Need some spoiler-free FFXII advice

The Game Room
21

How I played through FFXII without training:

  1. hunt frequently. Hunting often gives you items that are more powerful than what you’d find in stores. Hunting also lets you get experience and money without training.

  2. pick three characters to use. Use them. I beat the game with Vaan, Ashe and Fran at level 18 or so.

  3. Use your unused characters. I bascically only had to fight bosses until they were 3/4 dead or so, because I would use my unused character’s extra lp to drill for the further away quickenings, and then used their unused mana to finish off bosses. After getting them their quickenings, I went for the hp augmentations, so that in times of trouble, they’d be able to be brought in and throw a fast phoenix down, then retreat.

4). give everyone white magic, and split the healing duties.

  1. What I did to differentiate roles was have one person go down the plate armor path, one down leather armor, and the third down magic armor. This has the advantage of being able to use all the armor that comes your way without having two characters want the same piece of armor, while another good piece sits around doing nothing. If I were to do this again, I might do two guys with plate armor and one in magic, because I think the str bonus is better than an hp bonus.

  2. have the mage armor character be the black mage for bosses when black magic becomes viable, and split the utility spells between the other two characters.

7). I liked guns. But then again, I liked axes, so I may just be preferring fun weapons. Plus, I found a really overpowered gun during a hunt ( I had to skip 3 tiers of guns on the licensing board when I got it.)

22

Question for later in the game with a pretty minor spoiler:

Is Reddas still going to be available after the Pharos? Don’t want to lose him before doing some sidequests. I know in the first section I can leave any time, but I don’t like straying from the storyline for too long so if he’s still available after I’ll take my time with the hunts and stuff.

23

[QUOTE=BabaBooey]
Question for later in the game with a pretty minor spoiler:

Is Reddas still going to be available after the Pharos? Don’t want to lose him before doing some sidequests. I know in the first section I can leave any time, but I don’t like straying from the storyline for too long so if he’s still available after I’ll take my time with the hunts and stuff.

[/QUOTE]

No. I belive that this is the last time you ever get a guest in your party. It’s also another reason why some of the very last hunts are a pain in the butt, because you don’t have the fourth member. However, there was one hunt where I found the guest to be a liability rather than an asset because I couldn’t control him. It involved mirroring the party, hiding behind a rock where the monster couldn’t get me, and having each of my PC’s cast one of the group affecting black magic spells to which the hunt was weak against on the party so in one round the hunt would get nailed with nine instances of a Black Magic spell. My guest, on the other hand, kept engaging the hunt in melee and quickly dying. I had to turn off my raise dead gambits to avoid constantly raising his stupid suicidal ass.

24

I am at the final stage of the game, at level 66(for three members, and having no problems with the game.

  1. Get the Quickenings and Augments off the Licence Grid first. Augments are abilities that are grouped in the lower left half of the north board. They include things like HP +150 or increased strength/magick power. Very useful.

  2. Choose a weapon type for a character and go for it. Late in the game, you get enough LP to “buy” everything, but focus on one weapon type for each character.

  3. As soon as possible, get to the Mosphorian Highwaste(north of Nalbina). The merchant there sells “Golden Amulets”, which double LP. Then go to the Ozmoze Plains and kill those bird guys that give 2 LP(4 with the amulet). This will make the game easier.

  4. Make 2 tanks and one magic user. I gave my magic user a bow, one tank spears, and one tank swords. Perfect setup.

  5. Get everyone White Magic. Then everyone can heal when necessary. White magic is along a straight line of the northern license board and is easy to get.

That’s the basics. Other than these, just sell everything to get money(which is sparse in this game).

Oh, and enter the Necrohol of Nabudis from the Salikawood to level up, though everything in there is level 46-50.

:slight_smile:

25

[QUOTE=Mahaloth]
Oh, and enter the Necrohol of Nabudis from the Salikawood to level up, though everything in there is level 46-50.
:slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]

Heh, heh. Actually, before I even made it to the Phon Coast, I went through a suicide mission through the Necrohol to get the Zodiac Spear. At the level I was at, it only took two hits from most of the things in there to KO a character. Needless to say I was pretty low on magic points by the time I got back out. But I got the spear, the most powerful weapon in the game. (Though, the sword you get from defeating the last hunt is actually a better weapon because you swing it faster and it chains a lot more frequently. Though really, if you can defeat the last hunt, you really don’t need that sword. I was able to take out the final storyline boss in a matter of minutes, including the multiple forms that the boss takes. Although, he did get a lucky few attacks in and managed to KO one of my characters once.

And for those who don’t know, there are certain chests in the game that cannot be opened if you ever want to get the Zodiac Spear. Of course, the game gives you no clues as to which ones these are nor even mentions that such chests exist. (Actually, you can get the Zodiac Spear another way, but it’s one of those things where you have to get a rare drop off of a monster who rarely spawns.)

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[QUOTE=Hoopy Frood]
Heh, heh. Actually, before I even made it to the Phon Coast, I went through a suicide mission through the Necrohol to get the Zodiac Spear.
[/QUOTE]

I’m on the last leg of a project to replay all of the Final Fantasy games in order. I got to FFXII last weekend and I think I’m ready to try a death run for the spear tonight.

Any tips for beating the Bomb King that’s blocking the way? Most of my party is low 20s.

27

[QUOTE=Pithy Moniker]
I’m on the last leg of a project to replay all of the Final Fantasy games in order. I got to FFXII last weekend and I think I’m ready to try a death run for the spear tonight.

Any tips for beating the Bomb King that’s blocking the way? Most of my party is low 20s.
[/QUOTE]

It’s been a while. But save before you take him on and spam him with silence until it takes effect. With silence on, he can’t call for backup. The fight becomes dramatically easier when it’s only him rather than him plus the 3 to 4 regular bombs he’ll call frequently during the fight.

And hopefully you can kill him before the self-destruct. Like almost all the other bosses/hunts he becomes extremely resistant to damage when he drops below 25% hit points.

But the hard part of the fight is when you are facing 4 or 5 enemies at once, and the fact that he will just keep calling them until you defeat the King. The King Bomb himself isn’t that dangerous on his own. If you silence him, not only can he not call for backup, but he wastes an action calling for them that he could use to attack with.

28

[QUOTE=Pithy Moniker]
I’m on the last leg of a project to replay all of the Final Fantasy games in order. I got to FFXII last weekend and I think I’m ready to try a death run for the spear tonight.

Any tips for beating the Bomb King that’s blocking the way? Most of my party is low 20s.
[/QUOTE]

I did exactly what you are trying to do. I was at level 23 when I beat the Bomb King and made it through to the Zodiac Spear.

  1. Buy Fire Shields to absorb Bomb King’s attacks.

  2. Take out the tiny bombs first; they do not respawn.

  3. Use Quickenings at the end to prevent him from renewing. He can renew more than 2 times(full HP restore), so it is key to take him out when he’s low on HP.

  4. When entering the Necrohol, cast bubble on everyone. Then, take everyone out of the party except one person.

  5. Run through the Necrohol of Nabudis one person at a time; when they KO, swap them out.

  6. Between the sections of Necrohol of Nabudis, there is peace. Use that time to resurrect your characters and re-buff them.

  7. Grab the spear quickly. Dangerous enemies are immediately by it. Then, run out!

I did it on the first try, though I can imagine dying if you aren’t lucky.

If you need LP to equip it, go to the Ozmone Plains. Those tall dudes that walk around are worth 2 LP and they flock.

29

By the way, I beat the game this morning at level 66.

I had Fran, Ashe, and Vaan.

Vaan: Zodiac Spear, White Mask, and Maximillion(buy it in the Necrohol of Nabudis).

Ashe: Masamune(defeat Gilgamesh 2x), White Mask, Maximillion

Fran: Artemis Bow, White Mask, Maximillion

I had zero problems. I was probably too strong, actually.

30

Thanks for the tips Mahaloth and Hoopy Frood. I’m beginning my attempt shortly but forgot that it’s my night to cook.

31

[QUOTE=Mahaloth]
I did exactly what you are trying to do. I was at level 23 when I beat the Bomb King and made it through to the Zodiac Spear.

  1. Buy Fire Shields to absorb Bomb King’s attacks.

  2. Take out the tiny bombs first; they do not respawn.

  3. Use Quickenings at the end to prevent him from renewing. He can renew more than 2 times(full HP restore), so it is key to take him out when he’s low on HP.

  4. When entering the Necrohol, cast bubble on everyone. Then, take everyone out of the party except one person.

  5. Run through the Necrohol of Nabudis one person at a time; when they KO, swap them out.

  6. Between the sections of Necrohol of Nabudis, there is peace. Use that time to resurrect your characters and re-buff them.

  7. Grab the spear quickly. Dangerous enemies are immediately by it. Then, run out!

I did it on the first try, though I can imagine dying if you aren’t lucky.

If you need LP to equip it, go to the Ozmone Plains. Those tall dudes that walk around are worth 2 LP and they flock.
[/QUOTE]

Re: 2. I thought they did respawn. I may be wrong, though, it’s been a while since I played it, and I basically defeated him by silencing him. And he did renew 2 times (the max that he can, IIRC).

But everything else you said is spot on. I was roughly around the same level when I tackled the Zodiac Spear.

I will add one caveat, however. When you run, if the enemies are following you, they may remain at the board transition point when you return. So even though usually the transition points are safe zones to get a breather, since enemies never spawn there, there may residuals on your way out.

At least the Zodiac Spear room is completely safe. You can recharge all your hitpoints and mist points by running around in there.

32

[QUOTE=Mahaloth]
By the way, I beat the game this morning at level 66.

I had Fran, Ashe, and Vaan.

Vaan: Zodiac Spear, White Mask, and Maximillion(buy it in the Necrohol of Nabudis).

Ashe: Masamune(defeat Gilgamesh 2x), White Mask, Maximillion

Fran: Artemis Bow, White Mask, Maximillion

I had zero problems. I was probably too strong, actually.
[/QUOTE]

Heh, heh.

I think my party was around level 90. And I had the Zodiac Spear, the Wyrmhero Blade (best weapon in the game overall, IMO, but it has a long charge time, the high chance of multihits makes up for the charge time), and I think I had Tournesol as well.

It’s actually one of the things I’ve disliked about FF since VII. If you want to see everything, you get stuck in grindfest sidquests that end up making you uber-powerful and the final story boss ends up being a joke. And many of the sidequests can’t be done unless you get a guide or are willing to devote every waking moment to uncovering every little trick. (E.g. Completing the Bestiary in FFXII is damn near impossible without a guide. Some of the conditions required to spawn many of the monsters fall into the monkeys on typewriters thing.)

33

[QUOTE=Hoopy Frood]
Re: 2. I thought they did respawn. I may be wrong, though, it’s been a while since I played it, and I basically defeated him by silencing him. And he did renew 2 times (the max that he can, IIRC).

[/QUOTE]

They do not respawn and while Bomb King normally does not renew more than twice, he can(check youtube for videos).

It’s true. FF12 made it so hard to get most of the ultimate weapons, I settled with the Masamune and the Zodiac Spear. Fran’s bow was not the Sagittarius, which I looked up and required too much effort to get(not to mention better arrows). She had lightning arrows nearly the whole game.

By the way, what did you all think of the story? I, who like intelligent games with complex stories, did not much care for it. I don’t hate it, but I had a hard time getting into it. I felt the character development was very poor…very, very poor. Quality characters could have overcome a fairly average story, but I still know little about Penelo, and Basch ends up standing around a lot.

I liked Fran and Balthier and thought Larsa was cool(though he should have been older).

Your thoughts?

34

Alright, so I’m finally about to start, and I wanna make sure this’ll work: one guy gets to be black magic + projectile weapons, one gets buffing + spear, the other gets sword + shield, and they split the white magic duties between them… does that seem reasonable?

35

[QUOTE=Mahaloth]
By the way, what did you all think of the story? I, who like intelligent games with complex stories, did not much care for it. I don’t hate it, but I had a hard time getting into it. I felt the character development was very poor…very, very poor. Quality characters could have overcome a fairly average story, but I still know little about Penelo, and Basch ends up standing around a lot.

I liked Fran and Balthier and thought Larsa was cool(though he should have been older).

Your thoughts?
[/QUOTE]

I thought the story had a great premise, but yeah, character development was lacking, particularly among the main hero (Vaan).

Balthier and Fran were much better fleshed out, and even Ashe was more interesting. Also, Basch and Penelo really got screwed in the development end of things. Basch’s brother was more interesting of a character than Basch himself and he only shows up for a few minutes overall. I’m not really sure why the El Cid character even showed up other than to maybe have a Cid character be a good guy since the actual Cid was bad and crazy in this one. I think Square concentrated a little too much on the pretty graphics, and forgot to work on actually fleshing out the main characters. (Contrast it to 4 and 6 which have among the best character development of any games ever.)

And Larsa was my favorite NPC and guest party member. (“Hey, you’re hurting? Here, have this potion. And this one. And this one. And this one…”)

What I did like about the game, though, was many of the “bad guys” weren’t actually terrible people. Most of the Judges were acting out their duties from a sense of loyalty, and were unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. After all:


Reddas was one of the most qualified and loyal judges, and is made out to be a very honorable and kind man after the fact. He was spending his whole post-empire life trying to make amends for being the one responsible for creating the Nabreus Deadlands and the Necrohol. And then Basch’s brother shows many honorable traits. After all, he took care of his mother when she was sick and dying, and has been a good mentor for Larsa. His main problem is that he could never let go of his hatred toward his brother.

36

I really liked Basch and wished the story had been around him. I hate whiny angsty emo little children and don’t understand why I have to play them. I can tell you what the qualitative difference is between Vaan and Cloud or Squall or anybody - they grew up, and did something. After a certain point, Vaan isn’t even important anymore and I kicked him out of my party.

The story was hackneyed. I still play the game simply because I really love the gambit and the combat system.

I never got to the final hunt, though last I left my characters they were around level 93. The darkness in the Pharos was just too much of a PITA.

37

I managed to off the Bomb King last night and made my death run to the Zodiac spear. This thing is nice!

Thanks so much for all the good advice!

38

[QUOTE=Pithy Moniker]
I managed to off the Bomb King last night and made my death run to the Zodiac spear. This thing is nice!

Thanks so much for all the good advice!
[/QUOTE]

By the end of the game, it was doing about 7000 HP damage per hit, assuming enemies leveled about the same as my party. We had bravery on, however.

Once you get Bravery and Faith, make a self Gambit for the characters who need it. It helps a ton(Bravery makes them hit harder, while Faith makes magic stronger).