After having beaten Hell Wyrm I'd decided to leave the final two bonuses Omega and Yiazmat for now -- they are not unbeatable but just take a darn long time (endless rounds of buffing and debuffing) to kill ><! Besides, there are no more ultimate gear/ accessories to be had at this point.
So I finished the main game -- which has a FAB ending (Balthier!!!) -- and started New Game+ to do a full Trial Mode run. I had to speed play *arghhh* a good chunk of the game again (including several awful/ lame side quests) to have the full team of six unlocked.
To make this run more, err, challenging -- I practically OHKO my way through story mode given my invisible weapons and accessories all carried over -- I will only use three jobs.
Vaan -- Shikari
Balthier -- Machinist
Fran -- Red Battlemage
Basch -- Bushi
Ashe -- Knight
Penelo -- White Mage
Shikari because I want Vaan to wield a Ninja sword (Yagyu Darkblade) and administer Remedy 3 (with Nihopalaoa *evil*); Bushi for the Masamune Genji Gloves combo for Basch; and a healer.
There are 100 stages in Trial Mode and I've reached level 36. So far everything is manageable (though Vaan still got OHKOed with Gendarme shield and Ribbon on!) but it is not as much fun as I'd wished.
Vaan and Basch are great for dealing damages (with Vaan doubling up as thief and Basch able to cast Shades of Black). The problem is with the third job.
White Mage is needed for Dispel and Esuna ... but that's pretty much it since there is no need for constant healing. So either swap Fran in or make Penelo a Red Battlemage instead (and Fran an Archer). At least then I have a team member that can cast spells as well as buff/ debuff.
Another problem is none of these three jobs can cast the four Breaks, which I think is important. And there is NO way to accommodate that without opening a second licence board, and maybe give Foebreaker to Penelo/ Fran.
Something to think about. Just as well I teleported back to Rabanastre so I can go to Montblanc to have licence boards changed ...
