Final Fantasy XIII - Official Thread

Depends on what he means by "first part." Chapters 1 and 2 are pretty introductory, yeah.

 

he was talking like the first 25 hours .

 

I don't know what he's talking about, then. 1 and 2 are introductory to the characters and the basic battle system. 3 introduces Paradigms and the Crystarium. After that, there's nothing left to be introduced... well, okay, the plot. But still.

 

Im only in chapter 6 or 7 Im taking it a bit slow but he was saying until you can configure your own party and some "final fantasy XIII" splash page shows up your in the intro...and the rest of the game is like 100 hours.

 

When you get to the last area of chapter 9, the game finally lets you decide your party lineup just in time for the difficulty to spike, beginning with that chapter's boss battle. But the previous 8 9/10ths chapters aren't "introductory" just because they don't let you create your own party lineup. That's like saying Final Fantasy IV was entirely introductory because you never got to decide your own party lineup. (Okay, the GBA version let you swap party members out for the final dungeon, but still.)

I beat the game at about the 57 hour mark, and would have done it about 2 hours quicker if I hadn't stopped to grind in the last area, because I knew I was going to attempt the postgame sidequests, which I'm still doing. As of right now, I've logged 98 hours and I'm currently farming gil via Platinum Ingot drops from some of the game's toughest regular enemies. So, yeah, if you really want to do EVERYTHING in FF13 you'll be at it for a long, long time. I've still only gotten about 60% of the trophies.

 

Welp.

Just finished up the postgame grind. All 64 mark hunts, getting every weapon and accessory, 5-starring the final boss. Final time: 117:24:04.

Glad I did it, but I wouldn't want to do it again.

 

The irony is that you were looking forward to it for a while, and I avoided it like the plague until about 2 weeks before release.

It helps that I really enjoyed the battle system. If you don't like fighting, there's little incentive to complete the sidequests. Strangely, I'm a huge fan of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 but never bothered to go after its trophies.

Spoiler

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i'm on chapter 10, just started...and i still feel like its not time to upgrade weapons yet. going by the manual, they want you to buy a bunch of sturdy bones for the multiplier, then buy a bunch of (some component, with a high exp rate per gil ratio.) but that item has not become available in Lenoras garage yet. its the last item, and i still cant get it, so i figure i'll wait for this to become available until i hammer out weapons. i have about 130k gil. and i also assume that i wont be getting any ultimate weapons until after the game is completed. im probably going to just finish this story and shelf it.

 

If you spend time grinding in chapter 11, it's possible to farm Gold Nuggets (60,000 gil) from Adamanchelids, which you can use to fund at least some weapon upgrades. Heck, if you're really devoted, you can use Sazh in a specialized role to take down Adamantoises and farm Platinum Ingots (150,000 gil), though that's REALLY unlikely.

Until you unlock the R&D store, the best upgrade component is the Supercharger from Lenora's Garage, which you can already buy.

Honestly, it doesn't take THAT much money to get the ultimate weapons. The biggest obstacle is finding a Trapezohedron. They cost 2 million gil from the R&D store, or you can farm them at a 1% drop rate from an Adamantoise or at 5% from a Long Gui, which by the way is probably the hardest enemy in the game. (The Adamant Will trophy is earned by killing one, so hey.) Because of those obstacles, you probably aren't going to get an ultimate weapon during the main storyline. But that's fine, you really don't need them to get through the story.

 

when does this become available? as of right now, no supercharger is there in the items list in Lenora's garage. there is one slot not filled on the bottom, and i assume its for the supercharger when it becomes available.

 

Superconductor, not Supercharger, sorry. It's there in the middle of the list. Costs 840 gil a pop.

You can get into the R&D store by beating mark mission 7, which you can attempt when you get to chapter 11. Refer to a FAQ to find the exact location where you can begin the mission, as I completely forget.

 

i swear i dont have the superconductor either. i dont know why. perhaps i didnt do something? i won a superconductor as a spoil and have one in my component list, but i cant buy them at lenores

 

I looked up a FAQ for you: the Superconductor doesn't unlock until a little way into chapter 11, when you get to the mine area.

Just hold on tight to what little money you have, as Superconductors are the best bang for your buck until you can get enough money from Platinum Ingot farming to afford Ultracompact Reactors from R&D. (50,000 gil each.)

 

ahhh. thanks a ton bro. im, not going to upgrade anything till then. i've been moving through the battles rather well anyway.

 

Well stayed away from this thread until I beat the game (story wise) as to avoid any potential spoilers, which I did late last night. I normally don't go back to get extra stuff in a single player RPG because it just seems pointless coming from playing a lot of MMORPGs; I can't use the item for months and I can't walk around town showing it off to less fortunate people. With the trophy system though and a fun battle system I'm going back to attempt at least some of the extra stuff. I enjoyed the game, it didn't quite have the magic of 7 or 10 for me though.

 

When you get to the final area and the boss of chapter 9 and have to fight your way through chapter 10, you might be tempted to sink some money into your weapons.

 

Spoiler

yeah the chapter 9 boss was tough but fair. it just took a long time, but only 1 try for me...1 try and a great 16 minute battle. the berzerkers are pretty easy thus far in chapter 10...but we;ll see what lays in wait.

 

Chapter 10's difficulty comes from its seemingly unending grind. The Bomb-type enemies found later on are a great CP farm if you feel like going that route, though I waited until chapter 11 for that.

 

Mainly for Desides about last boss and side stuff.

Spoiler

What were your characters like when you defeated the last guy Desides? I didn't do any grinding, just fought what was in front of me and just upgraded a few weapons and an accessory or two trying it out. Big O phase 1 was giving me a little issue and was first thing I looked up, ended up switching out for some characters with Synergist ability though and using tri-disaster, had been using Lightning (Command/Ravager), Vanille (Medic/Ravager), and Fang (Commando/Sentinel). What was your crystarium levels like?

Also, if I don't look up the best way to upgrade will I potentially lose a ton of money/time? And, for the trophy/achievement to hold every weapon/accessory I assume this includes things upgraded?

 

Spoiler

Lightning/Fang/Hope in that order, maxed-out level 9 Crystarium. Lightning had the Lionheart upgraded into the Ultima Weapon, Fang had the Gae Bolg upgraded to the Gungnir, and Hope had the Hawkeye upgraded to the Nue. Later on in the post-game, I swapped out the Gae Bolg for an upgraded Taming Pole and the Hawkeye for an upgraded Osthirvani.

I used a lot of Delta Attack (Com/Sen/Rav IIRC), Combat Clinic (Med/Sen/Med), and Evened Odds (Med/Sab/Syn IIRC) Paradigms for the first half of that particular fight. I don't recall if that form is vulnerable to debuffs, but the buffs help rack the damage up. Honestly, it's not too hard, and the second form is CAKE. Invulnerable to damage until it's staggered, but staggering is easy with Rav/Rav/Rav or Rav/Com/Rav, and you can juggle it once staggered.

Yes, you'll piss money away left and right if you don't know what you're doing. The universal rule is to use 36 Sturdy Bones to boost your EXP multiplier to 3x, and then apply the required amounts of Superconductors, Particle Accelerators, or Ultracompact Reactors as necessary. Put it this way, to upgrade all of the weapons (to at least level 2: you only need to upgrade one of everyone's weapons to level 3 to meet the requirements for Treasure Hunter) and accessories, I spent about 7 million gil. This is annoying but grindable if you farm Platinum Ingots for a few hours. Use a FAQ, plan your upgrades. GameFAQs has a really good "Postgame Guide" FAQ that will tell you exactly what type of and how many components to use when upgrading a particular weapon or accessory. I relied on that after raising the necessary money, just because I didn't want to deal with that crap again.

 

Responding to Desides.

Spoiler

Thanks, I think my characters had the their role levels at 4-4-3. Once I switched my party I used for pretty much since you could pick your party it wasn't too bad. I'd use Medic/Medic/Synergist after Merciless Judgment, then Medic/Synergist/Synergist to buff up, then a lot of triple Ravager to stagger quickly. Phase 2 was cake, got that first go.

Thanks for tips, guess I'll get a FAQ and use that when I go about upgrading the items

 

Glad you got through it.

Hope you've got some patience for the postgame stuff, though. I beat chapter 13 at 57 hours (spent 1-2 hours grinding in the area before the last boss) and tacked on 60 in the postgame, so be careful.

 

omg dude, i cant even put a dent into this thing! it kills me in 2 stomps!! any suggestions? i googled it to no avail.

 

Create a Sen/Sen/Sen Paradigm, switch to it whenever it gets ready to stomp. That'll soak up at least some of the damage, though given that two of your three party characters likely have a role level of 0, I can't say how effective it'll be. But it's pretty much a required tactic to help with Shaolong Gui, Long Gui, and Vercingectorix... which you'll never fight if you don't do the side quests, so hey.

Alternatively, grind a little bit and come back once your Crystarium has advanced further. Early on in Mah'habara (the next area you have to go to, the mines) there's a fork in the road early on that leads to a passage filled with Bomb-types and Hoplites. If you get a preemptive strike you can end those fights in about 30 seconds. Very good CP for the area. You'll also get some Bomb Cores and such which can be used in upgrading. Just don't go into the big room at the end, otherwise you'll get your *** kicked by an enemy waiting inside.

And just to make sure we're talking about the same thing... Adamanchelids are the smaller ones, without the chains and such wrapped around their legs. If you're taking on the Adamantoises, yeah, instant death at this point.

 

yeah the plain ones without tusks at 950k hp. i think i'll steer clear of those for a while.

 

Or you could use Sazh.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tUjF09FCjY"]Low-spec Sazh eats Adamants for breakfast[/ame]

 

I had already finished regular game, just curious how you handled it. Yeah, not sure if I'll have the dedication to get everything done but going try some of it at least.

For the big guys Seth I start off Medic/Syn/Syn and just do two Cura while all the buffs are handed out. I get Haste pretty soon and makes the healing that much easier. Once everything has been handed out I switch to Rav/Rav/Rav and stagger, with everyone fully buffed up it doesn't take long. Maybe switch to a paradigm with a healer if needed. Not sure if your guys have enough health to do that or not, but how I've handled them.

 

I think I grinded way too early. Because after getting to Chapter 13, upgrading the weapons of Light/Fang/Hope to the 2nd tier & their Cryst to 4/4/4. I got bored with the game & stopped playing.

 

I know the feeling. After reading some of your comments of FFX & FFXII (skipped these) I believe. I wanted to try out those games. I have been looking for it to play on my MBP using PSCX/PSCX2 emulators. Know any good game Bios/ROM sites? If so, can you PM them to me.

thanks

 

Handled the end game? Wasn't too bad at all. Handled the postgame sidequests? To this day I still have no idea why I bothered with all of that. I think I was subconsciously trying to get my $60 worth.

 

how far did you get?

 

my players only range from 1800 - 2500 hp. i havent grinded in the game at all yet, but i havent passed up a single fight yet either...well, until now. chapter 11 will probably determine how long this game takes me to complete. i feel like outside of 1 or 2 boss/eidolon battles in the early goings, i steamrolled my way here. now i feel inadequate.

i have to admit, i am really enjoying the game, and arriving in gran pulse seems refreshing and like a whole new game. but i see the potential for some serious frustration ahead. oh, and how many missions did you guys do before finishing the game, here in ch.11. i've only done about 3 thus far.

 

I think Batman Arkham Asylum is the only game I did that with.

 

Believe me, I only became OCD when it came to this game. I love NGS2 but didn't give a damn about any of those trophies. Of course, I never felt like NGS2 cheated me. So, Square-Enix is responsible for achievement OCD. Can I sue?

I did the first 2 or 3, then skipped all but the required missions. Once you get near the end of the chapter, you'll be forced to do a handful of missions to advance in the game. You can theoretically do about 1/4 of the missions, expand your Crystarium after beating the chapter boss, then go back and do another 1/4 before advancing to the point where the chapter ends.

 

holy crap am i stuck. i reall have been milking chapter 11. but i went to that secret place atomos the fal cie takes you, and did the cieth mission...mission 53, vs zirnitra. holy crap this thing floors me. i beat the chapter boss. can easily beat that adamontoise brontosaurus lookin thing, but this bastard just whips my ***.

i googled advice, but nothing good. any thoughts?

 

Lightning/Fang/Hope. Lightning as a Ravager, Fang as a Sentinel, Hope as a Ravager (with Medic as a standby in case of emergency.) Stagger it, use Lightning's Army of One once or twice to drive up the stagger percentage, switch to something like Relentless Assault, Aggression, or Cerberus and smack it around. It'll die surprisingly quickly. Might help to use a Fortisol and/or Aegisol before the battle, though you shouldn't need to.

If you're desperate, make Vanille your main as a Saboteur (IIRC), Fang your Sentinel, and Hope your Medic. Spam Vanille's Death spell. It has a 1% chance of working. Just retry after about 90 seconds if it doesn't work. Might take a little while, but if you're having trouble, it's a good way to go. Note that you'll fight Zirnitra a couple more times, so unless you want to use Death on it in every encounter, you'll probably want to learn to beat it the "right" way.

Spamming Death is practically a requirement to end Mission 55 in any sort of reasonable time frame. Neochu is a bastard. The Growth Egg you earn as a reward for beating it is sexy.

And by the way, when you beat all of the missions assigned from the circle of Cie'th Stones on the Steppe, the Adamantoises and Adamanchelids on the Steppe will upgrade into Long Guis and Shaolong Guis respectively. They'll have a blue tint to their skin and are much, much tougher than before. If you plan on farming Adamantoises for Platinum Ingots, you'll want to hold off on finishing the last of those missions until you've raised all the money you want.

 

knew i could count on you dude. i'll give it a shot...i just hope im developed enough.