-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag |OT| A Little Kirito in Your Pocket
- Thread starter Quonny
- Start date
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Rerolling on iOS sucks. Just want Silica...
Honestly, you can get by without her. I used Strea and didn't roll at all after the opening stuff. Completed everything with no issues. Don't kill yourself rerolling for one character or you'll never play the game haha.
Draggyrider
Member
Did a 250 roll after seeing everyone getting lucky. And got 3 Silicas in a row! Unfortunately, they were all 3 * lol. I wasn't expecting any success, but mainly wanted some weapon variety to play with, sadly no mages, archers or gunners. I did get a 3* Asuna, so will probably level her just to see how rapier plays.
Finished unlocking all the attribute of Free Kirito, though he's still Lvl 89. He's certainly playable, good auto attack damage, cheap dash (35 MP) to kill mobs. Against Kirito EX, a crit auto was doing 2000+ dmg, while my lvl 85 Yuuki was doing 2200+. Another 11 levels should close that gap. Only flaw is that his 3rd skill kind of sucks, so he doesn't have any burst damage, though its only 60 MP.
Doing mostly EX mode, I had a ton of leftover mats by the time I hit 36000 points (2nd last milestone) The only shortage was the Holy Hacking Crystals needed for the last limit break and the milestone gave me more than enough. 40K points does give you 25 fragments for a pull though
Finished unlocking all the attribute of Free Kirito, though he's still Lvl 89. He's certainly playable, good auto attack damage, cheap dash (35 MP) to kill mobs. Against Kirito EX, a crit auto was doing 2000+ dmg, while my lvl 85 Yuuki was doing 2200+. Another 11 levels should close that gap. Only flaw is that his 3rd skill kind of sucks, so he doesn't have any burst damage, though its only 60 MP.
Doing mostly EX mode, I had a ton of leftover mats by the time I hit 36000 points (2nd last milestone) The only shortage was the Holy Hacking Crystals needed for the last limit break and the milestone gave me more than enough. 40K points does give you 25 fragments for a pull though
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
So I killed the final boss on Hard mode with an 85 Strea, not maxed on the attribute board, with event drops only (also not maxed).
Game is much more skill than I initially thought. 105 Heathcliff is no joke.
Game is much more skill than I initially thought. 105 Heathcliff is no joke.
How many rounds does that even take?
600 per S-rank, so 60?
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Another new event...wow! So many grind events haha.
Draggyrider
Member
Its 600 per S rank, but I've definitely A, C, or failed a few. Counting the failures, probably around 50 EX ones, with probably another 50 on Expert when I can't find a party / learning the fight. I have a long commute so lots of time to play then.
This game actually reminds me of Monster Hunter. You roll through the easy fights, then you get thrashed, forcing you to gear up. This lets you barely get through the Lvl 80 fights, but you still easily die if you make more than 1 or 2 mistakes. After a while, you just know the fight and start parrying and dodging everything.
It's almost too much, actually. I still have parts of the story to complete. :/
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
I finished the Kobold finally, now I'm working on Daughter. So much grinding. Not gonna lie - it's nice to grind while drinking good beer and watching TV. Mindless.
Also hit 1100 diamonds. Really excited for the wind banner...
Nice! Yeah, definitely farm as much as you can, I'm going to do a lot of pulls on that wind banner too. Unless we get a Valentine's Day banner instead, in which case I will not be able to resist...
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Multiplayer for EX. Otherwise, I solo expert becuase it's quicker. Except the Kobold event. EX on that was easy mode because he was simple to parry. Otherwise, yeah...Not worth the effort solo right now.
Draggyrider
Member
I have a Lvl 85 Yuuki and a Lvl 80 Leafa (but Wind is really bad in the events right now). Taking 5 or more minutes for an Ex the first time is normal, assuming you even succeed. I usually die horrible deaths 5 or so times before I figure what I'm doing.
If you find that you are taking very long, there could be many reasons. 1 is gear. The jump from Expert to EX is pretty big. At Lvl 80 you might find Expert pretty easy, while EX to be nearly impossible. Getting all your attribute bonus + farmable 4* gear helps close that gap a lot. Armor = health AND defence. So not only do you have more HP to take hits, each hit is now hitting you for less. MP lets you spam skills more, and increases MP recovery so you can spam even more. Attack makes the fight shorter, so less time to make mistakes. Combining everything makes the improvement a lot greater than the numbers seem. And gear actually has pretty big numbers (Coat of Midnight is like +3k HP, when a character has 10k). You go from nearly being one shot by EX Kirito's starburst stream to surviving 2, and it only takes like 4 skills to take him down instead of 7.
2 is the fight itself. Time spent flying due to getting hit = less time dpsing. Time spent guarding = time not dpsing. Also, the mission timer is not real time, parrying stops time for a while. Once you figure out how to survive, then it becomes how much you can attack while still not dying. For example the dragon often casts the wind attack at the start of the fight, most people would just block it, but you can actually run to the top and be ready to attack the moment it lands.
Lastly the current events are multiplayer. Soloing would definitely take a while.
Okay, the biggest takeaway I'm getting here is that I need to learn to play this like Revengeance, i.e. figure out the parry timing and attack tells for everything.
Well, that and hope I'm lucky enough to get the materials and items I need from drops/chests to forge better weapons.
And I guess having more than one non-promo 4* would be nice too.
Incidentally, earlier today I ended up in a Werewolf EX party with somebody who was blatantly cheating; every enemy died instantly as soon as each screen loaded and the timer never even advanced past 0:00. So for now I've got an "illegitimate" S-rank for that... hopefully before the event's over I can find a party that do it properly so I can feel like I actually earned the title and couple extra crystals.
Well, that and hope I'm lucky enough to get the materials and items I need from drops/chests to forge better weapons.
And I guess having more than one non-promo 4* would be nice too.
Incidentally, earlier today I ended up in a Werewolf EX party with somebody who was blatantly cheating; every enemy died instantly as soon as each screen loaded and the timer never even advanced past 0:00. So for now I've got an "illegitimate" S-rank for that... hopefully before the event's over I can find a party that do it properly so I can feel like I actually earned the title and couple extra crystals.
Draggyrider
Member
Yeah all true. Well luck isn't really a factor if you are willing to grind, since there isn't a stamina system. Though it might take a while.
Pejo
Member
Whew @ all the grind events. I am having an absolute blast playing this game though. The minute-to-minute gameplay is really fun and has quite a high skill ceiling, especially as a sniper/caster.
I pulled Skill Connect Kirito a while ago, and initially wasn't so excited (other than to have a Kirito dual sword unit), due to the extremely slow animation for the attack.
Then I realized how fucking amazing it is. If you hit a boss with it, it completely stuns them through the duration of the attack, giving your team members total free time to dps like crazy.
I've been farming mainly Expert stages, since I keep getting too many level 19-30's joining my party in the EX version, making groups take forever to make. My record for going through on the dragon boss in the family event was 38 seconds.
Skill Connect is fucking awesome.
I pulled Skill Connect Kirito a while ago, and initially wasn't so excited (other than to have a Kirito dual sword unit), due to the extremely slow animation for the attack.
Then I realized how fucking amazing it is. If you hit a boss with it, it completely stuns them through the duration of the attack, giving your team members total free time to dps like crazy.
I've been farming mainly Expert stages, since I keep getting too many level 19-30's joining my party in the EX version, making groups take forever to make. My record for going through on the dragon boss in the family event was 38 seconds.
Skill Connect is fucking awesome.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
While Expert is slow to farm event points, it's mindless so I like it. EX is too hard to solo S rank on any of the new stuff.
FeelTheKick
Member
So I wasn't happy that I wasted all diamonds on my SAO Silica account so I decided to start a fresh one to prepare for wind gacha... and I got another Silica lol. Gonna do one 10+1 character pull and one 10+1 weapon pull. The rest will wait for wind
Draggyrider
Member
Does Skill Connect work at all diffculties? That's awesome if it does. Reason I'm asking is that some skills that stagger in Expert don't seem to do so in EX. I get hit through the animation for Mother's Rosario really often in EX
The new accessory is great at max level, now my rain is pumped AF even though it's impossible to get hacking crystals without wasting crystals. I'm up to 1250 right now and I've only wasted maybe 50-60 just sitting on them for no reason.
Also, people shit on SAO Liz but she is honestly great. Her normal attacks are slow but she is super tanky and her level 3 move does AOE which is super useful. I would love to replace nighty asuna with silica but for the time being most events are a laugh.
Also, people shit on SAO Liz but she is honestly great. Her normal attacks are slow but she is super tanky and her level 3 move does AOE which is super useful. I would love to replace nighty asuna with silica but for the time being most events are a laugh.
Both the dragon and werewolf bosses are garbage for separate RNG reasons. Especially the werewolf since it can launch unparryable attacks from offscreen with almost no time to react. Combine with 50% of the time the rest of your team doesn't know what to do, and this drags on forever.
I think my biggest holdback at the moment is that my main attacker is SAO Silica but I'm stuck with a 2/3 dagger.
I think my biggest holdback at the moment is that my main attacker is SAO Silica but I'm stuck with a 2/3 dagger.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
You need to get on the Discord and run with those folks. Makes the farming SO much easier. People also don't suck and have great units. Someone has Water Asuna and it makes Werewolf EX a joke.
What's Discord?
edit: also, I did two single summons from the ALO Kirito/Asuna boosted box for the hell of it before it went away. First one was just another 2* SAO Kirito, and for the second one I misread the Argo smile list and, wanting to get it over with, skipped the animation for what turned out to be Undine Healer Asuna. After my first 11-draw gave me two 3* and the rest nothing, two of my three single pulls since then have been 4*, which pretty much must have used up all my luck on this game forever.
Also did two single weapon draws but got junk there; not trying that again.
edit: also, I did two single summons from the ALO Kirito/Asuna boosted box for the hell of it before it went away. First one was just another 2* SAO Kirito, and for the second one I misread the Argo smile list and, wanting to get it over with, skipped the animation for what turned out to be Undine Healer Asuna. After my first 11-draw gave me two 3* and the rest nothing, two of my three single pulls since then have been 4*, which pretty much must have used up all my luck on this game forever.
Also did two single weapon draws but got junk there; not trying that again.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
It's a chat room basically. Check the subreddit for the link - it's a good place to talk about the game.
Also been some interesting discussion on the Discord channel. I think I've decided that if I don't pull at least one of the SS from the upcoming wind banner, I'll call it quits. I've got over 1200 diamonds saved up with only $1 spent on the starter pack. If shit goes south and I get NEITHER of the good units, it won't be a big deal for me to call it a day. We'll see how it goes!
Pejo
Member
Yea Skill Connect does stun him for the full duration in EX, but the problem is that most of the playerbase doesn't know this and won't go HAM on the boss when I'm using it, so it's mostly wasted. A few times that I got in parties with level 85+ (mostly Yuukis and Silicas), we were able to burst down the boss in two full Skill Connects, which was awesome.
I think the difference might be that the dragon (and werewolf) are both weak to ice right now, so maybe that extra weakness procs the stagger? I dunno, but it does work.
Well, I'll take a look. Not sure how friendly they are to strangers.
Do you mean you'd stop playing the game altogether if you can't get a top character from the next release? Is it that crucial? I don't know much about other RPG gachas but if they're all imbalanced enough that very specific characters make the difference between being playable and not, that's not a good sign for the genre for me.
(As an aside, this is why I like Love Live SIF, since as a rhythm game, all that the better characters do is help you get a higher score; past a certain point the gacha is far more for collection value than helping with gameplay. A skilled player can still have fun and enjoy just as much game content even without a single gacha roll. Though I see you've dabbled a bit in the game yourself before.)
I let the EX boss slip away, though all I'll really miss out on is the 5 crystals and title, so I don't mind that much.
Starting to feel like a lot of the grindiness and reliance on gacha for strength is the tradeoff for there being no stamina system.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
I used to play a lot of Love Live, but the events are RUTHLESS. And as much as I love Hanayo, I couldn't afford to keep up with the fandom of that game, ha. However, the event grind in that game was no different than the event grind in this game. I know ranking battles will show up here soon, and I'll deal with that somehow...But Love Live was ludicrous!
And what I mean is that if I pull 4x on the 10+1 (so 44 summons) and don't get ONE of the new SS tier units coming out, it will completely deter me from spending a single dime on this game again. And since the power creep IS pretty intense, without a solid foundation of 4* units, keeping up with the various events and such will be nigh impossible. But I'm going into this upcoming banners with that fully in my mind as a possibility.
To elaborate a bit, the Wind Banner has Wind Asuna and Wind Yuuki are still considered SS and S respectively in JP. SAO Silica is the only other current unit that plays in the S/SS tier for JP. Fire and then holiday banners are next. All gacha games have power creep over time. It really depends on how the designers mitigate that creep. Puzzle and Dragons is a fascinating example in that the devs have actually made old units great again through special evolution chains. But a game like Brave Frontier is one of those that, when I played at least, the creep was super intense. Your units were outclassed every time a new set of characters were released...The big issue there was that PvP was a HUGE component of the game. So...
Long story short, I don't think pulling one of those S/SS tier units is a MUST (I mean, I've only ever pulled once during the opening of the game...Strea has been good to me), but it will speak VERY poorly for my desire to invest money into the game if 44 units go by and I don't get one of the featured good units.
As someone who has no problem pumping some cash into F2P games, I will await my rolls.I have a new fool proof way to make sure I beat high level content: kick all Kirito and Sinon players. Obviously fairy dance Kirito is awful even at level 100 (I grinded him up and was shocked at how awful he is) but most Kirito players are just fucking awful and die all the time.
My whole team is maxed out minus the lack of extra levels, but I'm pretty excited for Windy characters. My 1330 crystals are ready.
My whole team is maxed out minus the lack of extra levels, but I'm pretty excited for Windy characters. My 1330 crystals are ready.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
The only reason I'm maxing mine is because it's free (Kirito). I am just over halfway done, but man...I've had bads of all sorts. A level 100 Asuna was dead before the 2nd bar was down on Daughter EX. The 85 Agil I partied with lasted longer than that...
Wow.
I only kick people whose level is not maxed (because seriously, go grind some rabbits). I've S-ranked with all kinds of bad 4* characters on my team. One of the better runs I've had was with a 3* Siune (Water healer).
Obviously better characters make it a bit faster, but the boss isn't that hard.
Draggyrider
Member
I think the emphasis on pure attack recommended by all the 'experts' is really hurting some players. A Lvl 100 Full attack Kirito does decent damage but seems much squishier than a normal Lvl 80 4*. And most people (including myself) aren't experts that can dodge / parry every attack, so there's a really high chance of dying if you choose to go that route. Kind of feel like you pretty much need a healer or there's a really good chance of them dying halfway through.
I found the Agils, Lisbeths and Kleins I've partied with to be all very good. They parry, use knockdowns at the right time etc. Silica's mostly spam their first skills and take hits before healing up
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Knocked out the daily diamond event. Took me like 10 tries to clear in under a minute, but I did it. Needed to swap an earring out for more MP. 257 MP means I can blast that SS3 juuuust quick enough to get the clear. 56 seconds, ha.
michaelius
Banned
Still not released in Poland. I guess I have to give up on this
You make me seem like some sort of monster. Obviously I've beaten the content with All sorts of players as well but for every one bad Asuna or Silica there are 10 bad kiritos and Sinons. I don't see what the point is of bringing bad characters along when I can boot them, get someone good and make my life easier. I don't owe anyone anything.
On that note, I've full cleared the content and am now just playing the waiting game.
FeelTheKick
Member
Hey gaf, i've been playing this game casually due to lack of time to play (too busy with FFRK and FEH).
I'm trying to get more into it now. I don't really know what to do though, is there a beginner's guide somewhere?
Where do i grind rabbits for exp?
Should i buy some weapons, or save all fragments for characters?
Should i pull on the current character banners or wait for this wind banner i keep hearing about?
Right now i'm using the free 4* Kirito and a 3* Leafa. Kirito has the free sword that automatically got upgraded to max level. Leafa has a 2* rod and a 2* dress.
I'm trying to get more into it now. I don't really know what to do though, is there a beginner's guide somewhere?
Where do i grind rabbits for exp?
Should i buy some weapons, or save all fragments for characters?
Should i pull on the current character banners or wait for this wind banner i keep hearing about?
Right now i'm using the free 4* Kirito and a 3* Leafa. Kirito has the free sword that automatically got upgraded to max level. Leafa has a 2* rod and a 2* dress.
For a beginner's guide, there's this post from a couple pages back (ignore the second half; that event's over), along with the FAQ and Super Guide from the subreddit. Basically, since there's no stamina system, you're limited only by skill and team strength, so practice as much as you need on the earlier levels until you've got the feel of combat, especially parrying.
The EXP missions show up for one hour each three times daily, at 8am, 3pm, and midnight US Eastern.
Personally, I'd save for characters; while the gear from the shop can be better than item drops, you can't get characters from drops at all, so...
If you want what I guess are supposed to be some of the strongest characters in the game, might as well wait. If you don't care about tiers feel free to scout on whatever banner has characters you like.
Draggyrider
Member
To add on, go Menu -> Notices -> Level up at urgent Quests to check the exact timing as different regions have it at different times.
You definitely want a good party of mostly 4*s before worrying about equipment. So as I see it you basically have a few ways to go.
Pull for a 4* right now. The water banner is better for current events (they have fire-type bosses which are weak to water), but the original one is better overall. If you get one, and grind the mats to boost the stats of event Kirito (which ends in 3 days), you end up with a party of gatcha 4*, Mostly / Fully unlocked Kirito, and a healer, which is a decent party that can clear most of the hardest content. A healer is also really popular in multiplayer parties (everyone else can dps), so you are likely to be able to take part in the events and get the mats you need.
If you pull and don't get a 4* at all (or place great stock in tier lists), you might want to re-roll. Its soul-sucking, but at least you'll get a character that should last for as long as you keep playing. If there's a character you really like, re-rolling is the only way to guarantee you get it. it does mean your Kirito will become mostly worthless.
Note on 4* Leafa. Leafa will have a lot of trouble on current content (she takes extra damage and deals less). An earth element boss will be coming soon though, where she will have type advantage, and the water characters will have trouble
Thanks for the tips guys. I don't really care about the characters enough to reroll, and even if i did i never reroll on these games anyway as i have better things to do with my time.
I'm glad to hear healers are popular. Since Leafa is a wind unit, i'll probably pull on one of the current banners to get a different element hopefully. Almost up to 250 MF so should be able to pull soon. Just have to decide whether to go for the water banner or original one...
I'm glad to hear healers are popular. Since Leafa is a wind unit, i'll probably pull on one of the current banners to get a different element hopefully. Almost up to 250 MF so should be able to pull soon. Just have to decide whether to go for the water banner or original one...
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Freerito is done!!! Finally maxed his stats! Only a few more runs of that damn event before I have to do Werewolf...
Right on time for freetania. Thankfully the event is even easier than werewolf. Should be. Pretty quick grind to get Asuna to max, although on that note the character doesn't seem that good...
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Yeah, new event isn't that bad. If you have a healer in your party, it's SUPER easy. Just hit 6k points on it. I need to finish Werewolf first, grind some gear there, and then I'll work on the new event. It's definitely easier than the other 2.
They also like to bunch up. One bolt from Seven absolutely trashes the event to an almost absurd amount.
I decided to pull on a whim and got my first 4* weapon: Soul of Shamrock. Not bad for Titania but I sure would like a real weapon...
Draggyrider
Member
The enemies are also weak to the 4 elements, my ALO Leafa and ALO silica are doing work. The event is soloable, but damage does stack up fast if you aren't paying attention.