P07D: Stocking up and a little Item Homework

P07D: Stocking up and a little Item Homework

Before we proceed from here now would be a good time to save your game...

If you have not already spent some time looking at each of the basic consumable items that make up the bulk of what can be purchased at Chocolina Shops and that you obtain as loot drops from battle and, naturally, in Treasure Spheres, now would be an excellent time to do this.  I know that this may feel like an obvious point -- and you may be very familiar with each of these and what they do -- but on the off-chance that you are not, learning about them is a very good idea!

Pay a visit to the nearby Chocolina Merchant so that you can stock up on any consumable items that you may have used, or add the consumable items you have yet to add...   You used some of your Gysahl Greens during the half-dozen Choco rides that we took recently, so replacing those would be an idea, and in addition to that, now would be an excellent time to list the consumable items that you can obtain from the Chocolina -and- define what each one does so that you know -- just in case you do not know...

While it is true that the bulk of the items below can also be obtained as loot and from Treasure Spheres, the Chocolina are a reliable source for these items in quantity -- and while we are on that subject you are aware that once your stack of items reaches 99 you no longer keep any of that item that you find as loot, right?  

That being the case -- with items like the regular Potion being so common a loot drop -- it is generally a good idea to sell off 20 or 25 of the items you have capped the stack on so that you continue to collect them when they are dropped as loot and you enjoy profiting from them as well.   Not only does that ensure a steady stream of money, it keeps you more aware of what you have, and what you do not, what drops as loot frequently, and what is more rare -- a level of situational awareness towards your kit and consumable items that will pay off in dividends later, when awareness of those items is also a matter of survival!

Examining the Consumables offered by Chocolina Shops

-- Chocolina: a Source for Consumable Supplies --

Under Items in the Menu are the following:

Potion (80 Gil) -- Restores a small amount of HP to all allies.
Phoenix Down (500 Gil) -- Revives one ally from KO and grants Protect and Shell.
Remedy (125 Gil) -- Removes one ally's most recently inflicted status ailment.
Wound Potion (150 Gil) -- Restores 100 HP for all allies, and maximum HP reduced by wounding.
Antidote (50 Gil) -- Removes Poison from one ally.
Holy Water (50 Gil) -- Removes Curse from one ally.
Painkiller (50 Gil) -- Removes Pain from one ally.
Mallet (50 Gil) -- Removes Fog from one ally.
Wax (50 Gil) -- Removes Imperil from one ally.


Under Monster Materials in the Menu are the following:

Potent Droplet (80 Gil) -- increases biological monster Attribute Grade.
Power Droplet (80 Gil) -- increases biological monsters Strength Grade.
Mana Droplet (80 Gil) -- increases biological monsters Magic Grade.
Vitality Droplet (80 Gil) -- increases biological monsters HP Grade.
Potent Bolt (80 Gil) -- increases mechanical monster Attribute Grade.
Power Bolt (80 Gil) -- increases mechanical monster Strength Grade.
Mana Bolt (80 Gil) -- increases mechanical monster Magic Grade.
Vitality Bolt (80 Gil) -- increases mechanical monster HP Grade.


Under Special in the Menu is:

Gysahl Greens (300 Gil) -- Chocobo love this leafy green. You will need one for each Choco ride.


In addition to the above, through looting you should have at least some of the following:

Librascope (500 Gil) -- Reveals detailed status information on all enemies.
Unicorn Horn (1600 Gil) -- Removes Status ailments and enhancements from all allies and enemies.


As far as your stocking the items above, obviously the consumable items are a focal concern -- the monster items not so much, and you should use your own judgment on what if any of those you should be buying... 

At a minimum you should have a reasonable supply of the consumables in your bag (10 or 15 of each seems reasonable) though you probably will not have to buy some of them as they are popular loot drops.  Items like regular Potions you should end up with more of than you know what to do with, I am just saying...

Unlocking the Choco-boco-holic Achievement

I have mentioned previously that it is a good idea to have a supply of Greens on hand so you can ride when you want to, and you should be aware that with Yellow Chocobo you will only need one Green to ride them -- though it uses an additional Green if you get off of the Choco to do something and then get back on after you do it.  For other color Chocobo though, you end up paying Greens for each block of time that you ride them (usually measured in 3-minute blocks), so you will want to have more than just two or three Greens in your bag.  I find that 15 or so is just the right number for me.

Finally there are the loot-specific items such as the Librascope and Unicorn Horn.  You can use the Librascope to get a small edge in battle, since it scans the enemy and briefs you on their strengths, weaknesses, and other information, so using those will be pretty much your call as to when, how often, and upon whom.  A lot of gamers consider using them on Boss Mobs to be a given tactic, but YMMV.

The other special item that you should have at least one of by now is the Unicorn Horn (found in Menu > Inventory > Items) that we got from a Treasure Sphere earlier.  This is an item that you should be holding on to as it is particularly useful under specific circumstances with boss monster battles -- and when there is a situation that it can be useful for I will mention that in the appropriate section of the guide.

Beyond that the other purpose of this section is to get you thinking about the items that you obtain in the game and how they can best be used.  If you took the time to read Part 2 of the guide (the section on Buffs and Debuffs) you will notice that many of the consumable items are used as cures for those status ailments in addition to the spells that you Medic can cast.  That list of useful consumable items includes Remedy, Antidote, Holy Water, and Wound Potions just to name a few.  If you are not yet fully versed in the debuffs and what consumable items can be used to treat them, refreshing your memory by re-reading Part 2 is an idea -- and making notes that you can refer to as you play is also a good way to start to memorize which items to use when.

Having these items is no good if you do not actually use them -- and believe it or not in some of the more rapid battle situations they can (and often will) prevent you from having to shift Paradigms in the middle of battle, a preventative measure that often means the difference between scoring 5-Stars and only 4-Stars, which you can see is important...  And that wraps up this section nicely, so let us head back to the story!