Lightning Returns To those on the second run! (may contain spoilers)

T

Ty Hope

Ex-Soldier
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How are you liking hard mode? What did you think of the ending, etc? Did you manage to beat both secret bosses on the first run?

Let's try and get some positive discussion going! There are plenty of threads that are critical of the game. Let's keep this one positive for those on the 2nd (or more!) runs!
 
Sadly my second run was on easy due to finally realzing I was near enough at the end of the game.....so I thought I would put it on easy and skim right back to where I was to be honest and now my third playthrough is on hard but I haven't played much of it yet but I have noticed the spike in difficulty.

The ending boss I rather enjoyed to be honest, much better then FFXIII-2 and FFXIII for that matter. Sadly I didn't fight the optional secret bosses...are they hard?
 
Mosh said:
Sadly my second run was on easy due to finally realzing I was near enough at the end of the game.....so I thought I would put it on easy and skim right back to where I was to be honest and now my third playthrough is on hard but I haven't played much of it yet but I have noticed the spike in difficulty.

The ending boss I rather enjoyed to be honest, much better then FFXIII-2 and FFXIII for that matter. Sadly I didn't fight the optional secret bosses...are they hard?
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A few things!:

- First, totally agree that the end boss was fun to fight. Wait till you fight the + version of him. MUCH MUCH MUCH harder.
- The two secret bosses are very strong. One of the two (in the secret cavern in dead dunes) is actually easy IF you figure out how to beat him. That's the challenge though.
- The other of the two (giant dragon. named "aironeito" here in Japan. Not sure there...) is very tough too. And if you don't inflict enough damage to him, he gets "bored" and flies away.
- Did you know that there are + versions of Noel and Snow too? To get them to appear, fight them on like the 7th day or so. Snow also has a ++ version that appears on like the 10th day. I may be off a day or two. Noel drops a different weapon than usual.
- As I mentioned above, the final boss's + version is very hard to beat. My first run was normal and second on hard. I think he automatically becomes the + version if it is your second time fighting him. Anyway, I wasn't strong enough on my second run and had to retire while keeping my stats, and fight him on the 3rd run.
 
Hard mode is particularly fun. The added dynamics of weapon leveling, harder bosses, upgradeable accessories, and better gil payout is pretty rewarding. The normal enemies don't get too difficult, though I can see plenty of people having trouble with the higher tier Last Ones.

I was pretty impressed with Bhuni. Not on the basis of difficulty, but rather just for the sheer fact that you are essentially destroying a god. The allusions to prior Final Fantasy's through the names and animations of some of Bhuni's movesets was pretty awesome, too.

The 2 secret bosses are incredibly impressive. They are easily the most difficult in the FF13 trilogy for two reasons. They hit hard and you are given very little time to fight them both. The Ultimate Lair super boss doesn't necessarily have a time limit, but if you take too long with the battle you will be stuck teleporting to the Ark right after the fight (unless Square put some safeguard there so you have some time to move around for a couple of seconds.) Aeronite just leaves the battle if you take too long. I found Aeronite harder than the Ultimate Lair boss.

You get nice achievements, garb, and accessory for beating these guys. Well worth it.

Also don't forget Bhuni's Double Deity. That thing has a 5%~ drop rate, so make sure you obtain it on Normal. Doubt you'll wanna fight Bhuni+ over and over for it! :P
 
Is hard mode the only mode that allows weapon upgrades? I may have to try that mode instead normal again. My first run through was normal and figured I'd do one more normal run to buff my character up some more before trying hard mode. I barely survived normal as it was lol
 
Mystical_Gaming said:
Is hard mode the only mode that allows weapon upgrades? I may have to try that mode instead normal again. My first run through was normal and figured I'd do one more normal run to buff my character up some more before trying hard mode. I barely survived normal as it was lol
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You can upgrade on normal on the second run, but only to a certain point. On hard, you can max out
 
Ty Hope said:
You can upgrade on normal on the second run, but only to a certain point. On hard, you can max out
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ok cool. I think I might try normal mode once more and upgrade some weapons along the way. I somehow missed out on the secret extra day where you get to fight all the last ones (due to some quests taking me longer than I expected to complete) so I think i'll buff my character up more before I try hard mode.
 
Mystical_Gaming said:
ok cool. I think I might try normal mode once more and upgrade some weapons along the way. I somehow missed out on the secret extra day where you get to fight all the last ones (due to some quests taking me longer than I expected to complete) so I think i'll buff my character up more before I try hard mode.
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Not a bad idea. You'll find the second run much easier now that you know where things are. When you do get to HARD mode, there are quite a few weapons for sale that aren't in normal.
 
Ty Hope said:
Not a bad idea. You'll find the second run much easier now that you know where things are. When you do get to HARD mode, there are quite a few weapons for sale that aren't in normal.
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Do I get to keep my ultima shield and sword from my first playthrough? If so then yeah the second run through will be much smoother lol
 
Mystical_Gaming said:
Do I get to keep my ultima shield and sword from my first playthrough? If so then yeah the second run through will be much smoother lol
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Nope, that goes away. When you power stuff up though, you can make them stronger than those two :)
 
Ty Hope said:
Nope, that goes away. When you power stuff up though, you can make them stronger than those two :)
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darn I really wanted the unbroken ultima sword :P

But I do have Lightning Blaze sword and her Valhalla swords since I own FFXIII and FFXIII-2 and those were good for the early part of the game so I'll use those again. Her guardian corps suit from the first game is my favorite garb. So simple yet elegant as a combat suit.
 
Mystical_Gaming said:
darn I really wanted the unbroken ultima sword :P

But I do have Lightning Blaze sword and her Valhalla swords since I own FFXIII and FFXIII-2 and those were good for the early part of the game so I'll use those again. Her guardian corps suit from the first game is my favorite garb. So simple yet elegant as a combat suit.
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Once you start powering up, its a lot more fun. As far as power goes, a powered up Cloud's sword (buster sword in Japan, not sure its name in the US) is the best (until you enter hard mode). Maxed out its attack goes to 3000, I think.
 
Ty Hope said:
Once you start powering up, its a lot more fun. As far as power goes, a powered up Cloud's sword (buster sword in Japan, not sure its name in the US) is the best (until you enter hard mode). Maxed out its attack goes to 3000, I think.
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What's better in Hard mode than the Buster sword? I use it in Hard mode because of high Strength value, and it's +20% for staggering opponents. Against bosses that require quick staggering, I like to use Chaos's Revenge, Hades Fang, and Buster Sword on the three schemata.
 
There are a few swords that can be upgraded to have more raw power. But the buster is going to be your best if your prefer the stagger feature. Just personal preferences!
 
Well I got the game a few weeks ago and on Easy Mode I finished it.
Well... I say "Finish", the days ran out as I was jumping up on Yuel provided ramps.
I'm glad I've got what I left the game with abilities and costume wise, but I've still got the "Oh... That it?" feeling.
Ha! I've even gone along and waited for the Erato cult to come to the phonebox, but I had to go all the way back to the area outside the station.
And even jumping up and down with them just got a "!" above one of them!

Elephant In The Room time: So I took a great deal of pleasure in colouring in the Schemata things, but how the fuck do you get to use them instead of The Saviour and the other two defaul Schemata schemes?
(Sorry if your head has broken your desk with that comment!)
 
The first run I picked Normal Mode and I couldn't beat Noel that son of a bitch and his powers. I ran out of time doing the side missions and trying to beat Noel so the second run I picked Easy and now I cant beat Cauis another bastard.
 
DokMi said:
The first run I picked Normal Mode and I couldn't beat Noel that son of a bitch and his powers. I ran out of time doing the side missions and trying to beat Noel so the second run I picked Easy and now I cant beat Cauis another bastard.
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It was the exact same for me! Noel pretty much screwed up my first playthrough on Normal. I waited too long to fight him after trying to beat him on Day 2. I came back and beat him on Day 6. Then I ran out of time on my first playthrough right before I could even fight Snow. Second playthrough on NG plus on easy, Noel was easy to beat, Caius was an annoying speed bump that required me to wait to return to the ark, get stronger and return a few days later to beat him. Bhuni was another story and pain in the a** all-together, but I got past him too with careful strategy, timing and patience.
 
i beat the one in the ultimate lair and meant to go back to have another crack at the arsehole in the desert, but I didnt realise that once you hit the last day it was the point of no return. so i am now on new game plus (normal) so i can tie up a few loose ends, I got caught short on soul seeds as well which really annoyed me as i was so damn close to 100, but i wasnt really thorough enough picking them up in game

i may or may not have a bash on hard mode next time... lord knows normal annoyed me enough though!
 
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