Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Apr 25, 2024
*cracks knuckles*
Well then. Never a boring day in Ivalice, huh?
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #11 (Normal) - Beyond the Wasteland[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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So last time on FFTA we unlocked the merchantile town of the Moogles. Let's walk on over there, shall we?
[Current OST: Teach Me, Montblanc]
: "Nono! Long time no kupo! You look well!"
Oh right, Montblanc has siblings. Five of them, actually. We only see two of his brothers in the Tactics series while the rest are in Final Fantasy XII... released 3 years after this game.
: "I don't feel well. Not at all, kupo. I'm so lonesome I could cry, kupo!"
: "What happened?"
: "Kupopo? Who's that with you, Montblanc?"
I'm surprised you didn't notice at first considering Marche's signature cowlick.
: "Kupokupo! Where are my manners? This is my new friend Marche!"
: "Pleased to meet you!"
Let's just omit the fact that he's trying to break the world apart, mmkay?
: "The pleasure is mine, kupo!"
: "So what happened?"
: "Well, see..."
: "It was a hit-and-run, kupo!"
: "A hit-and-run?"
: "Nono is an apprentice gadgeteer... and he just finished building the airship of his dreams."
Ouch. Poor little guy.
: "Someone ran into you and took off? Gee... that stinks!"
Pretty sure "that stinks" is a huge understatement for the kind of thing Nono experienced.
: "It does more than stink, kupo! Oh, the months I slaved on that ship... kupooooooh!"
: "Do you know who did it?"
: "I know where they are, kupo! Jagd Dorsa! They're in Jagd Dorsa, kupo!"
: "Well, then there's no problem. All we have to do is go --"
Marche, I know your bravery is implacable but please stop to think about what a place called "Jagd Dorsa" might imply. It has a scary name for a reason.
"... This reminds me, I haven't told you about Jagds yet."
: "No, you haven't. What's a jagd?"
: "A place where judges can't go! A lawless zone!"
: "So there's no penalty for breaking the law? That sounds great!"
... I can't help but agree with him. Especially since Marche gets imprisoned for stupid shit all the time off screen and I lose an hour's worth of progress every time.
: "If it were that great, all the clans would go, kupo."
: "They don't?"
: "Nope. In fact, they avoid them like the plague!"
: "Huh? Why?"
Dude: A lawless ghetto where the judges can't reach? Yeah sure, that totally sounds like a place we should go. It sounds like a good idea.
: "It's true that there are no laws in the jagds... But lawlessness comes at a steep price, kupo!"
: "What's that?"
: "... I don't get it."
... I swear Marche is too goddamn dense for his own good. He basically spelled it out for you and you still don't get it? This is our main character, folks.
: "Ever wonder why nobody dies when they engage? It's because laws and the judges are there to stop death!"
Granted, I'm not sure how they can stop death considering all of the whacked-out shit we can do to each other during a fight... but alright.
: "So without the judges... you can die?"
: "That's right, kupo. That's why it's best to stay away."
: "But what about Nono's airship? We can't just let whoever did this get away scot-free!"
: "I thought you'd say something like that, kupo. Look, I'll go to the jagd if you'll go, Marche. Just, we have to be reeeeally careful. Okay, kupo?"
I love Montblanc, okay? He's far more wise than Marche and he's willing to put his life on the line to satisfy his brother and his friend at the same time. Whatta hero.
: "So you'll go to Jagd Dorsa for me? Really, kupo?"
Montblanc is like "sorry you had to get dragged into this" but given our track record, it's not like we have much to worry about.
Anyway, this is where we'll put Jagd Dorsa. Like Montblanc said, the laws don't apply to these places and there's nothing to stop death unlike normal engagements. If you win a fight but lose a unit, they'll die for good. They're serious fuckin' business.
It's appropriate that Jagd is the German word for "hunt", then.
I managed to get to Ulei just before it got snagged by another clan. I would have missed out on a delicious 80 AP if I didn't.
It went as well as you thought it did. You know, when I first played FFTA, I didn't really like the "area rescue" missions that kept popping up now and then. Now though? They're invaluable for getting some extra AP and clearing off those nasty "defeat a certain amount of enemies" dispatch missions that Ihate love so much.
Oh boy, here we go.
[Current OST: Beyond the Wasteland]
Well, here's what a Jagd looks like for you. I remember going to this part of the game without really trying to build my guys up due to a lack of understanding of how the job system worked, so we had low-tier paladins going up against a ninja, assassin and these other classes I didn't know about.
Now though, they're child's play.
"If you want to live, you'll turn around and go home. Now!"
: "Sorry, no can do. Not after what you did to my friend!"
Marche, you should be glad that your clan and your inexplicable physical prowess allows you to stand tall in a place like this with no real worries. Like seriously.
"This place gives me the creeps."
Montblanc did go into extreme detail as to why this place is horrible and how nobody should ever go to it if they value their lives. It's just that Marche is a "learn by experience" kind of person, you know.
OH GOD
If this isn't a hell of a first impression then I don't know what is. Thankfully she misses, but jesus.
The Ninja has dual katanas, a fancy pair of armlets and a piece of armor we don't have. You know what we're coming back here for.
Meanwhile, the Blue Mage has a primarily support-based moveset that makes him a pain to deal with. Immunity is a support skill that makes them resist some status ailments, but that's about it.
Sonia turns the Assassin that tried to kill Marche into a garden gnome for her troubles.
Oh yeah, there were some monsters too but they got sneezed out of existence pretty quickly.
I can't state how much I love being able to use Sonic Boom with melee weapons. It's even different from Far Fist in that it uses your equipped weapon strength to deal damage, making it one of the deadliest ranged abilities if you have a Double Sword combo of the two best Knightswords in the game...
The Blue Mage tried to use Night. It worked with mild success, but I'm kind of disappointed I didn't bring a Blue Mage of my own to learn it.
Only four EXP for killing a man. Since this is a Jagd, we can say we actually killed them.
... I don't think it'll ever sink into Marche's head that his opponents aren't free from death either.
Spoiler: This is far from the last time he'll have to come here.
Also, how are we bringing in the people we just beat up if this is a lawless zone?
Oh hey, we get the mace that teaches Bio. Not going to lie, I'm not sure how much of these awards are randomized, but I'll take it all the same.
For clearing Dorsa, we get Kudik Peaks. It's supposed to be the site of some endangered tigers and Ivalice has a bit of a poaching problem...
Our reward for placing Kudik here is the Tiara, a female-only accessory that... well, looks pretty. It gives some staggering magic defense, but not much else.
"And you caught the bad guys too! Kupo kupo kupo!"
: "I got a reward for turning those guys in... Here, Nono, I want you to use it to repair your airship."
Awww
When Marche isn't being stupid, he's admirable.
: "Kupo! I can't take away your reward, kupo!"
: "No, it's okay. The clan already got its cut. Go ahead."
(Good thing he had the foresight to do this)
: "Take it, kupo. It's going to cost a lot to fix her up..."
: "Kupo... I know! Actually... In order to fix her, I'd have to borrow money... So I was thinking of making her into a merchant ship!"
Smart idea. This way we won't have to constantly bill him money if it keeps getting busted.
: "Kupo...?! A merchant ship?"
: "Is your ship even big enough?"
How does Marche know? We haven't really had any dealings in airship-related missions, so I don't know where he's getting this info from.
"I could supply small merchants, though. Kupo!"
: "Kupo! That sounds like a pretty good idea!"
Neat. So basically...
The deal with Nono's merchant shop stuff is that you have to link between other copies of FFTA to keep getting items.
Keep in mind you'd have to do a lot of linking to get any good items, but let's just see what we have.
... These are all not very good, especially since the only non-buyable item are the Feather Boots.
"Metal" items, on the other hand, are mythril weapons! Yes, this is the only way to get them aside from random skirmishes on the overworld. If I wanted to save myself the time and effort, I'd constantly use the link function to get more mythril weapons... but nah.
Once you run out of trade items, they're going to be out of stock forever until you link again. Oh well. I should mention that I just want to pinch the Moogle shopkeeper's cheeks for being so cute.
After liberating enough areas (I think), the shops update their stocks with one or two new unique items. This is a big thing because one of the new accessories they introduce are so good that we just have to get them.
The Cureall, on the other hand, will serve as a potent helper for any beast farm shenanigans.
Oh boy, who are we going to send to resolve this spat? It's not like our clan of fighters and super badasses are also master negotiators... right?
I should mention that you can bring quest items to missions even when they're not required... The Hero Gaol will serve as an important key for unlocking a certain character, but you just have to see him for yourself.
Alright, stopping a flood and setting waypoints. That doesn't sound too hard.
Meanwhile, this mission will serve as one of the most important ones yet... if we even have the items to do it. Granted, I wouldn't screencap it if we couldn't do it yet...
As a reward for ranking up some of our clan talents, we get the Colichemarde and a Ninja Gear. Again, the Colichemarde teaches Magic Power Plus to Red Mages and the Ninja Gear is a cool piece of equipment that also gives a teeny boost in speed.
It teaches Last Haste to Ninjas and Beastmasters while Fighters get the deadly-sounding Bonecrusher reaction ability.
Sonia uses her incredible... snipering skills(?) to resolve the conflict and gets herself one of the best rapiers in the entire game. The Aerial Hole (snrk i can't with the name) is one of the best rapiers in that it also gives a hefty boost to your magic power.
It's honestly one of the best weapons for Red Mages and Elementalists even if it doesn't teach anything.
... Interesting, but is this really mission worthy? I guess clans have to get their money in somehow.
Ah yes, the reserve missions. Yeah, I don't think we can ever do anything about this one and... honestly? If it doesn't count towards the 300 total then I don't really care.
When a fantasy world throws in a mail sorting error and makes a mission about it, you know this is going to be good.
As much as I'd like to explain, it's likely he won't listen to us. Let's just snag the mail and be done with it.
: "We're not trying to steal! Why won't you listen?"
The only way for us to resolve this is to kung fu fight, obviously.
... With assassination techniques, of course.
I don't quite remember what happened here, but I must have been sweating buckets if I had to screenshot the "Miss!" of all things.
: "I'm glad you take your job seriously, but..."
Well, to be fair? There's a judge right there and he saw the whole thing, so make your case to him I guess.
A mailing error wound up causing a clan to get involved and swords to fly. That... that's one hell of a morning, I suppose.Ivalice is fun, kids.
Sonia got in trouble for using a combo and had to pay with three of our antilaws. I can't really be bothered to care considering I never use those things anyway.
For that little adventure, we win another white robe... I gotta say, Turbo MP completely outclasses Magic Power Plus and you get it way earlier to boot. Sure, you waste a lot more MP but your magic-oriented characters tend to have a lot to spare.
Not only that, but when you can do over 200 damage with a Black-Robe boosted Blizzaga even to the end of the game... that sounds pretty busted to me.
Randorf returns from his waypoint adventure and gains... the sword in the stone??
But no seriously, the Excalibur is one of the most powerful normal Knightswords yet. It's a light-elemental sword that teaches... well, Holy Blade. It and the ability it teaches make it one of the most dangerous Paladin weapons in the game, seeing as Holy Blade deals double damage on anything that doesn't absorb or is immune to light.
Some logging... and a bit of mountain beast hunting! Good times.
We are forbidden to show off our brand new holy blade abilities, so you know. Damn these judges and their laws, always trying to cramp my style.
Thankfully weapons that bear an elemental affinity bypass the laws so just using Excalibur by itself won't be enough to knock Marche into the slammer.
I mean... didn't you rationalize earlier that the crystals were driving monsters insane around Ivalice? Then again, this must be a different plot thread.
Sidewinder to the rescue.
Keep in mind that's how much damage Holy Blade would be doing if we were to use it on anybody else, so yowza.
I don't give Randorf enough credit - he's basically a second Galor in terms of pure magical power. If Galor ever bites it in a jagd then we know who to turn to.
You say this after you destroy the local wildlife with your superhuman strength. This would be a lot more palatable if they didn't turn into skulls.
For winning that one we get a few instruments. The Fairy Harp does what you think it does but it also controls bugs like the Antlions... so you got me.
We also get - what, really? Damn, I guess Marche is invincible in this timeline too.
"She was hiding a katana under the roots. Don't ask me how."
I wish we could go see what actually happens in these missions. Granted seeing as they only take one person to complete, they must not be that interesting... but still, though.
Rodrigo used his Ultima Charge to blow the water away while Sonia comes back withTHE HARD EDGE I mean an antilaw for rapiers :3
This just repeats what Montblanc said in case you weren't paying attention.
So Kudik is essentially the poaching chapter of FFTA's side missions. Oh, this is going to be horrible.
The fact a poacher magically popped up because we took on this mission says volumes about Ivalice.
(Getting a bit too high and mighty there, huh Galor?)
It doesn't help that he has the skills to pay the bills.
The validity of skinning animals in Ivalice is a mystery to me, but oh well.
I guess it's a different story when you're skinning endangered beasts like the Kudik tigers are supposed to be. (Also yeah, tell him, Galor)
... Despite this, we still get the hide of the poor tiger. I guess we had to satisfy our client somehow.
Sonia turns into a Red Mage because of the Colichemarde even if her attack is higher than her magic.
What the hell happened that made Dragoons less plentiful? Anyway, that's a cute reference. Rabites are an enemy from a little game called Final Fantasy Adventure... although you might recognize them more from the Secret of Mana series.
I find it clever FFTA references the Mana series of all things even if you never fight an actual Rabite in this game.
Oh... Oh no, this is gonna be great.
To make it better, this is the plot mission! No worming out way out of this one.
: "Hmm? You know something about the wanted kid?"
Don't mess this up, dude.
: "Actually, I was hoping you could tell me about it..."
: "Hey, Boss, remember the description the palace sent out? Don't you think this guy here fits it pretty close?"
: "Hmm, now that you mention it... better get his name. Say, what's your name, kid?"
Please use at least one of your brain cells and don't answer--
: "Huh? It's Marche... why?"
God damn it.
: "What clan? Not Crimson, I hope!"
[Marche nods in response]
I swear Marche is too much of a goody two-shoes. The worst part is that due to how this works, he doesn't really face any problems or really get his mindset challenged by all of the things that come his way. I'll elaborate more when we get to the end of this.
: "Boss, it's him! The one the palace is after!"
: "What? You mean they put a bounty out on me?!"
Holy fuck you're stupid, dude.
: "Too bad for you your clan's famous, eh?"
Okay, that's cute. He even recites the special title your clan has even though this is the only time it happens in-story.
Rodrigo gets a gut shot every time, I swear. To make matters worse for our enemies, he won't be the only Moogle with this kind of power...
Here's Ague in action. It slows the opponent with ~spooky assassin ghost magic~ (
), seeing as bosses tend to be immune to instant death and petrification.
(I guess the reasoning is that bosses need to talk afterward, which they can't do if they instantly get KO'ed or sealed in stone)
Marche annihilates him with Holy Blade and we call it a day. It's a small victory, however, seeing as we have a lot more problems under our belt now...
"I have to find the rest of those crystals, and fast!"
Holy fuck you're stupid dude.
Marche has to be the densest protagonist I've ever encountered if he thinks this is the solution he really needs. Again, the worst part about this is that Marche is legitimately too strong for our enemies to provide any decent threat and he goes through the entire game without changing his ideas.
If anything, he's... trying to escape his problems? Oh, that'll be a delicious footnote to keep track of for later, boys and girls.
Wait a minute. Wasn't our employer Clan Ox? Where are our rewards coming from? Did we steal it off of them? Like what the hell.
Anyway, hoo boy. Bringing The Hero Gaol managed to unlock a semi-unique character - his best friend Lini! Granted, I'm not sure if this is the same Lini as an adorable revenant or an impostor, but I'm glad to have him thanks to his crazy stats and... well...
He comes with Ultima Charge pre-learned.
Yep. Even if you didn't get the Materia Blade, a free Ultima Charge Mog Knight is always open for you to recruit as long as you bring The Hero Gaol to missions. He's honestly too good to pass up.
Anyway, we place Jeraw Sands here. It's supposed to be the largest desert in Ivalice, but I'm not sure how we can tell through the tiny area we battle in.
We fit Lini with some starting equipment so he can not only Ultima Charge in style but participate in combos. Combos also don't take up 60 MP, making them far more abusable in certain situations.
To think this isn't even half of Marche's real power as a Paladin. I sure may not like his character, but he's a damn fine unit.
Anyway, next time on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, we deal with bootleg clocks! I wish I were kidding. See you then, I guess.
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Missions completed: 102 out of 300 (+10)
Freed Areas: 12 (+2)
(Marche, level 17,
,
) - "... I legitimately can't understand why they put a bounty out on me."
(Montblanc, level 15,
,
) - "Marche? Are you alright, kupo...?"
(Ardin, level 15,
,
) - "Wait, so they put a bounty out on our leader and he's not even concerned as to why?!"
(Nobel, level 19,
,
) - "He's... an interesting cassse, that one."
(Galor, level 18,
,
) - "I'm more interested in this Lini fellow that just joined our group, to be frank..."
(Randorf, level 17,
,
) - "What, no mention of those creepy jagd places? Miss Sonia, didn't you tell us about those a while ago?"
(Sonia, level 16,
,
) - "... Yeah. My sister and I used to live in one before we drifted apart. We weren't exactly in good straits, you know..."
(Rodrigo, level 18,
,
) - "Oh wow! The legendary Lini, kupo! I thought you were dead!"
(Lini, level 20,
,
) - "Honestly, so did I. But here I am... I guess. So you know Ultima Charge too, kupo? Wow, kupo, I can already tell we're going to be good friends..."
Well then. Never a boring day in Ivalice, huh?
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #11 (Normal) - Beyond the Wasteland[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
So last time on FFTA we unlocked the merchantile town of the Moogles. Let's walk on over there, shall we?
[Current OST: Teach Me, Montblanc]
Oh right, Montblanc has siblings. Five of them, actually. We only see two of his brothers in the Tactics series while the rest are in Final Fantasy XII... released 3 years after this game.
I'm surprised you didn't notice at first considering Marche's signature cowlick.
Let's just omit the fact that he's trying to break the world apart, mmkay?
Ouch. Poor little guy.
Pretty sure "that stinks" is a huge understatement for the kind of thing Nono experienced.
Marche, I know your bravery is implacable but please stop to think about what a place called "Jagd Dorsa" might imply. It has a scary name for a reason.
"... This reminds me, I haven't told you about Jagds yet."
... I can't help but agree with him. Especially since Marche gets imprisoned for stupid shit all the time off screen and I lose an hour's worth of progress every time.
Dude: A lawless ghetto where the judges can't reach? Yeah sure, that totally sounds like a place we should go. It sounds like a good idea.
... I swear Marche is too goddamn dense for his own good. He basically spelled it out for you and you still don't get it? This is our main character, folks.
Granted, I'm not sure how they can stop death considering all of the whacked-out shit we can do to each other during a fight... but alright.
I love Montblanc, okay? He's far more wise than Marche and he's willing to put his life on the line to satisfy his brother and his friend at the same time. Whatta hero.
Montblanc is like "sorry you had to get dragged into this" but given our track record, it's not like we have much to worry about.
Anyway, this is where we'll put Jagd Dorsa. Like Montblanc said, the laws don't apply to these places and there's nothing to stop death unlike normal engagements. If you win a fight but lose a unit, they'll die for good. They're serious fuckin' business.
It's appropriate that Jagd is the German word for "hunt", then.
I managed to get to Ulei just before it got snagged by another clan. I would have missed out on a delicious 80 AP if I didn't.
It went as well as you thought it did. You know, when I first played FFTA, I didn't really like the "area rescue" missions that kept popping up now and then. Now though? They're invaluable for getting some extra AP and clearing off those nasty "defeat a certain amount of enemies" dispatch missions that I
Oh boy, here we go.
[Current OST: Beyond the Wasteland]
Well, here's what a Jagd looks like for you. I remember going to this part of the game without really trying to build my guys up due to a lack of understanding of how the job system worked, so we had low-tier paladins going up against a ninja, assassin and these other classes I didn't know about.
Now though, they're child's play.
"If you want to live, you'll turn around and go home. Now!"
Marche, you should be glad that your clan and your inexplicable physical prowess allows you to stand tall in a place like this with no real worries. Like seriously.
"This place gives me the creeps."
Montblanc did go into extreme detail as to why this place is horrible and how nobody should ever go to it if they value their lives. It's just that Marche is a "learn by experience" kind of person, you know.
OH GOD
If this isn't a hell of a first impression then I don't know what is. Thankfully she misses, but jesus.
The Ninja has dual katanas, a fancy pair of armlets and a piece of armor we don't have. You know what we're coming back here for.
Meanwhile, the Blue Mage has a primarily support-based moveset that makes him a pain to deal with. Immunity is a support skill that makes them resist some status ailments, but that's about it.
Sonia turns the Assassin that tried to kill Marche into a garden gnome for her troubles.
Oh yeah, there were some monsters too but they got sneezed out of existence pretty quickly.
I can't state how much I love being able to use Sonic Boom with melee weapons. It's even different from Far Fist in that it uses your equipped weapon strength to deal damage, making it one of the deadliest ranged abilities if you have a Double Sword combo of the two best Knightswords in the game...
The Blue Mage tried to use Night. It worked with mild success, but I'm kind of disappointed I didn't bring a Blue Mage of my own to learn it.
Only four EXP for killing a man. Since this is a Jagd, we can say we actually killed them.
... I don't think it'll ever sink into Marche's head that his opponents aren't free from death either.
Spoiler: This is far from the last time he'll have to come here.
Also, how are we bringing in the people we just beat up if this is a lawless zone?
Oh hey, we get the mace that teaches Bio. Not going to lie, I'm not sure how much of these awards are randomized, but I'll take it all the same.
For clearing Dorsa, we get Kudik Peaks. It's supposed to be the site of some endangered tigers and Ivalice has a bit of a poaching problem...
Our reward for placing Kudik here is the Tiara, a female-only accessory that... well, looks pretty. It gives some staggering magic defense, but not much else.
"And you caught the bad guys too! Kupo kupo kupo!"
Awww
When Marche isn't being stupid, he's admirable.
(Good thing he had the foresight to do this)
Smart idea. This way we won't have to constantly bill him money if it keeps getting busted.
How does Marche know? We haven't really had any dealings in airship-related missions, so I don't know where he's getting this info from.
"I could supply small merchants, though. Kupo!"
Neat. So basically...
The deal with Nono's merchant shop stuff is that you have to link between other copies of FFTA to keep getting items.
Keep in mind you'd have to do a lot of linking to get any good items, but let's just see what we have.
... These are all not very good, especially since the only non-buyable item are the Feather Boots.
"Metal" items, on the other hand, are mythril weapons! Yes, this is the only way to get them aside from random skirmishes on the overworld. If I wanted to save myself the time and effort, I'd constantly use the link function to get more mythril weapons... but nah.
Once you run out of trade items, they're going to be out of stock forever until you link again. Oh well. I should mention that I just want to pinch the Moogle shopkeeper's cheeks for being so cute.
After liberating enough areas (I think), the shops update their stocks with one or two new unique items. This is a big thing because one of the new accessories they introduce are so good that we just have to get them.
The Cureall, on the other hand, will serve as a potent helper for any beast farm shenanigans.
Oh boy, who are we going to send to resolve this spat? It's not like our clan of fighters and super badasses are also master negotiators... right?
I should mention that you can bring quest items to missions even when they're not required... The Hero Gaol will serve as an important key for unlocking a certain character, but you just have to see him for yourself.
Alright, stopping a flood and setting waypoints. That doesn't sound too hard.
Meanwhile, this mission will serve as one of the most important ones yet... if we even have the items to do it. Granted, I wouldn't screencap it if we couldn't do it yet...
As a reward for ranking up some of our clan talents, we get the Colichemarde and a Ninja Gear. Again, the Colichemarde teaches Magic Power Plus to Red Mages and the Ninja Gear is a cool piece of equipment that also gives a teeny boost in speed.
It teaches Last Haste to Ninjas and Beastmasters while Fighters get the deadly-sounding Bonecrusher reaction ability.
Sonia uses her incredible... snipering skills(?) to resolve the conflict and gets herself one of the best rapiers in the entire game. The Aerial Hole (snrk i can't with the name) is one of the best rapiers in that it also gives a hefty boost to your magic power.
It's honestly one of the best weapons for Red Mages and Elementalists even if it doesn't teach anything.
... Interesting, but is this really mission worthy? I guess clans have to get their money in somehow.
Ah yes, the reserve missions. Yeah, I don't think we can ever do anything about this one and... honestly? If it doesn't count towards the 300 total then I don't really care.
When a fantasy world throws in a mail sorting error and makes a mission about it, you know this is going to be good.
As much as I'd like to explain, it's likely he won't listen to us. Let's just snag the mail and be done with it.
The only way for us to resolve this is to kung fu fight, obviously.
... With assassination techniques, of course.
I don't quite remember what happened here, but I must have been sweating buckets if I had to screenshot the "Miss!" of all things.
Well, to be fair? There's a judge right there and he saw the whole thing, so make your case to him I guess.
A mailing error wound up causing a clan to get involved and swords to fly. That... that's one hell of a morning, I suppose.
Sonia got in trouble for using a combo and had to pay with three of our antilaws. I can't really be bothered to care considering I never use those things anyway.
For that little adventure, we win another white robe... I gotta say, Turbo MP completely outclasses Magic Power Plus and you get it way earlier to boot. Sure, you waste a lot more MP but your magic-oriented characters tend to have a lot to spare.
Not only that, but when you can do over 200 damage with a Black-Robe boosted Blizzaga even to the end of the game... that sounds pretty busted to me.
Randorf returns from his waypoint adventure and gains... the sword in the stone??
But no seriously, the Excalibur is one of the most powerful normal Knightswords yet. It's a light-elemental sword that teaches... well, Holy Blade. It and the ability it teaches make it one of the most dangerous Paladin weapons in the game, seeing as Holy Blade deals double damage on anything that doesn't absorb or is immune to light.
Some logging... and a bit of mountain beast hunting! Good times.
We are forbidden to show off our brand new holy blade abilities, so you know. Damn these judges and their laws, always trying to cramp my style.
Thankfully weapons that bear an elemental affinity bypass the laws so just using Excalibur by itself won't be enough to knock Marche into the slammer.
I mean... didn't you rationalize earlier that the crystals were driving monsters insane around Ivalice? Then again, this must be a different plot thread.
Sidewinder to the rescue.
Keep in mind that's how much damage Holy Blade would be doing if we were to use it on anybody else, so yowza.
I don't give Randorf enough credit - he's basically a second Galor in terms of pure magical power. If Galor ever bites it in a jagd then we know who to turn to.
You say this after you destroy the local wildlife with your superhuman strength. This would be a lot more palatable if they didn't turn into skulls.
For winning that one we get a few instruments. The Fairy Harp does what you think it does but it also controls bugs like the Antlions... so you got me.
We also get - what, really? Damn, I guess Marche is invincible in this timeline too.
"She was hiding a katana under the roots. Don't ask me how."
I wish we could go see what actually happens in these missions. Granted seeing as they only take one person to complete, they must not be that interesting... but still, though.
Rodrigo used his Ultima Charge to blow the water away while Sonia comes back with
This just repeats what Montblanc said in case you weren't paying attention.
So Kudik is essentially the poaching chapter of FFTA's side missions. Oh, this is going to be horrible.
The fact a poacher magically popped up because we took on this mission says volumes about Ivalice.
(Getting a bit too high and mighty there, huh Galor?)
It doesn't help that he has the skills to pay the bills.
The validity of skinning animals in Ivalice is a mystery to me, but oh well.
I guess it's a different story when you're skinning endangered beasts like the Kudik tigers are supposed to be. (Also yeah, tell him, Galor)
... Despite this, we still get the hide of the poor tiger. I guess we had to satisfy our client somehow.
Sonia turns into a Red Mage because of the Colichemarde even if her attack is higher than her magic.
What the hell happened that made Dragoons less plentiful? Anyway, that's a cute reference. Rabites are an enemy from a little game called Final Fantasy Adventure... although you might recognize them more from the Secret of Mana series.
I find it clever FFTA references the Mana series of all things even if you never fight an actual Rabite in this game.
Oh... Oh no, this is gonna be great.
To make it better, this is the plot mission! No worming out way out of this one.
Don't mess this up, dude.
Please use at least one of your brain cells and don't answer--
God damn it.
[Marche nods in response]
I swear Marche is too much of a goody two-shoes. The worst part is that due to how this works, he doesn't really face any problems or really get his mindset challenged by all of the things that come his way. I'll elaborate more when we get to the end of this.
Holy fuck you're stupid, dude.
Okay, that's cute. He even recites the special title your clan has even though this is the only time it happens in-story.
Rodrigo gets a gut shot every time, I swear. To make matters worse for our enemies, he won't be the only Moogle with this kind of power...
Here's Ague in action. It slows the opponent with ~spooky assassin ghost magic~ (
(I guess the reasoning is that bosses need to talk afterward, which they can't do if they instantly get KO'ed or sealed in stone)
Marche annihilates him with Holy Blade and we call it a day. It's a small victory, however, seeing as we have a lot more problems under our belt now...
"I have to find the rest of those crystals, and fast!"
Holy fuck you're stupid dude.
Marche has to be the densest protagonist I've ever encountered if he thinks this is the solution he really needs. Again, the worst part about this is that Marche is legitimately too strong for our enemies to provide any decent threat and he goes through the entire game without changing his ideas.
If anything, he's... trying to escape his problems? Oh, that'll be a delicious footnote to keep track of for later, boys and girls.
Wait a minute. Wasn't our employer Clan Ox? Where are our rewards coming from? Did we steal it off of them? Like what the hell.
Anyway, hoo boy. Bringing The Hero Gaol managed to unlock a semi-unique character - his best friend Lini! Granted, I'm not sure if this is the same Lini as an adorable revenant or an impostor, but I'm glad to have him thanks to his crazy stats and... well...
He comes with Ultima Charge pre-learned.
Yep. Even if you didn't get the Materia Blade, a free Ultima Charge Mog Knight is always open for you to recruit as long as you bring The Hero Gaol to missions. He's honestly too good to pass up.
Anyway, we place Jeraw Sands here. It's supposed to be the largest desert in Ivalice, but I'm not sure how we can tell through the tiny area we battle in.
We fit Lini with some starting equipment so he can not only Ultima Charge in style but participate in combos. Combos also don't take up 60 MP, making them far more abusable in certain situations.
To think this isn't even half of Marche's real power as a Paladin. I sure may not like his character, but he's a damn fine unit.
Anyway, next time on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, we deal with bootleg clocks! I wish I were kidding. See you then, I guess.
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Missions completed: 102 out of 300 (+10)
Freed Areas: 12 (+2)