Final Fantasy XIII

Speaking of chapter 11, I have everyone at 3000 or so HP (bar Hope, who is low 2000ish IIRC) and 300+ in strength and/or magic (Lightning is around 350 STR, Vanille 430 MAG with equipment); Lightning has Gladius lv. 7, Fang Bladed Lance lv. 4, Sazh Vega 42s lv. 2; Vanille, Hope and Snow's weapons are all level 1. I've completed missions 1-7, 12, 13 and 14 (just enough to enable me to ride Chocobos) - are my stats high enough to advance with the story without too much trouble or should I spend more time grinding for CP/gil/weapon upgrade parts (and if so, what's the best farming strategy)?

I know about farming mission 7 for the parts to create Speed Shoes (auto-haste) + bomb bits - which are good weapon upgrade parts - but I can't beat the guy reliably or quick enough to make it a viable farming strategy...
 
I did missions 1-15 along with some other missions. Then I searched for some treasure on Yaschas Massif and the central expanse.

Most of my grinding was in the Mah'barra cave. I went from the entrance through the left leg to the giant robot and back. You should probably grind until at least 2 out of your 3 main roles are maxed. The points from the fights afterward can be saved for the next level. Apparently your crystarium should be maxed for your 3 main roles before heading to chapter 12.
 
Turns out I underestimated my party's stats. :lol:

Lightning 2820 HP (+400), 423 STR, 410 MAG, ATB lv. 4, Gladius lv. 7
Fang 3220 HP (+300), 421 STR, 323 MAG, ATB lv. 5, Bladed Lance lv. 4
Vanille 3185 HP (+400), 330 STR, 491 MAG (+100), ATB lv. 4, Binding Rod lv. 2
Sazh 3495 HP (+100), 263 STR, 283 MAG, ATB lv. 5, Vega 42s lv. 3
Hope 2140 HP (+200), 319 STR, 486 MAG (+20), ATB lv. 4, Airwing lv. 1
Snow 3660 HP, 392 STR, 282 MAG, ATB lv. 4, Power Circle lv. 1

Is this alright for chapter 11? I've done missions 1-9 & 12-15.
 
Here's what I think of the FF games I have played:

PS1 era
FF7 - the best one ever. Fullstop. No particular reason, it just is. Enough said.
FF8 - great story, great locations, nice visuals, but dull characters and dodgy battle system - very un-user friendly and takes ages to level up.
FF9 - best battle system and music of PS1 FFs, great characters, great locations, loads to do

PS2 era
FF10 - the best story of all FF games, set in a fantastic world. Brilliant battle/level up system. Wonderful characters and great music. Slightly linear, but the quality of the storytelling carries you along so you don't notice. For many reasons FF7 will always be the best one, but this is my favourite of them all.
FFX-2 - FF10 was so good it merited a sequel. Faster paced fights, but the battle system wasnt quite up there with FF10. Again, a good story with great characters set in the same fabulous world. Wish there was a third one!
FF12 - Lush visuals, set in an interesting world. Departure of the random battles, but change wasn't good - daft realtime fights that made you feel uninvolved, not helped by the woeful 'gambit' system. And a dull story. The one good thing is that you can actually see and choose which monsters to fight. This one put me off Final Fantasy games, and I swore I wouldn't get another one if this was the direction they were going. But thankfully, it all changed as you will read below.........

PS3 era.
FF13 - They must have listened to the critics of FF12. Only just started it, but the story has me hooked. Great characters, supremely polished visuals, great music. Linear, yes, but like FFX when you have good storytelling going on it doesn't matter. And I like the battle system - it has hidden depths. Only just been introduced to the paradigm shift and crystarium system. Everything about this one is far, far superior to FF12. I can see how this and FFX were done by the same team - in many ways they seem similar. As I said above, FFX is my favourite, and I can soon see this one being up there with it.
 
Last edited:
Sharky.
Turns out I underestimated my party's stats. :lol:

Lightning 2820 HP (+400), 423 STR, 410 MAG, ATB lv. 4, Gladius lv. 7
Fang 3220 HP (+300), 421 STR, 323 MAG, ATB lv. 5, Bladed Lance lv. 4
Vanille 3185 HP (+400), 330 STR, 491 MAG (+100), ATB lv. 4, Binding Rod lv. 2
Sazh 3495 HP (+100), 263 STR, 283 MAG, ATB lv. 5, Vega 42s lv. 3
Hope 2140 HP (+200), 319 STR, 486 MAG (+20), ATB lv. 4, Airwing lv. 1
Snow 3660 HP, 392 STR, 282 MAG, ATB lv. 4, Power Circle lv. 1

Is this alright for chapter 11? I've done missions 1-9 & 12-15.
Click to expand...

I guess so, but you'll want to max out the main roles of the next level before ch 12.


Golfman
FFX-2 - FF10 was so good it merited a sequel. Faster paced fights, but the battle system wasnt quite up there with FF10. Again, a good story with great characters set in the same fabulous world. Wish there was a third one!
Click to expand...

That makes me want to pick up X-2, but I doubt I will. I'm sort of allergic to PS2 graphics now.
 
Last edited:
ROAD_DOGG33J
That makes me want to pick up X-2, but I doubt I will. I'm sort of allergic to PS2 graphics now.
Click to expand...

Brief summary of FFX-2:
Well you remember how polished FFX's visuals were (for it's time)? X-2's graphics are slightly more polished. And the various locations from FFX are there, but you view them from different camera angles and there's different things to do in each one. Sort of like a mission system. You get an airship from near enough the start, and you can travel around Spira at will, choosing what missions to do. Some are hard at first and you need to level up.
Put simply, if you liked FFX, you will love X-2.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
I guess so, but you'll want to max out the main roles of the next level before ch 12.
Click to expand...
Already ahead of you on that, I've maxed out Rav for Lightning, Com for Fang (with Saboteur also lv. 4, but with some abilities incomplete), as well as Medic for both Hope and Vanille :)
 
That probably means you are under-leveled. I don't remember using any special strategy for him. Just used a synergist and saboteur at the start, made sure everyone had haste and all that. I used Medic, Sentinel, Medic for my emergency mode.
 
Dahaka is pretty "easy" if you know what to do - he can't attack while staggered, and staggering him cancels any attack he's about to launch. Admittedly pulling off the "stagger to cancel the impending one-hit KO" takes a fair bit of luck, but if you use RAV/RAV/RAV when at full health and RAV/RAV/MED when not you should be able to defeat him in no time (I defeated him near the start of a third stagger). I recommend a MED/SEN/MED paradigm as a safety net in case you don't manage to get him staggered as he's about to launch the attack that casts a ton of status ailments, because he *will* follow it up with a one-hit KO if you're not healed or on the defensive - if he's not near being staggered when that happens, switch to the 2x MED + SEN (Combat Clinic) paradigm and ride the attack out. Using a sabo at the very beginning of the battle can help too, if you can get Imperil and Slow to stick then he doesn't stand a chance.

I used Light/Snow/Vanille, each had 4000+ HP IIRC and +20% fire resist accessories.


edit: the mini-boss you first come across in chapter 12 was a piece of cake... COM/COM/MED until down to 100k HP then triple RAV - easiest boss fight ever :lol:
 
Last edited:
Earth
Change is good. I even liked the changes XII did to the Battle system though many hated it.

However XIII changes, or rather get rids of so much it can hardly even be called a RPG anymore
Click to expand...

As I said before, XII is the worst possible battle system any company - not just SquareEnix - could ever have created for an RPG. By setting up the Gambit system right, you could walk your party into a monster infested room, put down the controller and just let your characters get on with it. Great for lazy gamers, it's the most uninvolving FF game in history.
And do you know what RPG actually stands for? It stands for Role Playing Game. Which means that you control 1 or a few characters with different roles and develop them. Whether that is in a wide open world(like past FF's) or the new linear story-driven game, it is still an RPG. You can't take that away from the new game, no matter how much you don't like it. As I said elsewhere, the new FFXIII makes you feel like you are actually playing something. Unlike FFXII.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
Stage 9?
Click to expand...
Oh, yep. I've since cleared chapter 12 and headed back to the Archlyte Steppe instead of continuing to the Orphan battle in chapter 13 - I've done some CP farming through mission 24, the cave with the Hoplites (I killed four in five seconds once; preemptive strike + Thundara x2 ftw) and the Behemoth King vs Megistotherian at the cave entrance. Everyone is just a couple of crystals away from having all three main roles maxed :D

Snow has 10,000 HP, to boot... :dopey:
 
I'm a bit confused about the Crystarium system. One of the thing's I hated about FFXII was that the licence board could be fully filled by all characters, effectively allowing all of them to use the same weapons and armour, and it felt like they weren't individuals. With FFX and the Sphere grid, only certain characters were allowed access to certain parts of the grid, making each of them unique.
So with FFXIII are all the characters allowed to learn the same abilities? I want it so that there are certain things you can rely on from each character, but ONLY that character. For example, if Vanille (currently my healing specialist) was allowed access to a CURAGA spell, but no other character could get it. Same with Lighting, if she was to have her strength maxed out higher than any other character was able because she is my main Commando specialist? Do you see what I mean?
I'd hate it for all characters to be able to do all the same things, because that for me takes away the point of a Role Playing Game. I want to be able to swap team-mates around and equip them to deal with different situations. That's part of the fun isn't it?
 
Every character can learn the same abilities, but will learn them at different stages compared to someone who has that class as one of their three primary roles. They also cost a lot more CP to develop.

Example: one of Hope's three primary roles is a medic; Fang, while not a medic by nature, can be trained into one (and can eventually learn all the abilities Hope knows), albeit at an extreme CP cost. It costs 3000 CP for Fang to learn Cure, while Hope - being a natural medic - knows it off the bat.

Of course, while you could train Vanille up as a Commando and Snow as a Synergist, they'll both suck in those roles (compared to, say, Lightning and Sazh respectively) as their strength/magic stats won't be favourable for that role. 2000 strength and 900 magic for a Syn or 900 strength and 2000 magic for a Com? Yeah. :lol: The best thing to do is train everyone in everything to get the HP/strength/magic boosts, but only use characters in one of their natural primary roles. I'm not going to use Hope as a Commando when I've maxed out his Crystarium, nor will I use Snow as a Medic - because their natural skillset doesn't favour those roles (medic: requires high magic, Snow is a freaking tank, not a wizard; commando: needs high strength, Hope would break in two if you punched him).
 
Okay thanks for that. I guess it all comes down to using your instinct and getting to know each character. Being a FF veteran, I instinctively know that Snow and Lighting will be best in the Commando role, while the weaker ones (Vanille and Hope) will be best at healing.
 
Golfman
Okay thanks for that. I guess it all comes down to using your instinct and getting to know each character. Being a FF veteran, I instinctively know that Snow and Lighting will be best in the Commando role, while the weaker ones (Vanille and Hope) will be best at healing.
Click to expand...

The 3 roles that you start out with are generally the best for that character. However Lightning can become a great Sentinel. Another thing I noticed is that while other characters cast Faith, one certain character has Faithra.
 
Golfman
I'm a bit confused about the Crystarium system. One of the thing's I hated about FFXII was that the licence board could be fully filled by all characters, effectively allowing all of them to use the same weapons and armour, and it felt like they weren't individuals. With FFX and the Sphere grid, only certain characters were allowed access to certain parts of the grid, making each of them unique.
So with FFXIII are all the characters allowed to learn the same abilities? I want it so that there are certain things you can rely on from each character, but ONLY that character. For example, if Vanille (currently my healing specialist) was allowed access to a CURAGA spell, but no other character could get it. Same with Lighting, if she was to have her strength maxed out higher than any other character was able because she is my main Commando specialist? Do you see what I mean?
I'd hate it for all characters to be able to do all the same things, because that for me takes away the point of a Role Playing Game. I want to be able to swap team-mates around and equip them to deal with different situations. That's part of the fun isn't it?
Click to expand...

To add to what the others said, as far as I am aware, they all learn slightly different abilities I think. Also, at the later stages of the game, each character can learn a special ability which is unique to them, you have no choice in what this ability is, so ideally you want that special ability to fit in well with the characters specific role you fashioned them into.

You don't really require every characters input to fill all the roles available but you will need at least 4 characters to cover all the roles. Leaving the other two characters to specialise.

The crystelarium pretty much forces you to specialize although there is less freedom to development exactly how you want. It doesn't have anything on the sphere grid IMO, but it's not all that bad.
 
Sharky.
Dahaka is pretty "easy" if you know what to do - he can't attack while staggered, and staggering him cancels any attack he's about to launch. Admittedly pulling off the "stagger to cancel the impending one-hit KO" takes a fair bit of luck, but if you use RAV/RAV/RAV when at full health and RAV/RAV/MED when not you should be able to defeat him in no time (I defeated him near the start of a third stagger). I recommend a MED/SEN/MED paradigm as a safety net in case you don't manage to get him staggered as he's about to launch the attack that casts a ton of status ailments, because he *will* follow it up with a one-hit KO if you're not healed or on the defensive - if he's not near being staggered when that happens, switch to the 2x MED + SEN (Combat Clinic) paradigm and ride the attack out. Using a sabo at the very beginning of the battle can help too, if you can get Imperil and Slow to stick then he doesn't stand a chance.

I used Light/Snow/Vanille, each had 4000+ HP IIRC and +20% fire resist accessories.


edit: the mini-boss you first come across in chapter 12 was a piece of cake... COM/COM/MED until down to 100k HP then triple RAV - easiest boss fight ever :lol:
Click to expand...

I'm gonna have to try that out, i still think that one of the problems is also that my characters are not level enough.
 
If you're underleveled, head back the the Grand Expanse and CP grind :) Depending on your characters' stats, you might be able to farm the Behemoth King + Megistotherian that are fighting near the entrance to the cave - it's a guaranteed preemptive and using a triple COM paradigm you shouldn't have too much trouble killing the behemoth before he changes form and regenerates his health; the Megistotherian is fairly straight forward. 6600 CP a pop, and I've won the fight in 9 seconds (albeit with my characters as they are now, with 7000+ HP and 1000+ strength or magic), extending to no more than 30 if I fail to get the Behemoth killed before he changes form. Run back up the hill and around the save point or chocobo to get the monsters to respawn and you're away laughing :)

Stevisiov
Also, at the later stages of the game, each character can learn a special ability which is unique to them, you have no choice in what this ability is, so ideally you want that special ability to fit in well with the characters specific role you fashioned them into.
Click to expand...
👍 Although the special abilities (Full ATB Skills - Army of One, Highwind, Death, Cold Blood, Sovereign Fist, Last Resort) are found in one of the three main classes for each character, so if like me you simply level up each of the three main roles to the maximum before putting CP into the other roles you can't miss the full ATB skills. Do pay attention to which class the skills fall under though - don't use Vanille as a ravager and wonder why you can't cast Death. :lol: (which is in the saboteur tree)


Speaking of Death, I got my growth egg from mission 55 using the Death spam technique :D Took aaaaaaaaages to get the spell to stick though, even with a Marlboro Wand * (improved debuffing II).... :grumpy:
 
Last edited:
Sharky.
Speaking of Death, I got my growth egg from mission 55 using the Death spam technique :D Took aaaaaaaaages to get the spell to stick though, even with a Marlboro Wand * (improved debuffing II).... :grumpy:
Click to expand...

It took me about 15 minutes or less after the Ch 11 boss. But I was a good way finished with stage 9. I did 2 fights with the Ochu across for fun.
 
Sharky.
If you're underleveled, head back the the Grand Expanse and CP grind :) Depending on your characters' stats, you might be able to farm the Behemoth King + Megistotherian that are fighting near the entrance to the cave - it's a guaranteed preemptive and using a triple COM paradigm you shouldn't have too much trouble killing the behemoth before he changes form and regenerates his health; the Megistotherian is fairly straight forward. 6600 CP a pop, and I've won the fight in 9 seconds (albeit with my characters as they are now, with 7000+ HP and 1000+ strength or magic), extending to no more than 30 if I fail to get the Behemoth killed before he changes form. Run back up the hill and around the save point or chocobo to get the monsters to respawn and you're away laughing :)


👍 Although the special abilities (Full ATB Skills - Army of One, Highwind, Death, Cold Blood, Sovereign Fist, Last Resort) are found in one of the three main classes for each character, so if like me you simply level up each of the three main roles to the maximum before putting CP into the other roles you can't miss the full ATB skills. Do pay attention to which class the skills fall under though - don't use Vanille as a ravager and wonder why you can't cast Death. :lol: (which is in the saboteur tree)


Speaking of Death, I got my growth egg from mission 55 using the Death spam technique :D Took aaaaaaaaages to get the spell to stick though, even with a Marlboro Wand * (improved debuffing II).... :grumpy:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, I'm gonna have to try that out for a few hours..
 
Hmm really the only thing i didn't like is once you beat the game, there's no motivation to play again. I know there are the missions, but that's rather boring activity to run around and find them...
Would have been really cool to have a longer story or an online battle mode.
 
Finally finished the game yesterday. I left it for a while as I was busy but finally managed to complete it. I think the story was good I liked the characters but overall I have to admit besides the new battle system there isn't much to like. As H20HYBRID_GT has said its difficult to find motivation to go back to it. I thought the ending could have been better but it was enjoyable
 
I completed FFXIII this morning :dopey: Just in time for the release of GT5 too :)

I got to the final boss(es) on Friday night, and I got my butt kicked:

Tried Orphan (I) with Light/Fang/Hope and got wiped out by 'Wrath'. Tried again with a new party, Vanille/Light/Hope and tried using RAV/RAV/RAV and MED/MED/MED and still got my butt kicked...

I realised that I had not fully optimised my equipment and so I gave it another crack this morning with plenty of upgraded accessories, an optimised paradigm deck etc., and it worked first time:

Used the original party, Light/Fang/Hope - used the following equipment for Light: Goddess's Favour, Adamant Bangle Lv. 14 (+1040 HP), Imperial Armlet*, and kept plenty of Medics in the paradigm deck. I found Light as leader, Fang as Sentinel, and Hope as Synergist to all be essential. MED/SYN/MED is essential for healing, RAV/COM/RAV for stagger/dealing fast damage, and I found MED/SAB/SYN best for safe buff/debuffing.

All in all, I've really enjoyed it - took around 75 hours of saved game play, and now I'm looking forward to taking on some of the optional missions - before GT5 destroys my free time!
 
Last edited:
Do you guys know any site that's FF related and near as big as GTPlanet?
I came to GTPlanet a while ago for the extra (insider-)information they have and for the great discussions, and with FF XIII Versus coming within the next year (at least I hope so), I want the same type of forum like GTPlanet.


Mainstream media more or less report nothing about that game. I bet there are new info lurking on the internet...=)

Any suggestions?
 

Similar threads

TetsuKobura
Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Releases February 1, 2024 on PS4/PS5 and PC
Replies
1
Views
1K
JackRyanWMU
JackRyanWMU
GlamFM
Final Fantasy VII REBIRTH [Spoilers Within!!!]
2 3
Replies
75
Views
16K
Dave A
Dave A
R55NA
Your favourite Year of gaming releases?
Replies
12
Views
2K
Alfred1
Alfred1
T
Your 2024 game of the year?
Replies
27
Views
2K
SPhilli911
SPhilli911
zargdin
XIII remake getting panned.
Replies
1
Views
526
SPhilli911
SPhilli911

Latest Posts

Back