NG- Difficulty and Reverse

[john]

Hello. I'm looking at a next playthrough in the future, and one of the things I'm curious about is the NG- difficulty. Specifically, how difficult it is to complete the game's content WITHOUT using Reverse and other "cheese" strats.

I'd ideally want to choose a meta job comp and follow a guide for the playthrough. But the idea of watching Reverse status falling off isn't something I myself would enjoy, no disrespect to experts of the game who've done very impressive things

Thanks for any feedback

[Hinnyuu]

That depends on what you mean by "difficult".

Most of the game is fairly trivial without Reverse, and it's really only the big superbosses where this is most useful. But it's not REQUIRED - even something like Yiazmat is entirely doable without Reverse, it just requires more care and attention.

Level doesn't actually lower your defense as such. Enemy damage is calculated based on THEIR level, not yours - so a lvl 1 character will, in principle, take the same damage as a lvl 99 character in equal gear.

The real difference is the HP. You'll still get the same HP from lores/gear since those are absolute gains, but your overall HP pool will be significantly lower because you don't get the level-based base HP increase. How much that is depends on what you're comparing to - it could be up to 5,000-something HP vs. a lvl99 character, but few people ever get to 99 in a regular game, and you certainly don't need lvl99 to beat any of the superbosses. At lvl60 the difference is more like 2,500-3,000 HP, though that certainly isn't nothing, especially when accounting for Bubble.

That makes some hard-hitting superbosses like Yiazmat harder, but not undoable.

It also depends on how you define "cheese". There's a number of strategies that you could use that some people may consider cheese and others may not. Is using Wither cheese? Is using element-boosting equipment cheese? Is kiting enemies or using terrain to your advantage cheese? Those and many others are all purely a matter of personal preference. And how hard or easy things become varies with those preferences.

It's not IMPOSSIBLE - that's the objective bar, whether it literally can or cannot be done. And it can. Most of everything else is up to you to decide whether you WANT to do it or not, and how.

[Lukja]

Originally posted by theorybind:

Thank you for that feedback :naru:

Yeah, I appreciate your clarity in wanting to define cheese. For me, it's mostly reverse that was deterring me from trying a NG- playthrough.

I'll definitely go for NG- next time I replay and go for the Platinum. :launchpad:

If you really want to try something hard/difficult I might recommend the Struggle for Freedom mod.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Lukja:

If you really want to try something hard/difficult I might recommend the Struggle for Freedom mod.

Especially the Proud Mode version!

I've seen it make people cry on stream.

[Chere]

As an FF12 veteran, I can say one thing: the story on NG minus is a breeze. The endgame and secret espers however are so tedious even I couldn't stand it. So yeah, my personal recommendation is Struggle for Freedom instead. It has Reverse removed, by the way, as far as i remember

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Chere:

my personal recommendation is Struggle for Freedom instead. It has Reverse removed, by the way, as far as i remember

It does indeed. Most of the cheese is removed - no Reverse, no Wither, and many things tend to have too much HP for Big Bang to be super OP, either.

You want to survive Yiazmat in Growing Threat state in SFF:Proud Mode? Buckle up, son.

[LowPriorityCitizen]

Would a NG- in SFF or even the Proud Mode doable?

[mono_sloth]

After hearing all the praise about the SFF mod here, I'm even more interested in trying it after beating the game normally.