In case anyone is still wondering, the four continents are connected by walkable paths but barriers initially prevent you from accessing them. You need to complete Canvas of Prayer quests to open them up. These quests all become available
Some basic stagger info I was reading through just now, I thought it might be interesting to everyone. You probably figured out most of it, but I like to hear the official line.
Stagger Counter
"As you build stagger power, the wave will be blue. Once you have reached 70% of the stagger point, the wave will turn red."
Stagger Counter vs. Stagger Preservation
"The speed of the stagger wave gives you information on the maintenance of stagger power.
* when the wave pulses rapidly, Stagger Decay is in effect: the stagger Power that you built up is gradually being reduced with every second that passes.
* If you add Stagger Preservation to prevent it (for example with the Blitz ability), the wave will slow down visibly. As soon as Stagger Preservation runs out, the wave will speed up again as Stagger Decay reactivates."
Enemies have a hidden Stagger Decay stat the determines how fast the stagger meter drops. If Blitz has stagger preservation 300 and you attack twice, you get a preservation rating of 600. If the monster has a decay rating of 150, that means you get 4 seconds before stagger preservation wears off and begins decaying again.
Stagger Efficiency
The amplitude of the briefly superimposed yellow waves tell you how effectively each attack contributes to the main wave (blue or red).
* This depends on the ability's innate Stagger Power which is ranked on each attack ability. For example, "Attack" has low stagger power while Beat Down has high. These are rated with letters A-E for rank.
* The amplitude of the yellow wave also adjusts for enemy weaknesses. For example, thunder has a low stagger power. But against flans it generates a high amplitude wave because thunder enjoys a stagger power modifier of x10 against flans.
Finales
The final attack in a combo sequence is called a finale. While the added delay in attack animation and attack recovery might initially seem unattractive, finales enjoy "a substantial boost to Power or Preservation or both, so the benefits usually outweigh the disadvantage of delayed attack speed."
Stagger Grade Values
Power
A 50+
B 21-49
C 15-20
D 4-14
E 1-3
Preservation
A 300+
B 200-299
C 100-199
D 41-99
E 1-40
I don't hardly say this about any game, but Easy Mode really is the way to go here. Mobs give a lot more EP on Easy; if you battle at least semi-frequently, you can stop the clock for a crazy long time. Got a huge amount of things accomplished on day 1 alone, and that day is only nine hours long!
About to start Day 2. Question: is it possible to complete two main-story quests on the same day? I want to see if I can beat
Noel
and
Snow
on day 2, in that order. I've already obtained the
ticket from the tour guide to sneak into the Yusnaan palace at 6 PM
I'm still in the early game (just starting day 2) so I'm still finding the time limit to be a huge pain in the ass and feeling like I'm really rushed, but I'm glad to read this apparently becomes less of an issue the further you get into the game. (I'm playing on easy mode for the time-based bonuses and because I am absolute garbage at the battle system, even after platinuming XIII-2.)
Question, though: do you get enough Eradia to make it to the 13th or
14th
day just by completing all the main quests? Or do you have to do a ton of sidequests too to even make it that far?
I really felt I had blown my first two days, so I started the game over tonight. And somehow did even worse! Only managed to save Thornton and Holmes souls, and that didn't buy me hardly any extra time. *sigh*
I have an earlier save right before the Inquisitor, so I'll just reload that and start fresh yet again tomorrow.
So I'm amassing a collection of garb, but I haven't yet had a reason to swap anything out. Currently using Passion Rouge / Electronica / SOLDIER outfits. It's a very effective setup. Granted, I'm only on Day 4, but will it become necessary to swap some things out relatively soon? And does Cloud's costume ever become less efficient? Because it does some crazy damage at times.
So I'm amassing a collection of garb, but I haven't yet had a reason to swap anything out. Currently using Passion Rouge / Electronica / SOLDIER outfits. It's a very effective setup. Granted, I'm only on Day 4, but will it become necessary to swap some things out relatively soon? And does Cloud's costume ever become less efficient? Because it does some crazy damage at times.
I wish I would have preordered to get that costume. I hear it's crazy overpowered.
Anyway, If you can make it work then you are fine. But there is a time where the game will make you wear something different for an event. I've switched a few times; I mainly look for ones with better stat boosts. Also, looking cool is fun.
Once you get like 10-20 outfits, it becomes more about preference than about necessity. I do switch out for certain elemental garbs if I'm facing a boss that has a particular weakness though.
I really felt I had blown my first two days, so I started the game over tonight. And somehow did even worse! Only managed to save Thornton and Holmes souls, and that didn't buy me hardly any extra time. *sigh*
I have an earlier save right before the Inquisitor, so I'll just reload that and start fresh yet again tomorrow.
I don't hardly say this about any game, but Easy Mode really is the way to go here. Mobs give a lot more EP on Easy; if you battle at least semi-frequently, you can stop the clock for a crazy long time. Got a huge amount of things accomplished on day 1 alone, and that day is only nine hours long!
About to start Day 2. Question: is it possible to complete two main-story quests on the same day? I want to see if I can beat
Noel
and
Snow
on day 2, in that order. I've already obtained the
ticket from the tour guide to sneak into the Yusnaan palace at 6 PM
Nah, Normal all the way. Gotta have that challenge. The pace is excellent for me as well.
As for your question, yes you can do technically complete two quests in one day because I just did it with dead dunes and Luxurion.
Although...if I'm remembering correctly, you'll barely have any time left in the day after completing Yusnaan. I was within a half hour of the return time. The quest is just timed that way. Also, beating the boss of Luxurion means that you need to be there from 12-6 so I think those two might be incompatible to finish in the same day, unless you have a lot of EP left to teleport or freeze time to make it back to Luxurion from Yusnaan.
Yeah, I know I need to scale the panic back a notch, and hearing people say that time isn't much of a concern later on does help, but it goes against my completionist nature to leave something like souls unsaved. I was genuinely bummed I failed the Inquistor. He seemed like a nice dude. And I liked his glasses.
So did anyone run out of time, yet?^^ What exactly do I keep on the new run? Are the sidequests I completed before still marked as such at least? Thanks!
Man, I'm having good fun with this game. Decent little game. Some of those sidequest where you help the townsfolk and listen to their stories are somehow charming/lighthearted, something that helps the game not drowning in über-seriousness.
You know, that's why I don't invest too much emotion anymore in complaining about the XIII series That way I can enjoy the games for what they are worth (of course ignoring the absurdity of the story).
So did anyone run out of time, yet?^^ What exactly do I keep on the new run? Are the sidequests I completed before still marked as such at least? Thanks!
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but there are a whopping 48 sample pages from the official strategy guide available for free download (including the entire Primer chapter):
They've finally done a real open world, and yet you can't even explore it because of the shitty time limit. I was LITERALLY an inch away from a treasure orb, and 6AM struck and I got teleported away. :|
Quick advice: if an aera seems too hard for you, try to go somewhere else. That way you will find easier quests to complete, chests to discover, medals to pick on the ground which you can sell and new garbs to buy in shops (you need to find better garbs as soon as possible, as the ones you begin with aren't good at all). I find the garb specialized in status maluses very useful (it's sold by a merchant right outside of the train station at the desert), and the Holy Knight garb is pretty neat too (Yusaam I believe).
Also, when you go back to the base at the end of the second day, you will be granted the Red Mage garb (which I'm not really fond of, because of the two locked slots) and some interesting equipment.
Completing main quests will also grant you important stat bonuses. However, I wouldn't advise to rush for one of them. Luxerion's final boss is quite hard, and requires you to have both good equipment and reflexes.
Talking about Luxerion: keep at least two Thunder ability on two different active garbs. You can't go wrong with Thunder in Luxerion.
(1-5 boss). I bought the guide(I have the guide for the first two so I kind of wanted the collection even though I never really used them), and it said to do Wildlands 3-1/3-2 first before you even do 1-3/1-4/1-5. So that may actually be a good idea to get a bit more stats/garbs from there.
(1-5 boss). I bought the guide(I have the guide for the first two so I kind of wanted the collection even though I never really used them), and it said to do Wildlands 3-1/3-2 first before you even do 1-3/1-4/1-5. So that may actually be a good idea to get a bit more stats/garbs from there.
The music in the ark... Wow. So beautiful. Soundtrack is pretty great overall.
Still on day 1. The time limit hasn't been too bad yet. I am abusing chronostasis though. The schemata I received from the demo and ffxiii and xiii-2 clears has helped a lot.
Question: how do I read the clock? For example, is midnight 24:00 or 12:00? I can't figure it out. Still on first cultist quest waiting for it to hit 6 so I can move the quest forward. So is it just waiting for the clock to hit 06:00 or is it 18:00 or some such?
My impressions are very positive. I am near the end of on Day 3, planning to infiltrate the palace in Yusnaan. I really love the lore attention they gave to each area. I had no problem against the Cyclops but I am wondering which path to take:
1. I am cleared to fight the Shadow Hunter but I cannot do that for 4 more hours. I could do some quests in wildlands to become stronger and then clear that.
or
2. I can complete the Yusnaan chapter and fight the Patron. Decisions, decisions!
Guys, I've been using a great guide I found over at trueachievements. I want to Plat this game and I don't feel like playing over and over and over again just to accomplish that. Plus, I'm on the fence whether I like the time limit or not. On one hand I like that you feel on edge, but I don't like that I can't take my time to admire anything. Overall, I think I like the game but boy does it feel different. Anyways, here is the guide if anyone needs it just to get a better feeling for the game or just want's to 1k or Plat it like me.
The music in the ark... Wow. So beautiful. Soundtrack is pretty great overall.
Still on day 1. The time limit hasn't been too bad yet. I am abusing chronostasis though. The schemata I received from the demo and ffxiii and xiii-2 clears has helped a lot.
Question: how do I read the clock? For example, is midnight 24:00 or 12:00? I can't figure it out. Still on first cultist quest waiting for it to hit 6 so I can move the quest forward. So is it just waiting for the clock to hit 06:00 or is it 18:00 or some such?
Guys, I've been using a great guide I found over at trueachievements. I want to Plat this game and I don't feel like playing over and over and over again just to accomplish that. Plus, I'm on the fence whether I like the time limit or not. On one hand I like that you feel on edge, but I don't like that I can't take my time to admire anything. Overall, I think I like the game but boy does it feel different. Anyways, here is the guide if anyone needs it just to get a better feeling for the game or just want's to 1k or Plat it like me.
I especially like that they have maps that show locations of where things are (for sidequests and treasures). I normally do not use guides/walkthroughs on a first playthrough of a game, but I might with this one due to the time limit. I think it would make me feel better, lol.
I especially like that they have maps that show locations of where things are (for sidequests and treasures). I normally do not use guides/walkthroughs on a first playthrough of a game, but I might with this one due to the time limit. I think it would make me feel better, lol.
Yeah, it's insanely useful to have a map open. I've been using the poster which came with the guide book that has maps of all 4 areas on. I wish I didn't have to use it, but it's practically impossible in some areas to go wandering for treasures naturally due to the time limit.
Wildlands seems to be fine because there's generally enough mobs around that give you decent EP, however Luxerion, I haven't really been able to find a good spot for EP grinding yet.
Amazon.it told me they shipped game and guide yesterday night, but they didn't mail me the codes for the game. Now to hope they'll be emailed to me soon.
Guys, I've been using a great guide I found over at trueachievements. I want to Plat this game and I don't feel like playing over and over and over again just to accomplish that. Plus, I'm on the fence whether I like the time limit or not. On one hand I like that you feel on edge, but I don't like that I can't take my time to admire anything. Overall, I think I like the game but boy does it feel different. Anyways, here is the guide if anyone needs it just to get a better feeling for the game or just want's to 1k or Plat it like me.
That way I can enjoy the games for what they are worth (of course ignoring the absurdity of the story).
