A pleasant sunday... wait, monday to you! Hope you've been doing well.
I'm a bit swamped when it between hobbies and current on-going exams which are going to end early to mid august, just to keep you updated. I hope everybody can understand.
At least it's rainy and cooling down a bit, it's been pretty hot lately.

This banner is one many have looked out for for a longer time and you'll see why.
For one, this is the first banner that gives us 130% imperils! So if you're building your team, you might be able to benefit from that as they come with fire, ice, dark and wind 130% imperils. Now we're missing the other half!

Banner Review: CG Vaan SoF Vaan & DH Penelo Dancer Penelo by Memel0rd

 

##CG Vaan Seeker of Freedom Vaan:

Trust Master Reward : A Brother's Sentiments (Materia) - Increase physical evasion (20%)
Increase resistance to paralyze (100%)
Increase equipment ATK (50%) when dual wielding

STMR : Durandal (Sword) - 163 ATK, 30% Provoke, 30% Physical Evasion (doesn't stack btw)

 

###Overview: Vaan is the highly anticipated unit for quite a few reasons. Not his character though, not too many people like him as a protagonist.

His base stats are really well rounded with high HP, DEF and SPR but focuses a lot of his ATK. Which can be used properly unlike a good bunch of other breakers. And while he does have 100% TDH, his own TMR focuses on TDW, it's easier to cap and can use the 6x chain cap. Other than that, he has only 120% ATK, which is significantly lower than meta damage dealers.
In terms of survivability, he can be built in different fashions. His innate 70% HP and total 60% physical evasion can turn him into an evader extremely easily, and if you want some SPR and don't care about dealing damage, equipping a shield will grant another 40% SPR and 10% HP. In the meta section I'll go over the different build choices that SoF Vaan can utilise.
He's resistant against paralyze through his TMR ability and through his TMR, double the trouble, petrification, poison and disease, which overall are decent resistances but leave out important ones such as Sleep or Confusion. He does have a 100% beast / human killer though, which are very common enemy types and his damage is definitely not bad either.

SoF Vaan can W-/T-Cast all of his abilities except for Luminescence, which is a shame as it is his only form of chaining via Aureole Ray. With Dual

So you might be thinking, “really? Vaan?” And your correct, but, it’s always nice to think.

Tagline: “Vaan obtains Smash license!”

Vaan is a light middleweight who can double jump. An original concept for this moveset had him using different weapons from different jobs, like FFXII and Dissidia Duodecim I believe. But for this moveset, he will mostly be using his quickenings and swords, like he does in Dissidia NT and Opera Omnia.

Moveset

Specials

Neutral B: White Whorl. Vaan charges up a tornado, and can launch it.

Side B: Pyroclasm. Vaan throws two huge fire balls. The first traps the opponent, the next attacks.

Up B: Sword Dash. Vaan charges up in the air with his sword. Partially based off of the air dashing in Dissidia.

Down B: Red Spiral. Vaan launches a focused attack. Can increase the AoE like Din’s Fire.

Final Smash: Red Whorlclasm. Vaan combines all of his Quickenings to attack the opponent. The animation is mostly based off of the original FFXII.

Dash/Smash Attacks

Dash Attack: Slashes forward.

Side Smash: Ark Blast. One of the Concurrences in the original.

Up Smash: Swings his sword upward.

Down Smash: Whiteout. Another Concurrence from the original.

Jab/Tilts

Jab: A punch, a sword swing, and then a round kick.

Side Tilt: Inferno. Another Concurrence.

Up Tilt: Swings his sword upward.

Down Tilt: A lowkick.

Aerials:

Neutral Air: Swings his sword reverse grip.

Forward Air: Torrent. Another Concurrence.

Back Air: Throws a Pyroclasm Ball.

Down Air: Black Hole. Another Concurrence.

Taunts

Up Taunt: throws his sword in the air and says, “Hey, glad to meet ya!”

Side Taunt: Smirks and says, “Don’t get too carried away.”

Down Taunt: Turns around and says, “You know what. I’m through running.”

Voice

Kensho Ono and Bobby Edner reprise their role as Vaan from Dissidia and FFXII.

Honestly, any of balthier/basch/ashe would've been great. But we're stuck with this kid who's not even important to the story. Now I remember why I failed to finish this game way back then. Couldn't stand him.

[🔴 Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age #02 – Vaan Ratsbane (1440p 21:9 Ultrawide Gameplay)]

[ https://youtu.be/AiUXglRLc9E ]

Welcome to Conker87's Ultrawide Gaming! This is my FF14: Zodiac Age series, redone in Ultrawide. Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonFletcherGD. Please like, subscribe and upvote if you enjoyed this content! #FF14 ZodiacAge #Ultrawide

If the link doesn't work then there is a rogue backslash, comment and I'll remove it.

It's true. As much as I like Penelo, and as much as Vaan is a flagship character, Basch, Ashe, Fran and Balthier would be all I need. They'd drive the story enough and have great character arcs. It's not that Vaan and Penelo don't add anything to the story. It's just that I wouldn't miss them. In fact, I wish the story had started (roughly or so) with Balthier and Fran walking around Rabanastre right before breaking into the old Royal Palace, but I think I'll be OK with how the story turned out.

Of course, making Final Fantasy XII a four member party wouldn't replace Vaan or Penelo in the story, but it would make me see them as tag along kids who take a back seat to the adults (which seems to fit their actual role in the story).

Now when I get around to playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, it'll seems like one of the characters is actively babysitting them (unless Vaan and Penelo are in the party at the time).

Who do you guys think their new voice actors are?

I'm not saying that the character is necessarily bad, just that his arc takes the backstage halfway (or even before that) through the game as we are introduced to characters who are much more relevant to the plot and invested in the story's stakes, and he becomes more of the stand-in kid who is just there along for the ride and in a typical hero's journey of going from the nobody street kid to joining ''the rebellion'' in an adventure to topple the empire. I'm sure I've seen this trope before, I just wanted to know if it has a name. And I'm not talking about Decoy Protagonist, cause it often involves the character dying instead of just becoming outshined by the new ensemble of characters, which is the trope I'm looking for

I've scoured the internet, but no specific Vaan [FFXII] wig exists. It seems a standard anime style, but I can't find a proper one to order. Image: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRnc98pIJSr9EaKSJMPid4RulAaRTuAeuiNPubJCqf8dQFNVoI

I really don't get why this game isn't talked about as much as other games in the franchise. I guess it was released at a tough time, with PS3 on the rise and PS2 just finishing its trajectory, so I guess it was overlooked back then. But seriously, I'm finding it greatly amusing. It's a really fun game to play, the characters are cool, the whole design/visual aspect is amazing (digging the arab influences in the world), and the soundtrack is mesmerizing. I find it weird how FFXII never pops up when people talk about their favourite FF game -- it's always VII, IX or X. Anyways, I'm still halfway through the game, and one minor complaint is I feel it might be too long, even for a JRPG. But it is definitely a great experience and I'm loving it!

The what?!

What is a Vaan Solo Only Boss LP Board Low Level Game?

This is a very limiting play-through of Final Fantasy XII, using only Vaan and not levelling up. To make the challenge even more difficult, the only way License Points can be obtained are through killing bosses (hunts and Espers included). This challenge follows a specific set of rules, listed below.

--

How does it work?

In Final Fantasy XII all required battles reward no experience with two exceptions noted below. This allows you to play through the entire game without levelling up following a challenge called the Low Level Game (or 122333 - the base levels of all the characters) to be possible.

Similarly, when you obtain License Points you don't have to use them if you don't want to - allowing us to accumulate as much as we like before actually using them.

--

The Rules

1. No Experience (Low Level Game)

No levelling up. No obtaining experience from any monster. No killing of experience-giving monsters. The only two exceptions to this rule are the Dire Rats at the beginning of the game and the Battery Mimic in Barheim Pallace.

2. Guests Permitted

Guest characters (those which are not in your direct control) can be used. This includes those which appear in your party (e.g. Larsa) and friendlies found in specific maps (e.g. Rabanastre Watch).

3. Only Boss License Points

The only LP you can obtain is through boss and required battles. Event Monsters, Marks, Elite Marks and Espers, and the 3 Dire Rats and Battery Mimic included.

1. Vaan Solo

Only Vaan can be used for farming items and fighting monsters. All other characters can only be used for reviving Vaan. The only exception to this rule is the Battery Mimic in Barheim Pallace which will be killed with Balthier and Fran to prevent Vaan levelling up.

5. No Golden Amulet Accessory

Doubling LP is not allowed.

6. No Firefly Accessory

Only being allowed LP from bosses means a Firefly would be useless here anyway.

7. No "Boss Farming"

No killing the same boss multiple times to accumulate LP. (E.g. Chickatrice farming). If there are multiple boss enemies those can be killed, but do not respawn bosses to reobtain LP.

8. Quickenings and Espers Permitted

Quickenings and Espers can be used, as can anything else on the License Board apart from the two accessories mentioned above.

9. Only Vaan can use the License Board

This is mostly an extension of Rule #1 Only Vaan can use the Lic