As part of the Final Fantasy Record Keeper (FFRK) mobile game’s 7th Anniversary Festival celebration, players get 1 free multi-draw on the Present Relic Draw banner.
AFAIK, the pull includes all the relics that are currently in the game and you’re only guaranteed to get at least one 5-star item so the chances of getting something crappy are very high. However, after you pull on this banner, you can pick a free Synchro Arcane Soul Break (SASB) from a very limited pool. The options are as follows:
- Locke Cole’s (from Final Fantasy VI) SASB1
- Terra Branford’s (from Final Fantasy VI) SASB1
- Squall Leonhart’s (from Final Fantasy VIII) SASB1
- Rinoa Heartilly’s (from Final Fantasy VIII) SASB2
- Bartz Klauser’s (from Final Fantasy V) SASB1
- Ultimecia’s (from Final Fantasy VIII) SASB1
- Tifa Lockhart’s (from Final Fantasy VII) SASB1
- Maria’s (from Final Fantasy II) SASB1
- Kain Highwind’s (from Final Fantasy IV) SASB1
- Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca’s (from Final Fantasy XII) SASB1
- Tidus’s (from Final Fantasy X) SASB1
- Onion Knight’s (from Final Fantasy III) SASB1
- Paladin Cecil Harvey’s (from Final Fantasy IV) SASB
- Minwu’s (from Final Fantasy II) SASB
- Dark Knight Cecil Harvey’s (from Final Fantasy IV) SASB
- Golbez’s (from Final Fantasy IV) SASB1
From that list, I already have a few dupes. Removing those dupes leaves me with the following:
- Locke SASB1
- Terra SASB1
- Rinoa SASB2
- Maria SASB1
- Kain SASB1
- Ashe SASB1
- Onion Knight SASB1
- Paladin Cecil SASB
- Minwu SASB
- Golbez SASB1
Welp, that’s still a lot of relics to choose from. Let’s take a closer look at them to try and narrow down the options some more. But first, let me just remove Ashe from the list already because I have her Sync 2 and it’s way better than her first Sync. There’s also the fact that each char can only equip 1 Sync at a time.
Locke SASB1, Phoenix Heat
Locke’s Sync 1 is for the physical fire element. I have his Awakened Arcane Soul Break 1 (AASB1) so getting his Sync would give me 2 BDL relics for him. But he has a Sync 2 which is way better, and my physical fire team is already really stacked so I don’t know about picking this one.
Terra SASB1, Inferno Cross
Terra’s Sync 1 is for the magical fire element. Don’t have a single BDL relic for her but her AASB1, which is for the magical fire element as well, is Lensable. My magical fire team is already pretty stacked though so I prefer to power up my other teams. If I had to pick between Terra and Locke, I’m more inclined to go for the latter since at least I already have 1 of his Awakenings so won’t need to spend additional resources in order to make him usable.
Rinoa SASB2, Angel Wing Cross
Rinoa’s Sync 2 is for the magical ice element. Have her magical ice AASB, 2 of her Ultra Soul Breaks (USB), her Limit Break Overstrike (LBO), and even her magical ice Chain Soul Break (CSB).
My magical ice tech is really lacking so, at the moment, I’m leaning towards picking Rinoa’s Sync 2 even if she herself may not be the best magical ice DPS.
Maria SASB1, Armageddon XCIX
Maria’s Sync 1 is for the magical earth element. Don’t have a single relic for her but her Awakening is Lensable. On the other hand, my magical earth team is already pretty good and Maria has a Sync 2 that’s way better than her Sync 1.
Kain SASB1, Blood Dragoon
Kain’s Sync 1 is for the physical lightning or thunder element. The only BDL relic I have for him is his Dual Awakening Soul Break (DASB) but one of his Awakenings is Lensable. He has a Sync 2 which is way better though and Kain makes use of dragoon and jump mechanics that I’m not too familiar with so not really sure about picking him.
Onion Knight SASB1, Channel Water
Onion Knight’s Sync 1 is for the magical water element. Have 2 of his Awakenings but they’re for physical elements. Also have his magical earth Sync. His magical Awakening is Lensable though. My magical water tech is really lacking but I’m not sure about going with Onion Knight to help fill that void. Haven’t really heard a lot of good things about him when compared to other chars, and not really all that fond of him anyway.
Paladin Cecil SASB, Shine Braver
Paladin Cecil’s Sync is for either the physical holy or magical holy element. His AASB1 is Lensable. Like with Onion Knight, haven’t heard much good things about him as a DPS.
Minwu SASB, Holy XCIX
Minwu’s Sync is for the magical holy element. Already have his Awakening. My magical holy team is already pretty good but Minwu can help make it better. Aside from Rinoa, am currently leaning towards going for his Sync. It helps that I already have his AASB and won’t need to spend the Lenses needed to get it from the The Record Lab unlike with some of the other options here.
Golbez SASB1, Dark Meteor
Golbez’s Sync 1 is for the magical dark element. Don’t have a single BDL relic for him. Unfortunately, his Awakening isn’t Lensable so while I could use more magical dark tech, not sure picking him is the best option.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper 7th Anniversary Festival Present Relic Draw Free Sync Select
If I remove the chars whose Awakenings I have to Lens in order for them to have 2 BDL relics, I’m left with Locke, Rinoa, Kain, and Minwu. Still not sure whose Sync to pick though. Gonna need to think about this some more.
Later, much, much later: had a bit of a scare when I discovered that my Tumblr account had been terminated. There was some sort of mistake or accident or something. Thankfully, was able to get it back but that had been one of the most stressful and depressing weeks ever.
Will talk more about that in another post but the point is that this happened sometime during the Final Fantasy Record Keeper (#ad) 7th Anniversary Festival event. Needless to say, wasn’t feeling very festive at all and I ended up not bothering to pull on any of the fest banners. I only did the free draws since they were free.
After doing the FFRK 7th Anniversary Festival Present Relic Draw, I found myself at a loss as to which free Sync to pick. All my notes were on this post, which I obviously couldn’t access at that time. Sadly, I didn’t have any backups and was too upset to try and look things up again so I ended up ignoring the free Sync select for now.
Really super thankful that I was able to get my Tumblr account back again. Now I need to backup everything! But that’s a story for another post. Anyway, now I’m fast running out of time to pick my free Sync since FFRK’s fest is ending soon so need to make a decision ASAP.
First, the free draw from this banner gave me Josef’s (from Final Fantasy II) Glint+ Soul Break. Meh. Don’t have a single BDL relic for him so this is useless.
Now to try narrowing down the Sync select list some more. Golbez’s Sync is out since getting it won’t do me any good considering his Awakening isn’t even Lensable.
Minwu is still an option, especially since I already have his AASB. Getting his Sync would make him better. Now that I’m thinking about it some more though, I’m not sure he actually has a place on my magical and mind holy team.
Currently, I’ve got Rem Tokimiya (from Final Fantasy Type-0) as my main DPS with her Sync and AASB. Then I’ve got Hope Estheim (from Final Fantasy XIII) as my secondary DPS since I have 2 of his Awakenings. I can also make use of Rydia (from Final Fantasy IV) as another DPS since I have 2 of her Awakenings and her holy Sync.
Hmm. Okay, Minwu’s still in for now but Paladin Cecil might as well be out. If I’m getting a holy Sync, it might as well be Minwu’s as opposed to Cecil’s since at least I already have the former’s AASB.
Onion Knight is out. It really doesn’t seem like he’s the answer to my need for a magical water DPS. I guess Kain should still be in since I do have his DASB. That’s the latest type of Soul Break in this game. If I get his Sync and AASB, then I’ll have 3 BDL relics for him. His Sync 1 may not be that good but it’s better than nothing.
Maria’s out. Even if I Lens her AASB and get her Sync 1, she won’t be better than my current magical earth DPS which are Rydia (also have her earth Sync) and Enna Kros (from World of Final Fantasy; have her Sync and AASB).
Rinoa’s still an option, especially since I recently got Vivi Ornitier’s (from Final Fantasy IX) ice and lightning magical Sync and AASB. Terra’s out. She has no place on my magical fire team unless I can get more BDL relics for her that will make her better than my current DPS. Locke’s out too. Might as well power up my other elemental teams as opposed to my most stacked element.
So that leaves me with Rinoa’s Sync 2, Kain’s Sync 1, and Minwu’s Sync. I think I should just drop Minwu’s Sync already. I doubt getting his Sync would make him better than Rydia or Hope and Rem’s really, really good so he definitely won’t be better than her.
Now I’m left with Rinoa and Kain. Which Sync should I go for? Still not sure. Rinoa’s Sync will help me power up my magical ice team which is severely lacking. Other than Vivi, I don’t think I have any other magical ice Sync or AASB so I could really use more relics for this element.
On the other hand, my lightning team is already pretty good. For physical lightning, I can go with Delita Heiral (from Final Fantasy Tactics) and Ravus Nox Fleuret (from Final Fantasy XV) as my DPS. I even just recently got Lightning’s (Claire Farron from Final Fantasy XIII) lightning Sync. Don’t have her lightning AASB but it is Lensable so I can also make use of her as yet another possible lightning DPS.
So I guess I don’t really need Kain but the fact that I have the potential to get up to 3 BDL relics for him is actually kinda tempting. I only have Delita’s Sync and AASB. The same can be said for Lightning, assuming I Lens her Awakening. Well, I also have her second Awakening but that’s for the holy element. Ravus is the one who I have multiple BDL relics for, including his Sync, AASB, DASB, and even his True Arcane Soul Break (TASB) or Arcane Dyad Soul Break (ADSB).
If I get Kain’s Sync and AASB, he might become better than Lightning or Delita. And I might be able to do more fights that require a physical lightning team. But - argh! I don’t know. Still can’t decide.
Taking a closer look at the descriptions of Rinoa’s and Kain’s Syncs revealed that they were basically the same right down to having a follow-up ability that can break the damage cap. The only difference was that one dealt lightning damage while the other dealt ice damage.
So I scrolled down to take a closer look at their Sync abilities. This was where they started to differ from each other. Rinoa’s Sync commands deal a lot of magical ice damage. Her Truespell Icefury Sync command 2 can also increase the damage of her ice abilities for 3 turns.
Kain’s Sync abilities also deal damage but they also come with gimmicks that can’t easily be ignored. His Sworn Lance Sync command 1 only deals 1 hit (as opposed to Rinoa’s Truespell Chillfrost which deals 6 hits) but it can break the damage cap.
It also has a long delay before landing but his Dragoon Thunderbolt Sync command 2 will reduce the delay of his attacks by 2 turns. So it looks like you’re supposed to go Sync command 2 > Sync command 1 > Sync command 1 then back to Sync command 2. I guess this isn’t really that bad but it still seems annoying to have to deal with this.
In contrast to that, for Rinoa, it seems feasible to just spam her Sync command 1, especially if you have other chars who can boost her damage. Speaking of chars who can boost damage, I actually have Cait Sith’s (from Final Fantasy VII) Sync and AASB. He’s the premier support for magical chars.
For physical chars, I only have Tyro (from Final Fantasy Record Keeper). Unfortunately, he’s not that good. I mean, he works well enough but there are way better physical supports out there. It’s really too bad I don’t have the relevant Soul Breaks for those chars.
So right now, I’m leaning towards picking Rinoa’s Sync, especially after I saw that Dragoon-type abilities all have a long delay before they hit their target. Don’t have a single Dragoon-type ability so will have to create one or more if I’m going to use Kain. On the other hand, I already have magical-type abilities that Rinoa can equip.
Right, I think that settles it then. I’m going with Rinoa’s Sync. Hopefully, I don’t end up regretting this. But I really don’t have time to think more about this because the 7th anniversary festival event is about to end in FFRK.
And as mentioned in one of the announcements within the game, “Any unclaimed bonus relics that remain from this draw at the time it ends, will be chosen for you at random.” So Rinoa’s Sync it is.
Conclusion
So what about you? Which Sync did you end up picking? Do you wish we had more and better options to choose from? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.
Notes:- screenshots are from my Final Fantasy Record Keeper game account
- also published on my Final Fantasy Archives blog and scheduled to be published on my main Tumblr blog
