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

Yeah, most of the extra stuff that they added in War of the Lions actually fits pretty well too. Made me wish they'd added in some more character-specific side quests, since it makes them feel like they're still involved with the plot after they've permanently joined your party.

Genocide cupcakes.

Genocide L.

Or possibly h.

If you do that how will we ever recruit a Zoidberg?

- Eddie

DOUBLE POST!

I did a bit of testing; Worker 8 can be damaged by Samurai "Draw Out" attacks. He'll also take normal damage from thrown Water Balls, double damage from Lightning Balls, and cannot be hit with Fire Balls (as in they'll miss, not deal 0 damage).

He also IS susceptible to attacks that use MA as a calculation; I thought that wasn't the case, but oh well.

He can also be confused, but that's obviously difficult to do outside of Murasama and Holy Explosion (I'm not sure if he's immune to that last one).

- Eddie

You mean Worker 7? And yeah, that makes sense:

Man I never remember what I've written.

Who is Worker 7? Is he making cupcakes?

- Eddie

It does, but they always come out undercooked, because its oven timer jumps from 22 minutes to 3.

Aeonus wins the tangent. Good job! Undercooked cupcakes for everyone.

I like to imagine that Worker 7 has a reservoir of cupcake batter used as a heat sink, so the cupcakes are just a side effect of genocide mode.

LAST TIME ON LET'S PLAY FINAL FANTASY TACTICS

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Mustadio: Forwarding device?

Besrodio: You know, to travel to other worlds, different space.

Besrodio: Maybe, look at this clothes. Quite unusual.

Musatio: Who was he?

It is a mystery

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

This is as far as that particular subquest goes for now until we're a bit further ahead in the game. A few notes:

1. Yeah it's Cloud from Final Fantasy 7. Or should that be "Yeah it's Cloud from Final Fantasy 7!"? The internet has
   ruined FF7 for me.
2. Cloud's initial comments place his appearance here to be sometime between when he fell in the lifestream and
   regained his mind
3. Fanfic writers rejoice. Square made a canonical device that can bridge worlds, just in case you needed one for
   your Final Fantasy 2/Xenogears crossover.

We'll catch up with Cloud later.

Hate to see these guys go, but I'm going to need the room. Normally you'd keep Beowulf around because he's amazing,
but alas.

Because people demanded it (for some reason) we'll keep T.G. Cid around to showcase his power, by beating as many
battles with him "solo" as possible. Alas, story battles require bringing Ramza into them, so there isn't much I can do
about him being there short of cheating. Still, the fact that Orlandu can more or less solo battles out of the box is
pretty impressive. There won't be many rules about using him except that I will be only using the equipment he comes
with + purchasable equipment. Giving him the Escutcheon II would just defeat the purpose. Screenshots will be split as
follows: On the left, the normal battle. On the right, Oralndu solo'ing it.

Also, for the sake of mentioning it, Orlandu is not the most powerful unit in my party. Jessica, who is now a Wizard with
Calculator skills is by a landslide. I mention this because as awesome as Orlandu is, he'll always be second fiddle to a
Calculator.

Onto the next fight!



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

(Scene: a group of brigands keep eye over the pass, extorting travellers.
They decided to pick the day after T.G. Cid. joins the team. Bad break.)

(Tension 1)

Bandit Boss: And get yer hand offa that sword if you wanna live!

Bandit: Yeah... with a huge bounty! Maybe it's better to kill him and get the reward, than
to take their money now.

Bandit Boss: Yeah, I saw his face on a wanted poster.

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





The Ninja aside, you've been fighting mooks like this since Chapter 1. They're packing next to zero magic, so Blade
Grasp and evasion are strong as always, but watch out for the Thieves charming your female units.

The archer in the back has a Ultimus Bow, which is a big upgrade over anything you could purchase. Of course,
Archers are still kind of stinky, particularly in Chapter 4, and you can't equip bows except as an Archer. You can
find them equipped on enemies during random battles too, so no biggie to skip this one.

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #1: as a Holy Swordsman hes got all of Agrais's skills and Gafgarions Night
Sword and the skills of a character we haven't even been able to recruit yet. He only starts with a few, but one of
those is the aforementioned Night Sword, which is awesome. As Gafgarion, Orlandu gets to heavily damage a unit
while healing hit points.

Suprisingly, while it's easy to climb the mountain from the starting positions, descending it ends up being a little trickier.
While tempting, the high ground advantage isn't to anyone's benefit except people with strong ranged attacks. Send
Knights and Ninjas around the sides if possible.

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #2: He comes with Excalibur! Aside from being a strong weapon it its own
right, Excalibur automatically gives its bearer Haste status. This ensures they'll pretty much always go first. Plus, Knight
Swords are one-handed weapons so can be paired with a shield (or Two Swords). Excalibur is perfect for someone like
Junk, whose low faith would normally make casting Haste on him difficult. In Orlandu's case, Holy Swordsman attacks
are boosted by a strong weapon, so Excalibur pulls double-duty for him.




One other thing to note: On top of the mountain, where the Ninja is, lies a Vanish Mantle, and in fact the only Vanish
Mantle in the game. It's not crucial to get immediately (this map opens up for random encounters after you defeat it,
so you can come back for it), but it's worth grabbing for later. As an item, it's not that great; invisibility is neat but
removes itself once you perform an action, and doesn't have the magical evasion of a Feather Mantle. That said, it's
great for throwing on a low-Brave unit to search for items.

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #3: Orlandu is male. Sorry Agrais, but as Holy Sword skills are based off PA,
females are at a distinct disadvantage compared to a dude like Orlandu. On the bright side, Agrais can wear Perfume
and Ribbons, which is itself a pretty amazing bonus. I still put Orlandu over Agrais just because Night Sword is
ridiculous, but there is certainly room for both in any army.




We're going to tackle the next map after this one, because honestly these maps are speed bumps. With a Javelin II
on Tabataha and an Excalibur on Junk (not to mention Ramza is still hitting for ~300 damage with his stick) enemy units
don't last too long.

I uh, forgot to wait for crystals. The Ninja was the most advance unit tho, and I think most of my units have Thief
skills already...

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #4: Remember our Stat Growth discussion several battles ago? Holy
Swordsman are stacked. Orlandu has a HP mulitpler of amazing 160%, a speed multiplier of 110%, and a PA multilier of
122%. His Growths are all generally excellent too, like a slightly better Knight class. The worst part of his growths is
that you'll need to switch his class to something else (and something that probably can't use a Knight Sword!) to get
him a decent secondary skill. Draw Out would probably be the most ideal for him to buff Protect and Shell easy, but
man, that is a lot of not using his Holy Swordsman class.

Bonus Gil: 21,000
War Trophies: 7700 Gil, Feather Boots, Germinas Boots

One thing before this next battle: you'll be facing a lot of undead units, so Orlandu is going to have to play it careful.
Night Sword works in reverse on Undead units, so you'll only end up one-shotting Orlandu if you use it. Favoring better
evasion, I gave him a Feather Mantle for this fight.




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(Scene: as Ramza passes through Poeskas Lake, the
dead stir, drawn to the power that Ramza posseses...)

(Night Attack)

Poeskas Lake Ghost: ...... !! You have the Zodiac Stones...?

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




This battle is slightly harder than Germanis Peak, but that's largely because of the Summoner here (Summoners are
always trouble). The enemy starts on a pretty nice position, but aside from the Summoner they aren't packing anything
dangerous. You can spread out pretty easily to avoid getting nailed by, say, the Odin Summon (*grumble*) and from
there it's just a matter of picking off the units one by one.

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #5: Orlandu, as seen before, comes with a free awesome 50,000 gil
accessory. That's just really nice of him, you know?



I accidently had Poach on -- I'm poaching the leftover Malboro and Behemoths I give birth to as I go. Might as well turn
them into something useful instead of outright dismissing them. The stuff they poach into isn't fantastic but what the
heck. So... anyway I accidently had Poach on, so the enemy Ghosts all ended up being poached, preventing them from
ever reviving. Of course, this battle shouldn't last that long that it comes to that. On that note, don't bother waiting
for crystals; the ghost units are considered a different class than your units, so you'll never get their skills (shame on
the Odin thing).

The biggest problem for Orlandu is the Summoner since her spells are completely unavoidable. Your best bet is to move
towards her and use your Excalibur powered Haste to snipe her while she's charging a spell.

Thing that is awesome about Orlandu #6: He's got his own Theme Music. Agrais? No Theme music. Beowulf? No
Theme music. Mustadio? Nah. Orlandu? You bet holy hell he does. Rumour has it he has a Bard and Dancer who travel
around as his entourage, but the rumours have for some time been abandoned.

*Rimshot*



While Ramza gets smoked by Odin (Kiyomori/Shell for the save) and that ghost Mediator gives Orlandu a lecture, let's
take a look at "Thunder God Cid's" skills!

Orlandu

The man. The legend. Saint of the Southern Sword. Reportedly undefeated in battle, and maybe taking his appearence
a little off a Tactics Ogre character. The Thunder God. The Game Breaker.

Cidolfas Orlandu.



Holy Swordsman Traits:
Weapons: Sword, Knight Sword, Ninja Sword, Katana
Armor: Helmet, Hat, Armor, Clothes, Robe

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

Skills to get: Gained JP Up, Holy Explosion

Unique Skill: All Swordskill
Stasis Sword: Damages with holy sword spirit (Add: Stop).
Range: 2. Effect: 2,0. CT: Now. JP: --
(We went over these before I think. Stasis Sword isn't very good, but it's occasionally worth using for the backup
Stop effect.)

Split Punch: Damages with holy sword spirit (Add: Death Sentence).
Range: 3. Effect: 2,1. CT: Now. JP: 400
(Pretty worthless to get given that Orlandu starts with Lightning Stab. Save this for last. All Swordskill note: while Cid
can equip both Katana's and Ninja Swords, he cannot use his sword techniques with them!)

Crush Punch: Damages with holy sword spirit (Add: Dead).
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 500
(With a Gauntlet and Excalibur, Orlandu is going to be adding "Dead" to most things he hits. Still worth getting after
Holy Explosion.)



Lightning Stab: Damages with holy sword spirit (Add: Silence).
Range: 3. Effect: 2,1. CT: Now. JP: --
(The best skill Orlandu has, and he starts with it. Go to town! Note that like Agrais, all of Orlandu's skills are keyed off
his weapon's element.)

Holy Explosion: Damages with holy sword spirit (Add: Confusion).
Range: Straight line from user. Effect: 5,2. CT: Now. JP: 800
(The first one to pick up after Gained JP Up. Again about weapon elements: These skills are element neutral unless you
equip something like a Coral Sword. Excalibur absorbs and Strengthens Holy, but does not confer Holy element to its
attacks.)

Shellbust Stab: Destroys the target's equipped armor.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: --
(Look familiar? Yeah, Orlandu obsoletes an entire character we might get in the future. Orlandu comes with it, you'll
probably rarely use it.)

Blastar Punch: Destroys the target's equipped helmet.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 400
(Can't see why you'd use this one over Shellbust Stab, but still more useful than Split Punch.)



Hellcry Punch: Destroys the target's equipped weapon.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 500
(This is a pretty cool effect, except that most human units can't survive Lightning Stab.)

Icewolf Bite: Destroys the target's equipped accessory.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 800
(You can destroy those pesky Cloaks... except all Holy Swordsman skills ignore evasion. Oops!)

Dark Sword: Absorbs MP with the power of darkness.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 500
(Okay, I ride Crush Punch too hard. Dark Sword is the worst because it absorbs MP. MP! That's pretty useless when
you're T.G. Cid.)

Night Sword: Absorbs HP with the power of darkness.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: --
(Step 1: hit enemy with Night Sword. Step 2: see Step 1. Orlandu starts with this skill, and it make him practically
unkillable in most situations.)



Once you kill the Summoner, breaching the top and getting the Archers is pretty easy. I think this is a pretty cool map,
so it's got that going for it at least.

Did that fill your Orlandu fix? I'm going to see how far I can get using him more or less 'solo' for all you fans out there.
Otherwise you can consider him booted out of our regular game!

With the filler over, we're now set to enter a 3 fight sequence at Limberry Castle. To get: a unique skill, a set of rare
equipment, and someone who wishes Orlandu had waited a few more battles before making her obselete. We'll also take
a deeper look at Ramza and I'll tell you why he's awesome (for those who don't know: he's awesome).

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm going to make an honest effort to push this LP over my Christmas Break. It kind of depresses
me that I used to be able to regularly update every ~10 days or so, and I definately would like this LP not to take two
years to finish if I can help it. School starts up again in about two and a half weeks, so the more I can finish, the
better.

I haven't actually played ahead of this point, so if you have any requests, any, please post them in the thread and I
will do my best to accomodate them.

See you next time!

Bonus Gil: 22,700 Gil
War Trophies: Phoenix Down x 2

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

(Scene: at Igros castle...)

(Dycedarg's Theme)

Dycedarg: That's right. His Excellency's wish to unify the kingdoms... Rather, until
King Orinas is recognized as the true king, we won't stop fighting.

Dycedarg: What a thing to say... Larg was killed by someone sent by the Nanten.
Or... are you saying you sent the assassin...?

Dycedarg: If we wanted to, we could easily beat you.

Rofel: Do you remember what the 'poison' was that took out the Hokuten?

Rofel: But even small amounts over a long time, can be deadly.

Rofel: You're not fully aware of your conditions until it's too late... Didn't your father
die from cold complications?

Dycedarg: ...

Rofel: Such trivial things...

Rofel: He'd like you to have this to show his trust in you...

Y-you sacked Beowulf, Reis, and Worker 8?

I could create a montage of all the great times we had with Reis, Worker 8, Rafa, Agrias, etc. in this LP if it would make you feel better.

- Eddie

My favorite thing to do with Cid is have him autobattle through those pesky random battles. Set 'im and forget 'im.

I usually use him not because I have any need to, but rather because I get bored with my generic characters by the time this part of the game rolls around It would have been cool if they gave you the next Holy Knight you get much earlier in the game. There's just too long of a lull in the middle of the game where you are not given interesting/useful unique classes.

I've never used T.G. Cid in any of my many playthroughs, except to test him out once or twice. I don't get the appeal of building up your party for so many hours, only to throw in a character who is so overpowered.

Tactics Ogre? Orlandu looks like Obi Wa--

Holy hell, that Tactics Ogre character looks more like Obi Wan than Obi Wan himself!

aw, getting rid of beowulf make me sad =(

Seriously.

Is . . . is there any way to undo this? Beowulf and Worker 8 are two of my favorite characters.

And Reis attacks with beautiful mistranslated bracelets!

Nah, he's not that similar to Obi:


(Personally, I think Dycedarg favors Ebi Wan McKenobi. Or I guess Ebi Wan McKenobi favors Dycedarg since his movies came out after FFT)

I've got a litany of save files, so yes it would be extremely easy to undo this. But why?

I thought I made it fairly clear from the beginning that this playthrough would virtually ignore the special characters in favour of using those lovable generics the game starts you with. Note that the special characters (with the exception of a single fight with Agrias) were never used past the point of getting all the cutscenes they were involved in. They were basically rotting in my roster. There is no functional difference between the role Beowulf and Reis being in my party or not.

In addition, there was interest expressed for me to use monsters in the party, cumulating in a decision (made by me, but still, a decision that was made long ago) to make a team of four monster characters.

The 16 character limit is surely one of the biggest faults of Final Fantasy Tactics. Here's the list of all the special characters you can get in the game, characters we have not recruited yet spoilered:

1. Ramza
2. Mustadio
3. Agrias
4. Rafa
5. Malak
6. Worker 8
7. Beowulf
8. Reis
9. Orlandu
10. Cloud
11. Melidoul
12. Byblos monster

That's a total of 12 characters, leaving only four left.

Note that we've got six generic characters we've been using since the start of the game.

The math just simply doesn't work out. To collect all the special characters requires removing at least two of our generics. Adding a team of four monsters would require removing all of our generics. I mean, I sympathize. I have always cut generics and refused to use monsters so I could keep all these guys, but someone had to go, and it might have well as been units I wasn't using anyway.

But I'll make everyone a deal.

Like I said, I've got save files that still have Agrais et. al in them. If the demand is there to collect all the secret characters and not dismiss them then I'll do that. I'll replay through the game back up to this point. I'll even use them if people really want me to.

But!

1. Monster Team would need to die. I'm not sure this would be a huge loss since it wasn't extremely popular anyway, but I won't be able to take on any monsters.

2. Two generics would need to be cut. I figure one male and one female. You guys can discuss who will get the axe or not in this thread. I can post a little write-up of each character if demanded on Tuesday.

So, your move Talking Time.

- Eddie

Character # 11 has some special dialogue in the Hall of St. Murond battle.

Eh, now that I think about it it doesn't matter. You're right that the generics and monsters are more important here.

I do love Worker 8 and Beowulf though.

I like generics over story characters, so no foul. Maybe give the remaining story characters the treatment you gave Orlandu, detailing their awesomeness/suckitude and promptly ditching them.

Keep the generics. The specials can stay at home in your backup save files, just in case you find you really badly need them for something.

and thus, the greatest advantage of WotL is revealed-- increased space for party members =)

keep on doing what you're doing eddie. don't mind us whiners.