Final Fantasy XV

That beat-em up pre-order bonus which was exclusive to GameStop is going to be freely available soon. Europe gets it on 3/1, NA doesn't have a date yet but it sounds like 2/28 would be the logical release date.

Also, Power Pack DLC goes out tomorrow sans the Magitek Exosuit because Saban Entertainment called them out on potential copyright infringement. If it's like the Holiday DLC pack it's still worth getting the free version for whatever perks they decide to toss us.

Grenn wrote:

Timed quest is done. The ridiculous glory of fifteen Cactuars in one area quickly gave way to the frustration of being hit by multiple Thousand Needle attacks at once.

So do they all aggro you at once or can you do any sort of crowd control to limit the number of 'tuars you're fighting? I'm curious if I can do this at level 55 before I cross into Chapter 7...

shoptroll wrote:

So do they all aggro you at once or can you do any sort of crowd control to limit the number of 'tuars you're fighting? I'm curious if I can do this at level 55 before I cross into Chapter 7...

No, aggro is pretty spread out among the band. Also, they do spawn in large area. You will end up with at least three at once but I've fought as many as nine. Gravisphere and Impulse techniques are very helpful. I think it can be done at 55 if you are careful and use a lot of healing items/technique.

Grenn wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

So do they all aggro you at once or can you do any sort of crowd control to limit the number of 'tuars you're fighting? I'm curious if I can do this at level 55 before I cross into Chapter 7...

No, aggro is pretty spread out among the band. Also, they do spawn in large area. You will end up with at least three at once but I've fought as many as nine. Gravisphere and Impulse techniques are very helpful. I think it can be done at 55 if you are careful and use a lot of healing items/technique.

Went in with everyone wearing Star and Rainbow Pendants since I don't have Ribbons yet. Had to burn about 20 potions mostly keeping Noct alive (which is what... 1k gil?). Key for me was to just keep warp-striking from one end of the area to the other to maximize the damage. The little buggers are so short you can't consistently hit them with normal dagger attacks Prompto turned out to the MVP of the encounter due to Piercer one-shotting many of them!

10k experience and a trip to the Leville was enough to net me about 5-7 levels and we're now a level 62 party with over 200k gil to burn going into the meat of Chapter 6. It feels like cheating but I'll take it

Also, take a look at your Mega Potions. After the first time fighting them, I had 90. Each subsequent fight I could just use Mega Potions the whole time and they would replenish when I killed some of the little buggers. Also, 10k sounds a little on the light side. You get 10k for the quest, but beating 100 Cactuars should get you around 100k from the battle alone.

Ah. That would explain why it felt like I earned more levels than I expected

If you do it again do you still get the same rewards?

You only get the gil, quest XP, and AP the once. But you still get around 100K XP for killing 100 Cactuars, as well as all the stuff they drop.

I'm going to give this timed quest a try. The amount of experience given from encounters is so small that I have been stuck in the mid 50s for levels for awhile now since I have completed most of the side quests and hunts that are available to me. A mob of level 40something Imperial troops only gave me 500 XP which was really frustrating.

walterqchocobo wrote:

I'm going to give this timed quest a try. The amount of experience given from encounters is so small that I have been stuck in the mid 50s for levels for awhile now since I have completed most of the side quests and hunts that are available to me. A mob of level 40something Imperial troops only gave me 500 XP which was really frustrating.

Which chapter are you on? I was able to push to level 55 in Chapter 6 by doing hunts and sidequests while staying in the 300 Gil hotels as often as possible.

I'm in Chapter 8. I have been level 55 since about Chapter 6. There are only a few more hunts and sidequests left open for me before advancing the story (I just got the trophy for completing 80 quests). I have probably camped more than I should have but only when my experience numbers were pretty low. I'll keep plugging along but it does seem strange that I get more experience from catching a fish to feed the cat than from several mobs of monsters.

Finished the timed mission, took the 10k exp and went to Galden Quay (sp) for 2x. Gained 8 levels from that.
And if I never have to kill another Cactuar, I'll be just as happy.

The timed mission took longer than I expected. I was level 55 going into it--how hard can a level 15 Cactuar be, right? It was nice to gain 10 levels from that quest though. 100k experience for the 100 cactuars was nice. Maybe now I can finally finish that Courel hunt!

You can get accesssories in Lestallum that reduce lightning damage which should make the coeurl hunt easier

I looked it up and it takes a little over three million XP to get from level 1 to 100. 100 to 101 takes 1.4 million XP. Looks like I'll be squirreling XP for a while.

Going to try to do it all at once? Just think, if you can save up 1.5 million xp, then stay at Galden Quay, you'll immediately go from 1 to 100.

Got back into the game recently and took on Costlemark Tower last night as part of Dino's quests (and to get the royal weapon in there). The dungeon itself wasn't so bad, but those Galvandes are literally murder. Hoping they're local to the dungeon and I'll never deal with them again.
After the tower and some additional quests, I had enough exp to warrant a 2x hotel stay, and now I'm level 61... and I still haven't boarded the boat near Iris.

The Nixperience Band helps as it prevents XP from being used when you sleep, so I can still camp out while collecting it, but I was more implying that grinding isn't going to be my goal. I'll just play and keep going for the Menaces and high level hunts. I encountered my first enemy that wasn't killed by Ramuh on a hunt. That was fun.

Oh, I misread that band. I thought it was used to stop you gaining EXP, not spending it. That's good to know!

Taharka wrote:

Oh, I misread that band. I thought it was used to stop you gaining EXP, not spending it. That's good to know!

You're not the only one. This changes everything

shoptroll wrote:
Taharka wrote:

Oh, I misread that band. I thought it was used to stop you gaining EXP, not spending it. That's good to know!

You're not the only one. This changes everything :shock:

I haven't checked to see if it works in the field, I just put it on before camping so I could get a buff while waiting to go to Altissia for the 3x hotel.

How is it that we're 3 months past launch and no one has mentioned the gloriousness that is Gladioulus's advertis... I mean quest for Cup Noodle?

Which did you go with? I went for the meat, that was fun. And funny.

I'm pretty sure we did.

It's all about that Behemoth meat.

Shrimp obviously. Noctis likes his seafood I thought.

ccesarano wrote:

I'm pretty sure we did.

It's all about that Behemoth meat.

I like the cut of your gib, sir.

shoptroll wrote:

How is it that we're 3 months past launch and no one has mentioned the gloriousness that is Gladioulus's advertis... I mean quest for Cup Noodle?

I just finished that quest and it was great. He also talked about "having a date with Cup Noodle" during the Costlemark dungeon.

Taharka wrote:

Which did you go with? I went for the meat, that was fun. And funny.

I went with egg, probably projecting my real-life vegetarianism onto the game. I didn't realize you'd get a different quest based on your choice!

I honestly wish there was a fourth option to add them all, which is basically how I go about making things.

Pitioss dungeon down. Hardest so far, despite the lack of enemies. Someone needs to find game developers and explain to them that if they're going to put a Prince of Persia dungeon in the game, they need to tighten up the controls. If Noctis is facing one way, then tapping the stick in the other direction should make him face that way, not walk two steps that way inevitably off a platform.

I'm not in Chapter 3 anymore!

Spoiler:

Last week, I finally finished up most of the sidequests that didn't require you to go to Vesperpool, so I ended up in Lestallum and ... promptly received another dozen quests to do around the continent. Do the pictures, the grocery shopping, and the hunts. Finally I'm ready to get back to the main storyline!

Chapter 3 end time - about 65 hours.

Chapters 4 - 6, about 2 hours, even with a detour to show Iris the Bandersnatch (I'd already plundered the Tomb).

Square, we need to have a serious talk about pacing.

Chapter 7 just started, and I found myself in the Vesperpool area, catching up on the missions I couldn't reach before. It's nice to have a new area to explore again, even if I'm still waaaay over-leveled for the mobs in the area. I still suck at fishing, but I suck less thanks to a new rod and reel. Caught myself a Platinum Myrltrout and so I think I'm done with this stupid minigame for a while. It also feels like it's getting darker, earlier - the headlights go on at 17 instead of 18 or 19 like it did before, giving me only about fifteen minutes to explore before I have to go back to camp. Hmm. (no spoilers if this is a real thing, or just my body reacting to Daylight Saving time, plz)

I'm debating if I should take a break here and go play some BOTW. I hear there's possibly a patch coming to open up or fix some of the later-game areas and quests, and if the erratic chapter pacing continues I fear I might actually just reach the end before I realize it.

Until I got to the Vesperpool, I've been spending more time staring at loading screens while fast-travelling than actually playing the game. Going back and finishing all the high-level Hunts just feels like more of the same.

Square, we need to have a serious talk about pacing.

This is definitely something I would chalk up to the development hell of this game. I haven't done a lot of research but I wouldn't be surprised if Chapter 3 was something Tabata's team wedged into a 20 hour game to pad the overall length. Not that I'm complaining, but the game definitely has a very disjointed feel at times.

Also, keep in mind that the amount of time Chapter 3 takes is entirely subjective and dependent on how far you're willing to go with the side quests at that time.