buddha0991
Member
Do it Gaz, and tell me how each of them goes on irc yo.
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Shin Megami Tensei IV |OT| The Dark Souls of Persona
- Thread starter Volcynika
- Start date
Do it Gaz, and tell me how each of them goes on irc yo.
Are there any story spoilers in the lead-up to the bosses? If not, I'll do it after I eat.
If you've already met the 4 clowns, you can proceed for the Clipped Wings 1&2.
I need some advice again, for Vishnu:
Mana Surge or Draconic Reaction? Or perhaps should I take them both and remove Invitation?
This is the only time that I allow a DLC skill on my demons (Pierce Physical).
I have ~80 St, 60 Lu and 60 Ag incenses ready to be used on him.
This is probably the 5th or 6th version of Vishnu I build and all the incenses I spent previously are wasted. I hope this is the last time -_-
Mana Surge. Vishnu doesn't have the MP to keep using Antichthon and invitation without support. Draconic reaction is great for a pure offensive Vishnu though. It all really depends on how much you find yourself needing to revive demons.
I remember Draconic Reaction was the key to survive Ancient of Day and later the Fiend's attacks. But Vishnu didn't have a lot of agility back then. I wonder if with 300 Ag, he will be as evasive as with something like 120 Ag + DR?
Do we know how much agility percentage DR adds?
My plan is to make him an uber demon who is capable to survive anything, support the other weaker demons and when he doesn't know what to do, simply attacks. His triple physical attack is awesome, that's why I gave him Pierce without any physical skills.
The only figure I've seen on DR is "2nd tier sukukaja", which I imagine isn't more than a 75% boost.
And now I am not because I am dead. Survived one turn against the Clipped Wings bosses, died on each of their second turns.
So, y'know, I pretty much had them.
Thanks man, I will take your advice and go for Mana Surge then.
I will try that and report.
@Gazoinks: I'm curious. How far are you in the story?
I'm fighting Medusa right now, so not that far.
Picked this game up a while back but never really started it, first SMT game. Holy shit, tough game. Not what I've been used to the last number of years. Go persuade 3 demons to join you... And then I proceeded to meet the riverman multiple times before finishing that up.
But I am enjoying it despite it destruction of my soul.
But I am enjoying it despite it destruction of my soul.
Fun fact: I am so anal about dying I have never actually done the river man. Ever. Even once.
Anyway I am now in
. Frankly I think that
Burroughs kinda creeps me out, the way she spends the entire game cheering for me at emotionally scarring moments. If she turns out to be the final boss I won't be surprised.
Anyway I am now in
Blasted Tokyo
Walter is a huge dipshit for talking about a world ruled by the strong while he's clowning on Tayama for doing exactly that, and also for siding with flipping demons and unleashing them on Tokyo. I mean these are DEMONS. Some might say "Yeah but you've been pallin' it up with them all game" to which I say "No. Unlike Pokemon, demons are unrelenting assholes I have had to kow-tow into my forces and then force at swordpoint to stay that way. They're not my friends, they're my stupid slaves to be used and discarded at my pleasure." But anyway, yeah, Walter's a moron. On the other hand, I can't side with Jonathan because what kind of idiot just stands by and lets be a world where people harvest people's brains to feed demons while they come along and perform a hostile takeover of my nation. (because those angels are SO not demons. Sure.) So he's out. I wanted to side with Isabeau but she didn't have a side. So I'm hoping the Neutral Ending is what I get and that it is worth it.
Burroughs kinda creeps me out, the way she spends the entire game cheering for me at emotionally scarring moments. If she turns out to be the final boss I won't be surprised.
While both are Law, Tayama and Jonathan don't have the same ideals. In fact one is Light Law (Jonathan) who believes in God, order and peace and the other is Dark Law (Tayama) who tries to be the dictator who impose his own law and get his hands dirty in the process. Both believe that you should obey a ruler without asking questions but the way to achieve that is different.
The Ring of Gaia seems to be a Neutral-Chaos to me who believe that as long as you have power, you can do whatever you want and express you desire, but they still have compassion and don't kill the weak. Dark-Chaos on the other hand (Lucifer) are the representation of the wild nature of things and where only the strongest has the right to live. They achieve their goals whatever the costs.
The Ring of Gaia seems to be a Neutral-Chaos to me who believe that as long as you have power, you can do whatever you want and express you desire, but they still have compassion and don't kill the weak. Dark-Chaos on the other hand (Lucifer) are the representation of the wild nature of things and where only the strongest has the right to live. They achieve their goals whatever the costs.
With that said, I agree, both Walter and Jonathan are morons and the game will show it clearly in their respective endings.
^I've never done the riverman either (aside from when I first died and didn't know what was going on), it just seems easier to reload instead of spending money. And I need my play coins for Soul Hackers!
You'll adjust to it soon enough, especially once you start to get a hang of the Press Turn system. Protip: Stocking demons who all have the same weakness will get you curbstomped by the one boss that uses that element. I know this from experience.
Also buffs are your friends. I'm not sure if they ever explicitly say this, but buffs in SMT games last until they're dispelled and can stack.
You'll adjust to it soon enough, especially once you start to get a hang of the Press Turn system. Protip: Stocking demons who all have the same weakness will get you curbstomped by the one boss that uses that element. I know this from experience.
Also buffs are your friends. I'm not sure if they ever explicitly say this, but buffs in SMT games last until they're dispelled and can stack.
Yeah, I reload now rather then spend money at the Riverman. Macca is in too short supply, at least early on for me to keep spending it on that.
I've got it down to where generally, it's boss/special fights I normally get curb stomped at the first meeting of. Though every now and again the regular fights will have initiative on me and a couple winks later I'm dead. =)
Do buffs stack/continue outside of the fight as well? Can I buff up ahead of time and be less fragile?
Nah, only in battle. You definitely want to spend the first turn of most bosses buffing, though. And yeah, sometimes you have to die on the boss the first time in my experience so you can figure out what you need to beat them.
That's true, except for one type of optional bosses where you spend hours/days to make them spawn and if you get stomped, the only way to engage the battle immediately is to pay Charon. Otherwise you're good for additional hours/days to make the boss spawn.
Just got SMTIV from the Atlus sale and i'm kinda enjoying it, but I need to know a few thigns:
Is this a grindy game? cause I've been grinding like crazy and I'm getting my ass kicked by a boss, like I understand the whole combat system with getting additional moves by using "super effective" moves but this boss just starts critting left and right and I get my ass kicked.
Also how do i skip that fucking annoying death scene? I just want to reload my save please.
Is this a grindy game? cause I've been grinding like crazy and I'm getting my ass kicked by a boss, like I understand the whole combat system with getting additional moves by using "super effective" moves but this boss just starts critting left and right and I get my ass kicked.
Also how do i skip that fucking annoying death scene? I just want to reload my save please.
No, not really. Don't grind to level up unless you really want a fusion that's unavailable by a level. If you're getting killed easily, it generally means you need to look at what's wrong with your team and restructure, not level up. Try to avoid having demons who are weak to the boss's spells, use demons who have his weakness, and get as many buffs/debuffs as you can.
I'm only level 13, but I'm finding it somewhat grindy. Perhaps a bit less so now that I've gotten a selection of demons that I can tailor to a boss. But I also don't know what I'm doing. But I am enjoying it. =)
The few boss fights I've had are less instant death now that I have a better selection of demons to choose from so I can have a team or portion at least that is resistant. But right now I only have one demon with buff/debuff and a pitifull 40mp for 11mp casting spells. I've been spending a lot of time just leveling demons and trying to flesh out skills and resistances for various circumstances. Fusion strikes me as a system where half way through the game it's going to just 'click' and suddenly everything will make sense and I'll be annoyed I wasted a bunch of demons needlessly.
witchedwiz
Member
Yup, with the exception of personas spinoff, mainstay smt are based not only on weakness/strength, but also on the whole buff/debuff thing..
I can't really forget how some fiend fight i own by an hair breadth, when i dodged their attack after stacking Eva buff to max while healing and dealing damage.
And the same applies to boss against you, hence having a demon that can buff along dealing damage and a side lined demon that could clear buff on the enemy has always been pretty crucial...
Damn europe, i'm suffering for smt withdrawal..
So uh, is there some way of beating this bullshit boss King Kenji or is the game just done right here? Because this fucker is somehow dealing 400 damage to me when I have immunity to physical and magical damage. This is ridiculous. This is the problem with this fucking game. I go up and up and up in levels and fuse and fuse and fuse demons, learn the fucking rules and then it's all for fucking nothing because the boss kills my entire team in 1 hit, begging the question of why he gets FIVE FUCKING TURNS.
So pissed.
So pissed.
ColossalLazy
Member
If your entire party has this, the AI will start Megido spam. So you will die very fast. All late game bosses do this.
Also for this boss, its good to have someone that Null a status ailment.
Oh wonderful so if I defend myself I fuck myself?
Fucking hell. I'm lucky to even do 100 damage to this bastard with my demons.
Kenji is one of the game's last major roadblocks. You're gonna need a party full of high-HP demons and at least one with a Null ailment skill(and you would preferably carry one too.)Ancient curse is nullified if the target is immune to any of the ailments it inflicts. I'd also advise you to make sure one of his elements can hit without a press-turn penalty (make your demons merely resist his attacks instead of being fully immune.) If you null/absorb/reflect all of them Kenji will just resort to spamming almighty attacks at full power, as opposed to him launching resisted attacks that are much more manageable.
And if I remember right he's actually weak to either fire or electricity. Yes, this doesn't make a lick of sense.
Reflecting his attacks is the only way I can even hurt him, though. Nothing does even 100 damage to the guy.
TurnipFritters
Member
Rakunda/Acid Breath/Debilitate that jerk, and Tarukaja yourself.
Hm. I'm assuming you've made use of buffs/debuffs and charged magic attacks? If you're doing that little damage even with those you may be underleveled. And as mentioned above, Kenji should have an elemental weakness.
I have no idea what a charged magic attack is. I doubt I've ever even seen or had such an ability. I'm hitting him with stuff like Zanmadyne and Maragion and dealing 90 damage at most.
ColossalLazy
Member
Charge is a skill that more than doubles the damage dealt by physical attacks.
Concentrate is similar but for magic attacks.
Oh, Charge. Yeah I know what that is. Dunno that I've ever seen Concentrate. Guess I'll build up in this one room and try and retool my team. So much for finishing this game in January.
It looks like you're behind on skill fusion.
There are skills to increase the damage output of your attacks (they increase the damage by 2.5 times), they're called concentrate and power charge. Concentrate is by far more useful due to the inability to get crits on magic. That aside, you can find it on King Frost (which I think is a special fusion that requires the other Frost special fusions to be completed)
There's also a couple of other skills you'll find valuable:
Agidyne: Porewit (level up to 41), Balor
Debilitate (reduces all enemy stats): Alice
If you can't/don't feel like getting debilitate: War Cry (atk,def down): Hairy Jack
Doping (raises HP of all party members by 50%): Thoth (level up to 33)
This database should help you find whatever demons or skills you might need.
http://erikku.github.io/smt4tool/
Doping is probably the most useful skill against powerful bosses.
Get that skill and demons with high HP and you will never die again. Remember that there aren't a defense stat, so the only way to tank almighty attacks is rise your HP as high as possible.
Buff/debuff skills such as fog breath/war cry/debilitate/luster candy are indispensable. If you don't have them, you'll be in big trouble against the following bosses as well (especially if you go Neutral).
Oh, I just remembered that Tetrakarn works very well against Kenji for some reason. And if you can, fuse Mahamayuri (the mini boss you beat before Kenji). He has the best healing spell in the game: Salvation which fully heals your party and removes the status effects.
Like others said, the late bosses' AI is smart and if you block everything they will use almighty spells to pierce your defense. So, prepare yourself.
Get that skill and demons with high HP and you will never die again. Remember that there aren't a defense stat, so the only way to tank almighty attacks is rise your HP as high as possible.
Buff/debuff skills such as fog breath/war cry/debilitate/luster candy are indispensable. If you don't have them, you'll be in big trouble against the following bosses as well (especially if you go Neutral).
Oh, I just remembered that Tetrakarn works very well against Kenji for some reason. And if you can, fuse Mahamayuri (the mini boss you beat before Kenji). He has the best healing spell in the game: Salvation which fully heals your party and removes the status effects.
Like others said, the late bosses' AI is smart and if you block everything they will use almighty spells to pierce your defense. So, prepare yourself.
Game is now ruined forever. *Tosses 3DS*
Okay, so I have most of this out of the way now. Just his stupid status effect mixer and his insta-death attacks that do me in now. Level 62 and I made it as far as the switch prompt once now.
EDIT: Killed him, got the Neutral Ending. At least I assume that's what's going on, here.
EDIT: Killed him, got the Neutral Ending. At least I assume that's what's going on, here.
NeonZ
Member
Who did you meet in the white forest? Or did you just choose to destroy everything
and the game ended right there? If it was the destroy everything ending, that's technically the fourth/"bad" ending, which completely skips over the last part of the game.
I
Chose not to destroy everything and met Stephen Hawking in the Forest. I'm currently hunting down the White before continuing on to save the world in my own way. Which is good, because so far nobody has had any good plans for saving the world. This plan to revive a Goddess of Tokyo seems sound, though. By which I mean I don't trust it, either, because why would replacing one God with another change anything?
Ah, good. I will warn you that neutral can grind to a halt once you get lost. There's a list of quests to be done before you can finish the game. Hopefully this can help you somewhat if you get lost.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=81617481&postcount=12343
And as for the spoilter.:
A flaw in the fabric of reality has driven the Abrahamic God (who is the chief god in power in the SMT universe.) insane. This isn't really explained in IV aside from DLC which touches on it.
NeonZ
Member
The only path where the world is saved in SMT IV is
That's not really a spoiler. It's based on an off-hand comment from an old interview and hasn't really ever been acknowledged in-game directly. I don't know what reference to it you saw in the SMTIV DLC either.
The series also often seems to change the meaning of "meta" elements that should tie the games together, so I wouldn't put much value in those old words. I mean, SMT IV's take on Lucifer is very different from what we had seen in previous games and that's an actual character who often makes on screen appearances, not just an old hinted at element.
Law. Although it does involve blowing up Tokyo.
No, really, it's the only path where you get an epilogue afterwards saying that everything turned out fine. It's really counter intuitive though, considering how most of SMTIV's writing seems to want to portray both law and chaos as wastes of time that won't change anything.
No, really, it's the only path where you get an epilogue afterwards saying that everything turned out fine. It's really counter intuitive though, considering how most of SMTIV's writing seems to want to portray both law and chaos as wastes of time that won't change anything.
That's not really a spoiler. It's based on an off-hand comment from an old interview and hasn't really ever been acknowledged in-game directly. I don't know what reference to it you saw in the SMTIV DLC either.
The series also often seems to change the meaning of "meta" elements that should tie the games together, so I wouldn't put much value in those old words. I mean, SMT IV's take on Lucifer is very different from what we had seen in previous games and that's an actual character who often makes on screen appearances, not just an old hinted at element.
There's even the issue of how the Great Will of the Universe and God seem to be considered the same entity in some games, but not the same in others,
Ah. My bad. I've only played a few installments and seen some supplementary materials so I don't really have the full picture. I was thinking of how The Ancient One of the Sun has
god outright state that the humans must be eradicated and replaced with his new race, which is basically doomed to be "tainted" by the people of Blasted Tokyo since he didn't see to it that they were properly exterminated. The whole thing came across as completely irrational and self-defeating.
Still loving it, but the game is damned hard. Just finally beat Medusa. Got through with most of my demons slaughtered, though. Took a bunch of tries and some luck. And leveling so I could fuse another demon with zan. Three demons with zan and buffing my defense still barely did much of anything against her.
I was pretty lucky going into Medusa, because I happened to have Wind res on Flynn and a bunch of demons with Zan through sheer luck.
NeonZ
Member
Well, the sin that usually makes God decide to wipe out humanity save a few chosen ones in SMT is usually
demon summoning become widespread and out of control, and that seemed to happen in SMT4's backstory too. The people from Blasted Tokyo might have been part of the ones judged by that sin and condemned alongside the others, which is why the law forces were trying to wipe them out completely, but they seem to have lost the ability to actually summon demons, so I guess they might not be a big menace in his view.
Don't forget that the "new race" is actually just the chosen people taken to the cocoons before the nuclear strike too, so they actually were originally from the tainted world too.
Don't forget that the "new race" is actually just the chosen people taken to the cocoons before the nuclear strike too, so they actually were originally from the tainted world too.
The game will become easier from now on, or at least you'll have much more options available to you.