Mastery.

[feioncastor]

There is a lot to be accomplished in Final Fantasy Tactics.

Within the standard RPG times, about 40 hours, you can easily take down Altima and a few other neat things.

But the real challenge of the game lies in mastery.

How close are you? Or have you already mastered the game?

Let's define it, I suppose.

To have EVERY unit have EVERY job class mastered isn't really mastery, in my opinion. I'll never use Rafa or Malak or Meliadoul, so I won't be mastering them in anything.

I do, however, have my Ramza with everything (except Summoner) mastered, and I have four generics with the same thing. I have all the hard-to-get items (Maximillian, Kaiser Plate, Genji Equip). Of course, I have Cloud. His "Soldier" job class is mastered, but that's it. (I was curious).

The reason I don't have Summoner mastered is that pesky Zodiac. I have one generic that has it (thanks HP/MP Switch), but that's all. And I did get Ultima, which is kind of tough.

So how do you define mastery? And have you accomplished that goal?

I'm getting there. I have a few things I'd like to do, but none come to mind now. Next time I load up the game I'll make a list of what I haven't yet done, and share it with you all.

I hope you will do the same!

[BG-57]

I started a thread on this topic a year ago.

But I've always tried to get as much of every RPG as I possibly could. I'm stubborn, I guess.

Here's my progress of my mastery:

Nongeneric Characters: 12/12
Ramza, Agrias, Mustadio, Rafa, Malak, Meliadoul, Orlandu, Reis, Beowulf, Cloud, Byblos, Worker 8
All level 99.

Generic Units: 2/2
One male, one female
Both level 99.

Tiamats: 2/2
Both level 99.

Occupation Mastery: 3/14
This is the hardest part.
Ramza has Ultima.
Ramza and the two generics have Zodiac.
Everyone else has mastered most of the occupations, but have not learned Zodiac yet.

Items: 14/14
At least one of each, 99 for most except Elixirs. You'd have to poach a lot of Great Morbols!

Balls, Shurikens: 6/6
99 of Each.

Weapons: 143/143
At least one of each, including Javelin (II).
Impossible to get 99 of every one.

Shields: 15/15
At least one of each, including Escutcheon (II).

Hat/Helmets/Ribbons: 28/28
At least one of each.

Armor/Robes/Clothes: 36/36
At least one of each.

Accessories: 32/32
At least one of each.

Unexplored Lands: 16/16
This was fairly easy to get, even in my first playthrough.

Treasures: 31/31
I'm most proud of this one.
Despotus and I collaborated on a definative list of which Propositions gives these Treasures as rewards, since no one source is entirely accurate. I submitted the Proposition list to the frontsite, where (I hope) it will soon be posted.

Zodiac Stones: 11/11
I know that the game ends before you have Leo and Virgo in your inventory, but presumably you get them from (SPOILER)Vormav and Alma when you defeat them. The game considers 11 a full inventory though.

[Despotus]

I'm getting veeerrry close. I still need to master some classes with latecomers like Cloud and Orlandu, as well as teach Zodiac to everyone. I'll post here again when I've done it. Shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks. (I hope...)

[dodhungry]

My idea of mastery for this game is to play through the entire game with only generic characters in about 12 to 14 hours tops. If you can do this without getting wasted then you should be considered a master.

[Shotgunnova]

Mastery, eh? S'pose I've done all that I can.

-All special characters invited
-All job classes master (after passing Zodiac around)
-All proposition rewards gotten (treasures, unexplored lands, etc.)
-All Brave-plus options taken storywise
-Maxed-out inventory, non-duped (possible, but rather tedious and boring)
-A bunch of LU/LDing on everyone (not sure if it's max; but this is peripheral, sort of)
-ETC.

Personally, I don't place much time in time limits because FFT is hard to "master" on a small time scale, given the availability of weapons and shops that open only in different chapters. I also say one has to master it with non-generic units because the game offers a large amount of one-timers, and just like the inventory, if you choose not to get one, they're gone forever.

At least one of each, including Javelin (II).
Impossible to get 99 of every one.

You can catch Masamunes from ninja in HORROR, although there's a certain level/skill permutation that has to be _exact_ before you can even have a chance though. Unless you were talking about some other weapon that I've just forgotten about at the moment...

[Despotus]

Shotgunnova is my new deity! :yellowkin Impressive, most impressive. Just out of curiosity, how many hours are recorded in the brave story of that super file you've got, and did you find it was "worth it" to LU/LD several times? *Goes back to playing FFT*

[Shotgunnova]

I have at least 2000 hours on FFT altogether, since I did count one day, but I've had to make room recently for other saves, so I erased a bunch of old FFT ones (I had about fifteen). Honestly, besides that one "master" save, I don't really do the same thing on each file 'cause that's too much like a routine, and that's one thing that would make the game feel like a chore. I could check, although I'm not even sure my master file is around anymore, because most of the files are full-up on time as far as memory cards show. =x

And is it worth it to LU/LD? In some respects, I guess. The game's easy enough as it is once you've gotten your bearings in the first few playthroughs, and stat-maxing is hardcore and overkill concurrently. I find it worth it because I do it to characters I love (Beowulf, for one), but it's not something I make a habit out of doing all the time, because that drains all the fun out of the hunt.

[feioncastor]

You are required to tell me what "LU/LD" means.

[Despotus]

Refers to the Level Up/Level Down "god-like characters" technique.

[BG-57]

Stat maxing is hardly necessary in this game, considering how many other ways there are to dominate enemies.