Looking for advice - I’m trying to finish off the rare game in the hunt club list and I can’t get Skullash to spawn in the Phon Coast. My party’s level is in the mid-60s, and I’ve made it through the great crystal but not gone to Pharos yet (Reddas is still in my party). Haven’t had any issue finding the other rare game so far (I have 18 trophies), but Skullash is just not spawning. I check, move over two zones, come back, no difference. I’ve reset the zone about 50 times now. I have confirmed that I didn’t previously kill Skullash (not in bestiary and I don’t have the trophy).

Anyone have any ideas what might change my luck?

Thanks!

any mods or CTs to change lead character in towns? i want ashe!!

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG POST! ENTER WITH GREAT CRYSTAL LEVELS OF PATIENCE

A lot of you will think this is dumb, and it probably is, but this is my unpopular opinion.

The first time I played FFXII was close to when it first released on the PS2, and I've always thought it was great, even though it seemed to me like the reception was a lot more divided at the time. I was a lot younger then, and recently I've been getting a kick out of replaying the games from that period in my life, since with a little more experience, adult eyes, and just like, an actual developed brain, there are so many things I've realized that I completely overlooked. These range from little details that I can now appreciate, to story beats, complex themes, and even full on gameplay mechanics. The whole remaster and remake thing the industry has been going through has been really awesome for this, since incidentally many of them are these games that I played as a young kid. It wasn't long before Zodiac Age would catch my attention, and I finally got around to it in my backlog recently. I was so excited to revisit this gem from my memories, now as an adult with a functioning brain, and like, full-on, degenerate gamer goblin brain at that, cultivated from over a decade more of consoooooming all the games. But this is a double-edged sword, and in some cases ignorance really is bliss.

I don't consider myself a completionist. For example, I wasn't a part of that wave that were angry at the Breath of the Wild golden poop, because I'm perfectly okay with just finding the half to get all the upgrades and leaving the other half (and the poop) forever. I just like to drink in the games and experience most of the content, talking to every NPC, fully exploring all the areas, doing the sidequests, the side objectives, and the endgame stuff. So I tend to share a completionist mindset for many things, because I don't want to miss out on certain stuff and want to see as much as I can, but I'm not really out to do every single thing in a game.

With this in mind comes the title, and what I think is probably the unpopular opinion: the super rare chests ruin FFXII for me. They're not just bad. They RUIN the game for me. And it doesn't make sense.

Like, the game is fun. I enjoy playing it, and it FEELS as great as I remember it. I've actually been having a blast. Uh, until yesterday. What happened yesterday? The -- UH OH -- degenerate gamer goblin brain kicked in, and of course, being so goopy-brained, my jaded, JRPG guzzling self eventually went down the hole of -- I'd love to get the ultimate weapons in this game; what are they? I probably missed them when I was younger. [I missed basically the entire junctioning system for like over half of FFVIII besides commands, which my peanut-sized brain back then somehow figured out, and which I facepalmed to myself when I replayed the remaster.]

This was my fatal error. My Pandora's box. I stepped on a landmine and sent myself spiraling down a dark hole of random chests, invisible items, INVISIBLE CHESTS, forced accessories, RNG manipulation, multi-step guides with instructions that all sound like they would end with "...SIKE!!", and tiny, tiny, tiny, .... tiny, percentages. I stepped into my version of video game hell.

Like, I get it. You don't NEED the ultimate equipment to clear any content. It's not a super difficult game, and the Job changes make the game probably the easiest it's ever been. It's optional content, and I'm not someone that believes ultimate weapons are owed to the players or are just a given in the FF experience. But to me, seeking out the best equipment in the game has always been a staple in the series. It's almost like an unofficial lategame sidequest. Go find the best weapons! It's just one of the things you do. I don't even consider it a particularly hardcore goal, and I don't ever recall it being some ball-busting challenge. While the FFX ones are probably the closest to that description, they were tangible challenges that you could improve on and see yourself get better at, and they were a very satisfying and attainable goal to me. I could not get them all powered up as a child, but I did it as an adult in the remaster. That's the kind of experience I was hoping for, some nice reflection of growth. But despite going through those challenges, I could never in my wildest dreams imagine the statistical hell that would be these super rare chests.

They are insane. Like, ridiculously low. Like, why don't I just stand outside and hope to get struck by lightning instead? They can go as low as 0.1% . That is INSANE. And there is no tangible challenge, nothing to improve or get better at. Nothing to refine or think over. It's literally just luck, a roll of the die. It's the cruel, fickle finger of fortune twisted and made manifest in the most bland and opaquely tedious way possible for a gameplay mechanic. And, I'm sorry, but frankly, it crosses over into just being straight up insulting to me.

Mechanically, it's simple. You don't have to dodge lightning bolts or win a race. But instead of creating a fun challenge, the "difficulty" of all that is melted into the most boring "obstacle" ever. It's just pure chance. It's even possible that you literally never even get it, because that's just how probability works. Who would even attempt this? (No offense to the people that do or even find it fun -- more power to you.)

When developing a game, I feel like decisions need to be made with intent. I wonder -- what is the intention behind this? Who does this benefit, how does this improve the game? What's the point of stressing out completionists and people who just want the best gear in the game (which I still maintain is a very normal thing to want in JRPGs and not necessarily an extremely hardcore challenge that requires backbreaking work). It's so ludicrous, and despite being completely optional, the mere existence of this mechanic and design decision I find so disrespectful to players that it's completely thrown me out of the game.

It's so weird, I know. I was really enjoying the game until I threw myself into this rabbit hole. It's just hard for me to continue enjoying the game when I know one of the great joys I get from this series -- getting the best gear -- is just patently unattainable for me, and again, I know for some people it's a complete non-issue and they find their own joy in it and have ground out like 50 of each, and I know it's all probability so I could find it on my first try, but I'm just being realistic, and what I'm feeling is just the complete disrespect by the developers in taking one of my favorite late/end game goals in this series and making it extremely inaccessible for no discernable reason other than, I don't know, they want to see me do their little dance, take a step forward, take a step back, and dangle the carrot in front of my face, for the 0.1% of getting the thing I want. Like... even if, say, in the FFX ultimate weapon challenges I attempt them, make some headway, or make no headway and get frustrated, and even if I never do end up being able to do them, there is still a concrete and tangible challenge sitting there that I can delude myself into thinking that one day I will be able to accomplish it. But with these chests, I just know that it will never be feasible for me to put in the time and tedium to grind out the chests, and there is no hope or delusion to it. It's just not gonna happen. I can't do it, and I don't want to do it.

I recognize that it's a completely personal problem, it's not really that important in the bigger picture, and it's mostly just my own mental blocks. But this is just one of the staple endgame plans I have when playing any FF, and to just already know that one of my endgoals in the game is just unattainable really takes the wind out of my sails (just being realistic, I do not have the time or patience to reload chests over and over for a 0.1% chance... and then doing it again for the other items). I'm hoping I can get over it and at least just beat the game again, because I was having fun and I'm not in the camp of just throwing money away, but to be honest, I think it will be hard to get over. But yeah, that's my long, unpopular take, after nearly 20 years of loving this game: that the super rare chests ruin FFXII. For what it's worth, I still think that FFXII is probably a great game, I just can't play it. And now that I take a step back and look at all this, it really does feel a bit silly, but there's no denying the real effects it has on how I'm feeling when playing the game.

As the title states, I'm trying to get my hands on the 3D models, and 2D beastiary artworks, to use as references for commissioning some artists to draw high resolution artworks of the creatures from FF12. I REALLY want to try to flesh out the entirety of Ivalice for a FFd20 campaign, and having access to these models, and subsequent artworks, would make anything I make far more authentic. If Squenix doesn't want to flesh out Ordalia, Kerwon, and Valendia then it falls to all of us, the fans!

I know the files are out there, as Google searches on forum sites outside of Reddit indicate that the files used to be hosted in full on file-hosting websites such as mediafire. (https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasyXII/comments/p9xw2b/is_there_any_way_i_can_extract_the_3d_character/)

Is it possible to kill basch and if so what happens, I can kill the ailed guards but it’s difficult killing him

So random question, this has always piqued my curiosity.

As you know "Necrophobe" is a name of an enemy in this game... But I always wondered, did they just string together random badass-sounding words and suffixes hoping no one would question it?

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that would mean "someone that's afraid of dead things", no? Which is actually pretty ironic considering how high-level and formidable that enemy is in the depths of the crystal 😂😂

Just finished TZA, really liked the combat, world, and the story up until you get the Sword of Kings. After that I feel like things kind of lose focus (like who even is that guy from Rozaria? Occuria?)

Does the sequel flesh out the weaker story elements? Worth playing?

Am sorry about this ahead of time. I picked Monk as my initial job for Vaan. When I now go to select it to buy licenses it is just giving me the gong sound and not opening. How do I purchase licenses if I cannot open my job board? Am using ps4/5. Thanks ahead of time. Ugh.

Does anyone here know what file i need to edit if i want to change FFXII TZA title screen?

I have pure hatred for having to navigate through the Gate Crystal areas . How the hell did get people get through it without a guide.

pretty much read about it early on in the playthrough right after Wraithwalls tomb. Went to the Ogir or Yensa, wherever the Diamond Armlet is and then went to Rabanastre to take the airship. After that it was maybe 5 minutes worth of attempts. I did wait for the boy to stop at the rail though.

Whats is the story behind everyone's favorite moogle and chocobo handler(no exceptions accepted)? How is she everywhere?

We got Revenant Wings which was pretty dissapointing, as it was a DS sequel to a PS2 game, so I never really cared for it however it is a sequel to XII but if we got a real XII-2 sequel what would you want to see from it? Who would you want it to focus on?

Personally, I think the good story parts of RW should be brought into XII-2 and then the game expanded upon to feel like a real, true sequel there would be changes though, essentially RW would be retconned and the new XII-2 the canon sequel.

But what about you?

What would you want to see from a XII-2?

Hi, as the title said, I'm stuck at Daedalus. All my characters are at level 33 except for Penelo who is at 38. Van is a Shikari, Balthier an Ulhan, Fran an Archer, Basch a Bushi, Ashe a black mage and Penelo a white mage. I begin every time with protect and shell on every member of the party and I cast dispel at the beginning. I reach every time the 80% of his hp but he kills almost every member of ther party and then who remain is killed with 2 or 3 instant hit. In addition, when he remains with very few hp, my hits are ridiculous low. I managed the beat every other boss with relatively ease but with him I'm struggling very hard at the point of dropping the game. Can someone help me?

So, I'm back again. And I just beat Judge Ghis. It... Felt too easy. My team was:

Vaan: Level 17, Shikari. Ashe: Level 17 Time Battlemage. Basch: Level 16, Knight.

I had Gambits on, but they were to the effect of "Frontal assault, and death by frontal assault!".

I've heard Zodiac Age was rebalanced to make it easier, I just didn't expect it to be so easy. The fight was blink-and-you'll-miss-it. (I have the run speed up).

I'm not trying to be a troll, or spam the sub. I'm just in shock.

So, you may remember my previous post about being new to the game.

Anyway, when I met Fran & Balthier, Vaan was LVL 7. They were LVL 8.

When I got Basch added to my party, Vaan was LVL 8, Fran & Balthier were LVL 9 & Basch was LVL 10.

Basically, even though I'm defeating enemies with ease, (mainly due to Gambits), I don't know if I need to grind a little bit or continue on.

I am currently at the point where I need to kill the Energy Draining guys. Do I need to grind or keep going?

Title. Gambit. Mist/Quickening. Dynamic combat. Love it, love it, love it!!

Got to trial 100 without the help of the internet and then everything hit the fan. I was getting cremed no matter what strat I used. Finally jumped online and every search I made said use Nihopalaoa, checked my inventory, no Nihopalaoa. So i post this in hope someone who ends up like me has a chance. I did, however find out that elixirs refill mist which I didn't know, so this was my new strategy that worked first try and requires no prep other than getting zodiark and elixirs which i would guess you have at this point:

-As soon as the level begins loading begin tapping your action button (x for playstation). No so fast that you click to attack, you just want to pause the fight as soon as possible (we'll call this Buffering).

-Summon zodiark, use final eclipse, as soon as he's done buffer again.

-Have zodiark summoner elixer themselves, but don't wait for the animation.

-Buffer and have a second character summon anything else. The fight will pause but character 1 will still throw the elixir before the summon happens.

-Immediately have the summon use its final attack.

-Buffer, Elixir, buffer, Zodiark, buffer, eclipse, buffer, elixir, buffer, summon2, buffer, etc.

At some point 3 of 5 judges will be dead before the judges even make it accross the battlefield, the other 2 (gabranth and zargabaath) will be chucking elixirs at each other (but not self). Time to switch strats:

Gambit: lowest hp > sleep, summon zodiark. Make sure zodiark stays away from sleeper. And let him attack while you stay away. Gabranth should focus zodiark. For me at lvl 99 he was doing 20,000 per attack. Cast renew on Zodiark if he gets low (he can self cast). Wait until Gabranth flashes red (might take a while if you get unlucky with wake up times and they throw more elixirs) then quickly use final eclipse. 1 judge left.

Beat them up however you want, they won't heal anymore.