The Let's Play Archive

Final Fantasy V

by Mega64

Part 45: BERSERKER JOURNAL NUMBER ONE THORG AM BEGIN ADVENTURE

BERSERKER JOURNAL NUMBER ONE THORG AM BEGIN ADVENTURE


So the Berserker. It's shit.

This is exactly why I'm going to play the game with nothing but them.


They have a significant Agility penalty and no Magic. In return they get Strength and Stamina. Except not really since they have worse than the Monk in both.


The elephant in the room is that I have no control over battles. The Berserkers will attack random targets each round. No abilities, no healing, just attacking endlessly. In return I get a 50% bonus to damage.

Considering the Berserker's further bugged on ATB, it comes out to significantly less than what practically any other class will do over time. And you can't just use a hi-potion or not swing mindlessly every turn. Nope, gotta fight.


The Mythril Hammer is the most expensive weapon in Karnak, so I pick one up with the discount.

code:
ATTACK TYPE (HEX: 34) (Axes)
Hit% = Weapon Hit%, Evade% = Target Evade%
   Attack = (Weapon Attack/2) + (0..Weapon Attack)
   M = (Level*Strength)/128 + 2
   Defense = (Defense/4)
Apply Row modifiers to M
Damage = (Attack - Defense) * M.  Max Damage = 9999.
Behold, my bread and butter. Axes are the one saving grace for Berserkers due to the quartered defense. Despite showing only 28 Attack, in practice the Mythril Hammer can be anywhere from 14 to 42, and it'd take over 100 defense to negate their attacks.

The problem is it only has 80% accuracy, and that's before the target's evasion. Besides getting no control and few turns, Berserkers tend to whiff. A lot.


I also do something I would otherwise never do and turn off the ATB bars. With the Berserkers it always appears full so I don't get any useful info. Of course, with no ability to heal or use magic it's not useful off. Damn.


Besides their axes, Berserkers get knives.

code:
Hit% = 100, Evade% = (Target Evade% / 2)
Use Knives Damage Parameters
   Attack = Weapon Attack + (0..3)
   M = (Level*Strength)/128 + (Level*Agility)/128 + 2
   Defense = Defense
   Note, due to a bug, only the first byte of (Level*Agility) is used
Apply Row modifiers to M (6.5.2).
Damage = (Attack - Defense) * M.  Max Damage = 9999.
Knives have the full 100% accuracy, and on top of that they halve evasion. Furthermore, this Mythril Knife has small variance in attack, 23-26. While they don't poke through defense or sometimes score big like axes, they're more reliable. The Berserker's 50% damage boost can make them hit hard enough, sometimes.


So I grind. Berserkers can't heal in battle, so I have to be a little overleveled to not die before my enemy does. And I need to purchase full sets of Mythril armor and a bunch of restoratives for these jerks.


And Eye Drops. Blind persists after battle and cuts accuracy by 3/4, meaning a Blind Berserker might as well be dead.


After a while we get the Berserker's first ability. It sucks. Don't use it. Just stick with functional abilities like !Peep or !Chakra.


Turns out Berserkers don't get fun hats! Fuck. I was wanting the Green Beret's stat boosts.


Liquid Flame, the first boss after the water crystal, is a fine demonstration of why you should never use Berserkers.


This could've been patched up with a Cura pretty easily, but since we can't, we just have to hope he dies before us. The Berserkers keep triggering form changes with their piddly little axes, which makes the Blazes and Firas pile up.


And they kept missing.


If you want an image of the future...


The second time, the dice fall slightly differently and Liquid Flame pops before Thorg and friends pop. A lot of this challenge is hoping the RNG agrees with you.


Considering how slow Berserkers are to fight, I might cut it close for once in my life.


I get the second mantle with relative ease.


And the Main Gauche, too. It's 13 power over the Mythril Knife and has a 1/3 chance to parry attacks. Stack these two tresures with a shield and one character has a very high chance to avoid physicals.


I get out with plenty of time, even after looting a lot of gil and elixirs. Iron Claw didn't even have time to transform. I think I'm just practiced.


It always bugs me to leave that Ribbon behind, even when I know I can't use it. It's a Ribbon, goddammit.


Hey more jobs I won't use.


Most of the library is boring, but I did remember in time for Ifrit that I can record videos on VBA.

So here is THORG VS. FIRE GUY


The Ninja Suit has the same defense as the Mythril Armor, but it's lighter and gives extra agility. This won't have any real effect on the Berserker's fucking slowness but I just gotta believe.


Fun fact about this fight.


You can run from it.


And now, THORG FIGHT BOOK MAN


If you want the summary of a 6 minute video of me not pushing buttons, Byblos mostly uses attacks that don't really do much to Berserkers and only uses Wind Slash once.


We still nearly lose because he is really really hard when you don't have any fire attacks.


At Jack Hole there's an upgrade to the dinky Mythril Knives. The Mage Masher has a 1/3 chance of casting Silence, a welcome addition for the one or two times it'll be relevant.


There's also new axes but I hold off on them since there's something even better just waiting for me.


The Ninja suits probably don't help as much as I think they do but trust me, soon enough I will be made of gil.


The Mage Masher's silence proc in action. Now the bombs can't explode!


Boat's gone but we've got something even more important here.


The Harvester, silly looking guy at the top, has a very valuable rare drop. Thankfully he's in every formation on Crescent Island.


If we can actually get through them.


But eventually, my luck finally turns up.





43 attack, significantly more than any axe for a long time. Furthermore, it has 5% more accuracy than the Ogre Killer and it has a 1/3 chance of procing


Good ol' fashion Death. A lot is vulnerable to instant death.


Of course, I grab a set for the whole team. Now we're ready for...

Oh god

the next boss is Sand Worm

NEXT TIME: