FFXII: IZJS - Weak Mode Log #3
I'm loving Weak Mode. It can get frustrating, but I'm having a blast. The main story hasn't hit any big bumps yet, but I think the hunts, which I have been trying to do as early as I can, are really helping with that. Some of them give some useful rewards and even the ones that don't are still good practice, I think.
Last time, Judge Bergan was defeated at Mt. Bur-Omisace and the party decided to make their way to Archades. It's going to be a long road! Here's my progress...
Progress:
- Completed sick traveller quest and obtained the Barheim Key (and Wyrmfire Shot for Balthier).
- Barheim Passage - hands down the hardest dungeon so far. It was probably a bit too early to come here, but I managed. Remember debuffs. If you have a Time Mage, Disable and Slow are useful, especially if you're coming into this with the Indigo Pendant.
- Defeated Bloodwing.
- Obtained Zalera.
- Defeated Orthros.
- Got Stun Bombs for Basch (On hit: Stop) as a reward for the Bloodwing hunt.
- Mosphoran Highwaste - Bought new equipment and a Francisca for Basch from the Bazaar.
- Defeated Atomos.
- Defeated Mindflayer.
- Defeated Vorpal Bunny (Reward: Lightning Arrows for Vaan).
- Lhusu Mines - Found the Indigo Pendant! An accessory that will be extremely useful for my Black Mage. With this, debuffs will always hit as long as the enemy (1) is not immune and (2) does not have shell. This would be extremely useful for a Time Mage as well as they, too, have some excellent debuffs such as Immobilize, Disable, and Slow. It would be helpful in this part of the Lhusu Mines in particular because the enemies here (bats and mini-antlion things) are susceptible to Disable. The Antlion is susceptible to Slow. If you have a Breaker, the Sledgehammer can inflict Disable on-hit. It isn't very reliable, but if you have no Time Mage (like me), it's better than nothing.
- Antlion... How do I even begin to explain Antlion. Antlion is flawless. She has 10 underlings and 3 angry bats. I hear her attacks hit over 9999. I hear she uses Cannibalize...on her friends. One time, she met Yiazmat in a cave, and he said she was pretty. One time, she punched me in the face. I died. It was awesome.
I hate that Antlion...
Even in a normal game this guy can be a HUGE pain in the butt, so going into this for Weak Mode, I was already prepared for rage. You can definitely come back here later, but I wanted to at least give this hunt a shot, and as crazy as it sounds, the Antlion is possible this early in Weak Mode. Is it easy? Nope.
Fran with a Cherry Staff using Aeroga, Balthier with Armguard and Silent Shot, Basch or Penelo with decoy and attacking, Ashe healing or casting decoy... and Quickenings. It was an up and down fight that was EXTREMELY frustrating. Vaan didn't do much except come in to use Phoenix Downs (which was very often). Funny enough, Vaan was the one who finished the Antlion off.
It would probably be best to save this hunt for later if you want to spare yourself the frustration. The reward is pretty good, though: a Bubble Belt!
To celebrate this victory over the Antlion, we shall....do more hunts! (To punish Vaan for stealing the Antlion win while everyone was dead. You should be ashamed of yourself, young man...).
- Defeated Trickster.
- Zertinan Caves - Defeated Marilith.
- Bought Bubble at the Clan Provisioner.
- Obtained the Turtleshell Choker. I plan on using this one a lot later. When equipped, the wearer will consume Gil instead of MP.
- Found Poison Bombs for Basch (On hit: Poison).
- Defeated Adrammelech.
- Finished exploring the Zertinan Caves.
- Bought Bamboo Arrows for Vaan (On hit: Poison) at the Bazaar.
- Completed Mosphoran Highwaste.
- Salikawood - Defeated King Bomb.
- Defeated Braegh. Reward is a Caliper for Balthier (On hit: Haste).
- Defeated Carrot. Reward is Stink Bombs for Basch (On hit: Sap).
- Returned to Rabanastre and completed the Wind Vane sidequest.
- Defeated Earth Tyrant.
- Phon Coast - Found Aldebaran for Balthier. It can also be bought in the Hunter's camp coming up, but I found it a bit earlier in a chest. Balthier is my main damage dealer and is almost always wearing an Armguard. Getting new weapons for him is always important.
- Tchita Uplands - Not much happened here, but the monsters are getting harder. I had to keep my White Mage out permanently for healing. I was also trying to get Balthier some extra LP so he was wearing a Golden Amulet and not his usual Armguard.
- Sochen Cave Palace - Not much new here, either. Completed the Waterfall puzzle and found a Megalixir which will hopefully come in handy later + defeated the Ahriman (those teleporting bosses are always a headache).
On to Archades!