TYPE C - Monk (m) OR Minotaur, Black Mage (m) OR Sekhret
[8 foes] Monk (m) OR Minotaur, Thief (f) OR Wisenkin
Monk (m) OR Sekhret, Thief (f) OR Wisenkin
Black Mage (m) OR Sekhret, Thief (f) OR Minotaur
TYPE D - Archer (m) OR Archer (f) OR Hydra
[8 foes] White Mage (f) OR Mindflayer OR Dragon
Summoner (f) OR Wisenkin OR Piscodaemon
Dragoon (f) OR Archer (m) OR Squidraken
--STRATEGY--
The Crossing is a mostly flat level with a big rock ridge running through the
middle. There’s a small gap running through the ridge (the Crossing, I
suppose) that separates it into two smaller cliffs.
You start off next to one of the ends of the ridge. Most of the time, the
enemies will all be clustered around the other cliff. Advance forwards and
start fighting them, using height to your advantage where you can. Again,
because you’re often fighting a large group at once, abilities that quickly
put an enemy out of commission (e.g. Chicken or Arm Shot) are helpful.
If you encounter the Type D party, however, the enemies will be more spread out
across the level. Advance foward just the same and cross the level on the
level ground. Trying to climb over the ridge is just liable to get your
characters separated and surrounded.
There’s actually not much need to climb up onto the top of the ridge except to
find the items stashed up there. Most of the items (including the two rare
weapons) are atop the cliff that you start beside. To get up there, from the
starting point, move forward a little bit, then move sideways into the gap
through the ridge. From here, you can jump on top of the ridge, but you’ll
need a Jump of 5. If you need a boost, use Construct 8 or another large
monster as a stepping stool. (Remember, of course, that Treasure Hunter cannot
be combined with Teleport or Ignore Elevation.)
ITEM LOCATIONS:
(X: 4, Y: 4 | height: 12) Elixir
(X: 4, Y:10 | height: 13) Staff of the Magi
(X: 4, Y:12 | height: 12) Koga Blade
(X: 4, Y:14 | height: 10) Elixir
---Floor 8: The Switchback-----------------------------------------------------
YOUR FORCES: 1-5 characters
POSSIBLE ENEMY FORCES:
TYPE A - Archer (m) OR Archer (f)
[1-11 foes] Archer (m) OR Archer (f) OR Nothing
Archer (m) OR Archer (f) OR Nothing
7x:Archer (m) OR Nothing
Archer (f) OR Nothing
TYPE B - Summoner (f) OR Bomb, Red Panther OR Grenade
[8 foes] Summoner (f) OR Bomb, Red Panther OR Dryad
Treant OR Bomb, Coeurl OR Exploder
Elder Treant OR Bomb, Coeurl OR Treant
TYPE C - Red Dragon OR Malboro, Greater Hydra OR Greater Malbr.
[8 foes] Dark Behemoth OR Malboro, Dragon OR Behemoth
Behemoth OR Ochu, Red Dragon OR Behemoth King
Hydra OR Ochu, Blue Dragon OR Dragon
TYPE D - Black Mage (f) OR Summoner (f) OR Arithmetician (f)
[8 foes] Black Mage (f) OR Summoner (f) OR Arithmetician (f)
Black Mage (f) OR Summoner (f) OR Arithmetician (f)
Black Mage (m) OR Summoner (m) OR Arithmetician (m)
--STRATEGY--
This level has two tiers. You start on the high one and have to cross it,
descend a stair, and fight back across the lower tier (hence the name "The
Switchback.") As in other levels like The Oubliette, the decline is so steep
that it’s pretty hard to shoot downwards, so you’re better off heading for
the stairs.
The Type A party featurs nothing but a swarm of Archers, so readying
Shirahadori or Archer’s Bane beforehand is a good strategy. This fight isn’t
too tough since the Archers can’t do all THAT much damage (and often take time
charging up Aim). When the Archers appear, one of them will often be carrying
an additional Yoichi Bow you can steal.
On other occasions, you’ll encounter the Type C party, which features some of
the game’s toughest monsters -- malboros, behemoths, dragons, and hydras (oh
my!). When you see these guys, you may want to forestall hunting for items or
the exit and just focus on surviving.
ITEM LOCATIONS:
(X: 4, Y: 6 | height: 3) Perseus Bow
(X: 6, Y: 7 | height: 3) Lordly Robe
(X: 9, Y: 8 | height: 3) Ragnarok
(X:10, Y:10 | height: 3) Elixir
---Floor 9: The Interstice-----------------------------------------------------
YOUR FORCES: 1-5 characters
POSSIBLE ENEMY FORCES:
TYPE A - Black Mage (f)
[1-11 foes] Black Mage (f) OR Nothing
Black Mage (f) OR Archer (m) OR Nothing
Black Mage (f) OR Red Chocobo OR Nothing
Knight (m) OR Chocobo OR Nothing
Knight (m) OR Black Chocobo OR Nothing
2x:Knight (m) OR Nothing
Archer (m) OR Black Chocobo OR Nothing
2x:Archer (m) OR Nothing
TYPE B - Dragoon (m) OR Cockatrice, Dragoon (f) OR Blue Dragon
[8 foes] Dragoon (m) OR Cockatrice, Cockatrice OR Blue Dragon
Dragoon (m) OR Red Dragon, Dragon OR Blue Dragon
Dragoon (f) OR Cockatrice, Dragon OR Blue Dragon
TYPE C - Ninja (m) OR Samurai (m), Ninja (f) OR Samurai (f)
[8 foes] Ninja (m) OR Samurai (m), Ninja (f) OR Samurai (f)
Ninja (m) OR Samurai (m), Ninja (f) OR Samurai (f)
Ninja (m) OR Samurai (m), Ninja (f) OR Samurai (f)
TYPE D - Knight (m) OR Black Mage (f) OR Time Mage (m)
[4 foes] Archer (m) OR Summoner (f) OR Thief (f)
Time Mage (m) OR Summoner (f) OR Red Panther
Red Panther OR Piscodaemon OR Squidraken
--STRATEGY--
The Interstice has a tricky layout. You start on one of two pillars. (There’s
also a tiny mini-pillar in between the two pillars.) Parallel to the pillars
is a flat plateau area where the enemies often start. The terrain in between
and on the other side of the pillars is flat.
The enemies often start on top of the plateau. From their position here, they
will launch spells and arrows up at you. If you stand on the side of the
pillar closest to them, you can hit them back with some ranged attacks. To
really attack them (and to use any close-range abilities), though, you’ll need
to take down the long route down to their plateau. Jump across the mini-pillar
to the other pillar. From here, there’s a staircase down to the plateau.
You should probably hurry for the staircase as quickly as you can. While you
CAN attack from the top of the pillars, it’s too crowded to move around, making
it difficult to target the enemies you want. Start moving across the pillars
as fast as you can. You *could* also use Teleport or Ignore Elevation to jump
down to the plateau, but this is pretty tricky because: (a) there’s a hole in
the corner of the map closest to where you start; the only route you can take
is directly down off the front of the pillar where you start and (b) the
character is liable to get surrounded and killed quickly. Only try this if you
have a pretty sturdy character with a lot of HP or a good reaction ability
(e.g. Shirahadori).
You’ll also need to take the plateau route if you want to claim all the items
-- the Maximillian armor is located on the far end of the plateau, and the
Venetian Shield is down on the flat floor. (The Grand Helm is up on the
pillars.) All of these are definitely worth grabbing.
The specific enemies you face here, of course, vary. The Type A party features
an assortment of Black Mages, Archers, Knights, and Chocobos. Don’t forget
that you can stop the Black Mages pretty quickly by stealing their MP --
Orlandeau’s Duskblade works well for that. The Type D party is fairly similar.
The Type C party is a Ninja and Samurai convention. This is fairly easy. If
you’re just looking to clear the battle, kill the Ninjas first, since they can
throw from a distance. But, if the Ninjas are at a high level (90+) they will
throw rare weapons at you that you can catch the Thief reaction ability Sticky
Fingers. Kill off the Samurais first and then just sit around and let them
throw weapons at you.
The toughest enemy group here is the Type B party, which includes dragons,
Cockatrices, and human Dragoons. This is tough. Try to stay in a tight group
on the pillars and use your best attacks. Attack the Cockatrices first, then
go for the dragons closest to you. Don’t forget that Shirahadori lets you block
Jump attack.
Note that with all enemy groups, some of the enemies can sometimes be very hard
to see, if they slip in between the pillars or between the pillar and plateau.
Try to track where they’re moving so you don’t forget about them if you can’t
see them on the screen.
Finding the exit in this level can be tricky. It’s often on the flat "flooor"
below the pillars and plateau. Your best best is to put Teleport or Ignore
Elevation on an invisible character and immediately to quickly from the
starting pillar down to the flat ground. If you don’t have the items/abilities
for that, you’ll have to take the very long route: hop across the pillars,
descend to the plateau, cross the plateau, and THEN reach the set of stairs
down the floor.
ITEM LOCATIONS:
(X: 3, Y: 4 | height: 8) Grand Helm
(X: 3, Y: 5 | height: 2) Venetian Shield
(X: 9, Y: 0 | height: 4) Maximillian
(X: 3, Y:10 | height: 2) Elixir
---Floor 10: Terminus----------------------------------------------------------
YOUR FORCES: Ramza, the Byblos [guest], 4 others
ENEMY FORCES: Elidibus [Serpentarius], Reaver x6
--STRATEGY--
Note that the battle with Elidibus is considered a story battle; you’ll have to
deploy Ramza the first time you visit here. If you want to learn the Zodiark
summon spell (and this is your only opportunity in the single-player game to do
so), you’ll need to deploy someone who is a Summoner. This can be Ramza or
someone else.
There’s no exit to find here, just a confrontation with Elidibus and a whole
pile of Reavers. Elidibus is at the top of a spiral staircase; you’ll have to
fight your way up past the Reavers to reach him.
The enemy Reavers are gray. The purple monster behind you, the Byblos, is NOT
an enemy; its a Guest fighting on your side. Don’t kill it; it’s your friend!
(The personal name of the Byblos is random, but it can be identified by its
"Byblos" monster type and purple color.) The Byblos is pretty slow-moving, but
it can heal you from afar. Keep it alive and it will join you afterwards.
Begin fighting your way up the stairs. The Reavers aren’t hard to kill; sword
techniques or Dual Wielded physical attacks work wonders. Since their Bio
spells take time to charge, you can often KO them before they can even cast the
spell. The Bio spells don’t do all that much HP damage. However, they can
inflict a variety of status ailments, so bring an ability like Esuna or
Purification to remove these -- Purification is especially helpful since it
doesn’t need to charge.
You can probably KO Elidibus quickly. Elidibus’s main attack is the extremely
powerful Zodiark summon (700+ damage). It’s obvious when he’s going to cast it
from the humongous damage estimates -- plus it takes a long time to charge.
Get out of the way if you can! Split your team up so he can’t take out too
many at one time.
Once you’ve gotten past the Reavers, healing is pretty much pointless because
Zodiark will basically kill you no matter how much HP you have. (And, if
you’re using Beowulf, keeping his HP low will allow Vengeance to do more
damage!) Do, however, revive KOed characters. Angel Rings and Chantage will
be quite useful in this battle as they let you recover from the inevitable KO.
(Angel Rings work only once; Chantage works multiple times.) Another tactic is
to use the Mystic ability Disbelief or Beowulf’s Doubt to give your characters
the Atheist status, which temporarily reduces your Faith to 0 and makes you
immune to magick. Atheist status also renders your own magick useless, though,
so you WON’T want to put it on any magick-users in your team. (Atheist status
also prevents you from learning the Zodiark spell; see below.) A final tactic
to survive Zodiark is to pair Construct 8 with one or more characters with
Chantage. Construct 8 has a permanent Atheist status, so Zodiark won’t
KO it, and as long it’s alive, the Chantage characters will revive themselves.
(Unfortunately, since Construct 8 is slow and takes a long time to get across
the battlefield, it may not be all that much help with the actual fighting.)
While Zodiark is Elidibus’s main attack, you’ll also need to watch out for his
Poisonous Frog, which turns characters into toads (and poisons them), rendering
them usueless. For female characters, equipping any Cachushas or Ribbons you
have may be a good idea as they will protect you from both Poison and Toad
status. Alternately, you can just use Esuna or Purification to remove the
status -- Purification is especially helpful since it doesn’t need to charge.
When you reach Elidibus, attack him with your strongest abilities -- preferably
ones that hit from a distance so that he can’t counterattack you. Sword
techniques, as always, are great. He’s particularly vulnerable while charging
Zodiark, so be sure to attack him at these times. Attack Boost will also help
you do more damage quickly. The key to this battle is mostly just surviving
Zodiark; if you can keep one or two heavy hitters alive, you can fell him
fairly quickly.
You can learn Zodiark if Elidibus casts it on a Summoner and the Summoner
survives the spell. (Coming back to life with Reraise doesn’t count; the
Summoner must NOT be KOed by the spell.) When this happens, there’s a random
probability (high but not 100%) that you’ll learn the spell. The easiest way
to learn the spell is to equip the Time Mage ability Mana Shield and make sure
your Bravery is reasonably high. As long as you have at least 1 MP, this
ability (when activated) causes all attacks to damage only your MP instead of
HP. So, being hit with Zodiark will empty out your MP, but leave the character
standing. If you don’t learn the spell on your first attempt, use an Ether or
Chakra to get back at least 1 MP and try again. If you don’t have Mana Shield,
an alternate method is to put Equip Heavy Armor on the Summoner to get his or
her HP as high as possible, then start hitting Elidibus with Rend Magick as
many times as you can (preferably using a gun, bow, or polearm to attack from a
distance, so that he can’t counterattack). This will lower his magick power
and decrease the amount of damage Zodiark can do, potentially allowing your
Summoner to withstand the spell without Mana Shield. (Mana Shield is only 400
JP, though, so it’s not too tough to learn.) Using the Atheist status to
temporarily reduce your Faith to 0 will NOT work; your Summoner must take at
least 1 HP damage from Zodiark in order to learn it. (Of course, it’s fine to
cast Atheist on all your other characters if you want.)
Elidibus has 2600-2700 HP. If you are trying to learn Zodiark, keep track of
how much damage you’re doing and don’t hurt him too much until you learn the
spell. You don’t want to kill him on accident. (Remember, this battle is your
only chance to learn Zodiark outside of one multiplayer mission.)
The four hidden items are all located on the platform where Elidibus starts.
You’ll have a much easier time finding them if you come back AFTER you beat
him, instead of trying to get them during the battle with Elidibus.
ITEM LOCATIONS:
(X:10, Y: 7 | height: 15) Chaos Blade
(X:12, Y: 5 | height: 15) Chirijiraden
(X:12, Y: 7 | height: 15) Elixir
(X:10, Y: 5 | height: 15) Elixir
POSSIBLE ENEMY FORCES (IN LATER RANDOM BATTLES):
TYPE A - Hydra
[1-11 foes] Red Dragon OR Greater Hydra OR Nothing
3x:Hydra OR Nothing
2x:Red Dragon OR Nothing
3x:Hydra OR Greater Hydra OR Nothing
TYPE B - Archer (m) OR Pig, Black Mage (m) OR Pig
[8 foes] Archer (m) OR Pig, Black Mage (m) OR Pig
Mystic (f) OR Pig, Swine OR Pig
Mystic (f) OR Pig, Swine OR Pig
TYPE C - White Mage (f) OR Chocobo, Black Chocobo OR Chocobo
[8 foes] White Mage (f) OR Chocobo, Black Chocobo OR Chocobo
White Mage (f) OR Chocobo, Black Chocobo OR Chocobo
Black Chocobo OR Chocobo, Black Chocobo OR Chocobo
TYPE D - Black Mage (m) OR Black Mage (f) OR Tiamat
[4 foes] Time Mage (m) OR Time Mage (f) OR Tiamat
Summoner (m) OR Summoner (f) OR Tiamat
Mystic (m) OR Mystic (f) OR Tiamat
*******************************************************************************
VI. MULTIPLAYER MODES
*******************************************************************************
%%%MELEE MODE - GENERAL INFORMATION%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00melee0
Melee Mode is the new "versus" mode in the PSP version of Final Fantasy
Tactics. It allows two players to pit their regular parties against each
other. Both players also receive prizes after the battle, and there are some
rare items you can *only* find in Melee Mode!
Melee Mode becomes available very early in the game, after you pass through
Gariland on your way to the Siedge Weald. Once both players have unlocked
Melee Mode, you can start a Melee Mode battle by having both players go to the
Tavern and choosing Melee. One player should host the game and the other
should join. Melee Mode can only be played over a local (ad hoc) connection,
not the Internet.
Both players must pay a fee for each Melee Mode battle, to compensate for the
items you can earn.
Each player can deploy up to 5 characters to battle with.
You can select any map that at least one of the two players has cleared in the
single-player mode. This includes all the story battle locations, plus the
sidequests (including Midlight’s Deep), and the wilderness locations where
there are only random battles. The exceptions are the maps from the final
sequence of battles in the single-player mode; these cannot be selected in
Melee Mode (even if you have a clear data save). The side of the map on which
each player starts is randomly assigned.
During combat, your team always glows blue on your PSP screen. The opponent’s
forces glow red.
---Melee Mode Rules------------------------------------------------------------
For the most part, Melee Mode combat works like regular FF T combat. However,
there are a number of important exceptions:
* You CANNOT permanently lose items or characters in this mode. Stolen and
broken items, and items consumed using the Throw, Iaido, and Items commands,
are restored to you at the end of battle. Characters cannot permanently die
because they simply teleport out of the battle when their KO counter expires.
(Since they’re not permanent deaths, these do NOT count as Casualties on your
Chronicle screen.) Anyone turned into a Malboro by Malboro Spores is turned
back into a human.
Note that this makes some abilities substantially more useful in Melee Mode
since you no longer have to worry about losing rare items. Elixirs are great
for restoring HP and MP, the Masamune and Chirijiraden Iaidos can be used
freely (Masamune casts Haste and Regen on a group!) and rare weapons like the
Chaos Blade can be thrown without losing them.
* The Invisible status effect has a completely different effect. It does not
make you actually invisible to the other player, and the character can still
be targeted normally. Instead, being Invisible prevents your opponent from
dodging your attack, as if you had the Concentration support ability equipped.
(As with Concentration, this has no effect on Shirahadori/Archer’s Bane.)
The Invisible status is still removed after taking an action or being hit.
* Monsters cannot be poached for items. Poaching a monster will still remove
it from the map, but no items will be added to the Poachers’ Den.
* Items can be stolen from the other team, but they are not kept permanently
after the end of the battle.
* While the Traitor status (from Entice or Tame) can still be used to recruit
enemies onto your side for the duration of the battle, they cannot join your
team permanently afterwards.
* Sticky Fingers can be used to block thrown weapons, but they aren’t added to
your inventory.
* Bravery and Faith can be changed for the duration of a battle, but there are
no permanent changes.
* Your characters cannot be put under AI control.
* The game cannot be paused. (However, when one player is moving, the other
player can scroll around the map and looking at characters’ status.)
* Only JP is earned. (You still keep your earned JP even if you lose the
battle.) EXP, levels, and gil cannot be gained. Additionally, magick that
can normally be learned from being hit with it CANNOT be obtained this way in
Melee Mode.
Since you cannot gain levels or gil, the Wild Boar’s Bequeath Bacon and the
Thief’s Steal EXP and Steal Gil are ineffective in this mode.
* Most traps that affect only 1 tile in the single-player game now have an
effect radius of 3 when sprung, and there are also new traps. (See the Traps
section for more details.) Also, traps that YOU place cannot be sprung by your
units, only by your opponent. Friendly units can still be affected by the trap
if they’re caught in the effect radius, however.
* Enemies killed during Melee Mode are not added to your Kills tally on the
Chronicle screen.
* This isn’t a Melee Mode-specific rule, but it’s worth noting that all of the
multiplayer-exclusive weapons cannot be thrown with the Ninja’s Throw command.
---Melee Mode Options----------------------------------------------------------
Before the battle, the hosting player may set a number of options:
1. Map Selection - The map may be chosen manually, or you can have the game
pick a random map from the ones available. You may fight on any map that at
least one player has completed in the single-player game.
2. Time Limit - You may set a total time limit that each player has to decide
on his/her actions across the course of the battle. This basically works like
a chess clock. When you’re deciding on a move, the clock starts counting down.
On your next turn, the clock resumes counting down from where it left off.
When a player’s clock reaches 0:00, the battle doesn’t end, but that player
will have only 15 seconds each turn to decide on an action before the
character’s turn defaults to Wait. (This is basically a way of keeping
players from taking forever to decide on a move.)
The clock stops when attacks and abilities are animating. However, the clock
does NOT stop when characters are walking from one tile to another, or any time
you’re in a menu. If the clock expires while you’re in the middle of walking,
the move is canceled.
The default for this option is no time limit.
3. Action Limit - You can set a maximum total number of actions for the battle.
Any action taken by ANY player counts towards this limit. (Just moving without
acting does not count as an action.) When the Action Limit is reached, the
battle ends and a winner is declared. The default is 40, and you can choose
20, 40, or 60 actions.
If you set the Action Limit to None, the battle will continue until one side is
completely KOed.
4. Special Controls - This allows you to turn the special action controls on or
off. (They are ON by default.) See below.
5. Trap Placement - In a Melee Mode, both players can set a number of traps on
the map before the battle. If you set Trap Placement to Random, the computer
will place these traps for you; if you set Trap Placement to Manual, you can
put them wherever you want. (It’s not possible, however, to put traps on
either side’s starting tiles, or in tiles with water of depth 2.)
Note that you cannot trigger the traps that you set. You can only trigger the
traps that your opponent laid for you.
If you don’t want to play with traps, set Trap Placement to None and no traps
will appear.
6. Number of Traps - If you have traps allowed, this determines the number of
traps that EACH player can set. You can have 2, 5, or 10 traps per player.
(The default is 2.) If Trap Placement is set to None, this option is ghosted.
7. Arithmeticks - The Arithmeticks ability can be Allowed or Disallowed. (The
default is Allowed.)
---Special Controls------------------------------------------------------------
Melee Mode includes a number of special action-oriented controls:
* When a physical attack has a moderate hit rate (not very high or not very
low), the attacker and target will "lock weapons." Both players must press the
X button rapidly to determine the outcome:
> If the attacker presses the button more times, the attack goes off as
planned, with the bonus of a critical hit!
> If the defender presses the button more times, the attack is cancelled and
the target retaliates with Counter Tackle.
Ranged weapons are not subject to this locked-weapons effect.
* For all other physical attacks, a red exclamation mark flashes over the
attacker’s head. Quickly hitting X when this mark appears will give you a
critical attack, which increases your damage and may knock the enemy back a
tile.
* When you step on a trap tile, a sequence of buttons appears at the top of
the screen (e.g. Up Right Triangle Square Left). If you enter the buttons in
order without making a mistake within a time limit, the trap is disarmed and
has no effect. Otherwise, the trap activates as usual.
If you don’t like these controls, the hosting player can turn them off before
the battle starts.
---Winning and Losing----------------------------------------------------------
When one player has all of his or her characters KO, he or she loses, and the
other player wins the battle.
If both players have their last character KOed at the same time (e.g., a magick
attack hits both of them and KOs them), the battle is declared a Draw.
If the battle is set with fixed maximum number of actions, the battle ends when
either player reaches that number of actions. In this case, victory (or a
draw) is awarded to whomever has more character standing. Of course, even with
the battle set to a fixed number of actions, you can end the battle and win
earlier if you KO all the opponents’ characters.
%%%MELEE MODE - TREASURES%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00melee1
After each Melee battle, each player will be presented with a ring of chests,
and can open 1 to 3 chests and keep the item within each opened chest.
The NUMBER of chests you can open is determined by the outcome of the battle.
The winner of the battle can open 3 chests, and the loser can open 1. In the
event of a draw, both players can open 2 chests.
The CONTENTS of the chests is determined by the average level of the characters
plus random chance. Most of the rare items will not appear unless your level
is quite high.
If one player wins in a single action (i.e., by using Arithmeticks), the game
will detect you’re trying to cheat at item-grinding and both players will
receive nothing but Phoenix Downs :( . At least two actions must occur to
receive actual prizes. (They can both be by one player, or one from each
player.) Just moving without doing anything does not count, but you can always
just attack the air, which DOES count.
---Rare Items in Melee Mode----------------------------------------------------
An almost certainly incomplete list of RARE items that you can obtain in Melee
Mode is below. (I haven’t listed items that can also be bought in a store,
though you’ll often get these if you’re at a low level.) Again, you must be at
a high enough level to make these items appear.
* indicates items that can ONLY be acquired in Melee Mode.
WEAPONS:
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