I'll do my best not to. Just beware of Spoiler Tags. Mostly used for funny pictures and not spoilers, I notice. Just remember that there might actually be spoilers in this thread's tags.

Where is everyone here?

I'm just at the last boss at Chapter 11 and it's making me want to punch a hole in my T.V! And I know I can beat it; I don't believe I need to level or anything, but one wrong Paradigm or mistimed move and it's over in the second part of the battle.

I've been finding it very hard to put this game down, because the story has totally drawn me in. I thought some of the characters were idiots at first but now i've grown to like them. Even Vanille. To be hoest, I thought Lightning was a cow for the longest time, but after certain events and whatnot, I've grown to like her

It does feel like the game is pushing me along relentlessly (fight to the end, no rest) but I think it's important to convey that with the feel of the story. This aint no game. Everyone hates and despises you, and you're on the clock to figure out what's going on before something terrible happens. No time to play a minigame or find some old ladys brothers sons letter for 500 Gil lol.

Also, I didn't have a LOT of deaths, although I ran into some brick walls along the way and had to rethink my strategy...but when I hit Gran Pulse, I've been dying like it's going out of style lol.

Not because I'm underleveled, but I like to experiment with different parties and such, and the monsters will make you pay if you dont have your ##$% together.

Gran Pulse is no joke, that's for sure.

If any of you can help me with a strategy for the chapter 11 boss, that would be great : )

Final Fantasy 13 Versus is based in the same universe isn't it?

I think that its the same general universe, yeah.

Relevant information from this month's Game Informer:

Game Informer wrote:

Q: Can you clarify the relationship between the stories of the titles in the Fabula Nova Crystalis project? (FFXIII, Versus XIII, and Agaitio) Do they just share common themes, or are there more direct ties between them?
A (by Yoshinori Kitase, producer and Motomu Toriyama, director): While the characters and world of each game are completely unrelated, there is a single Crystal Mythology that exists as a backbone to all three. Fragments of this mythology appear in each title. In FF XIII, there is mention of the deities' names.

I'm about mid way through chapter 11 currently, I think. Just got inside a tower.
No spoilers please as everyone deserves it as a surprise, but was not the opening scenes of getting to Gran Pulse awesome? First I was like but then I was all .
"But then there was that..." *looks at Omega over shoulder, continues in whispers* whisperwhisperwhisper.

But yeah, Pulse. You do not mess around here. I neglected to do any level grinding on arrival and paid for it soon after. See previous page for complaints concerning a battle in the tunnels.
May have missed a C'ieth Waystone in the first Pulse area. I just got the tutorial from one before tower, but I'm sure there must be a way to get back to the first area considering that several trophies are obtained there. I may be in for a loooong walk.

Double Post.

Speaking of that stupid thing I complained about in the tunnels...
There's a bigger one here in the tower. The Ambling Bellows.
Got any advice on how to kill it?

Is that that box looking thing?

If so, he's a nasty little SOB

I think I beat him by doing a preemptive strike to start, but not ging to stagger him first, but ONE of his guards. Delta Attack to build up, then Mystic Tower to continue and then beat the hell out of the guard to kill him. In the meantime I used solidarity (with Light as the COM) or, in greater dire need, Combat Clinic.

Then, to build up the chain on Bellows, I used delta attack, mystic tower, and relentless assault.

When my HP was pretty brutal I summoned Odin lol

I just kept hammering away as much as I could, doing whatever I could to keep that chain going.

It took me a few tries. That was ne of the hardest fights in the game for me

Yeah. In fact it's previous incarnation was called Boxed Phalanx. lol
I tried fighting him normally, but it didn't work no matter which combination I set up. I think it's the not grinding still kicking me.

I just now killed it.
Preperations: Vanille (Leader), Fang, Lightning
Paradigm: Saboteur, Saboteur, Medic
Required equipment: Shield Talisman (Auto Protect) on Vanille
"Strategy": Preemptive attack. Immediate Debuff w/both characters, then when Vanille is injured immediately use her summon. (Maybe switch to medic.) Let summon wail on him to break his gauge and build up some gestalt. When stagger runs low switch to Gestalt. Attack until he's about to go out of stagger. As close to the last second as you can get it, press the Triangle attack. Needs to still be in stagger or it won't kill him.

Incidentally, I now have the "Limit Breaker" trophy for doing over 100,000 damage in one attack.

Nice

How have you developed your characters? Any specialists?

They're pretty much all specialists. For the early part I just filled every available slot on all three paths, then on reaching a new level filled those too while focusing on the class I had designated them first. Ie, Lightning = Commando first, then when full on to Ravager and Medic.
Still pretty much going about it that way because of the expense of the newly unlocked classes I haven't branched out any. Believe me there are times when I wish Sazh was a Medic, but I'm trying to get through the main story 'in character' so to speak without making everyone a clone of everyone else. Though that is coming, believe you me, but not until I can really farm the CP.
How about yours?

Yeah same thing in terms of the first three levels.

I hvent done ANY secondary development; i kinda thought it would be a waste of time for now.

Light (why do i keep calling her Light? She said that to hope and fang and for some reason it sticks! ;/) to build the chains up quckly and a secondary medic

Fang to deal the killer hits

Snow as a HP happy guard

Hope as a Ravager and Synergist (and also a liability, since he dies a lot ;/)

Vanille as a Medic and Sabateur

Sazh as a Synergist and Ravager (not really specializing in these, he's just a good all around support character)


Right now I am using Sazh Vanille and Fang. I love the Haste + double dose of Debuffs from Vanille and Fang


I havent used Light for a while, not because she isnt good, but because the chemistry with the party I have right now is pretty good and I dont feel like switching them out right now. For some reason I felt obligated to for the longest time just because she is the "leader" of the bunch lol

Perfectly understandable. I've kept her in most of the time, but don't hesitate to remove her for the good of the party.
Up to tier four on the tower now. Thinking (/praying) it's nearer the end.

I love the tower level design

So, yeah. That tower boss. He's something, ain't he?
Things were going fine. Had him under half health. It was nice. Things were looking up. And then Wham! A single fire attack that killed two members (including my main) and left the other at life in the double digits.
After that, the Bellows, and the annoying Vetala and it's shield, I decided it was time for a break. PS3's a mighty machine, but FFXIII's a mighty game so it needed a nap too.
I'm thinking in a bit I'll try a party of Sazh, Vanille, and a Sentinel (likely Fang) instead of Lightning. Make sure and smack him with Imperil. Did the first time too, but it wore off right before I summoned, otherwise it would've hurt a lot more. I doubt it would've been fully enough to kill him (HP 2,000,000+), but it would've gone a long way. All told I had him down under 1.5m. I'm hoping the Sentinel's defense bonus will be enough to keep me alive.

The one at the top of the tower? oh no not that one, but yes he was annoying. You'll know when you get to the one I'm talking about.

Oh you'll know.

But I...
There's no way I'm not...
I mean surely it can't...

I'm in the tunnels, gonna stay there and farm CP till I have every available slot filled in. Even the non specialist ones.

Spoiler:

I hate how the game gives you zero stars just because you took more time to buff/debuff

Liam wrote:

I'm in the tunnels, gonna stay there and farm CP till I have every available slot filled in. Even the non specialist ones.

Fortisol makes all the difference in that fight. I recommend opening with two Saboteurs, Sentinel/Medic party when it's about to attack, and a Ravager/Commando party when it's not.

I'm still stuck on the boss that's after that later. I had him withing 100k and he cast Doom on me.
I'm farming here in the tower on the third or fourth floor and getting 8,000 CP from a single fight with these Pulsework Gladiators. They hit okay, but break at 150 which is nothing to a Comando/Ravager/Ravager party. I'm slowly filling my available slots. I don't think I'll take a person outside their existing roles yet.

I hear you, QB. They need a better way to get back TP. Though I do have a couple accessories that help a bit.

I have a few ethosols, they recover TP, and there is an accesory that gives it back to you for kills.

How do you guys like the ride so far?

I'm really enjoying it, although sometimes in a dungeon or tunnel it seems like a gruelfest and I think to myself "Damn I need to get to a town and rest up" at first. Then I realize I don't have to.

I really like the character develoment. There really isnt anyone I dislike. Although Snow has a few moments in cutscenes that made me chuckle and *facepalm*.

It's given me a couple of 'tear your fur out' moments of frustration in the hard fights. But it's always been a question of strategy rather than stats that make the difference (Up until now anyway. I'm just having to heal a bit too often to win.). And I can really respect that.
The only thing about combat that bothers me is that it takes time to change your tactics. There's always that animation (unless one of your characters is in the air when you shift paradigms) and that delay has cost me on more than one occasion. I know we're suspending disbelief here, but why would it require actions to switch tactics?
The characters are awesome for the most part. Agreed on Snow. lol (Believe it! *rolls eyes*)
And Sazh has turned out to be a real surprise like Omega said.
Plus, he used an excellent pun once. He's my hero now.
:afro:
I understand the reasoning behind why they did the game the way they did. If everyone on Cocoon hates l'Cie, then it doesn't make sense for you to be able to hang around in towns and such, doing all kinds of sidequests and the like. I mean, there's a world full of people that want to see you dead. The Cieth Stones are a nice addition, to be sure, but they're all just for fighting monsters. Where'd ma sidequests go? Oh, well. Game ain't over yet. And when it is there's still more to do.
As always I reserve final judgment until completion.

Hi guys- I reached level 3, havent had time to play as much, freakin Bad Company
Anyhoo- I have a question- What are all these fangs, fluids, etc. I keep collecting? Are they to be used with weapon enhancements?? Or do you just sell them at the stores for extra money??
This game is super fun, and addictive. Learning curve is taking me some time but that is because I am slow.

Don't feel slow, Spongey. The learning curve is pretty sharp. I made the mistake of initially approaching this system with the idea that every fight would have one good paradigm that you would use. I quickly learned otherwise. You have to be always ready to shift at a moment's notice. It takes practice, but hang in there and you'll adjust.

As to your question, the things you referred to are called "Components", and you're half right on both counts. Sorta.
I forget how far in you unlock level three, but if you've been through the Vile Peaks level then you can make use of them. A few of these are okay to sell off (Credit Chips, for example) there are several that you'll want to keep for later to use in weapon/accessory upgrading (which is selectable from the Save Point after Vile Peaks).
There are three types of components: Organic, Mechanical, and Catalyst
Catalyst components should never be sold. They're used to change your weapons' form, (you should have a mullerite(sp?) by now) and different weapons need different ones. They all have the word catalyst in their description.
Organic and Mechanical component are used to give a weapon or accessory EXP. You may have noticed that the items you have all have a level, and in the menu have a value of 0 out of so many EXP. Each component you use on an item gives it some EXP toward the goal, but they all have different values. Generally speaking, Organic components are worth less than Mechanical ones, but there's still good reason to use them.
There's a hidden number attached to each item aside from EXP. When this number passes certain points you'll get a multiplier to the number of EXP you get from all the components. It goes up to x3. Organic components increase the hidden number while providing less EXP, while Mechanical components decrease the hidden number (and your multiplier) but give much more EXP.
The short of it is that you should use cheap Organics components to raise a weapon's multiplier to x3 (Sturdy Bones are cheap and using 36 will give you an instant x3, purchasable), then use a bunch of Mechanical components to take advantage of it. Oh, and leftover EXP is carried into the next level.
Different items have different level caps. When the item you're upgrading's level is replaced by a star symbol, then it can't go any higher, BUT if you use a proper Catalyst on it it becomes another item (an improved version of itself). Initially it'll actually have lower stats than the one you changed it from, but it has a new level cap too so it can get much stronger.