Insane Difficulty: Solo Thief Challenge (Thief SSCC) - Insane Difficulty

I gave up on loss, but getting confused itself has proven to be a possible winning factor. I mean I said before it caused Velius to be hit with 3 Giga Flares. Clops can do from what I have seen 318-396. It will always kill you with a Power Sleeve. Even if you had the max hp for level 50 (316) Pretty ironic that 318 is 2 hp higher than the maximum amount of hp a level 50 Thief can have. If you can survive a Cyclops and have a Jade Armlet, you only have to keep trying until the AI just gives up. I won with loss as a Taurus Oracle. The AI has some unknown reason to just give up even though you survive cyclops by...2 hp. Depending on that as a Thief is no good though.

The weakest punch Velius can do is 176..at least from all my attempts. This makes me really wish I had stolen some Earth Clothes. He'd have to let me midhcarge him at the very least with Cyclops. If his punch does 176, and you have 193, he will use Titan or Cyclops for sure. It really cuts the amount of dodge attempts.

I will play a few rounds in front of my friend since I always seem to get 16% weapon breaks or 21% steals all the time if anyone watches. It might also let me actually hit Wiegraf from the side. It is amazing how tough it is with a Feather Mantle to reach Velius unharmed. I have strategies for being hurt, and not hurt, but if he blocks and counters that first hit 11 times in a row, That's 11 blocks, and hitting that counter against a Thief with a Feather Mantle. it really sucks.

Here are some strategies I think you should definitely consider:

1) Pick one strategy that you know is possible and stick with it. 100 stubborn resets against a 1% chance is better than dividing all of those attempts up between four different strategies and a couple of "theory runs." I basically tested a lot of different strats out for the first 3 vids I recorded, but primarily stuck with my main strategy for the 2 vids w/ Vincent, and I felt like I had a couple of solid, close-call runs while recording with him.

2) Tackle it for a couple of hours, and then take a couple of days off.

3) DEFINITELY have a friend nearby when making attempts. Conversation is the key to overcoming the tedium.

4) Lists always look more uniform and tidy when they end on an even number.

And you're right: 176 is the lowest damage I've ever seen Velius do with a goat-punch.

EDIT: First 3 vids are up! The first two are the ones w/ Kaffe and my wife as guest commentators, and the third is a quick solo commentary vid where I took a closer look at my available strategies and chose the one that I felt the best about.








EDIT 2:

APOLOGIES FOR THE LOST SOUND on the 2nd half of the Kaffe & Hussy commentary.

It wasn't Youtube; I didn't even realize the original video had lost its sound during the rendering process! And of course, I don't have the initial raw footage to try and re-render.

Well, so much for that. Sorry, everyone.

I guess I'll just say.. there weren't any good attempts in that one, so it's not even really worth watching without the commentary.

Apparently, the same thing happened to the next two videos--the commentary with Vincent Sarius. It must have been something I changed in the rendering settings at some point. However, I DO still have the initial raw footage from that session, so I can still re-do those.

Here's hoping you can recover the commentary with Vincent. I'm sure he had some very enlightening things to say considering he apparently bangs out SSCC's on a regular basis

The reason I try so many strategies is I at least initially wanted to see if there was some amazing way to win that you'd never expect. There are, but they all have very low odds. Either you win, or you don't. Trying for two crits can happen, it just has to happen. You could attempt it for a year and it won't happen, or it could happen on your first ever attempt.

The best strategy is where you run to the back of the right wall, wait, and then slash Velius and his demons Giga Flare him only works if the right demon has bad compat, or 40 faith with neutral compat, and the other 2 don't have good compat, and bad MA. Also Velius must punch you and miss. Finally, you also have to get to the fight unscathed. All of that makes it have about the same odds as the others. All that has to be right, and the punch. I would have won in one of my attempts if Ramza dodged a 45% hit. Make sure if you get to the fight unscathed, to see if you can survive a Dark Holy from the right demon, and 2 Giga Flares. The Demons can have 11 MA- 13 MA. Otherwise try something else if you can't survive. I said before that turning your back helps him punch you. It might, but he's gone for my front doing that strategy anyway.

I say it's the best strategy because if you start off in that situation, and your Feather Mantle actually works, you only have to dodge two punches with a Feather Mantle. Though getting in that situation doesn't happen often enough. Another alternative is to use an N-Kai Armlet to survive almost for sure if you get to the fight unscathed, though it's harder and you are unlikely to dodge a punch.

It goes like this

130 slash
2 Giga flares to Velius (I think 110 is the most a Giga Flare can do)
130 run back
He punches you
130 wait
130
run to the next safe spot
he punches you
130
130

If the Giga Flares did 220, on your 6th hit he has lost exactly 1000 hp. His lowest hp I believe is 951.

Just making this all clear since if you do find yourself with a bunch of bad compat demons, you have a decent shot at winning.

Well, at any rate, thanks for all the help, cocomunga.

Stann - It's a little busier at work tonight than I expected, but I'm still good to start our dual-commentary in half an hour or so. I may get interrupted from time to time. Hope you're ready for some HOT MAN ON GOAT ACTION!

Legs wide open and ready, baby. Added you to Skype already, just playing some Dancing Mad while watching your previous attempts.

I have had a bunch of runs where I dodge the punch, and do something amazing like charm all 3 demons. You know what the demons think a good idea is? Life breaking themselves. That doesn't help me you assholes. I thought charmed units are supposed to be your friends? Another time one could have easily avoided hitting me, but he Giga Flared Velius and me, killing me.

I have made it far enough with that strategy I wrote about before. It seems you do in fact need a crit that does around 200 or more, and then you must midcharge him or get another crit to win.

A little alternative to that strategy if you come into the fight damaged. You wait in the bottom right corner 6 spaces from the starting point until Velius punches you. Then you hit him, run and dodge a second punch. Hit him again and then charm 2 demons in a row. You will have to dodge even more punches after that, but you will be pretty safe from the demons. Just another strategy which requires immense luck. In my opinion, anything that lets you have a chance of winning with a Feather Mantle is better than without one. Dodging two 75% punches and praying for a crit is just so agonizing and painful to attempt. I would rather land two 55% charms and dodge 5 or so punches.

I still have my file at Riovanes, but I cheated past Velius to see what the rest of the game is like. In the next fight, you wear Sprint Shoes, and Air Knife. You run down the stairs, and just wait. You then get 1 Ultima targeted on you, and just attack Celia. Lede will shadow stitch Rafa. Celia's Ultima puts her in crit status, and you win.

I feel bad about cheating, but it was pretty fun playing up till that point, and I wanted to keep playing. No other fight in the game has such pitiful odds of winning.

That comes with the territory man. If you can't handle the mind-numbingly repetitive bullshit, don't do SSCCs.

I can understand the lure, cocomunga. That's pretty much how my first Thief SSCC failed at Izlude. (Looking back, I can't believe I struggled so much at that fight!)

I'm uploading the vids I recorded with Vincent, finally, and I'll upload the ones I did with Stann on Tuesday. Then, I've scheduled commentary with Piercewise on Tuesday evening, and I'll hit Lynx up for some commentary this upcoming weekend.

If I can't beat Velius in those 4 hours of recordings, I will start recording all further attempts without commentary--and delete any video that doesn't have a victory. Then, when I -finally- get it, I can upload the one video with the victory. The reset count will no longer be accurate, but I don't want my channel to become overloaded with failures at Velius. I'll probably just give Seijin a rough estimate to add to the reset count, based on the average number of resets per 45-min recording.

I decided I will just not continue, and hope you can actually beat Velius so I can see what the rest of the game is like. There is just no way I am going to win on my psp. I hate saying "I beat it in theory" You can say that about any fight. Get 3 crits, dodge a punch, and survive the dark holy. If by some chance you find a very easy way to win, I still have the file at Riovanes.

I can understand the struggle at Izlude. Hell, I won because a Knight hit a 51% Secret Fist. The most awesome thing happened in my Oracle SSCC against him. I berserked myself with max ma setup, and got a crit on izlude from the front for 350 something. Truly a "mega crit".

I've beaten Velius legit in a few SSCCs, Archer, Ninja, Oracle, and Summoner. Not too tough with those honestly, Especially Ninja who wins before Velius even gets a turn.

Oracle Relies on Loss, and hoping your confused Oracle doesn't get out of the water to be punched, and hoping the demons decide you aren't worth attacking.

Summoner is easy because Golem works against Velius punches. Though the time I won, I used a different strategy that is even easier then hoping he punches you+ surviving a Dark Holy. I killed all of his demons with a Bahamut, and finished Velius off with Titan just to spite him. He ran back like a ***** hoping they'd kill me. Then he was like oh no hopefully he won't cast Titan on me before I get to go and use Titan on him. DENIED! It felt so good to finish him with Titan

Archer took quite a while for me to figure out. It came down to trying to get speed save to activate I think 13 times in a row, and just shoot the hell out of Velius, dodge 1 punch, and shoot the hell out of him more. I found out about Loss after I had beaten him. I turned the fight on to figure out a way for Archael to win, since he couldn't attain 23 speed.

I can't win with a Thief. It's nice if I can beat the game and all, but it's fun just getting as far as I can. The generic battles are fun, and surprisingly farming can be fun sometimes if you aren't relying on charms. With Summoner, getting a Thief Hat was easy.

I will avenge you, brother!

EDIT:

Commentary w/ Vincent - Part 1 of 2

Commentary w/ Stann, pt 1 of 2

Me next?

Since I can't rep my own posts, I'll rep anything that features me.

Best guest comment so far, I loved it.

Ryin, on 03 March 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

Yeah, that was a good double-commentary.

Any luck Bastard Poetry? I may give it a few more goes. Just had to give myself a few weeks off from it. It sucks to of gone through all the effort I have. There's been farming, Izlude, Yardow, and all the attempts I made on Velius. It really lingers on me to attempt it more especially since I did not cheat on anything. I can't cheat on one thing, and then play the rest of the game. There would be no satisfaction to beating it at all, which is the real reason I quit solo Archer. Cheating to get gear. I guess if I keep on trying every so often, eventually I will win. I've played FFT for years. If it takes years of trying it a few times a month, then so be it. Your lolwin video gave me hope. That did seem something like a 1% chance of happening, which I have also seen hit in the game numerous times.


If you get past Velius, are you going to be super ballsy and try to get a Rubber Costume without degenerating? I AM! With a Zorlin Shape, it is not so unlikely.

I have the winning strat, now. I just need to dodge the two goat punches. I've tested the new strat ten times, and beat him in six out of those practice runs (testing -after- the dodged goat punches). Now, I just need to do it on a legit run, and I've agreed to have Archael as my dual-commentator for that. (We've run into some snags with our sit-downs, though).

This strat is the absolute best way to get SIX punches at 170 damage each. No more praying for crits.
Try it out:

Thief Hat
Power Sleeve
Bracer

Do the half-room dance for the double turn. Take 120 or 168 damage from Wiegraf. I actually think 168 might be better, because one Dark Holy casting needs to be enough to kill you later--only one--and it sucks if that one demon ends up with bad compat / low faith. The odds aren't that bad, though, so make attempts even if you only take the 120 damage from his counter. One thing to keep in mind: if he doesn't counter, or you dodge his counter, WAIT on the second part of your double-turn and let him lightning stab you. You simply cannot do this with full hp, because Velius will never go for a punch at full hp.

Punch Velius twice, run back 5 panels.
Dodge a goat punch, punch him back, run back to that lowered panel (bottom left)
Dodge a second goat punch, punch him back

^ That's the hard part.

Here's where the new strat kicks in: after that 4th punch on Velius, MOVE to the absolute bottom left corner.
Before, when standing your ground, the demons would start charging on you at this point. However, on that bottom left panel, they still can't reach. You get a turn before Velius.
Run to HIS RIGHT SIDE (not from your perspective.. I mean HIS right), 100% 5th punch
Because the demons saved CT so much, they double turn Velius here as well, and one will charge a killing Dark Holy.
Velius ignores you and runs, and you get one last turn before the spell resolves.
Fuck charming demons - run after that motherfucking goat lord and carve yourself a piece of his ass.

Things can still go wrong, like a demon with bad compat, or CT lineups getting screwed up a bit, or you could miss a front shot at 18% on one of the four front-shots, but the odds, like I said above, seemed to be a rough 60% for my ten tests.

Good luck

EDIT: I might go for the Rubber Costume. At this point, I'd love to be doing anything new!