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[StoppedInTracks]

Yeah, more getting added as you progress in the story.

So by unlocking new Chapters I get new Hunts? Or by beating dungeons even for side-quests?

My favourite hunts so far:
- Zu
- Behemoth Tyrant
- 3x Cockatrices
- Garula Mother + Garula Kids
- 8 Ogres/ 8 Wyverns/ 8 Thunderrocs etc.

I just love hunting in FF12/ 13/ 15.

 

[RiggyRob]

Ran around for a while doing a few more hunts and sidequests for Cid and Dave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQEG07OSJkE&index=8&list=PLnhwVsYSH1o3U5KEXS6gzeRXtJ3S7aDwN

I'm guessing looking for hunter dog tags is a repeatable quest (since you can probably find tags all over the place), but is there a definitive plot end to it?

The crow sitting at the bench is probably one of the weirdest things I've seen in the game so far, and Prompto taking a photo of it makes me think they did it intentionally!

 

[Ingeniero]

Just beat the last Menace dungeon (Costlemark).

Congrats mate.
What strat/weapons did you use to beat Costlemark? It still kills me that I couldn't do it.
I'll try one more time when I get home next week.

 

[KittenMaster]

I'm guessing looking for hunter dog tags is a repeatable quest (since you can probably find tags all over the place), but is there a definitive plot end to it?

Yeah, it was a quest line I basically ignored (along with Dino's) unless it happened to be along a path I was going.

 

[ZangBa]

So after finishing the game last night, I feel pretty much the same as I did when I first started playing it. I think the ending is pretty good, the only problem being that the rest of the game is so bad it's ineffective and a complete waste. What's there really to say that hasn't already been said? Mess of game in every way. The saddest part is the story is salvageable, they just needed another year. Nothing could salvage that shittastic gameplay without completely scrapping it and starting over, though.

 

[Canti]

Just got the black hood and now im reading its pretty useless? Good god

Any particular food and gear loadouts that are vital for the last 2 menace dungeons? Pretty much just those + regular hunts left for me.

 

[KRaZyAmmo]

Is there any way to farm the magitek suits?

 

[Xeteh]

No. Embrace the free AP Magitek Troopers give you after warp-kills. I relish every "Noctis! Overhead!" message from Gladio because that means I will gain easy 10 AP in 1 minute.

I just don't really get how, they engage from so far and they just unload on you constantly. Its hard to get a spell cast off and melee combat isn't an option either unless I'm missing something completely obvious.

 

[Gui_PT]

I can't believe I'm going to miss the event. Will be out of town working =(

 

[Trojita]

I thought I had just spent way too much time in the open world, especially in lowered level areas, to get a decent ap boost. This was with all that time randomly traveling, constantly fighting monsters and magitek troopers that droppped, went through a lot of dungeons that were higher than the lvl the main chapters were asking for, and a shit load of hunts. I thought the AP thing would catch up, and maybe I'm still not far into the trees because I didn't continue on with the story. Well that was a wrong assumption.

The Ascension grid is fucked. It takes so long just to get a 333 AP skill. I'm on chapter 14 and there is so many things, even basic things, that need to be unlocked. The fuck were they thinking

Spoiler

I know what they were thinking, they didn't even have time to QA basic parts of the game.

I avoided dedicated AP farming all this time to not ruin character growth through game progress. Also it looked boring. I assume the same ap farming technique is to Monster Whistle those low level enemies in Leide and then warp strike bash them with the Royal Arm shield?

 

[Septimus Prime]

I thought I had just spent way too much time in the open world, especially in lowered level areas, to get a decent ap boost. This was with all that time randomly traveling, constantly fighting monsters and magitek troopers that droppped, went through a lot of dungeons that were higher than the lvl the main chapters were asking for, and a shit load of hunts. I thought the AP thing would catch up, and maybe I'm still not far into the trees because I didn't continue on with the story. Well that was a wrong assumption.

The Ascension grid is fucked. It takes so long just to get a 333 AP skill. I'm on chapter 14 and there is so many things, even basic things, that need to be unlocked. The fuck were they thinking

Spoiler

I know what they were thinking, they didn't even have time to QA basic parts of the game.

I avoided dedicated AP farming all this time to not ruin character growth through game progress. Also it looked boring. I assume the same ap farming technique is to Monster Whistle those low level enemies in Leide and then warp strike bash them with the Royal Arm shield?

I'm thinking it's by design that we're not supposed to max out Ascension. Like, I'd imagine they envisaged that every player would have a few nodes on each tree and maybe two or three 333 ones—maybe hardcore players would get a 999 one.

Of course that doesn't gel at all with how people actually play these types of games, so we just end up grinding our faces off to max everything.

 

[MogCakes]

AP system sucks ass. Should have tied node progression to levels, but instead it goes off point cost which we gain at a fraction of the pace of our exp. There's no cohesion between them. It's one thing if they intended it to be extremely difficult to max out, quite another when you can hit 99 before filling out even half the grid.

 

[Astral]

AP system sucks ass. Should have tied node progression to levels, but instead it goes off point cost which we gain at a fraction of the pace of our exp. There's no cohesion between them. It's one thing if they intended it to be extremely difficult to max out, quite another when you can hit 99 before filling out even half the grid.

Yeah it's really bad. Grinding shouldn't be the only feasible way to get all nodes. I also don't like how tougher battles seem to become nothing more than potion spamming because of how easy it is to be one shotted.

 

[zewone]

So I just finished Chapter 13 last night.

Good God that was awful.

I just got to Chatper 14. I never used Umbra before, is that how I

Spoiler

get back to the old overworld to finish sidequest

s?

 

[badcrumble]

AP system sucks ass. Should have tied node progression to levels, but instead it goes off point cost which we gain at a fraction of the pace of our exp. There's no cohesion between them. It's one thing if they intended it to be extremely difficult to max out, quite another when you can hit 99 before filling out even half the grid.

I think the assorted Fanfare accessories should've been available as cheap Ascension nodes right from the start, yeah.

Fundamentally, the best easy fix for sure would've been having quests give you AP rewards instead of experience (and grant experience only for actual monster-killing and the assorted exp-granting ascension abilities). You level up too fast in this game and you fill out the Ascension grid too slowly; I think that'd mitigate a ton of the issue. Maybe granting 5 AP per level-up instead of 3 would help too.

Being able to knock yourself back down to level 1 (so you can re-level your party back to 99) would be a good idea for granting more AP, too.

I'm totally fine with the idea of *more* Ascension abilities being added, by the way - I don't mind the total pool of AP to max everything out being much, much bigger as long as the basic AP-gaining economy is fixed. There's some simple stuff (like break HP limit and break magic damage limit) that seems like an absolute no-brainer to add to the game; I'd also be down for the Megaphone/Black Belt/Camera Strap/Target Scope/Black Hood/Friendship Band effects being turned into Ascension nodes instead of accessories.

 

[Philia]

Can we talk about Noctis hair? His older version hair should had been default. I had been wearing casual the WHOLE time because of that obnoxious haircut he had.

 

[Astral]

Ignis: Gladio's as hard as a rock!
Noctis: What the hell are you talking about?!

 

[neoism]

I am lvl99 and all my characters have 2,500,000 useless banked exp omg.

Wat lol I thought you stopped getting exp once you got99?

 

[Benzychenz]

Beat the main story last night clocking in 32 hours.

Was level 44 at the end and I felt underleveled. Had to potion spam through the entire ending chapter with everything one hitting me.

Overall I thought the game was decent, but overall rushed and unfinished.

The story in particular frustrates me, because there's potential for something really great here, but it just needed more time. The basic outline of the plot is cool but the more you think about it the more it doesn't really make much sense.

Might do a follow up post after work with more thoughts.

 

[WarAdept]

Congrats mate.
What strat/weapons did you use to beat Costlemark? It still kills me that I couldn't do it.
I'll try one more time when I get home next week.

Noctis loadout:

Sword of the Father (equipped but never used, passive +100 Str/Mag)
Shield of the Just (super tank Noctis, allows for no one shots with 500+ def, the -100 Str isn't a big deal)
Zwill Crossblades (Best daggers/ground DPS weapon in the game, this is all I use unless I'm doing aerial combat)
Bow of the Wise/Healcast (Alternate between the two. Healcast for when Noctis is under 50% max HP, otherwise Bow of the Wise for Overwhelm spam)

Accessories:

Noctis - Ribbon, x2 STR Accessories
Gladio - Safety Bit, x2 DEF Accessories
Ignis - Safety Bit, HP/DEF Acc, HP Acc
Prompto - Safety Bit, HP/Def Acc, HP Acc

(Final boss of the dungeon, I swapped out the Ribbon/Safety Bits for Fire Res).

With this, Noctis and Gladio had well above 550+ Def and Ignis/Prompto at 350+. Noctis had ~6k HP with the rest of the crew at 9k+. Noctis needs Safety Bit/Ribbon, otherwise the run is over with one stray IKO attack from an Elder Coeurl. Otherwise the rest of the party is just there to survive and to let me use their techniques. Speaking of...

Techniques:

Gladio - Impulse
Ignis - Regroup/Enchantment/Overwhelm
Prompto - Piercer

Regroup was the most used during trash fights, with Impulse if the fight somehow dragged on. Piercer + Enchantment > Overwhelm combo (with Bow of the Wise equippped) shreds all the mini bosses and last boss. Just make sure Noctis is at full HP.

 

[Trojita]

Noctis loadout:

Sword of the Father (equipped but never used, passive +100 Str/Mag)
Shield of the Just (super tank Noctis, allows for no one shots with 500+ def, the -100 Str isn't a big deal)
Zwill Crossblades (Best daggers/ground DPS weapon in the game, this is all I use unless I'm doing aerial combat)
Bow of the Wise/Healcast (Alternate between the two. Healcast for when Noctis is under 50% max HP, otherwise Bow of the Wise for Overwhelm spam)

Wait, the royal arms passively inflate your stats? I thought that was only when they were selected.

 

[Deku Tree]

Wat lol I thought you stopped getting exp once you got99?

It still collects after each battle. But it doesn't show in the menu screen. And if you wear that exp saving item then it doesn't go away when you camp and it shows how much you have on the camp screen. The only place that exp is hidden is in the main menu screen.

 

[WarAdept]

Wait, the royal arms passively inflate your stats? I thought that was only when they were selected.

Yep. The majority of weapons give stat bonuses when equipped (just like an accessory).

Most of the time I'll always have Sword of the Father/Axe of the Conquerer in my loadout for that sweet +160 Str. I'll never actually use them.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

I am lvl99 and all my characters have 2,500,000 useless banked exp omg.

DO IT! CASH IN!

 

[PshycoNinja]

Seems like FFXV is doing very well in North America.

 

[RecRoulette]

Spent today doing all of the camping missions. Some really fun stuff in there. (End game stuff)

Spoiler

And some not so fun stuff. The mission where Ignis tells you his favorite thing about cooking is seeing the reactions on people's faces is brutal. Also the campsite you use to trigger the Prompto scene where you try to take a picture of Cindy is the one from the end of the game isn't it?

 

[ramyeon]

Moogle Chocobo Carnival trailer dropped.

https://www.facebook.com/ffxv/videos/1742274239423226/

 

[RecRoulette]

Moogle Chocobo Carnival trailer dropped.

https://www.facebook.com/ffxv/videos/1742274239423226/

Noctis getting a camera is great, but I have no space for new photos lol. The DLC looks like a lot of fun though.

 

[badcrumble]

Moogle Chocobo Carnival trailer dropped.

https://www.facebook.com/ffxv/videos/1742274239423226/

I'm really curious to see what you can win through this carnival.

 

[meanspartan]

I am in chapter 10, and while im enjoying it, this game still never fully clicked for me. I stopped doing the sidequests because I got bored and instead just plowed through the main story but everything feels so damn easy, I'm only level 35 it's not like I am that overleveled.

The only time I have difficulty is when the game doesn't make it clear what I should be doing. It feels like Altissia and the western continent were intended to have their own open worlds too, but they just cut that. It's so jarring to go from open world to linear.

 

[Benzychenz]

Is there a way to level Survival better? I ran waaaaay across the map on foot for sidequests (probably around 3 miles) and when I rested it went up like 1/10th of a level.

 

[Minamu]

Is there a way to level Survival better? I ran waaaaay across the map on foot for sidequests (probably around 3 miles) and when I rested it went up like 1/10th of a level.

It might go up faster if you eat food that Gladio likes.

 

[Benzychenz]

It might go up faster if you eat food that Gladio likes.

Time to stock up on cup noodles.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

So after spending 3.5 hours in Costlemark fighting the worst encounters in the entire game I have to go BACK and DO THE SAME SHIT ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THE HUNT?

What the living fuck, Square.

 

[RiggyRob]

After doing some sidequests in Hammerhead, I'd say that the daggerquill quest and point-warping is a great demonstration of how Square Enix made in-air battling much improved over the alternatives, just looks so good compared to Skyrim/Witcher/Xenoblade.

Also that Carnival trailer is weird as hell - what's the difference between the free Holiday Pack DLC and the paid version?

 

[Minamu]

So after spending 3.5 hours in Costlemark fighting the worst encounters in the entire game I have to go BACK and DO THE SAME SHIT ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THE HUNT?

What the living fuck, Square.

And potentially again for the extra stuff at the end of the game.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

And potentially again for the extra stuff at the end of the game.

Well I overreacted as the 2nd time wasn't so bad: no enemies during my way down and the puzzle box to he boss as active already - no need to go down twice or thrice and kill Red Giants. I just activated it, killed some Gelatins/ Yojimbos and fought the Jabberwocky once again. 20 minutes and I was done with the whole thing vs 3.5 hours during my first descend.

 

[Cornbread78]

About how long does it take to play through chapters 14-15 to finish off the game..

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

About how long does it take to play through chapters 14-15 to finish off the game..

Like an hour at best

 

[Cornbread78]

Like an hour at best

Oh damn; easy to finish up before Berseria launches on Tues, then.

1 more question on on the 13th tomb.

This is Castlemark, correct? If I'm qt lvl 55, should I bother with attempting to go through this? I mean, I know I can cheese the tortoise if I want to waste an hour, but is it worth it to attempt to get the 13th tomb before completing the game? I mean, I'd like to try for platinum, but I do not feel like wasting time grinding through 40 more levels to get a few extra trophies...

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Oh damn; easy to finish up before Berseria launches on Tues, then.

1 more question on on the 13th tomb.

This is Castlemark, correct? If I'm qt lvl 55, should I bother with attempting to go through this? I mean, I know I can cheese the tortoise if I want to waste an hour, but is it worth it to attempt to get the 13th tomb before completing the game? I mean, I'd like to try for platinum, but I do not feel like wasting time grinding through 40 more levels to get a few extra trophies...

You got money? Stock up on elixers and Phoenix downs. Any element resistance gear? Wear them(Especially lightning).

 

[RecRoulette]

I wish there was an easier way to warp back to towns aside from fast traveling. Trying to knock out these 15 Lestallum hunts, just taking a chocobo everywhere and warping back to car.

 

[Trojita]

I wish there was an easier way to warp back to towns aside from fast traveling. Trying to knock out these 15 Lestallum hunts, just taking a chocobo everywhere and warping back to car.

Rest at the hotel. Take the car and if fast travel to the hunts isn't available, find the nearest parking place and fast travel there. Kill the hunt and return to resting point. Turn in the hunt and get a new one. Return to car. Continue.

 

[Minamu]

Well I overreacted as the 2nd time wasn't so bad: no enemies during my way down and the puzzle box to he boss as active already - no need to go down twice or thrice and kill Red Giants. I just activated it, killed some Gelatins/ Yojimbos and fought the Jabberwocky once again. 20 minutes and I was done with the whole thing vs 3.5 hours during my first descend.

My second time was way worse than the first one :lol I completely missed the Iron Giants my first time around, but then I waited probably 40 hours before heading back into it for the Hunt (I thought the enemies would reset immediately), and THEN I ran into the giants like 5 times for some reason... Wasn't hard, just tedious. Then again, next time, you actually want to get to the Iron Giant(s)

 

[pashmilla]

Ughhh why the fuck can I install the holiday pack but not patch 3?

 

[Cornbread78]

You got money? Stock up on elixers and Phoenix downs. Any element resistance gear? Wear them(Especially lightning).

Should I be able to get through it at my level?

 

[Ambitious]

In chapter 14, is there anything I should take care of before proceeding with the story?

 

[RecRoulette]

In chapter 14, is there anything I should take care of before proceeding with the story?

Nah just go ahead and enjoy the ride.

Rest at the hotel. Take the car and if fast travel to the hunts isn't available, find the nearest parking place and fast travel there. Kill the hunt and return to resting point. Turn in the hunt and get a new one. Return to car. Continue.

I forgot about return to resting point! Well, actually I blocked it out as a useless option after accidentally warping across the world too many times. Thanks though.

 

[PshycoNinja]

Oh damn; easy to finish up before Berseria launches on Tues, then.

1 more question on on the 13th tomb.

This is Castlemark, correct? If I'm qt lvl 55, should I bother with attempting to go through this? I mean, I know I can cheese the tortoise if I want to waste an hour, but is it worth it to attempt to get the 13th tomb before completing the game? I mean, I'd like to try for platinum, but I do not feel like wasting time grinding through 40 more levels to get a few extra trophies...

Oh snap! You almost there, Corn?

 

[Ambitious]

My game crashed right after the credits and corrupted my savegame. The PS4 restored an older save from over an hour ago. Fuck this.