Stage 8 Mission Extravaganza, Vol. II

I experimented with trying to find a more consistent No Summon Adamantoise strategy, eschewing speed for consistency, for the sake of having something worth farming with. The good news is I can survive Roar, but with my current setup it's possible to not kill it in one fall. Here's what I have:

Fang: 5695 HP, 910 Str, 1559 Mag
Kain's Lance (Shamanic Spear) *
Gaian Ring *
General's Belt *
Genji Glove Lv. 1

Lightning: 5185 HP, 1034 Str, 1544 Mag
Omega Weapon (Edged Carbine) *
Gaian Ring *
General's Belt *
Genji Glove Lv. 1

Snow: 6740 HP, 934 Str, 802 Mag
Solaris *
Gaian Ring *
General's Belt *
Collector Catalog Lv. 1

Paradigms: (Fang / Lightning / Snow)
Protection: Syn / Med / Sen
Safe Subversion: Sab / Sab / Med
Tri-disaster: Rav / Rav / Rav
Perpetual Magic: Rav / Med / Med (probably should be changed)
Tortoise: Sen / Sen / Sen
Devastation: Com / Com / Sab

Start in Protection and cast Faithra on Fang, then Haste-Protectra-Faithra on Fang, Lightning, then Snow. Snow's Solaris (and Lightning's healing) allows you to survive stomps without needing Tortoise. When all buffs are on, switch to Safe Subversion. Use Auto-hinder to help with debuffing. Keep an eye on both legs; whenever one has Deshell and Imperil, switch to Tri-disaster. (You could switch to Tortoise to absorb blows, but it's not that big of a deal.)

Now spam Thunderx6 or Thundarax3 on the Deshelled/Imperiled leg until it's dead. I had Perpetual Magic for the sake of having something for burst healing, but it's rather inefficient even with ATB refresh. You could use Tortoise to absorb blows; with all the defenses I have, it was doing less than 1000 per hit, so you should be able to survive through killing the one leg. Unless something goes horribly wrong (e.g., it took too long for Lightning to get Imperil up), you shouldn't see Quake or Roar yet.

Once the leg's dead, kill time in Protection until it uses Quake or Roar. If you see Quake, you could stay in the paradigm and finish refreshing buffs if you want to; Quake doesn't hurt that much with Improved Ward II. If you see Roar, switch to Tortoise; it will do about 3000 damage this way. Switch back to Protection and throw Foul Liquids on everyone; you should have plenty of time to get it off (and for Lightning to do some healing) before the next stomp (Snow should still have the 'toise provoked so damage should be reduced).

Then repeat the above pattern to take down the second leg. When the 'toise falls, switch to Protection to refresh Faithra on Fang and Lightning, then switch to Safe Subversion. Cast Slowx6, then Cursex6; if you're lucky, both will stick, and we want Snow to focus on Daze immediately. By this time, Lightning should have gotten Deshell and Imperil to stick, so switch to Tri-disaster to stagger, then Devastation for the win (be sure to line up your Ruins against Daze).

I didn't experiment with something other than Perpetual Magic but maybe replacing it with Sab / Sab / Rav or Sab / Sab / Sab could help with time after the fall. A second Devastation could also be nice for ATB refreshes but I don't think that's a big issue.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

Of course, already having maxed t3* weapons kinda makes this feel like you already have to go out of your way to have this equipment, but meh.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

Actually the only really troublesome stomp is the first one since it comes before Snow has it provoked and Protectra, but I suppose Tortoise can handle that one. I totally forgot about the fourth Gaian Ring *, too. >_<

Actually I might be sort of an idiot. The original idea I had for having all that damage resistance was to do everything I like to do without having to go to Tortoise every 8 seconds. But if we just decide the constant paradigm switching is an inevitability, I can put Magic boosters back on. The only real worry all along was surviving Roar and it's doable with the above setup. I need to learn to remember what I'm trying to do.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

tiornys posted...

destrian522 posted...

Is Adamanchelid farming really worthwhile for Scarletite in Chapter 11? It seems bad compared to Sazh Summon Mission 63 (or other turtle combinations if they are better). We'll have to figure out exactly what our expected gil/hour is for Adamantoises for comparison if you haven't done so already.

It's certainly worthwhile if you want Scarletites before 'toise farming is feasible. We'll need a reasonable estimate on TP farming times before we can estimate the gil/hour on the 'toise methods to see if it's still worthwhile later on.

t~

I need to test this with stage 8 summons, but I had a pretty good summon method against 'toises (the same method might work against 'tortoises) using Fang. It's probably not the fastest, but it was consistent and didn't require any upgrades as far as I recall.

I was able to regain the TP needed to re-summon in three battles, one against a team of Goblins and two against a team of Gorgonopsids, thanks to Energy Sashes. Since you probably should only be regaining TP if the 'toise dropped an item, it seems like it would be faster to farm 'toises.

In fairness, I was at maxed stage 8 stats (plus the stage 9 summons) and might've been using Genji Gloves. I also don't recall my strategy off the top of my head, but I was definitely using my favorite team Fang/Lightning/Snow.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

The game has been beaten with stage 8 primary roles, no upgrades, no shrouds! Coupled with what I had done with missions months ago, the only thing left out of my challenge is Long Gui with stage 8 (all) roles, no upgrades, no shrouds.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

I did Stage 8/No Upgrades/No Shrouds Shaolong Gui back in September:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5nztmykGWo

I'm 99% sure with an Elixir I could do Long Gui; not so sure otherwise. Certainly I'll need my stats jacked up as high as they can be. Vanille will probably be forced as leader if I want the most Poison damage during Gestalt, but the only -ra buff she has is Protectra which is useless, so I'll need to rely on Fang's Syn AI to cast Bravera/Faithra pretty quickly which kinda stinks. I'm scared too by a video (Arthellinus's, actually) that said 1400 is the minimum Magic for Vanille to kill the Long Gui by Death without Faithra... then again, if I give her a Nirvana (Pearlwing Staff) * plus three Magistral Crest *s, she'll be at 2611 Magic (unless that breaks the damage limit in which case it will be 2311 plus a Genji Glove...).

re: re: Adamantoise, after doing things repeatedly I had probably a 30-second venture into the menu after a 'toise kill to give Energy Sashes to two characters (I only had two) and change two paradigms (I remember for Fang/Lightning/Snow I changed to Syn/Sab/Com and Com/Sab/Com).

In order to give a reliable stage 8 summon strategy, I'd need to take my pre-Bart 2 save (now that I have one... again >_> and level everyone up to at least the abilities they need, grab the Genji Gloves from appropriate missions, and see if I can replicate the strategy I used... that will take a while, though. Instead I can assume a stage 8 strategy would work and can start timing to see how long it takes to kill the 'toise, how long it takes to change the accessories/paradigms, how long it takes to kill those three enemy groups, and then how long it takes to change the accessories/paradigms back.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

Good news: I have an Adamantoise summon strategy that works without upgrades, shrouds, or having to change paradigms/equipment for TP farming! I also have a much better no-summon strategy that allows for surviving Roar whilst still being effective post-fall. Here are my current strategies, along with average times (based on four trials):

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Adamantoise (summon method):

Fang: 5695 HP, 1133 Str, 641 Mag
Taming Pole Lv. 1
Warrior's Wristband Lv. 1
Energy Sash Lv. 1
Genji Glove Lv. 1

Lightning: 5185 HP, 1049 Str, 834 Mag
Gladius Lv. 1
Warrior's Wristband Lv. 1
Warrior's Wristband Lv. 1
Collector Catalog Lv. 1

Snow: 6740 HP, 777 Str, 540 Mag
Unsetting Sun Lv. 1
Survivalist Catalog Lv. 1
Hunter's Friend Lv. 1
Energy Sash Lv. 1
(Gestalt/TP Boost)

Paradigms: (Fang / Lightning / Snow)
Devastation (1): Com / Sab / Com
* Bully (1): Syn / Sab / Com *
Infiltration: Sab / Sab / Sab
Devastation (2): Com / Com / Sab
Devastation (2): Com / Com / Sab
Bully (2): Syn / Com / Sab

(Devastation (1) is used for TP farming, NOT for the Adamantoise battle.)

Bully (1): Summon. Faithra Fang -> Haste-Bravera Fang.

Infiltration: Deprotectx5; it should stick fairly quickly.

Devastation (2): Auto-battle. Switch between Devastation (2)s for ATB refreshes. When Bahamut uses Arise, switch to Bully (2).

Bully (2): Haste Snow -> Haste-Bravera Lightning -> Haste-Bravera Fang. (The Repeat command should make this go very quickly.)

Devastation (2): Use Auto-battle in conjunction with Snow's Dazes. Keep switching between Devastation (2)s to help line up Lightning's Attacks with Daze. He should die just before the stagger ends.

Average time: 3:32.

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TP farming (in conjunction with Adamantoise (summon method))

If using the Adamantoise closest to Mah'habara, there is a Goblin group slightly east of him, along with two groups of Gorgonopsids north of them (between two Adamanchelids).

For the Goblins: Haste-Faithra Fang, Haste-Faithra Snow, then switch to Devastation (1). Either use Auto-battle or spam Ruinga to win.

For the Gorgonopsids: Haste-Bravera Fang, then switch to Devastation (1). Auto-battle to win. (You may get 4 stars, but these guys are easy to respawn anyway.)

Usually you will have 3 TP after the third battle (sometimes by the second if you started with more than 3 TP against the Adamantoise).

Average time: 2:53 (assuming you are doing this right after the Adamantoise in front of Mah'habara, running back to the save point).

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Thus, total average time with the Adamantoise summon method: 6:25.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

Adamantoise (no summon method):

Fang: 5695 HP, 910 Str, 1859 Mag
Kain's Lance (Shamanic Spear) *
Magistral Crest *
Gaian Ring *
Genji Glove Lv. 1

Lightning: 5185 HP, 1034 Str, 1844 Mag
Omega Weapon (Edged Carbine) *
Magistral Crest *
Gaian Ring *
Genji Glove Lv. 1

Snow: 6740 HP, 934 Str, 1102 Mag
Solaris *
Magistral Crest *
Gaian Ring *
Collector Catalog Lv. 1

Paradigms: (Fang / Lightning / Snow)
* Evened Odds: Syn / Sab / Med *
Tortoise: Sen / Sen / Sen
Safe Subversion: Sab / Sab / Med
Tri-disaster: Rav / Rav / Rav
Protection: Syn / Med / Sen
Devastation: Com / Com / Sab

No matter what you are doing, switch to Tortoise for each stomp.

Evened Odds: Faithra Fang -> Haste-Protectra-Faithra Fang -> Haste-Protectra-Faithra Snow -> Haste-Protectra-Faithra Lightning.

Safe Subversion: Auto-hinder a leg until one of them has Deshell and Imperil.

Tri-disaster: Thundarax3 the Deshelled/Imperiled leg until dead.

Protection: Kill time refreshing Haste/Protectra/Faithra on everyone until Quake or Roar. Use Tortoise to absorb the attack.

If you see Quake: Repeat the Safe Subversion/Tri-disaster steps above.
If you see Roar: Switch to Protection. Use a Foul Liquid on Lightning first, then Fang, then Snow (depending on who has Daze). Refresh whatever buffs fell off. (If your HP is back in the green, you can go back to Evened Odds to speed up time by letting Lightning get a head-start on debuffing.)

When the Adamantoise falls:
Evened Odds: Faithra Fang -> Faithra Lightning.

Safe Subversion: Auto-hinder until Deshell and Imperil are up.

Tri-disaster: Auto-chain until stagger, then use Thundara-Watera-Thundara once.

Devastation: Auto-battle but be sure to line up your attacks against Snow's Dazes. He should die before he tries to get back up.

Average time: 5:25.

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Just to be clear, these times assume you are running from the Eastern Tors save point to the Adamantoise (and then TP farming, if needed), back to the save point. So, it would probably be slightly faster to go from turtle to turtle (I didn't have that option on my test save since most of the turtles are Long Guis now). Also, the summon method was done with stage 9 Bahamut, but I want to say his damage output is overall negligible; it's his chaining that really matters, and unless that changes from stage 8 to stage 9 I think this should be fine.

If you want, I can grind in my pre-Bart 2 save (now that I have one again) to the abilities I needed for this method so I can test with stage 8 Bahamut (plus overall lower stats), but I have a feeling you guys will have tried this out on your own by then anyhow.

I guess I should also see whether a method similar to the above works on Adamantortoise; I've been putting that off since I need to accept a mission to find one. (Not that it's hard, I just have been lazy. ^_^)
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

The No Summon strategy works for Adamantortoise, although the legs take slightly longer to kill since they are more resistant to elements than the Adamantoise legs. The Summon strategy kinda sucks. Bahamut staggers the 'tortoise during the summon stage and I don't have the time or strength to kill him post-summon before the stagger ends. I tried changing Sab/Sab/Sab to Sab/Rav/Rav to re-stagger him post-summon and go from there, but there's still about 10% of health remaining before he stands back up. Of course this can be rectified by upping Fang's and Lightning's Strength via upgraded accessories/weapons, but I'd like some form of strategy that works with the basic equipment that everyone should have.

I suppose I should've been smart in the first place and gone with the traditional Sazh Summon strategy for the 'toise since Brynhildr doesn't chain nearly as much as Bahamut does. I'll have to fiddle around with paradigms and equipment to get a nice setup for 'toise, 'tortoise, and TP farming like I had wanted.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.

That's what I was doing. It wasn't working.
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Divisibility by four? Ha! I mean, even perfect squares are divisible by four!
Currently playing: Final Fantasy XIII.