User blog:Zexia0053/GGC Guides: Introduction

Hello guys, it's been a while since the Extra Skills blog I have made. This time around, I'm going to cover the Grand Gaia Chronicles vortex missions.

Grand Gaia Chronicles
Essentially, the Grand Gaia Chronicles (GGC for short) are a set of missions involving popular unit series such as Six Heroesand Saviors of Palmyna. These missions are not easy, but that's a neccesary drawback; if you can clear any of these missions you may earn Zel, Karma, Gems and also special Spheres you cannot get from anywhere else normally.

Grand Gaia Chronicles missions released in Global so far: Japan's GGC additions:
 * 1) Six Heroes: A series of 3-episode missions involving the stories of the 6 heroes (Vargas, Selena, Lance, Eze, Atro and Magress). Each of them has their own set of 3 episodes, coming to a total of 18 missions.
 * 2) Saviors of Palmyna: A 3-episode GGC mission detailing the story of the 4 Heroes of Palmyna (Lorand, Edea , Loch and Dean ) during the War against the Gods.
 * 3) Blades and Blossoms: A unique 3-episode GGC mission involving Sefia and Kikuri, this arc is unique in a sense that you HAVE to clear both Sefia and Kikuri's respective episodes to unlock the final chapter of this GGC arc.
 * 1) The Ten-Winged Destroyer: A GGC arc involving the Prelude to the War story arc, where Michele and her ragtag band of heroes (Tiara, Zelban , Lodin & Duel-GX) go up against the gods' messenger Melchio.
 * 2) Flaming Beast of Destruction: A GGC arc that involves the Lira batch. This puts players into the story for that batch, where Lira and Golem team up with Lebra and Elsel to seal away Bordebegia using the ancient fortress Oulu.
 * 3) 12 Zodiac Saints: A six-episode GGC arc revolving around the 12 Guardians of the Gods, with both the Traitor 6 (Sodis, Signas , Ramna , Grybe , Zephyr , Luly ) and the Loyalist 6 (Alyut , Farlon , Lunaris , Rina , Ophelia , Raydn ) in it.

GGC Rewards
GGC may be hard, but it does reward you well:
 * Zel: GGC is loaded with Zel, be it as a quest reward or obtained from within the missions.
 * 1) Karma: Used for upgrading your town, GGC gives large chunks of Karma.
 * 2) Spheres: These are unique, one-off spheres you cannot obtain elsewhere that come with powerful buffs.

Difficulty: How hard can GGCs be?
In terms of difficulty, GGCs can be said as a challenge without the right units or the right strategy.

Six Heroes
For the Six Heroes, their initial missions (Chapters 1 and 2) aren't too difficult. Once you hit Chapter 3 however, prepare to bring all your revives and even Fujin Potions as a safety measure.

Also, in Chapter 3 the 6 heroes have a notable turn (< 50%HP) where they trigger a Angel Idol buff on themselves, reviving with 10% of their max HP after dying once. This is a problem unless you can quickly down them, usually within 1 or 2 turns (or by NOT triggering the buff and wiping them out from 51%HP straight.)

Saviors of Palmyna
The difficulty of this arc is somewhat unpredictable, as the units can be either very underpowered, very overpowered or simply just random-ish. Loch, when you encounter him from Chapter 2 onwards, has a turn (~40% HP or less) where he will "break down" and use a SBB that can potentially kill your entire squad while Lorand has the ability to remove the buffs on any of your units via his BB/SBB (don't worry, unlike Loch this is limited to only one target per cast).

Cardes (Chapter 2, 2nd battle) also does a SBB nuke (Endless) that can wipe your entire team out unless you either mitigate or guard. Happens twice, at 50% and 25% HP.

Edea, in Chapter 3's boss phase can be considered a true pain to deal with. She starts off as her 5* form (underestimate this at your risk guys). Once her HP drops to 0, Edea then evolves into her 6* form, gaining a permanent mitigation buff throughout the battle. If that's not enough, she also summons Lorand, Dean and Loch on a certain turn to back her up.

Blades and Blossoms
Seems easy doesn't it? Going up against Sefia and Kikuri on their solo phases isn't so bad right? That's because you haven't seen the rule for this GGC's final chapter. No Continues. Yes, you are NOT allowed to continue if your units are taken out.

The worst part about Chapter 3 in this case is the fact that you need to take Sefia and Kikuri down within 2 turns of any one of them dying. If you don't, the dead one will revive (With FULL HP too) and that means you have to pummel them all over again. Also, Kikuri is the more troublesome of the duo as her GGC incarnation CAN cancel your Leader Skills for 2 turns via her BB (this cancels the effects of all Leader Skills for the 2 turns after she casts it), effectively shutting down any attempt to BB spam if you are using BB-focused leaders. Sefia is less so, since her BB EITHER causes the Atk Down debuff, or just cancels out any buffs your units have instead.

And by the way, to get the final chapter you have to clear both Sefia and Kikuri's missions in any order you want.

Conclusion
Overall, the GGC arcs are worth doing once you have the right units and the right strategy. Good luck!

P.S. I'll cover the missions on my next blog.