Quote Originally Posted by Forsaken Lover View Post

So both of those are on the way to Archades?
Not really... The Necrohol is north of Rabanastre, and its the place where the game started when you were Reks. Balfoheim is on southern end of Valendia continent and is far south of Archades. Basically on your way to Archades, you'll reach a crossroads that will either take you north to Archades or south towards Balfoheim. You'll reach Balfoheim eventually but I was suggesting dropping by early, especially since the trek down there will earn you tons of gil and Exp.

I dunno...are they really worth it? I haven't even used the Espers I have. I'm not sure how the Summon system iN 12 works, anyway. So I'm kinda hesitant.
They are similar to the way FFX does is, where the summon replaces your party except the Summoner. The major difference is that Summons tend to be glass cannons, they do fairly high damage but are really bad for crowd control until they activate their special summon attacks. Basically, you will need to treat them as regualr party members and heal and buff them to keep them alive while they do big damage. Also, they work like guest characters so you can't directly control them as well as they have a timer on them, they stay around until you dismiss them, get killed, have the summoner killed, or have them perform their cinematic attack.

Most people find them useless in comparison to Quickenings but I find them fun and powerful when used correctly, also the top tier summons, Chaos, Ultima, and Zodiark are incredibly powerful and actually do have real nasty crowd control abilites. The only thing that might be a nuisance is that several of them require special conditions to activate their Cinematic attacks. Ultima alone has the games most difficult and its hardly worth it in my opinion. Zodiark on the other hand has the easiest and the most powerful (about as powerful as a high level Quickening Chain). You can literally set your self up to summon him and have him go directly into his Cinematic attack when he appears.

Really, I would say play around with them, they are great for getting levels for a solo character before you acquire the Firefly accessory. You might like them, you might go with the rest of people and hate them.

Yes. I accidentally started some sidequest about a ring or marrying someone and I have no idea how to finish it.
You basically have to go onto every flight available in the game and talk to the sisters who have the whole Nurse Joy/Officer Jenny thing going on. They are always in the same place on the airship. I think their are seven of them in total. Also, be on the lookout for a rich family, you usually see them in the terminal area after the airship reaches port, the kid keeps mentioning seeing a strange creature in the sky. Keep talking to them and you will eventually unlock another Mark Hunt.

Have you visited the tribe in the Giza Plains?
Don't think so.
Go during the Dry season and talk to the little girl Terra who is taking care of the Cockatrices. If she starts mentioning a feather that lets you talk to the Cockatrices then you are about to start one of the most amusing side-quests in the game and it will net you some excellent gear if you finish it quickly. You might want to start this one after visiting Archades though (actually, I think it unlocks after you go to Archades).

How about Nabradia?
The name sounds familiar... Where is it?
Its also north of Rabanastre and is the fortress you see get overtaken in the beginning cutscenes of the game, its the place Prince Rassler was killed. The easiest way to get their is to take the airship from Rabanastre. It has a few really amusing side-quests and stories there, as well as a popular pair of famous Star Wars references.

I'm mainly just doing the Hunts. I just want Equipment and Gil. And I guess the LP and EXP that comes with going to get those things.
Also loot that will help me get newer and better equipment from the Bazaar.
Then I would advise doing the side-quests cause most net you rare accessories or good equipment with a bit of gil. Have you been making sure to report back to Montblanc? He gives you rewards and gil for performing special tasks in the game aside from the Mark Hunts and Clan Hunts.

Oh while we're on the subject, are the Faith and Bravery spells worth it? Do they give a nice big boost in magic and strength? If not, I won't bother buying them.
They are good but I don't feel they are worthy of being set-up as a Gambit for continual buff. I'd ignore them for now cause you'll need them more for the final Marks and optional bosses. Berserk is a spell you may want to invest in though, especially now that you have access to good Greatswords and Katanas. They raise a characters attack power and speed.