grimoire gil, loot, beasts all that in this thread. many questions

[mindfray]

So I'm in golmore forest and i have 30k gil, i can buy my first grimoire. i have all of them unlocked. so i can afford one of them except the one thats 200k.

so given my place in the game, and characters in the 20's/

what grimorie should i buy first and what should i farm for major gil?
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also when i get to the mt omisace i can buy thief's cuffs, so what should be my target for stealing (aside from everything)

[Poor Chocobo]

Mirror knights in Feywood (just south of Golmore Jungle) are good for getting gil early. They have a common drop that sells for 1200 a piece plus you can get mirror mail worth 4000 each.

Your level may prohibit that though, I think I was mid 30's when I fought them. Repeatedly killing the two warewolves in Giza plains dry season is how I got money early and they drop a nice sword, rarely though

EDIT: All the Grimoires are important for rare loot, I bought the least expensive one first and worked my way up...

[Iceglow]

hehehe ok so call me insane but...

What Golmore and you can only just afford a grimmoire?! Jeez Louise!

Ok here's an insane but highly plausible option possible right from as soon as Vaan can freely leave any of the 3 gates to the city to get a grimmoire, I personally like getting the one which gives more loot from beasts here because well, beasts are plentiful early on in game. I'll leave you to look up how to get the Grimmoire of your choice, just ammend the money to "I need xx,xxx gil" instead of my 18,000" (SPOILER)In short this is possible from the minute Vayne's parade is done before seeing Old Dalan in Lowtown

First of all:

Accept the Thextera Mark quest (this is mark level 1 quest 2) over at the Sandsea only don't head to the Westersand...yet.

Head out of town to the Estersand Steps area, once there ignore all cactites and focus purely on the wolves, begin chaining them as high as you can but steal from every one of them too (SPOILER)(note if no wolves are spawning, try stealing from Cactite's for loot then fleeing them to Rabanastre East gate to heal at the save crystal) try not to use potions we're all about saving money here don't worry where we're heading we won't need them. Also don't ruin your chain by killing off anything else until you're either 1) have to go heal at the Save Crystal or 2) absoloutely sure there is no more wolves to be had. Yeah it takes like 30 of them but eventually they just won't spawn until you leave and come back lol.

If you want sell your loot now to allow you to carry more, you should be able to get a 3rd level chain going easily with plenty of theft going on too.

Still ignoring that burning mark out in the West keep heading east our destination is Nalbina chaining wolves and stealing the entire way. Use license points to obtain Daggers 1, Light Armour 2, Shields 1, White Magic 1 & 2, HP +50, Potion Lore 1 (SPOILER)also advisable to grab Libra Poach and First aid too just don't buy the skills yet unless you really want to

Around 70 wind stones gained from your chaining will sell for like 4000 gil, a lot of money considering you're what level 5? Not too mention anything else you've picked up, which if you've been stealing probably includes several pointy hats, these level 2 or 3 mystic armour helms sell for 150 gil each, I'd say keep one for Penelo but screw her, sell them all steal her one later when you get her.

In Nalbina we need to do some shopping...saving money is good but frankly the Mithril blade just won't cut it neither will our reliance on potions. Buy these items only, you should have licenses for this already:

Magic: Cure, Poisona
Weapons: Mage Masher (SPOILER)if you fancy planning ahead and want Penelo to use another weapon (I reccomend staves as a starting point for her since some of these give nice magic boost as well as good power and evasion) you can buy one now though frankly you ought to visit the fortress market with her in your party before doing the flowering cactoid quest before entering the Palace. This allows you to pick up any magic you missed out on this time, namely green magic spells and slow)
Armour: Leather head gear, Leather Shield, Leather body armour (SPOILER)Check the Bazaar for Chromed Leathers, cheaper and better frankly

Equip our new gear basically as far as the Estersands go you're now a damn tank just don't take on the Saurian and you're good.

From your 2 or 3 extensive chains you should have made in the region of 15k gil and now be down a little. Now some fun begins. Head back towards Rabanastre chaining all the way and keep up that theft, now we've got white magic we're not having to interrupt the chain (just remember entering the outpost cancels the chain so kill anything you like before entering) we can go much longer with it, I reccomend the steps area outside east gate for chains mostly because the cockatrice is off to the side, the saurian and cactites don't bother you too badly even after stealing their items (well steal from plants not from dinosaurs, they get upset and can bite you in two) and wolves are plentiful. Once you're sure you'll have 18k gil (might be nice to pick some extra loot for some change) choose any path you like to the Westersands, I reccomend going through Rabanastre itself.(use shops to sell off excess loot, items heck even excess potions!)

Now Westersand, sandstorms are bad, we're now an awesome white mage/thief class probably about level 7 or 8 last thing we want is a big old elemental blowing us up for casting cure. So if you see a sand storm turn around and come back when skies are clear.

It's simple most enemies here are too powerful for Vaan to take alone, it just wouldn't be pretty (if you had spare gil, buy the maps in rabanastre south plaza) but in this screen wolves are still safe (god damn if you aint sick of these dogs by now) simply kill a few wolves as you stick to the left wall as you enter the area. You'll see Thextera soon enough. Kill the wolf with Thex immediately, screw stealing from him, and turn your attention to Thex, Steal if you can but keep your HP over 100 and then attack away, the reasons for the Mage Masher become evident if you get Silence attached to him, no support for you mister wolf! Should the Mage Masher fail to attach silence just be grateful you're attacking quicker and harder than with the Mithril Blade.

With Thex dead, head back to the Sandsea in Rabanastre and turn in the quest. Then run over to the Muthru Bazaar area of town Gatsby is there and still grateful he'll make the Grimmoire containing the Hunters Monograph appear in the bazaar when you next shop.

Convieniently the shop opposite is the Clan provisioner so pick up your hard earned prize. This can be done in little over 5/6 hours at start of game with no party members other than Vaan and now whenever you go outside in the Estersand or Giza Plains the beast class enemies (including wolves and hyenas) will drop better loot (you're also probably over powered for this area at this time but who cares, it's funny)

I would suggest using your new grimmoire and thus loot gathering skills to good effect by immediately gathering money to equip Penelo (though steal her a pointy hat from the wolves in the Estersands) in Giza by heading through the side passage from Giza to Estersand (she'll follow you here unlike if you return to Rabanastre) and heading up to Nalbina Fortress. I would also stock up on all the magic spells, complete the 3rd mark quest (once magic is brought, Penelo should learn all the abilities she needs on license grid leave Vaan with white magic and mage masher for now, best to have him steal) also sometimes it's good to use Poach as a skill since it gives loot, keeps chains going but doesn't give you LP or EXP. You can flee through (you can try fighting the monsters but frankly most of them will kick your arse, same as if you see the special cockatrice in the Estersand, though if you're lucky enough to come across the Mandragora rare game creature kill it!) the Westersand to the trader at the edge of the Urtan Yensa and get some nice accessories just never do it in a sandstorm, healing magic + elementals = a whole world of pain, same as going up to the village out by the River Nebra By the time you end up in Nalbina Dungeon...you'll be laughing You'll also be dependence free from Potions unless by some freak accident your entire party is out of magic.