Problems

[Skyblade]

Ok, I've been playing this game for a while, and, while it's probably not my favorite FF, I've thought it was a still an excellent game. Then I wound up in the Necrohol of Nabudis, and the battle against the Hell Wyrm. Suddenly this has gone from a nice, fun game to a gimmicky wreck.

First, instant death. I am sick and tired of every enemy around here being able to just kill you, and, unlike nearly every other FF, there is absolutely no way to protect yourself from it. I'm sorry, but if the only way they can make enemies difficult enough for their hard dungeons is to allow them one hit kills, then there is something seriously screwed up with their battle system. And then there are bosses that can inflict instant death with their normal attacks, and they penetrate shield blocks and evasion. So, my characters who have survived bosses, Espers, and elite marks the entire game are suddenly dieing left and right because enemies teleport in and casts Death before you even get the option to attack them. Total BS.

Second, forced tactics. Yeah, Bubble is a great spell, and the Reverse/Decoy combination is powerful, and getting them early and using them to wipe out Elite Marks early on is fun as hell. They should not be required tactics for any enemies. As it is, going anywhere in the Necrohol without at least Bubble on is suicide. Sorry, it's a nice spell/accessory, but being forced to use it is also totally ridiculous.

Third, teleporting enemies. In addition to pissing me off by being invincible while teleporting (though they can still attack while teleporting), I am sick of enemies being able to teleport halfway across the room forcing you to either quit fighting (which I equate with running away and am unwilling to do), or to take on an entire room worth of enemies all at once. I haven't had many problems with the battle system, but right now I'm really wishing for random encounters again.

I've been enjoying the game, and the plot, but these problems are quickly leading this game to be one of my least favorites in the entire series.

[Necronopticous]

I never used Bubble or Reverse/Decoy when I explored the Necrohol. There are many strategies that you can use for any given situation, and it's very possible that you could just be underleveled for that specific area, as it is a completely optional area that was not intended to be easily explored the first time you gain access to it.

[Skyblade]

My main team is level 63. The enemies (none of which are above level 50) are all still able to kill my characters if they aren't using Bubble. Five Bakanamy foes pop up and all cast Pyromania/Sandstorm. Since healing spells won't work until after the casting is done, I have to wait for all of those spells to end before I can heal (oh, and while spells can't be used during those animations, they can still run out, so I'll occasionally lose Bubble in the middle of the animation and be unable to reapply it, even though it was at full strength when the attack started, and I had it prepped for casting already). Like I said, it's not the difficulty that I find annoying. I'd have no trouble waiting and coming back to do this. It's the total gimmickry that the game uses to kill you.

[Necronopticous]

It's a rough area. My advice would be to skip it for now and continue on with the story that you were enjoying. Go back for that later.

Unless you're picking up a Zodiac Spear there isn't a whole lot to do there, anyway.

[Captain Maxx Power]

My advice would be to skip it for now and continue on with the story that you were enjoying.

You mean there's an enjoyable storyline in this game? Where? I think I missed it.

[Skyblade]

It's a rough area. My advice would be to skip it for now and continue on with the story that you were enjoying. Go back for that later.

Unless you're picking up a Zodiac Spear there isn't a whole lot to do there, anyway.

I'm there on the Chaos sidequest. I can kill both Humbaba and Fury quite easily (although I feel really bad after killing Fury, it's just too cute), but the stupid Oversouls are driving me nuts.

[ValiantKnight]

Stop is fairly effective on your little sandstorm-casting friends.

Put a gambit for ice-weak to use stop I think... or just any enemy... to use stop when in there. Stop works on the Elvorets(spelling?) as well i think*

I usually don't have much problem in there, only one will occasionally cast sandstorm.. but usually my team kills them rather quickly after around level 55-60 or so.

The first spot where 5 rush you at the entrance from salikawood can be rough, and if I don't have blizzaga going, it can take a minute to get a handle on the situation. They have haste usually if memory serves, and even with the best armor still hit around 500+ without protect.

The inability to cast spells during long animations is particularly annoying. Though you can still attack during some spells. This can be used later for an esper that raises a physical barrier.... if you have one character casting spells, the esper will have to wait for the character to finish before raising his physical barrier... long spells give time for an attacker to get in a few shots after it falls, and before he can recast it

ribbon protects from doom, but I don't think it protects from death.. I could be wrong.

It'll be fun later when you come back here and have foe:ice weak - Blizzaga and have a fast/high magic user doing 9999 to each of them... then a second cast or a few attacks and they are dead. Stop works wonders though, via the accessory/chronus tear way. The spell doesn't always land however, but still lands enough to be worth gambiting to help you out. Taking 1 or 2 of the 5 out of the battle is helpful.

[Skyblade]

Stop is fairly effective on your little sandstorm-casting friends.

Put a gambit for ice-weak to use stop I think... or just any enemy... to use stop when in there. Stop works on the Elvorets(spelling?) as well i think*

I usually don't have much problem in there, only one will occasionally cast sandstorm.. but usually my team kills them rather quickly after around level 55-60 or so.

The first spot where 5 rush you at the entrance from salikawood can be rough, and if I don't have blizzaga going, it can take a minute to get a handle on the situation. They have haste usually if memory serves, and even with the best armor still hit around 500+ without protect.

The inability to cast spells during long animations is particularly annoying. Though you can still attack during some spells. This can be used later for an esper that raises a physical barrier.... if you have one character casting spells, the esper will have to wait for the character to finish before raising his physical barrier... long spells give time for an attacker to get in a few shots after it falls, and before he can recast it

ribbon protects from doom, but I don't think it protects from death.. I could be wrong.

It'll be fun later when you come back here and have foe:ice weak - Blizzaga and have a fast/high magic user doing 9999 to each of them... then a second cast or a few attacks and they are dead. Stop works wonders though, via the accessory/chronus tear way. The spell doesn't always land however, but still lands enough to be worth gambiting to help you out. Taking 1 or 2 of the 5 out of the battle is helpful.

Ok, I'll try that, thanks. I do have Blizzaga, though it doesn't hit for 9999 damage.

Any advice on getting rid of the Oversouls before they can cast Death?

Or how to negate Hell Wyrm's (and I think Zodiark's) death on normal hit ability?

[Karellen]

You can't negate it I don't think, but shell halves the likeliness that it will work. This is especially useful against Yaizmat since otherwise his deathstrike has a 100% success rate.

I had trouble with the necrohol until I set up my gambits so one character buffs all with Protectga, one character buffs all with shellga, one character buffs all with hastega and all characters buff with bubble. It makes things a hell of a lot easier.

[ValiantKnight]

Protect, bubble, haste, shell are all good. They can be cumbersome to always have up, so at times I'll cut out protect or shell... usually shell.

For boss fights though, you want to get all you can on most. Others kill your party so regularly, that it may be better going with a Raise/Attack setup with no buffing spells.

[sefirosu]

Shell will halve the chance that Instant Death will occur since that is a status effect. If you worry about MP consumption, equip a Shell Shield the moment a creature readies this attack to increase your chances of surviving. In any situation, you should always have Ally: KO à Arise/Raise/Phoenix Down set up as a gambit with the highest priority for all characters.

Oversouls/Helveniks are weak against Holy, so equip your characters with Holy Lances or even better - the mighty Excalibur if you have it. Like others have suggested with the Baknamies, have Foe weak: ice à Blizzaga set up and just sit back and watch your team tear them apart with it. For Elvorets, Foe weak: wind à Aeroga works very well against them too. If the spellcasters have Faith equipped, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be dealing 9999 damage as long as those harmed don't have Shell enabled. Doing high damage will also get you plentiful MP back, and since this place is heavy in Mist, shortage of MP shouldn't be an issue. It will only come to that when an Oversoul successfully casts Annul on one of your characters, just have the victim Charge a decent portion back.

[Reasoniamalive]

You have some VERY valid points in this thread Skyblade - mehat's off to you.

It's a rough area. My advice would be to skip it for now and continue on with the story that you were enjoying. Go back for that later.

Unless you're picking up a Zodiac Spear there isn't a whole lot to do there, anyway.

That's not quite true. There's LOTS to do in the Nechrol - even early on, you can get the Grand Armor, Maximillians, fight marks, get loot.....Like I said, lots.

You mean there's an enjoyable storyline in this game? Where? I think I missed it.

Quoted for the truth!