FINAL FANTASY: RECORD KEEPER

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Here are my suggestions:

Seifer with Draw Fire, Armor Strike, and the Lionheart RM. The defensive bonus of Draw Fire will contribute to his Armor Strike damage. Additionally, he will draw all of the normal attacks which will fuel his limit break. His limit break's +RES will stack with Shellga and Magic Break, meaning you don't need Stoneskin/Sentinel's Guard.

Laguna with Lifesiphon and Blind Shell. This dude has a group damage SSB, so you'll be using Lifesiphon and that SSB always--the only exception is applying Blind to Raijin every time he Remedies himself. This character is the meat and potatoes of your damage.

Squall with your best Blizzard Strike and Lightning Strike. Give him either Pride of the Red Wings, Mako Might, or Ace Striker as your RM. Take out Fujin with Lightning Strike, then use Squall's Burst to take out Raijin. Blizzard Strike Seifer for the medals, then go with whatever hits him the hardest after that, which is probably the wind damage attack of his Burst.

Best white mage with your best Cure and either Shellga or Protectga depending on what you do with your last character slot. Pretty Cecil can not be your dedicated healer for this fight without some kind of MND weapon. If you have no white mages with limit breaks, I would use Eiko or Arc. Give them Mako Might or Dr. Mog's Teachings and they can cover both your Protectga and Shellga, which makes your fifth slot even more flexible.

Rikku or Tyro with some combination of Magic Breakdown, Heathen Frolic, Spellbend Etude, Exhausting Polka, Multi Break, Power Breakdown, Enveloping Etude, Shellga, Bio Strike, and Protectga. Give them Zell's fist weapon. Tyro is optimal if you've leveled him and learned his Celebration Grimoire's limit break. I would go with Tyro with Bio Strike and Multi Break, personally, covering Protectga and Shellga with my white mage. Could also swap Multi Break for a second Cure, per LockeZ's suggestion.

RW is Shout.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
LockeZ
I've never had trouble getting Shield Grimoires as roaming warriors. Other than Shout, they seem to be the second most common soul break out there (Cloud's motorcycle comes in third).

I'm actually thinking about changing my SB to Lulu's Focus because of this.

Since Mog is still stuck at 65, I've found myself bringing Tyro with Multi Break to a few fights, including this latest ultimate (and some of the aoe Elites I've been working on). It's quite handy. As such, I definitely agree with Jude on Tyro at least.

Been leveling Arc in hopes of getting one of his SBs in two weeks. Eiko's kinda weird to me since I have her SSB -- I feel awkward using her for a Shellga, in case I need the medica. =/ So I guess Arc being leveled will be handy even if I don't get a weapon for him.

It's kind of nice that they release MC2s with new characters. We get them for both Palom and Porom tomorrow. But it is pretty lame that Rosa, Golbez, Tellah, FuSoYa, and Edge aren't getting theirs. Golbez won't even get his until the Dissidia event, a concept which I find pretty bizarre... Fan service game featured in a fan service game...

Kind of want to pull on the FF4 2 banner, both to complete my Drunk Cecil and because I've been trying to snag that Ebon Armor forever. Both banners look pretty solid, though. That Kotetsu is nice--wanted it last time. My FF4 is really powerful, though, so I shouldn't pull.

I'm over 150 Mythril at the moment, thanks to the new dungeons (still two left) and that Spring bonus. I should probably just save some for the next soul break bonanza, which is only like a month away, though I still intend to pull on FF3 and FF9. It features new Bursts for Pretty Cecil and Bartz that looks dope, plus an incredible looking one for Tyro that's support-oriented.

author=Craze
I'm actually thinking about changing my SB to Lulu's Focus because of this.

Been leveling Arc in hopes of getting one of his SBs in two weeks. Eiko's kinda weird to me since I have her SSB -- I feel awkward using her for a Shellga, in case I need the medica. =/ So I guess Arc being leveled will be handy even if I don't get a weapon for him.

Might as well. Lulu's Focus is great and its effect is still unique. It's a pretty rare item. I still keep one on my friends list just in case I ever get a black mage soulbreak or three... how weird is it that I still don't have one?

Getting something for Arc would be okay. He's a solid white mage. The trouble is, I'd probably never use him over Yuna, who has a better kit. His strength is his default limit break, but I don't have much need for that anymore because I've got Boon and two shared Shellga items. Have you been putting Leila to work at all?

Plus, Arc's SSB seems really awkward to me. Subsequent casts are only good for the Magic Blink component, because the duration on Shellga and Regen is quite long. Contrast that with Selphie's variant, which heals the big fireball you just ate and then makes you immune to the next one--much better synergy. Beatrix gets a Magic Blink SSB soon as well, and its attached to damage, which is always handy. Not that I'd be upset about getting a Magic Blink of my own... Arc's just seems way less efficient than an SSB ought to be.

I think I like the first FF3 banner the best. The second still looks good, but I am mildly terrified of pulling Desch's Gauntlets, which has a really dumb limit break. It's barely stronger than Basch's and Leon's but hurts Desch by quite a lot. And if you weren't aware, self-damage still counts against damage medals.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
My only black mage soul breaks are Deprotectga (...lol, on one of my primary medicas...) and Firaga Fury... which is obviously on Lulu so it's difficult for her to use both of her SBs together outside of 80-100 stamina dungeons. (I know weakness hits build SB gauge, but I'd love some sort of Lifesiphon for mages.)

I haven't used Leila for a U/U+ since FF2, but I use her for Elites often enough if I'd rather being an RW medica/boostga (whether the actual med/bos Penelo SB, or something like Sunbath) instead of Shout or Mighty Guard (VIII). Once she double-breaks I'll probably use her more since Thief's Revenge should go up a notch. For now though, it's hard to justify her in the ultimate content since I have better Dismissal/Raid users and almost always bring Shout or MG8 for big fights.

Arc's SSB is really awkward. That's why I'm gonna only do a cult of 3 on banner 1 and my proper 11-pull on banner 2. Arc's SB, Ignus's Break Blade and Desch's Gauntlet are all better relics imo. I still wouldn't mind Arc SSB though, but it's not as exciting as the stackable RES medica.

Also, the sword is on banner 1 and is a bunch of lightning hits. The Gauntlet is the +5% HotE with 50% self-HP damage. Given how many Regens and such I have, I'm not too worried about the self-harm, especially if stacked with SG. (SG doesn't mitigate it directly, but mitigates all the -other- damage he'd be taking.) I'd rather have Apocalypse Shield, but DeNA wouldn't let me have it :<

After FF3, I'll be saving up for the next breakfast. Hopefully we'll get Hope SSB and that Plat Shield (XII) on the same banner, funnily enough I don't care about any BSBs out yet. Yuna I originally wanted, but it's so bad on a healer lol. Unless Bartz comes out during breakfast? The only ones I've heard of that really interest me are Butz and Vaan's. I'll check kongbakpao later I guess. At least they dont' change the main relics on breakfast banners, even if all the other stuff gets mixed around. =/
I actually hate that Lifesiphon exists at all. It's one of the few abilities that I have two copies of because it's too good, and the number of copies will only increase as I accumulate more powerful soul breaks. It'd be fine if there was more variety in the amount of meter generated by abilities, with Lifesiphon not being miles ahead of its peers.

There are more issues with mages than just soul meter. The biggest is definitely how most bosses have 50-80% more RES than they do DEF. Boostga is easier to get than Faithga. Mages have less utility--they have no breaks and their status effects have both a lower rate and deal no damage. For awhile they had an AoE dominance, but that is disappearing one Flashing Blade and Sky Grinder at a time.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The utility thing is a symptom of having two skillsets based on magic power, one based on mind power, and nine based on attack power. I don't know why we don't have time magic or blue magic yet. Darkness can't come soon enough.
Yeah, they definitely could've shredded the spell schools out more. It would make the mages more diverse too.

Darkness means Drunk Cecil's Dark Sword is useful again. It had a dark damage bonus that was only useful for his limit break, but now will also be good for that inverted saint's cross coming out.
New majors in the fat chocobo shop. I just barely grabbed the previous majors before they expired. The memory crystals were also reset. I am still missing an MC2 for Lulu, but I think I will be able to snag that during the next nightmare gate.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
After using Squall for everything in this event except Ultimate Weapon, and also doing the same thing in the last two FF8 events, and also bringing him to 20+ of the core FF8 dungeons, and also sending him through the 2-stamina battles in this event another 50-60 times on top of all that, I still don't have Squall's second record materia that can only be earned from FF8 battles. This is also preventing me from getting his third record materia, which requires you to get the second one first.

Have I sinned somehow? Forgive me RNGesus, I repent of my transgressions.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
A shame, since Lionheart is useful when it's useful (pretty junk without Draw Fire/Magic Lure/Sentinel though). It's what let me master Vossler U.

I still need to finish Ultima U+. Bleh. I don't care about mastery, but at least completing it for the 6* and the wind orbs would be nice (that's the first-time reward iirc). I tried twice half-heartedly. Maybe relying on Selphie's naked medica is part of the issue, although I brought Vanille as well on the second try (as offense but with a back-up medica/protectga) and I still only got him down about halfway.

And yeah, already bought the MPO/MWO/myth ~

Those ones that have to be unlocked in a specific record are the worst. Fortunately, I already have those, but some of them took awhile. I liked some of the core ones where you had to meet certain objectives to get them, like defeating a specific dungeon with White Mage or whatever. They should all be like that--guaranteed but attached to some kind of challenge.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Kain has a record materia that you have to get by using Jump on Barbaricia in a core dungeon with him. It was like... the fourth or fifth record materia to exist, ever. But the record materia is "Start every battle confused and with 10% more attack." Rofl, no thanks. Almost a year later and I still haven't bothered to get it.

Craze, my strategy for Ultima Weapon was to bring Tyro with Sentinel Grimoire as my only healer, but also bring Leon as my roaming warrior with his group Att/Def buff. I had another person with me to use Hastega, so shout as my roaming warrior would've been a waste. The battle lasts exactly the same amount of time as Leon's two buffs last; Ultima Weapon use Light Pillar as soon as the second buff wears off.

If you want to avoid Light Pillar, my advice is bring some interrupts if you can. They don't help a lot because the boss's speed is so high, but they do still help. Use them in the first half of the fight if you can, while they still have a chance of hitting before the boss's ATB gauge fills up (this will mean that Light Pillar actually gets delayed, instead of the boss just losing its turn). I brought one person with an interrupt soul break and another person with rank 3 Dismissal. I ended up increasing Dismissal, Drainga and Full Break to rank 3 just for this fight. Aside from that just bring all your highest damage single target soul breaks and wear more offensive gear than you usually do for ultimate bosses.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
author=LockeZ
"Start every battle confused and with 10% more attack."


Aren't the "extra damage when using weapon type" 10% as well? If so, how on Earth did they think that was even remotely useful?
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
Primary RMs tend to be just flavor, not actually that useful (although Irvine, of all people, got +20% gun damage realllly early on). It's the 65+ RMs that are super-useful, especially the SB-related ones.

LockeZ, I'll give that a try later. I have R3 Dismissal/Drainga... Full Break is R2 (working on it and SC R3) but I can bring Fran who has the Whip Kick wallbreak for bonus damage. I might try a Balthier/Lulu combo (Imperil Fire + Firaga Fury), Nanaki for the hastega...? Leaves me short a medica if I take Pecil over Vanille/Selphie/Yuna though...

e: i don't know how to spell "imperil" apparently
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The purpose of Drainga was to help make up for not having Medica. I also gave Drain Strike to someone. With both Sentinel Grimoire and Hand of the Emperor up, the boss's AOE damage was pretty managable until near the very end of the battle, and replacing every third or fourth attack with a draining attack was enough to keep Bartz and Quistis healed throughout the fight. I probably would've been fine with only one person draining, if I'd used the interrupts more defensively when I was in trouble, instead of just whenever I felt like it.
Main Scenario

FFIV 21

Lunasaurs

what the fuck

no, seriously, what the actual fuck

They don't even mention this bad breath shenanigans in the description
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
omg yes i just did that elite last week. it took me so many tries with my "lol i can level some characters during this" party.
This isn't even the elite, and they literally had me locked down before I was even able to take a single action. Entire party was either confused/blind/muted or sleep/blind/muted. And they just kept spamming it over and over between their aoe spells.

10/10 would be actively trying and not play again
author=Jeroen_Sol
author=LockeZ
"Start every battle confused and with 10% more attack."
Aren't the "extra damage when using weapon type" 10% as well? If so, how on Earth did they think that was even remotely useful?

10% attack works out to 18.7% damage. That's a sizeable increase over the damage rms, and the only cost is that you have to make a mage whack the user.

These days difficult bosses don't have trash waves, the soft attack cap decreases the benefit of attack boosts, and it has to compete with 20% damage boost rms and other awesome stuff. But when it came out, it was a reasonable choice.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
ULTIMA WEAPON ULTIMATE + HAS BEEN MASTERED

fucking hell that was brutal.



Lulu - Focus/Firaga Fury (used Focus once in the second half, then unloaded Firagas and Firajas until dead)
Nanaki - Lunatic High (i have Trine too, and one of my ~10 attempts had spell-based Nanaki, but it just didn't work with his shitty weapon selection)
Yuna - Hymn of the Fayth. (I tried her with Curaja/Diaga/Holy dmg+ multiple times, but I kept eating Ultimas, so I swapped to Shellga for my last two tries)
Tyro - Sentinel Guard. (Duh. It's a blessing -- it's fucking Wall -- but a curse since I bring Tyro almost everywhere.)
Balthier - Strahl Strafe (Imperil Fire! The 20% damage boost is nice but unimportant compared to how it amps up Lulu and Tyro's SB gauge generation. Knight Charge was terrific here since Balthier was hasted and Ultima uses almost entirely aoe attacks)
RW - Shout (I tried Basch/Leon a few times, but physical damage really wasn't a worry here so I took the better boostga)

I didn't do interrupts a la LockeZ, but I did gladly take his suggestion to have multiple Drain-ers. Worked wonderfully and let Yuna do like five 1k damage plinks!

What a bastard. Really glad this was 1 stamina. Time to hate on Cagnazzo now, although my FF4 synergy is above-average so I should be okay.