Board 8 > Final Fantasy Record Keeper Topic 54: Dual Awakenings-Awakening Harder

(+) Yeah! (+)

I skip optional red paintings. I already struggle to use up my stamina potions before they expire and lab battles take way too long (especially since I dont have a good auto team set up).

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Did two syncs and one awakening.

Dupe Bartz USB2, Yda USB, dupe Bartz glint
Dupe Bartz USB1, dupe Master USB
Dupe Rem awakening (level 5), Relm LM

I took Mog's awakening 2 since I'm impatient... I'll save my sync picks for after the tickets.

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Hmm, so far the Mog experiment isn't going too well. On VI he got the team farther than Orran did but I had used both uses before phase 3 so couldn't counter DBFB, and only got him down to 9%. I don't think I can get through phase 2 fast enough without his awakening so I guess I need to try to have him not use it in phase 1... or else grab his other awakening. Although if Locke and Edgar had better damage dealing abilities this would have been a win.

When I used him on my XIV (mage) team he didn't boost damage in the first two phases nearly as much as Cait Sith so I didn't even make it through phase 2. I guess that's a case where his first awakening would boost damage more but I'm not sure it would be enough since I think it's still weaker than Cait.

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Could also grab his USB1 (unless you needed the awakening for the healing)

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Did you get Mog's HA to boost magic as well? His buffing USB also helps.

Though yeah you'll want his awakening 1 for Bahamut with mage teams for phase 2, and while it doesn't have the extra magic damage Cait has he makes up for it by countering phase 3 full break.

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Oh, messed up the numbering yesterday; that was ticket #7

Daily ticket #8: 1/10: Penelo USB2

I have her G+ and nothing for Larsa except a useless looking self-astra LMR so that saves me some future lenses at least

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Got Reno and Lunafreya syncs with today's ticket, too bad I don't have Reno's awakening since he could be on my lightning magic team with two cap breaks, and Lunafreya isn't really useful for water mage or FF15.

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Got Locke Glint and Gabranth CSB dupe
This mini fest has been such a disappointment

I got Relm's sync and Bartz's limit break. I can probably use both of those, although Bartz has so many soul breaks it's a little tough figuring out how to sequence them.

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Daily ticket #9: 1/10: Zeid G+

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2/10: Ignis AASB and Firion LBO
Nice, finally a good pull after so many days.

Got Yda USB2 today, new but won't see use unless I get her sync.

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Ticket 9: Edea AOSB and dupe Kain G+

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Hell yeah, I FINALLY beat VI Bahamut. It feels like I've put SO much time into different Bahamuts the last few weeks without beating a single one, except IX when I redid it for the missions. I put a bunch of tries in XII, XIII, XIV, and VI, plus a couple tries on V and trying to re-doing X for missions. All of those failed until now. 9/17 down.

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Congrats!

Anyway, I think I cursed myself with this comment:

LordoftheMorons posted...

I still somehow have literally zero Bartz relics

Daily ticket #10: 1/10: Bartz BSB1

Lame way to end things! Overall I did get three new syncs (Alphy which I'll definitely use, Seifer which I'll probably use, and Kimahri which... we'll see), Yuna AASB2 which I'll definitely use, and a Jecht AASB which I'm pretty sure was better than last fest.

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1/10 Snow Sync - a nice end to these free draws

Total haul:

"Useful" 6*s (being pretty generous with the word useful)
Balthier Realm CSB
CoD AOSB
Vivi AASB2
Ignis AASB1

7*s
Shadow Sync dupe
Firion LBO
Snow Sync1

Not a great haul, but considering it's free, I can't complain.

1/10 - Ardyn USB.

Mostly junk, but a few wins from the free draws (Bartz wind Sync being one of the best IIRC).

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Last ticket was a dud, but I got a ton of stuff from these (18?) free tickets. Final one was dupe Ovelia USB and dupe Noctis LM.

Overall haul:
New syncs: P Cecil, Tidus 1, Ysayle, Y'shtola, Angeal, Relm
New awakening: Tifa
New limit breaks: Snow, Bartz

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I got Braska AOSB dupe today, I thought at least it would be decent armor for a fire mage but he and Rubicante already have hero gear and Ace has the Wodin gauntlet so ugh.

I got some new syncs and LBOs, only one I'll probably use is Warrior of Light's though. Only 1 new awakening though and it's Snow's but he won't make my physical ice team and my mages are too strong in FFXIII.

I kinda want to do the Awakening dream select but I can't think of anything I really need, if Thief's awakening 2 was there I'd get it but it's too early apparently.

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I need to figure out my sync selections. I'm leaning toward Prompto for one of them... I have his awakening and I can lens his chain. I already have Shelke's chain and awakening but her damage is absolutely terrible, like Y'shtola tier or worse.

For the other one I'm not sure. There are lots of DKs I haven't beaten yet (1,2,3,5,11,12,13,14), and my magic wind team needs help, and my magic water team might need help. There aren't many that would help with 2 fights... Meia might, but I don't really want to use her and I don't have the tools for a FF1 magic team.

I was thinking of Rydia's water sync since I already have 2 awakenings and a dyad for her. But now I'm thinking more of wind magic help since that's my worst element team by far, I haven't even beaten that Odin yet. I'm planning to go for Fujin stuff on fest b5 but I think I still need another good wind character. So Ultimecia's sync is one possibility or Terra's could be good.

If I choose solely for DK I'd probably grab Vaan's.

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I dont think I want to break my pure f2p status since that seems like a potential slippery slope, but Cait, Mog1, and Orran AAs are kinda tempting. Dont know if there are any syncs that seem like theyre worth 30 bucks to me.

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If you had to make an exception for free to play Orran's awakening is worth it, assuming you have his sync too.

Prompto seems to be the most popular sync pick because Nexus Kraken is next month and Prompto doesn't have many infusion options. That's what I'm getting it for too.

I wouldn't get Vaan's sync since he has an ATB sync2 and I'd just wait until that's selectable.

I also honed Master's awakening today in hopes of beating FF1 Bahamut, plus he might make some Nexus teams since his Awakening is so good.

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I don't have anything for Orran, unfortunately. I do have both of Cait's USBs (not that it really matters much since his USB2 is now lensable). Actually the main thing reducing temptation here for me is that I'd have to wipe out so many lenses to hone Cait or Orran AASBs if I bought them!

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Orran's awakening is definitely worth honing, but yeah you'll want his sync and glint+ too. But he is good in almost every physical party.

So was honing master's Awakening worth it? ...yes it was! Another Bahamut down!



Ah so close to a sub 40, still dragonking boards for Master!

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Guh I finally did it! I beat physical weak Kalavnika Striker! I had to use one of the my dream selects on Tifa sync 2 but he's finally dead!!!!



Man even with Tifa dyad + awakening +sync 2, honed Master Awakening and Galuf with both awakenings I still only won by luck on the last turn before the countdown! Ugh that final phase is so goddamn bulky! Am I playing some diffrent game from everyone else who's calling this guy easy?! I have no idea how that guy beat this boss with just Tifa and Bartz awakening 1!!!

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Do you have Master Monk's sync or just his awakening? I do wish I had his sync.

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Just his awakening honed.

I plan to use him for Ice Giant and/or Kraken too. He just plows through the first phases.

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Congrats on both of those!

Phys KS is the only lab boss Ive even tried (and it was just for the hell of it to see how far I could go with the free overdrive). I think I got him down to around 60%, having somehow already wasted all of Noctiss HA hones.

I probably should try magic Salamander at some point, though. For now I need to muster up the willpower to try and figure out T0 DK while the missions still up!

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Thanks, Kalavinka Striker is easy for the first 3 phases though then his bulk just skyrockets at phase 4! Top that with the short time limit and you got a BS paper clip bird.

Man I'm scared to see the higher difficulty versions of these guys, the short time limit is really getting out of hand with these nexus bastards!

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Finally finished all S1 labyrinth corridors. Man those 20 level ones are a slog. Thankfully, my magic holy (mostly) summoner team can essentially rip through anything, shoutout to Hope's sync which just gets more crazy the more turns he gets in it. Normally things are dead by his second turn in sync.

Going to try and take out physical Ramuh and magical Leviathan tomorrow. I have the tools, though debating whether to use Shantotto as my chain holder (she has the instacast newish one) since she also has sync/AASB, or bring Desch/Garnet (though I barely have anything for either). Likely Shan I think. For phys Ramuh, I think I'll bring Gladio (chain/AASB), Noctis (sync/AASB), and Bartz (sync/AASB).

As far as the dream selects go, I think I'll do one sync and one AASB. I have Orran's sync (unsure about his glint+ but I think so), so he may be the AASB choice. I don't have Cait's AASB though. Got both of Mog's as well as Mog's sync, and have Quina's sync too. Maaaay go for Rydia's water sync, since my magic water isn't super great. Super unsure though.

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Labyrinth group P is IX. Finally Zidane and Vivi will get their hero equipment! (in six months for us...)

And yeah, I'm definitely worried about the higher difficulty lab fights. I'm assuming when we get to the second lap through the elements those will be a step up in difficulty too?

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Where are you guys getting harder difficulty levels for labyrinths from? The only thing I know of, are actually lower difficulty fights

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/114492-final-fantasy-record-keeper/79652436
(Post 2)

Says they're adding D580, while the current fights are D650. D580 is Dreambreaker-level btw.

Got T0 DK down to 7%... ugh, definitely would have had it if Mog hadn't been killed right before P3 started!

Edit: Mog lived and I got him down to 1.1%... with multiple turns of accidentally having Cater use icy offering instead of Trinity Grenade

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Yaaaaaaaaaay got him down!



Didnt quite get the sub-30; wonder if I could have if I hadnt cheaped out and used Ironfist Ice for Eight instead of springing for his HA (he was consistently capping anyway though, so the only difference would be the extra hit).

I had to outrace P3 because Rem couldnt actually break 20k even during the couple of seconds where her SASB and AASB were overlapping and Caters dps just sucked (it was maxing out around 15k even though when she crit at max chain in P3). She did contribute a 30% party weakness boost, though!

Anyway, I used my ticket on the ice banner and got... Kiross BSB. Seems about right...!

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...oh, Cater had a 6* weapon equipped instead of the realm artifact gun. That would explain some things!

Fixed that (and bought the DK nodes) and got the sub-30 after a few more tries:



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Congrats!

Trying to get through all the S2 labyrinth corridors. Finally saw my first magic pot! No shimmering paintings yet though

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Congrats on the Bahamut win, any victory over that jerk is an accomplishment.

And maybe I was misremembering about higher difficulty. Although there will be a second round of elemental bosses, I assume they must be harder than the first.

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I may have asked this before, but what do I do with duplicate HE accessories?

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Thanks!

Actually got something useful from the daily draw: Snows wcast LMR. I have his SASB/AASB2 and he has useless default LMs so thats super helpful.

mccheyne posted...

I may have asked this before, but what do I do with duplicate HE accessories?

Use them as upgrade fodder for other HEs (though I think theyre less gil efficient if thats a concern).


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Got XIV down as well :D



Sadly I had to ditch Yda despite her being my first sync and comboing well with Papa sync to go full mage. I also didnt end up using Alphys dyad finisher which maybe could have got me the sub-30 (though possibly not, I think I broke kings rage the turn before anyway). Yshtolas LBO ended up being useful in that it took care of one stack of Kings rage, though it only did 27k a hit at max chain. I have her sync too, but since I had to have her take hastega and the sync/bUSB would have overwritten each other Im not sure there was a way to really make that useful.

Edit: oh whoops, went to unlock the DK modes and Yshtola wasnt fully RBed!

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Oh it was my mistake when I said stronger versions of Labyrinth bosses were coming, I saw that starting with Alexander that labyrinth bosses are going to get two difficulties, I assumed the new one was going to be stronger since a new level of powercreep relic was announced around the same time.

That is weird they're adding a weaker version of the boss when they're introducing dual awakenings soon, so it was a reasonable mistake a lot of people are making.

Ah well speaking of Labyrinth bosses FUCK THE SNOW GIANT. I've spent like 3 hours today trying to beat the physical version but I always get timed out at 15-under 10% HP left! UGH!



I'm not sure how beat the turn limit unless I get Master's sync for another cap break or Baltheir's LBO/Sync or Edge's dyad, or maybe even Sarah's new USB but that's not even dream selectable!

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Yeah, I gave up on physical Snow Giant for now. My plan involves getting Noctis's dual awakening, or at least Locke's IATB3 sync on the FF6 banner I'm planning one pull on (mostly for Strago's stuff).

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LordoftheMorons posted...

Use them as upgrade fodder for other HEs (though I think theyre less gil efficient if thats a concern).

Thanks!

Alright, finished all the Labyrinth corridors at least once. I assume quick explores should be saved for the 20 floor dungeons back in season 1, but I used a couple on the 15 floor S2 corridor for Rikku stuff. Got a couple Aria HE pieces instead, nothing for Rikku yet unfortunately. Bought Seph's stuff from Kite's shop, so it's only 3/3/6, but should still be quite solid.

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Physical Ramuh down in 26.88!

Must've forgotten one of the gimmicks because I got nuked for 99k AOE lol. Last stand popped and I was able to heal, but then one of the big P3 AOEs hit, and down went everyone except Bartz and Elarra, and the chain had just ended. Thankfully, Bartz was still under sync, Ramuh was under 10%, and Bartz's C1 was still hitting about 15k, so it finished him. Gonna grab two more hopefully, so I can make a defensive Ramuh.

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Need two more copies of Ramuh, and I know my magic earth team is better, so I ran it once just now. Improved my magic time from 24.60 to 21.94. Red XIII and Emperor's SASB+AASB combos, with accompanying HE equipment (Red 3/3/6, Emperor 4/4/7, though only two copies of his armor), along with Tellah's chain and Rydia with AASB + summon support damage (and Elarra healing), is quite powerful. After I finish the other five 6*s that I have left, magic earth AOdin may be where I start!

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mccheyne posted...

Need two more copies of Ramuh, and I know my magic earth team is better, so I ran it once just now. Improved my magic time from 24.60 to 21.94. Red XIII and Emperor's SASB+AASB combos, with accompanying HE equipment (Red 3/3/6, Emperor 4/4/7, though only two copies of his armor), along with Tellah's chain and Rydia with AASB + summon support damage (and Elarra healing), is quite powerful. After I finish the other five 6*s that I have left, magic earth AOdin may be where I start!

Assuming decent support to replace Rydia it certainly sounds like you have a winning WOdin team!

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LordoftheMorons posted...

Assuming decent support to replace Rydia it certainly sounds like you have a winning WOdin team!

Was thinking Mog? Likely the best mage support I have. AASB1 and 2 (though neither fully honed) and Sync.

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That sounds like plenty to crush Odin, and probably Kalavinka Striker too.

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Yeah I've used Mog for all of my WOdin kills. He's great for magic teams and I've found him to be serviceable for physical teams (having untyped quickcast is great and I don't really like using Tyro, though having to rely on OtV for critfix kinda sucks). I do have his AA2 honed which I think is probably pretty important for the physical teams, but AA1 should probably be better than a second AA2 use for mage teams anyway. You should have the gauge to use his USB1 too since you probably wouldn't be stacking the awakenings without either honed.

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