I remember that. Yeah I guess you do know my pain, I've been trying this since Saturday evening. It's very possible I spent much more than 12 hours on it. I knew I wasn't going to give up, I just didn't know what to do. I was about to cry when I got that random battle, I'm kind of glad I didn't reset.
And you are right, I'm 40 minutes ahead of the guide (now 39, I'll probably make that up soon), which means I'm actually 50 minutes ahead of getting the Excalibur II, the guides gives a 10 minute leeway.
On a happier note, I have figured out how to transfer movie files from .vob (DVD video files) to .avi, so I might record something soon.
To the Lost Continent
-After that last hellish area, the last two bloodstones are very easy to get. In fact, I've tried this several dozen times and haven't once had a random battle in this last area. After I get the Black Hood, I optimize Vivi, Quina, Dagger and Eiko, in that order, and everyone gets set up as follows: Eiko - Multina Racket, Green Beret, Magic Armlet, Silk Robe, Ruby
Vivi - Ice Staff, Black Hood, N-Kai Armlet, Gaia Gear, Opal
Quina - Silver Fork, Green Beret, Glass Armlet, Magician Cloak, Rebirth Ring
Dagger - Healing Rod, Lamia's Tiara, Mythril Armlet, Silk Shirt, Opal
I got a second Opal from the Epitaph battle in Oeilvert. Vivi gets an Elixir to replinish his MP from earlier. Everyone activates Ability Up, Quina activates Auto-Life, Eiko activates Antibody. I've become very AP efficient lately, but it doesn't take long at all, and I'm learning a lot of abilities.
-Valia Pira is easy. All one has to do is pay attention to its timing. If it's been long enough that it should take a turn, just wait and see what it will do. This is so that Vivi doesn't bounce a spell off of Reflect. If it does cast Reflect, Eiko or Dagger (sometimes) can just cast Reflect and the problem is fixed. Two Waters and a Limit Glove and the battle is over. I keep everyone alive so that everyone can get the AP from the battle.
-After the battle, Eiko learns Stona, Shell, Silence, Loudmouth, Carbuncle and Reflect. Vivi learns Blizzara and Locomotion. Quina learns Antibody and Insomniac. Dagger learns Cure and Shiva.
-After the battle, Dagger loses her gear and Eiko gets the Magic Racket, Eigost Armlet, Silk Shirt and Feather Boots. I already activated Antibody earlier, so she's set for the Meltigemini battle. This is the last opportunity I have to equip her for it.
-But that was the easy part. Now I need to get from the airship to the portal and the portal to the Blue Narciss with few random battles, optimally one each way. This can mess everything up.
-I've been trying this for a while, and this is the best I could do....On the way in, I got one random battle where I L1+R1 ran immediately, so it was minimal on time. Then I went through the scenes and got the Namingway Card. On the way out, I got into two random battles. The first Zidane got the first turn and used Flee. The second was a back attack 
, and Zidane used Flee as soon as possible. All in all, I didn't lose that much time. I don't know why the guide allows for 2 random battles when you are off to Oeilvert, but only 1 each way when you get back. Maybe the author meant to allow 4 instead of 2, I don't know.
-I chose a party of Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and Quina. I saved at the shore.
Reply With Quote