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Old 05-19-2007, 03:46 AM   #2
 
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Phoenix Flame
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Join Date: Nov 2005
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Re: FFXII power-leveling guide!

....again, as you enter the first area North of where you exit Rabanastre (from the Aerodome) Dustia will appear within the first two steps you take - I suggest you take two steps back towards the entrance of the zone. This will make Dustia appear directly behind you (which is necessary to get any loot he drops while you are chaining him.) Essentially what you do is take two steps back, wait for his HP bar to show up, toss a phoenix down at him, pick up any loot he drops and get the heck out of the zone before the EXP/LP numbers show up. (Grab his loot and run out of the zone behind you.) Now, turn back around and return to the zone you just ran out of - if you did this correctly Dustia will respawn as if you didn't kill him. You roughly fight two-to-three Dustias/minute doing this - they yield 1,000+ Exp and 3 LP per phoenix down and their drops sell for rougly twice what you paid for your phoenix downs. I did this while I was talking with Spec and wracked-up a 230+ chain of them by using all my phoenix downs, running all the way west to the orange save crystal, (without touching the crystal/breaking your chain) selling my loot and restocking on phoenix downs, running back to chain more Dustias! If you have the patience I'm sure you could wrack-up a 999+ chain in roughly 9 or 10 hours... =^_^= Now, I know - I'm the only person sick enough to actually sit there for that long doing this... but I haven't....yet! Keep in mind that if you let the Exp./LP show up after you K.O. him you'll have to save your game and reload to get him to come back; so if you have to choose between grabbing his loot and zoning-out - choose to zone - you can always get more loot by continuing to chain him. I suggest you at LEAST stay here till you are level 30...although I am going for at least level 50 in my game before moving on further. If you go to level 30, you'll have more than enuf monies for the monographs, plus a nice stash for later when you have to make BIG purchases - ie. 250K for the Canopic Jar and 600K for the Tournesol.

So - after you are leveled-up to your liking, go back to Rabanastre and unlock/buy in the bazaar the Warmages Monograph.... and eventually, you'll want all the Monographs. These will allow better drops from every adversary and will keep you from having to chain much more to get the same amount of loot/gil. After you purchase these...........and you have gained 'enuf' levels - you are free to progress with the game. Up-to and including the Tomb of Raithwall. Here is a list of all the monographs:
- 18000 gil -> Hunter's Monograph, enhances loot from beasts/avions
Speak with Gatsly in the Muthru Bazaar after completing the Thextera hunt.
- 19000 gil -> Knight's Monograph, enhances loot from giants/insects
Talk to any weapon merchant more than 30 times.
- 20000 gil -> Warmage's Monograph, enhances loot from amorphs/undead - thar are a LOOT of these in Ivalice....plus that is what Dustia is ^___^
Read the hunt bulletin board more than 20 times.
- 21000 gil -> Mage's Monograph, enhances loot from fiends
Talk to any magick merchant over 25 times.
- 22000 gil -> Scholar's Monograph, enhances loot from constructs
Talk to any armor merchant more than 15 times.
- 22000 gil -> Dragoon's Monograph, enhances loot from dragons/plants
Read the hunt bulletin board more than 40 times (you can save this one for
later if you want to differentiate between Scholar's and Dragoon's).
- 25000 gil -> Sage's Monograph, enhances drops from elementals
Talk to any merchant over 100 times

Next I will include a few places to get some awesome weapons/armors near the beginning of the game. First off, you can get a rod (+30 attack) from a random chest in the Sand-Swept Naze. There is a save crystal near the exit of the Barheim passage...simply save, run to the northeast and pick up the chests (if they are there) and if you don't find the rod soft reset and begin again. You could get unlimited rods this way...but why bother - there are better weapons to be had (much better, even this early in the game.)
You can chain Werewolves in the Giza plains - in the Starfell Field - and try for a few Kotetsu (+50 ninja swords.) Even if you are moderately leveled (around 30) you shouldn't have too much difficulty pwning them. If needed, spam MQs to quickly wipe the floor with them. With just Vaan, this ninja sword is (arguably) the best weapon you can get this early in the game. If you are interested in getting a ranged weapon (and you have some patience) you can chain the Dive Talons in the Westersand for one or more burning bows. The *cough* simple way to do it is to kill a whole-lot of Dustias or other chainable enemy, blind and poison a Dive Talon when it is close to death and wait for it to expire (don't manually kill it or it will break your chain!!!) This is a trick that you can use for many monsters - including hitting them with petrify or doom as well. Very helpful! ^_^ If you'd prefer a one-handed weapon, I'll make honorable mention of the Gladius (+45 attack dagger w/wind elemental.) To obtain it, go to the Westersand again, begin chaining wolves here. After you have killed approximately 20-30 of em - go to the small, isolated area southwest of the Galtea downs to find a rare beast called the Lindburn wolf. If you are below level 30, you probably will have to blind him to live long enough to actually steal the Gladius from him. Buy as many shield block licenses on the LB and equip a shield for added protection. Don't hesitate to run out if your HP drops - he tends to combo a lot and at this stage in the game you are lucky to have a few High potions in your possession - save em. Just run out and spam cure if you need to. After a hard-fought exchange of steal attempts and damaging blows - you'll have your hands on a pretty nifty one-handed weapon that (depending on the foe) may do more damage than your Kotetsu swords. w00t!

Since you cannot go further to the West, it's impossible to get better armor than you can find at Nalbina for now, but you CAN get Winged helmets by chaining Slimes in the Zernithian Caverns if you RLY want good equipment...ultimately not that important though...

Honorable mention: I suggest stealing from the Gnoma entite that roams the Westersand. You need a Gnoma Halcyon to make your Ultima weapon later. It may take several tries, but it's worth it to get a +118 Atk. Greatsword early...although - with this walkthrough I doubt you'll be lacking good weapons by any means. You may also find a Skeleton roaming about [I believe] in the same area of the Westersand as the Gnoma entite - if not, then he is one screen East of the Gnoma Entite (two screens East of the gate Crystal in the Westersand.) This Fideliant is a rare game with roughly a 40% chance to spawn each time you enter the area. If you chain him you can get a Heavy spear very early as well. (If you are weak, use phoenix downs for an easy KO.) He'll probably drop it quickly but you may need the Warmages monograph to get it on a low chain level.

Last edited by reasoniamalive; 05-20-2007 at 07:51 AM.
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