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FF5 Solos vs. Gil Turtle Part III
Apr. 13th, 2017 05:38 pmThe Geomancer
I'm sure that Sullla if he ever reads this, as well as anyone who got it during a natural Four Job Fiesta will agree with me when I say: SCREW THIS CLASS.
And yet this atrocious job still has more HP than Ranger. I also expected it to be pretty bad, so it stings less. The sad thing is, it actually does have a decent attacking option of its own - Stalactite deals appreciable damage. Less than a Hi-Potion, but that just means you can save them. Of course, it's !Gaia, so you're more likely to throw fire or wind and heal the turtle. So it's not actually an option.
Instead it's another fight that involves Hi-Potion use to be successful. What Geomancer does have going for it against this superboss is that it is much more likely to have a high level, due to needing it for the rest of the game. Maybe 68 like Sullla went to in order to beat Exdeath is a bit excessive, so we'll say 56. This gives Geomancer Shredder 3465HP.
This let Shredder survive five hits before having to heal - obviously higher levels would mean even more buffer. It was a pretty big change not having to worry about timing attacks - although when Elixir healing, I did wait until after Gil Turtle moved unless Shredder needed to heal right away. Shredder could even go Elixir -> get hit -> Hi-Potion the turtle -> hit hit hit hit -> Elixir. Then again, I also had the status bug active. And since this class sucks, it'll have to contend with poison.
I played this fight more aggressively than normal, even to the point of taking risks. Total cost was 30 Elixirs (again, aggressive - could've used less) and a handful of Hi-Potions. Definitely not a good class either way.
17/26. Silly but doable. And actually, one of the more fun fights against it. If Ranger was the disappointment, then Geomancer was the surprise. Can't stress how great it was not having to worry about timing attacks. Despite the resources needed, Geomancer has a better shot at this fight than some jobs.
Geomancer in the postgame gets even more HP and maybe Chicken Knife to try out. It may be able to use the Rune Bell too. Cave-In - which can be reasonably and consistently used at lower levels on iOS due to the changed formula - does hurt but triggers two counters, not a good thing unless you like being dangerous or want to stylishly finish like I did. Note its damage is the same as Meteor and therefore is just as inconsistent - each shot can deal zero damage or it can deal like 700 damage. And it can't dispel the Shell status.
__________
The Dragoon
How do they even jump that high, anyway? Rocket boots? Secretly lacking one O? Training from a certain italian plumber?
One iOS/derivatives exclusive thing: this class can equip the Twin Lance in those versions. And it works as expected, hitting twice on a !Jump. I'm not sure if it counts for an extra hit that triggers another counter with that attack. It doesn't with Thief, as I said, since it's mechanically a special attack that hits twice.
Instead in this version, and maybe that version too, you're jumping with the Partisan, the best common spear. Main Gauche does little to no damage if you try to use it, although if you're willing to go the "common" route and spend a lot of resources, you can use the Gauche/Shield/Mantle combo.
You need the right timing with the jumps, of course. Jump too early, and you'll be susceptible to a 1-2-3-4. So maybe the general combo is the right idea after all. Or leveling until it can survive the quadra combo for some buffer - 2300HP should do it with some buffer. Either way, the typical strategy of switching to the Gauche when healing applies.
The proper timing for Shredder to strike was, after blocking an attack and switching the Partisan back in, to...go from Items to Jump at an ordinary to quick (but not super quick) pace. As long as I didn't dawdle or rapid-fire the inputs, Shredder would only face the two counters and one further attack. And after landing, switch in the Gauche again to increase the chances of blocking for the next attack or to heal. A second, harder timing was rapid-firing it if Gil Turtle attacked a short while before Shredder's turn. This is all assuming default Battle Speed and ATB on Wait.
(What Battle Speed does, by the way, is give a delay to input commands before ATB continues. A setting of 1 gives no delay, and further settings give an additional half-second or so. The Drag spell of the Time Mage sets the Battle Speed to 5.)
Check out the resources from near the end of the fight. All in all, Dragoon Shredder's total usage of items amounted to 97 Hi-Potions and 22 Elixirs. Slower killers absolutely do need more resources. This is definitely a class that could benefit from higher levels against this thing, mostly due to the speed factor.
18/26. If you can manage the timing, Dragoon doesn't have too much trouble with this fight. It just takes forever and quite a bit of resources. Seriously, this is the longest fight I've had with it so far - nearly 55 minutes! Discounting White Mage due to needing to heal poison constantly from bad Turtle, the next-slowest is Ranger at around 35 minutes (the unknowingly status bugged Black Mage is fastest so far, just over four and a half).
In the postgame, Dragoons can instead use their namesake spear for higher damage. The legendary Holy Spear of course won't work due to being elemental. Longinus, the new spear, unfortunately comes after Gil Turtle in the bonus dungeon.
__________
The Dancer
Oh god not another class with poor offense and bad vitality.
Dancer's biggest advantage is that it doesn't need to worry about Turtle or the status bug, since it can force it to be HP Leak only with the Ribbon! That means a lot if you're antsy about abusing it.
Of course, Dancer has terribad HP and its own offensive options aren't that great on Gil Turtle, so it's stuck throwing Hi-Potions. And it's the worst at it of the lot. Thief has its naturally high agility and stealing capabilities. Beastmaster can do that crapshot with Web that goes miles if it does succeed. Geomancer is likely to be high-leveled on its own so will have more of an HP buffer, and grinding for this express purpose isn't an issue. But Dancer has nothing going for it but the Ribbon, and if you don't mind the status bug, it's on equal footing with all Bone Mail using classes.
I first tried this with Shredder at 50, which gives the Dancer 2143HP as shown above - or enough to survive three hits with buffer. This went so poorly that Shredder had already used 40 Elixirs and 52 Hi-Potions by the time Gil Turtle was half-dead. That seemed absurd and I hadn't boosted them to 99, so I had to reset. Rechecking Sullla's report said he went to level 59 for Exdeath at the end of this world. Excessive, maybe. 56, same as Geomancer, did give Shredder 2695, good for surviving four hits with buffer. It's probably more reasonable to grind levels and Elxiirs than a ton more Elixirs.
To compare at the same halfway mark of the fight at level 56, Shredder had used 20 Elixirs and 41 Hi-Potions. Some attributable to better luck, but regardless. Being able to take more hits indeed saves you resources. Final usage count at the end was 42 Elixirs and 86 Hi-Potions. I was worried I'd run out towards the end, then Shredder went crazy on the dodges for a while.
19/26. It just needs to level up enough and bore down through it, but it can get it done. The last of the classes that needs to use this strategy. Good riddance.
Because of Chicken Sword Dance, Dancer will have higher damage output in the postgame. It will also have the Rainbow Dress for higher defense and making Sword Dance more likely.
__________
The Samurai
The class which proved years before a certain game which stars a loli shopkeeper that money can solve all your problems. Capitalism, ho!
Indeed, Samurai can just GilToss this idiot to death. With Main Gauche, Flame/Ice Shield, Elven Mantle, and its own natural evasion ability, the turtle's odds of landing a hit are in the toilet - 77.4% evasion. And even if an attack did get through, Samurai Shredder was fairly beefy. I didn't even worry about healing right away because of this; Shredder used only two Elixirs throughout the battle.
20/26. Nothing else to this one, it's just pay2win. Against a boss whose primary reward is money, no less. Spending money to make money indeed. Actually more likely to waste you money, but we're here to dine on turtle soup, not make money.
Samurai in the postgame would be higher leveled for nastier GilTosses, and can Haste itself with Masamune just in case you think Samurai has it too difficult.
________
The Chemist
El Gran Cheapo itself. Is there anything the Chemist can't do? Inflict Slow on its enemies for the 4-to-1 speed advantage. Or inflict Dispel without using Staff of Judgment. Still though.
So first and foremost, let's talk about the Angel Robe and Resist Poison. The big presence in this fight is Turtle. I will admit, the status bug is a bit sketchy and might not even be an option in later versions. But either of these out of the Chemist can resist poison. So what happens?
Um, bad stuff. Instead of HP Leak or just darkness, Turtle will instead inflict confusion, aging, and paralysis! Gil Turtle's physicals don't seem to dispel this confusion, and in a possible bug, the paralysis doesn't seem to wear off either. So sadly, those aren't options here.
Chemist actually doesn't hit as hard as you might think on this thing! At least in this version where level bonuses are capped. Succubus Kiss/Drain Kiss doesn't work due to it being undead. Dragon Breath fails because the absorption of fire and lightning takes precedence over its ice elemental weakness. Holy Breath doesn't work because of elemental immunity. Shadowflare unfortunately isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But I'll get to those momentarily. On the bright side, Chemist is still fantastic on defense - it can double its HP, get Protect, and get Haste too. It can even get Regen if you're not using the status bug. Healing Staff can work to heal, and although you can't drain kiss the turtle, Chemist can actually kiss itself and restore HP that way! As long as it doesn't have on Bone Mail, then it won't restore or take away HP, even though it shows HP being restored. That said, if you want to use it anyway, the Chemist can heal with an elemental resist mixture and hitting itself with Dragon Breath. Or a Death Potion.
Speaking of kisses, remember in my solo Cannoneer report when I said Kiss of Blessing was only partially patched out of this version? Well, yeah - they just did a patchjob on it. It still works, just not on Exdeath and maybe a few others. Using it will deny the turtle its counterattacks, although it also hastes the turtle and makes its regular attacks hurt more. Probably not worth it.
Anyway, damage. The strongest option in-theory is Dark Breath (Dark Matter + Dragon Fang), dealing damage equal to the Chemist's missing HP. Risky and costly though. Behind that is...the Hi-Potion mixture, which is done with either two of them or one plus a Holy Water. This ordinarily heals 900, but the Chemist's innate Pharmacology applies to this mixture, so it heals/deals a flat 1800 damage each time. Yes, that's right, I may have arguably lied - this class is another whose best option is feeding the turtle Hi-Potions, unless you want to play dangerously and use those mixing materials. Even Shadowflares at effective level 99 don't outdamage this. Needless to say, Shredder didn't have a problem as a Chemist.
One iOS exclusive note on damage: Power Drinks work in that version, so Turtle Soup mixes plus those might turn out to be damaging in their own right, but of course will be subject to missing.
21/26. Who'd have thunk the strongest class (maybe) and weakest class (Geomancer) share the same best option for dealing with this thing? Though for that matter, both of them aren't quite the strongest and weakest at fighting Gil Turtle respectively. Regardless, Chemist can still shut it out.
Chemist in the postgame would be able to lay the smackdown on this thing with Sage's Staff. and dispel its Protect/Shell with Staff of Judgment for faster results.
__________
The Gladiator
The first of the GBA exclusive job classes. They're more or less a miniature version of the Freelancer in their weapon variety, with higher stats and their own tricks.
Unfortunately, Finisher is almost useless in this fight. No matter what character you're using, Gil Turtle will absorb the damage from it. Its only purpose is potentially getting you off to a stronger start with its Critical Hit, though I didn't do that in the fight.
Unlike its elemental sword wielding partners in crime, Gladiator is very capable of using Icebrand + Ice Shield to heal. Thanks to its Long Reach ability, it is not subject to the back row quirk, so self-slashes deal/heal the full damage. Because of this, it requires no resources for the Gladiator to win this fight. Just backtracking from Exdeath's Castle with the Ice Shield. This also means being able to use the Bone Mail outright, no bugs needed.
As long as the Gladiator has enough HP to survive a 1-2-3 and follows the script, this is a lock. Due to its high agility, Shredder could even get away with launching attacks at full health if Gil Turtle moved a little before his turn. Although this happening is always annoying. The bright side is, it will hit for like 1200 damage a swing when it does.
22/26. It just takes a while because of the factor of missing.
This is already a very convincing setup for the solo Gladiator, so the postgame changes nothing with it.
__________
The Cannoneer
They destroyed the city and escaped to the sea.
Already won this one before, and with bad Turtle no less, but to go over it again for this report, Cannoneer equips the Main Gauche, Ice Shield, and Elven Mantle for maximum evasion (70%) and unloads with !Open Fire. This is a move that deals damage independent of the character's stats and equipment, improving with level. Sometimes it does a lot of damage. Sometimes it does a little damage. Sometimes they'll do in-between as above. It depends on what version of the shot shows up.
Regardless of the inconsistent damage, being able to equip the defensive evading trio and still have a solid attacking option is an exclusive club consisting of this class, Samurai, Blue Mage, and maybe Mystic Knight. The more attacks you can evade, the less healing resources you use! I was actually fighting it risky back then with my solo, since I wasn't waiting to avoid the 1-2-3. But I did make it through that fight, and without the status bug in play. Still, 70% evasion lets you get away with that stuff sometimes. So Shredder took some risks early on, too.
22/26 still since I was already counting this one. I also have to say that getting good Turtle absolutely makes a difference, although that should be obvious. Forget how much I used back then, but only needed 2 Elixirs and 67 Hi-Potions here. In fact, I apparently fought this at 42, just like I did with Shredder here. So no bias from that end. And proof that the status bug is more a convenience than necessity if it comes to that.
In the postgame, Cannoneer gets its !Combine ability, and can therefore take advantage of Needle Cannon to deal 3000 damage with every blast. They can also use slow on the turtle. Or if it's even higher level, nonelemental combines can do the trick, including those that abuse the no counterattack bug. They can even make like Picard did and Vulner Shot its defenses away and try to fight with the Chicken Knife!
__________
Four more to go. These ones all present some problems. I'll cover them next time, and give a rough tier list of how good each job class is at fighting the turtle.
Next | Index
I'm sure that Sullla if he ever reads this, as well as anyone who got it during a natural Four Job Fiesta will agree with me when I say: SCREW THIS CLASS.
And yet this atrocious job still has more HP than Ranger. I also expected it to be pretty bad, so it stings less. The sad thing is, it actually does have a decent attacking option of its own - Stalactite deals appreciable damage. Less than a Hi-Potion, but that just means you can save them. Of course, it's !Gaia, so you're more likely to throw fire or wind and heal the turtle. So it's not actually an option.
Instead it's another fight that involves Hi-Potion use to be successful. What Geomancer does have going for it against this superboss is that it is much more likely to have a high level, due to needing it for the rest of the game. Maybe 68 like Sullla went to in order to beat Exdeath is a bit excessive, so we'll say 56. This gives Geomancer Shredder 3465HP.
This let Shredder survive five hits before having to heal - obviously higher levels would mean even more buffer. It was a pretty big change not having to worry about timing attacks - although when Elixir healing, I did wait until after Gil Turtle moved unless Shredder needed to heal right away. Shredder could even go Elixir -> get hit -> Hi-Potion the turtle -> hit hit hit hit -> Elixir. Then again, I also had the status bug active. And since this class sucks, it'll have to contend with poison.
I played this fight more aggressively than normal, even to the point of taking risks. Total cost was 30 Elixirs (again, aggressive - could've used less) and a handful of Hi-Potions. Definitely not a good class either way.
17/26. Silly but doable. And actually, one of the more fun fights against it. If Ranger was the disappointment, then Geomancer was the surprise. Can't stress how great it was not having to worry about timing attacks. Despite the resources needed, Geomancer has a better shot at this fight than some jobs.
Geomancer in the postgame gets even more HP and maybe Chicken Knife to try out. It may be able to use the Rune Bell too. Cave-In - which can be reasonably and consistently used at lower levels on iOS due to the changed formula - does hurt but triggers two counters, not a good thing unless you like being dangerous or want to stylishly finish like I did. Note its damage is the same as Meteor and therefore is just as inconsistent - each shot can deal zero damage or it can deal like 700 damage. And it can't dispel the Shell status.
__________
The Dragoon
How do they even jump that high, anyway? Rocket boots? Secretly lacking one O? Training from a certain italian plumber?
One iOS/derivatives exclusive thing: this class can equip the Twin Lance in those versions. And it works as expected, hitting twice on a !Jump. I'm not sure if it counts for an extra hit that triggers another counter with that attack. It doesn't with Thief, as I said, since it's mechanically a special attack that hits twice.
Instead in this version, and maybe that version too, you're jumping with the Partisan, the best common spear. Main Gauche does little to no damage if you try to use it, although if you're willing to go the "common" route and spend a lot of resources, you can use the Gauche/Shield/Mantle combo.
You need the right timing with the jumps, of course. Jump too early, and you'll be susceptible to a 1-2-3-4. So maybe the general combo is the right idea after all. Or leveling until it can survive the quadra combo for some buffer - 2300HP should do it with some buffer. Either way, the typical strategy of switching to the Gauche when healing applies.
The proper timing for Shredder to strike was, after blocking an attack and switching the Partisan back in, to...go from Items to Jump at an ordinary to quick (but not super quick) pace. As long as I didn't dawdle or rapid-fire the inputs, Shredder would only face the two counters and one further attack. And after landing, switch in the Gauche again to increase the chances of blocking for the next attack or to heal. A second, harder timing was rapid-firing it if Gil Turtle attacked a short while before Shredder's turn. This is all assuming default Battle Speed and ATB on Wait.
(What Battle Speed does, by the way, is give a delay to input commands before ATB continues. A setting of 1 gives no delay, and further settings give an additional half-second or so. The Drag spell of the Time Mage sets the Battle Speed to 5.)
Check out the resources from near the end of the fight. All in all, Dragoon Shredder's total usage of items amounted to 97 Hi-Potions and 22 Elixirs. Slower killers absolutely do need more resources. This is definitely a class that could benefit from higher levels against this thing, mostly due to the speed factor.
18/26. If you can manage the timing, Dragoon doesn't have too much trouble with this fight. It just takes forever and quite a bit of resources. Seriously, this is the longest fight I've had with it so far - nearly 55 minutes! Discounting White Mage due to needing to heal poison constantly from bad Turtle, the next-slowest is Ranger at around 35 minutes (the unknowingly status bugged Black Mage is fastest so far, just over four and a half).
In the postgame, Dragoons can instead use their namesake spear for higher damage. The legendary Holy Spear of course won't work due to being elemental. Longinus, the new spear, unfortunately comes after Gil Turtle in the bonus dungeon.
__________
The Dancer
Oh god not another class with poor offense and bad vitality.
Dancer's biggest advantage is that it doesn't need to worry about Turtle or the status bug, since it can force it to be HP Leak only with the Ribbon! That means a lot if you're antsy about abusing it.
Of course, Dancer has terribad HP and its own offensive options aren't that great on Gil Turtle, so it's stuck throwing Hi-Potions. And it's the worst at it of the lot. Thief has its naturally high agility and stealing capabilities. Beastmaster can do that crapshot with Web that goes miles if it does succeed. Geomancer is likely to be high-leveled on its own so will have more of an HP buffer, and grinding for this express purpose isn't an issue. But Dancer has nothing going for it but the Ribbon, and if you don't mind the status bug, it's on equal footing with all Bone Mail using classes.
I first tried this with Shredder at 50, which gives the Dancer 2143HP as shown above - or enough to survive three hits with buffer. This went so poorly that Shredder had already used 40 Elixirs and 52 Hi-Potions by the time Gil Turtle was half-dead. That seemed absurd and I hadn't boosted them to 99, so I had to reset. Rechecking Sullla's report said he went to level 59 for Exdeath at the end of this world. Excessive, maybe. 56, same as Geomancer, did give Shredder 2695, good for surviving four hits with buffer. It's probably more reasonable to grind levels and Elxiirs than a ton more Elixirs.
To compare at the same halfway mark of the fight at level 56, Shredder had used 20 Elixirs and 41 Hi-Potions. Some attributable to better luck, but regardless. Being able to take more hits indeed saves you resources. Final usage count at the end was 42 Elixirs and 86 Hi-Potions. I was worried I'd run out towards the end, then Shredder went crazy on the dodges for a while.
19/26. It just needs to level up enough and bore down through it, but it can get it done. The last of the classes that needs to use this strategy. Good riddance.
Because of Chicken Sword Dance, Dancer will have higher damage output in the postgame. It will also have the Rainbow Dress for higher defense and making Sword Dance more likely.
__________
The Samurai
The class which proved years before a certain game which stars a loli shopkeeper that money can solve all your problems. Capitalism, ho!
Indeed, Samurai can just GilToss this idiot to death. With Main Gauche, Flame/Ice Shield, Elven Mantle, and its own natural evasion ability, the turtle's odds of landing a hit are in the toilet - 77.4% evasion. And even if an attack did get through, Samurai Shredder was fairly beefy. I didn't even worry about healing right away because of this; Shredder used only two Elixirs throughout the battle.
20/26. Nothing else to this one, it's just pay2win. Against a boss whose primary reward is money, no less. Spending money to make money indeed. Actually more likely to waste you money, but we're here to dine on turtle soup, not make money.
Samurai in the postgame would be higher leveled for nastier GilTosses, and can Haste itself with Masamune just in case you think Samurai has it too difficult.
________
The Chemist
El Gran Cheapo itself. Is there anything the Chemist can't do? Inflict Slow on its enemies for the 4-to-1 speed advantage. Or inflict Dispel without using Staff of Judgment. Still though.
So first and foremost, let's talk about the Angel Robe and Resist Poison. The big presence in this fight is Turtle. I will admit, the status bug is a bit sketchy and might not even be an option in later versions. But either of these out of the Chemist can resist poison. So what happens?
Um, bad stuff. Instead of HP Leak or just darkness, Turtle will instead inflict confusion, aging, and paralysis! Gil Turtle's physicals don't seem to dispel this confusion, and in a possible bug, the paralysis doesn't seem to wear off either. So sadly, those aren't options here.
Chemist actually doesn't hit as hard as you might think on this thing! At least in this version where level bonuses are capped. Succubus Kiss/Drain Kiss doesn't work due to it being undead. Dragon Breath fails because the absorption of fire and lightning takes precedence over its ice elemental weakness. Holy Breath doesn't work because of elemental immunity. Shadowflare unfortunately isn't all it's cracked up to be.
But I'll get to those momentarily. On the bright side, Chemist is still fantastic on defense - it can double its HP, get Protect, and get Haste too. It can even get Regen if you're not using the status bug. Healing Staff can work to heal, and although you can't drain kiss the turtle, Chemist can actually kiss itself and restore HP that way! As long as it doesn't have on Bone Mail, then it won't restore or take away HP, even though it shows HP being restored. That said, if you want to use it anyway, the Chemist can heal with an elemental resist mixture and hitting itself with Dragon Breath. Or a Death Potion.
Speaking of kisses, remember in my solo Cannoneer report when I said Kiss of Blessing was only partially patched out of this version? Well, yeah - they just did a patchjob on it. It still works, just not on Exdeath and maybe a few others. Using it will deny the turtle its counterattacks, although it also hastes the turtle and makes its regular attacks hurt more. Probably not worth it.
Anyway, damage. The strongest option in-theory is Dark Breath (Dark Matter + Dragon Fang), dealing damage equal to the Chemist's missing HP. Risky and costly though. Behind that is...the Hi-Potion mixture, which is done with either two of them or one plus a Holy Water. This ordinarily heals 900, but the Chemist's innate Pharmacology applies to this mixture, so it heals/deals a flat 1800 damage each time. Yes, that's right, I may have arguably lied - this class is another whose best option is feeding the turtle Hi-Potions, unless you want to play dangerously and use those mixing materials. Even Shadowflares at effective level 99 don't outdamage this. Needless to say, Shredder didn't have a problem as a Chemist.
One iOS exclusive note on damage: Power Drinks work in that version, so Turtle Soup mixes plus those might turn out to be damaging in their own right, but of course will be subject to missing.
21/26. Who'd have thunk the strongest class (maybe) and weakest class (Geomancer) share the same best option for dealing with this thing? Though for that matter, both of them aren't quite the strongest and weakest at fighting Gil Turtle respectively. Regardless, Chemist can still shut it out.
Chemist in the postgame would be able to lay the smackdown on this thing with Sage's Staff. and dispel its Protect/Shell with Staff of Judgment for faster results.
__________
The Gladiator
The first of the GBA exclusive job classes. They're more or less a miniature version of the Freelancer in their weapon variety, with higher stats and their own tricks.
Unfortunately, Finisher is almost useless in this fight. No matter what character you're using, Gil Turtle will absorb the damage from it. Its only purpose is potentially getting you off to a stronger start with its Critical Hit, though I didn't do that in the fight.
Unlike its elemental sword wielding partners in crime, Gladiator is very capable of using Icebrand + Ice Shield to heal. Thanks to its Long Reach ability, it is not subject to the back row quirk, so self-slashes deal/heal the full damage. Because of this, it requires no resources for the Gladiator to win this fight. Just backtracking from Exdeath's Castle with the Ice Shield. This also means being able to use the Bone Mail outright, no bugs needed.
As long as the Gladiator has enough HP to survive a 1-2-3 and follows the script, this is a lock. Due to its high agility, Shredder could even get away with launching attacks at full health if Gil Turtle moved a little before his turn. Although this happening is always annoying. The bright side is, it will hit for like 1200 damage a swing when it does.
22/26. It just takes a while because of the factor of missing.
This is already a very convincing setup for the solo Gladiator, so the postgame changes nothing with it.
__________
The Cannoneer
They destroyed the city and escaped to the sea.
Already won this one before, and with bad Turtle no less, but to go over it again for this report, Cannoneer equips the Main Gauche, Ice Shield, and Elven Mantle for maximum evasion (70%) and unloads with !Open Fire. This is a move that deals damage independent of the character's stats and equipment, improving with level. Sometimes it does a lot of damage. Sometimes it does a little damage. Sometimes they'll do in-between as above. It depends on what version of the shot shows up.
Regardless of the inconsistent damage, being able to equip the defensive evading trio and still have a solid attacking option is an exclusive club consisting of this class, Samurai, Blue Mage, and maybe Mystic Knight. The more attacks you can evade, the less healing resources you use! I was actually fighting it risky back then with my solo, since I wasn't waiting to avoid the 1-2-3. But I did make it through that fight, and without the status bug in play. Still, 70% evasion lets you get away with that stuff sometimes. So Shredder took some risks early on, too.
22/26 still since I was already counting this one. I also have to say that getting good Turtle absolutely makes a difference, although that should be obvious. Forget how much I used back then, but only needed 2 Elixirs and 67 Hi-Potions here. In fact, I apparently fought this at 42, just like I did with Shredder here. So no bias from that end. And proof that the status bug is more a convenience than necessity if it comes to that.
In the postgame, Cannoneer gets its !Combine ability, and can therefore take advantage of Needle Cannon to deal 3000 damage with every blast. They can also use slow on the turtle. Or if it's even higher level, nonelemental combines can do the trick, including those that abuse the no counterattack bug. They can even make like Picard did and Vulner Shot its defenses away and try to fight with the Chicken Knife!
__________
Four more to go. These ones all present some problems. I'll cover them next time, and give a rough tier list of how good each job class is at fighting the turtle.
Next | Index
