Final Fantasy XII
Power Walkthrough
Version 2.15
Last updated June 25, 2007
Written, edited, and compiled by Arthellinus and many others
Copyright (c) Arthellinus (arthellinus@yahoo.com) 2006-2007, all rights
reserved.
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Legal Stuff
===============================================================================
This FAQ is for personal use only and is not to be reproduced for any other
reason. It CANNOT be placed neither in part nor in its entirety on any website
other than the following:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission from the
author. Use of ANY part of this guide on any other website or as a part of any
public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
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Version History
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All names taken from Final Fantasy XII listed in this document are copyrighted
by Square-Enix. Xenosaga is copyrighted by Namco.
Below are the details for updates that I deem significant (as in, excluding
minor syntax/formatting changes).
06/25/07
Version 2.15
- Big update regarding Ultima Blade. Some other minor updates and
reorganization throughout.
06/22/07
Version 2.1
- Reorganized and expanded the Miscellaneous section. Several minor updates to
the walkthrough.
06/16/07
Version 2.0
- Complete overhaul of entire document. Changelog for older versions provides
too much clutter and is generally superfluous and outdated.
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Contents
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1. READ FIRST ....................................................... [010]
2. Power Walkthrough ................................................ [020]
a. Introduction .................................................. [02a]
b. Early Power-Leveling .......................................... [02b]
c. Through to Raithwall .......................................... [02c]
d. Zodiac Spear and Other Goodies ................................ [02d]
e. Through to Archades ........................................... [02e]
f. Catching Up ................................................... [02f]
g. Through to Balfonheim and Beyond .............................. [02g]
3. Miscellaneous .................................................... [030]
a. The Petrify Glitch ............................................ [03a]
b. Other Helpful Hints ........................................... [03b]
c. Comments on Rare Items and Equipment .......................... [03c]
d. Challenges .................................................... [03d]
e. Random Thoughts ............................................... [03e]
4. Credits .......................................................... [040]
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1. READ FIRST [010]
===============================================================================
Those who are familiar with this guide will notice that this new version
(2.0+), which comes more than sixth months after the last one, is much smaller
and much different. Here I will explain the reasons behind this update to those
who remember the last version as well as those who are reading this for the
first time.
1. This FAQ has been severely outdated for some time.
This needs no real explanation. Some of the methods that I detailed have now
been replaced by better ones. I recently went back to playing the game for a
little bit and now I feel compelled to keep my guide as updated as possible.
2. The previous versions contained a considerable amount of fluff.
What I mean by this is that there was plenty of color commentary as well as
in-depth explanations contained in what was essentially NOT a full-fledged
walkthrough. Time has passed and now there is more documentation on this
game (on gamefaqs.com) than almost anyone would ever need. Thus, I’ve
decided to trim the fat and simplify things to only what needs to be known.
3. The previous versions covered a variety of topics besides the core power
walkthrough.
Some of this has been excised. Previously, I went into various little things,
like damage formulae, how to acquire top-tier equipment towards the end of
the game, and other stuff like that. As I’ve said, there is plenty of
detailed information on all of those things, so these various offshoots are
no longer necessary. I will leave SOME things and in fact add a few others,
but overall, what you're getting is the bare bones.
Please do NOT send me any e-mails with questions that you can easily answer by
researching the plethora of resources available to you, including the ever-
elusive trait known as common sense. If you do, do not expect a response.
Now, as for the old FAQ, I present to you its remnants:
Q: Who should use this guide?
A: This guide is for people who want to do a complete run through Final Fantasy
XII in as little time as possible. It involves maximizing efficiency in
terms of leveling and acquisition of high-rank items and equipment.
However, be aware that this guide does NOT actually tell you how to do or
get everything in the game. This guide is supposed to act as a companion
piece to whatever real full walkthrough or other in-depth FAQ you are using.
Q: Who should NOT use this guide?
A: This guide is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT for anyone who is looking for
a traditional walkthrough that takes the player step by step through every
single area and task in the game. I do not recommend that first-timers or
casual players use this guide because it contains a lot of methods that can
grow tedious very quickly, and if you are playing the game for the first
time, it really ruins the experience and also takes most of the challenge
out of the game. Unless, of course, doing the kind of stuff described in
this guide is EXACTLY why you play RPGs.
Q: Can you tell me how to do/get (this and that)?
A: If it's not in the guide, it's not in the guide. There are already several
excellent walkthroughs that cover how to get everything in the game in great
detail. Again, what is here is very specific and circumstantial, and if I
don't mention something, it is for the purposes of this document irrelevant.
Q: Spoilers?
A: Location spoilers, I suppose, but no plot spoilers.
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2. Power Walkthrough [020]
===============================================================================
----------------
2a. Introduction [02a]
----------------
This guide focuses on making Final Fantasy XII, already a very easy game, even
easier by saving the player time in trying to go through the game with the
intention of collecting as much high-level equipment and as many levels as
possible in the shortest amount of time.
To do this, I will do the following:
- Mark off early opportunities to get good equipment.
- Detail fast-leveling techniques and highlight important parts during run-
through of the main storyline.
Since there isn't much to the game, this is all that is necessary to enable
powering through the game.
Before we start, I have to mention the chests that you have to leave alone in
order to get the Zodiac Spear from the Necrohol. I know this is pretty much
common knowledge by now, but I'll include the info here anyway.
1. At the southern end of Rabanastre Lowtown, do not open the chest that
sits in front of Old Dalan's house.
2. In the Rabanastre Palace Cellar, do not open the treasure chest(s) that
sit in the southeast corner of the map. There are either one or two
chests that may appear there. Do not open anything in either case. To be
specific, do not open the chest with the Elixir in it (on your left as
you approach the southeast corner), but that chest is not guaranteed to
show up. Just play it safe and don't open anything you see in the
southeast.
3. In the Nalbina Dungeons, do not open any of the treasure chests that
appear in the room where you get the map for the area and regain your
equipment (Confiscatory).
4. At the eastern-most section of the Phon Coast (Vaddu Strand), do not open
any of the 16 chests that are there. This step is irrelevant, because if
you are going to follow the walkthrough in this guide, you will obtain
the spear way before you ever reach the Phon Coast.
------------------------
2b. Early Power-Leveling [02b]
------------------------
[Timeframe]
After the Rogue Tomato hunt and before breaking into Rabanastre Palace.
[Objective]
Level Vaan, and Vaan only, on his own to approximately Lv 25-30. Acquire
Monographs, as well as some decent equipment, before breaking into Rabanastre
Palace.
First, why do we level Vaan by himself? Because Balthier and Fran join at
Vaan's Lv + 1, and if that spread is then maintained, Basch, Ashe, and Penelo
join permanently at Vaan's Lv + 2. That saves you a lot of trouble from having
to level up the other party members. So we start with Vaan alone. You can do
this either before or after the Sunstone quest in the Giza Plains with Penelo.
Start by heading into the Estersand and chain Wolves when Vaan is by himself.
This will bump him up a few levels and will also net you a decent number of
Wolf Pelts to sell. While you are doing this, you can attempt to acquire the
Rod. This is courtesy of x3mgame@gmail.com.
Rod
~~~
Stats: +30 rod
Method: Chest - Dalmasca Estersand, Sand-swept Naze
The Sand-swept Naze is two screens south of the South Bank Village. Take the
southeastern exit. You will end up in a small area known as the Passage
Entrance where there's a save point. Save your game and head back to the
Sand-swept Naze. Now move to the SMALL CLIFF that juts out slightly a little
east of north-center. There might be one treasure chest here. If you see it,
open it. There's a chance that you'll receive the Rod. If you don't get it,
or if you don't see the chest which happens 9% of the time, reload your game
and try again. Keep doing this until you get the Rod.
It goes without saying that you'll need to learn the proper license before you
can equip the Rod. This holds true for any other equipment I'll mention, so
this will be the last time I mention it.
If your patience runs out, you don't need the Rod. Stay in the Estersand and
continue to chain Wolves. You can also head over to the Giza Plains and chain
Hyenas, which won't break your chain. Once you have 2000 gil, head to Nalbina
Fortress.
Purchase the Bronze Helm and Bronze Armor to bolster your defenses. Buy the
Leather Shield as well. It will be of use later. If you did NOT get the Rod,
buy the Iron Sword here when you can. It'll cost another 1200 gil (for a total
of 3200).
Earn some more gil and buy a bunch of Phoenix Downs from either Nalbina or
Migelo's in Rabanastre (if you've done the Sunstone quest) to prepare for some
serious leveling. Once you have a good stash, head over to the Westersand and
beat yourself up until your HP drops below 10%. Once you're there, go to the
Corridor of Sand.
Dustia, a rare monster, will show up. It is an undead monster, so a Phoenix
Down will kill it in one shot. It is also a teleporting monster, which means
that if you kill it but leave the area before the Exp/LP totals show up, it
will respawn once you reenter the area. You get about 1100 Exp per Dustia. This
translates to about 20 levels in around an hour, less if you get good at it.
What's also good about this method is that you effectively build up a chain and
can stand to make some serious gil. Practice picking up the loot and exiting
without breaking your chain and you'll be able to pick up a lot of Book of
Orgains, which you'll be able to sell for a lot of cash. By the way, I don't
take credit for this method.
Remember, whenever you want to leave and save before heading back for more,
you have to be below 10% of your max HP before Dustia will spawn.
Once you're in the mid 20s, go back to Rabanastre. Unlock all of the Forgotten
Grimoires:
- 18000 gil -> Hunter's Monograph, enhances loot from beasts/avions
Speak with Gatsly in the Muthru Bazaar after completing the Thextera hunt.
- 19000 gil -> Knight's Monograph, enhances loot from giants/insects
Talk to any weapon merchant more than 30 times.
- 20000 gil -> Warmage's Monograph, enhances loot from amorphs/undead
Read the hunt bulletin board more than 20 times.
- 21000 gil -> Mage's Monograph, enhances loot from fiends
Talk to any magick merchant over 25 times.
- 22000 gil -> Scholar's Monograph, enhances loot from constructs
Talk to any armor merchant more than 15 times.
- 22000 gil -> Dragoon's Monograph, enhances loot from dragons/plants
Read the hunt bulletin board more than 40 times (you can save this one for
later if you want to differentiate between Scholar's and Dragoon's).
- 25000 gil -> Sage's Monograph, enhances drops from elementals
Talk to any merchant over 100 times (this doesn't take much additional effort
after unlocking all of the other ones).
You don't have to buy them all, but with the money you've accumulated fighting
Dustias, you'll be able to afford quite a few. Your priorities should be the
Hunter's and Warmage's Monographs because you stand to profit the most from
obtaining those. Leave the Sage's Monograph for last. You're not going to be
chaining elementals anytime soon.
Go back to Nalbina and buy the Blind spell. Time for another good weapon.
Gladius
~~~~~~~
Stats: +45 dagger, Windstrike
Method: Steal from Lindbur Wolf - Dalmasca Westersand, Shimmering Horizons
Chain more than 20 Wolves in the Westersand and head to Shimmering Horizons.
Lindbur Wolf will be here with a few lackeys. Equip the Leather Shield.
Repeatedly cast Blind on the Lindbur Wolf until it connects. It should almost
never be able to hit you now. Get rid of the small fry and steal from Lindbur
Wolf until you obtain the Gladius.
Nice, right? You can go back to Rabanastre, save, reload, and repeat this for
as many copies of the Gladius as you'd like, but you only really need one.
Ready for the next weapon?
Kotetsu
~~~~~~~
Stats: +50 katana
Method: Rare drop from Werewolf - Giza Plains, Starfall Fields
Save your game at Giza Plains, Crystal Glade. Head west and you'll find two
Werewolves stalking around in the southwestern corner. They are weak to wind.
Perfect! Go to town on them with your Gladius. You can chain them by heading
two screens east (don't touch the save point) and returning. You'll likely
also build up a few more levels this way.
The Werewolves aren't pushovers, though, even with the Gladius. You can buy
Protect from Nalbina (thanks for the reminder from prinnypayday@yahoo.com) to
help you move things along. If things get really rough, consider investing
some LP into a Mist Quickening (MQ). A few Red Spirals should be all you need
as a desperation move.
From now on, I will refer to the process of moving two screens away and
returning to respawn regular monsters as "zoning".
You should be around Lv 30 by now, which is plenty. If you want to level some
more via the Dustia method, go ahead. Kotetsus are essentially all you need to
power through the story. You can kill Dive Talons in the Westersand to pick up
Burning Bows (+63 bow), but this is really overkill and ultimately not
efficient, since you have no good way to fight flying creatures at this point
besides MQs, which is painstakingly time-consuming. Remember, that's what this
guide is about: efficiency.
------------------------
2c. Through to Raithwall [02c]
------------------------
[Timeframe]
Between and including Rabanastre Palace and the Tomb of Raithwall.
[Objective]
Get through these areas as quickly as possible. Complete the Barheim Key
sidequest.
Race through the game up until you exit the Barheim Passage into the Estersand.
If you got a Mage's Habit from a Mimic in Barheim, that is a nice bonus. If not,
no big deal.
Back in Rabanastre, everyone will leave and you will have Vaan by himself again.
Now that you have Gambits to play with, as well as the Protect spell, you can
go back to killing Dustias and/or Werewolves, which will be REALLY easy.
However, Balthier and Fran do not gain any experience with you, so they will
not have any extra levels you add here once they rejoin (which is almost
immediately, in terms of story progression). Basch, however, has not yet
permanently joined (again, he will almost immediately), so he does reap the
benefits here. Do what you want.
Note that you can also head back into the Garamsythe Waterway and beat up on
Gigantoads and Malboro Overkings, which individually give more experience than
the Werewolves, but you cannot efficiently defeat them with regular attacks
like you can Werewolves. Therefore, I do not recommend this method for leveling.
HOWEVER, you can do this for other reasons.
Francisca
~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +89 axe
Method: Sell Wind Magicite x6, Malboro Fruit x4, Pointed Horn x2 and purchase
from Bazaar for 10350 gil.
Credit here goes to branflakecereal@gmail.com. Wind Magicites are dropped by
Dive Talons in the Westersand. Malboro Fruits are dropped by the Malboro
Overkings in the sewers. Finally, Pointed Horns can be dropped by the Lizards
in the sewers.
While we're here, take up the Flowering Cactoid hunt and complete it if you
haven't done so already. Take the flower you get to Dantro's wife in the South
Bank Village.
Continue on with the storyline through Bhujerba and the Lhusu Mines. Once you
touch down in the Westersand after the events on the Leviathan, go back to
Rabanastre and sign up for the Nidhogg hunt. Take a detour and ride an airship
to Bhujerba. Make sure you choose the leisure craft option. Aboard the airship,
buy a bunch of Teleport Stones. Traveling will be much easier from now on.
Complete the Nidhogg hunt in Bhujerba. Hold on to that Great Serpentskin.
In addition, you should complete the Rocktoise hunt in Bhujerba while you're at
it. If you've been doing hunts diligently up to this point, your clan rank
should have upgraded to Rear Guard, which means that you can now purchase
Teleport Stones from the Clan Shop in the Muthru Bazaar. Thanks to M.W. for
this tip.
Head to the Tomb of Raithwall. Kill both Demon Walls. They should be easy with
your equipment. Activate the side stairs in the area of the first Demon Wall by
examining the area where the Demon Wall was and then save your game outside at
the Gate Crystal. Time for another weapon.
Demonsbane
~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +59 1H sword
Method: Chest - Tomb of Raithwall, Royal Passage
Now take those stairs you opened up all the way to the back. Once you reach
Royal Passage, go all the way down until the two paths converge. There is a
70% chance that there will be a chest here. If there is, there will be a
22.5% chance that it holds one Demonsbane. You can fight through all of the
Tallows, or just grab the chest and run. If the chest isn't there or if you
don't get the sword, reload your game and try again. If you run out of
patience, then don't worry about it. The Demonsbane is merely temporary and
will become obsolete once we get out of Raithwall. However, the fun part is
that the chest respawns, so you can grab the Demonsbane, run back to the
save point, save, reload, and try your luck again ad infinitum/nauseum.
Clear Raithwall.
----------------------------------
2d. Zodiac Spear and Other Goodies [02d]
----------------------------------
[Timeframe]
After returning to Rabanastre from Raithwall and before going to Jahara.
[Objective]
Defeat the Bomb King. Grab the Zodiac Spear from Nabudis. Get the Barheim Key
and head back into Barheim Passage.
Once you're out of Raithwall, go back to the Estersand. Complete the chain of
events that unlocks the ferry for your usage and ends with Dantro's wife
informing you that the Serpentskin you gave her (you still had it, right?) will
speed up her mystery guest's recovery. I will not detail the sidequest here; it
is well-documented elsewhere.
If you sold the Great Serpentskin for some reason, all is not lost. However,
you might not be able to do the Barheim stuff (see end of section) until a
little bit later in the game (i.e. after some more story events).
Okay, now back to the main task at hand. Head back to Rabanastre. Make
ABSOLUTELY sure that all six characters know Libra, Protect, Shell, and as many
HP augments as you can learn.
I recommend that every character have around 2000 HP. To be on the safe side, I
also recommend that you have a healthy supply of Phoenix Downs (maybe 30 or so)
because you'll be using them. Purchase the best armor available in Rabanastre.
When everything is set, go to Nalbina Fortress. Approach the two guards that
block the Mosphoran Highwaste entrance and listen to their babble (hmm, those
names look kind of familiar, no?). Speak to July nearby and hear her end of it
before heading over to Gurdy and renting a chocobo. Now run at the guards agai
and pretty soon the way to Mosphoran will be open (and you can eventually get a
Salamand Halcyon from July the next time you see her, which will be when you
reach Archades and go to the Magick Shop). Stay on the chocobo and race through
Mosphoran Highwaste to the Babbling Vale. Save your game and approach Luccio,
the merchant. He has Thief's Cuffs and Golden Amulets for sale. Buy 6 Golden
Amulets. This sets you back 27000 gil, but doubling your LP gain for the rest
of the game is not a bad trade-off, wouldn't you say? You can buy Thief's Cuffs
as well, which you'll want to do as soon as you can to make your career as a
thief a bit easier.
Run through the rest of Mosphoran and into the Salikawood. Head straight for
the Gate Crystal at Quietened Trace. Save your game. The Bomb King is one
screen away from you. Put on your game face and head north. The Bomb King will
start out with some minions, so get rid of those first. However, once you've
done so, pull back out to the crystal. The little ones won't be there when you
go back.
Kill the Bomb King. This is easier said than done, but you should be able to do
it with the help of Kotetsus, Demonsbanes, and your Francisca. Equip as many
of those as you can. As far as your characters go, make sure that you have at
least four characters that know MQs. This shouldn't be an issue by now, but it's
the bare minimum if you want to be safe, and for those four, it is preferred
that at least three of them have attained their Level 2 MQs.
Once your characters are set up, rush in. Hack away at the Bomb King until it
starts to call for help (reviving the little Bombs). This usually happens with
50% to 60% of its health remaining. When you see this, immediately start your
MQs. Sometimes your chain won't kill it immediately. If this happens, you must
not allow the Bomb King to stick around for much longer, since it will cast
Renew to heal itself completely, so swap out one character for your fourth
character with MQs and start another chain, hopefully one that will do enough
damage to finish it off. Obviously, if you have more characters with MQs, you
can repeat this process up to two more times.
Retreat to the save point again and rotate all of your characters around so
that every single one of them has an active Libra/Protect/Shell. Save your game.
Now, reform your party so that it has only one member.
Run through where the Bomb King previously stood and take the left branch. Keep
heading west and you will enter the Necrohol of Nabudis. This area is filled
with deadly traps and difficult enemies. With your level of equipment, it is
stupid to pick fights in here. That's not why we came, anyway.
Zodiac Spear
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +150 spear
Method: Chest - Necrohol of Nabudis, Cloister of the Highborn
Avoid all traps and run from all the enemies. In the first area, keep heading
west while searching for the exit. This is the hardest area to get through,
since Baknamys are extremely aggressive. When you lose a character (and you
will), swap out another one, but ONLY one. This guarantees maximal
survivability. Once you reach the second area, stop to revive, heal, and
recast Libra/Protect/Shell on everyone. Keep running, this time heading
northeast. Eventually you will reach Cloister of the Highborn, the central
area and home to what is for the most part the strongest weapon in the game.
Make a right from where you come in and then the next left. You should be
heading down a corridor heading north. Take the first left; this room should
have sixteen treasure chests in it if you left the right chests alone earlier
in the game. The Zodiac Spear is in the second chest from the left in the row
closest to you as you enter the room. You will likely have Elvorets on your
tail, so grab the weapon and get out of there. Backtrack through the first
two areas and exit out to the Salikawood. Make your way all the back to the
Gate Crystal. Congratulations!
By the way, you can head back into the Necrohol if you're particularly
desperate for Ethers. The Baknamy Merchant sells them at 222 gil each, which is
a great price. Refer to a map of the Necrohol for the location of the shop.
Keep in mind that you should come back here later for Magepower Shishaks,
Maximilians, Telekinesis, and Scathe. The first three are available after
Giruvegan, and Scathe is available after the Pharos at Ridorana.
There are a couple of other things we can get, and they're actually kind of
optional, since you flat out don't need anything else to blast on through, but
you should now be able to get the Barheim Key from the South Bank Village in
the Estersand. Talk to Dantro's wife and then head on back around her hut. Her
former patient will give you the Barheim Key. Head to Murmuring Defile and
reenter the Barheim Passage. Make your way to the Gate Crystal at North-South
Junction.
goldeneye86 first came up with the method to get the following:
Deathbringer
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +90 1H sword, occasional KO on hit
Method: Steal from Ithuno - Barheim Passage, Special Op. Sector 5
In Special Op. Sector 5, which is west of the Gate Crystal, run past the
Silicon Tortoise and keep going until you see a rock on the right side of the
tracks. On the far side of that rock there will be a chest. If there are two
of them, the silver-looking one is Ithuno. If the silver chest is not there,
reload your game. Examine the silver chest to provoke Ithuno. Let it chase
you all the way back to the entrance of Special Op. Sector 5. At this point,
just keep stealing until you get a Deathbringer. If you need to heal, go back
one screen and heal before returning (Ithuno will still be there, like the
Lindbur Wolf). Don't move back two screens or you will reset the area. Once
you've obtained your Deathbringer, head back to the Gate Crystal and save
your game. Now quit and reload. Repeat the entire process if you want another
one. Rinse and repeat as many times as you like.
There is also some top-notch armor that you can obtain right now, but getting
it will require significantly more work. Thanks to goldeneye86 and
spirit_guy_25 for their contributions here.
Refer to this minimap of Barheim for locations for the following armor.
http://www.geocities.com/arthellinus/barheimchests.jpg
Dragon Mail
~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: Heavy Armor, +53 Defense, +8 Strength
Method: Chest (see map)
Head to the West Annex, which is he south of The Zeviah Span and east of
Terminus No. 7 Adjunct. Looking at the map of that section, there's a large
area to the east, a fairly small section to the west, and a thin path that
connects the two. The Dragon Mail is in a chest at the tip of the
southwestern "peninsula" of the large east part. Like most chests, it may or
may not be there, and it may contain the armor, a Knot of Rust, or some gil.
Cleric's Robes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: Mystic Armor, +37 Defense, +9 Magick Power
Method: Chest (see map, credit GnatB)
The Cleric's Robes is in that tiny little bit of the Zeviah Span that's only
accessible from the West Annex.
Celebrant's Miter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: Mystic Armor, +50 Magick Defense, +6 Magick, +5 Speed
Method: Chest (see map, credit Kimber Boh)
Go to the Zeviah Span. The main span there is fractured in the center, where
the train tracks are. The chest with the Celebrant's Miter is on the SOUTH
side (using the auto-map) of the fractured train tracks. The NORTH side of
this chasm has a chest which is always a Mimeo.
By the way, you can get additional Franciscas from Mimeos (rare drop), as well
as Gigas Hats (+38 Magick Defense, +530 HP) as rare steals from Dead Bones
enemies.
I don't think it's entirely necessary to get the armor because the Zodiac Spear
and Deathbringers are good enough at making the game much easier already. No
matter how good your armor is, the enemies are not going to die any quicker. I
don't see this as an indispensable step, but it's hard to deny that you can get
some incredibly potent stuff here while you're hunting for Deathbringers. Just
beware that the enemies within are fairly powerful. The area with the Dragon
Mail in particular has a ton of high-powered undead. It may take some time
before you are comfortable surviving here (you could also formulate a strategy
similar to how you ran in to get the Zodiac Spear). However, all of this takes
time that you don't really need to spend. Remember, you'll STILL need to farm
LP so that you can actually use all of this stuff.
I do realize that if you go into Barheim FIRST and try your luck at getting
Dragon Mails and such, you'll have a much easier time with both the Bomb King
and the Necrohol. However, you'll have to survive Barheim instead. It's up to
you to decide.
One more thing.
Loxley Bow
~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +51 bow
Method: Reward for "Viera Rendezvous" sidequest in Rabanastre
If you want a decent ranged weapon to round out your offense, complete the
sidequest, which pretty much consists of running around for 5-10 minutes
(minimal effort). Again, you can check the strategy guide (which erroneously
reports that you have to visit Jahara first; you don't) or any other full
walkthrough for details.
-----------------------
2e. Through to Archades [02e]
-----------------------
[Timeframe]
From the Zodiac Spear events through to Archades.
[Objective]
Blast through everything with your superpowered weapons through to Archades.
Why blast through to Archades? Because this guide is about efficiency.
We want to get our hands on the Embroidered Tippet as soon as possible to
maximize the amount of experience obtained. Since your party's levels should be
in the mid to upper 30s, you should have little trouble getting through this
portion of the game with the Zodiac Spear and, if you bothered to get them,
Deathbringers.
There is one weapon of note, to be collected after clearing the Henne Mines.
The -ra spells (Fira, Blizzara, Thundara) will be available at Eruyt Village
(as well as Golden Amulets, but you have those already, right?). This is a good
time to head back to Rabanastre for a hunt.
Yoichi Bow
~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +76 bow
Method: Reward for White Mousse (Rank V) hunt
If you've been doing hunts on a regular basis, the bill for White Mousse
(Rank V) should be up. Doing this hunt right now will net you a Yoichi Bow
(+76 bow), which is very useful. The fight is not hard; you have the Zodiac
Spear and Fira does a ridiculous amount of damage to the mark. Now,
technically you could have done this hunt immediately after Raithwall. I put
it here because Fira makes the fight that much easier (I'm talking about 2000
damage per blast).
Make your way to Old Archades. Don't run from fights completely since you can
always use more gil. Just fight whatever you see along the way, while taking
the most direct path to your next destination. Take shortcuts if you can. For
instance, you can just teleport from Mt. Bur-Omisace to the Salikawood with
zero hassle. Also, you can give the wayward chocobo north of the Hunters' Camp
at the Phon Coast a peck of Gysahl Greens and ride it all the way to the Gate
Crystal in the Tchita Uplands (or simply hire one from the moogle). If you don't
have any Gysahl Greens, go kill some Black Chocobos on the Ozmone Plains, or
just buy them during an airship ride (much like how you got Teleport Stones, of
which you should still have a healthy supply).
Now, I have discovered that you can in fact reach the Cerobi Steppe and
Balfonheim BEFORE you ever get to Archades. Here is a video, courtesy of
KaddyGamer, that shows you how:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCbcc8-_9mM
Basically, once you reach the Phon Coast, you can reach the Cerobi Steppe with
a chocobo (the path is blocked otherwise) and head to Balfonheim to access the
Gate Crystal. Thanks to fighting_fury for linking the video.
Technically, this means that you can get the Ultima Blade once you have access
to the Phon Coast. That's a pretty big deal. But you know what? We don't need
it just yet, since we have the Zodiac Spear. If you want to level as quickly
as possible, I still suggest that you go get your Embroidered Tippets first. If
you insist on getting it now, skip to the next section (2f), then come back and
resume reading.
You can steal Embroidered Tippets from Coeurls in the Tchita Uplands (with
Thief's Cuffs). Thanks to Shane G. for pointing this out. However, I still
recommend that you keep on going until you reach Archades.
Finally, try to steal a Death Powder from Ahriman in the Sochen Cave Palace.
Once you arrive at Old Archades, buy some Embroidered Tippets if you don't have
three already. But don't go running off just yet! I recommend that you complete
the events in Archades, which will grant you access to the Gate Crystal. Now,
we can finally have some fun.
---------------
2f. Catching Up [02f]
---------------
[Timeframe]
After accessing the Gate Crystal in Archades and before reaching the Draklor
Laboratory.
[Objective]
Do everything you've been skipping, and doing it very easily. Accumulate lots
of levels and money. Acquire one or more Fomalhauts, an Ultima Blade, and
High Arcana in preparation for the Tournesol.
Buy the best armor you can afford in Archades, as well as the Aeroga spell, and
go do whatever you need to do (mostly hunts, probably). However, I will focus
on several locations I singled out. By the way, just to remind you, your active
members should have Embroidered Tippets equipped at all times, except when
taking down hunts and bosses. Switch to Golden Amulets then. As for your reserve
members, they should have Golden Amulets on all the time.
- Golmore Jungle
With Lente's Tear, enter the southernmost section. Clear out all of the
Coeurls and Hellhounds (and Diresaur) and you will find a massive skeleton
spawning area. You can easily manage a 90-chain before having to zone the
area. When you come back, you'll have to kill all the Coeurls, etc. all over
again, but it's worth it. These suckers (the skeletons) give out 950+ Exp
each (with three members, and not counting the Embroidered Tippet effect) and
are MUCH easier to kill than any other enemies that give a similar amount of
experience. Just make sure to have a Blindna or Eye Drops gambit handy, since
they use Flash very often. Also, a Grave Lord will sometimes show up during
your skeleton chain. He shouldn't be too bad with the Zodiac Spear, and the
Deathbringer's KO effect works on him. The Sturdy Bones and Burgeonets
dropped make for nice cash, as well. My advice is to stick around here until
you're around Lv 45.
You might be wondering about the Coeurls here. I told you earlier that you
can steal Embroidered Tippets from Coeurls. So right now you might be asking
me why I didn't tell you to simply come here and steal them immediately when
you first gained access to this area. My answer is that according to the
strategy guide, you CANNOT steal Embroidered Tippets from THESE Coeurls. They
must be the ones in the Tchita Uplands.
- The Feywood
Chain tons of Mirrorknights here in the areas around the Save Crystal at
Antiquity's End. The drops you get from them sell for big chunks of gil.
Now for a couple of uber-weapons.
Ultima Blade
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +118 greatsword
Method: Sell Gnoma Halcyon x1, Adamantite x2, Death Powder x2 and purchase
from Bazaar for 22800 gil.
Okay, so maybe you followed the guide and are ready to go loot-hunting with
Embroidered Tippets on hand. Maybe you're too impatient and want the Ultima
Blade before you even reach the Sochen Cave Palace. Either way is fine with
me, though I still think you save a bit more time in the end if you do the
stuff in Archades first. Regardless, here's how to get the Ultima Blade.
First, get to the Balfonheim Gate Crystal if you haven't already. See the
previous section (2e) for details. Now head to Cerobi Steppe, Feddik River.
Kill Adamantitans here for Adamantite x2. You can also just get one
Adamantite this way and get the other one by completing the Darksteel hunt,
but you need to have gone through Archades for that. I am aware that there
are Adamantitans in the Barheim Passage. However, those Adamantitans do NOT
drop Adamantite (this is much like my note about the Coeurls in Golmore).
By the way, you can get some really nifty stuff at Cerobi if you have a
Diamond Armlet. The only way to get a Diamond Armlet at this point is through
a random chest in Tchita Uplands, which is time-consuming. If you do bother
with that, though, you can head to Cerobi Steppe, Crossfield, where you can
get Fomalhauts, Ribbons, and Dark Shots from random chests. However, this is
even more time-consuming and is not recommended, since there is a much easier
way to get Fomalhauts, which I will detail next.
Anyway, once you have your Adamantites, make a trip to the Westersand while
there is a sandstorm. Locate a Gnoma Entite, which can be found in each of the
two areas closest to the Zertinan Caverns entrance. Equip the Thief's Cuffs
and commence stealing from the Entite. Once your steal is successful, run
towards the western exit and re-enter. The Entite, which you made hostile,
will be neutral again. Furthermore, if what you stole was NOT a Gnoma Halcyon,
you can simply try your luck by stealing again. If you don't get it, exit and
come back, and the Entite will be neutral again. Repeat this until you get
your Gnoma Halcyon.
Almost done! Warp to the Sandsea Gate Crystal and head west into to the Nam-
Yensa Sandsea. Find the entrance to the Zertinan Caverns and go in. You should
end up in an area called Darkened Wharf, with another area known as the
Drybeam Cavern to the southeast. There are Bogeys located in both of these
areas. Kill these guys until you get two Death Powders. If you were lucky,
you might have stolen one from Ahriman in the Sochen Cave Palace (if you
cleared it). If so, you only need one more here. BE VERY CAREFUL not to take
the southeastern-most exit from the Drybeam Cavern. You'll be thrown into a
boss fight (Adrammelech) that you might not be prepared for. Fortunately, if
you do end up there by accident (the minimap will become blurry), you can
leave whenever you want.
And that's it! You can go get your Ultima Blade now.
Fomalhaut
~~~~~~~~~
Stats: +50 gun
Method: Chest - Lhusu Mines, Site 9
Complete the Antlion hunt. The Killer Mantises that swarm you along with the
Antlion can be nuked with Aeroga, since they are weak to Wind. Afterwards,
return to the Lhusu Crystal and save your game. Head back to the place where
the Antlion was. Hopefully there is a chest at the back of the room, and
hopefully it contains Fomalhaut. No Diamond Armlet is needed. If you don't
get it, just reload and try again. This is a repeatable chest, and Fomalhaut
is the best gun in the game. Don't get shy about farming them here. In fact,
getting three of them is ideal for our next task.
Tournesol PREPARATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, we're not going to get the Tournesol yet, but we can do some stuff to
make it a lot easier later on.
Enter the Zertinan Caverns from the Westersand. Complete the Marilith hunt if
you want. Find the save crystal at The Undershore, which is two screens away
from the Athroza Quicksands (remember that place?).
Now save your game. Head into the Athroza Quicksands and meet Adrammelech
(since it's a flying creature, it's a good thing you got those Fomalhauts,
right?).
Steal High Arcana x3 from the Esper so you don't have to worry about getting
these later. You need 6 of them for the Tournesol, and you can get 2 for free
later on and one more while you're farming other Tournesol ingredients (see
Section 3c for details).
You can steal from Adrammelech, exit, re-enter to steal again, and repeat the
process until you have enough. The High Arcana is a rare steal (so Thief's
Cuffs are mandatory), so this might require some patience, but this is better
than having to go out of your way later.
Once you've done that, you can defeat the Esper if you want. Having three
Fomalhauts makes this fight a joke.
Leveling to around 50 should be enough for this stage. Let's move on.
------------------------------------
2g. Through to Balfonheim and Beyond [02g]
------------------------------------
[Timeframe]
After the events in Section 2f.
[Objective]
Break open the rest of the game.
Clear Draklor and reach Balfonheim. At this point, there aren't many tricks
left, except when when we're talking about gaining levels. I will cover that,
but otherwise, that's about it for breaking the game open.
- Leveling to 60-70
Head into the Nabreus Deadlands and find the Gate Crystal (careful, there's a
Crystalbug you have to get rid of first). From the crystal, go south into The
Slumbermead and hug the northern edge of the area. You will see a path that
winds around the back of the second rock you come across that is unmarked on
the map. Follow this trail and you will end up in The Fog Mutters. Keep
moving west and you will enter a small area called Overlooking Eternity.
This is the third and ultimate mass field of skeletons. You can generally
wipe out about 40-45 of them per visit. Return to The Fog Mutters and then
come back, and we have ourselves a party. It has been documented by both
myself and others that with Embroidered Tippet equipped, you can gather about
1200000 Exp (that's 1.2 million) in an hour. The numbers speak for themselves.
That's great, you say, but looking at some other numbers, it would still take a
long time to get your levels REALLY high. Oh well, it can't be that easy, right?
Right?
- Leveling to 99, Minimal Effort Edition
Go whoop on some Espers if you haven't already. In fact, you could have
chosen to skip the Deadlands altogether and come straight here if you met the
necessary requirements. I'm talking, of course, about the secret area of the
Henne Mines, which you can only unlock after you gather 10 or more Espers AND
complete the Mindflayer hunt. Thanks to goldeneye86 for reminding me about
the Mindflayer.
Naturally, it would be easiest to defeat everything but the three hardest
ones, which are Chaos, Ultima, and Zodiark, so that is what I recommend. And
of course, you can't even reach Zodiark before unlocking this area anyway.
If you don't want to wait that long (i.e. until after the Pharos, since you'd
need Hashmal and Famfrit), you pretty much have to beat Chaos and Ultima
first. Neither is particularly difficult at Lv 70, although you should make
sure you get Telekinesis before you fight Chaos, since the Attack command is
sealed for that fight.
Regardless, if you do some quick counting, you'll realize that this area
cannot be accessed until after you clear Giruvegan and obtain the Treaty-
Blade.
So do your thing however you like and then speak with Geomancer Yugelu in
Jahara to open up this area (he's across from the shop). Before entering this
extremely dangerous place, you must have the following:
- Arise
- Curaja
- Disable OR Sleepga, although Sleepga is preferred
- Bubble
- Protectga
- Float
Faith, Hastega and Shellga are nice, but not necessary.
Teleport to the Henne Crystal. Now cast Protectga, Bubble and Float on your
whole party and start running through Phase 2 Dig (east of where you fought
Tiamat). Head straight all the way to the end, where a Gizamaluk is duking it
out with a couple of Abysteels, and grab the map. You might have to fight the
creeps, but the bats should be weakened and the Gizamaluk is pretty easy. Now
open up the map and locate Pithead Junction C. This is where you want to go,
so keep running all the way until you get there, refreshing Float as is
necessary.
Take a breather for a minute once you reach Pithead Junction C. This is a
very suspicious four-way junction with a blue-red gate switch. The suspicion,
of course, stems from memories of about twenty Jelly enemies dropping down on
you when you hit the switches in other areas of the Henne Mines.
Here, you get to deal with about twenty Lv 65ish Abysteels when you hit the
switch. But that's GOOD news for us. Why?
- Abysteels are undead and therefore can be damaged by healing spells.
- Abysteels are weak to Disable (credit leeboo1211) AND Sleep (credit Garbo).
- At Lv 65, Abysteels give out 3000+ Exp each. That's when you have three
party members. That's without factoring in Embroidered Tippet.
So basically, Disable/Sleepga + three waves of Curaja = tens of thousands of
experience in about 20-30 seconds. The actual numbers come out to something
like 3 million per hour.
Of course, keep Bubble and Protectga up at all times because even one bat can
still kill a vulnerable character. However, once your gambits are set, you
don't really have to do much of anything. With your Warmage and Headhunter
augments active, the rate at which you regain MP by beating up on Abysteels
is utterly ridiculous, so MP is essentially a non-issue.
If you want to play it extra safe, buy three Demon Shields from the shop in
Nabudis and equip all of your characters with Main Gauches. This will give
them high evasion, so the bats will barely touch you. You can even reasonably
risk not using Disable/Sleepga, although the damage still piles up very
quickly if the bats do hit you. By the way, Abysteels drop Demon Shields
themselves, and you can sell a bunch of them for a huge chunk of cash.
The first time you flip the switch, it will turn from blue to red. After you
kill the Abysteels, take the east exit. Make the first left (it isn't very
far) over to another area. Now double back and head back to the switch room.
Hit the switch again, which makes it go from red back to blue. The Abysteels
come down again. Mop them up and then hit the switch, turning it red again.
Now exit out east, take the first left, return to the switch room, and so on.
Very, very fast.
That's about it. I hope that by following this guide, you will be able to do
everything in the game in MUCH less time than if you simply progressed through
it normally.
===============================================================================
3. Miscellaneous [030]
===============================================================================
----------------------
3a. The Petrify Glitch [03a]
----------------------
The big glitch in Final Fantasy XII is as follows:
1) During a chain, if the player successfully petrifies an enemy of a different
type that, when defeated normally, would break the chain, the chain will not
be broken once the different enemy type turns to stone. In addition, any
loot dropped by this enemy will match the quality of the loot being dropped
by the chained enemy. For example, if after chaining 60 Hyenas, the loot
being dropped is Level 4 Chain loot (represented by a large golden ball),
petrifying a Wildsnake mandates that any loot dropped by the Wildsnake will
also be of the Level 4 Chain type (i.e. also a large golden ball).
(Credit: Unknown, not me though)
2) Furthermore, after the petrified enemy is vanquished, if the player moves
far enough away (e.g. one minimap screen away from its original position),
the petrified enemy will immediately respawn upon returning, without
requiring that the player move two screens away and back.
(Credit: Garbo)
It has also been proven that an enemy that is defeated by Poison also does not
break a chain of another enemy type, but I'm not sure if Point 2 above applies
as well.
-----------------------
3b. Other Helpful Hints [03b]
-----------------------
- Increasing Chain Level
To increase your chain level quickly, do NOT pick up loot unless the chain
number is flashing. If you're trying to build chains rapidly during endgame,
I recommend using your best bow with Assassin's Arrows. If you don't have
Assassin's Arrows, the process takes a little longer, and you could
feasibly substitute the bow with a gun.
- Stealing from Neutrals
If you steal from a neutral enemy (thus making it hostile) and move one
screen away, the enemy will be neutral once you re-enter. Its stash will
also be intact again! This makes stealing those Halcyons from various Entites
much easier, although it's still pretty annoying. I have already referred to
this trick earlier in my discussion of the Ultima Blade.
- Stealing from Rare Trophy Monsters
Since trophy monsters do not reappear once you kill them, and since some of
them have very good loot for stealing, if you need more than one of what they
hold, steal from them, return to a save point, save, reload, steal from them
again, return to the save point, etc (of course, you need to keep at it until
they show up again). This is particularly useful when you are farming
ingredients for the Tournesol.
----------------------------------------
3c. Comments on Rare Items and Equipment [03c]
----------------------------------------
Here, I do everything from providing various levels of detail on obtaining
items to musings about the effectiveness of equipment, in no particular order.
Tournesol
~~~~~~~~~
I mentioned in the walkthrough during the fight against Adrammelech that you
should try to steal 3 out of the 6 High Arcana you'll need to obtain the
Tournesol. How do you get the other 3?
1. Obtain from Montblanc after reaching the "Paragon of Justice" clan rank.
2. Obtain from Montblanc when you control 4 Espers.
3. Due to a trick you can employ when unlocking stuff at the Bazaar (which I'm
not going to detail, you can check FeuFeu's Bazaar FAQ on gamefaqs.com), you
can do the following:
"Since the Empyreal Soul and the Serpentarius are used only in making the
Tournesol there is no need to make either one until you have enough loot to
make all three of each (6 total). If you sell 2 Serpent Eye, 4 Snake Skin, a
Soul Powder, 2 Wargod's Band (the ingredients for the two reagents minus the
High Arcana) AND a High Arcana AT THE SAME TIME (i.e without leaving the
loot-selling window in between selling) you can unlock both the Empyreal Soul
and the Serpentarius at the same time. This can be repeated three times and
therefore you can buy all six with only three High Arcana. Just make sure you
sell one batch at a time."
The above is in quotes because I got it from an email courtesy of
lost_notes_forgotten@yahoo.com.
One more note here that I'm bringing back from my old guide. Snake Skins are
dropped by Wildsnake in Giza Plains Dry, Toma Hills. This is the ONLY place that
I know of where there's a Wildsnake, and there is ONLY the one that is there. I
suggest that you either run through the nomad camp to the east and then back
again to make it respawn or chain some Hyenas and then use the petrify trick.
Eksir Berries
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can return to the place where you got the Eksir Berries before reaching
Raithwall (northeast section of the Nam-Yensa sandsea, where the blue save
crystal is) at some later time. The plant there will have flowered again, and
you can pick some more Eksir Berries.
Elixirs / Hi-Ethers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a Diamond Armlet equipped, many regular treasure chests (that normally
give you insignificant items or amounts of gil) have a 10% chance to reward you
with either an Elixir or a Hi-Ether. Roughly speaking, if you walk around
opening everything in some of the late-game locales while wearing a Diamond
Armlet, you have a chance to get an Elixir or Hi-Ether roughly one out of every
ten chests. The Feywood is especially good for this; almost all of the chests
there hold Elixirs at a 10% chance with Diamond Armlet.
Grand Helm
~~~~~~~~~~
The Grand Helm is perhaps the second-most annoying piece of equipment to obtain
in the entire game, after the Danjuro. Details on how to obtain it will not be
provided here. Instead, I would just like to say that unless you are looking to
acquire every piece of equipment in the game, you would do well to ignore the
Grand Helm completely. The Grand Helm provides one additional point of Magick
Defense and one additional point of Strength over the Magepower Shishak (MPS).
Both are negligible, especially the point of Strength, since by the time your
characters reach very high levels, it will be easy to hit 99 Strength. Any
overflow (bonuses that push Strength, Magick Power, Vitality, or Speed over 99)
is discarded. Given the Magick boost provided by the MPS, there really is no
contest as to which is the better heavy helmet.
Grand Armor
~~~~~~~~~~~
Likewise, the Grand Armor is not as good as the Maximilian, for the same
reasons why the Grand Helm is not as good as the MPS. However, there is more
merit to the Grand Armor because it provides a relatively bigger bonus over the
Maximilian (compared to Grand Helm vs. MPS) and is also easier to obtain. Again,
I will not detail how to obtain the Grand Armor. It is well-documented
elsewhere.
Zodiac Escutcheon / Brave Suit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(in reference to sephirosuy's Great Crystal Upper Layer map on GameFAQs)
The treasure chest behind the Taurus II Gate in the GCUL holds either a Zodiac
Escutcheon or a Brave Suit. My advice is to definitely go for the shield if
you're trying to collect every piece of equipment in the game. The one in
Barheim is horrendously annoying to get, where as the other Brave Suit in the
Henne Mines secret area is a guaranteed reward from a chest that has a 25%
chance of appearing, which isn't too bad, relatively.
Yagyu Darkblade / ninja swords in general
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why are these completely useless? The exception is against Yiazmat, I know, but
there are videos out there that prove that the Masamune has by far the most
devastating potential out of any weapon in the game, and fighting against
Yiazmat is no exception (see maltzsan's Game Mechanics FAQ, Appendix B).
Everything within the game points to the notion that ninja swords were
originally supposed to come in pairs, and that dual-wielding was nixed for
whatever reason. Hopefully, Square-Enix will surprise us and fix this in FFXII
International, but I'm not holding my breath.
Danjuro
~~~~~~~
The Danjuro will go down in Final Fantasy lore as the single most annoying piece
of equipment to obtain in the history of FF games. I'm sure you completionists
have already heard many horror stories about trying to get Larva Eater to spawn,
and more anecdotes about how many Larva Eaters it took to get a Danjuro. If you
really must undertake this challenge (and it's a challenge of patience), I
recommend what is known as the Mom Bomb method. I didn't come up with it, and
you can check out bcs4981's excellent Ultimate Equipment FAQ for details. And
yes, I did do this myself and I do have a Danjuro.
--------------
3d. Challenges [03d]
--------------
Final Fantasy XII is a paragon of tedium. It's very polished but very, very ...
tedious. That is why the task of crafting this speed/power walkthrough was very
appealing to me. Since the game isn't hard to begin with, I didn't see a reason
for why there shouldn't be a reference to help players get everything and do
everything in as little time as possible. FFXII is a game that sums up
everything about this day and age when RPG developers are constantly coming up
with new ways to artificially prolong their games for as long as possible.
The developers themselves admit to this, albeit not explicitly. Don't believe
me? Go read up on what Square plans to do with the International release. More
convenient treasure chest locations and friendlier item and drop rates? A frame
-skipping double-speed feature you can activate by holding down L1? Square knows
how to milk its merchandise, all right. People everywhere are saying, "That
sounds AWESOME!!" Of course, the implied version is, "That sounds AWESOME
because the way it is now sucks!!"
Fortunately, the gaming community is reliable in being able to come up with ways
to get the most out of most marquee games, and FFXII is no exception. If you
think there's a lot about FFXII that bores you, here are several ways to play
the game that are ACTUALLY innovative and do make it more interesting. I didn't
come up with any of these, though many of them may seem obvious.
A) Enforced Class System Challenge
There is a guide to this approach on GameFAQs, but you could easily come up
with your own version of it. Admittedly, Square has jumped on board with this
one and is offering us class-specific License Boards in International, but
then again, I and most of my other Western Hemisphere cohorts will be hard-
pressed to have any sort of convenient access to it.
B) Low Level Challenge
Commonly known as an LLC game or a 122333 (representing the levels for Vaan,
Balthier, Fran, Basch, Ashe, and Penelo respectively) game, this is also
detailed on GameFAQs.
C) No License Board Challenge
Commonly referred to as an NLB game, this is another method that ramps up the
difficulty significantly.
D) LLCNLB Challenge
A combination of methods B and C. This actually sounds pretty impossible. But
hey, it's still an idea.
E) Dual Character Half License Board Challenge
Known as a DCHLB game, this actually sounds the most interesting to me and is
fairly young in its conception (as of June 2007). In short, you're only
allowed to use two characters. One is given access to just the lower half of
the License Board (weapons and armor), while the other is given access to
just the upper half (accessories, magicks, technicks, augments). There's a
topic for it on the GameFAQs boards, and if this sounds interesting to you,
go check it out.
Sounds a lot more fun than resetting a million times because you can't seem to
get that Ribbon chest to cooperate, doesn't it?
-------------------
3e. Random Thoughts [03e]
-------------------
I have sapped most of the main walkthrough of all color commentary, but everyone
enjoys a good rant now and then, so I will use this section to sound off some
more on the more eccentric (and sometimes very irritating) aspects of this game.
Transportation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is kind of a follow-up to what I was saying in the previous section. I know
it's easy to marvel at how huge the game world is, but seriously, when you're
revisiting areas, do you ACTUALLY appreciate it that much the second (or tenth)
time around? The Sandsea. The Phon Coast. The Tchita Uplands. The Cerobi Steppe.
Giruvegan and the Great Crystal. The Pharos. When you've got a very specific
destination during a hunt or other sidequest, are you actually thinking about
how great it'll be to be able to have to slog through one of these maps again?
Teleport Stones are a good idea and a much better method of travel in FFXII than
by airship (although the Strahl does have its uses). But you know what would've
been a better idea? Some better Teleport Stones, ones you don't have to use at a
Gate Crystal. You know how you can call up the World Map and look through every
individual map within every single area you've visited? Why can't you use
Teleport Stones in that capacity to warp to a specific map when you want to? Oh
right, because that would shave hours off the endgame. We certainly wouldn't
want any of that, would we?
Balthier's and Fran's Stats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For what are arguably the two most popular characters in the game, these two
certainly have gimped stats. Balthier is a poor man's Vaan, while Fran is a
poor man's everything. In addition, according to maltzsan's fantastic Game
Mechanics guide (easily the most informative and entertaining FFXII guide there
is, IMHO), Balthier is actually slightly less proficient with a gun than
everyone else, while Fran is slightly less proficient with a bow than everyone
else (their respective animations take more time). Those are their default
and/or preferred weapons. Is that supposed to be funny?
Mist Quickenings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hate MQs in terms of usage. They can be ridiculously cheap and, at the same
time, utterly random and unpredictable. But what I hate even more about them is
their designs. Does anyone actually have any idea what the heck is going on in
any of them? What are the characters DOING? Actually, what are the CG artists at
Square smoking? Pass me some of that, please.
Not only are the MQs for all of the characters identical in terms of actual
damage output and effect, but I can't even enjoy the animations. They're just
made up of random stuff cobbled together that's supposed to look cool. Am I
really supposed to get off on Penelo doing a little dance and then "shattering"
the television screen (Resplendence)? Or how about the ultimate offender (for
me), which would be Basch's Ruin Impendent. Whenever I see him punch at
nothing like that, I immediately think, "He thrusts his fists against the
posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." Any Stephen King fans out there?
Go read Genzen's Quickening Guide on GameFAQs and check out the descriptions
for the MQs. It's hard for me NOT to laugh. Nothing against Genzen and not
because his descriptions are bad; on the contrary, they're quite accurate. But
that's the thing. It's all utterly absurd to me. Seriously, try a little harder
next time, Square.
The Bestiary
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ivalice is an intricately woven world, with intimate and detailed histories, and
this is reflected in FFXII. The problem? Sorry, you have to go around killing a
random number of every single enemy in the game in order to unlock all of this
reading material, tucked away on Page 2s after every bestiary entry. This is the
kind of exposure that the writer or group of writers who put all that hard work
into coming up with all of this stuff gets. Next time, take a page from Monolith
Studios and learn from Xenosaga's Database.
And really, you're telling me I have to essentially go through the process of
spawning the Behemoth King fourteen times in order to complete the entries for
those Mandragora squirts? Fourteen times? Are you kidding me?
===============================================================================
4. Credits [040]
===============================================================================
Here is a filtered credits section. It is longer than most credits sections, I
know, but back in the day when I first began to write this guide, the massive,
Robert-Jordan-length guides had not yet emerged, and a lot of the information
compiled, which was new and fresh back then but common knowledge and taken for
granted now, came through user feedback and a lot of scouring the boards on the
part of yours truly. I figure that all contributions to the crafting of this
guide at any point in time deserve acknowledgment.
Author
- Arthellinus
Contributors
- Aeana
- AmanoJ
- branflakecereal@gmail.com
- civicized@hotmail.com
- Dave G.
- dwm042@email.com
- freakazoidz
- Garbo
- Gavin B.
- gen_esis@yahoo.com
- GnatB
- goldeneye86
- GreenDave
- hellfire185@gmail.com
- IndigoSage
- JonathanEyoon
- Kairi
- Kimber Boh
- koalainusa@hotmail.com
- leeboo1211
- maltzsan
- M.W.
- ramza723@yahoo.com
- redmem
- rmdsc
- Shane G.
- spirit_guy_25
- x3mgame@gmail.com
- lost_notes_forgotten@yahoo.com
- prinnypayday@yahoo.com
- fighting_fury
- KaddyGamer
Special Thanks
- maltzsan
- Garbo
- rmdsc, EiEi, thrakkemarn, and everyone else from the "Damage from non-STR
based weapons" thread on GameFAQs (a relic of the past)
- sephirosuy
- Kouli
- CJayC
