Garbs. Hard Mode. etc

[Birna]

Hello, I have played through the game once already and now I am in ng+ in Hard mode. I am seeing a lot of new weapons and garbs in the shops, but they are so expensive! I dont really have that much gil so I will have to choose which ones I want carefully.
I am wondering if there are any essential purchases?

I currently have Masamune sword and the Asteria staff, I am not really sure which ones I should be upgrading and shields I do not have much idea about. I have looked online for guides but they are not very easy for me to understand, they mostly seem just a list of all the garbs and things but there are so many of them...

Out of the ones I already have I know which are the good ones but I do not know about the expensive ones in Hard mode.

Thank you for any help.

[jclee4843]

I like gears that has +ATB Speed and avoid ones that give +HP. After one or two playthroughs, your HP is high enough even without any +HP gears.

[OTIS]

Try Final Fantasy Wiki. they list all of the garbs and weapons plus the bonusses they give, as well as how to acquire them.

[Birna]

Its not really much help, as I already said in my post I have no problem to find basic information on the garbs and weapons - basically the exact same information which the game will provide when you hover over the item, the stats, what it does etc. But what I really am wanting is some opinion or experience with them. Lets be honest of the hundreds of items in this game only a handful (or two!) are actually useful.
The wiki and sites like it, they say "This garb does X" But never really say what X is or what it means. Many items will say for example "increases damage" but does not say how much, there is no way of knowing whether an item is worth purchasing without some opinion rather than plain copy paste.

I guess I will stick with the Equilibrium+, Soldier of Peace, Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit and Electronica. And Masamune, Asteria's Staff.

I really wish there was a system to skin the garbs onto other ones. I am bored of being stuck in the same ones.

[jclee4843]

If you don't have problem clearing contents, you can use any garbs, weapons you want.

[Birna]

I am sailing through Hard mode very easily so far. Snow, Caius, Noel were all disappointingly easy, but I am not looking froward to Bhunivelze, he was too difficult for me the first ng in just normal mode.

[jclee4843]

Bhunivelze is a big jump in difficulty. Did you also delete aeronite in hard mode? If yes, you don't need to worry about optimizing your gears and garbs. Just use the cool looking ones :P

[Birna]

I defeated Aeronite in Normal mode only, I have not yet tried him Hard mode maybe tonight I will.

[Birna]

I just killed him in Hard mode, yay! Did not use any Ether either so I can save those for Bhunivelze.

[cutekitty]

hey everyone u are all welcome to add me if u like , its nice to make new friends with alot in common to play games with too, also i have a question do any of u have a fav garb u like best? i have so many i love them all alot but wanted to use one at a time to use as my default to take screenshots to see what u all think.

[Birna]

Hey kitty!

I love the garbs in this game so much, there are so many to choose from! What I like the most is there is a nice variety in the amount of skin shown/how sexualised they are, something which we do not usually have much choice in when it comes to rpg games. Dont get me wrong I am not against a revealing outfit but it is nice to not be forced into it for the entire journey, and have something a bit more realistic or serious.

Anyway, my favourite ones for appearance are:

champagne gold
dark orchid
intruder (black colour with pink trim and red tie)
l'ange noir (again black)
l'automne
loyal servant (black)
miqo'te dress (dark blue)
rhapsody in rose is ok
velvet bouncer
woodland walker (black)
midnight mauve
electronica

I also like the Samurai looking ones but I dont think they really suit the game or Lightning that much.