Um, if you want to kill all the Espers and Marks, you’ll find it hard going without the best equipment, which you can only get via bazaar items. Having said that, I’d just go for a single Masamune and the Tournesol; you shouldn’t really need any other weapons (you get another Masamune for beating one of the later Marks).
Supposedly you can get super high early in the game by buying Phoenix downs before Penelo even joins your party the first time and repeatedly killing some undead monster over and over.
So essentially you realized the game had no story, then you realized you didn’t like how to make the game work so you made it harder for yourself, then you realized that you made it too hard and tedious for yourself so you’re removing the grind by not doing the extra side stuff to stick to the story you already acknowledged didn’t really exist?
Originally Posted by ME
[i]You know all of this talk about is making me want to go back and finish up the sidequests that I haven’t done yet which includes…Fighting Zodiark and Ultima,
Fighting Ixion, Piscodaemon, The Seer/Shadowseer, Fafnir, and Behemoth King,
Fighting Yiazmat and Omega MKXII,
and other Miscellaneous objectives like getting the WyrmHero Sword and the Tournesol.[/i]
As an update as to my own activities at the moment.
I’ve smote Ixion, Piscodeamon, Shadowseer, Fafnir, Behemoth King and Hell Wyrm.
I’ve also acquired Ultima and a few improved pieces of equipment like Excalibur and a few other miscellaneous pieces of crap.
Started the Fishing minigame making it to midstream.
And gained several more levels going from 62-40 to 73-49.
The only things I have left to do is to bring down the big three. Zodiark, Omega Mk XII, and Yiazmat.
So far I’ve made two attempts to bring down Zodiark, and one attempt against both Omega and Yiazmat (the later of the three not counting since I reset as soon as I was sure that it was there). And barring any more stupidity on either my part (as in going into battle against Zodiark with two of my three reserve characters beserked >.< ), or Squeenix’s part (why do I have to accept the hunt for Yiazmat before I can challenge Omega even though I’m standing right next to him tapping confirm and everything? >_< ) I should be able to trash them within a week.
What? You don’t have to accept the yiazmat hunt to fight Omega, you just need to find the bastard. I beat Omega long before fighting Yiazmat.
As I said I was in the room I circled Omega a couple of times I ran right up to it and performed every action I could think of. And NOTHING happened. Admittedly I had not yet defeated Hell Wyrm and Behemoth King prior to my first attempt.
Did you?
Sin: You’re only half right. There is a story here, but the grinding needed to get thru the game takes away from it. And I realized I was playing the wrong way so I started over and liked it much better the second time. And from the very first time I decided I wasn’t going after random stuff like rare drops or rare beasts; I was doing, and still am, everything else, including all the sidequests.
I’ll admit this game is frustrating, in that it is not as user-friendly as most RPGs. Too much too do, not enough of it very clear. Things like not getting Quickenings early enough can screw you up.
And please, no more snark. I don’t need it.
I did beat hell wyrm but not behemoth king. I don’t remember having to do anything to trigger the fight, but I fought him ages ago. The guide book doesn’t say ANYTHING required for the fight to be available or how to trigger it.
You need to beat the Hell Wyrm for the Yiazmat hunt to start, and you need the Yiazmat hunt already in progress to fight Omega.
Alright, now I remember. what about pushing a button to fight him though?
He’ll start raping you from the very second you enter the area. There’s not even a prior cutscene. Area loads up, you start dying.
So, If you don’t complete these pre-requisites, it just sits there? You should be able to target it, at least. I know that you can target allies, like the various friendly hunters that roam the plains, and you can target characters that are not in the active party, but this… is ridiculous.
Nope. That’s all it does. It just sits there like a rock and you can enjoy the peace and quiet.
Ok, after a hiatus of about two weeks (I had some temporary work to do) I’m back playing the game now. I had some trouble beating Mateus (another Chap Boss- I couldn’t penetrate his Reflect but he could mine? Grrr) but I eventually did. I just reached the Phon Coast today. My characters now have several new spells and I’ve set them up so they keep casting Buffs on each other. Something is wrong with Vaan, however: one of his gambits seems to be defective, because he’s killed himself twice (!) apparently while trying to heal himself, and killed off Ashe once (??) as well. And no, neither character had Reverse cast on it at the moment. The only thing I can figure out is that the Infuse Technique Gambit I put on Vaan (Ally HP Critical -> Infuse) is the cause, but I don’t see how. Is there a bug on my game?
A few other things:
-Does messing around with the battle speed help in any way if you’re playing on Wait mode? I see no difference, even at the slowest setting. It just makes it longer for the fight to resume.
-Should I buy the Grimoires? I know they are supposed to increase the quality of Loot drops, but they’re very expensive, and the few times I had enough money to buy one it would’ve meant not updating the characters’ gear for the next dungeon, and the game’s hard enough as it is. I want to know if it makes a good investment or if I should just wait for later in the the game when I have money left over.
Progress Report: I’m currently in the Tchita Uplands. This area is hard; the monsters here tend to gang up on you. Also they seem to respawn faster than in other areas I’ve been, making it a pain to explore >_< . And I still have a dungeon to tackle afterwards? I can see why everyone says this game has way too much wandering. I decided to teleport out, do some quests and hunts and then come back. Speaking of which, I finally killed the Ring Wyrm, the Earth Tyrant and the Vorpal Bunny; amazingly the last one was the hardest, the damn thing would not stay in one place but instead led me around the jungle and I kept running into other monsters, including an unlimited undead gauntlet like the one in the Henne mines. Feh. I had to consult a FAQ on how to get it; I had to berserk it to get it to stay put (that may seem obvious now, but given how this game doesn’t give you any hints about the Bosses’ immunities, it’s not.)
And I confirmed that Vaan’s use of Infuse was killing those I meant to heal with it. I don’t understand it, sometimes it works and sometimes it kills. It’s either a glitch in my copy of the game, or a randomly-triggered limitation like the one Charge has (which occasionally robs you of your MP instead of restoring it.) Anyway I’m not using it again.
I’m very short on Gil, too; equipment in this game is VERY expensive. I’ve decided to buy the grimoires next chance I get, and see if that helps.
I think the Grimoires are more for the purpose of acquirring rare drops needed for bazaar items than getting a better return on selling loot, but don’t quote me on it.
I’m pretty sure messing with battle speed does nothing for wait mode.
Also, why are you using infuse? Potions are as fast or faster, and healing spells are generally more effective. I understand wanting to use Techniques, but they just generally aren’t worth the trouble (outside maybe Steal, Libra, and Charge when you’re not in combat).
My hope is that I’ll get more valuable loot to sell and thus get some extra $$.
Also, why are you using infuse? Potions are as fast or faster, and healing spells are generally more effective. I understand wanting to use Techniques, but they just generally aren’t worth the trouble (outside maybe Steal, Libra, and Charge when you’re not in combat).
Vaan is my Technique specialist; everyone else has spells. I found it works well because he can spend his MP in summons, transfer it to other members etc. Btw I find healing spells too slow in battle, and I prefer to save potions for the Boss fights. Infuse worked well enough except when it felt like killing my characters instead. >_<
I enjoyed FFXII muchly. Haven’t played it for a couple of months, got 3 more hunts to complete but I think I might pick it up again soon. I agree with the previous comments about the story- the world is so richly and wonderfully rendered it’s a shame the main storyline is so utterly dull. The only bit that was even slightly emotionally affecting was the concept art during the end credits, with a young Dr. Cid proudly holding his baby son. Nice gameplay though; despite a few flaws it was one of the more engaging RPG battle systems I’ve encountered.
I second that. I know you’re trying to play the game in your own way, Wil, but man, techniques SUCK. They really do (as do summons, especially against bosses, arrrrg). They just make the game more complicated to get through and yourself more prone to get your ass kicked. Even telekinesis sucked. I thought it would be cool with greatsword + haste + some other boosts, but NOO. It’s not worth it.
I don’t remember ever having money problems. I’d buy all the grimoires and spend hours farming for valuable loot if I were you. It’s fun.
Sure, if you define “fun” as “boring” X-X
I always had money problems, because I refused to sit around grinding until the very end of the game, where I spent way way WAY too much time doing it.