OFFICAL FF13-2 THREAD (Use spoilertags plz)

[Zargabaath]

I guess I'll give a not so brief update. To begin I should state that when I was using the Delta Attack paradigm I had it on "Cross". I tried Delta Attack on "Wide" and "Normal" and it seemed it a bit better. At least in regards to my commando. My ravager/caster still stayed behind or close by to my sentinel. Against a feral behemoth my Com & Rav getting hit is not such a big deal, but against the later forms it does, like Narasimha, because of their new attacks. Even in game it says that "Wide" is best for taking down multiple enemies. Using a Sentinel, I prefer to focus on one enemy, kill that as quick as possible then move to the next. Hence why I had Delta Attack on "Cross".

As for my progression in the game. I'm currently in Part 3-2. I've been messing around getting fragments, recruiting, and monster material. I'm a bit under 20 hours. Been really taking my time. Game-play wise this game far surpasses FFXIII. With all the stuff I can do and places to go, seeing whats on the other end of a "Wild Gate". A better Crystarium that offers more choice than before.

Story-wise new questions arose, my previous not yet answered though that should come way later. But the plot is moving along which I found FFXIII's to disappear for character development for most of the early chapters. No annoying characters, so far, in this game compared to the first entry.

So overall, in both game-play & story I am enjoying my time with this game.

[Andromeda]

I just beat the game and anything I can say it just going to be spoilers, even just my emotional reactions. The final boss fight is ridiculous though, so expect to go in with a rough ordeal. It was the only time that I put Sentinels back in my party. The final fight took me 30 minutes to finish after I cleared all of the previous stages. It probably won't be that bad after I get better equipped monsters, but it was still rough. I was playing on Normal Mode too.

Serah finished the game as Com 50, Rav 99, Sen 75, Sab 50, Syn 30, Med 31. Noel finished the game as Com 99, Rav 60, Sen 57, Sab 48, Syn 35, Med 35. My monsters I used were Scutari lv 20, Flanitor lv 10 and Flandit lv 34.

I have 70/160 Fragments, 28:57 hours and 94017 gil. I had over 100k, but spent some on various things.

Oh and they played the original FFXIII battle music for one area. It was awesome!

[otomo]

I'm collecting monsters, only on Chapter 3 Part 1. I know that's early to start doing that...but it's really annoying to me how few monsters I want to drop actually drop. Too much grinding to collect 'em all and put them in pokeballs.

[Rising Star]

My Stats
Serah - 50/60/44/50/02/13 COM/RAV/SEN/SAB/SYN/MED
Noel - 61/60/50/03/43/02 COM/RAV/SEN/SAB/SYN/MED
Monsters - Behemoth/Cait Sith/Gremlin COM/RAV/MED

Well I'm on Episode 3 (I think)
But Is Much better than FFXIII Although I have very little fragments only 30...
Will Need to start Grinding for those Fragments

[Imposter]

Serah Noel
Com 50 60
Rav 60 60
Sen 40 27
Sab 50 48
Syn 30 38
Med 30 35

Mosters: Green Chocobo lv 37/ Munchkin lv 20/ Zaghnal lv 16

25 hours in and finishing episode 4 I do believe...

[Rowan]

What's the point of opening and closing gates?

[Imposter]

So you can do the time reversal and get paradox endings...If you do certain things you'll get a certain ending. Other than that I havev no idea.

[Andromeda]

Closing the gate allows you replay the area from the beginning and do things differently. This is generally most important for doing paradox endings. I've begun using this and from what I can see everything gets locked off from there and if you want to progress forward again you have to use the gates in there. Or you can return to the Historia Crux and open the gate and revert things back to how they used to be.

[Odin1199]

but it feels like an interactive anime at this point.

Lol, quoted for truth. At least for XIII.

[Andromeda]

I'm working on getting Platinum now. I'm needing to strengthen my monsters and get new weapons. But I've made some pretty good progress for today.

Serah is Com 99, Rav, 99, Sen 99, Sab 50, Syn, 56, Med 99. Noel is Com 99, Rav 99, Sen 99, Sab 48, Syn 58, Med 99.

I'm using Golden Chocobo lv 10, Fanitor lv 10, and Flandit 34. I'm needing to buy the materials I need to level them all properly. I got Chichu as well, but I need to work on powering him up properly to make him super powerful.

I've got 117/160 Fragments, 38:23 hours and 140738 gil.

[Fate]

(These values are approximations, as I'm not physically playing the game right now.)

Noel
COM: 99
RAV: 99
SEN: 99
SAB: 85
SYN: 99
MED: 35

Serah
COM: 99
RAV: 99
SEN: 85
SAB: 99
SYN: 35
MED: 99

As the levels suggest, I've beaten the game. I am currently using a Flanitor (max level), Golden Chocobo (max level), and Bunkerbeast (23). The last one will be replaced with a Silver Chocobo once I actually get one. And the chocobo will be replaced by Chichu once I make a good one, as I want him to stay in the races.

I made the Adamantite weapons, but I ended up using the weapons dropped by Immortal instead, for the ATB Speed +50% effect. My Chaos ones aren't very strong; I only have (57/160) fragments.

Last night I finished off the last of the "worthy opponents." Now I'm working on getting the Battlemania fragment skill, so lots of revisiting to do. I guess I'll hunt down fragments at the same time, too.

Playtime is about 36:00, by the way.

[Firefly]

Bought this game the day it came out and I have finally beaten it lol. I really like this game but..

Spoiler: the ending "to be continued" really was like a slap in the face for me. I mean it was getting right at the good part and boom ,"To Be Continued"

Other than that,I enjoyed it. I am currently not near my xbox so I will just name the levels of my characters that I remember:

Serah:
Commando: Lvl 99
Ravager: Lvl 80-ish
Medic: Lvl 99
Sentinel: Lvl 89

Noel:
Commando: Lvl 99
Ravager: Lvl 99
Sentinel: Lvl 99

..I am using a lvl 30-ish Green Chocobo as my medic,a lvl 30-ish Chocobo as a commando,and a Gigancactuar(msp?) lvl 20-ish as a Synergist. Overall,I like the idea of having tameable monsters in parties but still...I kinda wish there was at least another person..but oh well

..A summary of my reviews for this game: Graphics: Amazing, Story: Loved it, Music: Like a Breath of Fresh Air compared to FF13, Characters: Adored them. IMO,great game

[Rowan]

is it possible to get 99 on all roles or does the crystarium max out before thats possible?

[Andromeda]

I haven't seen any limit so far. So my guess is that you can get lv 99 in all roles. Though keep in mind that my characters and your characters are likely not going to have the same stats, just like Fate's fates are probably different from mine. Due to the way the Crystarium works, the stats you get are impacted by the choices you make in there. I don't think it is a game breaking amount, but depending on how you optimize you could see some significant number differences.

[Dynamo]

Quite far into the game, but recently noticed i had been leveling up completly wrong.

I will probably end up having a quick finish, then starting again and leveling properly, kinda tempted to just leave it and start again now, or just do everything, but just be weaker.

The leveling up system is nice, in the fact you have some control and have to think about it, but it is annoying and easy to go wrong, if your not paying that much attention

[Fate]

It definitely is possible to max out every role, as there is actually a trophy that requires you do that. But as Andro said, the stats will vary. I have a feeling I haven't picked a very wise route, but I haven't gone to look for the one "best" choice of filling out the Crystarium. For me, it was more about what abilities I needed at the time.

On a related note, monsters have varying limits, as well. Some will reach its maximum potential at 20, while others can go to 45, 70, et cetera.

[Dynamo]

It definitely is possible to max out every role, as there is actually a trophy that requires you do that. But as Andro said, the stats will vary. I have a feeling I haven't picked a very wise route, but I haven't gone to look for the one "best" choice of filling out the Crystarium. For me, it was more about what abilities I needed at the time.

On a related note, monsters have varying limits, as well. Some will reach its maximum potential at 20, while others can go to 45, 70, et cetera.

Yeah, Max monster levels depends on it's "type"..

Well grown
Early start (somthing like that)
Etc

Just basically means how quick they will learn stuff and gain stats.

[Sakaea]

I'm only about 9 hours into the game, and have not read this whole thread to avoid any spoilers.

I love the game. It's better than 13, and Mog is soooo cute, I love him. Noel reminds me of Tidus and I love all the side stuff you can do. Love the crystarium system, and taming monsters is one of my absolute favorite things so far.

I'm quite happy with the game overall, and can hardly wait to see what happens next!!!!

[Rowan]

I can understand how stats will be different on monsters because of different nodes having different bonuses "eg; Vitality steel, Potent Orb etc".

But how is it that characters can end up with different stats when everything is maxed out in the end? are you saying the bonuses you recieve sometimes when activating larger nodes are random bonuses to do with that role?

[Fate]

The larger nodes do give different bonuses depending on which role you choose to strengthen with that node, yes. For example, if you use a Medic or Sentinel for the large node, then you get a +6 HP boost, but if you choose a Commando, you'll get a +2 Strength boost instead. The boosts are greater than normal ones.

So theoretically, you can just use a Medic or Sentinel on every single large node you get to in order to get as much HP as you possibly can. I didn't think about that when I started, however, so I just went along with whatever.

[Rowan]

Ahh so Im on the right track then. I think a plus '2' to strength of magic is far superior to a plus '6' to hp.

Im getting hooked on the game now. While the story is a little farfetched, I'm finding it interesting as things are now making more sense to me. As mentioned before, random battles do prove useful in gaining CP. I'm upto chapter 4 and have maxed a few roles for each character. Something I'm finding difficult is getting my hands on those fragments. The idea behing locking gates and doing them from the start still confuses me a little and makes me wonder in what way could I have played the scenario any differently other than being able to kill a boss without weakening it first... unless thats a reason?

Also, does anyone have some strategies on Omega in the colliseum? (this is no spoiler, this is downloaded pre-order bonus content which I assume most of you will have). I figure going up against a strong boss, Delta-Attack (w) is absolutley essential in staying alive long enough to do damage. I've got a grimoire hat equipped on serah to increase the potency of potions since I find medics somewhat useless unless you have a sentinel protecting your party as well. Im not sure what that would make in a paradigmn, other than an incredibly slow battle. I did well against Omega until he used his cannon, which ultimately wiped out my entire party in a succession of blasts. I think I may need to train more. I just really want him in my party, haha.

[Fate]

The idea behing locking gates and doing them from the start still confuses me a little and makes me wonder in what way could I have played the scenario any differently other than being able to kill a boss without weakening it first... unless thats a reason?

That's actually precisely a reason. Not really a spoiler, but as you know...

Click.:

the game has many paradox endings. Atlas needs to be weakened in episode 2 to be defeated, but if you lock the gate, redo it, and kill Atlas without the machine, that gives you an ending.

Can't help on Omega, though, since I didn't get him as a bonus. =( I got Serahs summoner outfit and Genji Bow instead.

[Rowan]

I got all of them too, must be different in the USA.

In response to your spoiler brackets, which arn't really spoilers (though how considerate) so I wont bother putting this in brackets, but are there any benefits to completing a paradox stage? Can you explain to me using the example just before. What will I get if I manage to complete that without weakening him?

[Imposter]

You'll get one of the paradox endings. Which if you want to complete everything in the game you'll want to do. I think you need to get all of them to get something special at the end, and such.

I'll be trying to get them all for completions sake. I could go and finish the game but I'm trying to get all the fragments I can first. I think I'm at 120ish or 130ish now.

[Rowan]

Thanks everyone for their useful information. I have another question. Are all fragments obtainable once you've visited an area? I'm upto chapter 4 and only have 19 fragments, that doesnt seem right to me. Should I be hunting down fragments? Are there great benefits?

[Fate]

Paradox endings actually unlock another space on the Historia Crux, and each one gives you a fragment.

As for fragments in general, not all of them can be obtained the first time you visit an area, no. I can't think of any benefits other than the extra CP, but for me, I just left them for post-game when I started hunting them down.

[Andromeda]

Some fragments are tied to quests that require you to go to other timelines to resolve. There is a series of fragments related to fixing the problems that are happening in the Bresha Ruins after you leave it in 005 AF. You end up doing a lot of jumping around between locations and times. And you can't even do part of it until there is a NPC that is triggered. So no you can't do them all at the beginning because you won't have places unlocked to do them.

The advantage to having fragments is the skills that they unlock. There is a long list of skills that become available. Reducing encounters or increasing encounters, kill off weak monsters without fighting them, slow down or speed up the game. These are just a few of the ones you can get. They are all toggles so you switch them on or off or to whatever setting you want. Very useful, but not likely that you'll get any of the good ones until you've completed the game. They aid in 100% completion of the game though.

[Tezcat]

I'm up to Sunleth now, slowly getting through it. It's a lot better in English knowing what's going on compared to the Japanese version =p
Rocking a Pulse Knight, a Gremlin or Hoplite (which I've given the HP+25% ability from another Pulsework Knight to) and a Spiranthes

[Rowan]

Okay, So i've been hunting down those fragments, and now I have 53/160 and im still in chapter 4. I have also unlocked a paradox ending for sunleth waterscape. My characters are getting pretty tanky now, but its costing me 810cp per upgrade now so I assume it will slow things down a bit. I have a flanitor (kinda useless), dragoon (deals mega damage) and a pulsework knight (mega tough). Im looking to get a silver chocobo and I know exactly where and how to obtain just so happens that im upto that area now.

Im the kind of person who likes to complete all of the side quests before I finish the main quests, but I realise that it wont be possible. I want to do as many side quests as I can before I finish the main story. To those that have finished it already, are there any optional bosses after the main story that are more difficult to kill than the final main story boss? If so that would perhaps give me a reason to care about getting ultimate weapons etc.

[Fate]

To those that have finished it already, are there any optional bosses after the main story that are more difficult to kill than the final main story boss? If so that would perhaps give me a reason to care about getting ultimate weapons etc.

Indeed! Think back to the Archytle Steppe and what it was that you had to move. I don't know how many more there are, but I've fought five strong optional monsters. But I didn't use the "ultimate" weapons. I have them, but I use something else.