Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Some interesting global exclusive 6* characters coming up.
Kinda intrigued to see if they'll be any good.
Levelling up Cerius because I like her attack animation and hoping she gets some cool/unique buff skillz.
Also pulled snow, so my ideal Tank team of Cecil, WoL, Charlotte, Snow and Leo will be complete.

"White Knight Noel" definitely has what looks to be a great TMR. +50 to MAG and DEF. Now, the MAG won't be as good as Vanille's TMR for 6* mages with maxed Smart Pots (30% on someone with 170+ base MAG is better), but her TMR increases SPR as well, rather than DEF, and those mages could probably use a good boost to DEF. But a 5* base character, and likely won't return after event. Looks like this "White Knight" is a Magitek Armor pilot, playing a tank role.

"Santa Roselia" is someone likely to be much more popular than "White Witch Fina." Roselia has been excellent for healing as it is, despite no enhancing abilities. A version of her that can go to 6* sounds very hopeful. However, the event after that will also have a 6* healer that I'll likely end up getting after going all-in on the banner (Luka, the Water Priestess).

I just recently got rid of a Cerius unit I had, and sure enough, she's getting a 6* this week. Not sure how much I need a pure Green Mage, but I know there will be one within the next few months that I'll be sure to get (Minfilia, who will also come with a 5-6* healer, Y'shtola). Medius... I have no frickin clue, but I doubt he'll suddenly become a big thing; you'd have to have two Romandan Pistols to make him anywhere near awesome anyways. I'd rather wait for the Gunner Maid to show up.

Congrats on Snow. I know I definitely hope to pull him at some point, but only as a means to create the ultimate fist fighter. And to do that, I'll need two Champion Belts from him, Kaiser Knuckle from Xiao, and total victory from the latest JP Trial Boss, Aigion (The Aigion Arm, a 145-ATK Knuckle; and Knuckle Mastery, a +50% ATK materia).
And put all of that on Prishe. Because I'm definitely aiming to get her in the future too.

Ah, so the holiday event will be the first Raid Boss for Global. So it pretty much looks like "Do as much damage as you can to the boss. Win or lose, you will still gain points for it." The 'boss' you fight will have a much more limited amount of HP than the Raid will show, but that just means there's a maximum amount of damage you can do to it before having to make a new instance (I don't know whether this will use Raid Orb tokens or Energy to participate. JP did not have Raid Orb tokens in their first few Raid Bosses).

Rewards I believe come in two different varieties- Raid Coin purchases and Raid Point milestones, both of which are earned in battle. Actually, this event might not have Raid Coins, but they're certainly showing the milestones. As for the event's unique gear, the shield looks decent, and may as well keep the gun, since there aren't many good ones outside of Romandan Pistol (Mustadio TMR). No idea what kind of milestone setup it's going to have, but I would assume most people would stop bothering after the first Trust Moogle milestone. There's likely going to be more than one, but the second would likely require ten times the amount of points as the first, with the first needing quite a bit of effort to begin with (I'm talking 100,000 points versus 1,000,000). For the record, I didn't even get the cheaper Trust Moogle in the XIII event, because even that wasn't worth the NRG versus Earth Shrine farming. Gaffgarion is starting to get to the last 20%, I'm throwing Trust Moogles at Chizuru for the time being, and as my current Trust solos start maxing out, I'm throwing Celes units in to replace them. I have three Celes copies, and I figure I only need/want one Minerva Bustier. After Celes, I'll do the same with Leo (DEFINITELY only need one Aegis).

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE FFXIV RAID BOSS EVENT.
If there is ever a time to put as much effort into a raid boss event as possible, it's that one. If our version of it is anything like the JP version of it, that will be an event where the event units are earned as Raid Coin gacha or Raid Milestone rewards, rather than Lapis/Summoning Ticket gacha. For point references, I believe Y'shtola, the 5*-base healer (highest rarity for the event), required 800,000 Raid Points to be earned via Milestone rewards, but you could get her with Raid Coin summoning if you're VERY lucky.

Oh boy. Happy New Year, and no sign of a premium New Years bundle. I had hopes riding on that... but if that doesn't show up, that means I have over 50 Summoning Tickets and 12,000 Lapis to spend entirely on summoning. If that won't get me Dark Fina (HOPEFULLY THIS WEEK), it'll be the worst.

Good luck! Hopefully that will be enough!
(If not, credit card fraud is always an option!)

I'll be pulling as well, but not too heavily. (On the plus side, I haven't had a 5* crystal since Elza, so maybe I'm due...)

For now, I'm relieved that I was correct in my prediction. By going all-in with this, I'll probably end up getting way too many Elles, but I can turn that into a decent accessory for tanks or healers. And I don't have a 6* healer yet, so Luka can cover that (and her TMR can definitely benefit healers) until I either pull Refia at random or we get another Brave Frontier event which will awaken Tilith.

I already have three TMRs completely grinded out specifically for Dark Fina, and a fourth that should be finished on Thursday with a bit of luck. If you have a Rydia, be sure to start equipping her with Empress Birch from the upcoming event, since she's the only other character that can properly use it.

Well, when it comes to pop stars, I'm not sure what is more disturbing-

- Tetsuya Nomura's Gackt fetish, and how he shows it off in the titles he directs
- Brave Exvius Global Team's decision to put Ariana Grande into the game

That said, the Ariana Grande unit is designed from one of her more fetishy outfits: black vinyl skirt, top, and bunny cowl. Haven't really heard her music, and I doubt the outfit alone will get me to go after this unit seriously. That is, if the unit is 5* base on a summoning banner. If she's 4* base, or she is one of those few one-of-a-kind free units (like Maxwell), then why not.

Over 70 pulls today.
No luck with Dark Fina.

In fact, only one summon was a rainbow crystal, turned out to be a troll-rainbow, giving me Garnet. However, I should still have at least 30 more summons available to me before the Dark Fina featured summon goes away. Sure, she'll still be in the summoning pool, but this feels like my only chance to "reliably" get her. But what I was able to get through all those summons-

- Zidane #2 (Another Dual Wield. Hello, Firion & Noct teamup)
- Warrior of Light (Future best breaker, tied for best tank)
- Chizuru #2 (Because you know Firion will probably need that Blade Mastery too)
- 3 Mustadios (bringing me to 4 overall)
- 3 Cecils (bringing me to 4, plus my already-mastered main)
- 2 Bartz (Hello, extra Doublehand for future 6* Garland)
- Hayate (best hat)
- Miyuki (the katana I need if I'm going to have 2 high-damage attackers with Blade Mastery)
- 5 Luka (already fused one away to make room, but I might consider multiple of her TMR, and she'll pretty much become my top healer for a bit)
- 5 Elle (probably only want one of his TMR)
- Snow (Will Champion Belt go to Warrior of Light for DEF/Winged Saint, or to Firion for ATK/Kaiser Knuckle? Doesn't matter once Prishe gets here.)
- Vanille (one of the best caster accessories)
- Mercedes (Though as powerful as that axe is, I don't know how many people can utilize Axes well, besides Mercedes herself)
- 2 Gaffgarion (More Bracers? Garland will be glad to have them!)

I'm not even sure how much I can regret not getting Dark Fina after a draw session like this.

Well... I thought I'd save and do an 11 pull... no dark Fina.

I did pull three of Freya, I Didn't even realise she was on this banner.

It's been confirmed. PVC-bunny Ariana Grande will be a free unit (likely rewarded from the Vortex event the weekend after Akademia (Type 0) starts, rather than straight-up gift), 4* base, 6* capable. I guess the biggest question is how she'll compare to Ramza. Make no mistake, Ramza's strength is in his BARD capabilities. He becomes essential post-enhancements (Party's stats ALL+100% for three turns, at the cost of taking Ramza out of active play). And I wonder if she'll have some really strange boosts based on equipping instruments. I'd hate to think I wasted a bunch of Gilbert units I could've used to make a Dream Harp.
Also, much to my disbelief, this was a big idea for the JAPANESE market of FFBE. She's not Global Exclusive. She'll also likely be stronger in JP than in GL, much like how Noct's Ring of the Lucii has much more to it in JP than in GL; but that's probably to be expected considering how brokenly superior many units in JP have been getting.

I've also now joined the 700 Club. Hopefully you can start getting some REAL good use out of my Noct.

I'm up to 4 Bartz units now. Pretty sure I'm only ever going to need/want one copy of Doublehand. Still not sure of how I should be prioritizing my next few TMRs. I could go Bartz x4 and Cecil x4, getting myself Doublehand and Excalibur #2 fairly quickly before/around the arrival of 6* Garland. Though I might want to hold off on prepping Garland until Ability Awakenings come, favoring weapons for Firion instead: starting Snow's Champion Belt, then getting two Xiaos on Kaiser Knuckle, and the new Chizuru on Blade Mastery #2. Dual Wield #2 is a no-brainer though.

Daily Draws for Dark Fina are now done.
I should hopefully still have 11 tickets coming my way in the Akademia event (spending them on the Dark Fina banner, not the Ace banner), one or two tickets from daily login, and if I can get those event tickets fast enough, I might try to go on a questing spree to gather lapis for one more 11-draw.

Congratulations on reaching700! I'll definitely be using my team to .. stand around while Noctis does all the work...
Ariana ... still not sure if I love or hate the idea of real life celebrities in the game.
Still a free 6* capable unit is always handy.
Looking at the most recent news it looks like there will be a bunch of grinding to get the materials for her awakenings and exclusive items.

On other 6 star news I got Seven and have *nearly* got her to the level cap.
She's using Dark Fina's whip and acting as my Mage for the moment.
Now running elite with her and friend unit Sevens to get that trust Moodle

Unfortunately, "Dangerous Ariana" is not looking to be on par with Ramza, at least not without getting some major Ability Awakenings of her own. Best she has is two songs, one that's +60% ATK, one that's +60% MAG; both will take her out of active play for 3 turns while she sings. I'd get better usage out of Paladin Cecil for ATK with his Limit Burst.

Meh... I'll probably still gather all of her equipment and at least get her awakened to 6*, just to get it out of the way. Seriously though, trying to imagine Dark Fina wearing her outfit (minus the bunny mask)... too bad it's "Ariana only."

And speaking of Dark Fina, I'm left at an important decision... actually spending money on this damn thing. I'm running through all the new story quests now and gathering as much lapis in a hurry as I can. When I get 2000, I can buy the $49.99 package and have enough for... two x11 draws. $50 for 22 characters, goddammit... I really don't know just how much I want her, that I'd break this silent rule I have for myself of not spending real money on free games.

EDIT: Nope, not doing it... not even for her...
Crap, I hope this doesn't kill my interest in the game...

Well, good on you for not paying, I hope RNGesus smiles on you for it.

In the meantime I am enjoying Seven's attack animation (tartan skirts and upside down spinning kicks? Yes, please)
and her 'injured' / lounging seductively pose

I only recently got into this game last week, usually main Record Keeper over this. I do like the substance in it but there seems to be a lot more grinding, especially with awakening. I got Ariana to lvl 99 easily enough with her unique awakening items so she's my best character by a large margin. Hope to get more into it and grow my team more. Although from the pulls I've done, I am having no luck with it, nothing greater than level 4

You're in luck. For the next ten days, they're doing a daily free summon. And once the next banner starts, you'll have a good shot at Xiao. Going by what the announcement says, she's going to have a MAJOR boost to ATK at 6*, but we'll have to see what that entails when it arrives this week.

That Rooster themed Chocobo rider is going to have a huge impact on top tier units. Especially Firion, as the optimal setup is Katana + Knuckle for him. Not sure how Ling's skill set will turn ou, but she has a lovely sprite and the strongest dagger weapon I've seen this far (minus the eventual dual wield dagger), and that dagger is a fan.

Also, let me know if you need me to open up a space in my friend list. I'm sure my Noctis will come in handy for the new event, especially if that boss is a beast type.

Oh sweet, I only noticed the free summon there, pulled a 4 star Hope. Tell me is it better to get a higher level character and level them up from there or get a lower and level them up higher stat wise?

Sure, my number is 661,073,972

The big reason you'd want a character to be summoned at their lowest rank is if they are a character with a very good Limit Burst. The biggest (or perhaps only) case of this is (Paladin) Cecil, because at 6* rank, his LB increases ATK, DEF, and SPR at a very high boost, and can be used very often due to his High Tide trait. At lower ranks, Limit Bursts require fewer points to level up, though they have lower level caps that you can't break without going to the next rank. Hope is a 4*-base character, so you can't get him at a lower rank anyways.

Also you're at full capacity on friends. If you open one of your own slots, my number is on the first page.

Added ya there now. One massive complaint I have for this game, the great need to spend your lapis on increasing item space, especially material

Just a heads-up:

Lunar New Year's event, Attack of the Jian, changes EVERY DAY. I don't know if the quest itself changes, but the missions and their rewards will change. So be sure to participate every day and get each day's rewards. Attack of the Great Jian shouldn't change though, and that's the one with the major unique rewards.

Something I didn't notice until pretty much now: Dangerous Ariana requires a lot less EXP to level up compared to everyone else. And when I think about it, considering I'm still using a 5* Arc in my Arena team, maybe I ought to consider replacing him with a leveled up Ariana, giving her my top mage gear (that Exdeath can't use), as well as Meteor and Dualcast.

UPDATE: Done with all the Great Jian missions, so I only need to do the regular Jian missions daily, and it's TMR farming otherwise. Believe it or not, you can get all three of the "Defeat Great Jian using X" conditions done in one attempt; I certainly did. You just have to make sure the attacks are in progress as the deathblow is dealt. If you're late, they won't be considered cleared (for example, the Esper's attack animation doesn't play); if you're early, the attack might occur before it's considered "defeated."

Can anyone suggest any characters that are worth keeping and leveling up? I got a few units that I don't know rather to keep or get rid of to save room

You'd have to list them, there's way too many to be too picky for a beginner.

Though I will say that unless you somehow get Noctis, Warrior of Light, or maybe Agrias, you'll want to fully awaken and max out Rain. He is pretty much one of the top support characters right now, with having both his own Full Break and All Boost skills at 6*, though you might want to have a Charlotte or Cecil for tanking instead of him.

Oh Awesome, I actually got W.O.L from the free draws. Also got Hope, Ling, Garland and Sazh all at lvl 4 as well from my draws.

My team atm is just a fully lvled Ariana, and Rain,Jack,Roselia and Seven at level 4

Hmm... not sure what I can tell you about physical attackers. I guess keep Jack if you have Murasame (or something better that he can use). Garland will definitely be one to look at soon, once he gets his 6* upgrade (he'll likely become a party regular for me once that happens, and I get him a copy of Doublehand to complement his natural Doublehand, as well as his own Excalibur).

Tank: Warrior of Light
Support: Ling
Magic Damage: As much as I want to say Hope is in a better spot here, that may not be true from the sheer fact of Ariana being at 6*. However, don't get too used to her as a mage, as she doesn't have much to use, and using the right elements are a major part of battle.
Healer: Roselia

Also, I'm not sure what kind of builds you're going for as to whether you'd want to discard the other characters. Hope will likely always be good to keep around for eventually getting his TMR if at some point you get Ace or a hypothetical Rinoa. Speaking of hypotheticals, Cloud is no longer hypothetical, Japan has now announced that he'll be appearing soon (at least in JP. If he appears in Global around the same time... expect him to be nerfed compared to JP).

Magic seems to be a lot more important and useful in this game than compared to Record Keeper, I usually have an extra attack/support instead of black magic.

So far power magic and Noctis has been getting me through events and tougher areas. Main game and normal dungeons I'm grand and with magic always seem to get a one hit kill to speed things along. Awakening people is still such a time consuming thing I found so far though.

I feel like every day you have focus on a particular thing you want to build up.

Eh, don't get your hopes up on magic. From what I've been seeing in the high level stuff, there doesn't seem to be a point where magic > physical, and sometimes it feels like their magic defense is just so much higher than their physical defense. And I'm almost at the point of "Oh well," since I never did get Dark Fina (the best caster FOREVER), and I have two characters with awesome 6* forms coming soon. I'll have two Dual Wielders and a Doublehander.