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

Happy New Years folks! There are rumours that fans of Final Fantasy games are in for a treat this month on the forums!
But let us not forget our other LPs! Here are five that I've been enjoying:

Garrison is taking one for the team with his LP of Zelda: Parallel Worlds LP. It's basically what I imagine purgatory is, in
video game form. If he does not survive the LP, let us remember his sacrifice!

Turnip is playing Lufia: the Legend Returns. And I thought my game had translation issues.

Kalir did a bang-up job with his LP of Eternal Darkness, and now we have him doing a rogue-like, a genre I always love
to see. Allow me to skew his first character by asking people to head over to his thread and vote for him to play a
Wizard named Jimmy!

Heffenfeffer's LP of the Genesis version of Shadowrun is one of the most enjoyable LP's I've read since Shiv did his LP
of Angband. Please support his efforts!

And finally, let us not forget brave p4g4n3l3m3nt5's run of EVO: The Search For Eden. The number of people asking him
to get Dual Horns has been dropping recently, let's fix that.

Welcome to part 2 of 3 in the Limberry series! In the first fight we survived an attack by Celia and Lede until Ramza
could learn Ultima, and in the second part we face off against a Zodiac Demon possessed Elmdor and his beauties. If
you can't guess what the third fight will be, then you haven't been following the plot of this game too closely!



This fight sports a full set of unique equipment. You'll (of course) need at least one (preferably two) character(s) with
Steal skills, with Steal Weapon, Shield, Armor, Helmet, and Accessory learned. That is a bare minimum! I would
recommend bringing the following along, in order or 'most important' to 'least important':

1. Items that block "Blood Suck." These include the accessory 108 Gems as well as the women-only headgear
   Cachusha and Ribbon (the former you probably have, the latter likely not). You will be facing those pesky
   Assassins again, but blocking Blood Suck is of a higher priority than Stop and Petrify.
   
2. A unit that can reduce Brave. Beowulf's "Chicken" attack is the best here, but a Mediator's "Threaten" or Oracle's
   "Foxbird" skills also work.
   
3. A unit with Item skill and "Holy Water" learned. This is the only item that can cure Blood Suck (Remedy does not
   work!), and is specifically necessary if you don't have enough 108 Gems to go around. Make sure the person who
   knows Holy Water is immune to Blood Suck! On a minor note, I hope you've got a few Holy Waters in stock...
   
4. A unit that knows "Speed Break", particularly one that also is sporting Two Swords (twice the Speed reduction!).
   Failing that, a unit that can cast "Slow".
   
5. Ramza with his Guts skill equipped so you'll have access to Yell (you'll want your main 'healer' to be speedy so
   they can revive and cure your units).

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(Scene: Marquis Elmdor stands before Ramza with his beautiful
assassins, Celia and Lede. For all their power, the Lucavi share
at least one thing with the humans they seek to dominate: pride.)

(Remnants)

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This fight, like the last one, can be very quick or very long, depending on how greedy you are. The objective is merely
to kill Elmdor, which isn't too difficult as long as you're not heavily reliant on doing physical damage. The main rub in
this fight is that aside from fighting Celia and Lede, you'll need to deal with both his Draw Out skills (Murasama mostly)
and Blood Suck, a HP draining ability which turns a unit into a 'vampire' with a 100% success rate. While in this state,
the unit is both uncontrollable and effectively confused, seeking only to infect others. Their Reaction abilities and most
Move abilities stop working, and the only ability they'll be able to use is Blood Suck. This means that if your party isn't
protected, you could easily have your entire party become 'vampires.' New Vampires tend to target Elmdor with their
first attack, but he is, of course, immune to the 'vampire' effect (although he'll still take the HP Drain damage). Celia
and Lede are not immune, at least not initially.

The Marquis is immune (as most special characters tend to be) to the majority of status ailments you could think to
throw at him, but he is vulnerable to Slow if you have it. A Time Mage is the most obvious source, but the Draw Out
"Heaven's Cloud" sometimes inflicts it as well. His Movement ability, "Teleport 2" allows him to teleport anywhere on the
battlefield with a 100% success rate, so there is no point in trying to keep particular units away from him. Spreading
out to a minimal degree is recommended simply to prevent him Murasama'ing your entire group, but it's still usually
preferable to him Blood Sucking a unit.

Elmdor sports a unique sword (Murasame) and a full set of Genji equipment, all of which can only be found in this battle
(it's possible to get the Murasame otherwise but that it requires you to fight level 95 Ninjas). While the weapon is nice,
the Genji armour ranges from good to 'meh.' If you're not seeking to be a completest, this equipment is in no way
necessary to grab. Here's the lowdown on it all:

• The Murasame is the most powerful Katana you can get outside the very end game, and it has a very powerful
  Draw Out (Haste and Regen) if you're willing to risk the chance it will break.
• The Genji Shield is a mediocre shield that offers 43% physical evade, and 0 magic evade. For comparison, a
  Crystal Shield (purchasable) offers 40% physical and 15% magical, almost certainly a better trade as magical
  damage is harder to prevent than physical.
• The Genji Helmet offers 130 HP, 10 more than a Crystal Helmet (purchasable). Hats such as Twist Headbands
  (+56 HP, +2 PA), Flash Hats (+88 HP, +1 MA, +1 Speed), and Thief Hats (+100 HP, +2 Speed, immunity to Don't
  Act and Don't Move) are usually still better due to their passive bonuses (of course not all classes can wear
  those).
• The Genji Armor gives +150 HP, 20 more than Reflect Mail and 30 more than Crystal Mail. Definitely worth stealing.
• The Genji Gauntlet is the biggest prize, an accessory that offers +2 PA and +2 MA. Granted, classes that don't
  use MA much (such as Monks and Ninjas) will still benefit more from a Bracer (+3 PA), but classes such as
  Geomancer and Samurai (not to mention Ramza's Squire class) will love this accessory.

Stealing from Elmdor isn't easy. Aside from the somewhat low success rate of stealing in general, you need to contend
with both his Genji Shield (43% physical evade) when stealing from the front or sides and Blade Grasp (which due to
Elmdor's 70 Brave reduces your chance to steal by 70%). This is on top of all the Blood Suck'ing and Muramasa'ing he'll
be doing.

Take out the Assassins first; they will turn into Archaic Demons when killed (the same demons you fought in the Velius
fight), but since they lose all their Use Hand Assassin abilities that is of a minor concern. Since there is no reason to
keep them alive, feel free to unload on them. Steal Heart is fantastic to use, since you'll likely have a male unit with the
Steal abilities anyway and they'll not only kill each other (and the Demons that they turn into) but they'll take out any
units that have Blood Suck inflicted on them either by Stopping them or outright killing them, which is still preferable to
them running around loose.




When only Elmdor is left, the "fun" begins. Reducing his Brave makes stealing from him a lot easier since it reduces the
effectiveness of Blade Grasp. Speed Break is hard to hit with because of Blade Grasp, but every -2 Speed you stack on
him will reduce your incoming damage significantly. From there it is just a matter of slowly stripping him of his equip-
ment. I had some weird luck, hitting him twice with Speed Break despite only a ~14% success rate (albeit with two
hits), yet missing with Foxbird twice despite a 96% success rate. Randomness, psssh.

Regardless, assuming you can protect yourself from Blood Suck, you've got all the time in the world. It will take some
time; there was about 10 minutes of me trying to steal from this bugger that you'll be mercifully spared from.



Note: In the PSP "War of the Lions" game, Elmdor cannot be stolen from. I mentioned before that WotL introduces some
bonus fights; it's in these bonus fights where the Genji equipment and Masamune can be stolen. Speaking of bonus
fights, after this one you get to fight an undead version of an old friend from waaaay back in Chapter 1: Algus (or
re-translated, "Argath")! I obviously can't do that fight (as it doesn't exist in the original), but you can see it here done
by some other guy if it interests you at all. You can also see one of the bonus classes the PSP version got (Dark
Knight) as well as the two bonus characters it got. Fun fact: the guy in it says the battle is hard if you're not the
proper level, so he brought level 80 characters. lol.

Speaking of differences, the PSP version adds the following (Note that this is all second hand information, but probably
pretty reliable):

New story stuff!
Aside from some pretty FMV (compare the new opening to the original, which for the record I still love), there are some
new cutscenes and story battles, including new fights at the end of Chapter 2 and chapter 3, where you protect Ovelia
against attackers with Delita. In addition, there are special character specific fights added to flesh them out a bit more.
For example, you get to face the bastard who turned Reis into a Dragon!

New Special Characters!
Luso (Final Fantasy Tactics A2): Luso is the main character of the second Advance game, he's your typical cheerful
male hero, and his class is "Game Hunter", basically a copy of Ramza's (down to the ability to learn Ultima blue magic
stlye) except with an innate Poach ability. I'm unsure of whether he has a female's MA however. There is a cool video
of him before he joins that you can watch here.

Bathier (Final Fantasy XII): One of the more popular characters from FF XII, Bathier is a suave individual who has made
thousands fall in love with him, some of them female! His "Sky Pirate" class combines Mustadio's Engineer abilities and a
Thief's Steal abilities (albeit renamed and with a higher success rate). He also gets a "Barrage" ability which sounds
ridiculously broken. He also has his own cutscene in which he steals my heart the show. Note the hilarious Monk using a
sword.



New Jobs!
Dark Knight: Anyone who played the original wished they could become like Gafgarion. Well now they can! Getting in
requires a ridiculous amount of hoops to jump through (Mastered Knight and Wizard classes as well as level 8 in multiple
other classes and killing 20 enemies such that they crystallize/turn into a chest) but it gets Night Sword (now called
"Sanguine Sword") plus some new attacks that drain the Dark Knight's HP but look pretty powerful. One of their biggest
advantages is that the class allows females to learn "Move +3".

Onion Knight: A class with zero abilities that gets bigger stat bonuses when they level up depending on how many
classes you've mastered. But they don't get any experience from using their lone ability to attack! My cursory reading
indicates that this is either a joke class, or a class for the same people who got all their Final Fantasy X characters 255
luck (*cough*).

Class changes!
Rafa and Malak (now Rapha and Mararch)'s attacks hit up to ten times (instead of six), significantly increasing their
usefulness. Reis's Holy Breath has undergone a similar change.

In the localization to the United States, there were also some changes made to make the game easier. Amongst these
are lower JP costs, lower job-prereqs, and lower charge times for things like Summon Spells. I actually think changing
some of these things back is a bad move (more grinding, hooray?) but it's probably not a huge deal.



New translation!
I don't possibly see what is wrongwith the old one!

Increased roster size!
The PSP version allows you to hold up to 8 more characters. That's like, a 50% increase! I applaud this move.

Oil now works properly!
I guess it doesn't do anything in the PS1 version. Huh. Learn something new everyday.

They're Dragoons again!
Of all the changes, this is the one I approve of the most.

More slowdown!
Well, I guess something had to give...



With his gear stolen, we finish him off with Murasame to be cheeky. Next time on Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics: we
finish the job, recruit a completely outclassed special character, and rob some graves!

See you next time!

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Bonus Money: 19,700Gil

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to be continued...

Nice writeup on the PSP version! I've never bothered to get the Genji equipment the legit way, but waaaay back in the day when I was a kid I had to Gameshark to get anywhere in this game. I got plenty of Genji equipment and Masamunes that way.

The downside? This was a "get 99 of every item" code with a v1.99 Gameshark which required 13-year-old me to input a line of code for every single item in the game. Because kids are stupid I didn't realize that each code corresponded to one item.

To date I have played through the PSP release twice (once at release, then once again when Alphawolf's streaming playthrough gave me the FFT itch), and while the coherent translation and added cutscenes are nice, I still prefer the original version. Actually, I think they could have added so much more to the PSP release, but that's neither here nor there, and what do you expect from S-E anyway.

Our troops don't really need to defend from specific status ailments in this fight, so we can equip our regular +PA and
MA accessories. There's a unique item to Move-Find this fight, but it requires a Jump of 4. We give Jessica a new pair
of shoes to boost her meager jump score, being our most capable treasure hunter.

We can equip that gear we nabbed from Elmdor as well, although as mentioned, it's nothing extraordinary. We keep the
Barette on Tabatha since there are some status ailments that can be flung around this fight (albeit somewhat rarely),
and an ounce of protection is a something something.

Apologies if you were expecting more combat; it's more of a story-heavy update.



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(Scene: Ramza has chased Elmdor into the depths of Limberry Castle. Ramza
steels himself for the battle ahead; he is no stranger to the Lucavi now, and with
his assassins dead he knows the Marquis has only one more ally to turn to...)

(Terror 1)

Ramza: Let Alma go!

BOWSER!
Elmdor: The only ones here are the spirits of the dead...

(Lucavi Demon Battle Theme)

Ramza: Your brother Izlude died because he found the truth and fought them!

Meliadoul: Oh... my God! Does Father... Vormav know that?

Ramza: Well...

Zalera: Just like Izlude, your 'body' isn't suitable for us... But your father's was...

Zalera: But no matter... For now you, and Ramza will die here!

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Guys, Calculators are still broken! Witness: Cure.




I end up dealing a medium blow to nearly all the enemy units, and heal Jessica (recently Revive'd by Jean) to full, and
heal both Sullivan and Tabatha, who were both injured by Zarela's Flare 2. That's with the most basic Priest spell,
without a +2 MA Accessory boost and without using Cure 2 or Cure 3, the latter being more than twice as powerful as
regular ol' Cure.

Orlandu, psssht.



This is actually a fairly easy fight, as aside from our new Zodiac Boss, Zalera, the enemy units pale into comparison to
either the Apandas from Battle 42 or Archaic Demons from the previous (and Velius) fights. The Skeleton trio at the
south are absolutely nothing new, and while they're strong enough to collectively take Tabatha down (again), they're
not nearly as strong as the ghostly Knights to the north, who sport shields, higher HP, and stronger attacks.

Of course, the Knights start so far North and have such pitiful movement that they're unlikely to be much of a threat.
Zarela will completely run ahead of them, and thus you can either go straight for the jugular (taking our Lucavi demon
out) or take your time picking off the Skeleton monsters first before dealing with the Knights. As undead, all these units
can potentially revive themselves after their CT counts down to zero, but the fight is unlikely to last that long.



Zarela/Zalera (the game can't make up its mind, but Zalera is the correct translation) sports the hefty hit points of his
brethren, and unlike some Lucavi (or like some others?) is actually considered male for Zodiac compatibility purposes
(like Queklain, but unlike Velius). Some of his "Fear" abilities will be familiar, as Queklain used some of them, but his "Ja
Magic" is unique. Here are the sum total of his abilities, with spell quotes attached (because some of them are pretty
neat, yet the average player won't see most of them):

Unique Skill: Fear
Darkness: "Mercy? ...not from me! Darkness!"
Adds "Darkness" with 100% success rate to a single unit. Range 5, not evadable or reflectable.

Spell: "One step closer to hell! Spell!"
Adds "Stop" with 100% success rate to a small area. Range 5, not evadable or reflectable.

Chicken Race: "Run for your lives! Chicken Race!"
Adds "Don't Act" with 100% success rate to a single unit. Range 5, not evadable or reflectable.

Nightmare: "On the verge of death...Nightmare!"
Adds either "Sleep" or "Death Sentence" with 100% success rate to a small area. Range 5, not evadable or reflectable.


Unique skill: Ja Magic
Toad 2: "Join the froggers! Toad2!"*
Adds "Frog" to small area, with a medium success rate. Not evadable or reflectable.
*I'm honestly not sure if that's what it says, but this FAQ says so.

Gravi 2: "Attack with a silent cry! Gravi2!"
Reduces units in small area it hits to 1 hitpoint, with a medium success rate. Not evadable or reflectable.

Flare 2: "Flames from hell, gather and fire away! Flare 2!"
Deals heavy damage to units in a small area. Not evadable or reflectable.

Blind 2: "Turn off Heaven's light! Blind2!"
Adds "Blind" to units in a small area with a medium success rate. Not evadable or reflectable.

Confuse 2: "Listen to the Mad King.... Confuse2!"
Adds "Confuse" to small area, with a medium success rate. Not evadable or reflectable.

Sleep 2: "Fall into the dark world of unconsciousness..... Sleep2!"
Adds "Sleep" to small area, with a medium success rate. Not evadable or reflectable.



As you can see, some of his abilities are really powerful, but he doesn't seem to prioritize the REALLY dangerous ones
(Frog 2 and Gravi 2), instead preferring to go from either sure-fire damage (Flare 2) or surefire status ailments (like
Nightmare). His MA is moderate (I calculate it to be about 10) and so is his Faith score (approximately 70). This means
your own spells are going to (usually) be pretty strong against him, but it also means his Toad 2 spell has about a 83%
chance of working on a unit with 70 Faith, if he were ever to use it. One unit with Item or White Magic skill is usually
enough to keep up with him, given that the fight shouldn't last long.

Zalera is considered a Gemini, so Virgo and Pisces units aren't likely to get nailed by some of his powerful spells (note
that his Fear magic will hit regardless), while Libra and Aquarius units are more likely to get nailed hard by his Ja Magic.
Faith does calculate into all Ja Magic abilities, so any low faith unit (like our Junk) will shrug them off, but can do
nothing to evade his Fear abilities without using some accessories. He has got about 1200 HPs, but that shouldn't be too
much of a barrier at this point in the game.

While Zalera's sprite doesn't give off a "Gemini" feel, you can see it in Celia and Lede, who were twins (probably), and
his appearance in Final Fantasy XII gives him a 'twin' (albeit female) on his right arm.

Of course, by the time FFXII came around us gamers were used to people sharing an arm.



Our guest, Meliadoul, will spend most of the battle being useless. The Skeletons that start near her are slower than
her, so she'll spend her first turn running into a corner (because she can't hit them on their tombstones due to the
height discrepency). Her special ability, Mighty Sword, only targets equipment, of which the Skeletons have none. The
Knights that are on the opposite side of the area do, but... well, hopefully you can understand the conflict there. The
War of the Lions game changes this significantly, but oh well.

Strategy here is pretty simple: kill Zalera. Like all Zodiac beasts, he is immune to most status ailments except Blind,
which is worthless against him, and Slow, which is pretty good. He's got a hefty 24% evade from the front, so get
around to his back or sides. On an interesting note, he's got Monster Skill, so those Skeletons can access their locked
skills if they're next to him, but that's very unlikely to happen.



There are items hidden on the top of the three graves in this fight, although only one of them is worth grabbing... sort
of. The Gastrafitis is the strongest crossbow in the game by far (10 WP compared to the purchasable Hunting Bow's 6
WP), but, well, Crossbows suck. Only Archers can use them (and uh, Melidoul in her Divine Knight class...) but they pale
in comparison to Guns, which are longer range, unavoidable save for Blade Grasp, and (in the case of magical guns) are
stronger.

Still, this is the only map in the game that you can get one, so you completionists out there should take the time to
grab it. Just make sure the Skeleton moves off the grave first so you don't need to wait till it crystallizes/revives. The
other graves hold items all purchasable in stores, so they can be skipped.





I was just putting this fight off until I could get that crossbow (I uh, forgot which grave it was on) so we Holy the heck
out of Zalera. The result is simply divine.

(We blow up Tabatha too, but she'll be okay. Probably.)

This is the end of the Limberry Castle fights, and between the Ultima skill and the Genji Equipment (and I guess a new
Zodiac stone, but I can't use that in combat!) its been a nice diversion.

But our Alma is still in another castle!

Lots of story to get through before we can continue on our quest to rescue our sister. I think we're due for a small
supplemental episode to catch up on bar jobs and our how our units are doing, and maybe we'll see how Orlandu
handles those three fights.

See you next time, and enjoy the "wow that was a terrible angle to kill him at"-ness of the following screenshots!

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Bonus Money: 27,900 Gil

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Meliadoul: It may be 'divine', but I thought it was just a strange rock. I never thought
collecting them would make a miracle.

Ramza: Even Wiegraf didn't know until he turned into Lucavi. So even the High
Priest's plot's being used by Vormav.

Meliadoul: What're they after?

(Ramza shakes his head.)

Ramza: That, I don't know.

Ramza: But they don't use that power outright. There must be a reason why.

Meliadoul: Maybe they can't use their power outright?

Ramza: They don't seem to be the 'immortal evils' the legends say.

Meliadoul: Legends do tend to over exaggerate.

Meliadoul: In return, let me go along. I want to know why my father... Besides...

Ramza: Besides?

Meliadoul: I want to know why he gave away the 'Capricorn' Stone.

Meliadoul

(Sorry for the fanart. It's pretty good fanart, but I would have preferred an official image. I don't know the artist
unfortunately, but if anyone knows for some reason, let me know and I'll give them credit.)

Meliadoul is an ill-timed character to get this late in the game. She would have been a great Chapter 2 character, but
we're approaching the end of the game now, and the game had prematurely made her obsolete by giving you Orlandu,
who has all her skills (and more) and does her skills better than she can.

The other problem is of course, her skill set. Mighty Sword contains some very powerful abilities, but they're very situa-
yional. They break equipment and deal moderate damage with perfect accuracy, which is awesome except that they
don't work unless the target has equipment to break. While the story battles face you off against equipment users,
random battles heavily favour monsters, who are effectively immune to Mighty Sword.

That said, Mighty Sword does a good number on 'human' units, and Hellcry Punch is absolute gold, especially packing a
high WP weapon like a Knight Sword. But can you fit her on your team? Well, this late in the game, it's doubtful,
and it's a darn shame. As mentioned, I think she'd be absolutely kick ass in Chapter 2, but the game just gives her to
you way too late.

Divine Knight Traits:
Weapons: Sword, Knight Sword, Crossbow, Spear, Shield
Armour: Helmet, Armor, Clothes, Robe

Move: 4
Jump: 3
Physical Evade: 12%

Unique Skill: Mighty Sword
Shellbust Stab: Destroys the target's equipped armor.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: --
(Okay, second verse, same as the first: these skills require a sword to use, either regular or Knight versions)

Blastar Punch: Destroys the target's equipped helmet.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 400
(For what it's worth, these abilities take the element of the weapon being used as well, although since they can't work
on monsters that is probably never going to come up baring using a Coral Sword backed Mighty Sword against a unit
using an Ice Shield.)

Hellcry Punch: Destroys the target's equipped weapon.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 500
(This is the one to get, as it neuters most enemy units.)

Icewolf Bite: Destroys the target's equipped accessory.
Range: 3. Effect: 1. CT: Now. JP: 800
(The War of the Lions, if I might praise it a bit, fixes Mighty Sword, now "Unyielding Blade", by making it do more
damage if the enemy isn't wearing the equipment in question. This also allows it to work on Monsters, which is
awesome.)

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(note: the music played in this scene is not on the soundtrack.)

(The sounds of battle sound suddenly outside of Ovelia's room.)

Another Voice: You search over there!

Another Voice: He was wounded trying to escape! He must still be near!

Ovelia: What an awful wound. Be strong...

Olan: Please... Listen to me... My stepfather Orlandu didn't murder Lord Goltana...
Suspected of conspiracy, my stepfather escaped Bethla with Ramza Beoulve...

Another Voice: Highness! Are you safe!?

Voice: Please! Open this door!

Olan: It was...

(Knights interrupt Olan as they bust into the room.)

Nanten Knight: B, But...

Delita: I'll not say it again!

Nanten Knight: Y, Yes...

Delita: Oh, please. You know you wanted this too. Look around. See anyone who's
really saddened?

Delita: You don't trust me?

Ovelia: ...

Delita: Well... Ovelia?

(Ovelia lowers her head.)

Ovelia: I'd like to trust you... But...

Delita: Ok. I promise...

(Ovelia opens the door, pauses, and then shuts it, and sneaks behind the ledge to
listen.)

Olan: Do it in one deathblow...

Delita: You'll work under me.

Olan: Ha, ha, ha. Don't be a fool. I refuse, even if it means death!

Delita: You cannot refuse.

(Delita moves towards the window.)

Delita: I'll bring down the Hokuten and build Ovelia's kingdom.

(Delita turns around.)

Delita: Of course I'll kill the High Priest. I'm not his dog.

Delita: I'm sure you know I'm right. What I'm planning to do is completely justified.
A former squire, now in control of Knights, and restoring order to the world.

Delita: Is that wrong?

(Ovelia gasps and runs out loudly through the door.)

(Balmafula draws a knife.)

Delita: I know the High Priest send you as an 'assassin'.

Delita: What's the matter? Go on... If you don't kill me... I'll kill you!

(Balmafula screams.)

So a gastraphetes is considered by this game to be a good crossbow? Really? Basically the ur-crossbow, the very model that Vagrant Story correctly labels the weakest, and here it's outclassing the rest? ...Okay.

Haven't you ever watched a mecha anime? The prototype is always the most powerful version of something, and crossbows don't get much more prototypical than that.

It is, however, quite stylish. I always wonder about the Genji set: Orlandu is the only joining character who can equip the full Genji set + Masamune without using a support skill, and that prevents him from using his skills; in FFVI, using a Genji Gauntlet means you won't be using the Genji (or any) Shield. Why make a themed set if you aren't meant to use all of it together?

Her starting equipment is almost good enough to compensate for her skillset. Although... I don't remember her having some of those equipment options. I must be getting rusty.

The best thing about Dark Knight is that by the time you've actually unlocked it, you'll also have ground up your levels so much that it'll make random encounters nearly impossible unless you're already at the end of the game, and have to spend hours at the level down trap to get back to a manageable level!

Eddie, if you have a track missing from the OST, you can use the PSF rip of the game (available here: http://psf.joshw.info/f/), playable with this Winamp plugin (http://www.neillcorlett.com/downloads/HE209.exe).

This rip has 35 tracks not available in the OST (pretty much everything that was in the game).

Hope this helps.

I always figured that WotL Mel, in lieu of breaking enemy equipment with Unyielding Blade, would break the corresponding part of the enemy anatomy.

Hitting four times with the equipped weapon? Hell yes it's broken. Especially with the "added effect" weapons or the magical guns. Balthier is more broken than freaking Cid.


...unless you make Cid a Dark Knight. In which case he can kill the final boss in one hit.

I'm not sure if this was a change for the PSP version, but it appears that Meliadoul can still use her Mighty SwordUnyielding Blade to breakrend equipment, even if she's unarmed. It won't do any damage, but it'll break stuff just as good as ever.

This makes mugging her in the Free City battle even more annoying.

Oooh, also, my Monk with Attack Up or whatever punched a sleeping Archer for 999 damage DDD

Wait, what?

cause the dark knights are INCREDIBLY strong, and cid is INCREDIBLY strong.
combine the two and its lights out.

Huh. For some reason I was thinking the final boss had at least 2000 hit points, but I can't find anything useful on the internet about the subject. Probably just wishful thinking.

In that case, though, you could always kill the final boss in one hit without Cid.

OK, fine, two hits :P I tried to find a photo I took of Dark Knight Ramza targeting the final boss, with an 850HP+ damage estimate, but couldn't find it anywhere on my web folder (I know it's in there somewhere, dammit, and I will find it!) So I guess if you have the inclination to make Cid a DK, all the prerequisites will easily make him deliver all-nines on anything in one hit.

And so Beowulf's primary contribution to the final encounter has been rendered obsolete yet again by the Thunder God

It almost seems as if the designers created Meliadoul and then decided they hated her and wanted to contrive things so that she'd be even less likely to be used than Rafa and Malak.

I'm unsure how much hitpoints the final boss has. The damage cap is theoretically 1998 (two Two Swords swings of 999) which is difficult (but possible) to achieve if you're willing to either raise PA via leveling down/up in low PA/high PA classes or by snagging two of the most powerful weapons in the game and a 20 PA (a much easier solution) and dual wielding them.

That requires a little bit of know how.

Bathier can theoretically reach 3996, but that's assuming his Barrage ability can hit for more than 500 damage per shot (which I'm not sure it can).

- Eddie

The last boss, if memory serves, has around 1,300 HP or so (in the PS1 version, anyway; can't say for sure about the PSP one). So yeah, you could probably one-hit that sucker with that tactic (assuming you could get your attack power high enough).

A-HA! I found it!



So yeah. That's Master Dark Knight Ramza's damage estimate on the final boss, and he's not even using Fellswords or any other specialized equipment (IIRC, he's wielding an Ice Brand.) Imagine freaking Cid as a Master Dark Knight.

Welcome back! Today we're going to rock through Limberry Castle with Orlandu, and catch up with our jobs, both
personal and bar related.




The three part series starts off really easy for Orlandu, since Lede is in range for a Lightning Stab right off the bat.
With sufficient PA -- easily reached by a combination of a Gauntlet (+3 PA), Twist Headband (+2 PA) and Power Sleeve
(+2 PA) -- Orlandu can one shot her on the first move, ending the fight.

The next fight offers a dilemma: do you protect Orlandu against Blood Suck (stopping Elmdor from turning him into a
zombie) or against the Assassin's instant KO and Petrification moves?




Assuming you haven't leveled Orlandu much at all since you gathered him, he'll likely be sitting around level 38, giving
him a 17 PA with relevant boosting equipment. With Excalibur, that will translate to 425 damage he can deal to Elmdor
and his beauties with a Lightning Stab (and given their position and Excalibur, you can hit them all with a single blow).

425 damage is barely enough to turn the Assassins into Ultima Demons, but Elmdor is sporting more than enough HP to
survive that. Orlandu will be vampirized, and will Blood Suck Elmdor back for more HP, but Elmdor will survive with less
than a 100 HP while his partners club Orlandu to death. You can equip a 108 Gems to prevent the Blood Suck, but then
the assassins will survive the Lightning Stab and will choose one of their many methods available to kill you.

This doesn't mean the battle is unwinnable as Orlandu, just that he will lose (solo) 95% of the time. The trick to soloing
this battle with Orlandu? Luck.



The other 5% of the time, Lightning Stab will critically hit Elmdor, and if you're lucky, deal enough damage (like, 700)
to kill him outright. I'm not proud that such a method was the best solution I could find, but the alternative is power-
leveling Orlandu such that his PA increases enough for Elmdor to not survive a retributive Blood Suck.



Well, lucky I'm playing this on an emulator more like it.





The last fight isn't technically too difficult, but I messed up the first time I did it. Ramza is mandatory, and for whatever
reason (programming) Zalera will Flare 2 him exclusively while Ramza is out. Male Gemini's (which Zalera counts as) have
miserable compatibility with Sagittariuses (which my Ramza is) so he can actually survive the Flare 2 he casts.

I forgot to take out Ramza's Auto-Potion ability however, and that meant that Ramza would take the punishment from
Zalera all day while Orlandu took him down.



I felt that was a bit against the spirit of the thing. There's nothing I can do about Ramza being in the fight (and eating
a Flare 2) but at least I can hold my head high and say "well, Orlandu still does most of the work..."

The key to doing this fight (somewhat) solo is that Zalera will try using Nightmare (a 100% chance to get inflicted with
Sleep or Death Sentence) if Orlandu can be inflicted with either status ailment. Protecting against either is not
advisable, as he'll turn to a different tool (such as Seal, which inflicts Stop) and then your game is definitely over.

Death Sentence is, however, okay. With full PA gear, Orlandu will take Zalera out in three Lighting Stabs. You can get
two in before Zalera + a skeleton has (likely) dealt with Ramza, and you can get your third in as long as you get
inflicted with the "Death Sentence" portion of Nightmare. Sure that's a 50% chance of not winning, but after the last
fight a coin flip is a pretty good deal!

I mean, I still feel a bit dirty about it, but again, the other alternative is grinding, and you're unlikely to try and solo the
rest of the game with Orlandu anyway.



That's the Limberry Castle fights. Let's catch up on our bar-related endeavors!



We fail out first job, which indicates that we probably sent the wrong classes to it. This actually quite uncommon.
There are guides on the web to tell you which ones are the most optimal to bring, but a failed job will reappear in the
pub eventually and some of the 'recommended' classes are a bit arcane to figure out anyway. There is no real prize
except gil and the occasional vanity item, so it's not really a big deal.

What's interesting, in light of the recent new Final Fantasy LPs, are some of the references to past games embedded in
some of the job descriptions.




Most jobs are fairly generic in their description, although there are a few 'job-chains' where you get small snippets of
stories of your units trying to apprehend a thief Zero, and the downfall of a man named Count Minimum. Some are as
much of reference as some of the treasures you can get; The Falcon and Black Jack (along with a man named Setzer)
are references to Final Fantasy VI (currently being LP'd by Lucas and SkyRender) while resident LP legend Brickroad is
playing through Final Fantasy IV. I'm sure he will tell you how Edward is such a better name than Gilbert.

One more shout out to another LP! TirMcDohl is playing through Final Fantasy IX, which itself has references all over
the place to past Final Fantasy Games, albeit in a more organic manner.

Also, what do you guys think about 'At the Hilltop Mansion' job? A reference to Final Fantasy VII?



I've updated the treasure pages so you guys can see all the new loot I've picked up since I last updated them:

Bar Treasures

• Tobacco Pipe
• Zeni-Sword
• Kid's Bread
• Red Materia
• M-Fiction Novel
• Diary of Nanai
• Book of Enavia
• Magical Gun
• M Machinegun
• Exaclipar
• Longibunne Spear
• St. Elmo's Fire

Undiscovered Land

• Pandemonium
• Matoya Cave
• Castle of Trials

Zodiac Stones

• Gemini
• Cancer
• Libra
• Sagittarius

For handy reference, here are the links to each page:

Bar Treasures Part 1 (nothing new added here)
Bar Treasure Part 2
Undiscovered Land
Zodiac Stones

One note: We picked up the Sagittarius Stone as well as the Gemini stone last fight. That game isn't very clear about it
(one can easily mistake Meliadoul as simply giving you the Gemini stone you just won) but regardless, we've got ten out
of the twelve stones now. Luckily for us there is a rigorous screening process for our party members our I'd be a little
worried carting around such dangerous jewelry.

There really isn't anything new to report about Ramza. He's still carting the Two-Hands/Rod/High MA Combo, and is still
slogging through the Oracle class. He has fallen behind on skills because he (and other special characters) can't do bar
jobs, but he's still pretty kick ass. I should probably give him back Teleport sometime.



Junk has now Mastered Knight, Thief, and Ninja, and has all the Talk Skill and Elemental skills from the Mediator and
Geomancer classes respectfully. I've got him in Geomancer again so he can maybe fully Master the class. At this point,
most of these characters aren't going to functionally be improved by adding new skills, so I'm basically Mastering them
for cosmetic reasons. Junk is dual-wielding Rune Blades and using a Genji Gauntlet to get the most mileage out of his
Elemental skill, although even with that boost it's still only pushing a 100 damage.



Jean is just back here to Master Samurai for something to do. Two Hands + Masamune and a 14 PA equals out to about
500 damage a slice. Not bad sir, not bad at all.



Sullivan hasn't mastered any classes technically, but he's functionally a mastered Wizard, Oracle, and Samurai. I'm
thinking of turning him into a Black Mage with Draw Out eventually, but for now figured I could get some more fun out
of a Magical Gun. Since Yin Yang Magic doesn't rely on MA that much, we've gone for extra HP and Speed.



Tabatha the Ninja Chemist is, yes, a master Ninja and Chemist. She grabbed enough JP to functionally master the
Lancer class and I wanted Teleport, so I threw her in Time Mage. I haven't figure out where to go otherwise, so Time
Mage it is! Like Oracles, Time Mages can get away with a low MA so we went for speed.



Meanwhile, Sissie has taken up Tabatha's role as "bearer of the Javelin II." If I didn't like the idea of the Spear/Shield
combo I'd grab her Two Hands. I might still.



The last fight made me want to add a few more skills to Jessica's Math Skill list (humour me), so after getting
Fire/Ice/Lit 3, Death and Flare, I put her into Priest. Her MA isn't nearly as high but she didn't really need that much
anyway.


That's the update! Next time: when we pay our dear brother Dycedarg a visit. As usual, if you have any requests let
me know!

See you next time!

The new Bar Treasures, Undiscovered Lands, and Zodiac Stones have been updated correctly now. One last thing:



I saw this while doing some shopping. Not that it matters one bit mechanically, but I think someone messed up
assigning the right sprites to the right items. Can anyone confirm if they fixed this in the War of the Lions remake? It
seems like something like that could be easily missed.

- Eddie