Which weapons to upgrade!

[BerenTebogo]

For damage mitigating accessories: does anyone know the procrate on fully upgraded 20-sided die? Seems like it'd be cool if it's a decent #

[Maguspk]

For damage mitigating accessories: does anyone know the procrate on fully upgraded 20-sided die? Seems like it'd be cool if it's a decent #

Also curious how upgrading the 20-sided die works. Also what does it transform into?

[Wakabo]

I had just taken Venus Gospel up to * and I still have no idea of what stagger lock is The +200 STR I got from upgrading it from scratch was nice though.

[Spira]

choosing which weapon to upgrade to ultimate is a really tough choice for some characters..

it really depends on how you play them too but its still a tough choice somehow.

I main Light / Hope / Fang
and have decided to go
Fang - Taming Pole since she is usually in COM
Hope - Hawkeye since he's mainly a caster
Lightning - Axis Blade for speed as a Chain builder.

Not sure how to take Snow Vanille and Sazh tho.
thinking of making Snow ultimate tank with either Paladin or Umbra but not sure which is better defensively.
Vanille, completely undecided. Pearlwing is best for magic dmg, but then Healing is good for cures and Belladonna for Death, as well as other enfeebs..
Sazh... don't even know how to specialize him

[miokomioko]

thinking of making Snow ultimate tank with either Paladin or Umbra but not sure which is better defensively.

Paladin is best for physical-dmg tanking, improves Mediguard/Steelguard and it falls into the item synthesis family for "High HP: Power Surge" for pairing with Iron and Mythril Bangles only and takes only 2 items to get the full effect.

Umbra is the best for magic-dmg tanking, improves Fringeward/Deathward and it falls into the item synthesis family for "Magic Wall: 5~30" for pairing with things like Gold/Diamond Bangles, any Mark, and shit like that... A lot more options for synthesis, but it's a scaling effect, requiring 4 accessories to make "Magical Wall: 30"

I'd go Paladin for supartank, leaving you with like 3 Accessories to play with after slapping on a Mythril Bangle for "High HP: Power Surge" since his massive HP is easily always 91%+

[BerenTebogo]

For Sazh, my main SYN and sometimes RAV, would I want ATB recharge rate +15% or Random: insta-chain? I figured instachain only works if you're attacking the enemy, which a lot of times he isn't and ATB+15% would really help for getting everyone buffed faster (I have him with first strike + auto haste to help speed it up already)

[Kiarax]

I'd definitely go ATB+15%. Insta-chain doesn't trigger half as much as it should to be better in this case imo.

[Wakabo]

I'd definitely go ATB+15%. Insta-chain doesn't trigger half as much as it should to be better in this case imo.

I change from my Ultima* to whatever is the name for stage 2 Axisblade and *'d that. noticing a lot more spam of attacks/cures and of course AoO. But AoO seems a lil gimp to me, must be doing something wrong, because I can't tell if it does more or less for me damage wise.

I use it when mobs almost lost their stagger so Fang can keep beating the crap out of the mob at 999% mostly.

[Kiarax]

AoO is not for damage, it's for building chain, also great for keeping an enemy hitstunned. More hits give more chance for stuff like Instant-Chain to go off too I believe.

[Effluo]

I saw some talk of combinations of weapon and accessories that gives bonus effects? Where's a good place to look that stuff up? Any recommendations?

I had been looking for this the other day and stumbled across: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genme...topic=53976012.

Sounds like this is taken directly from the strategy guide (whodda thunk it was actually useful for something).

[miokomioko]

I'm actually very glad I bought the guide for when I get to grinding out some achievements, though I only bought it because the collector's edition is so nice/clean/simple looking.

[Celeras]

Started upgrading my first weapon, Belladonna Wand. Within the first 2 ranks the bonus jumped like crazy eventually ending up at x3. Then from rank 2->13, it stayed at x3.

This normal? I was under the impression it would be jumping around the entire way. Is it only the first rank that determines the bonus, and is x3 any good? Kinda just threw random shit on there.

[miokomioko]

Rank and EXP Bonus are entirely independent of eachother. You will naturally get a few levels on your first weapon before the EXP Bonus even reaches x3 as organic components do give a little bit of EXP in the process of boosting your multiplier. This EXP Bonus you've built up will deteriorate when you start feeding it mechanical components as the balance is that mechanical shit gives an assload more EXP (which is subject to your current EXP Bonus multiplier). Organic components give shitty EXP but increase the EXP Bonus.

Your general plan of attack is going to be:

1) load up on organic parts in chunks until EXP Bonus reaches about x2. (i.e. bunch of random Chipped Fangs, Begrimed Claws, etc.)
2) keep feeding it organic parts, in smaller amounts until EXP Bonus hits x3 so you don't waste any as it won't go any higher than x3.
3) dump on as many mechanical components of one single type as you can (i.e. 18 Turbojets or something)
4) repeat.

Even if Turbojets' deterioration of your EXP Bonus will probably kill it, dropping it back to x1, the x3 bonus will apply to all of the 12 you fed it because you did it all at once, AKA lots of EXP. Thus, stockpile a bunch of one type of large-EXP-value mechanical components, and stockpile some easy-to-obtain organic crap to build that multiplier back up for your next large pile of mechanical crap to feed it.

[Atreides]

out of curiosty what did everyone upgrade for Sazh? I was thinking Spica Defenders cuz they have the second best stats (besides Rigels which have Stagger Lock) as well as Augment Maintenance for his SYN, but I'm really not sure since there are a bunch of decent bonuses on his other weapons.

edit: also the guide is well worth the money, there are a few things it doesn't detail but unlike previous FF guides (which have all been BradyGames, this is Piggyback) there are virtually no errors and it has really clear and detailed information, especially in regards to drop rates and upgrading.

[miokomioko]

I started early but focused on Deneb Duelers... though I kinda' wish I went Vega 42s. because I like him as Commando for his Ravager is too... Fire-aligned.

[TheDirtyHobo]

Started upgrading my first weapon, Belladonna Wand. Within the first 2 ranks the bonus jumped like crazy eventually ending up at x3. Then from rank 2->13, it stayed at x3.

This normal? I was under the impression it would be jumping around the entire way. Is it only the first rank that determines the bonus, and is x3 any good? Kinda just threw random shit on there.

Basically anything that's not worth very much exp (most drops from organic enemies) will increase the chain bonus to a max of x3. Anything that's worth a lot of exp will decrease the chain bonus (most drops from robotic enemies). Just spam a few dozen weak items (Sturdy Bone works great, 36 of them goes from x1 straight to x3) and then drop a shitton of your highest EXP items (Superconductors are good for stage 1 weapons) to max it out to star.

[Mayareira]

Upgrading Gladius currently. Already lv. 45 Helter-Slater so...too late for regrets

[Atreides]

why would you get to level 45 and stop? It's cheaper and easier to keep track if you save up to upgrade all at once, unless you don't have access to the R&D store yet.

Also Gladius is kinda a bad choice

[Kenshiin]

I'm still torn between leveling hope's Hawkeye or the Vidofnir. I'm right before the last boss so I haven't gotten into all the endgame farming yet. Right now, since some of the harder battles always takes a little bit longer, it seems best to upgrade Vidofnir for the extended buff boosts. However, if the mobs you fight after the story die in no time then it seems worthless. Are there a fair amount of long battles after the story, or should I just go for the magic on Hawkeye?

[miokomioko]

I think 95% of people playing this made the mistake of starting upgrading Gladius. It was just so appealing at the time.