Fangu streams (and rants about) XII

I also want to watch.

Also fangu is trying Yiazmat again

It's like a birth; nothing really interesting happens until there's 20% left

So I lied, I did try again. This time I did it. On my second try. The fight took 3 hours 25 minutes, most of it being sub 20% HP, where his level doubles to 140 and he turns into the Scum of the Earth.

I made a highlight of the last 1 million HP, which is 1/50th of his godawful 50 million HP pool, and it took me 15 minutes. I almost died, I think, twice. I was so exhausted when I was done I can't tell you.

Not gonna say too much about the fight. I was lvl 81/82, used Yagyu Darkblades, Maximillian, Golden Skullcaps and Bubble Belts. Didn't have any wind protection.

I was much more defensive this time around, at least after 50% of his HP was gone. I made sure to heal and debuff my reserves, and also buff them before sending them to the reserve, if I could.

Only Basch and Vaan was able to cap 9999 HP, not sure how much they have as max. (Not that that did any good anyway.) My main party was Balthier, Vaan and Penelo, they did the first 50%, Balthier allowed to wear the Genji Gloves and Dark Robes to get some decent (hahaha. decent. 9999 cap on 50 million HP.) damage while I still could. After a while I had to bring Ashe in in Penelo's place, I gave her about the same Gambits and tried to leave Penelo as carefully used as possible back in my reserve. At the end (after lots of switching characters back and forth and reviving, healing and removing debuffs from the characters in my reserve) I had to bring in Basch and Fran, so I finished with Basch, Ashe and Penelo. Basch delivered the final blow, which I am a little sad about, I'd rather it was Ashe, since she was with me most of the fight. Heh. But, anyway.

Didn't have much of a strategy, just making sure they didn't all clump together to be taken out by his Dark spell. I did try to keep Shell on them but after a while there simply was no time. At the end I was just running around like a headless chicken reviving people, trying to cast Hastega and Protectga when I could. He did use Reflectga on me once, but I was able to take it off with Dispelga before he could do something nasty.

But, two nice things: Being offensive seemed to stop some of his Cyclones. That might be my imagination though. Using Expose worked wonders (thanks Lex!) I had a lot of Megalixirs and Hi-Ethers, almost used them all up. What I had to do to make sure I had enough MP for the end of it was to be greedy on my elixirs/megalixirs/hi-ethers and let the other two use Syphon on my main attacker, since attacking regains MP.

I say I didn't have a strategy, although I did try to make it a team effort. No decoys, no ranged character - yeah, this was a team effort. You did it, team <3

I am so exhaust.

You can exit and enter the battle area, you know, and Yiazmat doesn't gain his health back, as far as I recall. You don't have to do it all at once. I certainly didn't.

^ Just make sure he doesn't have Regen before you leave, that's all.

I was too scared to do that, and I suspect Fangu is much the same

^ Exactly. I considered it, but didn't want to risk it. Plus there's something about doing it in one go. It really is a test of gaming mental strength as it's the last part that's like 5 times harder plus you have to keep your focus sharp - and you're really getting tired.

I have started my Fran and Balther PT, without any plan whatsoever X)

I'll be farming Dustia this time so I start with my heroes at around level 30.

Okay so I was arsed to level Vaan up to lvl 21. Picked up F&B and I'm currently about to go through the Nalbina Dungeons.

Fangu's Fran & Balthier only XII Playthrough

Right, so putting the different parts I do into this post so I remember it for later:

Part 1: "Pre-Balfran", main storyline & Dustia grinding
Part 2: Nalbina Fortress
Part 3: Lands in the Sky
Part 4: The Leviathan
Part 5: Intermission - Hi-Potion farming
Part 6: The Sandseas
Part 7: Tomb of Raithwell
Part 8: Ozmone Plain & Jahara
Part 9: Golmore Jungle & Eruyt
Part 10: Henne Mines
Part 11: Paramina Rift & Mt. Bur-Omisace
Part 12: Stilshrine of Miriam & Judge Master Bergan
Part 13: Mosphorean Highwaste & Salikawood
Part 14: Phon Coast & Tchita Uplands
Part 15: Sohen Cave Palace
Part 16: Old and New Arcahdes
Part 17: Draklor Laboratories
Part 18: Balfonheim & Cerobi Steppe
Part 19: Feywood
Part 20: Giruvegan

Draft
Part 21: Ridorana Cataract & Pharos 1st Ascent
Part 22: Pharos 2nd & 3rd Ascent (The Sun Cryst)
Part 23: Sky Fortress Bahamut - End Game

Part x: Zertinal Caverns
Part y: Nabreus Deadlands & Necrohol of Nabudis
Part z: Subterra

------------------------------------------------

Part 1: Dustia grinding
Dustia grinding is boring.

Part 2: Nalbina Fortress
Not much to say, pretty smooth sailing. Started with F&B at level 22.

Part 3: Lands in the Sky
The biggest challenge I had was killing Larsa XD I had to use one of the support characters to Disable him to be able to kill him. "Hardest fight yet" lol

Part 4: The Leviathan
Now here I had problems. The 2 Judges + Magus + Imperials were a lot of trouble for someone who was lacking both Vossler and a good white mage. (I had problems with this fight the first time I played the game too, it was the first battle I honestly had problems with.) In the end I got it done by using Blind and Slow on the Judges, while picking off the Magus and after killing the 1st Judge, some of the Imperials. It was a bitch because I had to grind for LP before this battle to get the Potion Lores. I also increased Fran's magic stats but that didn't really help much as she is a very poor mage at this point.

The Ghis fight was easier now that I got the hang of Slow + Blind. After he casts Shell it's much harder to debuff him though, so at that point I just had to go for it and Attack until he died. Luckily he dies when he has 25% HP left.

Video of Judges fight and Ghis

I have to take a short intermission now and figure out how to get more LP and Hi-Potions/X-potions, and maybe get better armor too. If I'm gonna get through this I'll need to be more clever about the battles too, which I enjoy. I've always been a debuffer and I love when I'm forced to actually do it.

Thanks to anyone watching, and thanks to Flint for forcing me to take a standpoint on the rules. I did use Vossler to help me grind on the Leviathan, but I am not going to use support characters for actual gameplay and bosses. I am not going to use them to level either as I'd rather the EXP goes to my 2 main characters. I don't know if that is considered cheating, but since Guests don't level, I guess not?

Part 5: Intermission - Hi-Potion farming
Did things according to plan in this post, managed to get to almost 30 Hi-Potions by running around two of the fields in Dalmasca Westersand looking for those chests I described. Got a decent amount of gil and LP from it too - Wolves for LP and I fought and stole from the Alraunes for Succulent Fruit which sells for 360 or something gil. Managed to upgrade both Fran and Balthier's Augments a good deal from that. Then I went back to Rabanastre and bought the Hunter's Monograph.

Part 6: The Sandseas
Chained the enemies in Ogir-Yensa and got to level 27. I did use Vossler for this, as it wasn't really a challenge to kill stuff here, it would just take a lot more time. So to fast forward, I had aid from him. I did kill him before taking on the Urutan Eater battle though. Oh, and I picked up both the Spear and a Vega, which was pretty win. For the battle with Garuda I equipped Fran with Vega and bought the Killer Bow for Balthier (which looks pretty good on him btw) right before the fight. Vossler was put down before that ofc. (He sounds so dramatic in his death scene, hahaha)

So far, I'm having a great time with this. It's quite nice to use just 2 characters - the dynamic is different than with 3. You can't mess up - you have to be quick, accurate and proactive. Also I find that using Items such as Hi-Potions to be a lot quicker than doing spells, which is very nice especially for Fran who is a bit of a slowpoke to begin with - or, she's quite average like with everything else, but she works well with guns and guns are slow. So equipped with a gun (which aren't affected by character stats) and by using items (I'm thinking of farming Motes too) you pretty much have a character who isn't bad on anything, neither Vitality, Strength, HP or defence, who can act pretty fast and do decent damage. MOAR STUFF FOR FRAN I guess

Part 7: Tomb of Raithwell
Managed to beat the 1st Demon Wall after a bit of pain. (See video.) The rest was very much smooth sailing. Belias too. [Insert part about Winged Helm and Green Beret, which is win]

After getting out of the Tomb I Chocobo'd to Mosphorean Highwaste to get 2 Golden Amulets and lord have they been useful.

Part 8: Ozmone Plain & Jahara
Nothing to mention

Part 9: Golmore Jungle & Eryut
Still smooth sailing. Mjrn <3

Part 10: Henne Mines
Still easy. Tiamat was pretty much a joke. Overleveled.

Part 11: Paramina Rift & Mt. Bur-Omisace
Now here I actually had a challenge. At the last leg of the Golmore Jungle there is this bossfight (Elder Wyrm) that is pretty much a Malboro with legs - he debuffs you with like 50 debuffs at the same time. With 2 characters instea of 4 this became a bit of a pain, but it was fairly easy once I got the hang of it.

* Wizard staffs, Magic gear (preferably with high Vitality), Sleep protection
* Reflect on party members, Aero on self
* Hi-Potions
* Keep one member on each side of the boss - when he does his Debuff move, quickly use Remedy on the one he debuffed (as long as you keep the characters apart, he can only hit 1) while running around to make sure the debuffed and confused party member doesn't attack you - make sure you have all Remedy lores so you get rid of all the debuffs - Hi-Potion and continue as usual
* If Oil > Handkerchief, fast
* If running out of MP > Ether

And that was pretty much it. It took a bit of time, but it was just the perfect amount of challenging.

Note to self: You don't really need Reflect after taking out his minions, so taking out the Reflect Gambit would probably be a plan.

Part 12: Stilshrine of Miriam & Judge Master Bergan
The only thing I found slightly challenging was picking up the treasure chest with the Shell-Shield. I didn't know about the major debuff-trap, so on my second attempt I sent in Balthier, took in Fran once he had un-confused himself, and then let her stand in the back and heal him while he Berserk-killed the bombs. Got the Shell-shield <3 (Note to self: You can avoid those traps by using Float. )

Then I suspected Bergan would be challenging but he was a complete pushover. Maybe not as weird as I'm level 40 already... way too overleveled. If when I ever do this again, I will spend less time grinding for uneccessary stuff and just go through it faster.

I am gonna go for King Bomb, so I bought Flame shields, and I'm gonna pick up a Pole that increases water damage in the Mosphorean Highwaste. That might be a bit of a challenge, and I'm looking forward to that.

Part 13: Mosphorean Highwaste & Salikawood
I did buy both the Six-Fluted Pole (which increases Water damage by 50%) (Mosphorean Highwaste) and also a Mace that has Water damage (Mt. Bur-Omisace). King Bomb wasn't really that hard, it just took some time. Using Shell and Gillie Boots is pretty mandatory as he will cast Oil and Fire spells. Balthier took a beating since he had the Six-Fluted Pole (so no Flame shield for him). King Bomb did both his Renews before I finally took him down, and I wasn't really pleased with the fight because I felt it took way too long. I had to keep healing and raising them both, so meh. Maybe using a Decoy/healer/buffer and a Magic damager in 10% Crit HP would be better, I don't know. I didn't set any debuffs either, save for Slow, which was very nice.

Note to self: There are some snakes in Mosphorean Highwaste that are weak against Earth, the same goes for some of the flying beasts (buy bows!) Maybe if you could get Earth Arrows before this part, it would be pretty neat. Also, re: Gilsnapper, in the area he is you can get the Gambit Foe: lightning-weak. It appears you can find them in chests now, even if they don't sell in shops until you obtain the Treaty-Blade.

Part 14: Phon Coast & Tchita Uplands
The plains, the plains... too huge. Put Fran on Decoy and Balthier in Bravery with critical HP and the Yoichi Bow and let him hammer away. Too much fun, Fran does 1200 damage and he does 3600 XD Looked for the Diamond Armlet, didn't get it and I'm not gonna bother. Also did a bunch of hunts and bought Bravery, Faith, Bubble, Reverse, Bubble Belts, Niphaloa or whatever it is called, and went into Necrohol of Nabudis to get the Zodiac Spear (which I am too poor of LP to equip yet). Bought the Steel Mask.

Part 15: Sohen Cave Palace
Mandrogas was easy: Run after them, make sure you have at least 3 or 4 within range, quickening. That took out the 2 weakest of them. Next I went for Tophat (if that's his name), then carefully picked off the other two. Note to self: One of them is a debuffer, should probably take him out first of the last two. The rest of the cave was fain, but I'm glad I saved after solving the puzzle because Ahriman killed me Went in with Balthier in Crit HP and I Forgot to heal Fran. Duh. Second time was much easier. Note to self: You can heal to hurt once they start dividing, or something. Worth looking into.

Part 16: Old and New Arcahdes
Nothing to mention. Balthier <3 Got the 9 chops done in like 5 minutes, in 2 areas. Once you realized every matching story is always within the same area of the map, the chop thing is actually very easy. I remembered most of them - my brain is obviously story/association based Remember that Arcahdes has cool shit to sell, and you need 4000 gil just to pay Jules. There's a good Heavy Armor body and decent weapons for sale, as well as Blindna which you definitely want for Draklor if you are underleveled.

Part 17: Draklor Laboratories
Note to self: This part is short and doesn't really have any interesting treasures. In the end I pretty much cruised through this part because overleveled + I equipped the Zodiac Spear. Without it I would have probably have done Blindna. There aren't really a lot of enemies in here, so it shouldn't take too long to get through it even if the enemies have a lot of HP. Cid was a complete pushover. Nothing particular to mention really, since this is a heavy hitter fight (as with most Hume fights) - attack attack attack.

Part 18: Balfonheim & Cerobi Steppe
I killed Ring Wyrm without any problem at all. Like in Draklor I was already level 48. I considered going straight for Feywood, but I need some of the spells in Balfonheim (Curaja, Firaga etc.) I did the Wyrm quest where the Viera from Balfonheim is with you. Other than that, went through the Steppe and got unmentionable stuff in chests. The best being a couple of Hello-Ethers.

Part 19: Feywood
Still overleveled. Got lucky and got the Deathbringer from a chest, which is like 15 attack better than the 1H sword I already had on Fran; the Bastard Sword, which I bought in Archades. Balthier was functioning well with the Halberd - I had the ZS on him for fun from time to time, but he did quite well with the Halberd as well (~2200 dmg where ZS does 5-6000.) Equipment is really key in this game. As long as you've got decent strength armor on them and the Battle Lores all filled out, they will do damage no matter which level they are on. Also I've been using Crystal Shields (bought one and got rewarded one from a Hunt) which really helps at this part in the game. I really like the Shield/1H sword combo, so right now they both have just that.

Part 20: Giruvegan
Pretty easy. Still had the 1H-swords and crystal shields. I was lucky to get all of the items in the crystal - Black Mask, Holy Lance, White Cape, which I am super thrilled about : D

I'm not sure that I caught your answer to the exact question I asked, actually. I was wondering what you'd do with your reserve characters. If you were being strict, then you'd have Vaan, Penelo, Ashe and Basch KO'd in reserve at all times, so that if Fran and Balthier ever died at the same time in battle, it would be game over.

I personally don't think it breaks the rules to have guest characters alive and helping you out. If Fran and Balthier both die, it's still game over even if Vossler/Larsa/Reddas is alive, isn't it?

But you know, it's your challenge, you can set the rules however you want Are you going to play and stream again today?

Well like with the Judges battle, Vaan, Basch and Penelo were all alive in my reserve, but the moment both Fran and Balthier died, it was game over for me, so I reset the game. I suppose it makes no difference.

I didn't kill Ashe for Firemane or what the name of that horse is, I remember having a discussion with myself after that battle, to which I decided I would kill of Larsa when he joined my party. I wouldn't have been able to kill him without the help of 1 or 2 of the members in my reserve though, since I had to Disable him to keep him from healing himself. So that's a reason to keep people in my reserve alive I guess.

I won't be streaming today, but I will again tomorrow I'll be doing the Sandseas and probably Tomb of Raithwell as well.

How to get Hi-Potions and X-potions (pre Tomb of Raithwell)
by Fangu
(sorry, this turned into a research paper XD)


Buying

Hi Potion: Restores 600 HP to one character, 210 gil after Mt. Bur Omisace
X Potion: Fully restores HP to one character, 630 gil after Archades

...meh.

Bazaar

1 Rainbow Egg - sell to Bazaar to buy 10 Hi-Potions (Hi-Potion Pack) for 1111 gil

* Axebeak - encountered in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea, 10% Monograph Drop with Hunter's Monograph (18,000 gil, Avians & Beasts; Complete Thextera hunt, then talk to Gatsly at the Muthru Bazaar in Rabanastre)
* Rare steal from Nekhbet, Dalmasca Estersand. At least one Cockatrice must be killed for it to spawn (20% chance). Nekhbet may spawn in one of three locations in the Sand-swept Naze: the westernmost point, the central area, or the eastern area close to the Murmuring Defile section on the world map.

3 Screamroot, buy Potion Crate (Potion x30, Hi-Potion x20, X-Potion x10) (one time only)

* Feywood only beasts like the Mandragora Prince, the Onion Queen and those other assholes, all ~lvl 35

3 Giant Feathers for Triage Kit, Phoenix Down x12 & Hi-Potion x3, 2980 gil (one time only)

* Rare Drop and Common Poach from Dive Talon (Dalmasca Estersand, ~lvl 28)
* Common Drop and Common Poach from Vulture (Mosphoran Highwaste, ~lvl 32)
* Uncommon Steal from Garuda (Paramina Rift (Bestiary location), Tomb of Raithwell (Boss fight), lvl 16)
* Uncommon Steal, Common Drop and Common Poach from Zu (Ozmone Plain, ~lvl 22)

4 Malboro Vine for Smelling Salts, & C. (540 gil) (one time only)

* Very Rare Drop, Uncommon Steal and Rare Poach from Malboro (Golmore Jungle, Lhusu Mines (site 11), ~lvl 41)
* Common Drop, Uncommon Steal and Common Poach from Great Malboro (Golmore Jungle, ~lvl 23)

1 Behemoth Steak - sell to Bazaar to buy 10 X-Potions (fully restores HP) for 4444 gil
(I love the description by the way - A chewy, invigorating cut of steak, t-bone and all. Best eaten by holding the bone with two hands and gnawing at the meat with great, primitive enthusiasm.

* 14% Monograph Drop (Knight's Monograph: Talk to the owner of a weapons shop 30 times, 19,000 gil, Giants & insects), & Poach from Behemoth (Feywood & Giruvegan, ~lvl 42)
* Steal from Behemoth King, Alteci, Fenrir, Humbaba Mistant (all of which are too strong for me at the moment)

...which also goes for the Behemoth, really, so... no X-potion pack for me (yet)

Farming

Here's the problem. Neither of the Wikia's I've read lists enemies that drop etc Hi-Potions (or X-potions). They only say where to buy them and stuff. I know that the Imperial Hoplite on the Leviathan drops it, but I'm done with that part now so too late to farm those.

Unless I can find a guide that specifically tells me where to get those items, I'll have to look at the enemies available to me now (oh crap) and read their steal/drop/poach lists carefully. I got this far:

* Common steal from Catoblepas (mark 30, lvl 46)

...and pretty much all the other enemies I found are like lvl 40 enemies, which I can't take on (at least not for farming) at the moment. I think I had my chance on the Leviathan, but I am not, NOT reloading an old save file. I'd rather try to fix Fran's magic stats than do that.

Chests

Edit: I forgot there is of course also the option of chests. In the Dalmasca Estersand, there is a lot of chests that has 60-70% spawn rate, with a 20-30% chance for gil, the rest being an item, and that item is often 50% Hi-Potion or even 100% Hi-Potion. I think this is my best option, actually. While doing this, I can make gil for the Hunter's Monograph too, so I can get a Hi-Potion pack later.


Conclusion lol

...which means what I will be doing as a little interlude is the following:

* Try a few chests in Dalmasca Estersand (there's a save/transport crystal right next to the spots <3)
* Finish Thextera hunt
* Get gil (at least 25,000) to buy Hunter's Monograph
* Go to the sandseas, kill Axebeaks for Rainbow Eggs
* Get Hi-Potion packs

I think this will definitely be the easiest solution.

Now, on to figure out the best way to make gil................

Fangu the music, what is that?

Why, you didn't like it?

(I decided that to I would transfer the pain of Hi-Potion farming to my viewers )

Done with the Sandsea, Tomb of Raithwell next, that will probably be tomorrow - I might stream a bit of Rainbow Egg farming later

Unless they were smart enough to do what I did and mute the stream.

Aeryn Sun said:

Unless they were smart enough to do what I did and mute the stream.

Click to expand...

The second time I pulled that stunt, some probably did, if not all of them And some left. Can't say I blame them, lol! But now I am back to commentary. I just felt like doing something else for the mindless grinding. I will try to treat my viewers with more respect from now on

Anyway I now have 96 Hi-Potions and enough Rainbow Eggs to buy 100 more, so I should be good now

I am level 29 and about to head into Tomb of Raithwell. Should be fine, in other words, but since I only have 2 characters I can never be sure. I just need to figure out which armor to buy for them, and I need to check if I can get Haste yet. Fran has the Ancient Sword and Balthier has the Spear (it is simply called 'Spear'). For ranged weapons Fran has Vega (thanks to the grinding I now have 8 of them) and Balthier has a Killer Bow, which looks very good on him <3

So yeah the Tomb sometimes tomorrow. I can't do it now because it's almost 2 am and I'm trying to get back to a somewhat normal sleeping pattern

At the moment I'm trying to beat the first Demon Wall with only 2 characters. At level 29.

I think I will be able to do it, I did get him down to 25% - but I need more Holy Motes, which is what I'm trying to get from chests in the Dalmasca Westersand atm. The thing is I need to be lucky. I need him to not have both Haste and Reflect - preferably none. Then I might be able to Slow him and whoop his ass before he starts debuffing my characters and finally X-zoning one of them.

Also bf and I made a GIF It's the one in my signature. I think it's really cute, whatever it is she's doing <3

It's definitely shock at the size of Basch's considerable manhood.

I beat the 1st Demon Wall. Finally. I was overjoyed Now that I know it can be done it's probably just a matter of timing and chaining quickenings and he can be taken down by few characters and with poorer stats.

Anyway I won't type up too much because I was so happy when I did it I decided to make a video instead.



Hope my weird accent is understandable. The guys on Skype knows how to decipher me but I wouldn't blame the random person for not understanding.

I will stream Story later tonight, as far as I can get with lvl 31. In about 2 hours from now, that's 6 GMT (it's 4 GMT as I'm posting this). ~finishing the Tomb, Jahara, Eruyt, we'll see.

Edit: Finished 4 new parts, as described in post on previous page (linked to from first post in topic):

Part 7: Tomb of Raithwell
Part 8: Golmore Jungle & Eryut
Part 9: Henne Mines
Part 10: Paramina Rift & Mt. Bur-Omisace

I had 2/3 viewers watching and commenting continuously and it was great fun <3 I Jelly Grinded a bit at the end there to make cash, so I'm gonna get some new armor and maybe weapons (Katanaaaaa!) and then I'll probably do Stilshrine of Miriam tomorrow.

So I've done

Part 11: Paramina Rift & Mt. Bur-Omisace
Part 12: Stilshrine of Miriam & Judge Master Bergan
Part 13: Mosphorean Highwaste & Salikawood

Write up in update post.

Right now I'm doing Hunts, because I realized you need to do them to get the Bubble spell and the Bubble Belts. Since this is a draft playthrough, I'm going to start writing in Hunts for the 'real one'. Some of the Hunts have pretty decent prices, plus they give more LP than your random battles, which is nice. Ideally I'd like to do this playthrough without using Dustia leveling, as that's more exploiting a glitch than leveling normally (like with Jelly grinding in Henne Mines) - if you were to level with Dustia without the glitch, it would take so long you'd only bother doing it for 5-10 levels, because you'd have to run back to Rabanastre to save all the time.

Anyway the hunts are pretty damn easy right now, considering I am level 43 or something already. (I still fear the Mandrogas though, but that is an optional battle after all, so.) Gilsnapper is next, already built the bridge, just have to get him to spawn. I'll be doing hunts today as well, just enough to get Bubble, as I will need that for later. Then it's rush hour through Phon Coast & Tchita Uplands, and then I'm gonna save at Tchita and leg for Sohen Cave Palace and the Mandrogas - Fran & Balthier both have all their Quickenings now so the plan is to gather them all close and take out as many as them as possible with Quickenings so I can take out the remaining (hopefully just) 2 without having to stop for rebuffing and healing.

Did Part 14: Phon Coast & Tchita Uplands yesterday. Had an excellent time putting Balthier in Critical HP and letting him rule with the Yoichi Bow while Fran was tanking (video (sometimes the video starts from 4 seconds for some reason. Damn Twitch)). Doing Sochen Cave Palace today (fecking Mandrogas...)

I really need to keep working on my pt spreadsheet. I am thinking of doing the "real" runthrough as a YouTube series rather than a stream. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I play quite slow and tend to do a lot of "extra stuff" along the way, but another thing is, my ongoing commentary is random and bad and I'd rather do a tight package where I can add post commentary instead and edit out the part I find too boring to watch. Plus a lot more people can be reached when doing a YT pt rather than a live stream.

I was also gonna share that I ordered the Limited Edition XII guide off a dealer on Amazon yesterday (used) and it shipped today The seller lives in the UK, so I might even have it on Saturday! That is if it reaches Oslo tomorrow, because it probably won't fit into my mailbox in which case I'll get a note from the post office and I'll have to go pick it up there. The total order was just £24

I just took down Fafnir with Balthier and Fran only (no reserves) at lvl 64, Bastard Sword, Storm Spear, Maximillian, Mirage Vest, Circlet, Cat-Ear Hood, Bubble Belt, blah blah

Really, it was the speed that saved me - speed, and keeping it as simple and streamlined as possible. Balthier kept Fafnir busy while dealing minor damage with his sword and taking all the debuffs while Fran hid behind a rock to deal Thundaga and keep Balthier alive XD

I'm really happy. This was hard. Video <3 (It's just the last half an hour, the entire fight took around 45 minutes I think)

So I've just been doing hunts and side quest bosses, among them Ultima, which was quite fun. When her HP drops to like under 20% she goes crazy with Holyja and I had to keep swapping out Fran and Balthier with each other, reviving whoever was KO'd in the reserve, then using Elixirs and Quickenings to finish her. I didn't have White Masks or Sage's Rings, that's what made it such a bitchy fight. Note to self: Do Antlion or which hunt it is that gives you Dark Shots and the Scythe mote before you go in to get Ultima. Pick up the Fomalhaut while you're at it. Darkja did a good job, same as Dark Motes.

Next I'm actually gonna try Zeromus, Gilgamesh and Behemoth King. Gonna die hard.

Since this is "Fangu rants about XII" as well, I'm gonna throw in links to a few things I wrote the other day. Haven't written anything in ages.

Blank Page, a short Balfran poem (I don't believe they're canon but I like fiddling with the idea)
Compatibility, a short story featuring Fran