Today I found out something very disturbing...

[Aerozord]

thats why it confused me, only enemies you'd want to use it on would be bosses since the fight would last long enough for it to matter. So of course I assumed thats what it was there for since there was no other use

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Bells

Yes, because we all know that Status magic (or "Green Magic" if you want to get nerdy) is useless and in most games it's there just for show as you waste one turn making the enemy weaker so you can cause more damage while you could've used that turn to heal yourself or cause -more damage-

Green Magic is an abomination upon man and should never be recognized.

Status spells in Black, White, Time, Sword, Summon, and Blue magic are hunky-dory.



For my own part, Icicle Inn in FF7. That area is nothing short of terrible and the map making you rely on vague landmarks instead of an explicit marker led to a lot of running in circles. The fact that Alexander was impossible to find didn't help much. In fact I think the path getting to the cave where you get it is one-way out in the sensible portion of the area, forcing you to go to the empty field and run to the right from the "top" of it. The only way I managed to get Alexander was to run around on the ice until Cloud slipped/passed out/whatever (I never could quite figure it out and it only ever seemed to happen on a specific patch of black ice dominating one screen), then make my way to the cave by using the cabin as a starting point. Then to get back to the cabin I just ran around until I found the ice screen again to save myself the hassle of the snow field.



Edit:

Originally Posted by Aerozord

thats why it confused me, only enemies you'd want to use it on would be bosses since the fight would last long enough for it to matter. So of course I assumed thats what it was there for since there was no other use

To be fair, FF7 made Bio actually do okay enough damage to justify using it once you had the MP to prop up its higher cost. Also, the Contain Materia is pretty awesome.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Kyanbu The Legend

Bosses usually tend to be immune to most/all stat damage. It's so common in JRPGs it's almost a standard.

Except for the Doom Train. We all know Phoenix Downs work on that boss.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Tev

Except for the Doom Train. We all know Phoenix Downs work on that boss.

I thought you meant the GF at first.

Speaking of, FF8's Doomtrain GF is easily the most useful in the game. The damage isn't great, but it attempts to slap every negative status in the game on the enemy, which includes Vit 0, which every enemy in the game is susceptible to. Even bosses! So casting Meltdown or Doomtrain on a boss completely wipes out said boss' physical and magic defenses.

[Flarecobra]

And statuses seem to become incredably useful in FF4DS... Slow was quite wonderful to use agenst the Demon Wall.

[Amake]

It's more of a rule than an exception that undead bosses can be revived to death. Even with the cheaper items that cure zombie status.

Mistakes I have made: In Warcraft 2, continue building Grunts/Footmen after the upgraded versions become available, "because they're cheaper". Also using Death Knight mana for skeletons.

In Diablo 2, put two skill points in Blessed Aim once.

In Sonic 1, 2 and 3, keep exploring levels until time runs out. I still do that.

And trying to beat Street Fighter 2 TWW with Zangief. Actually it worked, but it took about 120 rematches. 90+ of which against Vega.

[greed]

My big error I can remember is not knowing how to use Ellie's water powers in DKC3. This made several levels ridiculously hard and the boss where they're necessary a impassable wall until I called the Nintendo Hotline(remember that? this was before GameFAQs) and found out I should actually read the boring part of the manual instead of just skipping to the funny parts with Cranky and the character/enemy descriptions.

Originally Posted by Flarecobra

And statuses seem to become incredably useful in FF4DS... Slow was quite wonderful to use agenst the Demon Wall.

And stat effecting things (though not status) are so important in the SMT games that getting anywhere in the games without mastering them pretty much requires absurd overleveling. Something I learned the hard way the first time I played SMT: Nocturne. They're decently useful, though not necessary in the Shadow Hearts games too.

Status effect and stat buffs/debuffs are also really critical in Pokemon. They're the only three RPGs I can think of where they're actually useful though.

[Ryong]

Wasn't there a boss in FFX that was undead and had 19998 HP? As in, use two phoenix downs in a row to kill it?

[Melfice]

Originally Posted by Ryong

Wasn't there a boss in FFX that was undead and had 19998 HP? As in, use two phoenix downs in a row to kill it?

Yup.
The dragon you killed on your way to crashing the wedding showed up in the Via Purifico (I think?) and is quite a bitch (if I remember correctly). Unless you use those healing items.

[CelesJessa]

Originally Posted by Ryong

Wasn't there a boss in FFX that was undead and had 19998 HP? As in, use two phoenix downs in a row to kill it?

Also you could cast Zombie on Braska's Final Aeon and (if I remember right) Yu Yevon too.