Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics #03 - Mimic Daravon 

It always bothers me when Mithril (or Mythril as the Final Fantasy series spells it) is used for generic early game equipment in RPGs. It's supposed to be a supremely strong metal, not a material for cheap knives!

Just think of the Zodiac signs as random variance. They dont alter the course of battle very often, but they do provide some element of unpredictability so you cant just maths your way through every encounter.

Funny story: when I first saw the Orator/Mediator/whatever had an ability called "Mimic Daravon" that puts the target to sleep (I assume by attempting to bore the target to death :P), I wondered who or what this "Daravon" was. It would be a long time before I learned Daravon was the guy talking in the "Tutorial" section of this game. For the longest time I thought he was nameless, like most "tutorial" characters (unless they happen to be PCs, like how, in-universe, Cloud gives the tutorials. Which makes sense since he's (supposedly) a battle-hardened vet, but I digress). But no, they gave him a name, and even named an ability after him! Incidentally, sometimes it's fun being a Taurus. Considering how many noteworthy enemies in this game are Virgo and all (maybe cause Ultima is Virgo? Idk). I decided to make my party in WotL in a somewhat similar manner (Ramza with my actual birthday, thus Taurus, as well as a Virgo and a Capricorn recruit). 4:15 Now I'm curious what my Faith stat would be. I have no clue, tbh, since I'm both a pagan and a believer in science. 6:00 If you're *really* crazy, you can also reroll HP and MP a bit. Male recruits here always start with either 43 or 44 HP and 10 or 11 MP. Female recruits here always start with 41 or 42 HP, and 11 MP (so sadly, no way to tell whether you got a decent roll there or not). 8:30 WotL increased the cost of some things, like JP Up. It's 250 in that version. Sigh. Oh well.

The fitting room is a godsend if all you care about are offensive power and defensive power in equipment. It gives you all of that at once and the option of selling the old equipment at the same time.

I always use the fitting room when buying things, it's a good overview and handy to have when comparing items with special bonuses, for instance (like, say, the flash hat). It's actually pretty simple, really.

This game is so incredibly deep that HCBailly spend a whole episode on just the menu and characters

My first playthrough I made my party all to the zodiac signs of my friends and my brother.. which unfortunately resulted in 1 instance of not making a difference, 2 instances of being incompatible(including incompatibility with capricorn ramza) and for my brother and I the worst compatibility; so I spent the whole game with none of our abilities ever working on eachother and I never even knew why. :P

Dude you don't use the FITTING ROOM!?!?!?! Its like the most innovative thing in this game. It allows you to compare and equip what you want to buy before buying it all at once.

@Lirrink1776 You can always just hit 'Best Fit,' then remove the equipment you don't actually want to buy. Or, if you're into glitches, you can use it to duplicate some powerful Knight Swords later in the game. (fixed in 'War of the Lions')

Some lucky forum members! *u*! Also, here's hoping that you have some female forum members who come forward.. Unless you've assumed all party members'll be male D: or that you would stick with those 3 for the entire game..

@Made4542 One, HCBailly isn't much for cheating. From what I've seen so far, he likes to play the games as they were intended. Two, I believe Teleport is a Time Mage ability.

leveling up isnt even really that useful in this game since equipment is the biggest driver of stats, but i have found VERY helpful is to buy one soldier and keep him at level one, never have him do anything but have other characters heal, buff, and attack him with earned JP up for tons of JP and job levels without leveling up your character's base level. This is to avoid over-leveling and having to fight strong monsters without the proper equiment

After the first chapter, I tend to release most of the characters I have here, and instead use Rad, Alicia and Lavian for my generics, and work with special characters like Agrias and Mustadio... though I usually keep one person. Usually my Chemist.

The Zodiac symbols are the one thing I never cared to learn in this game. Just didn't seem that important and I guess I was sort of right. Also usually just keep my party members to add a little extra challenge to the game.

I'm not familiar with this game, but if it's anything like Tactics A2, the Fitting Room is really useful. You can use it to compare equipment in the shop with what you currently have.

@HCBailly Hey HCBailly, can you find a female with a Leo sign for me and you can name her after me. Is the Leo sign bad or good cause I want to know.

@ultrazeldafan You don't want too much faith, because you'll take more magic damage, and with enough Faith, the unit will leave your party. I figure about 60-75 Faith is good to have reasonable accuracy of buffs with good zodiac compatibility, while not being so high that you're getting annihilated by spells.

Oh my god, I'm a female! Well, that would be a surprise if I didn't know it before hands on the forums. Pretty nice tutorial overall.

I don't see why you'd never use the fitting room. It's an extremely easy way to purchase gear and equip your units all at the same time. You simply select the character to equip, highlight the slot you want to equip to, and then select the item from the shop list. After you've equipped all your members, it even shows you the cost of the stuff you're buying compared to your current cash, and it shows how much you have left. It's really useful game mechanic! You should try it out!

@stonewallkotdm Brave and Faith is a huge part of the game, brave actually influences some attacks (like from monks and other later weapons in the game), brave also helps with reaction commands, your brave is usually the percentage, for example for counter, with a brave of 70, you will counter 70% of the time... that is better than someone with 50 brave. for faith, faith influences all magic output for the most part, very few spells are not influenced by faith

@HCBailly You don't use the Fitting Room? Lame. It basically streamlines the equipment-buying process. It's even better when you're new to the game and you don't know what to get. But it allows you to buy equipment and immediately equip it on a character without having to exit the shop and go through the menus to equip it. Added benefit if you're going to sell the equipment, because you don't have to exit the shop and re-enter.

HOW DARE YOU GET STARTED WITH THIS LP WITHOUT ME KNOWING IT...(I was on a short vacation...I haven't watched since you ended Lufia 2...My bad...) I've been waiting for this...I'm gonna play along. I do the same thing HC Bailly, chuck out the recruits that are given at the beginning and recruit new ones so that way you get a fresh start and are not confused on who learned what and stuff.

I'm already looking forward to the next ep..... Personally, I've always grinded for classes, jp, faith (to an extent), brave, and skills after the upcomming battle. Unfortunately, it also leaves my characters massively over-leveled (like 15 levels ahead) compared to people in book 1. Even with the level advantage, this game will punish those who don't know how to use their skills.

The fitting room is actualy prety usefull, when you don't fell like going trough each character's equipment and see what is better for him at the shop, you can use the option "Best fit" to see wich are all of the better weapons , armors and clothing for your character just stats wise I dunno if that works for acessories, but most of the is best to arange that yourself THUMBS UP SO HE CAN SEE IT

Hmm, so my Ramza is a Taurus(because I generally model main characters after myself). Guess I don't need another Taurus.

I could've sworn monsters either based their level off Ramza, or an average of the party (Been a bit since I played though, so I could be mistaken). Also, even without higher level equipment, I never personally had much problem with monsters being too high a level. I usually don't get out of chapter 1 until my average level is around 35 or so.

What?! No FF2Pal? Oh well Anyway, there's nothing complicated about dressing room. It shows you stat changes and total dollar values before you purchase (you can actually have several different characters trying out stuff at the same time). If you choose to purchase what you have tried on, everything will be bought at once. I also think it's all auto-equipped.

@jayzien You and me both, Jay. I watched the opening video, then left to play the game for two days. Then again, I love this game, and can handle myself for the most part (except for certain multi-battle storyline periods). I'm considering perhaps a second playthrough once I'm far enough along, using HCBailly's tips, just to see if there really is that much of a difference.

Naming troops after people in your forums? Reminds me of let's plays for xcom that did the same (with many, MANY forum members dying by the end). Be prepared for a great many viewers asking to be in King HCBailly's Royal Army! (Yes I kinda want to be in their too, but asking that when I haven't contributed anything to the forum is rude. Please remember that RU-vid viewers.)

lol I never knew what significance the zodiac signs had in the game,I always just put my own sign and kept the ball moving,I thought something would happen if the date you put in showed up in the game,but to no avail,that's some useful knowledge for later,thanks HC ^_^

I don't worry about Zodiac signs too much. It's a lot of work, for a little reward. I honestly try to find soldiers with Brave at least 60, and (if I'm aiming for a spellcaster) Faith 60. Actually, I've gotten 70-70 before from the soldier office. It's rare, but damn if it isn't impressive.

@HCBailly Thanks. I just asked because I was getting impatient with finding a taurus with enough faith, but I found one with like 70 brave but only 49 faith. I actually just kept trying for a little while and found one with 70 brave and 60 faith, so it's all good.

@shade4711 I wouldn't recommend another generic unit. For the vast majority of battles until you get unique characters, you're only going to be able to assign 4 units, including Ramza. With another unit, you may have an easier time with those very few battles, but there will be less EXP and JP to go around. As such, I prefer to fight such battles short-handed.

HCBaily is bar none the best LPer on youtube. No one conveys the actual joy of playing these classics like he does. I'll be here as long as you will man. Setup a donation button man, i'm sure alot of use would like to support what you do.

@ultrazeldafan Well, having a higher Faith increases chances of buffs (along with debuffs) landing on you, and increases the amount that you get healed by a cure spell. If you had a low faith unit, mages wouldn't be able to buff/heal him well atall

wohhh so that's how my other characters were gaining jp even though they weren't using that class. I've always thought that was just another side of leveling up, like "hey you leveled up, here's some random jp in other job classes."

Hating on the tutorial music? HERESY!

You going over the game mechanics reminds me (again) why this game would make a kick-ass MMO mechanics. Much better than most game out there atm. And I didnt make the cut into HC's party... *sulks&* Oh well. =)

this and valkyrie profile are my favorite games this game is preety easy compared to getting the a enndging in vp now hes playing pokemon looking for a male tauros teleport is teh best movement ability in the game

@Mogaroni Females can wear perfumes, which are the games' most powerful accessories. Also, they can become Dancers as compared to Bards, but both of these classes are negligible, except for their movement abilities.

@HCBailly I always play my Tactics games this way, but I never put any thought into the Zodiac signs of my party members. Does that make a HUGE difference or is it more important that you have high Brave/Faith?

I wonder how would work a team of only physical fighters with very low faith. Is it possible to break through the game like that and how hard it would be especialy with no buffs and only items for healing.

Ah this explains where that extra jp in other job classes come from. I kind of always thought it was like you would occasionally gain a bit of jp in another role at times....I may have to replay this now :P

Chuck rocks at each others' heads. Even better if you can get a Chocobo surrounded, and it can keep healing in the area around you. I know your comment is 8 months old, but I still felt like answering :)

FFT, only a 20 to 30 hour game, huh? Man, I have so much fun with it, I've often gone over the 100 hour limit, when the game stops tracking your play time. I'd never be able to beat it in 20 to 30 hours.

@paladine98 Actually, I was thinking of GuavaMoment's LPs of the XCOM series you can find on the Let's Play Archive. Never heard of Malkasphia before but a quick look says that the idea's very similar.

glad your doing this game HC. I'll wait until you catch up to my current game, then I'll play along with the LP. Hopefully I'll be finished with Fire Emblem: sacred stones before that happens lol.

HC did you know you can duplicate your swords using best fit option in fiting room? Also you should try removing some special units as Ramza,they will say sometimes more funny sometimes not.

@MightyWebScorpion didn't even touch on monster job classes and equipment setups, still a long ways off after 1 episode. to be fair though, ff3 (and maybe ff2/5) also took 2 episodes if i remember right

TWO EPISODES IN ONE DAY?! I think my heart just stopped..... btw,this makes me want to see him LP a GBA Fire Emblem game AND do it with no deaths considering that u cant revive the dead in that game.

@TrueSoreThumb Derp, noticed that those long-haired squires aren't pretty-boys...

@aaronexe123 WHY would you give Balthier a Knight's Sword? He's MUCH better off as his default class! Heck, the Ras Algethi he comes with is the best gun in the single-player game!

@stonewallkotdm Zodiac compatibility can make a huge difference. Having good compatibility between your party members is more important than worrying about enemies, so you don't need to follow my exact pattern. However, I believe I've taken everything into account.

@captainc30 i am thrilled too the god of rpg games is doing a LP of my favorite game + finaly someone who used the birth sign correctly as expected from a god LP'er

@DJ96829 As he's already said, pretty much everything breaks the game. Later on it won't be about the challenge, but about how hilariously he breaks the game, ala FF8.

Blade Grasp (Shirahadori in the PSP version) kinda breaks the game doesn't it? Hope you use it for one battle just to show what it's like and then don't use it anymore.

Quick question. Would it be okay for your future set-ups for your male Taurus to to have too much Faith? I mean is he going to be delving that much in the magic classes?

"Dammit Otaku, stop wasting our phoenix downs!!! Tezuka is dead...let him rest!!!"

@Raltzer Partially. You only need three for propositions. There's only a couple battles where recruiting additional party members could be used, and there's only so much JP to go around with minimal grinding, so I figured I'll just fight them short-handed.

this and valkyrie profile are my favorite games this game is preety easy compared to getting the a enndging in vp now hes playing pokemon looking for a male tauros

interesting how male units cost 1500 but female units cost 1400 (well at least they did in the original version, im not sure if they changed that in the ps3 one)

The name randomization in this game is nice, but pure one of my chemists with high faith i got was named merlin and hes now my black mage/ time mage/summoner

@raddudeguy yeah, especially if you use the enemy control glitch to give Myrrh the monster weapons and thus unlimited attacks, you can REALLY break the game BAD.

HCBailly, you forgot to mention that if someone Brave is too low, they can leave your party. And if their Faith is too high, they can also leave your party.

Is it really advaantageous to have one male Taurus and two female Virgos with a Capricorn male? What I mean is, is it alright if you had a female taurus

@aaronexe123 Yes, well, I was talking fresh recruits, no Brave or Faith modding. And yes, getting everyone to 95 brave (except Rapha) is pretty nice.

i wish HC will do also a LP of the game hoshigami. I know that game is broken at so many lv. i just want to see his take on the game and laugh my azz off

HCBaily, just to say. It might be a good idea to teach everyone focus, its a really good way to grind up JP if they got nothing better to do in battle.

I read that the signs don't really affect the gameplay as much as you are claiming.

Why 2 female virgos and not one being capricorn and one being taurus? Where you specifically worried about some male capricorn or taurus later on?

@TheSteadyingMeat Cloud is both versions. PSP has a few others. Balthier and Luso off the top of my head, but I think I'm forgetting one or two.

If you like these Role Play, turn-based games, I recommend checking out the Fire Emblem series. This game reminds me a ton of Sacred Stones

His "Chrona" is named after a member of his forum, and it is indeed spelled the way he spelled it. Just in case you were unaware.

@stonewallkotdm I guess... its not required... but it does make a noticeable difference, even only 4 or 5 points make a difference

@PhantomOfAHeart Haha me too! I myself spell it's name Crona. Hey that's another thing nobody can agree on, Crona's gender!

wrong stats? I think i would simply prefer to manipulate them later using brave/faith buff/debuff than to reroll so much :S

@HCBailly Wait... Why would they make a stat which is bad to max out!?

How can you not use the fitting room! I wish *every* rpg had one

@Jyhad367 That would explain why we keep dating girls and are "shocked" to find out they're crazy, time and time again :p

i played at least 2000 hours of this game ..... SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!

did you ever play etrian odyssey 3? I've been thinking about getting it... I dunno. You seem like an RPG guy. hehe.

this and valkyrie profile are my favorite games this game is preety easy compared to getting the a enndging in vp

HC Bailey, Did you know the schematics and structures of final fantasy tactics was almost similar to Tactics Ogre?

haha Think how bad this game could of been had you been able to use "everything at the same time" that you learn

well you are excited for this LP aren't you? This is the second video today :P

uHH, i THINK THAT NEW RECRUIT IS GOING TO BE REALLY HELPFUL, aND, UHH THAT YOU'RE GREAT FOR GIVING HIM A CHANCE

I assume you're not using a full party of five because of the numerous guests and eventual story characters?

good thing that the new zodiac symbol wasn't found yet, during this games era would have been so annoying

@punchkick Some of the Members of the Tactics Ogre team were responsible for making Final Fantasy Tactics.

I'm playing the PSP verison along side your LP and I can't learn "JP BOOST" because it costs 250 jp =(

Seriously does an Otaku even exist during those ages? Even if one does exist...why in a land of war? O.o

@raddudeguy same here. I REALLY want him to LP the one with Lyn in it. she is my favorite FE lord ever.

A game with the die and you're dead theme that is much more unforgiving than Fire Emblem: Sweet Home

I wonder if HCBaily is gonna use the Blade Grasp reaction ability. That thing is just broken...

@HCBailly faith below 80 if you hit above that caractor will run off on a spiritual journey

I hope you remembered to equip that female squire with a broadsword before the next fight.

will you be doing any grinding for money or just doing battles if they get in your way?

this is one of the most complex games of all time O_O

I use Fitting Room all the time because I'm lazy when it comes to buying stuff XP

Those quotes they say always made me feel terrible removing them from the party