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[Schopenhauer]

I'd just like Square to hurry up with the Ps3 version, has there still been no mention.?

You might just be better off getting the PC version (if your pc can run the game) rather than waiting for the Ps3 version.

 

[Tabris]

^ That really isn't true though, mostly melodrama and angst towards the BR system if anything. People just came up with this bullshit hypothesis that you can't fully complete the game unless you follow some kind of grinding scheme. :lol

You can get through the game just fine by playing normally. The only way you can really screw yourself over is if you spend a lot of time grinding on the first disc, but that only makes it harder to raise your stats later. Sure, there is an optimal way to raise your stats, but it isn't the only way and none of the bosses are impossible to defeat if you don't use the optimal method.

Except it's not. Let me know when you can beat AC for 200 achievements points with unions under 6k HP. The enemy averages like 6-7k dmg every battle against every union not including bad luck overdrives.

If you say you were able to beat AC, then give me your gamertag so I can look up your achievement as I don't believe you could without proper stat leveling after BR 70 assuming you have 4k HP per union by then minimum.

 

[Schopenhauer]

Except it's not. Let me know when you can beat AC for 200 achievements points with unions under 6k HP. The enemy averages like 6-7k dmg every battle against every union not including bad luck overdrives.

If you say you were able to beat AC, then give me your gamertag so I can look up your achievement as I don't believe you could without proper stat leveling after BR 70 assuming you have 4k HP per union by then minimum.

On my first play through my BR was into the hundreds and most of my unions had around 5 1/2 - 6k hp, hell most of my leaders had half that all by themselves. That was just me playing through normally without paying attention to stat leveling at all. Also, I want to point out that you are just going off of what other have told you or your assumption of the facts. Don't try to call me out when you haven't done it yourself.

I am actually going for the AC now and just started the second disc (didn't have a clue it was in the game my first time through), so it will be awhile till I can know for sure, but judging from my first play through I doubt this will be any different.

 

[Ricker]

I kinda understand what Tabris means but not quite... for example,right now,to level my stats and BR i'm fighting in Fornstand...one of those normal beetle type monsters,with Jump Press III,give all my unions an upgrade)i'm BR 78 now,even if there's only 1 of them,and the battle takes like 3 minutes...since i have no quests left,it's the fastest,except maybe the Ancient Ruins,to gain levels and upgrades in strenght,HP etc etc that i can find.

Mejilan,you don't have to always play like Tabris says(even if his way works also),and i'm pretty sure you will love this game.

 

[Schopenhauer]

^ That is pretty much my point. Even with BR around 109, maybe a few points higher, I was getting stat boosts from pretty much every (occasionally every other) battle in the Ancient Ruins and less often in other locations. By that point I had actually maxed out the stats of the leaders that I used consistently if those posts listing max stats on GameFAQs are correct.

I will agree that the method Tabris mentions is probably the most efficient way to raise stats, but it isn't the only way and I have serious doubts about the claim that certain bosses are impossible if you don't use those methods.

 

[Tabris]

All the people that have beat AC all say the same thing. You need to have like 8000+HP per union and the only way to get that is to HP grind

When you hit BR 100-130, stat increases are extremely slow and you get to the point where you need to spend 15-30 minutes to get one stat increase. Some of these people that beat AC had to restart their game and play all the way through again.

So you can ignore my advice (and my advice is to only grind in at least 2nd tier of ancient ruins assuming you have 5k HP at BR 80) if you want but we'll see who beats AC first.

 

[Ryn]

I'm pretty sure I'm ridiculously underleved for this game, I've done so few of the sidequests, sticking to the main. I'm ...I want to say a little less than halfway through the second disc, and have a BR of 50something.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I'd just like Square to hurry up with the Ps3 version, has there still been no mention.?

I haven't heard anything about it which isn't a surprise. I think it is still coming to PS3 even though I have having some doubts at this point. We will see, I heard a release date of around March-April 2009 for it. If it has improvements I might actually buy this game again.

 

[Andronicus]

I haven't heard anything about it which isn't a surprise. I think it is still coming to PS3 even though I have having some doubts at this point. We will see, I heard a release date of around March-April 2009 for it. If it has improvements I might actually buy this game again.

UE......it probably will be a lot worse. just saying.

 

[Sleeker]

Hey guys, I'm up to the very start of the second disc and I'm at that bit where David tells me to go explore and that he will call for me when he is ready.

what do I do now?
I've done a couple of sidequests but so far no guard has told me to go to the Athlum castle or anything.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

whos Sandy

there too many overpowered leaders

She looks like a female gladiator and she is located in Celapaleis. She doesn't have much HP at first, but her attacks and abilities definitely make up for any shortcomings. She is cheap to acquire and imo, worth the cash. I also found some of her more expensive companions who seem pretty powerful as well. I don't think the leaders are overpowered at all due to this game's difficulty at certain areas.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

UE......it probably will be a lot worse. just saying.

That is what I am thinking. I did hear that it will feature improvements over the X360 version. Not holding my breath though.

 

[Schopenhauer]

So you can ignore my advice (and my advice is to only grind in at least 2nd tier of ancient ruins assuming you have 5k HP at BR 80) if you want but we'll see who beats AC first.

Fair enough. If I end up being mistaken I guess I will be the one crying bitter tears.

 

[Aaron]

Hey guys, I'm up to the very start of the second disc and I'm at that bit where David tells me to go explore and that he will call for me when he is ready.

what do I do now?
I've done a couple of sidequests but so far no guard has told me to go to the Athlum castle or anything.

If I'm remembering correctly, a location should have popped up on the world map after he told you that. Go there.

For non-story leaders, I really dig Nora and the solveni whose name starts with C. I wish I could trim out the abilities I don't want them to use though.

 

[adversesolutions]

man, from what I've read, this thread should be renamed to DO LISTEN TO REVIEWERS.

I agree with this.

 

[Tabris]

This game would be 100x better with a "Skip Animations" option.

I am now of the opinion that the UE engine is the worst thing to happen to this generation.

 

[Aaron]

This game would be 100x better with a "Skip Animations" option.

I am now of the opinion that the UE engine is the worst thing to happen to this generation.

There's nothing wrong with the animations. When they need to do, and won't, is patch the game to remove transparencies and lower the particle effects. That's what's slowing things down. If the battles ran at the speeds they should, the animations would be quick.

 

[Tabris]

There's nothing wrong with the animations. When they need to do, and won't, is patch the game to remove transparencies and lower the particle effects. That's what's slowing things down. If the battles ran at the speeds they should, the animations would be quick.

How far are you into the game? When you have 4 Unions vs 8 Unions and have to watch 10 minutes of animations before the next turn, and it turns battles that take 2 minutes of actual user input into 20-30 minute battles, then yes, there's something wrong with it. Even if they were sped up, it would still take 20 minutes.

 

[Sleeker]

If I'm remembering correctly, a location should have popped up on the world map after he told you that. Go there.

For non-story leaders, I really dig Nora and the solveni whose name starts with C. I wish I could trim out the abilities I don't want them to use though.

NM.

I went to Celepelais and there was a guard hanging out waiting for me.
Told me to go back to Athlum

 

[Aaron]

How far are you into the game? When you have 4 Unions vs 8 Unions and have to watch 10 minutes of animations before the next turn, and it turns battles that take 2 minutes of actual user input into 20-30 minute battles, then yes, there's something wrong with it. Even if they were sped up, it would still take 20 minutes.

I have five unions and had a battle recently against a full seven. The entire fight felt as if it was running at half speed at best. If it had been running at a better clip, I wouldn't have had any problem, though I like seeing how the battles play out.

 

[Krelian]

^ So do I. I have no problem with the battle animations. In fact, if they were skipped it'd be pretty boring to fight at all.

 

[Tabris]

I press 8-10 buttons (including dpad motion) every 10 minutes and just watch TV/movies on my laptop because I'm watching the same thing I just watched for 10 hours before this. Sure, boss battles I'm watching but everything else, what's the point of watching if you've already seen the animations and the results won't be anything drastically different.

You don't consider that bad game design? Hey, I'm the one playing it a bunch still but even I can see this.

What would have been better is if all the units in both unions attacked at once with their animations and the damage was factored by hidden turn system and then displayed. If a unit would have died from the damage before his hidden turn, then that animation doesn't show and a death animation is shown. Have all the calculations and randomization done behind the scenes and just show me a quick balls to the walls animation of everyone beating each other up.

 

[iconoclast]

I press 8-10 buttons (including dpad motion) every 10 minutes and just watch TV/movies on my laptop because I'm watching the same thing I just watched for 10 hours before this. Sure, boss battles I'm watching but everything else, what's the point of watching if you've already seen the animations and the results won't be anything drastically different.

You don't consider that bad game design? Hey, I'm the one playing it a bunch still but even I can see this.

What would have been better is if all the units in both unions attacked at once with their animations and the damage was factored by hidden turn system and then displayed. If a unit would have died from the damage before his hidden turn, then that animation doesn't show and a death animation is shown. Have all the calculations and randomization done behind the scenes and just show me a quick balls to the walls animation of everyone beating each other up.

That's why they put in the critical offense system. I like it because you have to actually pay attention or you might miss out on a counter or moving your guys up the line in the turn order. Keeps it interesting to me at least.

 

[Tabris]

That's why they put in the critical offense system. I like it because you have to actually pay attention or you might miss out on a counter or moving your guys up the line in the turn order. Keeps it interesting to me at least.

I turned that shit off as it didn't keep things interesting for me. Just meant I had to actually pay attention instead of being able to find fun during animations by watching tv/movie.

 

[Krelian]

I guess if it was optional it's OK. I guess there were even a couple times I wished I didn't have to wait, but most of the time I really enjoy the whole battle, I also like the critical offense system.

 

[desverger]

For non-story leaders, I really dig Nora and the solveni whose name starts with C. I wish I could trim out the abilities I don't want them to use though.

Nora is great; "I'LL CRUSH YOU LIKE A BUG!"

I just had her and Violet learn Hexes. What are other good art groups I should look out for? Are Traps worth anything?

I've noticed that the soldiers are complimenting my group well later in the game. I'm almost at the end of the first disc, and they already have skills like Poison Gas III and the like.

 

[Aaron]

Nora is great; "I'LL CRUSH YOU LIKE A BUG!"

I just had her and Violet learn Hexes. What are other good art groups I should look out for? Are Traps worth anything?

Maybe because I haven't advanced them enough, but traps seem pretty weak. They are damaging attacks with no AP cost at least.

I leave critical defense on auto since it's fairly useless, but critical offense is active since auto misses about a forth the time, and in tough battles that can spell doom.

 

[Ricker]

I leave critical defense on auto since it's fairly useless, but critical offense is active since auto misses about a forth the time, and in tough battles that can spell doom.

I did the same thing starting at the end of Disk 1 fight with Hellsgate...I find it funny that the auto misses a lot though hehe....critical defense dodges and hits are the only way for me to Blackout a Unit though,because it never comes up in the normal commands.

Almost BR 80 now,I'll post my 4 Unions later on today,and i'll try Base 4 again tonight,came very close last time at BR 78(The Twins are awesome by the way).

 

[Aaron]

I did the same thing starting at the end of Disk 1 fight with Hellsgate...I find it funny that the auto misses a lot though hehe....critical defense dodges and hits are the only way for me to Blackout a Unit though,because it never comes up in the normal commands.

Almost BR 80 now,I'll post my 4 Unions later on today,and i'll try Base 4 again tonight,came very close last time at BR 78(The Twins are awesome by the way).

I beat them around 60. The key is defend for the first round, wipe out their allies, bring them both to flashing red, kill of the black-haired one, and finish the other off. If you get a summon it really helps to keep the heat off you in the early turns.

 

[desverger]

I'm curious how to get the Defend option in the battle menu. So far the only way to get it has been to put a Monk class as the leader, but are there any other classes that can do this, or can I even get Rush to do it somehow?

Also I'm really getting swamped by AoE (namely from all the dragon bosses and that big birdo) in the later parts of disc1. Is there anything to combat this - specific formation, combination of units, stacking healers in an union or some other way to keep unions off range?

I'm wondering though if I should leave those dragon sidequests (ancient war, rainbow bond) to disc2, have a feeling they're a lot more than I can bite now

 

[Tabris]

Mystic Defense formations and only having 2 units attacking the dragons/birds at the same time is what combats AOE. Basically in an ideal scenario I have 2 units attacking and 2 units set to "Recover your HP" which will have them heal my 2 units attacking after they have attacked and before the AOE, so all units have full HP for the AOE.

The only issue with this is sometimes you get into situations where "Recover your HP" is not an option and you gotta stay on your toes or move in expecting that 1 of your units will die and you'll need to raise them. Luckily the unit you raised and the unit you used to raise won't be hit by AOE's either, so then the next turn you can send them in and set up.

Basically it's almost like playing a power play in hockey. The most important aspect is setting up your players down low and the point position players. Sometimes defense has to come in to replace another player momentarily to ensure you'll stay in the attacking zone.

These strategies are what makes this game still fun. Everything else about it kinda sucks.

 

[Tabris]

I beat them around 60. The key is defend for the first round, wipe out their allies, bring them both to flashing red, kill of the black-haired one, and finish the other off. If you get a summon it really helps to keep the heat off you in the early turns.

Your BR 60 is probabaly a lot different than his BR 60.

IMO, BR means nothing except how slow/fast you can grind your stats.

 

[Schopenhauer]

I'm curious how to get the Defend option in the battle menu. So far the only way to get it has been to put a Monk class as the leader, but are there any other classes that can do this, or can I even get Rush to do it somehow?

Blocter gets an option to defend fairly often. His class right now is Guardian so that makes sense. It also might have something to do with the vanguard formation as I remember the option coming up way more often in that formation.

 

[Aaron]

Your BR 60 is probabaly a lot different than his BR 60.

IMO, BR means nothing except how slow/fast you can grind your stats.

Nah. My stats kind of suck, honestly. I'm 70+ now and my unions barely crack 2k HP while doing 10-15k damage an attack normally, though I have pulled off a monster 50k attack from a three person union. Surprised the hell out of me.

It's annoying that you need to play like halfway through the game before you can finally understand what you should have been doing from the beginning, but I should be good enough to go for the end, and I might replay it like a year from now. I'm sure I could do the first disc in half the time.

 

[Xevren]

Mystic Defense formations and only having 2 units attacking the dragons/birds at the same time is what combats AOE. Basically in an ideal scenario I have 2 units attacking and 2 units set to "Recover your HP" which will have them heal my 2 units attacking after they have attacked and before the AOE, so all units have full HP for the AOE.

The only issue with this is sometimes you get into situations where "Recover your HP" is not an option and you gotta stay on your toes or move in expecting that 1 of your units will die and you'll need to raise them. Luckily the unit you raised and the unit you used to raise won't be hit by AOE's either, so then the next turn you can send them in and set up.

Basically it's almost like playing a power play in hockey. The most important aspect is setting up your players down low and the point position players. Sometimes defense has to come in to replace another player momentarily to ensure you'll stay in the attacking zone.

These strategies are what makes this game still fun. Everything else about it kinda sucks.

I play similar to you, and I get really pissed off when I don't have an option to recover my hit points or to just stand by. There should be a few certain commands no matter what, then they can go with whatever random crap they've already been giving us. But forcing us to make a union rush to its death is fucking stupid game design.

 

[Aaron]

I play similar to you, and I get really pissed off when I don't have an option to recover my hit points or to just stand by. There should be a few certain commands no matter what, then they can go with whatever random crap they've already been giving us. But forcing us to make a union rush to its death is fucking stupid game design.

For me it's been pretty rare. I think it helps to have members of the union who can do ranged attacks. It only really irks me against birds because you know you're going to get slammed with curse right out of the gate.

 

[Tabris]

Yeah, your union type and members affect the actions you get but I have a mystic based formation and 3 healer only's (Irina + 2 soldiers) that no matter the battle, I always put them on "Recover your HP" but I would say 1/10th the time there's always a specific outcome that forces them to not have the option. It seems to be when there's a "Save them no matter what!". The issue with this is Irina will cure everyone and the other 2 attack and w/ multi-deadlock, the enemy kills them or kills them on the AOE.

 

[Aaron]

Yeah, your union type and members affect the actions you get but I have a mystic based formation and 3 healer only's (Irina + 2 soldiers) that no matter the battle, I always put them on "Recover your HP" but I would say 1/10th the time there's always a specific outcome that forces them to not have the option. It seems to be when there's a "Save them no matter what!". The issue with this is Irina will cure everyone and the other 2 attack and w/ multi-deadlock, the enemy kills them or kills them on the AOE.

Yeah, 'Save them' always replaces hang around and heal whoever gets injured. Sometimes it lets you heal them without engaging the enemy. Not entirely sure how either option is gauged, but it seems if I send them to their doom, the game 'cheats' in my favor, either tossing me a blackout, remnant power, or some easy way to raise them. I was fighting the battle with the dragon where there was a constant flow of mobs it seemed. Pagus got blackout, wiped them out, they refill back to full seven, he gets megalore, and wipes them out again.

 

[Tabris]

Man I don't have blackout since I don't use mystic skills.

Mystic skills seem great for taking out a bunch of mobs but I focused on combat arts/weapon arts only as I knew my game plan was to be ready for AC.

 

[Aaron]

Man I don't have blackout since I don't use mystic skills.

Mystic skills seem great for taking out a bunch of mobs but I focused on combat arts/weapon arts only as I knew my game plan was to be ready for AC.

Blackout is a mixed blessing. It sometimes comes up against single enemies, but it still does about 10k so it's not too bad. I wish I had more devastating single attacks like hundred flowers, though thankfully that comes up all the damn time. I had it show 3-4 times in a single boss fight once. It also seems my union can't get hit when it comes up, oddly. If the enemy attacks first, it's almost always dodged or blocked.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I spend a battle having Rush heal and the fucker becomes a healer. I use combat arts non-stop and then he becomes an expert healer. What...the...fuck...

 

[Xevren]

Class title is meaningless anyway.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

Class title is meaningless anyway.

Doesn't it affect actions? I've noticed that I occasionally won't get the option for combat arts and I'm forced to use my shitty offensive mystic arts.

 

[desverger]

Just completed "Wisdom's Echo" sidequest yesterday, got Glenys and waltzed through the Eagle's Nest fight. She's pretty awesome, having Revitalize suddenly bumped her to my main healer. I've noticed a theme of going mainly for the female leaders in my groups, just a shame there isn't female soldiers for hire. Although some of them do have some feminine names

Having my leader count bumped to 6 in unions and total unit count to 15 helped tremendously, I now have 3 full unions with 2 leaders each. Currently using Glenys + Rush, Emmy + Torgal, Violet + David. I also had Torgal learn Psionics all of a sudden, I guess that's a good thing.

Gotta say, getting some of the sidequests to spawn is such a pain. I almost lost my mind trying to get the Silver Falcons sidequest trigger from Caedmon :lol

Oh, regarding the "heal them" option - I sometimes can find it by cycling through the enemy unions and it pops up, but I'm usually screwed on boss fights. I suppose my unions are too melee-oriented. Or were, dunno now after I got Emmy and Glenys

 

[desverger]

Mystic skills seem great for taking out a bunch of mobs but I focused on combat arts/weapon arts only as I knew my game plan was to be ready for AC.

This is my impression too. In one fight, David took out 3 unions with Caustic Blast :lol

Granted, they were weak, but they really shine when fighting a large number of enemies. Not so great on single targets, mind you. My mystic union is getting outnumbered with damage more and more, even figures as high as double or triple by my melee unions.

 

[Schopenhauer]

Doesn't it affect actions? I've noticed that I occasionally won't get the option for combat arts and I'm forced to use my shitty offensive mystic arts.

Title does effect what command actions are available, at least to some extent.

On my most recent play through Rush just changed from a marauder to gladiator. While his skills didn't really change that much the command options he can choose from changed from a heavy amount of magic to a balance between weapons, items and magic arts. I generally use the same people for Rush's union so the only thing I can think of is that the change in Rush's title was the deciding factor.

Blackout is a nice way to steamroll through the first disk and a good portion of the second. Once you have unlocked it on a leader it is much easier to activate. All you really need is a large starting AP pool and with the right setup you should be able to activate it easily in every battle. That tactic seems kind of boring though and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are just playing for achievements.

 

[Petrie]

Quick question, don't want to read too much of the thread to avoid spoilers:

I've just reached the second disk and have

Spoiler

Jager

available. He seems decent, but I'm hesitant to switch out any of my party leaders. I'm still currently using all the original generals, plus

Spoiler

Emmy

. Any advice on who to use without spoiling any surprises for me?

 

[Schopenhauer]

Quick question, don't want to read too much of the thread to avoid spoilers:

I've just reached the second disk and have

Spoiler

Jager

available. He seems decent, but I'm hesitant to switch out any of my party leaders. I'm still currently using all the original generals, plus

Spoiler

Emmy

. Any advice on who to use without spoiling any surprises for me?

I believe

Spoiler

Jager

has the highest max hp (or second highest) of all the other leaders, so it couldn't hurt to use him. Depending on what your goals are it might not even really matter who you use though. You don't need maxed out leaders (not even close to maxed out really) to beat the normal end boss.

 

[Petrie]

I believe

Spoiler

Jager

has the highest max hp (or second highest) of all the other leaders, so it couldn't hurt to use him. Depending on what your goals are it might not even really matter who you use though. You don't need maxed out leaders (not even close to maxed out really) to beat the normal end boss.

Thanks. I'm just going for a normal playthrough. Don't really care about bonus bosses or whatever, not my thing. Thanks for the advice though. Good to know I can just use who I like as characters instead.

 

[desverger]

What's your best union and how is it formed?

I think my favourite has to be:
Formation: Vanguard (inc. defense on front ranks, inc. mystic attack on back ranks)
Leader: Veronica (Monk), gives melee skills, defend option
2 Melee soldiers
1 Mystic soldier
Violet

This, more often than not, gives me a defend option where the back ranks are blasting away with magic or when my hp is low, gives a defend option with Restore from Violet. I can also mount some melee offense since Veronica is hitting pretty hard since she's using a 2h axe. I was beating some of the more difficult sidequests on disc1 yesterday (Standoff, Silver Falcons pt.2) and that union proved invaluable.

Edit: what's Blackout and who gets it?