Now that I have Gambits enabled, I can now customise them how I please! It also lets me get additional Gambit spaces from the License Board, which is handy. I purchase a new Gambit slot and +50HP for Vaan as Augments.
Unfortunately, my choice of Gambits remains low; I can't configure them to exactly how I want them yet. I keep Vaan as my leader, and have Fran and Balthier shoot from behind. In addition to Steelings and Dire Rats, I also encounter Gigantoads, which are hardly a threat. Chest 17 and 18 can drop a Longsword and an Estucheon, respectively; sadly, 17 gave me gil and 18 didn't spawn. Sucks!
I find a Save Crystal and take the chance to use it; walking down the nearby flight of stairs causes a cutscene to occur in which the mysterious girl totally flashes Vaan. I'm then thrust into an encounter with four Imperial Swordsmen. My team makes short work of them; as they each provide 2LP, it's valuable work. The mysterious girl then introduces herself as Amalia; Vaan encourages her to join her. She does so as a guest.
"What's wrong with her?" "You have a lot to learn, before we even get started on your thievery."
Oh, Balthier. He proposes the terminology used in-game: 'guest'.
"I doubt we'll find her wanting in valour, being such an upstanding member of the insurgence." "Resistance."
Anyway, we move on with our new party member in tow. In the next zone, I pick up a Leather Shield, which Vaan doesn't have the license for. I'm then ambushed by four Flans; unfortunately, half of my party doesn't have any offensive magic learnt. Fran does, so she's the damage-dealer here. Each Flan only has 420HP; much like the Swordsmen, each one drops 2LP. Short work is made of them; they then flee into the waterworks, away from us.
We are then treated to victory poses and an orchestral rendition of the Victory Theme. Whoo! I obtain a license for Shields for Vaan, and +50HP for Fran. I obtain a Dagger from the chest, but it's rather useless — who needs it? In the next room, I obtain a Red Fang — a bit late, given that I just killed the Flans.
After the Flan room, the monster variety goes up. Garichmacera's, Ghosts and Gigantoads are the new orders of the day. Given that Guests steal 25% of your EXP total, my levelling slows somewhat. I reach the Central Waterway Control, and save — I open the door.
The Firemane is weak against Water. This is good to know, since you have no way of using Water at this time — it's worth noting that the water textures here in the arena are gorgeous. Anyway, the Firemane teleports around, disrupting your castings/attacks. It's Bushfire attack can be a pain, but Amalia is very handy in providing damage and reviving/healing team-mates. Keeping her alive is a priority.
Short work is made of him, but shortly after, a small army of Imperial soldiers appear, pointing crossbows at the party. Lord Vayne looks down on our team, as the screen blacks out. Our party is then paraded through Rabanastre, as some shifty Bangaas rant about Balthier. After the cutscenes, the party awakens in the Nalbina Dungeons. I stroll around, quickly finding some Knots of Rust... and trouble. Despite the picturesque nature of the Dungeon, trouble abounds.
Three unsightly Seeqs, by the names of Gwitch, Galeedo and Daguza, drag Vaan into a gladiator-esque arena. Given the three-on-one nature of the conflict, Balthier soon jumps in to assist. While my equipment has been confiscated, the first Seeq quickly fall to Balthier and Vaan's bare fists. I then purchase a License to cast Fire, and use it to defeat the the other two.
However, a handful of Imperial soldiers then enter the arena, forcing Balthier and Vaan to hide (and Fran soon after allows them out of their arena). The shifty Bangaa from earlier appears and proceeds to get into a fight with the Imperials. He's introduced as Ba'Gamnan — and then Gabranth appears. Accompanied by the Theme of the Empire. Ba'Gamnan is quickly brought to heel and Gabranth walks off. Balthier and Fran encourage me to follow, in order to escape.
We soon after get our equipment back — and in the same room is another barbed Zodiac-Spear-restraining chest — unfortunately, I pick it up. Sighing, I reset the game and work my way back to this point again.
In future, this guide will now contain helpful information about how I play the game in addition to the stream-of-conciousness posts from before. I will spoiler plot-info that has yet to appear in the liveblog thus far, for viewing convenience.
When I play XII, I divide my team into three roles. Tank, Damage-Dealer and Mage. Vaan and Basch serve as Tanks, Fran and Balthier Damage-Dealers and Ashe and Penelo my Mages. My next three posts will cover the definitions of these terms.
My Tanks are my team leaders; their Gambits are prioritised in buffing themselves and the team. Being my leaders, they tend to be the first to meet the enemy; always equipped with Shields in order to maximise the chance of Blocking and taking no damage from an attack. Later in the game, I have my Mages automatically cast "Lure" on them to ensure that they take the attacks so that my other party members don't have to. Think of them as lightning rods.
High HP and Vitality stats are essential, hence my Tank choices. Well, Basch doesn't have great Vitality, but his HP is the best you can get — Vaan has the best Vitality, with Penelo close behind him. A suit of heavy armour is good for them; defence-focused accessories such as the Gauntlets are also of immense use. The Bubble Belt, later, helps to save time.
Tanks should focus on the Augments side of the board; they will also make great use of White and Green Magic; White Magic because the restorative properties help against the Undead, as well as healing the team when the Mage is busy. Green Magic because, if your tank is your party leader, party-wide buffs are best administered by them. Non-party-leader characters stay still when charging a spell, which means that if the spell takes a while to execute, the spell can 'miss' and leave gaps in your buffing array.
Later in the game, they should equip a Holy sword and a Dark-resistant armour, as most late-game enemies are Dark and are weak to Holy.
By the end of the game, their Gambits should look a little like this:
That's all for now. Any questions, just leave 'em in the comments.
