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[Chamber]

I think I remember reading that the end of chapter 9 is the 'halfway point' of the game?

So, double how long it took you to get there?

Seriously?

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad.

 

[ACE 1991]

Even when the combat finally "opens up" are you still mashing auto battle?

 

[luxarific]

Even when the combat finally "opens up" are you still mashing auto battle?

I am: unless there's a particular effect I want to achieve - choosing raise over cure, for example (Autobattle always prioritizes cure over raise) - queuing up individual actions just takes too long.

 

[eznark]

7 hours of not dying or even coming close.....now I can't take Odin. Annoying

 

[ACE 1991]

I am - unless there's a particular effect I want to achieve - choosing raise over cure, for example (Autobattle always prioritizes cure over raise), queuing up individual actions just takes too long.

yech... That sounds kind of unsatisfying.

 

[qwerty2k]

Just got the collectors edition guide, its fantastic quality (in terms of paper used etc), is the number of the inside cover the total number printed in just this territory (in my case uk) or world wide (i assume territory since its quite a low number?), mine is 203,891/210,000

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I think I remember reading that the end of chapter 9 is the 'halfway point' of the game?

So, double how long it took you to get there?

^

Could be wrong though.

lol, the guide says its the Halfway point in the story but not the necessarily the game. Hm

Im currently at 28 hours beginning of chapter 10

 

[luxarific]

yech... That sounds kind of unsatisfying.

I made my peace with it, once I realized the battle system REALLY doesn't want you to pick out your own actions, but yeah, I miss the fine control you had in FFXII.

 

[MetatronM]

Even when the combat finally "opens up" are you still mashing auto battle?

Usually, unless you have something really specific in mind.

But you're also going to be constantly juggling paradigms instead, which is where you do the bulk of your strategizing in the battle.

 

[Ponn]

A question about this scarf: I usually have it equipped, but I've been hesitant to upgrade it because I've noticed that when I switch paradigms after running through my string of actions, the switch will interrupt the paradigms/actions of my other party members. I'm worried that the interrupt interval will get even greater if I upgrade the scarf (i.e., my character will have finished their action queue, at which point I'll want to switch to another paradigm to get the full ATB bar. But the switch will interrupt the other characters who've just completed one or two actions. I'm worried that an upgrade to the scarf will mean the player character's ATB bar will fill even faster, resulting in the other characters only pulling off one action before the switch to a new paradigm.) Have you noticed this effect with your upgraded scarf? Maybe I'm just imagining it and/or am switching paradigms incorrectly (I try to do it right about when Lighting is doing her last backflip animation).

I think I get what you are saying. I'm not noticing any negative effects to the upgrade, though for those who may not be doing this make sure you use the scarf with the Axis blade for Light, especially if you do upgrade. The only other thing I can say is keep in mind any ATB gauges filled and not used before a shift for you or your AI's stay filled after the shift so you aren't really losing anything, just a slight delay. Which unfortunately can mean death if you were needing a cure right then and there.

I'm also wondering if the slight differences in how quickly the various ATB bars fill up has an effect on what spells/actions the non-player AI chooses. E.g., for some reason, Vanille doesn't ever seem to cast Cura even in situations where it would be extremely useful (two characters below 50% health - she always casts two individual Cure spells). I'm wondering if my constant paradigm switching is in effect influencing the AI to only queue up 1-ATB segment actions, instead of more costly spells.

I'm not really noticing paradigm shifting causing that. The AI might be doing that because it (and you) can't target more than one individual character for actions so it might just thinks its more efficient to heal one character with a couple actions then cancel and redirect one or two towards another.

I am: unless there's a particular effect I want to achieve - choosing raise over cure, for example (Autobattle always prioritizes cure over raise) - queuing up individual actions just takes too long.

OH GOOD LORD! Don't depend on your medic to raise, ever. You have much better options available to you, Renew, Phoenix Downs and if you are using Light as Leader just keep a Combat Clinic Paradigm in your deck for a quick raise if necessary.

 

[Jrmint]

I think I remember reading that the end of chapter 9 is the 'halfway point' of the game?

So, double how long it took you to get there?

^

Could be wrong though.

The guide says it is the halfway point of the story, not the game.

 

[reilo]

7 hours of not dying or even coming close.....now I can't take Odin. Annoying

Be a Medic.

 

[luxarific]

I think I get what you are saying. I'm not noticing any negative effects to the upgrade, though for those who may not be doing this make sure you use the scarf with the Axis blade for Light, especially if you do upgrade. The only other thing I can say is keep in mind any ATB gauges filled and not used before a shift for you or your AI's stay filled after the shift so you aren't really losing anything, just a slight delay. Which unfortunately can mean death if you were needing a cure right then and there.



I'm not really noticing paradigm shifting causing that. The AI might be doing that because it (and you) can't target more than one individual character for actions so it might just thinks its more efficient to heal one character with a couple actions then cancel and redirect one or two towards another.

Thanks for the comments. So are you not using paradigm shifting that much? E.g., you said Lighting can fill her bar twice before Fang ATB fills the first time. Maybe the problem is that I'm just switching roles too much (I thought that was the way you were supposed to play it :lol).

 

[eznark]

Be a Medic.

Yeah, I was switching between Yin/Yang and Archmage. Finally spent some time as dualcaster and beat it right away.

As usual, as soon as I bitch about not being able to get past something I get it the next try

 

[Einbroch]

For Mission 24, can you not repeat it until you clear the dungeon? Because it's still deactivated.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Well then how much of the game is after chapter 9? I'm 17 hours in at this point, is it really less than a 30 hour game?

 

[Ponn]

Thanks for the comments. So are you not using paradigm shifting that much? E.g., you said Lighting can fill her bar twice before Fang ATB fills the first time. Maybe the problem is that I'm just switching roles too much (I thought that was the way you were supposed to play it :lol).

Depends on your situations. If i'm staggering then i'm not switching, i'm just trying to end the battle with one paradigm or at least do the most amount of damage possible before the stagger ends. If its more than one opponent (damn Gorgonsipids things) then i'm constantly shifting between Delta Attack, Relentless, Solidarity and probably once into Combat Clinic.

I guess i'm not trying to micro manage my AI team to much. I have their roles for Paradigm but i'm just letting them do their thing while concentrating on managing Light to work with them. Like keeping track of the ATB bar and trying to cancel into an early attack to keep an enemy juggled or such.

 

[luxarific]

OH GOOD LORD! Don't depend on your medic to raise, ever. You have much better options available to you, Renew, Phoenix Downs and if you are using Light as Leader just keep a Combat Clinic Paradigm in your deck for a quick raise if necessary.

I don't like renew (I actually use eidolons, so I'm always annoyed at having to waste TP on renew). And at this point, I want to save the gil for upgrades, not PDs. So that leaves a manually-selected raise since the AI will always heal first and then raise, sigh.

 

[Ponn]

When will Snow stop punching his palm? He has done it like 1000 times.

It's actually a mini game. The more times you hit X during the cut scene the more times he will punch his palm. If you hit a 100 times during the cut scene you will get a Rat's Tail.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I just heavily upgraded some weapons but I'm not noticing much of a difference in attack or magic power. What gives?

 

[GriffD17]

It's actually a mini game. The more times you hit X during the cut scene the more times he will punch his palm. If you hit a 100 times during the cut scene you will get a Rat's Tail.

:lol :lol :lol :lol
Oh golly gosh. Thanks for that. Pure gold.

 

[luxarific]

Depends on your situations. If i'm staggering then i'm not switching, i'm just trying to end the battle with one paradigm or at least do the most amount of damage possible before the stagger ends. If its more than one opponent (damn Gorgonsipids things) then i'm constantly shifting between Delta Attack, Relentless, Solidarity and probably once into Combat Clinic.

I guess i'm not trying to micro manage my AI team to much. I have their roles for Paradigm but i'm just letting them do their thing while concentrating on managing Light to work with them. Like keeping track of the ATB bar and trying to cancel into an early attack to keep an enemy juggled or such.

OK, I'm switching even when I'm in stagger since the thought of a nice full ATB bar is usually too hard to resist, but I'll try upgrading the scarf and then just letting it refill.

 

[Scythesurge]

As much as I like it, I don't think I can stomach 20 more hours of this. The pacing in this game is horrible.

The pacing is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I'm on chapter 9 as well and I'm not sure if I want the game to turn into a grindfest all of a sudden.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

It's actually a mini game. The more times you hit X during the cut scene the more times he will punch his palm. If you hit a 100 times during the cut scene you will get a Rat's Tail.

Which will unlock the Zodiac Spear.

 

[Majine]

Chapter 10.

Spoiler

Rhaines.

Any tips?

 

[luxarific]

Chapter 10.

Spoiler

Rhaines.

Any tips?

Use

Spoiler

smokes to buff yourself before the battle, then sab his ass (I used Light with Vanille and Fang to debuff him into oblivion)

.

 

[Chamber]

Well then how much of the game is after chapter 9? I'm 17 hours in at this point, is it really less than a 30 hour game?

It's a 40-50 hour game from what I hear so I actually don't know why I'm shocked. It's disappointing though because the pacing from 1-9 was really great and just when it seemed like the game was dragging, it shifted focus. Grinding is going to put an end to that.

 

[Majine]

Use

Spoiler

smokes to buff yourself before the battle, then sab his ass (I used Light with Vanille and Fang to debuff him into oblivion)

.

Spoiler

He dispells all our buffs when he does that nuke spell, so what's the point?

 

[XHPrime]

I just heavily upgraded some weapons but I'm not noticing much of a difference in attack or magic power. What gives?

Yea I saved a lot of components for chapter 10 and after upgrading my stuff quite a bit I redid a battle and did it 10 seconds slower, I know there is some variability in each battle but I figured Id see some noticeable improvement from before.

 

[Zoe]

I don't like renew (I actually use eidolons, so I'm always annoyed at having to waste TP on renew). And at this point, I want to save the gil for upgrades, not PDs. So that leaves a manually-selected raise since the AI will always heal first and then raise, sigh.

Renew is invaluable during later boss fights. Especially so because your TP continues to restore during the battle.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Oh nice, the Main Battle theme returned in chapter 10. It was absent since Chapter 6.

 

[Hyunkel6]

Chapter 10.

Spoiler

Rhaines.

Any tips?

I used Light, Fang and Hope. I buffed/debuffed/heal whenever he guarded. Then, switched to RAV/COM/MED as my main paradigm. When he did the attack that hit everyone. I switched to MED/SEN/MED. I found him pretty easy if not long.

The next eidolon on the other hand....Now that was a challenging fight.

 

[luxarific]

Spoiler

He dispells all our buffs when he does that nuke spell, so what's the point?

You can get him under 50% health when you

Spoiler

buff yourself before battle and then debuff him. Then just debuff him again (MED/SAB/SAB) when he does the nuke. You don't even have to rebuff your party.

I killed him in about 4 minutes using this method, but whatever works for you.

 

[Kinitari]

Alright, just jumped onto that

Spoiler

giant ship thingy

at the beginning of chapter 9. Before I venture much deeper, I think I need a bit of advice, should I be 'grinding' more? I had a lot of trouble in the last fight involving

Spoiler

Vanille and Sazh

and I feel as though Snow is kind of... weak. I think I am over focusing on Lightening, and now that I have

Spoiler

Fang

I think I am focusing too much on these two characters in general. They have the best equipment, their stuff is level 15+ on weapons, and level 5+ on accessories.

Second question! should I be focusing more on accessories? I think I am pumping too much in weapons, and not enough in accessories, in fact I think I barely even put any effort in accessories, most of them are level 1 on my characters, and I can't even tell you what they are wearing. I think it's an accessory stigma I have.

Last question! Are there any tricks or tips to grinding at the point of the game I am at? Wouldn't mind leveling(?) up quite a bit more before I go further, but maybe I am still too early to really get a good grind going?

 

[eXistor]

I'm already having major trouble just starting up he game and playing. It's just so goddamn boring so far. The story is ridiculous and only Lightning and Sazh are decent characters (I want to fucking kill Vanille so much with her annoying voice).

It's got a great battlesystem that's wrapped up in a piece of shit game. It's just long winding path after long winding path, the scenery just never changes and when it does, it's hours upon hours of the same thing again. There's nothing to break uop the tedium. I can't wait till I get to that chapter where all kind of shit becomes available.

 

[luxarific]

Renew is invaluable during later boss fights. Especially so because your TP continues to restore during the battle.

I'll resort to Renew instead of wasting a PD when I've been controlling a character that doesn't have raise/MED role. I still think its annoying that the AI will avoid raising until everyone else is 100% healthy.

I haven't gotten that TP-increasing accessory yet, I don't think, but when I do I'll probably be more profligate with my TP.

 

[Volcynika]

Alright, just jumped onto that

Spoiler

giant ship thingy

at the beginning of chapter 9. Before I venture much deeper, I think I need a bit of advice, should I be 'grinding' more? I had a lot of trouble in the last fight involving

Spoiler

Vanille and Sazh

and I feel as though Snow is kind of... weak. I think I am over focusing on Lightening, and now that I have

Spoiler

Fang

I think I am focusing too much on these two characters in general. They have the best equipment, their stuff is level 15+ on weapons, and level 5+ on accessories.

Second question! should I be focusing more on accessories? I think I am pumping too much in weapons, and not enough in accessories, in fact I think I barely even put any effort in accessories, most of them are level 1 on my characters, and I can't even tell you what they are wearing. I think it's an accessory stigma I have.

Last question! Are there any tricks or tips to grinding at the point of the game I am at? Wouldn't mind leveling(?) up quite a bit more before I go further, but maybe I am still too early to really get a good grind going?

Last question-

Spoiler

There's an area called soldier's headquarters full of enemies that respawn when you get some distance. They drop credit/incentive chips that can sell for some good money to buy items to upgrade your equipment.

 

[Giolon]

Alright, just jumped onto that

Spoiler

giant ship thingy

at the beginning of chapter 9. Before I venture much deeper, I think I need a bit of advice, should I be 'grinding' more? I had a lot of trouble in the last fight involving

Spoiler

Vanille and Sazh

and I feel as though Snow is kind of... weak. I think I am over focusing on Lightening, and now that I have

Spoiler

Fang

I think I am focusing too much on these two characters in general. They have the best equipment, their stuff is level 15+ on weapons, and level 5+ on accessories.

Second question! should I be focusing more on accessories? I think I am pumping too much in weapons, and not enough in accessories, in fact I think I barely even put any effort in accessories, most of them are level 1 on my characters, and I can't even tell you what they are wearing. I think it's an accessory stigma I have.

Last question! Are there any tricks or tips to grinding at the point of the game I am at? Wouldn't mind leveling(?) up quite a bit more before I go further, but maybe I am still too early to really get a good grind going?

It is not necessary to level up any weapons or accessories to beat the game. I didn't bother to level any of that stuff until postgame. You'll find too that there's a limit to grinding as you are restricted by your current Crystarium Rank. That said, by the time you reach the end of Chapter 9, you should be just about maxed out on your current Crystarium Rank. If you've been fighting every group of enemies at least once, you should make it there without problem.

That said, Chapter 9 is one of the first good places to farm for cash (the soldiers drop Credit Chips and Incentive Chips) - though this can always be done later.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Alright, just jumped onto that

Spoiler

giant ship thingy

at the beginning of chapter 9. Before I venture much deeper, I think I need a bit of advice, should I be 'grinding' more? I had a lot of trouble in the last fight involving

Spoiler

Vanille and Sazh

and I feel as though Snow is kind of... weak. I think I am over focusing on Lightening, and now that I have

Spoiler

Fang

I think I am focusing too much on these two characters in general. They have the best equipment, their stuff is level 15+ on weapons, and level 5+ on accessories.

Last question! Are there any tricks or tips to grinding at the point of the game I am at? Wouldn't mind leveling(?) up quite a bit more before I go further, but maybe I am still too early to really get a good grind going?

The outside of the area is good for grinding and some of the parts inside, actually Id say the whole chapter is.

I really wouldnt focus on Snow at all (not even used).

 

[Castor Krieg]

For Mission 24, can you not repeat it until you clear the dungeon? Because it's still deactivated.

Yes, they are deactivated till some time in the future chapters (don't remember if it's all the way to post-game or not).

Anyway,

Spoiler

Titan's Trials

done, got Genji Glove. Highwind time.

 

[Zoe]

I haven't gotten that TP-increasing accessory yet, I don't think, but when I do I'll probably be more profligate with my TP.

You don't need an accessory for the TP to regenerate during a battle. It's just very slow.

Edit: Also keep in mind that it's easier to fill up bars 1-3. I would avoid keeping my TP bar full due to that.

 

[ronito]

I'm still plodding along (though substantially slower than all y'all).

Right now I'm thinking if this was a film the cinematographer, lighting director and director of photography would all be fired. There's is just the same color palate/lighting for most of the beginning hours (dark with neon blues and greens offset by browns and gray). One of the things I really look forward to in a game if location variety. Right now I'm reminded of Oblivion where essentially you're running through the same landscape for 80% of the game. Things might change later on, but even midgar had the slums, and the reactor, and the church and the city proper in order to keep everything from feeling samey. Fact is, I was telling the wife (who's playing this with me), it just feels like we've been wandering through dark corridor after dark corridor with the few minute interspersing of ice.

Despite that I'm still loving the game. But I need help with

Spoiler

Odin

I know a lot of people keep bringing him up but he just sets on Hope and wipes him out in like two hits. I've only skipped one fight so far, so I'm not thinking I'm under leveled unless you're supposed to backtrack or something. Any help?

 

[luxarific]

The outside of the area is good for grinding and some of the parts inside, actually Id say the whole chapter is.

I really wouldnt focus on Snow at all (not even used).

I barely use him as well (I have something like 80,000 CP stocked up for him since I didn't use him through most of chapter 10). I actually like the character though, even though he is an airhead.

 

[BluWacky]

The next eidolon on the other hand....Now that was a challenging fight.

I am really surprised to see how difficult people seem to be finding the eidolon fights. I'm certainly no super-genius when it comes to this game (my battle scores from chapter 10 onwards certainly put paid to that) but the eidolon battles are pretty obvious.

Inevitably the ways to power the Gestalt metre up are "use chain attacks" and "use the character in question's main roles which aren't COM or RAV". So for the fight you're talking about,

Spoiler

debuff away merrily, have Fang use sentinel and then COM/RAV, RAV/RAV or whatever with the other two plus one Medic when necessary, rinse, repeat, there you go.

I suppose the time limit is a concern, but then I suppose that suits me - my main problem with the boss battles is that I take too long, rather than having difficulties working out a strategy for staying alive. Definitely need to get some auto-haste accessories or use Sazh more...

 

[KingJ2002]

i got to say... those comparisons to the 360 and PS3 versions nearly killed the 360 version for me... i cant even walk into a bestbuy anymore without wanting to buy a PS3 just for it... lame


but so far so good... i'm really enjoying the game.

 

[7Th]

I want to know why the japanese thread didn't condemn Vanille as the blight upon gamekind she is.

Because shitty voice acting works wonders.

 

[desu]

Even when the combat finally "opens up" are you still mashing auto battle?

It's the way the game is supposed to be played.

 

[Kinitari]

Thanks for the advice, I have heard that I don't -need- to grind to beat the game, it's more like... whenever I play an RPG, I absolutely love maxing myself out as fast as possible. This is the first chapter for example, where I couldn't max out all my characters crystarium trees within a few fights! I grinding a bit during chapter 2, and that surplus crystarium carried my quite a while.

Anyhoo, looks like I choose a good place to pause and ask this question, going to do some grinding tonight when I get home from work! I also really want to see one of my weapons 'evolve'. Maybe I can do that before the end of the chapter if I push it.

 

[luxarific]

You don't need an accessory for the TP to regenerate during a battle. It's just very slow.

The slow regen rate of TP is why I don't want to waste it on resurrecting people (if I don't have to). Raise>>>>>TP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>PD. I wonder if maxing out that accessory is worth it.

Edit: Also keep in mind that it's easier to fill up bars 1-3. I would avoid keeping my TP bar full due to that.

I like to use the fourth/fifth points on Libra and keep the three remaining for an eidolon.

 

[Lonestar]

I think I'm in Chapter 9, with some Gigantic Boss that looks like a XBOX 1, and goddammit...To fight for what feels like half an hour, and die with like 10% left. I said Goddamn.

Also, I totally forgot that I could sell some of those items I recieved as spoils. I just use them up upgrading weapons....even the lowly 1 EXP stuff. I have lived off of about 5000 gil in the bank :lol