Arena battle videos and discussion

[Skip Sandwich]

The nerfed ultima destroyed me even faster then the previous one   back to the drawing board I guess

[Barren]

wow that match was quick and brutal

[Skip Sandwich]

yeah, ultima is currently the equivalent of a 70 faith caster using Bahamut on a 55 faith target, Ultima 2 is a little cheaper then bahamut, but bahamut has a slightly faster CT. If it were up to me, I would balance non-faith spells around the output of a 55 faith caster against a 55 faith target, since you are trading the ability for people to defend with low faith for the ability to deal extra damage with high faith (for point of reference, a 25 MA caster, like the ones on pride's team above, would deal 181 damage with bahamut at 55 to 55 faith). The way ultima is currently set up, there is no downside to choosing it over bahamut other then a lack of other useful mage skills in the squire skillset.

[Barren]

So Ultima's damage would be the equivalent of a bahamut pending on faith and compatibility. Very interesting Skip, I can see now why Ultima is far more effective on a caster. its pretty much like a anti-tank strategy especially if you got two casters casting the same spell at the correct time. Overall i think that really looks like it could wreck almost any team; provided that the CT is lined up to the team's advantage

[Pride]

I'm still astounded how strong Ultima is, even after the nerfs. The units are soft but... That doesn't matter two much when they, together, can still 2hko nearly any unit. Perhaps... Even more of a nerf is necessary

[logus]

any team with haste >= ultima teams

[Archael]

holy balance balls

what's the full stats on ultima 2?

[Dome]

WOAH
Brutal

[Pride]

holy balance balls

what's the full stats on ultima 2?

Was originally MA*12 with a bit faster CT and less MP but was nerfed down. Probably could use a bit more of a nerf....

[Archael]

the problem isn't the CT or MP cost or even the radius

it's the formula

why isn't it using faith?

why isn't it evade-able?

straight 100% MA*Y is very strong, most of the things that have that in 1.3 and vanilla are all boss / monster spells

[logus]

faith is a much better way to balance than just nerfing Y. ffm had already given such sugestion for DO, but he instead chose to nerf down Y (which made some DO unusable, imo).

Also, this discussion about ultima should be in stats/ability thread, I guess.

[Kaz]

I kind of like the way ultima is set up, its unique in that it ignore faith.  Plus it's ignorance to faith makes it dangerous to pretty much everyone (including teammates)

[Skip Sandwich]

it's ignorance to faith makes it overpowered, since it makes all other damage spells completely useless by comparison. To be balanced, MA * 9 non-faith would have to be competing with MA * 36 faith with the same AoE and similar CT/MP costs. Of course, BOTH of those options are too powerful for the power bracket that Arena is set in, at least on anything more then a single-target attack.

[The Damned]

Yeah, the Ultima discussion should really be in the ability thread.

As such, I will make this post about something else equally deserving of inquiry: What the hell did you change your avatar to now, Skip Sandwich? Is Kefka making out with himself or Terra (or Celes) painted up as himself?

[Skip Sandwich]

he's making out with peidmon, a clown-themed digimon. I found the pic on a random search of DeviantArt for Kefka fanart, then I scaled it down to avatar size in Paint because it amused me to do so.
:EDIT: a link to the full-size original  http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=send%20 ... 24#/d1o9fb

[logus]

I've been meaning to make a team with thieves for a while, but didn't find the time. Then, when looking at my poison's teams flaws (the archer is/was a weak link), I decided to try it with a thief instead, and made some changes fixing other weaknesses I detected. Here is the updated team, Poisonous Wall... With Spikes:

spoiler

Name: Chou
Gender: Male
Zodiac: Leo
Fury: 70
Faith: 70
Primary Class: Paladin(250)
Primary abilities known: Iron Will(200)
Secondary:Basic Skill
Second abilities known:Wish, Yell(300)
Reaction: Damage Split(850)
Support:Magic Defense Up (650)
Movement:Move-HP Up (750)
~~~
Right Hand:Blood Sword
Left Hand: Genji Shield
Head: Grand Helmet
Body: Genji Armor
Accessory: Chantage

3000


Name: Chen
Gender: Male
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Fury: 70
Faith: 40
Primary Class: Thief(250)
Primary abilities known: Power Ruin, Steal Weapon(700)
Secondary: Basic Skill
Second abilities known: Cheer Up, Heal, Wish, Yell(550)
Reaction: Damage Split(850)
Support:Defense UP (650)
Movement:
~~~
Right Hand:Sasuke Knife
Left Hand:
Head: Thief Hat
Body: Secret Clothes
Accessory: Sprint Shoes


3000

Name: Sylvana
Gender:Female
Zodiac:Gemini
Fury:40
Faith:70
Primary Class:Samurai(250)
Primary abilities known: Kiyomori,Masamune(400)
Secondary: White Magic(250)
Second abilities known: Raise, Shell, Esuna(510)
Reaction:Abandon (650)
Support:Magic Defense Up (400)
Movement:Move-MP Up (520)
~~~
Right Hand:H Bag
Left Hand:
Head: Gold Helmet
Body: Genji Armor
Accessory:Vanish Mantle

2990

Name: Krobelus
Gender:Female
Zodiac:Aquarius
Fury:40
Faith:40
Primary Class:Mediator(250)
Primary abilities known: Threaten,Mimic Daravon(400)
Secondary: Draw Out(250)
Second abilities known: Kiyomori,Masamune(400)
Reaction: Abandon (650)
Support: Equip Shield (200)
Movement: Move-HP Up(750)
~~~
Right Hand:Main Gauche
Left Hand: Aegis Shield
Head: Green Beret
Body: Black Costume
Accessory:Vanish Mantle

2900

ps: I expect to see sasuke knife nerfed to 11-12 WP after you guys make a couple of fights with this =p

edit: editted slightly, there was a mistake. Also, I wonder if I should run power ruin+steal weapon or go for move hp-up with the thief... seems like he is not using the former too much...

[Pride]

I've been lazy. I plan on doing several of battles tomorrow. If you have any request on who you'd like to see your team against specifically, post here so I know.

[Melancthon]

Awesome!  I wouldn't mind going up against one of the new teams, like Kaz or Barren.  Anyone really, this is good stuff.

[Barren]

im ready to take on anyone myself

[Shade]

I posted a test team that I wanted to fight my own old team.