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[Laughing Banana]

You could never fuse any demon with any other demon, in any game. There are always families of demons that simply will not fuse together. The old style of fusion can be replicated exactly by going into search, choosing a demon under the "include" option and initiating the search.

Well, the ability to just select xxxx demon and immediately see with what demons I can fuse xxxx in my current roster and the result is much more agreeable to me than the whole search search press Y thing. Brevity.

Also, it does reward the player with a sense of discovery.

No, he wants a way to fuse a specific demon with another specific demon without having to dig through results lists to see which two demons are used. Unless I'm going for a specific demon, I'll generally just test fusions between all demons which have no more skills to learn and SMT4 makes this a lot harder than it was in earlier Megaten games.

Other than that, I really love all of the filters and search options in the new fusion system.

Yeah, you're on point.

Although yeah, the filters/search thingie can be incredibly helpful at times. I guess I am just used the old ways of doing things, hahaha.

 

[CornBurrito]

Tokyo spoilers:

Spoiler

I killed the swamp dude and have his head. Where do I take it now?

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Tokyo spoilers:

Spoiler

I killed the swamp dude and have his head. Where do I take it now?

To

Spoiler

To he horde of horse demons outside Ueno.

 

[perorist]

Another question: are the Knowhow skills ever useful? I've been trashing them in favor of what I perceive to be more useful skills.

I've found attack knowhow to be very good on physical or tanky demons with low MP pools. You should have tons of element stones stacking up in your inventory so you can have them use those to exploit weaknesses where they otherwise couldn't.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Also, the world map is starting to get on my nerves :\

It can be difficult at times to see which way to go.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

I've found attack knowhow to be very good on physical or tanky demons with low MP pools. You should have tons of element stones stacking up in your inventory so you can have them use those to exploit weaknesses where they otherwise couldn't.

To bad I usually I horde everything that is a rare drop in JRPGs, even if the game tells me to no do it.

 

[Watashiwa]

Also, the world map is starting to get on my nerves :\

It can be difficult at times to see which way to go.

Rotate it.

So, I'm at what's probably the last light-hearted part of the game before serious business happens.

Spoiler

"I'm a cat! Meeee-owww!"

I broke. Just completely broke. Both because it's delivered so perfectly, and because there's only one direction this can go now.

 

[CornBurrito]

As nice as Tokyo is, I'm fucking lost.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I still have my first Demon, Centaur, with me.

He actually manages to win fights for me every once in awhile.

 

[Tyrant Rave]

I've been busy all day, but I keep getting spoiled in here! Can you guys at least mark your spoilers by locations or something? Just saying "Just got to ___" or "about 20 hours in ___" isn't very descriptive.

I just finished Ikebukuro and I had a pretty significant event spoiled by someone here earlier D:

 

[Laughing Banana]

To bad I usually I horde everything that is a rare drop in JRPGs, even if the game tells me to no do it.

You're doing it the wrong way man.

HORDE EVERYTHING.

Seriously, it feels like a SIN to drop a chakra drop on my MC/demons, even when the situation clearly calls for it, hahaha.

But I am the kind of the dude who scoffs at the 100 gold cost of healing in Hunter's Association and instead go to the trouble of porting back to Mikado to rest in Barracks, hahaha.

 

[Goby]

I just got an ending, spoilers obviously:

Spoiler

I chose to create a world of stillness which deteriorated everything in the universe to nothing. My bad I guess.

At least we both

Spoiler

Finally beat GOD. Take that you bastard. Screw cycles and reincarnation.

 

[Dresden]

Wait, so when you say "+24" you literally mean a mere fixed 24 hitpoint bonus on the spell? Yeah, that's... Nothing. For some reason I thought it was some stat that scales up.

Yeah, at +8, your spell will do 24 more points of damage and cost 2mp less to cast. It's useful early on but when you're hitting for 1k+ it's completely negligible.

I can see it being kinda useful for a skill included with one of the DLC bosses (a 15-hit physical attack, apparently) since it seems to be per-hit, but then, it's DLC.

To bad I usually I horde everything that is a rare drop in JRPGs, even if the game tells me to no do it.

Those curatives sell for a good sum. Balms of Rising go for 5k each!

 

[Aeana]

When you start hitting your item limits, you'll sell/use stuff. Otherwise things go to waste in chests and stuff.

 

[Jinfash]

You could never fuse any demon with any other demon, in any game. There are always families of demons that simply will not fuse together. The old style of fusion can be replicated exactly by going into search, choosing a demon under the "include" option and initiating the search.

I'm actually still in awe of how well the search works here. It's not perfect in the sense that I find myself wishing to exclude more than one demon at a time, or something really ridiculous like picking certain resistances as a parameter when I'm in a pinch, but otherwise it's a huge step forward. Also, coming from Persona 3 to a game where I literally get to pick and choose whatever skills to inherit, instead of being restricted by predetermined inheritance rules on top of skill dice-rolls, is a godsend.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

As nice as Tokyo is, I'm fucking lost.

Dude..... Just wait until you are used to it. Of course you are gonna be fucking lost: you just entered the area...

 

[CornBurrito]

Suddenly all the regular enemies are 3 or 4 levels above me. I guess I'm not supposed to be this far in Tokyo?

Spoiler

was the Anti Demon military base before the bridge crossing?

 

[Aeana]

Suddenly all the regular enemies are 3 or 4 levels above me. I guess I'm not supposed to be this far in Tokyo?

Spoiler

was the Anti Demon military base before the bridge crossing?

You're fine. Facing demons above you is normal now. You'll also gain a ton of experience now. And gain levels rapidly.

 

[CornBurrito]

You're fine. Facing demons above you is normal now. You'll also gain a ton of experience now. And gain levels rapidly.

Alright cool. Guess I'll just explore and explore until I find what I'm looking for.

 

[PusherT]

So I'm fighting the

Spoiler

minotaur

boss? I wanted to know if I fuse a bufu specific monster and the register it in the Demon Compendium can I summon its clone and fuse the 2 exact monsters so I get Bufu +1???

 

[Laughing Banana]

Yeah, at +8, your spell will do 24 more points of damage and cost 2mp less to cast. It's useful early on but when you're hitting for 1k+ it's completely negligible.

Does this work the same with physical/gun skills? Persistent +24 (is it percentage or set +24?) damage with multi-hit physical skills, especially if its counted per hit, can be utterly devastating and completely defeats the purpose of single-strike skills. I mean, HITHARD+8 can hit 500 + 24 in one hit while HITNOTSOHARDBUTMULTIPLETIMES can maybe hit only 200, but for four times thats 200+24 = 224 x 4 = 896... the difference can be really massive to the point it's not that fair to single-hit proponents.

Those curatives sell for a good sum. Balms of Rising go for 5k each!

Well there's always that feeling of 'I might need this in the next battle.'

I'm actually still in awe of how well the search works here. It's not perfect in the sense that I find myself wishing to exclude more than one demon at a time, or something really ridiculous like picking certain resistances as a parameter when I'm in a pinch, but otherwise it's a huge step forward. Also, coming from Persona 3 to a game where I literally get to pick and choose whatever skills to inherit, instead of being restricted by predetermined inheritance rules on top of skill dice-rolls, is a godsend.

They have been doing it for quite a while actually. Devil Survivor, for example.

So I'm fighting the

Spoiler

minotaur

boss? I wanted to know if I fuse a bufu specific monster and the register it in the Demon Compendium can I summon its clone and fuse the 2 exact monsters so I get Bufu +1???

Eh, you can summon stuff to get +1 +1 +1 +1 but IIRC you can't have two same demons at the same time in the roster.

 

[Coldnoodle]

Lost one of my demons in battle. Didn't know that could happen, time to go retrieve him!

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Alright cool. Guess I'll just explore and explore until I find what I'm looking for.

Is in at the side of a river (they show the rutes and rivers in the auto map)

 

[Goby]

It's good, so long as you prepare fire spells for it.

Oh, and you want to carry poison-dispelling spells/items too.

See, this game has many great tunes. Then why the hell does the CD music contained in the box sucks so much

Woah if you're calling SDDS IV and Reincarnation bad we're going to have to fite in real life

 

[Vamphuntr]

Nothing like that. There are many optional events that affect your alignment, though, so if you reach the end and you aren't where you want to be, if you put those events off, you can use them to your advantage. But that's about it.

Can you really do that by yourself though? It's really not clear without using a guide as you can't know the weight of each decision. At the first fork I went Chaos and my icon on the map is turning clockwise and the guy at the bar says I'm very polite. T.T

 

[pa22word]

Woah if you're calling SDDS IV and Reincarnation bad we're going to have to fite in real life

I think he's more peeved that out of such a vast ost they only decided to ship 8 tracks.

Which is understandable >.>

 

[Watashiwa]

Suddenly all the regular enemies are 3 or 4 levels above me. I guess I'm not supposed to be this far in Tokyo?

Spoiler

was the Anti Demon military base before the bridge crossing?

No, it's after the Kelpies and about as far down south as you can go in the new area.

Having a working knowledge of Tokyo geography really helps with this franchise. Unfortunately, all I'm familiar with is the rail stops, and that's from six years ago.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Here's my character btw:

Rocking dat demonica helmet. As far as skills, I have:

• Agilao
• Mabufu +1
• Critical Wave +7
• Media +7
• Bad Company

Even though my mc isn't specialized in strength, Critical Wave is by far my most used skill. It is specially useful at destroying waves of enemies in one hit.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

They should have shipped the battle theme at least.

 

[Dresden]

Does this work the same with physical/gun skills? Persistent +24 (is it percentage or set +24?) damage with multi-hit physical skills, especially if its counted per hit, can be utterly devastating and completely defeats the purpose of single-strike skills. I mean, HITHARD+8 can hit 500 + 24 in one hit while HITNOTSOHARDBUTMULTIPLETIMES can maybe hit only 200, but for four times thats 200+24 = 224 x 4 = 896... the difference can be really massive.

Only up to a certain point, though. It's a fixed number so as the total increases, its value diminishes. Not to mention that the highest level skills seem to be single-hit for the most part (ala, Riot Gun).

On the last boss I fought, Myriad Arrows (with Charge) was hitting for 700~ per hit, with 2 to 4 hits per cast. 96 extra points of damage is a decent bonus but I wouldn't go out of my way for it or anything.

 

[GeekyDad]

Wow...

Just finished up a stint in Ginza. Have to say, the further into this game I get, the more I have to question Baily's (IGN) review with respect to the characters and story. I've seen her around as part of the 1Up crew sometime back, and she seems like a chick who really loves RPGs. I respect her, but I wonder if she played past Shibuya (where, to me, the characters really start to come into their own). This is a great story so far. No, the character reactions aren't surprising -- they're obvious from the start -- but the flow of the story is just so natural.

 

[CornBurrito]

They have been doing it for quite a while actually. Devil Survivor, for example.

Devil Survivor is the height of Shin Megami Tensei for me. I love everything about the game (Overclocked mostly), and can find almost not a single thing I'd change about it.

I actually prefer the fusion system present in DSurvivor, where you can do a search if you want, or just try randomly selecting two demons of yours for hours and seeing what you get. I just liked sitting there and exploring for myself rather than being handed the options on a silver platter.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Only up to a certain point, though. It's a fixed number so as the total increases, its value diminishes. Not to mention that the highest level skills seem to be single-hit for the most part (ala, Riot Gun).

On the last boss I fought, Myriad Arrows (with Charge) was hitting for 700~ per hit, with 2 to 4 hits per cast. 96 extra points of damage is a decent bonus but I wouldn't go out of my way for it or anything.

Right now, I always favor multiple-hit skills instead of 1 strong-hit skills, even though they can sometimes be unreliable.

Speaking of which, what physical/guns (especially guns) skills you would recommend a DEX build to get? I've been that weak phys gun skills (Needle something) for so long now it's unbelievable. I am currently at Level 28.

Devil Survivor is the height of Shin Megami Tensei for me. I love everything about the game (Overclocked mostly), and can find almost not a single thing I'd change about it.

I actually prefer the fusion system present in DSurvivor, where you can do a search if you want, or just try randomly selecting two demons of yours for hours and seeing what you get. I just liked sitting there and exploring for myself rather than being handed the options on a silver platter.

Yup! I too *really* love Devil Survivor, although the original one's lack of Compendium really hurt it in some ways. I've probably poured more than what... around 400 hours total maybe for the original and Overclocked version.

And yes, the bolded one above is my exact sentiment too. I mean the search function here can be really helpful but sometimes I just want to discover stuff on my own.

 

[PusherT]

Does this work the same with physical/gun skills? Persistent +24 (is it percentage or set +24?) damage with multi-hit physical skills, especially if its counted per hit, can be utterly devastating and completely defeats the purpose of single-strike skills. I mean, HITHARD+8 can hit 500 + 24 in one hit while HITNOTSOHARDBUTMULTIPLETIMES can maybe hit only 200, but for four times thats 200+24 = 224 x 4 = 896... the difference can be really massive to the point it's not that fair to single-hit proponents.



Well there's always that feeling of 'I might need this in the next battle.'



They have been doing it for quite a while actually. Devil Survivor, for example.



Eh, you can summon stuff to get +1 +1 +1 +1 but IIRC you can't have two same demons at the same time in the roster.

So I realize that route was costly so I decided to summon a weaker bufu wielding monster and fuse it with my stronger bufu monster. That way I should get the bufu +1 or will it make mabufu??

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Wow...

Just finished up a stint in Ginza. Have to say, the further into this game I get, the more I have to question Baily's (IGN) review with respect to the characters and story. I've seen her around as part of the 1Up crew sometime back, and she seems like a chick who really loves RPGs. I respect her, but I wonder if she played past Shibuya (where, to me, the characters really start to come into their own). This is a great story so far. No, the character reactions aren't surprising -- they're obvious from the start -- but the flow of the story is just so natural.

Reviews should be taken with huge amounts of salt. Wasn't there some random reviewer that said the ost in this game is not memorable? Loooooool.

 

[Vice]

Wow...

Just finished up a stint in Ginza. Have to say, the further into this game I get, the more I have to question Baily's (IGN) review with respect to the characters and story. I've seen her around as part of the 1Up crew sometime back, and she seems like a chick who really loves RPGs. I respect her, but I wonder if she played past Shibuya (where, to me, the characters really start to come into their own). This is a great story so far. No, the character reactions aren't surprising -- they're obvious from the start -- but the flow of the story is just so natural.

Reviews are just opinions. What works for you doesn't work for her, I suppose.

 

[Tyrant Rave]

Right now, I always favor multiple-hit skills instead of 1 strong-hit skills, even though they can sometimes be unreliable.

Speaking of which, what physical/guns (especially guns) skills you would recommend a DEX build to get? I've been that weak phys gun skills (Needle something) for so long now it's unbelievable. I am currently at Level 28.

The bazooka is godlike. I've been using it with steel rounds and it's been doing me well.

read that wrong, my b. I still recommend the bazooka!

 

[Dresden]

Right now, I always favor multiple-hit skills instead of 1 strong-hit skills, even though they can sometimes be unreliable.

Speaking of which, what physical/guns (especially guns) skills you would recommend a DEX build to get? I've been that weak phys gun skills (Needle something) for so long now it's unbelievable. I am currently at Level 28.

I'd keep one gun (the bazooka variants), with all four elemental bullet types handy. As for skills, keep one multi-target Physical (I avoid the Critical Wave/Titanomachia variants because missing gets you killed with Press Turn; something like Blight or Javelin Rain is perfect here), one multi-target Gun (rapid needles/blast arrows/heaven's bow/etc), and one multi-hit ability for bosses who have no weaknesses you can exploit. And of course, get Charge.

 

[Goby]

I finally reached the interesting part story wise. LATE GAME SPOILERS after the Roppongi Hills dungeon.

Spoiler

The angels new designs are so ugly. Michael is the worst, a bunch of arms holding an head, really? Now to decide to go with Jonathan or Walter. Like usual in SMT both sides are assholes in their own way.

Wow I disagree 1000%

Spoiler

The angels are way more alien like in the actual bible and I feel that they are way more striking and otherworldly than just generic handsome androgynous men. I mean they are my most favorite new designs.

 

[Laughing Banana]

So I realize that route was costly so I decided to summon a weaker bufu wielding monster and fuse it with my stronger bufu monster. That way I should get the bufu +1 or will it make mabufu??

I think you misunderstand how stuff works.

+1 things only work for the MC, when the Demons fully get their skills they do Demon Whisper (skills transfer) and any set of skills on the MC that are the same with the Demon currently whispering gets an automatic +1 upgrade to the maximum of +8.

Demons can't get +1 upgrades on their skills.

The bazooka is godlike. I've been using it with steel rounds and it's been doing me well.

read that wrong, my b. I still recommend the bazooka!

Yes, I have just arrived at Shinjuku and my funds immediately went bonkers for purchasing the new bazooka gun and especially the around 28.000 or so to buy elemental bullets. It really hurts my wallet, I need to sell a couple of stuff to get them all

I'd keep one gun (the bazooka variants), with all four elemental bullet types handy. As for skills, keep one multi-target Physical (I avoid the Critical Wave/Titanomachia variants because missing gets you killed with Press Turn; something like Blight or Javelin Rain is perfect here), one multi-target Gun (rapid needles/blast arrows/heaven's bow/etc), and one multi-hit ability for bosses who have no weaknesses you can exploit. And of course, get Charge.

Hmmmm.... I've been using Critical Wave. In fact now its +8... yes they can be unreliable and I always hesitate using it in boss fights due to this. Hmmmm. I've been eyeing that Megaton Press skill to get but maybe I need to change to the usual variety instead of the low hit % variety.

How high is your luck Dresden? How do you split level ups right now?

 

[Jinfash]

I'm actually still in awe of how well the search works here. It's not perfect in the sense that I find myself wishing to exclude more than one demon at a time, or something really ridiculous like picking certain resistances as a parameter when I'm in a pinch, but otherwise it's a huge step forward. Also, coming from Persona 3 to a game where I literally get to pick and choose whatever skills to inherit, instead of being restricted by predetermined inheritance rules on top of skill dice-rolls, is a godsend.

Never mind, you can actually do this here lol! It's crazy how I never even considered using the second set of options more before.

There's also a target demon field! Though, can someone verify whether that's the list of every demon in the game fusible through two demons?

 

[vall03]

To people who are a bit familiar with

Spoiler

Ginza

Is the Silver Coin worth spending 100k? I'm still not sure what the hell I'm doing spending money for all these items and area acess. Will I be able to get back that money? I'm hearing people getting 50k+ Macca from relics but I barely even reach 10k+. Where are you all farming Macca? I'm also saving my money for demon fusion so I'm still not sure about this.

 

[Young Magus]

Hey I just got done with the domain in

Spoiler

Ikebukuro

. Where do I go from there?

And I must say the item shop music is extremely chill, that and the Bar theme are my favorite tracks so far. The Bar music really helps with carrying a "wretched hive" atmosphere with a little cyberpunk. I LOVE IT!

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Wow...

Just finished up a stint in Ginza. Have to say, the further into this game I get, the more I have to question Baily's (IGN) review with respect to the characters and story. I've seen her around as part of the 1Up crew sometime back, and she seems like a chick who really loves RPGs. I respect her, but I wonder if she played past Shibuya (where, to me, the characters really start to come into their own). This is a great story so far. No, the character reactions aren't surprising -- they're obvious from the start -- but the flow of the story is just so natural.

Some people think that a good character is one that emotionally connects with you or is at least releatable... they are pretty wrong. Still, I feel sorry for some of the characthers even when they have common story tropes, because the delivery.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Took a while, but I'm finally in a groove with this game. Really enjoying myself, and between fusions, recruitment, and begging demons for money, I'm getting a good laugh or two along the way.

Some of the artwork in this, though... I dunno. That one shot of Navarre (you know the one) where one eye looks like it's two inches higher than the other... Now I can't stop noticing it. He looks like Quazimodo with a pompadour getting kicked in the balls

 

[CSX]

I refuse to get a buff/debuffs by me unless they are my own

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Hey I just got done with the domain in Ikebukuro. Where do I go from there?

And I must say the item shop music is extremely chill, that and the Bar theme are my favorite tracks so far. The Bar music really helps with carrying a "wretched hive" atmosphere with a little cyberpunk. I LOVE IT!

Did you do the fight

Spoiler

where Kaga dies

If so, then the next thing you should do is

Spoiler

find the Black Samurai, which is inside a building of the poisonous area you dropped from a bridge at Ikebukuro

 

[pa22word]

I refuse to get a buff/debuffs by me unless they are my own

Has putting all those points into luck paid off any? I'm always skeptical of putting anything into the luck stat in any RPG because it feels like a waste of skill points, tbqh...

 

[CornBurrito]

Status effects feel so useless in this iteration of SMT.

Or I'm just not lucky enough to get them off. Anyway I dropped most of them in favor of Resistance traits for future fusions.

Has putting all those points into luck paid off any? I'm always skeptical of putting anything into the luck stat in any RPG because it feels like a waste of skill points, tbqh...

Assuming luck effects Smirk rate, it is pretty worth it. At least as a tertiary stat for Magic users.

If you go physical? I'd say it is an amazing secondary stat since it effects critical hit rate.

 

[CSX]

Has putting all those points into luck paid off any? I'm always skeptical of putting anything into the luck stat in any RPG because it feels like a waste of skill points, tbqh...

I get crits a lot when I do auto battle and all my instant deaths are landing. I think I had only one missed in three days of play