Author Topic: The Elusive Mirrors...  (Read 3526 times)

Rocky

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The Elusive Mirrors...
« on: June 26, 2009, 12:58:30 am »
I'm sure there've been other topics regarding this subject, but I wasn't up to scanning through every topic, so I apologize if this subject has been exhausted already.

Today, I succeeded in attaining all 5 mirrors and the Nu Arcana in the Arena of the Ages - all 6 within a 24-hour period.  I wanted to share my method, for any completionists who've found much frustration in filling out their item list because of these blasted mirrors.  (I actually got the following method from someone else online, and it has worked great for me.)

As you very well may know, the mirrors and Arcana can usually only be attained after battling the "unattainable" monster in each tier, and even then very rarely (for example, the Ouroboros in Tier 1).  So what I did is this:  I sent my smidge out for training over and over again (while playing through the game of course), without battling my monster at all - so that it wouldn't evolve while training - until it's HP had risen from 1500 to about 2500.  At this point, it was strong enough to defeat the Ouroboros pretty much every time.  Then, I stopped training altogether and started battling in Tier 1, over and over again, saving after each battle with smidges, until the Ouroboros showed up.  I then fought it, beat it, and if I didn't get one of the 6 elusive items, I reset the game.  This way, the Ouroboros would usually show up to battle again right away.  I'd keep resetting until I got one of the 6 items.  Then I'd battle smidges for 4 or 5 battles before fighting the Ouroboros again, and continue the process.  The result?  Well, although I had to endure getting one particular mirror to show up 8 TIMES before getting my last one, the end result was that I got all 6 items in one day, today.

It takes a lot of grinding, but it's not too bad in the long run - if you're a completionist like me, that is.  And yes, you can indeed get all 6 items in Tier 1 (or any tier, for that matter).  It just takes patience - make sure you have something to do while your monster is battling each battle (I spent the time playing Let's Catch and Wii Sports Baseball, both for Wii - games that required equally minimal attention...)

Anyway, hope this helps anyone out there who've still had trouble filling out their item lists - and again, I apologize if this has been covered to death already.  I'm new here...  And curse Squeenix for making these items so rare and so RANDOM!  (That's just one of many reasons to curse them, of course.)  It was just as bad as getting all the gold ship parts in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.  I'm sure some of you out there know what I'm talking about...

IAmSerge

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2009, 05:21:35 am »
...and the mirrors do what now? and what are they? and congrats btw, I never really did too much with the arena, though I do know what it is.

Chocobo_Fan

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2009, 07:40:45 am »
The mirrors are crappier versions of Rage Bands, basically. They have a 25% counter rate on any attack that isn't the characters' element. And there's one for each character. Not worth it at all, but you'll still need them if you want to fill out your item list.

As for Nu Arcana... I got it once, but I have no clue how it works. o_O

And that's an interesting strategy, Rocky! I'm sure it'll help some people. Interesting that you can get all the mirrors on Tier 1... Aren't the chances higher on higher tiers, though? o_O

Rocky

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2009, 11:00:07 am »
Surprisingly, no, I'm pretty sure the chances aren't any better on higher tiers.  I know the in-game guy says better prizes for higher tiers, but that seems to only apply to the non-"unattainable" monster battles (ex: the smidges on level 1 as opposed to the Ouroboros) on each tier.  So that's why you can obtain Regal Plates and Regal Gowns (albeit rarely) in tier 6 as opposed to Bronze Blades and Padded Vests in tier 1.  The 6 elusive items, however, are only based on whether you're fighting the unattainable monster on any given tier.  Any tier works.

As a side note, I HAVE occasionally received mirrors from regular monster battles, but only in higher tiers.  And only when fighting final-evolved-state monsters (Chrysosaur, Spirit Gargoyle, Ninja, Medusa, Deathscythe).

And yes, the items themselves are lame.  Not half as good as a rage band - by definition at least.  I don't know, though - I've had them all equipped and they seem to counterattack a good deal more than 25% of the time....  Who knows?

And as for the Nu Arcana - it's the most useless of them all.  Basically, it has the POTENTIAL to make any attack knock the enemy's HP down to 1 (like a Nu, of course).  Unfortunately, that "potential" is only realized a RIDICULOUSLY small percentage of the time - in other words, it barely ever works.  And once you're strong enough, you can often just finish off enemies with one hit anyway.  So as lame as the mirrors are, they're fantastic when compared with the Nu Arcana.

IAmSerge

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2009, 02:59:28 pm »
equip haste helm, nu arcana, and apocalypse arm to robo.   Then just sick him on the lavos core over there on the right side.  =D

V_Translanka

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2009, 02:53:13 am »
I'm pretty sure the Arcana doesn't work against bosses.

IAmSerge

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2009, 03:11:06 am »
oh well.  then replace it with the berserker ring.


Chocobo_Fan

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2009, 02:58:21 pm »
Or replace it with a Gold Stud and replace the Apocalypse Arm with the Crisis Arm, and spam Rapid-Fire Fist instead, since that does more damage per turn on average.

Seriously, I don't know why everyone's all "Dragon Tear + Apocalypse Arm = instant win!" It doesn't. Even with the Dragon Tear, Robo only crits 30% of the time -- three times out of ten. With the Crisis + R-F Fist combo, you can deal ~6000 damage constantly unless you need to heal Robo back to a point where he has xx9 HP. On average, you'll find yourself doing more damage with that.

With Ayla, it actually is worthwhile to do that, since her techs can't outclass that damage like Robo's can. But by level ** you're pretty much gods already...

V_Translanka

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2009, 05:59:09 pm »
Ayla's final is at level 96~**, but you're right...Though from 72~95 her crit. hit % is way up to 35% (which I believe is the highest natural crit. hit % in the game) and can cause Chaos, which is pretty damn sweet for like the best straight physical attacker in the game...

but we're getting a bit off-topic...

IAmSerge

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2009, 07:30:18 pm »
Or replace it with a Gold Stud and replace the Apocalypse Arm with the Crisis Arm, and spam Rapid-Fire Fist instead, since that does more damage per turn on average.

Seriously, I don't know why everyone's all "Dragon Tear + Apocalypse Arm = instant win!" It doesn't. Even with the Dragon Tear, Robo only crits 30% of the time -- three times out of ten. With the Crisis + R-F Fist combo, you can deal ~6000 damage constantly unless you need to heal Robo back to a point where he has xx9 HP. On average, you'll find yourself doing more damage with that.

With Ayla, it actually is worthwhile to do that, since her techs can't outclass that damage like Robo's can. But by level ** you're pretty much gods already...

The reason it is win is because you don't have to wait for the lavos core to stop defending to do major damage.

Chocobo_Fan

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Re: The Elusive Mirrors...
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2009, 07:02:23 am »
Or replace it with a Gold Stud and replace the Apocalypse Arm with the Crisis Arm, and spam Rapid-Fire Fist instead, since that does more damage per turn on average.

Seriously, I don't know why everyone's all "Dragon Tear + Apocalypse Arm = instant win!" It doesn't. Even with the Dragon Tear, Robo only crits 30% of the time -- three times out of ten. With the Crisis + R-F Fist combo, you can deal ~6000 damage constantly unless you need to heal Robo back to a point where he has xx9 HP. On average, you'll find yourself doing more damage with that.

With Ayla, it actually is worthwhile to do that, since her techs can't outclass that damage like Robo's can. But by level ** you're pretty much gods already...

The reason it is win is because you don't have to wait for the lavos core to stop defending to do major damage.

Yes, but the probability is still so low that you're only likely to get, maybe, one hit in. It's not even that hard to make the right bit lower its defense... You can kill the left bit in one turn.

But V's right, we're straying off-topic.