Final Fantasy Tactics Community Playthrough

[ForceStealer]

The best method to immediately run up onto the wall behind you and hit enemies from the distance. Especially things that slow them down or disable them like Disable, Mustadio's Arm/Leg Shot, Agrias' Judgement Blade or the Geomancer's Tanglevine which can both inflict Stop. If you Steal or Break Gaffgarion's sword, his Sword Techs will no longer be a threat.

 

[Flintlock]

Funny how my strategy was almost the opposite of JT's in that I completely ignored the time mages until they were harmless to me. So I think the more important parts are what we had in common: regroup ASAP and kill enemies whenever possible.

 

[ForceStealer]

I haven't historically had an issue with the Time Mages myself, but getting to the wall is helpful and they're in the way of that.

But I haven't done this battle yet on my playthrough, so I might regret that confidence (I can probably stream again tomorrow around the same time as last week, by the by.)

 

[Russell]

make sure you have at least two healers

I rotated everyone around at the start between Squires & Chemists so that everyone had potion & Phoenix down, then moved everyone to Knights. I've only used the jobs of Squire, Chemist & Knight.

Healers you say?

 

[Jason Tandro]

make sure you have at least two healers

I rotated everyone around at the start between Squires & Chemists so that everyone had potion & Phoenix down, then moved everyone to Knights. I've only used the jobs of Squire, Chemist & Knight.

Healers you say?

Uh.... that may be your bigger problem man. I can't imagine this fight without some AoE / Magic damage dealers. And you have at least learned Hi-Potion right? Right????

 

[Russell]

Uh.... that may be your bigger problem man. I can't imagine this fight without some AoE / Magic damage dealers. And you have at least learned Hi-Potion right? Right????

There's a Hi-potion in this game?


I sense grind in my future.

But yeah this is why I don't like the job system in this game, you can't casually switch between classes and try things out. You have to change to a new job then spend an hour leveling and earning JP to make it worth while. It feels like a game that punishes experimenting and it gives you no hints on what job you might need next.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Uh.... that may be your bigger problem man. I can't imagine this fight without some AoE / Magic damage dealers. And you have at least learned Hi-Potion right? Right????

There's a Hi-potion in this game?


I sense grind in my future.

But yeah this is why I don't like the job system in this game, you can't casually switch between classes and try things out. You have to change to a new job then spend an hour leveling and earning JP to make it worth while. It feels like a game that punishes experimenting and it gives you no hints on what job you might need next.

That much is definitely true. You really need to commit pretty early on on a career path for your characters. That, or spam JP like a fiend by getting down to one enemy at critical HP, then attacking each other until you get bored. You can seriously rake up a potentially unlimited amount of JP (pending your ability to heal) in a single fight that way with a minimal EXP gain. It's the secret to my success.

 

[Flintlock]

My "career path" choices so far have been: you have high faith, you do spelly stuff; you have high bravery, you do hitty stuff.

Actually, I've been wondering, why is it that when I switch to a new job for the first time with any character (e.g. when I first made Ramza a monk, having had no monks in my party previously) I have some JP in it already?

 

[ForceStealer]

Uh.... that may be your bigger problem man. I can't imagine this fight without some AoE / Magic damage dealers. And you have at least learned Hi-Potion right? Right????

But yeah this is why I don't like the job system in this game, you can't casually switch between classes and try things out. You have to change to a new job then spend an hour leveling and earning JP to make it worth while. It feels like a game that punishes experimenting and it gives you no hints on what job you might need next.

While it is true you can just casually jump to a job and give it a try, the game definitely tells you what you need next by the battles. You said it yourself - the Gallows are 8 vs 5. So you're going to want some AoE. I'm amazed you got even this far without a mage. Whatchoo got against Black Mages, man? It may not specifically tell you a job to pick, but i don't think it encourages having only used three jobs through the first 7-8 hours

And I haven't spent any time this playthrough doing DEDICATED grinding. After fights I have backtracked to Eagrose in order to buy heavy armor and stuff, and so I'll fight hte battles I encounter as I go, but I haven't sat for the grinding sessions that JT is apparently doing. I have a Knight, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, and Archer/Thief. And my Knight is soon to leap to Geomancer, and my Thief will probably head for Dragoon.

Sounds like you should send your save file to JT so can spend half the time he's been spending overlevelling on getting you properly levelled and then send it back

My "career path" choices so far have been: you have high faith, you do spelly stuff; you have high bravery, you do hitty stuff.

This is exactly what I do.

As to your other question, I'm not actually sure.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Isnt there a fraction of JP accumulation relative to the careeer path, same as when your party uses jobs?

 

[Joker]

That's correct.

Major tip for the END of this chapter: SAVE YOUR FUCKING GAME IMMEDIATELY AFTER FINISHING THE GALLOWS. CREATE A NEW SAVE FILE. DO IT. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER.

@jt: you're going to want your mages to branch off into other mage trees so you can unlock Calculator. Also, try giving your Summoner Quick Charge and watch them become so much more useful Also, once Ramza gets a few of the better Draw Out/Iaido under his belt (take the healing one!), I would definitely recommend removing Punch Art entirely and giving him Guts. His version of the Squire's skillset is soooooo much better than anyone else's, and iirc Yell raises PA and MA? which are what Samurai skills are based off of (well, mostly MA, but PA for physical autoattacks).

 

[ForceStealer]

I will be streaming shortly, once I update some things. (I took your advice, Flint, and got a modded iso, now it runs at PS1 speed )

 

[Cthulhu]

nuu you're killing the two-tentacle-feisu'd cthulhu cultist

 

[Flare]

First time I've seen the gameplay. Tactics Advance really resembles it, understandably. It feels familiar watching it. Looks fun! *might finally get this game shortly *

 

[Claymore]

The first battle of the assigned Chapter 3 floors me, and I have no Phoenix Downs remaining from the previous battle. Luckily I have another save file before the end of Chapter 2, so I should be able to restock and try this again.

... I knew this game was hard, but damn!

 

[Fangu]

I'm just gonna post this right away since I finally finished it

Spoiler: Chapter 1

• What are your first gameplay impressions?
  THIS SHIT BE COMPLICATED YO
  ...well it is, but it's fun to get into it. I like games that actually forces you to learn the mechanics of the gameplay, and doesn't let you brute force your way through it. You need to learn how this works, and I like that. I did spend some time pondering about stuff, and there's still a few things I'm yet to fully understand, but I'm getting better at it. It's a fun game once you get into it.
  And I like that it's hard. Wouldn't have it any other way tbh.
  I don't want to look too much stuff up because I like playing blind, but there are a few things I had to, like, when I get access to buying a bow and Knight Armour. Turned out I was already able to, I just needed to go to a Castle outfitter, that sort of thing.
  Oh and also, I was using my keyboard with PPSSPP at first, but to me the keys aren't very intuitive. I finally got my PS4 controller set up (lazy) and I have to say, I really like PPSSPP. Mapping was fine from the get go. And this game works SO MUCH BETTER with a controller.
• And what about your early impressions of the characters? They spit a lot of names at you and that doesn’t get much easier, but I’m sure that will be no trouble to you Game of Thrones types.
  Yeah to be honest, gameplay is keeping me so busy I've decided to not pay too much attention to the story. It's kind of like I played FF12 the first time and entered Phon Coast - I'd almost forgotten what the story was all about because it was all about the gameplay
  But, there are traitors that aren't really traitors because they're fighting a cause as well, blah blah, all in proper FF Ivalice style. I'll read a summary later
• Did you read any Rumors at a Tavern?
  Nah, I have enough trying to keep up with gameplay at this point
• Did you struggle with Dorter? What’s your primary party makeup looking like after this first chapter?
  Oh yeah I died horrible the first time I attempted that battle. I went in with three Squires and a Chemist and a whole lot of inexperience, and that did not go well. So it was back to the drawing board - grind grind grind - second time I had two Black Mages, Ramza the high level Squire and an Archer, which went a million times better. That being said, I still have no idea how to use that Archer, so he was basically just grooming one of my mages while they killed everything with fire. Success.

 

[Joker]

Best way to use archers - get to a high location (because it increases your range) and then pew pew people with basic attacks. Also handy with the Knight class' skills (or if you use Mustadio - he can use his Snipe skills best at range, so why not?).

 

[Fangu]

This chapter wasn't short at all, you guys are lying

Spoiler: Chapter 2

• How did you feel about the rest of the "flashback" chapter?
  I liked seeing Delita and Ramza's friendship, and the difficulties about it. Kind of a 'stuff is great when you're a kid but then you grow up and the world is hard' type of thing.
• Spoiler

  How much do you hate Argath/Algus?
  Well he is your token snotty brat bad guy, but he didn't bother me too much. There are worse kind of villains
• Did any of the fights in this chapter give you trouble?
  Not really. I have two Black Mages that pretty much swiped the floor for the last two battles, they weren't hard at all. Also I have a habit of doing "take down this and that enemy" battles "Vossler style": I focus all my energy of taking that one person down, which was kind of easy with two Black Mages with Fira and Flame Rods.
  I didn't have any game overs, and I rarely had deaths.

Also I turned my Archer into a Knight because oh yeah. And I don't use my White Mage at all. Potions ftw!

 

[ForceStealer]

[*]

Spoiler

How much do you hate Argath/Algus?

Well he is your token snotty brat bad guy, but he didn't bother me too much. There are worse kind of villains [/spoiler]

Spoiler

Yeah, it isn't so much that I find him a peerless villain. Just that I have always hated the way he drove Delita against Ramza, through no fault of Ramza's.

Super glad you're still playing

 

[Russell]

Chapter 4: The Legend of the Zodiac Braves

Have you been participating in any Errands?

Forgot about them.

Spoiler

Now that Mustadio is no longer a Guest, did you continue using him? (Even if you don't use him, you will need him on your party for sidequests, so sign him up and hold onto him.)

Yeah I kept using him and continue to do so, I like this skillset.

Any thoughts on the story developments in this chapter?

There's a story beyond 'Rescue the Princess'?

Did you struggle with any of these fights? About now you can start delving into some of the more unique jobs, what kind of party are you rockin'?

My party for storyline missions is Ramza (still a Knight), Voyce (knight), Cwemgyth (Black Mage), Mustadio (Machinist) & Agrias (Holy Knight).
(Can you rename your starting squad? Cos' names likes 'Voyce' & how ever the fuck you say 'Cwemgyth' aren't doing it for me.)

I've warmed up to the Black Mage class as I had a 'Thunder Rod' in my inventory (which gives a boost to thunder spells), I've been decimating fools with Thundara.

I was on a roll and didn't want to stop whilst I was winning so I kept on going past Golgollada Gallows and I just killed Cthulhu the Impure

Spoiler

I'm blanking on his name. >.<
The priest that transforms with a stone and you fight him in a church?
Well it took two goes but he's my bitch now.

 

[ForceStealer]

I've warmed up to the Black Mage class as I had a 'Thunder Rod' in my inventory (which gives a boost to thunder spells), I've been decimating fools with Thundara.

See?! We told you to quit using Squires!

And hm...how long did it take you to get to where you played to? That was going to be he next chapter...but maybe I should lengthen it/shorten he deadline?

And no, to my knowledge you can't change your party members' names, they are randomly generated when you start a game. I supposed you could hire new people at the beginning, but it's a little late for that

 

[Russell]

And hm...how long did it take you to get to where you played to? That was going to be he next chapter...but maybe I should lengthen it/shorten he deadline?

I dunno, a couple of hours? There is only three story battles until the next in game chapter:

Lionel Castle Gate
Zeirchele Falls
Lionel Castle Oratory

CHAPTER III: THE VALIANT

But I did die on Lionel Castle Gate 3 times and on Lionel Castle Oratory once. I changed jobs between battles trying to figure things out. The map has opened up again and there are plenty of errands and new stuff to buy. I'd suggest keeping the pace at 5 days.

 

[Joker]

I thin k you chna change their enames but idkr how

 

[Ite]

Spoiler: Mr. Ite's Chapter 3 Thoughts

As soon as I squashed that ambush in Dorter, I ran back and forth between Dorter, Gariland, and Igros Castle taking up every errand I could. The descriptions of the errands are frustratingly vague (at least in the PS1 version) so I was mostly guessing as to which classes to send, with varying degrees of success. If I was unsure of which jobs were more appropriate, I looked at which job I needed some JP in for that character. I always kind of wondered if the JP earned by jobs on errands was shared the same way as the JP earned by jobs in battle is shared. Anyone have any insight? I forgot to take the proper notes.

In terms of plot, I love LOVE LOVE how the game fakes you out into thinking that you're next big confrontation is the Bethla Garrison, only to have you catch up with Delita at Zirekile Falls. The battle is challenging, the developments during the battle are exceptional, and the ensuing scene after the victory is great, even with the PS1's sub-stellar translation. Furthermore, after it's all done, your destination changes from Bethla down towards Lionel Castle. The whole story does a 180 over the course of one battle -- the first time I played it, I thought that my actions had *altered the course of the story permanently.*

Sadly, that illusion is broken in the WotL version, as the scene doesn't happen on the battlefield but in a CG cutscene. It's a great scene, visually and with good acting, but the illusion of player-controlled story is one of those things from older JRPGs that I miss.

Also, in my game, Agrias talks to her clothing.

I'm grateful every day.

I died twice in the Mustadio battle. I changed the parameters of the fight after my first death, and still died. The last go around, Rad turned into a crystal. Goodbye Rad. You served me well.

Spoiler: Mr. Ite's Chapter 4 Thoughts

It's a daily struggle.

I've been dabbling in the unique jobs, but I've mastered the simple jobs and can really pack a punch. Making sure that my characters are of similar level and trying to give them access to useful class abilities has been taking up most of my time between story events. Between every story event I run up to Igros Castle to check for new equipment to buy and new errands to run in Igros, Gariland, Dorter, Zaland, Lionel, Goug, and Warjilis.

I like Mustadio and use him well, an engineer/chemist. He's particularly useful against undead, and as a non-hireling there are opportunities for him to get involved in scenes. I typically like characters that have their own dialogue more than silent mooks, although I have grown attached to the rest of team A. Dorone is a priest/archer and Randy is whatever works best for the location -- they both have been with Pants since he was a cadet in Gariland. I hired Comet in Dorter after Rad died, she's a black mage/summoner. Ramza is a ninja, and I typically won't use him in non-story battles because his advanced level makes those fights very hard.

Agrias just joined up, so Randy has been demoted to B party. I'm levelling Agrias up right now, so she will heretofore be known as AGRIAS the MASTER of BEASTS!

As you can see, I also have a goblin in my party, which is something that hasn't happened before. They also lay eggs but not as frequently as chocobos. I want to get a dragon and a ghost as well but I am honestly nearly out of space as it is (and I'm playing with permadeath!) Gotta save room to let story characters in.

 

[Jason Tandro]

And no, to my knowledge you can't change your party members' names, they are randomly generated when you start a game. I supposed you could hire new people at the beginning, but it's a little late for that

You can change monster names at the Soldier Office, but your troops are your troops. In a similar vein to FF8/FFX you can only decide your own name - just like in real life. (though in 8 you can name Rinoa too).