............................................................................... ............................................................................... ............________________................................................... ............\...............\.................................................. ............|....___________/.................................................. ............|...|______...________________..................................... ............|..........\..\...............\.................................... ............|....______/..|....___________/.................................... ............|...|.........|...|______.......................................... ............|...|.........|..........\..___......___.____.____.____............ ............|...|.........|....______/..\..\..../../.\../.\../.\../............ ............/___\.........|...|..........\..\../../..|..|.|..|.|..|............ ..........................|...|...........\..\/../...|..|.|..|.|..|............ ..........................|...|............\..../....|..|.|..|.|..|............ ........................../___\............/....\....|..|.|..|.|..|............ ........................................../../\..\...|..|.|..|.|..|............ ........................................./../..\..\..|..|.|..|.|..|............ ......................................../__/....\__\./__\./__\./__\............ ............................................................................... =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= FenrirTheLight Presents =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= A FenrirTheLight Production =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= Adamantoise & Adamantortoise Farming Guide ver. 1.00 =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= (c)2010 Kristofer Ong (fenrirthelight/ScienceXReason) all rights reserved =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= =============================================================================== I. Table of Contents =============================================================================== I. Table of Contents II III. Teams IV. Paradigm Decks IVA. Deck A IVA1. Strategy IVB. Deck B IVB1. Strategy IVC. Deck C (Summoning) IVC1. Strategy IVD. Deck D (A&B Hybrid) IVD1. Strategy IVE. Deck E (Death) IVE1. Strategy IVF. Sazh!? IVF1. Strategy V. Equipment VA. Deck A Equipment VB. Deck B Equipment VC. Deck D Equipment VD. Deck E Equipment VE. Sazh!? Equipment VI. Routes VIA. Eden - Leviathan Plaza VIB. Gran Pulse - Archylte Steppe VIB1. Long gui and Shaolong Gui VBI2. How much time do you have? VBI3. Mission 63 VBI4. Adamancheilds VBI5. Profit vs. Entertainment VII. Updates VIII. Contact Info =============================================================================== I. Introduction =============================================================================== So ,you want to learn how to kill Adamantoise and Adamantortoise. What's that? You're too low leveled? You have dont know what gear you need? There are so many builds you dont know which to choose? Well never fear! This guide will show you which builds i found most efficient, quick, and powerful. I created this guide because i found so many videos and guides about killing Adamantoise and Adamantortoise high high levels, when you would already know how to kill them. Finally when i knew how to kill adamantoise, i did not know what path to take in Archylte Steppe to make efficient. So on May 5th, 2010 i decided to collect information through a Gamefaqs message board topic. From various insights and criticisms i found, what i believe to be the best way to farm these titanic turtles. This guide covers 4 different ways to fight adamantoise, and a 5th way to speed up 2 of the other ways. The build you choose depends on how powerful your party is. That's right, i cover both low and high-end ways to fight these awesome beasts. =============================================================================== III. Teams =============================================================================== Now i have seen 3 teams that work effectively the first is Fang/Hope/Snow, Fang/Lightning/Vanille, and Fang/Snow/Vanille. Fang is needed for her physical damage and the intant-dead-leg highwind making her always party leader. hope/vanille are primarilly your healers, their high magic also assists in quickly staggering the turtle. Snow and lightning assist in staggering and debuffing. Snow has the benifit of capping out with 30k hp, meaning he can take more punishment. Recommended Teams: Other teams covered: Fang/Lightning/Vanille -Sazh/Snow/Fang Fang/Snow/Vanille -Vanille/Fang/Lightning -Vanille/Fang/Snow =============================================================================== IV. Paradigm Decks =============================================================================== There are many approaches to fightin Adamantoise, and Adamantortoise. Here I cover what 4 ways i believe to be the best ways to fight them. Each different build is built for a different power level. Beginners just starting to fight Adamantoise as early as Chapter 11 may choose the Death or Sazh!? decks. Mid-level parties may feel comfortable with Deck A. Veterans, who wish to speed up their turtle kills may find Deck B to their fancy. So read on and pick your poison. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVA. Deck A (All credit of this team goes to pheonx97 and his Youtube video) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck A is a well rounded deck with each paradigm having a specific task to fulfill. This is a deck for weaker parties, and is recomended for groups just starting to kill turtles. This build does very well using tier 2 weapons, using tier 3 weapons only speeds up the process. This set up utilizes the Fang/Lightning/Vanille team. this team requires that all the roles they use are at lvl 5. SYN/SYN/MED - Recuperance RAV/RAV/MED - Thaumaturgy COM/MED/MED - Discretion SYN/SAB/SAB - Espionage RAV/RAV/RAV - Tri-Disaster COM/COM/RAV - Aggression ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVA1: Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start fights immediately with Recupperance. Cast Bravera+Haste on Fang, then Protectra+Faithra on Vanille then Lightning. By the time you finish lightning should have hasted the party and cast protect on fang. If you are in the Adamantortoise + 3 wolves fight switch to Discretion and easily slay the wolves, if you are not in this fight, skip this step. Switch to Thaumaturgy and quickly stagger a leg, and immediately follow with a highwind from the discrition paradigm. Note that fang must have at least 2700 strength to kill a leg immediately upon staggering an adamantortoises leg, if you have not reached this, keep hitting the leg until it reaches 300%. Repeat this process on the other leg. once both legs are down switch to Espionage. Buff the entire party with Bravera+Faithra. once you are done buffing and deprotect,deshell, and imperil have been placed on the turtle switch to Tri-Disaster for a quick stagger. Keep pummeling the oppenent to a devastating 900% then switch to Aggression. Finally slay the giant with auto-battle. If the turtle manages to get back up use highwind just before the stagger runs out, if it survives, retry. When fighting adamancheilds cast Bravera and haste upon yourself, if you have time cast faith on Vanille. Quickly stagger the opponent with Tri-Disaster followed up with a Highwind to slay it. Adamantoise and Adamantortoises should fall anywhere between 1:50 to 2:20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVB. Deck B (i've seen this build a few times, credit goes to whoever its creator is, i'm not exactly sure who that is though >.>) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck B is usable only to those with full crystalariums. time is of the essense in all fights. Your team must be able to take considerable punishment, for healing goes pretty much out the window. This deck recommends Fang/Snow/Vanille or Fang/Snow/Hope Hope sacrifices some health for more magic, making healing times have greater effect. Snow can also be switched out for Lightning, but be careful. She has a smaller health bar, and those close-range stomps are merciless to the unprepared. RAV/RAV/RAV - Tri-Disaster COM/MED/MED - Discretion SYN/SAB/SAB - Espionage COM/Sab/COM - Devastation COM/RAV/RAV - Relentless Assault (optional) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVB1: Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting quickly with Tri-disaster, stagger a leg. The equiment should allow you to start quickly with haste and have fang bring maximum punishment with auto-brave. Personally i have to bring the leg to 500% before i can break it with Highwind. If you have enough speed and health stagger the other leg before using highwind, this can shave off a few seconds of paradigm change cinema. Always use discretion to highwind the enemy, the 2 medics will be able to spike-heal the party, while you put the beast to its knees. once he falls use espionage to recast haste+bravera on Fang, and haste+faithra on Snow and Vanille. Once Slow, Deprotect, Deshell, and Imperil are all little red squares on this behemoth's bar, its time to crack his defences. Switch back to Tri-Disaster and jetison him up to 900%. Now that you have him where you want him, go for the Jugular. Using Devastation, break him into tiny pieces and claim your (possible) prize. Snow will spam daze on the target and Fang will hit harder beacause of this. Relentless assault is primarily for farming adamancheilds along your route through Gran Pulse, stagger, and highwind, thats all there is to it. Adamantoise and Adamantortoises should fall in under 2 minutes. My current record for this deck is 1:26 vs. an Adamantoise The Deck B build is undenyable faster, but only for those fully prepared. Have a full crystalarium and all your equipment before trying this method. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVC. Deck C (Summoning) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck C is actually not a deck at all. This is merely a strategy that may be used to get a quicker kill. Use either Deck A or B. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVC1. Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start off quickly summoning bahamut to knock the opponent to his knees. Then immediately get rid of him going into Gesalt Mode, and using Mega-Flare. Switch to Epionage and cast Haste+Bravera on Fang, as well as Haste+Faithra on the other two party members. The rest is cookie cutter, wait for the debuffs, stagger with Tri-Disaster, and kill with Aggresion or Devastation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVD. Deck D (A&B Hybrid) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had reached the point where Deck A was inferior, so I moved up a bracket to Deck B, but after a couple of days I became unhappy with it. This may not happen for you, but it happened to me often, and would esually force me to retry with the result of taking more time than Deck A. Fang's proximity or placement in front of the Adamantoise would sometimes cause her to take double damage, in two separate damage readings. This, in addition to my already low defense, would mostly result in Fang sying forcing me to retry. Not wanting to move back down a bracket to Deck A again, i found a solution. I merged the two decks forming a hybrid that is faster than Deck A and slower than Deck B by just a hair while retaining the solid consistancy of Deck A. Team: Fang/Snow/Vanille SYN/SYN/MED - Recuperance RAV/RAV/MED - Thaumaturgy COM/MED/MED - Discretion SYN/SAB/SAB - Espionage RAV/RAV/RAV - Tri-Disaster COM/SAB/COM - Devastation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVD1. Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Deck follows Deck A until knocking down the turtle, but then follows Deck B afterwards for the kill. Starting in Recuperance, cast Bravera + Hastera on Fang, soon followed by Protectra + Faithra on Snow and Vanille. While you are carrying these orders out, Snow will have cast Haste on the rest of the party, as well as protect on Fang. Switch to Thaumaturgy and stagger a leg, use Discretion for a Highwind finish. Repeat this on the other leg then switch to Espionage. Cast Bravera + Faithra on the entire party. Here's the deck change, wait for Slow, Deprotect, Deshell, and imperil to be placed on the turtle, if curse is there, it's a bonus. Switch to Tri-Disaster and bring the stagger up to 900%, then immediately switch to Devastation. Daze mechanics will kick in again and extremely high ammounts of damage will be done. My Fang generally hits 400-500k damage each swing, only taking the first round of devastation to get the kill. Vanille shows her guns as well, hitting hard with 200K. The build is not as fast as Deck B, but its a consistant build that I am proud of. Time runs usually round 1:45 per fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVE. Deck E (Death) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Death tactic is for you Gamblers out there. Test your luck and get a quick kill. The team is Vanille/Fang/Lightning or Vanille/Fang/Snow Vanille/Fang/Lightning Vanille/Fang/Snow SAB/SYN/SYN - Superiority SAB/SYN/SEN - Premeditation SAB/SAB/SAB - Infiltration MED/MED/SEN - Comat Clinic SAB/SEN/SEN - Overcaution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVE1. Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Vanille/Fang/Lightning team requires a summon to knock the adamantoise over. Let haste get put on the team with Superiority then Switch to Infiltration and keep casting death. If he stands up you will likely die. Vanille/Fang/Snow is a very defensive team set. Starting with premeditation, start casting Death while Fang put up haste on the team, switch to Overcaution and keep casting Death, whenver you need to heal switch to Combat Clinic. Note that while you can heal, you will likely be unable to keep up with the damage, and eventually die. Both of these strategies are risky and are based on luck alone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IVF. Sazh!? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sahz Method is a summoning variation built for those with a weaker party. The team consists of Sazh/Snow/Fang. it utilizes Sazh's Cold Blood ability and his outstanding damage with blitz. all credit for this build goes to him. SYN/COM/SAB - Bully RAV/RAV/SAB - Smart Bomb RAV/COM/COM - Aggresion COM/COM/COM - Cerberus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IVF1. Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are really strapped for time, it will take practice to drop the adamantoise before he kills you. Starting from Bully, immediately summon Brynhildr, this will knock the Adamantoise down. however do not go into gesalt mode, let the timer die. Cast bravery and haste on Sazh, then switch to Cerberus, use auto-battle for the first bar, then follow up with Blitz,Blitz,Attack. The moment the bar finishes switch to Smart Bomb and spam Cold Blood until the summon dies, immediately switch back to Bully when this happens. Let Snow and Fang maintain the chain with attacks and debuffs while you cast Bravery+Haste on the other two members. Switch back to Smart bomb and use Cold Blood once again while fang finishes debuffing the turtle. Once Slow,Deprotect,Deshell, and Imperil show up on our off-gaurd opponent, switch to aggression and Cold Blood him up to a toasty 930%. Its time to finish this, switch to Cerberus and widdle his health away with Blitz,Blitz ATB bars. Note that if you are able to kill the adamantoise by removing the summon through gesalt then following this method, you are likely ready for Deck A. =============================================================================== V. Equipment =============================================================================== The equipment carried depends highly upon what paradigms will be used. If you use Deck A than stricly offensive equipment is plausible (genji glove, kaiser knuckles, magistral crest etc.) Deck B requires a more half & half approach. Note: Some slots have multiple choices to choose from; The order from left to right is most prefered to least prefered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VA. Deck A equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fang --Kain's Lance Lv. 100 (Taming Pole)/Venus Gospel Lv. 61 (Taming Pole) or Kain's Lance Lv. 100 (dragoon lance)/Dragonhorn Lv. 41 (Dragoon Lance) -Genji Glove -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form)/Growth Egg Lightning --Omega Weapon lv. 100 (Lionheart)/Ultima Weapon Lv. 41 (Lionheart) -Genji Glove/Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Connoisseur's Catalog Vanille --Nirvana Lv. 100 (Belladonna Wand)/Malboro Wand Lv. 41 (Belladona Wand) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Collector's Catalogue You want to focus power here since protectra will be absorbing most damage. Note that Deck A does not require tier 3 items, they only speed up the process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VB. Deck B Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fang --Kain's Lance Lv. 100 (Dragoon Lance) -Sprint Shoes -Genji Glove -Morale Talisman -Gaian Ring (Lv. * Recommended) Snow or Lightning --Save The Queen Lv. 100 (Feymark --Omega Weapon Lv. 100 (Lionheart) -Sprint Shoes -Sprint Shoes -Connoissuer's Catalog/Genji Glove -Connoissuer's Catalog/Genji Glove -Blessed Talisman -Blessed Talisman -Gaian Ring (Lv. * Recommended) -Gaian Ring (Lv. * Recommended) Vanille or Hope --Nirvana Lv. 100 (Belladonna Wand) --Nue Lv. 100 (Hawkeye) -Sprint Shoes -Sprint Shoes -Collector's Catalog -Collector's Catalog -Genji GLove/Connoissuer's Catalog -Genji Glove/Connoissuer's Catalog -Gaian Ring (Lv. * Recommended) -Gaian Ring (Lv. * Recommended) as you can see buffs come in with auto abilities, and theres some defence with the gaian rings. This equipment set is based on speed and power, so full crystalariums are recommended. Deck B is for people who have been able to kill Adamantoise for a long time, but want faster kills. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VC. Deck D Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fang --Kain's Lance Lv. 100 (Taming Pole)/Kain's Lance Lv. 100 (dragoon lance) -Genji Glove -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form) -Kaiser Knuckles (or a weaker form)/Growth Egg Snow --Save the Queen Lv. 100 (Feymark) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Collector's Catalogue/Magistral Crest (or a weaker form)/Connoissuer's Catalog Vanille Vanille --Nirvana Lv. 100 (Belladonna Wand)/Malboro Wand Lv. 41 (Belladona Wand) -Genji Glove -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form) -Magistral Crest (or a weaker form)/Collector's Catalogue You want to focus power here since protectra will be absorbing most damage. The Genji glove on Vanille will allow her to exceed 99,999 damage when you go for the kill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VD. Deck D (Death) Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vanille --Malboro Wand Lv. Any (Belladonna Wand) -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring Other Party Members --Any weapon -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring -Siltstone Ring/Gaian Ring Pretty much you want to reduce earth damage by as much as possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VE. Sazh!? Equipment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sazh --Procyons (or better forms) -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband (optional) Snow --Wild Bear (or better forms) -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband (optional) Fang --Dragoon Lance/Pandoran Spear (or better forms) -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband -Warrior's Wristband (optional) Essentially you want to focus Strength on all party members. Its all offense here. =============================================================================== VI. Routes =============================================================================== There are two places to farm turtles, Eden, and Archylte Steppe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIA. Eden - Leviathan Plaza ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eden Boasts a single Adamantoise rather close to the savepoint in Leviathan Plaza. Kill, save, exit, and reload. pretty simple. Pros: Cons: -Quick -Repetative -Simple -Can get boring -Efficient -Takes a while to reach and leave - Going to reload a lot (Maybe) Another tactic to use is to kill everything from the door to the adamantoise. After killign the adamantoise run to the door then turn, but do not enter, turn around and run back, the turtle should have respawned. Personally, I find this respawning tactic makes this route a lot more appealing, and bearable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIB. Gran Pulse - Archylte Steppe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eden's farming short is short and sweet is it not? Unfortunately for people like me, its gets boring, and fast. So i prefer to farm in Archylte Steppe. There are many factors that can effect your route in Archylte Steppe. The main ones to consider are Long Gui and Shaolong Gui, how much time you have, mission 63, Adamancheilds, and how much efficiency will you lose for entertainment. pros: cons: -Entertaining - Circle of death can remove all spawns -wide variety of profit - not as efficient as eden farming -easy to reach - long routes -fewer reloads - routes can be complex ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIB1. Long Gui and Shaolong Gui ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finishing the circle of death will spawn these gods among turtles. They hurt, and will smash your team to pieces if killing him was not your focus. So I strongly suggest not finishing those missions before you have all your weapons for the treasure hunter trophy/achievment. However, they are great for farming dark matter for creating ultimate level accessories. When these guys spawn they take vital places away from all turtles, eliminating any and all practicality from farming in Gran Pulse. If you have already finished the Circle of Death, you have to go to Eden for any chance of reasonable farming. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIB2. How much time do you have? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Routes in Gran Pulse can range from 10 to 30min depending on how many turtles you plan on killing, so plan accordingly. As a perfect example is to choose wether or not to use the respawning trick at Leviathan Plaza, as spending time to defeat all the mobs in the way would not be worth the trouble if you had to turn the game of in 15 minute, thus it would be better just to reload each time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIB3, Mission 63 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission 63 - Crushed by Doubt instructs you to kill an adamntortoise, this is great, but the Cie'th Stone is in the middle of Sulyya Springs. Using the teleporter at the Northern Highplains it still would take 3-4 minutes just to grab the mission and come back. The reward however is a Genji glove the first time, then a gold nugget from then on. Adding mission 63 to your route is best for longer routes, where the detour has less of an effect on efficiency. It also has the added bonus of reseting the turtles and the chocobo digging spots if you so choose to add that to your route. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIB4. Adamancheilds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adamancheilds are the weak form of their titanic brethren. They can offer gold dust as well as scarletite if you are willing to add a few of them to your turtle killing spree. They are rather weak, and die quickly compared to their big brothers, but adding them to your route is entirely up to you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIB5. Profit vs. Entertainment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have the mental fortitude to focus entirely on your profit, go to eden and farm the turtle there, but for some, myself included, grinding away at the same thing forever takes its toll quickly. Unfortunately that is the most efficient way of farming. For people like me we must sacrifice profit for entertainment value. That means no matter the route in Gran Pulse, Eden farming will be better. Now for the main part, how do you maximize profit while still maintaining enough entertainment to keep yourself interested in farming turtles? There is a thin line between maintaining the status quo, and hurting your profit. To maintain an efficient route you must minimize running distance to turtles, take into account kill speeds, minimize running distance to your respawning point beit reloading or mission 63, and you must always move quickly. Planning a route that will lead to a chocobo for a quick run to a save to teleportation Cie'th Stone can cut down time greatly. The truth is, is that there is no defined optimum route to farm in Archylte Steppe it's all up to you how, when, what, and why you will farm there. =============================================================================== VII. Updates =============================================================================== Ver. 1.00 [17 May 2010] - Guide Created =============================================================================== VIII. Contact Info =============================================================================== I value your input on this guide, and am always looking to add on tactics and builds. If you have any criticisms or feedback, feel free to e-mail me at vandread888@yahoo.com.