Final Fantasy Record Keeper

[Gogan]

Anyone playing this for iOS/Android? It's actually pretty cool. Plays like a cross between PAD and Hello Heroes. Features the 16-bit graphical style of the FF6 days. Worth checking out if you like FF/PAD/HH.

[Nucholza]

Just started playing this Asano. Any tips or what characters do you think are really good? I'm gonna do my best to stay free....lol.

[Gogan]

Physical DPS seems to be better than black magic early on, unless the mob is vulnerable to a particular type of magic -- which is frequent for bosses. Otherwise they're all pretty even in terms of strength as far as I can tell (~lv28). There's an "official" guide which shows the base stats for each character at level 50:

https://ffrkstrategy.gamematome.jp/game/951/wiki/Home

My go-to party early on was Cloud, Kain, Tidus, Wakka, and Rydia. Nobody had any abilities except Rydia who used Cure and either Thunder/Fire/Blizzard.

Your gear makes the biggest difference in terms of character strength. Each rank (1-star vs 2-star, etc) of weapon is drastically better than the one before, especially when you get to the 3-, 4-, and 5-star weapons. And perhaps most importantly is matching up your gear and characters with the realm you're fighting. For example, Cloud (FFVII) with a 2-star weapon will do more damage than Tidus (FFX) with a 3-star weapon in the FFVII realm.

Getting all the characters (clear normal mode of all realms) is relatively quick and easy. The expert realms are where you'll start getting the better gear/orbs.

You just missed the special event for Tifa and Sephiroth, but you can still get DK Cecil and Paladin Cecil until Apr 16. DK Cecil is pretty easy to get (it's like the 6th level in) -- Paladin Cecil was tough, but doable around level 25.

The game just recently came out, so content is sorta limited right now. Apparently they've been releasing special events each week though. Not sure how often they plan on adding realms/missions. I've only been playing a few days myself. Just starting the expert realms and leveling up my second batch of characters.

Staying free shouldn't be too hard. Just like PAD, everything is accessible as free, it's just slower. Although we all know how disciplined we were with PAD. =P

[Gronthor]

I have been playing this for a few weeks. Not bad. I have been playing Brave Frontier for a year which this games is sort of a knock off of. I like both but the FF graphics are a little dated. BF graphics are nicer.

I am ashamed to say i have dropped a few dollars on Brave Frontier.

[Gogan]

I think the graphics in FF are perfect. It's supposed to mimic those of the FF4-6 era and they nailed it. I think half the appeal of FFRK is the FF characters/setting. If that doesn't do much for you, then it probably won't be that compelling. It's only been out since Mar 26, so there's not tons of content yet like PAD or probably BF.

I downloaded Brave Frontier. Will check that out too. Thanks for the tip.

[Gronthor]

If you end up liking Brave Frontier let me know i can send you my ID as an invite and get you a free level guy.

Plus i know way too much about it and can help you through!

[Nucholza]

Does honing abilities do anything for their damage? Or is it purely to have more charges on it?

Should I bother honing abilities at all in the lower levels?

Should I be even creating the low level abilities? Or just grab the ones needed to master levels that require specific spells?

Should I be upgrading equipment at all? Or only 5 stars?

Should I use my mithril on single draws or save up for the 11 draw?

[Gogan]

Does honing abilities do anything for their damage? Or is it purely to have more charges on it?

I think it's just additional charges.

Should I bother honing abilities at all in the lower levels?

I honed Cure/Cura and Thunder/Fire. Haven't felt much need beyond that.

Should I be even creating the low level abilities? Or just grab the ones needed to master levels that require specific spells?

I haven't created many abilities. Definitely get fire and thunder for mastering levels. A couple bosses need sleep and blind as well. Other than that I haven't found the need for anything else at lower levels.

Should I be upgrading equipment at all? Or only 5 stars?

I upgraded lower level stuff since I was running out of inventory space anyway. The increased stats help. It'll take some time before you're getting 4-5 star gear anyway if you stay free.

Should I use my mithril on single draws or save up for the 11 draw?

Saving up for the 11 draw is probably the way go.

[Gogan]

New event came out today. You can now collect Aeris. Pretty easy one.

[Gogan]

Been playing Brave Frontier a bit, Gron. It's pretty cool, but basically it's PAD with a storyline and minus the orb matching. Even the artwork is awkwardly similar (Mossy (http://bravefrontierglobal.wikia.com/wiki/Mossy) vs Woodsie (http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=40)). Apparently PAD has inspired a lot of clones and similar games (http://www.withoutthesarcasm.com/top-4-games-like-puzzle-dragons/) over the years. Considering how addicted some of us were to PAD, I can see why you like BF.

[Gogan]

Nuch, here's a pretty good spreadsheet on all the characters and their lv50 stats:

http://chapter731.net/ffrk/

A bunch of the characters haven't been released yet, or are only out in Japan.

[Nucholza]

Awesome, thanks!

Also, I was wondering what items you're going for first in the event? I already bought Areith and the Mythril. I was thinking that the greater summoning crystals or w/e they're called would be the next rarest?

[Gogan]

I went for the 4-star Holy orbs to get Raise. My healer is always the one that dies first, so I wanted Paladin Cecil to have Raise for her. 24k gems later I found out PLD Cecil can't use Raise and I was sad.

So yeah, going for the summoning orbs is probably a good call. I think they're pretty rare, so that's likely what I'll be going for next. The event lasts another 2 weeks, so I'll just save up orbs and figure it all out later. I definitely need another Cura (or even Curaga), so that's high on my list too.

[Nucholza]

Ouch. That's definitely shitty. I wasn't able to make it to paladin Cecil before the event ended, but looking at that list I'm not super disappointed.

[Gronthor]

I have been playing more FF now. When i am in the mood it is fun. The events help.

What is PAD?

[Gogan]

PAD = Puzzles & Dragons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzle_%26_Dragons).

As of April 2013, it is the #1 grossing app in the world on iOS and Android platform.

In August 2014, GungHo announced that Puzzle & Dragons surpassed 30 million downloads in Japan, 4 million in North America, 2 million in South Korea, and 1 million in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In 2012, the game earned a revenue of $150 million. In 2013, it earned another $1.52 billion. In the first half of 2014, the game earned another $870 million. This adds up to a total revenue of $2.54 billion, as of June 2014.

There's a 33 page thread (http://www.gentlemen-of-leisure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49986) from a while back when we were all playing it. I still fire it up every now and then. What's great about PAD, unlike games like FFRK and BF, is that there's actually some level of skill involved. You can throw thousands of dollars at the game, but if you suck at matching orbs you'll still fail.

[McGrupp]

How many times have you all said: It's just $0.99!!

[Gronthor]

How many times have you all said: It's just $0.99!!

Too many!

[Gogan]

How many times have you all said: It's just $0.99!!

Oh Grupp... if only it were just $0.99 per purchase...

[Gogan]

P.S. New realms, dungeons, and characters released on FFRK today!

[Gronthor]

P.S. New realms, dungeons, and characters released on FFRK today!

Yes Cyan is available, my favorite character of ff6

[Gogan]

Just finished all the new realm dungeons. They added a lot! Nearly doubled the size of the game. Think I got 5 new characters, although Cyan might be the only one I'll use.

[Nucholza]

Are you just using your 50 mithril when you get it? Or do you know if there will be any big events to save that for other than the increased drop rates they run like right now.

[Gogan]

I spent it. I don't know what they have planned for the future. The game has only been out for a month here, and I'm not sure what they've done in JP. Right now seems like it's a great time to spend them -- increased chance for 5 different soul-break pieces.

P.S. Looks like a new event just today, with Terra as a reward.

[Nucholza]

Yeah I've been going through the new event the past couple minutes. I just finished all the normal mode dungeons today also and I'll be hitting 50 mithril shortly.

Have you gotten any 5 stars to drop?

[Gogan]

I got Cloud's Buster Sword.

[Nucholza]

Is the different soul break significantly better?

[Gogan]

I don't remember what the old one hit for, but with "Braver" I've hit for over 8k. It's pretty OP.

[Nucholza]

Only got a Genji Armor from my draws. Oh well!

[Nucholza]

This survival event seems pretty slow going. Gonna be hard to get that major orb! Are you going for it Asano?

[Gogan]

You get a few thousand for clearing Hard, so it shouldn't be *too* bad. It's either that, or clearing expert dungeons and those are starting to get tough. So yeah, I'll try to grind it out. We have almost two weeks, so I think I can do it.

[Nucholza]

How many do you have right now? I'm at 21k

[Gogan]

Just shy of 20k right now.

[Gogan]

Did some quick math and I won't hit 200k by the 12th. I'm averaging about 2.5k per run and can do 2 runs per stamina bar and really only have time to play 3 times a day. I'm currently at 55k, so I'll end up falling short by about 40k. Oh well.

On the bright side, I got my first team to level 50 (PLD cecil, Dark Cecil, Cloud, Sephiroth, Aerith). This Magitech event actually gives decent XP/stam.

[Nucholza]

Yeah I kinda gave up because of the time investment. I think I'm around 50k as well. I got Cloud to 50 yesterday and I'm closing in on a couple others as well. I started leveling up Celes in this event.

[Gogan]

Wow, you're leveling fast!

Think I'm gonna get to 80k and stop with that event. Don't really need that ring at 100k.

[Gogan]

Managed to clear the expert version of the "To Slay a Sorceress" event, with the exception of the last 4 dungeons. That dinosaur in the 4th to last level has too much hp and hits for too much.

Found this guide: http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/elite-t-rex-a-zephryl-guide/

Apparently the level I got stuck at is giving lots of people trouble. The boss has 149k hp... I might give it another try with that strategy.

[Gogan]

Managed to clear the expert version of the "To Slay a Sorceress" event, with the exception of the last 4 dungeons. That dinosaur in the 4th to last level has too much hp and hits for too much.

Found this guide: http://ffrk.kongbakpao.com/elite-t-rex-a-zephryl-guide/

Apparently the level I got stuck at is giving lots of people trouble. The boss has 149k hp... I might give it another try with that strategy.

[Gogan]

Some interesting tips/tricks here too:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/114498-final-fantasy-record-keeper/71788707

[Gogan]

Big update today. Tons of new features.

http://toucharcade.com/2015/06/05/final-fantasy-record-keeper-update-will-break-level-cap-adds-tons-of-new-features/