Record Keeping Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I've been sitting on the Major Earths needed for R3 Saint Cross for a while. Problem is I'm still 20 Major Holies short. Oh well, there's always Full Charge in the future to look forward to.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Wow, the next event in JP will be FF9, sporting new BSBs for Eiko and Vivi, as well as new SSBs for Quina, Steiner and Freya. Beatrix and Zidane BSBs make a return, as well as Garnet's Hastega SSB. Amarant gets jack shit. Both banners look ridiculously impressive, as it's become the norm for FF9 events.

[Shale]

I'm only one MEO short of R3'ing Saints Cross... The bigger problem is the 31 holy orbs I need.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Good thing R2 Saint Cross works pretty well as long as you have a R4 4* backup for your second ability slot.

[Shale]

Which indeed I do, so I'm not crying over it.

[Meeplelard]

Sounds like this new FF9 event is also adding Chain Firaga.  Nice to know they're not being lazy about the release of the new 5* Elemental Spells beyond Chain Blizzaga, and trying to release them promptly.   Hopefully Chain Thundaga comes not too long from now, and maybe they'll even give us Chain Waterga as well.

[hinode]

I've been sitting on the Major Earths needed for R3 Saint Cross for a while. Problem is I'm still 20 Major Holies short. Oh well, there's always Full Charge in the future to look forward to.

What have you spent your Major Holy Orbs on? I've had enough for R3 Saint Cross since the Relm event, and I know that you've spend far more time on orb farming than me. It's pretty much my crutch for damage considering I have zero SSBs and typically run 2 White Mages for hard content.

Shale's a latejoiner, so his case is obviously different.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Some of it was converting for stuff like R5 Curaja, a second Diaga for WM Nightmare and instant R4 Banishing Strike, as well as R3 4* dances, some of it was R5 Alexander and some of it R2 Multibreak. It... honestly could've actually been worse, since I slacked on the last orbfest (no refreshes at all) and I have R2 Saint Cross.

[Captain K]

15 mythril on squall 1, all four stars.

[Meeplelard]

100 Gems on the new banner, got a 3* Shield!  Well, that was a wash, but to be expected considering what I got on my last 100 Gem Draw.

[Cmdr_King]

With R3 Saint's Cross and R4 Banishing Strike in hand, finally mopped up U+ Dr. Cid.

Relevant Synergy gear- 5+ Dagger, 4+ Axe, 5 star staff.

Sephiroth (Black Materia, Indoor Spell/Flashing Blade)
Locke (Valiant Strike, Dismissal/Treasure Hunter's Raid (bonus: FINALLY got him up to 170 speed without RS))
Agrias (Cleansing Strike, Saint's Cross/Banishing Strike)
Ramza (waifu, Power Breakdown/Armor Breakdown)
Tyro (SG, Protectga/Curaja)
RW: Shout

Nothing fancy.  Dr. Cid just doesn't have the speed or variety to keep pressure on you if you don't kill his support bots, so he's mostly trying to outlast your hones.  Multiple SSBs mock this strategy.

Also cleared out the Crushdown Nightmare.

Tyro (SG, Banishing Strike/Curaja)
Tidus (Jecht Shot, Dismissal/Tempo Flurry)
Sephiroth (as above)
Agrias (Cleansing Strike, Saint's Cross/Armor Strike)
Zack (Assault Rush, Double Cut/Drain Strike)
RW: Shout

Whiffed mastery the first time around due to triggering an accidental Gravija and Tyro and Tidus dying plus Sephiroth falling asleep; fell one medal short.  Tried it without Shout (I'd blown through my friends list and figured what the hell), and yeah no that wasn't happening. Had an S/L on the next Shout run because basically everything went pear shaped and I'm not entirely sure how.  Everything went smooth after that.

So, time to think about the Reraise Nightmare.  Actual WM SBs:
Tyro's SG (Wall)
Y'shtola's SSII (Wall)
Vanille's Miracle Prayer (Curaga-all/Ether)
Exdeath's Grand Cross (damage/Runic+)
Beatrix's Seiken Stock Break (damage)
Aeris' Dragon Force (Blink)

So... options?  But not good ones?  I hesitate to say that having both walls is valuable, and Y'shtola's stuck without an MC2 still.  Granted so's Exdeath.  Beatrix is too, however the Kuja event drops immediately after and has her MC2 so it'll be available well before the dungeon closes.  It counters physical attacks, so Beatrix is somewhat wasted aside from the SB itself, however that may well be a difference maker for phase 2 of the fight.  Aeris might be worth using just for lack of better options since she can sling a Diaga as well as any of them and Blink, as long as Photon Spray checks it, could be handy.  Flip side it doesn't use many actual SPELLS so Grand Cross would also be there just for the MT damage.  Granted the calculus here could change a lot if I draw anything useful between here and there.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Pulled on Squall's banner...

BURST!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I FINALLY GOT A BURST!!! 

Also, Edea's SSB, so now I'm ready for that damned Ifrit when he shows up.

Yes, I realize now that I am probably the luckiest asshole here now. Ever since Fenrir left, my luck has gotten much better.... hmmm....

Well, that checks off everything was on my "to get" list for relics. I have two Walls, a couple Medicas and Hastegas, Shout, Focus, vanilla Boostga/Faithga, a 5* of every weapon type except like... Hammers and Dolls, a bunch of damage SSBs physical and magical...

I don't have Reraise nor a HotE clone but those are VERY low priority, so I don't see myself pulling anything except Lucky Banners for a while...

I'm gonna have so much Mythril! (Until Terra's Burst comes out and I spend it all chasing that dragon... sigh... At least I have her SSB and that's not going anywhere...)

[Shale]

Champ'd Doctor Cid on my first try! Lost one medal for KO'd characters because Ramza ate a Cyclotron+Drain combo early (glad I didn't hone FB just for this fight) and then Agrias took another one very late, but by that point I could have beaten him just by using Leeching Leap a couple of times. Leaving the Rooks alive and spamming Banishing Strike makes the whole thing incredibly non-threatening unless they decide to focus down one character.

The regular Ultimate was harder, requiring a good bit of S/L to get past turn 3, but that was only because I brought no physical mitigation. I didn't especially need it for the long haul when Crushing Blow + Faithful Companion nuke the support Judges and Blind Shell neutralizes most of the boss' physicals, but it took some time to make all that happen before anybody died.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Dr. Cid is one of the first big fights where having a Wall actually isn't a gamechanger (mainly because his noteworthy offense is ITD. The Rooks' Drain hurts, but it honestly doesn't come up often). That'll be more and more of a thing, monstrosities like Fragment Ifrit aside. Due to his gimmick (punishing AoE with his Tokamak unlock, mainly), Dr. Cid actually isn't a big deal.

In other news, done with first part of Edea's event. Ran the + battles with a full relicless team and it was actually kind of fun to use Penelo as a dedicated Support. In practice, it meant I had only three offensive PCs, but that wasn't a big deal, FF8 bosses are generally very straightforward.

[Captain K]

Ultimate 12 fight was dead easy, due to him being weak to slow.  Mug Time trivializes any battle where bosses can be slowed.

Ultimate + required a bit more experimenting.  I really like that + fights cost 1 stamina.  I don't feel like I'm wasting stamina if I stop and change my loadout.

Lenna (Curaja, Holy, Mako Might)
Pecil (Banishing Strike, Saint's Cross, Pride of the Red Wings)
Selphie (Shellga, Reflect, Dr. Mog's Teachings)
Balthier (Steal Power, Firaga Strike, Master Sniper)
Gilgamesh (Retaliate, Draw Fire, Dragoon's Determination)
Djinn's shiny new Lion's Roar as RW

So the idea is to Banishing Strike Cid, sneak a quick Holy in, then Reflect him.  Gilgamesh neutralizes everything that isn't Cyclotron and Drain.  Shellga is essential because Drain hurts.  Repeat the Banishing Strike chain whenever he uses Greater Barrier.  Ignore the Rooks so Cid never leaves Phase 1.  Lion's Roar gives Pecil and Balthier something to do when they're out of attacks (and because you don't want to Banishing Strike constantly).  Under Steal Power, the Squall fire attack was doing about 8000, so pretty decent.  Very slow fight but very safe.  Lost 1 action medal and 1 damage medal.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Ultimate 12 fight was dead easy, due to him being weak to slow.  Mug Time trivializes any battle where bosses can be slowed.

Djinn's shiny new Lion's Roar as RW

Yay! I'm helping!

Also, I have to agree that Mug Time (even at R1) has made for some awesome QoL changes against any of the slow-able bosses. Not having to worry about S/L proccing Slow off of Tempo Flurry nor wasting a slot on damageless (and still unreliable!) Slowga is just -nice-. Still not gonna hone it until 5* Orbs are literally raining like 3* ones, but it's a nice option at R1.

[Captain K]

It's how us poor folk without Hastega survive.

Apparently I missed the Nightmare Dungeon.  Thought it would be open longer.  Ah well it'll be back next month.

Finished Squall event.  Very unremarkable.  Need to spend all my remaining mythril on banner 2 cause my 8 synergy *suuuuucks* and Ifrit is going to bend me over.

[Cotigo]

Yeah man get that 8 synergy in it is literally the only battle released so far worth log term planning for.

This Golden Week event is treating me well. Orbs kinda have been loooow priority after dedicating 6 months to basically nothing but farming, but it has been nice getting my SB and SSB characters to 79/80. Also cleaning up a few relevant RMs, notably Cid 7's EXP booster and Quina's (ugh) Spear damage booster.

I quite enjoy how there hasn't been anything I feel I need to dump mythril into, and can just enjoy watching the number next to my mythril icon rise.

I don't like that the first MC3 is gotten through gambling and is potentially missable. The want for L99 BSSB Bartz is strong. Im glad I played FF5 last year cuz that fulfills waifu urges as well.

In other news, Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Finished Squall event.  Very unremarkable.  Need to spend all my remaining mythril on banner 2 cause my 8 synergy *suuuuucks* and Ifrit is going to bend me over.

My FF8 synergy is currently pretty good, but I want almost everything on that banner anyway. I don't have an AoE Faithga, I don't have a SSB-level Medica (and Selphie's one of the best in the lot) and I don't have Light Armors that improve offensive stats. Even Zell's glove wouldn't go amiss given how scarce my fist roster is and I could at least combine the Inferno Fang. Only real dud is the Pinwheel, since I already have -two- FF8 thrown weapons. So yeah, I'm pulling.

[Nitori]

who needs wall

[Captain K]

Garnet does apparently.

[Nitori]

100 gem (Balthier 2) - Holy Rod
100 gem (Squall 1) - Ulysses

maybe I should've done those first

[Magic Fanatic]

100 Gem draws: Trash as usual.  Back to being the unluckiest person in the DL, I guess.

Ultimate: Manhandled with Bartz/Squall/Rinoa/Y'shtola/Ramza.
Ultimate+: Manhandled with Bartz/Squall/Rinoa/Y'shtola/Ramza, though it got pretty hairy at points.

EDIT:

Sitting on 71 Mithril right now.  Wondering if I should chance a pull for either Irvine's Canister Shot or Zell's Different Beat/Selphie's Dreamstage/Rinoa's GF Brothers/Edea's Parade...  Or just hoard it for the BSB festival in the future.

Leaning hoarding.

[Meeplelard]

100 GEM PULL GETS ME A 4*! ...it's an FF6 Crystal Sword though so might as well be a 3*, blech.


Anyway, ultimates beaten, set ups for both!

Disciplinary Committee (not bothering with equips):

Terra: R3 Meteor, R4 Thundaja, Mako's Might RM
-Has Minotaur's Plate for a Shellga Soul Break
Rinoa: R2 Bahamut, R5 Biora, Devotion RM
-Has Rising Sun for a Synergy weapon
Lulu: R5 Thundaga, R3 Blizzaja, Ace Striker RM
-Has Focus for a Soul Break
Yuna: R4 Curaja, R2 Protectga, Knight's Charge RM
-Has Hymn of the Fayth
Tyro: R4 Aerora Strike, R2 Multi Break, Dr. Mog's Teachings RM
-Has Sentinel Grimoire
RW: Magic Infusion

Yeah, Mage Meta'd it, worked pretty well.  My priority was killing Fuijin hence why Lulu is using Thundaga of all things.  Mostly just focused killing Fuijin, Terra firing Meteors when she died, Rinoa opening with Bahamut, swapping to Biora because they're all weak to it, you get the idea.  Only one reset but not because of problems arising in the fight, but bceause I had Tyro open with Magic INfusion accidentally when I wanted sentinel Grimoire and really didn't want to bother.

Ultima Weapon, I tried Mage Meta, but my Synergy gear isn't good enough, so I didn't have the offense without using a Mithril, so after two attempts and seeing Light Pillar on the 2nd, was clear that wasn't going to work.  To be clear, I had 0 problems with survival.
Thank you Ultimate + Fights taking only 1 Stamina thus allowing for actual experimentation.  So my winning run?

Seifer: R4 Banishing Strike, R2 Saint's Cross, Dragoon's Determination RM
-Is using Celes' Excalibur, has Bloodfest for relevant Soul Breaks
Auron: R5 Armor Break, R4 Lifesiphon, Pride of the Red Wings RM
-Has Banishing Strike for Soul Breaks; Armor Break mostly there as a combination of "insure I get that req in" and "not much better because Auron's just going to spam Lifesiphon and SSBs anyway"
Ramza: R2 Full Break, R4 Magic Breakdown, Mako's Might
-Has Shout...do I really need to say anything else?
Yuna: R4 Curaja, R2 Protectga, Knight's Charge RM
-Healer etc
Tyro: R2 Shellga, R4 Firaja, Dr. Mog's Teachings
-Sentinel Grimoire; he's using Rinoa's Rising Sun, hence the usage of Firaja instead of a physical.  Also has Fire Armlet to boost it further
RW: Hand of the Emperor

Really the strategy above is straight forward; Hand of the Emperor chosen because nothing else seemed interesting, might as well boost defense and get a slight bonus to damage as well.  1 Medal loss.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Okay, as planned, three 11-pulls on banner 2. Results: 1x Inferno Fang, 2x Seifer's Coat, 1x Party Dress and 1x Sorceress' Crown. No SSB, but I got all the armors I wanted and I got a tool to viabilize mage parties, along with a way to viabilize pretty princess Cloud. Certainly not complaining. Also worth noting the party dress came from the 100-gem pull.

Also beat the bonus battles, but I'll talk about these later.