Hello. This is my 5:45 playthrough of Final Fantasy XII International. Like my 9:25 and 8:52 playthroughs of the American version and original Japanese version of the game, this is not really a speed run. It's more of a general playthrough using regular progression for the most part. A real speed run of this game would probably be around 4:xx or possibly 3:xx in time, avoiding most enemies and fighting around at a few places. I fight around in one spot, the skeleton hallway at Lhusu for a couple of minutes and kill Dustia about five times. This playthrough is mainly for those that are interested in the game but have no way to play it. Before getting into the video, there are many differences in this version of the game compared to the original releases, and the viewer knowing about them should be helpful. First off, the most obvious difference is the "fast forward mode", which probably doubles the speed of the game. Moving around and combat are faster; load times, Mist combos, unskippable scenes, and menu screen usage are at normal speed. A real speed run would probably only use one character while moving around since it moves faster. A few times in the game I only have one character, and it can be so fast that it is very hard to control at times. Chocobos can be really difficult to control, but I try to use them when I can. Almost all of the playthrough uses fast forward mode. The regular License Board does not exist in this version. There are 12 jobs that any character can choose when he or she joins, and once the job is chosen, that character must stick with that job. The only choices are one of the jobs or no License Board at all. Each character has at least one spell or tech that can be used no matter what job is chosen. Vaan always has steal and Penelo can always cast Cure, for example. In relative size, the job-based License Boards are about half the size of the original board. The jobs I go with for my main party of Vaan, Ashe, and Penelo are Knight, Red Mage, and Samurai. Pots and chests are very different. Some are in the same place and contain the same items, but a ton of them are in different places, have different chances of showing up, and contain very different items. I grab a bunch of stuff from pots and chests that will help me out in the game. Another difference in this version is that pots and chests respawn when the player goes only one screen away instead of two like in the original version. Shops also sell different things than in the original version, and some spells and techs are only found in specific pots or chests. Gambits are no longer found in pots, they are all buyable early on in the game at gambit shops. Because of this, I can purchase the gambits I will use (not many, less than 10) in the game early on. The biggest detriment due to the above two paragraphs is that you cannot buy any Golden Amulets in shops anymore, and there are only a couple to be found in a pot. In most of the game, I only have one Golden Amulet for my party. The Zodiac Spear is no longer found at Nabudis, and although there is a Fomalhaut in a different pot at the Cerobi Steppe, I think guns up to that point would not have been worth using time-wise. There is a new super-weapon that can be found early on in the game, the Zeitengraat bow, but the player basically has a 1 in 10,000 chance of getting it. Some of the loot requirements for bazaar goods was changed, but I don't think I go for any of those. There are also some new weapons and items that are only in this version of the game, a couple of which I get and will point out. Many Accessories have different effects than in the original game, but I don't equip a lot of those. Lastly, the in-game text is Japanese only, while voice acting is in English. There are a couple of unskippable talking scenes in this version of the game, and they are in English. Since the in-game text is Japanese, I wlll try my best to explain what is going on and what I am finding in pots, but there are some items that I do not know the name. I am also unfamiliar with the US version of the game, so I do not know what the US names for a lot of things are. Anyway, with all that out of the way, here's what goes on in each part. I hope it is informative and useful to those curious about the game. ----- Part 01, 0:00-15:07 Starting with a speedy Recks, I go through the intro portion of the game pretty fast. One thing to note is that 'level 1' spells such as Cure/Fire/Thunder/Ice now target a group of enemies instead of an individual one. You can see it easily while Recks casts Thunder on three guards. Vaan begins at Rabanastre, killing some Wererats. Tomaj still gives you an Orrachea Armlet or whatever it is, and there is no License Board tutorial anymore. Vaan sets off to kill the Rogue Tomato, via the Dalmasca Estersand. At the Estersand, I fight a couple of enemies and the Rogue Tomato, then open a pot at the far end of the area to hopefully grab a Phoenix Tail, but it had 80 gil inside. The next pot has a Potion inside. At the small camp, there's a one-time pot that always has a Firefly inside for me to sell in a little bit. Since pots respawn from one screen away, I try the Phoenix Tail pot again and grab one this try. The Potion pot has another Potion for me. Afterward, I make my way back to Rabanastre, picking up an Antidote along the way. At Rabanastre, I visit the tech shop to sell my loot, Orrachea Armlet, and the Firefly, then I purchase the Libra tech. At the magic shop, I buy the Cure and Fire spells. At the weapon shop, I buy a katana for Penelo to equip shortly. After going downtown and speaking to Dalan, I open the pot in front of his house to find 30 gil. I head south to the Giza Plains, find 20 gil in a pot, get Penelo to join up and get confused at which way to turn, then make my way to the southern save crystal. Along the way, I grab 19 gil, 76 gil, and a Phoenix Tail in pots. After speaking to the little boy, I go into the menu screen. Penelo becomes a Samurai while Vaan becomes a Knight. The first licenses I buy are 'Katanas 1' for Penelo, and 'Swords 1' and 'Shields 1' for Vaan. I equip the katana I bought at Rabanastre for Penelo then save. ----- Part 02, 15:07-19:37 This part is pretty short. The goal is to reach 100% energy with two..whatever the glowing things are. I grab a Dark Mote from a pot, and Vaan misses his steal from a werewolf. I do grab another Phoenix Tail from the next pot, though. After reaching 100% energy, I buy a Leather Shield for Vaan, and purchase the 2 potion bazaar item. Then I head back to Rabanastre, grabbing 27 gil and a Potion, then go downtown to get rid of Penelo then save at the west gate. ----- Part 03, 19:37-30:36 In part 03, I kill Dustia five times. I messed up the 6th kill, but it did not really matter too much. Although the experience is good, what I was mainly going for was a Flame Staff and some Origin book drops for money. I got a Flame Staff from the fifth one. From the five Dustias I did kill, I went up from level 5 to level 9. After the short Dustia chaining, I ventured into the Garamsythe Waterway. The pots I picked up inside contained 39 gil, an Antidote, another Antidote, 7 gil, 32 gil, and a Potion. At Rabanastre Palace, I grab an Elixir, Antidote, a Phoenix Tail, and an Ether from some pots, then yell at and dodge the guards. Back at Garamsythe, I get Balthier and Fran to join. To save some annoyance, I go slightly down the stairs and go through the gambit tutorial before saving. One thing to note is that the position of gambits in the gambit menu was switched. Instead of 'ally/enemy/self' as the order, now it is 'enemy/ally/self', which makes it a little slower to set some party member gambits. ----- Part 04, 30:36-37:20 At the start of part 04, I give Balthier and Fran their jobs and equip some gambits. When I buy licenses or switch gambits I will try my best at stating what is going on. First off, I make Balthier a White Mage so someone can cast Protect at the Leviathan, and Fran becomes a Monk. Both Balthier and Fran can cast Cure with this setup (Fran can cast it no matter what job she is). For licenses, Fran buys 'Poles 1' and 'Poles 2', Vaan buys 'Swords 2', and Balthier buys 'White Magic 1', a 'Gambit Plus', and 'Take Damage, get MP' or whatever that augment is called. For gambits, I set them as follows for each character: Vaan 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack Balthier 1-Any ally HP<50%, Cure 2-Any ally, Eyedrop 3-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack Fran 1-Any ally HP<50%, Cure 2-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack Lowest HP gets each party member to attack the same monster more often than 'First enemy seen', so it should be more effective at killing enemies. Once I've set all that, I'm off into the Garamsythe Waterway again. Fire is a decent spell down here. It works well against the Gigant Toads and hits groups of enemies. This is the first of several parts that I try to get specific items from numerous pots along the way. After pushing Vaan who refuses to move, I grab some Medias Cloth and 44 gil from some pots, then hope for a pole from a pot and got one. The pot after the pole contained the katana Penelo already had; I just grabbed it to hopefully get another katana to sell. After Amalia joins (which I can control if I wanted to and could set her gambits now), I kill the Pudding guys decently fast thanks to Fire. The pot after them always contains a Phoenix Tail, so I pick it up. The next pot had a Dark Mote, which I originally was going to try to farm for the Garuda fight later, but passed on doing so. The last pot I open had 184 gil, so I went to the next screen and tried again, this time getting what I wanted, a Longsword for Vaan. I think this is the only time I go back for a specific item in a pot. At the save crystal, Vaan equips the Long Sword and Fran equips the pole I found. For licenses, Vaan buys 'Shields 2' and 'Heavy Armor 2', Balthier buys another 'Gambit Plus', and Fran buys 'HP+110' and 'Accessory 1'. Balthier's gambits then become as follows: 1-Any ally HP<50%, Cure 2-Any ally, Eyedrop 3-Any ally, Antidote 4-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack After all that, I save right before the Bush Fire. ----- Part 05, 37:20-50:42 The Bush Fire fight was ok. It took a little longer than I wanted, about 56 seconds. I tried to stay in the water in hopes of the boss not using his strongest attack, but I wasn't too lucky at doing that. After the boss, the game plopped me into the Nalbina Dungeon. I grab three of the four pots here for some Knots of Rust, then duke it out with the three Seeqs. Since the pots at the treasury no longer affect the Zodiac Spear, I open them. Their contents contained a Tourmaline Ring, 428 gil, and an Orrachea Armlet. In the large area, the first pot I go to sometimes contains an Aquara Mote, which does a water-based attack to all targets in range. The next pot I open has an Aero Mote. These will be helpful against that Ba'gamnon guy at Lhusu. The next pot just had 72 gil inside. Basch joins up as an unarmed guest, then I go grab a handy 2,510 gil in a pot then get lost in the little room for a few seconds. Fast forward + small rooms = disorientation. The Bangaa shopkeeper has some pretty good stuff to buy. First, I sell my old weapons, accessories, and loot. I buy the 'Eyedrop Set' bazaar item, then a Buckler for Vaan, 11 Echo Herbs, 11 Antidote, 11 Eyedrops, the Poizona, Dark, and Blinda spells. Lastly, I purchase the gambits I don't have that I'll use in the game: Self, Any ally HP<60%, and Any ally HP<40%. Going into the Barheim Passage itself, since I don't have the Blizzard spell, the Battery Mimic monsters take a little longer than normal to kill. I open a pot with 93 gil inside, then continue on to find a Phoenix Tail in the next one. Progressing through, I grab 35 gil in another pot, kill some more Battery Mimics, Puddings, then grab a Potion. Since Balthier's gun does not work well against Bombs, he just steals from them. I pick up another Aero Mote, then reach the midway point save crystal. ----- Part 06, 50:42-1:05:02 Now with an equipped Basch, I can kill things faster. There's lots of pots here. In the first room, I get 51 gil, then the second room has a bunch of pots. From them, I get a new weapon for Fran, the Cypress Pyre, then 2 gil and another Aquara Mote. I should have left the room and came back to get at least one more Aquara Mote, but I did not. I go into the menu to equip the Cypress Pyre on Fran, then buy some licenses. Vaan buys 'HP+230', Balthier buys his first Mist Knack, and Fran buys three 'Gambit Plus' licenses. I change Balthier's healing license to Any ally HP<60%, Cure and Fran's become as follows: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Eyedrop 3-Any ally, Echo Grass 4-Any ally HP<50%, Cure 5-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack The other pots in the room I go for contain a Potion that doesn't cooperate for awhile, then 32 gil inside the last one. The Mimic Queen fight would have been faster if I had the Blizzard spell, but I didn't. Balthier uses his Mist Knack three times and the battle takes around 1:20. Outside at the Estersand, I head towards Nalbina Fortress to warp to Rabanastre so I can warp back to Nalbina later on. Once again in Rabanastre, I head downtown to speak to Dalan then Balzack and Basche joins the party. I do not set a job for Basche, even though he would have had more LP than Vaan as a Knight and would have had a couple of free licenses purchased at no cost. I prefer Vaan in my main party and used Basche in my previous playthrough videos. Sorry, Basch fans! I head to the bar to receive my reward from Tomaj for killing the Rogue Tomato, then get Balthier and Fran back in the party. At Bhujerba, Ramon joins as a guest, then I hit the armor shop in town. Inside, I purchase a Topcap-something hat, a Kirimu-something cloth, a Sallet and Scale Armor for Vaan, then head to the weapon shop. Inside, I buy an Iron Sword for Vaan and a new katana for Penelo later. At the magic shop, I purchase the Protect spell. At the item shop, I sell some old equipment and loot, then finish up my purchases in Bhujerba with 11 Prince's Kiss (cures Sleep) and 11 Handkerchiefs or whatever (cures Oil). Afterward, I equip the Iron Sword onto Vaan, then unequip Basch. Basch comes with a Mithril Blade equipped, and anyone can equip it regardless of job, so Balthier upgrades from his gun to the sword. For licenses, Vaan buys a 'Gambit Plus', Balthier buys 'HP+150', 'Accessory 1', and 'Mage Armor 2', while Fran buys her first Mist Knack. Balthier equips his mage armor I bought earlier, then I change Vaan's gambits to as follows: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally HP<40%, Potion 3-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack For Ramon, I change his gambits around too. You no longer get free potion use out of him, so he uses cure spells instead. The 'Shades of Black' tech is stronger than his attacks, so I set Ramon to use that instead of attack. It speeds up fighting in the Lhusu Mines if I get lucky with the spells that are used in the room of skeletons. Ramon's gambits eventually look like this: 1-off 2-Any ally HP<50%, Cura 3-Any ally HP<70%, Cure 4-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 5-Any ally, Poizona 6-Any ally, Blinda 7-Any ally, Vocal 8-First enemy seen, Shades of Black After that, I save at Bhujerba right before the Lhusu Mines. ----- Part 07, 1:05:02-1:22:30 There's nothing of great importance in pots at Lhusu, but I do try to steal some Telepo Stones from the Steel bats inside. I think I winded up stealing two on the way to the end and one on the way out. At the skeleton hallway, Ramon's 'Shades of Black' tech worked out pretty well to kill them. In all, I killed about 70 skeletons in 5:52. The pot I grabbed on the second visit to the hallway contained a Potion. I would have preferred more Iron Helms (I only got one, after #69), but in the long run it worked out anyway. At the end of the mine, I grab a Gold Needle, Handkerchief, and 186 gil from the pots. I opt to fight Ba'gamnon and his cronies, since I have some Aquara Motes and water works well against them. Had I gone back in the room at the Barheim Passage and grabbed one or two more Aquara Motes, I could've simply used those to kill the bangaa gang. Since I didn't have enough motes to kill them, Balthier and Fran use a 3-hit Mist combo to kill Ba'gamnon. Maybe it was faster this way anyway instead of grabbing extra Aquara Motes. Before engaging the enemies, I equip the Iron Helm to Vaan and change it to wait mode and play in regular speed for the battle, then switch back afterward. On the way out, I pick up an Aero Mote at the skeleton hallway. That Aerial bat shows up a second time, and without Ramon it takes a little longer to kill. Once I leave Lhusu Mines, (the exit is too dark for me to see while capturing), I get to use all that LP I got inside. Vaan buys two 'Gambit Plus', 'Heavy Armor 3', 'Swords 3', and 'Accessory 1'. Balthier buys 'HP+30', 'White Magic 3', 'Accessory 2', 'Accessory 3', and 'Accessory 4'. Fran buys 'HP+30', 'HP+150', 'Attack Power Up', and 'Light Armor 5'. Vaan's gambits change to: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Eyedrop 3-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 4-Any ally HP<40%, Potion 5-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack Balthier's gambits change to: 1-Any ally HP<50%, Cure 2-Leader, Protect 3-Any ally, Antidote 4-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack I save at Bhujerba in preparation for Vaan yelling at townspeople. ----- Part 08, 1:22:30-1:42:25 In this part, Vaan gets to yell in front of townspeople. I think I did pretty good here; I reached 100% in 5 yells instead of 7, and from the first yell to 100% it took about 1:02 of game time. I opted to not go inside any buildings this time, which helped. At the Leviathan, I changed Vossler's gambits, which in hindsight I probably didn't have to. I changed his gambits to: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Eyedrop 3-Any ally, Antidote 4-Any ally HP<40%, Potion 5-Flying enemy, Telekinesis 6-First enemy seen, Attack I go a longer route early on, hoping to get a Partisan to sell later inside a pot. Unfortunately, it had a Potion. In the next room, I snag some Bolero mage armor in a pot, then two of the three pots in the clump have a Prince's Kiss and two Reflectga Motes, which will come in handy later. After I beat the Judges and guards, I hit the prison shop. I sell my old equipment and loot, then buy a pair of Round Shields, two mage helmets, two of some mage armor, the Raise spell, 21 Chronos's Tears, 11 Gold Needles, 11 Prince's Kisses, and 11 Echo Herbs. Ashe joins the party, then I take Balthier out of the party and put her in. I make Ashe a Red Mage, then buy some licenses. For Ashe, I buy 'Mage Armor 3', 'Maces 2', 'Receive magic damage, MP charge', 'Shields 2', 'Arcane Magic 1', two 'Gambit Plus', 'White Magic 3', 'Black Magic 3', 'Green Magic 2', 'Black Magic 4', 'White Magic 4', a third and fourth 'Gambit Plus', a Mist Knack, then 'White Magic 2'. Balthier gets unequipped, then I equip Ashe. For gambits, Ashe gets these: 1-Any ally, Raise 2-Any ally, Chronos's Tear 3-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 4-Any ally HP<60%, Cure 5-Leader, Protect 6-First enemy seen, Attack I didn't realize for a long time that Ashe's attack gambit was set as it was. After setting her gambits, I arrange my items. Right afterward, you should notice a new effect of Chronos's Tears in this version; not only do they cure 'Stop', they also now cure 'Slow'! I know I went the long/wrong way in the Leviathan. I wanted to kill some more enemies on the way to Penelo. On the way to her, the pots I opened contained a Phoenix Tail and a Vega (gun). Once I get Penelo in the party, Vossler leaves. I switch out Fran for Penelo, then buy some more licenses. Vaan buys 'Accessory 2', 'Accessory 4', and the important 'Accessory 6', which lets me equip the Golden Amulet I will find soon. Balthier buys 'Accessory 5' and 'Accessory 6', Penelo buys 'HP+70', 'HP+110', 'Mage Armor 3', 'Mage Armor 4', 'Action Time 10% Cut', 'Take damage, get MP', 'Katanas 2', 'Accessory 1', 'Accessory 2', 'Near Death Status = Attack Power Up', four 'Gambit Plus', 'First-Aid', and 'Medicine Knowledge 2'. Fran gets unequipped, Penelo gets equipped, then I set her gambits to: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, Echo Herb 4-Any ally, Blinda 5-Any ally HP<40%, Cure 6-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack I check the pot in the lower-left corner again, and this time get a Partisan. Then I make my way to Ghis and fight him. I wanted to steal an accessory from him, but got a Potion instead. The fight with Ghis took about 35 seconds. I used a Dispel Mote a little into the fight to remove his buffs. At the Westersand, I sell my old equipment, then buy a new (+40 Atk) katana for Penelo, a Bhuj for Ashe, a Linen Cuirass for Vaan, 21 N Kai Sand (cures Confuse), and the Cura and Aero spells, then save. ----- Part 09, 1:42:25-1:56:54 Up now is the vast Ogir Yensa area, but it is not too bad thanks to fast-forward mode. I grab 292 gil in a pot on the way to the second screen. I steal a Bowgun instead of a Mace from an Alraune guys. On the second screen, Vossler joins up again. I change his gambits to: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, Handkerchief 4-Any ally, Gold Needle 5-Any ally, Echo Herb 6-Flying enemy, Telekinesis 7-First enemy seen, Attack On the second screen, I grab an Ancient Sword in the first pot, then one of the two Golden Amulets I'll have in the whole game. After I get the Golden Amulet, Vaan equips it as well as the Ancient Sword. Once I start killing the Urutan Yensa guys, I try to avoid the other enemies so I can hopefully get some Telepo Stones and Phoenix Tails from Urutan Yensa drops. The third screen has one of those big Entite things, always something you don't want to see when trying to go through an area with magic gambits. Other than that, the trip through the Ogir Yensa area is pretty uneventful but short. When I reach the Nam Yensa area, you may notice that the music is the same as the Cerobi Steppe's song instead of using the one from Ogir Yensa. I don't mind, as the first time I played the game, I found the Ogir Yensa song extremely repetitive after hearing it for over an hour straight while exploring both areas. I don't speak to the moogle here, as I'm not going to fight the big turtle monster. At Nam Yensa, I kill more Urutan Yensa guys while trudging through. The first pot I open had an Ether inside, and the second one was a false hope; it was the first time I had ever seen it, and according to the Ultimania book for the game, it has a 10% chance of showing up and a 10% chance of containing about 11,000 gil. I got a Knot of Rust. Near the end of the area, I buy some more licenses. Vaan buys 'Accessory 5', 'Accessory 7', 'Accessory 9', and 'Accessory 11'. Balthier buys a second Mist Knack and 'HP+190' since he had exactly enough LP to do so. Penelo buys 'Shades of Black', and Ashe buys 'Black Magic 5' and 'Mage Armor 4'. I forgot what to buy for her for a few seconds, it's pretty easy to see my confusion there. At the shop, I sell my old equipment and loot, then buy two Flash Hats for Ashe and Penelo, two mage armor for Ashe and Penelo, and the Shell spell in case I needed it later. I don't think I used it at all. I also buy a 'Potion Set' bazaar item. For the next fight, I change Ashe's attack gambit to cast Dark. Against the Garuda, I use my Dark Motes and cast Dark while Vossler uses Telekinesis. For a faster win, I should have used a Reflectga Mote and cast Dark on my party, if that works. At the time, I was unsure if I could get another Reflectga Mote, so I didn't use one. Vaan used a Shock Mote to finish the fight, which I probably should have saved for later. The Garuda battle took about 15 seconds. After beating the Garuda, I use a Reflectga Mote on the party in preparation for the Demon Wall I have to battle shortly, then save at the entrance to Raithwall. ----- Part 10, 1:56:54-2:12:14 In Raithwall's Tomb, there's a couple of useful things to grab inside, some of which I was able to get, others not so much. Up first is the second Demon's Wall, which I nuke with reflected Aero spells in about 25 seconds, including the time running up to it. One of the torches on the side messed me up for a bit. For those curious, the chest after the two Demon's Walls is a one-timer with a Collapse Mote inside. I wanted to steal a Blood Sword from a Seeker Bat to sell, but it didn't work out. I grab one later in a chest before Belias either way. In the first chest at Raithwall, I pick up the Dispel spell, which will be really useful throughout the game. The second chest always has a Hastega Mote, so I picked it up for use at Belias. On the bottom floor, I grab a Blood Sword from a chest, then go up to Belias. In his room (and many boss rooms) are two chests, one has 'Shades of Black' and the other an Elixir. With 'Shades of Black', Penelo more or less becomes a Samurai + Black Mage. Shades of Black casts a random black magic spell, which means it can be really helpful or a time-waster. The best spells to me are Clouder, Shock, Bio, and Collapse. Among the worst is probably Flare since it takes a long time to cast and recover from. I use Shades of Black a bunch throughout the game, rolling the dice for some good spells to be cast. The fight with Belias takes around 1:14. Since I got the Dispel spell, I used some of my Dispel Motes in the fight against Belias. After Belias, I buy some more licenses. Vaan buys 'Accessory 13' so he can equip the Berserker accessory in a little bit, then he also buys 'Shields 3', 'Swords 4', and an 'Attack Power Up'. Penelo buys another 'Action Time 10% Cut' and 'Katanas 3' so she can equip a nice katana coming up soon. Ashe buys 'White Magic 5' so she can cast Dispel, 'Give damage, get MP', a 'Gambit Plus', and 'Accessory 4'. Ashe slightly changes her gambits (my 3rd chance to fix her attack gambit but I forgot): 1-Any ally, Raise 2-Any ally, Chronos's Tear 3-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 4-Any ally, Poizona 5-Any ally HP<60%, Cure 6-Leader, Protect 7-First enemy seen, Attack In the battle against Vossler, I saw a useful trick. If you dispel him when he has Reflect, he likes to re-cast it. So Ashe kept casting Dispel on him so he'd spend time casting Reflect instead of attacking as much. The battle with Vossler took about 53 seconds thanks to an Aeroga Mote I used early on in the fight. After Vossler, I'm back at Rabanastre. I warp to Nalbina and save. ----- Part 11, 2:12:14-2:16:35 This part is probably the single most 'reliant on luck' part in the entire playthrough, but the rewards are worth it. I open 5 pots, 3 of which depend on luck to receive the items I wanted. I think I got the Diamond Helm twice in about 25 or more tries, the second time being what you see here. First off, I buy a chocobo to scare off the guards, opening up the Mosphoran Highwaste area. At the Highwaste, I take a detour south to the Estersand to grab items from two pots. The first is cake, as it is always there with a Berserker. The second pot seems to very rarely contain a Diamond Helm. After grabbing those, I head back up to the Mosphoran Highwaste to get some more items from pots. The enemies here are pretty deadly, so I have to try to avoid them. Up first is a pot with a new katana for Penelo that has almost double the Attack Power of her current one. At this point in the game, the shop at the Highwaste has almost nothing of value, just items I think. Definitely not any Golden Amulets. Near the top of the screen is a pot that always has some Thiefs Cuffs once. I grab it to sell them later. On the next screen, I take a gamble and hope to get a suit of Diamond Armor. I was going to reset due to going the wrong way earlier, but since I got the Diamond Armor, I kept the part since that cut out having to pick up the Diamond Armor at the beginning of part 12. At the save crystal, Vaan buys 'Heavy Armor 6' just in time (it lets him equip the Diamond stuff I just found), and Ashe buys 'Accessory 6' to equip the Golden Amulet in a little bit. Vaan formally becomes my tank character with the Diamond Helmet and Diamond Armor (and Berserker when he equips it). With those, Vaan's Magic Defense goes up from 9 to 29, his Defense goes up from 14 to 40, and he is permanently in Berserk status. After he equips the Berserker, Vaan is Berserk for most of the rest of the game. Penelo's Attack goes up from 40 to 71 with the katana I just found. After doing that, I warp to Rabanastre then save. ----- Part 12, 2:16:35-2:31:00 I buy a chocobo to ride through the rainy Giza Plains. As you can see, a chocobo in turbo mode while in fast-forward mode can be difficult to control! I messily zoom through Giza to the Ozmone Plains until my chocobo time runs out. At Ozmone on foot, I make my way towards Jahara. The two pots I open along the way have 183 gil and 190 gil inside. Once at Jahara, I get the Jaya Stick (I think you get more money if you give the stick to the guy that wants it, then selling the crossbow he gives you, but you might get more for selling it and the bow he gives you instead, I don't remember). At the shop, I sell my old equipment and loot, then buy the Fira spell (I'll use it a couple of times, not very many). Larsa, formally known as Ramon, joins up again. I change his gambits one more time: 1-Any ally HP<70%, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, N Kai Sand 4-Any ally, Poizona 5-Any ally, Blinda 6-Any ally, Vocal 7-Any ally HP<50%, Cura 8-First enemy seen, Shades of Black I didn't notice #1 was set wrong. This won't be the last time I incorrectly set a gambit up and do not notice for awhile. Back at Ozmone, I make my way to Golmore Jungle. With Penelo and Larsa having Shades of Black, lots of zany randomized spellcasting goes on. In the Jungle, I take the longer way around to the left to kill Panthers, then through the middle to kill some Molbols before ending up at Eruyt. On the way, I pick up a Burgonett in a pot. Before entering Eruyt, Vaan equips the Berserker, Ashe gets her turn with the Golden Amulet, and Penelo puts on a Bangle. For licenses, Vaan buys an 'Attack Power Up', 'Shields 4', and 'Swords 5'. Penelo buys her first Mist Knack, and Ashe buys a 'Gambit Plus'. I make a slight change to Ashe's gambits (one more time missing out on noticing her incorrect attack gambit): 1-Any ally, Raise 2-Any ally, N Kai Sand 3-Any ally, Chronos's Tear 4-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 5-Any ally, Poizona 6-Any ally HP<50%, Cura 7-Leader, Protect 8-First enemy seen, Attack At Eruyt, I go through town to talk to the head Viera, then hit up the shop at the entrance. Once there, I sell my old equipment and buy an Evilslayer (aka Demonsbane) for Vaan and the Esuna spell to use much later. If I remember correctly, Esuna is the last spell I purchase in the game. I save at Eruyt, ready to venture into the Henne Mines. ----- Part 13, 2:31:00-2:41:21 I make my way to the Henne Mine, and progress through. I try to get an Ice Shield drop from a bat, and I winded up getting two..works for me. At the blue blob room, I get to use the Fira spell purchased at Jahara. Fira and Shades of Black work pretty well here. I have to watch out with Shades of Black, because if something like Flare comes out, I may die due to how long it takes to cast and recover from. Near the save crystal, Vaan equips an Ice Shield, then buys 'HP+70' and 'HP+110'. Ashe buys 'Shields 3', 'Mage Armor 5', 'HP+110', and 'Attack Power Up', then equips the other Ice Shield. I wanted to save before Tiamat, but don't really like the idea of saving, fighting a boss, then saving right away again, so I went on without using the save crystal. Tiamat likes casting Reflect, so I one more time tried to keep Dispelling it. My timing wasn't great, so Penelo killed herself when the Flare spell bounced back to her. Oops! The fight took about 1:06. Ashe was not alive at the end, this was when I figured out something wasn't right with Larsa's Phoenix Tail gambit. Back at Eruyt, I save here once again. ----- Part 14, 2:41:21-2:53:17 At Golmore Jungle, I can get to Paramina Rift two ways, either going the 'regular' way, east, where a boss awaits, or south through the dangerous Feywood. I go south to save some time and to pick up a couple of items in that section of the Paramina Rift. The enemies at the southern end of the Golmore Jungle and at the Feywood are pretty dangerous at this point in the game. Right before leaving the jungle, I grab a High Ether from a pot. At the Paramina Rift, the first pot I open contains 98 gil, and the second has a Lamia Tiara for Ashe to equip later. The third one has 57 gil, and inside the fourth is 116 gil. Just before reaching Bur Omisace, Vaan buys 'Shields 5', Penelo buys 'HP+350', and Ashe buys 'Maces 3' and 'Take damage, get MP', then equips the Lamia Tiara. At Bur Omisace, I sell my old equipment and loot, then buy an Icebrand for Vaan, a Thorn Mace for Ashe, and some new armor for Ashe. After speaking to the creepy old guy at the end of town, Larsa leaves the party and I hitch a ride on a chocobo to make my way to Miriam. Since Vaan is usually Berserk and not using magic, I give him the thing needed to use some of the teleporters at Miriam. I save at Miriam after the Crystal Bug. Time-wise, I'm just a little over halfway through the game at this point. ----- Part 15, 2:53:17-3:07:30 Saving at this point allows me less annoyance while trying to get a weapon for Vaan and possibly some more weapons to sell in a treasure room. In the hall of zombie monsters, I take a detour to a room that can have four chests. The first chest always has a ninja blade, and the other three that can appear may have a good weapon to equip or sell, the 2nd chest is what I'm going for (a Platinum Sword for Vaan). Without even trying, I get an Icebrand from the 12th zombie I kill. In the treasure room, I get 115 gil from the third chest away from the corner, the Platinum Sword from the second, and the ninja sword from the first. Near the end of the room, I snag a Ras Algethi (gun) from a chest and a Phoenix Tail in another (I was hoping for a Hammerhead instead). The fight with Vinuskar took about 27 seconds, thanks to Berserk speeding up Vaan's turn meter or whatever. The chest by the door contains a Sage Ring, which I wind up keeping in case I wanted to equip it. It turns out I didn't use it at all, and could have sold it for around 11,000 gil or so. After turning the third statue, I buy some licenses. Vaan buys 'Swords 6', Penelo buys 'Medicine Knowledge 1', 'Accessory 6', and 'Mage Armor 6'. Ashe buys 'Maces 4' and 'MP cost 10% cut'. Vaan then equips the Platinum Sword, which will be more helpful against Mateus than the Icebrand would, since ice heals him/her/them. Ashe gets her turn with the Bangle again and Penelo gets her turn with the Golden Amulet for now. I run past the badguys on the way to Mateus. Once there, I messed up a little bit on using a Mist combo on him/her/them before the little ice things blast me with Blizzard a bunch. I get off a 3-level 1 combo with just Ashe that damages the little ice things a good bit, but doesn't kill them. The two chests in the room contain a Bubble Mote and an Elixir. The fight with Mateus was about 1:55. It could have been much, much better, and was probably the ugliest boss fight in the playthrough. After Mateus, I take the sword, then make my way out to the save crystal. Vaan buys 'HP+190', Penelo buys 'Longer-Lasting Buffs' (or whatever that augment is called) and 'Kill enemy, get MP'. Ashe buys 'HP+190', then I grab an Ice Shield from the chest near the save crystal, then warp to Bur Omisace and save there. ----- Part 16, 3:07:30-3:12:01 This part is pretty short. Belga isn't too bad; the fight takes about 40 seconds. At the Bur Omisace save crystal, I warp to the Mosphoran Highwaste, sell my old equipment and loot, buy a Time Limit Mace (or something like that) for Ashe, a mage helmet for Penelo, then save. ----- Part 17, 3:12:01-3:20:35 I was originally going to do this part along with the previous one since I was just going to go for one pot (the mage armor for Penelo), but then I decided to also go for a Dragon Shield and try to get a Stone Bow as well. I open the pots in the above order. On the last screen of the Mosphoran Highwaste, I grab an Elixir and 62 gil from the pots, then enter the Salikawood. Shortly into the area, I remembered to give Vaan the Icebrand to damage the Pumpkinheads better, then he equips the Dragon Shield and Penelo equips the much-needed new mage armor that brings up her Defense from 15 to 33. For licenses, Vaan buys 'Shields 6', Penelo buys 'Katanas 4', and Ashe buys 'Action Time 10% Cut'. I kill a bunch of Pumpkinheads on the way to the big gate (and open a pot for 273 gil), then speak to the moogles and allow them to take me back to the gate to the Phon Coast. Along the way to the moogles, I opened a pot with 109 gil and took a gamble with a second pot, hoping to get a 'Confuse Mace', but it had an Ether instead. The pot after that had a Handkerchief, and an Ether was inside the final pot I opened at the Salikawood. I save at the beginning of the Phon Coast, an area I have come to enjoy, since it would usually be where I would first save after grabbing the Zodiac Spear at Nabudis. Although I never put that playthrough up, I was pretty stoked when I entered Nabudis, got the Zodiac Spear, and got out of Nabudis in about 4:00 flat. ----- Part 18, 3:20:35-3:29:43 I like this area. I could have used a chocobo, but I wanted to grab a Diamond Sword and some feather-type of loot from the 'Badou' guys to make a Phoenix Tail bazaar item, so I went through the Phon Coast on foot. The big bird enemies (Perlisks?) are really annoying when they decide to attack me. I skip the shop and save crystal halfway through the area, and take a slightly longer route I think. The pot after the dinosaur monster has the Diamond Sword I want, then I open some more pots that have 139 gil, 59 gil, 212 gil, and 52 gil. I was hoping to get a 'Francesca' (some axe or hammer) from the 59 gil pot. Up next is the Tchita Uplands, a fun little area thanks to Berserk and an Icebrand. I chain some Coeurls along the way to the entrance of Sochen, where the game now offers a save point upon entering. Before reaching the save, Vaan buys 'Swords 7', Penelo buys 'HP+310' and 'HP+150', Ashe buys 'MP cost 10% cut' and 'Kill enemy, get MP', then I set up Vaan's gambits slightly incorrectly: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 4-Any ally HP<40%, High Potion 5-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack I guess I really wanted to make sure Vaan would wake characters up; I should have made #2 N Kai Sand instead. Penelo stops wielding the Gold Amulet for a little bit while Vaan gets it again and equips the Diamond Sword, then I save at the entrance to Sochen. ----- Part 19, 3:29:43-3:36:51 Sochen was one of the tougher areas to get through. The five vegetable enemies were really hard on fast-forward mode, and had Vaan had N Kai Sand as a gambit, things would have been easier. I don't know why there is no music in the first part of Sochen, every version of the game I've played has this problem. The monsters in here (mainly the Pit Fiends and Imps) are pretty nasty. At the vegetables, I go into 'wimp mode'; I put Balthier and Fran in the party and set it to wait mode so they can perform a Mist combo at the start of the fight. I changed Vaan's heal gambit to 30%, yet another missed opportunity to fix a messed-up gambit. The fight with the five vegetables takes about . The main problem with these guys is that they can just overwhelm my characters and do lots of nasty status effects or just kill me with attacks. I start the battle with a 5-hit Mist combo (lv1,1,2,1,2) that resulted in the Water Eruption finish. An interesting note is that to do Water Eruption in this version, it was changed from three level 1's and two level 2's to two level 1's and two level 2's, but I didn't think I was going to get that second level 2. Luckily, I was able to swap out both Balthier and Fran right after Water Eruption went off. With the main group back in, Penelo and Ashe finished off the Onion Queen with a three-hit level 1 Mist combo and left the other two in the area in critical status. This made things much easier, and I killed the Mandragora Prince and Tomato Captain shortly afterward. After recouping from some deaths and status problems, I took on the Pumpkin Star and Alraune King, grabbing 274 gil before beating the gang completely. In all, the long and bloody battle took about 3:17. I think this was the longest fight in the game, including the last battle. Beating the veggie gang puts music into the area I guess, which is always cool. I grab a pot with 4,936 gil inside, then another one with a Hastega Mote inside. After killing the Crystal Bug, Vaan buys two 'Attack Power Up's, Penelo buys 'Mage Armor 8', and Ashe buys a 'Gambit Plus' license. Her gambits look like this afterward (how many times could I have fixed her attack one by now?): 1-Any ally, Raise 2-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 3-Any ally, N Kai Sand 4-Any ally, Chronos's Tear 5-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 6-Any ally, Poizona 7-Any ally HP<50%, Cura 8-Leader, Protect 9-First enemy seen, Attack I save halfway through Sochen, since the vegetable gang was pretty tough, I wanted to try to get a Hypnocrown right after the save, and Ahriman is a real jerk to me. ----- Part 20, 3:36:51-3:38:09 This part is incredibly short, because I was hoping to get one Hypnocrown from a Zombie Knight, and I only have about seven of them to get one from on the way to Ahriman. After several unsuccessful tries of doing both, I happened to get what happened here; the second and fourth Zombie Knights both dropped a Hypnocrown. So as soon when that happened, I decided that saving with two Hypnocrowns would save me some sanity and maybe some gil. That's all that happens in this part; I kill the first four Zombie Knights, get two Hypnocrowns, equip one to Penelo, then run back and save. ----- Part 21, 3:38:09-3:48:31 Not having to worry about grabbing a Hypnocrown let me focus on tackling Ahriman, who is a pain. Just the large number of clones that appears throughout can easily overwhelm the party. I won a couple of times, but the fight was never really good or took too long. I wanted to fight in fast-forward mode, which was tricky. I adjusted Vaan's healing gambit to Any ally HP<60%, High Potion and changed Penelo's Attack gambit to Shades of Black before the fight. First off, I ran to the left to pick up an Elixir, then up to a Bubble Mote. On this attempt, I tried a different strategy, and it worked out ok. Basically, it came down to hoping for some good spells from Shades of Black by Penelo, and casting Cura spells from Ashe offensively to damage Ahriman and the clones. The fight got messy near the end with all the clones surrounding me, but thanks to some good spells from Shades of Black and Cura, I was able to beat Ahriman and his clones. About 3/4 through the fight, Ashe used the Elixir I just picked up. The fight with Ahriman took about 3:15. After Ahriman, I have to watch out for all the traps on the way out. I can't count the number of times I ran into the very first trap on both hands. I avoided it this time, though. Once I killed all the enemies in the last room, I bought some more licenses. Vaan buys 'Heavy Armor 9' and 'Shields 7' (I want to get to 'Swords 8' sooner), Penelo buys 'HP+190', and Ashe buys a 'Gambit Plus'. I then change back Vaan's healing gambit to 30% and Penelo's Attack gambit, then add another one to Ashe: 1-Any ally, Raise 2-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 3-Any ally, N Kai Sand 4-Any ally, Chronos's Tear 5-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 6-Any ally, Gold Needle 7-Any ally HP<50%, Cura 8-Any ally, Poizona 9-Leader, Protect 10-First enemy seen, Attack Instead of saving at the crystal at the end of the dungeon, I go through Low Archades and save there. You may notice a bunch of pots at Lower Archades. Without a Diamond Armlet equipped, nearly all of them either have a couple of gil or a Knot of Rust, so I run past them. ----- Part 22, 3:48:31-4:01:42 Since I already spoke to the man in the corner on the first screen, I just need to talk to Jule, the man on the stairs, then Jule again to get to Upper Archades. Once there, I get to pair up nine groups of townspeople for White Leaves. I think I did all right here, although I got confused for a bit early on at where the first person was this time. Instead of matching up all 6 pairs on the lower screen, I skip two pairs that involves center/lower-right side and left side people, getting 4 pairs on the lower screen and 5 on the upper one instead. After that, I'm at Draklor Laboratory. The lab is pretty uneventful; use some switches and get to some elevators. The very last switch got me, as the running speed disoriented me for a bit after using the switch. I fight most of the guards along the way (hoping for some free Protect or Shell buffs), which isn't that many, but I run past the last group of them. At the save crystal, I use a Hastega Mote then save. The Hastega Mote should help on the first part against Cid and his little Rook things, and I get another one in his room anyway. ----- Part 23, 4:01:42-4:07:55 In Cid's room, I grab a Holy Mote and a Hastega Mote, then attack. Rotating the party leader keeps Protect on the party, and Dispel helps since Cid loves to buff himself. Cid goes down in about 2:06. After the battle with Cid, I'm at Balfonheim, the last town in the game. Vaan buys 'Swords 8', Penelo buys a 'Magic Power Up' and the Belias summon for the door at the Feywood, and Ashe buys 'Mage Armor 8'. Vaan re-equips the Berserker, Penelo re-equips the Golden Amulet, and Ashe equips a Hypnocrown. At the weapon shop (which Vaan runs really fast in), I buy a Deathbringer for Vaan, a poison-inflicting katana for Penelo, then I sell my old equipment and loot and buy a bazaar item that gives me 25 Phoenix Tails. At the armor shop, I buy two something-gown armor for Ashe and Penelo, a suit of Carabineer armor for Vaan, then sell my old armor. At the item shop, I purchase 31 X-Potion, 11 N Kai Sand, 11 Chronos's Tears, 11 Gold Needles, 11 Prince's Kisses, 31 Phoenix Tails just to be safe, and 21 Echo Herbs. After that, I go to the warp crystal to warp to Eruyt and save there just in case the Feywood monsters don't want to cooperate. ----- Part 24, 4:07:55-4:13:31 Starting at Eruyt, I make my way south through the Golmore Jungle into the Feywood. The pot at the end of the jungle once again had a High Ether for me to take. At the Feywood, the Killer Tomatoes aren't too tough anymore, but they can cause some nasty status effects that slow me down. As long as they die quickly, they are not much of a problem. I fight some Mirror Knights along the way in case one drops some Reflect Mail for me to sell later. I got one from the second Mirror Knight. At the save crystal, I got pretty lucky when the pot with an Embroidered Tippet showed up. I think it has a 25% chance of showing up. It was lucky because at the time of this part I was not planning on equipping it at all. The Rafflesia fight was pretty close, taking about 38 seconds. Vaan very nearly died, and the girls weren't too well off, either. But it wouldn't have been much a loss had I needed to reset in such a short part. After Rafflesia, I turn around to head to the save crystal. On the way, I pick up some item that I don't know its name, but it casts 'Brave' on the character it is used on. Back at the save crystal, I save there. ----- Part 25, 4:13:31-4:20:31 The visibility in this area and the general video quality were starting to annoy me (it's almost as if S-Video looks worse in VirtualDub on my computer), so beginning with this part, I began encoding them at 1024kbps instead of 512. The originals for the previous parts were already gone, so I was not able to increase their bitrate. It should look less blurry. Time to complete the Feywood! There are a number of good items in pots here, some of which always show up which makes things easier. First, I grab an X-Potion in Rafflesia's room, then continue on to the next area. Near the bottom of this screen is another Golden Amulet. Finally I have two! The next pot has a Giant Helmet. I take a quick timeout and equip the Giant Helmet to Vaan and the second Golden Amulet to Ashe, then purchase some licenses. Vaan buys 'Near Death Status = Defense Power Up', 'HP+150', and a 'Shield Evasion Up', Penelo buys 'HP+230' and 'HP+270', then Ashe buys 'HP+270'. Back at the Feywood, I start looking for the paths to go from each circular area. Before going on to the next screen, I make a small detour to a pot with a Bubble Chain inside, which will be useful later. On the last screen of the Feywood I make my way through, summoning Belias at the end to open the door to Giruvegan. Right before saving, I buy a few more licenses. Penelo buys a 'Gambit Plus' and 'Libra'. I just add 'Self, Libra' to the end of her gambits: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, Echo Herb 4-Any ally, Blinda 5-Any ally HP<40%, Cure 6-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack 7-Self, Libra Ashe had Libra anyway, but I figured the short delay from Penelo using it may allow Vaan and Ashe to not stay as far behind when Penelo uses it. Not really, I completely forgot Ashe started with Libra. I save at the entrance to Giruvegan, ready to tackle the hard-hitting boss ahead. ----- Part 26, 4:20:31-4:30:15 The fight with Daedalus/Didalos/whatever was pretty tough. At critical status, he'd just wipe the floor with me and chase me around while I tried to survive. I figured that since Holy seems to work well on him, I would use the Holy Mote I picked up in the Cid battle room before he reached critical (after the ice attack seemed like a good time) since it would do more damage before he was at critical, then use a Mist combo to finish him off. That's what I did here, and the battle takes about one minute. I didn't get a third hit from the Mist combo, so there was some regular attacking afterward. Giruvegan has its own dangers. Those Vivian's breath attacks could really screw me over, since I don't have a way to cure virus status yet. I can't cure slip status, either (and in here, it makes it hard to see the character) unless the character dies. A couple of tries were ruined by the big floating ball thing that sometimes would show up, too. I survived this time though and made my through without a whole lot of trouble overall. On the second screen here, I grabbed a pair of High Ethers from two blue gem/chest/pot things. One of the Barons early on dropped a Time Limit Mace or something to that effect. I save at the end of Giruvegan, before the Tyrant battle. ----- Part 27, 4:30:15-4:37:43 The battle with the Tyrant is pretty fun; I heal up a bunch throughout the fight due to the Piercing Graviga spell it casts, so I need to stay pretty healthy to survive it. The fight against the Tyrant takes about 1:22, then I am off to Crystal Grande. There's a couple of gem pots or whatever I grab here, but I have to watch out for the Panther-type monsters (Ose I guess) here. They do some Blaster attack that can kill me and/or do a whole bunch of status effects including some I can't cure yet. The first gem pot thing has some staff that I won't be using (maybe a Mist Staff or something), inside the second is a Thief's Cap I can't equip, and the third one has something I can use, a Gold Hairpin. The one in the middle of all the Mother Grenades is some Shinobi Gear or something that I can't do anything with. The last one I open has some Earth Gear inside. At the save crystal, Penelo uses a Bubble Mote, then I buy more licenses. Vaan buys 'Heavy Armor 4', 'HP+270', and 'Near Death Status = Attack Power Up'. Penelo buys 'Mage Armor 10', 'Mage Armor 11', and 'Katanas 5'. Ashe buys 'HP Full = Magic Power Up', 'Mage Armor 9', 'Near Death Status = Magic Power Up', 'Accessory 7', 'Accessory 9', and 'Accessory 17', which lets her equip the Bubble Chain I found at the Feywood. Penelo equips the Gold Hairpin and Earth Gear I just got and Ashe equips the Bubble Chain and Time Limit Mace. After all that, I save at the end of Crystal Grande. ----- Part 28, 4:37:43-4:48:10 I get to fight Shumihaza next, a really pesky summon that likes to cause virus to me and make me reset and cast both Shock and Flare, which can be deadly to my party with regular HP. Thanks to the Bubble Mote and Bubble Chain, the girls have more survivability, albeit more temporarily in Penelo's case. The two items in Shumihaza's room have a Hastega Mote and some other item I didn't feel like going for. Right before grabbing the Hastega Mote, I had Penelo use the Brave-casting item on Vaan. I just plug away at the boss, glad that Ashe was killed and not Penelo. Right before the end of the fight, I re-equipped the Golden Amulet on Ashe again so she'd get more LP. The fight with Shumihaza takes about 1:13. My attacks did very little at the end; this would have been a better spot to have saved that Shock Mote I used on the Garuda earlier. I could have tried using Shades of Black, but I was not having good luck with it at the time. I wanted to do more in this part, so I go through Balfonheim again before saving. I warp to Balfonheim after getting the Treaty Blade or whatever that sword is called. At Balfonheim, I grab 5,840 gil from a pot, then visit the item shop. I sell my old equipment and loot, then buy a bazaar item that gives me 8 'C9H8O4' and 16 N Kai Sand. C9H8O4 is the new name for the vaccine item that cures 'virus' (according to DJGrenola, C9H8O4 is the chemical formula for aspirin), then I purchase some items: 21 X-Potion, 99 Bacchus Wine, 11 Chronos's Tears, 11 Gold Needles, 11 Prince's Kisses, 32 Phoenix Tails (just to be safe), and 11 Echo Herbs. At the weapon shop, I buy some 'rain' katana or something (wind-elemental) to equip later (the next boss I think is immune to wind, while Hashmalim or whoever is weak to wind), then I buy a Priest Hat for Ashe and a 'kuririkaru gown' for Ashe at the armor shop. At the end of town, Reddas joins up. Ashe equips the Bubble Chain and Vaan gets the Golden Amulet once again. For licenses, Vaan buys an 'Attack Power Up', Penelo buys a second Mist Knack, and Ashe buys Shumihaza, which gives her access to 'White Magic 7' and the Esuna spell I bought so long ago. I change a few gambits around for the main party. Vaan's become: 1-Any ally, Phoenix Tail 2-Any ally, Prince's Kiss 3-Any ally, Echo Herb 4-Any ally HP<30%, X-Potion 5-Self, Bacchus Wine Reddas's gambits change to this: 1-Off 2-Off 3-Off 4-Any ally, Arise 5-Any ally, C9H8O4 6-Any ally, Gold Needle 7-Any ally, Echo Herb 8-Any ally HP<30%, X-Potion 9-Enemy with lowest HP, Attack 10-Guest, Bacchus Wine (off) #10 is off for now; I turn it on after Hydro. I *finally* fix Ashe's Attack gambit to 'Enemy with lowest HP, Attack'. Only took most of the game. I also change 'Leader, Protect' to 'Any ally, Protect' and 'Any ally, Poizona' to 'Any ally, Esuna'. Afterward, I arrange my items one more time by putting the Brave-casting item at the top, followed by a Bubble Mote, Bacchus Wine, then a Hastega Mote. I make my way to the terminal and hitch a ride on the airship to Ridorana. The enemies here have a lot of HP, but aren't too dangerous I grab 315 gil, 332 gil, and 412 gil from some pots, then save at the save crystal before Hydro. Looking at the Ultimania, the pot that I tried to open but didn't would have had either gil, an X-Potion, or a Balance Mote. ----- Part 29, 4:48:10-4:58:20 At last, I am at the gates to the big tower. First up is Hydro, a big pain. Although I can now cure virus, it still isn't good to get inflicted with it. Fearga gets rid of all my MP, so Elixirs are handy if I want to survive here. Hydro is status-inflicting crazy. There are 4 pots that can show up in Hydro's area; the one that I grabbed had a Bubble Mote. The pot next to it that I did not open would have had a Ruby Ring inside, for those curious. Hydro takes about 1:14 to kill. After that messy fight, Penelo equips the wind katana, I turn on Reddas's 'Guest, Bacchus Wine' gambit, then enter the big tower! The first section of Ridorana has three 'switches' that I have to put a Black Orb or something into. Black Orbs are randomly dropped by enemies. All I do in the first section is kill some enemies on the way and get three Black Orbs to use in the switches, then I can fight Pandemonium on the far right side of the floor. On the way to Pandemonium, I have Penelo use a Bacchus Wine on herself to be berserked along with Vaan and Reddas. I think Pandemonium is weak to wind-elemental stuff, which Penelo's current katana has. About halfway through the battle, Pandemonium does it's "immune to attacks and magic" thing, which I have to wait for it to wear off to kill him. The Ultimania book mentions something about the Raise and Arise spells, but I have no idea what those have to do with the invincibility; neither of them nullified it in other playthroughs. After the invincibility wears off, Pandemonium goes down pretty quickly. In all, the giant rock turtle takes about 1:13 to defeat. On the way to the save, I pick up a C9H8O4. Before the save, I buy more licenses. Vaan buys 'Shield Evasion Up', 'Great Swords 2', and an 'Attack Power Up'. Penelo buys 'HP+390', two 'Attack Power Up's, 'Accessory 5', and a 'Magic Power Up'. Ashe buys 'Shields 4' and 'Longer-Lasting Buffs' and a 'Magic Power Up', then Penelo equips an Embroidered Tippet and I save. ----- Part 30, 4:58:20-5:09:40 The second section of the big tower involves killing the yellow head enemies (Kojas) to make bridges and not killing the red ones (Deidars), since they negate a chunk of a bridge. Early on, I grab a Dragon Helm from a pot just because it is there. The fifth bridge-making screen is pretty luck-dependant, as I need to kill about 10 Kojas, but they only appear in 5 places so I have to run in some circles to kill the amount I need. Vaan's Deathbringer puts on a pretty good show while I kill the Kojas and Chimera Brains. Near the end of the bridge-making part, I kill a Deidar; I wanted a few extra LP for the next license-buying time. When I do buy licenses again, Vaan buys 'Great Swords 3' and 'HP+310', Penelo buys 'Near Death Status = Magic Power Up', and Ashe buys two 'Magic Power Up's. After that, I save on 48F of the tower. ----- Part 31, 5:09:40-5:17:26 On this part, I get to fight the big fish, Slyt. Right before the door to the battle, I pick up a Black Mask. After a few normal tries, I decided to try using a Reflectga Mote and spamming Fira, hoping to kill it really fast before too many characters died. Amazingly, no one died and Slyt went down quickly, in about 24 seconds. I was pretty satisfied with being able to use Fira again for more than a room of blobs at the Henne Mine. Of course, Reflect lasted longer than the battle, so I needed to Dispel it off each character after the fight. Once Slyt is dead, I reach the third area. This time, I opted to go without the map, since items would be more helpful to keep and I would be placed closer to a pot with a weapon for Ashe. The bad thing about not having a map is that the area coming up is very dark while capturing video, so I have a hard time seeing where I am going. On 61F, four Crusaders was too annoying, so I ran away from those guys after killing one. On 62F, I got lost for a second (I am almost running blind), then went back to grab a Mace of Zeus for Ashe. Before equipping it, Penelo equips the Black Mask I found before Slyt first. Vaan buys 'Longer-Lasting Buffs' and an 'Attack Power Up', Penelo buys a 'Magic Power Up', and Ashe also buys a 'Magic Power Up' on the license board before continuing on. I save at 64F, just before the Fenrir battle. ----- Part 32, 5:17:26-5:20:11 This part is really short; I wanted to do more than fight Fenrir, but I was having a really difficult time of getting a good Fenrir fight, upper floors of Ridorana and Hashmalim battle in one single part. Right before Fenrir's room, I pick up a Muramasa and Hastega Mote. Penelo immediately equips the Muramasa and Golden Amulet, then I go in and battle with Fenrir. Fenrir is pretty easy, and I don't really do anything here aside from casting Dispel and Cura with Ashe while the three berserk party members attack. The fight with Fenrir takes about 26 seconds to complete. I get my map back on 66F, then save the game on 67F. ----- Part 33, 5:20:11-5:26:47 Almost done! In this part, I go through the upper section of Ridorana, which involves activating certain colored teleporters. Up first is the black teleporter, then the green one behind a fake wall. Luckily, I made it to the green teleporter before the other party members hit the trap along the way that would have slowed me down. I grab a White Robe on 83F, then bust through two fake walls to get to the red teleporter. On 84F, I pick up an Ultima Blade in a pot then equip it to Vaan, equip the wind katana and White Robe to Penelo, then give Ashe the Dragon Shield that Vaan had previously. Vaan buys a tech, I think it is called "Sight Unseeing" in the US version of the game (the in-game description mentions 'darkness/blind status'), then an 'Attack Power Up' and 'Action Time 10% Cut'. Penelo buys two 'Magic Power Up' augments, as does Ashe. Finally, Ashe changes her 'Any ally, Phoenix Tail' gambit to 'Any ally, C9H8O4' in case Hashmalim inflicts virus to anyone. After doing that, I use the purple teleporter (since that's the color of the 'no map' penalty I took earlier). On 86F, Penelo uses a Brave-casting item on herself, then smashes through a fake wall on the way to the white teleporter. I pick up an Elixir on 88F, then go up to 90F and Hashmalim. Hashmalim was mostly a coin flip. I could do really well then die at the end, or just die right away from a big combo attack. This time though, I beat him down. Penelo with Brave + Berserk and the wind katana was able to do over 5000 damage, which certainly helped. Hashmalim using 'Rock You' on Ashe also helped, since the Dragon Shield makes the wearer immune to earth-based attacks like 'Rock You' and Quakeja, which Hashmalim likes to use. Had I received a Levitega Mote at Miriam, I could have used it here to avoid damage from both of those attacks for everyone in the party. I wanted to win before Quakeja was used, but was never able to do so. I came really close this time, though. The battle with Hashmalim took about 33 seconds; 13 of those were from Quakeja. Finally at the top of Ridorana, Penelo re-equips the Muramasa, Vaan buys an 'Attack Power Up', Penelo buys a 'Magic Power Up', 'Take damage, get MP', and another 'Magic Power Up', and Ashe buys a 'Magic Power Up'. Vaan changes his Bacchus Wine gambit to 'Enemy with highest HP, Attack', and everyone else changes his or her Attack gambit to that also, so I concentrate on Famfrit first in the next series of battles. Penelo shut off her Libra gambit, as that ability won't be useful anymore. Ashe uses a Hastega Mote on the party, then I save. ----- Part 34, 5:26:47-5:34:20 At the very top of Ridorana, all that is left here is a series of battles varying from two to four depending on who you ask. Up first is Gabranth. Since I don't have Basch in my party, I don't need to switch him out before Gabranth speaks, since that scene takes longer if Basch is in the party. I Dispel Gabranth and smack him around, beating him in 38 seconds. Next is Cid by himself, but that only lasts 25 seconds, a lot of it being his cannon attack. After that is the real battle, Cid and Famfrit at once. Famfrit has more HP and Cid is invincible for most of the fight (or all of it) while Famfrit is alive, so that's why I changed my attack gambit. As long as I am able to keep Famfrit's buffs off and avoid a double combo of Waterja (by Famfrit) and Cid's cannon attack, I'm able to get through. I use another Hastega Mote near the beginning of the fight, then wail away and de-buff Famfrit. I also use those Brave-casting items to do more damage in the battle. As soon as Vaan heads over towards Cid (meaning he has more HP than Famfrit), I switch my Attack gambits back to going for the enemy with the lowest HP so I can kill Famfrit. This also helps in the second-to-last battle to go after the swords. After about 2:11, Famfrit goes down, leaving Cid all alone. Vaan and Reddas Berserk themselves, and I wail on Cid until he dies after about 33 seconds. Back at Balfonheim, Vaan re-equips the Berserker, Penelo equips a Bangle, then I purchase my last licenses. Vaan buys a Mist Knack(!), the Revive tech, then 'HP+390'. Penelo buys four 'Magic Power Up's, and Ashe buys two 'Magic Power Up's. I save for the last time at the Balfonheim terminal. ----- Part 35, 5:34:20-~5:45:23 The end! From the Balfonheim terminal, I fly to the Bahamut. Once I'm inside, I make my way to the elevator where Gabranth awaits. Although he restores his HP a little bit into the fight, it didn't really matter too much. I use some my Brave-casting items and plug away while healing. I was really surprised at the ease I beat Gabranth here, usually he hurts me a ton with big combos. Instead, Gabranth goes down in about 53 seconds. Up next is Vayne. His first form isn't anything to worry about. I Dispel his buffs and smack him around, using my last Hastega Mote a few moments before the end of the fight. The first form is beaten in about 1:14. I was hoping to beat him before his punch attack, but I was never able to. The second form of Vayne takes a little longer, thanks to all the swords flying around. I temporarily unequip the Berserker on Vaan so he can go after the swords first. I Dispel Vayne's buffs, use up more of the Brave-casting items, go after each sword, then re-equip Vaan's Berserker and concentrate on Vayne himself. The second form is done with after about 2:22. At last! The final boss. I Dispel him right away to remove Haste, then wail away and use the final Brave-casting item on Vaan. I had to watch the 'information' window to see when the boss was going to cast Faith, because he uses 'invincible to magic' almost immediately after, so the time window to Dispel it is really small on fast-forward mode. When he cast Brave, the magic barrier was still up so I was not able to Dispel that. After the Giga Flare Sword attack, I healed up and had Penelo use the remaining Bubble Mote I had on herself to make the damage from the boss's attacks a little softer, but he would have none of that and Dispelled my party almost immediately afterward. So much for that! After Terra Flare, I was able to hurt the boss physically again. In a big stroke of luck, I checked the in-game timer two hits before the boss died, and going by Virtual Dub frame-by-frame, The Undying died at 5:45:23 on the game clock. The last fight itself took about 2:57. With the last boss dead, I skip the ending and let the credits go through and then the game asks if I want to start a 'Strong New Game' (all party members start at level 90, I think) or go back to the title screen, which I do and then turn the game off. ----- So that's the playthrough! I hope the commentary I provided was informative, and thank you for reading/watching whatever parts of this playthrough that you did. And I'd like to thank DJGrenola for putting this video up on archive for me, you're the best. Have fun with whatever you do!