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

flare vs holy?

The moment everyone has been waiting for:





(That's Tabitha, not Sissie in the picture tho. She'll be into Ninja Punch things next fight.)

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

Yardow Fort City

(Scene: As Ramza travels toward Riovanes Castle, a small
force waits in ambush. There is one hitch in their plan: an
argument between siblings...)

(Run Past Through the Plains)

Rafa: We're not tools. Tools for murder! If we stay there,
we'll be used as tools till we die! Come on, Malak! Let's
escape together!

Malak: Who helped us when we lost our parents in the
war? If Grand Duke hadn't saved us, we'd have starved...
He cares about us... Now you're returning the favor with
vengeance?

Rafa: You've been deceived!



Rafa: Why? To get the family skills only our family knows.
He burned a village to get my Heaven skill and your Hell
skill!









Rafa: You know what he did!



Rafa: I KNOW you know!!

Malak: Don't say anymore! Otherwise, I...

(A Ninja appears from behind the building.)



(More Ninjas and some Summoners appear.)



Rafa: Malak....

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Welcome back! Today's battle might remind you of a fight we had in the middle of Chapter 2, when we met Mustadio
(he has been warming our benches pretty well since then). There are a few differences, some obvious, some not so:

1) The Knights have been replaced with Ninjas, and the Black Mages with Summoners. This makes things a lot more
difficult, particularly because...

2) ...the map is similar, but the terrain gives the advantage to the throw-happy enemy Ninjas. Outside of the slim
entrance inside, you'll require a high jump score to cross the walls.

3) Rafa isn't sticking around to take some shots at the enemy; she'll be retreating to a corner, only fighting when the
opportunity presents itself. You lose the battle if she dies, just like the battle protecting Mustadio.

4) Ninjas are tough!

5) I'm not a Gemini but that's cool.

6) Interestingly, the game seems to fuss with the enemy Zodiac a bit to help ensure Rafa doesn't get curbstomped by
the Ninjas before you can do something about it. One of the Ninjas seems to always be a Gemini, which has bad
compatibility with her Pisces sign.

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Ramza: You're supposed to be waiting at Riovanes Castle!

Malak: That was what Grand Duke said!



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Luckily, Rafa won't require much attention, with the enemy more than happy to focus on killing you instead. The
current items the game will be handing the enemy Ninjas will result in one or more Power Sleeves, ensuring they'll hit
real hard in melee. The Summoners are still going to kick your ass, but you can spread out to minimize THAT damage (if
you're really lucky, they'll sport low Faith values). The Ninjas can easily hit for 150 damage with both their swings, so
buff up. Protect and Golem are awesome here, as are reaction skills like Blade Grasp.

This is one of those fights where the trick is surviving until you can take some of those Ninjas down. Left alone, they're
going to be running all over the battlefield swinging for big numbers, so take them down one at a time.

Blocking the doorway with a high evasion unit is a good idea; despite the Ninja ability to easily jump over moderately
high walls, the enemy will be content to toss shruikens and ninja balls at anyone inside if they can't reach someone in
melee. Rushing inside with multiple units is likely to only provoke some Innate Two Swords action, coupled with two or
more targets eating a Summon spell. Standing in the doorway will usually provoke Malak to get in their way however
(bonus!).

Speaking of Malak, he is the smallest threat to your side. While Malak hits decently hard (no where near that of his
Ninjas) his only other trick is to target several panels, randomly hitting enemies inside the area for damage based off
the target's Faith... or rather, lack of Faith. Explanations about how his "Hell" skill work will come later, but what you
want to take away is that it's not very good, and your low Faith units SHOULD be up front to draw the heat from the
Summoners, Hell Skill be damned.



Malak boasts no special immunities, so nearly everything will work against him (I believe you can even turn him into a
Frog or Chicken). He's got a pretty low Faith however (31!) so you might find sticking him with most status magic very
difficult.

If you're going for crystals, leave him for last. He'll remove himself from the battle as soon as you bring him to critical
status, and given how weak he is compared to his compatriots you might as well prolong his defeat until you can
snatch some goodies. Classes like Ninja often drop great crystals with multiple abilities!

I end up moving Jean in, since his Blade Grasp ability will protect him from any sneaky Ninja sword business (well, half of
it at least; Blade Grasp won't block the second swing). It protects against the Ninja's Throw ability as well, which is
nice. It doesn't stop the Summoners, but you'll have the HP to absorb at least one, probably two.

When you're ready to buff/heal/revive your guys, bait the Ninjas out with one or more of your units. You'll have to
move inside to take the Summoners, but they're a lot less dangerous without their stealthy friends. The chance of
running them out of MP is low, so nail them with a stinging status effect, or rush them with a high movement unit (like
Junk will be doing).

Let's examine a concept we've already talked about in this LP a little further. I feel I need to before I can properly
talk about Oracles and Time Mages!

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





Malak: You just worry about killing Ramza!

Ninja: But, how're you going to explain it to the Grand
Duke?

Malak: I said forget about it!





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Clockticks, and You

While some status effects are semi-permanent (removed either via an item or death), many have a fixed duration that
they last. This duration is measured in the same time unit that skills such as Charge and Jump are measured in:
clockticks.

To recap: A clocktick is a single measure of time in the game. Each clocktick adds a character's speed to their CT
meter, counts down the time until a spell is cast, and also counts down the time until some status effects wear off. It's
how the game determines that handy list of actions that occurs when you press right on the controller when selecting
most abilities, something that would otherwise have to be calculated yourself (and that would be a giant pain in the
ass).

For example, if assume Ramza has a speed of 8, he requires 13 clockticks to reach "100 CT" (and get another turn...
extra CT are carried over, so Ramza effectively has 104 CT). If Ramza casts Protect on himself, it will take 4 clockticks
to successfully cast. Once successfully cast, it will remain for 32 more clockticks. You could chart the entire duration
of this like so (assume "CT = 0" indicates that he's taken his turn):

0 clockticks: Ramza starts casting Protect, and moves (Ramza CT = 0)
4 clockticks: Ramza gains Protect Status (Ramza CT = 32)
13 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn, acts and moves (Ramza CT = 4)
25 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn, acts and moves (Ramza CT = 0)
36 clockticks: Protect Status wears off Ramza (Ramza CT = 88)
38 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn, acts and moves (Ramza CT = 4)

Imagine every character doing stuff, and plotting it all like that and you can maybe get an idea of how amazing the
ability to peak at the turn order list is.

Somethings can play with clockticks, such as Haste (CT is increased by Speed * 3/2 every clocktick), and Short
Charge (which would reduce the time to cast a spell like Protect to 2 clockticks). Quick sets CT immediately to 100,
effectively jumping the clocktick queue (not exactly, but for simpliation purposes that's what it does).

One way to reduce clockticks is to not use your entire turn to act:

If a unit acts AND moves, CT will be reduced by 100.
If a unit acts OR moves, and then waits, CT will be reduced by 80
If a unit neither acts OR moves, CT will be reduced by 60

The above Ramza CT example assumed Ramza (with a Speed of 8) both acted AND moved each turn. Assuming he only
acted to cast Protect and waited the rest of the time, his clocktick history would look like this:

0 clockticks: Ramza starts casting Protect and waits (Ramza CT = 20)
4 clockticks: Ramza gains Protect Status (Ramza CT = 52)
10 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn and waits (Ramza CT = 40)
18 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn and moves (Ramza CT = 24)
28 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn, acts and waits (Ramza CT = 24)
36 clockticks: Protect Status wears off Ramza (Ramza CT = 68)
38 clockticks: Ramza gains another turn, acts and moves (Ramza CT = 4)

We'll tie this into Status Effects in more detail next update!

Time to revisit another class!

Lancers

"Dragoons" are functionally very similar to Knights, wearing the same armour + shields, and having similar stats. There
are a few differences that makes Lancers a little better (4 base Jump instead of the Knight's 3 base Jump, slightly
better evasion with +15% from the front instead of +10%) and a small difference that makes Lancers slightly worse
than Knights (worse MP and MA multipliers result in being one of the worst classes for using magic).

The biggest difference is in the choice of weapons; Lancers use Spears (with a two panel range attack) while Knights
use swords (regular or Knight). Declaring a winner here can be difficult; Spears are often hit harder than regular
swords, but Knight Swords are more powerful AND have static buffs. The one edge that Spears have is their synergy
with the Jump ability, which lets them do 50% more damage while using it.

Speaking about the Jump ability, the game programmers went to great lengths to nerf it's potential power. Abilities such
as Attack Up and even Martial Arts do NOT work with it. In addition, the Samurai's "Two Hands" ability does not
increase the damage Jump does at all! Short Charge and Haste have no effect on how quickly Jump is executed. The
only way to 'boost' Jump's damage is via a higher PA or a better damaging weapon. The only way to have "Jump"
executed faster is to boost the Lancer's speed.



So you've got to look at the benefits to Jump:

1) It cannot be evaded (but it can be Blade Grasp'd) and ignores any element associated with the weapon you're using.

2) It does damage equal to PA * Weapon Power regardless of the weapon used. Weapons such as Hammers and Flails
(which do somewhat random damage) and guns (which don't use PA in their damage equation at all) all follow the PA *
WP formula.

3) While in the air your unit cannot be targeted by any effects! Mind you, units can still target the panels where you'll
land...

4) Units cannot move onto a square that a Lancer has originally jumped from. This can potentially set up some quirky
'safe zones' for units with a ranged attack.

5) While Jump isn't sped up by Haste, the Lancer will land with more CT if he is Hasted before he jumps. Lancers are
effectively safe between the Clockticks from the Lancer's CT = 0 to CT = 50 (since during this period the Lancer will be
airborne). With Haste, the Lancer will land with ~ CT = 75! Paired with not moving before Jumping (easily accomplished
given the range for Jumping) and you can create a large deadzone where the Lancer is effectively immune to damage
(Ct 20 - 95!)!

6) It's an EXTREMELY long range attack! A Lancer who has grabbed Level Jump8 and Vertical Jump8 has the effective
range of a gun, which is nothing to scoff at.

Another way to look at it is that despite the strength of Knight Swords over Spears, Knight Swords are (mostly)
difficult to obtain, and Jump is a better skill overall than Battle Skill (despite it's singular purpose). Also, if you want to
judge a unit's effectiveness off of how strong their weapons are, then it's important to note that the second most
powerful weapon in the game is in fact, a Spear (and available much earlier than the most powerful weapon, albeit more
difficult to obtain). Thus despite the classes short comings, it can still fill the important "I need to use this weapon!"
niche.



Secondary Skills
Item (Chemist): Given that the only thing Lancers are kind of capable of on their own is dealing damage, giving a beefy
unit the ability to heal is a pretty good idea. I really can't praise Item enough, it fits everywhere!

Battle Skill (Knight): Since Lancers have a poor MA, using skills such as this one which ignores MA entirely (but takes
advantage of the Lancer's high PA and weapon power) makes sense.

Time Magic (Time Mage): Poor MA and MP or not, Haste is still a powerful ability to have on any unit. While Haste
doesn't affect the speed of Jump, it will allow the Lancer to land with more CT (see above).


Reaction Skills
Counter (Monk): You've already got a strong attack, why not use it to stab some skulls?

Abandon (Ninja): Since Lancer's are one of the few classes that can use Shields, they can benefit from the immense
evasion provided just like a Knight can.

Speed Save (Archer): Fantastic with Jump, particularly if you can 'buff' your Lancer with a few errant hits at the start
of a battle.


Support Skills
Attack UP (Geomancer): the Lancer class suffers from not having any particular synergies betwene Jump and Support
Skills. Attack UP at least boosts the Lancer's regular attack. You can use Two Hands here as well (for an attack that is
actually MORE powerful than Jump) but keep in mind that you'd lose the ability to use a Shield that way.

Defense UP (Oracle): Might as well take 1/3rd less damage while your grounded, right? Magic DefendUP (Priest) is
another option here.

Throw Item (Chemist): Used with the Item skill of course. An excellent pairing with a Lancer given their Support
weaknesses.


Movement Skills
Move +2/+3/Teleport (Thief/Bard/Time Mage): Blah blah

Move-HP Up (Monk): blah bla-- whaa? Yes, this isn't necessarily optimal, but think about it: the Lancer has an
EXTREME ranged attack with a range of 8. This makes some of the more unique Movement skills more attractive, since
in many maps a Lancer can effectively stand wherever they want to pounce on an enemy. Thus, skills such as this one
are practically free for the taking... why use Move +2 if you don't need to?



Equipment

Everything that applies to fancying up a Knight more or less applies to a Lancer (they wear the same threads). Armor
and Helmets don't come with bonus stats like Robes and Clothes do, so equip the highest HP stuff you can find.

Accessories are a little trickier; you can skip movement boosting ones like Germinas Boots. Gauntlets (for the +3 PA
they provide) are always welcome, and recommended over Sprint Shoes (+1 Speed) despite them making it easier to
leap on people. Mantles are great too, if you feel your damage output is sufficient (or are using Abandon).



Lancer Builds'

The "Iron" Dragon

Secondary Skill: Item
Reaction Skill: Abandon
Support Skill: Magic DefendUP
Movement Skill: Move-HP UP

Weapon: Oberisk
Shield: Aegis Shield
Head: Crystal Helmet
Body: Crystal Mail
Accessory: Feather Mantle

You've seen this before with the Knight, and it works even better as a Lancer due to their better movement and ranged
attack. Differences are throwing Item on instead of Punch Art (which isn't as good on a Lancer), and favouring Magic
DefendUP over it's Defense UP counterpart.


The "Great Wyrm" Dragoon

Secondary Skill: Time Magic
Reaction Skill: Speed Save
Support Skill: Two Hands
Movement Skill: Move-HP UP

Weapon: Oberisk
Head: Crystal Helmet
Body: Crystal Mail
Accessory: Gauntlet (+3 PA)

The theory here is that you buff yourself up with Haste, then land great blows, either via Jump (aided by that phat +3
PA bonus) or by simply spearing dudes that get too close. Haste improves Speed Save's effect, letting you Jump
quicker AND get more turns for Move-HP UP. Otherwise you use your Two Hands'd spear of choice to mess guys up. A
unit like this can be a real powerhouse. Another good option is to replace Two Hands with Defense UP, if you'd rather
just jump everywhere.



I got lucky on some of those crystals; Junk picking up Steal Shield and Steal Heart is a real treat! The Summoners left
nothing of note sadly. Also sadly, this update has come to an end! I got really worried there, wondering if maybe Malak
could ruin my day by knocking Rafa out, but he was too focused on hurting my own guys.

We still need some representatives for our Dryad and Uribo friends. Are ZOIDBERG and Behemoth going to cruise into
the finals unopposed? Well, if that's what you guys want!

See you next time!

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Ramza: If they return, we're in trouble. Let's hide!

Bonus Money: 15,300 Gil
War Trophies: 2000 Gil, Yagyu Darkness, Holy Water

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

(Scene: Ramza and Rafa retreat to the confines of an old
warehouse. Rafa requires assistance, and Ramza requires
information.)

(Ramza's Theme)

Rafa: They call him 'Weapon King' for making strong
weapons and training many wizards.

Ramza: There is one who incites the Grand Duke that is of
the royal family.



Rafa: I think I know why. But nobody'll thank you for
beating him.

Ramza: I'm not fighting for thanks.



Rafa: You can't ignore injustice or evil in front of you.



Ramza: But what're you going to do? I must go to
Riovanes to save Alma. But you barely escaped from
there, right?



Ramza: Why are you two fighting?

(Rafa pauses.)

Rafa: We're Fifty Year War oprhans.



Rafa: That's when Barinten saved us. I believed in God
then.

Ramza: Barinten built orphanages for the war orphans.
But, he provided training to 'gifted' children to be
professional assassins...



Rafa: My Heaven skill and my brother's Hell skill. These two
skills differ from magic... Barinten wanted them. But the
family elder refused him. So he burned the village. He
decided if he couldn't have them, he'd erase them from this
world. He probably was excited when he found us among the
orphans.

Ramza: You tried to escape when you found out the truth.

(Rafa pauses.)



Rafa: But even then...

Ramza: ......

(Both pause.)

(Anxiety Before the Battle)

Voice of Malak: Or your sister will be dead!

Ramza: If you touch Alma, I'll show no mercy!

Voice of Malak: Rafa, you're coming, too!



Rafa: It's not fair! They have nothing to do with us!

Voice of Malak: This is not a warning... it's an order!!



(The remains of the frog leave a small charred crater.)

Rafa: Let's go, Ramza!





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To be continued...

It's hard to put my appreciation for this LP into words. Thanks, Eddie.

If I recall correctly, Rafa and Malak have some bizarre spell quotes, and that's saying something. Little touches like the spell quotes and the incredibly detailed sprite work (see Malak slapping Rafa in this very battle) are, in my opinion, a large part of what makes this game so great.

Life is short...Bury! Steady Sword!

Malak would have been so much better if his in-game power had to do with exploding frogs.

Yeah, I had completely forgotten about the frog-message that will self-destruct in ten seconds. That's pretty rad.

Frogs bursting into flame has some precedence by Final Fantasy Tactics.

- Eddie

Welcome back!

Stores are now selling Bracers (+3 PA) for an arm and a leg (well, I guess just an arm). These are golden for anyone
who uses PA, so pick up a few if you can afford the 50,000 gil price tag. We'll be giving this one to Sissie for some fun.



Here we go! Many probably saw this coming, but here's where Ramza is: holding the strongest "stick" currently
available, with both hands.

This will be pretty awesome.



(The ninja in front is Sissie, the ninja in back is Tabitha. We'll hopefully move Sissie out of Ninja once she learns Two
Swords so it doesn't look so confusing in screenshots.)

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Yuguo Woods

(Scene: on the way to rescue Rafa, Ramza is forced to go
through Yuguo Woods. The dead have risen tonight...)

(Night Attack)

Rafa: Return to the future life once again with your
affection left in this life!!

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

This will be a short update, because this fight is really easy.

This map pits you against two Time Mages, two Wizards, and a trio of Ghost monsters of each type. The thing that
makes this map somewhat unique is that the enemy units that have classes (the Mages) are all considered Undead.
They have a small list of immunities (no Invite'ing them, and you can't Charm them either) and otherwise they have a
few innate skills that Mages don't have, such as Auto-Float and Monster Skill (so the Ghost enemies will get an extra
attack if they're next to them). There's a few other differences (more Speed and HP) but otherwise they're pretty
standard.

Being Undead however, also has the downside of making them vulnerable to healing, such as this X-Potion that Tabitha
is chucking at her. They don't have the Fire and Holy Weakness regular undead do, but despite their boosted HP you
won't need to resort to those spells anyway.



Another thing they're extremely vulnerable to is being punched. This would be Sissie, and for those who don't know how
Two Swords works, that is the damage for ONE fist. Yeah, Sissie would be doing 982 damage to this Time Mage, almost
five times this Time Mage's maximum HP.

Okay, Sissie isn't REALLY that crazy: this Time Mage is charging a spell, so is taking 50% more damage. Sissie's regular
damage will be a lot lower... and there's some Zodiac Compatibility that's boosting it too (by 25%). Still, Sissie can
expect 273 damage per fist for your average unit, which still adds up to over 500 damage. Well done kunoichi!

Yup. There you go Two Sword-Martial Arts lovers. Your time has come.



Let's not forget about Ramza, who is seen here swinging for almost 500 damage. Again, we've got some charging and
Zodiac shenanigans. His average swing is 260 damage... which is pretty damn impressive for a 'magic' using class. The
secret to this is the formula used in determining rod weapon damage : Weapon Power times MA! By boosting Ramza's
MA (easy with available equipment; +5 MA from that) and Weapon Power (doubled via the Samurai's Two Hands) you've
got yourself a soup that eats like a meal. Or hits like one?

(I'm not very good with similes and metaphors.)

Only Oracles, Calculators, Rafa and Malak (in their base classes) can use "sticks" naturally. Of them, only Oracles get
any sort of a MA boost (Calculators get a MA minus!) so you can really only using this strategy with them.

Staves are another alternative, as they use the same MA * WP formula as rods, and more classes can use them.
Unfortunately, staff weapon power sucks. The STRONGEST staff's MA is only a single point higher than a Cypress Rod,
the absolute lowest level of Stick you can get. Your two options generally are either Wizard Staffs (which boost MA by
+1; Two Swords them to get +2 MA) or Gold Staffs (which have a straight weapon power of 6... compare that to the
Gokuu Rod's 10!). On the other hand, swinging two sticks is pretty much as sweet as swinging two of any other
weapon you can Two Swords. Two Swords is just naturally pretty cool.

We'll likely not do this with Ramza, which may make seem like getting Two Swords kind of wasteful, but don't worry,
we'll use it eventually.



The Wizards are the only real threats on the battlefield (as usual) but the terrain is somewhat against them. There's
nothing really standing between you and them, and the various Ghosts are so weak that you can pretty much save
them for last (pro tip: an X-Potion will likely one-shot any of them).

There's no reason to prolong this fight longer than necessary, except for JP gaining reasons. Undead still have a 50%
coming back from the dead when their counter reaches zero with a random amount of HP, which is annoying (not
dangerous) but more importantly even though these Hellish Wizards and Time Mages can drop crystals, it's impossible to
learn any skills from them! Like all crystals, you can only learn skills from classes you can become, and these phantom
units are all in semi-unique classes that you can't access without a Gameshark (probably).

While we slaughter the undead, let's continue our talk about time units by adding something new: status effects!!

Status Effects and Time Units

Waaaaaay back in September 09' (it seems like so long ago!) one of this LP's readers, ThricebornPhoenix, criticized me
for a comment I made suggesting that one should be using Paralyze over Silence Song on enemy mages, due to
Paralyze having a slightly higher success rate. He noted the difference in how long Silence Song lasts over Paralyze...
which is to say "Silence" NEVER wears off naturally, while "Don't Act" does.

He is correct. In fact, if your whole goal is to simple stop a unit form using magic, than Silence Song is a better choice
for taking less time to cast too! I could think up some scenarios where Paralyze would be more advantageous (against
a mage with Item skill or against someone like our Ramza for instance) but the fact remains that such instances are
probably few and far between (i.e. Item skill with Echo Screen learned) and sometimes impossible (I'm not even sure it's
possible for the game to naturally generate an Oracle with Two Hands).

The nugget here to take away is that sometimes duration matters. The duration of all status effects are based on
clockticks, and this length cannot change. Neither Haste nor Slow can affect their duration (although effects like Regen
and Death Sentence are ultimately strengthened/weakened by those effects), nor can any ability in the game. Of
course, knowing this information isn't necessarily useful, but it IS interesting and can better help someone understand
how good a spell actually is. This duration is never listed in game anywhere, but you can figure it out yourself through
testing. A list of which is produced below, because testing things is boring. Full explanations of each status effect will
be provided in a future update:



Status Effects with variable lengths:

Charging: Varies based on the skill used.
Chicken: Lasts until the unit's Brave reaches 10 or more.
Death Sentence: Lasts until the unit takes three turns.
Defending: Lasts until the unit's next turn occurs, or by becoming Berserked.
Performing: Lasts until canceled during a unit's turn, or when the unit becomes Berserked.

Status Effects that have no determined length (barring death and particular actions):

Berserk: Lasts until cured.
Confusion: Lasts until the unit is damaged.
Darkness: Lasts until cured.
Float: Via the Time Mage skill "Float" and various items.
Frog: Lasts until cured.
Morbol: ???
Oil: Lasts until hit with a fire-elemental attack.
Petrify: Lasts until cured.
Reraise: Lasts until the unit is killed.
Silence: Lasts until cured.
Transparent: Lasts until a unit takes an action.
Undead: Lasts until cured.

Status Effects that last a limited time (in order of least to greatest amount of time):

Stop: 20 Clockticks.
Don't Act: 24 Clockticks.
Don't Move: 24 Clockticks.
Slow: 24 Clockticks.
Charm: 32 Clockticks.
Faith: 32 Clockticks.
Haste: 32 Clockticks.
Innocent: 32 Clockticks.
Protect: 32 Clockticks.
Reflect: 32 Clockticks.
Shell: 32 Clockticks.
Poison: 36 Clockticks.
Regen: 36 Clockticks.
Sleep: 60 Clockticks.

Time Mages and Oracles

Both of these classes play somewhat similarly, the biggest difference being a Time Mage's MA (second highest in the
game!) and the Oracles more beefy attack due to the ability to use sticks. This isn't to downplay an Oracles MA, since
it's still very respectable (Other than Wizard, Time Mages, and Summoners it comes out ahead of every other class MA
wise), but as described above for Ramza, sticks give the class a very strong attack you can capitalize on.

Time Mages have only a few abilities that are particularly noteworthy, mainly Haste. Haste IS incredible however, and
makes any unit that gets it flat out better, always. Their spells otherwise are very similar to Oracles, who get some
fairly comparable abilities, but with a little more variety (I should have put Foxbird on the 'abilities to get' list since it's
very solid). Ultimately, they're both great (but not generally flashy, Meteor aside) classes whose abilities pair well with
other magic users.



Secondary Skills
Black Magic/Summon Magic (Wizard/Summoner): You generally gain more MA or MP coming from Wizard or Summoner,
but both Time Mages and Oracles have solid MA stats themselves, so can put both these skill sets to good use. If you're
boosting HP instead of MA via items, the Summoner's Golem skill becomes a lot better.

Draw Out (Samurai): Very good on Time Mages, particularly since you can Haste yourself beforehand.

Item/White Magic (Chemist/Priest): Always good to have multiple people who an heal of course.

Reaction Skills
Blade Grasp (Samurai): Immunity to pesky arrows and many units that want to get in melee with your mage!

Auto Potion (Chemist): an ol' stalwart.

Sunken State (Ninja): I'm not usually a fan, but if you've built an Oracle that likes to get up close and personal, the
ability to retreat or cast a Life Drain while fleeing is nice.

Support Skills
Two Hands (Samurai): Outlined already. Great for Oracles who are using sticks and boosting their MA.

Defense UP (Oracle): Perma-'protect' status is always useful.

Magic AttackUP (Wizard): For those looking to boost their magic success rate a little. Best paired with Black, White or
Summon Magic. This skill has no effect on the damage sticks do!

Short Charge (Time Mage): very excellent for Time Mages with a lot of MP or for countering enemy mages with status
effect spells.



Equipment

As mentioned before waaay back when (Battle 8 to be precise), and repeated recently (Battle 23), MA has a small
effect on the chance of a status effect spell (those that use the formula (MA + Constant) rather than (MA *
Constant)) succeeding. You can therefore go two ways with both classes; either boosting their MA via items, or making
them more survivable by equipping the best HP items you can obtain.

Time Mages should stick with a Wizard Staff (+1 MA), while Oracles have a bit more variety. They can equip Wizard
Rods (+2 MA) or Octagon Rods (12 Attack Power), depending on the unit's focus. Flash Hats are the best generally (+1
Speed, +1 MA) although right at the end of the game you might find more use out of a Thief Hat (+2 Speed) despite
the small loss in MA and MP (as a bonus, it prevents Don't Move and Don't Act as well!). Time Mages will generally want
Wizard Robes (+2 MA) but Light Robes (+75 HP/+50 MP) are good too if you're not so worried about your MA. Black
Costumes (+100 HP) should generally only be used if MP isn't a problem. Black Robes are great if you've decided to pair
your magic user with Black or Summon Magic, but 108 Gems might do you well instead. Consider Sprint Shoes (+1
Speed) for Time Mages.



Time Mage and Oracle Builds

"Fast as Fast as Can Be" Time Mage

Secondary Ability: Item
Reaction Ability: Blade Grasp
Support Ability: Half of MP
Movement Ability: Teleport

Weapon: Wizard Staff (+1 MA)
Head: Thief Hat (+2 Speed)
Body: Light Robe
Accessory: Sprint Shoes (+1 Speed)

The idea behind this build is to capitalize on the "Quick" spell. MA doesn't matter here, as Quick is very likely to hit as
long as both the Time Mage and target have high Faith values. The boosted Speed (particularly along with Haste)
ensures the Time Mage acts often, letting him or her Quick the best unit available. Use Teleport to move in range of a
target that has just taken its turn, and let them have another one! If you find MP isn't an issue (you probably will), go
with Short Charge.


The "I'm so good with a bo staff they call me Donatello" Oracle Build

Secondary Ability: Draw Out
Reaction Ability: Blade Grasp
Support Ability: Two Hands
Movement Ability: Move +2/+3

Weapon: Octagon Rod
Head: Flash Hat (+1 Speed, +1 MA)
Body: Wizard Robe (+2 MA)
Accessory: Magic Gauntlet (+2 MA)

Draw Out gives you an instant Protect/Shell move (Kiyomori), while the rest simply bump your MA up to deliver big hits
with an Octagon Rod. With 14 MA (Not hard, our Ramza right now has 13 and is only level 25), an Octagon Rod will hit
for over 300 damage! Not bad for a pencil pusher!



To give you an idea how short this battle was, I normally take ~200 screenshots per battle of everything, to try and
get the best/most interesting pictures I can find. This fight I took ~ 60.

It's all a breather battle, for the end of the chapter. We've got a trio of fights coming up that are often considered the
most difficult in the game to deal with, Grog Hill Monk fight aside.

Those playing along at home: make a backup save! I suspect most of you already know this fight was coming up, but
there won't be any opportunity to gain levels/JP once you enter the next fight, so making sure you have a backdoor to
fall back on is important.

For now we're storming us a castle! See you next time!

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

Bonus Money: 18,600 Gil
War Trophies: Phoenix Down, Phoenix Down

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

to be continued...

The first time I played through this game, a couple of years ago, man... I was doing it without spoiling myself on what the game's fights would be like. It's fortunate for me that I did keep backup saves, because otherwise I'd never have beaten the next series of battles.

I had to go back and grind JP multiple times. My eventual winning tactic was to just make everyone a Wizard and torch Velius with repeated Flares before he could kill me.

Looking forward to it!

OMINOUS!

Indeed! Every time I go through it, expecting an easy fight against Undeads, I end up getting my butt kicked unless I bring Mustadio (or Balthier) and his Seal Evil skill. What IS it with this place?

Man I totally forgot to write about Mustadio and this fight!

Mustadio rocks especially hard on this fight.

- Eddie

I used Mustadio in this fight!

He does indeed rock hard.

You can talk it down with good luck concerning compatibility, but that ninja just did like a thousand straight-up damage with her fists. That shit is off the hook.

Last time I fought the upcoming boss, instead of screwing around with stat-boosting techniques I just walked up to his face and blasted him. Ninjas FTW!

Actually, using a Zodiac-compatible two-swords monk is the best way to win that fight, for reasons which were just outlined in this update. You can do it without grinding, too.

In fact, in my no-grinding game, the chokepoint was finally the very next to last (or maybe the one before that?) battle. The huge combination of ranged attacks, vicious all-out murder, and divide-and-conquer you have to do there finally did me in. I'm looking forward to reading all of the details of that fight when we get to it in 2015. I kid! You're keeping a pretty good pace with these.

I think Altima would be impossible. Most other zodiac demons too.

Actually quite a few SSCC challenges have been documented here, including Priest and Wizard.

Granted the two document a LOT of resetting... but it appears both games are possible (with a lot of luck).

- Eddie

I see, keep Alma alive for MBarrier and Altima will waste turns dispelling it.

My Wizards were level 35 or so when I finished the normal SCC, 99 makes a huge difference in speed I guess.

Wow, I caught up to this one before it got past where I gave up. I believe I got into Chapter 4, but can't remember why I stopped exactly. I do remember what I did to get past the end of Ch. 3 though. Tried picking it up again a couple years ago, but never got going when things started getting real in battle 4.

Hey, I've finally surpassed Captain Capitalism's LP on this game. That's kind of a shame, but I can understand how long this game can be to LP. I've been lucky I've had the time to work on this LP a lot the last couple of months.

I'm hoping to give a good update this week. I've completed the next battle, and did all the necessary testing for the one following it. I'm thinking Battle 31 will follow a much different format than the rest of my LP, for strategy discussion purposes. It should be a treat, assuming I can get the video recording/editing stuff down.

Thanks for your continued support guys!

- Eddie

I had a good feeling.

The stars were with us from the outset.

This is the way!

We're entering a series of three battles to end the chapter, with no 'overworld map' breaks in between. It's important
to stock up on whatever you think you might need. If your Ramza has learned Auto-Potion, you might consider selling
any Potion or Hi-Potions you have; trust me. You can buy Wizard Rods (+2 MA) and Kiyomoris (Draw Out: Protect and
Shell) now, so grab some of each.

And save it darnit! You'll want an out, just in case.

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

Riovanes Castle

(Scene: Weigraf and Vormav meet with Grand Duke
Barinten, who has called them here to propose a deal. He
has discovered the Temple Knights plans, and wishes to
have a piece of their action...)

(Saint Ajora's Theme)

Barinten: It looks a little spartan compared to Lesalia
Castle but I like it... This castle's built for war. It's far more
beautiful than one built for government. Ivalice has always
been rules by men with 'power'. This war proved the royal
family lost the 'power'.



(Bariten pauses.)





Vormov: What do you mean?

Barinten: As I said, men with 'power' rule Ivalice. So, who
has the "power"? Prince Larg of Hokuten? Or Prince Goltana
of Nanten?



Vormov: !!

Barinten: Holy Stones have great magical power.
According to ancient legend, a natural disaster in Murond
was caused by its power.....

Vormov: Ha, ha, ha...... Well, excuse me.



Barinten: That's strange... They say Draclau of Lionel died
from problems with the stone.



Barinten: Why chase him as a 'heretic'?

Vormov: We don't question decisions by Heresy Examiners.



Bariten: But you may change your mind after seeing this...
Call Malak!!

(Malak enters with a prisoner: Vormov's son Izlude.)



(Izlude meekly moves and stands next to his father.)





(Vormov moves closer to Izlude.)

Vormov: Moron!!



(As Izlude kneels on the floor, A Knight comes into the
room.)



Barinten: Malak, I'll let you take care of him.

(Malak and the Knight exit the room.)

(Barinten relaxes back into his chair.)

Barinten: As I said before, we want to help you, too.

Vormov: What if I refuse?



Barinten: Larg, Goltana, and the senate ought to be
interested...

(Vormov pauses.)



(Vormov pauses again.)

Vormov: Wiegraf, go after the wizard. I'll take care of
here.

(Barinten jumps out of his seat as Wiegraf moves towards
the door.)



Vormov: Odds?

(The room darkens.)

Vormov: Don't underestimate us. Killing you is easy....

Barinten: Are you opposing me!?

Vormov: Want to fight...?

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

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

At the gate of Riovanes Castle

(Scene: Ramza and Rafa approach the gates of Riovanes,
each hoping to save their sibling. The danger awaiting
them is greater than they could ever imagine...)

(Antipyretic)

Malak: You'll be chased by your ex-allies and killed. Even if
you escape, you'll live your life frightened. I'd never want
to live like that! But Grand Duke promised to free us after
this job!

Rafa: Do you believe him? You know he's lying! If we don't
escape now, we'll be his slaves for life!

Malak: I trust him!



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

Oh Malak, how the mighty have fallen.

No seriously, you come at us the first time with a strong group of Ninjas and Summoners, and now you're throwing...
Knights and Archers against us?

The only threat on this map (if you can call it that) is the high concentration of Archers on top. They tend to be
wearing Power Sleeves for an extra +2 PA, which makes them a little more threatening (but not too threatening). The
Knights still hit as hard as ever, but they're very spread out, allowing you to deal with them one at a time. Either rush
the Archers up top, or stay back and pick off the Knights. Either way this is a pretty easy battle! Protect and Golem
are of course all-stars here since nearly all the incoming damage is physical in nature.

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





Malak: Just hand me the 'Germonik Scriptures' and I'll save
you!

Rafa: Ramza, don't believe him!



Rafa: Whatever you do don't give the scriptures to him!
Your sister'll be safe only as long as you have the book!

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

Put a high evasion or high HP unit in group 1 with Ramza, so they can survive the Archer onslaught. Otherwise, you can
safely move group 2 east to meet up with group 1 and storm the castle. The Knight on the far left will take ages to
reach you. The floating Knight is cute, but not particularly dangerous. Malak still has no new tricks, and will teleport out
(along with Rafa) when he gets to critical or lower health. Save him for last if you want to scoop up crystals, but
otherwise feel free to punch him out.

This battle is otherwise unremarkable, so let's get right into re-looking at another tow classes. This time we're playing
with firearms!

Chemist and Mediator Advanced Tactics

These two classes share one very good thing in common: they can both naturally use guns. It is perhaps weird to think
of a class based around a particular weapon rather than their skill set, but guns offer incredible range and accuracy.
Their damage is somewhat fixed, meaning that you can't raise or lower it by increasing either your PA or MA, but on the
other hand guns can't be evaded (short of Blade Grasp). And did I mention the range? A range of 8 allows you to shoot
things on the other side of the battlefield with ease!

But okay, yeah they have some skills too. I've drowned on an on about the Chemist's Item skill being awesome, but I'll
repeat myself: they give very reliable healing of both HP, MP, and Status Ailments free from Brave or Faith values,
instantly. Their weakness is healing multiple targets at once (or rather, it's impossible for a Chemist). Mediators on the
other hand have a weaker skill set but have the ability to permanently alter Brave and Faith values, which is very
powerful in the long run (look at Tabitha and Sullivan's amazing Faith for a good example).

One cool trick using the weakest gun (a Romanda Gun): your damage will be a pretty consistent 36, barring Zodiac
compatibility. Find someone with bad or worst compatibility with your Mediator/Chemist, and give that person Speed
Save. Now you can raise their speed from across the battlefield for a mere 18 or 24 damage. Not bad!



Secondary Skills
Battle Skill (Knight): if Battle Skill is (somewhat) useful when facing Archers, then the ability to use it while sniping with
a gun is even better! The one trade-off is that Battle Skill relies on weapon power, something more guns lack... unless
they were magical guns of course...

Time Magic (Time Mage): Chemist and Mediator MA tends to be rather middling, so give them magic they can rock at a
distance. That magic is of course Haste.

Sing/Dance (Bard/Dancer): If plinking away for damage isn't your thing, then try adding a bit of bounce to a Chemist or
Mediator's step!


Reaction Skills
Speed Save (Archer): You're not likely to take too much damage as a ranged damage dealer, but extra speed is useful
both for item chucking' and stat raising'.

MP Switch (Time Magic): You're not using much MP anyway, might as well save it for an emergency. Chemists can also
use a simple Ether on themselves to ensure they can (Brave % of the time) survive another hit as well.

Support Skills
Attack UP/Magic AttackUP (Geomancer/Wizard): You can't Two Swords guns (sadly) nor Two Hands them for extra
damage. The only way to boost their output then is to use one of these skills. Attack UP is for non-magical, while
Magic AttackUP is for the rarer magical ones you can find. There are few support abilities that really work with
Chemists, so this is actually an attractive option.

Defense UP/ Magic DefendUP (Oracle/Priest): Instead of dealing more damage, maybe you consider taking less is a good
idea, particularly if you're using Speed Save.


Movement Skills
Move-Find Item (Chemist): Of all the classes, those that can use guns are best suited for running around the map to
find items. I'd use a guide tho, stopping on every square to check for a Phoenix Down is a pain.

Move-MP UP (Oracle): This trick worked with Wizards when paired with MP Switch, and it'll work just as well too,
particularly for Mediators that are looking to get up close and Threaten'ing.



Equipment

There are only two guns available through shops (Romanda and Mythril), with the magic guns available through theft in
Chapter 4 or through the secret dungeon. There are three magical guns, one that shoots fire, one ice, and one
lightning, and you'll want one of each. They're easy to get if you're paying attention.

Otherwise you're looking for speed and HP from your equipment. Green Berets (+1 Speed) become Flash Hats (+1
Speed, +1 MA) and finish with Thief Hats (+2 Speed). Go with whatever armour offers the highest HP, as the various
armours that offer +PA bonuses are worthless for any Chemist who is using a gun. Go for Sprint Shoes (+1 Speed) or
Germanis Boots (+1 Move and +1 Jump) for an accessory.



The "Fast-Acting Pain-Relief" Chemist

Secondary Ability: Time Magic
Reaction Ability: Speed Save
Support Ability: Defense UP
Movement Ability: Move +2/+3

Weapon: Mithril Gun
Head: Thief Hat (+2 Speed)
Body: Black Costume (+100 HP)
Accessory: Sprint Shoes (+1 Speed)

Give a Chemist like this the biggest and best gun you can get, and spend your time just behind your front lines tossing
medicine around. Time Magic of course allows Haste, but Battle Skill can also be pretty effective as well.


The "Preaching to the Choir" Mediator

Secondary Ability: Time Magic
Reaction Ability: Speed Save
Support Ability: Defense UP
Movement Ability: Move-HP Up

Weapon: Romanda Gun
Head: Thief Hat (+2 Speed)
Body: Wizard Robe (+2 MA)
Accessory: Sprint Shoes (+1 Speed)

Okay, very similar to the Chemist above, but with two differences. One, you have a Romanda gun for shooting other
people with Speed Save; you can replace with whatever gun you can get your hands on otherwise. Two, you use a
Wizard Robe over a Black Costume. Talk Skills are slightly boosted by MA increases, so if your goal is to raise some
Faith, a Wizard Robe effectively increases your chances by 2%, which is small... but you might as well take it.

Spell Constants

I'm mentioned them before, but now here you can find a list to compare almost every Black, White, Time, Yin-Yang,
and Summon spells... at least in terms of overall spell power. Differences between spells still remain, such as casting
time (Moogle is weaker than Cure 2, but casts a lot faster), evasion (Summon spells cannot be evaded), area targeted
(Cyclops is more powerful than Bahamut, but targets a smaller area) and MP costs.

Note that for Formula 2 spells, the higher the constant, the higher the chance of the spell working.

Quirks: Cure 4 is just as powerful against Undead as Odin. Haste 2's constant makes it incredibly likely that the spell will
hit close to 100% of the time, even against low faith characters! The mysterious "96 power' spell below is a secret to
everybody!




Formula 1 [(target faith /100) * (caster faith /100) * MA * Constant]:

12: Moogle
14: Cure, Fire, Ice, Bolt
18: Fire 2, Ice 2, Bolt 2
20: Cure 2
24: Fire 3, Ice 3, Bolt 3, Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, Fairy
28: Titan
30: Cure 3
32: Fire 4, Ice 4, Bolt 4
38: Leviathan, Salamander
40: Cure 4, Odin
46: Flare, Bahamut
50: Holy, Cyclops
60: Meteor
96: ????

Formula 2 [(target faith /100) * (caster faith /100) * (MA + Constant)]:

100: Death, Zombie
110: Stop
120: Protect 2, Shell 2, Frog, Demi 2, Blind Rage, Petrify
130: Confusion Song
140: Reraise, Wall, Float, Quick, Foxbird
150: Pray Faith, Doubt Faith, Carbunkle, Silf
160: Raise 2, Poison, Spell Absorb, Life Drain, Lich
170: Regen, Sleep
180: Raise, Haste, Slow, Reflect, Silence Song
185: Paralyze
190: Esuna, Don't Move, Demi
200: Protect, Shell, Blind, Dispel Magic
240: Haste 2, Slow 2

And that's it for this battle. Think this one and the last one were too easy (well, judging by some of the comments
maybe some of you DID find Yuguo Woods to be difficult)?

Ladies and Gentlemen, we've reached what a lot of people on this board have likely been waiting for:

Wiegraf versus Ramza.

See you next time!

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

Bonus Money: 22,000 Gil
War Trophies: Elf Mantle, Hi-Potion, X-Potion

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