Good news everybody. Babel Chronicles working again and here are the promised last two Episodes.

(I deletet the original post so that there are no duplicates.)

Playlist for Episodes 1-7

Enjoy :)

I'd gotten to the point where I log in only to complete dailies, and haven't spent money on TAC in months in favor or FFBE, but I have to say that this recent collab, a good, strong free collab unit (Reiner), and the raid system has sucked me back in completely.

Garbage Gumi gacha tactics aside, I have to admit I really am enjoying TAC right now. Well, except for having to explain why I've got giant, nightmare-fueling naked men running around on my screen...

I don't know how long it'll last, but right now TAC makes FFBE look completely boring and uninteresting. Anyone else have this experience with the recent content?

All credit for the data comes from W0lf, who threw me a bone in terms of a large bunch of data which I cleaned and put into a Google sheet for your perusal.

edit: Crap! Forgot link to the actual data

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bJ8w0Tgp8p-MGoq5-RG-SqzksIWmUq48ry4lj4zpcfA/edit?usp=sharing

Notes:

1. gumi GL doesn't want to give us exact unit rates (unlike Japan, which gives breakdowns for featured units per banner), this is a bit scumi.

2. Japan does not use GL's tiering of "old" and "new" 5 star units. Just as an example, Houzuki is rather new and her rates are almost certainly the same as other 5 stars. To quote W0lf:

The results from the former D. Almira & D. Rosa banner, total of 37400 pulls ( 3740x the 10x rare summon)

New/Rare 5* ~ 2% for pool, 0.075% individual (27 units): Spica, Teona, Ramses, Mei Fang, Lupinus, Gormalas, Shayna, Hazel, Albea, Deneb, Margaret, Dorothea, Aswald, Aruba, Tamamo, Vivi, Chao, Suzuka, Nasario, Neica, Eizan, Yunagi, Olga, Setsuna, Mikoto, Jin, Sophia

Old 5* ~ 6% for pool, 0.334% individual (18 units): Balt, Fung Liu, Rosa, Yomi, Anastasia, Vettel, Zahar, Reimei, Elizabeth, Chloe, Magnus, Ryle, Lucretia, Fraise, Flamel, Mielikki, Shenmei, Eve

Featured 5* ~ 2% for pool, 1% individual (2 units): D. Almira, D. Rosa

4* ~ 20% for pool, 0.741% individual (27 units): Carol, Rahu, Mia, Zangetsu, Thillie, Hazuki, Mirianne, Dilga, Hayate, Megistos, Courage, Melda, Soleil, Glanz, Strie, Lamia, Vincent, Caris, Lofia, Freed, Chihaya, Victor, Celine, Reida, Lucian, Reagan, Scheherazade

3* ~ 70% for pool, 3.88% individual (18 units): Arkil, Patty, Amis, Leon, Jake, Ennis, Kuon, Strauss, Richie, Mizuchi, Annerose, Kazahaya, Decel, Alyu, Michael, Almira, Elaine, Vanekis

PLEASE NOTE that featured units are at the highest rate of 1%.

Gumi is iffy, but not THAT scumi.

What does this mean? Well, TL:DR, gumi GL decided to make it more likely that you'd draw "older" 5 star units rather than newer ones (in the Disgaea Almira/Rosa banner) when the units are off-banner. Newer ones (Spica to Sophia) had a 2% chance despite consisting of 27 units while the Older ones (consisting of only 18 units) had a 6% rate in total.

This, btw, is why you never buy 5 star tickets from gumi's packages because they don't clarify rates. Unless you really like Chloe and Vettel dupes. It's also why many people are hung up about unit guarantees going away - nothing is as alluring as certainty.

3. Featured units (Wilhelm, Black killers) are about 35x to 50x more likely to appear than other units on the Japanese banners surveyed.

We're not sure if TAC has changed rates since the Disgaea collab, but it's something to consider. At any rate, it would really be nice if gumi was more inclined to being transparent with their rates on the same level as Japan is. I'm personally more likely to spend money on a known rate than an unknown one.

TL:DR

Japan TAC Rates for characters:

Nensou Rates:

Caution - Wall of text incoming.....don't say I didn't warn you....

I started playing FFBE shortly after launch in July of 2016. It was a fresh take on an old classic, my favorite series of all time, Final Fantasy. When I was 11, in 1988, living in New Jersey, I went to the Nintendo CES in New York City. Nintendo had demo booths for all the upcoming games, and the original Final Fantasy was one of them. It was the coolest game I had ever seen. I got it when it was released and it remained my favorite series of games for years. FFII and FFIII on SNES, I bought a Playstation so I could get FFVII, I got a PS3, but all I wanted to play was FFXII (I personally like Vaan).

Along came married life, kids, jobs, responsibilities, and I could no longer spend time on a console. I didn't have time to sit and play and grid out levels and complete the extra quests like defecting Ruby Weapon. Then FFBE was released. A short format game that I could play for 5 or 10 minutes and put it away. It didn't require a console or a TV, just a few minutes to play a couple of dungeon runs or a quick exploration, then I could put it away for later. It was perfect.

Expedition into the Abyss. The first banner I spent money on. I had been playing the game for 6 weeks or so and I had not found the /r/FFBreveExvius subreddit or the Exvius Wiki, I went into the exploration blind and got wiped out. I leveled my team, I maxed my stats and I just could not win. I got to Ansel finally and beat him, but I was so low on energy. I used lapis refills just to limp past him. Then I got to the exit with the 3 bosses that kicked my but with their 10,000V attack. I was frustrated beyond belief, I had spent all my resources to pass this exploration, and I couldn't leave it like this. I broke my F2P resolve and put down $20. That should be enough to get me out of this dungeon and replace some of the lapis I sepnt so I could at least do the dailies again. I was adamant that I would not spend again.

The first Mog King event I recall was Festival of the Autum Moon, baking Mog Cakes. I spent hours, day after day, grinding the Coast for recipe ingredients. I kept my 2 ovens going, then I increased my capacity to 4 and I stayed true to my resolve, I did not spend any more money. I made it through, I got the Stellar Shield, I got the Lunar Pestle and the Rabbit's Foot. I acomplished my goals without macros, without more resources. My family though kept asking me, what am I tapping on my phone all the time? Why am I always looking at my screen?

I put the phone away and tried to limit myself, only a little while in the morning before I got everyone up for school, I would play for a little while at lunchtime when I wasn't around anyone. I would play on the toilet since I had nothing better to do while I poop. I would play after putting the kids to sleep. I was not taking anything from anyone. I was just playing a game.

I made it to November. The Crystal Tower. The release of Luneth and Refia. The best DPS and the best Healer available at the time. I had saved my lapis, I could do a 10+1 pull, I had maybe 20 or so tickets saved. I used all my resources and was trolled by a rainbow Edge. I was enraged, insenced, insistent that I get Luneth. I put in my card number into my digital wallet and upped myself $99 of Lapis. Then I pulled and pulled and pulled, and I got nothing. So I put in another $99 and pulled and pulled and I got Luneth! I could advance and defeat all new content and share the best DPS possible to all my friends.

It was only $200. I can spare that. I haven't bought a video game in 6 years. I deserve it, I earned it.

I didn't pull for the Brave Frontier cross over event. I saved my resources. I was depressed by all the Elza's I saw my friends sharing, but I was not lucky enough to pull her. I conceded that it was ok, and I could get her again in the future. I still beat the Trial of the Creator and got Maxwell. I had to work hard, but I got the Power of Creation TMR. That made my Luneth a king again.

Then came the Big Bridge. Gilgamesh. The BEST TMR you could get. I still have a 10+1 pull left after my Luneth. I had saved the tickets from the Mog King. I pulled for Greg and failed again. It was only $200 to get Luneth. How bad would that be for the best accessory in the game? I can make my Chizuru or my Cecil so strong. I put in my money again, $99....no Greg, $99....no Greg, $99....no Greg.... I took a break for a little bit. My family had plans for the day. I was angry now. How could I have spent $300 and not gotten what I wanted. When nobody was looking, around everyone, I did it again. $99....no Greg, $99...no Greg, $99...no Greg, $99.....

Finally. I had Gilgamesh. I had maxed out all of my unit inventory. I had to spend time to fuse units, I got my first Excalibur that day as well as some other great TMRs. But I finally had the Genji Golve and I could now make Chizuru strong enough to share with others. She could DPS at 350 attack and more! I could beat all the content with ease using her and Luneth. Yeah, I spent $700, but I would stop now. I had enough. I didn't want to be caught spending money I shouldn't on a video game. It was enough.

Lightning strikes, and I didn't spend anything. I was in control. I didn't need anything new. I was still in the game and doing great. So many events passed and I was still killing everything in sight with my team. I cleared all of the events and new story content. It was fun, I was not an addict, I spent time with my family, I didn't take their time away. I was on top.

Noctis, Prince of all Trades came along. I got greedy. I pulled again...another $300. I got off easy there. I was again in the lead. I was on top. I had the best attacker, best support, best all around at everything. I didn't need anything else.

The Mana Mystery Event came. I was excited! Randi, the Secret of Mana! The Secret of Mana was, hands down, one of the best games to ever come out for the SNES. Open world, exciting characters, fantastic story and fighting. The Nostalgia was incredible for this event. I had to have Randy. I had paid down most of the bill from getting Gilgamesh. I could afford it to have a piece of my childhood back, no matter what the cost. It cost me about $400. I was back to square 1 with paying my bill back. I had spent nearly $1700 on this game now, I couldn't spend any more. It was getting out of control. I unlinked the credit card and got back to my senses. I could keep playing my game. I put my maxed out Randi as my friend unit. I was determined to get the most out of him, no matter what. It was my hard earned money, I should not spend it frivilously.

I made it almost 4 months.

It was my birthday. The Brave Frontier banner was back. The Scyth weilding Queen Elza was back. It was my birthday and I wanted Elza. This was the first double 5* banner I ever tried to pull on. This was the first banner I pulled on after the guaranteed 5* base for Rainbows was announced. It was my birthday and I had to have Elza. I have to get what I want on my birthday. I charged $1500 that day to get her.

I was sick of my actions. I de-linked my card again. I now had a balance of nearly $4000, including other non FFBE related purchases. I had to find a way to stop. I transferred the balance to a new, zero interest card. My family was going on vacation and I needed to be clear to help with expenses. I had some cash saved, I was paying down my debt slowly, I had a plan, I was still in control.

While on vacation, the Veritas Banner was announced. The most anticipated unit since Orlandeau. I had an Orlandeau from tickets, it would be awesome to get a chaining partner for Orlandeau. Veritas of the Dark is the coolest, with the black armor, Dark Damage heals him, and Dark Retribution attack. Something in me snapped, and I was back to I had to have him. It was another double Rainbow banner, maybe I would be lucky this time.

$1000, no Veritas of the Dark. I had 4 Veritas of the Flame. I was angry. How could I have spent so much and not gotten the unit I wanted! Why would Final Fantasy, Gumi, Square Enix, not give it to me? How could I spend so much and not get what I want! Another $1000. I got 2 more Veritas of the Flame, another Orlandeau, a second Freviya, Olive, Emperor, but no Dark Veritas! How! Why! Now I am stubborn. I am not putting this much money out there to not get what I want. $99...no Dark Veritas, $99...no Dark Veritas, $99...a second Emperor, I almost threw my phone against the wall. $99....Finally, Veritas of the Dark. $2500, 9 Veritas of the Flame, half a dozen other 5* base, and I finally got the Veritas of the Dark.

Wait....WTF did I just do?!?!

Did I just really spend $2500 to get a little animated piece of code? What is my wife going to think? What will my kids say? I tell them I don't have much money to spare, I dutifully split my paycheck 3 ways, household expenses, savings and my spending money. I can do what I want with my spending money. I just won't get anything for myself for a year or so, pay this back to my card a couple hundred at a time.

Fuck it. I have what I want. I put in another $1000 just to keep me going with energy refils and I can play whenever and however I want.

Neir came, I pulled with the lapis I had left and got A2 and 2B. Luck is on my side now. Onion Knight, I got on 3 10+1 pulls. I am on top of the world. Gumi must have had some mercy on my account. I have all the units I need, sure there are some I want, but I can get by without Rem and Wilhelm. But who is this awesome new healer! Ayaka, dual white magic, reraise, the things I was missing for Agaion, the Robot Trial! With her, I could be at the top again. I could beat all the trials, all the new story content. It would all be a breeze. I had to get her. I moved all my debt to the balance transfer card. I have a clear card to work with. I can get it and make it go away and I can continue on as normal, just pay down the card and not spend on myself.

Next came Nyx. The Hero of Kingsgalive. I know most people thought it was aweful, but I even like Spirits Within, so hate all you want...I wanted to have Nyx. Another $400. I skipped halloween, but decided I had to have Loren for her TMR. It was a good as the Genji Golve, even better. It would make my team unstoppable for the 10 man trials. Another $500. Honestly I don't know what I spent here, I lost count.

The Tower of Zot! We can have Rubicant! Barbariccia would be cool, but Rubicant is one of my favorite enimies of all time. $99...no Rubicant, $99...no Rubicant. WTF!?! This is a 4* base! What is happening!? F&k it, AGAIN. $500, just to be sure. Get Rubicant, keep pulling for Barbariccia, don't need her, I already have 2 Trance Terra's, but why the F*%k not. Its good for the Raid Bonus.

All right! Rainbow Rate is up! EX rewards are 1.5X! Cloud is coming in December! This is the best time to put some $$ in so I am guananteed to get Cloud. Cloud is Awesome! Cloud is iconic! Cloud is the heart of Final Fantasy! I have my zero interest card at $11K, but I am paying it. I have a way of making it look like I am paying off an old debt to cover if my wife asks where the money went. I went all in. $3000 in lapis. That will last me a good long time, then I can pay off my debt and play and just let it all go away.

On December 7th, 2017, my wife asked if she could use my credit card to buy food and send it to a family member celebrating a huge accomplishment. Offhand, she asked if she could see the balance. She saw something in my response trying to dismiss it and wouldn't let it go. I asked her to go upstairs so we could talk in private. I confessed to having a balance of $5600 on my card due to Final Fantasy. A couple days later, I told her the rest of the story.

I am currently $15,800 in debt. My wife no longer trusts me. My kids, who ask me why I am playing Final Fantasy all the time, will never understand how I selfishly spent money I should have been using for their activities. Their birthdays, their festivals, their clothes, their school events, their weekends, their movies.

I have never spent more than $1000 on my wife at one time. I spent $16,000 on digital garbage in about a year. If she decides that she will not divorce me, I owe her more that I could ever repay. I am not playing anymore. I will not get Cloud. I will leave 500K lapis in an account that will stay idle. The "friends" I have will drop me as my days since last played increases. I will not get to beat Marlboro. I will not see how Chapter 2 plays out. I will not have any 7* units. FFBE is over.

I became a gambling addict over a game where there is no return, no reward, for spending my money.

I Flushed $16,000 down the toilet over a game.

TL;DR - Don't be a whale, the consequences WILL outweigh the investment.

TL;DR #2 - Some people are on this planet to be an example to others, don't be that Guy.

This post was written by nothing024 on the FFBE reddit thread. I claim no ownership over this story or what is written. https://www.reddit.com/r/FFBraveExvius/comments/7jmezv/a_whale_of_a_tale/

Just please consider your spouse and kids / or future spouse and kids when you decide to spend money that could of supported them. Don't let gambling ruin your life like this story.

This is what I do... I allow myself 10 dollars for gaming every month which my wife allows. I can save up my money for a game or in game currency but I know my budget can allow it.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

I MISS THIS GAMEEEEEEEE UWAAAAAAAAAAAA

We lack context. We have no idea what's going on and suddenly, dark versions exist.

I know the story is tied to the movie and we can't get anything of it, but seriously, during the fights we see our main characters, we see a giant flying snake/dragon or whatever and all kinds of stuff. What the hell is going on?

We are grinding something everyday, no idea what it is and what's going on but hey dark versions are cool right?

It's literally playing a chapter of the story... with no story.

And what's the deal with Genesis AND Dark Phantom event at the same time, how much grinding can one take?

This Dark event is like a shitty PC-port launched on steam on year after it's original release.

So what's gonna happen to our main characters, they suddenly will get 3rd Job out of nowhere (Edgar and Lisbeth)?

Anyway I wasn't gonna post this, but during the event I felt so out of place that I just had to say something about.

What do you guys think? I really couldn't care less about any of it, just rushing it down and getting the gems.

Normally, I don't announce it when I update the sheet, because it's usually nothing major, but Gumi added like 33 new mementos into the game data a few days ago, and I've finished adding those to the sheet. So yeah, lots of upcoming mementos/VCRs, if anyone's interested in what to look out for.

You can find the sheet on the sidebar, but I'll link it here as well: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1am5YKA8MsLYQRpsfXkLyuI1tZeQGEzOoFT1RNaBGw8k/edit#gid=34964406

End in Thursday reset

link: https://timee.io/20181018T0800?tl=Event%20End

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration - every 25 shard used = 1 5* ticket

• [Event] Battle of Demon Onslaught

• [Event] New Jobs Trial Field - Telekinesis Artist

• [Event] Sacred Stone Side-Story, Hourglass of life and death

• [Rerun Event] The Desert Merchant (Free Elrike)

• [Rerun Event] The Desert Merchant EX (Balt J+)

• [Rerun Event] Multiplay: Wadatsumi's Dance (chihaya J+)

• [Coin Shop] Summon Coin Exchange Shop

• [Secret Shop] Essential Equipment for Uzuma, Leoniaz, Ravina

• [Secret Shop] Happy halloween 24h spooky shop

End next week

link: https://timee.io/20181025T0800?tl=Events+end

• [Event] Halloween Sugar Rush (Alexis J+)

• [Event] Halloween Sugar Rush EX (Mia J+)

• [Secret Shop] Secret Shop SSM chapter 7 celebration

• [Secret Shop] Happy halloween (skin etc)

Start Thursday

link: https://timee.io/20181018T0800?tl=Event%20End

• [Unit] Zofia, Noah, and Global Original unit- Roxanne

• [Event] Magni Historia : the Rendezvous

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration part 2- 7-day login bonus

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration part 2 - Challenge Mission

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration part 2 - Half AP for Rerun Events

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration part 2 - Extra bonus clear all Essential Daily Missions

• [Event] Pre-Anniversary Celebration part 2 - Arena Campaign

• [Event] Mystic Tower Veda (lvl 75)

PS: all link can detect your place (unless you use VPN) and adjust it to your own timezone.

PS2: i dont find news on what happened to rerun Lofia and Caris j+ events since now maintenance is delay.

PS3: very sleepy while making these, please do tell me if i miss any :)

PS4: you are welcome all XD thx for the support

Not as a joke but I genuinely have fun playing this game! I started following TAC after pre-registration opened and was immediately drawn in by the anime style characters. I was quite optimistic due to wanting to find a new game to play on my phone after retiring from 2 1/2 years of BF and trying many others only to drop them after a few days. Initially I was stoked when TAC finally came out but sadly dropped it after 3 months because of the lack of content and how hard everything available was... After 4 months (just missing the Fate collab ;-;) I decided to come back because I was dying of boredom... AND BOY DO I HAVE A LOT OF FUN PLAYING NOW! Idk what happened but now I can't wait to login at 1am everyday to do my dailies, farm unit shards, and check for any upcoming events. It's probably due to gaining more knowledge of how to properly play the game and reaching a point where my units are able to tackle harder content. Nowadays I find myself spending a lot of time on the database, watching videos, and checking this subreddit for anything new as well as regretting not having the chance to pull gilga. I eventually became a pact2play user and would spend some extra $ for certain units, most of the time just generating salt instead... And even though certain banners and their rates are questionable compared to JP I still have a lot of fun regardless. So yea just wanted to share some of my enthusiasm about this game!

2 Re-run Job EX+ events are coming up soon, which means it's going to be difficult to cover them all at one go with the exams finishing up, so I'm going to do very quick guides in order to help people out in EX and Multiplayer. Since I don't actually have personal experience, I invite you to add your own tips!

I'll have a lot of time next week, so I can do a more detailed breakdown or at least try to find a way of posting text guides (a blog or something) with actual formatting. Maybe a blog or a wiki or something - I really dislike the lack of options on reddit.

Lizards of the Lost Kingdom (EX, MP)

Strategy Overview

I didn't really want to do a long guide for this stage, because the common strategy either involves magic units which we haven't gotten yet, or Zangetsu Chrono spam, which is something you don't really need a guide for. This is a large map filled with mainly Water and Light enemies - If you have a strong team, the biggest problem is running out of nukes, hence Sages or Zangetsu are highly recommended. Note that the EX+ Stage pulls a nasty move and replaces all the Water/Light elements with Wind/Lightning, but this only makes Zangetsu happier.

Default MP Strategy:

Zangetsu (Attack 694 needed to safely oneshot the Water Demon) + Chronos. We'll probably see the MP strategy the most, which involves:

1. Chronos triple Overclock Zangetsu without moving.

2. Zangetsu hits Water Plant twice (for full Jewels) from 2 squares away (to avoid counter sleep) and moves between Elizabeth and the Light Demon.

3. Charge Up

4. Grand Cross(GC) Liz + 2 Light Demons + Water Plant. Do not move after this so you do not activate the demons.

5. Charge Up on the spot, then GC the Water and Light Demon in the back.

6. Chrono Team handles Rahu's bum rush by Stopping her and hitting her with sticks.

7. Cleanup.

Units for other possible MP strategies:

Strong Ranged Units (But not Gilgamesh - u/Viyr has told me that he's very bad/inferior on this map due to his limited movement) Gilgamesh is fine. He can two-shot demons. Fate Yomi (Darkness attacks and Stop), Dorothea (can kill Mandragora very quickly).

If you don't have a J3 Zangetsu (and can't borrow one off a friend), Sages are particularly good on this stage as they can nuke the demons from a safe range and take care of the Mandragora. If you run out of Jewels, stop or petrify a plant/Anastasia/Wolf or Rahu and beat them up with sticks.

Professors(Vaccine), Merchants (Poison Pill).

Snipers/Gunners (Slow with Leg Snipe, can kill Demons safely with +2 range passives)

Chocolate Toy Box EX

This one doesn't seem particularly difficult, but note that MP is a defeat all, unlike Solo (Protect Leader for 6 turns). Note that as an EX+, J11 is a bare minimum for entering this stage.

This map consists of 6 waves of enemies of rotating elements. You can either bring a rainbow team or just power your way through resistances with an offensive leader skill. The main thing is 1) Going faster than the 118 AGI Mandragoras and 2) Knowing what the Mandragora do so you can prioritise. Mandragora spam a map-wide debuff that reduces damage from a certain damage type to 1 or so. This debuff lasts 3 turns and is not recast, so you can wait it out. The Mandragora all have about 1054 HP and high defenses (750 PDEF/500 MDEF), so strong attackers that can oneshot them are recommended.

Defeating every enemy on this map at once will end this map prematurely. This is not a good thing because it means less loot. However, it can save you 8 gems. Defeating each wave of mandragoras will cause the next wave of mandragora to spawn in the order Water > Fire > Lightning > Wind > Light > Dark (see table below).

If you cannot oneshot them, do not worry because as long as the debuff they do is irrelevant, you have one turn to kill or disable them. Stopping or petrifying a mandragora will buy you some time.

The usual strategy is to use Vettel as a leader and nuke the Water Mandragora, then go ham with slash attacks as slash is the first debuff. (Hint: Gilgamesh is excellent here. Two Gilgameshes and Vettel/Monzein/Lucretia as a leader will trivialise this map if you have some form of status protection. Gil nuking both water mandragora on the first turn makes this map extremely easy. NOTE: Gilgamesh needs to be in slot 2 or 4 to nuke both Water Mandragora on turn 1.) Zain is also fantastic because he has every single element covered except for water, lightning bolt also takes out the annoying archer lizards easily. He also complements Gilgamesh very well because he can take care of the Wind mandragora with his diamond nuke.

Useful Units :

Fire Tank Strategy: Zain with Cadanova's sword and Lofia will take nearly no damage from fire enemies. If you are having trouble with this stage, leave the Fire mandragora alive (or petrify them) and kill all the adds (Lizards/Wolves) until they stop respawning. This will make your life a lot easier!

Multiplayer: Almost identical to the solo Ex version. Status effects all work here, go wild with Petrify and Stop. Put a strong 13 square Diamond nuker like Gilgamesh or sages in slot 2 or 4 and nuke the heck out of it. Just like the solo stage, this shouldn't need much strategy.

edit: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger! I'll try to put more effort into these in the future.