Archives July 2022

Did you know that certain weather conditions can actually affect battles? In this article, we go over how the random elements of weather can play a role in battles and how you should take advantage of it if you come across it.

What Are Weather Effects and the Ivalician Calendar

Weather effects can occur randomly on outdoor maps only and have a few positive and negative effects depending on the weather. Weather cannot stop or change once it has been started. Here are a few tidbits regarding weather depending on the mode you are playing Final Fantasy Tactics in:

● In story missions and multiplayer Rendezvous mode, each battle has its weather determined and is not randomized.
● In random battles, the weather is considered random and follows the Ivalician calendar. In multiplayer Melee mode, weather on outdoor maps is considered random and does not seem to follow the Ivalician calendar.
● Indoor maps and the Midnight Deep dungeon cannot have weather. There are also no accuracy penalties against Bow and Crossbow attacks in these locations.

Ivalician Calendar

Chance for Weather (Day or Night)

Clear Weather (Indoor and Outdoor)

Weather can sometimes not occur on an outdoor map and it cannot happen at all on indoor maps. All indoor maps are treated as “clear” as well as the Midnight Deep dungeon areas.
● During night-time with clear weather, the evasion rate against Bows and Crossbow attacks is multiplied by 1.80. Note: Midnight Deep does not increase the evasion rate against Bows and Crossbows even though the area appears dark.

Rainstorms and Thunderstorms

Rainstorms and thunderstorms are both similar in nature; the game depicts them as heavy rainfall and thunderstorms add flashes occasionally to the background to indicate it as such. The following positive and negative effects occur during rainstorms and thunderstorms:
● Evasion rate against Bows and Crossbows attacks are multiplied by 1.33 (or 1.80 if at night).
● Fire-element damage is reduced by 25%.
● Lightning-element damage is increased by 25%.
● Movement through swamp tiles costs 2 Move per tile in rainstorms and 3 Move per tile in thunderstorms. These movement penalties can be ignored via Mystic’s Ignore Weather movement ability.
● Don’t be confused by light rain, it is depicted as slower-moving rainfall animations and is considered “clear” weather, causing no positive or negative effects.

Snowstorms and Light Snow

Battles that take place on snowy terrain have a chance to cause light snow or snowstorms. When either of these weather conditions occurs the following takes place:
● Snowstorms are depicted by horizontal and vertical snowfall animations and increase the damage of all ice-element attacks by 25%.
● Light snow is depicted by only vertical snowfall animations and is treated as “clear” weather.

Are you looking to get into your first Competitive Starter game? A seasoned Tactics PvP player looking for some tips for your next Starter matchup? This article gives some essential tips to help lead you to your upcoming victory in this fast-paced format.

💊 Buff-Up Early

With the Competitive Starter format being considered an endgame-based PvP mode with access to endgame gear, it is even more important to get your defenses and other beneficial effects early onto your team so they can perform and sustain damage as best as they can. Some of the best ways to go about this are to either:

● Use Iaido’s Kiyomori to provide Protect and Shell (33% damage mitigation from physical and magick attacks).
● Use Iaido’s Masamune to provide Haste and Regen (faster turns and passive healing over time).
● Equip gear that has Protect, Shell, or Haste innately, such as Lordly Robe or Brigand’s Glove.

📑Team Composition and Adjusting to the Map

The overall goal of your 5-unit team and how they synergize is very important, but also don’t forget that the map plays a role in certain picks as well. Small maps, such as Lionel Castle Oratory, are very close-quartered and the opponent is usually in range to strike first turn if they plan to, so bringing slower characters or builds that require set-up time is not ideal. As a suggestion, usually have 1 or 2 extra units set up to swap in quickly into your team concept.

⚔️Know the Meta Abilities

In the current (and likely foreseeable future) metagame, there are 3 commonly used skillsets: Darkness, Iaido, and Throw. Each of these abilities can easily hit hard so knowing how to prepare against them is one part of the battle ahead and we will briefly go over each one and a few counters:

● Darkness – Skillset is entirely physical damage so Protect or Defense Boost support ability are the best defensive options.
● Iaido – This magick-based skillset’s damage can be mitigated using Shell or Arcane Defense support ability.
● Throw – This physical damage ability scales up with the user’s Speed as well as the damage of the thrown weapon. Lowering the target’s Speed is one way such as Rend Speed, but damage can also can be mitigated through Protect, Defense Boost, and the summon Golem. Also to note that Throw is evadable whereas Darkness and Iaido are not, so Shirahadori reaction ability and good evasion stats play a role as well.

⚠️Glass-Cannon is Not Always Best

Sure, in Competitive Starter you can opt for your builds for full damage or stat-stacking well into 30+ Physical or Magick Attack to do some insane damage, but you run the risk of being frail and if your opponent is defensively built or can slow the pace of the game down through status effects, you may quickly become crippled in offensive power and lose your damage-specced units as a result. Here are some tips to consider:

● The map will play a role in how risky you can spec for a glass-cannon-like build.
● Outside of team-comp predictions, it is typically ideal to have at least 2 units be fairly bulky; meaning they have a marginally high amount of HP, elemental or status resistances, and passive recovery methods, such as Manafont + Mana Shield, Soulbind, or even Lifefont to keep them sustaining damage.
● If you are running full damage specs, consider using Ovelia for her Aegis (for reraise specifically), slotting Dragonheart reaction, or using White Magicks to apply Reraise instead.

Hopefully, these tips get you on the road to success in your next Starter match. If looking for more ways to get prepared for the format, also check out the Starter: Abilities for Any Team guide for additional resources.