http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=215

Hee! Comic on FF12! I ran into that problem too.

I'm highly disappointed whips aren't a weapon option. Fran + Whip = Mmm.

Beginning video almost made me cry (Im weird like that) but I love it.

I hate bumping old topics but I returned the rental and bought the game. Best 50 bucks i've spent in a while. I also found that gold and LP's are easy as pie in the Mines in bhjuraba or however it's spelled. I just kill the skeletons on my way to the twin split then run back and forth over that I get my chain over 100. I've got all my characters to have their three quickenings and i've opened up a lot of the augments. The bone fragments sell for like 193 so i'm making close to 30k per run. It can get boring but after I ran into that espherite salamander or whatever it is on the Sandsea I realized I needed to level up. Nothing like getting 9 quickening hits on a monster and seeing it's 45k life only drop 800 points or so.

I am having trouble understanding how quickening works

Can someone help me?

Quickenings are a pain in the neck. Basically for each level of quickening a character gets a mist charge. They are each equal to your maximum mana. If you have two, you have two times your maximum mana. Three, three times.

When you pick a quickening to start a chain, it uses however many mist charges that quickening is worth. After you start the chain, it works almost like a roulette.

Character 1 - Move
Character 2 - Move
Character 3 - Move
R2 - Shuffle

The moves are chosen from the quickening each character has, and mist charge.

There -is- no meter denoting current mist charges. Either the character can use the quickening or not. If you see a lit up character, press the button quickly. If it was a quickening, it puts it in queue. If it was a mist charge, that character goes up to their maximum number of mist charges (denoted by the available quickenings - level 1, 2, 3) and then it shuffles again.

A shuffle is -not- guaranteed to get you anything you can use, with one exception. If you use the Mist Charge command, then that character will then be guaranteed a quickening they can use. So if you see Mist Charge, keep slamming that button!

The key? Keep getting mist charges and moves. Moves pause the timer and will add a short amount of time to it. My best, so far, was 3 level 3s, 2 level 2s and 7 level 1s.

Ialie a simpler version of that. Have your character use the quickening, as soon as you see one of the three buttons light up, press it. if none are lit press R2 until one is lit or you run out of time.

And I kept pushing just R2 and going "Huh? Why isn't it working?"

I love this game so much. I got my first non-storyline Esper a couple days ago by accident just by exploring an area that I found that wasn't in the game guide. I freaked out when Andrammalech started this sand storm and came after me. It was a fight for my life. Woo for level 50 characters with maxed out LP boards.

*taunt* Gorky uses game guides! *taunt*

Vix clearly wants a visit from the crazy gingerbread man.

And a visit to the Comfy Chair right?

Yipe. I'll go buy a game guide now.

So is the combat gameplay here something like SO/ToP rather than "traditional" ATB-style like FF7?

No idea what those acronyms are, but it's a bit like Kingdom Hearts with an ATB meter. As in you tell Vaan to attack and a little yellow meter comes up.

Get the limited edition one with the extra art book...

SO, no idea, ToP= Tales of Phantasia

SO, probably Star Ocean.

I still need to get all of the Espers/Max board/Finish Marks.. oh, and finish the storyline.

I still barely use quickens and have only used Espers maybe once or twice. Am I making the game too hard on myself?

I really only use my quickenings during boss fights and only when they have less than half their HP left. I haven't used my Espers yet for anything other than giggles when I pull out one just to fight small critters. I don't use them in boss fights because they're more a hindrance than a help.

Edit: I take that back. I did use some Espers in the first Sochen boss fight...but only because that one was so much fun.