Final fantasy 13 question

[TheGame]

I seen all the old threads about FF, but I couldn't decide which one to bump... so just making one of my own.

I just have a question about the crystal grid. I'm only about 5ish hours into the game (maybe further). So far I've been able to easilly max every character on every grid with minimal grinding. I was just wondering for a first-time speed playthrough... does it make sence to keep grinding til I max everyone on every grid??

I've been thinking about just switching everyone to only having one DPS role, one support role, and having a couple of people have medic roles. That way when I recieve an extension to the grids they specialize in, I can max them out quickly from the gate.

I'm not sure what to expect later in the game, but should I be maximizing everyone in everything until the end to make the game a breeze? Or in the long run will it be easier if I minimize the amount of roles my characters play?

I really just want to see the story on this run, the next run I'll worry about getting exotic weapons etc.

[DarkMaster]

I'd say just play through it and don't bother grinding, you don't need to. Some bosses are shit hard, but the right strategy will beat them. Just fight the enemies you encounter along the way for exp.

[TheGame]

I'd say just play through it and don't bother grinding, you don't need to. Some bosses are shit hard, but the right strategy will beat them. Just fight the enemies you encounter along the way for exp.

So with that said, when I cap out on a level on one of the crystal grid thingies.... should I start putting my points into other trees, or should I just specialize and save for one or two grids per character?

[uber_paddler]

Naw dude, once you max out one tree in a level you might as well dump your points into some of the other categories. I've been doing that and haven't run into any problems yet (ok, well I ran into one boss that was an asshole, but I don't think that had anything to do with my point distribution). But then I'm only about 30 hours in, too, so that could change.

[TheSlyMoogle]

My advice:

Eventually all characters can become all classes. It is at this point that you only continue to pump points into their 3 innates:

Snow - Ravager, Commando and Sentinel
Lightning - Ravager, Commando and Medic
Hope - Ravager, Medic and Synergist
Sazh - Ravager, Commando and Synergist
Vanille - Ravager, Medic and Saboteur
???? - Sentinel, Commando and Saboteur

So yeah. You can max those grids through the main game with little to no issue, but the 3 classes that each do not have innately, they're a bitch to level and aren't worth it.

If you really want to power through the game, go with a party of Lightning, Hope and ????

Also there's a really baller trick to the ATB and Paradigm shifting that makes the game a bit more fun, that I will divulge if you want to know how to do it.

[TheGame]

Thanks for the Advice... I'll use that for my first run haha. And thanks for hiding the name of whoever else is in the group, cause I really don't know who they are yet.

Also, you can PM me the trick if you'd like. :p

[TheGame]

I wish I had more time to play this game.. been playing it almost all day, and feel like I got nowhere. :(

[Typhoid]

To touch on what John said, sure they can become all classes, if you grind all the time. And he admittedly did a lot of grinding.

If you just play through the game normally, they won't max everything out.
My advice would be not to freely spend all your CP just as soon as you get it, unless you find yourself in a tough spot and need the boost, but even then, be smart about it.

I'm 70+ hours in (Almost at the end), I haven't done any type of grinding, and my guys have only maxed their normal classes, and I just started working on a couple extra classes for each.

And I even spent a couple hours running around doing nothing but killing stuff.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Actually if you just fight every random battle that you come across you'll be able to max your innate job classes by the time you get to the last boss. Yes I did grind to max level in the 3 innates before my last battle. That was really stupid of me because I spent all of the last "dungeon" really wondering around without much of a purpose.

Like DM said, just fight every encounter (With the exclusion of chapter 11 and you'll see why lol), and you'll be alright.

[TheGame]

Okay cool.. It's funny cause that's what I naturally do now. I never try to run past any enemies, and try to run down every possible path before advancing. :)

And I don't mind grinding... I played FFXI and WoW... I don't think anything in a normal game can compare to the endless grinding of an MMO. lol

[TheGame]

Mmm I guess I have another question, about upgrading items... At some point in the game can you buy items that are already leveled for you, or is the whole game played through upgrades?

Also, is it good to only focus on leveling a few people's items, or is it better to balance things out and level everyone's gear together?

In RPGs I always get nervious about putting extra work into tweaking out someone's gear, just to find out later I should have tried to keep everyone around the same level. Or vice versa... sharing the wealth and finding out I should have only been gearing 2-3 people hard.

[Typhoid]

Everything starts at level 1.

And word of advice, if you are planning on dismantling an item, do it when it's at its 'star' level. It will give you more/better items than if you were to just dismantle it. But not always, only most of the time. It's usually worth it to upgrade a crap item you plan on dismantling (unless it takes a lot to max out).


Also, is it good to only focus on leveling a few people's items, or is it better to balance things out and level everyone's gear together?

Just depends on how you feel, who you use.
I mean, I expect John to come in here and play the game for you via this thread and tell you who to use, how to use them, what items to use, and how to level it - but just do what you want to do. If you use certain people more, give their items more attention. Or, if you don't like doing it that way, do everyone equally.

[TheGame]

If you use certain people more, give their items more attention. Or, if you don't like doing it that way, do everyone equally.

Ok.. so are you saying it's hard to make a mistake with leveling up gear?

My first run I don't really care about leveling everyone up, I just want a kinda quick run through the game. I'm about 15ish hours in (rough est) and I'm noticing that I don't really chose who's in my group yet. But also, I haven't leveled any of my gear (outside of Lightning's) and I'm having little to no issues progressing.

I guess I don't want to start dedicating materials to level weapons/armor until I'm sure that I'm doing the right thing, because you don't really get those mats back... from my understanding anyway.

Does a time come in the game where it's easy to farm up materials and level weapons quickly?

[Typhoid]

Oh, you can totally fuck up when you're levelling up gear.

Just keep in mind this:

-Organic items raise the chain multiplier.
-Mechanical items lower it, but give more exp.

So usually it's best (If you're going to level it a lot) to load up on the chain and make it X3, and then load on a bunch of (Let's say) Bomb Fragments for triple the normal exp you'd get for the all.


The way I screwed up most when I was doing it was by dismantling things without realizing what they were, and not to dismantle them before they're at a star level.

[TheSlyMoogle]

I just raised all my weapons to star level, the starter weapons, and that's what I beat the game with.

I didn't upgrade past first star.

Basically the most cost effective way is to:

Wait until you get to ch. 9.

At one point in Ch. 9 you'll find a hallway full of soldiers. You'll know it. They drop credit and incentive chips which can be sold for cash. That is their only use.

After you have farmed up enough cash, buy vibrant oozes and use them to pump your multiplier. These are the best way to pump your multiplier the whole game BTW. Afterwards, when you have the x3 multiplier, buy crankshafts to pump.

The deal is pumping items from mechanics make your multiplier decrease. So you have to pump them all at once to max it the most cost effective way. Most starter weapons only go to level 10. There are charts online pulled from the manuals you just have to look it up.

Weapon upgrade system, you get all my hate.

[Typhoid]

I think the upgrade system is great.

[Dylflon]

I should start playing this game again...I didn't get very far in it.

But then again, Red Dead Redemption...

[TheGame]

I'm at the part where 4 people from the team unite, and you go to Hope's home... well I'm just past that part, they switched me back to the remaining two people's group (in the "city of dreams" or w/e).

The intensity of the battles seem to be picking up some. I guess I should start using all these left over mats I have and start upgrading people besides Lightning lol

Thanks for the tips...I'll try to work things out. For now I have to lean towards Sly's side and say that this item upgrade system is kinda lame. The mix of it not being nessicary, and being very complicated just doesn't sit well with me. For now anyway... I guess we'll see lol

[TheGame]

Brynhildr fight sucks

[TheSlyMoogle]

Brynhildr fight sucks

Truth. The only battles in the game that gave me any problems were the summon fights. Bryn is the worst.

However it's all about building the gestalt meter so the best way to do that is to sling spells at bryn. I do believe you can make a dual ravager paradigm right now. Good luck.

[TheGame]

Truth. The only battles in the game that gave me any problems were the summon fights. Bryn is the worst.

However it's all about building the gestalt meter so the best way to do that is to sling spells at bryn. I do believe you can make a dual ravager paradigm right now. Good luck.

That's what I did to beat him... I was timing it and found that I could barely make it if I kept switching between Ravager-Ravager and Ravager-Medic.

I used some item to give my group haste and some other buff before the fight, and went in and just spammed magic, and BARELY made it.

-EDIT-

I think the reason avatar fights are harder is the time limit. Some of the hardest fights in the game you can take your sweet time. Even though the trash fights get you in a mindset where you think you have to kill things fast... all the boss fights I've been in, I think I could have held the boss there for an hour if I wanted to.

[TheSlyMoogle]

That's what I did to beat him... I was timing it and found that I could barely make it if I kept switching between Ravager-Ravager and Ravager-Medic.

I used some item to give my group haste and some other buff before the fight, and went in and just spammed magic, and BARELY made it.

-EDIT-

I think the reason avatar fights are harder is the time limit. Some of the hardest fights in the game you can take your sweet time. Even though the trash fights get you in a mindset where you think you have to kill things fast... all the boss fights I've been in, I think I could have held the boss there for an hour if I wanted to.

Oh yeah the game is real easy when you break it down. Shit you could have 2 medics and a commando if you wanted and just mash a for 30 minutes and never die. The thing that makes battles hard is striving for the 5 stars. Which is pointless because it doesn't do anything for you except get you drops which is unimportant in itself.

[Bond]

I should really try to finish this game again... ugh.

[TheGame]

Oh yeah the game is real easy when you break it down. Shit you could have 2 medics and a commando if you wanted and just mash a for 30 minutes and never die. The thing that makes battles hard is striving for the 5 stars. Which is pointless because it doesn't do anything for you except get you drops which is unimportant in itself.

Right, especially not in the hard fights.

Like the fight with that helicopter thing with the rail guns before chapter 9... I got completly out of the "kill fast" mindset. Most of that fight I has sentinal, medic, and commando.... and when we were getting pounded, sentinal, medic, medic. I still think I managed to get some stars out of the fight too, with just lightning solo damaging it...

[Typhoid]

I loved that fight.
I didn't find it 'grind' it at all, I just found it really epic.

I liked back when Final Fantasy boss fights would take time, no matter how strong you were. It gave a sense of immensity to the situation.


I also think drops are pretty handy considering you don't get gil for beating enemies (Unless you're like John and farm a specific monster just so it constantly drops a specific expensive item in a specific location). Plus having the item-boost-item things equipped made a big difference.

[TheGame]

The deal is pumping items from mechanics make your multiplier decrease. So you have to pump them all at once to max it the most cost effective way.

Hmm, just to be clear on this... lets say I have a x3 bonus, and if I added 6 crankshafs I'd drop to a 1.5x bonus.

Does the inital exp bonus get hurt for the 6?

Lets say they add 100 exp each.... if I add 10 of them at a 3x bonus, will I still get 3,000 exp? And how about if I add 100 at the same time, that still giving me 30,000 as long as I add them all at once?

I hope my question makes sense... I guess I'm asking, is it better to stack on all the multiplyer killers at once, or do you still suffer the consequences of the bonus exp loss per upgrade even if you add them all on in bulk?

[Typhoid]

It doesn't matter on how many per time you do it, it matters how many times you do it, period.


So it's always more efficient and cost-effective to level up something (assuming it already has a 3x multiplier) with [for your example] 14 crankshafts (arbitrary number) rather than 6.

Take advantage of the multiplier. The bonus exp carries over for each level, so you don't just have to go level-to-level. You can skip ahead X levels if you add enough exp in one-go to something.

In short, it's not the amount of exp that matters, or how many items you add, it's how many times you add items to it.

At least, as far as I know.

[TheGame]

So, I stopped playing this for a while cause I've been busy with work and working out, and picked it back up now. I've finally gotten to the part where it breaks off into a free roaming area.

I must say, that in a way I liked the game more when it was "linear" lol.

The amount of CP to move along the grid seems to have trippled (if not more), I guess that's just a sign that this is gonna be a long chapter, I hope anyway.

So far I'm enjoying the game a lot. This is the first FF game where I've lasted this long without getting annoyed with the battle system on some level.

[TheSlyMoogle]

So, I stopped playing this for a while cause I've been busy with work and working out, and picked it back up now. I've finally gotten to the part where it breaks off into a free roaming area.

I must say, that in a way I liked the game more when it was "linear" lol.

The amount of CP to move along the grid seems to have trippled (if not more), I guess that's just a sign that this is gonna be a long chapter, I hope anyway.

So far I'm enjoying the game a lot. This is the first FF game where I've lasted this long without getting annoyed with the battle system on some level.

If it's chapter 11, then that chapter is as long or as short as you make it.

Also Sean:

Did you ever fight an adamantoise? The biggest monster in the game? Be careful because there are two, adamantoise and the smaller one I believe is called an adamantite or something (Basically doesn't have the chains on it's feet)

They're basically the hardest monster in the game aside from the monster in the final mission.

Anyway they're the only monster you can farm that gives you an item that sells for a decent amount of GIL. The platinum Ingot sells form 250k gil.

Werd.

There are two ways to fight them and one relies on total luck and 1 relies on you being beastily farmed. Either way it takes like 9 minutes to kill the damn thing.

[TheGame]

If it's chapter 11, then that chapter is as long or as short as you make it.

Also Sean:

Did you ever fight an adamantoise? The biggest monster in the game? Be careful because there are two, adamantoise and the smaller one I believe is called an adamantite or something (Basically doesn't have the chains on it's feet)

They're basically the hardest monster in the game aside from the monster in the final mission.

Anyway they're the only monster you can farm that gives you an item that sells for a decent amount of GIL. The platinum Ingot sells form 250k gil.

Werd.

There are two ways to fight them and one relies on total luck and 1 relies on you being beastily farmed. Either way it takes like 9 minutes to kill the damn thing.

Lol, I haven't come across one, but these behemoth fights remind me of FFXI. They take a long time and take a little luck. It kinda reveals one of the flaws with battle too... the characters standing where they want to without any direction is a problem. When I'm fighting one and all 3 of my characters are sstanding on top of each other, it sucks.... I'm kinda just trying to finish the game, I know some changes I'm going to make for the next playthrough.

Are the platnum ignots a high drop %? If so those 9 minutes couldn't be better spent.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Lol, I haven't come across one, but these behemoth fights remind me of FFXI. They take a long time and take a little luck. It kinda reveals one of the flaws with battle too... the characters standing where they want to without any direction is a problem. When I'm fighting one and all 3 of my characters are sstanding on top of each other, it sucks.... I'm kinda just trying to finish the game, I know some changes I'm going to make for the next playthrough.

Are the platnum ignots a high drop %? If so those 9 minutes couldn't be better spent.

Actually no, tAkes about 3 or 4 fights before you might get a drop. The lucky thing is they also drop the catalysts for ultimate weapons so it's always a decent drop usually.