostly because of lucky shots from the Evil Tree (the not-Exdeath Evil Tree, that is).

Only missing Jump Start and A++ Multiplayer for now. Closely approaching the 150 Mythril mark, but of course, it just happens that the Summer Festival will land tomorrow. Let's see how much Mythril I can gather: I plan for 1 draw on Burst+, 1 on the Banner that has Terra's USB, and 1 on FFVI Banner 2 (for Terra's Legend Materia relic). Conditional draws on Imperil and Curaga+ Medica, also on Women of the Hour, most likely draw on 5 Myth guaranteed OSB draw. Not gonna pull on Men of the Hour, and not sure about the possibility of a third banner, but if it manages to happen, gonna pull based on its content).

UPDATE: JS!Ark is done, and it was even easier than the regular one. Sure, starting at 0 ATB was a bit disconcerting, not to mention figuring out who went first (it was Zidane, BTW), but after a first trial, the second try was just disgustingly quick. In fact, every one of my party members (same cast as A+!Ark) had one SB gauge left other than Zack, since I wanted to essentially crush Ark to a pulp. There were a few changes (Zidane had Thief's Revenge instead of Steal Power; Keeper had Air Raid to boost its Wind damage, Quina had Secrets of the Qu for additional damage, Vanille had White Mage Adept which worked wonders because of several dualcast Command Medicas), but for the most part it was so smooth, it was again, rather disconcerting.

[lord_khaine]

Alright thanks for all the advice. I will save my about 80 mythril for the next banner i see with the word lucky on then :)

[oxybe]

First off: Gratz on the victories Oskar!

Second: If you frequent the FFRK Reddit you may be familiar with Fattybomchacha.

Welp, fatty just released a hint from the June MVP Newsletter on some of the changes in the fest banner

Spoiler

Show

Notable changes mentioned are the shuffling of several USBs/OSBs on the first two banners. Now, some of those choices may indicate more shifting then initially stated.

Kuja's BSB was also featured on the Banner 2 while Tifa's BSB was on banner 1. I'm going to guess these will follow their respective OSB/BSB with the move. If that is the case, Banner 1 (which I'm going to guess shuffles Eiko's USB to banner 2 and replaces it with Yuffie's so they can keep the two Maria relics on the same banner) is looking VERY nice for me, especially since Yuffie just earned herself a MC3 for a job well done on the Apocalypse Multiplayer.

Makes a (rather personal in all respect) case for banner 1 VS banner 4 (which has new Terra & Greg USBs, as well as Fujin & Papalymo BSBs).

[SuperPanda]

Someone on Reddit posted a summary of what is known about the fest banners from an MVP email.

The short of it is that the new headliner relics are all still there but banner 2 and 1 have switched places. Banner 3 appears to have added Lightning USB and is keeping Orlandeu and Ashe OSBs, no word on Shantoto chain or Penelo USB (one of the two is probably gone).

My hype is building for the fest but I'm unsure how much I'll pull.

JP banner 2 has some major upgrades for me but isn't as exciting. JP 3 has two items I very much want (Orlandeu sword and Shantoto gloves). JP and 4 has the EX mode relics I badly want especially Cecil's which is the weakest of the three - but def +100 and Hp stock 6000 isn't bad on someone who can bring Gaia Cross, Guard Bringer, and an enholy BSB.

havent done MP AP or regular AP yet. Spent stamina today clearing most of my remaining classic dungeons. Still have a lot of Elites left but they'll have to wait until after fest when I can restock the war chest.


Question for those in the know about Jump Start fights. I know that next IX and XIII events the current JS bosses should be available again. Do we get new ones added too? I'm trying to adjust my expectations regarding the rewards - if they are once per realm or Once per event.

The former would be disappointing, but still give a good amount to work with. The latter means I can start plotting to slowly (slowly) fill out A teams with LM from spheres.

[oxybe]

@ Superpanda, I actually linked the MVP image. Penelo's is gone and replaced with Lightning while Shantotto's chain is still there alongside Orlandeau & Ashe's OSBs.

While JP hasn't had a FFIX or FFXIII event reoccurence, it has seen 2 FFVII events in the form of a Dirge of Cerberus focused one that added a Shelke Apocalypse+/JumpStart that gives 4star & 5star Wisdom Motes

I also checked a few leads since Kongbakpao was a bit vague on the Rude/Elena FFVII event and google translated http://muketsu.info/FFRK/Event-Dungeon03/031-5.html and it does indicate that there is a Jump Start for the Apocalypse+ Diamond Weapon (5 star Wisdom, 4 star Vitality if I muddle through the machine translation correctly, as we lack "technique" and "body" motes :P).

EDIT: BANNERS ARE LEAKED, I REPEAT BANNERS ARE LEAKED, DATAMINING IN PROCESS

http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/fes9/

Spoiler: Banner 1

Show

Rosa's Fairy Bow
Yuffie's Rising Sun
Yuna's Conductor
Kuja's Demon Rod
Raines' Metamorphosis Claw
Quistis' Dress
Garnet's Staff of Ramuh
Firion's Sunblade
Y'shtola's Healer's Circlet
Kuja's Terra's Legacy
Cloud of Darkness' Darkening Cloak
Garnet's Wizard Rod

Spoiler: Banner 2

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Tifa's Premium Heart
Eiko's Lamia Flute
Noctis's Sword of the Father
Cloud's Ragnarok
Maria's Rune Graven Bow
Refia's Shura Glove
Vivi's Flame Staff
Tifa's Oversoul
Onion Knight's Gauntlets
Prish's Sainti
Onion Knight's Eternal Staff
Celes' Excalibur

Spoiler: Banner 3

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Shantotto's Iridal Staff
Lightning's Razor Carbine
Orlandeau's Saintly Excalibur
Ashe's Durandal
Lightning's Enkindler
Shantotto's Tactician Magician's Cuffs
Raijin's Staff
Ashe's Defiance
Orlandeau's Cloak
Raijin's Pauldrons
Chaos Blade

Spoiler: Banner 4

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Terra's Apocalypse
Pecil's Lightbringer
Greg's Genji Gloves
Ramza's Sasuke Blade
Pecil's Excalibur
Vaan's Orichalum Dirk
Alphinaud's Veil of the Wiyu
Fujin's Shin-Chakram
Zell's Burning Fist
Ramza's Gengi Gloves
Alphinaud's Evoker's Doublet

Spoiler: Banner 5

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WoL's Ragnarok
Vanille's Lightbringer's Staff
Tyro's Arbiter's Apocrypha
Agrias' Ragnarok
Curilla's Temple Knight Army Sword
Aerith's Wizer Rod
Agrias' Excalibur
Minfilia Curtana
Vanille's Misteltein
Zack's Rune Blade
Curilla's Iron Musketeer's Cuirasse
Tyro's Sentinel Grimoire

[Red Fel]

And in other news, maintenance is over. So, what did we get?

Well, first off, daily bonuses in honor of the release of the latest FFXIV expansion. A bunch of stuff, but most relevant, 5 mythril. Log in for your mythril, people!

Second, a little quality-of-life update that will be oh-so-welcomed, free expansion of your saved party slots. Up to 60! 60! I mean, in theory, you could now put in a caster, physical, and hybrid party for every realm, and still have enough left over to do an element party for every element. That's basically all the slots you need, right there.

Lastly, although it wasn't mentioned in the maintenance notes, pretty sure they've now formally set up the upcoming banners and events. Remember, last night they gave us "Coming Soon" notices for the Orbfest and Mired in Crisis events, which basically means "Tomorrow night" in FFRK-speak.

So let's talk about Mired in Crisis. First, terrible name (in JP it was Zenith of Crisis, which is so much cooler). Do they have to rename everything? Abyss becomes Nightmare? Zenith becomes Mired? Does DeNA have a thing about using JP's names? *GASP* Is FFRK Global actually an unauthorized version of FFRK JP, which Square Enix merely tolerates but refuses to allow to use the terminology?

... Nah.

Anyway, Zenith of Crisis is a boss event. As in, various bosses, unlocked in phases. Ultima Weapon from VIII, Barthandelus from XIII, Geryon from IV, GILGAMESH from V, Chaos from I, the Demon from VI, BFA from X, culminating in a battle against Mama's Boy. Beat the bosses for rewards, including Motes.

Orbfest is also coming. For those who don't know what it is, each phase offers orbs, gil, and exp. Better exp than dailies (except Sundailies), but no greens. On the other hand, each phase includes a first time mythril reward, so farm away.

Lastly, as Oxy mentioned, the banners have been datamined. My personal assessments haven't changed, although banners 1 and 2 have swapped - I'll still probably pass on banner 1, and maybe on banner 2. My priorities are banner 3 (the Lightning banner) and banner 5 (the Holy banner); I'm still on the fence about banner 4 (the EX Mode banner).

[SuperPanda]

@ Superpanda, I actually linked the MVP image. Penelo's is gone and replaced with Lightning while Shantotto's chain is still there alongside Orlandeau & Ashe's OSBs.

While JP hasn't had a FFIX or FFXIII event reoccurence, it has seen 2 FFVII events in the form of a Dirge of Cerberus focused one that added a Shelke Apocalypse+/JumpStart that gives 4star & 5star Wisdom Motes

I also checked a few leads since Kongbakpao was a bit vague on the Rude/Elena FFVII event and google translated http://muketsu.info/FFRK/Event-Dungeon03/031-5.html and it does indicate that there is a Jump Start for the Apocalypse+ Diamond Weapon (5 star Wisdom, 4 star Vitality if I muddle through the machine translation correctly, as we lack "technique" and "body" motes :P).

Thanks. That sounds like we might just get one new jumpstart per event with previous fights also accessible for people that missed it before - giving them a chance to catch up but also continuing to give us new shinies. I like shinies.

Speaking of shiny:

EDIT: BANNERS ARE LEAKED, I REPEAT BANNERS ARE LEAKED, DATAMINING IN PROCESS

http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/fes9/

Spoiler: Banner 1

Show

Rosa's Fairy Bow
Yuffie's Rising Sun
Yuna's Conductor
Kuja's Demon Rod
Raines' Metamorphosis Claw
Quistis' Dress
Garnet's Staff of Ramuh
Firion's Sunblade
Y'shtola's Healer's Circlet
Kuja's Terra's Legacy
Cloud of Darkness' Darkening Cloak
Garnet's Wizard Rod

Spoiler: Banner 2

Show

Tifa's Premium Heart
Eiko's Lamia Flute
Noctis's Sword of the Father
Cloud's Ragnarok
Maria's Rune Graven Bow
Refia's Shura Glove
Vivi's Flame Staff
Tifa's Oversoul
Onion Knight's Gauntlets
Prish's Sainti
Onion Knight's Eternal Staff
Celes' Excalibur

Spoiler: Banner 3

Show

Shantotto's Iridal Staff
Lightning's Razor Carbine
Orlandeau's Saintly Excalibur
Ashe's Durandal
Lightning's Enkindler
Shantotto's Tactician Magician's Cuffs
Raijin's Staff
Ashe's Defiance
Orlandeau's Cloak
Raijin's Pauldrons
Chaos Blade

Spoiler: Banner 4

Show

Terra's Apocalypse
Pecil's Lightbringer
Greg's Genji Gloves
Ramza's Sasuke Blade
Pecil's Excalibur
Vaan's Orichalum Dirk
Alphinaud's Veil of the Wiyu
Fujin's Shin-Chakram
Zell's Burning Fist
Ramza's Gengi Gloves
Alphinaud's Evoker's Doublet

Spoiler: Banner 5

Show

WoL's Ragnarok
Vanille's Lightbringer's Staff
Tyro's Arbiter's Apocrypha
Agrias' Ragnarok
Curilla's Temple Knight Army Sword
Aerith's Wizer Rod
Agrias' Excalibur
Minfilia Curtana
Vanille's Misteltein
Zack's Rune Blade
Curilla's Iron Musketeer's Cuirasse
Tyro's Sentinel Grimoire

Hrm. For me Banner 1 has 3 dupes and 1 that I am best "meh" towards (Cloud of Darkness SSB). It has 6 m "very nice" relics plus Kujas which evoke no immediate emotion but would be awesome for building a dark team and pairing with his en-dark SSB I got in white mage LD. Will pull once, but not twice.

Banner 2 has 5 dupes, of which only one can I honestly call a valuable dupe (Reifa's +Fire bracer). Though Cloud's OSB would be an upgrade for Zack since I'd be unlikely to combine it. Most wanted 2 items are Celes sword and onion gloves, Tifa and Eiko USB are in the "very nice" category but not calling to my heart like Rosa and Yuffie are. File this as a maybe banner.

Banner 3 excites. 3 dupes (toto chain, TG burst, Rapha Burst) - 3 irrationally desired (TG overflow, Toto burst, Ashe burst, chance to strengthen XIIi and diversify VIII in case ice gets shut down. Will pull, probably not twice but I might want to.

Banner 4
5 dupes, 1 of which is already recorded (Alph SSB).
3 very wanted relics plus the ever elusive Vaan burst I pulled strongly for in the past (my XII team needs a boost) and a chance to diversify team wind. Will pull and prey, but wouldn't be wise to pull twice.

Banner 5. 5 dupes. I want the XI toys and Agrias's OSB. Vanille's upgrades would be huge for my XIII team - overall ulikely to pull though.


100 gems for all 5. Definite 11x pulls for banners 1,3,4. Have to see what I get and how the hype to mythril ratio is sitting.

[oxybe]

At the moment sitting on 77 mythril, unless extra mythril can be scrounged I will not have 100 before banner 2 hits so I'm pulling at least once on banner 1...

But do note that there are also lucky draws incoming. Banner Images for 2 "Always Lucky" draws have been found (imperil, medica & BSB+ I'll wager)

As for my views on the banners?

1 - 2 dupes (Quistis Dress & Garnet's Wizard Rod)
2 - 2 dupes (Onion Knight's Gauntlets, Celes' Excalibur)
3 - 2 dupes (Ashe's Durandal & Defiance)
4 - 3 dupes (Vaan's Dirk, Alphinaud's Veil & Doublet)
5 - 3 dupes (Aerith's Wizer Rod, Minfilia's Curtana, Sentinel Grimoire)

1- OH MY LORDY. Kuja Stuff, Rosa's USB, Raines BSB, Garnet's BSB2 and Y'shtola's medica burst. all stuff I want. Will. Pull.

2- a lot of "would not complain" like Vivi, Maria, Prishe & Refia stuff, but dunno if I would toss mythril it's way.

3- Orlandopalooza Feat: Shantotto & Lightning. Very tempting. Very, very tempting.

4- Terra & Fujin would be awesome to have, but i'll have to pass.

5- Some nice holy stuff for sure, nothing to me particularly stands out as a must have outside of the 6star relics like WoL's USB and Agrias' OSB.

So at the moment the jury is going "Guaranteed Pull on banner 1, save for lucky draws until we know for sure their content" until we know bonus mythril and whatnot.

[Maryring]

Extreme banners. Extreme banners everywhere!

Banner 1: Quistis's Dress and Healer Circlet as dupes. Metamorphosis claws are wanted, Firion's burst is wanted, but beyond that there's not much desired. I've already got so much Yuna stuff too that I don't really want her conductor rod. Likely skip.

Banner 2: I've been chasing Maria and Refia's Bursts whenever they appear, so why do they always have to appear on bad banners? This banner has six dupes and OSBs for characters I don't like (and Tifa). Unfortunate skip.

Banner 3: Heaven's Wrath would be so nice, but I've got four dupes on this banner. So no matter how much I want Heaven's Wrath or Shantotto's Chain, I'm afraid I'll just end up with a whole lot of dupes on this one. Skip.

Banner 4: Pecil Excalibur? Seriously?! Duddiest dud of all Extreme fest duds. But at least it's not a dupe. Got two dupes on this banner. But, it's got Terra's USB, and besides Elf-in-need's Burst and Pecil's Excalipoor, they are all bursts I would like. Probably pull.

Banner 5: One dupe, and nothing that really strikes me as something I want. Oh sure, Wall would be nice. But beyond that... nothing that feels worth it. Probably skip.

All in all, this seems a very depressing set of banners for me. Might as well turn my attention to the VI Banner and cross my fingers for Mog BSB. Because Mog Matters.

[lord_khaine]

Is there any indications of when there might come one of those ½ price lucky banners? getting 11 draws for just 25 Mythril sounds like a deal worth saving up for.

And what do i do with growth eggs?

[Hunter Noventa]

Is there any indications of when there might come one of those ½ price lucky banners? getting 11 draws for just 25 Mythril sounds like a deal worth saving up for.

And what do i do with growth eggs?

Lucky draw banners usually come with the dungeon updates, and have relics from the realms updated.

Hold onto your eggs for now, save them for if you need to build up a party with synergy to progress further in an event.

[oxybe]

Is there any indications of when there might come one of those ½ price lucky banners? getting 11 draws for just 25 Mythril sounds like a deal worth saving up for.

And what do i do with growth eggs?

At the moment? We don't know. I would say expect them sometimes in the next few days, seeing as how the fest starts on the 24th.

For growth eggs, save them for now until you get a few nice relics, use the eggs to level up those characters to 50 to clear early or from 50 to 65 and then 80 to get you ready for end-game prep (depending on the characters and memory crystals you have access to... and hey you'll be getting some for logging in due to the FFXIV promo that's going on for the next week or so).

[lord_khaine]

Alright thanks a lot, will hold on to my growth eggs for now then.
New question in the meantime. When i try to fuse weapons i get a text with "low level" what does that mean?

[Hunter Noventa]

Alright thanks a lot, will hold on to my growth eggs for now then.
New question in the meantime. When i try to fuse weapons i get a text with "low level" what does that mean?

You have to level a weapon up to max level to be able to fuse it to upgrade its number of stars. You can do this twice normally (Turning say, a 3* weapon into a 5*, though the upgraded one likely won't be as good as a native 5*), and then once more with the appropriate Dark Matter.

Once you start doing relic draws you'll likely get better equipment. For the most part, once you've got enough 4* or 5* gear to outfit a whole party, you can start ignoring anything lower and either selling it or using it as fodder to level up the better gear. The only exception are a rare handful of 3* accessories that provide Status or Elemental resistances.

And as a note, those Soul of a Hero items you're going to get in the next few days? Use em on unlocking your favorite heroes right now. You lose literally nothing from using them as you get them, since if you unlock the hero again later, you get a growth egg instead...which you can also trade the Soul of a Hero for, so it's even. While some heroes are better than others of course, there are only a handful that are outright unusable (Gau comes to mind).

So grab your favorites and have fun.

[Deadline]

Alright thanks a lot, will hold on to my growth eggs for now then.
New question in the meantime. When i try to fuse weapons i get a text with "low level" what does that mean?

You upgrade equipment with Adamantite (for armor) and Scarletite (for weapons). I think that once you've maxed out an item's level, you can combine it with another of the same item.

[Greg_S]

Whoa, here come the banners. Anniversary was very good to me, and I'm sitting on 263 mythril after the morning's gifts, so plan time:

1. Dupes: Raines, Quistis, Kuja Burst. The USBs are pretty good here, but Rosa's recurs on the Edge USB banner, and that's a very strong one overall. Probably a skip.
2. Dupes: Maria, Tifa, Onion Burst. Refia's BSB rocks, Eiko's USB is handy, but beyond that, I can live without the other stuff. Tifa's USB is like Yuffie's in that it does a lot of things, but a little focus would have helped.
3. Dupes: Shantotto BSB. On the one hand, I've got a good lightning team already. On the other hand, Thunder God relics and Raijin's stuff. Could be a pull, depending on how much loot we get via Orbfest/other stuff.
4. Dupes: P. Cecil, Vaan, Zell, Relm BSBs, Alph SSB. Sigh. So much good stuff here. A new player could do 2-3 pulls here and walk away with a superior A-team (Vaan/Fujin/Relm BSBs is the core of a team that ruins magical-based bosses). I doubt if I'll pull because I really only want Fujin's burst. I can leave the other stuff behind.
5. Dupes: Agrias, Vanille, Aerith bursts, SG. Again, totally worth a pull for a new player because of SG. I've gotta skip here too.

Excluding dupes, I'd rate banner quality 4-3-1-5-2. They did a very good job (not good for us, for them) of spreading out the chase relics.

I think I'll pull on FF6 and twice on Cloud instead of doing much with the fest beyond luckies.

[oxybe]

Alright thanks a lot, will hold on to my growth eggs for now then.
New question in the meantime. When i try to fuse weapons i get a text with "low level" what does that mean?

Before you can fuse a weapon you need to fully upgrade it to max level. Once maxed you can go and fuse it with another copy. The second copy doesn't need to have any scarletite or adamantine invested.

When done, the item will have it's star level increased by 1 and you'll see a + after it's name like "Punisher+". You can add a second copy to this Item+ by first maxing it's level again and it will add a second Star to it's rarity, and another + to the name; "Punisher++"

Finally, if you have a Dark Matter of the same rarity as the base item, you can max out the ++ weapon and upgrade it one last time adding a third Star to it's rarity, and another + to the name; "Punisher+++".

At the moment there are no 6 star Dark Matter so 9 star gear isn't possible.

[lord_khaine]

Alright thanks a lot for the weapon advice, it makes a lot more sense now.
And also thanks for the suggestion regarding souls of heroes. Means i will get my favorite FF6 up and running sooner rather than later.

What FF6 heroes are useable as healers?

[Maryring]

Relm is the best healer. While Celes can cast rank 4 White magic spells and wield Mind equipment, she does not have access to a team-wide heal Soul Break.

[Merlin the Tuna]

Spoiler: Banner 1

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2 dupes (Raines BSB, Kuja BSB), though notably these are both dark+ stat sticks and therefore wouldn't be awful to have combined versions of. 4 SBs for characters still sitting on their defaults: of those, 3 are really good (Yuna USB, Firion BSB, Quistis BSB) and 1 is terrible. (Cloud of Darkness SSB). That leaves 6 items for characters I already have a break for. Of those, 5 would be major upgrades (Rosa USB over her proshellga unique, Yuffie USB over her pBlink SSB, Garnet's BSB2 and SSB over her Ramuh unique, and Y'shtola's BSB over her proshellga-regenga SSB), and 1 would be mostly a sidegrade (Kuja OSB). So 8/12 goodies, including 3 excellent medicas for realms in which I don't have any. (Aside from X's shared). Seems pretty good.

Spoiler: Banner 2

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3 dupes, one that I'd be okay with a copy of (Refia BSB, fire+ armor) and two I wouldn't be. (Tifa BSB, OK SSB). For babby's first soul break, I'd be looking at 6 items, all of which are good to great. (Noctis OSB, Cloud OSB, Maria BSB, Vivi BSB, Prishe BSB, and Celes SSB). That leaves a real mixed bag for the remainder. 2 are good soul breaks but for characters I already have good soulbreaks for (USBs for Tifa and Eiko, whom I have BSBs for), with only 1 being a marked step forward. (OK BSB compared to his magic SSB). So 7/12 really good options, and some upside among the remainder.

Spoiler: Banner 3

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Only 1 dupe here (Rafa BSB). Likewise, only 1 character here who I have SBs for currently (Lighting's SSB1 and garbage en-lit) who would see substantial leaps forward from a new toy. This one is almost definitely getting a pull.

Spoiler: Banner 4

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Only 2 dupes (Alphinaud SSB, Cecil BSB) on this one as well, but lots of overlap. Only 1 item (Fujin BSB) would hit a new character. Of the rest, there are some major upgrades (Vaan's blind/silence unique and Ramza's Tailwind don't exactly make them A-teamers), but the rest are already doing well for themselves. Hard to justify a pull here, though I could be convinced depending on the details of some of those USB EX modes.

Spoiler: Banner 5

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4 dupes here. (Agrias BSB, Aeris BSB, Vanille BSB, Tyro SG). In overlap town, 3 are sidegrades (Vanille USB & Agrias OSB vs. their BSBs, Minfilia BSB vs. her SSB) 1 is an upgrade (Zack BSB vs. his hastega SSB) and 1 is dubious (Tyro OSB vs. a slew of his others). That leaves just 3 others: WoL's and Curilla's stuff is pretty good (and would help under-served realms) but hard to get stoked for.

I'm at 225 mythril right now. Take off 75 for lucky draws, and I'm looking at 3 pulls. Banner 1 is definitely getting one, Banner 3 is definitely getting one, and Banner 5 is definitely not getting one. Not sure on the others, and haven't done much budgeting for any post-fest banners.

[T.G. Oskar]

EDIT: BANNERS ARE LEAKED, I REPEAT BANNERS ARE LEAKED, DATAMINING IN PROCESS

http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/fes9/

Spoiler: Banner 1

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Rosa's Fairy Bow
Yuffie's Rising Sun
Yuna's Conductor
Kuja's Demon Rod
Raines' Metamorphosis Claw
Quistis' Dress
Garnet's Staff of Ramuh
Firion's Sunblade
Y'shtola's Healer's Circlet
Kuja's Terra's Legacy
Cloud of Darkness' Darkening Cloak
Garnet's Wizard Rod

1 dupe (Kuja's Burst), 2 chases (Raines' and Ysh's Bursts). Nice set–up, pretty balanced, but because of shortness of Mythril, I might as well pass. Will see if there's a bunch of Mythril for a 3–pull, at least

Spoiler: Banner 2

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Tifa's Premium Heart
Eiko's Lamia Flute
Noctis's Sword of the Father
Cloud's Ragnarok
Maria's Rune Graven Bow
Refia's Shura Glove
Vivi's Flame Staff
Tifa's Oversoul
Onion Knight's Gauntlets
Prish's Sainti
Onion Knight's Eternal Staff
Celes' Excalibur

5 dupes (Cloud's Overstrike, Refia's and Onion's Bursts, Onion's Super, Celes IndoBlade). Eiko's Ultra is tempting, but doesn't merit getting this. Also, Noctis – they wanna make him badass, but he doesn't sell me anything. Easiest pass ever.

Spoiler: Banner 3

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Shantotto's Iridal Staff
Lightning's Razor Carbine
Orlandeau's Saintly Excalibur
Ashe's Durandal
Lightning's Enkindler
Shantotto's Tactician Magician's Cuffs
Raijin's Staff
Ashe's Defiance
Orlandeau's Cloak
Raijin's Pauldrons
Chaos Blade

1 dupe (Ashe's Burst), 1 highly–desired item (THUNDER GOD SWORD), 2 undesirables (everything Lightning). To be honest, this is a banner I'd happily do a full pull...if it weren't because of lack of Mythril. This is painful, because the banner changed to something pretty sweet (I mean, it has Raijin's awesome Burst and Last Stand Super), plus it has Lightning Chain shenanigans, but I got my pull safe for something else. Cult of Three if a miracle happens.

Spoiler: Banner 4

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Terra's Apocalypse
Pecil's Lightbringer
Greg's Genji Gloves
Ramza's Sasuke Blade
Pecil's Excalibur
Vaan's Orichalum Dirk
Alphinaud's Veil of the Wiyu
Fujin's Shin-Chakram
Zell's Burning Fist
Ramza's Gengi Gloves
Alphinaud's Evoker's Doublet

I am a man of chivalric honor; I see my dame, I pull.

...Wait, you really want my impression? Fine. 2 dupes (anything Alphi), 1 highly–desirable (Fujin's Burst), plus the entire reason I'm doing an 11–pull (Terra's Ultra). The dupes are gonna hurt, particularly since I already have Alphi's Burst weapon at 6*, but even Pecil's first Burst would be welcome. Even if I'm gonna cry like there's no tomorrow if I don't get what I chased at in the first place. Definite pull on this one, for the evidently obvious reasons.

Spoiler: Banner 5

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WoL's Ragnarok
Vanille's Lightbringer's Staff
Tyro's Arbiter's Apocrypha
Agrias' Ragnarok
Curilla's Temple Knight Army Sword
Aerith's Wizer Rod
Agrias' Excalibur
Minfilia Curtana
Vanille's Misteltein
Zack's Rune Blade
Curilla's Iron Musketeer's Cuirasse
Tyro's Sentinel Grimoire

5 dupes (Agrias' Overstrike, Aerith's, Vanille's and Zack's Bursts, plus Wall). This introduces Holy Chain, which would be awesome, but the amount of dupes surpasses whatever I might like (Agrias' Burst would be nice to essentially complete her, as her other unique was retired), so it's another easy pass for me.

––

In other topics: yay, party slot expansion! That was truly unexpected, and it has me rearranging my teams for purposes of organization. If they could only allow to switch whole teams instead of "copy, paste, rename, erase" every single time, that'd be great. Also, we'll gonna have to wait until they implement the tags in Japan, so we can also get party tags. However, that gives me enough slots for Elemental teams, all realm teams, plus A–Team, Team Physical and Team Magic, and I believe I'll still have half the slots left for...whatever I want.

Also: only 5 Mythril for the Stormblood campaign? Note that Japan gets a celebratory banner...

[Hunter Noventa]

Alright thanks a lot for the weapon advice, it makes a lot more sense now.
And also thanks for the suggestion regarding souls of heroes. Means i will get my favorite FF6 up and running sooner rather than later.

What FF6 heroes are useable as healers?

Marying is right, Relm is your healer. Celes' white magic is best used for when you need Protectga and Shellga at the same time. As a warning, Gau, Cyan and Strago are the weakest among the FF6 crew, but the rest should be pretty usable.

Speaking of, try to avoid spending too many orbs honing the 1,2 and 3 star abilities, very few of them are worth using if you can afford better, and you can use the orb exchange to get better orbs. Some key abilities to grab are Quake and Ruinga, since they affect all enemies and will be useful to clearing out dungeons.

[lord_khaine]

Alright thanks for the warning and feedback. Also regarding 2-3 star abilities, will settle for leveling them a single time then.
Though also not certain i will pick Realm then. Old habbit newer to split her from Strago. And will most likely pick Cyan for my FF6 team anyway since he is a favorite.