Let me AXE you a question

[farplaner]

Who can, or is willing to, advocate variable damage weapons like axes & hammers, hand bombs, etc.

I just don't like the idea of "hit or miss" damage. The only reason I can see for using them is for inflicting status.

So what other arguments are there pro or con?

The same thing goes for a lot of the technicks:

is anyone "consuming all MP to change the HP of an ally to 10 times that amount?"

or "consuming all HP to revive a fallen ally?"

or "casting a random black magic on a foe?"

[Setharion]

Yea i know whatcha mean about axes and what not...Bashe is like my axe and hammer man, yet Vaan is doing a consistant damaged around 1700-2500 depending on the critter if not more sometimes.

Baschs axe is damage 71, yet i dont know...i dont mind hitting lower occasionally if his clobbering hit was alot more devastating. I think the idea is to toss a haste on em and just let em rip, but as i said his high blow isnt too devastating with that axe.

[Zeromus_X]

Basch with Haste, Berserk, and a good axe is pretty crazy. Of course, I realized how much more reliable swords were near the end of the game, but I still love doing crazy random damage. :love:

[Bunny]

I had Ashe with a hammer for awhile. But I got rid of it in place of the typical sword because I like the 2,500 constant damage much more than the chance of 4,000 damage.

[LunarWeaver]

I didn't bother with axes n' such for the random reason either. I did use Shades of Black on flying enemies for a while, though. But most of the the techniks, including the others you listed, I just ignored entirely.

[Setharion]

I do find that im bummed the way this game is setup in regards to magic and other things like techniques.

Im lvl 40+ and in all my battles ive yet to use one black magic spell in fighting.

I may end up using aeroaga here for the antlion, but so far its been all melee and ranged attacks... :mad:

[farplaner]

Magicks can be useful with strong mag. power, and if you've got three or four enemies packed together.

What I don't like is:

the fact that water gets no upgrade...it's (decently) powerful when you first get it, but it quickly loses its effectiveness.

Also, there is no earth-type magic, and most of the earth elem. weapons are NOT ranged...so they are no good against all of the flying monsters that are weak to earth.

There just seems to be a lot of issues that were ignored (or at least put on the permanent back burner) with this game... and I know I'm prone to complaint, but I do like the game. I'm just very particular.

I mean, someone (can't remember who) on the bonus disc mentions how much more there was to the game that didn't make the final cut due to various constraints...time being a major one, for example.

It seems to me that despite a long delay, the game was still consdirably far from what many who worked on it would call a "final product."

[Setharion]

Oh im sure magic can be powerful, its just what i meant was the games been easy for the most part in terms of not needing magic really.

What i mean is that everything ive done now, up to about 16 marks so far and just everything else has been done with melee and bows or what not.

I just cant see how to set up a true mage in this game, any ideas?

Its one of the many reasons why i dont like the total freedom to create clones, because i like a set path for classes.
I

[Dell]

Axe damage depends on Vitality, good vitality means good chance for higher damage. I still use Axe because my Basch/Balthier always deal good damage :love: and Scorpion Tail is in top 5 best attack power. Handbombs works the same as Axe but Handbombs act as long-ranged version of Axe.

Most Technicks are useless, the only one I use is Steal, Libra, Poach, Charge and Telekinesis.

FFX have no wind or earth magic. Some of the previous only have Fire, Ice and Lightning. This game is already generous by inputting Water and Wind magic and this game rarely have a missable Esper/Item/Rare Game/Mark etc.

Magic is very useful when you're fighting some strong boss/optional boss/mark because some of them make themselves immune to physical attack. VERY VERY USEFUL especially when Shock killed Zodiark and Behemoth King for me.

[Necronopticous]

The only time I ever put up with the inconsistent damage output of axe type weapons was when I got Franciscas to drop from the Cerberus enemies around the Feywood when I was farming them early in my first ventures to Mt. Bur Omisace. The only reason I used them then was because they were capable of doing much, much more damage than any other weapon I had access to at the time, and the overall damage output was significantly higher than what I was using prior to getting them.

[farplaner]

Oh im sure magic can be powerful, its just what i meant was the games been easy for the most part in terms of not needing magic really.

What i mean is that everything ive done now, up to about 16 marks so far and just everything else has been done with melee and bows or what not.

I just cant see how to set up a true mage in this game, any ideas?

Its one of the many reasons why i dont like the total freedom to create clones, because i like a set path for classes.
I

I gotcha. The only suggestion I can think of is "underleveling." (heh, heh) Since there are "magick weapons" whose damage depends on "magick power" there's rarely need of a true mage-type character except for healing purposes.

And I agree about cloning. In the first part of the game there is a decent amount of individualized paths, but eventually all of the paths intersect, and it becomes impossible to keep from over-duplicating.

Not to mention that the license board seems somewhat small. When I first started progressing over the board, I thought, "I hope there is some secret section of this board that I haven't revealed yet." With the golden amulets, it's very easy to complete most of the board before obtaining a whole lot of the items, abilities, etc.

Even with the sphere grid, you had to progress quite a ways before you started developing clones.

[Setharion]

Yea i liked the sphere grid...i just liked that it did keep everyone with their own identity.

In one of the threads further down i delve into the cloning aspect of this game if you havent seen it, but its just i dont like the freedom...i like tradition rpg lore that a caster isnt going to be able to equip heavy armor nor weild a great axe, and a tank isnt going to cast high end magic etc.

In this game its too easy to give everyone everything, it just kills any kind of lore thats been built around RPGs.

As i said before in that other thread, i wouldnt mind if you had the choice to have 6 tanks if you wanted or 6 casters etc...but once you picked a path you were restricted too it and had to stay within options of that path. If you wanted vaan and bashe fighters, they could be 2H fighters, sword and shield fighters, thiefs perhaps etc...tons of options but their class would be identifiable. And same goes with casters and what not.

It just makes for a more realistic setting in my book having the characters fulfilling their own roles better than anyone else can.

[Dell]

Oh im sure magic can be powerful, its just what i meant was the games been easy for the most part in terms of not needing magic really.

What i mean is that everything ive done now, up to about 16 marks so far and just everything else has been done with melee and bows or what not.

I just cant see how to set up a true mage in this game, any ideas?

Its one of the many reasons why i dont like the total freedom to create clones, because i like a set path for classes.
I

I gotcha. The only suggestion I can think of is "underleveling." (heh, heh) Since there are "magick weapons" whose damage depends on "magick power" there's rarely need of a true mage-type character except for healing purposes.

And I agree about cloning. In the first part of the game there is a decent amount of individualized paths, but eventually all of the paths intersect, and it becomes impossible to keep from over-duplicating.

Not to mention that the license board seems somewhat small. When I first started progressing over the board, I thought, "I hope there is some secret section of this board that I haven't revealed yet." With the golden amulets, it's very easy to complete most of the board before obtaining a whole lot of the items, abilities, etc.

Even with the sphere grid, you had to progress quite a ways before you started developing clones.

My question is have you completed the License Board?


Yea i liked the sphere grid...i just liked that it did keep everyone with their own identity.

In one of the threads further down i delve into the cloning aspect of this game if you havent seen it, but its just i dont like the freedom...i like tradition rpg lore that a caster isnt going to be able to equip heavy armor nor weild a great axe, and a tank isnt going to cast high end magic etc.

In this game its too easy to give everyone everything, it just kills any kind of lore thats been built around RPGs.

As i said before in that other thread, i wouldnt mind if you had the choice to have 6 tanks if you wanted or 6 casters etc...but once you picked a path you were restricted too it and had to stay within options of that path. If you wanted vaan and bashe fighters, they could be 2H fighters, sword and shield fighters, thiefs perhaps etc...tons of options but their class would be identifiable. And same goes with casters and what not.

It just makes for a more realistic setting in my book having the characters fulfilling their own roles better than anyone else can.

The easiest way is to not equip them with the weapon they are not supposed to wear and to not use the magic they are not supposed to use. OK?

[Setharion]

The easiest way is to not equip them with the weapon they are not supposed to wear and to not use the magic they are not supposed to use. OK?

Its the principle of it all.[!] / message [/!][!] sig [/!]

[Mirage]

I disagree. I don't think there's a "not supposed to use" in FFXII.

[Renmiri]

I only use axes and have been doing very well. Their hits have been around 1,000 to 2,000 HP since my guys were level 30 or more. I have had no need for other weapon with 2 exceptions:

- I used a bow when I didn't have drain or other good spell against fliers or fast fiends.
- My kids love to see Vaan jumping on top of his sword when my party pwns a boss, so he has a sword for most boss fights.

[Crossblades]

I don't mind the random damage on an Axe. Basch is my main Axe warrior and 70% of the time he does as much damage as Vaan with a Great Sword

[Roto13]

I used Shades of Black before I got the Ga magic. I use axes when they're the strongest weapons available.

[chionos]

I tend to stick to more consistent damage, but there were a few times that my Basch used an axe.

The techniques were next to useless. I found charge very helpful, and steal of course. But the technique debuffs like Achilles were next to useless. The only mobs that they would have possibly been worth casting against were immune to them. But I'm used to that kind of thing in FF. Spells that are not efficient enough to use on regular mobs because regular mobs don't last long enough to bother, and are useless against bosses because the bosses are immune. It's annoying. The only FF that makes good use of all its spells in everyday use is FFXI, but it's an entirely different game, so it doesn't count. I do wish they'd think about the spells a bit more before they implement them. It's great to have a nice diversity of elements at your disposal, but if they're too weak to be worthwhile or you get them too late, it's just frustrating.

[Setharion]

I tend to stick to more consistent damage, but there were a few times that my Basch used an axe.

The techniques were next to useless. I found charge very helpful, and steal of course. But the technique debuffs like Achilles were next to useless. The only mobs that they would have possibly been worth casting against were immune to them. But I'm used to that kind of thing in FF. Spells that are not efficient enough to use on regular mobs because regular mobs don't last long enough to bother, and are useless against bosses because the bosses are immune. It's annoying. The only FF that makes good use of all its spells in everyday use is FFXI, but it's an entirely different game, so it doesn't count. I do wish they'd think about the spells a bit more before they implement them. It's great to have a nice diversity of elements at your disposal, but if they're too weak to be worthwhile or you get them too late, it's just frustrating.

Yea, that kind of thing has plagued the series since day 1. Ive just gotten used too it and realized those kind of spells are going to be worthless no matter what.

Because like you said, the only worthwhile enemies that they do affect are worthless enemies at that, so it just leaves a person with nothin.

[Slothy]

I don't mind axes at all and always use them if they're the strongest weapon available. My Vaan does slightly more damage than his non-axe equipped friends most of the time, and often does more. It's fairly rare overall that his damage is really far into the low numbers, and the higher damage shots more than make up for it. Not only that, but he still combos about as regularly as he ever did with any other weapon besides a katana.

[LunarWeaver]

the fact that water gets no upgrade...it's (decently) powerful when you first get it, but it quickly loses its effectiveness.

Also, there is no earth-type magic, and most of the earth elem. weapons are NOT ranged...so they are no good against all of the flying monsters that are weak to earth.

I did always kinda wonder why some enemies use Waterga and the earth spell Tremor, but they didn't give it to the player. If the spell effect is already done and in the game, how hard could it have been :Oo:

[Renmiri]

I tend to stick to more consistent damage, but there were a few times that my Basch used an axe.

The techniques were next to useless. I found charge very helpful, and steal of course.

They are very handy at lower levels, when you have just a few spells and very low HP. Horology saved my party countless times at Lhusu mines. Now 1,000 needles, Addle and Shear are what is killing those pesky skeletons at Nabreus deadlands.

I leave my MP for healing and use the techniques for ranged damage (Horology, Numerology,... )

First Aid is very handy too.


I did always kinda wonder why some enemies use Waterga and the earth spell Tremor, but they didn't give it to the player. If the spell effect is already done and in the game, how hard could it have been :Oo:
Don't you wish FFXII had "Blue Bullet" like X2 ? This way we could copy an enemy's attack :D:D:D

[farplaner]

I keep hearing about a "berserked, axe-wielding Basch"...guess I might have to try it out.


My question is have you completed the License Board?

On my first play-through, I got none of the ultimate weapons, I missed a couple of the last magicks, never got telekinesis or ribbon, but other wise, yes, I pretty much completed the license board. Why do you ask?

I wore golden armlets for a lot of the time, though. And since I realized that golden armlets work for characters that aren't currently in your party, whenever I equip my party with something else I throw the golden armlet on a reserve character.

I'm on my second playthrough, and I'm on my way to Giruvegan...doing some hunts beforehand.

Which reminds me, I went to fight Vyraal (lv. 5 hunt) at an average level of maybe 43, and every hit took half my HP with protect on. What's up with this lv. 5 hunt being so much stronger than others? I didn't feel like coming back later, so I ended up chaining mist attacks for what seemed like forever. When all was said and done- after running through every character's mist charges and using 2 hi-ethers, for a total of what must have been 50 or so attacks- the bastard finally died!

In addition- I found that the dragons and avions in the Cerobi Steppe are both vulnerable to sleep and death, which makes them much more manageable at lower levels... (especially the dragons)

[chrisguapo69]

The advantage of an Axe is that you can hold a sheild while maximizing full power of the weapon. I have Basch weilding an axe and a sheild and a gauntlet for an accessory. Foes with high killing power more than usually are blocked thus my player will not go down so easily as a plain sword weilding one.

I found this very useful when I first fought Pylraster. His 2000-4000hp hits were being blocked a lot by Brasch while Vaan kept dying.

That's why when fighting high HP foes I always have Brasch in their with Vaan who is the swordsman.

[Roto13]

Don't you wish FFXII had "Blue Bullet" like X2 ? This way we could copy an enemy's attack :D:D:D

We super-hardcore Final Fantasy veterans call it "Blue Magic" :P

[DarkHeat787]

I love my Handaxe. Ashe is using it right now, and I just beat the crap out of Cluckatrice with it (along with Penelo @ Chopper and Basch @ Ancient Sword... ^_^), so yeah.

I don't really mind using a weapon whose damage fluctuates. For now, I gather LP by going to the Estersand and beating the snot out of Wolves while getting chains of 100+. Even when she hits a 2 with it (compared to her max of around 450), Basch and Penelo finish the job nicely.

=P

In short, axes and hammers for the win.

[farplaner]

So I've been using axes and hand bombs, and I totally agree with those of you who like to use them (especially axes and hammers).

The bombs are coming in handy also. I'm using the Tumulus, which is less powerful than my strongest axe/hammer, but the bombs inflict stop so it's pretty helpful. I've also got oil bombs and some bombs that inflict sap (I think).

Anyway, thanks for your input everyone.

[The Unknown Guru]

Axes and hammers are CRAZY if the user has decent attack speed. Haste/Bravery/Berserk Basch with an axe/hammer kills everything in sight.

[DarkHeat787]

In fact, I'm kicking the crap out of Judge Bergan right now with:

Basch @ Iron Hammer
Ashe @ some axe... :P
Penelo @ Hornito (hand-bomb)

Yay fluctuating damage! =P

Though I still prefer Penelo with the Bowgun.