Is your battle speed set to fast or normal? I suggest slow for those battles because they are a pain in the ass and the added time does help organize better.

There is so much advantage to all the shifting and knowing when to do it so your gauge is automatically full for the next round. I generally start with commando and 2 ravagers, then switch to all ravagers if possible...if not then stay on that, and bounce back and forth of rav/rav/com or com/rav/com then heal if need be.

If multiple enemies I tend to stick around com/rav/com since each com will attack a different enemy keeping them unbalanced.

Right now in Chap 9 all the battles so far are obscenely easy since I started will full crystaled characters. I am sure you were meant to grow through the chapter, but nope

 

Personally, for easy/average battles, I start with rav/rav/rav or com/rav/rav and just try to stagger as fast as possible, focusing on one enemy at a time. Rav/rav/rav does stagger faster but the gauge also drops a lot faster without a com, so you have to make sure to keep those attacks going.

For tougher battles, I'll usually start with med/syn/sen, just so i can keep my party in top shape while they get buffed. After that I'll switch to either one of the super offensive paradigms mentioned above, or if I need a sentinel, use com/rav/sen. If shit hits the fan I'll switch to med/med/sen.

On another note, Axis Blade is a really great weapon for Lightning that is worth upgrading. Lionheart is a good one too but you don't get it until chapter 12, and even then it's still debatable as to which is better... but I still prefer Axis.

 

In case you didn't know you only need to hit the person once with a commando for the gauge to slow up, then go rav/rav/rav for the super fast build up. For tough battles I start with Com/syn/sab. That combo does wonders.

I switched to the Axis when I first got them. I now regen 1.5 ATB gauges after every combo with them. I used to use Gladius and they are level to 5. When I start leveling I will start with Axis. I missed Fang's Gae bolg which sucks balls.

Again, I wish I could turn abilities off from the AI chart. I HATE cura when I am really hurting. Shoot 3 cure's to each hurt person then I can switch faster to a rav/rav/com or something similar.

 

When I'm "really hurting" I use two med's, one of which I control (Lightning). Even if the AI uses Cura, I will either do the same or use Cure... but either way, it's always enough healing to get by. For a healer like Hope, he eventually gets Curasa and Curaja... which are both great healing spells you can look forward to getting.

Do you know about Synthesized Abilities? With certain equipment combinations, you can get a bonus effect. For example, there is an ability called Boost that increases your ATB rate by 10%, so basically it gives you an extra attack for every 10 you perform. To get this particular ability, one way of doing it is equipping the Axis Blade and the Whistlewind Scarf. But there are other weapons and items that work together as well. This effect also stacks with haste and can go up to 20% or 30% depending on how many items out of the set you have equipped.

Here is a guide to Synthesized Abilities for those without the official strategy guide... http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genme...topic=53981295

 

^^
Yeah the hidden abilites are great. I have Hope and Vanille (Low HP power surge and High HP power surge.)

That is a nice write up on it. Looks like it was pulled right from the guide.

 

Holy fawk! Just fought the boss for Chapter 9 and FUCKING AYE! This is going to take some time. The guide also lied to me about a certain aspect...

 

:rofl: Attack him while he powers up his huge attack... ones he grunts (this weakens it significantly) heal up too 100% before he unleashes it.

 

I think I'm grinding this game a bit. I'm at 30 hours and just finished chapter 9. When I completed it and looked at my crystals, I had 55,000 points to use. :doh:

[spoiler=for those who finished ch 9]I've unlocked the ability to use any of the skills for my characters. Did you guys even bother making them learn anything new? Is it a waste of points?[/spoiler]

 

The newer levels are very costly. For example the final levels cost like 40k each crystal.

There is a good page in the guide that will help you decide about your spoiler part. page 66-67.

 

[spoiler=ch 9 boss] I easily get rid of the 4 "heads" then you have 432k hitpoints on the body. The guide says he will cast doom when he is almost dead. He cast it on me when he had 280k hitpoints left. I think next time I fight him I will veer away from staggering him since after that is when he will use destructo. Maybe then he won't use doom so early. I think I also called in Odin too soon. I called him in once I staggered him so I can beat the shit out of him...seems like the battle will take like 30+ minutes...joy of joy.[/spoiler]