Sunday, May 25, 2014

Farming Demon Zebra is rage-inducing. (Experiences of a frustrated Zebra farmer)

I hate this guy. Not because he was tough, oh no. I had more difficulty in the Noera Battlegrounds' FIRST LEVEL compared to this guy. It's just that his drop rate is insanely low...and I need another Dark unit. My last rare summon was a freakin' Aem. As if I didn't have enough Light units already!

Let's see... I have God Atro (Breaker), Knight Atro (Anima), Holy Queen Luna (Anima), Cyborg Lilith (Guardian), Cyborg Lilith II (Guardian), Legionary Melchio (Oracle, sadly), Hero Alma (sadly, another Oracle), Maiden Vanila (Guardian), and that Knight Aem I just summoned (Lord).

Now, Demon Zebra has a sizable amount of HP. Honestly, I found Creator Maxwell harder than Zebra. Maybe because when I fought Maxwell, my team was totally comprised of four star units that are barely at MAX level. If I'm not mistaken, they were Fire Knight Lava (Guardian), Holy Knight Atro (the current God Atro, Breaker), World Tree Altro (Oracle, unfortunately), War Captain Mega (Anima), and Queen Lidith (leader, Lord), with Champion Aem (Breaker) helper. Well, I DID use up all of my items and finished with a dead Fire Knight Lava, but I STILL beat him. Friend Aem was MAX level though.

Anyways, back to Demon Zebra. He is a Dark type unit, and, as you'd expect, he can Curse your units. His attacks can also inflict Injury on your units. His attack is off-the-charts high as a unit, but really, his defense sucks. So...if I ended up having this guy...no Oracle for me. Hopefully. My Bayley and Fennia were both Oracles, and my Vanila was a Guardian, so I'm not expecting too much.

My team for Demon Zebra the first time I fought him consists of Cyborg Lilith II (Guardian, and leader), Drake God Lodin (sadly Oracle), God Tree Eltri (World Tree Altro from Maxwell's battle, Oracle), Drake Queen Aisha (Lord), Commander Mega (War Captain Mega from Maxwell's battle, Anima) and friend Cyborg Lilith II (also Guardian). Spheres used were Burny Soul Stones (both Liliths), Cordelicite (Lodin), Flesh Armor (Eltri), Sacred Jewel (Aisha), and Mech Sword (Mega). Not the best selection of team and items, but it does the job well.

The first run of Zebra is not the easiest, as I'm finding current runs of Zebra FAR easier. Nevertheless, I beat him in 8 turns by spamming Brave Bursts as much as needed, using ALL of my healing pots (Cures and High Cures), and using a lot of Holy Waters and Tonics. Luckily, most of the BC ended up to both Liliths most of the time, and they often use their BB on Zebra. First turn BB by most of my units had this effect on Zebra. He also uses his 'weak' BB, Chaos Rage, on turn 1 of this run.


That's what happened. Note that Eltri was guarding at all times unless he was going to heal. At turn 5, and every five turns after that, I think, Zebra unleashes a strong Brave Burst, called 'Gravity Nova'. It's INSANELY STRONG if you somehow forget to guard, and I went from full health to this crap after that attack.





Yeah... Everyone was on guard mode though, and I vaguely remembered Eltri suffering from a Critical and a few added normal attacks from Zebra. Yes, Gravity Nova functions like that one accursed attack, Endless, from Creator Maxwell (as well as Cardes the Malevolent form what I read from forums and watched on YouTube), where during that Brave Burst, the guy just spams his normal attack at you. Not a pleasant experience. Especially when you're wasting Tonics over and over and over and OVER AND- GRAAAH!

I'm out of Blue Drops, Suzu Nuts and Buru Nuts. A farming spot for those three items that does NOT include the Friday Event Dungeon or the town's farm and river is greatly appreciated. Especially Buru nuts. I literally ran out of Buru Nuts for Demon Zebra and Palmyna Spirit World. I'm talking about the Alpha Behemoth and God Phoenix dual boss.

Anyways, BACK TO ZEBRA! I ended the battle with a large, victorious smile on my face when the rest of the people in my group of Brave Frontier players were busy with other stuff. It was like what? 10.30 pm when I beat Zebra? And I was in public, too! Well, it was my family's cafe but STILL! I literally had to double-check in case there weren't any glitches, because I did not believe my eyes.

This was how the battle ended.


Yep. Luckily, no Revives were needed that time. Bringing Eltri helped to reduce my usage of Tonics, but...the second time I used that exact team setup against Zebra, the guy ANNIHILATED my team. So I invested my time in getting my very first six star, Holy Earth Lance.

Remember that time when I raged about Lance not dying when he would just die the next turn, last post? Oddly, Lance is now my favorite unit in Brave Frontier. I started with Selena, and Lance was the second-last starter I obtained, but...he's my first six star. NO REGRETS HERE.







I was looking for the Defense buff from his SBB. This is Lance NOW, by the way. When I evolved him and leveled him up a few levels, I decided to do the Battle Maiden dungeon: The Lightning Bomber. For this maiden, I did three runs: one on level 1, where I tested the waters for my group (it's usually me who tests the waters for event dungeons and quests, usually to report my findings for general knowledge, while hoping that nobody does the same stupid mistake as I did), and twice on level 3. I totally bypassed level 2 so I could just go straight to the Gem. Free player btw.






If there was ONE thing I learned: Lodin is an extremely squishy unit as an Oracle. Also, I probably shouldn't have brought two healers. Damage output is a bit too small for my liking and I feel as if I should be able to beat Fennia easier if I were to replace Phoenix with another Lance. Which I did the next time I did level 3. And whaddaya know?





I got Fennia. But she's Oracle... I don't really mind though. I have Amy AND Lodin, and that makes me happy.

So I did the Zebra dungeon again, this time with a completely redone team. Oddly I ended up having a better time with the team, even when I'm using up all of my Tonics and Holy Waters.





Me likey. This was after Gravity Nova, and Lance forgot to guard after he used his Super Brave Burst. And the picture above is my current team. No healers. I'm crazy. But their levels have been raised, especially since I was going to attempt the new battle maiden earlier on. I literally just leveled my team members up this afternoon. Here are the stats (I will not be putting screenshots...for I will comment.)

Cyborg Lilith II (leader)
Level: 54
Type: Guardian
Element: Light
Leader Skill: Five Light's Force (50% power boost to all units when 5 or more elements are present)
Sphere: Burny's Soul Stone (10% boost to all stats)
HP: 4857
ATK: 1399
DEF: 1609
REC: 1370
Brave Burst: Divine Blaster (12 combo massive Light attack on single enemy)
BB Level: 1 (I know, that sucks.)

Drake Queen Aisha
Level: 60
Type: Lord
Element: Fire
Leader Skill: Pulsating Retribution (BB gauge fills greatly after each turn)
Sphere: Sacred Jewel (IDK why either...but it provides 15% boost to all stats, so maybe that's why.)
HP: 5595
ATK: 1672
DEF: 1587
REC: 1630
Brave Burst: Dragon Rage (40 HP damage on one opponent- wait this isn't Pokemon. Instead...it's a 10 combo powerful Fire attack on all enemies)
BB Level: 1 (It's sad, I know!)

Commander Mega
Level: 75
Type: Anima
Element: Water
Leader Skill: Water God's Power (50% power boost to all Water units)
Sphere: Mech Sword (DON'T ASK. PLEASE. 5% boost to all stats...)
HP: 4904
ATK: 1565
DEF: 1097
REC: 1752
Brave Burst: Cyclone Disaster (6 combo Water elemental power attack on all enemies)
BB Level: 2 (Well, that's slightly better.)

Drake God Lodin
Level: 48 (No comments please.)
Type: Oracle (Noooooo.....)
Element: Thunder
Leader Skill: Five Light's Force (50% power boost to all units when 5 or more elements are present)
Sphere: Cordelicite (10% boost to ATK and DEF of unit)
HP: 3892 (Pitiful.)
ATK: 1758 (Insane.)
DEF: 1136
REC: 1469
Brave Burst: Dragon Discharge (Increases all allies' BB gauge and adds Thunder element to attack for 3 turns; i.e. Aisha can deal more damage to Water units, even if her element is Fire, when Lodin's BB is under effect)
BB Level: 3

Holy Earth Lance (HELL YEAH!)
Level: 67
Type: Anima
Element: Earth
Leader Skill: Earth Creator's Power (50% power boost and 10% HP boost to all Earth units)
Sphere: Flesh Armor (10% DEF and HP boost goes well for a tanker like him)
HP: 5582
ATK: 1516
DEF: 1631
REC: 773 (The worst in my team.)
Brave Burst: Eternal Symphony (8 combo powerful Earth attack to all enemies)
BB Level: 10 (Which brings us to...)
Super Brave Burst: Mistral Barrage (10 combo Earth elemental attack on all enemies AND provides a great boost to all allies' DEF for 3 turns)
SBB Level: 7 (Too focused on Lance!)

Then...the new Battle Maiden dungeon became available: Queen of the High Skies. Same thing with Fennia: I probably tested the waters again first with level 1. I did level 3 twice and got Vanila. Very painful experience and more wasting of Tonics.





I needed those Fujin Potions for Lance's SBB. Very much needed when she spams her BB almost every turn, so I had to forgo the Stimulants.

Then I tried doing Zebra again. Nothing.

That was my sixth try overall and I was running out of Tonics AND Holy Waters FAST. So I'm forced to hold off the Zebra farming until I replenish my Tonic and Holy Water reserves.

So, before I end this mini-rant on low drop rates and the horrible RNG...I have a few questions.

1. Will my current team (plus Tiara or Phoenix helper, but most probably Tiara) be able to beat Cardes the Malevolent? If not, any suggestions? I'll probably be putting up a list of all my units AND all my spheres in a future post. Please remember that I am a FREE PLAYER.

2. Where are good places to farm Buru Nuts, Suzu Nuts, and Blue Drops that does NOT involve the Friday event dungeon?

3. Is it the best strategy to play mono when going against a Miracle Totem, or is a rainbow team with Five Light's Force better?

4. Be honest: How hard is it to farm Zebra? How many runs did you guys do before obtaining him?

Answers will be much appreciated, especially for number 2. I NEED TONICS!

Well, that's all from me. Bye!