We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
- nosimpleway
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We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Hey guys, remember way back in 2012 when I did my very first Let's Play? This should look pretty familiar! Yes, I am back on my bullshit and running a Let's Play of a game I've already done.
"But R2," I hear you say, "you pretty much just do randomizer runs anymore. And you cut off your last LP halfway through because they're too time-consuming to do. What's the deal with a full LP thread?"
Like I said, I'm back on my bullshit: as this wounded samurai demonstrates, this is in fact another randomizer run. So I'm skipping most of the script, we all know the plot to Final Fantasy Tactics already, right? That should shave down to a managable level the amount of time it takes to post. Hell, for once this might be a game that takes more time to play than it does to talk about in thread.
Chapter 1, Battle 1: Outside Orbonne: It's In This Post
Chapter 1, Battle 2: Gariland Magic City: It's Just Squires and Chemists
Chapter 1, Battle 3: Mandalia Plains: Saving Algus Because We Have To
Chapter 1, Battles 4, 5, and 6: Sweegy Woods, Dorter Trade City, and Zeklaus Desert: whoops
Chapter 1, Battle 7: Thieves' Fort: A Fresh New Face
Chapter 1, Battle 8: Lenalia Plateau: I Have Always Relied on the Kindness of Random Mages
Chapter 1, Battle 9: Fovoham Plains: wasn't me
Chapter 1 FINAL: Fort Zeakden: Then Fly to Cinnabar Island
Chapter 2, Battle 1: Dorter Trade City: again but worse
Chapter 2, Filler 1: Araguay Woods: The Difference Between Wark and Kweh
Chapter 2, Battle 2: Zirekile Falls: Aegis
Chapter 2, Battle 3: Zaland Fort City: "A tsunami. At this time of day, at this time of year, this far inland, localized entirely in the space necessary to kill my wizards?" "Yes."
Chapter 2, Battle 4: Bariaus Hill: Is It "Battle" or "Filler"? I'm Not Actually Sure
Chapter 2, Filler 2: Zigolis Swamp: Too Angry To Care About The Poison Swamp
Chapter 2, Battle 5: Goug Machine City: Taurus Stone
Chapter 2, Battle 6: Bariaus Valley: Save The Bait
Chapter 2, Battle 7: Golgorand Execution Site: Cut Loose from the Noose
Chapter 2 FINAL: Lionel Castle: Hnnrrrgh... Cardinal! I'm trying to sneak around but I'm dummy thicc and the clap of my ass cheeks keeps alerting Gafgarion
Chapter 3, Battle 1: Goland Coal City: The Stars Align
Chapter 3, Battle 2: Lesalia Imperial Capital: Just Got Back from the Auto-de-Fe
Chapter 3, Battles 3, 4 & 5: Orbonne Book Storage: A Three-Parter
Chapter 3, Filler: Grog Hill, Yardow Fort City, and Yuguo Woods: Speed Bumps Ahead
Chapter 3 FINAL: Stately Riovanes Castle: Three-Parter Trifecta Complete
Chapter 4, Filler 1 and Battle 1: Doguola Pass and Bervenia Free City: A Doguola is a Cross Between a Dog and a Koala, Obviously
Chapter 4, Filler 2 and Battle 2: Finath River and Zeltennia Castle: Sho Is One Fin-Ath River
Chapter 4, Battle 3: Bed Desert: That Poison is Some Bullshit
Chapter 4, Filler 3 and Battle 4: Bethla Garrison: That's a Lot of Dam Water
Chapter 4, Filler 4 and 5: Germinas Peak and Poeskas Lake: Salty, Like Your Attitude
Chapter 4, Battles 5, 6 & 7: Limberry Castle: Is a Limberry Like a Tonberry?
Chapter 4, Battle 8: Igros Castle: End of Belouve's
Chapter 4, Filler 6 and Battles 9 & 10: The Vatican: Two Popes per Square Mile
Chapter 4, Filler 7 & 8: Back to Orbonne: It Ends Where It Began
Chapter 4 FINAL: The Necrohol of Mullonde and the Graveyard of Airships
Having completed a run with only enemies and formations randomized, I then ran a new seed with almost every flag in the randomizer turned on. I'm also running out of episode titles so I'm not doing those.
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 1: Orbonne Intro & Gariland
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 2: Mandalia Plains and earlygame grind
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 3: Getting murdered by Wiegraf a lot, Sweegy Woods, getting murdered by Wiegraf some more, and Dorter Trade City
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 4: Sandrat's Hideout and Thieves' Fort
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 5: End of Chapter 1: Totally Not Fovoham Plains and Lenalia Plateau. Fort Zeakden is still Fort Zeakden though.
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 6: Opening Chapter 2
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 7: Into Lionel
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 8: Inquisitors in Warjilis, End of Chapter 2
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 9: Opening Chapter 3
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 10: Orbonne Library Cellars
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 11: Chapter 3 filler. With special guests!
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 12: Riovanes Castle, End of Chapter 3
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 13: Start of Chapter 4, Goland Colliery
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 14: The Actual Start of Chapter 4
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 15: Bethla Garrison Sluice Gate again, through Nelveska Temple
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 16: Limberry and Igros. And grinding.
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN part 17: Vatican Raid
and Deep Dungeon
RUMBLE CHAOS CRASHDOWN FINAL: Ultima's Guest
Chapter 1, Battle 1: Outside Orbonne
So, let's see. For our introductory battle Rad is a monk, Alicia and Lavian are Time Mages, and the enemy has a Monk and a couple of White Mages replacing their usual Chemist.
Also I have full control of everybody on my side, a little added effect from the randomizer patch.
The Monk knows some Time Magic.
Rad, you're a Monk, but that down before you hurt yourself.
LAVIAN YOU ARE A TIME MAGE PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF
So it turns out they rerolled jobs for these guys but they still have the equipment they did as a Squire and two Knights.
Between two heavy hitters being replaced with noodle-armed mages, White Mages with up to Cura on the enemy side, and Gafgarion constantly getting slowed by the enemy monk, this was... well, not a tough battle, but certainly more interesting than watching Agrias and Gafgarion punk five dudes on their own. Which is about what I'm looking for from a randomizer.
Also Delita making his daring escape on the back of a Floateye.
- nosimpleway
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battle 2: Gariland Magic City
Sprites tend to shift genders and jobs as people talk to one another. Final Fantasy Tactics has some goddamned amazing sprite art, but that means that, say, female monks aren't animated looking left and right to address a crowd.
Anyway Corpse Brigade/Death Corps blah blah in the city blah blah army's shorthanded and squires have to fight too blah blah
Delita, why are you over there by yourself?
Which side of the battlefield I enter on is also randomized, so there are odd results like this. We're all behind the buildings, top-left.
This battle is exactly as interesting as you'd expect between groups of Squires and Chemists. I'm okay with them taking it a little easy on me for this fight before I can do any party customization, though.
I could have set the shops to be randomized, too, but I didn't. Job propositions are already available, though, and spoilers when it comes up later: special characters can go on those propositions now.
Anyway blah blah Ramza's dad died blah blah be a fine knight etc. etc.
Everyone gets the earlygame basics, in no particular order: the Squire's Accumulate, Throw Stone, Move +1, and JP Boost; and the Chemist's Potion and Phoenix Down. Ramza will need Yell/Tailwind before he's done, too, obvs
It always struck me as an odd design decision to limit your party in story battles to a smaller number than allowed in random battles for most of the first chapter. One custom-trained and leveled soldier is easily worth more than Delita and Algus combined by the time you're through Dorter.
Sprites tend to shift genders and jobs as people talk to one another. Final Fantasy Tactics has some goddamned amazing sprite art, but that means that, say, female monks aren't animated looking left and right to address a crowd.
Anyway Corpse Brigade/Death Corps blah blah in the city blah blah army's shorthanded and squires have to fight too blah blah
Delita, why are you over there by yourself?
Which side of the battlefield I enter on is also randomized, so there are odd results like this. We're all behind the buildings, top-left.
This battle is exactly as interesting as you'd expect between groups of Squires and Chemists. I'm okay with them taking it a little easy on me for this fight before I can do any party customization, though.
I could have set the shops to be randomized, too, but I didn't. Job propositions are already available, though, and spoilers when it comes up later: special characters can go on those propositions now.
Anyway blah blah Ramza's dad died blah blah be a fine knight etc. etc.
Everyone gets the earlygame basics, in no particular order: the Squire's Accumulate, Throw Stone, Move +1, and JP Boost; and the Chemist's Potion and Phoenix Down. Ramza will need Yell/Tailwind before he's done, too, obvs
It always struck me as an odd design decision to limit your party in story battles to a smaller number than allowed in random battles for most of the first chapter. One custom-trained and leveled soldier is easily worth more than Delita and Algus combined by the time you're through Dorter.
- nosimpleway
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battle 3: Mandalia Plains
Huh? Speak up, your buddy is yelling too loud for me to hear you.
Take the +10 Brave option, and... hey, what's that peeking over the text box on the right, there? Is that what I think it is?
Yep. That would be a Mind Flayer. Those are a bit more dangerous than the Red Panther usually found in this fight.
Uh huh. I don't have manual control of Delita and Algus, like I did Agrias and Gafgarion, so Delita runs headfirst into trouble.
Delita, stop that.
DELITA IT IS FAR TOO EARLY FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO STOCK UP ON POTIONS, STOP IT
The enemies are still mostly limited to earlygame skillsets, with Time Magic being about the most advanced I've seen yet. It still makes things significantly harder than they usually are, though.
Having run out of Potions to throw, Delita sacrifices some of his own HP to top off the still-completely-unhurt Mind Flayer.
It takes a few turns before Delita can shake off the confusion and actually deal some HP damage. It's Algus on the assist, chucking a rock for the KO. That's a little surprising, why would he care if Delita suffers?
That said, I really could have used Algus over here where he started, pounding on this Squire who hasn't run out of Potions yet.
Fox, that's one of ours! Without Algus hitting this guy, he KOed Salome every time I got her on her feet. And I only had three Phoenix Downs to start with.
Ah well. I'll put this, uh, Dash to great use, I'm sure.
Having moved everyone to this corner, I can finally deal more damage in a turn than a Potion can heal, and Ramza finishes the fight.
Huh? Speak up, your buddy is yelling too loud for me to hear you.
Take the +10 Brave option, and... hey, what's that peeking over the text box on the right, there? Is that what I think it is?
Yep. That would be a Mind Flayer. Those are a bit more dangerous than the Red Panther usually found in this fight.
Uh huh. I don't have manual control of Delita and Algus, like I did Agrias and Gafgarion, so Delita runs headfirst into trouble.
Delita, stop that.
DELITA IT IS FAR TOO EARLY FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO STOCK UP ON POTIONS, STOP IT
The enemies are still mostly limited to earlygame skillsets, with Time Magic being about the most advanced I've seen yet. It still makes things significantly harder than they usually are, though.
Having run out of Potions to throw, Delita sacrifices some of his own HP to top off the still-completely-unhurt Mind Flayer.
It takes a few turns before Delita can shake off the confusion and actually deal some HP damage. It's Algus on the assist, chucking a rock for the KO. That's a little surprising, why would he care if Delita suffers?
That said, I really could have used Algus over here where he started, pounding on this Squire who hasn't run out of Potions yet.
Fox, that's one of ours! Without Algus hitting this guy, he KOed Salome every time I got her on her feet. And I only had three Phoenix Downs to start with.
Ah well. I'll put this, uh, Dash to great use, I'm sure.
Having moved everyone to this corner, I can finally deal more damage in a turn than a Potion can heal, and Ramza finishes the fight.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battles 4, 5, and 6: Sweegy Woods, Dorter Trade City, and Zeklaus Desert
We run to Igros, get put on guard duty, meet our merry band of MacGuffin, Refrigerator Innards, and Dead Man Walking. We then bunk off guard duty to go do our own thing, etc. etc.
I'm running out of money trying to restock Potions and Phoenix Down so a random fight is fine. It's just a Goblin and two Porkys, how bad could it be?
It is fine until everyone is consumed in a cloud of porcine flatulence and ends up asleep or confused.
My lady Squire and Ramza have both learned all they need to know for now, and switch to Chemist. My Chemist, meanwhile, switches to Squire. Hampsden or whatever his name was is still a Squire, having missed out on the story battles so far.
Next time: More interesting things happen, probably!
We run to Igros, get put on guard duty, meet our merry band of MacGuffin, Refrigerator Innards, and Dead Man Walking. We then bunk off guard duty to go do our own thing, etc. etc.
I'm running out of money trying to restock Potions and Phoenix Down so a random fight is fine. It's just a Goblin and two Porkys, how bad could it be?
It is fine until everyone is consumed in a cloud of porcine flatulence and ends up asleep or confused.
My lady Squire and Ramza have both learned all they need to know for now, and switch to Chemist. My Chemist, meanwhile, switches to Squire. Hampsden or whatever his name was is still a Squire, having missed out on the story battles so far.
Next time: More interesting things happen, probably!
- nosimpleway
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
That's not much of a monster spread. Are there usually skeletons? I feel like Sweegy Woods has skeletons.
Man, they didn't even reroll to give this guy a weapohhhh I'm playing the unmodified ISO like some sort of moron.
Anyway, Zeklaus Desert.
A Knight, two Thieves, and holy damn three White Mages.
*sigh*
Delita soaks a few good hits, and being on the opposite side of the battlefield as everyone else, buys us a few more turns while the others close in. Most of that time is spent Accumulating.
Once they get there, fully healed and Protected by their buddies, they start Causing Problems.
Nothing a quick tackle can't fix, but still problems.
Fight fight fight, hit the White Mages first obvs
Those Thieves are persistent with their Charm effects. I'm begging you to please not take my man!
See, it's funny.
I wanted to wait until the enemies crystallized so I could eat their delicious souls and save some JP grinding, but the Thieves beat me to most of them for an HP restore. Might as well wrap. Once the White Mages were down the Thieves were quick to follow, and I had gotten a Speed Break or two on the Knight so he wasn't a problem either.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battle 7: Thieves' Fort
"You don't look so hot."
Anyway, get the Marquis back, Wiegraf's on the run, you can take a Thieves' Hideout, blah blah blah. Ramza studies enough of Knight that I move him up to Monk. Everyone else can be an Archer for a little while. I haven't really decided on a direction for individual soldiers yet, and I might want to make a Ninja or two. Might as well get it all out of the way at once.
Random battle in Madalia on the way. With those guys you can poach Ribbons from. Hmm...
Man, Monk plus a self-attack boost is the easiest way to hit ludicrous numbers. A Monk's martial arts is their physical attack times their physical attack.The increases are exponential!
Milluda has what seems to be a standard distribution of Thieves and White Mages. She herself is an Oracle.
This I've never seen before, and I'm not sure if it's the randomizer or not. I have a Guest in this fight, presumably since I never replaced the Squire that died in Mandalia way back when. Meet Ramuda!
First thing she does is drop a Silence on the two White Mages and Miluda. Nice!
Then drops a Blind on Miluda and the Thieves. Very nice!
It didn't save her own life but the rest of the fight was a breeze with all of their casters unable to cast and their fighters unable to hit.
Exponential!
YES PLEASE RAMUDA FOR MVP
"You don't look so hot."
Anyway, get the Marquis back, Wiegraf's on the run, you can take a Thieves' Hideout, blah blah blah. Ramza studies enough of Knight that I move him up to Monk. Everyone else can be an Archer for a little while. I haven't really decided on a direction for individual soldiers yet, and I might want to make a Ninja or two. Might as well get it all out of the way at once.
Random battle in Madalia on the way. With those guys you can poach Ribbons from. Hmm...
Man, Monk plus a self-attack boost is the easiest way to hit ludicrous numbers. A Monk's martial arts is their physical attack times their physical attack.The increases are exponential!
Milluda has what seems to be a standard distribution of Thieves and White Mages. She herself is an Oracle.
This I've never seen before, and I'm not sure if it's the randomizer or not. I have a Guest in this fight, presumably since I never replaced the Squire that died in Mandalia way back when. Meet Ramuda!
First thing she does is drop a Silence on the two White Mages and Miluda. Nice!
Then drops a Blind on Miluda and the Thieves. Very nice!
It didn't save her own life but the rest of the fight was a breeze with all of their casters unable to cast and their fighters unable to hit.
Exponential!
YES PLEASE RAMUDA FOR MVP
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battle 8: Lenalia Plateau
The Floateyes-filling-in-for-Chocobos thing hasn't stopped being funny yet.
Ramuda picks up one of the few useful Oracle spells she didn't already have.
Hey, Lancers.
This fight has a not-a-Guest against Miluda and her troops. I guess it's a randomizer thing, since I have a full party of Ramza plus four.
She's listed as "Enemy" in her stats, but I'm not gonna complain too much if she drops some summon magic on the enemy.
Well, I might complain a little if she oneshots Miluda and keeps me from picking up any soul crystals in this fight.
Uh... no, actually...
The Floateyes-filling-in-for-Chocobos thing hasn't stopped being funny yet.
Ramuda picks up one of the few useful Oracle spells she didn't already have.
Hey, Lancers.
This fight has a not-a-Guest against Miluda and her troops. I guess it's a randomizer thing, since I have a full party of Ramza plus four.
She's listed as "Enemy" in her stats, but I'm not gonna complain too much if she drops some summon magic on the enemy.
Well, I might complain a little if she oneshots Miluda and keeps me from picking up any soul crystals in this fight.
Uh... no, actually...
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1, Battle 9: Fovoham Plains
"Okay, you're looking for a Black Mage, about yay-high, carries a Fire Rod I think..."
OW HEY WHAT IT WASN'T ME I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER HER NAME
Anyway, Wiegraf has all his usual bullshit. Boko is a Squidraken, though. That's kinda cool I guess.
Hmm... this is not going well.
Usually FFT is grindy as hell, and I've been trying to, uh, not do that. It turns out the Dorter fight is actually easier with Knights and Chemists than it is with Monks and White Mages!
But I might need a few more levels and skills to get through the Windmill Shed.
"Okay, you're looking for a Black Mage, about yay-high, carries a Fire Rod I think..."
OW HEY WHAT IT WASN'T ME I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER HER NAME
Anyway, Wiegraf has all his usual bullshit. Boko is a Squidraken, though. That's kinda cool I guess.
Hmm... this is not going well.
Usually FFT is grindy as hell, and I've been trying to, uh, not do that. It turns out the Dorter fight is actually easier with Knights and Chemists than it is with Monks and White Mages!
But I might need a few more levels and skills to get through the Windmill Shed.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Ramza is currently a Monk, having filled out his Squire list and spent a bit of time as a Chemist to pick up Auto-Potion. He's got the Chivalry skills to bust up enemy stats, but not equipment, from his training as a Knight. He'll probably roll Martial Arts and his exclusive Squire skillset for the foreseeable future.
Cornelia is Brave 53, Faith 58. She's currently a Black Mage rocking an Ice Rod, but doesn't have any spells other than Blizzard.
Ramuda is Brave 62, Faith 65. She's currently an Oracle because Oracles are awesome and she is awesome at it. She's the only one who didn't grind through Squire and Chemist with everyone else, so she doesn't have JP Boost, Move +1, Accumulate, Potion, Phoenix Down, Auto-Potion, or Concentrate like everyone else. She has Monster Talk from Orator, though. I'm sure that's just as good.
Jessica is Brave 65, Faith 67. She's currently a Thief, and has learned how to Poach monsters and Move +2. I forget whether Wiegraf can have his stuff stolen or broken, but if I can get that sword off him things should get a little easier.
Hampsten -- he of the M-P-S-T consonant cluster in his name -- is Brave 54, Faith 48. He's currently a Black Mage, though thanks to inherited skills he has Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. He's three times the wizard Cornelia is!
So, with an idea of what the randomizer can do, how should I build my party? I'm pretty sure I can rename the soldiers I've got, too, so that's up for grabs too.
Cornelia is Brave 53, Faith 58. She's currently a Black Mage rocking an Ice Rod, but doesn't have any spells other than Blizzard.
Ramuda is Brave 62, Faith 65. She's currently an Oracle because Oracles are awesome and she is awesome at it. She's the only one who didn't grind through Squire and Chemist with everyone else, so she doesn't have JP Boost, Move +1, Accumulate, Potion, Phoenix Down, Auto-Potion, or Concentrate like everyone else. She has Monster Talk from Orator, though. I'm sure that's just as good.
Jessica is Brave 65, Faith 67. She's currently a Thief, and has learned how to Poach monsters and Move +2. I forget whether Wiegraf can have his stuff stolen or broken, but if I can get that sword off him things should get a little easier.
Hampsten -- he of the M-P-S-T consonant cluster in his name -- is Brave 54, Faith 48. He's currently a Black Mage, though thanks to inherited skills he has Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. He's three times the wizard Cornelia is!
So, with an idea of what the randomizer can do, how should I build my party? I'm pretty sure I can rename the soldiers I've got, too, so that's up for grabs too.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Well, if I'm going to go grind out some better stats, I'm going to see if I can also get some better equipment out of it too.
The Grenade turns into a Lightning Ball, one of those Ninja-throw-only items. The Treant turns into a Golden Staff, which means Ramuda starts rocking a base attack score pretty close to Hampsten with his Mithril Sword.
The skeletons in Sweegy Woods that I totally knew were there in the first place turn into a couple Wizard Mantles. I typically don't use capes much, and in this specific instance the stuff I'm worried about never misses anyway.
Undocumented feature: having your Thief barehanded makes Steal more successful. It's not like Jessica was doing a ton of damage with her puny little knife anyway.
Not like it mattered, I haven't run into a human opponent in a random battle so far. Nicking their equipment from them was not an option presented to me. I was hoping to run into some Wild Boars again, in hopes of poaching a Ribbon or two. It was not to be.
The Malboros turned into Platina Daggers, which are one point better than the dagger Jessica just put back in her pocket to punch stuff instead.
Ramza is already level 11, while most of the party is around 8 or 9 and Ramuda is still behind at 6. Ramza's going to sit out for a round and let the others catch up.
The risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math.
Sekhmet get to do this for free every turn as they close in. That's not good.
Ramuda has graduated from Squire to Chemist in her catching up, but still doesn't know how to throw phoenix tailfeathers at people. That's really not good.
Only Ramuda and Cornelia are left. Of all the monsters on the field, only the Mind Flayers can enter water. Cornelia KOed one and put the other at critical HP with a Thundara, so Ramuda is completely safe here where none of the bulls or behemoth can reach her. Likewise Cornelia is diving for cover in the pond at the other side of the map, but...
The only way I could win this with a Chemist and Black Mage would be to Accumulate their base PA up to 50 and hope to oneshot everything before anything else hit back. And doing that would certainly lose Jessica and Hampsten to crystallizing. I'm not about to permanently lose soldiers to some random battle.
Oh well.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Let's try another, safer battlefield for the Ramzaless catchup fight. This Ochu is drained of its bodily fluids, which are distilled into a Hi-Potion.
VS. WIEGRAF
ROUND 2
HEAVEN OR HELL
LET'S PUT CHARACTERS WHO ARE BEEFIER THAN TWO CASTERS IN THIS TROUBLESOME START AREA
See, they're right up against the enemy party, facing the wrong way. That Thief is going to charm Hampsten, that Oracle is going to Paralyze Jessica, and Wiegraf is right around the corner with his Holy Sword.
I'm tellin' you, man, it wasn't me!
Cornelia sees an opportunity and takes it. Having a non-charmed soldier on this side of the map might help take some pressure off of Jessica (who is Paralyzed and taking sword hits from Hampsten at this point), but uh... using a Black Mage as a meat shield is a desperate option.
I hope to end the battle quickly with a combination Blizzara and Earth Slash, but it is not to be.
And Wiegraf KOs Cornelia with his Holy Sword.
WOULD YOU FUCKING QUIT
p.s. Jessica can't catch a break.
My AI support is likewise incapacitated.
This battle has gone on for so long that I'm seeing dialogue that I normally miss during a vanilla playthrough. You either KO Wiegraf within the first turn or two, or he and his Knights and Monks pummel you silly. Having some of his guys replaced by Oracles is annoying but make the fight theoretically easier, since they're not doing HP damage.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Easier, but not easy. Wiegraf has another trick up his sleeve: Summon magic!
Kinda shitty Summon magic but still. I thought I could win a war of attrition since they didn't have Boko to Choco Cure them. Clearly not!
By the time Jessica's Paralysis wears off and Hampsten is uncharmed by a power tackle, I'm just about out of time to revive Cornelia. And since I'm using the Monk's Revive skill, I have to be adjacent to the corpse and on the exact same vertical level.
The only space that meets that qualification for Cornelia is where Boko just retreated to. There's not much I can do about that.
poof
Naturally the very next hit takes Wiegraf to critical HP and he retreats. I'm not losing soldiers to a random battle, but if it's a storyline fight I intend to take my lumps. Cornelia's gone.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 1 FINAL: Fort Zeakden
Um... Delita? Are you okay?
I don't know why I have all these Rare Candies in the sixth slot of my items menu, either.
Delita's graphics and animations are utterly broken because the game has suddenly decided he looks like a female Oracle. I don't get it, but he's functional and doesn't crash the game so I roll with it.
I have to, the rest of my party spawned in the worst possible spot, and since I didn't grind more than I had to for Wiegraf, nobody has Teleport to zip over the fortress. They've got to go around.
Delita and Ramza are doing okay on their own. Those Black Mages mean business, but the Lancers are without any weapons. It's too early in the game for spears to show up, I guess. And the randomizer didn't leave them with the swords they had as Knights. I dunno, but I'll take it.
I had hoped for a moment that DELITEDNO. was actually taking no damage from the crossbow bolts Argus was firing at him, since the game wasn't displaying a hit animation or the number popup. But no, Delita takes a Fire spell and oozes apart into the snow.
Oh god it's contagious Ramuda nooooooo
Ramza was at critical HP and targeted with both a Charge from the Lancer and a spell from the Black Mage, the spell set to take more HP than he had even without getting hit by the Charge. So I queued up a Revive for him.
He got hit by the Lancer's bare fist for piddling damage, Auto-Potioned his HP higher than it was before the hit, and soaked the damage from the spell, no sweat. Hey, whose petard is this? Is it yours?
Um... Delita? Are you okay?
I don't know why I have all these Rare Candies in the sixth slot of my items menu, either.
Delita's graphics and animations are utterly broken because the game has suddenly decided he looks like a female Oracle. I don't get it, but he's functional and doesn't crash the game so I roll with it.
I have to, the rest of my party spawned in the worst possible spot, and since I didn't grind more than I had to for Wiegraf, nobody has Teleport to zip over the fortress. They've got to go around.
Delita and Ramza are doing okay on their own. Those Black Mages mean business, but the Lancers are without any weapons. It's too early in the game for spears to show up, I guess. And the randomizer didn't leave them with the swords they had as Knights. I dunno, but I'll take it.
I had hoped for a moment that DELITEDNO. was actually taking no damage from the crossbow bolts Argus was firing at him, since the game wasn't displaying a hit animation or the number popup. But no, Delita takes a Fire spell and oozes apart into the snow.
Oh god it's contagious Ramuda nooooooo
Ramza was at critical HP and targeted with both a Charge from the Lancer and a spell from the Black Mage, the spell set to take more HP than he had even without getting hit by the Charge. So I queued up a Revive for him.
He got hit by the Lancer's bare fist for piddling damage, Auto-Potioned his HP higher than it was before the hit, and soaked the damage from the spell, no sweat. Hey, whose petard is this? Is it yours?
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
With the mooks KOed I spend the rest of the fight trying to debilitate Algus so I can collect some more soul crystals. Being a chapter boss he's got a secret immunity to Chicken, though -- I can drop his Brave, but not with any effect that would reduce it below 10.
Or I just got really unlucky with five or six 47% chances.
Algus responds by snatching Ramuda's hat.
It's basically over and I'm stalling for time. Foxbird is expensive to cast, so Ramza keeps Ramuda topped off with Chakra. Since Ramdua is Algus's new favorite target for his crossbow, that works pretty well. Chakra restores more of her HP than Algus can do in damage, and more of her MP than Foxbird takes to cast.
Ramuda picks up where Cornelia left off, I guess.
Uh, so does Jessica, because I forgot whether this corpse was a mage or a Lancer.
An actual Lancer crystal gives Jessica the only equipment steal she was missing. That was nice of them.
Hitting Algus once or twice more is trivial.
End of Chapter 1, start of Chapter 2. Which means...
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 2, Battle 1: Dorter Trade City again but worse
"They're behind you, moron."
Wow, that... that's a lot of Lancers.
Plus one Time Mage. With Summon magic, naturally. And I'm already down one Time Mage, because these Lancers can absolutely oneshot everyone in my troop except Ramza.
And if you're wondering about our damage output, here's a good example of what Rad is capable of.
Ramza retreats to a rooftop, but Lancers gonna lance. So now the question is whether Gafgarion and Agrias can finish off six or seven Lancers by themselves before Ramza crystalizes.
(No.)
"They're behind you, moron."
Wow, that... that's a lot of Lancers.
Plus one Time Mage. With Summon magic, naturally. And I'm already down one Time Mage, because these Lancers can absolutely oneshot everyone in my troop except Ramza.
And if you're wondering about our damage output, here's a good example of what Rad is capable of.
Ramza retreats to a rooftop, but Lancers gonna lance. So now the question is whether Gafgarion and Agrias can finish off six or seven Lancers by themselves before Ramza crystalizes.
(No.)
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Let's try again, moving downhill so we're not immediately surrounded. And with slightly tougher soldiers this time, both higher-level and in somewhat tougher jobs.
Ramza is in position to hit four at once with Earth Slash, which is pretty neat.
Jessica can hit them from the other side, too. Don't worry about Ramza, he just Auto-Potioned the damage away.
Things aren't going particularly well when this dumb idiot retreats to a rooftop that he can't climb down from.
So he can just about chuck rocks from above. I dunno where he gets the rocks.
So that ends predictably.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
So let's give it another go, this time with the sturdiest Knight standing right behind the most tempting target for the enemy AI.
At least the ThiefLancer is looking at us this time.
Since they can't reach Hampsten the Chemist, they just stab Rad in the ass for a one-hit KO.
I can also focus fire on the Time Mage before he can get off a Summon, too. So things are looking up!
Gafgarion knows some Summon magic himself. That's a surprise! But it gives him something to do other than keep his own HP maxed out with Night Sword.
Jessica manages to nick one of the Lancer's spears. Since Lancer weapons are introduced pretty late in the game overall, they're stronger than the Mithril Swords that Agrias and Gafgarion came equipped with, which in turn are a step better than what my guys had. (I took those Mithril Swords and put them to better use in, say, Jessica's capable hands, along with A&G's better armor and shields.)
Hampsten keeps himself busy by reviving Rad with some Phoenix Down. A soldier at critical HP is still a more tempting target than a Chemist, so he serves as an effective decoy when one of the Lancer comes back over to ass-stab him again.
Which happens again, but I got the screenshot as the camera turned and got a pretty good summary of the battle so far. Couple of Lancers are down, Rad's facedown in the dirt for the third or fourth time, and Jessica got KOed. Hampsten takes a break from reviving Rad to revive Jessica instead.
Without Rad around, though, Hampsten becomes a tempting target. One Lancer starts charging up a mighty spear-stab, while another hucks a shinglerock at him from the roof. The rock knocks Hampsten back a tile, causing the Lancer to whiff what would have been a fatal stab. Hey, whose petard is this?
"What... did I do... to deserve this...?"
Jessica manages to nab a crystal to restore her HP, saving Hampsten the effort and allowing him to go revive Rad again.
"Just... let... me... die..."
"The suffering... never ends..."
*glurrrcgh*
Even the Lancer who got his spear taken away manages to KO Rad again with a donkey-punch.
Finally the initiative lines up for Ramza to revive Rad and Hampsten has a turn to throw him a Hi-Potion.
The fight's something like 80% over and Rad gets his first turn. He uses it to run away, chug a potion, and...
...finally, finally turn around.
The Zodiac compatibility lines up such that even barehanded, this guy does 60 damage to Jessica. Good thing this is nearly over!
Yeesh.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 2, Filler 1: Araguay Woods
There's been a chapter break, so I go look for new equipment and get into a couple fights roaming around. I manage to poach a couple of Sekhmets, which is awesome, because
Holy Lance is the third-most powerful spear in the game, as I recall, after the Zodiac Spear and the Dragon's Whisker. The Ivory Rod is the second-strongest pole, I think, after the Whale Whisker. Those are both also poaches from dangerous enemies, but ones I haven't seen yet. I just stole a couple of spears at power 8 and 9, this one's power 14.
Anyway, plot battles. If they can be called that.
Boko is still a squidraken.
Agrias, don't do that, leaving bombs at critical HP is a bad idea.
Turning the hulking bull-monsters into frogs, though, that's fine and good.
Gafgarion what did I JUST SAY
I look forward to the point in the game where I don't have AI-controlled allies anymore.
Oh well.
There's been a chapter break, so I go look for new equipment and get into a couple fights roaming around. I manage to poach a couple of Sekhmets, which is awesome, because
Holy Lance is the third-most powerful spear in the game, as I recall, after the Zodiac Spear and the Dragon's Whisker. The Ivory Rod is the second-strongest pole, I think, after the Whale Whisker. Those are both also poaches from dangerous enemies, but ones I haven't seen yet. I just stole a couple of spears at power 8 and 9, this one's power 14.
Anyway, plot battles. If they can be called that.
Boko is still a squidraken.
Agrias, don't do that, leaving bombs at critical HP is a bad idea.
Turning the hulking bull-monsters into frogs, though, that's fine and good.
Gafgarion what did I JUST SAY
I look forward to the point in the game where I don't have AI-controlled allies anymore.
Oh well.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 2, Battle 2: Zirekile Falls
Well gee I guess I'll put Ramuda right he-- no, wait. Last time I got an option like this they were in the middle of enemy lines. I'll put Rad in, he's a Knight and can take a couple hits.
Where Dorter was all Lancers, this fight is all Summoners. Protecting Ovelia might actually be difficu--
Oh, right. Delita isn't a Squire anymore.
Which isn't to say I one-turn the fight before the Summoners get to move!
But Ovelia still knows Aegis, and it still gives her Shell and Regen, so we're fine.
She can also throw rocks back at her attackers, at a smaller scale.
This is a bit like Yardow Fort City in vanilla FFT: everyone has PHENOMINAL DAMAGE OUTPUT, itty bitty hp.
Except Malach, but you knew that.
Well gee I guess I'll put Ramuda right he-- no, wait. Last time I got an option like this they were in the middle of enemy lines. I'll put Rad in, he's a Knight and can take a couple hits.
Where Dorter was all Lancers, this fight is all Summoners. Protecting Ovelia might actually be difficu--
Oh, right. Delita isn't a Squire anymore.
Which isn't to say I one-turn the fight before the Summoners get to move!
But Ovelia still knows Aegis, and it still gives her Shell and Regen, so we're fine.
She can also throw rocks back at her attackers, at a smaller scale.
This is a bit like Yardow Fort City in vanilla FFT: everyone has PHENOMINAL DAMAGE OUTPUT, itty bitty hp.
Except Malach, but you knew that.
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Re: We've Heard This Story Before - Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!
Chapter 2, Battle 3: Zaland Fort City
I don't know what Ovelia is doing with a heavy helmet like this, since Delita nabbed her while she was at church praying. It's not like she's going to use it, though, so I take it.
Great, more Summoners.
Summoners who know Leviathan.
Summoners who know Leviathan and are facing a group who still has to navigate the chokepoint outside the city gates. That's three of my units down with one spell.
So, can Ramza, Mustadio, and Agrias finish this battle before the others crystallize?
(No.)
I don't think Ramza landed a single hit with that shiny lance he's carrying. Can Mustadio and Agrias finish this battle before Ramza crystallizes?
(No.)
I don't know what Ovelia is doing with a heavy helmet like this, since Delita nabbed her while she was at church praying. It's not like she's going to use it, though, so I take it.
Great, more Summoners.
Summoners who know Leviathan.
Summoners who know Leviathan and are facing a group who still has to navigate the chokepoint outside the city gates. That's three of my units down with one spell.
So, can Ramza, Mustadio, and Agrias finish this battle before the others crystallize?
(No.)
I don't think Ramza landed a single hit with that shiny lance he's carrying. Can Mustadio and Agrias finish this battle before Ramza crystallizes?
(No.)
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