Final Fantasy RecordKeeper X:Listen to my pulls. This is our last chance to whale

[Jurai]

Torment IV and VI is down. Finally beat IV 250 after I switched magic breakdown to armor breakdown, and gave Rikku Boost to use on Cloud and Cecil(Sadly, all Cecil had was his BSB1, but it was enough. He was my best choice, given how he was in-realm and my Holy game is extremely weak). The 300 was waaaaaayyy easier than the 250, I beat it down on my first attempt. Lot easier to kill the shadow dragon when all your gauges are full and ready to kick butt ^^. Plus it helps that Omega Drive triggered a double attack twice :).

I had the opposite issue on VI as I did on IV. I handily beat the 200 and 250, but struggled on the 300, but I think that's only because I tried to use a wildly different set-up on the 300 than I did on the 200/250. I tried to switch to an all mage party on the 300 and it just wasn't working out at all. I switched to an all physical party after that, however, and it worked like a charm. Steiners BSB+OSB combo dished out a ton of damage(200k from the 2 OSB's alone).

I'm currently working on Torment IX, and am almost done, just need to finish up the 300. I haven't had any issues whatsoever thus far, so I'm quite confident I'll win it pretty handily. After that I just have XI, XII, XIV(I think? MIght have already done that one) and FFT left.

Edit: Torment IX and Torment XI are officially done. Just 3 more to go! Pretty excited, especially to look at my 5* mote count once I'm done. Trying to keep it a surprise ^^.

2nd edit: And Torment XIV is done as well. Just Tactics and XII left. Huzzah!

If you have him, a complete TGCid makes the JS a joke. Open with USB, Saint's Cross, then OSB, then spam Assault Saber.

[Slayn82]

Well, tonight I'm gonna attempt IV torment too, since I cleared Tactics and I, shouldn't be too bad. Also done VII and VIII. Tactics was the most difficult so far, since those minions hurt, but you also get plenty of SB for it.

Did a pull on FF VI, generally good stuff, ok with everything but Hopeful for some Celes. Went 3/11 - Edgar's USB & BSB, Locke's Glint. Nice, Edgar can do some solid tricks, and the uncommon weapon types actually are very on demand.

[Starwulf]

Well, tonight I'm gonna attempt IV torment too, since I cleared Tactics and I, shouldn't be too bad. Also done VII and VIII. Tactics was the most difficult so far, since those minions hurt, but you also get plenty of SB for it.

Did a pull on FF VI, generally good stuff, ok with everything but Hopeful for some Celes. Went 3/11 - Edgar's USB & BSB, Locke's Glint. Nice, Edgar can do some solid tricks, and the uncommon weapon types actually are very on demand.

Whew, I have to say, you really had me worried about the FFT Torment dungeon. And admittedly, the 300 was a bit tough, but the 200 was simple, and the 250 was even easier oddly enough. I have Orlandeau's BSB, and Marche's(marshe's?) BSB as well, and that made cutting through the 250 boss a cakewalk(I didn't even look to see what tech I had until the 250 fight, if I had that 200 would have been over before it started), even moreso considering I forgot to power level them, I went in with those two at level 67 LOL. The 300 was mostly tougher because I recasted my RW DVG a bit earlier than I should have, and it ran out near the end, so it was a close call, thankfully Omega Drive double procced and finished off Belias.

Now it's time for the final Torment, XII. I'm really worried on this one, I don't have a lot of lightning tech, the best being Ashe with her BSB(which is pretty good, and even better since it's on-realm), the rest are pretty meh. And I know I've had considerable difficulties with this fight in past events, so I'm not terribly confident going in here. I'm sure I'll blaze through the 200, but the 250 worries me(moreso than the 300, since with the 300 I have 3 full SB bars so I can go balls to the wall immediately, and I start off with 2 casts of my RW, whereas the 250 I only have one by the time I get to the boss fight).

A related question: Who gives the "Much more Lightning Damage" RM? I don't think it's Ashe, as she's at 99 and I've been using her for a very long time, pretty sure I'd have gotten it if that was the case. I'm instead using the "Much more damage when targeting an elemental weakness" RM, which is alright, but I'd prefer the lightning for the trash mobs.

[Jurai]

Whew, I have to say, you really had me worried about the FFT Torment dungeon. And admittedly, the 300 was a bit tough, but the 200 was simple, and the 250 was even easier oddly enough. I have Orlandeau's BSB, and Marche's(marshe's?) BSB as well, and that made cutting through the 250 boss a cakewalk(I didn't even look to see what tech I had until the 250 fight, if I had that 200 would have been over before it started), even moreso considering I forgot to power level them, I went in with those two at level 67 LOL. The 300 was mostly tougher because I recasted my RW DVG a bit earlier than I should have, and it ran out near the end, so it was a close call, thankfully Omega Drive double procced and finished off Belias.

Now it's time for the final Torment, XII. I'm really worried on this one, I don't have a lot of lightning tech, the best being Ashe with her BSB(which is pretty good, and even better since it's on-realm), the rest are pretty meh. And I know I've had considerable difficulties with this fight in past events, so I'm not terribly confident going in here. I'm sure I'll blaze through the 200, but the 250 worries me(moreso than the 300, since with the 300 I have 3 full SB bars so I can go balls to the wall immediately, and I start off with 2 casts of my RW, whereas the 250 I only have one by the time I get to the boss fight).

A related question: Who gives the "Much more Lightning Damage" RM? I don't think it's Ashe, as she's at 99 and I've been using her for a very long time, pretty sure I'd have gotten it if that was the case. I'm instead using the "Much more damage when targeting an elemental weakness" RM, which is alright, but I'd prefer the lightning for the trash mobs.

Lightning, with Bolt From Above.

[Starwulf]

Lightning, with Bolt From Above.

Thank ya kindly sir. I have Lightning at 96 atm, not sure if I have her 2nd to last RM or not, but if I do I'll get the much more lightning damage RM when she hits 99 which would be nice.

So, I actually had almost no difficulties at all with Torment XII. The 250 WOULD have been the worst, but after the 200 I discovered that Mateus puts reflect on himself, and I had no room for a dispel, so during the 250 I used Chain lightning for the trash mobs, then on the boss I popped Ashe's BSB which gives empowered lightning, then popped off my 4 uses of ValimIcan'tspellthat, then two uses of her cmd2 finished off the Azers. By that point Mateus was almost dead anyways, I used her BSB twice in a row and it finished him off. 300 followed a similar routine, though I specifically focused on killing the Azers with Cloud as well, using Thundering Quadstrike. After that Mateus was pretty much a joke.

I think I had such an easy time because I applied the lesson that Magicite fights taught me: You don't NEED to equip atk and mag and mnd accessories on to your guys. They can do good damage without them, sometimes the elemental resist accessories are far more useful, LOL. Mateus was hard pressed to break the 1500 damage barrier, and the Azers weren't breaking 700. I also realized that I didn't need Faris damage, I just needed her breaks, so I equipped the Multi-break dance and the Mag-break dance so It hit all of them at once. Would never have gotten it applied to all of them at once otherwise, lol.

So, in roughly 10 days or so(would have been less, but I'm lazy) I've gone from no Torments done, to all Torments done. I ended up with 3 5* motes over 500, one very close(478), and one in the 400's(414, it was Bravery). Pretty awesome! I also have virtually no Major Ice, Fire and Lightning orbs, as I did a lot of honing to r3 and r4 for various elemental abilities that used them. Ahh well, I'll build them back up eventually, lol.

With that out of the way I also mostly caught up on the MP fight, taking out the III 3* mote and 4* mote fights. Man was Odin a freaking joke, even on Apoc+. I swapped Vaan in place of my normal mage since Odin resists all elemental damage, gave him Life Siphon and Mug Bloodlust and once I had 2 full bars I used his USB and his SSB, which made his damage pathetic(He was hitting for <500 on normal hits, and <1k on major ones). He died so fast I wasn't even sure I had actually fought the Apoc+ at first, I had to double check to make sure I hadn't clicked the U+ again, LOL.

Now it's onwards to some more Magicite fights, I need at least 3 more so I can get the 3 mythril for the month, lol. Also do need some more Magicite so I can level up Fenrir and the other 3* wind guy, and then I need a ton of Ice and Earth ones as well!

[Merlin the Tuna]

So, in roughly 10 days or so(would have been less, but I'm lazy) I've gone from no Torments done, to all Torments done. I ended up with 3 5* motes over 500, one very close(478), and one in the 400's(414, it was Bravery). Pretty awesome! I also have virtually no Major Ice, Fire and Lightning orbs, as I did a lot of honing to r3 and r4 for various elemental abilities that used them. Ahh well, I'll build them back up eventually, lol.

Congrats! I think I'm weirdly jealous; that's a lot of end-game-ish content to make it over the hump on in one quick burst. Magicite, in my eyes, have not really satisfied on that front, because as soon as you've cleared them, you need to... keep clearing them, day in day out. We should be getting rid of the Keystone system in 3-4 months at this point (and replacing the orb/crystal rewards with arcana), and while I'll be sad at the reward reduction, it'll be nice to feel less obligated to re-run those so many times. They're just too labor-intensive for a regular farming routine.

Semi-relatedly, I've got a mostly-workable sub-30 setup for Hades at this point. Aphmau USB, Raines BSB + LD, Beatrix USB + LD, O'Light USB+CSB+LD, and OK BSB+LMR. And I was already a little annoyed at the fact that that team only works about half the time, but typing it out to see the embarrassment of riches there, yikes, it's really quite silly. But the upside is that, following Sundaily, I'll have cleared all the current Cid Missions, which is a nice benchmark, and sub-30'd all of the magicite but Siren. So I've got that going for me.

[T.G. Oskar]

Doing the Bonus battles in the III campaign, and...I've just realized that Team III is stupidly powerful.

Let's start with Onion Knight. He doesn't need his mUSB (yet!) - his pUSB makes Luneth, Ingus and Refia powerhouses. With his pLM (physical-related Legend Materia, not "inverse logarithm of Legend Materia"), he can do some decent damage with dualcast Powerchain, ready to fire his pUSB at a moment's notice. And, he has the stats. He can also heal on a pinch.

Then, good Refia. She earned her spot as DPS (once primary, now secondary only to my beloved Fire Goddess Terra), because her Burst is STILL top-notch damage. She has Meteor Crush, which is good for another team member, and Fires Within to heal herself.

Luneth has his Burst, but he's pretty flexible. He can do damage with Dragoon, or debuff enemies with Support, and still has a partial Wall if necessary. He's getting to be the weaker part of the team, though, but not by much.

Ingus, who was once the weakest part of the team, has now turned into a veritable powerhouse. Earth Chain and BSB2 are a force to be reckoned, and since enemies from the realm of III like to make tons of AoEs, that means Earth Radiant Shield activates a lot. Like, I can get a full bar worth of ATB while the hits flow kind of a lot (which means I can cheese the ATB trick). And, it builds the damage, so... Lifesiphon and Gaia's Cross are all he needs to make things work out.

And finally, Arc. Who has weaponized healing. I mean, I thought that his Ultra activated only when he used offensive White Magic...but boy, I was wrong. Just using Curada activates Dia Strike. So, all I need is to start healing, and he can contribute to damage just like that. That's insane!

Now, how to explain this? Well, let's start with how much of a joke was the Apoc+ of the Bonus Bosses. Cerberus loves his AoEs, and they could end up wiping a team pretty easily. Between Enkidu, Onion Knight's Blowback, and Arc's SSB Medica (Words of Kindness), I had all the healing I needed. Because he triplecasted AoE spells, Cerberus just took like 15 hits of Earth Radiant Shield, which (after turning Battle Speed to 5 temporarily) meant I could have Arc heal everybody, or have Onion Knight activate Powerchain to have Blowback on demand next turn. Sure, my HP was often around 20% - 50%, but not for long. I managed to finish Cerberus in one try, and while he wasn't supposed to be as difficult as Typo-Greg (and Typo-Greg wasn't difficult either, just annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as Daínsleif or Anavatapta Warmech), he's still apparently a pain in the neck, so I'm honestly surprised I actually managed such an easy win.

Really, Team III is edging Team Tactics Alpha (I got two teams, because Rapha, Marach, Alma and Marche have relics of their own, and my main Alpha team is already taken by Ramza, Agrias, Musty, Ovelia and the THUNDER GOD), and dwarfs Team VI in overall team power. That's...kinda scary.

UPDATE: And MP-Apoc+!Odin bites the dust against Team III! It took me a second try (not that I couldn't do it, but I couldn't master it because of reasons), but even with Refia and Ingus dealing elemental damage, they still punched through. Mostly, Ingus enabled the Earth Chain/Radiant Shield effect, Arc using his weaponized heals, Refia just outright punching though his Fire resist, while Luneth debuffed and used Swordshower to reduce the physical damage to roughly under 1k (between 750 and 1.2k). Yes, even a SSB has its uses. And yeah, Last Stand is definitely ridiculous to have. Really, I feel like I hit the jackpot when Ingus got his Chain AND his Burst.

[Starwulf]

Gotta say, after doing the magicites, an the torment 250/300's, knocking out an Apoc++ fight is remarkably easy. I look forward to more of them since they are a new source of 4* motes, and 12 6* crystals. Cerberus was a chump, even with that triple attacking. I was hitting for 18k dmg a pop on Omega Drive, the one turn it double procced he went from half health to quarter health.

With that said, I am now officially caught up on all the current content, just in time for more to be released tomorrow, LOL.

Ugh, so I broke my rule, again, and paid for it, again ><. I desperately wanted some new fire tech for my fire magicite team since it's pretty awful(I see no way of hitting sub 30 anytime soon with what I have, it's just not strong enough). So I did an 11 pull on the Fire Banner. 1/11, again. I had ONE DAMN PULL of non 1/11 before I went right back to 1/11. Me and this game are getting really tired of each other when it comes to pulling. Wasn't even a very good 1/11, Basch's BSB. Thoroughly unimpressed to be honest. It's not going to replace Papalymo or Steiner, that's for damn sure. Wishing I had pulled on the VI banner instead, at least then my 1/11 would have been a guaranteed relic for a realm that I am very, very limited on. But I'm not willing to spend more mythril, that took me below 500, and I had just gotten over it :-(. I want at least 2 pulls on every banner for the upcoming fest(assuming they are good. If not, I'll skip a banner and do an extra one or 2 pulls on a banner that is good).

[danzibr]

Grats to people on their end game victories!

Me, I just beat my first U. The III dark battle. Had to pour a lot of resources into it.

EDIT: Is there an overall single best OSB out there right now? I remember back in the day Ramza's Shout was hot stuff, then OK's BSB, then Raines' BSB, and so on.

And what about LM? How about... OSB and LM pair?

[Jurai]

Question for the Hydra farmers. I have a nearly complete Cinque (just need her LMR), and I was wondering who the better imperil Earth choice is: Dorgann or Cid (XIV). My main Magicite will be Shell Dragon, if that has any effect, and I'm not worried about time.

[huttj509]

Beat Cerberus rather easily.

Y'shtola: Healing. Curada to start with doublecasts filling in that sweet sweet extra heal, Asylum barrier to keep people up in the middle.
Rikku: Buff/Debuffing. Hyper Mighty G for atk/mag buff, protega, shellga, haste, then dance dance dance.
Refia: "Hey, Refia, go hit things. Hard. OK? Ok." BSB greatness, fully dived, even with atk softcap was still doing PLENTY of damage.
Cloud of Darkness: Fusillade Particle Beam. Hitting for 4x 5k hits (3k after en-dark wore off), and that damage reflection, yummy.
Onion Knight: I don't have either USB, and his BSB was rather superfluous with Rikku, but he's fully dived and Dervish followed by Leaping Rush, with Celerity Doublecast chance, was doing good consistent damage, though less than the other 2 damage dealers.

But yeah, brought some Resist gear when convenient (gigas bracers, I want 4 more copies of those), especially if it could hit multiple of the used elements, but then Curada, Healing BSB, and a backup Enkidu kept me fine.

[Slayn82]

Question for the Hydra farmers. I have a nearly complete Cinque (just need her LMR), and I was wondering who the better imperil Earth choice is: Dorgann or Cid (XIV). My main Magicite will be Shell Dragon, if that has any effect, and I'm not worried about time.

Well, I happen to have both Dorgann and Cid XIV Bursts. Cid only offers his BSB to this fight, and he isn't so hot on DPS, while Dorgann offers a atk/def buff to party and can go hard with Cmd2 - Cmd1 - Earth Sabre, or just Cmd1.

Cid works better along Ingus Chain, while Dorgann seems better with a physical team without Chain.

[Red Fel]

Ugh, so I broke my rule, again, and paid for it, again ><. I desperately wanted some new fire tech for my fire magicite team since it's pretty awful(I see no way of hitting sub 30 anytime soon with what I have, it's just not strong enough). So I did an 11 pull on the Fire Banner. 1/11, again. I had ONE DAMN PULL of non 1/11 before I went right back to 1/11. Me and this game are getting really tired of each other when it comes to pulling. Wasn't even a very good 1/11, Basch's BSB. Thoroughly unimpressed to be honest. It's not going to replace Papalymo or Steiner, that's for damn sure. Wishing I had pulled on the VI banner instead, at least then my 1/11 would have been a guaranteed relic for a realm that I am very, very limited on. But I'm not willing to spend more mythril, that took me below 500, and I had just gotten over it :-(. I want at least 2 pulls on every banner for the upcoming fest(assuming they are good. If not, I'll skip a banner and do an extra one or 2 pulls on a banner that is good).

Yeah, not even touching the Fire banner. Not that my Fire tech is amazing or anything - it mostly boils down to BSBs for Papalymo and Galuf, and a USB for Refia - but it's functional for now. More importantly, there's just too much for which I want to save, and too much risk of pulling disappointment on this banner.

Fact is, I might not pulling on the upcoming Fest at all. If we get the various Lucky Draws leading up to Fest, and the 3-pull-per-realm banners, I'm probably going to blow it on those instead. Between three LDs and fifteen realms, that's 150 mythril (3x25 + 5x15 = 75 + 75 = 150), which is roughly where I am. Maybe, between gift mythril and daily doses, I'll rack up some more before Fest comes, but not enough to make a serious dent in the banners.

[Antonok]

Yeah, not even touching the Fire banner. Not that my Fire tech is amazing or anything - it mostly boils down to BSBs for Papalymo and Galuf, and a USB for Refia - but it's functional for now. More importantly, there's just too much for which I want to save, and too much risk of pulling disappointment on this banner.

Fact is, I might not pulling on the upcoming Fest at all. If we get the various Lucky Draws leading up to Fest, and the 3-pull-per-realm banners, I'm probably going to blow it on those instead. Between three LDs and fifteen realms, that's 150 mythril (3x25 + 5x15 = 75 + 75 = 150), which is roughly where I am. Maybe, between gift mythril and daily doses, I'll rack up some more before Fest comes, but not enough to make a serious dent in the banners.

So you say... BUT! I present the mithril breakdown up until fest:

100 from Record Dungeon Launch
~70 from daily logins/Chocobo/daily missions
16 from the DU update
52 from events
32 from Record Dungeons and Archive rewards
Total: Around 270

With another ~120 during the fest itself.

We have a LOT of mithril incoming in the next month. With the calculated total of pulling once on every banner associated with the fest being around 400, you should be good

[Starwulf]

Wow, yet another realm in which I had zero JS battles done. Oh well, 4 more sets of 4* and 5* motes to get :). Better late than never, and at least this way I haven't wasted any on people that I might have early on because I thought they were worth it, and now see that they aren't, LOL!

Edit: And 3 are done! Quick 120 4* motes and 90 5* motes ^^. Getting to the point where I may actually be able to fully 4* 4 people, LOL. Wish they didn't take so many freaking vit and dex motes, always running low on those, and farming the mote dungeon is just so tedious, lol. 10 motes per 60 stamina is awful. I wonder if they will ever bring back 4* motes in the Gyashl greens shop. I can only remember them doing it once!

I'm not sure if I can do the damnable Chardarnook one, hate that painting with a passion.

Double Edit: Huh....I guess I was worried over nothing. Granted, JS are a lot easier, but still, I absolutely destroyed Chardarnook. Just made sure I always queued Holy shortly after the evil form used it's 2nd attack, so it would go off right after it used it's 3rd and switched back to it's goddess form, and had a fire attack queued up right after the holy, and then all my physical attacks queued up after that. It only got to go back to goddess form twice before it was dead, that was honestly kinda sad(Sad that I was so freaked out over something that was so freaking easy).

Also, since we are getting 390 mythril by the end of next fest, I decided "Hey, what not do a pull on the VI 2nd banner". I didn't go 1/11, but I did only go 2/22, and again, no disco balls ><. 1 of the 2 was a dupe(my third Magical brush, so I guess I'll have an 8* one), and the other was Relm's LMR(Small chance to enable an ally to avoid one magic attack when healing them with a single white magic ability). Ya know, it's kinda sad, I went 2/11, and got a dupe of literally the ONLY freaking item I had on the banner ><. I am ALMOST tempted to rage pull a 2nd time, just to see if I can get something a little better, but I'm far too terrified to try, even though VI is literally the weakest of all the main realms(Only 2/3/XV are worse, even XIV is better off than VI).

I could do a pull on the 1st banner, it has literally nothing I have, but it has no Terra stuff, and while I'm no T.G. when it comes to Terra, I do like her, and would love to have her USB, or even her Armguards!

[T.G. Oskar]

Wow, yet another realm in which I had zero JS battles done. Oh well, 4 more sets of 4* and 5* motes to get :). Better late than never, and at least this way I haven't wasted any on people that I might have early on because I thought they were worth it, and now see that they aren't, LOL!

Edit: And 3 are done! Quick 120 4* motes and 90 5* motes ^^. Getting to the point where I may actually be able to fully 4* 4 people, LOL. Wish they didn't take so many freaking vit and dex motes, always running low on those, and farming the mote dungeon is just so tedious, lol. 10 motes per 60 stamina is awful. I wonder if they will ever bring back 4* motes in the Gyashl greens shop. I can only remember them doing it once!

I'm not sure if I can do the damnable Chardarnook one, hate that painting with a passion.

Double Edit: Huh....I guess I was worried over nothing. Granted, JS are a lot easier, but still, I absolutely destroyed Chardarnook. Just made sure I always queued Holy shortly after the evil form used it's 2nd attack, so it would go off right after it used it's 3rd and switched back to it's goddess form, and had a fire attack queued up right after the holy, and then all my physical attacks queued up after that. It only got to go back to goddess form twice before it was dead, that was honestly kinda sad(Sad that I was so freaked out over something that was so freaking easy).

Also, since we are getting 390 mythril by the end of next fest, I decided "Hey, what not do a pull on the VI 2nd banner". I didn't go 1/11, but I did only go 2/22, and again, no disco balls ><. 1 of the 2 was a dupe(my third Magical brush, so I guess I'll have an 8* one), and the other was Relm's LMR(Small chance to enable an ally to avoid one magic attack when healing them with a single white magic ability). Ya know, it's kinda sad, I went 2/11, and got a dupe of literally the ONLY freaking item I had on the banner ><. I am ALMOST tempted to rage pull a 2nd time, just to see if I can get something a little better, but I'm far too terrified to try, even though VI is literally the weakest of all the main realms(Only 2/3/XV are worse, even XIV is better off than VI).

I could do a pull on the 1st banner, it has literally nothing I have, but it has no Terra stuff, and while I'm no T.G. when it comes to Terra, I do like her, and would love to have her USB, or even her Armguards!

SeptemberFest should have Terra's USB and BSB. This fest will only have her BSB. Both have her Legend Materia, as well. I'm doing a pull there, well knowing that I have one dupe at the very least, because I'm looking for Greg's Chain and Terra's AOSB. Fire Chain, and an excuse to make Greg great again (I think he also gets his USB and second BSB) makes this a good catch.

Speaking of Summer Sun (Fun) Fest, I aim at least for a pull on the GregBanner and chance #2 at Tyro USB3, aka the GodWall, which avoided me last time. Since I'm going for the same strategy as before (no pulls on VII or XIII), that means I should have at least 65 Mythril for the Happy Gacha, and 75 for the LDs, that works up to 140 (just 10 less shy than Red's estimate). At nearly 120 Mythril now, that means I can do the VI event and have enough for those pulls, and with the 100 free Mythril gift, enough for 1 pull on both. The rest is just icing on the cake.

Now, if I can pull 10 wins on the Magicite dungeons before Wednesday...

[danzibr]

Hmm I’m afraid my question got buried. Is there a king of OSBs? How about LM? How about pairs?

Also... what exactly is going away, and when? I’m not keen at all on this Torment and Magicite business. Happened after I left.

[Jurai]

Hmm I’m afraid my question got buried. Is there a king of OSBs? How about LM? How about pairs?

Also... what exactly is going away, and when? I’m not keen at all on this Torment and Magicite business. Happened after I left.

Speaking from personal experience, the OSB I like the most is TGCid's Thunder God, and the LMR I like most is probably Aerith's W-Cast. I don't know much about pairs with them, though, as I only have LMR and OSB for TGCid. Any of the En-element LMRs are good OSB pairs, though

[Red Fel]

Hmm I’m afraid my question got buried. Is there a king of OSBs? How about LM? How about pairs?

Also... what exactly is going away, and when? I’m not keen at all on this Torment and Magicite business. Happened after I left.

With the advent of AOSBs, vanilla OSBs are already suffering. Fact is, they were great for a finishing blow when the boss went into rush mode, but hardly mandatory to begin with; now power creep has left them all behind. I will agree, however, that RAIJIN CID's OSB is probably king, if only because of the Thunder God Mode (reduced cast time) it triggers; when paired with his BSB, which has powerful but slow-casting attacks, it turns him into even more of a blender than he already is. Even without the BSB, and even used as an RW, Thunder God Mode is a great way to turn your highest DPSer into your fastest DPSer.

With regard to LM, the general rule is "W-cast is king." A w-cast LM stacks with a w-cast RM, which means the potential for triplecast. After that, it becomes more of a matter of utility - what you need in this particular situation - than arbitrary goodness. I'll agree with Jurai, though, that when it comes to pairing an LM with an SB, En-Element helps a lot.

As for your other questions:
- Magicites: Magicites are what happens when you clear all of the Nightmares. You get magicites, designating one as your main and others as your subs. They grant stat boosts and your main can perform a special attack. Very useful for resisting or enhancing certain elements, and some have really helpful abilities. They're not going anywhere.
- Torments: Torment dungeons are basically an ability hone check. You run through a long series of tough trash battles - no breaks - and then a strong boss. You can't auto your way through the trash. These are being replaced with new Torments, which basically require realm-specific characters, in that the boss gets way tougher without them.
- Other things going away: Cid Missions are going away. Any you've still completed will be available to collect, but the rest will be done-zo. So clear 'em if you have 'em. They will be replaced by Acolyte Whatevers, so that's a thing.

That about cover it?

[Slayn82]

TGCid's OSB is almost a USB, because the 25 seconds of very reduced casting time are equivalent to a large DPS increase. Meanwhile, the amount of damage and two elements would already make it a top OSB.

Kuja's OSB is solid, because it increases the multiplier if you are under Doom. Memento Mori takes care of that nicely. Otherwise, mages want to En-element with a SB/BSB and then spam the OSB, since En elements increases their OSB damage by 80%. Preferably, with a Enthrust dedicated support. Terra, Raines, Quistis, Fujin, Onion Knight can use Wrath, making OSB spam even easier.

For a bit more on OSB's, this old thread has some insights:
www.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKeeper/comments/62itb7/an_overview_of_overstrikes_osb_list/

[danzibr]

Thanks folks! Incredibly helpful :)

I was thinking to get Relm’s LMR due to having her USB (I also have Yuna’s USB, Porom’s BSB, and Penelo’s BSB). Or maybe Fran’s LMR, she’s been my main Support, I have her BSB.

But I think I’ll shoot for double cast. Gotta look carefully...

[Jurai]

If it's her 'Chance to Stun on Support with Bow', it's kinda meh.

[danzibr]

If it's her 'Chance to Stun on Support with Bow', it's kinda meh.

Yup, that’s the one. ... huh

Thoughts on Relm’s?

[Red Fel]

Yup, that’s the one. ... huh

Thoughts on Relm’s?

Okay. Here's the thing.

On the one hand, Relm is an awesome healer. Her USB in particular is highly effective.

On the other, her Legend Materia - whether from diving or relics - leave something to be desired.

Her LM1 is a boost to WHT healing, which is so bog-standard it hurts. Her LM2 is a reduction to element damage - useful, certainly, for Magicites, but not game-breaking. And her LMR is a chance (27%) to grant mBlink to the target of an ST heal. MBlink is situationally useful, but a 27% chance isn't something on which you can rely, particularly given her lack of w-cast options.

Compare Relm with, say, Aerith. Like Relm, Aerith's LM1 is a boost to WHT healing. Her LM2, however, is a chance (35%) to chase any WHM ability with a light medica - again, it's not something on which you can rely, but it's always useful. And her LMR grants her a 25% w-cast chance.

Or, compare Selphie. As above, Selphie's LM1 is a boost to WHT healing. Her LM2, however - meaning that you're guaranteed to get it if you dive her - is a chance (35%) to w-cast. Her LMR is a chance (20%) to grant Last Stand to the target of an ST heal - again, not something you can rely on, but Last Stand is almost always useful. And it's worth noting that if you need a reliable source of mBlink, Selphie's Dreamstage SSB has you covered.

Overall, Relm is still considered an amazing healer if you have her USB. The party instantcast is powerful. That said, her LMRs are lacking by comparison. Is her LMR bad? No. Is it worth whaling for? I'd say no.

[danzibr]

Okay. Here's the thing.

On the one hand, Relm is an awesome healer. Her USB in particular is highly effective.

On the other, her Legend Materia - whether from diving or relics - leave something to be desired.

Her LM1 is a boost to WHT healing, which is so bog-standard it hurts. Her LM2 is a reduction to element damage - useful, certainly, for Magicites, but not game-breaking. And her LMR is a chance (27%) to grant mBlink to the target of an ST heal. MBlink is situationally useful, but a 27% chance isn't something on which you can rely, particularly given her lack of w-cast options.

Compare Relm with, say, Aerith. Like Relm, Aerith's LM1 is a boost to WHT healing. Her LM2, however, is a chance (35%) to chase any WHM ability with a light medica - again, it's not something on which you can rely, but it's always useful. And her LMR grants her a 25% w-cast chance.

Or, compare Selphie. As above, Selphie's LM1 is a boost to WHT healing. Her LM2, however - meaning that you're guaranteed to get it if you dive her - is a chance (35%) to w-cast. Her LMR is a chance (20%) to grant Last Stand to the target of an ST heal - again, not something you can rely on, but Last Stand is almost always useful. And it's worth noting that if you need a reliable source of mBlink, Selphie's Dreamstage SSB has you covered.

Overall, Relm is still considered an amazing healer if you have her USB. The party instantcast is powerful. That said, her LMRs are lacking by comparison. Is her LMR bad? No. Is it worth whaling for? I'd say no.

Thanks, Red Fel!

Man, wish I had some of my old BSBs.

Might go with Tyro actually. Used the heck out of that little blue dude. 2 instant actions seems good.

[Jurai]

Thanks, Red Fel!

Man, wish I had some of my old BSBs.

Might go with Tyro actually. Used the heck out of that little blue dude. 2 instant actions seems good.

IC2 is sweet. If you're more interested in non-Cores, Onion Knight has the same LMR, and Sazh has Haste-IC1 as an LMR.

[Red Fel]

Thanks, Red Fel!

Man, wish I had some of my old BSBs.

Might go with Tyro actually. Used the heck out of that little blue dude. 2 instant actions seems good.

Thing to remember is that IC2 is only as good as the actions you take with it. The point of IC2 on Tyro is to use wall (or godwall) on your first turn, instantly. And then to do whatever you want with the second. If you have wall (or godwall), it's a pretty decent idea. Take Tyro in a supporting role (heals or SUP, for example) and just open with your defensive SB.

Jurai mentions others who have similar LMs, and it's worth comparing. For example, OK has the identical LMR, open with IC2. The difference is that (1) OK has a multitude of SBs for various situations (e.g. Sage USB, Ninja USB, OnionBurst), and (2) OK is actually functional in his roles, be they SUP, CEL, or BLM (or off-buffing, let's be honest). Tyro is... Well, he's adequate, but he'll never be your DPS.

Or compare Ramza's LMR, which only grants IC1 but also grants a full ATB gauge - meaning that Ramza acts immediately at the start of battle, as well as instantly. Great for opening with Shout (or Shout v.2, his BSB) - which, let's be honest, is 90% of the reason you bring the poor idiot.

Note that, if you don't have SBs for OK or Ramza, their respective LMRs are next to useless. What are you going to do with that first-round IC - Magic Breakdown? Powerchain? (Actually Powerchain is a pretty good idea as an opener, since it means you've got ongoing IC.)

It's one of the more frustrating things about LMRs - they're mostly only good if the character has SBs. There are exceptions, of course - for example, RAIJIN CID's LMR grants a chance to w-cast KNT and DRK abilities - but most are dependent on having the SBs to really make them worthwhile.

So the real question is: Who do you have good SBs for?

Also, keep in mind that if you don't have a wall, the upcoming Acolyte Whatevers give you a draw that includes both Tyro's and Y'shtola's walls.

[huttj509]

Goddess MP 220 just completely punched my normal group of friends in the teeth. Like, dying before we get any actions off. Are we missing something clear?

[Starwulf]

Anyone have any tips for the Apoc++ for VI? Unlike the last Apoc++, this one is freaking nasty. I barely got half it's health gone before it annihilated me. It's defenses are sky high, even with full break+Faris USB1+Boost+Rikku USB, Cloud with Hailstorm and his USB1, wasn't even breaking 9k damage on Omega Drive. That's normally a recipe for a minimum of 13k damage a shot, and sometimes up to 15k.

I had brought Exdeath along since I have his USB and it's a runic, but it wasn't terribly useful, so I might bring Vaan instead, that way I can stack mug bloodlus+BSB+BSB cmd2 to knock it's defense down even more. It's about the only thing I can think of that might allow me to do enough damage to kill it before it kills me.

[Red Fel]

Goddess MP 220 just completely punched my normal group of friends in the teeth. Like, dying before we get any actions off. Are we missing something clear?

Use a Last Stand immediately. She uses her Quasar thing pretty early, and it will probably kill you. Selphie's USB is a literal life-saver, as is Eiko's. I actually ended up beating both MP difficulties using heavy Dark. If somebody on your team brings Riku, all the better.

In other news, this Damage Race fight. Sheesh. Part 1 is easy enough, but Part 2 I'm still wrestling with. After a herculean effort, I managed to get above the 500k threshold, but I think that's where I'm going to end up staying. Basically, you need to bring debuff-resist accessories (Silence in the back, Blind in the front), an Imperil, and just basically a Magicite team. I ended up bringing my Wind team (because Cloud USB+BSB2+OSB and Zack CSB+BSB), but even then it's rough. You need defenses up fast, you need to keep them up, and you'll know the fight is about to end when he Confuses your entire party.

I don't think I need those 4-star Vit Motes that bad.