Last year, after holding out for as long as I could, I finally got sucked into Granblue Fantasy. A Final Fantasy XI collaboration had been announced, and that was the final straw that got me to actually commit to it. The 8th Anniversary event was about to start, so this was a great time for a new player. I got showered with more SSRs and free stuff than I would normally. I settled into a somewhat regular play pattern, but progress has been irregular over the last year.
I thought it might be interesting to give a state of where I am now, at almost exactly one year in. We’ll see if I do this again in another year, but here goes.
A few caveats: Unlike established players, my grids are not always fully leveled. I’ll point out where most of these are, but enfranchised players will be able to tell by the weapons not being at the right skill cap. (Not that I’d be able to remember them all off the top of my head, I don’t know how you guys do it).
General Progress
I’m currently Rank 168. I’m in Chapter 96 of the Main Story (yeah, I know, I’m so far behind). I have all Row I, II and III classes and most of EX I (missing Dancer and Mechanic) unlocked. In Row IV, I have Berserker, Chaos Ruler, Elysian, and Lumberjack fully leveled and mastered, and am working on Relic Buster and Spartan. I’m also working on Viking in Row V. I haven’t unlocked any EX II yet.
I have a Sword of Bahamut at Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 18/20. I was favoring Humans and Draph in my grids, so this is my primary Bahamut weapon. Man, those last two skill levels are paaaaaainful. I also have a Dagger of Bahamut and an Axe of Bahamut, both at Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15.
I have been slacking a bit on my Dark Opus weapons. I’ve been making them, but I’ve been waffling on what pendulums to use, so they haven’t found their way into most of my grids.
Most days, if I remember, I do Omega Pro, Omega Hard Pro and Angel Halo Pro. Depending on how much time I have, I’ll also try to do the event fights, but if I’m busy at work that sometimes takes too much attention and time. I’ve also been doing the Omega Impossible and Regalias for M2 weapons, but that takes a big chunk of time so I’ve been doing it in spurts.
I didn’t realize how quickly I managed to get damage capped, so I’m still floundering a bit on how to increase my damage output. My current next step is replacing the M1s with M2s according to guides I found online, and I’m close to done collecting them, but many aren’t in the grids yet because I’m still so short on weapon exp and uncapping mats.
Fire
- Seraphic: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Dark Opus Ω: 4★ Lvl 100/150, Skill Lvl 5/15
- Dark Opus N: N/A
- Xeno Awakened (True): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [C.A. DMG +5.5%, Stamina +1]
- Xeno Awakened (Other): N/A
- Beast Malus: 5★ Lvl 150/200, Skill Lvl 20/20
- Proving Grounds (Ushumgal): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [Attack 15/15]
Primary Team: Lumberjack MC, Elmott, Medusa (Summer), Luffy
I really like where my Fire team is currently. Because AESes are the easiest of the M2s to get, I managed to finish them out by throwing Prestige Pendants at them. I’m still not happy with that Summer’s Mirage in the grid, it really should be a Dark Opus weapon or something.
I’m really happy with Medusa and Luffy. I’ve been trying out a few characters in the last slot. It’s currently Elmott because he is decent at feeding Medusa and Luffy charge meter. I had Zeta for a while, but she wasn’t synergizing enough with the team.
Water
- Seraphic: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Dark Opus Ω: N/A
- Dark Opus N: N/A
- Xeno Awakened (True): N/A
- Xeno Awakened (Other): 4★ Lvl 135/150, Skill Lvl 15/15 [C.A. DMG +6.5%, Supp. C.A. DMG +4]
- Beast Malus: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Proving Grounds (Clarion): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [Attack 15/15]
Current Team: Lumberjack MC, Lily, Cupitan, Clarisse (Summer)
I’m almost done collecting Tyros Zithers (7 of the 8 I need) to replace some of those Leviathan Gaze Omegas (although probably not the free 5★ one I got from the 8th Anniversary). I still have to throw exp and skill points at them. I also still have those two random Beast weapons in there because I don’t have other good options, although the Progression on the Aquamarine Hatchet probably does good work, as this team is very grindy.
Much like many of my other teams, I really like two of the members (Lily and Cupitan) and the third is just there as a placeholder until I find a good replacement. In Water’s case, I have that replacement in mind: I’m close to 5★ Feower. I’m 20 White Dragon Scales short and then taking the time to actually assemble and shard all the weapons, etc. That’s also assuming I haven’t accidentally used up some of the mats on other things since the last time I did inventory.
Earth
- Seraphic: 3★ Lvl 100/100, Skill Lvl 10/10
- Dark Opus Ω: N/A
- Dark Opus N: 3★ Lvl 100/100, Skill Lvl 10/10
- Xeno Awakened (True): 4★ Lvl 100/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Xeno Awakened (Other): N/A
- Beast Malus: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Proving Grounds: N/A
Current Team: Lumberjack MC, Melleau, Metera (Summer), Hallessena
Earth has historically been my weakest team, but it is also one where I’ve managed to get the M2s in (still 3★, though). At some point, I’ll actually switch to a staff class so I can MH that Kraken Club and get some FFXI representation going.
I really grew on Melleau when I managed to 5★ her, and I’m looking forward to Hallessena getting her rework. I’ve also used Sara and Alexiel in the team in the past, but I’m staying pretty offensive-focused for now. Melleau is decently tanky at 100.
Wind
- Seraphic: 3★ Lvl 100/100, Skill Lvl 10/10
- Dark Opus Ω: 4★ Lvl 147/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Dark Opus N: 3★ Lvl 1/100, Skill Lvl 1/10
- Xeno Awakened (True): N/A
- Xeno Awakened (Other): N/A
- Beast Malus: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Proving Grounds (Windhose): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [Attack 15/15]
Current Team: Lumberjack MC, Petra, Shion (Summer), Narmaya
Wind is in a weird spot. I’ve got my Dark Opus in there, with a gaping procrastination-sized hole where a pendulum should be. I’ve got that 4★ Ewiyar’s Beak that I got from a reward ticket of some kind. I have enough to make a second Last Storm Harp, I just haven’t yet.
Narmaya makes this team one of my strongest. I’m so glad I sparked for her. The other two teammates I’m less excited about. I have a few other options in my roster (Tiamat, Metera, Sutera) but haven’t experimented much.
Light
- Seraphic: 3★ Lvl 100/100, Skill Lvl 1/10
- Dark Opus Ω: N/A
- Dark Opus N: N/A
- Xeno Awakened (True): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [C.A. DMG + 7%, Supp. Skill DMG +5]
- Xeno Awakened (Other): Have the materials for it, but haven’t assembled it yet.
- Proving Grounds: N/A
Current team: Viking MC, Kumbhira, Vira, Shiva (Summer)
My light team has always been my strongest. Even with that load-bearing leek in there. I swear, every time I think there must be something better, I replace it and my DMG goes down 20k. I should make a Dark Opus N for that slot or something. For the longest time, I put off the Seraphic because Shiva has a Seraphic multiplier, but I’m trying to become less tied to him. I am unlikely to replace Kumbhira or Vira for a while, though. I love this team so much and the three of them have gotten me through so much.
Dark
- Seraphic: 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15
- Dark Opus Ω: 3★ Lvl 100/100, Skill Lvl 10/10
- Dark Opus N: N/A
- Xeno Awakened (True): 3★ Lvl 1/100, Skill Lvl 1/10
- Xeno Awakened (Other): 4★ Lvl 150/150, Skill Lvl 15/15 [ATK +2%, Supp. Skill DMG +4]
- Proving Grounds (Bismarck): 5★ Lvl 200/200, Skill Lvl 20/20 [Attack 15/15]
Current Team: Lumberjack MC, Magisa (Summer), Albert, Vaseraga
My Dark grid and team have always been in a weird spot. I never got characters I really wanted, but I did spark for Vaseraga and Lich (who is currently still gathering exp and I have to do her Fate episode to unlock her third ability) so I’m a bit happier on that front. I have a second Abyss Spine, but it’s not 4★ yet, so it isn’t an upgrade. Not much else to say. I’ll see how much this works once I get Lich into the team.
Conclusion
The 9th Anniversary Event is about to start. It’s unlikely I’ll get as big of a boost this time around, and there aren’t as many characters in the roulette that will go straight into my grids, but I’m sure there will be other free stuff that will at least give me a kick forward. I still have to grind out more Arcarum for Evokers, and Earth and Light Proving Grounds when those come around. I also still need so many Qilin and Huanglong Omega Anima…