Summary: The Orbonne Monastery. A host of old friends from Tactics. Ultima, the High Seraph
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The Orbonne Monastery
This is the last of Stormblood’s 24-player raids. I say again, thanks to Mizzteq for her raid guide work.
-The lead-in looks so much like the first battle screen in Tactics.
Boss #1: Mustadio
-A cybernetically enhanced sniper.
-Feels weird to have some favorite Tactics abilities like Arm Shot turned on me here.
-Mustadio’s scariest attack is where he jumps to the side and aims his sniper rifle on us.
He puts a circle with a small gap around us all. We have to turn so that the gap faces him. He shoots, and if the gap faces him we barely survive.
-After the fight, he turned from that giant robotic form into a golden, glowing, regular-sized human. A spirit of the true Mustadio. He, and the rest of my Tactics allies-turned-bosses, are possessed by Lucavi until I defeat them.
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Boss #2: Agrias
-She looks like a glorious, winged warrior. LOVE AGRIAS SO MUCH
-Her core mechanic centers around glowy circles that can either give you the Shieldbearer or Swordbearer action buttons. Shieldbearer at times protects you from Agrias’ otherwise fatal abilities. Swordbearer lets you break through the defenses of otherwise invulnerable adds.
-Her abilities include Hallowed Bolt, Holy Blade, Divine Ruination… the full Tactics set.
-As with Mustadio, defeating her in this form frees her true spirit.
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-The next area is the Necrohol. Not of Nabudis, but of Mullonde. The heart of ancient Ivalice.
-The color palette here is amazing. Washed out, almost sepia-toned.
-Then the next boss, the Thunder God himself.
Boss #3: Count Cidolfus Orlandeau
-Cid’s main mechanic centers on watching his swords during the TG Holy Sword ability. If he points them at a platform, get away from it. If he holds his sword vertically, move close. If he holds his sword horizontally, move away.
-He incorporates some dark knight abilities, such as Shadowblade and Duskblade. As well as some more general abilities like Crush Armor, Crush Weapon, and Crush Accessory.
(This last group is the same in name only. Thank GOD. I’d be pissed if getting hit by Crush Weapon destroyed your weapon.)
-In one of the coolest moments of the fight, Cid uses an ultimate attack that summons a circle of zodiac symbols.
---
The Orbonne Monastery
This is the last of Stormblood’s 24-player raids. I say again, thanks to Mizzteq for her raid guide work.
-The lead-in looks so much like the first battle screen in Tactics.
Boss #1: Mustadio
-A cybernetically enhanced sniper.
-Feels weird to have some favorite Tactics abilities like Arm Shot turned on me here.
-Mustadio’s scariest attack is where he jumps to the side and aims his sniper rifle on us.
He puts a circle with a small gap around us all. We have to turn so that the gap faces him. He shoots, and if the gap faces him we barely survive.
-After the fight, he turned from that giant robotic form into a golden, glowing, regular-sized human. A spirit of the true Mustadio. He, and the rest of my Tactics allies-turned-bosses, are possessed by Lucavi until I defeat them.
---
Boss #2: Agrias
-She looks like a glorious, winged warrior. LOVE AGRIAS SO MUCH
-Her core mechanic centers around glowy circles that can either give you the Shieldbearer or Swordbearer action buttons. Shieldbearer at times protects you from Agrias’ otherwise fatal abilities. Swordbearer lets you break through the defenses of otherwise invulnerable adds.
-Her abilities include Hallowed Bolt, Holy Blade, Divine Ruination… the full Tactics set.
-As with Mustadio, defeating her in this form frees her true spirit.
---
-The next area is the Necrohol. Not of Nabudis, but of Mullonde. The heart of ancient Ivalice.
-The color palette here is amazing. Washed out, almost sepia-toned.
-Then the next boss, the Thunder God himself.
Boss #3: Count Cidolfus Orlandeau
-Cid’s main mechanic centers on watching his swords during the TG Holy Sword ability. If he points them at a platform, get away from it. If he holds his sword vertically, move close. If he holds his sword horizontally, move away.
-He incorporates some dark knight abilities, such as Shadowblade and Duskblade. As well as some more general abilities like Crush Armor, Crush Weapon, and Crush Accessory.
(This last group is the same in name only. Thank GOD. I’d be pissed if getting hit by Crush Weapon destroyed your weapon.)
-In one of the coolest moments of the fight, Cid uses an ultimate attack that summons a circle of zodiac symbols.
---
-We descend finally into the Crystalline Gaol, Ultima’s prison.
-The room’s set-up is interesting. Ultima is sticking out of a giant crystal prison. We first see her cracking an auracite into pieces. The floor is littered with shattered crystals.
[Non-rhetorical question: I’m sure the game has said so, but it still confused me. Is the auracite all made from her prison, distributed into the world?]
Boss #4: Ultima, the High Seraph
-Ultima’s core mechanic centers on summoning the spirits of various Lucavi and zodiac bosses we’ve fought, who each bring back some of their mechanics. Hashmal, Belias, Famfrit.
-After the first phase, she prepares some major fatal attack against us, when some spirit allies step in and save us.
Mustadio. Agrias. Count Cidolfus Orlandeau. THE TACTICS GANG
-We crash through the floor for the second half of the fight.
Out of her prison.
-Nothing too special here beyond more zodiac summoning and a fun mini game where we have to navigate a maze to close distance on the boss.
VICTORY!! Her dying words: “I am your mother, I am your maker! I. Am. Ivalice! Consign me unto darkness and your light will be forever lost!”
-We wind up in some sort of auracite graveyard. I wonder if her final words mean that the power of Ivalice’s auracite gems will fade. Probably.
-With Ultima’s demise, Ramza awakens.
-And then the spirit of OG Ramza Beoulve steps out to thank us for finishing what he started. Our Warrior of Light ancestor.
-AND THE SPIRITS OF TG CID, AGRIAS, AND MUSTADIO!
AND THEN EVERRYONEFHDJKLSFHDKLF, INCLUDING CONSTRUCT 8!
I don’t remember FFT well enough to name every single person here, but I’ll bet most of the FFT roster is represented in this brief wide-screen, including some main
-They all step into the light, to return to mother Hydaelyn… when Delita appears too.
RAMZA: “Delita. How I have missed you, old friend.”
-They clasp hands and fade away. (…I still ship it.)
-We descend finally into the Crystalline Gaol, Ultima’s prison.
-The room’s set-up is interesting. Ultima is sticking out of a giant crystal prison. We first see her cracking an auracite into pieces. The floor is littered with shattered crystals.
[Non-rhetorical question: I’m sure the game has said so, but it still confused me. Is the auracite all made from her prison, distributed into the world?]
Boss #4: Ultima, the High Seraph
-Ultima’s core mechanic centers on summoning the spirits of various Lucavi and zodiac bosses we’ve fought, who each bring back some of their mechanics. Hashmal, Belias, Famfrit.
-After the first phase, she prepares some major fatal attack against us, when some spirit allies step in and save us.
Mustadio. Agrias. Count Cidolfus Orlandeau. THE TACTICS GANG
-We crash through the floor for the second half of the fight.
Out of her prison.
-Nothing too special here beyond more zodiac summoning and a fun mini game where we have to navigate a maze to close distance on the boss.
VICTORY!! Her dying words: “I am your mother, I am your maker! I. Am. Ivalice! Consign me unto darkness and your light will be forever lost!”
-We wind up in some sort of auracite graveyard. I wonder if her final words mean that the power of Ivalice’s auracite gems will fade. Probably.
-With Ultima’s demise, Ramza awakens.
-And then the spirit of OG Ramza Beoulve steps out to thank us for finishing what he started. Our Warrior of Light ancestor.
-AND THE SPIRITS OF TG CID, AGRIAS, AND MUSTADIO!
AND THEN EVERRYONEFHDJKLSFHDKLF, INCLUDING CONSTRUCT 8!
I don’t remember FFT well enough to name every single person here, but I’ll bet most of the FFT roster is represented in this brief wide-screen, including some main
-They all step into the light, to return to mother Hydaelyn… when Delita appears too.
RAMZA: “Delita. How I have missed you, old friend.”
-They clasp hands and fade away. (…I still ship it.)
---
Zodiac Brave Story: The Next Act
Back to the Prima Vista for a happy reunion. Ramza, Alma, and Jenovis all proved that Ivalice existed. That Orran Durai was a hero, not a heretic.
RAMZA BAS LEXENTALE: “Now all that remains is to tell the world!” lolol I literally forgot that the goal for this was just to update the Zodiac Brave Story, the play.
-Jenomis will add a new act to the Zodiac Brave Story, telling how Ramza and Orran Durai smote Ultima and saved Ivalice. Along with some “nameless” heroes.
-Later that night, dress rehearsal time starring Ramza and Alma.
-Their roles’ words reflect their own modern freedom.
---
Meanwhile, in the Clockwork City of Goug…
-… not the end? There’s more. This is unexpected.
-Imperial ships flock around fallen constructs in Goug.
“NOAH VAN GABRANTH” IS HERE! He’s leading a team of scientists.
Gabranth.
-They’re researching this Tartarus weapon. Quite a “to be continued.”
-The term is familiar to me. Back in the Ridorana Lighthouse, Construct 8 had a Tartarus attack where he warped everyone into some new area for a phase.
[Non-rhetorical question: does “Tartarus” have any meaning or relevance in the FFT/XII games?]
-This whole thing really shocks me. I thought this would be the end of the Ivalice story. Either there’ll be a small coda in the final expansion mini-patch or we’re gonna continue this storyline in Shadowbringers.
Maybe that shouldn’t surprise me. Shadowbringers is introducing viera as a playable race, so maybe Gabranth will be an ongoing antagonist. Or even frenemy, given what I know of him in XII.
-And now that I think about it, we never found out who Fran’s superior was, that princess. I have to imagine it’s Ashelia, but tbd. Another lingering storyline.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-Found a player named Ded Pan.
Check out this sword!
A player who’s basically a Power Ranger:
---
Next time: leaning towards the 50-70 samurai questlines.
Zodiac Brave Story: The Next Act
Back to the Prima Vista for a happy reunion. Ramza, Alma, and Jenovis all proved that Ivalice existed. That Orran Durai was a hero, not a heretic.
RAMZA BAS LEXENTALE: “Now all that remains is to tell the world!” lolol I literally forgot that the goal for this was just to update the Zodiac Brave Story, the play.
-Jenomis will add a new act to the Zodiac Brave Story, telling how Ramza and Orran Durai smote Ultima and saved Ivalice. Along with some “nameless” heroes.
-Later that night, dress rehearsal time starring Ramza and Alma.
-Their roles’ words reflect their own modern freedom.
---
Meanwhile, in the Clockwork City of Goug…
-… not the end? There’s more. This is unexpected.
-Imperial ships flock around fallen constructs in Goug.
“NOAH VAN GABRANTH” IS HERE! He’s leading a team of scientists.
Gabranth.
-They’re researching this Tartarus weapon. Quite a “to be continued.”
-The term is familiar to me. Back in the Ridorana Lighthouse, Construct 8 had a Tartarus attack where he warped everyone into some new area for a phase.
[Non-rhetorical question: does “Tartarus” have any meaning or relevance in the FFT/XII games?]
-This whole thing really shocks me. I thought this would be the end of the Ivalice story. Either there’ll be a small coda in the final expansion mini-patch or we’re gonna continue this storyline in Shadowbringers.
Maybe that shouldn’t surprise me. Shadowbringers is introducing viera as a playable race, so maybe Gabranth will be an ongoing antagonist. Or even frenemy, given what I know of him in XII.
-And now that I think about it, we never found out who Fran’s superior was, that princess. I have to imagine it’s Ashelia, but tbd. Another lingering storyline.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-Found a player named Ded Pan.
Check out this sword!
A player who’s basically a Power Ranger:
---
Next time: leaning towards the 50-70 samurai questlines.
