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Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age |OT| You Had One Job!

emrober5

Member
I beat this game for the first time recently. Never played it on ps2 and I loved it. I feel like 2x speed was almost a necessity though, battles felt so slow without it. That really is my only complaint. I enjoyed the story, the world, and the cast overall was great. Balthier is a great leading man.
 

Aurizen

Member
So I just realized I possibly messed up. I gave my Vaan the Knight class. And I want to know if I missed out on libra spell? I kinda wanted to make my Vaan a Warrior a Black mage down the line. Won't warrior class have Libra?

Thinking of making my guys fit this
VAAN- Knight/Black mage
Balthier- Machinist/Uhlan
Fran- Red Battlemage/Archer
Basch: Monk/bushi
Ashe: Bushi/Blackmage
Penelo: white mage/shikari
 

Ponn

Banned
Does trial mode contribute to bestiary? I'm at the last few bits, just beat Hell Wyrm and that went without any hitches completely sped up and with gambits. I figure that was a good test run for Yiazamat. I haven't gotten the bestiary trophy yet and I'm really not sure where to start figuring out monsters I missed. I did all hunts (minus Yizzy) and just hanging before last stage. Finished Hunt Club too. If I'm missing anything I'm figuring it's those stupid random Entites or whatever they are called.

Everyone is about 75 so I think I'm going to level a bit, fuck that crystal though maybe Henne Mines. I used Basch with Genji Gloves and Masamune to tank Hell Wyrm. Is that still a good combo for Yiazamat or should I go with Zodiac Spear?

I thought I made a mistake with Balthier as Machinist/Knight but he has turned out really useful as a tank with support and white magic.
 

Vashetti

Banned
Does trial mode contribute to bestiary? I'm at the last few bits, just beat Hell Wyrm and that went without any hitches completely sped up and with gambits. I figure that was a good test run for Yiazamat. I haven't gotten the bestiary trophy yet and I'm really not sure where to start figuring out monsters I missed. I did all hunts (minus Yizzy) and just hanging before last stage. Finished Hunt Club too. If I'm missing anything I'm figuring it's those stupid random Entites or whatever they are called.

Everyone is about 75 so I think I'm going to level a bit, fuck that crystal though maybe Henne Mines. I used Basch with Genji Gloves and Masamune to tank Hell Wyrm. Is that still a good combo for Yiazamat or should I go with Zodiac Spear?

I thought I made a mistake with Balthier as Machinist/Knight but he has turned out really useful as a tank with support and white magic.

Yes.
 

Mcdohl

Member
I am in the endgame, (as in right before Sky Fortress
Bahamut
) but I'm not quite sure in what order to tackle the following...

  • Sochen and Hell Wyrm
  • Great Crystal and Ultima
  • Pharos Subterra and Ixion and that other hunt
  • Behemot King hunt
  • Henne Mines and Zodiark

I am lvl65 with my 3 main guys. I have done most hunts and have all espers sans Ultima and Zodiaek. The last thing I did was kill Fafnir and the dinosaur hunt at the Pharos entrance.

Can anyone tell me a recommended order for the above? Or are they around the same difficulty?
 

Ponn

Banned

Awesome, thanks.

I am in the endgame, (as in right before Sky Fortress
Bahamut
) but I'm not quite sure in what order to tackle the following...

  • Sochen and Hell Wyrm
  • Great Crystal and Ultima
  • Pharos Subterra and Ixion and that other hunt
  • Behemot King hunt
  • Henne Mines and Zodiark

I am lvl65 with my 3 main guys. I have done most hunts and have all espers sans Ultima and Zodiaek. The last thing I did was kill Fafnir and the dinosaur hunt at the Pharos entrance.

Can anyone tell me a recommended order for the above? Or are they around the same difficulty?

Haha just did those last week and was about same level too when started. The order I went in mostly with no hitches.

Crystal/Ultima (caveat here, Crystal is a pain in the ass to get to and go through and is a time sink, not difficult mind you at your level, just tedious. You might want to save it for last just so you can do
Omega Mark
at same time to save another trip. On their hand some useful items like Excalibur)

Pharos/Shadowseer and Ixion - this is actually a really good leveling spot with the crystal and elevator system.

Behemoth King- my first real taste of a drawn out battle, mostly because of stupid immunity

Henne Mines- I was shocked how quickly Zodiark went down. I felt more threatened by the trip there and the way the enemies gang up on you in numbers. Some useful items here too.

Hell Wyrm - This is basically the Yiazmat warm up. Get your gambits right.
 

Mcdohl

Member
At level 65 you should be able to overcome everything, maybe leave the Great Crystal/Ultima and Zodiark for last.

That's great to hear. I thought I was going to have to grind to lvl99. Is 65 ok for Trial Mode too?

Awesome, thanks.



Haha just did those last week and was about same level too when started. The order I went in mostly with no hitches.

Crystal/Ultima (caveat here, Crystal is a pain in the ass to get to and go through and is a time sink, not difficult mind you at your level, just tedious. You might want to save it for last just so you can do
Omega Mark
at same time to save another trip. On their hand some useful items like Excalibur)

Pharos/Shadowseer and Ixion - this is actually a really good leveling spot with the crystal and elevator system.

Will probably do Pharos first. I'm scared about the Crystal tediousness. Does fast forward ease the pain? :(
 

Tomodachi

Member
That's great to hear. I thought I was going to have to grind to lvl99. Is 65 ok for Trial Mode too?
I think that for Trial Mode is more important how well you're equipped than your level. Make sure you have at least one of each accessory. I had a very hard time with the last stages and was about to give up because I didn't have the Nihopalaoa ring. Ribbons are also very useful, as well as weapons inflicting bad statuses and every magic/tech. Trial mode forces you to use every skill in the game and many different combination of gambits and approaches to enemies, it's the place where the combat system really shines imho.
Will probably do Pharos first. I'm scared about the Crystal tediousness. Does fast forward ease the pain? :(
Yes, definitely, I started used 4x there for the first time. I admit I followed a visual guide there because I couldn't be bothered to write everything down.
 
Finally getting more time to play here and there. Just finished doing the Leviathan, and now back in Bhujerba with a full party.

Everyone's these jobs right now:

Vaan: Shikari
Balthier: Machinist
Fran: Archer
Basch: Knight
Penelo: Monk
Ashe: Time Battlemage

The pairings I'm gonna go with are mostly the usual ones. Shikari/Foebreaker, Machinist/Uhlan, Archer/Red Mage, Knight/Bushi, Monk/Black Mage, Time Mage/White Mage. Kinda wanted to use each job once
 

Mcdohl

Member
Finished the Great Crystal last night. Got Shellga and Hastega in the process as well. I feel like it would be way less tedious to navigate if the respawn rate of enemies was less aggressive. I almost died once because I wasn't paying much attention and tons of Doom casting mobs ganged up on me. Anyways... Ultima was too easy. Getting there was a thousand times harder lol :)

I think that for Trial Mode is more important how well you're equipped than your level. Make sure you have at least one of each accessory. I had a very hard time with the last stages and was about to give up because I didn't have the Nihopalaoa ring. Ribbons are also very useful, as well as weapons inflicting bad statuses and every magic/tech. Trial mode forces you to use every skill in the game and many different combination of gambits and approaches to enemies, it's the place where the combat system really shines imho.

And do you recommend leveling all the party members? My Penelo is like level 15 :(


Side-q: If I kill Hell Wyrm, Yiazmat, Omega, etc. on Trial Mode would I get their PSN trophies?
 

Tomodachi

Member
And do you recommend leveling all the party members? My Penelo is like level 15 :(
Oh yes, definitely. You'll need to switch in and out the secondary party in many instances, unless you don't want to go crazy :p
When leveling try using the ring for double exp points and remember that when you kill a monster with only one or two party members in the party (instead of all three) you get more experience per member.
 

Minamu

Member
Huh, thought I was a long ways off until I'd get the second licence boards. I don't know how to procees, who should get which Esper, and what quickenings to get... Any ideas?

Vaan: Shikari
Balthier: Machinist
Basch: Bushi
Fran: Red mage
Penelo: White mage
Ashe: Black mage

Basch should probably be a knight next, and Ashe a monk I believe? I think I'd want all characters to be unique, just ro try everything out.
 

Aurizen

Member
I'm pretty early in the game but is there a chance early in the game to get strong weapons? How easy is it to get the ultimate weapons and armor in the game?
 
I'm pretty early in the game but is there a chance early in the game to get strong weapons? How easy is it to get the ultimate weapons and armor in the game?
Once you get access to airship travel from the aerodromes you can (with a little bit of RNG manipulation) get infinite copies of the strongest weapon in the game which also requires no licences to use.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
You can also farm Trial 3 to steal one of the ultimate swords.

Is it recommended to do trial mode throughout the main story or wait until way later on?

Better to wait I think, though you can get some broken stuff from it early on (I however got everything 'legit', by crafting). But you'll need to restart with a fully decked out party anyway, if you want to complete it.

Getting ultimate weapons in this game isn't that annoying. With the speed up and auto save you can easily farm rare items. Do use a guide, because the game doesn't hand out recipes. And some one time enemies can be left alive and farmed for an easier time.

I am in the endgame, (as in right before Sky Fortress
Bahamut
) but I'm not quite sure in what order to tackle the following...

  • Sochen and Hell Wyrm
  • Great Crystal and Ultima
  • Pharos Subterra and Ixion and that other hunt
  • Behemot King hunt
  • Henne Mines and Zodiark

I am lvl65 with my 3 main guys. I have done most hunts and have all espers sans Ultima and Zodiaek. The last thing I did was kill Fafnir and the dinosaur hunt at the Pharos entrance.

Can anyone tell me a recommended order for the above? Or are they around the same difficulty?

With decent gambits, gear and at least a Ribbon, 65 is easy mode. I auto battled through the mines at that level. Zodiark kind of fell within a minute as well. You can beat everything. I think I started to tackle the high tier areas at that level and sort of regret it. It was simply way too easy.
 
Main advice for the postgame dungeons is to make sure you've got a dedicated physical damage-dealer and a dedicated magical damage-dealer in addition to proper distribution of the healing/buffing roles - later game enemies start to get a bit better at tripping up black/red mages, so even though doubling up on offensive mage stuff (aka Scourge and Ardor against everything) is fantastic for utterly blowing away regular late-game mobs, good party balance is increasingly important against the toughest stuff in the game.

Don't forget about the Lhusu Mines expansion(s), though. Some excellent equipment in there, and it's less likely to fuck you up than Subterra/deep Great Crystal/Henne Mines.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Main advice for the postgame dungeons is to make sure you've got a dedicated physical damage-dealer and a dedicated magical damage-dealer in addition to proper distribution of the healing/buffing roles - later game enemies start to get a bit better at tripping up black/red mages, so even though doubling up on offensive mage stuff (aka Scourge and Ardor against everything) is fantastic for utterly blowing away regular late-game mobs, good party balance is increasingly important against the toughest stuff in the game.

Don't forget about the Lhusu Mines expansion(s), though. Some excellent equipment in there, and it's less likely to fuck you up than Subterra/deep Great Crystal/Henne Mines.

Protection and gambits against statuses as well, make Cleanse and confuse a priority. They will fuck you up. One of the few issues I have with FFXII is the absurd amount of debuffs you'll endure late in the game.
 
Protection and gambits against statuses as well, make Cleanse and confuse a priority. They will fuck you up. One of the few issues I have with FFXII is the absurd amount of debuffs you'll endure late in the game.

yeah - the general order of priority for me is cleanse > revive by whichever means > esuna(ga) > healing > dispelling enemy buffs > applying beneficial buffs (well distributed between all the characters so I don't have one person just consuming all of their MP) > offense, and just switching off the buffs part of the gambits if my party gets stuck in a death loop. debuffs are something I basically do manually every time, which might be a mistake
 

BumRush

Member
Better to wait I think, though you can get some broken stuff from it early on (I however got everything 'legit', by crafting). But you'll need to restart with a fully decked out party anyway, if you want to complete it.

Getting ultimate weapons in this game isn't that annoying. With the speed up and auto save you can easily farm rare items. Do use a guide, because the game doesn't hand out recipes. And some one time enemies can be left alive and farmed for an easier time..

Okay, thank you! I'm only level 20 so I figured as much.
 

Mcdohl

Member
With decent gambits, gear and at least a Ribbon, 65 is easy mode. I auto battled through the mines at that level. Zodiark kind of fell within a minute as well. You can beat everything. I think I started to tackle the high tier areas at that level and sort of regret it. It was simply way too easy.

I don't have a ribbon yet but...

Yup, Ultima and King Behemoth were too easy. I started doing Subterra, and the Phoenix was a joke too, as are most enemies. However, when enemies gang up on me I can get into trouble. Any tips for this? I almost wiped three times against the onslaught of frogs and mares in the B1 of the Subterra.

I guess I don't have good gambits for lots of enemies, but I do pretty well against 1 lol
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Fuck those frogs.

Those guys are just bad news and you don't need to stay there. The rooms are easier, as are the other floors.
 

Mcdohl

Member
Fuck those frogs.

Those guys are just bad news and you don't need to stay there. The rooms are easier, as are the other floors.

You were right, first floor was the hardest lol. Damn frogs.

Finished the Subterra, including the 2 hunts (Ixion and Shadowseer) and the 2 Rare Game (Vagrant Soul and Luxollid). Algo got niho, Wither, and... a Ribbon!!!!!! *gasp* EASY MODE ACTIVATED.

Zodiark's next. I've heard navigating Henne Mines can be hard. But can it be worse than the Great Crystal or Subterra? :p
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Fuck I hate Zodiark and a lot of it is my fault. I never levelled Vaan, Balthier and Basch. Fucker is easy as piss, but fucking Darkja's one hit kill bullshit means one cast from him could wipe out the only characters I can use. If the girls die, then it's fucking over. And they can all die from one bullshit attack that otherwise does pisspoor damage.
 
I died once to Zodiac. On my second try, I stole something called "Grand Trango." Didn't know what it was so I looked it up and it turns out it's one of the best weapons in the game and super rare to get lol

Blessing in disguise that first death was. Although, I almost died during the second try. If I did, I would have cried cause I would have lost Grand Trango
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
I died once to Zodiac. On my second try, I stole something called "Grand Trango." Didn't know what it was so I looked it up and it turns out it's one of the best weapons in the game and super rare to get lol

Blessing in disguise that first death was. Although, I almost died during the second try. If I did, I would have cried cause I would have lost Grand Trango

Damn forgot to steal from him. Anyway, I read about using berserk in the fight, and had Ashe tank a Bacchus Wine and....that was the ticket. Berserk + Masamune + Genji Gloves = Much lols abound! He never put up any palings up and cast Darkja once hahaha.
 

Vashetti

Banned
They really need to patch it so that when you've unlocked New Game Plus from Trial Mode, it's a permanently selectable option, rather than having to beat Trial Mode again just to be able to get to it.
 
They really need to patch it so that when you've unlocked New Game Plus from Trial Mode, it's a permanently selectable option, rather than having to beat Trial Mode again just to be able to get to it.

honestly, in addition to that, the game needs *real* new game plus (keep all the abilities/equipment/bestiary info you've obtained, reset license boards/job choices/levels/treasure chests/etc), a theatre mode (including music), maybe an unlockable second accessory slot. it's a lovely lovely port but I think this is the stuff that'd make it feel basically infinitely replayable to me
 

Mcdohl

Member
Damn forgot to steal from him. Anyway, I read about using berserk in the fight, and had Ashe tank a Bacchus Wine and....that was the ticket. Berserk + Masamune + Genji Gloves = Much lols abound! He never put up any palings up and cast Darkja once hahaha.

I did something similar. I died to Zodiark once due to the pailings crap (my offensive magic game is pretty weak).

Attempt 2: Prepared Ashe with Excalibur + Genji Gloves and buffed her with the usual defensive stuff + Haste, Bravery, and Berserk. Once in combat I casted Dispel and Expose on the baby ASAP, and boom, the fool went down in less than a minute.

No Great Trango though :(

But did manage to get Renew, Addle, and my second Ribbon at the Henne Mines.

Next up: Filing the bestiary.
 

Kalentan

Member
Can you screw up your job selection?

Thus far I have...

Vaan - Monk
Panelo - Archer
Balth - Bushi
Fran - Black Mage

Don't have them yet but...

Basch - Knight
Ashe - White Mage
 
Yeah, I'm wondering this too. I bought this game as soon as it launched, but I kind of stopped dead when I picked up Ashe and was trying to decide her job. I'm assuming you can beat the game with any class combination, but here's what I've got so far.

Vaan: Knight
Penelo: Red Mage
Balthier: Machinist
Fran: White Mage
Basch: Bushi

I kind of want to make Ashe an archer, but she's also got great magic abilities so maybe I should lean that way. Or just go with Archer for now and enjoy the game without worrying whether I'm using optimal classes. I can always diversify later when second classes unlock.
 
I've beaten everything except Omega and Trial Mode, plus completing the Bestiary and getting all Concurrences and a couple of sidequests (catch the cockatrice/letters/fishing) and there are still further optimizations I could make to my equipment and gambit setup for sure, but after many hours spent on this game my interest in it has suddenly cratered (basically right after finishing Yiazmat off). Weird. Enjoyed it even more than the PS2 version for sure though.
 

Mcdohl

Member
I've beaten everything except Omega and Trial Mode, plus completing the Bestiary and getting all Concurrences and a couple of sidequests (catch the cockatrice/letters/fishing) and there are still further optimizations I could make to my equipment and gambit setup for sure, but after many hours spent on this game my interest in it has suddenly cratered (basically right after finishing Yiazmat off). Weird. Enjoyed it even more than the PS2 version for sure though.

You are so close to the Platinum tho :O
 

BumRush

Member
The only thing TZA really needs is the ability to store gambit setups. Even having an A and a B version would help tremendously.
 

Jennipeg

Member
I'm having such a hard time with the Fafnir hunt, i'm level 78 and its still kicking my arse. According to the wiki, its not supposed to use Shock until half health, but its doing it constantly from the get go. Then there is the sleep/stop/silence status effects, ugh!!!! Its now a matter of pride, what level did you guys do it? It would be sooo much easier if you could equip 2 accessories.

Edit: Finally did it, needed two healers and just let Penelo go mad with thundaga.
 

sikkinixx

Member
I realize this is half the posts are about but...

I feel like I messed up my party and now it's time for job #2.

Vaan - Shikari
Penelo - Wht Mage
Ashe - Knight
Basch - Bushi
Fran - Monk
Balthier - Machinist

I had a plan but don't remember where i jotted it down. Not sure where to go with it now. I don't need to use all characters (I always seem to end up leaving Archer out of it). Any thoughts?

(I kinda wish they just had a default I could pick)
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Oh lol at Hell Wyrm. Didn't do that or Yiazmat on PS2. It was....ridiculously easy. I mean when he's about to die he starts spamming Invert...Good job restoring my almost infinite MP, while my team is ready for a barrage of Curajas. He was slowly killing himself. Now it's time for Omega. I am a bit scared but, so was I for Hell Wyrm. Also I really regret not putting White Robes and Excalibur on Ashe for Zodiark. I kept to Masamune for a higher combo. When I saw the damage on Hell Wyrm....holy shit.

I realize this is half the posts are about but...

I feel like I messed up my party and now it's time for job #2.

Vaan - Shikari
Penelo - Wht Mage
Ashe - Knight
Basch - Bushi
Fran - Monk
Balthier - Machinist

I had a plan but don't remember where i jotted it down. Not sure where to go with it now. I don't need to use all characters (I always seem to end up leaving Archer out of it). Any thoughts?

(I kinda wish they just had a default I could pick)

Shikari/Foebreaker - I don't use Vaan but that's apparently a great set-up for him.

Knight/Bushi - That's my Ashe and she's a wrecking machine. Physical monster and a healing monster with the right esper.

Monk/Black Mage - That's my Penelo, and she's perfect. Also has Curaja and with the correct Esper you can get Holy.

Machinist/White Mage - Each class is a perfect companion for the other. You'll get a monstrous WM because guns hit like a truck, and ignore defense despite their "low' attack.

You really can't have an "optimal OPTIMAL" party, using all classes with your choices, but try some of these for your main party for sure. I am Knight/Bushi, Black Mage/Monk and Archer/Red Mage and that team eats the game alive for breakfast.
 

Jennipeg

Member
Oh lol at Hell Wyrm. Didn't do that or Yiazmat on PS2. It was....ridiculously easy. I mean when he's about to die he starts spamming Invert...Good job restoring my almost infinite MP, while my team is ready for a barrage of Curajas. He was slowly killing himself. Now it's time for Omega. I am a bit scared but, so was I for Hell Wyrm. Also I really regret not putting White Robes and Excalibur on Ashe for Zodiark. I kept to Masamune for a higher combo. When I saw the damage on Hell Wyrm....holy shit.

I beat Hell Wyrm at the weekend as well, it took a few tries but once I got my gambits right it was easy. My problem was trying to use the holy spell, it took soooo long and I think it delayed my other characters even when using items.

I used Basch equipped with Masamune and Genji gloves, and Ashe equipped with Excalibur to beat the shit out of him instead.

I'm thinking about Omega next, but i'm dreading the great crystal again, I thought getting Ultima was the last time i'd need to go there.... :(
 
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