Or there's just too many missions. I'm probably almost 20 hours into this game and I only just beat Neo Bahamut about 40 minutes ago.
Ugh. I enjoy the battle system, and I enjoy the story, but those missions are sooooo boring. Especially in the plain area, when I can find a way to move around the encounter zones
It' s a mission fest alright. Judging from what you' ve said you havn' t reached the best part yet : surprise bosses who can only be harmed by a couple yellow materias here and there, and regular enemies casting three different types of insta-kill moves. They start appearing long before you can protect yourself against all three, and they' re random so you can' t know from experience which protection will be needed. Your best bet will be to keep learning the combat-free paths by trial and error, and become a master at fleeing. Yay ?
Well, I already dealt with some devil-looking guys that cast death, quake, and wall, so that's one instant-death move down. And what do you mean "only harmed by a couple yellow materias" I don't even like using those since they use so much AP. What have I gotten myself into? I was better of just knowing the story from watching walkthroughs instead of trying it myself
Those bosses are impervious to both magical and physical damage. It' s the mammoth thingies, you' ve probably met cheaper versions already. You have to use one of the very few materias that are neither to even begin to scratch them, and those are all yellow. Darkness for instance, which converts some of your HP into special type damage. That' s the one I chose to overpower through fusion. You should take a look at a materia fusion guide if you haven' t already, having significant bonuses attached to your materias helps a lot towards the end. Problem is the fusion rules are insanely convoluted and opaque, it' s pretty easy to screw yourself out without detailed explanations and careful planning.
yeah, i use the guide to make sure I get the materias I want. I know I probably want a Curaga and Wall at the end, and a Hell Firaga, but i'm trying to figure out what to fill the other two slots with. Maybe a Status ward for one slot, but that still leaves 2 other slots to fill. A lot of people talk about using Quake and/or Ultima, but I'm not too sure about those guys. I still have a way to go, so I'll figure it out eventually. And from what I've seen, it's simple to get the max stats on materia once you fight minerva, since you can do that "easy gil" trick. Though I've heard that fight is basically right before Genesis, so it seems more useful for New Game+. If I do manage to do a new game+, i'll be skipping all the missions, that's for sure
You can forget Wall, some of the end game accessories already have auto wall and auto shell covered. Oh and status immunity too. Basically, once you' ve beaten every mission, the accessories you got as a reward alone will make you invincible. Doesn' t make missions any less redundant in NG+, but at least they' re not a pain in the ass anymore. I picked Darkness, Mug, Curaga and Ultima. Didn' t care much what the last two would be as long as they had kick ass bonuses.
I try not to use Darkness because even though I know it's always useful in most games, I don't like using HP for damage, especially when later bosses can take half of your Hp in one hit, at least I know minerva can. I've seen some people say Energy is good to have, but I don't know if it's as slow as Ultima. Everyone always says Costly Punch is a must have, but I've seen how slow that is too, and even if it can hit max damage, I'd rather not leave myself open like that. Maybe I'll just use a DMW materia or something.
I only kept Darkness for the bosses I mentioned. Don' t remember which were the alternative choices but they all had a downside (random or low damage, HP consumption etc ...) I just picked the lesser evil imo. I did keep another magic at hand at first (might be energy, idk), but once I gained the accessories I mentioned earlier both speed and MP cost became irrelevant so I just kept Ultima.
It's hard to decide which Genji gear to keep on too, since it seems like the only way to hit max stats is have the Ziedrich equipped as well, unless it's possible to get 255 stats without it. Unless you can be overpowered even without that extra 100 points in Attack, Magic, Spirit, and Vitality
I loaded my latest save to check. I had the Genji Armor and Shield equipped, a Ziedrich, and a Divine Assassin (translated from the French version so I' m not sure I got the name right, it boosts my stats, breaks damage, HP, MP and AP caps, and comes with auto scan).
That's a set that basically belongs on New Game+. Divine Slayer comes from beating minerva, which is at the end of the game. It sucks how all the good stuff to make you overpowered is at the end, yet it makes the final boss cheap, and new game plus even cheaper. And yes, I've seen the final boss of Crisis Core and know it can still take a little while even with all max stats, but it's still annoying
