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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel |OT| Class Warfare

K

Korigama

Member
CrazyDude said:
So what is everybody's favorite and least favorite party character?

I feel like Elliot is kind of in a similar boat with Gaius.
Click to expand...
I favor Laura and Fie overall. As I've said before, this is one of the few RPG casts where I don't dislike any of the party members. If I were to choose one who could've left more of an impression, I would say Emma, who was ultimately too secretive for my liking in spite of otherwise being amicable.

I went in not expecting to think much of Elliot, yet he was one of the guys in the group who I liked most. Personally, I rather liked Gaius (him confronting Patrick was one of my favorite moments as well).

I was satisfied with the progress that Alisa made throughout the game after the low point that was the prologue and Ch. 1 before the field study (was also satisfied with how that was resolved). Though I liked both Jusis and Machias, I would give the nod to Jusis between those two specifically if I had to choose. Sara was great. And though people tend to give him a lot of flack, I liked Rean as the lead, and rather enjoyed how those around him commented on and called attention to his words and his actions on more than one occasion (i.e.,
Alisa calling him out on the head stroking thing, was quite glad for that even though I had already guessed correctly as to why he wound up doing so without really thinking about it
), leading him to reflect upon their assessments. (Late arrival and major ending SPOILERS)
I found Millium's hyperactivity and blabbing about trade secrets and other people's business (i.e., speculating that being so busy is probably why Claire doesn't have a boyfriend) amusing, along with Jusis' frustration from having no idea how to deal with her. Crow was probably my favorite among the guys, so the confirmation of who he was after I had my suspicions but didn't want to believe it hit pretty hard.
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
Fie made late game really convenient

I had the quartz that restored her S-Craft based on enemies killed to I could open with her scraft and wipe the screen and have it ready again for the next fight

Laura and Jusis filled out the rest


OH these are just my battle impressions. We talking actual favorite characters? Crow, Jusis, Sarah were my faves

didnt care for Rean, Machias, and Alisa

Gaius, Elliot, Emma, Laura, Fie etc were all very likeable but not overly memorable
 
B

Bladenic

Member
Jusis is the best support character purely due to Noble Command or whatever it was called. Both attacking stats plus speed buff in one? Broken.
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
Bladenic said:
Jusis is the best support character purely due to Noble Command or whatever it was called. Both attacking stats plus speed buff in one? Broken.
Click to expand...

Yeah this game gave the player a LOT of power. While the combat is a great and fun improvement challenge went out the window fast...

Its basically built around ending fights in the first turn or two. Otherwise the game can indeed get quite hard really fast

I think the Ghost castle boss was the first time i had to rethink and redo a fight multiple times
 
S

skLaFarebear

Member
Psxphile said:
O3zP2ny.jpg
Click to expand...

The Wind FeelsGoodMan
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
CrazyDude said:
So what is everybody's favorite and least favorite party character?

I feel like Elliot is kind of in a similar boat with Gaius.
Click to expand...

Fie is my favorite character from Cold Steel 1, though as Nyoro brought up before, a sum of her interactions were funneled to a stagnant place due to a part of her background. I hate this and hope it is either touched on or expressed in more interesting, entertaining fashion (which CS1 did have some of) in the sequel. Overall, none of the characters have

Meanwhile, I don't care for Rean much at all and he's likely my least favorite party member. I've heard that he gets better in Cold Steel 2 so I'll keep myself open to the idea that he improves as a character (moreso a protagonist).

I used to like Angelica more as well, but the short time I've thought about her since, I find myself less fond of the memories. I still find her alright though, gag aside.

Gaius is weird for me, like many here. His constant talk of the wind makes me feel he is an offensive caricature of a Native American from an 80's cartoon serial. However, as a character overall he does show a great amount of balance and distanced perspective from the heated relations of the main land, which is a great addition to have in a cast surrounded in talks of conflict/war. A part of me wishes more from his personal character and yet his contributions in party dynamic are certainly there while subtle.

Machias is one of the characters where I really "buy" that he will have more to say and do later on. It's not from a preference for the character, but I see something being done with him. It's really just a gut feeling. Jusis, given his family, is a no-brainer for that, so I fully expect this with him. For his character in Cold Steel 1. I liked him alright, same with Jusis. Not much more to say for or against them. They're there.
 
M

Meffer

Member
Ultimadrago said:
Fie is my favorite character from Cold Steel 1, though as Nyoro brought up before, a sum of her interactions were funneled to a stagnant place due to a part of her background. I hate this and hope it is either touched on or expressed in more interesting, entertaining fashion (which CS1 did have some of) in the sequel. Overall, none of the characters have

Meanwhile, I don't care for Rean much at all and he's likely my least favorite party member. I've heard that he gets better in Cold Steel 2 so I'll keep myself open to the idea that he improves as a character (moreso a protagonist).

I used to like Angelica more as well, but the short time I've thought about her since, I find myself less fond of the memories. I still find her alright though, gag aside.

Gaius is weird for me, like many here. His constant talk of the wind makes me feel he is an offensive caricature of a Native American from an 80's cartoon serial. However, as a character overall he does show a great amount of balance and distanced perspective from the heated relations of the main land, which is a great addition to have in a cast surrounded in talks of conflict/war. A part of me wishes more from his personal character and yet his contributions in party dynamic are certainly there while subtle.

Machias is one of the characters where I really "buy" that he will have more to say and do later on. It's not from a preference for the character, but I see something being done with him. It's really just a gut feeling. Jusis, given his family, is a no-brainer for that, so I fully expect this with him. For his character in Cold Steel 1. I liked him alright, same with Jusis. Not much more to say for or against them. They're there.
Click to expand...
I think Rean is a good protagonist given how you play the game. He's an open person that puts time into helping people and is supportive to people he cares about, along with that he has flaws that makes sense: he's a Yes-Man, wishy-washy and unsure of himself given he really has no idea where he came from. So if what people are saying is true, he stands his ground and trusts himself more. The problem is at least in the first game I'm aware of is that he's written like visual novel protagonist. He talks about his morals and character a lot and all the tropes that come with it.
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
Meffer said:
I think Rean is a good protagonist given how you play the game. He's an open person that puts time into helping people and is supportive to people he cares about, along with that he has flaws that makes sense: he's a Yes-Man, wishy-washy and unsure of himself given he really has no idea where he came from. So if what people are saying is true, he stands his ground and trusts himself more. The problem is at least in the first game I'm aware of is that he's written like visual novel protagonist. He talks about his morals and character a lot and all the tropes that come with it.
Click to expand...

Hes legit terrible and boring to me. Worst lead they have put forth in the series thus far but its just my opinion

Im keeping an open mind for the second game.

The writing went off the rails quite a bit but the improvements that CS2 brings are aupposed to be across the board so i remain optimistic
 
Z

zakujanai

Member
Bladenic said:
Jusis is the best support character purely due to Noble Command or whatever it was called. Both attacking stats plus speed buff in one? Broken.
Click to expand...

I mustn't have ever used Machias and Jusis together because when I did today, using Noble Command made me laugh. That or I just didn't pay attention to what the party said when you use it.
 
M

Meffer

Member
DrROBschiz said:
Hes legit terrible and boring to me. Worst lead they have put forth in the series thus far but its just my opinion

Im keeping an open mind for the second game.

The writing went off the rails quite a bit but the improvements that CS2 brings are aupposed to be across the board so i remain optimistic
Click to expand...
Oh I'm not saying he's great, he's written pretty tropey. There's just an decent character under all that and I'm trying to be positive here.
And Estelle in Trails in the Sky got better too so we'll see.
 
N

Novel Mike

Member
I like all the characters in battle but some were better then others but I do think everyone can have a unique role to play.

Rean is a great physical damage dealer, plus buffer with motivate.

Alisa is a crazy powerful CP generater for your party while also having quite a high ATS for arts damage and healing. Her default Master Quartz also gives her an extra life which makes her very valuable in certain fights.

Laura is just OP as hell with Dominion and her S-craft, she can also buff herself before doing so for just insane amount of damage.

Jusis has noble command which makes him really useful while also having rather well balanced attack and arts stats to fill whatever role you might need of him.

Elliot has that early craft that gives you regen which makes him really useful early on but I do think Emma just outclasses him later on.

Emma is only held back by how powerful/quickly you can cast high level arts, plus status effects she can cause with several of her crafts.

Machias with the right setup can debuff and status effect a ton of things with just his normal attacks, really useful for sure.

Fie is super strong if you get her evasion super high (whats the cap in this game like 90% or can she hit 100% I can't remember) plus the quartz that makes her counters always crit.

Gaius is a good physical attacker but I never used him much in battle.

I never really used Crow, or Millium honestly so can't really talk about them much. My main party was generally Rean, Alisa, Laura, Fie with Emma or Elliot and Machias as backup and switch in when needed. Rean and Fie I would generally buff, have Laura just wreck everything with her crafts or buff herself for extra damage and have Alisa either generate CP for the party, heal the party, or cast powerful arts.

Overally MVP though imo is Alisa just because she can generate CP so damn well, having Laura and Rean with Dominion on NG+ use their full 200CP S-crafts at the start of the boss fights, then have Alisa fill them back up in just a few turns is just crazy.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
Yeah, I always found it a bit weird(?) that Alisa gets one skill available essentially at the start that has such an important element like CP restoration. I always thought it would get expanded upon with bigger skills, but that really is just it.

Same with Elliot's Beat, another extremely helpful support move available right from the start. I don't mind it, but just found it interesting heavily using moves at endgame that were pretty much always present.
 
S

Shin-chan

Member
This may be just wishful thinking on my part, but the NISA Europe store no longer has November 11th as the release date and it just states "Autumn 2016".

Hopefully they've pushed the release forward to October (or even September) now that they know the game will be ready.

Can someone else check and just make sure I'm not seeing things.
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
Ultimadrago said:
Yeah, I always found it a bit weird(?) that Alisa gets one skill available essentially at the start that has such an important element like CP restoration. I always thought it would get expanded upon with bigger skills, but that really is just it.
Click to expand...

It does. Her last craft gives AOE insight and CP Regen. It's the best support craft in the game next to Machias Chrono Break.

Insight is lowkey the most broken status effect in the game.

Elliot is kind of a front loaded character, but I think that's the point. He's someone you want in low level runs or in Nightmare attempts without NG+
 
E

Erheller

Member
Glitter and Gold said:
Insight is lowkey the most broken status effect in the game.
Click to expand...

It really is. The accuracy and unbalance buffs are decent, but the evasion is really good. 50% chance to not take damage? It basically doubles survivability.

Unfortunately I never really used insight that much because CS is all about killing everything before they can attack, and insight doesn't really help there.
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
Erheller said:
It really is. The accuracy and unbalance buffs are decent, but the evasion is really good. 50% chance to not take damage? It basically doubles survivability.

Unfortunately I never really used insight that much because CS is all about killing everything before they can attack, and insight doesn't really help there.
Click to expand...

It does when you can't do that, like vs Bosses or strong enemies in the final dungeon. Angel Alisa Insight strats are the strongest in the game. Even moreso than unlimited Machias turns. The game has no answer to it lol
 
S

Soriku

Junior Member
Unlimited Machias turns were the only way I was able to beat the final boss of the last dungeon on Hard. IDK how else you could do it.
 
G

Gu4n

Member
CrazyDude said:
So what is everybody's favorite and least favorite party character?

I feel like Elliot is kind of in a similar boat with Gaius.
Click to expand...
My favourite is Laura.

I love Class VII as a whole, but in battle my least favourite is Machias on account of just not knowing how to use him in battle. I feel Elliot's Resonant Beat makes Machias' role somewhat redundant in battle.

lNSAllkh.jpg
Click to expand...
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Laura is OP. I used Rean/Laura/Jusis whenever possible and generally switched out member 4 for a while before deciding on Fie in the end. They all have their place in battle, although Machias lags behind the rest for seemingly being primarily a buffer/debuffer, which ends up not being all that necessary or useful, and Elliot has a reverse growth curve where he's much more useful in the early stages of the game.
 
X

Xeteh

Member
Novel Mike said:
Emma is only held back by how powerful/quickly you can cast high level arts, plus status effects she can cause with several of her.
Click to expand...

I never even bother casting the higher arts with her. I gave her Criminal and leveled it up all the way so she has 90% crit rate with arts, a Fire Bell and then just cast the lower level fire bolt. She can cast upwards of 5 in a row. She's a boss killing machine. You can swap elements as you want but Criminal is godlike.
 
N

Novel Mike

Member
Xeteh said:
I never even bother casting the higher arts with her. I gave her Criminal and leveled it up all the way so she has 90% crit rate with arts, a Fire Bell and then just cast the lower level fire bolt. She can cast upwards of 5 in a row. She's a boss killing machine. You can swap elements as you want but Criminal is godlike.
Click to expand...

Never tried it, honestly thats another thing I love about the game is that there are so many different ways to make use of characters.
 
J

jb1234

Member
Should I return to this game, guys? I played about nine hours several months ago, got stuck on a very hard boss and then moved on to other things. I mostly liked the characters but was finding the plot pretty slow.
 
K

Korigama

Member
Might be better to go with a bell quartz for a different element, since Criminal automatically cuts delay time for fire Arts in half when maxed (unless the effects stack when you combine the two, still haven't experimented as much with Criminal as I've been using Pandora as of yet).
jb1234 said:
Should I return to this game, guys? I played about nine hours several months ago, got stuck on a very hard boss and then moved on to other things. I mostly liked the characters but was finding the plot pretty slow.
Click to expand...
If you were enjoying the cast, I would recommend giving it another try. Plot starts picking up around chapter 3, but I'd say really ramps up in 4.
 
F

Famassu

Member
jb1234 said:
Should I return to this game, guys? I played about nine hours several months ago, got stuck on a very hard boss and then moved on to other things. I mostly liked the characters but was finding the plot pretty slow.
Click to expand...
The bigger storyline doesn't really pick up pace until in the last 2 chapters. There are some high points before that but overall, yeah, it's slow. But you should push through, it's worth all the build-up.
 
C

coredecepts

Member
jb1234 said:
Should I return to this game, guys? I played about nine hours several months ago, got stuck on a very hard boss and then moved on to other things. I mostly liked the characters but was finding the plot pretty slow.
Click to expand...
I think most people in this thread will encourage you to pick it back up. The story is rather slow for a while, but it is for a good reason. It all gets paid off later.

If you can name the boss, I'm sure people will offer some help.
 
Cornbread78

Cornbread78

Member
Just arrived at
Garrelia Fortress
is it bad that I can already see what is going to happen next? I vaguely remember the intro but those bastards
Liberation Front or whatever their called..
are the ones that did it, aren't they.. I'm already getting pissed...
 
N

Novel Mike

Member
Cornbread78 said:
Just arrived at
Garrelia Fortress
is it bad that I can already see what is going to happen next? I vaguely remember the intro but those bastards
Liberation Front or whatever their called..
are the ones that did it, aren't they.. I'm already getting pissed...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry to much, you may think you've gotten things figured out but theres no way to predict everything that happens.
 
H

hans_castorp

Member
Soriku said:
Unlimited Machias turns were the only way I was able to beat the final boss of the last dungeon on Hard. IDK how else you could do it.
Click to expand...

S-Craft rush with Rean & Laura, refill with Alisa/Tomato Cocktail.
Rinse, repeat.

It was down in a couple of minutes. Laura is a beast.
 
Cornbread78

Cornbread78

Member
Novel Mike said:
I wouldn't worry to much, you may think you've gotten things figured out but theres no way to predict everything that happens.
Click to expand...


Hmmm... We'll see how far off I am. I at least thought we would get a full Emma reveal that
she is a witch and the cat is really with her
but it just didn't happen at the
castle
I guess they are going to cram a bunch of stuff in a hurry for the last couple chapters..
 
J

jb1234

Member
coredecepts said:
I think most people in this thread will encourage you to pick it back up. The story is rather slow for a while, but it is for a good reason. It all gets paid off later.

If you can name the boss, I'm sure people will offer some help.
Click to expand...

Good question. He was in the Old Schoolhouse, just after the first field study. I should turn the game on to refresh my memory, haha.
 
Hikami

Hikami

Member
Up to Chapter 3 in my replay. Amazing how much I've forgotten already when It's only been like 7-8 months since I first finished it.

CrazyDude said:
So what is everybody's favorite and least favorite party character?

I feel like Elliot is kind of in a similar boat with Gaius.
Click to expand...

Don't really have a favorite but least favorite would be Machias. Never really use him.
 
K

Korigama

Member
jb1234 said:
Good question. He was in the Old Schoolhouse, just after the first field study. I should turn the game on to refresh my memory, haha.
Click to expand...
The three Cherubic Gates on the second floor, yes? You'll want accessories that prevent confusion (Floral Bottles are the earliest/cheapest ones). Earth-based arts are effective. Strike attacks are the only physical attacks they're weak to specifically, and even then it's only one star, so you'll want to use Elliot's Detector craft to up it to two and then sic Laura on them one at a time. You'll also want to use Rean's Autumn Leaf Cutter craft to delay their turns as much as you can.

Other than this, you can also make use of Soul Blur to try to inflict Faint to get free criticals and make them miss turns. Elliot's Blue Lullaby craft can serve the same purpose by putting them to sleep, but keep in mind that unlike with Faint, they'll wake up as soon as you attack them (they are more susceptible to Sleep than to Faint, though). Alisa's Flamberge has about as much chance to inflict Burn (passive damage between turns) as Soul Blur does to inflict Faint, so that's another thing to consider. You might also want to consider equipping Blind quartz or using Gaius' Turbulence craft in order to make them more likely to miss.
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
CrazyDude said:
So what is everybody's favorite and least favorite party character?

I feel like Elliot is kind of in a similar boat with Gaius.
Click to expand...

Favorite is Fie probably in both regards. I feel like she's the most versatile party member you have access to, on top of having the highest base speed which is always good in Kiseki. Storywise kuudere is the best dere.

Least favorite gameplay wise is definitely Jusis or Emma. I feel like they have the weakest crafts in the game. They're both tailored more towards casting offensive arts and those just aren't that great imo. I think Arts are mostly useful for screen clearing or taking advantage of weaknesses, and anyone can do that. Emma's high ATS and Jusis ATS buff/MR debuff aren't really that useful to that end. Noble Command is kinda good, but made obsolete by food and Moebius.

Least favorite in the story is....really hard. I like everyone to some extent. If I was forced to choose though it'd have to be....Emma I guess. She felt like a plot device more than any other member of Class 7, even with her bonding scenes. I did like her bonding with Fie though
 
Z

zakujanai

Member
I'd forgotten how this is a game about
dead Mums.
Gaius is the only member of class vii with
two living parents (I'm assuming Rean's real parents are dead).
Why is nobody ever just divorced? Not tragic enough?
 
D

DragonElm

Neo Member
Quick question: I bought TOCS digitally off of EU PSN, I have an EU account. I'm getting the US physical vita version. Will my save data carry over?
 
S

Scrooge McDuck

Member
zakujanai said:
I'd forgotten how this is a game about
dead Mums.
Gaius is the only member of class vii with
two living parents (I'm assuming Rean's real parents are dead).
Why is nobody ever just divorced? Not tragic enough?
Click to expand...
That most of them
have a parent
is miracle enough for a JRPG.
 
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