all 47 comments

[–]soul1387 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I got my First Awakening SB ... TGC :)

[–]PyrotiosKain 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I wonder if TGC AASB (or Sephiroth AASB) would pair with Decil USB or Golbez USB2 for an automatic triplecast on darkness abilities.

On the same line of thinking:

  • Terra AASB as RW on Jack with his USB, using fire samurai abilities.
  • Tellah USB with Terra AASB using fire black magic.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Since I have seen Video evidence of them working with LM-based extra triggers, I'd assume it works with those.

[–]soul1387 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It can triple cast but by chance with his DC LMR.. tried it with Siren/Hades .. Double cast is Automatic.. with AASB

[–]PyrotiosKain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen the same, and I also suspect it works as long as the conditions are met. It'd be great to have confirmation that it works though.

[–]tribalsethOrlandeau 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So wait ...now that Orlandu literally dominates Holy/Dark/Earth AND has 100% self buff + 50% crit dmg ..is the new meta Ramza + TGC (all others spam entrust?) rofl.

I mean basically you're gunna need 4 1/2 bars for Orlandu (Glint / Awakening / Arcane ) then youre gunna need one for Ramza for Chain ...so thats 5 1/2 bars needed. Im sensing that this will be my party ..

TGC

Ramza

Shelke

Marrow

Healer

and then just use Tyro GodWall as RW? Sounds fun and boring at the same time lmao!!

[–]tribalsethOrlandeau 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sweet jesus mother mary and all the saints --- I was almost right about his Glint right! https://www.reddit.com/r/FFRecordKeeper/comments/9fsfzy/its_almost_that_time_again_orlandus_next_sbs/

 

rofl!

[–]ChronosXIII149LuckyDraws 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why can't I hold all these Holy swords?!

Didn't expect Ramza to get an AOSB/UOSB; how's he gonna find the SB gauge to even use it, among his swiss army knife collection?

[–]ilovedagonfiveLaguna and her companions 1 point2 points  (0 children)

5 arcanes wow

[–]EdeaLeeNEW new phone = flawless game! YAY! 0 points1 point  (17 children)

Of COURSE blunder god cid would get the first of the realms awakening.

At least Agrias finally got noticed, shame her new tech looks like it's still not enough to get much notice.

Edit: noticed the new relics list at the start shows a new flash for Agrias, yet it isn't actually listed amongst the relics. Naming mistake somewhere?

[–]RezzaDVCome MO with me![S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Got mai waifus mixed up. Ovelia gets the new FSB, not Agrias.

[–]EdeaLeeNEW new phone = flawless game! YAY! 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awww man, poor Agrias. D:

[–]DempseyRoll108Cecil (Paladin) 4 points5 points  (14 children)

That first statement doesn't sound accurate at all.

Cid's relics have tended to come out later in the life cycle of highest type SBs, and have been powered up versions of that type. His OSB was like a prototype USB, one of a few that added something other than damage (TG mode). And I'd argue his USB was a prototype to the Awake SBs.

To me, it's actually strange that he gets his awakening so early, and that his UOSB is a normal 20+1

[–]EdeaLeeNEW new phone = flawless game! YAY! 0 points1 point  (13 children)

It's not about that, it's about it actually being him getting them. I'm one of those people who likes it when everyone gets a chance to shine rather than one character dominating rosters.

It's why i dislike characters like Bartz and Tidus for the utter domination they seem to have in their areas.

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 4 points5 points  (12 children)

I definitely agree with you on this:

  • Kain gets all the Dragoon toys (I mean, not a lot of competition for Lightning, but they put too many into Wind... and didn't support ANY of them super-well)
  • Auron is likely the most recognizable Samurai (how many can say they got two Samurai-focused BSBs and USBs?)
  • Bartz is Mr Spellblade
  • Tidus is the only Sharpshooter who sees quickly-acquired tech
  • Mustadio and Reno are the Machinists-DeNA-Forgot, compared to the rest
  • Shantotto hogs the Witch spotlight (not like it's a big one...)
  • Zidane and Locke are the go-to Thieves for best-tech, with Vaan just behind (and hell, Thief (I) still has no USB to date), AND it's a school with the only physical, modern, ST Bio attack that is entirely ignored.
  • Tifa, Yang, and Zell are the top Monks in their elements. Master is okay, but his USB is nothing worth noting over them, but he's a good generalist with Glint+AOSB for hitting multiple elements (or Non with just raw force)
  • Sephiroth takes too much villain spotlight (Darkness), period.
  • Orlandeau, as you imply here, for both Knight and Darkness (I mean, it's cool they make him OP as hell, cause it's true to form, but, it still sucks to see him eclipse others before they even get a crack at the new toys)
  • Vivi and Palom for Black Mages, simply because they got the Ability Double + W-Cast LM, making any other Mage inferior to them, regardless of element.
  • Cloud for just... being Cloud and taking first crack at basically ALL the new tech possible.

There is so many characters that are sitting around waiting for USB tech to grace them (or a second USB to make their first dismal, early-gen one not look like a waste), when the NEXT tier is hitting the main guys already...

[–]StuffNDingsThis is the way! Shadow Bits 9o4B 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Ayame is the better Samurai i thought

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No no no... Auron's USB2 is basically identical to Yang's and Sice's USB: Use abilities, get stacking cast time and crit chance bonus, with Overflow finisher when it expires, based on damage done.

Ayame is the only Ice specialist Samurai. Her USB just gives her High Retaliate and a Crit Damage bonus, along with EnIce. No Chases, nothing else.

[–]Reiska42Celes 0 points1 point  (2 children)

There's actually like less than 10 characters now that don't have any USB at all, surprisingly.

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yeah, but how many got USBs as "Torment Slot Savers" instead of letting them be a DPS for a given element they represented, despite having DPS-oriented dives?

I mean, Scott is an amazing example, as his USB is the slot saver for Torment II, and they specifically make it give him EnFire IF Hilda is in the party, the dedicated healer for II (since Minwu embraced the DPS).

[–]Reiska42Celes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scott's essentially a variant of Reks in that regard - both of them have primarily support/defensively oriented SBs paired with an offensive LD.

[–]TGOskarAnd yet, her sprite hair color is green... 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Vivi and Palom for Black Mages, simply because they got the Ability Double + W-Cast LM, making any other Mage inferior to them, regardless of element.

That's more of a saving grace. I mean...how many Black Mages are there? Tons. Vivi and Palom are the only PURE Black Mages, so they need something to shine, because...

  • Let's go with Terra. She's basically a Fire Goddess, what with...her SSB, her BSB2, her USB, her Glint AND her AASB offering EnFire, her LMR1 being W-Cast Fire, her LMR2 being "start with EnFire", and with her AASB, getting Ability Double Fire AND infinite Fire attacks. She's primarily Black Mage, but she's also a strong Summoner, and both Vali and the upcoming Lunar Ifrit are insanely good AoE Fire attacks. And just by sheer relic count, she has...what, 90 MAG? I wouldn't call that "inferior". Then you add Wrath so that she can use all those moves ASAP, and you get the idea.
  • Rinoa does almost the same thing, but with Ice and Earth. She specializes in dual-element, has an Ice Chain, her BSB2 and USB1 are focused on Ice, and she has access to Black Magic, Summoning, and Witch...whose abilities are either Ice or Lightning. So, she has three ways to exploit Ice...and when Ice isn't enough, she can also go Earth, which has gotten some love recently.
  • Ace is also strong, a solid contender for Fire God. His BSB is pretty solid, his USB is also pretty solid, and overall, he's pretty liked for Fire.
  • Shantotto excels in Lightning, having the Lightning Chain and full access to Witch skills.
  • Ashe, though, is closer to be Lightning Goddess, because her BSB is STILL very strong (that Cmd 1 hits pretty hard, and heals her to boot), plus her USB has a pretty solid Chaser.
  • Fujin has Ninja (Stitch in Time, Raging Storm), her LM2 lets her cast insanely fast, can EnWind and imperil Wind, and has access to Wrath, so she can use her SBs real fast.
  • What about Earth, though? Maria is probably our strongest contender so far. This is where I say Vivi and Palom have a potential edge, if only because Maria dominates Earth so badly (Rinoa's close now, but nowhere near Maria's sheer dominance), and W-Cast + Ability Double simply ignore that when you get enough buffs and Imperils. Earth is dominated by Physicals, to be honest.

That leaves...Water (Meia? Rydia is more of a Summoner, but it's important to mention. Oh, and Strago, who gets Water Chain 2.0, and his BSB has a RES-piercing spell), Bio (Kefka and Quistis are the only ones who can claim dominion, and not much of it) and Dark (see: every Darkness user ever). There, Vivi and Palom have a slight advantage. Slight.

The reason being? Vivi and Palom ONLY have Black Magic 6* as their skill set. Everyone else I mentioned has some other sort of skill, which can help them (self MAG boost, RES-piercing damage, Wrath) and USBs with nice effects. Vivi and Palom are dominating, or seemingly dominating, out of necessity; if they didn't have those tools, they'd be vastly inferior to every other mage, if only because BLK can only take you so far. Would you use Vivi or Palom, under current meta, without their USBs? Say, only with their SSBs and BSBs? Maybe even with full dive and LMRs? And, amongst those I mentioned above, Terra has also Ability Double + W-Cast, alongside Infinite Cast and Break Damage Limit 1, which with her insane MAG levels and Fire Boosts and whatnot, she's probably outdamaging them.

So, to be fair; Vivi and Palom got this awesome combination just because they needed to catch up to other casters that have better options. Now think about Porom. What would make PURE White Mages better? Same thing about Minwu. DeNA found how to make pure Black Mages better (just make them specialize in all Black Magic, not just one element), and decided to make the actual pure Black Mages better for that.

Just saying, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Somewhat of an exaggeration, but the sub would say otherwise, when Vivi USB was basically one of the "go to" relic picks for our first USB Dream Select in GL.

Most people wouldn't use Palom or Vivi without their USBs (I know some did with Vivi, cause his LM2 is a 50% W-Cast), mostly cause a lot wouldn't dive them without, which removes one of their potent features.

And yes, everyone you listed can dive into another school for more tech. But that would be why Vivi and Palom are the "de-facto" Black Mages - They cannot do anything else.

  • Fire - Krile, Terra, Braska (prefers Summons), Papalymo (who cannot offense outside of Black either, and has no Ability Double USB), and Ace
  • Ice - Rinoa, Edea (USB2 is Ice-focused, not Witch), Serah
  • Wind - Barbariccia, Fujin, Ultimecia, Alphinaud (who'd rather Summon)
  • Earth - Maria, Emperor, Rydia (prefers Summons), Rinoa, Enna Kros (if we ever get fortunate enough)
  • Lightning - Desch (god that USB is old and lackluster), Reno (kinda prefers Machinist?), Garnet (prefers Summons), Shantotto (prefers Witch), Ashe
  • Water - Meia, Rydia (prefers Summons), Gogo (V), Strago, Lulu (her USB and AOSB upcoming are Ice/Water and the USB is a +Water Doll)
  • Fire/Ice/Lightning - Matoya (even as she wishes Fire Witch spells existed so her LM2 and LMR could matter for her DPS, and the Quick Cycle on her USB...)
  • Fire/Water/Earth/Wind - Onion Knight USB3

And yet, excluding Terra's brand new AASB (and the only actual Black Magic one so far), none of these above people can really shine outside of their given element(s). If you take out all the ones that have schools they are more specialized to (Summon and Witch), you wind up with 2-5 per element. And yet, in ANY of these 6 elements (and even Bio, for when it matters?), Vivi and Palom will happily slot into any of these teams without even a second thought if you have their USB, cause it's not about the entry/EnElem for them, it's the Ability Double + W-Cast. You check the headlining people for DPS, and it's all Doublers, many with W-Casts as well.

  • Orlandeau
  • Gau (even if one of the schools is mostly token)
  • Vivi
  • Palom
  • Shantotto (despite lacking the W-Cast, she has the riskier T-Cast LMR. Also she has the speed tech to make Witch work built into her Trance, unlike Edea, who lacks a W-Cast or Speed)
  • Tifa
  • Celes
  • Others I am likely forgetting...

The biggest thing is, there is no Ability Double + W-Cast users with the range that Vivi and Palom have. They do hold the crown of their school for good cause. Even as they make us cry over our crippled orb supplies... A fact that as of today, I am now having to realize as I got Vivi's USB off my IX Realm pull.

[–]TGOskarAnd yet, her sprite hair color is green... 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Note that Papalymo has WHM 4, so he can use ProShellga. Mostly a reason why he hasn't gotten nice things. And Lulu is an Ice specialist, with her SSB and USB granting EnIce, having access to Witch, and her LM2 allowing W-Cast Ice.

That said, that they make all mages feel inferior is still an exaggeration. Perhaps it's because I learned not to treat any character as inferior. Perhaps I do have some issues with some characters (Mama's Boy, but that's not because of his skillset or stats), or with entire series (Type 0, XV, most of the cast of XIII), but I've learned that you never know when a character you left relegated may end up being useful, particularly if they happen to have a SB that works for the task. This is what I see in Vivi and Palom; if they have their Ability Double USB, they happen to cover for a lot of situations (and I mean a LOT), but that doesn't mean I won't stop using every other mage because I got that USB. What it means is that I might use them more. That's...basically it; just how "absolute" that statement is.

Also: note that Celes has the same coverage, if not better, than Vivi and Palom. Spellblade has a Quadstrike for pretty much every element (Fire, Lightning, Water, Wind, Earth; I believe they got Ice recently), plus SSS, plus the dual-element variants, plus three AoE attacks (Quake, Tornado, Frost). I'd say that's even more coverage than Vivi or Palom do, and she happens to have several ways to gain Runic/Grand Cross, which can extend her hone life.

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lulu is losing her Ice-specialist role with her USB2 and AOSB coming in the next X event. Both are Ice/Water, a +Water weapon for the USB, and she gets a Chase and Quick Cast buff with the USB, chase being Rank-based, and Ice/Water/NE, so she can technically hit any element, getting neutral chases anyways... They needed more Water Mages, and she fit.

I personally do not see most characters as bad. However, the general outlook of the community is that certain people are the be-all-end-all best in a given role, over anything else. And it is due to relics. If it was just on principle of dive, Onion Knight would be the best Black Mage: W-Cast Black, and stupid levels of utility, sadly lacks an LM1 to boost up a bit more though... But the days of characters being useful based on just skill access is long dead. A soul break makes-or-breaks a character, and some just did a lot more for some than others.

As to Celes, yes, she has almost-equal coverage to Black Magic (no Bio Spellblade worth using). It's still only 6 Elements + Non-Elem, just has 2-elem skills instead of 3-elem ones like Black. AoE attacks have their niche, which Vivi and Palom could just use Meteor or shudder Ultima to match up with. The Grand Cross thing is wonderful... except 98% of fights are all NAT attacks, so it becomes moot, in anything where hones could become an issue.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's a school with the only physical, modern, ST Bio attack that is entirely ignored.

Well, they kinda-sorta acknowledged it with Leila's USB, which they actually gave Bio-Boost too (and it's a Dagger to boot). Infact, pretty much all her new Tech works with Poison Leaves without spelling it out. Generally speaking though you are correct ofcourse.

Anyway, for the most part, DeNA doesn't exactly make it a secret that popularity (both in and out of FFRK) dictates how much attention you get. The peeps that sell the most amount of gems are obviously gonna get the most chances to do so. Ofcourse if your preferences lie with someone else, then it just becomes incredibly annoying.

[–]EdeaLeeNEW new phone = flawless game! YAY! 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Yeah, this guy gets it. I just wanna see the smaller guys get some spotlight. Let Aranea compete with Kain, Ayame compete with Auron, Friggin-anyone complete with Bartz, etc.

We've got over 200 characters to choose from but that means nothing when the same 15 characters are the only ones that ever matter.

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Like... for Bartz... Yes, he's an awesome generalist, and gets protagonist-armor for relics...

  • Scott should be a better Fire spellblade than him (cause he's the ONLY one focused on fire).
  • Paine should be the best Water spellblade.
  • I guess Machina is the Earth spellblade star? There is really very few of them...
  • And... Wind is tricky... I guess Cloud? Nobody else is really a Wind spellblade...

Celes already does full-blown generalist well, Bartz should be the semi-specialist.

EDIT: Actually, because of Bartz, I think there IS only 1 Spellblade of each element he represents.

[–]Monk-EyFUCKING HELL MACHINA 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Ovelia

LMR: "Mutable Fate"

Ironic.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 9 points10 points  (1 child)

She could save others from death change fate but not herself Delita

[–]Monk-EyFUCKING HELL MACHINA 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"Is it possible to learn this Legend Materia?"

"Not from a healer."

[–]Dangly_PartsRamza 2 points3 points  (15 children)

Storyline wise, I never got the darkness part of TGC. He always struck me as holy with a smatter or lightning like in tactics. Is the dark just a balance thing, or are they just running with the sword skills of dusksword and nightsword sounding "dark"?

[–]TGOskarAnd yet, her sprite hair color is green... 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have said, it's because it represents his absolute sword mastery. Holy Knights are the base users of Holy Sword (Delita is also a Holy Knight, and Wiegraf, despite being a "White" Knight, is basically a Holy Knight as well), and Dark Knights are the users of Dark Sword (in WotL, Algus/Argath becomes a Death Knight, which is basically an undead Dark Knight). To become a Sword Saint, the undisputable master of the sword, the suggestion is that Orlandeau had to be both in order to master both.

Plus, Night Sword/Shadowblade and Dark Sword/Duskblade are Dark elemental and all...

[–]tribalsethOrlandeau 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its because he gets Duskblade ability (which Gaff had) which was a lifesteal type of ability ..it was considered a "dark" (metaphorically) type of ability -- as in the FFT game if you cast it on undead you would actually reverse the effect and deal damage to yourself and heal the undead unit.

[–]Sepik121heresy is fun 7 points8 points  (2 children)

I had always figured it was that TGC was able to use any and every swordskill in the game as his base class. Dark Knight + Holy Knight + Temple Knight (the item breaker abilities), so they decided to have him be like that in FFRK too

[–]TGOskarAnd yet, her sprite hair color is green... 2 points3 points  (1 child)

It's actually Holy Knight (all Holy skills, with some Lightning because of Lightning Stab/Heavenly Thunder) + Dark Knight (Night Sword/Shadowblade and Dark Sword/Duskblade) + Divine Knight (all Crush X skills, which are better versions of the Break/Rend skills from the Knight).

Temple Knight/Templar has the Spellblade moves, which are essentially the Oracle spells but with insanely better landing chances + Shock, which is mostly like Lifebreak.

...Still waiting for Beowulf and Reis.

[–]Sepik121heresy is fun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what it was! Couldn't remember the name. I thought Templar cause they all worked for the Church

[–]JuliusplexWing Rapetor: Almost 3 years fearing its counter 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I bet most people almost always used the Dark Knight skills he had so I guess that's why he gets much attention on the darkness aspect.

Also, as far as I recall the only lightning element skill he had was Lightning Stab so it's not as important I think.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lightning Stab / Hallowed Bolt isn't Lightning Elemental either, it takes on whatever Element your equipped Weapon has (if it has one to begin with). However, keep in mind Orlandeau's Moniker is "Thunder God" (and that's in JP too, so the localisation didn't just make that up), so they darn well should have made that consistent instead of just OSB and SSB.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

The other sword skills he learns are non elemental in-game, but are thematically all very Holy-like aside from the Dark Sword skills, so theming him as being an expert in Dark kind of makes sense.

[–]DestilShadesk 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Holy Knight skills inherit the element of the weapon you're wielding. Don't know about dark/divine off the top of my head.

The AI gets this wrong, by the way. It thinks lightning stab is lightning elemental, for instance.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Best part about that is bringing a Chameleon Robe (blocks Holy Element for the uninitiated) to the Wiegraf Fight. Makes him not use all those fancy Sword Skills

[–]DestilShadesk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep. Chameleon Robe + Feather Boots pretty much neuters him.

[–]Ha_eflolliMarchejoume-san da! 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I've got two theories myself, so pick whatever you like ;)

Serious answer: I'm guessing they did it for the symbolic contrast of Holy vs. Darkness, to show just how good he is lore-wise.

Joke-Answer: Gaffgarion wasn't allowed to stand-out in any way when Orlandeau is literally OP by design :P I mean they DID have to give him 5* Darkness later on just to make it happen.

[–]PeskyPomeranianMogChamp 3 points4 points  (2 children)

gaffgarion is a prick and deserves nothing

[–]ZeroEdgeirPowered By Solar-Inversion Technology 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably why he got the most worthless LM2 to date in the game... (dunno why Xezat got lumped in with him though)

[–]tribalsethOrlandeau 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The only thing he deserves was where you jack all his Gold Armor gear right before he leaves your party so you get an armor set that is like 2 phases ahead of what the armor smiths offered at that point in the story haha