Spoiler: show
"This is it. A lot of dreams died to get us here, and we can't let it be for nothing." - Lightning
After sleeping for five centuries in crystal stasis, the god Bhunivelze sought Lightning out to be the savior, tasking her with guiding the souls of humanity to the new world that will replace Nova Chrysalia. Bhunivelze is the creator god of Pulse, Lindzei and Etro, each having been revered by the different populations of Gran Pulse and Cocoon.
Bhunivelze separated Serah's soul from Lightning and created an illusion of her sister to keep Lightning acquiescent. Serah's soul was saved from fading into the Chaos when the part of Lightning she had suppressed when she first took on her codename was made manifest by the Chaos, creating a girl called Lumina, who acts as a body protecting Serah's soul.
Though she resents the deity for using Serah as a bargaining chip, Lightning's regret over her death convinced her to aid Bhunivelze so she can save her sister's soul. Bhunivelze removed much of Lightning's emotion so she can perform her task more efficiently. While Hope helps her from within his Ark, Lightning rescues souls and gathers Eradia to restore the tree Yggdrasil to delay the Apocalypse.
Event Start Date: October 11
Event Bonus Battle: October 14
Event End Date: October 21
All information is taken from a mixture of Reddit/Spreadsheets and my own obviously expert analysis.
Much info for the event comes from this thread and its related links: https://old.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKee...t4&sh=08b46f8e
Though the information provided is used as a guideline and not always taken directly from the thread. When necessary, additional thoughts on Cid Missions and battle strategies are added.
Notable Rewards:
Ripping Bolt - 5* Celerity: 3-5 ST lightning physical damage. Hits scale with # of actions taken.
(Power/Lightning/Wind)
Aurora Ring - 5* Accessory: Moderate lightning and water resist.
New Characters Acquired:
Fang needs no shame.
Dress Spheres Acquired:
Fang Returns: Final Fantasy XIII would have been a much better game.
Old Characters Acquired:
Lightning
Snow
Vanille
Serah
Noel
New Memory Crystals:
They told hope he could become anything. So he became a god.
Old Memory Crystals:
Lightning MC1/2
Snow MC1/2
Vanille MC1/2
Serah MC1/2
Noel MC1/2
New Record Materia:
None:
New Record Dive
Nothing New. Kind of hard to come up with memes for a Lightning focused event.
New Legend Materia:
Spoiler: show
Acolyte Archives
- Beat 'Lightning on the Wind 凶++' with a party consisting of FF IV synergy characters.
- Beat 'Herald of Truth 滅++' with a party consisting of FF IV synergy characters.
Balance Changes
Icicle Rush was supposed to be Snow's bone toss here. Too bad we got it a few days ago. Sucker.
Relics
Kind of a downer. This is similar to the Rinoa ascension event for Lightning, but sadly doesn't have the same level of accompanying gear that Quistis or Laguna does.
Though overall, between this and the next XIII event you're not doing yourself favors by waiting - both banners are of average quality.
Good news here is that Snow is slowly crawling out of conflicting skillsets with his slot saver USB, Noel gets some decent new toys, and Lightning gains a Brave mode for magicite.
Not a bad place for some uncommon +lightning or +ice gear as well, including 2 +lightning swords.
Future Event Banner Comparison:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKee...e3&sh=939bcea9
Kind of a much better overall set of banners than this event. But, two standouts in Vanille (IC Curaga + Regenga) and Raines (Dark ability double) new items were held off until the 4th anniversary (JP Banner 1 and 2) a few weeks later.
JP B1 there was also Tidus's godmode and Celes ice chain.
If you're pulling for Lightning specifically, most of her items will return on B2 of the next event without Vanille's lackluster USB2 and one extra 6* for the format shift.
Serah's ice chain also returns next event on B1, with some good ice magic with Serah and a competent Fang for wind damage.
Element Boosts:
Spoiler: show
Ultra EX/Chase Type Glossary:
Spoiler: show
Banner 1:
Lightning Brave USB works a little different than her USB EX mode with 10x ST lightning/non hits on entry, en-lightning, medium Spellblade and Celerity school boost, and Brave mode triggered by lightning element abilities.
It is worth noting that when Ripping Bolt is fully charged, it outperforms her old EX mode by a good enough amount. The issue is getting there.
Snow becomes the slot saver here, packing a party Atk/Def buff along with a 50% Crit Fix, Shellga, and Hastega.
Noel gets some solid physical ice ability now too, with an entry of 10x ST ranged damage, en-ice, and EX Mode 'Farseer's Guardian' that boosts Atk by 30% and chases ice abilities with Javelin Frost - 5x ST ice/non ranged physical damage.
Noel also gets a new BSB (coming up on Bartz territory here with BSB3). Instant 8x random ranged ice/non entry and Full Breakdown. C1 and C2 are both 1x damage hits, and carry Power or Magic Breakdown respectively.
Vanille's new BSB is an improvement over her old one - trading the instant entry for an instant C1 Curaga like most other healers out there. Entry is a functional party M.Blink and Curaga entry.C1 carries High Regen, while C2 is a standard Medica.
Returning Items:
Vanille: USB2
Snow: BSB
Lightning: BSB2
Banner 2:
Actually a halfway decent dark/ice banner truth be told. Nabaat is the expert dark imperil user, Raines BSB still holds up in utility, Serah is a quickcast cycle ice mage, and Sazh's USB has a really nice buff suite.
Returning Highlights:
Raines: USB
Nabaat: USB
Serah: USB, BSB
Sazh: USB
Legend Materias:
- B1 - Lightning: Begin battle with en-lightning.
- B1 - Snow: Begin battle with Haste and Instant Cast x1.
- B1 - Lightning: Small chance to w-cast lightning element abilities.
- B1 - Vanille: Small chance to increase amount healed when using White Magic healing abilities.
- B2 - Nabaat: Small chance to w-cast dark element abilities.
- B2 - Serah: Small chance to w-cast ice element abilities.
- B2 - Noel: Small chance to w-cast ice element abilities.
- B2 - Sazh: Begin battle with Haste and Instant Cast x1.
Relic Discussion
https://www.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKee...xc&sh=b6a770db