CornBurrito
Member
But generally when those demons become obsolete you are at a level where you can fuse them into better demons.
And honestly I never had to grind for money until the final boss.
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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 |OT| Big Dipper and Bigger Boobs
- Thread starter Kazerei
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But generally when those demons become obsolete you are at a level where you can fuse them into better demons.
And honestly I never had to grind for money until the final boss.
Koroviev
Member
I've grinded for macca a bit, but that's because I want the shiny new demons as soon as they are available <_<
I never had to grind for money ever. The only grinding I ever did in the game would be to go into a Free Battle to fight 1-2 enemies with a team just to level up a bridging demon I just fused to learn the latent skills so I could immediately fuse that demon and pass those skills on to the actual target demon I wanted.
That's what I meant; reinforcements don't do much, I just think of them as "oh great, now I have to spend extra time for the free EXP." DS2 battle/stage design just seems to do more to further the difficulty of the game.
Honestly, Day 4 has an amazing EXP grind spot in one of the free battles (wonderful EXP for at least one encounter up to Level 35-ish) and 1000 Macca a fight. It's split into two sections so you can split up the map easily and it takes no time to clear. Not that grinding is _really_ necessary but it's such an easy spot to rack up tons of Macca and still get good EXP out of it. But, again, I probably overfuse; I tend to fuse to replace the entire group, even if it's all of a two fuse level difference.
And by "proper" fusing, I just more mean actually fusing pretty often and with the goal of trying to shore up weaknesses. A lot of times I see people having trouble with any SMT game, they're slacking on their demons heavily; sticking to the same ones for 10+ levels and with "bad" skillsets.
Also, in case you're not aware, stat bonuses on fusion are randomly generated (based on the demons involved) when you select them. If you want to fine tune the result, this is useful for small corrections.
Deified Data
Banned
Yeah Chaos was a shitty path in DS1.
I disagree. Was my first ending in DS1. =) I remember it fondly.
It kind of sucks feeling like the MC is just being used by Naoya, but it was cool to see yourself rise to Hito-Shura levels of power and declare war with Law.
It was sort of a "the real battle has only just begun" ending, which I quite enjoy. There wasn't a single ending to DS1 I didn't find appealing.
semiconscious
Member
anyone? i'm lvl 18. i've got a moh shuvuu. fused with a toubyou, i get a lvl 18 lilim. but the lilim's greyed out?...
seems to me, i remember in the first game being able to see which fusions i could unlock ahead of time, & know which level i needed to be to do it. i'm flat-out not getting what's going on here...
How are the characters/story compared to the first?
Liked the gameplay of the first game but hated every single character. Would have literally enjoyed the game more if it was just a grid of battle choices and never saw the awful dialogue.
Was hopeful for this but the implants make me think this might be worse.
Liked the gameplay of the first game but hated every single character. Would have literally enjoyed the game more if it was just a grid of battle choices and never saw the awful dialogue.
Was hopeful for this but the implants make me think this might be worse.
CornBurrito
Member
Well I disliked
the implication that killing god was wrong. While he was less of an ass than past SMT gods, he was still quite a douche. The lockdown and attitude of the angels is proof of that.
Koroviev
Member
I really like most of the characters and I've found the story to be well-paced thus far. There is a good mixture of humor and darker moments. It has an anime vibe to it, so ymmv.
Deified Data
Banned
I guess I just never got that implication.
Naoya was obviously a scheming douche, but I like to think that the MC pursued that ending not out of some obligation to Naoya, but as a means of achieving freedom from a draconian God. But I see what you mean, what with half of your party leaving you after you make the decision. But who can blame them? Killing God does sound like a batshit insane thing to do, even if the MC gets into it with goodish intentions.
Koroviev
Member
Use the search function located below the fusion option on the Cathedral of Shadows menu
semiconscious
Member
Use the search function located below the fusion option on the Cathedral of Shadows menu
well, duh!
. thank you. so 'unknown' just means it's a new demon, & doesn't mean i can't fuse...CornBurrito
Member
It doesn't sound insane to me.
That's probably why Atsuro is my favorite character. The dude is so loyal.
I suggest you use Search instead of Fusion unless you know exactly what you're doing. The level of the demons you are fusing don't matter. What happens is the level of the resulting demon. It cannot be higher than your MC's level. So the result of your fusion might simply be a demon higher in base level than your MC. If you use Search, you won't have this problem.
Femmeworth
Banned
I haven't touched my copy yet. :< Is anyone playing this on a 3DS? How does it look upscaled? I'd rather play it on my 3DS, because of an awesome grip, than on my DS Lite.
Deified Data
Banned
It doesn't sound insane to me.
That's probably why Atsuro is my favorite character. The dude is so loyal.
Yeah...
I almost felt bad dragging him along. You can tell my his dialogue and especially the ending slide that he really doesn't approve of this option, but he's sticking with you because he's your friend. I really hated Naoya for how he treated Atsuro in the Chaos ending.
CornBurrito
Member
I played it on my 3DS. I had to set it to small mode using select/start. Otherwise it was just a bit too blurry for my taste.
Game looks great anyway.
Koroviev
Member
well, duh!
Yep
Playing it on 3DS and it looks fine. Have compared it to screenshots and everything seems about right. Just make sure that you turn off power saver mode and turn down the brightness setting to 4. It's nice to use the 3DS because you can compare the Activity Log hours to your actual in-game hours. 30 hours logged and 20 in-game mean I've spent a lot of time performing fusion experiments!
Femmeworth
Banned
DS games on the 3DS at their native resolution are just too small for me. Nintendo really should have included filter options. :\
I always have the power saver function turned off. It's good that at least one person thinks it look fine on a 3DS upscaled. Oh well, if I start on the 3DS and can't stand it, I can always switch to my DS Lite. I really wish I had the money to invest in a DSi XL.Playing it on 3DS and it looks fine. Have compared it to screenshots and everything seems about right. Just make sure that you turn off power saver mode and turn down the brightness setting to 4. It's nice to use the 3DS because you can compare the Activity Log hours to your actual in-game hours. 30 hours logged and 20 in-game mean I've spent a lot of time performing fusion experiments!
Thanks guys.
Playing it on 3DS and it looks fine. Have compared it to screenshots and everything seems about right. Just make sure that you turn off power saver mode and turn down the brightness setting to 4. It's nice to use the 3DS because you can compare the Activity Log hours to your actual in-game hours. 30 hours logged and 20 in-game mean I've spent a lot of time performing fusion experiments!
I'm jealous! I'm so curious how many hours I've actually spent on this but alas, I don't have a 3DS. My game timer is at 40+ but I'm pretty sure I've clocked at least 70-80 hours.
Koroviev
Member
Hmm, the DSi XL has been the only handheld to ever disappoint me. And I love handhelds. The games are just way too blown up; I much prefer the sharpness of the DS Lite. Games look just so much better on it.
I actually returned my DSi XL, used a dead pixel and backlight bleeding as an excuse (it had those "defuncts" but it didn't really bother me).
Chrono Helix
Member
I'm at (presumably) the last boss.
How many forms does this asshole have?! I died on his 3rd form. His double Almighty attack killed off everyone in the MC's party instantly. MC survived thanks to Endure, then one of his arms finished off the MC.
EDIT: Ok I just read the spoilered post by Mitama a couple of pages ago. I didn't know Cepheid's a physical attack, I thought I remember seeing my Purple Mirror with Null Phys (was in the MC's team) killed by 2 Cepheids. I only had Null Curse and Ice on the MC, cos that's the only offensive spells his previous 2 forms had. Swapping out the Endure for a Null Phys will hopefully solve my problems.
EDIT 2: FFFFF- I had Reflect Phys all this while but never noticed it because it came after Reflect Fire in the skill crack list!
EDIT: Ok I just read the spoilered post by Mitama a couple of pages ago. I didn't know Cepheid's a physical attack, I thought I remember seeing my Purple Mirror with Null Phys (was in the MC's team) killed by 2 Cepheids. I only had Null Curse and Ice on the MC, cos that's the only offensive spells his previous 2 forms had. Swapping out the Endure for a Null Phys will hopefully solve my problems.
EDIT 2: FFFFF- I had Reflect Phys all this while but never noticed it because it came after Reflect Fire in the skill crack list!
Femmeworth
Banned
Hmm, maybe it would be better to just invest in a DSi. I have a launch DS Lite, so it's going to need replacing eventually.
Just completed my first playthrough, this game is awesome. I played the first DS just a month ago, so it's still fresh in my mind as well. The jump between the two games feels a lot like the Persona 3 -> 4 one i think. At least as far as tone and atmosphere goes. I might prefer DS2 slightly, but i don't think it's that much better to be honest, just different (again like P3 and 4).
There's very few negative things i can say about this game. It has way too many party members, and when you only have 4 different stats, some of them end up completely useless. I basically just rolled with MC(max magic, a bit agility), Fumi/Joe (dances and kills everything), Otome(backup magic user as well as revive/healer), and Keita/Hinako (multi-strike/pierce/ares aid/crit up). I cannot see why anyone would ever use people like Io or Makoto, when you have so many better options. It's not like the game forces you that often to use certain characters either.
The final boss is the worst i have ever seen in a Shin Megami Tensei game. I am specifically talking about that last phase. I had to make a Ganesha and Behemoth for MC and Hinako and have them rush him, and pray that they could kill him before he can do his thing or the other demons could overpower my revivers staying back. Made sure everybody had repel phys, and i still only just made it before he was about to fire the laser. And if you make a small mistake and die, you get to do the first two phases again, which is terribly annoying.
Besides that, i thought the difficulty was mostly just fine. The game was oddly hard in the beginning though i thought, at least i don't remember DS1 being that way.
I have 190 points for survivor awards, which is just exactly enough for what i want. I thought that was quite funny. So i get to carry over skills, remove xp and fusion level limits, a new enemy and mitama fusions.
There's very few negative things i can say about this game. It has way too many party members, and when you only have 4 different stats, some of them end up completely useless. I basically just rolled with MC(max magic, a bit agility), Fumi/Joe (dances and kills everything), Otome(backup magic user as well as revive/healer), and Keita/Hinako (multi-strike/pierce/ares aid/crit up). I cannot see why anyone would ever use people like Io or Makoto, when you have so many better options. It's not like the game forces you that often to use certain characters either.
The final boss is the worst i have ever seen in a Shin Megami Tensei game. I am specifically talking about that last phase. I had to make a Ganesha and Behemoth for MC and Hinako and have them rush him, and pray that they could kill him before he can do his thing or the other demons could overpower my revivers staying back. Made sure everybody had repel phys, and i still only just made it before he was about to fire the laser. And if you make a small mistake and die, you get to do the first two phases again, which is terribly annoying.
Besides that, i thought the difficulty was mostly just fine. The game was oddly hard in the beginning though i thought, at least i don't remember DS1 being that way.
I have 190 points for survivor awards, which is just exactly enough for what i want. I thought that was quite funny. So i get to carry over skills, remove xp and fusion level limits, a new enemy and mitama fusions.
Are you still on day 3? Summoning from the compendium is pretty much end-game stuff. It's way cheaper to get demons from the auction.
Can't you just make a Suspend save just before that point?
I have such a love hate relationship with this game. Every time there is a new battle, I just try to brute force my way in it. Get my ass kicked and I throw away the DS in frustration. Then the next day, I would calmly analyze the battle grid, the enemy positions, moves and weaknesses. Plan a scenario, execute it, and enjoy great success.
Gonna take me so long to beat the game.
Gonna take me so long to beat the game.
Just slowly analyze each battle before brute forcing it >_>
And yeah you're moving at snails pace bro
Koroviev
Member
RPG_Fanatic
Member
In the middle of day 5 now.
Just went around asking all the female characters
Just went around asking all the female characters
to act sexy
Beat Day 3.
Boss wasn't that hard. Its gimmick was fairly easy to figure out, though I was a bit pissed I didn't manage to kill it on the first time around.
Anywho, partway though Day 4 now. I get the feeling that shit's gonna get crazy.
BTW, a curious question for anybody who may have beaten the game or actually tried this (regarding a Day 3 fight):
Boss wasn't that hard. Its gimmick was fairly easy to figure out, though I was a bit pissed I didn't manage to kill it on the first time around.
Wasn't quite able to kill it before it merged back. Luckily, it split again with both halves having minimal HP. Stupid Ronaldo dude also stole my kill with Drain on the Phys Null one.
Anywho, partway though Day 4 now. I get the feeling that shit's gonna get crazy.
The exam stuff was pretty funny with the guys listening in on the girls' exam. Doubly funny when Joe comes in talking all casual. lol
And a crazy weird dude showed up...probably important.
And a crazy weird dude showed up...probably important.
BTW, a curious question for anybody who may have beaten the game or actually tried this (regarding a Day 3 fight):
Do you get something different if you beat Botis in the 2nd Fumi fight? Was just curious if anything different happened.
cj_iwakura
Member
There's a fight in Day 4 where I thought the demon was like Botis(i.e. run or you will DIE), but I managed to kill him and the game let me fuse him(Neko Shogun), but he wasn't nearly as scary as Botis, so...
Also-
Also-
Botis shows up again later anyway.
Chrono Helix
Member
Back in DS1 I heard of a number of people who beat the game without ever reassigning cracked skills, because they didn't realise you could do so. I wonder if that would be possible in DS2.
I mainly grind in the game because it's fun keeping your demon set-ups up-to-date and experiment with team builds and fusions etc.
Damn, could the characters in this game be any more likeable?
There's not one character I actually dislike. it makes picking and choosing who to build a relationship with difficult. Excellent incentive to replay, and watch the scenes with the other characters. I intentionally avoided all scenes (that I could) with several characters, so I'll have a lot to see on a replay.
On day
now, and I see I got pretty lucky with which characters I chose to build fate with.
I'll likely replay again immediately. A question for those that replayed: How quick and easy is it to run through, and explore the other paths on a New Game+?
There's not one character I actually dislike. it makes picking and choosing who to build a relationship with difficult. Excellent incentive to replay, and watch the scenes with the other characters. I intentionally avoided all scenes (that I could) with several characters, so I'll have a lot to see on a replay.
On day
7
I'll likely replay again immediately. A question for those that replayed: How quick and easy is it to run through, and explore the other paths on a New Game+?
I don't think I've seen many games where changing so few variables (adding one demon, redistributing 2 others) has changed the situation from impossible to very easy before. In any case, I'm slowly plodding along since this is my "30-45 min/day just before going to sleep"-game, so it should last me a good while longer.
Deified Data
Banned
Can someone explain to me how the skill "Multi-Hit" works?
It says it's reliant on Agility, but does that mean it derives its damage from agility, or that you simply have to have a high enough agility to equip it? I'm thinking of building my physical MC around this skill, and I'm wondering if I should be allocating more points into strength or agility.
Does the ideal physical-based MC have high marks in both stats?
It says it's reliant on Agility, but does that mean it derives its damage from agility, or that you simply have to have a high enough agility to equip it? I'm thinking of building my physical MC around this skill, and I'm wondering if I should be allocating more points into strength or agility.
Does the ideal physical-based MC have high marks in both stats?
Koroviev
Member
I've been using it under the assumption that it relies on the agility stat. Seems pretty effective when used by my magic/agility mc. My strength is something awful, like 5 <_<
Deified Data
Banned
I've just invested so many points into strength...are there better phys abilities later down the line that will validate that choice? What stat serves as a prerequisite for Pierce?