Walkthrough:Final Fantasy XIII/FlamesofRebirth/Part 4

Page Four- Snow, you're nothing but talk. - FlamesofRebirth

Completely Random Introductory Quote-

Awake, my spirit! Think through whom
Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
And then strike home!

Lord Byron, On This Day I Complete My Thirty Sixth Year

Chapter 3

Branded

Lake Bresha

This chapter starts off with a solid 15 minutes of cut-scenes, separated only by a 20 second battle and 5-10 seconds of holding the left analog stick forward.

Battle- Ghast x 3
The tutorial here is just the absolute basics of the battle system, so don't bother unless you really aren't getting it for some reason. These are the same enemies you just fought in the Pulse Vestige, but check out how quickly you can take them down now! Now that everyone is a L’Cie, they all get a third ATB segment like Vanille. After the battle you will get access to the paradigm menu and the Crystarium. I made this little graphic to show my recommended paradigm deck for each section, my strategies will be based on having these setups. I'm not 100% satisfied with the way it turned out, but it's the exact same color scheme that the in-game menu uses.

Paradigms

Paradigm Deck- Lightning, Snow, Vanille
Relentless Assault	Ravager	Commando	Ravager
Diversity	Ravager	Commando	Medic
Tri-Disaster	Ravager	Ravager	Ravager
Aggression	Commando	Commando	Ravager
Solidarity	Commando	Sentinel	Medic
Thaumaturgy	Ravager	Ravager	Medic

Here’s the basic plan for “random” encounters from here on out. Start off with Relentless Assault to quickly stagger the enemy and take them out. Go to Diversity for healing. As for the rest of the deck, Tri-Disaster will raise a chain gauge faster than anything, but you need to hit with a Commando first so the gauge stays up. Aggression will really do damage to a staggered foe, but if there is more than one enemy the Commandos won’t attack the same one, so only do it if the enemy is solo.

"Pulse tainted rats" - Sazh

Move ahead until you reach a fork in the road. Go left first.

Battle- Ghoul x 4, Ghast
They are guarding a Pearlwing Staff, a magic boosting weapon for Vanille. Equip it now. Also give Vanille an Iron Bangle for her accessory. Since this is a dead end, go back to the split and take the other path.

Battle- Wight x 3, Ghast
Right next to them is a sphere with 7 Chipped Fangs. Move ahead until you jump across a broken bridge, at the top there is a treasure sphere off to the right with 200 Gil.

Battle- PSICOM Warden x 7
When you reach this battle you will have the option to see a tutorial on Inputting Commands. I already told you what you need to know, but waste your time if you want.

A Vision Shared

If you stop where everyone is standing around, Snow will make introductions. Your datalog is now updated with info on the major characters, check out the entry on the Chocobo Chick for an interesting theory. As always, keep following the mini-map.

Battle- Ghast x 3, Wight x 3
Off to the right side there is a little dead end area with a sphere, you'll get 5 Cie'th Tears.

Battle- Breshan Bass x 4
This may be the first battle where you actually change paradigms (use the L1 button if you didn‘t know), as they can all gang up and damage one character. After fighting these guys, go off to the left instead of following Snow.

Battle- Breshan Bass x 4
After defeating this group, pick up the Silver Bangle behind them and put it on Light. It's another dead end, so go forward the only way you can.

Battle- Pantheron x 4
There's a Phoenix Down right behind them, on the left. Just beyond them is another sphere off to the right of the path. It's only 50 gil, but it's better than nothing.

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Battle- Pantheron x 2
Just beyond them you can pick up 8 Strange Fluids on the left side of the road.

Battle- PSICOM Enforcer x 2, PSICOM Warden
Right behind them is an little alcove on the left containing a Magician's Mark, which boosts magic power.

Partings and Promises

You might want to make use of the Crystarium now, before you cross the wrecked train. Say hi to Serah, then get ready to get reacquainted with an old friend.

Boss Battle- Manasvin Warmech (last time, I promise)

You're grasping at straws, son.

Sazh

Manasvin Warmech
		Status Susceptibility Deprotect Deshell Slow Poison 70% 70% 70% Immune Imperil Curse Pain Fog 70% 70% 70% 70% Daze Death Dispel Provoke Immune Immune - 100%
Statistics HP Stagger Chain Res. 32,400 160% 50 Strength Magic 44 0		Vulnerabilities Fire Ice Lightning Water - - Weak Weak Wind Earth Physical Magical - - - -
Strategy I know we already beat this thing twice, but he's got some new tricks up his sleeve this time. Good thing he held back on the first two encounters, or you would have been toast. Luckily, we also picked up a few new abilities along the way, so this battle shouldn't be very difficult. It's basically a test to see if you've figured out how the Paradigm Shift system works. I told you what you need to know already, but there’s a tutorial here if you want it. The only thing to watch out for in this battle is Crystal Rain. It does serious damage, so don't let your HP get too low, especially on your party leader (Light). When you see him ready this attack use Solidarity if she isn't at full health. Afterwards just go back to the normal attack pattern. One other quick note- use Libra at the beginning of boss battles to quickly learn the enemies weaknesses. This is very useful, as the AI will attack the weak points as soon as they are learned, making the battle go much more smoothly. You gain TP back gradually after every battle, so don't be too shy about using them (but don't waste them needlessly either).

"This whole place is Crystal!" - Vanille

After the fight, Snow leaves the party and Sazh takes his place.

Paradigm Deck- Lightning, Vanille, Sazh
Relentless Assault	Commando	Ravager	Ravager
Diversity	Commando	Medic	Ravager
Tri-Disaster	Ravager	Ravager	Ravager
Thaumaturgy	Ravager	Medic	Ravager

What else are you going to do but move forward down the linear path?

Battle- Breshan Bass x 3
After dispatching these annoyances, cross the bridge and go up to a dead end on the right. You'll find 6 Strange Fluids, then jump over the edge instead of backtracking.

Battle- Pantheron x 4
Up ahead you'll see two precarious tubes spanning the gap. Vanille is standing by the one on the right, but take the left one first. At the bottom is 240 Gil and Deneb Duelers. Equip these on Sazh for now, and if he doesn't have an accessory yet give him an Iron Bangle or maybe the Magician's Mark. Go back across and take the other tube.

Battle- Bloodfang Bass x 5, Breshan Bass
To the right and a little bit behind you there is another tube, take a quick detour that way.

Battle- Bloodfang Bass x 4, Breshan Bass
They guard the sphere with 6 Enigmatic Fluids. Go back up and move forward.

Battle- Pantheron x 4
These guys are pretty much at a dead end, so pick up the 7 Wicked Fangs, then backtrack toward that dark red dot on the mini-map. It’s close to where Hope and Vanille are standing. You will get the option to activate the machine and open up the path at the other end of the bridge below you. If you don’t see the option to activate it, move your camera around so you’re actually looking up at the control panel.

Battle- Bloodfang Bass x 6, Breshan Bass x 3
You may want to spend all your CP before moving on.

Boss Battle- Alpha Behemoth

Are you serious?

Sazh

Alpha Behemoth
		Status Susceptibility Deprotect Deshell Slow Poison 70% 70% 70% 70% Imperil Curse Pain Fog 70% Immune Immune 70% Daze Death Dispel Provoke 70% 70% - 100%
Statistics HP Stagger Chain Res. 20,250 500% 0 Strength Magic 125 0		Vulnerabilities Fire Ice Lightning Water - - - Weak Wind Earth Physical Magical - - - Half
Strategy This guy will be fought as a regular enemy later on, but for now he's a mini-boss. View the tutorial to hit him with a Libra while he can't act, then hit him with some Relentless Assault. To really run up his chain gauge in a hurry, you can switch to Tri-Disaster. Just make sure you hit him with a Commando occasionally to keep the chain from depleting too quickly. As always, switch to a paradigm with a Medic when you need to heal, he can hit fairly hard. Like most enemies, once he is staggered this battle is pretty much over.

To the right of this battle is a small dead end area with a Librascope, so pick it up before moving on.

"Cut the crap" - Lightning

This is about the halfway point of this chapter, so I'm going to cut this page off here and pick it back up on the next one.

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