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[Death_Born]

Thinking about picking this up soon. Has anyone done a no augment run? I thinking it would be a good way to kick it off.

Doing a no augment run on your first runthrough would be a mistake. You could always start a new game+ and unequip all your augments.

 

[Gruco]

Doing a no augment run on your first runthrough would be a mistake. You could always start a new game+ and unequip all your augments.

That's quitter talk.

Is having a brain and having played though the original 80 times sufficient for a no augment run? I can't imagine it's that hard, but if I do it, I'd like to be able to do it without looking up a bunch of esoteric situational crap.

 

[grandjedi6]

—Shojo asks: Why did you choose to release FINAL FANTASY IV on Nintendo DS?

Tokita: When development for FINAL FANTASY III DS was completed, [Producer Tomoya] Asano expressed interest in remaking FINAL FANTASY IV. We recognized that not a lot of time had passed since the Game Boy Advance release, but FINAL FANTASY III DS's quality was impressive enough that we wanted to go ahead and remake the game with the MATRIX team.

and now FFV DS ....right?

Tokita: There appears to be a slight misunderstanding on this subject.
During development of the original game, the game text wouldn't fit, so it was revised to ¼ of its intended size, but the story itself was not cut. However, because of this restriction, unnecessary dialogue was removed which in turn improved the overall pacing of the game.

Wow, cuting out fluff and making the pacing better? I wish more JRPG developers did that

 

[Dragona Akehi]

That's quitter talk.

Is having a brain and having played though the original 80 times sufficient for a no augment run? I can't imagine it's that hard, but if I do it, I'd like to be able to do it without looking up a bunch of esoteric situational crap.

They changed up a whole heck of a lot of things, in order to mess with veteran players. I ended up not using auguments as I couldn't decide whom to give them to. It's definitely very doable, though I ended up being a slightly higher level than usual (as compared to the SNES version).

 

[Death_Born]

That's quitter talk.

Is having a brain and having played though the original 80 times sufficient for a no augment run? I can't imagine it's that hard, but if I do it, I'd like to be able to do it without looking up a bunch of esoteric situational crap.

It's harder than the original game. Completely possible, but probably annoying as you have to grind more. It's your call though.

 

[prodystopian]

Just finished!

I was relived at the last boss not being as difficult as I expected. Granted I was ~lev. 77, but I only grinded to beat

Spoiler

the four elemental archfiends

. After that, I didn't grind at all, and I was missing a bunch of the really good augments.

One thing I have to vent about: I spent at least an hour (i think almost 2) getting through five levels of the last part before getting crushed by a red dragon for opening a chest. ARGH!

I had a lot of fun, and am hoping for an FFV remake eventually (Haven't played it before and this is the first time I've played FFIV), but for now, I need a break from tough RPGs.

 

[Gruco]

Hey, so far this is really fun!

First few of bosses were tough. Mist dragon counters Kain jumping now, and didn't previously. Octomamm got insane towards the end and killed Rydia. Antlion was cake. MomBomb wasn't too bad, but the explosion was brutal; Cecil and Yang were the only ones left standing.

Milon was cake. Cagnazzo was interesting with all the status effects, but didn't pose much of a threat offensively.

Just finished the Magnet Cave. The Dark Elf was brutal and I definitely got my ass kicked the first time around. I ended up having to put almost everyone in the back row, haste/protect Cecil and Tellah, and cycle heavy spells and healing.

These bosses are really, really nasty. Wow.

So for I think Auto-potion and Counter are the only augments I have. Doesn't matter much for this run, but sure I am missing some. So far I don't think the no-augment thing is that much tougher than it would have been otherwise, but still, very nice so far.

I think Cecil/Cid/Yang/Tellah might be my favorite team. The fighters are great, but you end up leaving on Tellah so heavily for two roles, which is tough given how limited he is. Also the only real time in the game where you're thankful to have Cecil casting white magic.

So yeah. On to Zot. Might give Eblan looting another try, but I got slaughtered pretty bad pre-magnet.

 

[Yaweee]

So I just beat the Tower of Zot... what the hell are Barbariccia's conditions for her counter and going back into tornado form? First time she would counter Cid's wooden hammer and kill most of my people, and the second time I tried I just tore her down with Focus Yang and Cecil without her ever transforming again. Is it based on number of hits?

Definitely harder than the original; I don't think any of the bosses have more HP than the original (still the same ol' Tellah McTwoShot), but they tend to have more counter abilities, and some enemies will randomly do way way way more damage than anything else (lol firecats).

A no augment run wouldn't be too much harder. The only one that I've really found a use for so far is Counter.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I did a no-augments playthrough on the Japanese version, Gruco. You'll be fine without them.

 

[Death_Born]

A no augment run wouldn't be too much harder. The only one that I've really found a use for so far is Counter.

Draw Attacks is probably the most useful augment in the game, since it prevents enemies from hitting your mages unless they use an entire-party attack.

 

[Yaweee]

Draw Attacks is probably the most useful augment in the game, since it prevents enemies from hitting your mages unless they use an entire-party attack.

Does it have 100% chance of success? I always hear people talking about that combo'd with counter, but not much about the other augments.

 

[bluemax]

Bleh I've been trying to get the rain bow pudding thing for a few days but damn if it doesn't seem impossible to get. I don't want to slog through the final dungeon without the no encounter augment though.

I don't see why it would be impossible to do this game no augments. Yeah counter/draw attacks and cry are stupid useful, but Pray was pretty damn useful for all but the moon portion of the game. Even then its ability to regenerate MP makes it almost game breaking.

 

[grandjedi6]

Does it have 100% chance of success? I always hear people talking about that combo'd with counter, but not much about the other augments.

Yep, 100%. I think all the augments are 100% actually.

Personally I can't decide whether Draw Attacks + Counter is more helpful or if Rosa's Omnicasting + Dual Casting + Piercing Magic wins. Of course Fast Talker is awesome too...

I love the augment system in this game

 

[Yaweee]

Bleh I've been trying to get the rain bow pudding thing for a few days but damn if it doesn't seem impossible to get. I don't want to slog through the final dungeon without the no encounter augment though.

I don't see why it would be impossible to do this game no augments. Yeah counter/draw attacks and cry are stupid useful, but Pray was pretty damn useful for all but the moon portion of the game. Even then its ability to regenerate MP makes it almost game breaking.

I got the rainbow pudding before I left Fabul.

EDIT: SADFJAHSDGHSADHGHGAASDHFDSAHFHAS. I just spent 15k on a Dwarven Axe, then walk upstairs and find one in a chest.

 

[Gruco]

I'm getting my ass kicked by Lugae.

Dr. motherfucking Lugae.

Just beat me twice.

I mean, I've really had to scamble to beat the last few bosses, but damn. He's still Dr. Lugae. I'm both loving it and incredibly depressed at the same time.

 

[Yaweee]

I'm getting my ass kicked by Lugae.

Dr. motherfucking Lugae.

Just beat me twice.

I mean, I've really had to scamble to beat the last few bosses, but damn. He's still Dr. Lugae. I'm both loving it and incredibly depressed at the same time.

He just blew me out of the water. The problem is that he toggles modes so quickly. Perhaps the battle is very dependent on battle speed...

 

[Death_Born]

He just blew me out of the water. The problem is that he toggles modes so quickly. Perhaps the battle is very dependent on battle speed...

Elixir on the first turn. 9999 damage.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I'm getting my ass kicked by Lugae.

Dr. motherfucking Lugae.

Just beat me twice.

I mean, I've really had to scamble to beat the last few bosses, but damn. He's still Dr. Lugae. I'm both loving it and incredibly depressed at the same time.

Just take the battle slow and steady. If you get a bunch of turns right after he uses reverse or makes it normal and you have it on wait mode, get everyone's meter up to max, have one character choose something, then have the next character go into item or something and cancel out for a split second, then go back in to get your stuff out faster without his turn coming up again (same trick as in FF9).

 

[Gruco]

Elixir on the first turn. 9999 damage.

:lol I was wondering if that would work.

I was hoping to beat him legit, but given his unpredictability and absolutely absurd power, I doubt it will happen at my current levels. He can OHKO most every character, 2 or 3HKO the entire time, has an obnoxious counter, and then even if you're doing well, the damage reversal ruins everything.

Even if I slow him, shell the entire team, and only make command inputs right after his attacks, (to make sure I have the signs right) I still get rocked. Unless I'm missing something obvious or insanely underleveled, I honestly can't think of a harder boss fight.

 

[Red Scarlet]

After trying the Elixir thing, I just reset and used Cure spells and charged with Yang and some claw instead to save the Elixir.

 

[Gruco]

Woo, finally beat the asshat. Same strategy I was already trying, but I realized that having him OHKO everyone with beam is actually the best scenario, as you can still revive people when he's in that mode, and if necessary can still heal. Of course I was still kinda lucky to some extent, if he switched to opposite day when I had 3 people down, or if he'd have used flamethrower more than beam towards the end...I'd have been screwed again.

So basically, the bosses in the game are badasses. Most of the others were either a matter of getting their gimmick or coming up with a good strategy, but this time even that only gets you so far.

Oh well.

 

[grandjedi6]

Bleh I've been trying to get the rain bow pudding thing for a few days but damn if it doesn't seem impossible to get. I don't want to slog through the final dungeon without the no encounter augment though.

I still can't find the rainbow pudding myself and I hate Square Enix for demanding it from me :/

 

[Red Scarlet]

Woo, finally beat the asshat. Same strategy I was already trying, but I realized that having him OHKO everyone with beam is actually the best scenario, as you can still revive people when he's in that mode, and if necessary can still heal. Of course I was still kinda lucky to some extent, if he switched to opposite day when I had 3 people down, or if he'd have used flamethrower more than beam towards the end...I'd have been screwed again.

So basically, the bosses in the game are badasses. Most of the others were either a matter of getting their gimmick or coming up with a good strategy, but this time even that only gets you so far.

Oh well.

Although I didn't enjoy some of the boss fights, those that I did I thought were really neat, Lugae being one. The Lunazaurus comes to mind too, but I can't completely remember why aside from one thing it does.

 

[Junior Asparagus]

I'm at the very end and was trying to get the rare items and summons, but I got bored after getting a couple. I think I'll just beat the game now.

 

[Owensboro]

Doing a no augment run on your first runthrough would be a mistake. You could always start a new game+ and unequip all your augments.

This is my first time through the game, and I have only used a guide once (to make sure it was possible to actually beat the Lunarsarus). It's completely possible to do a no agument run, and as long as you explore every part of the map (in order to get that extra item-per-map), you shouldn't have to grind at all (you fight enough monsters to keep up). I'm just about to go fight the last boss and am at lvl 62-65. Also, because I didn't want to screw up the Augments, I haven't used one yet. Oh well, call me a masochist.

As long as you abuse the heck out of slow, haste, blink, and beserk most of the fights arn't all that bad. That, and use elixers on the Lunarsarus. Stupid Libra not telling me it was damaged by Holy magic. I swear, after fighting it 5 times (and having my party die to it's "special" ability) each time after 20-25 minutes of fighting, I just started throwing elixers at the thing. It felt so good to take down.

The only bosses I've had trouble with were the water demon guy (cagnazzo?), Lugae (took 3 tries), and the Lunarsaur.

 

[grandjedi6]

People had trouble with the Lunarsaur? I was disapointed on how easy it was myself. By the time I got my party back into commission Rydia had already defeated it singlehandingly.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Didn't think about using an Elixir, I'm used to the Ragnarok doing 9999 and it didn't. The Lunazaurus was the only boss fight in the last dungeon that I thought was fun. White Dragon, Dark Bahamut, Plague, and Tidalviathan were all monumental disappointments for me (Dark Bahamut the most).

 

[Gruco]

Okay, just beat Asura. Her attacks flatten everyone by Cecil, or Kain if he's defending and has protect up. I can live with that.

Then I fight Leviathan and the initial deluge kills everyone by Cecil, before I can get a single attack off.

:lol Jesus Christ. I think I'll retry after the Sylph Cave.

 

[Gruco]

Yeah, doing the Sylph cave first did the trick. Leviathan wasn't that tough when the Deluge only killed three people, but basically impossible when it killed four.

Going through the sealed Cave now, and just wanted to comment on some interested things on the remake.

1) Normally I can finish the game well under 8 hours, and it's taking me a lot longer. Part of that is the difficulty, but I think a much larger component is the 3d graphics. Spell animations are absolutely tedious, particularly since they animate one at a time on group spells. Just a much slower game in general. Also the spell animations are ugly. Once again, sprites rule all. Can't wait for DQ4.

2) They COMPLETELY ruined a lot of the balance in this game. The timing between attacks is just retarded now. Attacking is enormously overpower compared to spells, since the chanting time is so low. Also, Black magic does not properly progress with characters. For example, Rydia's Bio was her main stable in the originals, able to do a lot of damage, and it was cast exceptionally fast. Now it's basically useless. Because her main attack spells take so long they are also close to useless in all cases except bosses with counterattacks.

3) Edge is absurdly overpowered for this portion of the game. They limited him in the original by making shurikens extremely rare. Now they are cheap and plentiful, and Edge is insane. Apparently they balanced this out by nerfing the hell out of Flood/Blitz, which also sucks, since Blitz/Mist was such a useful combo for so much of the game.

4) Obviously the designers realized this. The Defender treasure-fight in the original was a really tough group of 5 that you couldn't encounter randomly. Now it's just a regular random encounter. Had it been the original fight, it would have been near impossible because they'd kill almost the entire team before a single call go off.

5) I actually kinda like at Cecil learns Raise now, I always thought that they cut off his White Magic too early, and could give him some more without making him a full White Mage. Seems like they found the right balance here. Not sure what I think about Edge learning more Ninja attacks. Tremor would be cool if it wasn't a Nerfed piece of trash like everything else he learns.

Time to walk into betrayal #2. FU, Kain.

 

[tokkun]

People had trouble with the Lunarsaur? I was disapointed on how easy it was myself. By the time I got my party back into commission Rydia had already defeated it singlehandingly.

Took me several tries, as the thing would often use Bad Breath before I had a chance to act and then repeat Bad Breath every time my characters stopped being confused but before they had a chance to do an action. It would be like 10 minutes before I even got a turn.

 

[Gruco]

Oh god, I am getting clobbered by like all of the chests with Crystal equipment. I can barely beat a single blue dragon, let alone two. I'm either going to have to fight to the save point and double back for all of them individually, or I'll just have to swallow my pride and level up,

Either way, I wish they could just take half my money rather than full reset.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I think after the one with the Red Dragon and Blue Dragon or two Red Dragons or a Red Dragon and a Behemoth (forget what the combo is), I ran to the save and got them that way. Made things a whole lot less stressful.

 

[Volcynika]

Part 2 of the Fan Q&A is up! Apparently there's still more

—LanceHeart asks: Was the localization process heavily affected due to the need for voice acting in this version of the game?

Tokita: I believe that the voiceovers allowed for a much more dramatic localization. It was also really nice to hear the English voice actors in the game.

—Zaibach asks: FINAL FANTASY IV's story is more well known. Did that make the game more difficult to remake?

Tokita: I believe so. Many fans have fond memories of the game, so we had to consciously decide what to change and what to leave intact during development.

—Voltz91 asks: I heard that this version will keep its Japanese difficulty, but I'm afraid it will be too hard for me and for the people I am introducing this game to. Will it be head-bangingly challenging?

Tokita: There shouldn't be any problems if you level up. Boss battles may pose a challenge, but by utilizing the Augment System and other methods, you should be victorious.

The harder the game is, the greater the sense of accomplishment when you complete the game.
Please tell your friends to give the game a try and support them when they need assistance.

—sleepinglion asks: Why does Cecil become less powerful after becoming a Paladin if that is his destiny?

Tokita: Brute strength alone isn't power. That is the theme of this game. This is also the reason why Cecil as a Paladin has the "Cover" ability.

I believe that this theme resonates stronger as RPGs are generally centered on defeating enemies.


—TJF588 asks: How do you pronounce "Whyt" and [its Japanese name] "Pochika" and where did these names come from?

Tokita: Pochika is pronounced "Poe-chik-a." Since it was a base of summon creatures, we named it Pochika, which means flower bud in Russian. The word itself sounds cute too, doesn't it??

From the localization team:

In looking for a new name in English, we were trying to find something that played on the both the weak and unspecialized "bud" concept and his plain white appearance. We also needed something short that we could expand to serve as the name for the entire race. We settled on "whit" for the meaning of a trifling thing, along with the fact that it's one letter away from the word "white." We changed the I to a Y just to give it some uniqueness and turn it from a word into a name, and threw a "kin" on the end to make the name for the race (Whytkin). It was intended to be prounced like the word "whit."

—elisabel asks: What is Baron's Royal Air Force, the Red Wings, named after?

Tokita: This name was created during the original development phase by Mr. [Hironobu] Sakaguchi [Director of original release]. The origin of the name is... Actually, I never asked him about it. I'll ask him next time!

—ritalink asks: Most of the characters in FINAL FANTASY IV are wearing armor. Do they never feel heat for wearing it all the time?

Tokita: Indeed, it must be hot traversing the deserts of Kaipo and the magma-filled underworld...
However, you never know when a monster will decide to ambush you. [Laughs]

They are trained warriors after all, so they won't utter any complaints.

 

[Yaweee]

Level 47-49 is not enough for the

Spoiler

CPU. Laser Barrage is enough to kill some defending party members, and even on 6 speed WAIT, the damn thing follows up with another one before I can heal.

=(

 

[grandjedi6]

Level 47-49 is not enough for the

Spoiler

CPU. Laser Barrage is enough to kill some defending party members, and even on 6 speed WAIT, the damn thing follows up with another one before I can heal.

=(

Are you sure you are killing it in the right order?

Spoiler

Attack ---> CPU -----> Defense

 

[Yaweee]

Are you sure you are killing it in the right order?

Spoiler

Attack ---> CPU -----> Defense

Yes, I know that is the right order. Order is kind of irrelevant when it kills me in its first two moves without me doing a damn thing, though.

 

[Gruco]

Well, finally got a chance to check out Mr. Lunarsaur. First time I did pretty well, and then he bad breathed. Entire team died before I could even act again at all. Next couple of times I tried to Spider Silk of the bat and he bad breathed, things got ugly. I did manage to kinda get back into it but not enough to get into any kind of offense. Finally I manged to slow him, and then Haste+ Beserk Ragnark Cecil. GG dude.

Next Ogopogo, and then probably a return trip to earth to buy as many fumas as possible and then on to Zeromus. Currently everyone is about lv 65, and staying strong on avoiding augments.

 

[Red Scarlet]

go go go

 

[Gruco]

Wow, they really made the Flan Princesses insanely strong.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

so... last week i bought a DS and a copy of FFIV, as i was fated to experience the wrath of hurricane ike, i.e. no electricity and insane boredom.

other than the map on the second screen making dungeon crawling less tedious, i can't say this is either more or less enjoyable than the original version.

anyway, since i'm posting i may as well ask.... can somebody help me out on beating the 2nd form of the Dark Elf? it seems ridiculously overpowered. so is there a strategy i should follow, or should i just grind like mad and take him on later? i got through the game fine until now.

 

[Gruco]

anyway, since i'm posting i may as well ask.... can somebody help me out on beating the 2nd form of the Dark Elf? it seems ridiculously overpowered. so is there a strategy i should follow, or should i just grind like mad and take him on later? i got through the game fine until now.

I had an enormously difficult time with the dark elf. In order to win I had to put Cecil, Cid and Tellah in the back row. Yang charged x3 and attacked the second he changed forms. Then I had Tellah attack with level 3 magic and Cecil full time on healing and ethers. It was a screwy strategy, but it was the only way I could have won that fight at the levels I took it on with.

edit - As a general rule, you should cast slow or use Spider Silk on every boss ASAP.

Also, just finished. Apparently I am strong enough to defeat the physical embodiment of hatred, but not strong enough to take on three dancing jelly joke characters.

It was a pretty good remake. Definitely surprised by the challenge. I never expected Lugae to be so insane, or for so many regular enemies to be so overpowered.

 

[Yaweee]

So, I just beat it, everybody between 61-65. Most memorable ending to a boss fight ever? For me, at least.

Spoiler

I was basically clinging on to Kain's Phoenix augment for dear life, each time a using an ether to quickly top him off so it could trigger again. Big Bang would kill max health people that were defending UNLESS they were at full health, but osmose kept me so impoverished of MP that it wasn't likely. Kain jumps, the boss then Meteors and kills everybody. Kain only has a few hundred HP left and 20 MP and I'm out of MP items, so I'm not expecting to be able to turn things around.

And then he lands, deals 3000 damage, and wins the fight.

Edge did about 80% of the damage throughout the fight. 5 Fuma's, every other rare weapon from my inventory, and tons and tons of shurikens were pretty much the only thing I could do after Rydia got drained of MP. Bahamut was good while it lasted...

Such a fantastic game-- easily one of the best remakes, or RPGs in general of the last few years. I'd imagine the upped difficulty would piss the hell out of new players, as they're likely to get obliterated before they even have a chance to see what the boss' weakness/pattern is, but, hey, you're given so many abilities that there is a lot of room to play with. There's just so much damn equipment, while the damage algorithms allow for a ton of strategy in terms of how you build your characters.

Augments are all over the place in terms of balance. Counter and Draw Attack are given to you, but most of the other OP ones (like Phoenix) are missable or well hidden.

Now I can start salivating over the thought of a remake of FF5 with a re-tuned and generally increased difficulty.

EDIT: What the hell is up with the random encounters in the last dungeon? Most of them are harder than the last boss.

 

[Jade Knight 08]

I need help real bad on how to defeat Golbez's barriers in the Underworld. 4th time after this post. I'm nearly giving up on this.

*****
If i removed my elemental weapons then i fight these stupid dolls too long and end up dead (2 times) cuz it does not deal much damage to it if they reunite as "Calbrinna".
I switch my weapons back but using these elemental weapons ended up

Spoiler

healing

Golbez.
*****



My stratergy: (1st fight lasted 40 mins and i gave up!)

Once i get my party (Levels 42 to 39) back up and heal then i have Rosa cast slow on Golbez.

Cecil casting protect and shell on the team.
Cecil and Rosa do most of the healing the team if hp gets too low.
Yang using focus 1/2 times on him.
Kain on jumping him.
Ryida casting bio on him. (Summonning these beast unsuccessful everytime.)



My problem here is this:

I'm trying to cast libra/besitary spell to reveal Golbez's weakness so Rydia can summon the correct beast to penetrate the barriers.

But when i cast these spells (libra/besitary) it should show up on my bottom screen but it never did. Ever! The word "Help" is on it and i can't use that or activate it. Am i screw???


Can anyone give me few tips how to read Golbe's barriers and what it represents to these elements?




Thanks.

 

[Yaweee]

I need help real bad on how to defeat Golbez's barriers in the Underworld. 4th time after this post. I'm nearly giving up on this.
.

Apparently there is something with scanning to find a specific elemental weakness, but for me only physical attacks worked while all elements healed him. I just unequipped all elemental weapons and used Rydia's Chocobo summon. Remember, Yang's focus attack stacks charges, so you can just unequip his weapons, sit back for a few turns, than blast the hell out of whoever you are fighting.

You're high enough of a level for certain. I was just past thirty when I killed him on my first try.

----

That reminds me of the game's infuriating habit of placing all of the difficult bosses after lengthy cutscenes or easy 'dummy' boss fights, except

Spoiler

CPU

. I didn't die against many of them, but it is still bad design.

 

[Jade Knight 08]

Apparently there is something with scanning to find a specific elemental weakness, but for me only physical attacks worked while all elements healed him. I just unequipped all elemental weapons and used Rydia's Chocobo summon. Remember, Yang's focus attack stacks charges, so you can just unequip his weapons, sit back for a few turns, than blast the hell out of whoever you are fighting.

You're high enough of a level for certain. I was just past thirty when I killed him on my first try.

----

That reminds me of the game's infuriating habit of placing all of the difficult bosses after lengthy cutscenes or easy 'dummy' boss fights, except

Spoiler

CPU

. I didn't die against many of them, but it is still bad design.

I see what you did there.

I removed the elemental weapons and I studied my characters how much they deal damages on enemies and they were dealing about 250 to 500 hits without using the strongest weapons i have.

To me that's too low and i went ahead to level up my characters in mid 40's just to up the damage a little more. Enough to deal 800 hits. Then onto the BOSS.

And i finally beat Gobez within 10 mins. The stratergy works. Thanks man!!!

 

[Teknoman]

man, the music when you

Spoiler

enter the giant's mouth

is too good

Yup. One of the best final dungeon themes too.

Also this will probably be the first FF game where I actually used the items that caused status effects. Bio,slow, and stop are almost mandatory for alot of the battles.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The augments and other shit in this game ended up kind of ruining it for me. It's a game I played non-stop and just burned my self out on trying to get map completion/augments etc. I didn't even end up killing the final boss.

 

[Yaweee]

Yup. One of the best final dungeon themes too.

Also this will probably be the first FF game where I actually used the items that caused status effects. Bio,slow, and stop are almost mandatory for a lot of the battles.

For boss fights, you mean? How often do those things work? I used a slow item on one boss, but never elsewhere. Used bio on

Spoiler

the Wall

, but is there any way for me to be certain that the DoT effect applied?

The augments and other shit in this game ended up kind of ruining it for me. It's a game I played non-stop and just burned my self out on trying to get map completion/augments etc. I didn't even end up killing the final boss.

You have to learn to control the OCD. Very few of the Map rewards are useful (Fumas and Elixers), and you can't even get all of the Augments in a single run anyways-- just calm down, take things at your own pace, and don't get too upset about missing things.

Oh, and the enemies in the last dungeon are harder than the final boss, so if you're having problems there just run past them.

 

[bluemax]

Apparently there is something with scanning to find a specific elemental weakness, but for me only physical attacks worked while all elements healed him. I just unequipped all elemental weapons and used Rydia's Chocobo summon. Remember, Yang's focus attack stacks charges, so you can just unequip his weapons, sit back for a few turns, than blast the hell out of whoever you are fighting.

You're high enough of a level for certain. I was just past thirty when I killed him on my first try.

----

That reminds me of the game's infuriating habit of placing all of the difficult bosses after lengthy cutscenes or easy 'dummy' boss fights, except

Spoiler

CPU

. I didn't die against many of them, but it is still bad design.

I'm almost positive that Dragon hurts him and isn't elemental.

 

[Yaweee]

I'm almost positive that Dragon hurts him and isn't elemental.

It is elemental. It hurts him right when she shows up, but that causes him to cast the barrier shift, changing his affinities and restoring his HP on any subsequent casts of it.

It has an element icon, which I think is 'water'. When you fight

Spoiler

Barbariccia again, she

is weak against whatever element the Mist Dragon is, but is most certainly not weak against regular non-elemental attacks.