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A Beginner's Guide to FFT Arena

Started by Eternal248, March 24, 2012, 09:58:58 am

Eternal

March 24, 2012, 09:58:58 am Last Edit: March 24, 2012, 10:14:25 am by Eternal248
FFT Arena is a special patch created by several members of the FFH community. The purpose of FFT Arena is to balance gameplay specifically for AI battles, in which players create teams to battle each other under the AI's control. There are some changes to it from Vanilla FFT, and this guide will hopefully make things a bit less confusing if you're just starting out.

1) What are the basic rules?

Each team can have up to four units. There are certain requirements that each unit must abide by.

-Each unit must be human (male or female- it's your choice except for Bard/Dancer which are gender specific).
-Each unit must have a Zodiac Sign. You can use any of the twelve existing signs and Serpentarius.
-Each unit must have between 40 - 70 Brave (Fury) and Faith.
-Each instance of an item can only be used up to twice. This means that no more than two units can equip Cherche, Wizard Rod, etc.
-Each unit has 3000 JP to spend on jobs and abilities.
-Each job costs 250 JP to unlock. The 250 JP you spend to unlock a job CANNOT be used to buy skills. The spreadsheet mentioned below will calculate this automatically.
-Each instance of an ability can only be used up to twice. This means that you cannot have three units who know Fire, Defense Up, etc. Innate abilities do NOT count towards this cap.
-Each team has an infinite amount of Items and Katana in regards to Item/Draw Out.
-Both genders can use Perfumes.
-Only Monks can use Ribbons. The Monk can be either male or female. You must be a Monk to use Ribbons- no longer can all females use them.

2) This looks really complicated. Is there an easy way to build teams?

Yes! Gaignun has graciously created Excel spreadsheet, found here. Using this spreadsheet, you can easily build a team. The spreadsheet will tell you if there's an error. This way, you can easily build a team simply by inserting data inside the template!

A note: for the spreadsheet to properly work, you'll need to enable Macros when you load it.

3) What are some of the mechanics changes from Vanilla FFT?

-Brave is now Fury. Fury acts similarly to Faith in that the higher your Fury, the more damage you'll deal with PHYSICAL attacks, but you'll also take more damage from physical attacks. Therefore, if you want a tanky unit, you'll want 40 Fury/Faith. If you want an offensive unit, you'll want 70 Fury/Faith.

-The chance of Reactions going off is now (Fury + Faith) / 2. This means if you want a maximum rate of your reactions going off, you'll want 70 Fury and 70 Faith.

Example: Unit A has 50 Fury and 70 Faith. This means his Reaction will go off 60% of the time. 50 + 70 = 120. 120 / 2 = 60.

-Some status effects are also slightly tweaked.

Transparent units can now be targetted, but when a unit is invisible, their hit rate will be increased.
Oil'd units will now properly take higher damage from the next Fire attack they're hit with.

4) Are there new jobs and abilities?

Yes, several jobs have new skills. Some skillsets have totally been rehauled, such as Ninja. The best way to get acquainted to these new skillsets is to read the Master Guide. If you have any questions about a job, skill, or item, feel free to ask! Some jobs are totally new. For example, the Calculator is gone and has been replaced by the Scholar job. Knights are now Paladins. The Master Guide has complete info regarding these jobs.

5) Are there new items?

Yes, there are several new items and items have been given new effects to balance the game out. Depending on your desired setup, one item may be a better fit than another. For a complete guide to items, please refer to the Master Guide.

Several weapons also have new formulae, which are listed below. (Don't mind the formulae so much- they can be needlessly confusing. Just pay attention to PA, MA, or Speed to determine what stat to focus on if you want damage.)

-Barehanded attacks deal PA*9 damage. (Raise PA to deal more damage.)
-Knightswords now deal PA*WP damage. (Raise PA to deal more damage.)
-Axes now deal WP * (PA/2...PA+PA/2) damage. (Raise PA to deal more damage.)
-Rods now deal MA*WP damage. (Raise MA to deal more damage.)
-Flails now deal set WP*WP damage. (Damage is based solely on a weapon's power.)
-Instruments now deal MA*WP damage. (Raise MA to deal more damage.)
-Cloths now deal PA*WP damage. (Raise PA to deal more damage.)

6) These new skills, jobs, and items are overwhelming!

They can be at first. Arena is a big patch, and it changes a lot of stuff for the AI battles to be fair and balanced. In addition to asking for help if you get confused, a good idea is to decide on what theme you want your team to have. Decide first what jobs you want to use. Then, look at what those jobs can use and go from there. Chances are you'll find a setup you want based on what they can use! Don't be afraid to post a team idea you may have. If you ask, someone will usually be happy to record a test battle to see how your team performs against another.

Some people enjoy battling their teams. Others, such as myself, prefer the teambuilding aspect of Arena. Therefore, even if you don't think your team will win, it's still worth it to give it a shot.

7) I've built my team! What now?

When you've built your team, you can post it in the Team Submissions thread. Please mind the format, which is below:

Name
Gender
Zodiac
Fury
Faith
Primary Class
Secondary
Reaction
Support
Movement
Right Hand
Left Hand
Head
Body
Accessory

Primary abilities known
Second abilities known

An example is this:
Cirno
Female
Sagittarius
60
70
Wizard
Item
Counter Magic
Magic Attack Up
Float
Wizard Rod

Flash Hat
Black Robe
Sprint Shoes

Ice, Ice 2, Ice 3, Frog
X-Potion, Ether, Remedy


Know the AI. Be the AI. Kill everyone else! And remember: NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT.
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