David Hingtgen

IIRC the cruiser turn rates are so slow, that simple navigation is difficult, and searching for anamolies etc. Or has that been changed so that out-of-battle manuevering isn't so hampered?

HLJ now offers FedEx: http://www.hlj.com/overview/fedexems.html#info

In robot mode, inherently, in jet mode, as you say.

This thread lists the stats when maxed out for every weapon, and their effects: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/finalfanta...&pid=928790 May be useful for future planning etc. (really, the game itself doesn't describe weapon upgrading well at all) Also, from looking around the boards, any "strike" attack from Lightning is determined by her str, not her mag (I had thought it was so, but I like confirmation). So even as a ravager, she should go for str IMHO. (of course, that requires that you are controlling her and making sure she always does strike attacks whenever possible---an AI'd Lightning will mix in lots of spells as a ravager) PS--I've seen a few places say something about the enemies scaling/level with your weapon? Do they? How so? I mean, if I boost Lightning's to 20 or something, will the enemies become much tougher---that'd really kind of screw you if the rest of the party had weak weapons.

Yeah, by far the "prettiest" FF game, if not RPG period. I spin the camera around often just to see the world they made. Anyways---anyone know if later weapons "grow" faster? I've experimented a bit, and the growth rate seems awfully steady---like 6-8 pts, level after level, for most weapons. I keep expecting to find a weapon that is "just like an early weapon at first glance, but as you level it up it becomes stronger, quicker, thus making it notably superior after a while"---but I haven't. I just keep finding more variations of "same stats as something you already have, with the same growth rate, but requires more exp to grow due to having a only slightly useful bonus effect". (I've saved and reloaded many times to "experiment" with growing newly-acquired weapons to see how they advance) 90% of my characters are still on weapons found in the first couple hours of the game (like Sazh's bright yellow guns)--it's frankly boring and disappointing, since "equipping a different weapon" has been visible on-screen since very early in FF. But if no new weapon is worth changing to, what's the point? And even if later on there are inherently better weapons---it took way too long to get to them. 20+ hours with the initial equipment? Pointless to even HAVE a half-dozen weapon options.

I wonder if late in the game, weapon stats become pointless due to the zillions of STR and MAG you permanently acquire in the crystarium, and their abilities are more important. For now though, I'm keeping my characters with a pure mag or pure str weapon. (though at the moment a balanced weapon for Lightning would be useful due to a forced party--she's a ravager a lot of the time---but I'm not going to blow thousands of exp points to upgrade a different weapon just for this part)

I think Bandai/BigWest are kind of on a "M7 resurgence" kick, and the old VF100 poster (both of them?) showed/mentioned the MAXL. They wouldn't have done that if there was NO intention of making it--though it may be low on the priority list.

560 pts according to at least one site. That's a lot of money for hour-long DLC.

...but, but, I like Jetfire. I just display him propped up against the wall so you can only see jet mode.

Despite the fact that I bet I want one more than anyone else on this board, I think the odds of a VF-11MAXL from Yamato are low. Now a 1/100 from Bandai? Decent chance.

Ok, think I've got the blade figured out. Combine this: http://ibeatsephiroth.deviantart.com/art/F...otype-131151762 And this: http://www.cosplay.com/showpost.php?p=3074...amp;postcount=8 And you should get it too. Big thing--the blade does not SLIDE back, it arcs up and over and back on a swing-arm.

In gun mode there is a short but distinct barrel on the upper section. Balisong was my first impression too, I'd base it off that more than anything. Anyways---the fire eidolon is a much simpler battle than it looks. But it is frustrating simply due to the time limit. I died twice with only needing like 5 more secs. You cannot win by exploting the "unusual" way to charge the gestalt gauge, it takes far too long, you'll simply have to "build up chain attacks" as fast as you possible can. Rav/Rav, with the occasional Rav/Med. But if at all possible, maintain Rav/Rav while using potions---EVERY second counts. You will barely make it if all goes well. The "hidden/unusual" way is . Oh yeah---I was quite close to having the "haste" ability. I think that would have made it MUCH easier. So here is my tip: if at all possible, see if you can get to have "haste" by the time (very mild spoiler) . You will actually have a couple fights (and a boss) after that segment to gain some more CP, but that's a non-spoilery way to denote when you're getting close to that eidolon battle.

Knurling isn't some evil thing to be avoided---every transforming toy ever uses knurled pins. It's how they're designed---smooth areas to allow parts to glide by, knurled areas to grab parts and hold them tight. Some pins can have multiple knurled areas and multiple smooth areas, carefully arranged to allow some parts to move and some to stay put. Somehow, the clearances on some of the parts came out wrong on the V2 hinge parts, and it ended up that the pin rotated WITH the center piece of the hinge, locked to it--the part with the ball joint. That is not how a pinned joint like that is supposed to work--the knurling is there for the express purpose of PREVENTING pin rotation so that the plastic piece moves AROUND the pin independently, not with it. So the fact that the pin does move, means something else is wrong somewhere else in that joint assembly----namely, things are so tight and applying so much force to the pin that the knurling isn't enough to prevent pin rotation. I suspect the new pins are actually like .02mm narrower EVERYWHERE, thus freeing the center piece to rotate independently of the pin, with the pin staying fixed, like it was designed to. (the new hinges do operate properly---but removing the knurling alone wouldn't do that IMHO, it'd actually make it even more prone to pin rotation) It's just a lot easier to switch pins than to re-design or re-tool the hinges. And since the hinges are (now) known to be overly tight, even a smooth pin is now enough to hold itself in place and prevent itself from rotating.

Lately, I've been saving right when I get a new weapon (the 1200pt ones mentioned above), then spending a ton of points to see how it upgrades then reloading---so far none of the new group are superior IMHO---their bonus status effects are minimal, and it'd cost a lot of points just to get them up to where the other weapons are now---and spending the same amount of points would basically double the levels of the current weapons. "Belladonna" MAY be worth it---it does surpass Vanille's standard wand stat-wise and does supplement her abilities---but only minimally---may still be better to just keep going with her current weapon and wait for the NEXT one before switching.

The screw threads for most of the arm bits are finer than average--back them out until they slip in just *perfect*. Not just "good enough for most things" but PERFECT. Be sure you can get a good 3 resistance-free turns using just the tiniest effort, not just 1 or 2 turns with moderate effort.

I think I know what his next member title is...

Umm yeah---this really isn't the place to debate the whole concept of low-production transforming toy prices, as every Yamato/Bandai valk that size for the past 5 years has been right around that.

I have mostly "low str high mag" weapons equipped and upgraded. I mean, Hope is never going to be a commando, so I'm maxing out his magic for his ravager and synergist roles. Same for Vanille--it's about her only option really. Sazh is only "occasionally" a commando, so he too has a magic-centric weapon---and interestingly, his "most magical" weapon is more balanced than other character's equivalent. To me this says I'm on the right track for him. Lightning has the most-upgraded weapon, Gladius, as it's so blatant she's inherently a commando. It's actually a slight annoyance to me, as her original/cut-scene weapon looks so much cooler. But it's simply inferior to the Gladius when she spends 90% of her time doing pure physical damage. IMHO a "balanced" weapon isn't going to do much good in this game, as even with all the paradigm shifting, most characters still fall into primarily physical or primarily magical roles. PS---anyone found a diagram or something that shows how her gunblade unfolds? It's so fast I can't figure it out in-battle, and they rarely show it do it in cutscenes. (plus there's 3 forms, not 2) I know there's plenty of stuff showing how Cloud's Advent Children sword works, there's gotta be something similar for Lightning.

I have to second that. I buy pretty much any "female mecha" figure that exists in any form, and I passed on ROTF Arcee without a 2nd thought. It's just a mess of a figure.

My 10000th post. F-22 wallpaper: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulesafpilot/tags/f22/

Scale is scale. The VF-25 is simply a much larger craft than the VF-1 in "real life". They are to the same scale, but are very different sizes. If you want a VF-1 that is the same SIZE as a DX VF-25, you will need to get a different scale---like 1/48--which'd then be out-of-scale with every other valk. The VF-1 is just plain a lot smaller than other valks, it SHOULDN'T match the others in size. It'd be like if a Mylene or Ranka figure was the same height as Roy or Basara--they should be different sizes, or they'll look "off".

Many people (including me) loosened those screws for that exact reason.

Finally found a spoiler-free guide to it, and it turns out weapon upgrading is simpler than I thought: Organic components increase the bonus multiplier, mechanical ones take it away. I had thought that only certain components increased or decreased it and was trying different combos and trying to remember what worked (I never wrote anything down)---it's just that you need a certain number of exp points from a component for its effect to become apparent---and for the "weak" ones you may need to use quite a few to reach that threshold. I can "afford" to upgrade more often now, as now there's more options to get the bonus. (it's an utter waste to use high-level components without a bonus multiplier) In short---use any and all organic ones to get your multiplier up, then use mechanical ones for as many points as you can.

Seriously, someone here who knows Japanese needs to email Bandai and make sure they know that Grace's VF-27 should have "102" printed on the tailfins and the legs. Or ask if it will etc. The 1/72 kit includes those markings, but we all know Bandai's various divisions seem to have no contact with each other... I'll be very disappointed if Grace's is "blank" or just includes stickers. 102 is the only screen-seen number for a green VF-27, and with ret-conning the non-commander type of head, it's the only possible number for one that looks like Grace's. It'd just suck if they left it blank for "customization" of a cannon-fodder one---is there anybody who'd really want/care for a different number? Tampo-printed numbers look 100x better. And they're easy to remove if you really wanted to customize it, whereas it's impossible to print then on yourself. Also---that latest pic has the bit of paint that Brera's was missing on the hip-gun panel. (but no numbers on the tailfins---that causes me worry that they seem to have done their paintjob "tweaks" already yet not added proper numbers) ::edit:: Wait, the earlier blatantly-shopped pics had the missing paint added on too. Hmmmn.

Saw the huge display at Target and took a quick peek. I would like a non-spoilery answer to this question if possible: Comparing them side by side (3.75in versions), the only difference I could see between Mk IV and VI is the chest. Is that correct, or are the toys inaccurate?