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

I haven't seen Mimes ever, and apparently it will make this LP that much more awesome, so why not (as long as it's not too much trouble)?

I like that you've just blazed through half of the deep dungeon in one update. I always thought that was the most boring part of the game and the last thing I wanted to see was endless updates of blackness and searching for exits.

I've also never used a mime, but honestly I'd rather see you use any of the awesome job combinations available to you than waste a character slot on something that just mimicks stuff you can already do. Still, it'll be worth seeing if you can use one well in combat.

I'm rather fond of Deep Dungeon because it's one of the few new things after the midway point of the first chapter (see also: Bethla Garrison Sluice). It's also the most interesting, since it actually changes the way you play.

That's the perfect reason to want something in an LP.

I wanna see a party of mimes with one non mime- just to watch the fireworks...
I know that aint gunna happen here but I say yes to miming anyways

News Flash: recentteen14 says "Yes!" to Proposition Mime.

Party limit is 5, right?
4 norms 1 mime = 8 actions
3 norms 2 mimes = 9 actions
2 norms 3 mimes = 8 actions
1 norm 4 mimes = 5 actions

Guys! We missed the two year anniversary!

Man don't remind me how long this is taking

- Eddie

I'm just glad you haven't abandoned the LP. I'll happily wait for quality, in-depth updates on one of my favorite games for however long it takes.

The only reason we would point out the anniversary is because we are all in awe of what an enduringly awesome LP you've had going here.

Precisely.

This, and we appreciate that you're sticking with this despite how long it's been going.

Yeah, after this Eddie can do whatever the hell he wants. He's earned it.

It's true! Eddie is the best.

Here, I found this proof:

He's the Lemmy of Let's Play.

Yes. This LP is like a well-researched, well-written, beautifully-photographed thick, glossy monthly magazine. You can't rush quality like that.

"Delays are temporary. Mediocrity is forever."

Man, I just started reading this thread a few days ago, playing catch-up, and I just want to say, this is easily among my top ten favorite Let's Plays of all time. There's so much, delicious, delicious information here. I, like many others, got tripped up on the Wiegraf 1v1 battle during my last (and first) serious attempt, with no backed up saves to boot. I haven't seriously picked the game up since, but now, I'm confident I'll be able to conquer the game the next time I pick it up. I mean, just knowing you can check turn order while using a spell? Blew my feeble, naive mind.

Not to mention the formatting is beautiful.

Oh yeah, and I'd love to see a Mime in action, seeing as I'll never have the patience for one.

Did you know that none of the Golden Girls was named Grace?

I didn’t, and let me tell you it totally ruined a joke I was going to make. I thought for sure that “southern belle” one
was named Grace but clearly I don’t remember the Golden Girls as much as purport to know them.

1. Secret Clothes: (0,9);height 5
2. Elixir: (0,10) height 5
3. Cursed Ring: (1,9); height 5
4. Blast Gun: (1,10); height 7

Exits:
(0,0); height 0
(2,1); height 0
(2,5); height 2
(7,2); height 0
(9,0); height 0

Tiger is basically laid out in the shape of an “S”, with thick walls preventing any non-Teleport or Fly related movement
from making it easy to cross the map. On the bright side, all the traps/items are conveniently located underneath the
area where your party starts, so you can have any potential move-finder quickly gobble up the items. As a bonus, any
enemy Ahrimans will land on these traps while trying to take a shortcut. It’s unlikely to kill or disable them, but as long
as you have another member on hand to cure any potential petrification you’ll be okay.




Tiger is also the point where the gloves are “slighty adjusted such as to make for easier removal.“ Higher tier (and
overall tougher) monsters become more common. One fight in Tiger can potentially involve up to five Behemoths, while
another has you fighting potentially four ninjas as once. Perhaps most importantly, the maps stop being as generous
with your starting location vis-a-vis the enemy; the walls in this map are as much a hindrance to you as they are the
enemy.

Cute note: Tiger is also the only map in Deep Dungeon that has a “rare” battle. It’s nothing special, essentially a bunch
of Vampires (the Tier 3 cats) with a sprinkle of Behemoths. You could encounter it and not even know it because it’s
extremely similar to one of the common fights on the map. The only way to truly tell the difference is to see if more
than eight enemies spawn, but that’s unreliable because the rare fight will regularly spawn fewer!




Along with the difficulty, the treasures start getting more interesting too. Secret Clothes give Initial: Transparent when
worn, making the wearing effectively invisible until they take a non-move action. This can make picking up the
treasures in Deep Dungeon easier, as you can use a unit to sneak around and grab the remaining treasure/hunt for the
exit while the rest of your force takes care of the enemy. Past that they offer +2 speed which is nice, but only +20 HP.
They might still be worth it on a backline mage, and are invaluable for calculators who are still learning their skills.

The Blast Gun is the strongest magical gun in the game, although only slightly more so than the Blaze and Glacier Guns.
It deals lightning damage, which means that despite being 2 WP stronger than the ice dealing Blaze Gun, it will hit less
elemental weaknesses. I therefore still prefer the Blaze Gun (the fire-dealing Glacier Gun can suck its mixed up name)
but the Blast Gun is unquestionably better against non-monster enemies.



The Cursed Ring offers +1 PA, MA and Speed at the cost of your “life”, making the bearer effectively undead. Whether
this is better than Genji Gauntlets (that offer a straight up +2 PA and MA) is a good question. Certainly they pale
compared to Gauntlets for PA using classes, but +1 Speed might be worth trading for +1 MA, especially if you find your
Wizards and Summoners are getting along just fine without the additional damage boost.

I can’t really think about bridges without thinking about Emperor Norton. Seriously, that wikipedia entry about him will
be the best thing you will read today.

1. Elixir: (4,4); height 12
2. Sage Staff: (4,10); height 13
3. Koga Knife: (4,12); height 12
4. Elixir: (4,14); height 10

Exits:
(0,14); height 0
(2,8); height 2
(2,13); height 0
(4,2); height 5
(5,6); height 7

Bridge is probably my least favorite of the Deep Dungeon levels, but mostly because I feel it’s a bit of a wasted
opportunity. The map is essentially divided in half by a tall “hill” with a small dip in the middle to allow you to traverse
up it. The enemy tends to start on the opposite side of the map on top of the hill, while you start below right next to
it. The enemy will largely be composed of Skeletons and Ghosts, with some Archers and Oracles mixed in. It tends to
give the enemy a bit of a terrain advantage, but I feel the map would have been more interesting if it forced both
parties to engage in the middle, but fights tend to occur near where the enemy starts, as they pelt you with ranged
attacks.





To collect the items here will require a unit with a Jump value of 5 to get, meaning you need a unit like a Thief or Ninja
with an accessory that gives +1 Jump to reach them. I didn’t want Jessica to get distracted so I equipped the Secret
Clothes. Ninja would have been preferable as a temporary class but Jessica hasn’t unlocked it yet so...

Te treasures in this stage? Crap! The Sage Staff is terrible, offering a weapon with a mere 7 WP and no MA bonuses like
a Wizard Staff or the Mace of Zeus you picked up earlier. A no prize to anyone who thinks of a good use for it!





The Koga Knife is basically another Iga Knife (which you picked up in Mlapan) but it doesn’t make ninja swords any less
suboptimal as weapons, and I’m still not sure +2 WP make sit better than the purchasable Spell Edge that offers a 25%
of Paralyzing the enemy.

Ugh, such a boring map!



I’ve literally ran out of things to say about this Bridge. Instead I’m going to talk about Asa Danforth Jr.

See, they named a road here in Toronto after this cat, and one a year they throw a big Greek lovefest here and that
has put a ferris wheel outside of my window.



To hell with Asa Danforth Jr. and this map!

*EDIT* Taste of the Danforth is over and I'm simply back to drunks having fights outside my window. Phew!

Here’s something a friend of mine wrote a few years ago about the song “Don’t Stop Believing” and it’s non-ironic
reemergence back into the world.

It’s all I’ve got folks.

1. Elixir/Phoenix Down: (2,10); height 3
2. Ragnarok/Phoenix Down: (3,8); height 3
3. Robe of Lords/Phoenix Down: (6,7); height 3
4. Perseus Bow/Phoenix Down: (8,6); height 3

Exits:
(0,13); height 3
(1,10); height 3
(1,13); height 3
(8,5); height 3
(10,10); height 9

Voyage is another pain in the ass map, as it is essentially cut down the middle by the massive cliff that extends across
the diagonals. Delaying the enemy to get the items is of necessity here, as the only way down to get the items on this
map is through them. I recommend not doing as I did here and bringing a Ninja with Germanis Boots to get these items.

I one thing I would recommend is not underestimating this map; this is the first map that can present a truly scary
force in Deep Dungeon, including a Dark Behemoth and a Hydra (the Tier II one, not the tier 1 Hyudra) backed up by
numerous high HP monsters.





Archers are still a joke at this point as always (they have no way of dealing with either Blade Grasp or Auto Potion).
They end up dropping some interesting crystals, or at least, they drop some crystals that look good even if they’re
filled with skills I’d never think to use. I sometimes wonder what might have been with Archers; they get them right for
the Advance games by switching lousy Charge skills for a variety of different attacks, but even Charge could be usable
if it didn’t necessitate the enemy standing still for an hour while they think really hard about shooting them.

Maybe if it was instant-cast but cost MP? Oh well. Commenting on class balance in a game that's over a decade is kind
of pointless I suppose.





Speaking of Archers, the Perseus Bow is here, and it’s the strongest bow in the game. It still doesn't make Archers that
worthwhile, but it’s worth picking up over some of there crap in Deep Dungeon because you could conceivable be using
it while mastering the Archer class for kicks, whereas a weapon like the Fairy Harp is likely to be skipped in favour of
using Sing to level a Bard.

The other items are note are the Ragnorok. a fairly powerful Knight Sword (24 WP over Excalibur’s 21) with a crappy
inherent bonus (Auto-Shell). It’s still worth using over a Save the Queen (Auto-Protect) for it’s extra damage usually,
but of course can’t hold a candle to Excalibur, of which of course you should now own two of. At the very least, it’s
worth using in the off-hand when Two Swords’ing.

Finally, the Robe of Lords is an amazing piece of armour, offering lots of HP, MP, 2 PA, 1 MA, Auto-Protect and
Auto-Shell. For some builds, the extra +1 MA of a Wizard Robe will still come out on top, but for any unit that wants to
mix it up in close combat it’s terrific.Keep in mind that most Special units can wear Robes in their base class, and so
can Knights, Samurai, Geomancers and Lancers. In fact, there may not be a better piece of body armour in this game,
so you might find it best used on one of your front-line units, even if they can’t cast a lick of magic.

I’ve really got to watch Apocalypse Now.

1. Venetian Shield: (4,8); height 2
2. Grand Helmet: (5,8); height 8
3. Elixir: (6,1); height 2
4. Maximillian: (9,2); height 4

Exits:
(1,0); height 1
(2,10); height 2
(4,2); height 2
(6,0); height 2
(8,2); height 4

Horror is my favorite map in Deep Dungeon. You start with the high ground, but traversing to the low ground isn’t as
easy. Most importantly, the items aren’t as far away as they are in Voyage (or at least, don’t seem to be). This map
also has the best chance of encountering multiple Ninjas. Of course, Ninjas are fast and can hit hard, so don’t take
them lightly. What you should take from them however is the stuff they throw at you! The Thief reaction “Catch” is
amazing when you end up fighting them, not because of the prevention of damage (although that’s nice) but because
they can throw really rare items at you!



The catc-- obstacle in getting these rare items is really only the enemy level. Specifically, the Ninjas need to have
levels in and around level 95 to throw such goodies at you. This is because their level determines the item quality they
use, I assume as a way to ensure that any enemy ninjas will have their Throw damage scale somewhat appropriately.
It`s not necessary to be around level 95 yourself, as the enemies in Deep Dungeon tend to be higher than your own,
but it`s also not advisable to wait until you`re level 99 to start doing this trick, as it can make getting some items
tricky.

The AI apparently doesn’t check at all to see if Catch is equipped, so they’ll gleefully toss items at you all day. All day
from their infinitely large inventory. Well, I’m actually not sure if their inventory is infinite, but they can certainly toss at
least forty of a single item. So I guess there could be an item limit of 99, but what would you possibly do with more?



Of course, you can’t control what skills an enemy spawns with, so even if they can have Excalibur's sitting in their
inventory they won’t throw them without the “Knight Sword” ability. Luckily, as the map can spawn up to eight ninjas
you shouldn’t have too much trouble building a collection quickly. Just keep your distance, or to high ledges they can’t
reach you at, and watch the items... fly. If they end up tossing nothing but Balls or Shruikens at you, feel free to kill
them. Also note that some items are impossible to get through Catch because there is no appropriate Throw skill,
meaning you`ll never catch a Faith Rod or Mace of Zeus.

For reference, here is a small list showing what level a Ninja needs to be at to throw a particular weapon. Note that an
enemy seems to always throw the best item it can at you, even if it could theoretically throw anything. This means
that while a Ninja will never throw a better knife than a Zorlin Shape, a level 95 Ninja that was throwing Masamunes at
you will stop and begin throwing Chirijiradens if it becomes level 96. You could bring a Mind Flare and a unit with
Monster Skill in order to manipulate enemy levels, but that will simply give the enemy something they can hit with
thrown weapons. Of course, if you`re too high a level the game might refuse to spawn ninjas that are of a low enough
level, so a Mindflare might end up being the most practical solution... The sweet spot for Ninjas tends to be level 95.

Level 90 Ninjas: Scorpion Tail (Hammer)

Level 92 Ninjas: Defender (Knight Sword),

Level 95 Ninjas: Sasuke Knife (Ninja Sword), Nagarock (Sword), Save the Queen (Knight Sword),
Masamune (Katana), Madlemgen (Dictionary), Holy Lance (Spear), Ivory Rod (Stick)

Level 96 Ninjas: Zorlin Shape (Knife), Iga Knife (Ninja Sword)*, Koga Knife (Ninja Sword)*,
Materia Blade (Sword), Excalibur (Knight Sword), Chirijiraden (Katana), Dragon Whisker (Spear),
Whale Whisker (Stick)

Level 97 Ninjas: Ragnarok (Knight Sword), Javelin II (Spear)

Level 98 Ninjas: Chaos Blade (Knight Sword)

* I`m not 100% sure if they have a particular preference but both the Iga and Koga knives share an item level





Speaking of items, the three unique ones you can find here can turn any Knight into a fabulous one.

The Venetian Shield would be the strongest shield in the game were it not for the Escutcheon II. It offers 50 Physical
and 25 Magical Evade, and halves damage from Fire, Ice and Lightning. Of course, shields lose some of their luster
when Blade Grasp is available...

The Maximillian offers nothing but a straight up +200 HP, but considering it’s next closest competition in the HP
department only give 150, it’s therefore a solid addition to your wardrobe. The Robe of Lords is still probably better, but
since Ninjas can’t toss armour I’m sure you’ll find someone who can put this equipment to good use.

The Grand Helmet is possibly the least interesting piece of armor you’re find here. Even offering 150 HP and protection
against Sleep and Darkness, anyone who can wear a hat instead will probably prefer a the bonuses from a Thief Hat
(+2 Speed) or Twist Headband (+2 PA) over the HP.



Time for the big show!

This fight takes a bit of preparation. For one, you’ll want to bring in at least one Summoner; the boss here casts a spell
that Summoners can learn (and is necessary to learn to “Master” the class) and this is the only fight in the game you
can see it cast. As I described years ago, you can learn some skills my simply being in the right class at the right time,
and this is one of them.

A character set up as per above (Teleport, Two Swords, and Battle Skill) makes this fight at lot easier; you specifically
want the “Mind Break” ability. Knight Swords are the best choice for weapons if available as they offer the best success
rate for the Knight’s Break skills.

The accessory 108 Gems is useful too but not critical, although a way to cure Frog will likely be necessary. Also, bring
at least two units who can revive the dead, Priests and Chemists being the optimal ones as they can use Esuna/Raise
or Maiden’s Kiss/Phoenix Downs.





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

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

Elixir: (5,10); height 15
Chirijiraden: (5,12); height 15
Chaos Blade: (7,10); height 15
Elixir: (7,12); height 15

No exits to find here; End is fairly straightforward climb to the top where Elidibs (and all the treasure) are. Getting the
treasure isn’t super important in this fight as you can come back for it, and as fights go this can be a real tough one if
you’re not prepared.





You get a guest in this fight, who is fairly useless but has some novelty value I suppose. It’s worth noting that the
usual Guest “crystallization” protection most get is absent here, so keep him relatively upright.

Hitting the boss with MA reduction attacks is critical for surviving his big attack (more on that later). This is why the
Teleport/Two Swords/Mind Break combo is powerful here, as you can sometimes with a fat -6 to his MA score. I can’t
tell you offhand how much MA Elidibs has, but it’s probably at least 20. Get cracking!



Let’s get a few of these enemy Apanda’s out of the way...

Elidibs has four attacks:

Snake Carrier: A physical attack that can be Blade Grasp’d. I’ve never seen him use this.

Poison Frog: a wide area status attack that afflicts... poison and frog to any units hit! 100% chance.

Midgar Swarm: a moderate range attack that deals MA *24 damage. I’ve never seen him use this either
because he can cast:

Zodiac: CFa/100 * TFa/100 * MA * 96. That means a whole lot of damage! This is the main reason you
want to cut into Elidibs’s MA, as each point he loses reduces the damage this spell does significantly, which
is important because your Summoner(s) need to survive this and all the Shell status in the world isn’t going
to blunt this mother of an attack.

Go my frog army!







With enough coaxing, I was able to get him to cast Zodiac on one of my frogs, then move said frog close enough to
Jessica without putting her in range of a Poison Frog application.

I’ve tried teaching enemy summoners to cast back summon spells they survive with back at me with little luck, but one
way that you might be able to use to teach other people Zodiac is to cast the spell on enemy summoners and looting
their crystal. I’ll try it out and see if it works!





By this point Elidibs has had his Speed reduced to 1, so I can pick up all the treasures with ease. The Chirijiraden is the
strongest Katana, but pales in comparison to the other find here, the Chaos Blade. It’s still a strong weapon for any
Samurai in your party, but not worth using with Draw Out on the chance you’ll break it.

The Chaos Blade has the highest WP in the game by a mile, with a whopping 40 PA. For reference, the next best Knight
Sword is the Ragnarok, which has 24 WP, while the next best weapon WP wise is the “Javelin II” with 30 WP. The Chaos
Blade has kind of a junky innate (Regen) but adds Petrify 25% of the time that you don’t outright murderize an enemy
with this weapon.

This fight is certainly doable with five Summoners (if you wanted to teach Zodiac to Ramza and four others), but you
might want to use MP Switch to survive (and learn) Zodiac rather than through trying to reduce Elidibs’ raw magical
power. Reducing your OWN character’s Faith is a potential solution too, but perhaps not a very attractive one,
especially since the enemy here has attacks that ignore Faith anyway (AND would gimp your own Summoning ability).

With no lackies and no MA to speak of, Elidibs is at our mercy. If you’re interested in keeping “Byblos” (the demon who
is “helping” me by staying the heck out of the battle) make sure it hasn’t been crystallized (that has happened to me
before). Otherwise beat him up! We’ve got a sister to save!

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

















Jessica you scare me.

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



Byblos Demon

Move: 3
Jump: 6
Physical Evasion Rate: 33%
Innate Abilities: Ignore Height, Counter, Secret Hunt, Cannot Move in Water, Fire Weakness

This monster is kind of weird, but as a whole Byblos is decent as far as monsters go. Byblos kind of comes at a point in
the game where you've pretty much got the game wrapped up, and by this point you've probably learned that Monsters
are kind of mediocre. Byblos doesn't really chance such opinions; it's stats are all-around weak, and has the problems
many monsters have of being unable to enter water as well as a weakness to Fire.

It's big trick is Parasite, a moderate ranged attack that inflicts a number of status ailments, similar to the Marlbaro's
"Bad Bracelet" (*snicker*) but with at a range. It's other skills are cute, but don't have the raw power of a Behemoth
or Hydra.

On the other side of the balance sheet however, the Byblos has Ignore Height like his demon compatriots, as well as an
innate "Poach" ability. It also has great frontal evasion (33%) but that won't help against magic or attacks from the
side or back.

The Byblos's biggest use is against Zodiac bosses, which tend to have large amounts of MP you can abuse with
Difference. Of course, that still won't equal the damage of a properly built unit. Also? There are only a couple of Zodiac
Bosses left. Oops!

Unique Skill: Byblos

Energy: Recover twice as much HP as one's own.
Range: 4. Effect: 1. CTR: Now.
(This skill, poorly described in-game, is basically like a more powerful version of Ramza's "Wish" skill. The Byblos takes
1/4 of is current HP in damage and heals twice that to his target. Situational, although it does help set up Shock.)

Parasite: Negative power causes abnormal status (Add: Petrify, Darkness, Confusion, Silence, Oil, Frog, Poison, Sleep)
Range: 4. Effect: 1. CTR: Now.
(Neat skill, but only has a 25% chance of inflicting each ailment. Darkness, Silence, Poison and Oil are all mediocre but
the other ailments are aces to hit with. If my math is right, that gives the Byblos a... well my math is terrible but I
think it's a pretty good chance.)

Shock: The more damage taken, the greater the damage dealt.
Range: 5, 3. Effect: 1. CTR: Now.
(Deals the Byblos's Max HP - its current HP in damage. I'm not a huge fan of abilities that require a unit to be low on
HP to be effective, particularly a monster who can't defend himself with other abilities, but it can work in conjunction
with the Energy skill.)

Difference: Makes target's MP value become the amount of damage dealt to enemies.
Range: 5, 3. Effect: 1. CTR: Now.
(Lackluster; Difference will occasionally snipe a Wizard or something but MP values tend to lag far behind HP ones;
Monsters also have poor MP values making this near worthless against them too.)

And that's Deep Dungeon!

We're nearly finished now guys! The next series of fights are it. Let's take a look at Ramza and our generics and see
what they've learned on this crazy journey! If anyone is interested in seeing a particular build with any of these guys,
post away and I'll accommodate. The amount of JP they have unspent is listed as well in case you want me to grab any
other skills. I'll do a bit of grinding (people want a Mime it seems) so I'll be pretty leniant on requests. Here they are!

Thanks for putting up with this LP! See you next time!

1. Serpentarius/Ophiuchus (Elidibs has this unique 13th zodiac sign making him neutral to all signs)
2. Your links are all appearing with weird bits so they won't work: http://xn--http-fb7a//www.gamespite....72834%E2%80%9D

GoogleDocs!

This is why I usually use notepad.

- Eddie

Solo Ramza for the rest of the game. He deserves all the glory.

Sorry Brickroad, but the fans are demanding I use a Mime and if I just use Ramza I...

... oh no.

- Eddie

Solo mime Ramza wouldn't work out. But Ramza and four mimes would.

Not saying you should do that, though. I wouldn't wish that upon my greatest enemy.

Ramza and one female Mime, just so Weird Al's "She Never Told Me She Was A Mime" can be the soundtrack to the update.

Also, I missed this LP way back when it started but discovered it a couple of months ago and hungrily read the whole thing. Looking forward to the end, however long it takes, good luck!