Game Progress (No Spoilers)

[Yang's bald head]

Yeah Destrudo. I survived the first one with a summon but the 2nd got me. I am tired, I will try again tomorrow I think.

[Violet]

Just got the game yesterday and I'm still getting the hang of everything. I'm in the Vile Peaks, chapter.. 5? I forget. But yeah, I keep switching through different classes. The main classes I start every battle with is Relentless attack, 2 ravagers and 1 commando. I'm thinking I better pick it up a knotch or I'll be facing some troubling times with future bosses D:.

[Ralz]

Actually, I've made no progress story-wise. But, I've found a great spot to CP grind thanks to YouTube walkthroughs. 4000 freebie CP in 20 seconds? I'LL TAKE THAT!

I'm just going to continue with this until I've completed everyone's main three roles for this chapter, then we'll see how hard the bosses are against me now!

(Hint hint: They're still probably quite hard.)

EDIT: Yes... Got 12 seconds in that fight with the King Behemoth. It was accidental, but I like achieveing stuff!

Finally finished my grinding for this chapter. I'm quite content that I made it this far. I'm not sure when I'll get to those extra roles... Not now, at the very least. And nice stats, everyone's got 4000 HP at least...

...except Hope.

Everyone's also got 5 ATB bars at least...

...except Vanille. (That should change when I find that last Eidolon and BEAT IT, just beat it! Cause I don't wanna be defeated! ()

And Fang is currently my strongest member, with 1100 Strength. o_O (Yeah, I'm gonna be using her a lot more.)

[Arch]

Still grindin but this is the 2nd time that i reached a mil of cp! yes! i find that very successful but i still wanna gain everyones levels i guess. i need to figure how to kill this gigantaur! ive tried to beast mode him soo many times and he just wont budge >.>

[Yang's bald head]

Destrudo no longer a problem, it's the doom on my main character that is... give me a break!

[Tiffany]

Yeah he casted Doom on me as well. Thankfully Fang smoked him before it made it to the countdown. If you check out my "Question about Medics" thread DH and I talked about various strategies in length about how to beat him.



ETA: I'm now at Gran Pulse! The Fifth Ark and the Palamecia were very annoying to me. Long, drawn out battles that never seemed to end. Meh.

[DragonHeart]

I'm finally done with the Crystarium, woot! Everybody's completely maxed out. Fang's topping out at over 3k strength with only one Power Glove equiped. XD She does an obscene amount of damage, it's great. <3 I've also got 3 ultimate weapons, though only one is maxed out. Got 2 Trapezohedrons too, just need one more really. Farming Adamantoise for that and Platinum Ingots; upgrading everything is going to take forever.

I did try taking on a Long Gui and holy hell, Ultima. x-x *dies* I almost had it too, just couldn't make it fall over that third time before it blasted me to oblivion. Well, blasted Hope and Vanille into oblivion, Fang was still standing as usual. XD Ran out of TP for Renew and forgot I only have one Phoenix Down so I aborted that attempt lol.

So now I've got one Cei'th mission to go, tried it a couple times but man, that thing is a pain. It would be cake if I could just Stagger the damn thing but nooo, he puts a stupid shield up every 30 seconds or so. I'll try again soon since I didn't have upgraded weapons or anything then. After that it's just a matter of cleaning up for the last few trophies.

~DragonHeart~

[Ralz]

Still grinding. Fun, huh?

Anyway, I found this crazy boss called Juggernaut in that cavern immediately after tha huge Gran Pulse area. That thing had 1 million + HP, and I beat it. o_O And my reward... was a Cie'th stone I couldn't access yet... but I did get a nice Platinum Bangle to help Hope's HP reach 4200! Now everyone's pretty good in the development department.

Speaking of which, I was doing some good grinding in that same cavern. A single trip through and back to the beginning save point offers 40000 CP and plenty of Bomb Cores and other goodies. I saw that as a good place to finally start working on my weapon levels. I went through the same process about 50+ times, to get the Item-boosting item from the Moogleshop.

...It wasn't very worth it, but I'm going to use it.

As for the Crystarium, since I've completed everyone's three main roles for this chapter, I said "screw it" and started filling what's left. I've completed a everyone's fourth role, and Fang is the only one who hasn't completed her fifth. After she's finished, I'LL DO IT. I'll finish those annoying grids and show I'm no quitter! >8D

Since doing that, I've been getting great boosts in HP, Strength, and whatnot. Everyone's got at least 4000 HP now, Fang has 5000, and Snow is tanking with 6000! Thanks to my current progress, Lightning and Fang share about 1150 Strength, and Vanille has 900 Magic and Hope was the most, at 1100. I'm going to continue grinding to get my character's more up to snuff.

[Fate]

I'm currently on Eden, after some hours of leveling with the Behemoth King and the giant dog attacking each other in that Steppe. Also, I have to comment that Barthandalus' second fight was in no way as hard as people claim. ._. I killed him my first attempt, with hardly any effort at all; the guy never even got [one] of my characters' HP to red, and each only had a little over 3,000 to begin with. =S

However, the damn Proud Clad's second form has too much HP for me. And that dumb move that recovers all its HP >.> I swear, my Highwind was used for nothing, because all that damage was reversed a second later. I'm not dying, but neither is the thing. ._.

[Nunubx]

Well, I finished the game and now have three things to say:

1.The final boss(2nd form) is probably the most EASIEST boss I have ever face in a JRPG EVAR.


2.The game's logo makes alot of sense when you finish the game.


3. If you still think My Hands doesn't have any place in FFXIII, you need to get out of the sun more and finish the game NAO.




PS. I notice a few things in my playthough like Hope's magic skyrocketing, Fang having more attack than Lightning, and Sazh sucking in gameplay....LOTS.

[Kaiden]

First post, quick Hello
To the game, I just beat the boss in Fifth Ark last night, loving all the boss fights so far!! I have been cruising through the game, when I can play (kind of wish I didn’t have a job). I know this isn’t really a review thread but I love the battle system. Breath of fresh air coming from 12. Haven’t gotten stuck on anything yet knock on wood. Everyone talking about how hard Pulse is, is scarring me a little atm. should be back with more updates after tonight.

[Ralz]

In terms of progress... Well, I've gotten farther, to say the least.

I'm not too far from completing all grids for this chapter. Weapon leveling was more annoying than I thought. The item-boosting accessory didn't really improve the drop rate much. In fact, there were plenty of battles that offered nothing at all. (Why do I bother, sometimes?) I'll keep it on in the vain hopes that it actually does something... >_>

Anyway, on to Yadonoki Tower, I mean that tower that reminds me of the Pharos from FFXII. It really does, as you have to complete tasks, usually involving the slaying of monsters, to unlock higher floors. Meanwhile, this asshat Dahaka is constantly harassing you. But I got Olmec's cousins backing me up. Can't mess with this!

I've been trying to give everyone some showtime, really. Sazh is great with Haste. Makes a lot of battles go way smoother. And Vanille and Hope make a good Ravager combo. As for Snow... well, he's good with Lightning and Fang together, when I want all physical. Unfortunately, his weapon sucks and I can't get him above 1100 Strength. I've had to rely on Warrior's Wristbands, or whatever, to get the extra 100 Strength. Lightning and Fang are already at 1200. o_O Oh well, at least he's not dead weight. And I found a battle that offers 8000 CP, and its not very hard! Too bad it only respawns if you leave the area and come back... and the elevator takes a while. Its against the gold asshat robots. (The ones who relentlessly attacks you with their one arm. I hate, hate, HATE those guys! D8<)

Got to the top, and beat down that annoying Dahaka wackjob. Of course, he beat me the first time. He had about 20% health left and he just recovered from Stagger. I was doing great damage to him with Lightning and Snow, and got the meter up to 999%, and everyones doing like 33000 damage, it was great. But, then he had to get up and use that attack where it inflicts bad statuses on the whole team. I thought I'd just be badass like that and beat him while impaired, but I got killed easily by Aeroga. 7000 damage for the fail. But the next fight was much easier, as I broke him down with Slow and DeProtect. And I swapped to three Medics with Esuna to deal with that annoying move. So, this time, Aeroga didn't do nearly as much to me. Then I broke him again, and the rape continued! I beat him, and got a lovely 33000 CP!

Now we move on to Oerba, and its as I half-expected, to put it non-spoilerific. Why do stories keep doing that? Oh well... Let's see what this place is like...

[Fate]

Yay, I've beaten the game, too! THe final bosses weren't very hard at all, were they? Just an immense amount of HP, really. ._.

Anyway, someone told me at one point, if I recall correctly, that the ending supposedly sucks. But after I watched it for myself, I wholeheartedly disagree. The ending was absolutely amazing to me, the best one of the series. And I finally get the logo of the game. Ingenious. I can honestly say this game is the probably one of the best thing I've spent money on.

Now to go back to Gran Pulse.

[Ralz]

I suppose I'm near the end of Chapter 11. I was strolling along through Oerba, and then, SURPRISE, Barthandelus shows up. "Hi?"

Anyway, he came sporting 3 million HP, but I still beat him. This form was easier than the other, because it just focuses on quick, weak attacks and statuses. Fortunately, I had a Salvation Paradigm in reserve. Halfway during the fight, I managed to hold off enough attacks to Slow him down, and inflict DeProtect and DeShell. When I brought out the more attack-oriented Paradigms, I brought down his HP quickly. The fight lasted about 10 minutes for me. And I beat him on my first try. And I had no idea I was even got fight Barthandelus in the first place. That guy needs to stop pretending to be Seymour... >_>

When I was fighting Barthandelus, I'm like "But what about the little robot thing of Vanille's?" So, I went back and found out its just some hint-giver. Thanks... >_> But, that's not all. It gave me a bunch of crap. Gold Nuggests... and who knows what else. I stopped by the shop, seeing if I could barely scrap together enough gil to buy a Phoenix Down or two.

...I suppose the people who know what those items give won't be surprised... but I gagged on my drink for a minute at how much they sold for. o_O So... I sold all that...

...that... that... wondrous... amazing... STUFF...

...and now I have 600000 gil. O_o (I hardly even wanna touch it. It feels so sacred.)

What on earth should I buy with that? Obviously I'll never see that amount again until, like, the end of the game or something. Anyway, the Crystarium advanced again. I was SO close to finishing those grids...

...but now all hope is lost for them. 30000 CP EACH LINE? O____O SCREW YOU!!! (I'm definitely abusing the Gran Pulse CP trick on this one, when I can.)

Oh well, onto bigger and better things, like figuring out how we're gonna get out of this mess, storywise.

[Tiffany]

First post, quick Hello
To the game, I just beat the boss in Fifth Ark last night, loving all the boss fights so far!! I have been cruising through the game, when I can play (kind of wish I didn’t have a job). I know this isn’t really a review thread but I love the battle system. Breath of fresh air coming from 12. Haven’t gotten stuck on anything yet knock on wood. Everyone talking about how hard Pulse is, is scarring me a little atm. should be back with more updates after tonight.

If you aren't having a problem with the bosses so far I don't think you need to be worried about Gran Pulse.

I had a horrid time with a few of the Boss fights, but I'm sailing through Gran Pulse with no issues at all, and 5-starring each fight.

[Ralz]

Well, I just performed my first cheap kill.

Now in Eden in Chapter 12, we're on our way to stop... well, everyone basically. I read about the Adamantoise trick, and so far, I've managed to take down two. Neither of them dropped anything, but I just wanted to see if I could do it. I'll need to keep that trick in mind when I go to get that weapon upgrading component from them later. DeShell and Curse really help that hit rate. Both times, I got it within 5 tries with those two stasuses up, and Haste, of course.

Now, I'll be moving on, forgetting about the Crystarium for now. There's simply nothing right now that even provides anything useful, or they're too hard or long, or they just don't respawn without a save point. I feel confident in my stats, but I'll always use the CP I get from normal battles.

Now then, I wonder if I can beat this game today...

EDIT: Probably not.

So, I'm in the final chapter now, and a kickass final area to suit the mood. And more annoying Cie'th with Death. I haven't been killed by it yet, but...

So, Hyrule's three goddesses, I mean three... things... come and give us good stuff. (Well, now I know how we get around.)

CP GRINDING TIME!

I was getting sick of all the hard battles and I couldn't do anything about it. Now, back to Gran Pulse for some leveling. And maybe I can get some upgrading done, too. I have a feeling I'm going to need everything I can get for the final battle.

I might even take on some Cie'th missions. I probably can't do the later ones, yet, so I'll just do what I can. I might even be able to farm some gil-selling components out of those Adamantoise. On second thought, maybe that's asking TOO much. I read the Death rate is extremely low.

...I love challenges!

[Violet]

Just reached chapter 11 and I'm getting my ass whooped. The battles take far too long to get 5 stars.. and my CP runs out too fast. So.. getting CP points is going to be a bitch as well as making money. That's another problem.. my weapons and accessories are low leveled(Lighnting's weapon is around 22 or 23), and Snow's is like.. lv 7.. Hope's.. not sure. But yeah, I'm just sucking and don't feel like grinding at the moment. Time to take a break from this thing..

[Ralz]

Ugh... screw the final battles... so long... >_>

Seriously, anyone who comes up and says Final Fantasy XIII is so easy can go die. I just spent a half hour dealing with ANNOYING rider enemies, sergeant douchebags, and CIE'TH WITH DEATH asshats!

I mean... GOD! Everything needs to be precise now. This game doesn't even **** around. (Excuse the language.) Final battles = Hell, Hell and a half, actually.

I just beat Tiamat Eliminator and OH MY GOD, could there be a more boring battle? Oh how I wish I could just let the game play itself this once... >_> I totally came in unprepared, because that totally happens all the time, right?

In all my Paradigms, Snow was a Sentinel. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Going into this, I considering trying again... but I wanted to see what I could do.

...Actually, I'm glad I made that mistake. Sentinel Snow completely blocked 90% of the damage. Granted, I had Hope as backup healing, but he didn't have to do it very often. I finally got to see Lightning's Army of One in action, and I found its utterly useless unless there's at least a percentage on the Stagger meter... >_>

When I DID do it right, though, it brought 200% to 500% easily. I had Hope helping with the attacking by being a Ravager, and Snow, the badass who just eats everything.

The fight took a painstaking SEVENTEEN minutes. Do I even need to explain how bad I had to go to the bathroom? And no, I never pause in the middle of the fight. THAT'S FOR WUSSES!!!! D8<

So now I have no idea what the hell this game is going to torture me with. The grinding DID NOT HELP AT ALL. I should have expected that, but... COME ON!

Ugh, I'm just hoping now that the final battle is soon. I'm almost out of Deceptisols and Aegisols... I can't deal with another Cie'th pack...

(Comment where poster is annoyed is comment where poster is severely annoyed.)

[DragonHeart]

Yeah, that's the only downside to Army of One/Highwind/etc, their damage doesn't really shine unless you can Stagger your enemy and get the chain gauge as high as possible. They're finishing moves, basically. I use Highwind a lot. I had Snow tank that battle too, one of the only times I voluntarily put him on my team. It's not that I don't like him, it's that he's pretty much only good for tanking lol.

I'm not playing as much as I was, I'm down to maybe one or two hours a day since I've got mostly annoying things left to do. 6 missions left to 5-star and of course I left the worst of them for last. I hate Zirnitras. >_< And Indomitable Will /sigh...but I think that one won't be as bad now that I have ultimate weapons and the gold watch.

On the plus side since I was too lazy to switch my team around solely because I didn't want to reset my Paradigms, I've been finding that the deck I use for farming Adamantoise works on pretty much anything that takes more than a minute to fight, with minor adjustments based on the enemy. Not like the strategy really changes though, at this point it's basically Stagger, max chain gauge, Highwind. Battle over.

~DragonHeart~

[crystal_firefly]

At the end of Chapter 11. I don't see me beating this boss. Ever. Then again I said that about another one, and in the end I beat him in 20 seconds flat.

[Kaiden]

If you aren't having a problem with the bosses so far I don't think you need to be worried about Gran Pulse.

I had a horrid time with a few of the Boss fights, but I'm sailing through Gran Pulse with no issues at all, and 5-starring each fight.

I havent gotten to play as much as I like but most of the fights havent been to bad, I have been going along with the hunts/missions so far, I usually get 3-4 stars on mission fights and 5 stars on others. I had a little trouble at first, partly because of the party set up I went with. Still havent settled on who I want to use while leveling. Debating between 3 ravager's or a synergist and saboteur. Lighting/Snow/Hope or Fang/Vanille/Hope.

[Ralz]

Ugh... death to all who live... >_>

Well, I'm at the final boss. Got past everyone's favourite old guy, and this final boss puts even Exdeath and Necron to shame.

I just spent the last half-hour trying in vain to defeat this thing, but it keeps killing me! And what final boss uses STATUS AILMENTS? A wuss, that's who. A real shame it isn't actually one!

My Medics are completely worthless. "But we need to get rid of the ailements." **** the ailments, I'm down to 1000 HP, heal me NOW! And all his status ailments completely deny and replace all my buffs. Douchebag! I just spent 2 minutes preparing all of those!

And when it comes to the actual damaging stage, I once managed to get right to the end and I died. AT THE END. HE WOULD HAVE DIED IF I HAD 1 HP LEFT!!!!!!!

I'm using Fang, Hope, and Vanille, BTW. I can't surpass 99999 damage, so I'm stuck, just hoping it dies, HOPING. Highwind dealt a good amount of damage, but it resets the Stagger meter! NO!

After the first damaging phase, then it goes apeshit and uses everything: status ailments, that annoying attack that reduces your HP to almost nothing, and did I mention status ailments? The worst came when I was disabled magically and physically. I can't survive now, I'm utterly screwed. Potions can't save me, NOTHING WILL.

So, I watch in horror as I get slaughtered and I'm powerless to stop it. Its like, **** the instant death, you've got a million other problems to worry about. The people on the guides DARE say he's easy. They DARE say it. And I've got ANOTHER form to worry about immediately after? NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

What happened to final bosses who just dealt a lot of damage and had only one form? Why do I gotta deal with status ailments... AND instant death... and annoying attacks... AND 50000 phases to one final battle! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

On the bright side, tomorrow's Friday, when I'm off school. I'm going to study the crap out of this final battle, and know the best possible, conceivable, 50% guaranteed excluding the status ailments and instant death, strategy I can find! Its like, screw Barthandelus and Cid, they were hard sure, but this seems insane without a specific strategy.

And that's another thing, battles lately have required the most out of me. A Sentinel has been almost required. I haven't tried that strategy for the final boss, yet, but I bet it wouldn't help too much. I know buffs are important, vital, in fact, for survival. Debuffs are not so much, and I can never get enough time to myself to use it. Constantly gotta swap to a healing Paradigm. But when the statuses come, there's nothing I can do, at all. Its total BS.

When I can attack for a moment, I use Com Rav Rav to get the gauge to 200%, then Com Rav Med to work on healing and continue the assault. When its at 350%, I go Rav Rav Rav and fill the gauge past Stagger and at about 600%, then I swap back to Diversity, and let loose while healing. When his meter's about to reset, I use Highwind (now I do anyway, the first time was an epic fail) to deal good damage. Stupid damage limit, I might've been able to deal 200000...

And then I lose. Just like that. Ugh... Like others before me, I'm going to take a small break from this game. Gotta get the horrors I just witnessed out of my head. And, as I said, I'll look for help to see how I can make it more manageable. I want to beat this game, to not only say I did it, but to access the aftergame. And, if its the end of me, I WILL DO IT! D8<

[Tiffany]

On a totally unrelated note Ralz, I definitely enjoy reading your progress reports.

I am grinding in Mah'habara or whatever its called. I caved and looked in my game guide because I was totally WTF about upgrading weapons. So in looking around and realizing that I totally wasted components on stuff that I probably wouldn't have upgraded, I also realized how freaking far behind I am on my Crystarium levels. Oy.

So massive grinding is in order! Kinda dull, might fight my way back to The Archelyte Steppe or whatever its called and grind there. Le sigh.

[Djinn]

And that's another thing, battles lately have required the most out of me. A Sentinel has been almost required. I haven't tried that strategy for the final boss, yet, but I bet it wouldn't help too much. I know buffs are important, vital, in fact, for survival. Debuffs are not so much, and I can never get enough time to myself to use it. Constantly gotta swap to a healing Paradigm. But when the statuses come, there's nothing I can do, at all. Its total BS.

Thats a good thing, i'd prefer to be challenged every step of the way than walk through every encounter i came across like in FF7, 8 and 9 purely because of my playstyle.

Also there's only been one time in the entire game that i've used sentinel, and thats to fight Adamantoise, and i don't think i was as levelled as you when i finished the storyline.

As for my progress, i've now got ultimate weapons for Lightning (Lvl 60), Fang (Lvl 89) and Vanille (Lvl 50), with 1 trap left over. Started upgrading accessories now, mostly the +% dmg reduction ones. Been doing a few hunts, mostly trying to get faultwarrens open and all the teleport Ci'eth, lots of running involved... kinda wish i had a genji glove aswell, been seeing lots of 99,999 damage hits from Fang on staggered enemies recently.

[Niloc13]

I just landed on Gran Pulse and I'm doing hunting missions and grinding. The game took a massive reduction in intensity, now it seems like grind grind grind. I'll probably go back to the main story soon, but I'm stuck on one particular hunt and need to level up more.

In all honesty, this game is more open than FFX, I don't see why it's getting so much hate for being linear.

[Ralz]

OMG, I actually defeated his first phase! o_O

Damn long cutscene afterwards... and is that Ragnarok, for real? I expected a huge ass dragon or something.

Anyway, onto his true form, I suppose. Epic theme, I haven't begun fighting, yet. TIME TO RESEARCH HIM! Even if I lose, it doesn't matter as I'm beyond the hellish form, now. Hopefully this is easier than the other... but you know... What if...

EDIT: What if, nothing. Goddamn, the second phase was too easy... >_> Had me going there with Doom, but all I needed was two Saboteur and Synergist, three Ravagers, and three Commandos. I never even needed to heal once...

Anyway, the ending was fantastic. Oh, so THAT's what Ragnarok looks like. Better.

My Hands... hmm... I'll say its okay. I think FINAL FANTASY would've been perfect... but considering this game doesn't even use the Victory Theme or even the Prelude... I guess we don't get that luxury. And, OMG, is that the logo of the game!? That is so kickass!

Alot of things made it into this game. Even that white room where Lightning is sitting in my avatar.

You know... looking past all the BS cheap shots even the normal enemies possessed, I had a lot of fun with this. Except Barthandelus, Cid, and the first phase of the final boss, they can go die.

Now that I finally beat this annoyingly addictive, yet hard as balls, game, I can access the aftergame. And then, I can start a new game, this time doing everything 100%.

BTW, I hope there's a sequel, the ending was amazing, as I said.

[Jonathanx221]

OMG, I actually defeated his first phase! o_O

Damn long cutscene afterwards... and is that Ragnarok, for real? I expected a huge ass dragon or something.

Anyway, onto his true form, I suppose. Epic theme, I haven't begun fighting, yet. TIME TO RESEARCH HIM! Even if I lose, it doesn't matter as I'm beyond the hellish form, now. Hopefully this is easier than the other... but you know... What if...

EDIT: What if, nothing. Goddamn, the second phase was too easy... >_> Had me going there with Doom, but all I needed was two Saboteur and Synergist, three Ravagers, and three Commandos. I never even needed to heal once...

Anyway, the ending was fantastic. Oh, so THAT's what Ragnarok looks like. Better.

My Hands... hmm... I'll say its okay. I think FINAL FANTASY would've been perfect... but considering this game doesn't even use the Victory Theme or even the Prelude... I guess we don't get that luxury. And, OMG, is that the logo of the game!? That is so kickass!

Alot of things made it into this game. Even that white room where Lightning is sitting in my avatar.

You know... looking past all the BS cheap shots even the normal enemies possessed, I had a lot of fun with this. Except Barthandelus, Cid, and the first phase of the final boss, they can go die.

Now that I finally beat this annoyingly addictive, yet hard as balls, game, I can access the aftergame. And then, I can start a new game, this time doing everything 100%.

BTW, I hope there's a sequel, the ending was amazing, as I said.

They did die, by your hands. ^_^ Good Job, I loved the ending, that song "my hands" fit the mood perfect.

[Ralz]

Today's been pretty productive for me. Being getting serious about those Cie'th missions. Encountered this one Cie'th enemy who, when defeated, hid in some shell. What a noob.

I've gotten 1-14, 20-26, and now 55. Yes, 55 is done.

I've been using a guide, cause I'm a wuss like that, and now I have access to Chocobos. Riding on one brings back so many memories... of when they were cute... o_O The only cute ones left in this game are the chicks. Oh well, memories of the Calm Lands and FFVI Overworld riding came to me in an instant!

I just spent about 2-3 hours dealing with Neochu. What a douche he is. I was abusing the Death trick, BTW. I went through so much time and never got anywhere... I eventually used my funding from the Chocobo digging... (3 Gold Nuggets FTW) to upgrade Vanille's Belladonna Wand and transform it into the Malboro Wand. I also managed to upgrade that tremedensouly, in fact, its star'd right now. I still don't have the Trepa-whatever, and I won't for a long time. Anyway, for so long Death wasn't working... I was going to give up and level up, but...

YouTube - Final Fantasy XIII Music - Blinded By Light (Battle Theme)

I had this on my PSP, and then I started listening to it... and I got this feeling of "I'm going to kick ass!" And as I played this in my headphones, I went back to try again. I got him on the third attempt! YES! The music gave me the motivation to win! After that, the fight is cake with its little spawn. I'm listening to my long-sought after victory theme as I type this. It might have been cheap, but I DON'T CARE! WHOOOO!!!

Now, with the Growth Egg, I can finally get to some serious leveling. And then I can fight Adamantoise the normal way, without needing Death!

EDIT: Forgot to mention. I five star'd the fight as well. I don't have to go back! YES!

[Unknown Entity]

I've not just done so, but I just defeated Barthandelus for the second time. Took me one go. I've decided to hang out on Pulse for a while. I've just past the sixty-five hours mark - like I've said before, I'm taking my time. I know my way around very well now.

Small spoiler, BIG giant!:

When I came back to The Archylte Steppe after Oerba, that Titan scared me half to death. I wasn't expecting to see it, and actually thought it was climbing over the mountain to come and get me at one point. Haha... ^^;

Can't wait to finally beat that Tonberry so I can introduce myself to it.

I've levelled up some weapons. I still haven't really started on accessories - one or two have been upgraded. When I need to, I shall put more concentration into them.

As for marks, I've five-stared twenty-seven of them out the thirty-one I've taken so far. So... just under half.

Stage Nine of the Crystarium is almost complete too.

As for Status...:

Lightening.
Strength: 1578
Magic: 1160
HP: 6680

Equipped with:
Helter-skelter *

Snow.
Strength: 1165
Magic: 904
HP: 8030

Equipped with:
Solaris Lv. 33

Vanille.
Strength: 999
Magic: 1415
HP: 5875

Equipped with:
Malboro Wand *

Hope.
Strength: 953
Magic: 1474
HP: 5155

Equipped with:
Skycutter *

Sazh.
Strength: 717
Magic: 578
HP: 7085

Equipped with:
Procyons Lv. 11

Fang.
Strength: 1548
Magic: 874
HP: 7035

Equipped with:
Glaive *

Last, but not least:

Some good news regarding a Growth Egg.:

I finally got mine! Neochu was a bitch to finally beat, but I got her in the end.

How I got it.:

I used Vanille, Lightening and Snow, and Death spammed Neochu for a while. Was a bit of a pain, because I kept KOing - the little things where annoying.

It helps if you use some shrouds before battle, and equip Vanille with the Malboro Wand, because it improves Debuffing.

Paradigms I found useful:
SAB/MED/SEN - for spamming Death. ._.
MED/COM/SEN - because sometimes Lightening sucks as a Medic.
MED/MED/SEN - for when things got baad.

Quick Question: Say if I equipped someone in my party with a Growth Egg, or Collectors/Survivor Catalogue, would it have to be on the main to have effect, or can I put it on anyone in my party for it to work?

[DragonHeart]

As long as you have it equipped on someone in your active battle team it doesn't matter who. I usually stick them all on Hope since he's just my Haste/Curebot anyways. Would probably make more sense to spread them out though so no one person is stuck without any accessories useful in battle.

I may start hunting Zirnitras tonight. If I'm lucky I'll accumulate some decent components while I'm out and about to lessen the upgrade costs. One way or another I'll have to farm for Dark Matter, though.

~DragonHeart~