Support NeoGAF

[Adaren]

It's amazing how that game got both more coherent, but still incredibly convoluted. Still prefer it to 13.

I'll never understand how people found XIII's story incoherent and XIII-2 an improvement in clarity. They may say the word "l'cie" often, but that doesn't add to the confusion past the first couple hours.

There's also that mission 24 which give you BOTH CP and money, which is an interesting alternative.

Also any guide with the ideal weapons for each character? Is time to upgrade some shit.

There are no "best" weapons in XIII. In general, upgrading a weapon will just amplify their base attributes. So a balanced weapon will upgrade to the ultimate balanced weapon, a low-STR-high-MAG weapon will upgrade to the ultimate low-STR-high-MAG weapon, a weapon with low stats but a special ability will upgrade to one with relatively low stats and a stronger version of that ability, etc.

So if you want Fang to be a STR beast, upgrade her highest STR weapon. If you like Lightning's ATB Charge weapon, then upgrade that.

There is a simple weapon upgrade calculator that can help you make the most of your gil/components, though.

Imo you shouldn't bother with that. Seriously. It's a waste of time. Get to the end of ch11, get Death, grind Adamntoises, it's much more productive. I wasted hours on it and I regret it.

Yeah, you can definitely get through Gran Pulse and beyond without any grinding. If you're having trouble though, then feel free (it will also help you get better at the game, which will alleviate the need to grind). The game definitely starts demanding more from you there.

 

[Braag]

Still waiting on that patch!

It might never come


Not sure of this has been all ready posted but it seems pretty accurate (From Steam HUB).

 

[Xanathus]

#3 is not a good choice. It's completely doable to do mission up to 17 and move on to complete the chapter without grinding and then move on with the game. That way, by the time you reach chp12, you'll have missions 1~27 (or 26? can't remember) done. And it's a lot easier and less tedious to earn money and CP at chp12 than grinding in Pulse.
Then you can always return to Pulse to finish off rest of the missions.

Plus you get Lionheart for lightning at chp12.

Oh man I forgot that you could go back to Pulse, I was stuck trying to figure out how to get strong enough to beat some of the 30+ missions.

 

[Flachmatuch]

My favourite weapons (not "best", just favourite):
- Axis Blade for Lightning, certainly early game. Low stats but Lightning is an incredible Ravager and can chain super fast. Lionheart is better for stats, but for speed, nothing beats Axis Blade. Axis Blade and Enkindler are in the Boost group so with Nimbletoe Boots, Sprint Shoes and Aurora Scarf you get +20% ATB speed (and the auto haste from Sprint Shoes). (Final weapon level is always independent though, so 5% of that boost is gone and once you get your fourth accessory slot, you probably have it upgraded already so you never realistically have 30% :-( ...and the end game is much more about setting up for particular battles)
- Hawkeye for Hope because of Magic; or Otshirvani maybe?
- Belladonna Wand for Vanille (no contest imo, she's best as a Saboteur)
- Pandoran Spear for Fang (has Stagger Lock but she's a Commando anyway and the stats are fantastic).
- Sazh: I like Spica Defenders, although tbh I don't often use him, despite his awesome Blitz ability. Probably not the best choice.
- No idea for Snow as I don't really use him early on, and once you need him, you can upgrade any weapon anyway.

Yeah, you can definitely get through Gran Pulse and beyond without any grinding. If you're having trouble though, then feel free (it will also help you get better at the game, which will alleviate the need to grind). The game definitely starts demanding more from you there.

Yep, just getting through Chapter 11 is not really even a challenge. I just meant that if for some reason someone wants to level up before chapter 12, it's still best to beat B and get Death and get grinding from there. (Although tbh I never actually tried to do that, so maybe it's not even possible?) Don't really remember what you need to do to open up the teleport in Oerba though. I am saying this because I made this mistake and it was a huge waste of time overall (and imo makes the game a bit worse of an experience). The first place one should grind is imo the Adamantoise in Eden and the only thing you really need is a Marlboro wand, a collector's catalog and maybe a connoisseur's. Even Growth Egg is not that important until the last Crystarium level imo. This is also the best and the worst thing about the game: until the end game, there's nothing much you can do (except a bit of CP grinding) to give you a real advantage in battles. No items that make battles a breeze, nothing to increase gold or CP gain early on (except the two catalogs) etc. There are some points at which you can grind for a bit early on (like the soldiers in Hope's house) but the advantage you gain is minimal to say the least, especially if you understand the combat system to some degree. It's probably the least breakable FF ever.

 

[TheTux]

Change the Future.

Change the Past.

 

[SirNinja]

- No idea for Snow as I don't really use him early on, and once you need him, you can upgrade any weapon anyway.

For what it's worth: Paladin/Winged Saint is what I usually put on him. It makes his Sentinel "guarding" abilities even more effective, and is very helpful for doing a lot of missions before leaving chapter 11 (most famously mission 55, but he can also take you through virtually all of Titan's Trials if you know what you're doing).

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Change the Past.

"Embrace the terror."

 

[serahsass]

http://kupokupo83.tumblr.com/post/96717066556/embrace-the-terror

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Bought the wrong materials, basically 40k down the drain.

Ugh, not a big deal, but I feel stupid. lol

 

[Flachmatuch]

For what it's worth: Paladin/Winged Saint is what I usually put on him. It makes his Sentinel "guarding" abilities even more effective, and is very helpful for doing a lot of missions before leaving chapter 11 (most famously mission 55, but he can also take you through virtually all of Titan's Trials if you know what you're doing).

I like Lightning for Sentinel, she avoids everything with Nimbletoe Boots, but then I never really did missions before finishing chapter 12. Maybe next time. I actually really like this game (but then I like all FFs without exception). But since right now I have no weapon levelled up for him, so I'll just use this one!

 

[Mohasus]

As I posted before, DO NOT do any upgrades til Chapter 11. I wrote a short guide on how to upgrade weapons, its linked in the first post. Don't bother upgrading equipment that boost health, etc. I never bothered with them myself


Upon arriving on Gran Pulse you have the following to do:
1- Complete Cie'th missions to get some good equipment and CP
2- Progress through the game normally
3- Grind at the behemoth near the cave entrance

#3 is what you should be doing for a few hours to get as much abilities and stats as possible.

#3 isn't very effective. IIRC the fastest grind at that point were some small enemies that looked like penguins (I don't remember the name, there are lots of them in LR too). Northwest of the map (the behemoths are northeast).

 

[CentroXer]

 

[Falk]

It's still pretty hard to wrap my head around the sense of scale of Cocoon considering it's large enough that atmospheric diffusal turns the sky mostly blue, yet is a small circle from the outside. Just how big is that

Spoiler

crystal pillar

?

 

[Moral Panic]

#3 isn't very effective. IIRC the fastest grind at that point were some small enemies that looked like penguins (I don't remember the name, there are lots of them in LR too). Northwest of the map (the behemoths are northeast).

Why grind when cheatengine exists?

 

[Talax]

Is that from Gran Pulse? I don't remember that huge of a background anywhere.

 

[wolfhowwl]

Is that from Gran Pulse? I don't remember that huge of a background anywhere.

It's on Cocoon, the Sunleth Waterscape.

 

[CentroXer]

Is that from Gran Pulse? I don't remember that huge of a background anywhere.

Sunleth Waterscape

 

[Talax]

Wow that's huge then. For some reason, I just never have been able to picture Cocoon being huge, since the game's structure never really allows you to think like that. Looking at that picture really puts it in perspective.

 

[HTupolev]

Is that from Gran Pulse? I don't remember that huge of a background anywhere.

Look in the "sky"; clearly not Gran Pulse.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Wow that's huge then. For some reason, I just never have been able to picture Cocoon being huge, since the game's structure never really allows you to think like that. Looking at that picture really puts it in perspective.

Creators have stated that it is the size of North America.

Honestly, I've assume that they never really put much thought into it. We have no idea how big Pulse is, we only have an estimate of how big Cocoon is, and the perspective on how big one is in comparison to the other has always been a little wonky.

 

[timshundo]

Wow that's huge then. For some reason, I just never have been able to picture Cocoon being huge, since the game's structure never really allows you to think like that. Looking at that picture really puts it in perspective.

SE did a horrible job at explaining the scope of the worlds you're in. I remember during my first playthrough I couldn't tell if I was on the inside or outside of cocoon cuz there was a clearly a "sun," and then were there people on the outside of the shell?

I remember someone posting an "unreleased" map of the inside of cocoon that really put things in perspective.

 

[timshundo]

God this gameeee....

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

God this gameeee....

Pics don't work.

 

[HTupolev]

SE did a horrible job at explaining the scope of the worlds you're in. I remember during my first playthrough I couldn't tell if I was on the inside or outside of cocoon cuz there was a clearly a "sun," and then were there people on the outside of the shell?

There's a part of me that sort of enjoys how vague it is; there's a certain awe in being half-able to place how things are situated. It's not the only way to go, but it works.

As for the "sun", that was explained extremely directly if anything; the party flies right by an illuminated "sun" fal'cie in a cutscene.

 

[CentroXer]

this game is really great. Problem is the pacing imo. For half of the game, you're underleveled and just a two-man party.

 

[CentroXer]

have another one

 

[Kuja9001]

Spoiler

Barthandelus

was my nightmare on the PS3 (

Spoiler

in both encounters

). Now I've beaten him so many times that I know perfectly how to counter him.

That damn

Spoiler

Destrudo

spell, to counter it

Spoiler

attack him really hard with 3 ravagers while he's charging it, you should be able to weaken him two times in the same charge. Applying the debuff Imperil helps a lot.

You can weaken him at least 3 times, during the third grunt, he automatically uses the attack but it's very weak.

 

[RangerX]

Ever since I've started using the Durante fix my audio has gone out of sync in the cutscenes. Anyone know how I can fix it?

 

[Falk]

Creators have stated that it is the size of North America.

Honestly, I've assume that they never really put much thought into it. We have no idea how big Pulse is, we only have an estimate of how big Cocoon is, and the perspective on how big one is in comparison to the other has always been a little wonky.

Linked image instead of embed because spoilers

THAT's the size of north america? Good Lord Pulse must be the size of Uranus at the very least.

edit: Juvenile pun not intended.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

How do I get over there?

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

How do I get over there?

You need a chocobo, which you unlock by doing a specific sidequets

 

[Sammy Samusu]

You need a chocobo, which you unlock by doing a specific sidequets

I see, thanks.

 

[Valkerionseven]

THAT's the size of north america? Good Lord Pulse must be the size of Uranus at the very least.

Pretty much my assumption on the size of Pulse as well. It would have to be, that or its size relative to the distance to the ground makes no sense.... which it doesn't. Cause in X-2 one of the possible plot lines is that Cocoon falls out of the sky... which is enough to bring on a nuclear winter effect... meaning pulse isnt that big... or wait....

jeeze they seriously should have explained this.

 

[Falk]

Pretty much my assumption on the size of Pulse as well. It would have to be, that or its size relative to the distance to the ground makes no sense.... which it doesn't. Cause in X-2 one of the possible plot lines is that Cocoon falls out of the sky... which is enough to bring on a nuclear winter effect... meaning pulse isnt that big... or wait....

jeeze they seriously should have explained this.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that it'd take JetBlue about 6-10 hours to get from the surface to the bottom of Cocoon (as the bird flies, totally disregarding all other laws of physics) and it takes the party about 30 seconds of controlled freefall.

..............

 

[TheTux]

You can weaken him at least 3 times, during the third grunt, he automatically uses the attack but it's very weak.

If you apply Imperil and use 3 ravagers it's probably easier to stagger him rather than weaken him 3 times.

 

[LuuKyK]

How do I get over there?

The Adamantoise face in that image is amazing. Very avatar-worthy. :lol

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Pretty much my assumption on the size of Pulse as well. It would have to be, that or its size relative to the distance to the ground makes no sense.... which it doesn't. Cause in X-2 one of the possible plot lines is that Cocoon falls out of the sky... which is enough to bring on a nuclear winter effect... meaning pulse isnt that big... or wait....

jeeze they seriously should have explained this.

Spoiler

It's definitely big enough to fuck up a Uranus size planet (Shoemaker was only 10 miles wide and left visible marks on Jupiter and a 6 mile asteroid fucked us royally 65 million years ago. We're now talking about an object the size of North America slamming into another planet). What would matter is how fast Cocoon could get going as to how much Pulse would be fucked. Remember, we're not talking about the planet literally being obliterated, we're just talking about the planet becoming void of life

 

[Valkerionseven]

It's definitely big enough to fuck up a Uranus size planet (Shoemaker was only 10 miles wide and left visible marks on Jupiter and a 6 mile asteroid fucked us royally 65 million years ago. We're now talking about an object the size of North America slamming into another planet). What would matter is how fast Cocoon could get going as to how much Pulse would be fucked. Remember, we're not talking about the planet literally being obliterated, we're just talking about the planet becoming void of life

Yeah I guess, Uranus is like what... 5x the size of Earth, or 4 and some change. Still the whole thing makes no sense when you add all things from the games together, which is my main gripe with 13 franchise in general. Very little consistency and explanation.

 

[Toth]

I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that it'd take JetBlue about 6-10 hours to get from the surface to the bottom of Cocoon (as the bird flies, totally disregarding all other laws of physics) and it takes the party about 30 seconds of controlled freefall.

..............

Not sure I understand this. The party never fell from the shell towards the planet?

 

[Falk]

Spoiler

It's definitely big enough to fuck up a Uranus size planet (Shoemaker was only 10 miles wide and left visible marks on Jupiter and a 6 mile asteroid fucked us royally 65 million years ago. We're now talking about an object the size of North America slamming into another planet). What would matter is how fast Cocoon could get going as to how much Pulse would be fucked. Remember, we're not talking about the planet literally being obliterated, we're just talking about the planet becoming void of life

That's like comparing the impact of a thrown tennis ball vs the impact of a bullet.

Just sayin'

Then again if a piece of the moon fell we'd all be screwed.

edit:

Not sure I understand this. The party never fell from the shell towards the planet?

I might have been misremembering...


To put the size issue into context, I think that's always been a staple of Final Fantasy in one way or another. I mean, floating continent vs the world below in FFIII, etc.

It's just one of the tropes which didn't make the transition to HD all that gracefully, I guess.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Worst feeling when I die to chap 9 boss 95% done beating it when My Defense Buffs expire and I die from an attack I withstood several times no problem

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

That's like comparing the impact of a thrown tennis ball vs the impact of a bullet.

Just sayin'

Then again if a piece of the moon fell we'd all be screwed.

edit:


I might have been misremembering...


To put the size issue into context, I think that's always been a staple of Final Fantasy in one way or another. I mean, floating continent vs the world below in FFIII, etc.

It's just one of the tropes which didn't make the transition to HD all that gracefully, I guess.

Which is why I mentioned "What matters is how fast Cocoon could get going".

Spoiler

Pretty sure they went with "Toxic waste ruined the land and the rest was ruined by war" in the XIII-2.

Yeah I guess, Uranus is like what... 5x the size of Earth, or 4 and some change. Still the whole thing makes no sense when you add all things from the games together, which is my main gripe with 13 franchise in general. Very little consistency and explanation.

Believe me, I've gone on in length about the inconsistencies in the mythology and writing in general.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Which is why I mentioned "What matters is how fast Cocoon could get going".

Spoiler

Pretty sure they went with "Toxic waste ruined the land and the rest was ruined by war" in the novellas.

Believe me, I've gone on in length about the inconsistencies in the mythology and writing in general.

according to the FFwiki:

Director Motomu Toriyama has compared the size of Cocoon to that of North America, and Gran Pulse as similar in size as Earth.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

according to the FFwiki:

Director Motomu Toriyama has compared the size of Cocoon to that of North America, and Gran Pulse as similar in size as Earth.

Cool, didn't know that.


I wasn't saying the thing with Cocoon smashing into Pulse was inconsistent, by the way.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Cool, didn't know that.


I wasn't saying the thing with Cocoon smashing into Pulse was inconsistent, by the way.

Yeah I know. Just adding to another XIII enigma. Haha

 

[Falk]

My head just exploded.

IQ is splattered all over the walls.

 

[HeelPower]

That was sort of the idea! All I did was add a little layer of digital noise, a little bit of zoom blur and played with some color, contrast and brightness. So thanks! I hope to get more as I continue through the game of the other members of the party (since I can't freely switch yet, heh).

cool.

Post some when you have more pics ready!

 

[one85x]

screenshots

 

[Fou-Lu]

How do you guys go about upgrading your weapons and accesories? I'm new to the game so I'm not sure how often you'll get flat out better equipment.

 

[Whogie]

How do you guys go about upgrading your weapons and accesories? I'm new to the game so I'm not sure how often you'll get flat out better equipment.

It's pretty funky. Equipment you find isn't necessarily better, but focuses on different things instead.

Bio materials raise your multiplier (up to 3x)
Mechanical materials raise your item's EXP
A small number of items (credit chips, incentive chips) are meant to be sold

Save before doing any upgrading. When you find something you want to level, keep using bio materials until you get a 3x multiplier, then use a bunch of mechanical materials at once to raise your EXP. Then raise your multiplier back to 3x again, etc.