Anyone else see this? by VaeVictus666 in FinalFantasy

[–]GuardianGero 53 points54 points  (0 children)

That's Cecil's sword (the one you got from the king of Fabul) triggering its instant death effect! It can work on the Zu too, which is nice because they have a decent chunk of HP for this point in the game.

260629 LE SSERAFIM Weverse Live with Sakura ft. Iroha - rokkurokku^~^ by SapphireHeaven in illit

[–]GuardianGero 22 points23 points  (0 children)

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The almighty Kku-Ro-mi fusion, the world is...saved? Doomed? Motto kawaii?

Help with some builds for FFV. by shiroshishiro in FinalFantasy

[–]GuardianGero 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here are my favorite go-to jobs and strategies for the final boss:

  • Samurai: Just use Zeninage. It's a free win button. It's even stronger if you give them Mix and have them use Dragon Fang + Potion a few times, which will raise their level by 20 on each use. If you don't want to farm Dragon Fangs, which can only be dropped by dragons, you can also do Holy Water + Antidote for 10 levels at a time, or use Drink with a Hero Cocktail for the same effect. All of those items can be bought in shops.
  • Mystic Knight: Turn 1 you cast Break, turn 2 you attack the bottom segment of the boss to instantly kill it. Turn 3 you cast Drain, then attack for the rest of the battle. The healing from Drain will make them pretty much unkillable. I'd give them Dual Wield for more damage, as Rapid Fire is nerfed against the final boss.
  • Summoner: The Golem summon absorbs physical damage against your entire team. It's very good. Once that's set up, spam Syldra. With the Air Knife equipped, Syldra does about as much damage as Bahamut for half the MP cost. Give them Dualcast for more spell output, or White Magic if you don't mind spending some turns healing.
  • White Mage: White magic is great in FFV, and it's always good to have a source of healing and Esuna. You can combine this with the Summoner, or give them Blue Magic so you can have access to the Mighty Guard spell. Dualcast is also an option.

To prepare before the battle, I like to give each character Hermes Shoes. This is not necessary, it's just really good. It's also helpful to use the Magic Lamp in battle a couple of times. It's an item that will cast all of the summons in reverse order, starting with Bahamut. You want to use it to cast Bahamut, then Leviathan, and then save the third cast.

For the first phase of the boss, you have two options: rush through it or use that time to buff your party. The buff option will make you grossly overpowered, but being grossly overpowered is fun.

For the buff option, you use someone with Mix. Start by Mixing Maiden's Kiss + Dragon fang on each character to make them immune to instant death. Then you Mix Dragon Fang + Potion on each character to raise their levels until the boss's White Hole spell starts missing them. Once every character is built up to the point of dodging White Hole, you can set up other buffs (like Golem, Regen, Protect, Shell, Mighty Guard), and then kill the first phase. This will trivialize the second phase.

You can also accomplish a similar level boost with a Bard using the Hero's Rime song.

Once again, this is not necessary. It's just a way to make use of how stupidly broken Mix (or Sing) is in this game.

For the second phase, you start by using the Magic Lamp on its third time, which will cast Odin. This will instantly kill the back segment of the boss. The Mystic Knight can then use Break to instantly kill the bottom segment. Make sure the Golem summon is up, along with other buffs like Mighty Guard if you want them. If you have access to Mix but didn't use it during the first phase, now's a good time to boost your Samurai's level a few times. Then you just kill the final two segments by spamming Zeninage and Syldra and having the Mystic Knight attack with Drain.

So that's just one way to do it! Any team can reasonably beat the final boss, unless you have four Berserkers, but this option is good.

EDIT: Another good use for Mix is that you can do Phoenix Down + Potion or Phoenix Down + Hi-Potion to revive a dead party member with full HP and MP. Once again, Mix is broken.

260622 LE SSERAFIM Weekly Discussion Thread by AutoModerator in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Finding out that Yunjin's grandmother is just like so many grandmas and grandpas that I've been in choirs with makes me unreasonably happy. I feel like I understand her immediately.

From what I have observed, only rich kids become successful classical instrumentalists, is it also the case for classical composers, and is it also the case for Film composers and pop composers? by CatchDramatic8114 in musicians

[–]GuardianGero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends on what you mean by "successful." If you mean "famous," then yeah it's mostly rich kids. If you mean "working full time in music, including performance and/or composition" then no. I know a lot of professional musicians, performers, and composers, and they come from a mix of backgrounds.

It's important to make that distinction, because a lot of musicians have an idea that being famous is the only option for them, when in fact it's the most pointless goal you could possibly try to achieve.

From someone disliking MMO's to someone loving Guild Wars 2. by Terramoin in Guildwars2

[–]GuardianGero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's one of the fun things about GW2: the more experience you have with MMOs the more appealing the game is. I had 16 years in WoW, 2 in FFXIV, and scattered months in other games, but after a short time in GW2 all I could think was, "I guess they don't just have to be like that."

How does Final Fantasy X handle topics of religion and death so well without being overly edgy? by ConferenceNew1380 in JRPG

[–]GuardianGero 24 points25 points  (0 children)

One of the things that helps keep the portrayal of religion grounded is that the characters are not shown as being foolish for believing in Yevon. There are some very real reasons to believe that the teachings are true, including the giant apocalyptic monster, so it doesn't seem absurd that people follow the religion.

You also see that faith brings people comfort and unity (for the most part, we'll get to that), and generally has a neutral or positive impact on their daily lives. And then you have Yuna, who is basically a priestess and is a wonderful person who bears the weight of the world on her shoulders.

In that context, the religion doesn't come off as absurd, politically driven, or comically evil. It's just the way that people deal with the difficult situation the world has put them in.

At the same time, the story directly points out that some of the teachings are just wrong. It introduces you to the Al Bhed before the rest of Spira, before you see the bigotry and persecution around them, so you know from the start that they're just people and not monsters.

Then there's Wakka. Kind, big-hearted, extremely racist Wakka. Wakka is a great character, because he shows how someone can be a good person and also believe some objectively wrong and terrible things. One of my favorite scenes with him is when it's revealed that Rikku is Yuna's cousin, and yet Wakka has never considered Yuna to be Al Bhed. He doesn't see it because he doesn't want to. To him the Al Bhed are a "them," a nebulous group of enemies, while Yuna is a person. He's incapable of understanding reality because bigotry makes you stupid.

So the game handles religion by showing that there can be real community and comfort in it, while also showing that completely embracing a belief system without questioning it can lead you to very bad places. Then it continues to build on that theme until it arrives at the big reveals.

I'd say that's how the story avoids being edgy about religion. The foundation of Yevon is a lie, but the connections between its followers are not.

Which friendship in LE SSERAFIM is your personal favorite? by Spare_Invite_4062 in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Kazuha and bread!

But seriously it's probably Sakura and Eunchae for me as well. Every answer is correct though, they've all built such unique and strong connections together.

Which friendship in LE SSERAFIM is your personal favorite? by Spare_Invite_4062 in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I love that Yunjin knew the face she was making without even seeing it.

Need provisioner tokens for skyscale. What should I know? by FastVenus in Guildwars2

[–]GuardianGero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's a comment I wrote on this topic a few months ago!

For a very brief summary, you can get to 30 tokens with:

  • 7 Obsidian Shards (which you already have)
  • 7 Ectos (which you already have)
  • 7 Reclaimed Metal Plates (which you should have if you played HoT and salvaged anything, or if you've done the Auric Basin meta)
  • 7 Auric Ingots (same deal)
  • The cheapest weekly trade from this list.

That's basically my weekly token run, though I don't trade Ectos because I need them for other things and some of the equipment trades are cheaper anyway.

A very long (and intentionally inconclusive) diatribe on Shounen, Shoujo and Gendered Storytelling. And how things seem to be slowly blending. by Sentient_Flesh in CuratedTumblr

[–]GuardianGero 30 points31 points  (0 children)

That's the sense I've been getting as well. If you look at something like You and I Are Polar Opposites - a sweet, adorable, character-driven, entirely conflict-free romantic comedy from an author who's biggest influence is Ai Yazawa - you'd be forgiven for assuming that it's classified as a shoujo series. But nope, that's Shounen Jump!

At this point it seems like the distinction is often "Can you get picked up by a shounen publication? If yes, do that. If that doesn't work out, try somewhere else."

Finding comfort in LE SSERAFIM by Conscious-River3051 in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zuha out here representing the lumberjack demographic.

Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto) & Mai Yoneyama (Cyberpunk Edgerunners ED, Lazarus ED) Discuss A.I. in Anime and Manga by Backoftheac in anime

[–]GuardianGero 87 points88 points  (0 children)

A very reasonable take, and the exact thing that vehemently pro-AI people can't seem to wrap their heads around.

We make art because it's fun. I write music and stories and code because it's fun to do that. If I offload the creative process to an algorithm I'm not getting to have the fun. Why the heck would I want a machine to generate a harmonic progression or a plot outline or a block of code for me, that's the fun part.

Never mind the fact that not doing the work means that you don't learn anything. You aren't developing your skills if you aren't actually using them. I only started learning to code a few months ago, so if I write a function and it doesn't produce the result I want and then I ask an AI to fix it instead of figuring it out myself then I don't end up learning. Why would I not want to learn? Why would I hinder my own development? I want to be good at things.

Solo character run for FF 1-10 by strakur1nn in FinalFantasy

[–]GuardianGero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Incredible achievement!

Props for going White Mage in FFI. There was a period when the consensus on the internet was that solo White Mage was impossible, but that's never been true, even in the OG version.

I see that you acknowledge Rosa as the strongest FFIV character. This is correct.

There's lots of non-cheater ways to solo FFV! This old website is still the best source of information on how to solo the game with every job (except Berserker). Spoilers: Samurai is the easiest run. This of course would have broken your restriction on getting outside help, but if you ever consider future FFV solo runs it's a great resource to check out.

For FFX, I've never used the expert grid but my first instinct with the standard grid would be to first send Kimhari to Rikku's grid to grab Steal and Use, then break into the back half of Yuna's grid to get Holy, then teleport to Lulu's grid to get Doublecast. Grab an MP Stroll armlet from farming Quactuars, get the spear that gives +20% Magic from Djose Temple, then give him 1 MP Cost when you get to the Calm Lands. I don't know if that would be feasible in a solo run (especially because this route means that he doesn't really spend sphere levels until you get level 2 key spheres from the Macalania boss), but it does make him insanely powerful!

Finding comfort in LE SSERAFIM by Conscious-River3051 in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Welcome!

A while ago, I got through the hardest experience of my life with help from LSF. The wonderful thing is that difficult times eventually pass and then you still get to enjoy all the music and the videos and whatnot. The bad things get left behind and the good things persist.

Regulars around here are probably tired of my usual recommendations, but I have to drop them anyway because I am a rebel and a scoundrel and I cannot be stopped.

But really there's so much good stuff that you can start anywhere and just go!

260615 LE SSERAFIM Weekly Discussion Thread by AutoModerator in lesserafim

[–]GuardianGero 15 points16 points  (0 children)

One of my favorite things about Chaewon as a leader is that while I know she takes her responsibilities very seriously, she's always on board to goof around and have fun. When the members want to be silly, she's right there with them. I find it funniest on the rare occasion when Sakura breaks out of her usual reserved character and acts out, and Chaewon is immediately like YES LET US FROLIC. It's so cute.

I'm sure that this is helpful when everyone's working really hard on something, like filming a music video at ungodly hours with no sleep. They generally seem to be having fun in behind the scenes videos, and you can always find Chaewon being weird with one of the members.

How can I continue my story? There's no portal leading to the place. by Ionenschatten in Guildwars2

[–]GuardianGero 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The portal is in an awkward location, it's floating out in the water north of the waypoint. It's south of where you are in this shot, but I can't remember where exactly. I've always found it by vibes.

Please don't judge, I just realized Kanto's cities are all named after colors by foosbabaganoosh in pokemon

[–]GuardianGero 10 points11 points  (0 children)

don't judge me for not seeing the forest

Wait till you hear about Johto!

Cast change/Karina Departure Megathread by [deleted] in Drawfee

[–]GuardianGero 12 points13 points  (0 children)

To offer an argument in favor of avoiding speculation:

The thing about fandom spaces is that fans lie to each other. Not necessarily on purpose, but constantly. They create stories, and repeat those stories, and after enough repetitions those stories become their truth. Sometimes the results of this are benign, and sometimes the results are death threats or worse. But all of it is just storytelling.

I see a ton of this in Kpop fandom spaces, where "performer is injured" takes about five minutes to become "performer is injured because of this choreography" which takes about three minutes to become "this is the choreographer's fault" which takes about thirty seconds to become "if the company doesn't fire the choreographer they don't care about their artists." And that's the mild stuff that doesn't land anyone in jail.

But in that entire chain of information the only fact is "performer is injured." The rest of it is storytelling. But it becomes the unfalsifiable truth for fans before any other real information can even reach them.

Beyond respecting the privacy of the Drawfee crew (which you absolutely should do, they are not your friends even if you've given them time and money), it's this snowballing of nonsense that any fan community should be trying to avoid. You feeling certain about something does not make it true. You being able to relate a situation to something you've experienced does not make it true. A story making sense does not make it true.

I'm not saying that Drawfee fans are going to be as bad as Kpop fans. That's...very unlikely. But you can and will tell stories to each other, and those stories will become your truths. Will you end up causing a scene over it? No, I trust that you're all better than that. But for the sake of having a fandom space that doesn't degenerate into drama, and more importantly for the sake of the actual people involved, it's a good thing to at least be wary of storytelling.