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[Jisgsaw]

You'd take Fog Breath over War Cry?

I usually let the buff/debuff to my party, so I actually take none of them, but have both on my party.

As you apparently have a physical build, your MC will be your main damage source, so his main role will be to use Focus+physical skill. To not let his MP go to waste, you have to take a couple of either healing and/or buffs on your MC (as support for your main healer/buffer), as a side role. I chose healing, as your MC is the only member sure to stay alive to heal (as else its Game Over).

But to answer your question: evading a hit is better than to take less damage, as it'll consume one press turn of the ennemy. Likewise, not missing is better than doing a bit more damage.
But War Cry's effect is more reliable than Fog Breath's, so it's up to you.

 

[Splash Wave]

I usually let the buff/debuff to my party, so I actually take none of them, but have both on my party.

As you apparently have a physical build, your MC will be your main damage source, so his main role will be to use Focus+physical skill. To not let his MP go to waste, you have to take a couple of either healing and/or buffs on your MC (as support for your main healer/buffer), as a side role. I chose healing, as your MC is the only member sure to stay alive to heal (as else its Game Over).

But to answer your question: evading a hit is better than to take less damage, as it'll consume one press turn of the ennemy. Likewise, not missing is better than doing a bit more damage.
But War Cry's effect is more reliable than Fog Breath's, so it's up to you.

I see what you mean in regard to wasting enemy press turns, and I'm not entirely convinced I need one or the other. I'm probably more inclined, as you did, to give my MC supplementary healing capabilities. I have the opportunity to get Dia from Ankh, so should I just do that? My MC is on the cusp of leveling, and I'm basically just trying to figure out which skill is best to learn next (or working toward War Cry/Fog Breath):

Ice Breath
Dia
Tarunda
Force Boost (I got Tornado)

 

[Jisgsaw]

I see what you mean in regard to wasting enemy press turns, and I'm not entirely convinced I need one or the other. I'm probably more inclined, as you did, to give my MC supplementary healing capabilities. I have the opportunity to get Dia from Ankh, so should I just do that? My MC is on the cusp of leveling, and I'm basically just trying to figure out which skill is best to learn next (or working toward War Cry/Fog Breath):

Ice Breath
Dia
Tarunda
Force Boost (I got Tornado)

Then you'll have to fuse to keep your party up to date (always minding their skillset to hit every ennemy weakness possible, and of course their affinities).

You can't go wrong with healing spells, only thing to consider is if you want the single target (dia-) or whole party target (media-).

I'd advice against taking magic spells on your MC if you have a physical build. While it's doable early game, as you advance your magic will be far too low for it to be worth the skillslot they're taking up.
Leave all the magic attacks to your party.

 

[Ourobolus]

I'd advice against taking magic spells on your MC if you have a physical build. While it's doable early game, as you advance your magic will be far too low for it to be worth the skillslot they're taking up.
Leave all the magic attacks to your party.

At least for a good chunk of the game though, it's good to keep Tornado. It's ridiculous for the level when you get it - does large damage with the boost. It should eventually be phased out, but not for a while.

 

[Jisgsaw]

At least for a good chunk of the game though, it's good to keep Tornado. It's ridiculous for the level when you get it - does large damage with the boost. It should eventually be phased out, but not for a while.

I'm still not a fan of magic spells on a physical MC because of the lousy MP pool.
But yeah, it's pretty powerfull till mid-game.

 

[CrazyDude]

So which ending is considered the best?

 

[Caladrius]

So which ending is considered the best?

Generally either Freedom (choose none of the reasons and answer Aradia's questions confidently) or the True Demon Ending.

The TDE has more gameplay and an additional Final Boss, but I personally prefer the freedom ending.

 

[Jisgsaw]

So which ending is considered the best?

The TDE Ending has a nice (short) ending cutscene. And a few lines additionnal story. And a boss of course.

But else... it really depend on your personal appreciation of the reasons.

 

[LALILULELO]

Some good news for EU peeps like myself, from Ghostlight site;

Moving on to Lucifer’s Call, which we mentioned in last week’s blog, while I don’t have much news for you it is looking quite likely that we will be able to release it on PSN very soon. As always I’ll be posting more news on here when I get it.

http://blog.ghostlight.uk.com/post/last-chance-to-apply-for-the-elminage-gothic-beta

 

[Love Deterrence]

Some good news for EU peeps like myself, from Ghostlight site;



http://blog.ghostlight.uk.com/post/last-chance-to-apply-for-the-elminage-gothic-beta

Thanks for the heads-up! Great news for EU fans!!

 

[cj_iwakura]

So which ending is considered the best?

The TDE has an amazing moment which has to be seen(maybe two), so I'd say that, but none of them are particularly meaty. I can tell you that Yosuga's sucks.

 

[TEJ]

Have i mentioned before how much i love this game? 10 years later and it's still one of the greatest in the medium of gaming.

A masterpiece in game design.

 

[Splash Wave]

Man, I'm having a weirdly difficult time letting go of Lunge. It doesn't look like I can learn any new single-hit physical attacks for a little while yet (I'm at the Assembly of Nihilo), and I can do decent damage with it using Focus. Hmm.

 

[Dr. Buni]

I have beaten this game again since the last time I posted here. Well, technically I didn't beat it, because

Spoiler

Lucifer kept kicking my butt

. Either way, the game really is freaking great.

 

[Ourobolus]

Man, I'm having a weirdly difficult time letting go of Lunge. It doesn't look like I can learn any new single-hit physical attacks for a little while yet (I'm at the Assembly of Nihilo), and I can do decent damage with it using Focus. Hmm.

Lunge is amazing for like 60% of the game. Totally worth keeping until you can replace it.

 

[Splash Wave]

Lunge is amazing for like 60% of the game. Totally worth keeping until you can replace it.

Damn, then that's gonna make it tough for me to drop new skills!

 

[Ourobolus]

Damn, then that's gonna make it tough for me to drop new skills!

IIRC I kept it until I got Divine Shot.

 

[Dresden]

You don't get anything worth replacing it for physical skills until like, level 40+ or so (this is where physical builds get a big jump in strength though). If you want space just using attack + focus works fine, too.

 

[Splash Wave]

You don't get anything worth replacing it for physical skills until like, level 40+ or so (this is where physical builds get a big jump in strength though). If you want space just using attack + focus works fine, too.

Oops, I hadn't realized that Focus even did anything when paired with attack.

Here's what I have:

Lunge
Life Bonus
Heat Wave
Tornado
Focus
Force Boost
War Cry
Counter

Is there anything coming up that should replace what I have here? The only thing that I can think of, theoretically, is Might--and even that doesn't strike me as more useful than what I have (okay, maybe it's better than Force Boost).

 

[cj_iwakura]

Oops, I hadn't realized that Focus even did anything when paired with attack.

Here's what I have:

Lunge
Life Bonus
Heat Wave
Tornado
Focus
Force Boost
War Cry
Counter

Is there anything coming up that should replace what I have here? The only thing that I can think of, theoretically, is Might--and even that doesn't strike me as more useful than what I have (okay, maybe it's better than Force Boost).

That's a good skill set. Lunge can be swapped out for something better before long, I'm sure. You'll need Bolt Storm at some point, since it has the benefit of inflicting stun sometimes.

 

[Splash Wave]

That's a good skill set. Lunge can be swapped out for something better before long, I'm sure. You'll need Bolt Storm at some point, since it has the benefit of inflicting stun sometimes.

Thanks!

edit: Fuck the Assembly of Nihilo.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Thanks! And I resorted to using a guide for the Assembly of Nihilo because this last maze is extremely confusing, but I'm hitting a wall. The guide is telling me things that are impossible.

I have the DJ guide and maps,if that helps.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Thanks!

edit: Fuck the Assembly of Nihilo.

The Assembly of Nihilo is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome. "Visually arresting" given form.

 

[Dresden]

Was that the part with those floating block-maze floors? Fuuuuuuck that part.

I love it in retrospect but that shit was hellish while going through the game.

Is there anything coming up that should replace what I have here? The only thing that I can think of, theoretically, is Might--and even that doesn't strike me as more useful than what I have (okay, maybe it's better than Force Boost).

Well, Divine Shot is coming, as mentioned above, so you'll replace Lunge with that. I'd keep Tornado and Force Boost for now. Life Bonus isn't all that useful on Normal, which I'm assuming you're playing on. So that should be the first to go when you get some new skills to slot in.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Oops, I hadn't realized that Focus even did anything when paired with attack.

Here's what I have:

Lunge
Life Bonus
Heat Wave
Tornado
Focus
Force Boost
War Cry
Counter

Is there anything coming up that should replace what I have here? The only thing that I can think of, theoretically, is Might--and even that doesn't strike me as more useful than what I have (okay, maybe it's better than Force Boost).

Well, I already stated it further up the thread, but unless you're pumping stats in both strength and magic (which you should'nt do if you go for an optimized damage output for the MC), I'd let go of Tornado when you get close to level 40 or so.

 

[vocab]

I started it up again after a break to beat soul hackers. Beat Matador, thor, and dante from the devil may cry™ series in one sitting. The pacing is much slower because the battles are longer, have more enemies, but man does this game look great in PCsx2 3x upscaled. Not sure about the alignment system. Super vague shit. Probably for the best considering I hated SMT4's alignment system the most.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I started it up again after a break to beat soul hackers. Beat Matador, thor, and dante from the devil may cry™ series in one sitting. The pacing is much slower because the battles are longer, have more enemies, but man does this game look great in PCsx2 3x upscaled. Not sure about the alignment system. Super vague shit. Probably for the best considering I hated SMT4's alignment system the most.

Everything is slower in battle than Soul Hackers! lol

Man that game flew.

But anyways, this isn't like 4, you'll know when a lock-in is coming up.

 

[Dr. Buni]

I haven't played SMT 4 yet. In which ways is the alignment system different from Nocturne's?

 

[epmode]

I haven't played SMT 4 yet. In which ways is the alignment system different from Nocturne's?

For one thing, attempting to follow the neutral path without a guide is practically impossible.

 

[Caladrius]

I haven't played SMT 4 yet. In which ways is the alignment system different from Nocturne's?

4 Uses an alignment point system. Dialogue choices and actions contribute to your alignment score. The system makes neutral very hard to get without a guide (There's a margin of about 16 points to earn neutral, and if you're at particular point values one of the mandatory choices can screw you over). This is a fairly detailed alignment guide if you need it: http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/672441-shin-megami-tensei-iv/faqs/67505?page=8#section336

 

[vocab]

I haven't played SMT 4 yet. In which ways is the alignment system different from Nocturne's?

The game makes you feel like shit for going neutral. The npcs call you a weak ass bitch for being indecisive. I hated it.

Plus there's choices that force you outside of your alignment for story reasons.

 

[Dr. Buni]

For one thing, attempting to follow the neutral path without a guide is practically impossible.

4 Uses an alignment point system. Dialogue choices and actions contribute to your alignment score. The system makes neutral very hard to get without a guide (There's a margin of about 16 points to earn neutral, and if you're at particular point values one of the mandatory choices can screw you over). This is a fairly detailed alignment guide if you need it: http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/672441-shin-megami-tensei-iv/faqs/67505?page=8#section336

The game makes you feel like shit for going neutral. The npcs call you a weak ass bitch for being indecisive. I hated it.

Thanks for the responses!

That sounds annoying for those who usually choose the neutral path. It is not my case, though.

 

[epmode]

Thanks for the responses!

That sounds annoying for those who usually choose the neutral path. It is not my case, though.

You have to be psychotic to follow law or chaos in SMT. IMO IMOM MMOMOMOIIIMOMO <3

 

[Dr. Buni]

You have to be psychotic to follow law or chaos in SMT. IMO IMOM MMOMOMOIIIMOMO <3

I almost always follow Chaos, the exception being Nocturne (

Spoiler

all three main paths suck in Nocturne

). Law sucks most of the time and Neutral is sooooo boring.

I don't necessarily agree with the Chaos point of view, though.

 

[FLD]

So, I'm in a bit of a frustrating situation with the game. I'm at

Spoiler

Tower of Kagutsuchi

and I made back-up saves so that I can get my regular ending and then go back to finish the labyrinth for the true demon ending. But I think at some point I fused myself into a corner because my party is clearly inadequate. I'm struggling on the very first boss and it seems like grinding would be inefficient and, more importantly, kind of pointless if it turns out that my party's abilities are the problem.

I already moved on to Disgaea 4 because my Vita copy got here and I was frustrated with Nocturne but I really don't want to leave it unfinished. At this point I just want to get my regular ending ASAP, I don't think I'll be bothering with the TDE for now. I know I'm very close to the end and I'd rather avoid grinding for hours to make ultimate fusions and whatnot. So, I guess I was hoping someone would have some advice? Maybe some demon suggestions that aren't too difficult to fuse?

 

[Ourobolus]

If you haven't fused a Daisoujou yet, he'll be massively useful as a healer, period.

 

[Despera]

If you haven't fused a Daisoujou yet, he'll be massively useful as a healer, period.

Only problem is that he pretty much breaks the game. I discovered him on my 2nd playthrough and after some utilization decided to only use him when absolutely necessary.

Nocturne to me had the best atmosphere/dungeons/characters/music out of all the MegaTen titles I've played. Hoping the next main entry is more similar to it than IV.

 

[Koriandrr]

Best. game. ever.

Which ending did you guys go for? Obviously careful with spoilers and all.

Spoiler

I was actually quite happy with the 'evil' ending where you become a demon and more or less destroy everything. It was totally badass.

 

[vocab]

What do I do with a level 28 Uzume (my pixie). I'm trying to hit the next tier of healers, but I can't seem to find anything but sarasvati. Sarasvati is great, but can't make one from uzume. I'll never understand the chart no matter how many times I look at it. Still trying to figure out what to do with makami since he has fog breath, but his usefulness outside of that and media is pretty crap.

 

[FLD]

If you haven't fused a Daisoujou yet, he'll be massively useful as a healer, period.

Alright, thanks. That's one of the fiends, right? Maybe I'll take a break from Disgaea 4 tonight and see if I can fuse one. Fiend fusions usually result in a lower level demon, though, right? So I assume I'll have to grind before he becomes really useful?

Only problem is that he pretty much breaks the game.

Which is exactly what I'm looking for right now!

But seriously, my previous healer was pretty good. It only had mediarama but mana refill meant I pretty much never ran out of MP outside of boss fights. Then I lost her when I did the door thing in the labyrinth to get the lvl 80 Pixie and, even though its abilities are better, it just doesn't seem to be performing as well in battle.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Alright, thanks. That's one of the fiends, right? Maybe I'll take a break from Disgaea 4 tonight and see if I can fuse one. Fiend fusions usually result in a lower level demon, though, right? So I assume I'll have to grind before he becomes really useful?

You could also go for Black Frost. His affinities are crazy good.
Which one was the first boss of this dungeon again?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

So, I'm in a bit of a frustrating situation with the game. I'm at

Spoiler

Tower of Kagutsuchi

and I made back-up saves so that I can get my regular ending and then go back to finish the labyrinth for the true demon ending. But I think at some point I fused myself into a corner because my party is clearly inadequate. I'm struggling on the very first boss and it seems like grinding would be inefficient and, more importantly, kind of pointless if it turns out that my party's abilities are the problem.

I already moved on to Disgaea 4 because my Vita copy got here and I was frustrated with Nocturne but I really don't want to leave it unfinished. At this point I just want to get my regular ending ASAP, I don't think I'll be bothering with the TDE for now. I know I'm very close to the end and I'd rather avoid grinding for hours to make ultimate fusions and whatnot. So, I guess I was hoping someone would have some advice? Maybe some demon suggestions that aren't too difficult to fuse?

Daisoujou is very low level now if freshly fused.

I don't know what your team set up, nor your compendium, but turn burn. Null or better to every element somewhere on your roster. Buffs. A healer.

Also, the bolded? Drop that mindset. It's strategical suicide. Do not get lured by lesser games' "Power == victory" mentality. In SMT3, that must be wielded correctly even if you get one.

 

[FLD]

You could also go for Black Frost. His affinities are crazy good.
Which one was the first boss of this dungeon again?

Spoiler

Ahriman/Hikawa

. Managed to beat him last night after a slight party change. I'll try to keep going today and see if I can get the next one as well.

And thanks for the Black Frost tip, I'll look into it.

Also, the bolded? Drop that mindset. It's strategical suicide. Do not get lured by lesser games' "Power == victory" mentality. In SMT3, that must be wielded correctly even if you get one.

Well, yeah, I don't think I would've made it this far if I didn't realize that. What I meant was that I know I'm close to the end and would like to finish the game sooner rather than later. I googled a bit but couldn't find any clear "get xyz, it's massively useful" kinda hint you usually find for an RPG.

I'd just rather avoid a situation like when I finally got to the end of Persona 3. After a few failed 40+ mins attempts at the final boss, I said fuck it and went to grind and it was mind-numbingly long just to get that little extra bit of power I needed.

 

[eyeball_kid]

I'd just rather avoid a situation like when I finally got to the end of Persona 3. After a few failed 40+ mins attempts at the final boss, I said fuck it and went to grind and it was mind-numbingly long just to get that little extra bit of power I needed.

In my experience the grinding you do in Nocturne is mostly in the demon fusion screen, re-rolling over and over and over to get that perfect mix of skills. For as I'm sure you know, winning battles in SMT is as much about avoiding being hit by enemy attacks as it is about landing your own attacks.

(I hate that screen personally, and re-rolling is soul-sucking tedium. But if you always just accept the first fusion skill mix it gives you, your progress will be much harder)

 

[FLD]

(I hate that screen personally, and re-rolling is soul-sucking tedium. But if you always just accept the first fusion skill mix it gives you, your progress will be much harder)

Seriously! P4G has spoiled me. I'd kill to be able to choose exactly which abilities are inherited.

I really hope that's a feature that will become the norm in SMT games going forward.

 

[perorist]

Seriously! P4G has spoiled me. I'd kill to be able to choose exactly which abilities are inherited.

I really hope that's a feature that will become the norm in SMT games going forward.

It has, if SMT4 and Persona Q are anything to go by.

 

[Jisgsaw]

(I hate that screen personally, and re-rolling is soul-sucking tedium. But if you always just accept the first fusion skill mix it gives you, your progress will be much harder)

I can see why it's annoying, but I also clearly see why it's not so bad to have it: for the balance of the game. See P4G and SMT IV.

 

[eyeball_kid]

I can see why it's annoying, but I also clearly see why it's not so bad to have it: for the balance of the game. See P4G and SMT IV.

I can't speak to those because I haven't been able to play them yet, but I'd rather have a point-based skill system to manually assign skills during fusion (e.g. you have 30 points, assign from these skills, each of which has a different point value). Is that what those games do? I don't see how making people re-roll helps the balance; people will sit there for 20 minutes trying to get the perfect skill mix anyway.

 

[Jisgsaw]

I can't speak to those because I haven't been able to play them yet, but I'd rather have a point-based skill system to manually assign skills during fusion (e.g. you have 30 points, assign from these skills, each of which has a different point value). Is that what those games do?

Yeah that could work.
The latter SMT entries give you a total freedom of skill choice. In SMT4, you can even choose to delete the default skills of the demon, making room for more skills of your choice.

I don't see how making people re-roll helps the balance; people will sit there for 20 minutes trying to get the perfect skill mix anyway.

Exactly because nobody will spend 30+ minutes re-rolling, leaving you with a somewhat weaker demon that was is theoricaly possible.
Unless of course you actively want to break the game, but that's another matter entirely.

Yeah, it's very frustrating, but it does help the balance of the game. But I'd prefer your solution too.

 

[jgminto]

Just ordered a PS2 copy last week. Really excited to start, it'll be my first proper SMT game.