Blame yourself or God! Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics!

That's the first time I've heard someone say it's supposed to be Wiz(ard)knives.

The only reference to that I can find is some guy on 2chan asking what it's supposed to be, and getting the response "I think it's Wizknives..." and another guy going "Isn't it supposed to be With Knives?" immediately after. They didn't even allude to any wizarding going on when they renamed it in WotL either.

But, yeah, With Knives sounds pretty dumb by itself too.

The other dance that performs a similar function is called Witch Hunt, and it's not like WotL's localization was really shooting for accuracy either.

Yeah, it is supposed to be With Knives, which I'm sure sounds appropriate and exotic and not at all tin-eared to the Japanese.

I remember having trouble with this stage at some point, too. I think it depends on your party and how things work out with the map being divided in two. If your mobility is poor, you can't have your two groups back each other up.

Dancers are one of my favorite FFT classes. They look cool, can hold their own as fighters with two swords/weapon guard, and Nameless Dance is a cheap and strong move, usually crippling at least one enemy, and doing it in an amusingly random way.

Your party on the 2nd playthrough by the point is going to be a lot better. The first time you're learning the game (I think this is about the point in the game where I first realized that armor gave your more HP). On your second play-through you should half a nicely min/maxed army by Chapter 2 (after all, if you learned to make it through the end of chapter 3, you can pretty much take anything this game throws at you and you know what yo prepare for).

Also sounds like she most likely wasn't getting much XP/JP, which helps push the problem further.

Side note: I though her attacks relied on both PA & MA? Just some of them? That's the whole point of the extra item you get in WotL, right? Well, that and trying to retcon a link to Vagrant Story that was inconsistently translated.

EDIT: Also, I agree with Eddie. This next battle is one of the best in the game and the music gets my vote for best track in the game.

You're damn right she wasn't getting any XP/JP. As for my party - that's not really the cause because I always fall back on the same strategy - double Punching. The second time around I must have used always use Ninjas with Two Fists and the first time I probably used Monks with 2x Swords. With the all-monk party she probably got a turn once in a while.

None of Agrias' skills use MA.

"With Knives" always made perfect sense to me.

"What kind of dance hurts your audience?"
"A dance With Knives."

Sure, why not.

Update tomorrow!

- Eddie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE

WE LOVE YOU

Happy birthday, bro!

Johnny!

Welcome back! Off screen shenanigans have let us delve a little deeper into our skills!



Jean has learned 'Vertical Jump8', and that means that we pretty much have mastered the class (barring learning skills
such as Ignore Height). Now things are going to get a little more honorable around here! Normally we'd simply use a
Katana as a weapon, but I'm giving him Equip Spear so his Jump skill stays classy.

Sissie, having run out of JP to punch, is taking a side trip into the Archer class to pick up Speed Save. While Counter is
good, Sissie's enthusiasm for punching sadly does not match up with her actual ability to deliver a solid fist o' fury.
Speed Save will at least ensure she gains a speed advantage over her enemies, allowing her to punch more in the
future, or steal better as the case will likely be once she becomes a Thief.





I'd like to think that some of these bar rumours are put here for people too lazy to check the Brave Story instant
cutscene replays.



I guess that the owner of Bart Company being brutally murdered by his boss hasn't reached the common folk yet. And
he was such a philanthropist too!



A measly +14 hit points isn't a big deal, but Bards have a nasty HP multiplier (55% of the character's base health!) so
on it goes. Monks will also dig this piece, to help make up for their lack of headgear.

The Wizard Staff gives Jessica yet another +1 bonus to MA. She's now getting a +5 MA bonus from her equipment
(bringing her MA to 12) which means that her magic is pretty much ridiculous.

Minor note: Jessica has picked up Odin (for all she'll use it), and I'm giving the Diamond Armlet Agrias rejoined with (+1
PA, +1 MA, Cancel: Slow) to Junk. It will boost his Geomancy a little, which is always nice.

Let's go! We've got a princess to save!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Golgorand Execution Site

(Cry of a Bitter Heart!)

(Scene: Princess Ovelia awaits the executioner's blade...
or does she? Unbeknown to Ramza and Agrias, they are
walking into a trap...)









(Ramza and Agrias roll into the scene.)

Knight of the Lionel Troop: Huh?

Gafgarion: Stop playing dumb. The stone you stole from
the Cardinal.



Gafgarion: Seems you've matured a bit. ... Then, I will!

(Antipyretic)

Gafgarion: You're brother, Dycedarg said he'd forgive you!
Come on, wake up!!



Gafgarion: 'Wrong doing'?



Gafgarion: 'Wrong doing', indeed! It's your mission, don't
be such a fool!

Ramza: My brothers are making war for personal reasons!



Gafgarion: You must make 'sacrifices' to accomplish
anything! Without 'sacrifice' there's no progess, no history!
(sic)



Gafgarion: Your brothers are trying to do that! Even if it
means 'wrong doing'!





Gafgarion: You're a Beoulve. You have a given duty! It is
your fate!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Enough chitchat! Well, okay there's more later, because we brought Agrias along. I really don't want to bring along
special characters, but she has a few conversations with both Ramza and Gafgarion that you can't see otherwise, so in
she goes. I haven't touched her at all since she joined (except to learn a skill I told you guys last battle not to learn,
and to give her snazzy bracelet to someone else) so she's about five levels lower than Gafgarion.

But okay! Lets' do a quick tally of why this might be the hardest battle since waaaay back in Dorter Slums:

1) You're outnumbered. Gafgarion brought three Knights (male even!) with him, two Archers, and two Time Mages. By
my math, that's three extra units he has over yours, which is great ambush odds.

2) Your party is split up. It's going to make it harder to focus fire and to heal wounded units initially. This is particularly
rough on group 2, who pretty much are surrounded on all sides.



3) Gafgarion is a tough son of a bitch. He only has about 200-245 HP (and you only need to bring him to critical
status), but you might remember Night Sword? It's going to be dealing about 50-60 damage, while simultaneously
healing Gaf for said amount of damage (and yeah, he pretty much uses it exclusively). His speed of 8 is going to make
him faster than your guys, and his Shield is going to be getting in your way too. His equipment is somewhat random; if
you're lucky (like I am), you can catch him wearing a Silk Robe instead of Gold Armor, which is a 45 hit point reduction
right there. He sometimes wears Battle Boots instead of a Small Mantle as well. His abilities are somewhat random, but
he'll unlikely have anything too useful like Counter.

His Blood Sword is a neat weapon that you might want to steal. It's not that powerful, but it has a HP draining effect
(Remember this handy rhyme for the draining weapons: "Use if they bleed red, avoid if they're undead!" Okay that
wasn't really handy at all). You can get them fairly easily later in the game, so don't stress too much about getting one
now.

4) Time Mages. You know how Haste is great? Well, the pair of Time Mages Gafgarion has brought with him are
extremely likely to know this spell. In addition, there's any number of Time Magic spells (Slow, Don't Move, Stop) that
can really put a cramp in your day. Did I mention Haste? A hasted Gafgarion is incredibly bad news. They're also
inconveniently perched on a high ledge that ensures that getting to them with melee will be difficult.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *





Gafgarion: His name is Ramza Beoulve. One of the Beoulve
family.



Ramza: I never knew about kidnapping the Princess!
I swear it!



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That Agrias. So trusting.



Conventional strategy for this fight is to pile on Gafgarion. I think such an approach is useful with the right party (this
is not the right party), but with your group being split how it is, I think it's more useful to hold off on attacking
Gafgarion until you've taken out a few of the Knights and maybe the Archers.

The Knights, despite being rather boring, are going to be doing almost as much damage with their swords as Gafgarion
is with Night Sword. With your first group practically in arms reach of two of them, it makes more sense to me to focus
on taking them down first. They'll have less HP and evasion than Gaf, and critical status almost as good as removes
them from the battle too (but check to make sure if any of them are packing Item or White Magic before deciding to
leave them barely alive!).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gafgarion: This is ridiculous!





Ramza: I can't ignore people dying for 'justice'! I'll save
princess Ovelia!



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Generally you should deal with the Time Mages last. While they're certainly two of the biggest threats on the field, their
danger comes from them hasting multiple enemy units and bothering your units with Don't Move and Stop. Their actual
damage output is non-existent. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other units looking to put holes into you.

You can help 'deal' with the Time Mages in two ways. The first is to stay way from them. Your second group is kind of
stuck in between two (with a structure they need to move around in front of them), so your goal is to move em quickly
away while they're still buffing their own units. As a bonus, you're likely to draw Gafgarion away (his Night Sword
doesn't have a huge range) which is the last enemy you want getting Haste anyway.

Who you put in what group is of importance in this battle. Long range units should be in group 1, as well any Chemists
or White Mages you might have. Your group two should have either heavy armour units, or units with a good area
attack. The good thing about Haste (if there is one) is that it clumps units together, making them nice targets for Black
and Summon magic.



Ramza being a Bard in this fight was a boon; I got pretty lucky with Cheer Song, giving the rest of my units a compar-
able speed to Gafgarion (and putting them ahead of the other enemies). The best part however was when Jean
knocked one of the Knights to critical. Like any injured unit, this one was going to retreat given time, but I thought
about seeing if Ramza could take him out. Ramza, as a bard, could only do damage as his basic attack.

Now, I don't think I've ever attacked with a Bard before this. Instruments have a very unique (and restrictive) attack
range (see the screenshot!). A big 50 damage was much more than I was expecting from a Bard, and the success rate
was kind of bad but...

A Bard's attack plays the first few notes from the Final Fantasy theme! Even I'm learning new things in this LP. Yeah it
missed. But now I had a mission:

I had to kill someone with the Crystal Theme.



This is as good a segway as any to talk a little bit about some of the music in this game! I just want to say that music
isn't my writing forte, so I encourage everyone to talk about your favorite FFT tracks in the detail so it can get the
treatment I'm incapable of giving it!

Hitosji Sakimoto (left) and Masaharu Iwata (right) were the two guys who composed the music to Final Fantasy
Tactics. Sakimoto you might have heard in such games as Super Back to the Future Part II, Armed Police BatRider, and
Digimon World Data Squad, and my favorite, Bubble Ghost. Iwata has done work for such classics as Battle Ping Pong,
Roboocco Wars and Zoids: Full Metal Crash.

Okay, no seriously. The pair have worked on many games together since the 1988 NEC PC-8801 shooter "Revolter."
They've been responsible for most of the music from the various Ogre Battle games, but also worked together on Final
Fantasy XII's and Odin Sphere's soundtracks. My limited searching indicates that Iwata is now part of Basiscape, a
video game music company that Sakimoto founded. So well, I would imagine that the two often finish each other's
sentences, followed by an awkward apology.

Unlike Final Fantasy VII's music (which was mostly MIDI music), Tactics's music was synthesized to sound orchestral
(i.e. awesome). Rumour has it that Tactic's music is one of the key ingredients in turning lead into gold. Of special note
is the large amount of 'battle themes' that ensure each random fight feels different than the last. Here are three of my
favorite tracks from the game (but note: I love them all):



"Unit Introductions": This is the track that plays if you leave the title screen run a few times. It
makes all the units it plays over seem extremely cool. It helped fool me into thinking Dragons were really good.

"Decisive Battle":Combining the fast, heart racing tempo I love, with drums that make it sound military in nature. The
violins in this piece are amazing.

"Apoplexy": My favorite battle music, it makes any fight against Goblins sound epic.



Gamespite's resident Talking Time Podcast, "Cast at Demonhead" mentioned "Antidote" in the latest podcast. It popped
up in the "Best Game Music Forever THUNDERDOME!!" and lost to Chrono Cross's "On the Beach of Dreams." Antidote is
what I believe plays when a particular character is introduced shortly into chapter 3, a well beloved character who will
never join our party '

*sniff*

(I actually don't really love him as much as everyone else seems to, but I'm getting ahead of myself.)

Also, you might have noticed that I linked a few pieces of music in the post. I'm going to try and make this a regular
feature. At the very least it'll make the long cutscenes a little more interesting.



I mentioned in the last update that I think this battle is one of my favorites in the game, and that has largely to do
with the no-gimmicks nature of this map. Most maps present an optimal strategy for winning, such as using the doors
as choke points in (Cellar of Sand Mouse), presenting a huge elemental weakness (Araguay Woods), or by bringing a
summoner (most of of them). Future maps can be made trivial with particular abilities or the right equipment (in the
case of the battle following this one, both abilities and items!).

This map however, spreads it's numerous enemies out enough that a single summon spell isn't going to win the battle.
Dividing your units hinders buffing, and I believe I mentioned that they have three more units than you do? Few maps
simply say "You're an intense disadvantage. Now deal with it."

Don't get me wrong, I'm no glutton for punishment (and as far as difficulty goes, I would still put the Dorter Slums fight
over this one) but it's in those moments where there's no exploitable weakness that really test a person's skills. Don't
get me wrong; despite only using a single Phoenix Down I got lucky with both Cheer Song and getting a nice target for
Sullivan's magic.



Success! I'm just glad the screenshots present the right amount of goofy.



Battered, but with the enemy ranks down to two Time Mages, Gafgarion, and a heavily injured Knight, we now have a
good opportunity to take Gafgarion out. His CT is low, ensuring that Jean's jump will connect. Our only worry at this
point is that one of those dying archers turning into a crystal right before Gafgarion moves, but with his low CT count
we should be able to get enough damage onto Gafgarion before that can happen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *





Gafgarion: I have no idea what Larg will do after that.

Agrias: Same as you! Larg and Dycedarg are using you,
too! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Don't you have any
pride?









Gafgarion: Retreat for now!!



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hooray for emulator glitches! We'll just pretend that Sullivan burned that guillotine so badly it turned black.

I don't imagine we'll have any trouble mopping up the rest of these punks, so let's get to our next unit introduction!

Samurai

Confession time: I think samurais are cooler than ninjas. I mean in a historical way! Okay, in all ways. Sure there were
bad parts to the whole Samurai caste thing, but I dunno, there's just this huge flavor that samurai's have that Ninjas
don't. Ninjas: Turtles, Naruto, and these brats. samurai: Musashi mother-'uckers! Musashi was so awesome (also: Pizza
Cats).

Anyway, Samurai's are one of FFT's most versatile classes. Their abilities are varied like a Monk's, including the ability
to heal and buff the party, and attack multiple enemies up close or at a long, Earth Slash-esq distance. The downside
is that these abilities require an 'ammunition' of sorts in the form of Katanas. Learning the skill isn't enough, you have to
possess the appropriate Samurai weapon in your inventory as well (not equipped!). This makes Samurai a somewhat
weak choice in the early game, but by the end game you'll have a powerhouse on your hands.

In addition, Samurai's also possess one of the best reaction abilities in the game: Blade Grasp. This beauty of a skill can
make you almost impervious to physical attacks. Whether it's the best reaction ability in the game is debatable, but
here's what Blade Grasp (and a 97 brave, giving a 97% success rate) works on: Attack, Charge (Archers), Jump
(Lancers), Battle Skill (Knights), Steal (all but Steal Heart, Thieves), Throw (Ninjas), and pretty much every basic
monster attack that you figure could be caught (i.e. not 'Braclet' attacks and such). Together with the versatile "Draw
Out" skill, you'll find Samurai to be one of the best classes in the game.

Prerequisite: Lv. 3 Knight, Lv. 4 Monk, Lv. 2 Lancer
Weapon: Katana
Helmet: Armored Helmet
Armor: Armor, Robe

Move: 3
Jump: 4
Physical Evasion Rate: 20%

Abilities to get: Murasame, Heaven's Cloud, Kiyomori, Kikuichimoji, Blade Grasp

Class Skill: Draw Out
Asura Knife: Releases spirit of the katana. An invisible blade slashes the enemy.
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 100
(the weakest Draw Out skill. You really only want it if you're just dabbing in the class or if you start using Samurai
early in the game.)

Koutetsu: Releases spirit of the katana. The cry of the Banshee, released in a brutal wave.
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 180
(Like Asura Knife, only for the early game. PROTIP: Katana's have a 15% chance of breaking when you use the "Draw
Out" skill with them. This makes using the rare katana's dicey!)

Bizen Boat: Releases spirit of the katana. Ghost's whisper causes MP damage.
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 260
(I highly doubt you'll encounter too many situations where draining the enemy for a small amount of MP would be
helpful. Speaking of magic, all 'Draw Out' skills use the MA stat exclusively for calculating the effect... Zodiac
compatibility aside.)

Murasame: Releases spirit of the katana. Released spirit's tears restore HP.
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 340
(Okay the Zodiac is ignored for this one. A wide area heal is pretty nice however!)

Heaven's Cloud: Releases spirit of the katana. Ethereal spirit flows out and attacks (Add: Slow).
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 420
(This is the best all around attack to learn first for two reasons. One, you'll get the sword early in chapter 3 when
you'll likely start using Samurai's. Secondly, the next Samurai attack similar to this is Muramasa, which won't appear
until Chapter 4.)



Kiyomori: Releases spirit of the katana. Spiritual essence engulfs allies in a protective veil (Add: Protect, Shell).
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (ally only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 500
(An awesome opening move. Get this! BTW since Draw Out skills are tied to MA, they actually work best on a Wizard
or likewise. It also makes female Samurai's superior to their male counterparts when using the Samurai's skills.)

Muramasa: Releases spirit of the katana. Vengeful wraiths gradually remove the soul of the enemy (Add: Confusion,
Death Sentence).
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 580
(Replaces Heaven's Cloud as your go-to Draw Out attack. The Death Sentence portion is of course, meh, but the
Confusion is nice.)

Kikuichimoji: Releases spirit of the katana. Vengeful spirit charges the enemy in rage.
Range: Straight line from user. Effect: 8,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 660
(Who doesn't like Earth Slash? Not as powerful as Muramasa however. Still, the only Draw Out attack that does what it
does.)

Masamune: Releases spirit of the katana. Benevolent spirits enhance the strength and agility of allies (Add: Regen,
Haste).
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (ally only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 740
(Even better opener than Kiyomori... but barring either an Item Duplication or Deep Dungeon Ninja shenanigans, you
can only get one in the game... if you're paying attention. Buyer beware, and good luck!)

Chirijiraden: Releases spirit of the katana. Spirits become blue flame and attack living beings.
Range: Auto. Effect: 3,3 (enemy only). CTR: Now. JP Cost: 820
(The strongest Samurai attack, this too is used by a sword that one can acquire ONLY at the end of the game.
Like the Masamune, you're limited to one without some cheating or some sneaky business. You might prefer equipping it
instead.)

Reaction Abilities:
Meatbone Slash: When terminal, give damage in the amount of your max HP (Trigger: Critical).
JP Cost: 200
(Okay, so if an attack brings you to critical health AND the attacker is in range of your weapon, you can counter back
for damage equal to your maximum hp. Powerful? Yes. Awkward to use? Definitely. Stick with Counter or go with Blade
Grasp.)

Blade Grasp: Evade physical attack (Trigger: Physical Attacks, INCLUDING Bow/Crossbow).
JP Cost: 700
(Here's my baby. Blade Grasp is awesome.)

Support Abilities:
Equip Knife: Equip Katana regardless of Job.
JP Cost: 400
(Katana's tend to be somewhat powerful, but really require a high brave of 80 or more to be better than with similar
level weapons like swords and spears. Hard to recommend using this.)

Two Hands: Hold weapon in both hands raising destructive power.
JP Cost: 900
(Essentially doubles a weapon's attack power when using the Attack command, albeit you can't use a shield then.
Usable with Swords, Ninja Swords, Knight Swords, Katanas, Rods, Staves, Hammers, Spears, and Sticks. Very
powerful. Whether you use this or the Ninja's Two Swords depends on a variety of factors, but they're both really
good.)

Move Ability:
Walk on Water: Move or stop over the surface of the water.
JP Cost: 300
(Very niche, therefore not very good.)



Bloody Time Mages stealing my treasures!

That was a lot of ground to cover for one post! I'll be returning to the music again in the future, and look forward to
any discussions about it. I also want to remind everyone to vote for their favorite three monsters if they haven't yet.
I'm expecting to finish Chapter 2 (the deadline) before Christmas. Whether that be Christmas 2009 or 2010 remains to
be seen, but hopefully everybody is used to be erratic updating by now.

There's yet another cutscene that follows this battle, but I'll spare you all another 30 images and tack it onto the
beginning of the next update. We're only two battles away from the end of the chapter folks! As always, your
comments and criticism are welcomed.

I think there's only one appropriate way to end this battle!

See you next time!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bonus Money: 12,200 Gil

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

to be continued...

Battle quotes are so awesome.

I have used a Bard's attack before (harps are decent), but I don't think I ever noticed that.

A large part of what makes Draw Out so awesome is that, like Summon, it differentiates between friend and foe. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Murasame is one of the few ways to heal Worker 8?

You totally need Treants and the Piggies for your monsters.

I like that the numbers stay small in FFT, because it really makes every +1 count.

I want you to run an underground pig fighting tournament where the winner gets to eat the loser, creating a bloodthirsty supersoldier pig that will never be able to live a normal life after the fighting is over in the process.

Maybe the sound effect varies based on what harp is equipped?

Tie that shoelace, Sullivan! Tie the hell out of it!

It always bugged me that samurai don't have innate Two-Hands.

And yeah, harps are awesome as hell.

I never noticed until reading this because it just flows naturally in the cinematic, but isn't it just bizarre that even though this "Princess" is really a Lionel archer he still goes "Any last words?" I'd like to think that Gafgarion is just bored and messing around before the battle starts.

I think my favorite track plays in the Deep Dungeon; it's a different version of "Espionage", the track that plays when you fight Balk (I think). It's titled "NOGIAS" on the ripped .psf sound file but nobody seems to have it on YouTube (I can't tell anyway since I'm at school with no headphones.) The point is: Sakimoto&Iwata + Strings = Yes.

I'd like to think that Gafgarion has forced that archer to stand around for days, with him saying "Any last words?" over and over again until Ramza finally did get his butt over there.

Man is COMMITTED to his ambushes.

- Eddie

Now I feel bad for grinding at Bariaus Valley for several days

Not for The Gaff, but for the poor Archer.

Come back! I promise I won't leave your thread unread again!

It's coming! Something about this time of year is just busy I suppose. But to ease your fears: It's mostly written, and the images are selected. I just need to get enough free time to format the sucker.

- Eddie

I forgot to mention this before, but you should totally have Sissie be a Monk forever because female monks are HOT.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lionel Castle

(Delita's Theme)

(Scene: Princess Ovelia sits, a prisoner in Lionel's dungeon.
As she awaits her fate, Delita tries to sneak a few words to
her...)





Delita: In fact, it should make most people happy. You
won't die. Just eat the food.







Ovelia: So, you're using me, too.



Ovelia: What's that mean?

Delita: It means....

(From behind, the cell door opens, interrupting Delita.
Draclau and an unnamed Knight walk into the room...)







Draclau: If you'd behaved, you wouldn't be here now.







Ovelia: What are you talking about?

(Shock! ~Despair)

Ovelia: No, that's a lie!!

Vormav: It's not a lie. You are not Ovelia.