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Bravely Default |OT| For the Americas

Amory

Member
I just released the Earth crystal, about 40 hours in. How much more game is there? I want to finish, and I'm still having fun overall, but I feel like this game is going to massively overstay its welcome.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I just released the Earth crystal, about 40 hours in. How much more game is there? I want to finish, and I'm still having fun overall, but I feel like this game is going to massively overstay its welcome.

A whole lot of optional content, but not a lot more story stuff. If you rush and don't do any optional stuff you could probably get the true ending in 5 hours, give or take, or the other ending in an hour or two.
 

ironmang

Member
So what's a good setup for starting chapter 4? Almost any boss type character KOs anybody on my team in 1 hit unless they're default. Assume I have all the chapter 1-3 jobs unlocked but only enough time to grind up to level 10.

Party is in the 42-43 level range now and my job setup is all over the place since I've been just trying to survive bosses.
 

Ourobolus

Banned
So what's a good setup for starting chapter 4? Almost any boss type character KOs anybody on my team in 1 hit unless they're default. Assume I have all the chapter 1-3 jobs unlocked but only enough time to grind up to level 10.

Party is in the 42-43 level range now and my job setup is all over the place since I've been just trying to survive bosses.

Can't tout Spiritmaster enough. They've got skilsl to nullify and reduce status ailments and elemental damage which help a ton for survivability.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Keep in mind that your stats are tied to your job level. So a level 42 character that is a level 8 Ninja might be stronger than a level 52 character that is a level 4 Ninja. (Maybe, I don't know exactly how the stats scale, but they do).

The amount of job points you receive increases tremendously with each chapter, at least up to Chapter 5. That makes it very easy to level up your low level jobs, so in chapter 4 the jobs you are actively using should probably be in the 7-9 range. If they are lower than that, you are probably underleveled.

As a whole, Bravely Default is a game that rewards strategy more than levels (even if the strategies are often simple and exploitable). This becomes more true the further you get into the game, to the point that the final boss and some of the optional endgame/postgame bosses can easily destroy any unprepared party regardless of level, job level, or equipment. That said, you shouldn't be getting one shot by bosses (at least at that point), so it sounds like a job level or equipment deficiency.
 

Dez_

Member
I started playing this last month. I'm certainly enjoying it, really digging the game's soundtrack and the combat feels challenging without being too overwhelming. Currently at what I think is the end of chapter 3 at level 42. Don't know if that level's good enough, I just got wiped by a temple boss. Going to give it a try later tonight.
The side quest with the summoner. Why does the writing have to be so bad.
The writing doesn't bother me so much, but the way the characters slowly talk kind of irritates me. I usually don't like to skip dialogue, but I find myself doing that for every boss encounter due to how wordy everyone is.
 

ironmang

Member
Well, this game ended up getting real shitty after chapter 4. After going for the "true ending" I ended up giving up on the last boss after realizing I'm underleveled even on easy mode. Not going to do even more grinding after beating the story which essentially was a grind in itself. Game would have been much better if they had an ending after chapter 4 with some optional ending for those that wanted more.

Oh and Bravely Second (the feature, not the sequel I'm not buying) was such a greedy move. Having SP tied to my 3DS or whatever instead of the save file is horseshit.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
You are always underleveled for the final boss. Even at 99 with max job levels and the best equipment, if you aren't setup well you are going to get slaughtered.

You basically have to do something to deal with the damage dealt. Reduce it somehow, or increase your own HP. And there are several ways to deal tons of damage.
 

ironmang

Member
You are always underleveled for the final boss. Even at 99 with max job levels and the best equipment, if you aren't setup well you are going to get slaughtered.

You basically have to do something to deal with the damage dealt. Reduce it somehow, or increase your own HP. And there are several ways to deal tons of damage.

Well, he started casting Disaster like 5 times in a row and full default+healing couldn't keep up. Probably would beat it at 90+ but honestly the game isn't good enough for me to grind anymore at all. Grinding shouldn't be needed at all to finish the main story. :\ (yes, I know some diehard beat it ezpz with no encounters but that's not the average person)
 

Ourobolus

Banned
Well, he started casting Disaster like 5 times in a row and full default+healing couldn't keep up. Probably would beat it at 90+ but honestly the game isn't good enough for me to grind anymore at all. Grinding shouldn't be needed at all to finish the main story. : (yes, I know some diehard beat it ezpz with no encounters but that's not the average person)
Double your HP with Salve Maker.
 

Lunar15

Member
The side quest with the summoner. Why does the writing have to be so bad.

The writing was so bad at this point I stopped playing for nearly a year. Individual character writing gets a bit better after Florem, but the overall story writing is dumb as bricks and this only gets worse.
 
I have a question about friends and summons. I'm having trouble with a boss and I don't want to spend a lot of time grinding, but I have a guest I can summon who will deal 9999 damage. If I use him, can I ever use him again? And, if so, how long do I have to wait. If I can't, what's the point of "protect data"? Is it just so I don't accidentally lose him via the update queue?

Also, does someone have a generic job setup that I can use for most of the game? I'm near the end of chapter 2 and I'm just using knight, white mage, black mage, and thief and I'm starting to run into trouble.
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
I have a question about friends and summons. I'm having trouble with a boss and I don't want to spend a lot of time grinding, but I have a guest I can summon who will deal 9999 damage. If I use him, can I ever use him again? And, if so, how long do I have to wait. If I can't, what's the point of "protect data"? Is it just so I don't accidentally lose him via the update queue?

If I remember correctly, you can only use a person once. If it's a friend, you can have them send an attack again and then you can use it again. I think the protect data option is there if you want to keep somebody to use for ablink purposes.
 
If I remember correctly, you can only use a person once. If it's a friend, you can have them send an attack again and then you can use it again. I think the protect data option is there if you want to keep somebody to use for ablink purposes.
Damn. Is it possible to convert a random street pass guest into a Friend then? Also, and I should probably know this by now considering my progress in the game, but what is ablink?
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Damn. Is it possible to convert a random street pass guest into a Friend then? Also, and I should probably know this by now considering my progress in the game, but what is ablink?

I don't believe so. Can't remember if it's for friends only (probably is), but Abilink (sorry, had a typo in the prior post) can be accessed through the tactics tab in the menu. Basically it just lets you link a character to a friend so that you can use all abilities that that friend has learned. So for example, if your Tiz is a level 1 monk, if your friend has maxed out monk and you Abilink with them, you can use every skill available for monk without leveling the job any further. So basically breaks the game more than you already can on your own.

You know on second thought, I think you're right on protect data, it must be for the reason you thought it was, because I'm like 99% sure Abilink is just for friends. It must just be so you don't lose them if you want to summon them later. Sorry for the misinformation, but it's been almost a year since I've played this.

Oh, just saw your edit to your other post. Try using spell fencer's sword magic as a secondary if you've gotten it (should be soon if you haven't), it's very helpful. Maybe with your knight, you can do sword magic+stomp and do decent damage for that point in the game. I guess it depends on what you have available. Really there are a lot of combinations that are useful, if not broken, so the best thing to do is just play around and find combinations that work for you.
 
Oh, just saw your edit to your other post. Try using spell fencer's sword magic as a secondary if you've gotten it (should be soon if you haven't), it's very helpful. Maybe with your knight, you can do sword magic+stomp and do decent damage for that point in the game. I guess it depends on what you have available. Really there are a lot of combinations that are useful, if not broken, so the best thing to do is just play around and find combinations that work for you.

I'll look into the Fencer, then. Also, is the idea that I should just level up 1 job and then start to level up another? All my characters are around level 7 in their current job (knight, white, black, thief), but 1 in everything else (freelancer, merchant, monk, and I forget the others).

There's so much going on in this game between jobs and my character and the summon characters and my robot friends that I feel lost a lot of the time in how to do basic things like a magic spell from a mage or something.
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
I'll look into the Fencer, then. Also, is the idea that I should just level up 1 job and then start to level up another? All my characters are around level 7 in their current job (knight, white, black, thief), but 1 in everything else (freelancer, merchant, monk, and I forget the others).

There's so much going on in this game between jobs and my character and the summon characters and my robot friends that I feel lost a lot of the time in how to do basic things like a magic spell from a mage or something.

It's not really necessary to do that, but if you like doing that, feel free. I would personally at least try to level up some of the other jobs so you can have a good secondary set of abilities to use. Not sure if you've been utilizing that or not, but you can set the skills of another job as your secondary set and use both in battles at the same time. So you could level up black magic with your current white mage, swap back to white mage and set black magic as your secondary and have a makeshift red mage for the time being. Stuff like that. The more jobs you have leveled, the better variety you can have during battles.
 
This might be one of the worst endgames I've ever experienced. How much longer am I going to have to redo these boss battles? I'm on chapter 7. Is this the last one?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
This might be one of the worst endgames I've ever experienced. How much longer am I going to have to redo these boss battles? I'm on chapter 7. Is this the last one?

One more chapter for the true ending, you could have gotten the other ending in the last couple chapters.

The good thing about chapters 7 and 8 is that the sidequests become awesome. Best part of the game, in my opinion.
 
I just got done with the final dungeon and I cannot for the life of me beat
airy.
I have no idea how to do it. I can beat the boss once, but then it casts recover, and then I can't beat it again. And, I know the "final" boss is after this one, so I feel like I'm totally hosed in these last battles. This feels like a huge difficulty spike since I was able to beat the previous bosses (that I had to beat several times) within 1 turn. I just can't figure this one out.

Nevermind! I used all of my summoned friends during the airy and the final boss and got through them. Still, what a dumb story and a stupid final half of the game where i fight the same final bosses. bleh. I like the customization of the fights, but it is still a slog. oh well. done and over.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
Picking this back up again soon to finally finish it.

Thinking about playing the game on Easy since I know from where I'm at it will be a slog to the finish.

I really enjoyed the game and hate to do that but I hate not finishing it even more.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
You really shouldn't be forcing yourself to play through the endgame unless you enjoy the combat. Easy kinda defeats the purpose I feel.

(Your prerogative, obviously!)
 

zroid

Banned
I finally jumped back into this after an extended hiatus. took me a little while to figure out what the hell I was doing because you know how it is with RPGs.

anyway the game is so good. It's so satisfying when I unlock a new support ability and immediately think this would work great with a certain job.
 

Etria

Member
I realised that I didn't fight
DeRosso
during Chapter 4. I'm assuming I can find him and do it during Chapter 5 or beyond?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Awesome, glad to hear that :p

Does the same hold true for the other asterisk holders? I assume the battles in Chapter
5
are optional this time around.

From that point on they are all optional, but they reset every chapter and are a bit different each time. They are particularly worth it during the last two chapters, really fun battles.
 

TrueBlue

Member
I'd also like some advice for the second half of the game.

Just finished Chapter 5, redoing all the asterisk battles in the process. I've stared Chapter 6 and all the battles are available again. Just beat Holly and Barras and it seems like there's an additional scene of them doing...things. Other than that though, the battle played out exactly the same, almost word for word. Is it recommended just blasting through the crystal guardians, getting the conjurer class and opening the blue chests before going to Chapter 7?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I'd also like some advice for the second half of the game.

Just finished Chapter 5, redoing all the asterisk battles in the process. I've stared Chapter 6 and all the battles are available again. Just beat Holly and Barras and it seems like there's an additional scene of them doing...things. Other than that though, the battle played out exactly the same, almost word for word. Is it recommended just blasting through the crystal guardians, getting the conjurer class and opening the blue chests before going to Chapter 7?

That would be my recommendation. The battles get good in 7 and 8.
 

Etria

Member
From that point on they are all optional, but they reset every chapter and are a bit different each time. They are particularly worth it during the last two chapters, really fun battles.

Oh nice. I'm just going through them again for JP, and they are still pretty fun.
 

Dr. Buni

Member
The side quest with the summoner. Why does the writing have to be so bad.
Old post I am quoting, but since I got to Florem this game has become a slog. The writing is so bad, some characters are terrible (lol Sage Yulyana...), Airy is getting on my nerves and on top of that, the non-asterisk* boss battles can be really aggravating (looking at you, Chaugmar). I feel like I don't have the liberty of using the jobs I want/like using if I want to not be stuck in the 'crystal' bosses for hours. Both Orthros and Rusalka gave me a lot of trouble, too.

*Except Qada who is as aggravating as the crystal bosses.

I still want to finish this game so I can experience the end game, but it is hard :/
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
The writing is so bad, some characters are terrible (lol Sage Yulyana...), Airy is getting on my nerves

These things never get better, they actually get worse.


I never had a problem with the jobs or battle system though, but early on you are more limited due to having fewer abilities to mix and match.
 

Dr. Buni

Member
These things never get better, they actually get worse.


I never had a problem with the jobs or battle system though, but early on you are more limited due to having fewer abilities to mix and match.
I almost done with chapter 3 now and I still kinda think certain jobs are much better than others, but somehow I beat Qada and Chaugmar (two bosses that were giving me trouble) with the following party: Edea (Knight/Spell Fencer), Tiz (Salve-Maker/Time Mage), Agnès (Valkyrie/Monk) and Ringabel (Pirate/Performer). I will probably change Valkyrie to something else, most of the time I kept using monk's laser beam instead of any of the Valkyrie's moves.

As for the writing, that's a shame. After
Tiz going bananas over Egil's safety and Agnès saving them both from falling in the lava, at least the characters are a lot more tolerable. Agnès was so damn obnoxious since Olivia's death.
... Also also,
how can they not realize something about Airy is not right? It's so obvious she isn't well intentioned XD
Game opens up a lot chapter 3 and on, mostly due to the jobs. Max the Pirate and Swordmaster jobs at least!
I'd like to have Edea as a Swordmaster, but both Knight and Spell Fencer are so good (and I really can't scrap Spell Fencer since I have no black mages in the party).
 
I almost done with chapter 3 now and I still kinda think certain jobs are much better than others, but somehow I beat Qada and Chaugmar (two bosses that were giving me trouble) with the following party: Edea (Knight/Spell Fencer), Tiz (Salve-Maker/Time Mage), Agnès (Valkyrie/Monk) and Ringabel (Pirate/Performer). I will probably change Valkyrie to something else, most of the time I kept using monk's laser beam instead of any of the Valkyrie's moves.

As for the writing, that's a shame. After
Tiz going bananas over Egil's safety and Agnès saving them both from falling in the lava, at least the characters are a lot more tolerable. Agnès was so damn obnoxious since Olivia's death.
... Also also,
how can they not realize something about Airy is not right? It's so obvious she isn't well intentioned XD

I'd like to have Edea as a Swordmaster, but both Knight and Spell Fencer are so good (and I really can't scrap Spell Fencer since I have no black mages in the party).

With a pirate and swordmaster combo you can land easy 9999 attacks with no mp cost (if you're leveled enough). That's basically my endgame strategy (along with the Mimic ability of the Freelancer).

Black magic becomes less and less relevant the further you progress IMO. The Arcanist class has some cool spells and the Dark Knight's attacks are OP, but that's about it. Supposedly advanced spells like Thundaga don't even damage that much. There are way stronger group attacks in the game.

There are a lot of ways one can experiment but usually chapter 5 and on - up until 4 I just Knight + stomped my way through the entire game.

Also (story spoilers for chapters 6+)
the warriors of light are indeed one of the densest packs of protagonists I've had to lead. Granted, they do realize Airy is evil by the end of chapter 6, but even that is after Yulyana and De Rosso flat-out tell them "you had the evil one with you since the beginning of the game, you god-damned dumbasses!". Up to that point they're like "so the thing we wanted to do actually did not work out. So let's do the exact same thing again and expect different results." You know the saying 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' Well they should add 'fool me five times, I'm officially a bravely default protagonist.'

Agnes has some particularly bad lines, especially when she talks about Olivia.
 

Dr. Buni

Member
With a pirate and swordmaster combo you can land easy 9999 attacks with no mp cost (if you're leveled enough). That's basically my endgame strategy (along with the Mimic ability of the Freelancer).

Black magic becomes less and less relevant the further you progress IMO. The Arcanist class has some cool spells and the Dark Knight's attacks are OP, but that's about it. Supposedly advanced spells like Thundaga don't even damage that much. There are way stronger group attacks in the game.

There are a lot of ways one can experiment but usually chapter 5 and on - up until 4 I just Knight + stomped my way through the entire game.

Also (story spoilers for chapters 6+)
the warriors of light are indeed one of the densest packs of protagonists I've had to lead. Granted, they do realize Airy is evil by the end of chapter 6, but even that is after Yulyana and De Rosso flat-out tell them "you had the evil one with you since the beginning of the game, you god-damned dumbasses!". Up to that point they're like "so the thing we wanted to do actually did not work out. So let's do the exact same thing again and expect different results." You know the saying 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' Well they should add 'fool me five times, I'm officially a bravely default protagonist.'

Agnes has some particularly bad lines, especially when she talks about Olivia.
Hm... In that case, am I to assume Spell Fencer becomes less relevant as well late game, since it is pretty much a melee black mage ? If so, I am please to know that jobs like pirate and swordmaster shine late game, as I have more affinity to non-magical jobs (though I have no problem with using mages when it's absolutely necessary). That being said, Pirate so far have been quite mana hungry. That "Double Damage" spells costs what, 40 mp?

As for Dark Knight, I intend to make Edea one once I get the asterisk, since I read it's a great job, plus I think it fits a traitor like her.

Edit: Just got to the infamous Chapter 5...
omg, those last battles in Chapter 4... I was legitimately bothered by playing as Agnès and her companions. They blindly believe in the stupid crystalism 'religion' instead of trying to think for themselves or at least listen to what others are saying. If so many people are telling you to not awaken the crystals, surely there is a reason for that. The character that bothered me the most was Edea, tossing aside her family and friends for something she doesn't know if it's even a good thing, in the first place. I mean, I already expected Agnès to stupid like that, but funnily she was the only main character to briefly consider not awakening the last crystal
 
^^ Well Spell Fencer has a couple spells like Drain Sword that work well with Dark Knight.

Yeah Pirate takes up a lot of MP, there's also a quad damage attack that requires half of your total MP. That's why Swordmaster is a good second job, it gives you the ability to negate MP cost for a turn.

Sooo, Chapter 8 might have put my skills to test more than any other RPG I've played.

The Ominas / Qada / Yulyana / Mephilia fight, holy shit. Qada's Fire Weak means the combined fire attacks of the other 3 cause about 20,000 HP damage to the entire party. So basically I'm already dead even if I have Giant's Drafts for everyone. I had to switch to completely different jobs and jump between Stillness / Enigma while killing off Qada quickly. That was great.

Also for the special post-game boss
good god that was also annoying. The Adventurer had like over 700,000 HP, it took me about a day and ten tries to get him down. Fuck Comrade and his dispel / blind combo, he kept ruining my entire strategy. I had to equip everyone with Fox Tails just to make sure my agility was high enough to make the first moves each turn, otherwise they would one-shot my party. So glad I finally did it without bravely second / any friend summons.

Oh also I did the
boss gauntlet challenge, the one where you face all asterisk holders without a break. So satisfying to beat them all.

Seriously Chapter 8 might be the best one.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Dark Knight with Sword Magic is probably the best damage dealer in the game. Not sure of anything that beats drain blade rage.
 

Dr. Buni

Member
I did the 'bad' ending yesterday. This might be one of my favorite games, even though there is some awful shit on it (perv old man, some ridiculous outfits and stuff). Some of the stuff I care the most about in games are all fantastic in BD. Like the villain (
___Airy___
not
Ouroboros
), the soundtrack, the art style (well, the chibi art style we see in the game) and last but not least, the gameplay. Also, although the writing is average at best, the story is kinda good. Keyword is kinda. Plus, Bravely Second's story makes it seem even better. It has been so long since a Square Enix game won me over, last one was Final Fantasy 9 ages ago.

Anyways, I will soon tackle chapters 6~8. I am wondering if the chapter 8 boss fights are mandatory? Because I am really not feeling like losing my patience trying to beat the
boss rush encounters
. If mandatory, does the Stillness cheese work against them?

ALSO, I got a Mammon with the 25k worth Elixir on Norende yesterday. Aren't those supposed to be rare?
 

Etria

Member
I did the 'bad' ending yesterday. This might be one of my favorite games, even though there is some awful shit on it (perv old man, some ridiculous outfits and stuff). Some of the stuff I care the most about in games are all fantastic in BD. Like the villain (
___Airy___
not
Ouroboros
), the soundtrack, the art style (well, the chibi art style we see in the game) and last but not least, the gameplay. Also, although the writing is average at best, the story is kinda good. Keyword is kinda. Plus, Bravely Second's story makes it seem even better. It has been so long since a Square Enix game won me over, last one was Final Fantasy 9 ages ago.

Anyways, I will soon tackle chapters 6~8. I am wondering if the chapter 8 boss fights are mandatory? Because I am really not feeling like losing my patience trying to beat the
boss rush encounters
. If mandatory, does the Stillness cheese work against them?

ALSO, I got a Mammon with the 25k worth Elixir on Norende yesterday. Aren't those supposed to be rare?

The Chapter 8
boss rush
is completely optional, but I recommend that you don't skip them because they are so enjoyable once you figure out how to beat them. The challenge is worth it, especially on Hard. :D
 

Dr. Buni

Member
The Chapter 8
boss rush
is completely optional, but I recommend that you don't skip them because they are so enjoyable once you figure out how to beat them. The challenge is worth it, especially on Hard. :D
I will give it a try, but battling
Qada, Mephilia and Yulyana
together doesn't sound fun to me, at all. xD That being said, figuring out how to beat
_Qada_
the first time I fought him was really satisfying, so you might be right.
 
The only mandatory tasks in chapters 5 - 8 are
beating the temple bosses and awakening the crystals / entering the holy pillar again
.

That being said, the optional
boss fights
in 8 are addicting. A slight difference in jobs / abilities combos can make a fight go from "this is absolutely impossible" to "these guys are a cinch".

Also finally 100%ed everything in D's Journal (well, except for 1 genome ability
because I didn't know only a temple boss had Aqua Regia, fuck me.
). Time to beat the final boss and finish the game start dealing with those level 99 nemeses.
 
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