|
Post by schnitzeltime on Jan 6, 2015 14:51:00 GMT -7
This seems like one of the only FF games where stealing actually pays off. Especially near endgame there is a ton of rare stuff that you can get from stealing. To be honest though, sometimes the success rates are so terrible it drives me crazy. I just fought the silver dragon/garland/kuja trio at the end of disc 3, and I couldn't steal half those items. My team was so overpowered I could have kept trying all day since I completed all the chocographs before going into terra, but it still is just too much of an annoyance to steal most of the time. Does anybody else feel this way also? Do you guys usually try to steal most of the items like I do?
|
|
|
Post by branny on Jan 6, 2015 16:08:59 GMT -7
Stealing is a big focus in 9 since your main character is a thief. Stealing nets you great gear the whole time. The very first battle in the game offers great items for zidane and vivi right off the bat. So the stuff you can snag as you keep playing gets better and better.
Stealing offers a second reward besides good upgrades; Zidanes skill thievery. Its his last skill he usually learns off the tower and angel bless. As you steal more and more, the damage of the skill increases. Once youve stolen like 900 successful times, it should reach the 9999 limit. Its pretty awesome.
|
|
|
Post by lightsage on Jan 6, 2015 19:56:24 GMT -7
I love stealing in FFIX. You get a ton of great stuff, especially from the bosses (most of them have three items to steal). I actively tried to steal from every single enemy in every single battle. And then once I got Thievery, I tried it out and got nearly 6,000 points of damage. I kept stealing and I'm almost to 9,000 damage. Zidane could probably handle bosses right now by himself with that insane damage.
|
|
|
Post by branny on Jan 6, 2015 21:43:15 GMT -7
Mhm.. i like using zidane and Freya as my main damage characters. If you let freya kill tons of dragons, her dragon crest skill will hit damage limit too.
|
|
|
Post by gammonstark on Jan 7, 2015 0:20:29 GMT -7
If I have an extra action, then I try to steal. If it is a boss battle, I will always "waste" my first round of actions buffing and stealing. I have not played 9 for a while, but I think the party was allowed to have 4 people. That means I probably had one person smash with sword, one person smash with magic, one person healing/debuffing, and leaving the last to steal and follow up with damage.
|
|
|
Post by lightsage on Jan 7, 2015 0:50:12 GMT -7
Regular battles: Make sure that Zidane goes first, either by defending with other characters or skipping their turn. Steal. Other characters carefully gang up and attack the enemy Zidane stole from. Zidane moves down the line, stealing from each monster. Only once they are all stolen from, he can join in attacking.
Boss battles: I usually take absolutely no damaging action against bosses until I've stolen all three of their items, or until I give up because some of the items are not worth taking. If Vivi is in the party, he just uses Focus. And then once I have all three items, Vivi and Zidane work together to deliver the beat down of a lifetime on the boss with 10-15x Focused spells and Thievery. The healer (usually Dagger) works to make sure that everyone's HP stays up during the stealing part of the battle.
|
|
|
Post by Shinryu on Jan 7, 2015 1:57:21 GMT -7
Love stealing in FF9 its as important as it was in FF5.
Steal from every boss at least 2-3 times to get most of their best stuff. Even the first battle in the game gives you a great weapon.
|
|
|
Stealing
Jan 7, 2015 9:12:27 GMT -7
via mobile
Post by schnitzeltime on Jan 7, 2015 9:12:27 GMT -7
Stealing is a big focus in 9 since your main character is a thief. Stealing nets you great gear the whole time. The very first battle in the game offers great items for zidane and vivi right off the bat. So the stuff you can snag as you keep playing gets better and better. Stealing offers a second reward besides good upgrades; Zidanes skill thievery. Its his last skill he usually learns off the tower and angel bless. As you steal more and more, the damage of the skill increases. Once youve stolen like 900 successful times, it should reach the 9999 limit. Its pretty awesome. I agree the gear is great. But until disc 4 there isn't really anything that you can steal that you won't be able to buy like an hour later. I still try to steal, but I just wish they made the chances a bit better. My zidane always has bandit on but that doesn't seem to improve the chances a bit. But yes I agree on thievery for sure. I didn't realize how great it was until this playthrough. I guess I'm just too impatient to attempt steals over and over for those good items.
|
|
|
Post by lightsage on Jan 7, 2015 10:29:44 GMT -7
It can take a while to steal, especially the third item from bosses. Stealing is the only reason that my boss battles last five times longer than they should. But I still love it because I got a ton of great gear for free, more items than I could shake a stick at (currently have 99 of everything you can buy at a store, and probably only bought a quarter of it...), and more gil than I know what to do with.
|
|
|
Post by branny on Jan 8, 2015 13:02:03 GMT -7
I think they planned it that way honestly. Alot of the boss fights are easy if you grinded a lil before, but spending 30+ turns with zidane trying to steal while the rest of the team just waits...its time consuming and taxing on the party.
In my speedrun playthrough, i had to pass on stealing from my most bosses. If they didnt give anything up the first few turns i had to forget it. Sucky
|
|
|
Post by gammonstark on Jan 8, 2015 18:37:49 GMT -7
Did you get Excalibur 2 on your speed run? I think it's a cool idea, but I never want to run through the game that fast.
|
|
|
Post by branny on Jan 8, 2015 19:18:40 GMT -7
Yeah, its the main reason to speed run. You can do almost everything in the run, you have to skip through all the cutscenes with a ps2. Just gotta get to the final dungeon under 11 (or 12 dont remember) youll get the sword. After you can go back and complete sidequests.
|
|
|
Post by lightsage on Jan 8, 2015 19:21:03 GMT -7
I think it's 12 hours. I've never done a speed run of a game, let alone a Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy games seem to demand that you savor the experience.
|
|
|
Post by branny on Jan 8, 2015 22:09:16 GMT -7
At first, yeah. After youve enjoyed the story its time to destory the game by beating it as fast as possible. Lol
|
|
|
Post by lightsage on Jan 12, 2015 1:06:58 GMT -7
When I made it to Disk 4, my save file was at 45 hours. Haha. No Excalibur II for me.
I probably could have done it faster, but after my first false start... well, let's just said I spent more than enough time grinding.
|
|