Insane Difficulty: Garet's playthrough - Insane Difficulty

So, I decided to start a brand new run-through of this, considering I had a few days off from work. Having cleared the first disc previously I had a good idea what to expect going in, but even with that the difficulty over the vanilla game is something else. The biggest difference I've been noticing is the numbers -- the enemies hit like freight-trains whilst my guys may as well be swinging brooms around, at times. My defences account for as much as wet-tissue paper at this point.

Evil Forest:

Steiner was my hero throughout Evil Forest. I'm playing on my android phone, so controls are a little wonky still, but I managed to grab the moonstone from Queen Brahne. Managed to steal everything as well which was nice. No resets needed at all against the bosses. Zidane's restore kept the party in MP -- which helped Vivi no end -- and Blank softened them up. Zidane was doing so little damage compared to Vivi's magic and Steiner's Sword/Magic Sword that he was more-or-less on healing duty throughout. I kept Steiner equipped with his initial Broadsword to learn the skills. In hindsight? A bad idea. He didn't get shot of it until I hit the dungeon's end. MVP = Steiner, without a doubt.

Ice Cavern:

Thank goodness for Garnet. I levelled her up to level 4 before heading into the Ice Cavern. Maybe I was just unlucky, or that place hated me, but the random encounter rate was brutal! I was getting fights every two-to-three steps. Restore + Healer, rinsed and repeated frequently. Biggest problem in here where the blue guys with the horns. HP switching on Steiner or Zidane meant I had to usually burn them with Fire, which was more MP used than I was comfortable with. Still, managed to get through without a game over. The boss battle was very hard. Managed to get the steals, sure, but I burned through two trance bars and most of my potions doing it. Can't wait for my Thief Glove to ease my stealing. MVP = A combination of Steiner and Garnet.

Dali area and Lindblum:

Not much was done here. By the time I got out of the Ice Cavern I was in and around level 7 with my guys, and that was without any grinding. Steiner was level 8. By the time I hit the two Black Waltzes -- who didn't give me too many problems actually -- everyone was level 8. Got their steals too! Geared up in Lindblum and hit the Festival of the Hunt with an Ogre and Beast Killer set. Fought two battles to kill some time then went after the Zangnhol. To be honest this was the hardest battle yet. Freya was a welcome addition -- Reis Wind!!! -- and Zidane trancing once more dented his HP pool nicely. Freya finished him with a jump and I got my Coral Ring. Grabbed Quina and ran straight for the Chocobo's Forest. This far I've been tight with my gil because I wanna grind Hot and Cold. MVP = Steiner, again. I'm seeing a trend here.

Chocobo Forest:

I'm wondering if Landon manipulated the percentages for some of the rare digs in Chocobo Hot & Cold? I was certainly grinding out the games, sure, but I managed to grab each of the four accessories in little to no time at all, plus more Chocographs than I remember you being able to get at that point (seven if you're interested). I got the Anklet, Barett, Extension and Cachusha. Across all my vanilla playthrough's I've rarely ever gotten those add-ons so easily, and I'm usually left pulling my hair out as a result. My plan heading forward now is to grab as much of Quina's Blue Magic as possible. My aim is to get White Wind from the Garuda above the Grotto as well because Restore and Reis Wind leaves a little to be desired, though that could be a challenge. I was delighted to see that the Anklet still gives Freya locomotion, so at least I'll have someone who can throw out remedies in the event of a Stop being thrown my way. Her shell tech will hopefully make a difference too. MVP = Freya.

Anyways, that's me up-to-date with my current progression. I'll hopefully chime in with my future progress!

Above the grotto? You are crazy. There is no way you will be able to kill those now.

I'm almost certain Hot & Cold wasn't changed, you just lucked out.

I'll at least try being crazy once or twice, if only to see how funny it is As for Hot and Cold, I've never been that lucky. I'm assuming the Blue Magic is gotten from the same enemies, even if some have been changed around?

I wasn't that lucky in Hot&Cold, but I also found more accessories here than in my various vanilla playthroughs. He definitely didn't change anything from it, though.

As for the Blue Magic, I do believe you get it from the same enemies but different spells. (Mandragora's Limit Glove is now Pyro, I think?)

Edit: I admire you for being able to get the Moonstone on Android. I could only do that on a console (PSP) or PC, never on Android.

I guess we're just lucky lol.

So far I've got Aqua Breathe, Flare Star (replaced Limit Glove), Pyro (replaced Pumpkin Drop), Angel's Snack -- a pain in the backside to get at my level -- and Full Fork (replaces Frog Drop). So far I'm getting everything from anything you're supposed to get it from.

Edit: Getting the moonstone wasn't easy. My phone isn't all that big, and the buttons are grouped tight. It was a nightmare, but thanks.

Agreed with Laith, getting the moonstone is extremely hard for me in my PSP. Now, holy shit. You were extremely lucky with those add-ones, they should make your life a lot easier.

But nah, don't think about the game having those radical changes, in Unleashed that doesn't happen in most battles. It's pretty much the original's AI in most cases, plus some very limited quirks added.

I'm also playing Alternate Fantasy on my PSP, and that one does have a few more cool changes, but it sucks it's so easy. I'd rather play Unleashed any day instead of it. But, I wanna keep playing to see if there's more cool changes added.

Cool stuff, I'll keep on reading!

True, it was Flare Star for Limit Glove, I forgot that.

Hart is right. You'll probably find some particular and new stuff in a few battles (won't spoil), but if you played the game before, you can figure out the enemy for the most part.

What makes it so fun is the whole stat boosting on the enemies, certain overpowered skills replaced (Limit Glove, again), and some of your options limited on certain kind of bosses.

The extra add-ons are definitely helping me out. I'm trying not to grind too much as far as EXP and AP go, so Freya having access to ability up in order to learn those kill skills even quicker helps with damage quite a bit. Zidane's more-or-less on Restore duty and, depending on the enemies I find and which ones give me more trouble, Soul Blade for blind or silence.

I'm more-or-less through the Grotto now, with all the Blue Magic I can get at this point, and couldn't resist a little craziness on my own part. Scary thing? I got White Wind from a Gardua above the Grotto! You get the Magus Hat in that Bell Chamber before heading up, which teaches Vivi Slow. He's also got Sleep from the Mage Staff. Saved up there and prayed for a lone birdie. No dice first two attempts. I got two though, which was..... fun. I just about had enough time to put my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye when I got hit with an Aerial Slash for about 1500 to the entire party! Holy cripes! Loaded up to try again. Rinse, repeat, twice more. Finally though I got my lone birdie, with Vivi moving last. I wiped again. Loaded up. This time I got my loan birdie but Vivi was off like the clappers! It was sleeping nicely before it could even blink at me. Lovely! From there I had to find the quickest way of doing damage as quickly as possible without using physical attacks. I couldn't use Vivi -- he's on standby for Slow and then devotes himself to making the Gardua dream when it wakes up pissed off -- so I was left with Quina, which brings me to a nice observation. Oh. My. God. Quina is OP as hell! Pyro alone is knocking out figures between 700 and 800 on a single target, and only for 30mp. Four of those -- for about 2800-3200 hp damage to a mostly sleeping Garuda -- meant my over-eating Qu was soon dining on poultry, with the all-important good news that he/she's fat ass can now heal my party. Quina is now on healing duty -- for only 15mp! -- between blowing things away with the cheap-man's flare. I could cry.

Unleashed, though, is definitely fun. My favourite FF with spruced up difficulty on-the-go whenever I feel like it? Landon, you are a genius, thank you! The random encounters have a good chance of killing you. Those flies in the Grotto for example? Buzz nearly wiped me twice, so I'm not looking forward to Cleyra's trunk where the Dragonflies are. Berserk on Zidane and Vivi left me with no option but to run away the old-fashioned shoulder-button way. Definitely more strategy needed. Hack'n'slash with the occasional heal ain't gonna cut it anymore.

Thanks for the comments guys! I wonder how many times the Lady Knight of Alexandria will kick my ass before I steal everything that isn't bolted down?

The Beatrix fights (all three) are the easiest bosses in the entire game. It's almost impossible to die.

If you do, you should feel really dumb.

Kjata, on 29 November 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

Yep, That's true. Which is ironic, because they're easily the hardest fights so far in Alternate Fantasy. So hey, I'd combine both mods and call it a day.

Cleared the Grotto a little while back. Big blue guy's been the hardest boss so far. His HP hasn't increased, I know, but when he's hitting you hard enough to leave Freya and Zidane in the yellow, it lends a little more of the "oh my God stop hitting me" mentality. Killing that Garuda jumped Zidane to level 14 and the others to level 13, and I didn't fight anymore battles after that. White Wind -- cures for between 170 HP and 200 HP -- was certainly a nice additive, but Pyro is still the big hitter. At this stage Quina has my best equipment -- Mag def, ordinary def, s/he has it. Absorb MP leaves me hoping they'll hit Quina if only so I can keep the MP high without force-feeding Ethers! The boss died easily enough, but I'm going to have to find an easier way of dealing damage other than Quina. MVP throughout the Grotto: Quina, without a doubt.

Quina just keeps going from strength-to-strength too. Got it Night, so If I can get everyone immune to sleep, I can throw out 100% sleep on my opponents (assuming its hit-percentage hasn't been decreased from vanilla).

Grabbed the Blue Reef ability for Choco and then back-tracked through the Grotto, running from everything, to dig up the 10th and 11th Chocographs. Vivi now has both a Magician's Robe and an Oak Staff, so he can start throwing out Bio as soon as he masters Blizzara from Gizamaluke's Ice Staff. Boy has it helped his squishiness! He can actually take a hit now! I feel Stop will be a bloody breathe of fresh air too, which the Oak Staff also teaches. Wonder how many enemies in Disc 1 and 2 are susceptible to it? Hmmm.

Hitting Burmecia now.

If everyone's comments are anything to go by, If Beatrix does kill me you guys have permission to stone me

With her, I just tried to steal everything and wait out her scripted victory.

Mind your items, I think I got a bit scared by the time I got to Cleyra, when I was in a point of no return to stock on items.

Kjata, on 29 November 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

Okay, so that's not just me...? Wow. So glad about this.

Well, yeah...

I'm a bit of a complesionist when it comes to FF9. I forgot clean about the moogle in the initial part of South Gate when you get control of Garnet again, so no letter for me. I jumped back to an earlier save before I fought Gizamaluke, and repeated the steps I did from there -- Chocographs, Blue Magic, steals etc -- and I'm now back to where I was at the start of Disc 2, though I managed it quickly enough. I'll put that mistake down to desire to get on with the game and not the half-dozen or-so tins of cider I downed during that time

MVP throughout Burmecia: Quina, again. S/he has amazing utility and damage this early on. The fact I don't have to bomb its HP to 1 to use a powerful skill is icing on the cake, and I have a panic button with Night and White Wind as well. Full Fork is cheap and Zidane can return the MP cost with Restore too.

As I've played this mod I've realized that certain characters do far better in a specific area of the game than others, especially once I started experimenting a little more following my first fight with Gizamzaluke. I feel Zidane will fair better when I get Free Energy and the like and can stick him in the back row, 'cause right now he's pretty much using Restore, Soul Blade and Steal. Vivi does better now that he has a little crowd control utility -- Sleep and Stop specifically. Freya is just out-and-out utility. I have her in the back row with cover equipped, throwing out Dragon's Armour and Reis Wind whenever possible. When both are up and everyone has high HP she uses that High Jump to great effect, even though I've dropped her Kill skills (magic stone distribution). So, yeah. I've managed to find a few ways to spread the damage I do out between my characters. Cleyra doesn't feel so daunting now.

As for Steiner and Garnet. Steiner's perfect sheen from Disc 1 is rubbing off a little now that I'm fighting the monsters in and around Treno. He's hitting impressive numbers, sure, though Marcus is that squishy I had to give Steiner cover just to increase his survivability. Marcus is definitely a liability at this point. Garnet is...... I'm not sure, to be honest. My group isn't strong enough to experiment yet with skills and the like, so Garnet's on constant healing duty for now.

Note: If that's what it will be like to have Beatrix later on, then I'm beginning to see why you guys said to power up Steiner when I had the chance. I might even give Freya level up so she leaves Zidane and company in the dust ahead of Alexandria for the purple dogs.

Just an observation for everyone's enjoyment: you have permission to stone me. I wiped once against Beatrix and it was stupidity on my part that caused it

Just because I have yet to say it: LVL UP STEINER OR BEWARE!

While it is not mandatory, it will make your life easier. I learned it the hard way, I think my Steiner was lvl 12-13 when he paired up with Beatrix against the Mistodons.

Laith, on 30 November 2015 - 07:47 PM, said:

Yeah, Kjata has warned me already that the Mistodens -- not to mention running from Alexandria -- are some of the hardest areas in the game. If Beatrix plays like Marcus then she'll be a liability. My Steiner and Garnet are level 13 at the minute, with Marcus at level 12. The only reason I'm levelling him at all is for the Marcus/Eiko bug. The only way he's doing any damage is through the Blood Sword at the minute. Steiner's strong enough to work with the Mythril Sword at this point, and he has that self-heal at any rate.

I took my time in Treno and really scouted out the Auction House. I bought the key items at reasonable prices and sold them for big profits, which helped with the purchase of everything else. Grabbed the Reflect Ring, Pearl Rogue, Madain's Ring, two sets of Fairy Earrings and three Magician's Robes. With the one I got in the Chocograph treasure earlier, I now have four robes -- one for Vivi, one for Garnet, one for Quina and one for Eiko when I eventually get her. I also got equipment sorted for Zidane's party.

As far as Steiner's concerned, I'm building him to kill the monster in Treno's weapon shop. In the vanilla game you give him Counter and MP attack, equip him with the Blood Sword and Bronze Armour (for the wind resistance) and exploit big numbers on Minus Strike. I can't do that here. I can sort the equipment and support abilities, no problem, but I'll probably resort to the tent trick to silence and blind it. When it hits me with its physical its doing 700+ damage. 500+ with magic.

First of all, Marcus is way more useful in this part then Beatrix is in hers.

Second, I'd level Steiner to at LEAST 15. 17 is usually where I stop.

Third, good luck with the bird. I can't remember if I've ever killed it in Unleashed, so I don't have any advice.

It's definitely some luck with Blind (having all of its attacks miss) and Poison helping with damage. Of course, Silence must also be there.

This is pretty much how it works with all of them. Or well, I still haven't beaten Behemoth 'cause it's... very strong for my level.

The bird requires an awful luck, with it missing, or hitting you, setting your Trance, Counter, MP Attack, Auto Potion, recover with Blood Sword.

That was my strat. Any Aero or Aera would be GG for me.