Quote Originally Posted by Threads View Post
I think this discussion is kind of a paradox. It isn't as much about the time it takes to kill a monster as it is about strategy. When your party kills a monster (or in the current state of the game, a group of monsters) before you can use even one single ability then strategy cannot exist.

So how do you introduce strategy back into battles;
1. You increase the length of the battles (I didn't say it wasn't a factor)
a. You increase a monsters HP.
b. You increase a monsters DEF.
c. You increase a monsters resistance to certain elements or spells.
d. You increase the monsters ability to dodge.
e. You get the idea, etc...

2. You make emnity management key to strategy.

3. You make HP/MP management key to strategy.

4. You make position important to damage and strategy.

5. You improve upon monster AI.
a. Give monsters the ability to strike pre-emptively or anticipate attacks, etc...

I think XI had a 'nearly' perfect battle system. I will give you an example. The Crawler's Nest...

The set-up (or any similar combination)

Ninja, White Mage, Bard, Warrior, Samurai, Thief

Ninja: 'Holy cow! I have to keep shadows up to avoid damage. I have to provoke and do enough damage to keep hate all while the stupid crawler keeps spamming 'slow'.

White Mage: 'Darn it! That stupid crawler won't stop spamming 'slow' and that means I have to keep spamming 'erase'. I also have to keep everyone in the party healed, especially the tank and still have enough MP at the end to keep the pace consistent.

Bard: 'How am I going to keep all these people buffed? I have to keep 'ballad' on the mage. Keep 'madrigal' and 'minuet' on all the damage dealers. Not to mention I have to pull the next monster and 'lullaby' it so it is waiting once the party is done with the first one.'

Warrior: 'Stupid Ninja! We could kill this thing so much faster if he could keep hate from all my weaponskills, traits and abilities.

Samurai: 'I don't think I'm building TP fast enough. I better Meditate and use another weaponskill. Whoops, I pulled hate again. 'Seigan' + 'Third Eye'.

Theif: 'I wish this Samurai could turn the monster so I could get 'Sneak Attack' + 'Trick Attack' on the Ninja so he'd stop loosing hate for a minute.

I really hope I get my point across that it is more than simply timing that needs improving. This might be a lame example but all of these things worked in concert to make partying fun for me.
It is a paradox, thank you for pointing it out.

At the end of the day, strategy and tactics require timing to execute. Not even Ifrit lasts long enough for any formula to really be executed (and I'm sure it's the same for Mog King as I've heard that Mog King is inherently easier).

To practice strategy requires a durable enemy; to practice tactics requires a ferocious enemy.