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

[SuperPanda]

Looking ahead at that Ursula banner 2 and Rubicant 1 - I might want to plot on some mythril for my original Final Fantasy (I found the series through IV and it will always have a special place in my nostalgia).

Ursula 2 have 3 new relics for Rydia - who I'd like to put in an A team if possible, in an element where I am weak (Water). She shares that banner with Golbez (also a IV mage, also an element where I am weak - Darkness) and Ursula with a side of Yang.

I doubt Ursula is a Support 5 user which is a shame because I have the following big holes in my IV synergy:
Mage stat sticks/SBs
Medicas
Support tools for Prince hides-and-seek.
Hastega
Less important but still worth noting: Meaningful elemental coverage for anything that resists Holy.

I think I could have handles the slows and debuffs of U+ Geryon if it didn't resist Holy the whole time - that just shut down P.Cecil. Ceodore can still do okay since he packs a NE option. The fight being more or less all magical also meant Cecil couldn't tank well - so his usefulness on that fight was low, and he is most of my IV synergy as things sit.

If I can get anything for Rosa I'll be back for that CM. Haven't tried Gil yet. Will be tackling him with:
Bartz (BSB)
Faris (USB, BSB, Imperil Wind SSB)
Galuf (BSB)
Krile (BSB)
Lenna (Cura Medica + High Regen).
RW: Onion

Faris might go with Wrath + thief's revenge/MugBloodlust with the intent of trying to get BSB and USB up at the same time.
Once Galuf, Krile, and Bartz get their Bursts up we're in a high speed damage race with Galuf pinch healing while Lenna panics.

I'm hopeful that will work - the only one on the V cast I need a new toy for is Lenna now.

My V and III casts are monsters now which is odd since my XII and IV casts are feeling weak and it used to be the other way around. Nice side is I get to scan ahead for nostalgia pulls.

Looking forward to tonight's Burst pull, hoping for large numbers/11.

[Starwulf]

Woot, finally had enough time to devote to doing one of the tougher battles(well...I guess not too some of you, I've really fallen behind in the powercreep lately, I can rarely, very rarely fight and win Apocalypse level stuff, can't even begin to handle A+ or Torment dungeons, I'm pretty much stuck at U++level), and I literally creamed it. Was doing the U++ for the IX dungeon, the Dracozombie. At first I went in with just one healer(Tyro) and he thumped me, so I left, traded Gilgamesh for Y'Shtola(god I love Asylum), and I didn't even lose a single medal. The fight ended and I felt like I was barely even getting started, no-one ever got below even 2/3rd health, and I still had another Finishing Touch to bring to bear(I built up 3 bars and then went full ballistic with them).

Felt pretty good, as I haven't had a lot of time lately to devote to the tougher stuff due to playing Overwatch nowadays, so usually just finish the U fight and call it quits. Glad to see I can still handle the U++ stuff fairly well.

[T.G. Oskar]

Tried Geryon once more, and I was so close to beat it before the darn bastard pulled a fast one on me.

Did a few switches, mostly having Edward and Rosa work SB gauge boosters, so I could have stuff like Whisperweed Ballad and Divine Heal online. As I predicted, Rosa's Divine Heal turned into a bit of a lifesaver, because it allowed me to eat one of his AoE attacks relatively well, and was fired off slightly after Maelstrom, so it allowed me to survive a bit better. I had it on the ropes, with Edward doing his usual cycling (Whisperweed -> Soothing Lullaby -> Baneful Nocturne -> Full Break -> Magic Breakdown -> repeat), when Geryon passed a Gas, had Rosa knocked down and the rest blinded, then followed with an out-of-nowhere Lightning that took everyone except Kain. However, by that time, Kain had spent all of his attacks and had used his SB for Lancet (mostly the reason he survived; his HP was topped, as they had survived a Maelstrom previously), and that was it. Still could see the bar, but he was at his last 5%; mostly 1 or 2 turns of everyone but Rosa attacking and he'd be done. Was fully buffed (ProShellga, Cecil had fired his Rampart for miniWall), but it couldn't do a thing.

In short: Geryon killed me by farting. Shame.

[SuperPanda]

Managed to CM AP Gilgamesh on the Highway Dash but couldn't champion the fight.

RW changed to Ultra Eiko (That last stand was key because Lenna and Galuf couldn't keep up with the healing.

Faris: Ace Striker | Mug Bloodlust | Wrath | USB | BSB. (Wrath into nearly 1.5 guages, BSB, Attack Breakdown, Mug Bloodlust, USB, Attack Breakdown ...)

Bartz: Spellblade x2 | Snowspell strike | Life Siphon | BSB (Life Siphon into Burst, unload Snowspells until Imperil is up and then Command 2, reapply BSB whenever guage is full.

Lenna: Whitemagic x2 | Protectga | Ultra Cure | SB Cura medica + Heavy Regen (Ultra Cure ran out of hones but she didn't finish her second SB cast before she was downed.

Galuf: Monk x2 | Fires Within | Meteor Crush | BSB (Meteor Crush for boost, Fires within for self heals until BSB is up, then spam command 1 for damage and heal).

Krile: Black Magic x2 | Meltdown | Chain Firaga | BSB (Spam spells till BSB, Spam command 1 - only surviving member of the run, brought an imperiled Gilgamesh down with an En-Fire'd Meltdown (~15000 damage through Shell).

Going back with team holy to squish him like a bug for mastery.

Edit: Damage observation.

Ref Fel and I both pulled Galuf's BSB and I remember reading some grumbling about low damage output of Galuf. I'm not seeing that myself. Running no faiths or boosts (and meteor crush having run out) I was seeing Galuf command 1 hitting ~ 1.5k x 4 + heal against imperil level one. Krile's BSB was hitting for ~ 2.5 k x 4 with imperil fire level one and entire. Krile has a magic boosting armor and her bsb staff (which I think boosts fire - but I'm more sure). Galuf had a pure defense armor. Krile was level 99, Galuf 80.

My damage output was similar between them but Galuf provided a useful Rider and the imperil boosted Bartz and Krile's damage too.

I'm not feeling the weakness this old man once had, he has been hitting the gym and is showing these young uns how to get stuff done.


Also my Holy team walked all over Gliga like he was a door mat.

[oxybe]

Time for the BSB+ Lucky draw.

Is Oxy going to be working the salt mines this morning?

HECK NOPE!

2 rainbows and a shiny disco ball!

Refia's BSB, Auron's BSB2 (which makes him the first character I've got both bursts for) and Rydia's OSB!

Hooray! I now have another EnElement mage with their elemental OSB (the other being Ashe). This also gives me my third EnFire and 2nd Fire+ armour (after my FFX Red Armlet)

Is good start to day!

[Starwulf]

Bah. Hate this game sometimes. 1/11 on the one draw that I'd have loved to have gone 3+ or more, and it's for some character that I don't even like, and honestly barely even remember from the game: Raijin's Staff. What junk ><

[Red Fel]

Bah. Hate this game sometimes. 1/11 on the one draw that I'd have loved to have gone 3+ or more, and it's for some character that I don't even like, and honestly barely even remember from the game: Raijin's Staff. What junk ><

Even though Raijin might be forgettable as a character, his BSB is actually pretty great. The first command is a solid single-target proportional heal, making him a capable off-healer, and the second command deals fairly obscene damage once you've used the first a few times.

As for me, 2/11, both new. Minwu's BSB and Kuja's BSB. Minwu's Burst is rather interesting, in particular; it has no medica, and is almost purely offensive, but that first command is a very solid instant-cast single-target heal. And Kuja's, we all know how that one works. So score for Team Holy and Team Dark, respectively.

[SuperPanda]

2/11 for me as well, neither dupes this time - but also neither were on my really wanted list:

Rainbow - Lightning BSB2 (already had one normal SB and her SSB1) - a pretty big boost to XIII team overall as it is a pretty good tool. It also makes Lightning the only element I can now run strong mage and physical teams for (Laguna BSB, Lightning BSB2, Garnet BSB2, Shantoto CSB, Rapha BSB) - this makes me feel like I shouldn't pull on Fest -3 but I still really want TG sword and toto mitts.

Disco - Arieth USB (You can stand under umbrella -eh -eh -eh?) (already have her Burst and Planet Protector and reraise SSB)

I'm not sure which of her SBs I'll be using at a given time but Umbrella gives me a very solid stat stick for VII magic which I'd lacked (my only mage oriented relics at her SSB and BSB rods. I'll have to see how it stacks against my 8* Thyrus for off synergy Mind gear but I feel like it might be strong.

Not the stuff I wished for, or even really solid power boosts - tomorrow my hopes for IV get one last chance for a Rosa relic.

Edit: After trying out the relics in orbfest my thoughts haven't changed much.

I'm happier with Lightning's BSB2 even though I'll likely stick with Garnet, Shantoto, and Rapha for now. If support (dance) becomes less important, and the a second healer is not advised in Magicite dungeons I could see Lightning or Laguna joining the party. Lightning has fast-cast commands allowing her to pummel the enemy and up that chain while Laguna has the 0CT Machinist command to pair with Tempest Snipe.

Currently Lightning and Galuf are on my MC3 waiting list. I have 5 of those precious crystals left and who knows how many candidates will be applying for them by the end of the fests (though many of the people I'm excited to see relics for in Fest 3 and 4 are either already MC3 owners.

on Banner 1 the only duds for me are Garnet BSB2, Y'sthola BSB, Garnet SSB1 (all dupes) and Cloud of Darkness SSB (don't want). There are 6 potential MC3 candidates if the draw favors them. Rosa and Yuffie USBs are my most wanted items. Raines BSB is third place.

On Banner 3 Ashe and Raijin are the only potential MC3 candidates. I now have 4 items on the banner. I greatly want 4 items on the banner (Orlandeu Sword > Toto Mitts > Lightning USB > Ashe BSB) I am aware Raijin's BSB is powerful and will laugh quite a bit if that's what I get instead of the rest seeing as I'd then really have both physical and magical Lightning groups.

On Banner 4 Vaan, Fujin, and Zell are the only potential MC3 candidates. I'm mostly pulling for Cecil USB > Terra USB > Vaan BSB > other nice stuff. Banner 4 has 6 dupes for me (one of which is already 8*) so I can't really justify multiple pulls no matter how much I want Light-bringer.

hrm... Banner 3 and 4 aren't "smart" pulls - but I want to pull badly on them. Banner 1 is a smart place to pull but I'm less excited (unless I get Rosa's bow).

[Slayn82]

This Burst LD just blew in my face. 1/11, dupe Bartz OSB. While a pretty good RS Sword for FF V, it feels underwhelming.

[T.G. Oskar]

Feel kinda underwhelmed - had my Odin figurine punch the screen while holding my phone over the case of a used, but original release, Xenogears copy (figuring I'd use whatever luck I mustered from the local comic-con, particularly the luck I got from finding the copy itself), and I still don't have any luck with 6* items. No big win roll, though to be positive, one of the items is something I expected.

2/11, 2 rainbows, no Disco Ball.

• Rosa's Holy Ray! This is something I expected, in a way. I said I lacked IV stuff, particularly Bursts, and ALSO that I lacked Burst Medicas, and ALSO that I could use a Burst Medica for Geryon, and look what I get! A Burst Medica for a character I'm using against Geryon! Command 1 works great because of Magic Blink, but it's the White Magic damage from the entry command which seals the deal. But still - another Burst Medica is always good.
• Cecil's Night...wait, WHAT!? Dark Knight!Cecil's Nightmare? Oh boy, someone's gonna hate my guts forever. Nope, it's not any of you guys.

Welp, gonna go fight Geryon one last time with one of the new items, while I deliver the unexpected news to that someone. I expect the purest of hatred distilled into loathing for the rest of the month.

[Forbiddenwar]

Lucky day a big bust here too.
1/10 Summoners garb.
My second one.

Honestly, using mithril to level characters just seems a better use. I only have 2 left to get to 80. Thief and Devout. Everyone else is done.

[huttj509]

"well, guess I'll get my 3rd 1/11 out of the way."

Bam, 4/11.

Alphinaud BSB. Wind, En-wind, a fast cast 4 hit wind, and a aoe while restoring ability uses. ...I might need to level Alphy...

Reynn BSB. Magic thrown weapon (might have some ninjas that can put that to use). Ice damage, En-Ice, more damage to ice-vulnerable, and an aoe with a self-heal. Wow.

Reno BSB, Turk Triad. Dupe, but hey, boosting a decent thrown weapon? I'll take it. Lightning damage, En-lightning, both attacks single target, one ramps up as it's used more, the other can interrupt the target. Not bat, but Reno hasn't been on my use-list.

Vaan OSB. 6* dagger which is really nice to have available. Ranged physical damage that increases with stats debuffed on the foe. Dunno how sharply it scales, for example if it would be worth bringing Vaan to make use of Mustadio's pentabreak (which I bring when I want to stack penta, full, breakdowns, and a RW dual-stat reduction).

[lord_khaine]

I got a Staff for Exdeath and a Spear for kaine. Not heroes i use, so whatever. But at least it seems like decent weapons.

[Maryring]

I went 3/11. No Chains or USBs like I hoped. Instead I got Yang's BSB, Jecht's BSB and Edward's BSB.

So basically the game took a list of characters I can't stand and said "yeah, these guys deserve BSBs".

Ah well. At least Edward's BSB is a solid Support Burst, something I've yet to acquire. And the other two are solid Dark and Earth options which I lacked. But still. Disappointed. Especially since a friend of mine got Vaan and Refia's BSBs, which were what I was hoping for.

[Merlin the Tuna]

Glad to hear a couple folks got some decent pull results in there. Congrats or condolences, as the case may be.

For me, I went 2/11, discos only: Zidane OSB and Ramza USB. 9 and Tactics are already among my strongest realms, and hoo boy does this push them even further ahead. Zidane's gives him something to look forward to after using his BSB1 to imperil, and my only other SB for Ramza was Tailwind, which isn't ever something to push him to the forefront. That also means that I have 3 6* weapons (sword, katana, spear) and 3 6* armor, which if you squint a bit kinda feels like FF1 synergy.

As for the fights, I did CM Geryon, largely on the back of Kain OSB and Cecil BSB plowing through the final phase. Edward brought Full Break and Affliction Break, which felt like the right call; Geryon doesn't actually attack that much during the fight, so Mag Breakdown isn't truly necessary.

Gilgamesh similarly got CMed, though he put out an impressive amount of hurt through low breakdown, Full Break, and Faris's pentabreak. Galuf SSB ended up being fantastic here, surprisingly. Gil has a lot of single target attacks, and the invincibility eating even one or two helps considerably.

[Red Fel]

So, the last LD obviously didn't offer me anything for UltraGil, but some patience did - I took another shot this morning, and managed to beat him, two medals lost to damage and one to KOs (by the end, Bartz and Faris were down). Mastery get, CM get. My team:[*]GILGAMESH: Banishing Strike, Lifesiphon. Arms of the Qu. Strange Bedfellow.[*]Bartz: Armor Break, Lifesiphon. Dr. Mog's Teachings. Trueblade of Legend, Hand of the Crystals.[*]Galuf: Fires Within, Lifesiphon. Ace Striker. Sweet Sorrow.[*]Faris: Power Breakdown, Full Break. Knight's Charge. Phantom.[*]Lenna: Ultra Cure, Protectga. Mako Might. Pride of Tycoon.[*]RW: OK (Vessel of Fate).[/list]
In past attempts, I realized that PBd/FB/Protectga were not covering enough. So this time, I decided to break out Trueblade for its DEF boost upfront. And that helped a lot. I used OK instead of Ramza as an RW, because I wanted My Gil 2 to use the multi-hit command in lieu of Lifesiphon, just to turn out more damage per turn, which he did. Galuf became an excellent off-healer, Gil built up charge for his OSB, and aside from reapplying Trueblade once, Bartz held charge for his OSB as well. Faris applied Breakdowns, then Phantom, then snuffed it. Lenna tried desperately to keep up with heals using only Ultra Cure and an OSB. With less than a sliver of life left, UltraGil butchered Bartz on an AoE, and Galuf finished him with a re-cast of his BSB.

Whew! That is done, now all that's left is the next phase of Orbfest, the boss battles for the IV event, the next Zenith of Crisis boss, and - oh yeah - dem banners! As for those:

1. I have 3 of the BSBs, none of the rest. However, I also already have relics for Rosa, Yuffie, Kuja, Yuna, and Garnet. I dunno, I'm on the fence about it.
2. I have 4 relics, including 1 USB and 1 OSB. I have no interest in Noctis' relic. Honestly, this banner is probably a pass for me.
3. I have 4 relics, including 2 BSBs and 1 OSB. But this banner is so nice, and includes Sexcalibur. Will probably pull.
4. I have 3 relics, my best of which is a BSB. And yet, the big guns don't draw me in. On the fence.
5. I have only one relic from this, Sentinel Grimoire. Will pull.

I have enough mythril to either do three 11-pulls, or two 11-pulls and three cult-of-three pulls. Tough call.

[Greg_S]

2/11 here too. Dupe Onion burst, making me wish this game had a wonder trade option, and Hope's OSB. I have never done even a 3-pull on a XIII banner, and yet I have a relic for everyone in the cast. It's maddening, because I have realms like V where I don't have any bursts, but I've invested Mythril to buff them up.

Speaking of V, I think I might have a shot at the CM. Because I have sheepsong, I can RW wall, have Gil self-buff with hailstorm, and try to survive with just a shared medica.

EDIT: Starwulf, Raijin's burst lets you do some hilarious stuff if you RW Cloud's USB. I tested this on my JP account against an A+ boss weak to lightning. Use lurking tiger 5 times, RW cloud, then lurking tiger-Raijin detonate. Raijin detonate should annihilate the boss- it did 400K to the Diamond Weapon A+ boss from the Turks event.

[Red Fel]

A thought occurs, and perhaps it is one others might wish to consider. As an aside, if you - like me - are operating on a finite mythril budget, let Mama's Boy give you despair.



That's particularly relevant, because according to the projected calendar - which you can find here - banner 5 of EXTREME Fest falls a mere two days before the Awakening Cloud event. (It features Cloud and Sephiroth, hence the even-more-relevant gif.) That's the event, you may recall, which contains Cloud's game-breaking USB. You know, the one that gives him 100% chance to crit, a damage boost (that's damage, not ATK), and causes all PHY damage dealt to be capable of breaking the damage cap? That one.

If you plan on simply RWing it, good call. If, on the other hand, you plan to whale after it, you will probably want to save 50 mythril - which means one less pull on the Fest banners. So keep that in mind as the first banner drops, in theory, tonight.

[spectralphoenix]

2/11 - duplicate Basch BSB and Golbez BSB. I now have darkness BSBs for the Emperor, Golbez, Kuja, Jecht, Seymour, and Nabaat. At least it's IV synergy, I suppose.

[Red Fel]

And, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to EXTREME Summer Relic Festival! Banner 1 is up!

I decided to do a 1-pull on any banner that I didn't plan to whale. That includes this first one. I was pleasantly surprised when the RNG rewarded my loyalty with a rainbow - CoDfish's SSB Darkening Cloak, which is inexplicably Light Armor instead of a Robe, and qualifies the Wrath of CoD for provisional membership on my Dark team. Certainly not the best item on the banner, but you can't feel bad about pulling a rainbow on a 1-pull.

Once more unto the breach, my friends.

[Forbiddenwar]

And, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to EXTREME Summer Relic Festival! Banner 1 is up!

I decided to do a 1-pull on any banner that I didn't plan to whale. That includes this first one. I was pleasantly surprised when the RNG rewarded my loyalty with a rainbow - CoDfish's SSB Darkening Cloak, which is inexplicably Light Armor instead of a Robe, and qualifies the Wrath of CoD for provisional membership on my Dark team. Certainly not the best item on the banner, but you can't feel bad about pulling a rainbow on a 1-pull.

Once more unto the breach, my friends.

O.o

I got darkening cloak too, with a 100 gem pull. Bug or freakish coincidence?

That Cloud USB sounds so good I might skip the banners and just put my 100 mithril in that.

[SuperPanda]

My gems produced a 3 star salt ball but I'm still planning a full 50 gem pull later. The question for me is, do I wait for my wife to have a chance to tap the pull button (many hours from now) or give in to temptation before that.

I'm sitting at 300 mythril so far with only 150'budgeted for fest banners though if one banner is a smart double pull for me it is this one.

I am undecided on pulling for Cloud USB but I am considering a pull on Reks 1 because my XII synergy has gotten old and the leading man's bSB2 looks pretty good (he'd potentially supplant Locke on fire team with it). My hype is for banner 3 and 4 where I am pretty much chasing headline items. I haven't looked at upcoming events to see what I'd save for though.

[Wayac]

So during the last Fest, they brought all five banners back at the end. Do they do that for all fests or was that an anomaly?

Got enough for 2 pulls, one of which is guaranteed on banner 5 (still no native wall). I'm thinking I'll wait till the end of fest and if they bring all the banners back, reassess then. If not, save the other pull for Cloud USB banner.

[Merlin the Tuna]

So following this morning's lucky draw, I did a quick retrospective on the fest banners in light of my new acquisitions. I ultimately decided to stick with pulls on banners 1 and 3; haven't decided on 4 or not yet, especially since picking up Ramza USB. So with that in mind... 2/11 on banner 1. First is a dupe of Y'sh's BSB, making me feel like a big ole dumb dumb for deciding to still pull. But the second is Divine Guardian, which is still a nice pickup despite its age. Granted, having Eiko BSB means Garnet's not even the best healer in her own realm, and having stuff for Beatrix means she's generally not the best candidate for secondary Proshellga carrying either, but still: hastegas are good, and the riders on this one are excellent.

Still, not an especially auspicious start to the fest proper. Good luck to y'all as we get into the meat of things!

[SuperPanda]

My wife got to come home for lunch so I did my banner 1 pull: 2/11 one rainbow and one disco.

Rainbow; Garnet bsb2 dupe - well it's a good lightning + star stick and will only get stronger now.

Disco: Rosa's USB. I actually punched the air and said woo out loud resulting in my wife laughing at me but I'm still pretty happy. Might get to try Geryon cm again once this is mastered. Rosa also joins Galuf as a new MC3 candidate.

[oxybe]

4/11 - 2x CoD cloak, 2x Cathat.

Cloak is kinda hype thanks to the not-RS bound Dark+. Golbez thanks you my dear.

Cat hat makes Y'shtolar a not "worse tyro". I can bring her to Jump Start fights now thanks to wall+medica.

Spare Cat hat... well it's another armour?

Still, this is basically the end of my Summer Fest mythril spending.

[Forbiddenwar]

4/11 - 2x CoD cloak, 2x Cathat.

Cloak is kinda hype thanks to the not-RS bound Dark+. Golbez thanks you my dear.

Cat hat makes Y'shtolar a not "worse tyro". I can bring her to Jump Start fights now thanks to wall+medica.

Spare Cat hat... well it's another armour?

Still, this is basically the end of my Summer Fest mythril spending.

Cathat is the best burst medica, I think and it will likely be permanently equipped long after you learn it. It has a great mid boost, at least when looking at my stuff.

I even have a ultra heal, and I'm still only using yshotala is my healer.

[Morbis Meh]

My LD spoils:

Imperil: Yang's claw (boo), Cid's glove (meh), Laguna's ice gun (meh), Kimahri's BSB (Mixed Emotions)

Curaga (Decided Against my better judgement): Aerith's USB (Meh) and Larsa's BSB (Quite happy with this)

BSB+: Reno's BSB (Meh) and Pcecil's OSB

Overall no dupes which is quite surprising and only 1 really good bsb and the rest are kind of meh. I dislike OSB's in general but they make good stat sticks.

I also did an 11 pull and Celes 1 and got 2 x Relm's LM item and Cyan's SSB which was rather lackluster.

Could have been worse I suppose and I may get 50 myth in time for another pull on celes 1 or I can gamvle on the cloud usb...

[SuperPanda]

With Rosa's USB in hand I went back to the Highway dash to CM Geryon.

Rydia 80 (Ice Whip IV+ (ice+), Gold Hairpin IV (Lightning Resist), +Mag Acc) Dual Cast Black RM| Chain Thundaga, Chain Blizzaga. Called RW Onion Knight BSB. (Fell to double firaga at the end of the fight).

Edge 80 (Murasama IV+, Black Garb IV 4*+++, Forgot which accessory - in hindsight should have made sure it was Magic) Devotion RM. Swift Lightning, Phantasm. Eblan Water Veil SB.

Rosa 80 (USB bow, White Robe IV 4*+++, +Mind Acc). Knight's Charge RM. Wrath. Ultra Cure.

Ceodore 99 (Excalibur IV, Onion OSB armor, +Attack Accessory) Dr. Mog's Teachings RM. Shellga, Magic Breakdown.

Tellah 80 (Polymorph Rod IV, Non synergy armor. Forgot to check accessory). Dual Cast white RM. Haste. Curaja (fell to double firaga halfway into fight.

Edge poured out respectable damage with his Swift Bolt and Phantasm hitting ~ 5k a piece. Rydia did more with Chains hitting in 9k Thundaga and max damage Blizzaga - but in the last phase she was reduced to much less damage once Onion wore out.

Ceodore hit reliably for ~6k with Magic Breakdown and ~2k per hit with Burst entry and commands. The bonus healing gave Rosa enough time to keep her USB constantly cycling until the home stretch (when Wrath had run out).

Tellah's primary job was to make sure Rosa stayed hasted. He never got to use Font of Wisdom.

Rosa has been studying at the cat-girl school of healing which asks white mages to channel their inner Hulk and power their spells with pure wrath. It worked very well in this fight. Rosa's USB felt designed for wrath chaining. The Magic blink nullifies any danger from the first turn allowing her one use of Wrath. HP Stock takes care of turn 2 in a similar way as Y'sthola's stone skin but with the added bonus of allowing Knight's charge to help top off the meter. If my some unlikely chance her meter isn't full yet she can wrath a third time to make sure that isn't an issue on the next cycle - this is what I did at the start.

I don't think Rosa will replace Y'shtola all that often on my A teams because Y'sh brings wall - but there will be times when that instant cast + mBlink + HP Stock is mighty tempting.

[oxybe]

Cathat is the best burst medica, I think and it will likely be permanently equipped long after you learn it. It has a great mid boost, at least when looking at my stuff.

I even have a ultra heal, and I'm still only using yshotala is my healer.

It's my 3rd burst heal (others being Eiko & Aerith) but I personally place it lower then Eiko's (but still WAY and far above Aerith's) in a practical sense who can, for the most part, keep up healing my physical Ateam's damage thanks to the ludicrous amounts of mitigation it can bring to bare.

This is largely because I don't particularly mind getting hit a bit, as taking damage generates 1/10th of your SB meter, which stoneskin stops, and the 50% Crit chance Eiko's gives on top of the healing helps with piling a bit more damage. When you can bring 4x stacking Attack & Magic breaks, Wall & ProShellga, a boss's attacks can be healed through without too much problems.

Stoneskin also stops you from punching allies awake or from confusion, forcing you to bring Ultra Cure or Esuna on your party for those fights, likely Catwife, in addition to Proshellga, where I'd probably rather bring Wrath+Proshellga on her instead and just punch people awake.

Now it's not that i'm saying Y'shtola's burst is bad, far from it as pound for pound it's one of the best for pure survival, but it has it's downsides and thanks to MP, I've been on the receiving end of those more then I would have liked. The amount of times I've seen "SUPPORT PLEASE" with both Vaan+Fran asleep and/or confused while the rest of the party goes "whelp" as both my characters are bubbled?

shudder.

On the flipside for a Jump Start? Catwaifu 4 laifu. I have her wall & her burst now. she is going to be doing Tyro's and my healer's main jobs.

Wind Team Wins, for example, got a nice boost with this new SB entry. This is where the hype train for Catwaifu leaves the Oxystation as she'll be providing a good buffer zone of protection while we rapidly burst down the boss.

Where it used to be Zidane(EnWind+OSB), Luneth(EnWind+OSB), Fang(Imperil Wind), Tyro (wall), Eiko (medica), now with Wall+Medica being on one unit that starts with 3 SB meters? I can toss Tyro+Eiko aside and have Fran join the team for better mitigation & debuffing with her BSB and Wall-breaker.

She's earned a MCIII for that Jumpstart utility alone, but for weekly events, MP and some bosses, stoneskin can be a liability and will be used sparingly.