Help in the SHrine of Miriam, and other general questions

[Iceo]

Hey this is my first post, and i just want to know how im doing. So just comment on what needs improved, and what im doing right and what im doing wrong

First off, im 33 hours or so into the game, and I'm waiting to enter the Shrine of Miriam.

My main team is....

(lvl 28)Vaan is my tank (damage taker) (replaced by (24)basch... same roll)
(lvl 28) Balthemeir is suport, damage outputter (replaced by (24) ashe)
(lvl 28) fran is support mage, healer (replaced by penelo)

van is equipped with flametongue 1h sword, and the ice shield
balthemier is equipped with bow gun
frann is equipped with lovely bow or elfin bow
ashe is equipped with a 2h ninja sword like 54 attk power
basch is equipped with a war axe like 58 attk power and golden shield (same as ice shield)
penelo is equipped loxely bow


Are me weapons ok? Do i need stronger ones? Do i have my chracters on good rolls... like their class? Any other coments appreciated


My first question is where is a good place to level and get gil?
RIght now im leveling at Mount Omni-Spur or something.. idk the snow field
i tried leveling feywood but most of the creatures do 500-1000 dmg a hit and most of my characters are atleast 1000hp but no mroe than 1500hp

Yeah so im leveing up getting ready for the shrine of miriam... cuz i tried it at level 26 and i got rocked, i mean i never got whiped but close

My next question is where is a good place to get some new equipement for my characters?

Where is a good place to farm gil?

right now my best way of obtaining gil is chaining panthers in golomore(sp?) jungle
they drop items worth 500 gil and once u start chaining they drop between 1-4 of'em

I've completed 10 hunts or so.


So how am i doing overall? Anything i can improve? What is a good level to start shrine of miriam?

What is good armor sets like heavy, light, mystic for my characters?

right now i have my tanks (damage takers) with heavy for defense, my damage outputters are light armor for attk speed and HP, and my support/mage/healers have mystic

I've noticed that being a mage is kind of worthless because the damage out put isnt any better than phsysical unless it is a creatures weakness. WHen using dark magic to attack it wastes MP that would be better used for cure, cura and curaga

[Omaklise]

Dude, its not other people's jobs to tell you what you need to improve. Play the game the way you want to play it, and if you fail, try again, but be stronger.

But I guess a few pointers wouldn't hurt...

-As soon as you get a new Hunt, train and train until you complete it.
-Don't be afraid to die, if it happens it happens, take it as a sign to train more.
-Get chains for more loot, sell for more gil, and buy the best stuff for your characters.

Other than that, nothing really to offer.

[Doggoneus]

I agree with omaklise in that you should be finding all this out for yourself, but if you really need/want help, you can look at what I've written below.

Ok, heavy armour for your tank, light armour for your damage dealers/support and mystic armour for your mages if you want to make the most out of roles.

You need to be about lv32ish to get through the stillshrine, but you can do it at lower levels if you're clever enough. There are a couple of bosses in there that are quite hard at that level though. I seriously advise you to level up in paramina rift!

I think you can buy theifs cuffs from one of the merchants at Mt.Bur at that point in the game, if you dont have one, buy it! Then equip your tank with it and give him the gambit Foe: HP=100% - Steal if you want to get some good loot and make some gil. Just level around paramina, or if you want gil more than exp, train in golmore and try to chain the panthers, you can steal couerl pelts from them and they also drop them, which sell for 393 i think.

You can buy golden amulets from the moogle in eruyt village at this point in the game, so buy at least 3 and keep your reserve party equipped with these att all times that they are the reserve party. These are one of the few accessories that work when they arent on an active party member and they can really help in character growth. ALthough any licences are good, try the augments part first as there are a lot of useful licences here which will help you to feel stronger, swiftness licences and things like martyr and headhunter can help your mages if they do a fair bit of attacking as well.

Good weapons, hmm, you have some decent ones there, just remember that there is a part of the stillshrine with lots of skeletons/zombies which are all classed under one category. Excellent for chaining, and you can get things like icebrands (excellent weapon, just take it off when fighting in paramina) and enchanters habits (which can really help your mages).

Being a mage isnt worthless if, for example you take Fran equipped with a bow, she still does a fair bit of attacking. Dont have her casting magick all the time as this is wasteful, just have her ready to exploit an enemy's weakness should it have one, and use her primarily as a damage dealer/healer. If she has the right augment licences, she will gain mp when she attacks, she kills, she is hit and when she attacks with magick. These all help to keep her mp topped up, and as long as she isnt constantly using magick, you should be fine.

If you feel like it, go and do some more hunts, because some of these can be quite easy and the rewards can be weapons and accessories that arent available until later in the game. Just remember to save before you attempt any in case you arent strong enough.

One of the better places to train is inside the stillshrine, if you can make it that far, there is a save crystal which is one screen away from a decent amount of enemies on both sides, so you can kill a few, and if they're too strong, just leg it back to the save crystal and repeat. You should get a good few levels in until you are strong enough to beat them without running back to the save crystal.

[Omaklise]

One of the better places to train is inside the stillshrine, if you can make it that far, there is a save crystal which is one screen away from a decent amount of enemies on both sides, so you can kill a few, and if they're too strong, just leg it back to the save crystal and repeat. You should get a good few levels in until you are strong enough to beat them without running back to the save crystal.

He's got a good point, it is a very good idea to train there, but when you end up in the room with all those white Plate-Dragons, RUN! I was on average level 40 when I went into that room and they still slogged my butt!

After you level a fair bit, go back and verse them continuously, coz they give pretty good EXP and LP for the current situation.

Another good place to train is Ozmone Plains or Golmore Jungle, both places give good EXP and LP. Or even better, Zertinan Caverns ( if you can survive there ).

[Synthia]

Ditto to others. You seem to be doing fine. My strategy was to do plot until it got too hard, then to go do some hunts to level up. You shouldn't ever need to "just level" to complete the game.

I've noticed that being a mage is kind of worthless because the damage out put isnt any better than phsysical unless it is a creatures weakness. WHen using dark magic to attack it wastes MP that would be better used for cure, cura and curaga

So, Once you get the Battle Mage augment (gives you MP back in proportion to damage you do with attack spells) a nuker can be a useful strategy. I didn't go this route, but my husband has always used nukers to great effect in his playthrough. The key is to use multiple target nukes (-ga spells) and hit at least 3 monsters. You will actually lose no MP net. It can be a lot of fun.

One issue is that you can't really set gambits to nuke automatically when there are lots of enemies around, so you do have to micro it. A fun set of gambits to use later on though:

Nuker (Panelo or Fran I guess), 1st gambit:
Foe (status: Oil) -> Firaga

Then, have your tank or whoever you're controlling use the spell Oil on groups of enemies (manually). Oil doubles the damage from Fire-based magic, so your nuker will use no net MP provided you have battle mage on.

There's no right way to play this game. You seem to have a great strategy going on - just keep at it and don't sweat it.

[Iceo]

Thank you to those who were helpful, and to those who were not :-p.

Thanks synthia your comment was helpful, almost inspiring. =D

[Iceo]

I need a new ranged weapon for Baltheir. He is currently using the Bow Gun, which attack power is 41. hes averaging about 200-400 a hit, which is weaker compared to vaan and ashe who are doing 400-600, given he attaks 50% quicker than them... I still need a stronger ranged weapon for him

[Synthia]

Thanks synthia your comment was helpful, almost inspiring. =D

Haha you're welcome, glad to be of use.

I need a new ranged weapon for Baltheir. He is currently using the Bow Gun, which attack power is 41. hes averaging about 200-400 a hit, which is weaker compared to vaan and ashe who are doing 400-600, given he attaks 50% quicker than them... I still need a stronger ranged weapon for him

I always used Guns on Balthier. Their attack power appears to be very low, but they actually do quite a lot of damage to certain foes, especially ones with lots of armor, because they ignore defense.

[Nymph]

I need a new ranged weapon for Baltheir. He is currently using the Bow Gun, which attack power is 41. hes averaging about 200-400 a hit, which is weaker compared to vaan and ashe who are doing 400-600, given he attaks 50% quicker than them... I still need a stronger ranged weapon for him

You can buy a Crossbow (attack power +46) from one of the merchants at the foot of Mt. Bur-Omisace. Balthier's attack with a crossbow should be about as fast as Vaan's sword, though, so I don't know what you mean about 50% quicker... If you want to make Balthier's attacks fast - and in the long run doing more damage even if the damage count is lower - equip him with a bow (Loxley bow, at this point).

Like Synthia said, guns penetrate defense, which is damn useful. But they are also slower than other weapons. A slow powerful weapon and a fast less powerful weapon can be just as effective. Whichever you pick is up to you. The choice also depends on the type of enemies you are facing. Guns don't work well against Elementals, Entities, Bombs and Flans, for example, but I enjoy bombing the hell out of skeletons with them. X3

Also, you'll want to equip guns on your longe-ranged characters in windy/cloudy areas. Bows and crossbows tend to miss more often in those weather conditions.

So.. it's good to have up-to-date versions (that is, the best you can afford at any point in the game) of both types of long-ranged weapons, bows and guns, in your inventory either way.