Bravely Default: Flying Fairy

[EEVILMURRAY]

@Hero\-of\-Time, it's not surprising that you were able to pimpsmack the end boss on level 86 plus, I was on 99 and felt the same. Namely because I wanted to defeat...

boss again in each dimension.

 

However the final group in DeRosso's Castle fucked me royally. I managed to knock a few out but by that time I was too weak to defend against five attacks in a row

 

So I thought bollocks to it, and carried on.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

What job classes are you using? I had them set up as Ninjas, gave them the Acrobatics move set from the Valkyrie job set and set the final Time Mage ability as one of their moves. With this set up you just all use High Jump and it completely owns everything in your path. There's no need to heal as you never get hit!

 

@Hero\-of\-Time, it's not surprising that you were able to pimpsmack the end boss on level 86 plus, I was on 99 and felt the same. Namely because I wanted to defeat...

boss again in each dimension.

 

However the final group in DeRosso's Castle fucked me royally. I managed to knock a few out but by that time I was too weak to defend against five attacks in a row

 

So I thought bollocks to it, and carried on.

 

My team was actually 99 by the end of the game.

[EEVILMURRAY]

What job classes are you using?

Without checking (so could be wrong)

 

Tiz was an Arcanist

Angés was a Spiritmaster

Edea was a Valkyrie

Ringabel flitted between Dark Knight or Ninja, whichever physical action suited the situation.

[Glen-i]

What job classes are you using?

 

I've already posted in great detail about my party.

 

Did you find the secret ending?

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I've already posted in great detail about my party.

 

Did you find the secret ending?

 

To be fair, I was actually asking Captain Falcon. Evil just managed to reply before me, do it looked like I was just generally asking people.

 

Indeed. Think I mentioned it in one of my spoiler boxes on the previous page.

[Captain Falcon]

To be fair, I was actually asking Captain Falcon. Evil just managed to reply before me, do it looked like I was just generally asking people.

 

Yeah, totally didn't get that was aimed at me, sorry.

 

Well, my party was strong enough that I was just churning through the job classes, but I finally finished it today with 72hrs on the clock. I ended with the following classes that were all maxed out long ago. I think each character had 8 or so classes maxed, but I chose these for their stats and skills - all level 99.

 

Tiz: Dark Knight

Agnes: Spiritmaster

Ringabel: Valkyrie

Edea: Templar

 

 

Well, that last chapter was actually rather good in the end and was a damn sight more satisfying that what led up to it.

 

 

 

Reading online, it turns out there was a way for the game to end as soon as suspicions around Airy arise, which means you don't travel to lots of other dimensions, but I don't know how that comes about (perhaps one of the times that Anges and Tiz go off together if you choose Ringabel (it was a player choice right?))- and it's not considered to be the true ending either.

 

Speaking of Airy, it always annoys me when a creatures alternative forms bare zero resemblance to their real form. I know it shouldn't matter but I prefer a true form to be like an extension of the fake version - dark and wisted but not unrecognisable. Admittedly that's difficult with something fairy sized but the True form granted by Ouroboros made a lot more sense and was a cool design - the slug with too many arms and wings looked silly. The best part though of all the Airy stuff was the music that played in the last battle with her - I think it was the best track in a game full of fanatistic music.

 

Took a little while to realize the camera was picking up my face rather than it just being my reflection when the celestrial realm started to open. It was a nice idea to have the other worlds join in although seeing Friend Bot's world made me think I should have sought out more companions.

 

As for the ending, I feel it created more answers than it resolved. I'm a little confused about how time works in this world too. Whenether you travelled to different dimensions, was it supposed to be to the point in time of before you awakened the crystals in your own world or had time continued to flow in these other dimensions and it was just that nothing had happened to change the dying world? I still don[t get how DeRosso and the Sage could have been stopped from fighting by an Agnes 1800 years prior anyway unless the dimensions were staggered in terms of their timelines.

 

Who came first Ringabel or Alternis? Either way, Alternis is a Ringabel from another dimension anyway. So in any given world where their is a Alternis and a Ringabel, there must be a world without either so how do their stories work and how was Alternis even crossing boundaries anyway?

 

Also, was the Alternis shown stopping an Airy in slug form our Ringabel or that world's own? Regardless, it implies there must be multiple Airys but if that's the case, why did we even need to travel dimensions if there was already an Airy there to do the job.

 

Maybe I'm just being thick or maybe they've saving it for the sequel to explain.

 

Did anyone go for the optional secret boss? Since I needed a little help to find its location, because there is zero markers on the map to help to tell you and the wall you have to walk though is like any other, I saw a bit about a it and thought I wouldn't waste my time.

 

I watched the Special Movie and again, more questions than answers. After the ending, it had me thinking that perhaps Tiz was dead all along but apparently not - though why Airy's sister just didn't kill her from the off is another mystery. Still, given the task was to make me excited for the sequel, then mission accomplishd but they better sort out their priorities when it comes to balancing story and gameplay.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Captain Falcon

[Mr_Master_X2]

Yeah, totally didn't get that was aimed at me, sorry.

 

Well, my party was strong enough that I was just churning through the job classes, but I finally finished it today with 72hrs on the clock. I ended with the following classes that were all maxed out long ago. I think each character had 8 or so classes maxed, but I chose these for their stats and skills - all level 99.

 

Tiz: Dark Knight

Agnes: Spiritmaster

Ringabel: Valkyrie

Edea: Templar

 

 

Well, that last chapter was actually rather good in the end and was a damn sight more satisfying that what led up to it.

 

 

 

Reading online, it turns out there was a way for the game to end as soon as suspicions around Airy arise, which means you don't travel to lots of other dimensions, but I don't know how that comes about (perhaps one of the times that Anges and Tiz go off together if you choose Ringabel (it was a player choice right?))- and it's not considered to be the true ending either.

 

Speaking of Airy, it always annoys me when a creatures alternative forms bare zero resemblance to their real form. I know it shouldn't matter but I prefer a true form to be like an extension of the fake version - dark and wisted but not unrecognisable. Admittedly that's difficult with something fairy sized but the True form granted by Ouroboros made a lot more sense and was a cool design - the slug with too many arms and wings looked silly. The best part though of all the Airy stuff was the music that played in the last battle with her - I think it was the best track in a game full of fanatistic music.

 

Took a little while to realize the camera was picking up my face rather than it just being my reflection when the celestrial realm started to open. It was a nice idea to have the other worlds join in although seeing Friend Bot's world made me think I should have sought out more companions.

 

As for the ending, I feel it created more answers than it resolved. I'm a little confused about how time works in this world too. Whenether you travelled to different dimensions, was it supposed to be to the point in time of before you awakened the crystals in your own world or had time continued to flow in these other dimensions and it was just that nothing had happened to change the dying world? I still don[t get how DeRosso and the Sage could have been stopped from fighting by an Agnes 1800 years prior anyway unless the dimensions were staggered in terms of their timelines.

 

Who came first Ringabel or Alternis? Either way, Alternis is a Ringabel from another dimension anyway. So in any given world where their is a Alternis and a Ringabel, there must be a world without either so how do their stories work and how was Alternis even crossing boundaries anyway?

 

Also, was the Alternis shown stopping an Airy in slug form our Ringabel or that world's own? Regardless, it implies there must be multiple Airys but if that's the case, why did we even need to travel dimensions if there was already an Airy there to do the job.

 

Maybe I'm just being thick or maybe they've saving it for the sequel to explain.

 

Did anyone go for the optional secret boss? Since I needed a little help to find its location, because there is zero markers on the map to help to tell you and the wall you have to walk though is like any other, I saw a bit about a it and thought I wouldn't waste my time.

 

I watched the Special Movie and again, more questions than answers. After the ending, it had me thinking that perhaps Tiz was dead all along but apparently not - though why Airy's sister just didn't kill her from the off is another mystery. Still, given the task was to make me excited for the sequel, then mission accomplishd but they better sort out their priorities when it comes to balancing story and gameplay.

 

 

 

Right, let me see if I can answer a few things wrapped in spoilers...

 

The "other" ending. Basically not long after you can just basically run through each world,you can choose to keep hammering the button down with regards to the crystals until they basically explode. As you can imagine this does not go down well with Airy... You basically gets sent to the last dungeon early, and there's different texts and such. There's one particularly gut-wrenching speech from Airy which seems to be missing from the actual final dungeon... Basically it saves after and you get sent back to just before it. Everyone acts like it never happens, even though at at least one point things from it are quoted. Very bizarre.

 

As for Agnes stopping the fight with DeRosa/Sage; she basically projects herself across ALL the other parallel Universes. It's been months now, so I can't remember if it was our Agnes or some other one, but it was done from between universes (I guess DC comics would use the term Bleed space). At least I think that's where it happened. I think it was just some other random world's Agnes.

 

As for appearing earlier on in a world's timeline. No idea. It's possible Airy controls where the chasm brings you to in each world. And since Airy is clearly multiversally singular (everyone else has a chance of having another version of themselves in each universe, but Airy is singular across the entire Multiverse, just like Ouroboros). I guess this also means it makes it impossible for them to appear further along in a timeline with crystals energised as they enter a new world, as Airy is the causal effect of getting the crystals energised (and she's multiversally singular...so can't have happened yet, if you get me). OF COURSE...there's always the off chance that one world's Agnes has gone on a crystal energising quest for some other reason...right? Be so funny if you arrived on a world where half the crystals are already energised and Airy is all like WTF?! Plus, if you started further along with the crystals already being energised, Airy wouldn't be able to direct their energy for her secret goal, would she?

 

The Ringabel that starts in your team is from the world previous to the one you start in (that you only see in flashbacks). The Alternis of the world you start in is that world's true Alternis. I'm pretty sure that specific Alternis dies, so I'm guessing when you first world jump in game, a dead Alternis washed up on a beach somewhere. An interesting fact is; at least one of the other Alternis's that try to stop you in other worlds are alive when they fall from the ship, so likely survive to the next world, but not once do you go looking for them... And one huge plot error; like most worlds Braeve raises Alternis as a sort of son, which he does on the starting world, so clearly Edea should have know what he looked like and recognised the world-displace Ringabel immediately (just like on the other worlds). Just such an annoying plot error(of which there are many).

 

The special boss is an interesting challenge. The Adventurer and his talking fox Comrade. I forget their story. NOTE: he can travel where you travel, go to other universes, and even stay linked to your home universe when you can't and send you items from the your home town. Most powerful being in the multiverse? There's a story to be told here.

 

I forget what happened to Tiz, but your early goal in the next game is supposed to be about rescuing him.

 

If anything I say is off, it's because it's been so long since I played. If you look back some pages,you may find my original synopsis and theories for various things in the game.

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Mr_Master_X2

[EEVILMURRAY]

To be fair, I was actually asking Captain Falcon. Evil just managed to reply before me, do it looked like I was just generally asking people.

 

I thought you were asking just me... :'(

 

 

I felt special.

[Jonnas]

*uses Phoenix Down*

Ok, so, sorry for reviving this thread, but I finally started this game properly a few days ago. You can thank the BD II demo for that It's just that I have a couple of questions:

• The "Summon Friend" mechanic seems to have some prominence, but I'm not Streetpassing anytime soon. Is it necessary at any point (I could theoretically download an attack from someone here, if needed), or can I just ignore it?
• The Norende sidequest also seems to depend entirely on Streetpass. Anything major I'll be missing if I ignore that? And if it becomes mandatory at some point, can I cheese or circumvent it?

Besides that, I'm enjoying the beginning of the story. I wish the dialogue was shorter and snappier (waiting for the voice acting really highlights how wordy it is), but I'm enjoying it. Hope the punny names don't get old too soon (after "Ominas Crowe", I don't think it gets any worse)

[Glen-i]

On 05/04/2020 at 6:51 PM, Jonnas said:

*uses Phoenix Down*

Ok, so, sorry for reviving this thread, but I finally started this game properly a few days ago. You can thank the BD II demo for that It's just that I have a couple of questions:

• The "Summon Friend" mechanic seems to have some prominence, but I'm not Streetpassing anytime soon. Is it necessary at any point (I could theoretically download an attack from someone here, if needed), or can I just ignore it?
• The Norende sidequest also seems to depend entirely on Streetpass. Anything major I'll be missing if I ignore that? And if it becomes mandatory at some point, can I cheese or circumvent it?

Besides that, I'm enjoying the beginning of the story. I wish the dialogue was shorter and snappier (waiting for the voice acting really highlights how wordy it is), but I'm enjoying it. Hope the punny names don't get old too soon (after "Ominas Crowe", I don't think it gets any worse)

Talk to that save point guy and once a day, he can go get 4 random people on the internet and they get treated like Streetpasses.

Summoning Friends isn't too helpful unless you get lucky and someone sends you a perfect ability. You can pretty much ignore that if you want.

I do recommend building up Norende though, you get a lot of stuff for that.

If you put the game on Sleep Mode, then Norende can still be built in the background while you're not playing.

Oh, and I can remember one name in this game in particular that was really groan inducing.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Glen-i

[Jonnas]

5 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Talk to that save point guy and once a day, he can go get 4 random people on the internet and they get treated like Streetpasses.

Summoning Friends isn't too helpful unless you get lucky and someone sends you a perfect ability. You can pretty much ignore that if you want.

I do recommend building up Norende though, you get a lot of stuff for that.

If you put the game on Sleep Mode, then Norende can still be built in the background while you're not playing.

Oh, and I can remember one name in this game in particular that was really groan inducing.

Thank you for that. Got 4 blokes toiling away in Norende right now, which is sure to reduce headaches. To be honest, I don't like the system very much, it breaks immersion, knowing that I'm receiving all of these free items from a minigame or from tutorial quests. The store items and Special Move parts aren't much better, even if they're useful (I mean, are the main game treasures balanced around this? Doesn't look like it).

Also, I seem to have a unlocked a Lv.99 Nemesis called Turtle Dove Ba'al. I chose to protect him for the endgame, but I'm not sure if that's what the "Protect" option is there for.

The names have been a combination of lazy (Ominas Crowe, Centro Keep), creative (Barras Lehr), and obvious-yet-clever (Holly Whyte, Harena). I'm all for it, as long as the laziness is kept to a minimum. I'm also hoping Ringabel reveals he came up with his name from a bell he heard in his childhood or something, because I want at least one pun to be acknowledged in this game.

Finally, Edea and Sothis (Fire Emblem) share the same voice actor, and it's weird, with me playing both right now. Tiz is a normal-pitched Henry, but that's not as weird.

[Glen-i]

4 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Thank you for that. Got 4 blokes toiling away in Norende right now, which is sure to reduce headaches. To be honest, I don't like the system very much, it breaks immersion, knowing that I'm receiving all of these free items from a minigame or from tutorial quests. The store items and Special Move parts aren't much better, even if they're useful (I mean, are the main game treasures balanced around this? Doesn't look like it).

Also, I seem to have a unlocked a Lv.99 Nemesis called Turtle Dove Ba'al. I chose to protect him for the endgame, but I'm not sure if that's what the "Protect" option is there for.

Finally, Edea and Sothis (Fire Emblem) share the same voice actor, and it's weird, with me playing both right now. Tiz is a normal-pitched Henry, but that's not as weird.

I suppose if you spent way too much time grinding, you could buy one of those endgame pieces of equipment and blitz the first half of the game.

The protect option does stop the Nemesis from getting deleted once it's full. Completely optional to fight, mind, and has no effect on the story.

You'll want the Special Move parts though, not straight away, but you're gonna really appreciate them in the second half. Some of the more interesting fights are near the end game and you'll need that extra boost.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Glen-i

[Jonnas]

This might be too specific a question, but... when you level up, are your stats influenced by whatever current Job you have equipped, as of the time of the level up? For example, if a character levels up often as a Knight, are they growing up to be a slow tank?

On 07/04/2020 at 7:33 AM, Glen-i said:

Oh, and I can remember one name in this game in particular that was really groan inducing.

I came across an addictive substance called "Nydaphyx". Was that it? While it isn't as bad as "Ominas Crowe", it did make me groan.

[Glen-i]

9 hours ago, Jonnas said:

This might be too specific a question, but... when you level up, are your stats influenced by whatever current Job you have equipped, as of the time of the level up? For example, if a character levels up often as a Knight, are they growing up to be a slow tank?

I came across an addictive substance called "Nydaphyx". Was that it? While it isn't as bad as "Ominas Crowe", it did make me groan.

No, the stats aren't influenced by what job you are when you level up. Simply put, the game uses the stats of a character when they are a Freelancer as a base and then applies multipliers depending on what job they currently are (as well as how high that job level is).

Don't worry about sticking with a job, there's no long term downsides to doing so.

Also, that name wasn't it. You're not there yet.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Looking back at this thread I had so much wisdom. I don't recognise half of what I've said anymore

[Jonnas]

I just caused 9999 damage with a single move... at level 30. Thanks to a Special Move that was Thunder-elemental and also strong against aquatic beings. The special move parts I get from Norende are too much for the part of the game I'm at, and are definitely the least balanced part of the game.

But I'm making this post because I have a couple of thoughts/theories regarding the plot, as of the beginning of Chapter 3:

Spoiler

I've been thinking from the start that Ringabel is an amnesiac time traveler, living in a time loop of sorts. However, the more I read the notes, the more I realised "D" wasn't actually him, but he was definitely someone from the future, and Ringabel is someone entrusted with his notes.

I read some pages ahead, and the diary talks about saving and befriending a boy... coupled with a drawing all but confirming that Alternis Dim is the author. They probably shouldn't have put that drawing there, would've made my day, trying to figure out who it was.

Anyway, Ringabel has to be that boy, from the future. I'm guessing something goes horribly (apocalyptically) wrong with the crystal quest, and Ringabel was sent back to warn the group.

Spoiler

Something Ive been finding odd about the asterisk holders: they're overly complex characters. They have backstories, aspirations, secrets... all to die in the boss battle they're introduced. It feels like a lot of build-up for an unrelated payoff. There was definitely something incomplete going with the likes of Heinkel and Khint.

As per the previous theory, time travel is going to become a plot point, probably after we're done with the earth crystal. I'm guessing we're going to use time travel to resolve these seemingly aborted arcs from the asterisk holders. Hopefully solving the lingering mysteries of "What the fuck is an asterisk?" and "Why are you, specifically, holding one?", in order to solve whatever is it that Ringabel is supposed to warn us about.

I hadn't mentioned this before, but I love the concept of D's Journal. Both the mystery of it, and the way it's thrown at you as an optional read.

[Glen-i]

I'm glad you took the time to read D's Journal. It's definitely one of the most intriguing aspects of Bravely's plot. Obviously won't comment on your thoughts because spoilers.

But I will say that you ain't seen broken yet. Not by a long shot, you wouldn't believe the insanity that you can pull off with some job combinations.

[Jonnas]

16 hours ago, Glen-i said:

But I will say that you ain't seen broken yet. Not by a long shot, you wouldn't believe the insanity that you can pull off with some job combinations.

Agnès went from being slow and on healing duty, to the fastest, biggest damage dealer basically overnight. The reason? I noticed "Two-Handed" works on staves. So I redid her kit to take advantage of this (Iron Pole + Hermes Sandals), and on top of everything, she's still on healing duty.

Broken stuff is fine and dandy, but simple-yet-radical changes like this is why I like the job system so much, I'm finding this stuff, unraveling the knots piece by piece, until I can fully understand why the endgame kits work. The Special Move parts don't really have that, they're just strict improvements you can tweak according to the next boss, so that damage felt totally unearned. In other words, I'm looking forward to seeing the more broken stuff for sure, as long as they're skill and job related.

[Jonnas]

I noticed I haven't given my thoughts on plot progression so far. Might as well say a few words:

Spoiler

We've had some cool worldbuilding and "adventure of the week" style plots. Love the towns, and how creative some concepts can get (Ancheim and Eternia, especially), love how the Asterisk Holders are legit attempts at exploring or subverting class archetypes (the White Mage being a sultry seductress who uses her powers to torture? That's some excellent stuff). How good the execution is can be hit-or-miss (Victoria can go die in a fire), but I appreciate the effort.

Not sure if I find this frustrating or amusing, but for all that Edea's mentor figures lecture her on her childish and naive view of the world, they're like the most prissy and petulant man-children in the game: "The world is complex, Edea, and we're just doing what we think is correct." "You're complicit in multiple atrocities through the world! You see that, right?" "EDEA, WHY ARE YOU SUCH A BABY ABOUT THIS?". I swear, she's had this exact interaction with both Kamiizumi and her dad. What self-righteous idiots! I hope Alternis Dim is better than this. I swear I cheered when Archduke Count Dracula became the adult in the room and talked things out (though I assume he's not in on what the Templar knows).

I'm more baffled that, for chapters 1-through-3, every single Asterisk was optional. The plot actually suffers as a result. It was fine in Ancheim, where the sidequests had to do with systemic problems within the city, and largely independent from the Wind Crystal restoration project. Something similar was done with Dandy's schemes in Florem, but there's no reason to have Einheria's quest be optional (seriously, she should've been the one to hunt you down and kill Olivia. Why were Victor/ia hunting them in Florem when that seems to be Einheria's entire job?). And then we get to Eisenberg and... the entire main quest seems to be "Fetch sample, bring sample. Fetch orphans, bring orphans. Fetch Egil, bring Egil. Now bring him there. Now over there. Fire Temple and presto, you're done. Also, your actions will conveniently win us the war, thanks. Now bring Egil to 3 more places, kthnx". Easily the most boring part of the game. The entire Civil War drives the plot and setting, but we don't actually interact with any of the major antagonists while we're apparently solving the entire thing (and your allies block your path more than the enemy does). Qada, Praline, and Kamiizumi should've all been mandatory along the way, instead we got bland fetch quests. Seems like the game's finally learned its lesson in Eternia, with some asterisks optional, others mandatory. But it should've been this way the entire game.
[/rant]

The Yulyana twist legitimately caught me off guard. Didn't expect that, and now I'm wondering if his asterisk is the equivalent of the Mime from FFV (or if he even has an asterisk at all). Looking forward to see what the hell happens when I awake the Earth Crystal.

 

On 23/04/2020 at 7:15 AM, Glen-i said:

you wouldn't believe the insanity that you can pull off with some job combinations.

I'm starting to see it: I can use Summon Amp, burn all of my MP into a bunch of summons, and then use Compound to restore MP, rinse and repeat (plus, as many BP-restoring skills as I can to keep the DPS).

I'm also looking into near-death combos: the Pirate's Adrenaline Rush, combined with Mass Attack, sounds hilarious. If I can get my party killed, then have a Salve-Maker use Phoenix Down + Widen Area, I can get it working. Better yet, Soul Mates increases attack for a while when partners die, Last Summon launches an attack when you die, and Spell-Fencer has a skill that restores the party's MP when he dies. I first need to find a practical way to set this up, though (Rampart or Stillness seem useful for this, but I still have a few more jobs to get before the end)

On 21/04/2020 at 7:21 AM, Glen-i said:

Also, that name wasn't it. You're not there yet.

 

Spoiler

Idealistic Edea Lee, whose mother is the kind Mahzer Lee, and whose father is

Braev fucking Lee

His family was ludicrous enough, but I can't believe they had the balls to go and name a character that. What, is Alternis' real name DeFolte?

Edited May 7, 2020 by Jonnas

[Glen-i]

Yep, that's the name. What were his parents thinking!?

As for your point about the optionality of most of the asterisk holders. You'll be happy to know that Bravely Second does exactly what you want. Any asterisk holder that is part of the main plot is fought in the main plot, with some optional side stories rewarding you with optional jobs.

The mad thing is that Second's mandatory asterisk fights are all new jobs not seen in Default. And some of them utilise some really cool mechanics.

[Jonnas]

After what it felt like forever, I'm finally done with the Vampire Castle. Fuck those dogs. The boss was easy compared to that. On the other hand, I accidentally mastered my first job (Ringabel's Black Mage) thanks to those fuckers. Silver linings everywhere.

By the way, Elemental Summons use 40 MP each. Arcanist unlocks an ability called Zero that enhances magic attacks if the last digit in your MP is zero. Compound makes the enemy gain a weakness out of the blue. Join one last ingredient to the concoction: Chemical X Pierce Magic Def. And thus, my new favourite strategy was born! Using their ultra-super-powers elemental affinities, my rad summons (and they are so rad) are causing 9000+ damage per attack! Susan-who'o? More like... Ziusudra's Promethean Deus Ex Girtablulu von Hraesvelgr!
Oh, and Dual Attackers w/ Magic Sword join in too, or whatever. That's low-hanging fruit, and you know it.

Also, did you know that "forcing a weakness upon someone" counts as a status effect? Found that out by accident when I had BP Recovery on, and I suddenly gained +2 BP from that alone... Which means Compound can induce +2 BP per move. Man, Norende really was worth it.

Anyway, plot stuff:

Spoiler

Now I get a Blue Mage? Come on! I've been on the lookout for one ever since I saw White Wind (a classic) near the beginning of the game, but in the lategame? Get it together, game designers.

But more importantly, Lord Lester dumped a hell of information and worldbuilding on us. I'm fascinated and all... but his final revelation was a bombshell I wasn't prepared for. The angel sounds like a time travelling Agnés to me... but that great evil he mentioned had some more detail registered in D's Journal.

Like, the fact that awakening the crystals is a bad idea has been obvious for a while. I figured they were sealing an ancient evil like Lavos or something, and we were accidentally releasing it (been there, done that). But I hadn't questioned the "accident" part of it. Am I right in thinking that nagging sociopathic bitch Airy is the mastermind? I'm kicking myself for not seeing it earlier: she never shut up about the crystals, she never participated in group banter, she plopped herself into the party out of nowhere (at the chasm, no less), and no other character in the game knows what a fucking fairy is! She's been rude and unpleasant the whole time, but I didn't think that was intentional! (And she had me keep mashing the X button even though those crystals were clearly awakened already, the little cunt!)

Oh man, if that's the case, that would've been a great twist to see in motion. Right now I'm certain I'm about to face Alternis Dim near that light pillar, and that's hopefully when Airy will reveal herself (I can't stand much longer with a party who acts as if the sidequest didn't happen). And then time travel, probably? Please?

 

[Glen-i]

Ah, you did Vampire Castle immediately? That's interesting.

5 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Also, did you know that "forcing a weakness upon someone" counts as a status effect? Found that out by accident when I had BP Recovery on, and I suddenly gained +2 BP from that alone... Which means Compound can induce +2 BP per move. Man, Norende really was worth it.

Yep, although I mostly used it against the dragon bosses because they love to spam those "force weakness" moves.

Bam! 2 BP to the whole party! Awesome.

I've been really enjoying reading your strategies and team setup. You're going in a completely different direction than I went and still finding success. Which only goes to show how much flexibility the battle system has.

I'll have to talk more about those summons when you see the credits, because they're very clever.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Glen-i

[Jonnas]

12 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Yep, although I mostly used it against the dragon bosses because they love to spam those "force weakness" moves.

Bam! 2 BP to the whole party! Awesome.

I've been really enjoying reading your strategies and team setup. You're going in a completely different direction than I went and still finding success. Which only goes to show how much flexibility the battle system has.

Ah, you did Vampire Castle immediately? That's interesting.

Yeah, that's where I found out about it I was just looking to counter the effects of paralysis, but I got an even better treat.

I plan to eventually check the thread's history, see what everyone else was doing with their parties. I also enjoy hearing stuff like speedrunners going with 4 Black Mages, or Kyle Bosman trying to beat the BDII demo with 4 monks. (By the way, there was a bit of a snag with that Summoner plan: Summoners recover MP every time they take physical damage. So I now have a speedy Templar too, to cover that)
 

Spoiler

 

Yeah, the moment I saw that blue bubble, I gunned for it, though I confess I looked up what a "keystone" was. I probably would've found it on my own anyway (I passed by one on the way to the pillar), but It's one of those things they should've been clearer about, imo. Interesting that other people leave it for later though, seeing as that light pillar looks like a point of no return.

Anyway, shortly after beating Lester, I learned Hellfire from the Cerberus almost immediately, which was fortunate. As with every instance of Blue Magic I see, I looked up which moves can be learned in this game. I saw a surprising number of moves I remembered (Paralysing Pollen, Sandstorm, Gastric Juices), which reaffirmed my belief that we should've gotten this at the start of the game. I looked into getting what I could and... got them surprisingly fast. The joys of a fast-forward button.

 

 

[Jonnas]

I've entered Chapter 5 a few days ago. Didn't quite know how to feel about it, but the new job skills I've been unlocking have been crazier than ever:

• I noticed (perhaps a smidge too late) that Vampire skills go by physical damage, not magic. I hadn't noticed because Agnés had that Two-Handed Diamond Pole the whole time. It's hilarious, how powerful this job is, even its passive abilities are excellent;
• It's hilarious how even better Dark Knight is. It synergizes with Magic Sword, Monk, White Mage, Templar, Knight, provides a steady source of Dark damage, and even Gloom improves Arcanist tenfold!
• Arcanist's Exterminate is so easy to pull off. Poison Rod, alongside Status Ailment Amp, gets so many bosses poisoned. Also, magic sword can induce poison effect on your weapon. Also, special moves do the same. I thought this was broken for a sec, but then I noticed a bunch of bosses are still immune to it.

As for the story:

Spoiler

(First of all, I just wanted to say, I unlocked the Arcanist's move that implodes everybody with positive BP almost immediately before I was about to re-fight Dandy DeRosa. Karma's a hilarious bitch, red dandy)

The thought of Ringabel literally being Alternis had crossed my mind, but I thought there were too many holes in it. Isn't he a childhood friend of Edea's? And wouldn't Victor, Braev, Heinkel, Einheria, etc. recognize Ringabel on sight? Am I to believe this man has gone his entire life without showing his face to anybody? How come Alternis himself didn't react to Ringabel on the Grandship? I understand he didn't know about a 4th member of Edea's party, so he should've been shocked to see himself.

All holes aside, I'm happy Ringabel wasn't Egil. Now I can hate that kid without reservations Other than that, it just means Airy's plotting a swift end to the world, not just a nuclear winter of sorts. Speaking of her, I kind of hate everybody's back to awakening the crystals like she wants again. Don't repeat the same thing as before, you have so much foresight now! Especially frustrating after doing the Vampire sidequest.

I tried to do my own thing: killed Heinkel and Ominas to protect Caldisla (did new Ominas kill Edea and then report that she ran away? Looks like it), then went straight to Eternia to try and talk with DeRosso and Braev, figure things out. Unfortunately, this game doesn't seem to believe in diplomacy, and it became clear that this new timeline isn't going to change anything significant (though it looks like Alternis doesn't exist here), so it's frustrating that we're Airy's pawns for the time being.

(As an aside, Braev Fucking Lee's ineptitude at diplomacy is hilarious. "The corrupt orthodoxy tried to do a dangerous ritual for selfish reasons." "I find this difficult to believe!" "DO YOU, THEN!? WE MUST FIGHT!". I have to believe this is how his backstory duel with Kamiizumi went, too.)

But before I re-awaken the crystals, I must ask: am I missing anything significant if I spare some of the asterisk holders? From a role-playing perspective, I'm killing everybody who's committing atrocities, but there are some I'm willing to spare (Barras, Holly, Jackal, Barbarossa, maybe Einheria). Am I missing on something (like a true ending) if I don't kill everyone? Seems cruel to seek them out just to kill them when they're just minding their own business.

 

[Glen-i]

@Jonnas

Spoiler

There's no major punishment for sparing the asterisk holders here. Do whatever you like. Chapter 5 is just one big opportunity to get any jobs you missed. There's a few minor differences in the cutscenes, but nothing major.

You seem to be taking the whole "wake the crystals again" quite well. Most people really start to hate the game at this point.

You've probably also realised why I thought it was interesting you did Vampire Castle immediately. I don't think the developers anticipated people actually getting the Vampire job in Chapter 4. If you went to fight him again, you'd notice it's the only fight that isn't harder than the original battle.

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Glen-i