Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[DiscipleofBob]

We are starting to near the 50 mark. A
Should we start discussing the next thread name?

FFRKII: Also FFRKIV in Japan.

[SuperPanda]

Finally home after a long day at work - ready to jump into the orbs - VII event - and the lucky draw.

I'm excited about everything but of course most excited for my Lucky Draw.

# of 3* 9
Notable items: Icebrand IV, Flame Tounge VI, Flame Rod V, Blitz Whip IV

# of 4* 1
Notable items: Black Garb IV (my future first 6* item)

# of 5* 1
Notable items: Enhancer VI - Terra

An Item I am very happy to have but not one that got me really excited. I'm actually more pleased with the 1 four star. I'm still really hoping for a good IV relic in the next pull (Edward's Harp, Rydia's Whip, or anything for Pld Cecil). And of course the "grand prize" relics like Thyrus, Diamond Pin, and Vega 42.

[danzibr]

1. Barret is a Support character. He gets daggers, guns, and gun-arm, a weapon that's unique to him (like Wakka's ball, Red XIII's hairclips, and Tyro's books). He gets hats, light armor, robes, and bracers. Most importantly, he gets BM2 (to satisfy mastery conditions), Combat 3 (for Breaks, I guess) and Support 5. His Attack at 65 is about what you'd expect for Support, comparable with Wakka's. His Defense, on the other hand, is shockingly good for Support, comparable with DK!Cecil and Auron; combined with him being a back row unit, that gives him reasonable survivability. Frankly, unless you're using Red XIII as a Black Mage, Barret can pretty effortlessly replace the cat.

2. Both Cloud's and Barret's MCs drop in this event, so you're probably seeing that. Cloud's MC2 drops from the ++ battle against JENOVA Life. Which means you'll have to clear the boss rush before you even have a chance at it. So, yeah.

Yeah, I'll probably level Barret.

And awwwwwwwwwwwww crap. I doubt I'll be able to get that MC2. Then again, by the time Orbfest is over...

Lastly, +1 for FFRKII: Also FFRKIV in Japan.

[Hunter Noventa]

FFRKII: Also FFRKIV in Japan.

Perfect.

Did a ten-pull going for Organics, got jack squat. Ooh, a Five-star hat with no Soul Break. Die in a Fire, RNG.

[DiscipleofBob]

Question about the orbfest event:

I wasted most of my mythril on the last two events and got precisely jack to show for it.

I'm most likely only going to have enough mythril for one half-price 11 pull. Does the phase of the event affect the draw at all? Should I wait until the third or even the fourth phase or just use them now?

[Red Fel]

Well, Fel hasn't done his usual Event analysis (he's sorta late for it, I believe?), but Barret has Combat 3 and Support 5, so he can be a pretty solid user of Breakdowns, particularly since you have his best Gun-Arm. Keep him on back row, give him your best Light Armor (the only bad thing he has; he could have been a bit meatier), and see how he crushes your enemies' Defense and give a solid blow at it. Or...well, just use his SB, which means you get to do the same thing. Better yet - SB, then Mental Breakdown for even more extra damage-y goodness!

Actually, I did post a few comments on this. But yeah, he's a solid Support, at least in VII.

Well, do note that Meteor ATM is a solid mook-clearing spell, particularly for those pesky Heroic-tier mooks which can suck up one or two Quakes. This is important because some of those pesky characters are fliers, which completely nullify Earth damage, which is what Quake is based about. So I wouldn't say it's worthless...and Holy is also good. I can gather the problem is that you won't get as many Major Orbs to use them properly...but then again, this IS the time to farm them, no?

The problem with proposing Meteor as a mook-clearing spell is that the event after this, XIII, features Ruinga as a reward. Ruinga is an AoE Non-Elemental mook-clearing spell - basically Meteor for people who don't want to hone Meteor. Yeah, Meteor will probably cause more damage overall, but Ruinga can get the job done when Quake doesn't, and will do it for cheaper than Meteor.

Besides: what you want is to farm Holy and Earth Orbs, and specifically Greater Holy and Greater Earth Orbs, to boost Quake, Protectga and Shellga for more uses, plus maybe Break Strike. I would say this is the one to exploit the most, if it weren't because of the Greater Summon-festa.

Frankly, if you can get Quake to R3 and Shellga/Protectga to R2, you're pretty much set. Concentration II and Mana Spring II will make sure that you don't run out. Similarly, Break Strike is a tragic waste of orbs altogether, given its obscenely low success rate.

We are starting to near the 50 mark. A
Should we start discussing the next thread name?

I like the proposed idea of FFRKIV in Japan. Alternatively:
FFRK II: The First of Many Unrelated Sequels

Question about the orbfest event:

I wasted most of my mythril on the last two events and got precisely jack to show for it.

I'm most likely only going to have enough mythril for one half-price 11 pull. Does the phase of the event affect the draw at all? Should I wait until the third or even the fourth phase or just use them now?

To my knowledge, the phase doesn't matter. It's my understanding that they're all the same - any 5-star that drops is one of the past 5-star character-specific relics. Roll now, roll later, shouldn't make a difference.

[Starwulf]

I have been once again slapped in the face with the fact that I sorely need to find a way to either make Carbuncle, or somehow find a flipping person that has a Runic RW(I think it's runic, right? The one that gives everyone reflect?). Did the Dream Stooges stage in the Terra event(I got so far behind on that due to other stuff), got whupped the first time, used a mythril, and I still only noviced it ><. Their spells just did waaay to much damage, and shellga + magic break only lasts for so long. The only plus side is I did make it through and the next stage has no boss, so I can just ability my way through it to get the Mastery of it for some free orbs. I'll likely be done after that though, and back to focusing on the Orb event and a bit of clouds event.

[Red Fel]

I have been once again slapped in the face with the fact that I sorely need to find a way to either make Carbuncle, or somehow find a flipping person that has a Runic RW(I think it's runic, right? The one that gives everyone reflect?). Did the Dream Stooges stage in the Terra event(I got so far behind on that due to other stuff), got whupped the first time, used a mythril, and I still only noviced it ><. Their spells just did waaay to much damage, and shellga + magic break only lasts for so long. The only plus side is I did make it through and the next stage has no boss, so I can just ability my way through it to get the Mastery of it for some free orbs. I'll likely be done after that though, and back to focusing on the Orb event and a bit of clouds event.

Runic doesn't give everyone Reflect. It causes any offensive magic that targets the user to restore ability uses instead of dealing damage. It's the poor man's Carbuncle for some boss fights, in that while it won't protect the whole party, it will protect the user.

I don't think there's an SB that grants party-wide Reflect. There are some that grant Shell, such as the ever-popular Boon (also adds Haste), some which increase Resistance, such as the WoL's Class Change (also Attack, Defense, and Magic), and some which reduce enemy Magic, such as Mog's Heroic Harmony (also reduces Attack). But I don't think there's an SB AoE reflect.

Better craft Carbuncle if that's your thing. Better pair it with Kirin or Lenna's default SB, though, because direct heal spells will become a bad idea.

As for the Stooges, yeah, their spells hit heckofa hard, even after Magic Break + Shellga. I ended up using an SG RW, which helped a bunch, and basically focused on single-target nuke-down tactics. Once the first was down, the damage output was reduced dramatically. By the time the second dropped, the last guy could barely scratch me. My order was top guy, bottom left, bottom right.

[SuperPanda]

The stooges gave me some trouble as well and I wound up doing them in similarly to how Red Fel did.

Wrex Soul denied me mastery through using Fury every other turn. I have not gone back for the boss rush. I'm thinking about it now that I have a shiny new Enhancer to bring with me. Wrex felt like it really should have been a mage fight and I took 3 bruisers with me. My Runic Blade RW got its duration run down by both the frequent Fury uses and the fact that he was always in the last person to get smacked meaning I always lost a whole turn to that ability.

I imagine Ashe + Terra + Rydia + Tellah + Cloud could have done pretty well until Wrex inevitably uses fury on Cloud while Retaliate is up.

I'll need to decide if its worth going for mastery and the Boss Rush before Terra's Event is over. Drainga looks neat to have but its also not a major priority.

[danzibr]

Hmm. My game plan changed.

Step 1: Get enough orbs from the current event to craft Quake*, Protectga, and Shellga.
Step 2: Buff up Barret and Red XIII for synergy stuff with the absurd experience.
Step 3: Get Cloud's MCII (which might take an absurd amount of S/Ling and a mythril to heal, but I believe I can do it in a couple days).
Step 4: Go back to my old steps (like Summoner to 50 and stuff).

*For multi-target damage should I go Quake, Ruinga, or Bladeblitz? Ruinga would work on flyers, as would Bladeblitz. Ruinga can be replenished with Mana Spring II (which I should have very soon), and Bladeblitz currently can't be replenished by anything.

[Chen]

Runic doesn't give everyone Reflect. It causes any offensive magic that targets the user to restore ability uses instead of dealing damage. It's the poor man's Carbuncle for some boss fights, in that while it won't protect the whole party, it will protect the user.

I'm pretty sure runic also draws magic to the caster so it does protect the whole party from single target damage.

[Red Fel]

The stooges gave me some trouble as well and I wound up doing them in similarly to how Red Fel did.

Wrex Soul denied me mastery through using Fury every other turn. I have not gone back for the boss rush. I'm thinking about it now that I have a shiny new Enhancer to bring with me. Wrex felt like it really should have been a mage fight and I took 3 bruisers with me. My Runic Blade RW got its duration run down by both the frequent Fury uses and the fact that he was always in the last person to get smacked meaning I always lost a whole turn to that ability.

I imagine Ashe + Terra + Rydia + Tellah + Cloud could have done pretty well until Wrex inevitably uses fury on Cloud while Retaliate is up.

I'll need to decide if its worth going for mastery and the Boss Rush before Terra's Event is over. Drainga looks neat to have but its also not a major priority.

The trick with Wrex is to kill only one of its little buddies. If you kill them both, it goes into overdrive, but killing one halves the damage they can do while he's hiding. Keep in mind that they are susceptible to instant death attacks, a fact of which I took advantage. (Sabin + Pressure Point + S/L = I will start this fight with one of them dead, thank you.) Drop a periodic Magic Break(down) on the survivor while you have your caster feebly thwack each of your party members in turn until you find the right target. Combine that with SG RW again to ensure that damage to your party is minimized. Maintain a Magic Break(down) on the survivor while you burn down Wrex and it should actually go smoother than the Stooges fight.

Hmm. My game plan changed.

Step 1: Get enough orbs from the current event to craft Quake*, Protectga, and Shellga.
Step 2: Buff up Barret and Red XIII for synergy stuff with the absurd experience.
Step 3: Get Cloud's MCII (which might take an absurd amount of S/Ling and a mythril to heal, but I believe I can do it in a couple days).
Step 4: Go back to my old steps (like Summoner to 50 and stuff).

*For multi-target damage should I go Quake, Ruinga, or Bladeblitz? Ruinga would work on flyers, as would Bladeblitz. Ruinga can be replenished with Mana Spring II (which I should have very soon), and Bladeblitz currently can't be replenished by anything.

Quake is good and easy, but Ruinga is what everyone on Reddit has been waiting for. Quake has a 5.6x multiplier, deals Earth damage, and costs Black, Earth, and Dark orbs (5/3/3 to start with). Ruinga has a 5.9x multiplier, deals Non-Elemental damage and thereby avoids both flying immunity and Earth immunity, and costs Black, Holy, and Dark orbs (5/3/3 to start with). There's also a good chance you have more 4-star Holy orbs than Earth orbs, all things considered.

Bladeblitz has a 1.5x multiplier, and costs Power and Wind orbs (5/8 to start with). Further, it's melee, which means it probably won't target an elemental weakness and has a harder time hitting damage cap, and it's Combat, so as you note, we don't yet have a reliable replenishment method. Sanjaya, why are you in this competition?

Save for Ruinga.

As an aside, I'm probably not going to use Red XIII in the latter stages of this event. I'm already on Gi Nattak, and I've swapped him out for Vivi, although I'll likely swap Vivi out in the lattermost stages as well. The ++ and +++ bosses have... Adverse reactions to magic attacks. (One uses Reflect as a counter, the other uses Silence.) My final party spread will likely consist of Cloud, Tifa or Sephiroth, Zack, Barret, and Aerith.

But yes, Barret is worth leveling up in the event.

Keep in mind also that there is a bonus quest up! Do you need Aerith? Do you have Aerith and want a growth egg? Bonus quest, go do!

[Chen]

Also of note if you've been consistently clearing complete events, is that Full Break is now craftable. It's a 5* ability that is power, magic, mental and armor break in one. Even better it, stacks with breakdowns. Problem is only 2 uses on initial crafting. It's 10 major power orbs, 6 major ice orbs and 6 major lightning orbs to craft it. To hone up is another 20 major power, 12 major ice and 12 major lightning. I'm missing 18 major power, 3 major ice and 6 major lightning to be able to hone that once, so suffice to say it'll be a LONG time before that happens. Going to wait on crafting it until after the bonus battles in case for some ridiculous reason they decide to give it to us as a reward (hah yeah right).

Still probably the best use of those power orbs (others being flare strike, quick hit and barrage), lightning orbs (other being odin) and ice orbs (other being holy). Eventually lightning will also be used for Mug Time and Ice will be used for Sword Flash, but I have no idea how far away those are.

[Jurai]

FFRKII: Also FFRKIV in Japan.

I'll take this for 1000 Gil, Alex.

Excuse me, is this the Temple of the Ancients- Classic? I hear you need some Masonry work done? I'm Jurai AND I WILL RETURN SOMEDAY, DEMON'S GATE (VII)! I WILL RETURN WITH HATRED AND NUKES AND DEATH, SERVED ON A FRESH HOT PLATTER OF SUFFERING WITH CALAMARI AND DRAGON STEAK ON THE SIDE! YOU WILL EVER REGRET STANDING IN MY WAY; NAY, NOT EVEN THAT, YOU SHALL REGRET VIRTUALLY DRAWING DIGITAL BREATH AS THE PATHETIC FOOL THAT ANIMATED YOU DIED BY YOUR HANDS!

[danzibr]

Quake is good and easy, but Ruinga is what everyone on Reddit has been waiting for. Quake has a 5.6x multiplier, deals Earth damage, and costs Black, Earth, and Dark orbs (5/3/3 to start with). Ruinga has a 5.9x multiplier, deals Non-Elemental damage and thereby avoids both flying immunity and Earth immunity, and costs Black, Holy, and Dark orbs (5/3/3 to start with). There's also a good chance you have more 4-star Holy orbs than Earth orbs, all things considered.

Bladeblitz has a 1.5x multiplier, and costs Power and Wind orbs (5/8 to start with). Further, it's melee, which means it probably won't target an elemental weakness and has a harder time hitting damage cap, and it's Combat, so as you note, we don't yet have a reliable replenishment method. Sanjaya, why are you in this competition?

Save for Ruinga.

As an aside, I'm probably not going to use Red XIII in the latter stages of this event. I'm already on Gi Nattak, and I've swapped him out for Vivi, although I'll likely swap Vivi out in the lattermost stages as well. The ++ and +++ bosses have... Adverse reactions to magic attacks. (One uses Reflect as a counter, the other uses Silence.) My final party spread will likely consist of Cloud, Tifa or Sephiroth, Zack, Barret, and Aerith.

But yes, Barret is worth leveling up in the event.

Keep in mind also that there is a bonus quest up! Do you need Aerith? Do you have Aerith and want a growth egg? Bonus quest, go do!

lulz

Man, all the good stuff takes 4* black orbs (well, not really, but it feels like it). I'm going to have to wait for orb conversion to come around before I can hone anything mentionable.

[DiscipleofBob]

I'll take this for 1000 Gil, Alex.

See I know what you're referencing, but since that's my actual name I can't help but be tickled by this.

[Jurai]

See I know what you're referencing, but since that's my actual name I can't help but be tickled by this.

Wow. I didn't know this. The things you learn on the internet.

[Red Fel]

The things you learn on the internet.

[danzibr]

Any clue when Ruinga is coming out?

Man, I'm worried I won't get Cloud's MCII. What's the difficulty of that event going to be? So much to do, so much to do. Right now my A team (only 1 of them is from VII) is Cloud 65, Tellah 65, Vaan 60ish, Rydia 60ish, and WoL 50. Could train up Barret, Zack, and Red XIII. Also, is it a good idea to swap a 50 Aerith in?

Actually, it'd be kinda cool to go in with Cloud, Zack, Barret, Red XIII, and Aerith (I don't have Tifa or Sephy).

[Red Fel]

Any clue when Ruinga is coming out?

The problem with proposing Meteor as a mook-clearing spell is that the event after this, XIII, features Ruinga as a reward. Ruinga is an AoE Non-Elemental mook-clearing spell - basically Meteor for people who don't want to hone Meteor. Yeah, Meteor will probably cause more damage overall, but Ruinga can get the job done when Quake doesn't, and will do it for cheaper than Meteor.

So, yeah. Coming pretty soon, actually.

Man, I'm worried I won't get Cloud's MCII. What's the difficulty of that event going to be? So much to do, so much to do. Right now my A team (only 1 of them is from VII) is Cloud 65, Tellah 65, Vaan 60ish, Rydia 60ish, and WoL 50. Could train up Barret, Zack, and Red XIII. Also, is it a good idea to swap a 50 Aerith in?

Actually, it'd be kinda cool to go in with Cloud, Zack, Barret, Red XIII, and Aerith (I don't have Tifa or Sephy).

Well, first off, you have to clear the regular event encounters. Then you have to do the boss rush. Here are the details on the boss rush:

1. Guard Scorpion. Medals for using lightning and not being KO'd. Pretty straightforward; he's mostly physical, which is easily mitigated; just avoid attacking while the tail is up.
2. Air Buster. Medals for using lightning and not being KO'd. The trick here is that he counters everything until he has used Big Bomber four times. So you can either burn him down fast or tank through the Big Bomber attacks and then burn him. Either way, mostly physical.
3. Sample H0512. Medals for not being KO'd. Paralyze or Stop the boss and burn down the main body. Any of the critters killed will regenerate, so focus fire.
4. Rufus. Medals for not being KO'd. Abilities are all physical, so Power Break and Protect are your mitigators of choice; Draw Fire + Retaliate is also good option. Shoot Old Yeller first, then kill the big man.

If you've been able to handle boss rushes in the past, this should be manageable. Although you don't need mastery to move on, you can lose a total of 9 medals and still get mastery.

Next, the ++ boss, JENOVA Life. Medals for afflicting her with Stop, not getting KO'd, and not letting Cloud get KO'd. You can afford to lose only three medals for mastery. Luckily, you don't need mastery - the MC2 is a reward for First Time Completion. You only have to win.

By the way, notice one of those medal requirements? Afflicting J-Life with Stop? Yeah, she's susceptible to that, Poison, and Sleep. In other words, if you can keep her Stopped, she does nothing to you, and you can totally ruin her day. Poison will also eat big chunks out of her health. Be advised that she has a counter trigger - if you use magic on her, she will cast Reflect. (Obviously, if she is Stopped, she can't do this.)

[danzibr]

So, yeah. Coming pretty soon, actually.

Well, first off, you have to clear the regular event encounters. Then you have to do the boss rush. Here are the details on the boss rush:

1. Guard Scorpion. Medals for using lightning and not being KO'd. Pretty straightforward; he's mostly physical, which is easily mitigated; just avoid attacking while the tail is up.
2. Air Buster. Medals for using lightning and not being KO'd. The trick here is that he counters everything until he has used Big Bomber four times. So you can either burn him down fast or tank through the Big Bomber attacks and then burn him. Either way, mostly physical.
3. Sample H0512. Medals for not being KO'd. Paralyze or Stop the boss and burn down the main body. Any of the critters killed will regenerate, so focus fire.
4. Rufus. Medals for not being KO'd. Abilities are all physical, so Power Break and Protect are your mitigators of choice; Draw Fire + Retaliate is also good option. Shoot Old Yeller first, then kill the big man.

If you've been able to handle boss rushes in the past, this should be manageable. Although you don't need mastery to move on, you can lose a total of 9 medals and still get mastery.

Next, the ++ boss, JENOVA Life. Medals for afflicting her with Stop, not getting KO'd, and not letting Cloud get KO'd. You can afford to lose only three medals for mastery. Luckily, you don't need mastery - the MC2 is a reward for First Time Completion. You only have to win.

By the way, notice one of those medal requirements? Afflicting J-Life with Stop? Yeah, she's susceptible to that, Poison, and Sleep. In other words, if you can keep her Stopped, she does nothing to you, and you can totally ruin her day. Poison will also eat big chunks out of her health. Be advised that she has a counter trigger - if you use magic on her, she will cast Reflect. (Obviously, if she is Stopped, she can't do this.)

Thanks a ton, Red.

I've never done a boss rush before. I've never even cleared a dungeon with difficulty over 80. Yeah... I think my Cloud will be 65 for a while.

[Red Fel]

Thanks a ton, Red.

I've never done a boss rush before. I've never even cleared a dungeon with difficulty over 80. Yeah... I think my Cloud will be 65 for a while.

No harm in trying.

Worst case, if you have mythril to spare, you can take a shot at the boss rush and just heal in between. If you do that, it's like facing four bosses one at a time instead of one after the other; not a bad arrangement. Facing J-Life is tougher, but if you can keep her Stopped, it's just a question of having the ability uses necessary to burn her down.

[DiscipleofBob]

Just to be clear, how much of the event needs to be mastered as opposed to just cleared in order to get the MCII crystal?

Thisll be my first time even attempting the boss rush. No idea if I'm prepared or not. My 65s include Cloud, Sephy, Vivi, Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka. Other high levels include a 63 Squall, 61 Garnet, 59 Irvine, 55 Rinoa, 55 Edgar, 55 Sabin, 54 Cyan, and an assortment of 50-51s not appearing in this post. As for remaining VII characters a 50 Red XIII, 51 Tifa, 42 Aerith, 21 Barret, and a mint condition never been touched level 1 Zack. ;) I have all the R1 Breakdowns and an R2 Quake, but not Protectga or Shellga yet.

My noteworthy SB gear include a One Winged Angel, a 6* Rising Sun, Yunas staff, Irvines gun, Eikos crown, and after my most recent pull, Tellahs rod and Snows coat.

[Calemyr]

Just to be clear, how much of the event needs to be mastered as opposed to just cleared in order to get the MCII crystal?

Thisll be my first time even attempting the boss rush. No idea if I'm prepared or not. My 65s include Cloud, Sephy, Vivi, Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka. Other high levels include a 63 Squall, 61 Garnet, 59 Irvine, 55 Rinoa, 55 Edgar, 55 Sabin, 54 Cyan, and an assortment of 50-51s not appearing in this post. As for remaining VII characters a 50 Red XIII, 51 Tifa, 42 Aerith, 21 Barret, and a mint condition never been touched level 1 Zack. ;) I have all the R1 Breakdowns and an R2 Quake, but not Protectga or Shellga yet.

My noteworthy SB gear include a One Winged Angel, a 6* Rising Sun, Yunas staff, Irvines gun, Eikos crown, and after my most recent pull, Tellahs rod and Snows coat.

I don't think you need to master anything but the ++ encounter, maybe not even that. Hope not. I'm going to get that crystal, even if I have to spend Mythril to do it. Heck, it's a better use of Mythril than the last 50 I've spent. Not a five in the mix.

[Red Fel]

Just to be clear, how much of the event needs to be mastered as opposed to just cleared in order to get the MCII crystal?

Just to be clear, then. To access the boss rush, you have to have cleared the event. To access J-Life ++, you have to have cleared boss rush. To my knowledge, Mastery is not required. I do not recall being blocked out of a +, ++, or +++ dungeon for failure to have Mastery of prior dungeons.

Then again, I tend to Master, so I may be off. But I recall one time that I completed, but did not master, a boss rush, and was still able to do the ++ boss.

Thisll be my first time even attempting the boss rush. No idea if I'm prepared or not. My 65s include Cloud, Sephy, Vivi, Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka. Other high levels include a 63 Squall, 61 Garnet, 59 Irvine, 55 Rinoa, 55 Edgar, 55 Sabin, 54 Cyan, and an assortment of 50-51s not appearing in this post. As for remaining VII characters a 50 Red XIII, 51 Tifa, 42 Aerith, 21 Barret, and a mint condition never been touched level 1 Zack. ;) I have all the R1 Breakdowns and an R2 Quake, but not Protectga or Shellga yet.

My noteworthy SB gear include a One Winged Angel, a 6* Rising Sun, Yunas staff, Irvines gun, Eikos crown, and after my most recent pull, Tellahs rod and Snows coat.

For your boss rush, you'll want a support, a healer, and somebody capable of doing lightning damage. Your support should use Power Breakdown. Your RW should be either Lunatic High or Sentinel's Grimoire. Everything else is negotiable. Bring whoever you can to fit the roles.

For J-Life, Cloud is mandatory, or else you miss out on three medals right off the bat. If you're not trying for Mastery, this is less of an issue, but Cloud will still be useful, particularly if you have him capped.

On regular J-Life (as opposed to ++ J-Life) my team consisted of a 65 Cloud, Zack and Aerith in their mid-50s, Barret in his 40s, and a 65 Vivi. Cloud used Tempo Flurry and Drain Strike, Zack used Venom Buster and Dismissal, Barret used Power Breakdown and Magic Breakdown, Aerith used Curaga and Shellga, Vivi used Stop and Quake. RW was Lunatic High. The most important thing was Vivi applying Stop as soon as it wore off. J-Life got maybe 4 attacks in over the course of the fight. Obviously, the ++ boss will be harder, but since she's still susceptible to Stop, that's the advantage.

Bring Cloud and Vivi. Use Tidus how I used Zack, grind Aerith up in the Orbfest so she can be your healer. (Her SB makes a useful bonus source of Stop.) For support, use Wakka unless you can bring Barret up to speed.

You still have time with Orbfest before the bonus battles come out, so after you've cleared Cloud's event as best you can, use Orbfest to gather materials for Protectga/Shellga. R2 should be sufficient on each for your needs. R3 Quake is fine, and try to get your Breakdowns to R3 as well.

[Chen]

Just to be clear, how much of the event needs to be mastered as opposed to just cleared in order to get the MCII crystal?

Thisll be my first time even attempting the boss rush. No idea if I'm prepared or not. My 65s include Cloud, Sephy, Vivi, Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka. Other high levels include a 63 Squall, 61 Garnet, 59 Irvine, 55 Rinoa, 55 Edgar, 55 Sabin, 54 Cyan, and an assortment of 50-51s not appearing in this post. As for remaining VII characters a 50 Red XIII, 51 Tifa, 42 Aerith, 21 Barret, and a mint condition never been touched level 1 Zack. ;) I have all the R1 Breakdowns and an R2 Quake, but not Protectga or Shellga yet.

My noteworthy SB gear include a One Winged Angel, a 6* Rising Sun, Yunas staff, Irvines gun, Eikos crown, and after my most recent pull, Tellahs rod and Snows coat.

Your 65 set of characters has 2 physical attackers (Cloud and Seph), a support (Wakka), healer/summoner (Yuna) and black mage (Vivi). That party would be able to clear pretty much any boss rush that has occurred. Depending on your hones you could probably have mastered most of them.

With that group I'd go:
Sephiroth: retaliate/armor break
Cloud: Thundera strike/double cut (or tempo flurry)
Wakka: Power and Magic break(down)
Yuna: Curaga/protectga
Vivi: Thundaga(or -ja)/ stop

Everything is vulnerable to stop during the boss rush. You can use that on the first round to buy time to put your mitigation up. Then just blast everything to death. Use Sentinel Grimoire as your RW for the safe way. Alternatively use Lunatic high and you can give Yuna boost to help increase your retaliate damage on Sephiroth. That said, he'll be hitting like a truck with a one-winged angel anyways.

The fact Jenova life is vulnerable to sleep is insane. Just poison it, put it to sleep and blast with spells until dead.

[Deadline]

Ok, finished off the Terra event bonus battles and have done a full run through the current phase of Orbfest. Now I just need to finish up the Cloud event and then grind Orbfest until the bonus battles drop. I'm rapidly adding to my list of lvl 65 characters.

Edit - Oh! I also have a grand total of 3 character specific 5* weapons. I've got Rydia's Ice Whip from way back on my first 11 pull. Then I did a pull on the recent 6 banner in the hopes of getting one of Terra's items and got ... one of Cyan's katanas. My first 11 pull on the lucky draw got me ... nothing. But then my lucky draw on the most recent phase got me ... Edward's Harp.

I hate you so much RNG. So. Much.

[Jurai]

Chen, having level broken Cloud, he doesn't get Celerity, meaning he can't Tempo Flurry.

[Chen]

Chen, having level broken Cloud, he doesn't get Celerity, meaning he can't Tempo Flurry.

Uh yes he does. He has Combat 5, Spellblade 4 and Samurai and Celerity 3. He can thus use Tempo Flurry. He can't use the other celerity ability we got in that event, Dismissal since that's Celerity 4.

https://ffrkstrategy.gamematome.jp/g...FF%20VII_Cloud

[danzibr]

Ugh. Not sure I can keep playing this game. Barret has less hp than Red XIII. That's right, Barret has *less* hp than Red XIII. Less hp.

Well, I considered taking a bunch of VII people to the VII event, and I can say... I don't like Red XIII at all. I mean, he seems absolutely dreadful.

Out of the current VII people what would be the ideal team? I'm probably going to try to take Cloud for beats, Vaan for support, Tellah for WM and Rydia for BM, then I have one spot open.