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[Somnium986]

After grinding in gran pulse using the behemoth method, I decided to go on with the story.

Spoiler

I'm in the Mah'habara: twilight caverns I think, and ran in to this big dreadnought looking thing.

Resistant to pretty much anything I threw at it. Still beat it though with zero stars ,and 13mins out of a 2min target time.:lol
Was I doing it wrong? Or was i supposed to leave it for later? Was that Cei'th stone behind it the only reason for fighting it?

 

[Cep]

Yup. Normally, this wouldn't matter... but since A.I. is so fundamentally important to high level play, it's actually become obscene for me. How anyone can defend the system without more micromanaged programming at this point is beyond me - it's clear that SquareEnix simply cannot program A.I. smart enough to account for a great many scenarios.

And this just leaves me frustrated as I have to come up with roundabout ways to get what I need done.



I've tried that. Then Lightning fucks up at something and slows the battle down (for example, she consistently cures instead of ensuna off the miasma effects, which if land mag down on Fang, she won't be able to hit Ballius with mag defense decrease, which is a big part of finishing the battle quickly).

In the end, it ended up being somewhat faster to just let Hope at it and control the Esuna healing at the start.

Also, ANOTHER thing. I should be able to target multiple teammates on a round if my bar allows it. For example, Esuna Fang and Esuna Hope on the same turn if I choose.

SO MANY RETARDED LIMITATIONS. God just when I was a little enjoying myself the bullshit creeps up and starts making it too annoying. FFXIII is a mess

The devs were sipping the same kool-aid as the 4WL devs.

 

[mr_nothin]

Yup. Normally, this wouldn't matter... but since A.I. is so fundamentally important to high level play, it's actually become obscene for me. How anyone can defend the system without more micromanaged programming at this point is beyond me - it's clear that SquareEnix simply cannot program A.I. smart enough to account for a great many scenarios.

And this just leaves me frustrated as I have to come up with roundabout ways to get what I need done.



I've tried that. Then Lightning fucks up at something and slows the battle down (for example, she consistently cures instead of ensuna off the miasma effects, which if land mag down on Fang, she won't be able to hit Ballius with mag defense decrease, which is a big part of finishing the battle quickly).

In the end, it ended up being somewhat faster to just let Hope at it and control the Esuna healing at the start.

Also, ANOTHER thing. I should be able to target multiple teammates on a round if my bar allows it. For example, Esuna Fang and Esuna Hope on the same turn if I choose.

SO MANY RETARDED LIMITATIONS. God just when I was a little enjoying myself the bullshit creeps up and starts making it too annoying. FFXIII is a mess

I'm RIGHT THERE with you Amirox. It would have been a lot better if they just allowed us to control all 3 characters. Being limited has put all the flaws on the forefront. I dont see how any one is defending this "on the surface" battle system. I feel like I'm watching the game play itself and it's doing everything that I dont want it to do.

I've also pointed out the fact that you cant cue up different actions for different enemies/allies, or a combination of those, in a round. The battle system could have been so much better if they didnt "high level" everything. I cant get deep into anything.

I hate the macro-managing in this game.

 

[j-wood]

Anyone figure out if it's possible to get two spoils from every mission (spoils from the fight, and then a reward after you get the mission complete screen)?

If so, that makes it pretty easy to farm for components. I think the second mission you do for the wolves gives you 3k cp each fight, and 3 bomb shells, on top of a chipped fang from the fight itself

 

[Alex]

If you fix all of the problems and big complaints of the gameplay in FFXIII you get FFX-2, it's kind of hilarious. This team is clearly better than this and I dont know what went wrong. Fuck, I went in EXPECTING another X-2 and that was awesome by me, X-2 is probably the best playing game in the series (and it KNEW how goofy it was, and also had some solid humor from time to time)

But the AI drives me nuts too, it's so fucking stupid when it comes to anything other than matching the correct element parameters. If you want a Raise or an Esuna to be cast, you're going to be waiting about a dozen turns before you get it and I don't even want to get into the debuffing.

 

[Fun Factor]

Yup. Normally, this wouldn't matter... but since A.I. is so fundamentally important to high level play, it's actually become obscene for me. How anyone can defend the system without more micromanaged programming at this point is beyond me - it's clear that SquareEnix simply cannot program A.I. smart enough to account for a great many scenarios.

And this just leaves me frustrated as I have to come up with roundabout ways to get what I need done.

I noticed the flaws with the A.I. several times & you know what? It doesn't matter 98% of the time.
It does the right actions & the right choices for the vast majority of all the fights. I never lost a fight or was in danger of losing a fight because of the A.I. Did you?

The very worst it did was make me waste a extra turn or two & delay some of the harder fights a bit longer than it has to.

 

[jiggle]

Anyone figure out if it's possible to get two spoils from every mission (spoils from the fight, and then a reward after you get the mission complete screen)?

If so, that makes it pretty easy to farm for components. I think the second mission you do for the wolves gives you 3k cp each fight, and 3 bomb shells, on top of a chipped fang from the fight itself

yeah u can get both enemy drop and mission reward same time


the ceith stone for mission 2 is quite a walk away though

better to do mission 7
ceith stone is like 5 seconds away
mission reward is 5 bomb core (worth more xp than bomb shells)
and possible tiedric crown drop (can be turned into sprint shoes, or sold for 15k)
and rare tiedric tiara drop (sold or keep both good options)
2000cp/fight

easy fight with vanille on sab, and 2 good ravages

 

[j-wood]

yeah u can get both enemy drop and mission reward same time


the ceith stone for mission 2 is quite a walk away though

better to do mission 7
ceith stone is like 5 seconds away
mission reward is 5 bomb core (worth more xp than bomb shells)
and possible tiedric crown drop (can be turned into sprint shoes, or sold for 15k)
and rare tiedric tiara drop (sold or keep both good options)
2000cp/fight

easy fight with vanille on sab, and 2 good ravages

Is the mission reward based on your rating each time you do the mission?

 

[InfiniteNine]

Got the LE soundtrack in a couple of hours ago, and goddamn is it huge.

 

[MechaX]

I noticed the flaws with the A.I. several times & you know what? It doesn't matter 98% of the time.
It does the right actions & the right choices for the vast majority of all the fights. I never lost a fight or was in danger of losing a fight because of the A.I. Did you?

The very worst it did was make me waste a extra turn or two & delay some of the harder fights a bit longer than it has to.

In the harder fights, yes, it's going to matter when your synergist doesn't infuse a weapon with the right element or doesn't give the right buffs at times where they would have been quite vital, or when your medic doesn't decide to heal properly, or when your sentinel gets raped because he decided to use 5 more provokes on an enemy that is already provoked rather than canceling for a guard, or when a saboteur decides to mix and match random debuffs without having the option or ability to prioritize stuff (ie, Slow).

When considering that FFXII contained total control over their actions, XIII's AI is a jarring step back (and they don't even allow some form of customization) and it does pose problems when trying to form your own strategies for certain fights (and instead only encourages a few ways to do so unless you're personally manning the proper roles).

 

[Castor Krieg]

Is the mission reward based on your rating each time you do the mission?

No, it only affects the amount of TP you recover.

Damn, farmed for 2-3 hours, only one Trap. Is there any place better than Chapter 12? I need to go inside and come back for the turtle to respawn. I can take them on without summon now so TP is not a problem.

 

[Oli]

I'm mid Chapter 11 right now and have a question.

Spoiler

There are destinations scattered around various spots. I don't want to progress beyond the missions areas because I plan to finish as much as possible before going to the end of the game. Is there any danger in accidentally moving on my going to these spots? Or is it just story continuation stuff.

Also, how do you know where your mission destination is? I know it tells you the area, but how do you find said area other than just scanning the map for the star?

Also, when is the OST going to come back in stock on the SE store? D:

 

[jiggle]

Is the mission reward based on your rating each time you do the mission?

nope

 

[jiggle]

I'm mid Chapter 11 right now and have a question.

Spoiler

There are destinations scattered around various spots. I don't want to progress beyond the missions areas because I plan to finish as much as possible before going to the end of the game. Is there any danger in accidentally moving on my going to these spots? Or is it just story continuation stuff.

Also, how do you know where your mission destination is? I know it tells you the area, but how do you find said area other than just scanning the map for the star?

Also, when is the OST going to come back in stock on the SE store? D:

NW corner of the steppes lead to the next story area
but it's not a point of no return, u can return immediately
you can do missions

Spoiler

1-17

before needing to go there


mission description tells u which area the mob is in
the star shows u its exact location

 

[Oli]

NW corner of the steppes lead to the next story area
but it's not a point of no return, u can return immediately
you can do missions

Spoiler

1-17

before needing to go there


mission description tells u which area the mob is in
the star shows u its exact location

So after

Spoiler

17

what do I do? I have to go and beat the game?

 

[Magnus]

So I wandered around the Steppe, grinding, killing, exploring, whatever. I only finished 3 Missions when I first arrived.

I'm honestly lost right now and can't figure out where to go to find another active Ci'eth stone for mission 4. :lol

 

[Giolon]

Yes, I realize this is from four days ago, which is practically PREHISTORY in Internet time, but having followed this thread since the game released and the speed with which it moves, either it wasn't posted (I doubt it) or I missed it. Since I'm finding it now, I thought some others might find it interesting/helpful. It's an interview on Shacknews w/ FFXIII's battle director.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62900

The particularly interesting bit I found was this:

If there was an enemy and his weakness was thunder attacks, a normal person might just use a series of thunder spells and chain that. But actually, what's more effective in battle is to alternate that with Sparkstrike [an elemental attack]. Going back and forth between those two is the most effective way to fill up the chain gauge. So if you chose the auto function it will calculate that and fill in the most accurate and efficient way to defeat enemies.

I'd been wondering why the game would go on and do that when choosing Auto-Battle and one character stat outweighed the other. I wonder if there's hard numbers on this anywhere?

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Question: if I do a retry on the 2nd part of the

Spoiler

Orphan fight

, do I have to redo the 1st part?

Probably answered by now but a retry lets you do it for each part of the fight, which is pretty awesome.

 

[Amir0x]

I noticed the flaws with the A.I. several times & you know what? It doesn't matter 98% of the time.
It does the right actions & the right choices for the vast majority of all the fights. I never lost a fight or was in danger of losing a fight because of the A.I. Did you?

The very worst it did was make me waste a extra turn or two & delay some of the harder fights a bit longer than it has to.

It's not about losing fights, it's about slowing the process down. FFXIII's pitiable A.I. consistently makes wrong choices. All the time.

Here's the problem with A.I. The number one rule of games is that they should never get in the way of the gamer. If the game is doing something that makes you believe it is the games fault and not your own (for example, for slowing the battles down or losing a battle), that is just about the worst possible sin a game can commit.

Which is why you should never give to A.I. what the gamer can do himself. The gamer can almost ALWAYS do a better job than the A.I.

That's what the A.I. is like all the time. I can see on a consistent basis the A.I. making the wrong choices, but I am helpless to do anything. The way the game takes control from the player literally undermines the whole process time and time again. Because no matter how fast the battle system is, it's simply a product of the type of ways it had to shit on the gameplay to do it.

All they had to do is have gambits. That's all, and the battle system would have turned into something pretty nice once they were done with the eighty three hour tutorial.

This game is just filled to the brim with problems that add to one, giant mess. From the way you can't save paradigms to the way the map shifts in Gran Pulse, to the massive issues like the way the A.I. constantly fucks up on the details and how linear everything is (and the abysmal story), this game is always just a couple more months away from being something good.

It's a shame. After all the time I played, reaching Gran Pulse... I can almost see where they were going with this game. It seems like a distant oasis, always just out of reach... until you actually arrive there, and it's just a mirage shimmering in the summer heat.

 

[VeryGooster]

I just want to point out that those Falco Velocycles suck. Hard. Although I realized Steelguard is a very handy tool in fighting them, but otherwise WTF...

 

[Fuu]

Thanks for sharing that Giolon, interesting info since the general consensus is that the AI would do that because it's cool to look at during fights.

 

[jiggle]

So after

Spoiler

17

what do I do? I have to go and beat the game?

after that, there are no more missions left in the area to do (or doable at your current stats)
and it's time to move on with the story, u will find plenty of missions in the areas ahead

 

[Oli]

after that, there are no more missions left in the area to do (or doable at your current stats)
and it's time to move on with the story, u will find plenty of missions in the areas ahead

Oh, well I'm already in the Yaschas Massif.

 

[Castor Krieg]

It's not about losing fights, it's about slowing the process down. FFXIII's pitiable A.I. consistently makes wrong choices. All the time.

Here's the problem with A.I. The number one rule of games is that they should never get in the way of the gamer. If the game is doing something that makes you believe it is the games fault and not your own (for example, for slowing the battles down or losing a battle), that is just about the worst possible sin a game can commit.

Which is why you should never give to A.I. what the gamer can do himself. The gamer can almost ALWAYS do a better job than the A.I.

That's what the A.I. is like all the time. I can see on a consistent basis the A.I. making the wrong choices, but I am helpless to do anything. The way the game takes control from the player literally undermines the whole process time and time again. Because no matter how fast the battle system is, it's simply a product of the type of ways it had to shit on the gameplay to do it.

All they had to do is have gambits. That's all, and the battle system would have turned into something pretty nice once they were done with the eighty three hour tutorial.

This game is just filled to the brim with problems that add to one, giant mess. From the way you can't save paradigms to the way the map shifts in Gran Pulse, to the massive issues like the way the A.I. constantly fucks up on the details and how linear everything is (and the abysmal story), this game is always just a couple more months away from being something good.

It's a shame. After all the time I played, reaching Gran Pulse... I can almost see where they were going with this game. It seems like a distant oasis, always just out of reach... until you actually arrive there, and it's just a mirage shimmering in the summer heat.

I think you are being way too critical here. Yes, the gamer will always do a better job than A.I., however what if the gamer doesn't want to micro-manage everything? I agree that the best way would be to include gambits, maybe they thought that's very FFXII mechanic, so it shouldn't be included in different FF game? There are only a handful of encounters in the game where you can go: "Damn, if only I could control the party this would be easier". I really don't need to press Ruin-spam 200% more often than I do it now.

Even with avarage (I won't call it bad, it's average given battle system limitations) A.I. the game is not hard. They probably scaled down enemies to reflect the fact that the A.I. will not make optimal choices in a given situation.

Your whole post was more about you complaining about the design choice they took ("I want to control my party") than it was about the quality of the A.I.

 

[jiggle]

Oh, well I'm already in the Yaschas Massif.

that's for mission and optional CS
to move on with the actual story, u go

Spoiler

Mah’habara

 

[Magnus]

I've gotta concur, the AI really took a downturn for me around Chapter 11. It's a very frequent occurrence now for me to be helplessly staring at my AI-controlled party members as they cast things out of the desired order, or just plain attack a target I don't want staggered yet.

I loved the earlier comments in this thread that defended the decision to limit us to leader control: "I just don't understand how you feel that you're out of control of your party in this game." Are you out of your mind? :lol

For every exciting change in Chapter 11, I was greeted with one more depressing flaw.

This rotating map screen truly boggles the mind. What were they fucking smoking?

 

[KZObsessed]

Yay! Mastered all roles on all characters. Mastered ultimate weapons for my 3 main characters. Fang, Lightning and Hope. And have mastered Vanille's ultimate weapon to dismantle into 3 Trapezohedrons for the other two characters. Just need the money now *sigh*

Need to upgrade every weapon and accessory for that stupid Treasure Hunter trophy as well. Aaaaaaaaaargh don't know if I can be bothered... would need a bunch of Dark Matters. Guess I know have to start farming the Long Guis :lol

 

[Canti]

Is mission 62 even possible without that synthesized ability to nullify magic damage? For each character I have 4 jobs maxed out at lvl 5 and couldn't even stagger them before getting my ass handed to me (around 18-20k hp per character) >:

 

[neoism]

lol sorry wrong thread!

 

[marathonfool]

Is mission 62 even possible without that synthesized ability to nullify magic damage? For each character I have 4 jobs maxed out at lvl 5 and couldn't even stagger them before getting my ass handed to me (around 18-20k hp per character) >:

Spoiler

I made liberally use of a Sentinel. A Saboteur who can cast imperil and slow will help. Make sure to equip all your magic/elemental resist accessories. Once you take down one, it should be easy.

 

[runlikehell]

Is mission 62 even possible without that synthesized ability to nullify magic damage? For each character I have 4 jobs maxed out at lvl 5 and couldn't even stagger them before getting my ass handed to me (around 18-20k hp per character) >:

Buy and equip Witch's Bracelets, I had 4 on everyone except the person with Growth Egg and even though it took a while, I managed to do the mission pretty easily.

 

[Canti]

Thanks for the tips! I'll bookmark and try them out tomorrow (pretty burnt out after today's session).

 

[Fuu]

I've gotta concur, the AI really took a downturn for me around Chapter 11. It's a very frequent occurrence now for me to be helplessly staring at my AI-controlled party members as they cast things out of the desired order, or just plain attack a target I don't want staggered yet.

I loved the earlier comments in this thread that defended the decision to limit us to leader control: "I just don't understand how you feel that you're out of control of your party in this game." Are you out of your mind? :lol

For every exciting change in Chapter 11, I was greeted with one more depressing flaw.

This rotating map screen truly boggles the mind. What were they fucking smoking?

Our ch.11 experience is pretty similar so far, down to feeling the need to grind right at the first hunts and having no idea where the next stone is, lol.

 

[KZObsessed]

So now I've mastered all my character I guess I can sell my Growth Egg for 250k? I don't need it for the treasure hunter trophy as I don't need to have everything at the same time, correct?

 

[K' Dash]

Atacus is stomping on me, any recomendations? and how can I make some damage to him?

I have Ultima Weapon on Light and a second tier version on Fang too, half an hour in to the fight he does an attack to light, kills her and there goes all that fucking time spent... FUCK!!! >_<

 

[Lost Fragment]

No, it only affects the amount of TP you recover.

Damn, farmed for 2-3 hours, only one Trap. Is there any place better than Chapter 12? I need to go inside and come back for the turtle to respawn. I can take them on without summon now so TP is not a problem.

Doing it on Pulse is probably tons more efficient.

Go to pulse, kill the adamantortoises/adamantoises, then abandon/retake one of the ci'eth stone circle missions and it'll force a repop.

Atacus is stomping on me, any recomendations? and how can I make some damage to him?

I have Ultima Weapon on Light and a second tier version on Fang too, half an hour in to the fight he does an attack to light, kills her and there goes all that fucking time spent... FUCK!!! >_<

Use Sazh as the leader and equip Rigels and the Champion's Badge or whatever other accessory that gives him Random: Instant Chain and use cold blood over and over until he's staggered.

 

[Vanille]

So now I've mastered all my character I guess I can sell my Growth Egg for 250k? I don't need it for the treasure hunter trophy as I don't need to have everything at the same time, correct?

Correct.

 

[marathonfool]

Atacus is stomping on me, any recomendations? and how can I make some damage to him?

I have Ultima Weapon on Light and a second tier version on Fang too, half an hour in to the fight he does an attack to light, kills her and there goes all that fucking time spent... FUCK!!! >_<

Spoiler

The higher the chain percentage, the higher the damage from Commandos. So drive that chain gauge as high as possible at the beginning before he whips out his 2nd sword. Make sure to use a Sentinel with tons of physical resist accessories. Attacus only attacks a single target at a time. Buffs and debuffs will help as well.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Well now I'm just confused.

 

[demosthenes]

Barthunder makes mission 7 so much easier for low level characters @.@

 

[KZObsessed]

Correct.

Beautiful. Good bye Growth Egg, you served me well.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I just want to point out that those Falco Velocycles suck. Hard. Although I realized Steelguard is a very handy tool in fighting them, but otherwise WTF...

I think the Aquila Velocycles were the worst, Plasma Cannon is the most wretched move in the game.

Though Thanastonian Laughter was the most memorable move.

 

[K' Dash]

Use Sazh as the leader and equip Rigels and the Champion's Badge or whatever other accessory that gives him Random: Instant Chain and use cold blood over and over until he's staggered.

Cold blood is an ability? I haven't used him in a while?

Thanks for the help.

 

[InfiniteNine]

sankaku picture

Well now I'm just confused.

Don't link to that terrible excuse of a news site.

 

[Tom Penny]

Fuck that piece of shit level 9 boss. Took me an hour. Bastard. Burn in hell.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Use Sazh as the leader and equip Rigels and the Champion's Badge or whatever other accessory that gives him Random: Instant Chain and use cold blood over and over until he's staggered.

Or just put Snow as Sentinel with Mediguard. He was healing himself constantly to full HP. I had Light and Fang hitting on Attacus the whole time.

Well now I'm just confused.

Why are Vanille's legs so fat? Lightning is terrible. Hope is Hope. :lol

 

[Natural]

Fuck that piece of shit level 9 boss. Took me an hour. Bastard. Burn in hell.

That's the boss i'm on now! The fucker cast Doom on me after I got his HP down to about half way!

How did you beat him?

 

[robot]

Just got to Gran Pulse - looks like it's gonna be fun. How do side missions work...can I go back to them after the story ending or is there only a small window to take them on? Anything I should know going into side missions?

One negative I finally noticed...wish there was a way to spread your guys out, some of my characters are hanging too close to Sentinels and getting hit in the process. Everything else in the game is just awesome.

 

[Lost Fragment]

Cold blood is an ability? I haven't used him in a while?

Thanks for the help.

nvm lol

Apparently Atticus is immune to instant chain.

 

[Crash Station]

Okay, mission 64 is total bull. I'm nearly maxed out with everything and this guy still stomps me. I always get so close using poison the whole battle but then he gets a lucky hit in. What weapons/accessories should I be using?