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[Brandon F]

Just started this game yesterday with Dolphin (game looks good in 1080p!). I've played 1 hour and did a few things in the Colony and accepted quests like crazy. I saw that I should just accept them and do them if I can.

Any other tips for the beginning other than not selling things, using many characters and so on? How should I skill? D:

Do not fret about all the tips in the OP at all.

You won't have access to party selection until like 10-15 hours in, and even then you don't need to concern that much about affinity unless going for completist run(which I recommend avoiding in a first play as it WILL sour you on the game hard). By that point swapping about your team does help stave off repetition as each character plays so uniquely. Playing the entire game as Shulk will get tiring.

I highly recommend regularly managing your inventory upkeep!! You get constant drops from enemies that selling gear you won't equip will serve to not irritate you later on when your bags are loaded with crap. You will find yourself constantly getting better stuff anyway just from playing and killing, so always sell stuff you aren't equipping to keep that inventory screen clean. Oh and don't bother buying new gear from vendors, again you get better stuff from enemies/quests anyway. Plus it's fun to see your armor constantly evolving.

The OP only warned about not selling 'other' stuff, to avoid pawning quest line turn-ins and such, but equipment is safe to sell and highly recommended. Only if you get into the trading aspect with NPC's should you need to hold onto equipment, but no need for that really unless using a guide to find a particular item, which...well this is post-game or completist stuff you needn't concern with.

So yea, the OP has good tips, but It's best to just relax and enjoy the game. There is no real hang-ups to consider, other than sidequests can get Grindy and will overpower you making the game feel tedious in combat rather than thrilling. So just do what sounds interesting, explore occasionally and dont be a completist on a first play.

 

[HeisenbergLannister]

Is the game buggy for anyone else? I can't tell if it's buggy and keeps crashing on me, or if I'm accidentally hitting the cartridge and causing it? Never had the problem with Majora's Mask, but the cartridge location is in a really stupid position on the new3DS.

I've had it crash on me about five times so far. Got me saving about every 3 steps now after I lost over an hour of progress the first time.

 

[names2hard4you]

So I got Seven today. As a first time player, thanks to everyone for the outstanding job so far at keeping things on the low, you know what I mean? Aha. It's a really fun inclusion to the roster too, having tons of fun! Which strat is best for Seven btw? I settled for Attack for now.

 

[Elfforkusu]

I do not have topple plus gems. Topple is important but the most important arts for this battle are last stand(reyn)(lv7), happy happy(riki)(lv7), serene heart(dunban)(lv6 is ok but lv7 will be better) and heat haze(dunban)(lv5 will be enough). If the dinosaur uses its talent art (instant death), I choose to use chain attack to avoid it. I also let reyn equip with a unbeatable IV gem. Link all the skill to increase the agility. When the battle starts, let reyn hit the monster first and the dinosaur will attack and reyn's hp will below half. It is necessary to half reyn's hp because he has the lowest agility and we can link to dunban and riki's skill which increase agility when hp is half. Reyn also have a skill to increase the physical defense when hp is half. I control dunban because AI dunban is stupid. I defeated the dinosaur twice and the biggest problem is the battle will last until daytime. In daytime, the accuracy is bad. In second battle, I use my last chain attack to use lurgy to poison the dinosaur and finally win.

You're making me want to try it.

 

[foxuzamaki]

So I got Seven today. As a first time player, thanks to everyone for the outstanding job so far at keeping things on the low, you know what I mean? Aha. It's a really fun inclusion to the roster too, having tons of fun! Which strat is best for Seven btw? I settled for Attack for now.

Seven is my favorite character to fight with, atleast 90% of the time after getting it, I played as seven as my main player.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Le sigh.

Where can i grind a bit at lvl 70. Want 73 before the last party.

I don't remember which is which, but try:

Gaur Plains, the lower level.
Colony 9, assorted places on the edge of the map.

And if you really want to get your ass kicked,

Spoiler

you can stumble into the new parts of Tephra Cave...

 

[SoraanTribal]

Seven is my favorite character to fight with, atleast 90% of the time after getting it, I played as seven as my main player.

The only issue I have with Seven is to do the most damage for her, it's all about turning on her buffs and letting her white/auto attacks go crazy. I love the design of the character and the story, though. Seven can be a pretty good tank too in a pinch.

 

[Xbro]

So I got Seven today. As a first time player, thanks to everyone for the outstanding job so far at keeping things on the low, you know what I mean? Aha. It's a really fun inclusion to the roster too, having tons of fun! Which strat is best for Seven btw? I settled for Attack for now.

Depends on how you want to look during cutscenes...Regardless, equip some double attack gems and use the art that speeds up auto-attacks dramatically. You'll start auto-attacking like a machine.

 

[Aaronrules380]

It's so amazing beating the level 99 dragon in colony 6 with instant kill head shot from Sharla. You can also technically do it by use reflection with Melia against it's instant kill attack, but that'll cause it to not drop the chest since I guess the game counts it as a suicide

 

[foxuzamaki]

The only issue I have with Seven is to do the most damage for her, it's all about turning on her buffs and letting her white/auto attacks go crazy. I love the design of the character and the story, though. Seven can be a pretty good tank too in a pinch.

spoilers

Spoiler

probably shouldnt give a gender to seven, might be enough to have people make a connection, especially when with xbro's avatar right below you

 

[thomaszyj]

You're making me want to try it.

I've killed 12 dinosaurs and in fact you can topple lock it without chain attack and topple plus gems. It is so weak and you do not need very high level for topple arts. Lv6 starlight kick, lv7 wild down and lv6 steel strikeis enough. Linking to Riki's 4th skill tree will make the battle easier. Melia/Dunban/Reyn is the best party to topple lock it.
Hint: keep all your party members below half hp is very important.

 

[Madao]

i find myself dying to any enemy that's on the same level as me or higher. i can only beat stuff that has lower levels then me and not always.

idon'tknowwhati'mdoing.jpg

i'm at lv 24 and early into the game (about 16 hours in). at this rate i will never see the end lol.

 

[ivysaur12]

Just finished. I had other stuff I needed to do in my life, so I didn't beat it 100%, but I think I'll come back eventually.

I really wish the weird level gap after you beat the "Core" to the final quests afterwards didn't exist, but it is what it is. I really just need to get to level 91-92 and the rest should come after.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

So I just got to Prison Island, and after a thankful absence, Shulk's refusal to talk about his visions strikes again! While I've come to accept that as an annoying weakness in his personality, what particularly aggravated me was how out of character Reyn was.

In every other instance, Reyn figured out immediately that when Shulk spaces out, that was because of a vision and he'd always be the one to encourage Shulk to talk about it. This time, he just acts like a jackass and tells Shulk to hurry up.

Still loving the game, but it feels that this issue is just going to be that little thing that constantly grinds my gears.

 

[ramyeon]

spoilers

Spoiler

probably shouldnt give a gender to seven, might be enough to have people make a connection, especially when with xbro's avatar right below you

Late game spoilers.

Spoiler

It's pretty hard to keep a secret now anyway, I mean there are two avatars on this page giving away the fact that Fiora becomes part Mechon :/ makes me glad I played it back when it first came out and could do so pretty much blind.

 

[foxuzamaki]

So I just got to Prison Island, and after a thankful absence, Shulk's refusal to talk about his visions strikes again! While I've come to accept that as an annoying weakness in his personality, what particularly aggravated me was how out of character Reyn was.

In every other instance, Reyn figured out immediately that when Shulk spaces out, that was because of a vision and he'd always be the one to encourage Shulk to talk about it. This time, he just acts like a jackass and tells Shulk to hurry up.

Still loving the game, but it feels that this issue is just going to be that little thing that constantly grinds my gears.

It actually becomes a non-issue by that point

 

[foxuzamaki]

Late game spoilers.

Spoiler

It's pretty hard to keep a secret now anyway, I mean there are two avatars on this page giving away the fact that Fiora becomes part Mechon :/ makes me glad I played it back when it first came out and could do so pretty much blind.

Spoiler

Yeah thats kinda grinding my gears, if your gonna come into this OT, atleast have the decency to not have that avatar =/

 

[WarAdept]

So I got Seven today. As a first time player, thanks to everyone for the outstanding job so far at keeping things on the low, you know what I mean? Aha. It's a really fun inclusion to the roster too, having tons of fun! Which strat is best for Seven btw? I settled for Attack for now.

As people above said, double attack haste spam is the way to go for Seven. Far outdamages Art Spam Seven (and builds meter faster than anything). Haste Gem, Double Attack Gem, link Crit/Double Attack heal, etc from skills.

Press Speed Shift. Laugh.

 

[Lumyst]

Spoiler

Yeah thats kinda grinding my gears, if your gonna come into this OT, atleast have the decency to not have that avatar =/

Spoiler

I recall one of the Japanese ads for the Wii game blatantly featured an actor dressed up as that character, so it's not like they're adamant about keeping a secret . I myself used to have an avatar of that character.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Spoiler

I recall one of the Japanese ads for the Wii game blatantly featured an actor dressed up as that character, so it's not like they're adamant about keeping a secret . I myself used to have an avatar of that character.

I know you did, but that was pre- 3D announcement so it was kinda fine

 

[SolicitorPirate]

On a gameplay front, what's a good way to build Reyn? I know people seem to prefer Dunban as a tank, but I vastly prefer Reyn as a character and want to use him more often.

 

[WarAdept]

On a gameplay front, what's a good way to build Reyn? I know people seem to prefer Dunban as a tank, but I vastly prefer Reyn as a character and want to use him more often.

Reyn is an Art spam character (probably the most spammiest). His auto attack is slow and gets very little benefit from his Arts and Auras so Double Attack and Haste aren't that great (and plenty of his arts build up his Talent Gauge anyway). So maximize weapon gems by slapping on Stability/Plus on him, as well as your choice of Aggro Up, Agility Down, Defence Down that'll help the team.

As for his Arts, it entirely depends on the type of Reyn you want to play. Generally there's 2 preferred builds:

Tanking - 2 Auras on rotation, Wild Down/Shield Bash, Bone Upper/Dive Sobat, Arts that have low cooldowns and generate the Talent Gauge (War Swing/Lariat/Hammer Beat/Bone Upper).

Burst - Beserker Aura, Magnum Charge, Sword Drive and then as many physical arts to spam in between. May or may not have Wild Down/Shield Bash in there.

Reyn should always have Bone Upper/Dive Sobat. Incredible debuff on the enemy (paralysis and Agility Down) and both recharge quickly.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Holy crap, I was playing Reyn absolutely wrong. Thanks a lot for this, hopefully he'll be a lot more effective now!

 

[TheMoon]

Is the game buggy for anyone else? I can't tell if it's buggy and keeps crashing on me, or if I'm accidentally hitting the cartridge and causing it? Never had the problem with Majora's Mask, but the cartridge location is in a really stupid position on the new3DS.

I've had it crash on me about five times so far. Got me saving about every 3 steps now after I lost over an hour of progress the first time.

did you download the update?

 

[HeisenbergLannister]

did you download the update?

Yes, it's updated to version 1.1

 

[thomaszyj]

On a gameplay front, what's a good way to build Reyn? I know people seem to prefer Dunban as a tank, but I vastly prefer Reyn as a character and want to use him more often.

Reyn is the best tank when you want to challenge enemies which have 10 more levels higher than you. The most important art is last stand. It recovers hp before Reyn's death. You need to level up it at least lv7(lv8 will be better. There is no need for lv9). Bone upper and diva sobat combo can cause paralysis and agility down. Sword drive deals huge damage and it is very useful in chain attack. Hammer beat is important to accumulate the aggro. Wild down is the best topple arts in the game because it has the shortest cool down time. I suggest you use these arts in battle. Engage and anchor chain is good but they do not need very high level. For skills, diligence skill tree is important because it increases Reyn's agility. If you want to make Reyn survive longer, you'd better learn the skill which can increase 15% physical defense when hp is half.

 

[Xbro]

Spoiler

Yeah thats kinda grinding my gears, if your gonna come into this OT, atleast have the decency to not have that avatar =/

Hey man,

Spoiler

I told everyone I'd have this avatar back in a month. I can get rid of it if you want, I just love the avatar.

 

[ShinNoNoir]

I think I need to improve my Dunban. Barely won a battle with a unique monster in Satorl: Dunban, party leader, died with no party gauge left, but fortunately Reyn saved the day by dealing the finishing blow right after it.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

So I'm off on my way to

Spoiler

Sword Valley

now. Just wanted to posts my musings and speculations, please don't actually confirm or correct anything I say as I wanna discover the story by myself as it unfolds.

Spoiler

Mecha Fiora's comments about her "reawakening" (or did she use another word? "Rebirth," perhaps?) sounds intriguing. I wonder if that's just the term Mechon use to describe the process of being turned into Mechon, or if there are reincarnation shenanigans at work.

I'm also kinda embarrassed that I didn't realize Metal Face was Dunban's shitty friend from the prologue until the game spelled it out to me. The voice and claws really should have tipped me off, but I have to admit, I kinda forgot he existed after the prologue was done.

Finally, I really hope Melia and Shulk get together. They're so cute (and besides, Melia is fucking Empress. Shulk would be marrying up!) Fiora and her sandwiches can fuck right off.

 

[Adam Prime]

Whatever you think about the plot now... Is wrong. You can't possibly figure out the ending. That's a good thing, it's a real trip.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Whatever you think about the plot now... Is wrong. You can't possibly figure out the ending. That's a good thing, it's a real trip.

I am ok with most of my speculation being wrong. But if you're telling me my last point in my prior post is also wrong, I am going to go outside and just scream at the sky for like 20 minutes.

 

[matrix-cat]

Question about... what I'm guessing is sort of a late-game/two-thirds-ish area:

Spoiler

Should I bother with those Anti-Mechon weapons from the supply dudes in Sword Valley? Money's no problem at this point, but they all seem a bit weaker than the weapons I currently have equipped. I guess they'll make it so Shulk doesn't have to waste the Talent Gauge casting Enchant in every Mechon battle, right?

 

[Elfforkusu]

Question about... what I'm guessing is sort of a late-game/two-thirds-ish area:

Spoiler

Should I bother with those Anti-Mechon weapons from the supply dudes in Sword Valley? Money's no problem at this point, but they all seem a bit weaker than the weapons I currently have equipped. I guess they'll make it so Shulk doesn't have to waste the Talent Gauge casting Enchant in every Mechon battle, right?

Heh heh heh...

But to answer your question, yes, it's so you don't have to cast Enchant. Or even have Shulk in your party at all!

 

[EvilMario]

Question about... what I'm guessing is sort of a late-game/two-thirds-ish area:

Spoiler

Should I bother with those Anti-Mechon weapons from the supply dudes in Sword Valley? Money's no problem at this point, but they all seem a bit weaker than the weapons I currently have equipped. I guess they'll make it so Shulk doesn't have to waste the Talent Gauge casting Enchant in every Mechon battle, right?

Yes, the later point is why you would want them. They also

Spoiler

are good weapons to have on hand to bring over for NG+, for the same reason. But for purposes of my general playthrough, I just stick with Shulk as my player controlled character in Mechon heavy areas so I can have better equipment.

 

[random25]

Question about... what I'm guessing is sort of a late-game/two-thirds-ish area:

Spoiler

Should I bother with those Anti-Mechon weapons from the supply dudes in Sword Valley? Money's no problem at this point, but they all seem a bit weaker than the weapons I currently have equipped. I guess they'll make it so Shulk doesn't have to waste the Talent Gauge casting Enchant in every Mechon battle, right?

Spoiler

Get at least one for each as they'll be your main weapons in that part. It saves you casting enchant like you said, or even using Shulk against mechons. Also, at some point you'll get much better anti-mechon weapons as item drops that you'll probably keep for long term.

 

[alvis.exe]

I am ok with most of my speculation being wrong. But if you're telling me my last point in my prior post is also wrong, I am going to go outside and just scream at the sky for like 20 minutes.

Spoiler

ShulkxFiora OTP

Just keep playing~

 

[chaosblade]

Question about... what I'm guessing is sort of a late-game/two-thirds-ish area:

Spoiler

Should I bother with those Anti-Mechon weapons from the supply dudes in Sword Valley? Money's no problem at this point, but they all seem a bit weaker than the weapons I currently have equipped. I guess they'll make it so Shulk doesn't have to waste the Talent Gauge casting Enchant in every Mechon battle, right?

Spoiler

At that point you are trading off strength and gems for the ability to fight without enchant. Remember that if you have leveled enchant every autoattack also gets a damage boost against mechon enemies. Level 4-5 enchant doesn't cost that much AP and that is 200-250 extra damage for every auto attack. As much as people tend to dislike "needing" to use it, it does bring it's own benefits to the table.

 

[Xbro]

So I'm off on my way to

Spoiler

Sword Valley

now. Just wanted to posts my musings and speculations, please don't actually confirm or correct anything I say as I wanna discover the story by myself as it unfolds.

Spoiler

Mecha Fiora's comments about her "reawakening" (or did she use another word? "Rebirth," perhaps?) sounds intriguing. I wonder if that's just the term Mechon use to describe the process of being turned into Mechon, or if there are reincarnation shenanigans at work.

I'm also kinda embarrassed that I didn't realize Metal Face was Dunban's shitty friend from the prologue until the game spelled it out to me. The voice and claws really should have tipped me off, but I have to admit, I kinda forgot he existed after the prologue was done.

Finally, I really hope Melia and Shulk get together. They're so cute (and besides, Melia is fucking Empress. Shulk would be marrying up!) Fiora and her sandwiches can fuck right off.

You never did tell us what you thought about the

Spoiler

Prison Island

scene. Also, on my first playthrough I thought

Spoiler

Xord was mumkhar, but then Metal Face starts talking

 

[oakenhild]

At what level does gem crafting start to become necessary? I haven't really touched it yet and I'm

Spoiler

level 44

.

Sort of seems like a pain to figure out...even after reading the guides in the OP.

 

[chaosblade]

At what level does gem crafting start to become necessary? I haven't really touched it yet and I'm

Spoiler

level 44

.

Sort of seems like a pain to figure out...even after reading the guides in the OP.

Necessary? Post-game. I'd say it becomes useful by the time you reach Makna Forest, since you should start getting rank III crystals which can get you rank IV gems. That's when a lot of them start offering some meaningful bonuses that are worth the time and effort to craft them.

Crafting itself is easy, but time consuming to do effectively. The higher your affinity the easier it is though.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Yeah, crafting is more time consuming than anything.

Even though I say that, I always end up spending time making glorious Quick Step gems!

 

[oakenhild]

Thanks, well, I better figure this out and make some Agility gems, and then also do some research on what other gems to make. Not even sure what quick-step does, and why it would be useful yet.

EDIT: Ok, so quick step is mostly for running faster in the world. Could see that being useful, but not for me at this point where I can use all the combat bonuses I can get.

 

[Xbro]

Spoiler

ShulkxFiora OTP

Just keep playing~

(late game spoilers)

Spoiler

It's so true. I also thought Melia being an option was a good edition. It made me think that maybe Fiora wouldn't come back to the party, or maybe Fiora's body would give out sometime during the story.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Haste and Double Attack gems are my favourite.

Love that increased auto attack speed and the double attack chance.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

You never did tell us what you thought about the

Spoiler

Prison Island

scene. Also, on my first playthrough I thought

Spoiler

Xord was mumkhar, but then Metal Face starts talking

Oh right! Ok, I didn't take notes or anything, so I'm just going to write stuff out stream of consciousness style:

Spoiler

- Holy crap, the Emperor was awesome. Actually, now that I think about it, this is the first JRPG I've seen with a good and benevolent emperor.

- Why did the Emperor go to Prison Island? Was it to unlock the Monado's power or something else? I presume it was to unlock its power, since he seemed quite happy to stand aside once Zamza started talking to Shulk.

- Man, I don't trust Zamza.

- Man, I sure as fuck don't trust Bakura.

- Man, I used to trust Melia's Brother, but seeing him trot out Melia's body double started ringing major alarm bells. Especially since the subplot of High Antia Game of Thrones hasn't been resolved, and her Brother kept it to himself that he witnessed his mother plotting murder, I'm starting to think Brother Dearest is in on it.

- Why the hell was Fiora trying to talk to Zamza? Also, someone mentioned the Monado is a double edged sword. I presume this means that using the Monado to defeat the Mechon might wake up the Bionis, but there's not enough information to make an educated guess.

- The High Antia seemed obsessed with genetics. There was that whole genetic scan for Melia earlier on in the tomb, and again here. Obviously the Forefathers either wanted something inherent in Homs DNA or there is something majorly fucked up about either the High Antia people or at least the Antiqua bloodline. Maybe this is related to that statue of the Telethia, which someone guessed might be what old High Antians looked like?

- Riki is the heropon we deserve.

 

[chaosblade]

Haste and Double Attack gems are my favourite.

Love that increased auto attack speed and the double attack chance.

Neither are quite as good at lower levels though, they are rare and have low activation percentages. At higher levels they are fantastic.

HP Steal is pretty good at IV. Agility Down also starts getting pretty good at that point. Back Attack Plus is a good choice for the player controlled character (unless you are the tank). Unbeatable is an obvious choice for a tank. Aura Heal is good for a character like Dunban or Reyn, since they should almost always have an aura up. Aggro Up/Down and Auto Attack/Art Stealth help make your tank more effective. Lightning Attack is a good way to boost your auto-attack damage (lot more than strength gems, especially earlier in the game) but won't improve arts.

And of course you have your basic stat boosts which can also be useful, mainly agility, strength, and ether. Defense gems can be useful at times too.

 

[Man God]

Necessary? Post-game. I'd say it becomes useful by the time you reach Makna Forest, since you should start getting rank III crystals which can get you rank IV gems. That's when a lot of them start offering some meaningful bonuses that are worth the time and effort to craft them.

Crafting itself is easy, but time consuming to do effectively. The higher your affinity the easier it is though.

Rank III/IV Megaheated really show their bang for their buck.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Neither are quite as good at lower levels though, they are rare and have low activation percentages. At higher levels they are fantastic.

HP Steal is pretty good at IV. Agility Down also starts getting pretty good at that point. Back Attack Plus is a good choice for the player controlled character (unless you are the tank). Unbeatable is an obvious choice for a tank. Aura Heal is good for a character like Dunban or Reyn, since they should almost always have an aura up. Aggro Up/Down and Auto Attack/Art Stealth help make your tank more effective. Lightning Attack is a good way to boost your auto-attack damage (lot more than strength gems, especially earlier in the game) but won't improve arts.

And of course you have your basic stat boosts which can also be useful, mainly agility, strength, and ether. Defense gems can be useful at times too.

Yeah, I should have added that I meant at higher levels since the percentages are pretty low early on.

 

[Man God]

Double attack really shines when you get the great skill links to go along with it.

 

[Bringer Of Bacon]

Hey guys, just picked this up. Anything I need to know before I start? I have a 14 hour flight on Friday... I plan on logging some major tiMe.