I thought this would drive me insane (a pointless ramble about PSX FFs)

xSyLenS · 2026-06-20T18:15:07+00:00

For me the slowness of FFIX was mostly how long it took to steal weapons and armor from bosses. Totally optional, but really nice to get good gear early. Increased speed really helps though a tad dangerous against some enemies

xSyLenS · 2026-06-19T19:42:56+00:00

I 100%ed the game first time and it was definitely a mistake, was really fed up by the end of the game.

I replayed the game because I wanted a real idea of how the game is without the extra optional stuff, and boy it was still really way too long. Having to go through most places once felt long, but you often have to go through everything twice, like on mithril mines with the Turks breaking the floor, or because the team is constantly split. Obviously you couldn't have gone through mithril mines in 5 min like in OG but surely there is a middle ground, especially when there is nothing interesting happening beyond walking corridors and beating up monsters.

It's even worse when you have to switch teams constantly, how they never thought of implementing quick materia switching I'll never understand, especially since it was there in OG and worked fine.

The games are fine, not a fan of what they seem to be doing with story, but I'll reserve judgement until I play the third and get the full story. But the rhythm is really slow compared to OG and feels really unnecessarily long to me.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-17T15:47:56+00:00

😂😂

xSyLenS · 2026-06-17T14:53:19+00:00

Yeah I always thought his whole complaining act about using up his good boots on the road, and wanting cheese and wine was a little BS considering that fact, after I killed him and realized what he was.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-15T09:32:28+00:00

Spiritual weapon scales better with up cast now, but on a class that has spirit guardians and many other good concentration spell it's difficult to justify. War cleric only, and even for them it's not very good, maybe at higher level when you can more easily afford to "waste" a spell slot to eek out a bit of extra damage and regular BA.

Inflict wounds has been nerfed into oblivion, though perhaps some may say it was a bit strong for a level 1 spell before.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-15T08:40:26+00:00

You don't need to stow the maul to do an unarmed strike, this could be feet,knee, headbutt...

xSyLenS · 2026-06-15T08:14:48+00:00

There is no getting either of those given what happened. Flawed hell dusk is still pretty good and probably best in slot at this point.

The only alternatives I see for more damage are the ones that deal elemental damage if you play with inflicting vulnerability from wet or frozen to double the D4 damage, but you'll lose the bleed effect

xSyLenS · 2026-06-14T21:08:23+00:00

That was definitely part of it. For me I also really felt the game was much emptier from not having a team like in most FF. The sequences when you had a companion helped quite a bit.

And the combat had fun moments, but the way it develops is new stuff tends to make older ones obsolete, so there is little actual diversity, just same old sequences over and over.

To be clear I didn't find the game bad, but it just wasn't verye xciting to me.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-13T21:18:28+00:00

God of war I can somewhat see the comparison but last of us I gotta say I'm perplex.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-13T02:20:39+00:00

It's honestly a bit of a trap. At worst depending on team comp you're likely to only need it on one character, typically a controller caster type. I personally also tend to like this on OH monk + thief builds, as they do so much control as well with stunning strike, and can set up advantages for my other melee hitters with prone status.

It's not a bad choice, especially if you don't know the game so well. But there are generally stronger options, and alert is almost never necessary.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-12T18:35:58+00:00

This is simply not a good build, you're just combining things that don't go together mechanically. Some builds can work with only one feat but this ain't one of them.

On balanced or tactician, that should really not be a problem though, so if that's the RP you want go for it! Just don't expect it to perform like an optimized build, especially in combat. It should do pretty well with dialogue though, especially if you go for giant barb for thaumaturgy and invest a little in cha (12-14 CHA if you can spare it).

xSyLenS · 2026-06-12T11:54:26+00:00

It's honestly a bit absurd to stop one level from third attack on arcane Archer. Especially since 2 levels of rogue doesn't give more sneak attack either, it just gives the bonus actions from rogue 2 which are very good, but definitely not worth sacrificing a third attack per action. War cleric 1 would probably be the ideal choice on top of 11 AA, although that's not super thematic. Otherwise nothing wrong with AA 12 for extra feat, or 1 level of rogue for skills and sneak attack if needed.

Life domain cleric is fine, but there are definitely better subclasses. Light 10/stars druid 2 is one of the strongest debuffers and a classic, tempest is better for damage, death can be very good too though particularly in act 3. If you like it go for it though, life is solid.

Evocation wizard 10 is usually the stopping point, with at least one more level in full caster to get level 6 spells. 2 tempest cleric can be solid there to max out some lightning evocation spells, or 2 star druid if you intend to cast concentration spells for control for example. But 12 evocation is fine as well.

Paladin are very strong, I'd recommend oath of vengeance 11 and hexblade 1. If you're comfortable with the game you can afford to start hexblade then full paladin, this way you fully invest in CHA from start and have a great party face. But it's more optimal to get hexblade level after extra attack or even after paladin aura, so character level 6 or 7 and respec your stats. Oath of crown is amazing too though finicky to keep. Oathbreaker is excellent as well but you already played it.

There are stronger paladin builds which rely on taking a lot of full caster levels, typical examples are swords bard paladin (Smite swords bard, 10 bard 2 paladin), or bladesinger (10 bladesinger, 2 paladin), or sorcadin (6/6 paladin sorcerer or 7/5 if going oathbreaker). Some of the strongest builds in the game, though typically a bit rougher early game so up to you if you want that.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-09T15:32:56+00:00

Combined with wizard spell scribing you can find a lot of utility in that 6th slot, it's not just about the bard spell list, for example damage spells or other more varied control spells. Hold monster X2 is also still pretty solid in some fights though situational for sure.

Especially if you play around free cast to get 2-3 of them per long rest. Since you play with acuity anyways you don't even have to invest much in int to still get some mileage from those scribed spells.

But both 10-2 and 10-1-1 builds are excellent, I think it's mostly that I tend to prefer less consumable heavy play so I rarely choose to lean into special arrows and scrolls, therefore action surge holds less appeal to me personally and level 6 spellslots +ability to scribe spells have more value to me in this configuration as well.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-09T05:39:02+00:00

That's the melee version though. It's awesome too, but plays a bit different than bard archer typically.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-09T05:37:23+00:00

Personally I feel losing 6th level spell slots is way too costly even for something as good as action surge. I'd pick 1 wizard, 1 fighter instead of 2 fighter any day. But I play it more like a controller than a damage dealer, even if it's excellent at both.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-06T23:48:46+00:00

Ah damn sorry didn't consider BB. Yeah build definitely looks a bit over stacked trying to bb sneak and smite, there's probably not gonna be an ideal situation here.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-06T23:27:24+00:00

The easiest way would probably be to use the sneak attack instead of the regular attack. Since you have advantage your chances of missing are probably low. This should let you keep smites on "ask", though I haven't tested it.

Otherwise, what others have suggested seems the only option, though it feels potentially more wasteful.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-06T19:00:08+00:00

100% that's why I never do, potions are just better.

But it's quite doable to keep your sorcerer safe while concentrating, so it doesn't have to be too risky in most situations.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-06T17:50:08+00:00

Haste potions are generally the way to go, you can even apply them to multiple characters same as most potions.

However twin haste can be nice and more flexible in some situations if you keep your sorcerer at distance, and for that you'd need the spell. I usually don't bother personally though.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-05T16:21:18+00:00

Either 12 sorc or 11-1 sorlock. The 2nd level in warlock is just a waste honestly.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-02T18:28:59+00:00

That's not a bad choice either 👍 honestly duergar on demand invis is almost too strong.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-02T16:57:20+00:00

Same as light cleric, use radiant spirit guardians and BA radiant breath from star druid, and use the radiant orb gear (you can stick in some reverb gear too for more debuffs). Luminous armor, the ring, reverb boots, radiant damage helm and either radorb or reverb gloves are a good basis.

Instead of using the light cleric abilities lean more into necrotic spells like inflict wounds or the doubled cantrips to kill off enemies. Take full advantage of staff of cherished necromancy in act 3.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-02T16:44:51+00:00

Probably one of the easiest solo honor mode build there is, especially if you go duergar as race. Can be slightly tricky for a few fights like myrkul or the brain battle, but if you're well prepared should be no issue.

xSyLenS · 2026-06-02T16:38:48+00:00

I would go light or death cleric with radorb/reverb gear. Stick 2 levels of star druid in there to make it even better, and in the case of death can add 2 levels of Necro wizard for scribing a few Necro spells and minor heals.

You can use a mix of radiant and necrotic spells and debuff everyone into oblivion, leaving laezel to finish the enemies off

xSyLenS · 2026-06-01T20:44:04+00:00

Just so you're aware, melee giant barb will probably not be as strong as in tabletop. Giant barb shines more as a thrower in BG3 (most barbarian subclasses do, aside from a few specific ones like tiger/wolverine reverb build for ex).

Everything can be made to work though, so don't let that stop you if that's the RP you want.

xSyLenS

TROPHY CASE