Final Fantasy Record Keeper X-2: Gems, Mithril, Salt - In Position!

[Red Fel]

Hey, you remember Red XIII, a SUP/BLM character who's useless in the former role because he's a back-row character with no ranged weapons in a cast with a far superior SUP character (Barret)? Remember how the vast majority of his kit - SBs and RMs - were focused on that useless SUP role, and only relatively recently has he gotten support for the more valuable BLM role?

Remember how he has an LMR with W-cast BLM?

Some days I really like the daily draw.

[danzibr]

Hey, you remember Red XIII, a SUP/BLM character who's useless in the former role because he's a back-row character with no ranged weapons in a cast with a far superior SUP character (Barret)? Remember how the vast majority of his kit - SBs and RMs - were focused on that useless SUP role, and only relatively recently has he gotten support for the more valuable BLM role?

Remember how he has an LMR with W-cast BLM?

Some days I really like the daily draw.

Nice!

I always wanted Red XIII to be better. And now he is.

Edit: holy smokes, speaking of VII, just beat the 280 torment in 17 seconds. Cloud’s AOSB did 20x30k, then the 999999. Went from 2/3 hp to dead.

[Slayn82]

This focused Relic Draw decided to give me Terra's ASB and Glint. Unfortunately, both are dupes. The only dupes I had in the banner, in fact. Well, got more +fire gear.

[danzibr]

This focused Relic Draw decided to give me Terra's ASB and Glint. Unfortunately, both are dupes. The only dupes I had in the banner, in fact. Well, got more +fire gear.

Boo.

I decided to not pull. Doesn’t interest me at all.

[Red Fel]

Boo.

I decided to not pull. Doesn’t interest me at all.

I did a 1-pull, got nothing.

Fact is, it's not an LD, and I don't want to pay full price while saving for the upcoming fest. Also, while Brave USBs are totally the new powercreep (along with Awakenings), I already have one or two, and it's not worth the salt of getting either a dupe or a Glint on that banner. I'd much rather wait for the LDs that will assuredly precede fest, or the fest banners themselves, and enjoy the near-certainty of non-dupes.

[danzibr]

I did a 1-pull, got nothing.

Fact is, it's not an LD, and I don't want to pay full price while saving for the upcoming fest. Also, while Brave USBs are totally the new powercreep (along with Awakenings), I already have one or two, and it's not worth the salt of getting either a dupe or a Glint on that banner. I'd much rather wait for the LDs that will assuredly precede fest, or the fest banners themselves, and enjoy the near-certainty of non-dupes.

Seconded.

Man, ‘dat mythril. Not only do I want Butz’s AASB (I know that ways lies madness, yet I cannot help it), but we’ll have RoP, lucky draws, and the Core banner.

[darkdragoon]

The focused draw could reinforce several of my stronger characters but outside of maybe Cecil they wouldn't be likely to be set much.

[danzibr]

The focused draw could reinforce several of my stronger characters but outside of maybe Cecil they wouldn't be likely to be set much.

Hmm. I could see that. I use Tidus on my Water team, Arc for his ol’ pBlink SSB, and Terra/Kain/Cecil on at least their realm teams, but not Vincent. It’s... alright.

To change the subject, how are people’s magicite decks coming along? I have decent 4* decks for Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Wind. Need Ice, Holy, Dark.

[Red Fel]

To change the subject, how are people’s magicite decks coming along? I have decent 4* decks for Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Wind. Need Ice, Holy, Dark.

Ha! I still haven't cleared 3* Light and Dark. I have no idea how I'm gonna fare with 4*s. Heck, I don't even consistently clear Neo Torments, and apparently I now need ruby-related abilities to cut it in high-difficulty material.

[T.G. Oskar]

Ha! I still haven't cleared 3* Light and Dark. I have no idea how I'm gonna fare with 4*s. Heck, I don't even consistently clear Neo Torments, and apparently I now need ruby-related abilities to cut it in high-difficulty material.

Better Magicite is more important. Supposedly, DWhale difficulty is between a 4* and 5* Magicite in terms of difficulty, so it's doable if you can beat 4* Magicites reliably. Emphasis on reliably; that means sub-30 at the very least.

For example: the Neo Torment where I have the best chances at is FFT (Cuchulainn). I got some of the big prizes (Ramza's Shout BSB, Marche's HQC-enabler, Agrias' BSB, Orlandeau's suite of SBs) and some decent stuff (Ovelia's BSB, Divine Ward), and I couldn't reach even 20% of my HP. I'm almost about to reach 50% of her HP. I got Healing Smite, which I'm using with Orlandeau (because that means I can heal two people and deal tons of damage), which is one of the 6* abilities you can get from the Rubies. No dice.

The one with the second-best options would be with FF6 (Wrexsoul + Soul Savers), it's mostly the same issue - Terra with nearly all SBs except her AOSB, Locke with his Chain and AOSB, Mog with his USB and BSB, Relm with her BSB, and either Edgar with his USB or Celes iwth her BSB2 and AOSB. I also have Chain Firaja. I can't take Wrexsoul below 20% HP, mostly because Wrexsoul...well, wrecks me up.

In both cases, there's only three things that can apply:

• One, a lack of good 4* or 5* Magicites at level 99, other than Ice magicites (which I've been working with slowly)
• Two, a lack of realm-related USB medicas from the healer. As you can notice, a secondary source of healing (Healing Smite) helps with survival. Extra damage, from Chain Firaja, doesn't.
• Three, a lack of w-cast WHM Legend Materia. With that, I can either add something like DMT or MM, or a LM that boosts SB gauge generation, in order to fire them faster.

Considering the lack of damage I deal (I can barely hit around 3k per hit normally, or up to 6k per hit with Orlandeau with the Chain active; in FFVI's case, I can reach up to 8k per hit with Terra's Chain Firaja with one EnFire and chain active), the damage I take (about 1.5k to 2k, all AoE), and how slow I can do stuff, a better Magicite deck from 4* Magicites at level 99 could give me the edge I need.

Now, this isn't conclusive, but it's a good way to see it.

[Red Fel]

Yeah, I may have had that backwards. Neo Torments are very much the end-game whale-tests, 4* Magicites are a little lower difficulty than that. At least, that's what I reckon. Not being able to clear either.

I need to work on my 3* Magicite teams again. Argh.

In other news, this morning, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. To wit: The daily draw decided to deposit a disco.

Ysayle's USB.

Now, as it happens, this is an excellent USB. Alongside Rinoa, Ysayle is one of the definitive Ice mages, so this is very, very good. Know what makes it very, very better, though? I already have her LMR. You know, the "chance to Imperil Ice whenever you use an Ice ability" LMR?

I'm going to dive Ysayle now. Excuse me.

[darkdragoon]

It seems like they want you to be going back and forth as getting something like Voltech could help in several magicites, yet stronger decks will help in torment (and are certainly something you can do) But yeah, my biggest jump in a torment so far has been from having 3 USBs appear in a draw, which isn't exactly a sustainable strategy.

I may well get my monthly mission completed via Golem as he seems to be dropping everything but the copies I need for level cap breaking.

My biggest need/want is a faster start and that can be addressed by LMRs and to a lesser degree glints.

[T.G. Oskar]

It seems like they want you to be going back and forth as getting something like Voltech could help in several magicites, yet stronger decks will help in torment (and are certainly something you can do) But yeah, my biggest jump in a torment so far has been from having 3 USBs appear in a draw, which isn't exactly a sustainable strategy.

It's relative.

For example: I've only bought three 6* skills with Rubies - those being Voltech, Chain Firaja and Healing Smite. As you can notice, it's two BLK spells and one Knight skill. The first one was a logical step - the counterpart of Meltdown, meaning a caster can cover all six primary elements at once. It's also a very solid counterpart to an elemental focus, as Meltdown can be paired with Chain Fira(ga/ja)/Stonega or Tornado, while Voltech can be paired with Chain Blizza(ga/ja)/Thunda(ga/ja)/Waterga. However, my second choice was Chain Firaja. Why? Because my Fire team is strong, but endgame content requires you to be at your absolute strongest. Particularly since my bae happens to be, in my team, the absolute best Fire magic user around. So...it's pretty much a given.

Healing Smite? A combination of things, including "it's a darn good skill" and "this is EXACTLY what I wanted!" A nice combination, since it deals some decent damage, but most importantly, it heals. With something like Pally!Cecil's USB2 or Curilla's USB2 (Medica on Knight skills), this means they can almost effectively replace a Healer, as they can take care of most healing. (Of course, Enkidu/Unicorn and a secondary healer are always worthwhile. Fortunately, some Knight users like Ramza and Marche have pseudo-Medicas, so that's a second or third Medica I can rely). It's a skill I can rely on, even though the healing can be a bit low for the endgame content.

My choices, however, don't exactly focus on beating 4* Magicites, nor 4* Magicites are quintessential to beat Neo Torments...at least, not the first two. Beating a Neo Torment relies on having distinct percentages of various factors: how many at level 99? Fully dived? How many with USBs? How many of the key USBs (IC Medicas, slot-savers, Chasers and Finishers) you have available? How good is your elemental team in that realm? Magicites and what they can offer is also a percentage of that.

For example: without too much effort, I could beat the first FFT Neo Torment difficulty. The second one was a shock, because it was a huge leap in difficulty. Percentage-wise, I had nearly all at 99 (Ovelia was at 80), three full dives (Ramza, Agrias and THUNDER GOD Orlandeau), three USBs with two highly-desirable ones (Marche's HQC on Knight, Ovelia's slot saver) and one very good one (Orlandeau's Sword Saint, aka "spend 2 skills to cast Knight/Dark skills twice" + 100% Crit on top)...and no Holy magicite. At all. The edge it took to beat D260, and furthermore, to approach sub-30, was to...get 3* Magicite. That was basically it. With that, I could get enough Rubies to get Chain Firaja, which eventually helped to get more Rubies for Healing Smite. As it stands now, the only chance I have to beat DWhale is to: a) get Ovelia's IC Medica or b) get a 4* Holy Magicite deck, and that's mostly to take it to level 50. Now, there's a slight chance I could get a massive boost if I got an odd USB (say, Agrias' EnHoly + super-Reverse Wall USB), since I wouldn't' have to worry at dealing damage by then, but what I need now is a damage boost, and that's where 4* Magicites (and eventually 5* Magicites) come in; after all the boosts, every 1% to damage counts. Not to mention every 1% of damage you can shave off, every 0.1s you can shave off casting times, etc.

If that happens, and I get more Rubies...what will I get, then? That's definitely up for grabs. Lunar Ifrit would be massive to help me deal with FF6's DWhale difficulty, but that would make me focus a lot more on FF6 and not so much on other Neo Torments. For example: Chain Blizzaja would be formidable for FF8 Neo Torment, since between Squall and Rinoa I have a decent Ice focus, but few else really support it. I could go all-in with Ice, but other than these two, the rest of the team doesn't help. In particular, none of them have slot savers, and much less Boostgas or Faithgas to increase damage. (Closest slot-saver is Quistis with her old MG8, unless I suddenly get Kingsguard).

Fel said a key thing: Neo Torments (and 5* Magicite) are endgame content. (And, judging from posts in other threads, he has a good idea of what should, and shouldn't, be considered endgame. This is in good faith, BTW.) You can't expect to beat these challenges as they appear, unlike Nightmare dungeons or 3* Magicites. These require some strategy at work, and slowly getting used to the pieces before you can advance.

Say, take me with Isgebind. It's the only 4* Magicite I've beaten. I still can't beat it sub-30, but I've gotten pretty close. (Best time is 30.24, actually.) Most importantly, I know how Isgebind works; take it to less than 75% - 80% of its HP, it leaps up; below 50%, another leap. When it drops, it'll follow with Savage Frost Breath, which hits like a truck. Even when I got used to it, when I added MM to Greg, the fight changed almost immediately - the first time I hit the threshold, it took me off-course, since I was expecting it to leap at a specific time. I had to compensate for that, switching Magicites and tactics to compensate...then, the Savage Frost Breath landing at a bad moment, and so forth. I'm working Isgebind to a point where I could reliably land a sub-30 without 4* Fire Magicite, but if I were to get 4* Fire Magicite, I could definitely reach sub-30, no exceptions: between a high Dampen Ice, maybe a better Spell Ward and Empower Fire to nearly 25%, that means I can both deal a ton of damage and soak up SFB to ease my healer's task. I've gotten to a point where I pretty much memorize which skills to use, because I know the first two turns and how they'll go (Balthier uses RW --> Onion Knight uses BSB --> Isgebind uses Savage Frost Breath --> Terra uses Wrath --> Greg uses Chain --> Larsa uses Protectga --> Terra uses her Glint --> OK uses Faith on Terra --> Balthier uses Flame Offering --> Isgebind attacks one of my guys --> Larsa uses Curaja --> Greg uses Iai Hellfire --> up for grabs) ANY mispress, and I start the battle from scratch. Any missed chance (Terra not using her USB1, using Protectga instead of Curaja) prompts a restart, because I know it'll affect on the long run. At that point, you pretty much intuit what you're missing - and in Isgebind's case, it's a bit more damage. It doesn't have to be 4* Magicites - just using the stuff from the Record Dungeons that boosts your stats can be enough.

Hence, relative. You could have a set-up that makes all 4* Magicites easy to beat, but still struggle in Neo Torments, because both deal with two different aspects: focus on a single element, vs. focus on good realm teams. Some have a unified focus (FF6 has Fire, FF7 has Wind, FF8 has Ice, FF10 has Water), but others are a bit more spread out (FF3 has the four main elements, FF5 does so as well but there's some overlap, so you could have a strong Fire focus or a strong Earth focus); however, a good elemental team isn't as good as a good realm team, which may have so many different elements that focusing on one would be detrimental. However, if you have the right tools, you could contribute so well that elements won't matter.

In short: you don't need 4* Magicites to beat Neo Torments, nor Ruby skills to beat 4* Magicites. You do need them if you're beating DWhale difficulty or 5* Magicites, because at that point you need everything you can get your hands on.

[danzibr]

I think progressing in 3* magicites and the easiest Torments feed each other. Beat some magicites, improve your teams, get some rubies, improve your teams. When you have all complete 3* decks and the key 6* abilities, should be ready for 4*, at least break in the circle at your best element.

Speaking of which... I found it easier to do torments by swapping in a few of my best characters (like Elarra and Tyro or Ramza) than trying to field full synergy teams.

Also, for 6* abilities, to echo what’s been said, play to your strengths. I have a really good Bartz, so I got the multi element Spellblade abilities. I also have a complete Orlandeau, so I got the 6* Knight ability. My mage meta is a bit on the weak side, but I got Voltech for my Lightning team (yeah, Chain Thundaja would be better there, but Voltech is just so handy).

Was thinking to get single element 6*s next.

[Red Fel]

So, hey, the RoP Lord of the Rings Luck of the Realms banners are back. 5 mythril for 3 relics, with a guaranteed at-least-one at-least-rainbow.

I really ought to be saving for 4A, honestly, but I am weak. So I pulled on T0. The result? 1/3 rainbow, Ace's Summer Uniform. A dupe.

I think I'll hold off on anymore LotR pulls until after the 4A banners drop, thanks. Or maybe one or two of the LDs.

[danzibr]

So, hey, the RoP Lord of the Rings Luck of the Realms banners are back. 5 mythril for 3 relics, with a guaranteed at-least-one at-least-rainbow.

I really ought to be saving for 4A, honestly, but I am weak. So I pulled on T0. The result? 1/3 rainbow, Ace's Summer Uniform. A dupe.

I think I'll hold off on anymore LotR pulls until after the 4A banners drop, thanks. Or maybe one or two of the LDs.

Boo.

I got Jack’s BSB. New to me. I intend to keep pulling.

Also, I assembled a FFI team for the event, found out I have a pretty solid team. WoL, Garland, Matoya, Meia, Sarah, all but Garland have a USB, Garland had LMR and 2 BSBs. Pleasant surprise.

[Red Fel]

Boo.

I got Jack’s BSB. New to me. I intend to keep pulling.

Well, about that. See, I did my daily draw today, and got Rikku's USB2. The one with Imperil Water and a Water/Non chaser that can Imperil further? That one.

Since I was feeling pretty lucky, I decided I might as well risk another LotR draw. FFT banner, 2/3, Ramza's LMR (a dupe) and Meliadoul's BSB (not a dupe).

So, yeah. I'm going to try to hold off on pulls until I can be sure I can cover everything. But I'm not confident in my self-control.

In other news, for no apparent reason I decided to go back over some my my Magicites. And I can now get Bismark down to a consistent sub30, thanks to Ashe, who for some incomprehensible reason was not on my Bismark team. So, yeah. Looks like I have something I can be working on now.

[danzibr]

Well, about that. See, I did my daily draw today, and got Rikku's USB2. The one with Imperil Water and a Water/Non chaser that can Imperil further? That one.

Since I was feeling pretty lucky, I decided I might as well risk another LotR draw. FFT banner, 2/3, Ramza's LMR (a dupe) and Meliadoul's BSB (not a dupe).

So, yeah. I'm going to try to hold off on pulls until I can be sure I can cover everything. But I'm not confident in my self-control.

In other news, for no apparent reason I decided to go back over some my my Magicites. And I can now get Bismark down to a consistent sub30, thanks to Ashe, who for some incomprehensible reason was not on my Bismark team. So, yeah. Looks like I have something I can be working on now.

Nice! On all accounts. Rikku’s on my Water team.

I got Mustadio’s LMR. Don’t use him, but at least it’s not a dupe.

[Antonok]

Been slowly trying to catch up during Opera Omnia downtime (which is rather a lot).

Managed to clear the VII 280 Torment in 35 seconds. Likely can get it to under 30 if I wanted to optimize turn usage. Going to work on V since the x11 Realm draw gave me both Krile CSB and Gilgy USB. Add in Bartz EnFire BSB/OSB and Galuf USB and it's a semi decent team. Healing is a bit lacking however.

Magicite wise, cleared through 3* and broke into 4* with Midgarsormr. Been trying to figure out how to use Krile's CSB into a Isgebind clear with little success atm. I think it's just going to come down to getting better 3* decks.

[Slayn82]

I got Queen's BSB and Agrias's Ultra so far. Those 5 Mythril pulls probably gonna be the entire point of the festival for me, as I never store Mythril for the banners.

[danzibr]

Been slowly trying to catch up during Opera Omnia downtime (which is rather a lot).

Managed to clear the VII 280 Torment in 35 seconds. Likely can get it to under 30 if I wanted to optimize turn usage. Going to work on V since the x11 Realm draw gave me both Krile CSB and Gilgy USB. Add in Bartz EnFire BSB/OSB and Galuf USB and it's a semi decent team. Healing is a bit lacking however.

Magicite wise, cleared through 3* and broke into 4* with Midgarsormr. Been trying to figure out how to use Krile's CSB into a Isgebind clear with little success atm. I think it's just going to come down to getting better 3* decks.

Nice!

I started with Marilith as my Water team was solid.

That’s also a sweet pull. Greg’s nonelemental or Fire USB?

I got Queen's BSB and Agrias's Ultra so far. Those 5 Mythril pulls probably gonna be the entire point of the festival for me, as I never store Mythril for the banners.

Still lots of mythril between now and the banners/when LotR ends. Could prob do a pull on the one that really catches your eye.

[Antonok]

Nice!

I started with Marilith as my Water team was solid.

That’s also a sweet pull. Greg’s nonelemental or Fire USB?

Lacking a water chain so I haven't tried it yet, though otherwise water team is relatively decent (Tidus USB/OSB/EnStart LMR, Rikku USB2/EnWater BSB, HyperNullAll SSB), PAine USB, Bartz EnWater BSB/OSB/LMR). Might give it a try later now that I've typed all that out and realized what all I had.

It was Greg's fire USB. He might get switched out with Faris if I need a breaks/Entruster added in. So far V Team is looking like:

Bartz - EnFire BSB/OSB/LMR
Krile - CSB
Galuf - Boostga USB/Crit fix SSB
Greg - Fire USB
Lenna - SSB

I'm hoping Galuf can cover some extra healing since Lenna is going to struggle with just her SSB.

Edit: Managed to beat the 240 V Torment. Did have to switch out Greg for Faris. Couldn't keep up with the damage otherwise. I can now afford 1 of the new 6* abilities. Thinking either Stormspell Strike or Blastspell Strike since Sora (and Bartz to a lesser extent) can make use of both of those quite well. Went with Inferno Assault. Aiming at Isgebind and that extra hit might help more.

Edit2: Yup. Infernal Assault was a good choice. Got him to 10% at 36 seconds. Now if I just remember to give Aerith Hastega next time... Might have managed a kill, even possibly a sub30 but Axel took a badly timed stun right before his AOSB went off.

Team for those interested

Spoiler

Show

Krile - Rallying Etude/Meltdown - CSB - Dr Mogs
Shelke - Wrath/Extrust
Aerith - Hastega/Curada - USB1/2 - Mako Might - LMR
Axel - Ruby Spark/Ruby Spark - USB/AOSB - Scholar's Boon
Sora - Blazing QS/Inferno Assault - USB/Awakening - TG Might - LMR

Edit2: Second attempt - Isgebind down at 26:41

Edit3: Ok, it's a consistant sub30 with that team. Got a level 88 Isgebind magicite now too. Next stop: Team Ice vs Tiamat

[danzibr]

Ooh nice work!

Isgebind is the only outer 4* I really need to farm. I mean, I don’t have perfect decks for the other elements, but at least I have 1 of each at 99.

[Antonok]

https://www.finalfantasyrecordkeeper.../wallpaper.png

4th anniversary fest info for all your planning needs.

[danzibr]

https://www.finalfantasyrecordkeeper.../wallpaper.png

4th anniversary fest info for all your planning needs.

Oh yeah I saw that. Bummer it doesn’t have the banners :(

[Red Fel]

Oh yeah I saw that. Bummer it doesn’t have the banners :(

I mean, it doesn't list the specifics, but it does list the dates.

More importantly, note that it runs through 4/4. That's pretty crucial. Because if you've looked that the LotR banners, you'll note that they run through 4/16. In other words, you'll have almost two weeks between the end of 4A events and the end of LotR banners.

If, like me, you're really trying to conserve mythril, you might consider holding off on your LotR pulls until after you've attacked the Fest banners. According to these dates, you'll have time to do so. Because as it stands right now, if I start pulling on every LotR, I might not have the resources for every 4A pull I'm eyeing, but if I hold off, I should have enough for two of the three LDs, one each on three banners, and all of the LotRs.

So, I'mma try to hold off, is my point.

[T.G. Oskar]

Well, in my case, I'm doing nearly all of the Happy Gacha pulls, because that's about 15 to 17 good relics for what's essentially one and a half pulls. In my case, it's at least 15/45 pulls, instead of a minimum of 1/11. Sure, all of them can be dupes, but them's the breaks.

I've pulled only on two of the Happy Gachas (Tactics and XIV), and I'm at +1 relic over the minimum. Sure, that +1 is a dupe, but given the future with the Rainbow Shards and whatnot, it's not so bad. Most people over at Reddit are mentioning to keep the pulls until the Rainbow Shard system and the Legendary Weapons are revealed, but what if they don't?

Anyways: in case you haven't heard, Legendary Weapons are the new form of powercreep, alongside Awakenings. As the name implies, they're OP weapons, one for each type and/or realm. They're reminiscent of the 12 Sacred Weapons from FFV, which are meant to be the most powerful weapons in the entire game. (And armor, too!) In this case, they have absurd stats, as well as an element focus (and on a second batch, a realm focus) that provides a massive bonus to damage.

What's the catch? Well, they work a bit like 6* abilities, in that you need the weapon's Lithograph, and then use Rainbow Crystals to level them up. You gain Rainbow Crystals from...essentially cannibalizing your weapons. Or something like that. Anyways, that's what's coming, so dupes are no longer a bad thing. And the Happy Gacha is a source for dupes.

So, what's my haul as of late? As I mentioned, two pulls, three relics.

Spoiler: Haul so far

Show

• Melliadoul's Venus Blade! Her LMR, which is the kind that boosts damage from one ability type when wielding the right weapon; in this case, boost KNT skills when wielding a sword. Since she's spread between Knight and Support, and her Burst is Support based, her LMR isn't that strong unless she uses Earth-related skills. That said, it's a +Earth weapon, which is nice.
• Agrias' Excalibur. The dupe. On it's own, it's a decent +Holy sword; the problem is, it's a +Holy sword...on a veritable OCEAN of +Holy swords, most of them of the same realm! Not to mention Agrias already has a maxed Ragnarok, meaning she won't default to it.
• Thancred's Yukimitsu! This is his USB, and it's a dagger. It's a +Earth dagger, which is hilarious. Wait, I didn't mention this well; this is his Brave USB, which increases in power with Ninja skills. The Brave command itself combines Earth and Fire damage with a Def break, ending on a ATK Crush + Reverse Wall Crush, which is pretty massive in terms of what it can pull off. On its own, it's a MAG/DEF break, so it's a competitor for Vaan's veritable Burst. And it's fast cast. Overall, it's a pretty impressive Brave USB, if you may say so.

And in other news...I defeated Tiamat at last! No wonder it's mentioned as the most difficult of the 4* Magicites - she's fast, she's annoying, and the debuffs can be brutal. Took me several tries, but with a full deck of 4* Ice Magicite and some surprising choices, I managed a sub-45 win. It's tough as heck, though.

Spoiler: Party Compo

Show

Squall, lv. 99; Enkindler (6*), Caesar's Plate, Luneth's Pouch; Snowspell Strike R4, Lifesiphon R4; LM2, LM1, Scholar's Boon RM
Fran, lv. 99; Artemis' Bow (XII), Keeper's Frock Coat, Bartz's Circlet; Power Breakdown R5, Magic Breakdown R5; LM1, MM
Snow, lv. 99; Feymark, Ice Armor, Zidane's Earring; Healing Smite R4, Meteor Crush R3; Enduring Resolve LMR, Living Free LMR, DMT
Vanille, lv. 99; Seraphim Mace, Carmagnole, Firewind Shard; Curaja R5, Protectga R3; LM2, LM1, Knight's Charge RM
Ayame, lv. 99; Zanbato (XI), Xezat's Helm, Vortex Ring; Iai Hellfrost R2, Hailstorm R3; LM2, LM1, Orphaned Cub RM
RW: Fabula Guardian (Elarra)
Magicite: Isgebind lv. 99; Dullahan lv. 99, Krysta lv. 99, Wing Reaper lv. 99, Liquid Flame lv. 99

As you can notice, there's a large overflow of XIII characters, and...Fran. Seriously, Fran. Sure: Ayame and Squall are the core damage dealers, but the other three are interesting additions. Snow provides a Boostga/Faithga/Hastega, and his LMR2 that provides IC1 and Haste at start means he can fire up Wall before any attack happens. Vanille has both her BSB and USB Medicas, which provide most needed healing. And Fran?

While her access to Support was worthwhile for when Tiamat used Absorb Magic and Absorb Strength, the key thing was providing Imperil + QC2 with her Ultra, which was quite useful for many things: refresh Snow's buffs, fire up Isgebind, recharge Wall, fire the Soul Breaks for Ayame and Squall...quite the surprise, really. It was a slow battle, but after several bad goings, this was refreshing. Just a few more and then Midgardsorm, with a team that's not exactly very strong IMO (even though it might give Alphinaud his time to shine with his USB).

[danzibr]

Grats on the victory! And yeah, looking forward to the OP weapons.

I found Tiamat not bad. Brought Squall with BSB, Laguna as an imperiler with SSB, Snow for Chain, someone for Enthruster, Elarra for USB and Warrior’s Hymn to overwrite debuffs. I only had a middling 3* Ice deck ‘cause I struggled hard against Fenrir. My Fire team isn’t great.

[Antonok]

First attempt at Tiamat, beat her in 32:33. I knew my ice team was strong, but still didn't expect a clear first try. Few changes I need to make (Sora with his EnIce start lmr...) might get it down under 30.

Spoiler: Party

Show

Snow - LifeSiphon/Icicle Rush - CSB - Dr Mogs
Shelke - the usual
Aerith - Hastega/Curada - USB1/2 - Ace Striker -LMR
Squall - Lifesiphon/SSS - USB2/AOSB - TG Might - LMR
Sora - Protectga/SSS - Awakening/USB - Battleforged - LMR

That finishes off the ones I was confident about beating. Still leaves: Fire, Lightning, Earth, Dark, and Holy. Fire might be possible, Lightning I'm lacking a second decent dps, the other 3 I'm pretty screwed on.

[Red Fel]

So I decided to be weak and grab three more LotRs.

First, XV, 2/3, one rainbow and one disco! Axe of the Conqueror, Noctis' ASB (and a dupe), and Aranea's Cowl, Aranea's BSB. Next, XIV, 1/3, one disco! Morkinskinna, Alphinaud's Brave USB! Nice. Finally, XIII, 1/3, rainbow. Mistilteinn, Vanille's BSB (and a dupe).

So, fifteen mythril, four relics, two of them new, one of the new ones a Brave USB. Calling it a win.