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Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age |OT| You Had One Job!
- Thread starter FlutterPuffs
- Start date
Highest level was 30 (Vaan).
Yabberwocky
Member
FFXII's soundtrack has always been one of my favorites, but I think the reorchestration has really highlighted what incredible work Sakimoto did. It feels really lush and vibrant, grand yet personal, etc. The atmosphere he builds for some of the areas alone with the soundtrack alone is fantastic, there is such a great synergy with every location.
I'd also forgotten how much I liked Penelo, she's such a refreshing take on the young perky girl FF archetype. She's down to earth and no-bullshit, but with a good sense of humor. The Migelo scene with Vayne really highlighted it at the beginning, with Vaan going, how can he bow to Vayne? and Penelo's just, dude, what the fuck else is he supposed to do? (Not in those words, obviously.)
I wasn't sure how much I'd use the fast-forward feature, and I've found myself using it as sort of the equivalent of a run button, which is great. I don't have it on by default, but it's really useful to have.
I was going to skip out on either 2 or 3 of the Ninja Sword Licenses, I think Iga. Koga has an earth element to the weapon, which is quite rare.
I'm surprised that I have actually found myself getting quite a bit of use out of it planning classes/espers/etc, in synergy with some online recommendations - originally I thought I wasn't going to use the guide at all, but it actually ended up being quite useful with how the information was laid out. Outside of their job class combo recs which I'm a bit eeeh on, it seems pretty good. If you have to pay a lot of money, I maybe wouldn't buy it, but it's definitely useful enough, especially for hunts, abilities, classes, etc. Definitely one of the better guides from Prima, from what I've seen, with some nice art, too.
I'd also forgotten how much I liked Penelo, she's such a refreshing take on the young perky girl FF archetype. She's down to earth and no-bullshit, but with a good sense of humor. The Migelo scene with Vayne really highlighted it at the beginning, with Vaan going, how can he bow to Vayne? and Penelo's just, dude, what the fuck else is he supposed to do? (Not in those words, obviously.)
I wasn't sure how much I'd use the fast-forward feature, and I've found myself using it as sort of the equivalent of a run button, which is great. I don't have it on by default, but it's really useful to have.
I was going to skip out on either 2 or 3 of the Ninja Sword Licenses, I think Iga. Koga has an earth element to the weapon, which is quite rare.
I'm surprised that I have actually found myself getting quite a bit of use out of it planning classes/espers/etc, in synergy with some online recommendations - originally I thought I wasn't going to use the guide at all, but it actually ended up being quite useful with how the information was laid out. Outside of their job class combo recs which I'm a bit eeeh on, it seems pretty good. If you have to pay a lot of money, I maybe wouldn't buy it, but it's definitely useful enough, especially for hunts, abilities, classes, etc. Definitely one of the better guides from Prima, from what I've seen, with some nice art, too.
Choose between Ninja Blades 1 or 2 and then grab Ninja Blades 3, and the last quickening that leads to Yagyu.
Not sure what your second class is but the quickening that gives you Ninja Blades 3 also unlocks +390 HP on Foebreaker.
I was pleasantly surprised by Penelo too, and I agree wholeheartedly with your observations. Too bad she becomes pretty much non-existent afterwards.
Salty Rice
Member
Yeah my second job is Foebreaker so getting that 390HP for sure with 3.
I think i gonna get 1,3 and 4.
So im gonna miss out on the Water Blade Iga on 2 but i prefer that over not getting the 4 blades with License 1.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
What about the dark spells?
BossDarkseid
Member
That sucks but....pathetic games design seems wide of the mark when it was entirely up to you not to check : /
Although a respec option wouldn't go amiss.
It was entirely up to them to not put the most important weapon in the game to beat the hardest boss in the game behind that wall. This coupled with the muti layered RNG of the drops, steals and chests (which often requires soft reset until you get it right) are the worst design decisions of the entire franchise. I really love the game, but when you have a semi completionist mindset, these little details severely impacts my enjoyment.
Luckily they address the loot situation with the Trial drops being transferable, so we get pretty much all uber equipments without having to farm for several hours for the materials (the steal RNG is still not addressed though so soft resets are still essential to drop some of them >.>).
Back in PS2 days I thought(dummy me) the music was mainly big brass chords but this actually super contrapuntal/developmental music.
As much as a game soundtrack allows,the music is incredibly layered and detailed.
He's an extremely skilled composer.Glad his music got remade.
TalentBurke
Member
How do you get locked out? I made sure not unlock any of my quickenings because I didn't want that to happen.
I didn't unlock the Quickening slot that unlocks the bridge to the ''Ninja Sword 4''. I didn't even think about this when I was unlocking them.
DarknessTear
Banned
Hmm? You can't just farm those rare bombs in Lhusu site 11 for it anymore?
Oh you meant the license. Wait, you can miss licenses? How? '-'
Red Battlemage's exclusives. No other job can learn them, period.
The Last One
Member
What was your strategy?
The Shikari board has four ''Katana Sword'' slots locked behind Quickening slots, you can only unlock three Quickening slots which means you will never be able to use all Katana Swords. Of all of them the most important is ''Katana Sword 4'' which unlocks Yagyu, which is the best weapon to use against Yiazmat.
Shikari is the only class affected by this, all the others have Quickening Slot with no bridges that can be perfectly avoided provided that you know about this to begin with. Atrocious game design at it's finest.
DarknessTear
Banned
Wait how do you unlock the outside licenses? D
I unlocked 3 of Vaans quickenings. Does that mean I can't get Yagyu Darkblade also?
I unlocked 3 of Vaans quickenings. Does that mean I can't get Yagyu Darkblade also?
If you didn't unlock the one that opens the bridge to Katana Sword 4, no, you lost Yagyu forever. It is the one on the lower part of his board.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Red Mage? That's kind of weird isn't it?
Shikari is the main class (and probably the only) class who you need to be wary of which quickenings you pick.
The quickening slot that costs 125 is the one that unlocks Yagyu. It's in the bottom right section. There are 4 on the board but you can only pick three.
TalentBurke
Member
What's stopping him from unlocking "that" quickening now? That's the part that's confusing me.
The Last One
Member
Does Bushi learn Katana 4?
gotta farm a LOT of LP to get there
There are 4 Quickening slots, you can only unlock 3, if you unlocked 3 and neglected/didn't see the one that opens the bridge to Yagyu, you lost it forever.
TalentBurke
Member
Oh so as long as you unlock the correct quickenings for the Shikari class you're good?
KyanMehwulfe
Member
It's pretty good, actually. Nothing at all wrong with it... The only overlap that I would have a problem with (purely because of my preferences; not everyone would care) is the BSH/FOE because both get access to a Top 3 DPS weapon in the game. BSH gets Masamune I and FOE gets Scorpion Tail F.
That said, it's a preference thing because my BSH goes with MNK, and that's the exact same overlap problem but worse because MNK gets Whale Whisker N, so I'm 'wasting' 2 top weapons on 1 character, too. It's just I like hammers and I don't like poles haha so I can justify it.
But that is one reason why people like BSH/MNK... then you can have a seperate FOE and a seperate MNK, and all 3 characters can use 1 of the top 3 weapons.
But even then, BSH/MNK then gets the #1 and #4 weapon... So even that has weapon overlap. And there are situations where the #4 weapon (a 2H sword) is actually the #3 weapon. Scorpion Tail (FOE) out-DPSes Tournesol (KNI) when the enemy is had broken DEF. But on high DEF enemies, the 2H sword actually out DPSs the hammer. So you could argue in general use, Tournesol is the #3 top weapon, not Scorpion Tail, and therefor even BSH/KNI wastes 2 top weapons on 1 character.
To boot, you probably only 1 have pure Berserked DPSer, and then a 2nd support character that does a mix of tanking, buffing, DPS, and healing (probably in that order) to support your main DPS and main healer. So you don't really 'need' all 3-4 top weapons on separate characters for general 3-character party play -- it's just an optimization ideal to try get the 'most' out of all 6 characters.
So, yeah, BSH/FOE is fine, but for your preferences, you should consider which weapons you want each of your DPS characters to use.
As for Espers, it's probably mostly about Famfrit... Either Arise, Dispelga, Esunaga, and Holy for your MNK/BLM , or Hastega, Slowga for your MCN/UHL. On one hand, without Famfrit, your MCN/UHL is basically pure DPS with zero utility... and not a top 3 DPSer, either. But in theory, it's probably better on your MNK/BLM. Better MAG and Channelling 3 to take advantage of it; and your MCN/UHL (or any character, in fact), can just use Hastega Motes ... it's a pretty big trade-off that you can render moot but just doing [annoying] mote farming.
That said, I had to make the same decision between my KNI/MCN vs BSH/MNK, and I gave Famfrit to my KNI/MCN because I didn't want a zero-utility MCN (he can use Curaga and Hastega now), and because even though my BSH/MNK could be good at using Arise or Holy, it's an opportunity cost -- I just don't want him wasting time casting Arise when he should be focused on being Berserked and killing stuff.
Other notable decisions are... Hashmal. I think it's much better giving Curaga to a KNI/TBM (late in the story) than just giving your MNK/BLM Cura so late in the story -- especially when you could already have Curaga if you make a bee-line for Quickening 2 on your MNK's LB. Another small decision is Shemhazai on your Archer; RDM doesn't give her [good endgame] Heavy Armor so Shemhazai gives her pretty important Heavy Armor to boost bow damage. That said, you lose guns then on your SHI.
Which, TBH, doesn't really matter in terms of min-maxing. Especially if you use Balthier as a MCN often. But for me, my Balthier is a SHI but it's pretty important to me that he can use the gun Arcuturus during the story and the Fomalhaut gun at the endgame -- so I had a SHI+Shemhazai hard rule. Your headcanon may feel the same about Vaan as a SHI, but it is probably more optimized to give your ARC Shemhazai for the Heavy Armor.
Alexander O Smith said:
This rings true...
Edit: oh god, that whole interview is fantastic. Read it if you have any love for XII or any interest in translation.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ide-the-building-of-final-fantasy-12s-ivalice
Double edit: Smith is working on freaking Record Keeper?! SE, give him XVI or just shup already.
TalentBurke
Member
I've been playing the trial mode. I've already unlocked 200 LP slots. Just stayed away from all quickenings because I've heard about this issue. I'm glad I waited.
Yeah, what I recommend is picking between Ninja Swords 1 or 2 and then just grabbing 3 (Iga Blade) and Yagyu.
which from the drop or chest? At least I'm led to believe there is one in a chest.
Edit: Nvm just read why its locked.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
What issue ?
i wish i waited. i wasted a quickaning on a slot to nowhere. so i saved to reach Yagyu
i guess the real question is...
do i get Koga or Iga?
Status ailments never goes overtime?
What issue bruh? I just unlocked one early. I can easily re load save without losing much progress.
What issue bruh? I just unlocked one early. I can easily re load save without losing much progress.
Read the posts above, I'm talking about the license. It doesn't even matter if I drop or get it from a chest anymore, i won't be able to use it.
KyanMehwulfe
Member
Maybe Iga?
Same ATK but Iga is Water element to Koga's Earth... and I think there are more Water-weak creatures than (especially that are dangerous) than Earth-weak. Most of the Earth-weak creatures are Flyers -- not very useful for a ninja sword. A few others like wolves, I guess. It could be a wash though I guess, TBH I kinda forget which is more common, I just kinda think Water may be better.
That said, the biggest reason is probably that Koga has to wait until you have access to the later area of Lhusu Mines.
Iga is in there, too, but it's also a rare 1% drop from a ghost in Zertinan Caverns, which in theory you have access to pretty much at the start of the game. I forget which room or what level that ghost was, but I'm pretty sure you can get it far earlier than Koga.
That said, I get both Iga and Koga. I want my Ninja Foebreaker to be able to equip all of the following: Germinas Boots, Iga Blade, Koga Blade, Yagyu Darkblade (Yagyu Darkness), and Scorpion Tail -- a la a Ninja from FF Tactics.
If you happen to have Foebreaker (I don't know about other classes) as a second job the quickening that unlocks Koga Blade also unlocks +390 HP for Breaker.
was gonna give time to my shikari vaan
Quickenings are the limit breaks of this game.
Each job board has 4 Quickening panels but a character can only learn 3. Unlocking a Quickening panel may give you access to an extra set of licences (the little islands of licences away from the mainland.
Therefore you need to be deliberate on which licences you wish to access with Quickenings and which you will lock yourself out.
Ohhhhhh ok so it's not really the techniques themselves I'd be missing out on, it's the additional licenses out on the little islands? How do experts factor into that? They can act as bridges to those islands?
KyanMehwulfe
Member
That was a great read... I liked this part.
About the bolded part, firstly, I always wonder how they balance that. You see the same sort of ornate Middle English in all the games since Vagrant Story, but they fluctuate a lot. XII is actually pretty tempered compared to Tactics WotL, which is far more ornate.
And, secondly, how much of that is the translation team or the original designers. In the same vein, whether or not the Japanese translation (to its audience) is perceived as ornate, old fashioned, or the like. Obviously it cannot be ornate in the same way, but do they try make it a more ornate or old fashioned version of it? (I know nothing about the language other than that honor and shame are huge parts of it.) Or, does it essentially sound like modern Japanese; are the XII and Tactics WotL translations no different in dialect than X, XIII, and XV?
Either way, the Western version of it is superb. XII excels not just in writing but also voice acting and even facial animation/acting... Personally, for me, XII is still a star above and arguably the industry's best 'complete' example of of it, from minor character to major scene, in regards to a consistency of strongly acted and written cutscenes.
I don't know if there's any other game that, no matter how many times I watch it or even I feel about the story itself, that I can enjoy watching its cutscenes so many times purely for the sake of its acting and dialogue.
UnluckyKate
Member
marquis is pronounced markee, its french ! u and s are silent
Both are valid pronunciations.
psynergylover
Member
Go get some sleep bruh.