What weapons do you use?

[Loony BoB]

I'm trying to figure out which are best so I can bother to upgrade the right ones.

I know they sound obvious, but there is no official explanation I can find anywhere on the web: What exactly do Stagger Lock and Stagger Maintenance do? Which is preferrable? Or is a mix even better?

[Cloud_Omnislash124]

for lightning i use the blazefire saber which i got max lvl by 9 hours XD. hope hawkeye for awesome magic. and i cant decide my final char yet, either fang or snow i think

[Shlup]

I... don't even remember. I just picked some. I know Vanille has the healer's staff or whatever.

[Raistlin]

I... don't even remember. I just picked some.

Yeah. I've gotten more weapons since but was all "screw you I already started upgrading these."

[Jings]

The whole being able to upgrade weapons and accessories thing is something I'm really not enjoying about this game. I've invested so many components into one of my weapons that I really can't just start over with a new one. And I really want to!

So yeah, Light is stuck with the Gladius. Vanille has that healer's staff and I don't even know about anybody else.

[Crowseye]

Stagger Maintenance increases stagger time by 10% with I and 30% with II.

Stagger Lock prevents a character from causing a stagger. I imagine that a weapon with Stagger Lock would provide some sort of other benefits to compensate.

It kinda seems like they tried to match up weapons with particular roles. For example, since a lot being successful fighting revolves around getting staggers as fast and frequently as possible, a Ravager-oriented character might benefit more from haste/ATB replenishing so he/she can drive up the stagger bar even faster.

Since Commando's don't need to hit as often to perform their role of slowing down the leak in the stagger bar, they might prefer a weapon with more damage per hit.

Synergist or Saboteur would want to make buffs/debuffs last longer.

Of course, if you are switching Paradigm roles frequently, your primary Saboteur or Medic or whatever might still spend more time in another role. /shrug

Don't take my word for all that though lol, these are just my thoughts based on my current understanding of the combat system.

[VeloZer0]

I know they sound obvious, but there is no official explanation I can find anywhere on the web: What exactly do Stagger Lock and Stagger Maintenance do?
I'll throw another one out there, how much does stuff like improved curing do?

[Crowseye]

I'll throw another one out there, how much does stuff like improved curing do?

Official guide says 10% bonus for Improved Curing I and 20% for IC II.

I do not know how that would compare with, say, a given boost in Magic Power.

The first two versions of Vanille's healing staff also have a synthesis with the Iron and Mythril Bangles that apparently boosts her magic power when her HP bar is over 90% full.

[Siegurd]

I still use Vanille's healing staff in the post-game content, since I use her as a healer primarily and the synthesis group bonus + improved cure are invaluable for me.

There is no singular best weapon in this game. Contrary to previous FF's there is no Masamune, there is no excalibur, etc. Each weapon and it's according third transformation / "ultimate form" has entirely different advantages and disadvantages and it comes down to how you use the character the most and how you build your teams. For example the Lionheart is an awesome weapon for the way I use Lightning (quick stagger causing, faster damage vs. higher damage), but isn't an ideal weapon for someone who'd use Lightning as more of a Commando where the Hauteclaire/Onyxsomething-or-other would be more ideal.

Stagger lock (that character can't trigger a stagger (However their summon can)) weapons are cool on Commando's - but severely hamper ravagers. There is no singular 'correct' answer here, it is entirely based on how you play the characters and how you build them and their primary roles in the team. So leveling one weapon up isn't exactly a waste - you can always use that weapon again later if you say, decide to use Light as a ravager instead of a commando primarily.

Generally speaking the weapon that the character starts with is the most balanced - it has equivalent Magic/Str values and no extra bonuses or negatives. Other weapons will have almost all Str and no magic and vice versa or lower stats overall and powerful secondary abilities or balance higher stats with negative side-effects.

An appropriately built character will almost always be stronger in one specific role than it's others even amongst it's three primary skill sets. I found it best to prioritize certain roles and then level the others up as a consequence of needing more stat boost and what secondaries you use the most.

I just maxed out the Blazefire saber (never transformed it into it's second stage) for Lightning until I got the Lionheart, which was more role specific and was the ideal weapon for how I use Light.