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[Aeana]

I'm not even going to put the pretenses up of participating this year, because I just don't have the time. But I'll be watching everyone else's progress.

 

[Man God]

I did random/natural last year. Thinking on going for one of the 750 runs this year. Which is harder? 750 or no 750? I'm guessing no 750 but just want to be sure.

750: The easiest mode in the fiesta. You automatically get a great class from the first crystal with healing available. (White Wind by the end of world 2 at the latest for Blue Mages, Black mages as soon as you buy flame rings) and your other jobs are still very strong. Red Mage is powered up with Black or White Magic which is likely available, or Even Blue to supplement their talent if those aren't available. Geomancers are normally problematic...but they have good stats for a caster and love getting a spell job to go along with them. Chemist is the best class in the game and Dancer has ribbons and is a source of needed physical damage. Time Mage is also stupid strong and so is summoner.

No 750. As long as you avoid Natural you usually end up with a pretty decent time. These parties have lower lows than 750 (Thief, Berserker, Beastmaster, Dragoon doesn't sound like a ton of fun) and their healing is sketchy at best (Dragoons can heal themselves, Knights and Mystic Knights can eventually flame ring/flame shield heal. But there's a lot of good here too. Heavy armor rules. All of these classes can Bone Mail, Lots of Shields here. High HP is always good. Mystic Knight and Samurai are among the best classes in the game, Beastmaster is useful most of the time. Ninja are great, thieves are thieves and are great with the right party, Knights are fun, Monks are fun.

 

[BassForever]

Last year I got burned out because Chemist is a boring auto win class that if you're good with mix the whole rest of the game is a breeze, still hoping for Dragoon as my earth job

 

[Man God]

I'm not even going to put the pretenses up of participating this year, because I just don't have the time. But I'll be watching everyone else's progress.

Participating in the event is only the second best part about it, I only play so much to get better and help people get better. Talking about it is the best part!

 

[Ourobolus]

Last year I got burned out because Chemist is a boring auto win class that if you're good with mix the whole rest of the game is a breeze, still hoping for Dragoon as my earth job

You can always donate to change to specific classes!

 

[BassForever]

You can always donate to change to specific classes!

Ehh I feel like that kinda defeats the point

Don't get me wrong donating to help charity is a great thing

But the fun of the fiesta for better or worse is the random nature of it, paying to get classes I want even if they're objectively worse then my current class removes one of the biggest appeals of the challenge. That tension when you #wind/water/fire/earth and gilgabot smiles and pulls your class from his helmet of doom is the best part. I really don't have a problem with any other class as there are either unique challenges in making them good (finding blue magic, knowing what to steal, knowing what terrain to geomancy, etc). Chemist is just "go grind a crap load of these items, remember the 3-4 OP combinations, win game".

 

[Man God]

It's odd to complain about something that is random and then go eh, it's not really in the spirit of it to fix that randomness.

If you don't want Chemist, go Random. You lower your chances drastically from the 1 in 4 you get in normal games.

If you really REALLY don't want Chemists go No 750.

 

[Tomat]

Can't wait to lie to myself about finishing this for the third year in a row.

Normal Berserker Risk for this year.

Crackbabyjr get in here.

 

[Ourobolus]

Ehh I feel like that kinda defeats the point

Don't get me wrong donating to help charity is a great thing

But the fun of the fiesta for better or worse is the random nature of it, paying to get classes I want even if they're objectively worse then my current class removes one of the biggest appeals of the challenge. That tension when you #wind/water/fire/earth and gilgabot smiles and pulls your class from his helmet of doom is the best part. I really don't have a problem with any other class as there are either unique challenges in making them good (finding blue magic, knowing what to steal, knowing what terrain to geomancy, etc). Chemist is just "go grind a crap load of these items, remember the 3-4 OP combinations, win game".

I don't feel that getting 3 classes and then being jaded with the final one out of pure boredom or lack of challenge isn't awful. I've had Blue Mage 3 times. I love the class, but I'd like to switch it out. I may do that this time.

For your first time or two, sure, I can understand going full-random. But if you aren't going to enjoy your selection, why not change it ?

 

[BassForever]

It's odd to complain about something that is random and then go eh, it's not really in the spirit of it to fix that randomness.

If you don't want Chemist, go Random. You lower your chances drastically from the 1 in 4 you get in normal games.

If you really REALLY don't want Chemists go No 750.

I just wish Chemist wasn't so godly compared to everything else it's basically the TG Cid of this game. I was especially irked last year because my team up to that point had been Thief/Red Mage/Geomancer and I had been enjoying the challenge of having a weaker team... and then Chemist came along like a troll.

I probably wouldn't have been mad had I gotten something like blue mage/mystic knight/ninja/chemist as then it'd just be team OP and I'd steam roll the game. LOL I'm just weird most people would be like "oh thank god team redeemed" I was like "boo my team doesn't suck anymore"

 

[Tomat]

Man, I was about to ask how the hell to donate, and then I realized NoScript was blocking the little donation widget and I was a doofus.

I bet you block GAF ads too. Ban this sick filth.

 

[Ourobolus]

Random.

Every.

Time.

Would you opt out of a writing challenge theme because of jadedness? Of course not! You would power through like the tenacious bull-headed humorist you are.

Believe in yourself. Or else.

I know, dammit! Shh!

Can't I lie about choosing a specific class to quell the fears of a fellow GAFfer? I'm totally taking everything as it comes.

 

[BassForever]

I don't feel that getting 3 classes and then being jaded with the final one out of pure boredom or lack of challenge isn't awful. I've had Blue Mage 3 times. I love the class, but I'd like to switch it out. I may do that this time.

For your first time or two, sure, I can understand going full-random. But if you aren't going to enjoy your selection, why not change it ?

As I said I was jaded because I was enjoying the struggle of having thief/red mage/geomancer and basically got handed a class that would dominate not only the game but my entire party move set. There really was no reason to not give everyone mix and just mix my way to victory..

 

[Ourobolus]

As I said I was jaded because I was enjoying the struggle of having thief/red mage/geomancer and basically got handed a class that would dominate not only the game but my entire party move set. There really was no reason to not give everyone mix and just mix my way to victory..

Right...and my point still remains that you could fix that if you wanted to.

 

[Finalow]

time for this already? Great.

last year I wanted to do it but couldn't in the end, let's see if I finally decide to do it.

 

[Man God]

I just wish Chemist wasn't so godly compared to everything else it's basically the TG Cid of this game. I was especially irked last year because my team up to that point had been Thief/Red Mage/Geomancer and I had been enjoying the challenge of having a weaker team... and then Chemist came along like a troll.

I probably wouldn't have been mad had I gotten something like blue mage/mystic knight/ninja/chemist as then it'd just be team OP and I'd steam roll the game. LOL I'm just weird most people would be like "oh thank god team redeemed" I was like "boo my team doesn't suck anymore"

There's 3 other classes I'd put basically in the same group as Chemist. Not quite the same but in the same ballpark.

Samurai- Has everything: Gil Toss is great, most things don't have the defense to tank that incredible damage. SSlap is great, inherent chance to evade is great, Masamune is the best 12 legendary weapon, heavy armor is great, ianuki is 85% likely to kill anything not immune to instant death before evasion is applied and is basically a throw away ability on this titan of pain.

Time Mage- Slow, Haste, Regen, Quick. Teleport for getting out of fights, Return for starting them over. Can equip staves and rods. Can kill just with quick and sap damage.

Mystic Knight- If you know your monster weaknesses you can conquer the world. Fast Heavy Armor class with no problems staying alive ever. Might not produce the sexiest numbers on things with no weaknesses but an experienced player should never be in harms way at all with this class.

Now sure, the Chemist is great...but everything takes time with the chemist. Hell Chemists are the worst Chemists there are and you'd be far better off most times just putting that ability on any other class. They are nowhere near as user friendly as Samurai. They can't boost up an entire party as fast as a Bard or Time Mage could, they are unparalleled healers and buffers but that comes at a price of being pretty much only single target.

 

[Man God]

Bards are still my favorite. Stop everything in the first world and a lot of stuff in the second world, boost the shit out of everyone for boss battles, cruise past Omega. Good times.

That's more of a personal preference though.

I put Bards and Blue Mages right below those core four. Bards have a few issues that can still bite them hard (Vitality mainly) though in a party it can be easily made up if you can find a way to keep them a bit safer while they do their thing.

Blue Mages also have all the tools. Sometimes they have a rough time doing damage but they also make up for it with a great selection of equipment, a magic class with swords and shields? Hot damn. A way to heal through bone mail without using the relic slot? More hot damn!

 

[JC Lately]

Decided to pull the trigger on the ios version, figured having the game on my person at all times would increase the chances of my finishing the challange this year.

Thought I'd play up to the Wind Shrine now, get it out of the way for start date. I thought I was prepared for the ugly sprite work, but holy crap. I'm not sure I can look at that for the next 20 hours or so. And the lack of a dash button almost had me wanting theif for my first class. This gonna be rough. Maybe I should stick with my GBA emulator after all.

On the other hand, screenshots are hella easy.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Ehh I feel like that kinda defeats the point

Don't get me wrong donating to help charity is a great thing

But the fun of the fiesta for better or worse is the random nature of it, paying to get classes I want even if they're objectively worse then my current class removes one of the biggest appeals of the challenge. That tension when you #wind/water/fire/earth and gilgabot smiles and pulls your class from his helmet of doom is the best part. I really don't have a problem with any other class as there are either unique challenges in making them good (finding blue magic, knowing what to steal, knowing what terrain to geomancy, etc). Chemist is just "go grind a crap load of these items, remember the 3-4 OP combinations, win game".

You can donate for a reroll!

 

[transience]

Blue Mages are my MVP by a mile. Those guys have an answer for everything, several of which kinda break the game.

 

[Anustart]

It's hot and new, so I regged FF1.

 

[BassForever]

You can donate for a reroll!

Oh thats cool I thought you could only pay to pick a class didn't know you could pay to reroll

 

[neoemonk]

I'll probably be playing on the Vita this time around. I have the GBA version, but my DS Lite has a problem where it randomly deletes saves on GBA games. This doesn't happen on DS games. I found out about it the first year I signed up for this in 2011 and lost my save halfway through the game. The only GBA hardware I have is a Micro, and while I love having it, I'm getting too old for the tiny screen.

I hope the PS1 version isn't too terrible, because the Vita screen is my best bet, but I'll find out soon enough I suppose.

Lots of good information

Thanks for the breakdown. Going to have to decide between a No 750 run and the FF1 class run.

 

[BassForever]

I'll probably be playing on the Vita this time around. I have the GBA version, but my DS Lite has a problem where it randomly deletes saves on GBA games. This doesn't happen on DS games. I found out about it the first year I signed up for this in 2011 and lost my save halfway through the game. The only GBA hardware I have is a Micro, and while I love having it, I'm getting too old for the tiny screen.

I hope the PS1 version isn't too terrible, because the Vita screen is my best bet, but I'll find out soon enough I suppose.

Thanks for the breakdown. Going to have to decide between a No 750 run and the FF1 class run.

Enjoy your load times, IIRC PSX version of FF5 wasn't that terrible compared to some of the other ports, but they all have bad load times for random encounters

 

[Barrylocke]

It doesn't help that the localization for FF5's PSX version is mediocre at best. Not such a big deal if this game is being replayed, but it's nothing compared to the GBA versions script, or even the fan-translated SNES version.

 

[neoemonk]

After poking around on the Internet for a few minutes, it has come to my attention that my GBA copy of FF 5 may actually be a fake. I bought it while traveling in the Philippines so it wouldn't be that much of a shock to me. One of the characteristics of these pirated GBA carts is the save game deletion. It only happens when I play the game on my DS Lite, so I suppose I'm fortunate that I got through it on the GBA Micro.

Final Fantasy VI is a legitimate cartridge purchased here in the United States, while V was acquired overseas and is a pirated version. You can see the difference in the two boards.

 

[Dark Schala]

I didn't end up finishing last year because I ran out of time to actually do it (plus I felt like I'd put too many restrictions on myself which made the game less fun). But since I kinda have time this year, I should probably finish it.

Last year I did random/natural crystal/berserker risk, and got BM (good!) / Berserker (lol) / Beastmaster (ok) / Dancer (alright, Sword Dance got me through lots of stuff). Thing was that I wasn't having too much fun, and I think Beastmaster was the job I was having the least amount of fun with. I got to learn about how good Freelancer could be in World 1, though.

I kinda want to try Natural out again, though.

Enjoy your load times, IIRC PSX version of FF5 wasn't that terrible compared to some of the other ports, but they all have bad load times for random encounters

You forgot to tell him that the localization is... "fun".

 

[Man God]

Funny, my post last night must not have gone through but yeah, I was going to ask where you obtained your version of FF V (one of the most pirated GBA games because of its desirability) because that right there is a classic symptom of a fake copy.

 

[Ultratech]

After poking around on the Internet for a few minutes, it has come to my attention that my GBA copy of FF 5 may actually be a fake. I bought it while traveling in the Philippines so it wouldn't be that much of a shock to me. One of the characteristics of these pirated GBA carts is the save game deletion. It only happens when I play the game on my DS Lite, so I suppose I'm fortunate that I got through it on the GBA Micro.

Final Fantasy VI is a legitimate cartridge purchased here in the United States, while V was acquired overseas and is a pirated version. You can see the difference in the two boards.

The sticker on the cartridge is pretty much a dead giveaway.

 

[HiddenWings]

I didn't end up finishing last year because I ran out of time to actually do it (plus I felt like I'd put too many restrictions on myself which made the game less fun). But since I kinda have time this year, I should probably finish it.

Last year I did random/natural crystal/berserker risk, and got BM (good!) / Berserker (lol) / Beastmaster (ok) / Dancer (alright, Sword Dance got me through lots of stuff). Thing was that I wasn't having too much fun, and I think Beastmaster was the job I was having the least amount of fun with. I got to learn about how good Freelancer could be in World 1, though.

I kinda want to try Natural out again, though.

I Job faired a freelancer two years ago, and it does make some otherwise difficult things rather silly. For starters, they can use that ribbon you usually carry through the entire game from Karnak Castle. Second, they can use the Death Sickle and you can actually control what it hits. I think I did some whining about them not being that good at first, but I was undervaluing those things, and really missed some of them last year.

(Also, that party was super overpowered already. White Mage, Mystic Knight, Ranger were the first 3 draws.)

 

[BassForever]

I Job faired a freelancer two years ago, and it does make some otherwise difficult things rather silly. For starters, they can use that ribbon you usually carry through the entire game from Karnak Castle. Second, they can use the Death Sickle and you can actually control what it hits. I think I did some whining about them not being that good at first, but I was undervaluing those things, and really missed some of them last year.

(Also, that party was super overpowered already. White Mage, Mystic Knight, Ranger were the first 3 draws.)

Yeah having a freelancer with both spell sword and rapid fire is generally something most people do end game when they have access to every class let alone when doing the fiesta challenge

 

[neoemonk]

The sticker on the cartridge is pretty much a dead giveaway.

It was in a sealed box in a toy store over there. Cost me about $9. I guess I was just fortunate that I completed a run on my Micro, but the DS deletes saves with impunity.

 

[Anustart]

How does that FF 6 cart save at all without a battery?

 

[Heropon]

I've finally found how this webm business works.

http://a.pomf.se/dholre.webm

I'll mostly use pictures for my first playthrough but if a boss is annihilated by a particular job combination I feel that a video shows it better.

 

[Man God]

How does that FF 6 cart save at all without a battery?

Most GBA games just use a tiny bit of writable memory for saves. Pokémon R/S/E uses a battery for berry growing and there are a couple of others. There are even some really cheap/really early games with no battery or writable memory. Passwords only.

 

[HiddenWings]

Most GBA games just use a tiny bit of writable memory for saves. Pokémon R/S/E uses a battery for berry growing and there are a couple of others. There are even some really cheap/really early games with no battery or writable memory. Passwords only.

I can think of some GBC games that still did this, but what games did this in the GBA era?

 

[Man God]

It's very hard to find a good list for them anymore but I know they exist. It's crazy considering when the system was made.

 

[TheSeks]

I still haven't seen your FF12 run... *secret shame*

But people need to raise the money to force you to play FFT. More Matsuno suffering for you! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

 

[Matt Attack]

Never done this before, but I registered for a normal, berserker risk run. FFV is my favorite FF so I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Man God]

I'm bummed that the Retron 5 didn't work out, the constant delays and price hike killed any reason to get it but I really wanted it for the Fiesta. I've got everything I need to rip it and play it on an emulator but its just not the same, I've got two legit copies of the GBA version and the SFC version (one patched with the translation no less) and all I wanted was a good simple rig for taking screenshots but alas.

I could invest in the stuff I'd need to stream it from the actual console but then again I loved the idea of playing most of the game on the GBA Micro and taking screenshots when I needed on a nice simple HDMI connected system when I got home instead of just writing about what I did and borrowing a camera to take an awful looking screenshot. (Some of my ultra lazy DSi/3DS victory photos are amusing as hell though, god what an awful camera.)

 

[RPG Wizard]

Hmmm. I'm interested, as I adore FFV. Probably would have to go with fantranslated SNES though, as I'm not playing the PSX version and I don't own Advance.

Also, I have a tendency to pay attention to Revenant Kioku for some reason. Miiiight be that avatar.

Any tips for a first time who hasn't played FFV in years?

 

[chaosblade]

Normal berserker risk run. May or may not do more, I think I did four last year.

Still several jobs I haven't gotten over the last few years. Never had Black Mage, White Mage, Red Mage, Geomancer, Beastmaster, or Chemist.

 

[itzknickknac]

This will be my first time participating as well as my first time playing FFV. Any tips?

 

[Bomber Bob]

Let's do this!

 

[Man God]

Hmmm. I'm interested, as I adore FFV. Probably would have to go with fantranslated SNES though, as I'm not playing the PSX version and I don't own Advance.

Also, I have a tendency to pay attention to Revenant Kioku for some reason. Miiiight be that avatar.

Any tips for a first time who hasn't played FFV in years?

There's a bunch of good fiesta specific resources out there and I'm sure links will pop up in two weeks to most of them but the simple ones are as follows.

1. Know the items that will help (almost) every team and where to get them.

• The cache of magical items in Walse Castle, available as soon as you beat North Mountain. Healing Staff in particular is great if you have a Red or Time Mage.
• Guardian Knife and Elf Mantle in the castle connected to the fire ship. These items together will make one character take about 50% less hits. The first Ribbon and Esuna spell are also located here.
• Flame Rings from the Istory item shop. Pricey at 50k each but they are unquestionably the best all around accessory until you get Hermes Sandals in world 3.
• Dancing Dirk in the Moogle Village. Infrequent chance of doing severe damage with Swords Dance, a decent way for some classes to get abilities they wouldn't otherwise have (charm with tempting tango, mp drain with mysterious waltz, hp drain with jitterbug. Very handy in world 2.
• Bone Mail in Dragon Valley. This suit of armor is the best in the game as long as you understand its limitations. Absobs poison, immune to death spells, takes damage from healing spells and anyone wearing it cannot be revived in battle. Weak to fire as well so pairs nicely with a flame ring. If you choose to wear it remember who has it on!
• Aegis Shield, the first one is in Moore Forest on the screen where the fire starts in the northeast side, get it before you jump in the hole. The third best defensive item in the game. Makes the character immune to petrification, gives them a 1 in 3 shot at avoiding any magical attack. Your lying character screen when you hit optimize will tell you that most end game shields are better than this because it judges other defense stats more importantly but it's wrong. This shield makes life easier especially during the final boss fight.
• Hermes Sandals. Free Haste that can't be dispelled. Amazing. Speed is the most vital stat in the game.
• Chicken Knife/Brave Blade. If you don't have a Knight then your best weapon is the Chicken Blade for almost every single character. Yes it makes you run at inopportune times but the immense power from a fully leveled up chicken knife (especially if you're one of the classes that can ignore the run away effect) is just too much. Knights meanwhile need to not run away the whole game to get a weapon that in the end is roughly on par or a little worse than the chicken knife. Plan accordingly if you do have a knife as there are plenty of battles you'd really prefer to run away from (the final area of world 2, cough cough) but you might need to power through instead.

2. All bosses have a weakness. Most have multiple weaknesses. Learn how to exploit them. Some are weak to instant death, some can be slowed, poisoned, paralyzed, put to sleep, have their levels reduced. Hitting an elemental weakness is basically a free critical hit and ignores defense. Learn these weaknesses and seemingly impossible bosses can be made easier.

3. All possible Fiesta Run parties can beat the game. Some just do it better than others. Some bosses are roadblocks to certain parties. Sol Canon can be quite the pain but even normally nonthreatening looking bosses like the six bombs at the end of world 1 can be murder on certain parties.

4. Speed kills. Speed can only be influenced by haste, slowing your opponent, playing a bard song, or leveling up.

5. Some bosses are level/hp checks. While certain characters have ways around this with spells or abilities some bosses (the very final one is a great example) is one where you really just need a certain combination of excellent planning...and enough HP and speed to make sure you are healed up.

6. The game is actually quite a bit harder on Active with the speed juiced up. This is how I play it but really it can be a bit much on your reactions.

7. SHELL IS SECRETLY THE BEST SPELL IN THE GAME. It doubles (actually because of how the math works, usually more than doubles) your magic defense and it also halves the chance of status spells hitting you. It's a shame that many classes do not have access to it. This leads into the final point.

8. Yearn yo classes. The real joy from this event for me is deep diving into these well crafted jobs and seeing how they work together. A class that looks bad on paper can be amazing when you learn what they can do. Know which type of armor your class uses. Know which ways they can heal or buff up the party, know where you might run into trouble because your team is missing something, know where and when to pick up certain class specific abilities and how to use them. Feel free to ask.

 

[HiddenWings]

There's a bunch of good fiesta specific resources out there and I'm sure links will pop up in two weeks to most of them but the simple ones are as follows.


...

4. Speed kills. Speed can only be influenced by haste, slowing your opponent, playing a bard song, or leveling up.

...

This point is partially incorrect. As low-level runs are fond of pointing out, speed is not affected in any way by level. Only class, ability, and spell effects (haste, slow, bardsong) can affect it.

 

[Boney]

I'm so excited for this, even though I haven't decided what I'm doing this year.

 

[Man God]

This point is partially incorrect. As low-level runs are fond of pointing out, speed is not affected in any way by level. Only class, ability, and spell effects (haste, slow, bardsong) can affect it.

Yeah I messed up editing my notes. That point was originally just going to be about hp+speed being the most important things but then I tried to make them two separate points and completely messed it up. Level is insanely important for other things, mainly not getting hit by spell effects and leveling up is the easiest/only way most classes can gain total hp. This game isn't big into percentage base abilities (though there are some, don't get me wrong) so the more HP the better.

 

[HiddenWings]

Yeah I messed up editing my notes. That point was originally just going to be about hp+speed being the most important things but then I tried to make them two separate points and completely messed it up. Level is insanely important for other things, mainly not getting hit by spell effects and leveling up is the easiest/only way most classes can gain total hp. This game isn't big into percentage base abilities (though there are some, don't get me wrong) so the more HP the better.

The thing that actually annoys me the most about the game is that you can beat almost every boss in the game with clever tricks, but you may need to grind at the very end to have enough HP to survive Almagest.

 

[Heropon]

Yeah I messed up editing my notes. That point was originally just going to be about hp+speed being the most important things but then I tried to make them two separate points and completely messed it up. Level is insanely important for other things, mainly not getting hit by spell effects and leveling up is the easiest/only way most classes can gain total hp. This game isn't big into percentage base abilities (though there are some, don't get me wrong) so the more HP the better.

Amen. People love talking shit about Monk but it saved me in my first fiesta against Almagest.