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

Keep on going the way you planned. Nostalgia whores can do their own LP.

Eddie. Eddie. No. Don't listen to them. You have to dance for us. Dance puppet, dance. Do as the peanut gallery demands. Do it. Don't listen to the others. Obey us. Eddie. Obey.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting he should change how he's playing, just registering my regret. At least Beowulf and Reis were booted together, and after Reis was turned back to her proper form, so they can go off and be together without dying ambiguously at the end with the rest of the crew.

Damn guys he said right at the beginning that he would NOT be using any unique characters in this playthrough. It's a little too late to notice that now.

If you would have only said "Hey wait show off Beowulf's skills" or "Beat such-and-such battle with only Ramza and Worker 8" it would have happened.

REQUEST TIME

Please show off how one might utilize a calculator and the Excalibur to win a fight on the first turn.

I had great fun figuring out how to do that in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (it says somehing about the awesomeness of the original FFT that even though FFTA and FFTA2 are good, FFT is somehow even better). I was disappointed when, years later, I looked on YouTube and found that someone else had found a much simpler (although very ingenious) method. (Alternatively, instead of getting an infinite-turns loop, if there aren't many enemies you can just have a couple of your characters casting delay-turn effects on them constantly and get infinite turns that way.)

Are there several ways to win the battle on the first turn? I only know the one. An instawin showcase would be kind of cool to show off how many ways you can break this game over your knee in the endgame. Please show off as many as you know!

The only reliable way of beating enemies on the first turn is by using a Calculator. There are multiple set-ups you could theoretically use, but they all basically boil down to using a skill like CT and 3 or 5 to hit all the enemies on the field with Flare or Holy (the former has a faster animation, while the latter is unevadeable) and Demi 1/2 (for use against bosses due to it's higher potential damage output). With mild testing you can figure out what the enemy's Speed values are, and set up a first turn kill. The biggest issue there is making sure your Calculator doesn't die to the spell you cast.

Exaclibur is awesome (but certainly not necessary) for it's auto-Haste and Holy absorbtion properties. It's issue is that generics can only equip Knight Swords through the Knight class, which gimps their MA (some of the special characters can get around this however). A Chameleon Robe (negates Holy attacks) works to a lesser (but more easily equipped) degree.

One solution to "not dying to your own Holy" is MP Switch. As long as it triggers (Brave%) you can avoid the damage once a battle.

But other than that, killing the enemy on the first turn requires obscene amounts of luck, such as perfect formation to hit all enemies with a summon spell (this would require making sure the Summoner goes last), or some weird Hamedo/counter shenanegins. Regardless, these ways would be pretty unreliable.

- Eddie

Generics are the heart and soul of any FFT team. Shame about the specials, but nothing you can do about it now.

Can we get side by side 'solo' Jessica vs. TG Cid battles for one of the remaining fights? Would be nice to see who wins first (non-spoiler: Jessica).

Oh, I assumed you were going to go for one of the strategies that gives you infinite turns in a row, thus denying the opponents any, and forming a sort of first-turn-kill that way.

I actually don't see how Jessica (assuming we mean 'use a calculator') wins. She's got to deal with Reflect (via armour) and outright evasion (via Shield and Mantles) and Excalibur ensures that Holy is worthless. Orlandu could also decrease his own Faith to stymie the magic that can get through.

Unless you mean "destroys enemy force first" and not "JESSICA V. CID FIGHT!" in that case yeah absolutely nothing in the game can compete with a Calculator.

- Eddie

Yeah, I was thinking a race, not some weird PvP hack.

Which is why I put in Orlandu next to the calculator to watch her fry herself in my last playthrough. Technically each one of those dozens of battles counted as another win for Cid, simply by merit of him being the last one standing.

You forgot to mention that he can wear hats, which are way better than helmets (not to mention more stylish).

Doesn't matter, though. Even if he never joined as a PC, he'd still be the most badass Cid.

Looking forward to this.

Welcome back!



The next two fights have a sort of risk/reward mentality. Players can beat them relatively quickly if they know what
they're doing, but those who put some effort in can get some unique rewards.

To get the 'reward' in this first fight, we need to turn Ramza into a Squire. This isn't that bad! Since starting Chapter 4,
Ramza's learned some new tricks, including the ability to use Knight Swords. If you've got 500 JP sitting around in his
class, spend it on the new skill acquired called "Scream." It's awesome, for reasons I will explain soon.

In addition to making Ramza a Squire, I highly recommend equipping him (and all party members you wish to use) with
Jade Armlets (blocking Add: Petrify and Stop) and Ramza with a Judo Outfit (blocking Add: "Dead"). You can use a
Chameleon Robe as well (as it blocks Addead as well), but the Judo Outfits offer more HP. It's not as necessary to
prevent Addead on your other characters, but you can if you've got the items sitting around. Cachushas and Ribbons
work too, but you're unlikely to have those unless you went on some wild Poaching spree.

Blade Grasp is pretty useless in this fight, so switch it out if you can. Auto-Potion is the best option, but HP Restore
can be okay too. If you won't be using magic on your own units, those who can wear Armor (like Knights and Lancers)
should equip Reflect Mail. Evasion is good, but you probably won't have the free accessory slot to use a Feather
Mantle. Aegis Shields are awesome here, so use those if you can.





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

(Scene: As Ramza approaches Limberry Castle, he finds the area empty.
Is there no guards... or does its occupant not fear intruders?)

(Scheme)

Ramza: The entrance is open...

(Ramza approaches the open gate.)

Ramza: Something's not right...

Lady's Voice: Welcome to Limberry Castle.

(Back Fire)

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

They're back, and as ridiculously powerful as before. The big difference between their appearance here than their Roof
of Riovanes Castle appearance is the lack of female ribbons incorrectly inserted into the accessory slot, making them
vulnerable to most status ailments aside from Petrification, Chicken and Frog.

As a recap, both Celia and Lede can:

1. Petrify a single unit from a range of 6 squares (100% success rate)
2. Nail a unit with Stop from a range of 4 squares (100% success rate)
3. Outright kill a unit they're right next to (100% success rate)
4. Cast Ultima, a somewhat powerful magic spell
   
   and new to this fight...
   
   
5. Charm a male unit at a range of 3 squares with about an 80% success rate.

Aside from all that they'll have random secondary skills which could mean they have the ability to cast Haste or Summon
spells, and can back all of that up with Two Swords.

Ugh.




Well, like before, the Jade Armlets can stop 1 and 2, and the Judo Outfit can stop 3. Ability 3, better known as "Stop
Bracelet" can be foiled by some of the terrain on the left; the Assassins cannot use it on a unit that isn't on even
terrain with them. The new Charm thing, well, that you'll just have to deal with. #4 is what we're drawing this fight out
for.

To win this fight is a fairly easy, all that is needed is to bring either Celia or Lede down to critical HP, which can be
easily accomplished with some heavy hitters and minimal luck. But, this is one of the two places in the game where you
can get Ramza to learn the spell "Ultima." The Assassins will usually prefer to hit Ramza with their more deadly attacks,
hence the need to protect glorious leader with the Jade Armlet and Judo Outfit. Even after all that, it's not a guarantee
they'll use it on him, but the chances will significantly increase.

This isn't the only fight that Ultima can be learned (there are a few more) but it is the earliest and the most reliable. If
you're not interested in 100% completion, feel free to skill getting the skill, it is average at best. But if you're like me,
you like your yellow stars signaling Mastered-iness. If you've grabbed the Escutcheon II from Nevelska Temple and the
reaction skill Abandon, you can get the spell fairly easily as Ultima will be one of the few things aside from Allure (the
Charm ability) that will be able to get through your 100% magic evade (and 100% physical evade from the front and
sides). You'll still of course need protection from Petrify, Stop, and Dead.




Along with the Assassins are a healthy number of demons called Apandas. These guys aren't terribly dangerous com-
pared to Celia and Lede, but they've all got fairly massive AOE attacks that can deal decent damage and cause status
ailments. Those who remember the fight against Queklain will recognize the abilities they use. To recap, their Bio abilities
(labeled Bio, Bio 2, and Bio 3) are actually ten different abilities, but each different 'tier' of spell shares the charac-
teristics of the other abilities in that tier aside from a particular status effect.

Bio: Moderate damage, with a small (5-6%) chance of inflicting Darkness, Poison, or Oil.
Bio 2: Moderate chance (~50-60%) of inflicting Frog, Slow, or Silence
Bio 3: Heavy damage, with a small (5-6%) chance of inflicting Dead, Petrify, or Undead.

All Bio spells are evadable, and Reflect-able, so you're relying on some magic to buff/heal your characters, Reflect Mail
will more or less allow any heavy armour character to ignore their attacks. Reflect Rings work too, but then you need to
deal with the Assassin's 100% Stop and Petrify attacks. Honestly, the damage the Apandas do are easily healed
through by Auto-Potion or outright evaded via an Aegis Shield (50% magic evade) + Abandon (Ninja Reaction skill that
doubles evasion).

The Apandas have Ignore Height so they do have an advantage on this map where the height changes so dramatically.
Their hit points aren't anything out of this world however, so pick them off when you've got the opportunity to do so.
They're weak to Fire attacks if you've got them. Since the objective is to take down either Assassin, taking them all out
is not a priority. Either go for the jugular and pile on either Celia or Lede, or weather both the Assassins and Apandas
attacks until you can learn Ultima (and then take out an Assassin).






With this discussion of Ultima, it's appropriate for us to talk about Ramza now that he can truly master his Squire class.
Let's take a deeper look at it!

Ramza Beoulve

Ramza's Squire is a bit deceptive in his power; when the player first uses the class in Chapter 1, Ramza's Squire class is
fairly similar to the generic Squire, and aside from getting Gained JP UP, Move + 1, Yell and (maybe) Accumulate there
isn't much reason not to jump into Knight. Cheer Up is purchasable once Chapter 2 starts, but by then the player
probably has access to Monk, Lancer, and other strong classes.

Now, Ramza's Squire in chapter 4 is pretty awesome. For one, he gets access to Scream, which is an amazing self-buff
spell, adding +10 Brave, +1 PA, +1 MA, and +1 Speed. Ultima, if you get it, is roughly as powerful as the tier 3 Wizard
spells (i.e. Ice 3), but faster and a mere 10 MP. It makes Guts ultimately a very solid skill set. The abilities pair well with
most classes (everyone loves more Speed, and Yell/Scream are one of the few speed boosters in the game). Squire
specifically, once chapter 4 rolls around Ramza can equip any armour and Knight Swords, which as have been estab-
lished are awesome.

While not as impressive as Orlandu's Holy Swordsman class, Ramza's Squire class gets a nice 125% HP Boost, as well as
a small Speed (107%) PA (111%) and MA (102% boost). This balance of PA and MA is present in few classes, with
most favouring one or the other. This means that Ramza's Squire can play with both PA and MA character effectively
(much like Geomancers can).



Of course, the somewhat secret nature of Ramza is that as far as his stats concerned he is as good as males in the PA
department and females in the MA department! That means he is as good a Wizard or Summoner as any female, while
maintaining the raw strength that make classes like Knight and Ninja tick. Unlike every other character in the game,
there is no trade-off made by putting a female in a PA focused class (or male in an MA focused class). Even though
Orlandu has a great MA multiplier in his Holy Swordsman class, his male-ness will hold his MA back from the multipliers
full potential (Similarly Agrais has her PA suffer because she's female). Only Ramza possesses this equal PA/MA feature!

Pulling this together is what makes Ramza shine in his Squire class in chapter 4. He gets his choice from all the armour
you have available, plus Knight Swords. His Guts skills are generally solid, and his great PA and MA means that most
secondary skills are viable. The Samurai's "Draw Out" skill is my personal favorite, but Summon Magic and Punch Art are
solid choices as well. Does this make Ramza the best character? Certainly not. Orlandu's skill set is just too ridiculous.
However, he ends up comparing fairly favourably to other powerhouses like Beowulf and Cloud, and in fact might
be better overall (that would be personal preference at that point however).



Weapons: Sword, Knight Sword, Knife, Flail, Shield
Helmet: Hat, Helmet
Armor: Armor, Clothes, Robe

Move: 4
Jump: 3
Physical Evasion Rate: 10%

Unique Skill: Guts
Accumulate: Charge up one's power to raise physical attack power [physical attack +1].
Range: Auto. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost:300
(I was a bit harsh on this skill waaaay back when I started this LP, but it is a very solid skill. Yell is better tho and
costs less JP.)

Dash: Run into enemy with body [can knock target back one square].
Range: 1,1. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 80
(There isn't much reason to get this unless you're trying to master the class. Throw Stone is much better.)

Throw Stone: Throw stones at a distant enemy [can knock target back one square].
Range: 4. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 90
(For a late game skill, Throw Stone is surprisingly useful, offering a low-damage ranged attack to knock awake
Sleeping and Confused party members.)

Heal: Recover from abnormal status effects [Cancel: Darkness, Silence, Poison].
Range: 1,2. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 150
(Not that useful, but if you've got the JP burning a hole in your pocket...)



Yell: Raise speed level by yelling [Speed +1].
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 200
(An amazing skill, there aren't any better ways to boost a unit's Speed value in the game!)

Wish: Offer one's own HP to the spirits, wishing to restore the target's HP by double that amount.
Range: 1,3. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: --
(not a great skill, but healing is healing and it's free. It comes in handy more than you'd think... which may still not be
much but hey.)

Cheer Up: Raise Brave level by encouraging (Brave +5).
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 200
(A terrific skill that is available starting in Chapter 2. +5 Brave with a 100% success rate is an amazing to buff both
Ramza and the rest of your units.)

Scream: Raise one's Brave level, Speed level, and physical/magic attack powers by shouting [Brave +10, PA +1, MA +1,
Speed +1].
Range: Auto. CTR: Now. JP Cost: 500
(What else can be said about this buff? Absolutely amazing.)

Ultima: Magic damages with absolute energy.
MP: 10. Range: 4. Effect: 2,1. CTR: 5.
(This skill is probably not worth the trouble to get it, but it does give Ramza a fairly strong ranged attack that many
classes lack.)



And that is that, and none too soon (I probably would have had to restart this fight if the victory conditions weren't so
generous).

I hope you've got a thief or two trained up, because the next fight is going to be all about stealing unique loot!

See you next time, and happy holidays and I hope you have an awesome New Year!

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

Bonus Money: 22,600 Gil
War Trophies: Echo Grass

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

Elmdor: We're the only ones alive now. Adramelk's caught in the 'loophole'...

Vormav: Don't worry about him.

Vormav: Just as 'they' chose 'us', the stones will choose the 'body'.

Elmdor: Really...

Elmdor: Then even without the stones or a suitable 'body', we can come and go at
will. Did they find a good 'body' for 'Angel'? Don't tell me it's that girl...

Vormav: There's only one 'body' suitable for 'Angel'...

Elmdor: Don't worry about me. Let me handle it.

To be continued...

Hearing you justify that will be interesting. I consider secret char one of the worst uniques in the game.

And, as usual, it can't be reflected! Er, that could come in handy, if you play enough....

This is the most rewarding battle since Riovanes! Or somewhere in Chaper 1, if you don't steal the 'accessories' in the rooftop battle.

The Assassin's Greatest Enemy: A slight difference in elevation.

It's all about quick charge + Finish Touch.

I'm missing something. How exactly do you actually learn Ultima? Do you have to be hit with it?

No, Ramza has to be hit with it and survive.

One move that's kind of good if you give up a support slot and have a weak weapon equipped does not make a character anything near top tier. Beowulf has similar abilities that have no charge time, and he can use them while wielding knight swords. I don't see how they can even be mentioned in the same sentence.

It's a kind of magic.

The blue kind.

My fault, I wasn't clear enough about how it worked. But yes, Ramza needs to get hit with it while in his Squire class, and survive.

It works exactly like learning particular magic spells "blue magic style" as I mentioned way back at the start of chapter 4.

Sorry I wasn't more clear about this.

Cloud (god I hate spoiling his name. Does anyone follow this LP who hasn't played FFT?) is certainly a lot of work to make awesome, no question about that. But he's a very unique character, and has potential that rivals a character like Beowulf, at least in my opinion. My comment was meant to be a little controversial

- Eddie

What about lvl 5 death? You need to get hit with it and die to get it :P
Also, I've played it, but got stuck on chapter 2 due to stupidity (Sent half my army away and kept getting stuck between a storyline battle and some random encounters)
Then again I lost my copy, so meh

For those interested, there's a new FFT Let's Play starting on the Something Awful forums. Captain Capitalism's LP of the game is apparently on some indefinite hiatus, so those looking for more of a FFT fix can check it out. It looks like he's looking to break the game rather than to the "take it as I go" approach I'm doing.

Props to whoever Naramyth is too for linking my thread too, if he's a regular around here I hope you've been enjoying it (regardless of how long it's taken to get to this point)!

- Eddie

I haven't played the original FFT; I have played the "sequel" FFTA, and my impression is that FFTA is a very good game (although the plot is ridiculous), and that FFTA2 is better still, fixing most of the annoyances with the original FFTA, but that FFT is better still, which is pretty impressive. (I assume the controls are less massively awkward in the original FFT than they are on a GBA, too?)

FFT has some awkward mechanics that the GBA games streamlined (before adding their own weird stuff), but I think it still comes out on top even without taking the story into account. Of course, this is easily among my top three favorite games even though I'm primarily a platformer guy, so of course I'm a bit biased.

Great job with the LP so far; this is one of the threads that convinced me to stop lurking after I finally got caught up. I never bothered getting ultima or most of the hidden items, so it's nice to see all the stuff I've missed.

Orange Fluffy Sheep did a great job of breaking FFTA in an amusing fashion, so yeah, this should be an interesting one. But your FFT Let's Play will always be first in my heart, Eddie.

I haven't! Not past the first three chapters, at least, and that was many, many moons ago. Still, not like I give a rat's ass about spoilers, I'm just in this for the mechanics.