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NysM/ .+NN- -MM: +MM`-. oM.NM. `oM/sMMy -MM` .MooMo .mM:yMh `MM- +MM` yMhNM: oM::MMy .MM. /MddMs -MM-oMm `MM- +MM` dd dM/ oM:`NMy `MM. `oM./Mh `MM-sMh `MM- `yMN/ :Nd.dMy` `yM+ yMy -NM/` `:dN-oMm. +NdNm- /MM/ .:-.` `.` `.. -sNNNo.-yNd+ /mMMMy` sMM- od` /h-.:dMh dMd -N. y `NM. .NMsm: `. hM. /MMs dd hMm` `---. -N- .mNMy .///- `d: `d+/MM/ y: sy yMN. `s- /m` `mMd .s. :` -N/ /MMy .myyyyyhy /yho. .shhhs. `yhhhhhhh. LADY LUCK Dice Guide Started: Dec 20, 2011 Last Updated: Dec 22, 2011 Author: Blankety Blank Man (Brian Shields) Contact: blanketyblankman@gmail.com Version: 1.0 Copyright 2011 Brian Shields ========== [0000] Contents Of This Document ========== Search for the four-digit hex code next to each section in order to quickly jump there. [0000] Contents Of This Document [50BF] Legal Information, Hosting Permissions [EAB3] Revision History [2F60] Introduction ---------- [0B81] What Is Lady Luck? And Other Important Questions [91AC] Reasons To Play Dice [1D5C] How Chains Work [D24E] Calculating Dice Damage, Comparing Dice [DC95] Conclusion ---------- [931F] Credits ========== [50BF] Legal Information Hosting Permissions ========== This document is written by and copyrighted to Brian Shields. This is intended for private use, and may not be used in any form, in part or in whole, as part of a commercial enterprise. It cannot be given away as a prize or bonus gift, or for any public endeavor not mentioned herein. Failing to heed these directions is in direct violation of copyright law, which may result in fines and/or incarceration. This document is protected by United States and internation law. Unauthorized reproduction in part or in whole may result in civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. All intellectual property not owned by the author of this document is copyright of their respective companies or individual owners. -- I accept emails requesting permission to host my guides on alternate sites. Any host is required to maintain the intengrity of this document without modification, including file format. I will not bear responsibility for maintaining up-to-date versions of this document on alternate hosts. Alternates hosts must ensure their version of this document is up-to-date on their own. I will only update this document on my primay host(s), which are: - www.gamefaqs.com ========== [EAB3] Revision History ========== Version 1.0 December 22, 2011 - Completed filling out sections of the guide - Submitted to GameFAQs Version 0.1 December 20, 2011 - Project begun - Core information included ========== [2F60] Introduction ========== Welcome to my first Final Fantasy X-2 guide! I have authored other guides in the past, for other games, for various platforms, but never before have I worked on FFX-2. I figured the existing guides covered everything anyone needed to know. However, during my most recent playthrough of the game, I found myself curious of exactly how good the two Dice powers were for the Lady Luck Dressphere. I tried looking up the information in other guides, and on the GameFAQs board, but I came up short. So I began compiling the information I did have, at the time simply as a thought exercise, but now I'm fleshing it out into a fully-fleged guide. This guide will briefly touch on what the Lady Luck Dressphere can do besides the Dice, as well as briefly touch on how to obtain the Dressphere. But those things aren't what this guide is about. This guide is about those ever-so-tempting chance cubes which turn fiends into pyreflies. ========== [0B81] What Is Lady Luck? And Other Important Questions ========== o) What is the Lady Luck Dressphere? The short description given by the game for the Lady Luck Dressphere is "Try your luck and take on foes with Dice and Reels". The longer description, viewable from the Dresspheres menu, has this to say: Attack with luck. Watch foes quiver in suspense when you play Random Reels. Or, use Tantalize to mess with their heads! Well, if they have heads. Lady Luck has low HP, and doesn't have particularly stellar stats to make up for it. This Dressphere is mostly popular for the Random Reels' 7/7/7 prize, "CONGRATS!", which will give you all the rewards of bribing a creature, without paying any gil or losing out on Exp. Some players may also consider obtaining the Dressphere to be a challenge to be beaten (take that, Shinra!), and some who manage to obtain it may use it simply to justify the effort spent. o) How do you obtain Lady Luck? The easiest way to get Lady Luck it to win the Sphere Break tournament you get thrust into if you visit Luca in Chapter 3. In order to win, you must beat three opponents (without losing three times yourself), and then finally beat Shinra in the finals. I say "easiest", but it's really no small feat for a Sphere Break newbie. Shinra only gives you 15 turns, 45s per turn, and requires a quota of FIFTY! On top of that, if you were using the Save Sphere between games to ensure you don't lose 3 times, a reset after losing to Shinra means you mean to win your third match again (you get pitted against Shinra immediately after winning your third game, so no chance to save). If you fail to get Lady Luck in Chapter 3, you can try repeatedly during Chapter 5, but the challenge is harder at that point. One piece of advice for people having trouble with Sphere Break: before each turn, you can see the entire board except for the core sphere. Take time to analyze the board before tharting the clock. Plan your moves while the timer isn't running. Have a piece of paper or a computer handy nearby. And try to use up your high-numbered coins first (as unused 9s will disappear anyway). Aim for 3-coin combinations to build up an Echo multiplier, and you should do OK. Until Shinra throws a string of core spheres with a 1 on them and you curse at your TV. o) What are the 'Dice' abilities? Lady Luck has four Reels abilities (Attack, Magic, Item, and Random), and two Dice abilities (Two and Four). Your girls start off knowing Attack Reels, and can learn each of the other three in order. You don't know either of the Dice abilities at first, but Two Dice only requires 20 AP to learn, and then you can start working on Four Dice, which requires 100 AP. Both Dice abilities are attacks, plain and simple. When using Two Dice, your character (predictably) summons two large six-sided dice (and I do mean LARGE - about the height of a person's knee), and tosses them. When the dice stop rolling, the results are displayed on-screen, and the targeted enemy is hit a number of times equal to the sum of the two numbers. Four Dice works much the same way, except that four dice are summoned, and instead of hitting a chosen enemy that many times, the hits are spread randomly among all enemies in the battle. But wait! There's more! If all of the thrown dice come up the same number, you get a bonus multiplier to the base damage of the attack. Two Dice grants a x2 multiplier, while Four Dice grants a x4 multiplier. But that's not all! If you roll all 1s, you get an even BIGGER damage multiplier: x20 for Two Dice and x100 for Four Dice. While the Dice never get quite as impressive as a Cat Nip-powered Trigger Happy, they can put out some impressive damage (sometimes), and they're available MUCH earlier than Cat Nip is. ========== [91AC] Reasons To Play Dice ========== Why go to the moon? Because it's made of cheese, that's why! You may not have any control over Dice like you do with Reels, but that's part of the fun of it. (Also, if you're trying to power through battles holding down the X button, Dice works but Reels don't.) As mentioned above, Dice can pull off some nice damage, especially against enemies with high defensive stats. You see, Dice ignores ALL defenses. That includes Defense, Magic Defense, Evasion, Luck, Protect, Shell, Reflect, and ALL elemental affinities. The unfortunate flipside is that you can't do much to raise the damage of your Dice, other than increasing your level. So take the dice in hand, and pray for a chicken dinner! We're in for a ride! ========== [1D5C] How Chains Work ========== Before we get further into figuring out Dice, we should investigate exactly how Final Fantasy X-2's "chain" system works. First: Whenever your girls score a hit against an enemy (of any type) soon enough after it has been previously hit, you'll add +1 to your Chain score, and you'll see "Chain +1!" or "Chain +2!" and so on over the damage dealt. The game just tells you that chains result in higher damage, but it doesn't get into any more detail than that. This includes when the same girl scores multiple hits in succession, such as the regular Thief attack, or, more relevant to this guide, the Dice ability. (When reading this section, remember that chains work both ways - enemies can build chains against you just like you build chains against them.) If you go too long without adding to the chain, the chain count will reset, so it's in your best interest to maintain the chain as long as you can, since it will up your damage. Of course, that's not always possible. For example, due to the way magic and certain special abilities are handled, you can't chain them together. Enemies (and your girls) can get in each others' way as you run around to make a melee attack, lengthening the time between chain links, making it easier to break the chain. And of course, getting hit in the middle of your attack can stall you long enough to break the chain as well. Now, exactly how much benefit does a chain provide? The first chain link (the second successive attack) geta a 45% damage bonus. Each attack after that gets an additional 5% bonus on top of that (so, the third attack gets a 50% bonus, the fourth attack gets a 55% bonus, etc.) If you have a very long chain of attacks (say, a lucky Dice or a fast Trigger Happy), this Chain bonus can end up adding a HUGE amount to your damage output. Even just having all of your girls in their Thief outfit attacking at once can add a substantial amount of damage. ========== [D24E] Calculating Dice Damage Comparing Dice ========== Caution! Numbers ahead! In this section, I will be presenting some numbers as fractional damage. The game will round these numbers. I present the fractions, as they're being used in calculations where the fractional part matters. So, we know how much damage the Chain mechanic will add to our Dice. But how much damage does it start with? It's actually quite simple. The base damage for Two Dice is twice the caster's level (so the base damage for a level 43 Lady Luck is 86). The base damage for Four Dice is the caster's level. Dice's damage cannot be avoided, and the damage cannot be reduced. There is no means to increase the Dice damage, and it cannot score a critical hit. This makes calculating the damage you're going to do very easy. Let: L := Caster Level C(N) := Function to calculate bonus damage multiplier on the Nth chain link T(D,M) := Function to calculate the damage of the Two Dice ability, where the result of the roll was D, and the bonus damage multiplier is M (this should be 20 for rolling 1,1; 2 for rolling other pairs, and 1 for all other rolls) F(D,M) := function to calculate the damage of the Four Dice ability, where the result of the roll was D, and the bonus damage multiplier is M (this should be 100 for rolling 1,1,1,1; 4 for rolling other quadruples, and 1 for all other rolls) c(N) = 1.4 + 0.05 * N } N >= 1 Undefined } N <= 0 T(D,M) = 2 * L * M } D = 1 2 * L * M * C(D-1) + T(D-1,M) } D > 1 Undefined } D < 1 F(D,M) = L * M } D = 1 L * M * C(D-1) + F(D-1,M) } D > 1 Undefined } D < 1 This is a piecewise linear function (C), and two piecewise recursive linear functions (T and F), together which can calculate any Dice damage. The function T has a higher minimum value than F, but lower mean and maximum values. At a glance, this means that Two Dice is more consistent than Four Dice, but Four dice is capable of greater damage if you're lucky. The question is whether that extra bit for getting lucky is worth the extra four mana. In order to answer that question, we'll have to investigate both the distribution of damage values to determine how likely you are to get higher damage with each ability, as well as the absolute difference in damage between the two. For Four Dice, the mean (average over time) damage is 31.92 per level. However, the mode (most common) is only 23.75 per level. That mode is about 4.3% of the maximum possible damage when comparing to rolling 1,1,1,1, but that number goes up to 14% when excluding the outlier of 1,1,1,1. If you drop 6,6,6,6 off the table as well, then the mode is up to 53.4% of Four Dice's maximum potential. Four Dice's mean damage is 6.5% of its true maximum, or 19% when dropping 1,1,1,1 and 80.5% of the maximum if you also exclude 6,6,6,6. By the same token, Two Dice's mean is 31.57 per level, and the mode is 20.9 per level. The mode is a whole 21.3% of Two Dice's true maximum, compared to the single-digits of Four Dice. when dropping the top two results, Two Dice's mode reaches 26.5% and 58.8%, respecitvely. The percentages for the mean on Two Dice are 23.6%, 29.3%, and 65%. Already, we see that you're much more likely to reach the maximum damage on Two Dice than on Four Dice. But is the lower probability of reaching maximum damage worth the higher maximum? Two Dice has a damage range of 7.9-98 per level, vs. Four Dice's 7.1-550. Yes, Two Dice has a higher minimum than Four Dice. (Remember, the minimums are 1,2=3 and 1,1,1,2=5, but Two Dice's base damage is 2 * Level, while Four Dice's base is just Level.) On the same total, Four Dice will never do the same amount of damage. Specifically, Two Dice will deal twice the damage of Four Dice with the same dice roll. However, Four Dice is guaranteed to deal more damage than Two dice on a roll of 3,3,3,3, 4,4,4,4, 5,5,5,5, 6,6,6,6, or 1,1,1,1. Rolling 2,2,2,2 on Four Dice is the exact same damage as rolling 4,4 on Two Dice. Barring doubles/quadruples, Four Dice beats Two Dice on rolls of 20 or more (an 8.4% chance). One more thing... Stopped enemies. Chains cannot be built against targets suffering from the Stop status. This, of course, removes a portion of the damage from both Dice abilities. Not much differs here, except for how close to 'maximum damage' any given roll will be. Since a roll against a stopped enemy doesn't include bonus damage from a Chain, the formula for Two Dice is, for example, Roll * 2 * Level, multiplied by 2 or 20 if you rolled doubles. This reduces the distance between damage values, meaning a roll of 1,5 is much closer to the maximum damage against a stopped enemy than against an enemy not suffering from stop (20.25% vs. 17.86%). Of course, since every damage point is affected in the same way and you're rolling the same dice, the chances of getting any particular result is the same. Without further ado, here's the full listing of damage for any given roll. Damage is 'per level' -- a roll of 1,1 is 98 damage at level 1, or 196 damage at level 2 (98 * 2), or 9702 damage at level 99 (98 * 99). Damage vs. stopped enemies is included for completeness. In the game, rolls may be in any order, but here they are presented with each die in order from lowest to highest to make reading easier. Four Dice Two Dice Roll Hits Damage Stopped Roll Hits Damage Stopped 1,1,1,1 4 550 495 1,1 2 98 80 1,1,1,2 5 7.1 6.5 1,2 3 7.9 6.9 1,1,1,3 6 8.75 8.1 1,3 4 11 9.9 1,1,1,4 7 10.45 9.75 1,4 5 14.2 13 1,1,1,5 8 12.2 11.45 1,5 6 17.5 16.2 1,1,1,6 9 14 13.2 1,6 7 20.9 19.5 1,1,2,2 6 8.75 8.1 2,2 4 22 19.8 1,1,2,3 7 10.45 9.75 2,3 5 14.2 13 1,1,2,4 8 12.2 11.45 2,4 6 17.5 16.2 1,1,2,5 9 14 13.2 2,5 7 20.9 19.5 1,1,2,6 10 15.85 15 2,6 8 24.4 22.9 1,1,3,3 8 12.2 11.45 3,3 6 35 32.4 1,1,3,4 9 14 13.2 3,4 7 20.9 19.5 1,1,3,5 10 15.85 15 3,5 8 24.4 22.9 1,1,3,6 11 17.75 16.85 3,6 9 28 26.4 1,1,4,4 10 15.85 15 4,4 8 48.8 45.8 1,1,4,5 11 17.75 16.85 4,5 9 28 26.4 1,1,4,6 12 19.7 18.75 4,6 10 31.7 30 1,1,5,5 12 19.7 18.75 5,5 10 63.4 60 1,1,5,6 13 21.7 20.7 5,6 11 35.5 33.7 1,1,6,6 14 23.75 22.7 6,6 12 78.8 75 1,2,2,2 7 10.45 9.75 1,2,2,3 8 12.2 11.45 1,2,2,4 9 14 13.2 1,2,2,5 10 15.85 15 1,2,2,6 11 17.75 16.85 1,2,3,3 9 14 13.2 1,2,3,4 10 15.85 15 1,2,3,5 11 17.75 16.85 1,2,3,6 12 19.7 18.75 1,2,4,4 11 17.75 16.85 1,2,4,5 12 19.7 18.75 1,2,4,6 13 21.7 20.7 1,2,5,5 13 21.7 20.7 1,2,5,6 14 23.75 22.7 1,2,6,6 15 25.85 24.75 1,3,3,3 10 15.85 15 1,3,3,4 11 17.75 16.85 1,3,3,5 12 19.7 18.75 1,3,3,6 13 21.7 20.7 1,3,4,4 12 19.7 18.75 1,3,4,5 13 21.7 20.7 1,3,4,6 14 23.75 22.7 1,3,5,5 14 23.75 22.7 1,3,5,6 15 25.85 24.75 1,3,6,6 16 28 26.85 1,4,4,4 13 21.7 20.7 1,4,4,5 14 23.75 22.7 1,4,4,6 15 25.85 24.75 1,4,5,5 15 25.85 24.75 1,4,5,6 16 28 26.85 1,4,6,6 17 30.2 29 1,5,5,5 16 28 26.85 1,5,5,6 17 30.2 29 1,5,6,6 18 32.45 31.2 1,6,6,6 19 34.75 33.45 2,2,2,2 8 48.8 45.8 2,2,2,3 9 14 13.2 2,2,2,4 10 15.85 15 2,2,2,5 11 17.75 16.85 2,2,2,6 12 19.7 18.75 2,2,3,3 10 15.85 15 2,2,3,4 11 17.75 16.85 2,2,3,5 12 19.7 18.75 2,2,3,6 13 21.7 20.7 2,2,4,4 12 19.7 18.75 2,2,4,5 13 21.7 20.7 2,2,4,6 14 23.75 22.7 2,2,5,5 14 23.75 22.7 2,2,5,6 15 25.85 24.75 2,2,6,6 16 28 26.85 2,3,3,3 11 17.75 16.85 2,3,3,4 12 19.7 18.75 2,3,3,5 13 21.7 20.7 2,3,3,6 14 23.75 22.7 2,3,4,4 13 21.7 20.7 2,3,4,5 14 23.75 22.7 2,3,4,6 15 25.85 24.75 2,3,5,5 15 25.85 24.75 2,3,5,6 16 28 26.85 2,3,6,6 17 30.2 29 2,4,4,4 14 23.75 22.7 2,4,4,5 15 25.85 24.75 2,4,4,6 16 28 26.85 2,4,5,5 16 28 26.85 2,4,5,6 17 30.2 29 2,4,6,6 18 32.45 31.2 2,5,5,5 17 30.2 29 2,5,5,6 18 32.45 31.2 2,5,6,6 19 34.75 33.45 2,6,6,6 20 37.1 35.75 3,3,3,3 12 78.8 75 3,3,3,4 13 21.7 20.7 3,3,3,5 14 23.75 22.7 3,3,3,6 15 25.85 24.75 3,3,4,4 14 23.75 22.7 3,3,4,5 15 25.85 24.75 3,3,4,6 16 28 26.85 3,3,5,5 16 28 26.85 3,3,5,6 17 30.2 29 3,3,6,6 18 32.45 31.2 3,4,4,4 15 25.85 24.75 3,4,4,5 16 28 26.85 3,4,4,6 17 30.2 29 3,4,5,5 17 30.2 29 3,4,5,6 18 32.45 31.2 3,4,6,6 19 34.75 33.45 3,5,5,5 18 32.45 31.2 3,5,5,6 19 34.75 33.45 3,5,6,6 20 37.1 35.75 3,6,6,6 21 39.5 38.1 4,4,4,4 16 112 107.4 4,4,4,5 17 30.2 29 4,4,4,6 18 32.45 31.2 4,4,5,5 18 32.45 31.2 4,4,5,6 19 34.75 33.45 4,4,6,6 20 37.1 35.75 4,5,5,5 19 34.75 33.45 4,5,5,6 20 37.1 35.75 4,5,6,6 21 39.5 38.1 4,6,6,6 22 41.95 40.5 5,5,5,5 20 148.4 143 5,5,5,6 21 39.5 38.1 5,5,6,6 22 41.95 40.5 5,6,6,6 23 44.45 42.95 6,6,6,6 24 188 181.8 ========== [DC95] Conclusion ========== A few key points: 1) You are more likely to get closer to your maximum damage using Two Dice. 2) If you bomb the roll, Two Dice will do more damage. In fact, only half of the Four Dice rolls score more hits than Two Dice is capable of, and thanks to the bonus damage on doubles, those aren't necessarily enough to deal more damage than Two Dice. 3) Rolling all ones will net you more than five times the damage using Four Dice compared to Two Dice. Other quadruples will net you a little over twice the damage of the corresponding double. But you're five times more likely to make doubles on Two Dice than quadruples on Four Dice. 4) Four Dice costs twice as much mana as Two Dice. In order for that cost to be worthwhile, Four Dice would need to deal twice the damage at the same chance, or four time the damage at half the chance, etc. This is not the case. Two Dice and Four Dice are on equal footing when it comes to rolling all ones. Four Dice will deal five times the damage, at one fifth the chance to get the roll. And, while you can get non-quadruple rolls on Four Dice that will beat any non-double roll on Two Dice, the chances are slim. And all of the other quadruple rolls are not worth it when compared to the other double rolls. That's not even considering the effort required to obtain Four Dice (100 AP *after* obtaining Two Dice, which requires 20 AP and no prerequisite). -=- CONCLUSION: Use Two Dice over Four Dice -=- However, there's one subject I haven't really covered. Two Dice targets a single enemy, while Four Dice spreads itself randomly over all of the enemys in the battle. If you need an area attack for Lady Luck, that's quite useful. The problem is that you can't control how the damage is spread. You would be better off learning how to game the Reels attacks for offensive moves that hit all enemies at once (the single-target Reels results are no better than Four Dice at dividing the damage even if you get multiple lines on one Reel, and often they're worse due to the wait times). However, for someone who's not very good at the Reels abilities (and/or isn't willing to "cheat" by pausing the game), Four Dice would be a decent replacement as an area attack. But Four Dice is worse in most ways to Two dice when used against a single target. THE ONLY TIME FOUR DICE IS USEFUL AGAINST A SINGLE TARGET IS THE 8.4% CHANCE THAT YOU ROLL EITHER A 20+, OR ROLL QUADRUPLES. Four Dice may still be useful for hitting multiple targets. ========== [931F] Credits ========== Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that I filched the calculation for the Chain damage multipler from Split Infinity's general guide to the game (which credits Zeruel for the information). This calculation would be easy but extremely time-consuming to figure out, so I'm glad someone else went through the trouble. It deserves accredation, even if I don't knock on their door asking permission to use a basic fact about the game's battle system. Beyond the Chain calculation and some sort of boilerplate thanks to Squeenix for making the game, all content in this guide is original work, credited to me, Brian Shields (Blankety Blank Man). Thanks for reading!