Record Keeping Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Magic Fanatic]

@Zenny, you're still months ahead in 90% of stuff, we just get a few random quality of life things.  We get a lot more orbs from events than Japan does notably.

@Magic, How much damage mitigation are you using?  Sentinel Grimoire/Stoneskin RW helps immensely with their aoes.  Slowing Yenke and Berserking Biran cuts down their damage output dramatically also.

Winning run had Shellga on Yuna, Berserk from Rinoa, and Slow from Red.  Killing Yenke first also helped, since Biran Berserking himself is more beneficial to me than deadly.

[Cotigo]

Welp, Mythril from Heaven dropped down with the FF8 event, so did my 11 pull on Cloud's BSSB banner, and got... a 5* Bangle and Zack's 5* Glove. Sick. Zach does have 5* Celerity so that's definitely viable, no MC2 and only 3* support though so I don't know how much I care. That ranged MT turn cancel SB could definitely have some use in EX fights though. Additionally, the FF8 event is featuring Selphie's MC2, because hey what I need is more white mages. I am not even sure if I'm being sarcastic or not there.  So hey it looks like Zack, Fran, and Selphie are on the levelling team this Sunday.

BTW, is it safe to assume that since this is Laguna's event that he will be the character I need to keep alive for medals in the EX fights?

EDIT: Oh I just realized with the Deep Dungeon I should actually start farming that area out so I can craft flare and... actually have charges for it thanks to Orb transformation.

Incidentally, I have enough 5* orbs to craft Bahamut!!!!!!111

god i could not care less

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Also, man you guys are getting the orb fest quick. I thought JP was several months ahead of GB for some reason.

We're getting the first orbfest. You guys in JP just went through the second orbfest, which has higher rates in general.

Anyhow, cleared Vaan's event. The Demon Wall fights are funny in that they hardly ask for damage mitigation, but you want STATUS mitigation kinda bad, so I ran two WMs (also useful for slamming both Slowga and Diaga without much tapdancing. Setup was Vaan (Mental Breakdown/Dismissal), Ashe (Quake/Waterja), Rydia (Firaja/Alexander), Y'shtola (Diaga/Esuna, also a Rose Corsage for Silence resistance), Arc (Curaga/Slowga). Went pretty well, full mastery without a fuss.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

BTW, is it safe to assume that since this is Laguna's event that he will be the character I need to keep alive for medals in the EX fights?

Often, but not always true. Check the medal conditions beforehand. Due to the "often" part, however, it rarely hurts to have the featured characters properly levelled anyway.

EDIT: This is also a fairly useful resource: http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/events/

That site has all the past and current events for JP and Global, being updated very often. It's a better resource for us than to you, since datamining for current events is kinda sketchy and the guy updates as the events go live, but it's helpful anyway. For us in Global, this is -ridiculously- useful for planning setups, though.

[Cotigo]

Still useful, at least. I've been using the JP site and it is pretty useful but sometimes I err on the side of laziness because reading Japanese is still an enormous pain in the ass (I am pretty sure I chose to keep studying this language because I enjoy languishing in futility). That said the JP version has users posting what setups they used so that's still more useful when planning fights, but either way.

Also, Shadow Creepers. That makes way more sense. I was thinking they were trying to call them Shadow Clippers. As per my MO, though, I like my name better though so will continue to use that.

Mostly posting this now because I'm planning things, writing things out helps, and I won't have the timebux to try it for another two hours. Think I'll be able to beat him regardless, but the mastery nets me 6 5* Fire orbs and 1 6* Black orb so want.

I need to off Bahamut before he uses Gigaflare and Petaflare twice each. If I deal enough damage in 3 turns the spells don't actually go off, so... does this mean successfully casting GF/PF, or just activating the charging phases? Unclear. I'll probably have to do this fight a second time for the mastery anyway after scouting out how much damage I do/take so I'll play around with this. He starts using Petaflare at low HP apparently, so worst case scenario I have to get him to low HP before his second Gigaflare use, and then kill him before his second Petaflare use. Complicating this, I need to off 8 shadow creepers for the mastery. They're weak to fire, and the event just handed me a MT Fire samurai skill (hereby referred to as "Flaming Weeaboo" because I cannot read the kanji), so that's in... Not sure how much HP they have, so maybe hone Quake to R3 (not enough wind orbs for Valefor to R3, which is the other, worse option) and have Faith on one of my WMs.

Bahamut also defends against breaks, so maybe sub out Gilgy for Faris (and throw her some eggs so she's at least L65)
In light of that, I suppose I'll go...

Seph (R5Reta, R3Flaming Weeabo)
Terra (R5Cheer, R3Quake) + Dualcast RM
Yuna (R2Shellga, R5Curaga)
Aerith (R2Protectga, R3Faith)
Faris (R5Tempo Furry, R2Armor Breakdown)

and basically holding off on going into the actual fight until I roll a Sentinel Grimiore / Stoneskin RW. Less optimal, but Lunatic High/Good Time would let me swap out Protectga/Shellga respectively for Strongwater (WM phys buff), making reta better.

Depending on how the fight goes, on my mastery attempt if I'm having trouble killing Bahamut quickly enough I could swap Terra for Gilgy and have him have Double Hit, and then use Strongwater instead of Faith, and then keep rolling until I get either Lunatic High or Good Time, Swap out the respective skill for Valefore, then try to blitz them down. Gilgamesh has an MT SB with the Partisan at least, so that will maybe make up for losing 4 total spell charges in the Quake-Valefor change.

If I'm having trouble getting the 8 Shadow Clippers, hone Faith again, roll until I get LH/GT, swap out the respective buff for Valefor.

If I'm having trouble beating the fight at all... well, see what's going horribly wrong and plan from there.

K that's the game plan. I'll see how this shit goes down.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Also, Shadow Creepers. That makes way more sense. I was thinking they were trying to call them Shadow Clippers. As per my MO, though, I like my name better though so will continue to use that.

Zenny is the reason we have Y Burn.

Seph (R5Reta, R3Flaming Weeabo)
Terra (R5Cheer, R3Quake) + Dualcast RM
Yuna (R2Shellga, R5Curaga)
Aerith (R2Protectga, R3Faith)
Faris (R5Tempo Furry, R2Armor Breakdown)

What is Quake doing for you in this setup? Killing Shadow Creepers? I'm not sure what you mean by 'I need to kill 8 Shadow Creepers for mastery'? Are they some kind of respawning mob during the Bahamut fight? The leadup trash mobs? Also, Flaming Weeaboo and Tempo Furry sound like good friends.

[Cotigo]

Shadow Clippers are 2 additional enemies alongside Bahamut SIN. After you kill them once, they respawn on a timer. They also apparently inflict status (what status? The game didn't say. Fuckers) so downing them ASAP seems like a better policy than having Esuna take up a slot ATM*, and 6 slightly weaker MT shots sounds better than 8 ST almost-guaranteed-9999s. I need to kill a total of 8 of these to get medals.

*If I'm wrong about this, swapping Quake for Strongwater and putting Esuna on one of the WMs seems like a good deal.

EDIT: Motherfucker Ted Woolsey ain't got nothing on me

[Captain K]

Putting this here so I can find it.

http://imgur.com/gvJNZ4U

[Cotigo]

Oh Dang Neph can you put that in the top post?

EDIT Note to self, Ultima is the same cost As Flare, just one Orb Tier up (so 10x more orbs required)

EDIT2 Bahamut notes:

Still S/Ling, but the results of this foray are looking grim. Things I've ascertained so far...

1. I neglected to give Aeris something useful to do that also builds SB. This was the fatal flaw that lead to this try being untenable, above all else.
2. Armor breakdown, by virtue of being single target here, is not worth the ability slot.
3. Quake was a mistake. Even buffed, it is dealing less than 5000 damage, and that's roughly EDIT: 10% of the Shadow Clippers' HP. It is taking up two ability slots (Q+Faith) and is not at all worth it. Dualcast would have to proc waaaay more than it does to be worth it.
4. One person on Curaga duty isn't enough even with stacking damage mitigation with the current setup.

In lieu of all this, I think next time I'll swap Terra out for Gilgamesh, and go

Seph (Reta, Reta)
Gilgy (Double Hit, Flaming Weeaboo)
Faris (Cheer, Fox Only Final Destination Delay)
Yuna (Shellga, R4Curaga)
Aeris (Protectga, R5Curaga)

Other things of note: most of the damage in this fight is physical, so Taunt+Reta on Gilgy (and moving FWeeaboo back to Seph) is an option for damage mitigation, and would potentially free up my Protectga slot for Diaga. Actually, come to think of it, with Aerith's rod that may end up being more damage in the long run, plus more SB building.

Gotta say, thinking about this fight, and even the fights before it (though obsessing about those did not matter)... my opinion of this game has changed drastically since I first got addicted to it. There's, like, actual DECISIONS to be made and plans to be planinated. I do wish it preyed less on the addictive personality mindset (and, having 110 timebux helps, since that's over 5.5 hours of free time before you have to spend if you're falling for that trap like, well, me), but when you actually get to the big boy part of the game it's actually pretty good.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Gotta say, thinking about this fight, and even the fights before it (though obsessing about those did not matter)... my opinion of this game has changed drastically since I first got addicted to it. There's, like, actual DECISIONS to be made and plans to be planinated. I do wish it preyed less on the addictive personality mindset, but when you actually get to the big boy part of the game it's actually pretty good.

THIS is pretty much why I stick to the game. It has an interesting metagame and it's very clear DeNa pays attention to gameplay and varied battle design. It's a very solid gameplay-driven RPG experience under the insidious F2P skinner box bullshit.

Also, regarding Bahamut SIN, you could use Retaliate+Draw Fire on Gilgy and hand him Seph's katana to mitigate the Shadow Creepers to a degree, no?

[Cotigo]

Definitely an option! I do think, though, that since Weeaboo Flame is a guaranteed 9999 to both of them that giving that up may be a mistake, especially since keeping Seph on the team would give me the occasional 9999 Hell's Gate. That said, doing so would let me get Cheer/Waterja Terra back on the field and put A.Breakdown back on Faris, but I dunno if that's worth giving up Flaming Weeaboo. I thiiiiink that makes the Seph-Gilgy-Faris strat slightly better, but we'll see.

In any case, first run was a wash and I've now just given up on S/Ling that. Trying these strats will have to wait til tomorrow.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Yeah, I think your Tauntaliate strategy is the best option given what you've said. I'd also toss Josef's Record Materia 2 on one of the healers for more retaliate hits.

Out of curiosity, what are you using for your Roaming Warrior? If you think you can do without Sentinel's Grimoire, you should totally just go full Advantauntaliate and find a Luneth with Advance for Gilgamesh. That's almost always better damage in the long run if you have to clear everything in a mere 3 turns.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Flaming Weeaboo could be Gilg's second skill depending on your hones, no? A single R5 Reta lasts you literally through anything. What kinda sucks on your setup is not having an attack buff to stack with Boost (and those are uh SBs that buff two stats at once and you can't give up SG. I've seen vids on that fight and that's WAY too much offense), but that's a problem with physical setups in general. Also, you may want to use Water of Strength instead, since it boosts ATK by more than Boost.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Since you're using Faris anyway, you could try the Def-down Dance ability to help kill off the mobs. It's only Def-30% instead of Armor Breakdown's -40%, but it's MT. (And you can throw the Josef RM2 on her instead to let her contribute to Reta-Meta as both Cheerleader and double-hitter.)

Does B.SIN have Break resistance? Does Break Resistance apply to Dances? Anyone know? Dances aren't in Global yet, so...

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Does B.SIN have Break resistance? Does Break Resistance apply to Dances? Anyone know? Dances aren't in Global yet, so...

Yes and yes.

[Cotigo]

No Josef materia, so no on that.

The main reason for using Gilgy over Seph would be Reta+Draw Attack, because I really really need that damage mitigation, so no I can't put FWeeb on him.

Nobody uses Luneth's SB as a RW on JP, like, at all. I've only ever actually heard about it from your guys' posts. And regardless, I definitely think damage mitigation is the way to go for this fight as far as RWs go. Even going Lunatic High over Grimiore sounds risky since in my opinion Taunt doesn't draw 100% of all attacks, and even with Shell+Grim Megaflare was an MT 1.8-1.9HKO. The buff from haste and extra skill slot may well make up for that though.

Good to know about Strongwater. May be more worthwhile than Waterja if I keep Terra in for sure, and may actually be better than having a slot for Diaga if I ditch terra and go Seph+Gilgy. The debuff dance is actually a potentially good idea, because while SBaha has break resist, I'm pretty sure the Clippers don't.

[Cotigo]

Nobody uses Luneth's SB as a RW on JP

this sentence made sense to you all

now go fucking re-evaluate your lives

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Nobody uses Luneth's SB as a RW on JP, like, at all. I've only ever actually heard about it from your guys' posts.

Part of it is because JP took A LOT longer to both patch away the Vit-0 exploit, which made your own ATK nigh-irrelevant, and to have the ATK soft caps upped, which overemphasized mage meta to a huge degree. Over here, not only Vit-0 got patched out early, but they added the first ATK soft cap adjustment along with it. Additionally, we also already have the second soft cap tweak (and that's been a while ago). Setting up Advantaliate is a lot easier in a pre-power creep stage as a rule of thumb. I think Advantaliate will start waning in use as a strategy as soon as the Misfortune fights become commonplace, to boot. By the way, Reta catches all -physical-typed- physicals. There are physical attacks that are NAT-typed, so they go through it (example: boss Beatrix's Shock, Jenova BIRTH's lasers). I'd be frankly shocked it Bahamut SIN didn't have at least -one- attack like that.

Nobody uses Luneth's SB as a RW on JP

this sentence made sense to you all

now go fucking re-evaluate your lives

what have we done

[Captain K]

DeNa is slowly phasing out Advantaliate as a viable strategy anyway.  I'm loving the crying posts on Reddit about Sanctuary Keeper.  Advance lowers your defense, which normally isn't a problem when you're using Retaliate - but most of Sanctuary Keeper's physicals ignore Retaliate.

I've used Retaliate strategies very sparingly so far, so I'm not addicted to them like many are.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Reta-meta as of now isn't even optimal for a lot of content it used to mulch. 90+ difficulty dungeons don't fear Boost+Reta anymore, a lot of randoms don't even get 2HKOed by basic physicals even boosted unless you're running realm synergy off -at least- 4+* equips. The only thing keeping Retaliate relevant is Advantaliate, and that's a pain in the ass to set up due to the primitive friend system. I mostly shrugged off Retaliate shenanigans as soon as trash mobs stopped being 2HKOed by Boost'd basic physicals and I have absolutely no regrets. It's not like I'm neglecting physicals entirely anyway (I'm honing both Pound and Dismissal, have a full bevy of R5 -ra Strikes etc), but magic just soars ahead for straight-up offense at this point. We're already reaching the point where a physical party requires more and better equipment than a mage setup just because of the disparity in mults.

[DjinnAndTonic]

As someone who is rocking all kinds of physical (and exactly 1 magical) 5-star relics... Boost Reta-Meta is still just fine for mastering basically everything since they made the mastery requirements less restrictive. Without having to clear each fight in 1.5 rounds, it's also a lot less stressful than hoping that my spell hones don't run out because I was forced to bring 2-use summons and quake or else risk having to run the whole dungeon again due to one lost action medal on trash. *grrrrrrr* The Darkest of Times.

[Magic Fanatic]

I am going to agree: Advantaliate strategies are still viable, they just require quite a bit of set-up.

For example, my Championed run against Sanctuary Keeper:

Wakka L49 - Magic Breakdown R1/Tempo Flurry R5
Yuna L51 - Curaga R3/Shellga R1 - Light of the Fayth
Auron L50 - Armor Break R2/Retaliate R4 - Self-Sacrifice
Rinoa L60 - Venom Buster R1/Reflect R2 - Double Hit
Y'shtola L54 - Curaga R1/Protega R1 - Cultured Conjurer
RW: Luneth - Advance

Granted, I had to follow a very specific order of actions with Auron, and if I couldn't poison SK in the two shots of Venom Buster that I had, it was a S/L.  Granted, I don't have the skills for a proper mage reta, so I wound up losing three of the 18 medals - two for damage taken, one for actions taken.

[Veryslightlymad]

I use neither Mage meta nor RetaMeta.

I'm a bit behind everyone here, my highest dude is level... uh... 54? and I just crafted my very first four star ability.

I get by with 4 physical fighters and 1 mage. I think the only reason I can challenge 80+ dungeons (...and yet sometimes I struggle on like, 60ish....) is because of taking advantage of every status I can get my hands on. Between religiously checking the docs to see what I can throw at what bosses and pretty much all of my RW summons being monster defense ones (or deprotega), I can consistently grind just about anything down in a brutal slugfest. I have a high level Chakra on Josef and a high level Drain Blade on Cloud, so I have two self-sufficient fighters, which takes a lot of stress off of my sole mage.

Now that I have Auron's weapon, I give serious thought to berserking anything I can. I can probably outlast all but the really elite bosses right now, but I can definitely outlast anything that's pure physical.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

As someone who is rocking all kinds of physical (and exactly 1 magical) 5-star relics... Boost Reta-Meta is still just fine for mastering basically everything since they made the mastery requirements less restrictive.

Yeah, the less restrictive part really does help. I stopped using Retaliate against trash mobs at a time when they still had 2.5 actions per wave as a threshold and I had just enough hones on summons and both Spring RMs to last me through all waves and just stuck with it. Mage parties are just so good at clearing trash I kept it that way even past the scoring tweaks. Weirdly, I use Retaliate most often when I need both physical and magical damage against certain -bosses-, like the DU10 Edea fight.

[Veryslightlymad]

Just noticed Garuda is range-only. Don't think I can swing that, although I have 4 or 5 leveled up black mages of different flavors.
Any idea what its HP is? I actually might stand a chance by maging the hell out of it and summoning Cap'n's Balthier a few times.