Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

[Blade]

Thanks for telling me about spamming Chronostasis, it's especially useful for hunting down last ones in the Wild Lands and other areas with high encounter rates. (The only downside is when you missed a daytime exclusive item and it's already passed the deadline and you have to wait till the next day).

So right now I've got a Dragoon/Paladin/Black Mage setup, and I took on Caius and got my butt whupped, turned tail and started doing other quests (I did manage to get a Reaver Behemoth's sword though which is cool in and of itself).

You know it's a problem when you deliberately dodge monsters because of how annoying they are to kill. So I've been item hunting and filling up the "Board of Prayers" or whatever it's called (Chocolina is a crazy motormouth, yeesh, I half believe she's mentally insane from all those years in the Void Beyond).

So I learned that killing off certain populations of monsters actually cuts down on your encounter rates so you can be more productive.

What I don't know for sure is, if that number resets in New Game Plus or not (which would be especially annoying actually, but reasonable to consider).

And I have to say... anyone who complains about them recycling FFXIII and FFXIII-2 music is a poor sport. That music is great, especially the night time music.

I think next time around I'll be spending more time doing stuff on Day 1 with Chronostasis.

(Still don't have enough gil for those online goodies people keep offering. Skinflints...)

 

[Splintered]

So I learned that killing off certain populations of monsters actually cuts down on your encounter rates so you can be more productive.

What I don't know for sure is, if that number resets in New Game Plus or not (which would be especially annoying actually, but reasonable to consider).

Yeah monsters spawn in certain areas, so if you kill them, there's less types of monsters they can throw at you, hence lower encounter rate.

But in New Game+, or any rewinding of time, the monster count refreshes.

And I have to say... anyone who complains about them recycling FFXIII and FFXIII-2 music is a poor sport. That music is great, especially the night time music.

I still think the problem with is that it's not that they don't have new music, I checked out all the ost and there is a good number of tracks. It's just that it's continually shifting and the old music is more recognizable.

I've seen it argued both good and bad. The bad is that the music doesn't get time to breath, places like the Wildands changes music depending on different areas of the map, the time of day, and whether or not you are riding your chocobo, not to mention different music for battles- which I also think changes depending on the time of day, and battles switch music when you stagger an enemy (I think Yuusan's boss does this).

I like it, I think it makes the world feel like it's changing and I'm not stuck listening to the same music (except with I'm reading Chocobro).

So right now I've got a Dragoon/Paladin/Black Mage setup, and I took on Caius and got my butt whupped, turned tail and started doing other quests (I did manage to get a Reaver Behemoth's sword though which is cool in and of itself).

Caius is a sunuvabitch. iirc, if you decide to take the hit and leave by consuming an hour of your day instead of just restarting, the next time you enter Etro's temple, a Yuel will teleport you directly to Caius so you can avoid those enemies. I remember being a serious pain until I had to switch up my entire schemata or each fight would make me waste a potion.

(Still don't have enough gil for those online goodies people keep offering. Skinflints...)

I actually think prices are set by the game. Unfortunately my internet to the xbox is bullocks and I haven't used outerworld at all.

From what I hear you generally don't go for weapons. All the money you want to spend on weapons is when you get to level them up in hard mode- it consumes friggin EVERYTHING. What I've seen people say is to go for the turbo ethers for the final boss, and an elixir for the achievement.

 

[Blade]

Right now I'm on Easy Mode, so I'm not even bothering with worrying about Hour penalties. If you run out of potions/Phoenix downs, the game gives you one last option to Flee and I did that and just teleported out of Etro's Temple.

I think what I'm going to do is stick to Easy Mode for a while till I'm strong enough to take every enemy out without much effort (that's how I always play my FFs, one hit kills are great).

For now I'll use Noel as a gauge to determine how strong I'm getting between days. If I can 5 Gold star him, I'll give Caius a try next.

 

[Blade]

Here's a big Logic Fail from Square Enix.

...If the fishermen (in Yusnaan's Glutton's Quarter) catch their own fish from the sea...

What's the point of using Fal'Cie Pandemonium for a food production resource? Unless he makes the fish for them to catch??? What?

Also, has anyone else stared at the "edges" of Nova Chrysalia? I see a wall of ocean, but nothing abnormal about it.

Not only that... BUT WHY ARE THERE STARS IN THE SKY??? If Nova Chrysalia is the only place left in existence that hasn't been swallowed by Chaos... wouldn't that mean it'd be absolutely black? Or we'd see chaos swirlies in the sky???

 

[Fangu]

^ Well... you'd need other things to eat than just the fish. That's my theory anyway.

Hmm I want to listen to the Yusnaan night theme now. It's so pretty. Edit: Wait, it's not in Yusnaan... I think? But Luxerion. Not sure. It's called Midnight Eternal.

 

[Alex Strife]

Depending on how far the stars are supposed to be, if they disappeared late enough, their light would still arrive to Nova Chrysalia.

If I remember it properly, it's 500 years since FFXIII-2, right? If EVERYTHING disappeared 500 years ago, light should still reach Nova Chrysalia.

Of course, we could raise the question of whether the Space is still there as an empty... well, space. Or it just doesn't exist anymore. But that's that.

 

[Blade]

Day 9 with 2 days left...

How I managed to extend the time this much on my FIRST run, I myself am amazed at.

The further in to this game I get, the more I have to be wary of Last Ones... they almost kill me each time I fight them (not to mention Protoflorians and Reavers).

In fact, last time I nearly got stuck in a Chaos Infusion with a Last One... that's a dangerous combination. Good thing I ran away before it could attack me.

It's really strange that I spend more time item hunting/hidden chest acquiring and actually avoiding fights and just giving people items to boost my stats...

Also, can someone explain to me why some Garbs start with 0 or 50 ATB? What's the deal? How do you use them?

Right now it seems like all my ATB abilities I get in-battle and in treasures are better than the locked stuff in the garbs you get. Is there a way to "unlock" locked garb abilities or upgrade them? Just seems like those obsolete abilities get in the way.

I usually end up blowing all my gil at Synthesis shops now.

 

[Splintered]

Also, can someone explain to me why some Garbs start with 0 or 50 ATB? What's the deal? How do you use them?

It's just a strategy thing- where you have another thing to worry about in the flow of battle. It means less in the long run, but for the inbetween fights, you might not want to grab a garb with 0 ATB, or at least not start with 0 ATB. If you do, you can try using an accessory that starts the battle with haste to help supplement it, or give it some auto abilities that help with ATB regen.

I think one of the strongest garbs, the one that gives Artemis Arrows, starts off with 0 ATB.

 

[Blade]

I could really use a list of good setups (or advice) and good accessories/attack abilities to shoot for. Nearly everything I'm getting has some downside to it, so it feels like there's no point in equipping it in most fights.

Either it destroys my resistance, lowers my HP, or reduces some other stat... I'm just wondering if there's any viable way to actually USE these accessories.

I end up with empty ATBs and low HP a lot, since I'm not really good at guarding.

 

[Splintered]

Yeah, a lot of them are extremely situational, and unless you really understand the system they are hard to use. I've only used, like, one or two because I didn't feel like experimenting.

Probably the most famous set up is the 100% physical or magical resistance. Pairing petra hood or ghost hood, with quiet guardian or cyber jumpsuit (which has a natural defense percentage), along with the other physical/magical defense accessories guarantees one schemata as invulnerable to the majority of either physical or magical defenses, no guard needed.

It's pretty key to some of the bosses if you are like me and suck at blocking, and need help with some of the harder bosses, or even the chocobo eaters.

It lowers your attack by 100% so instead, you use it either as a debuffer, non damage staggering, or throw on medigaurd and use it to heal yourself.

I've heard of other combos but I haven't tried them out. I'll have to find the thread for that.

 

[Blade]

Day 11, 1 Day Remains...

And this is my FIRST RUN... gosh, they give you a ton of things to do.

Round 2, I managed to defeat Caius, but it turns out it was a stalemate.

Fortunately enough the game lets you back-track through the Temple and recover those "Notes of the Goddess" for one of the side quests.

Right now I'm in the middle of getting "Saving the Sinless" and trying to get the Dark Knight Garb. It sure takes a long time, these people love to talk and keep you waiting till the next day (as if they had time left).

I'm guessing all these quests will eventually reset, but I hope key items (like the Roadworks keys) stay in your inventory so you still have access to places.

I've done every major quest except the Clavis one, which is taking longer than I expected due to how big that central temple is, I'm just glad those "Time Sensitive Doors" aren't that big a deal with Chronostasis.

I managed to 5 Gold Star an Omega Dreadnaught robot, which was a real pain because they don't let you do decent damage unless you attack while THEY attack (which hurts) or while staggered. I had to literally chop both his arms off to get him completely staggered.

I've been using Quiet Guardian/Danse Macabre/Soldier of Peace setup for a long while now... and spamming Army of One on especially tough monsters or large groups.

Also noticed that once a large group of monsters is extinguished eventually they get "replaced" by the "Bugs" (with the couple thousand population) or the "Anubys" guys (which I hear never go extinct, but are rather weak and don't give you much). Also really weird, I've run in to random Chaos Infusions with NO MONSTERS and just random Chaos Seeds spread along the ground, so I just grab those and sell em.

I heard something about Ultima Weapon being born from these things, so I assume that's a side quest for later.

Also there's a mysterious "girl in yellow" that seems to be peeping on Dr. Sheep at Aryas Farms.... I can't find her anywhere.

Last but not least, I *hate* Chocobo Eaters / Earth Eaters, whatever you wanna call them. They take forever to kill and nearly always wipe out my Hi Potion inventory...

 

[Splintered]

Last but not least, I *hate* Chocobo Eaters / Earth Eaters, whatever you wanna call them. They take forever to kill and nearly always wipe out my Hi Potion inventory...

These guys are major assholes. If you can't perfect guard their attacks, this is where the "invulnerable to physical damage* thing comes in. Set up your debuff schemata with what I explained above (quite guardian+75% reduced reduced physical damage (-100% strength)+15 reduced physical damage to get perfect guard against physical damage.

The only thing you have to worry about is Chocobo's eater enraged "Lets cook them," then you must block whatever he sends out to you.

The other thing you can do is that there are accessories with brave stealer, which lets you steal bravery and faith with heavy slash from the earth eater when he gets the buffs. When they go enraged, block and steal them, it helps reduce damage a lot.

Also noticed that once a large group of monsters is extinguished eventually they get "replaced" by the "Bugs" (with the couple thousand population) or the "Anubys" guys (which I hear never go extinct, but are rather weak and don't give you much). Also really weird, I've run in to random Chaos Infusions with NO MONSTERS and just random Chaos Seeds spread along the ground, so I just grab those and sell em.

Yeah, if there are no more monster around, the chaos infusions still happen but nothing tobe there. The bugs (meketons i think?) and Anubys always pop up after a certain time.

I'm guessing all these quests will eventually reset, but I hope key items (like the Roadworks keys) stay in your inventory so you still have access to places.

I don't think roadwork keys are kept. Non key items do stay, so if you have those weird lizard tails etc, they'll carry over.

 

[Blade]

Day 13, One Day remains.

By some miracle I got through to the 13th Day and got the "Beyond Thirteen" trophy (so I guess it's Day 14, I don't get Hope's "math" on the "Lost Hours" bit though, since that so-called Lost-Time went further back than just 13 days).

I think because of all the Side Quests piling up, along with the Canvass of Prayers things in Dead Dunes I picked up along the way (that's usually how it goes for me, I vacuum up a bunch of items I have no idea what they're for, then just dump them on the right people I come across... if that's how this game is going to boost my stats for me, I can't complain).

Right now I'm "stuck" on the last day.

--I'm too weak to take on the Ultimate Lair, so I'm not gonna bother this time around.

--I did everything short of get a few key Canvass missions that involve Chocobo Eaters, Protoflorians, "Bunker Beasts" (I forget what they call them now), Desert Sahagin (I swear they should've just called these guys Sea Hags since that was they're English name back in the day), and a few other monsters (Lizard Tail / Sylkis Greens included). I'm not touching the special boss missions anymore.

--I learned that clearing the Clavis mission means Fang leaves my party, so from now on (at least until I get stronger) I'm going to ignore those missions if I can help it so she can help me for as long as possible.

--I couldn't find the components/required items for a few quests (like Death Game, which I still have yet to do even though I already made monsters in it extinct.

--Discovered a few monsters I wouldn't have fought regularly if I hadn't tried to take the Dead Dunes route to Yusnaan, guess that place is tough (and full of Chaos Infusions by the look of it).

--Even though "extincting" monsters in the Ultimate Lair seems like a faster way of clearing that one particular side quest, I think it's more profitable for me to just farm abilities from each weaker monster (for Synthesis) and get each consecutive drop from the Last Ones (since they improve with each cycle you collect in it seems).

Here's a couple things I don't get:

Where exactly do you see your Magic and Physical resistance stats? I don't see them in the default Schemata menu.

Also, not sure how Counterspell works, it seems to auto-evade, but how effective is it?

Last but not least, is there a Synthesis/Auto-Ability Farming Guide anywhere? I just want to know how the process works and how best to boost my abilities and which Auto-Abilities/Auto-Stat boosts are most effective.

Also heard Buster Sword does more damage than Ultima Weapon when fully upgraded, so I'm thinking of getting that DLC later... I might also get Excalibur too (what's the best upgradeable Shield and Katana in the game/DLC-wise???)

Right now my fave garbs are thus:

Dark Knight (I'm using Heavy Slash with that one "Bravery Steal" accessory and a Charge Attack, so no blocking heh).
Paladin (I love this outfit just wish it didn't have a locked ability).
Quiet Guardian (for obvious reasons)

And I still can't decide on which Magic Based / Saboteur Based garbs are best... right now I'm just using Witching Hour with Witches' Rosary.

I'm still not sure what abilities work best for my style (I don't use Saboteur garbs much), since generally I tend to eat a lot of damage so Magic-Attacks don't help me much, so I'm trying Magic-chucking and Light Slash/Heavy Slash based combos with Chaos' Revenge "Quick Stagger".

But yeah, right now I'm fighting random monsters, hoping I don't run in to a Last One and die and "killing time" until the final events play out.

I'm not sure what all you can do on the "Final Day" in Easy Mode actually. I heard Chaos Infusions are the best chances to get certain abilities/items to drop. Though I guarantee you I won't be doing Hard Mode until I'm absolutely sure I can do it.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Nice work for somebody who planned to just piddlefart around their first playthrough.

 

[Blade]

I'm just that darned good. HOWEVER:

The "Lost Hours" / "14th Day" theory Hope comes up with is wrong because:

a 14th day would consist of 24 "13th Hours"....

Which means there were 24 days with a 13th hour.... but the subtracted 13 hour phenomenon has been going back for 1,000 years since the Day of Ragnarok in 0 AF.***

Let's do the Math!

According to Hope the 14th Day was caused because in the original "Final 13 Days" there were only 24 hours per day, so that's:

13 x 24 = 312 Hours total.

Now let's assume that one were to calculate the "13th Hour" Phenomenon in to the final 13 days...

13 x 26 = 338 Hours total.

Subtracting the "difference" we get an additional 26 hours (the Last 14th "Day" according to Hope's Math).

338 - 312 = 26 (This coincides with Hope's theory... )

But, Hope miscalculated.

If one were truly to harness the TRUE POWER of the "Lost Hours", you'd have to go back to its point of origin, the Fall of Cocoon (0 AF).

Since this is the year 1000 AF (+13 Days), you'd have to calculate for that.

Now, exactly how many days do we have here?

Depending on if we use the 24 or 26 hour system...

Assuming the "precise amount of days since 0 AF" was:

1000 x 365 + 13 = 365,013 Days total.

Based on that total, we determine...

365,013 days x 24 = 8,760,312 hours (based on the 24 hour system)

BUT! What if that "13th Hour" really existed:

365,013 days x 26 = 9,490,338 hours (based on the 26 hour system)

Subtracting the difference we have:

730,026 "13th Hours" that were LOST!!!

Based on that calculation we have (depending on 24 or 26 hour systems):

730,026 / 26 = 28,078 Days

or

730,026 / 24 = 30,418 Days!!

So "technically" we had a backup of 78 to 83 YEARS worth of 13th Hours to save the world (if Lightning was using her Eradia properly). Heh.

***Technically Etro's Gate Bursts Open to create Nova Chrysalia in 500 AF.

So for 500 years, the world has begun to break down, though technically it lost it's "13th hours" back in 0 AF, it still functions before 500 AF without those "13th Hours", so the total is still 730,026 lost 13th Hours that were built up and should've been given to Lightning as a reprieve.

 

[Blade]

Day 2 of New Game Plus... a really LONG day.

In case you're wondering what happened... I couldn't beat Bhunivelze.

It wasn't so much that he "beat me" as I couldn't stagger his final form. Wow. I actually managed to spam Army of One on his first 3 forms without batting an eye on my first run... but I ran out of EP during his final form so it's like trying to cut down a giant tree with a butter knife.

I didn't want to spend 15+ hours on that boss fight, so I decided to take the fall, retreat and use the Crystal of Atonement and start fresh.

Unfortunately I can't upgrade my weapons until I beat him... and I guess you can fight him on the "Final Day" and try again (not to be confused with Day 14, which I guess means he will power up to his NG Plus form, unless there are rules about that?).

Now that I am taking item grabbing and saving souls more seriously I have skipped through a lot more cutscenes and actually managed to do a ton of stuff on my 2nd Day.

I'm actually on the verge of saving 2 "large souls" Sazh and Noel, but I'm opting to wait a few days before fighting Noel this time in order to get his Paradox weapon.

Does Caius even have a Caius+ or Caius++ form? (I wish he did because that last fight I did against him in the Ark replay mode was hardly satisfying).

Hunting monsters to extinction is a lot easier on the first day, so I've learned (since they're weaker initially), but it sure takes a long time to get some of them. Though it's especially annoying when you have 1 weak monster continuously bothering you (hence why I prefer to kill them in groups in the Wildlands). For monsters like Protoflorian or Reaver, I usually just use Overclock (use up most of the meter), then trigger Army of One/Arsenal of One. I swear Army of One this time around is better than Cloud's Omnislash....

Also I hate it when Dr. Sheep's "escaped sheep" do that Moonwalk thing that takes them forever to turn around (it's especially annoying if I'm trying to avoid burning the clock).

Other than that, I'm trying not to burn my Turbo Ethers, and I'm slowly running out of Gil, due to me using Beggars Beads, but to be honest I wish I knew some set ups that optimize drops.

Dark Knight is pretty awesome against common enemies though, I currently have Level 3 Heavy Slash and Charged Strike equipped on him along with Warrior Hunter's Mask+ (yay for Plus items).

 

[Blade]

Oh, I forgot to ask...

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the "older" Outerworld Challenge Rewards if you missed them?

 

[Keveh Kins]

Finally bought this, just waiting for it to be delivered now. I'm mega-excited. LIGHTNING! It's been so feckin' long since I've played her last story

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Nah, there is new novellas now, "Tracers of Memories"

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Nah, there is new novellas now, "Tracers of Memories"

 

[Splintered]

Does Caius even have a Caius+ or Caius++ form? (I wish he did because that last fight I did against him in the Ark replay mode was hardly satisfying).

No, Caius is the only one that doesn't change depending on the days.

It wasn't so much that he "beat me" as I couldn't stagger his final form. Wow. I actually managed to spam Army of One on his first 3 forms without batting an eye on my first run... but I ran out of EP during his final form so it's like trying to cut down a giant tree with a butter knife.

Yeah, the big thing for me was that I had to save at least 4 EP for the final stage, but I had a ton of ethers and I blew through all of them that fight. I don't use army of one at all because it saves on the overclocks.

Oh, I forgot to ask...

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the "older" Outerworld Challenge Rewards if you missed them?

I don't think so, but the internet on my xbox is fucked so I haven't been able to do any of the challenges.

Nah, there is new novellas now, "Tracers of Memories"

It's a sequel right? Finally going get my stupid Snow and Serah wedding that the game's been promising me since the first friggin game.

 

[Kuja9001]

They're trying to get me to buy this game by announcing novels. Why must the side material be more interesting than the actual in-game stuff? I visualized how everything in Snow's story went down complete with Troy Baker's voice.

Fragments After is my fav from XIII-2 and Episode 0 is my fav from XIII.

 

[Blade]

Reasons I use Army of One:

1. It's cooler than Omnislash/Lionheart (really, it is).

2. It actually Regens Lightning's HP back(!!!)

What I usually do is use Overclock till I'm "just about empty" on the bar, then activate Army of One to maximize the damage (Heavy Slash/Artemis Arrows + Overclock is great).

Only downside is when you have Ghostly Hood or the other "Hood" equipped which nerfs the damage of the overall combo.

 

[Splintered]

I'm a big fan of the original army of one in the first game, although it had limited uses. It just looked awesome.

They're trying to get me to buy this game by announcing novels. Why must the side material be more interesting than the actual in-game stuff? I visualized how everything in Snow's story went down complete with Troy Baker's voice.

Fragments After is my fav from XIII-2 and Episode 0 is my fav from XIII.

Now that I think about it, I've only read the novels in snippets, which is weird considering how much time I spent in the fandom. But I do like the novels, they aren't really well written, but it's especially nice to read how a lot of this stuff came down in XIII-2.

Like, figuring out who the Archylte Stepp warriors were, how Serah reacted to Lightning leaving and the weird occurrences, and reading all the different perspective of Yeul really helped humanize her.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Nah, there is new novellas now, "Tracers of Memories"

LightningxHope still has a chance!