Support NeoGAF

[Jyrii]

I just got master on Red Dragon (VI) on elite today. It is amazing how much new skills and skill honings will.

I used 1 spellblade user, breakdowner, two mages and a healer.

The mobs were the hardest part. I had to S/L few times to manage my dmg input. Red Dragon didn't have any physical skills, just normal attack, so Full break was enough to negate that dmg.

 

[BassForever]

Whoops totally didn't realize the Expert Darril Tomb was 6 stamina shards and not 2 that was a waste of a refresh :X

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

For materia like Pugilist's Lore for example, does that only up the damage that regular attacks do, or does it also affect abilities like Pound?

 

[Falk]

Everything.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Everything.

Great, thanks.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Whoops totally didn't realize the Expert Darril Tomb was 6 stamina shards and not 2 that was a waste of a refresh :X

Edit: Fact fixing.
I don't recall if the rewards page showed that. At least it took me by surprise.

The reason behind it happening is along the lines that the Japanese version of the game has different shard counts up until a certain point (that dungeon update?) as their starting stamina is 20 instead of 30 meaning there are 100 extra shards to collect in that version.

For this dungeon though they initially had it as 2 shards when it came out but then was mistakenly increased back to 6 (possibly when they reduced the elite boss stats). In finding a solution they gave 4 shards and a mythril to those who had completed it before the change. As a result we have more shards than Japan did at this time.

 

[BassForever]

Edit: Fact fixing.
I don't recall if the rewards page showed that. At least it took me by surprise.

The reason behind it happening is along the lines that the Japanese version of the game has different shard counts up until a certain point (that dungeon update?) as their starting stamina is 20 instead of 30 meaning there are 100 extra shards to collect in that version.

For this dungeon though they initially had it as 2 shards when it came out but then was mistakenly increased back to 6 (possibly when they reduced the elite boss stats). In finding a solution they gave 4 shards and a mythril to those who had completed it before the change. As a result we have more shards than Japan did at this time.

I remember reading about this back in the day but was so far behind it seemed like content I'd never see

 

[Falk]

On that last, nah, Elite boss stats were reduced on the first dungeon update. Darril's Tomb shenanigans were way past that.

 

[ezodagrom]

I really should pay more attention to quests and such, completed FF8's Dollet Classic only to realize there was a bonus quest for it afterwards...

 

[Negator]

I think North Mountain elite preserved its difficulty. Though with what we have now its not difficult at all.

 

[Falk]

My gut feeling is that North Mountain was an oversight that never got fixed because it didn't exactly break the game (the way e.g. half the playerbase having 4 extra stamina shards breaks the game)

There were a lot of shoddy little carryovers from things being changed from JP. Shard issue, Vivi's character description not being out even though he was (as part of Garnet's event), etc. etc.

Heck, right now we have Firion listed in Break Level Cap even though we don't have his MC.

 

[Purple Cheeto]

Finally beat Soulcage after like a billion attempts.

Fucked up halfway through and had Garnet use advance Probably the difference between expert and champion. Oh well. Its over I don't care.

 

[Red Mage]

So, the next JP event gives Palom (!!!) and Porom. Also, Dark Knight abilities become their own thing; including one that is essentially a honable Advance.

But who cares? We're finally getting the best Black Mage ever!

Spoiler

I'm totally going to draw Porom's weapon.

 

[ZangBa]

I figured Dark Knight abilties would be coming once I saw Cecil only having combat 5. Can't wait for T.G. Cid with Dark Knight 5, Knight 5, Spellblade 5, Combat 5, Celerity 5 and just throw Support 5 in for good measure.

Gaffgarion definitely coming, too.

 

[Stumpokapow]

So, the next JP event gives Palom (!!!) and Porom. Also, Dark Knight abilities become their own thing; including one that is essentially a honable Advance.

But who cares? We're finally getting the best Black Mage ever!

Spoiler

I'm totally going to draw Porom's weapon.

I'm imagining a world where the game does a Twin Meteor Soul Break which requires you to have both of them in your party.

 

[Falk]

Vivi/Steiner tag team wru

 

[Hours Left]

I'd 100% be down with Bands/Combo attacks. That would be great.

Also, FuSoYAAAAAAAASSSSSS finally getting a relic. ❤️

 

[Falk]

If this thing makes it past Year 2 I can definitely see combo attacks (you need only 1 SB weapon of a combo but must have all members of it in party) being a thing. It's like a low-hanging-fruit as far as adding complexity to the game without bloat goes.

Also would open up Chrono crossovers yeah yeah yeah yeah

 

[Hours Left]

I want The After Years characters. The story of that game might of been junk, but I loved seeing the older versions of the FFIV cast, and I liked a bunch of the new cast too. (Harley~)

 

[ZangBa]

All the characters that get the "darkness" ability set. Kingdom Hearts for the future confirmed?

Tyro (5)
Leonhart (5)
DK Cecil (5)
Golbez (5)
Exdeath (5)
Kefka (5)
Vincent (5)
Sephiroth (5)
Seifer (5)
Edea (5)
Jecht (5)
Dark Knight (4)

 

[Falk]

There's only 12 darkness in that list

 

[Hours Left]

All the characters that get the "darkness" ability set. Kingdom Hearts for the future confirmed?

Tyro (5)
Leonhart (5)
DK Cecil (5)
Golbez (5)
Exdeath (5)
Kefka (5)
Vincent (5)
Sephiroth (5)
Seifer (5)
Edea (5)
Jecht (5)
Dark Knight (4)

Yo.

 

[ZangBa]

There's only 12 darkness in that list

Clever, Falk. But surely Kuja is 13 next event!

 

[Road]

Got 1 MPO yesterday daily (my second ever daily Major, the other being Holy...), so I now have 31 and can make Full Break r2 without messing up my inventory.

...but there still is that feeling of using 310 GPO, 180 GLO and 180 GIO. That's a lot of Greaters. I think I'll wait until the Doom fights and if I can't beat them, then I'll get Full Break.

So, the next JP event gives Palom (!!!) and Porom. Also, Dark Knight abilities become their own thing; including one that is essentially a honable Advance.

Except it's obviously very much weaker (+30% ATK) than Advance (150% ATK).

 

[MrDaravon]

Man, I didn't get to touch the game at all yesterday, so much wasted stamina . Wound up getting a job offer though so that's great!.....now I can put more money into the game? lol

I totally forgot to start in on the Elite part of the Lulu event since I had 3 days in a row where I needed to run Dailies. I just got Wakka's MC, Wakka is a better pick that Snow it looks like generally speaking right? Snow seems pretty eh and can use Monk skills but that doesn't seem to really be relevant. I'm using Snow right now since he's one of the few folks I have that has broken the cap, but I already had Wakka sitting at 50 so I can just swap him in now.

I don't have any specific gear for either one of them, I do have the free Evil Lantern though. Right now I've got Tyro using it though since he's also one of my few characters past 50. Actually....would it make more sense to swap Tyro out for Wakka? Tyro is kinda eh I just didn't have anyone else really past 50 and he has a wide range of skills, but Wakka can equip Celerity up to 3 and Support up to 5. I don't really use Tyro for magic, I use him mostly for the busters and breaks.

 

[Hours Left]

Man, I didn't get to touch the game at all yesterday, so much wasted stamina . Wound up getting a job offer though so that's great!.....now I can put more money into the game? lol

I totally forgot to start in on the Elite part of the Lulu event since I had 3 days in a row where I needed to run Dailies. I just got Wakka's MC, Wakka is a better pick that Snow it looks like generally speaking right? Snow seems pretty eh and can use Monk skills but that doesn't seem to really be relevant. I'm using Snow right now since he's one of the few folks I have that has broken the cap, but I already had Wakka sitting at 50 so I can just swap him in now.

I don't have any specific gear for either one of them, I do have the free Evil Lantern though. Right now I've got Tyro using it though since he's also one of my few characters past 50. Actually....would it make more sense to swap Tyro out for Wakka? Tyro is kinda eh I just didn't have anyone else really past 50 and he has a wide range of skills, but Wakka can equip Celerity up to 3 and Support up to 5. I don't really use Tyro for magic, I use him mostly for the busters and breaks.

Snow and Wakka don't really share the same role though. Snow is a tank knight/monk, while Wakka is a backrow support character. Both have their strengths.

Swapping Tyro for Wakka makes much more sense. Tyro's selling point is his versatility, but if you have someone that is doing the exact same job as him, it's usually better to go with the specialized character.

 

[MrDaravon]

Snow and Wakka don't really share the same role though. Snow is a tank knight/monk, while Wakka is a backrow support character. Both have their strengths.

Swapping Tyro for Wakka makes much more sense. Tyro's selling point is his versatility, but if you have someone that is doing the exact same job as him, it's usually better to go with the specialized character.

Right, I was only looking at Snow just because I'm trying to get my handful of 50+ characters leveled up as well as help carry me through content (I'm still working through classic dungeons), then halfway through my post I realized Wakka can do everything I'm using Tyro for lol.

I need more eggs to level up people D:

 

[Hours Left]

Right, I was only looking at Snow just because I'm trying to get my handful of 50+ characters leveled up as well as help carry me through content (I'm still working through classic dungeons), then halfway through my post I realized Wakka can do everything I'm using Tyro for lol.

I need more eggs to level up people D:

If you're using capped characters then swapping them for those that can still gain experience is the wise move, particularly if your choices are limited. In that case, I'd use Tyro to fill another gap in the party and let Wakka be your support.

 

[MrDaravon]

If you're using capped characters then swapping them for those that can still gain experience is the wise move, particularly if your choices are limited. In that case, I'd use Tyro to fill another gap in the party and let Wakka be your support.

Everyone in my party has broken the 50 cap which is why I'm still using some of them; the idea is getting these folks up to 65 will help me short-term in getting through Classic Dungeons, and then I'm using Sunday + eggs to try to level up new people. I finally got BM/SM/WM up to 50 and broke their caps for RM purposes, then this past Sunday I got Vivi up to 50 since I had his MC, and I didn't have an offensive mage that had broken the cap (I had Rydia up to 50 but no MC for her yet sadly). So right now my party is Cloud at 65, Snow at 58, Lenna at 55, then Wakka and Vivi who have both broken the cap but not hit 51 yet. Not sure who I'm going to try to get up next, looking at characters I have MC's for it'll probably be either Squall, Gilgamesh or Zidane I guess.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Dude.....just pulled Poroms seraph mace ssb on the Jp game. My equips are so good but my hones of four star abilities are so mediocre. I get annoyed by having to change the iPad's time zone to run the dailies and don't bother.

Now I have the ssbs for sephiroth, agrias, Locke, Porom.

 

[Star Falcon]

Definitely keen to make a

Spoiler

gimmicky

Dark Knight party! With ExDeath healing (lol) should be mildly viable.

 

[Xetherion]

Everyone in my party has broken the 50 cap which is why I'm still using some of them; the idea is getting these folks up to 65 will help me short-term in getting through Classic Dungeons, and then I'm using Sunday + eggs to try to level up new people. I finally got BM/SM/WM up to 50 and broke their caps for RM purposes, then this past Sunday I got Vivi up to 50 since I had his MC, and I didn't have an offensive mage that had broken the cap (I had Rydia up to 50 but no MC for her yet sadly). So right now my party is Cloud at 65, Snow at 58, Lenna at 55, then Wakka and Vivi who have both broken the cap but not hit 51 yet. Not sure who I'm going to try to get up next, looking at characters I have MC's for it'll probably be either Squall, Gilgamesh or Zidane I guess.

I highly recommend Gilgamesh. He can use both Retaliate and Draw Fire, which basically completely nullifies bosses that only use single target physical attacks. He also has the best weapon selection of all the retaliators (other than Tyro), so you're more likely to have an RS weapon for him to use.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Gilgamesh being able to retaliate using spears and fists open up a few more realms for easy retaliating for me. If only he knew how to fire a pistol.

 

[Star Falcon]

Yeah Gilgamesh is brilliant. His stats are much, much better than Tyro too so he can actually hit harder than a wet noodle and take a couple hits too.

 

[ZangBa]

Seems like I made it pretty far in classics, next painting is Ogopogo and I heard some bad things about him. So far it's been smooth sailing but I still have a ton of elites to do.

 

[MicH]

Seems like I made it pretty far in classics, next painting is Ogopogo and I heard some bad things about him. So far it's been smooth sailing but I still have a ton of elites to do.

Just remember that Ogopogo opens with Deluge x2 before you can do anything a la Dark Bahamut

 

[Gravijah]

Do SSBfest banners draw only from their designated pools or can they also draw from the entire pool, like normal draws? I'm assuming the latter.

 

[Tidd]

I guess the game got me back. I played a few months ago and today I saw some information of the FF IX event, which includes some of my favorite characters. And it looks like the performance of the game was improved, which forced me to quit back then.

If I remember correctly I stopped playing a few weeks after we got the record materia feature. So I need some tips about this game nowadays. Did the meta change? Is retaliate still reliable? Or is there something better now? What about new abilities? Or should I still concentrate on Shellga, Protega, different breaks, -ga/ja- magic? What are the recommended places to farm greater orbs? Anything else I missed? (except characters, weapons and events) A lot of questions but I hope you can help me out.

 

[BassForever]

Glad I listened to Falk and just went mage/spellblade nuke on the IX rush went a lot better

 

[Jyrii]

Anything else I missed? (except characters, weapons and events) A lot of questions but I hope you can help me out.

Retaliate is still valid in many cases. Ruinga basically replaces quake as it is non-elemental and does more damage. Full break is probably the most useful 5* ability so far without hones. Meteor is also nice.

 

[ZangBa]

Just remember that Ogopogo opens with Deluge x2 before you can do anything a la Dark Bahamut

Thank sweet baby Jesus I have Y'sthola AoE heal. Even stuck at 50 she is still a beast, made the fight real easy after getting it off. Classic of course, though, I'm sure elite is hell.

 

[Red Mage]

Got 1 MPO yesterday daily (my second ever daily Major, the other being Holy...), so I now have 31 and can make Full Break r2 without messing up my inventory.

...but there still is that feeling of using 310 GPO, 180 GLO and 180 GIO. That's a lot of Greaters. I think I'll wait until the Doom fights and if I can't beat them, then I'll get Full Break.


Except it's obviously very much weaker (+30% ATK) than Advance (150% ATK).

Yes, but it stacks.

 

[RocketDarkness]

Got 1 MPO yesterday daily (my second ever daily Major, the other being Holy...), so I now have 31 and can make Full Break r2 without messing up my inventory.

...but there still is that feeling of using 310 GPO, 180 GLO and 180 GIO. That's a lot of Greaters. I think I'll wait until the Doom fights and if I can't beat them, then I'll get Full Break.


Except it's obviously very much weaker (+30% ATK) than Advance (150% ATK).

R2 Full Break is kind of amazing, I gotta say. One of the unintended but amazing side effects it has is making the R3 Combat Breaks extremely potent again, since they stack. This suddenly allows you to put less emphasis on Breakdowns, since as long as your Support can throw down Full Break, generic combat classes can contribute meaningful damage and debuffs as well. Your support can even run a non-breakdown ability in their second slot to provide additional versatility!

But Rank 3 costs 40 MPO...ouch.

 

[Balphon]

Blew 150 mythril on the hairpin banner and only got one 5* -- incidentally the same one I drew on my 100 gem pull from the first banner.

Oh well. Ended up with a good handful of useful 4* stuff at least.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

disappointed in myself. I wasnt going to drop mythril on this banner, but since I drew lulus doll for round one, I figured I'd give it a shot for her other relic and make her my primary black mage. I only dropped 20 myhril and the 100 gems. I got 2 3s 2 4s and a 5, so looking good right? the 4s, one was a dagger I've already maxed, the other was the X warrior sword, new to me, and the five? Variable Steel. blargh. I already have both Tidus swords and Auron's katana not to mention a 4++Nodachi katana. That's what I get for changing my plans and chasing a specific relic in a relm that I have ridiculous offensive synergy. Luckily 20 mythril isn't a big deal. I'm not going to pull the ssb banners I think, they don't interest me, at least the theorized relics.

 

[Balphon]

Yojimbo ended up being easier than I expected. The fact that you can't hit Daigoro was rather annoying; I probably should've brought Draw Fire.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

I'm tacking the new dungeons now then bonus battles on Monday. Give lulu some Sunday levelling

 

[CuthbertAllgoodz]

Tantarian I hate you...

 

[Red Mage]

Cleared the bonus battles. Will start the dungeons tomorrow. Hand of the Emperor is rockin', BTW.

 

[BassForever]

Noooo I forgot to bring Zidane to the stupid tree boss and missed mastery because of it >:[ worse the character I brought instead Tidus has the exact same move set as I meant to give Zidane

Blah at least Advance/Retaliate works and now I have two free haste rm to use.

Edit: try with zidane went flawlessly, he only mustard bombed while I got mitigation, advance taliate, and dark all up then because I had so much extra health my healer could just added extra diaga into the mix never even came close to death.