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So we start out in some kind of Wild West showdown town but we're going in a boat across the sea to a kingdom. Yeah, that's pretty Wild Arms, but I hope there's still some desert aesthetic where we're going.
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Jul 13, 2015 21:43
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I think the weirder implication is that the wild west duel town is actually some kind of port town?
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Jul 13, 2015 21:48
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Heavy neutrino posted:I'm a huge fan of the series and I couldn't make it more than one hour into Wild ARMs 5. The writing was just disastrous on that one. The first hour of WA5 is probably the best. HE DOUBLE JUMPED?  Clarste posted:The funny part is, they hired a writer specifically for that game. A writer who'd done stuff outside of video games. At least now they know where they went wrong!
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Jul 13, 2015 22:44
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vilkacis posted:It wasn't a very good giant robot anime. So very agreed. When the only villain whose motivation I can take seriously is the comic relief's then something has gone seriously wrong. Though almost as bad as the villains in that game were most of the heroes, really. Especially when Rebecca wrote in her journal. But thankfully this game is far, far better. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the reactions from people who haven't played it, as well as seeing some stuff again from the perspective of knowing what comes later.
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Jul 13, 2015 23:06
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I can't believe people are hating on JOHNNY APPLESEED'S game. I am disappointed in goons  Avril's ending was legit lovely though and totally opposite of what the game was going for.
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Jul 13, 2015 23:32
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Clarste posted:The funny part is, they hired a writer specifically for that game. A writer who'd done stuff outside of video games. Sad part is, you can practically see the seams where they grafted things onto or altered that dude's story. It's very "oh hey that's actually pretty goo-" *ANIME CLICHE* "-sigh"
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Jul 14, 2015 02:51
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outside of xf this is the extent of my exposure with wild arms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9KFOJzn3u4 and so i am led to believe this series is art
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Jul 14, 2015 02:54
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Wild Arms is the opposite of subtle with its themes. WA4 is about kids and adults, so naturally adults are portrayed as ridiculous superhumans. For the same reason, every other line in WA2 has the word <hero> written in brackets.
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Jul 14, 2015 03:03
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that may also have to do with wild arm 2's translation being a fever dream
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Jul 14, 2015 03:05
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Jul 14, 2015 03:12
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Yes, hero is also not in brackets sometimes.
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Jul 14, 2015 03:20
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Cake Attack posted:outside of xf this is the extent of my exposure with wild arms: You have been led to believe correctly. I mean, that's every bit as dumb as anything in WA5, but it's gloriously dumb instead of painfully dumb. gently caress, I wish someone would do a retranslation patch for WA2. I would LP it so hard.
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Jul 14, 2015 12:06
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There is a special place in hell for whoever though using that font was a good idea
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Jul 14, 2015 13:47
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Cake Attack posted:outside of xf this is the extent of my exposure with wild arms: You should at least see the opening for the first game, its one of the best openers of all time I think.
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Jul 14, 2015 16:48
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So that's where the writers for Xenogears went. You could tell me that was a shot from Xenogears and I'd almost believe you. Weird sky, sprite figure standing atop a polygonal tower, philosophizing. That's like 95% Xenogears. The other 5% is cowboy hat. This game looks (and sounds, holy poo poo that music  ) pretty interesting. I was a Squaresoft kid back in the day, and, with the rabid fanboyism of the time, managed to miss the entirety of the Wild Arms series.
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Jul 15, 2015 03:57
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theshim posted:There is a special place in hell for whoever though using that font was a good idea OH MY GOD YES. I tend to think of WA2 as my favorite (then I remember XF here exists) but jesus gently caress I do not want to sit through that font again. I legitimately couldn't read it at times.
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Jul 15, 2015 07:17
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I've found that the font is disturbingly easier to read on a Vita than I remember it being. Now if only the translation was also better.
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Jul 15, 2015 12:30
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I'd still like to get an Alter Code F style remake of the bastard. Too bad that's never going to happen now. 
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Jul 15, 2015 19:04
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Act 1: Path of the Founding Knights Act 1-1   Music stops.   (New)   There's the squawking of seagulls and the sound of footsteps.   For it to be so ordinary? It may seem that way, but remember, Rupert might have connections here. We mustn't relax our guard.  You want to go sightseeing? No, of course not! Just, you know, to gather information! The locals might be able to tell us something useful. Then I'll be right by your side. Wherever you go, I shall follow. You always are, and you always do... Thanks, Felius. There's tutorials about towns and shops. In short, if a townsperson has a yellow ! bubble, it's plot-related (and usually required); a red ! bubble means talking to them will trigger the next story battle. It's very nice! The shops do nothing particularly new.  Time to do the rounds. I'll talk to all of the ones without story triggers first. If you want to skip past the unnecessary parts, just ctrl+f "Town dialogue end." (I have a script and I'm doing a million portraits anyway, so it doesn't take me much effort.) Town dialogue start   Hello there. The boss is out buying some goods, so take all the time you want.All of the gear here is either a) already equipped or b) for the other classes (and class-changing is still locked). [Talk] Things have been downright hectic in here lately, what with all the Drifter customers we get every day. It's rought on my legs, but great for business! My dreams of vast fortune have taken me to Elesius, but the shop in town is so hard up for supplies, there's no equipment left that I can use. Going around unarmed's not so great, y'know... I didn't want to lug a lot of baggage, but I at least should've brought more than a single ARM... You'd better keep tabs on your equipment, too! Remember--whenever you change classes, you'll be stripped of all your stuff. You wouldn't want to be caught in battle without any equipment, would you? I mean, for a Drifter, that's a total rookie mistake!  A Synthesis Shop is a place that takes regular items and re-creates them, using a mix of special ingredients and other items you have handy. You visit them to improve your weapons and armor, basically. They can even make completely new items for you! Unfortunately, this here shop is closed for now. The shopkeeper's fallen ill, I'm afraid. Come back another time, won't you?For a variety of reasons, the synthesis system is a) a massive pain to use and b) not really worth it, so I won't really ever bother. Let's pretend I'm doing a challenge run!  I see tons of cargo come through this port every day, but you'd be amazed at some of the stuff that pops up now and again. I've seen my fair share of wonders, but I'm sure there's still all kinds of rare stuff in Filgaia that I don't even know about yet...  You look like you're as well-versed in weaponry as I am. I'm sure you know all about "Formation Arts" then, yes? One of the basic fundamentals of battle? If two people attack an enemy from opposite sides, they'll set off a Formation Art, which makes the resulting offensive move more powerful. You can always pull them off as long as the positioning's right, so if you want to deal more damage, they're your best bet. They're especially useful against high-HP enemies. Oh, and one more thing: Enemies know all about Formation Arts, too, so watch where you stand during battle... Otherwise, you may end up getting surrounded when you were the one trying to do the surrounding!Thankfully, it's pretty hard for enemies to get three-person Formation Arts off, and that's the point where they become really nasty surprises.   You here looking for work, too? Well, I'm afraid you arrived a wee bit late. The "Drifters Wanted" notice the kingdom put out expired the other day, they tell me. I think there's still some work to be found, so I'm gonna try sticking around for a while. Guess I'll take in the sights for the time being...I could have made the portraits smaller, yes, but 100x100 is the smallest size that can accomodate both the map and the cravat. I have my priorities.  There's a checkpoint on the other end of this road, but they use a pretty archaic winch mechanism to raise and lower the gate. Elesius is such an enormous kingdom, and yet they're so far behind, technology-wise... Why are they so disinterested in new machinery? They still use carrier pigeons as a means of communication, for crying out loud... Are you folks the Martial Guard? "If you're a Drifter worth his hide, then raise some hell in the Martial Guard an' make your family proud!" ...is what I heard some guy in town shouting!Town dialogue end Time for the actually important ones. First, the weapons shop:   Hmm... ...Sorry. Can't recall anyone like that... He knows "Fast Draw", huh? That's some kinda sword technique they came up with beyond our borders, isn't it? But isn't Fast Draw one of those skills you can't learn, even if you've got an ARM? Anyone brandishing a skill like that 'round here would stick out a fair bit, I think. I bet you'll catch his trail before too long, huh? "Hire" is how you'd normally pick up extra generic characters. But...  A Drifter is something like a freelance mercenary... If the money's right, they'll throw themselves into pretty much any battle you can think of. They're most often employed as soldiers during wars, but they can also take on bodyguard jobs and exploration missions in dangerous areas, too. Did you want to hide a Drifter, little lady? Well, I bet you'd have trouble finding one willing to listen to you here. We've gotten in a lot of Drifters lately, but they're all after the kingdom's contracts... Most of 'em won't take a second look at the small stuff....you're not allowed to yet. The exclamation point means we're supposed to pick 'Talk' instead. You're searching for someone, huh? I see a lot of new faces here every day... It's hard for me to remember all my customers. As for that badge...well, it looks like the ones people on royal missions wear. You wouldn't see any old Drifter carrying that, that's for sure... ...That's about all I can think of. Sorry I can't be of more help with your questions.Talking to those two made a new exclamation point appear.  There's some kinda "Drifter welcome program" going on, so the guy in the shop's distributing maps to all of us. Why don't you go grab one for yourselves? Oh, don't worry about payment. We're giving them away for free to Drifters as part of our welcome campaign.   Huh... The Kingdom of Elesius is pretty big, isn't it? In this wide of an area, the odds of running into Rupert are extremely slim. Do you want to give up? No way. Elesius may be large, but compared to the world of Filgaia, it's just one country, after all. I'd say we're in decent shape. At least we're making some progress, right? True enough. If there aren't any clues in this town, we'll just have to try another one. It looks like there's a small village just past the checkpoint northwest of here. We don't have any solid leads yet, so let's just do what we can for now and check it out!  (New)  The Map has the same sort of indicator as the town does--yellow means event, red means battle. Green markers are towns, blue are battlefields, grayed out areas can't be accessed.    (New)  The ship was packed tight with passengers, after all, and the port wasn't much better... That's true.   ... (pause) ...?    Yeah, I guess... Are you tired? No, it's not that... The Kingdom of Elesius seems like such a beautiful, peaceful place. There's still so much greenery here... Indeed. But Rupert is lurking somewhere we can't see... ...And I can't help but think that he's planning to use Mother's sword to destroy all of this tranquility... I guess that's a possibility. Is that worrying you? ... I certainly can't blame you for that. But I'm more concerned about something else. ...? I'm concerned about the way you make all of these problems your own. What do you mean...? Iskender Bey belonged to your mother, Melissa. ...! Thank you, Felius... I... I appreciate your concern. I'll help with whatever you want to do. So it's all right to do the things you want to do, rather than those you feel obligated to do. ...Reclaiming Mother's sword from Rupert *is* what I want to do. That sword isn't a tool for ruining lives. Mother believed that sword would help her on her quest to transform Filgaia into a land of abundance. That path is a dangerous one. Yeah...you're right. So let's be careful. ... You never know when we might run into a wild beast or something... That's a good idea.  Finally! ...except I don't have all the gear for any of the classes, so changing now is a bad idea. Oh well. Classes work pretty much as you'd expect. As pointed out in town (and in the tutorial here), you're automatically unequipped whenever you change classes... And annoyingly enough, this includes consumable items, like healing berries. You can only use those from your four item slots (separate from weapons and armor), not your inventory, and those four slots are emptied every time you change classes. This will kill me at least once.  There's the sound of a distant explosion.  (New)   C'mon, Felius!   Mean-Looking Man: ...Whaddya want? We're agents of the kingdom! This ain't none of your business! That merchant tried to mess with us. He's a criminal and he needs to be punished!  The martial who?  You may not believe this, but that white dog came to my defense when those goons attacked me...     ... Change Class is now available, but I still don't have a full set of gear for any of them, and we still haven't seen what Dandelion Shot and Halberdier can do with their Originals--I'm sticking with the defaults. (White Dog cannot change classes, on account of his class being "Dog." Or "Crossbreed," which is really just specifying the kind of dog.)  Compared to the other characters, Dog is a little weaker and has a little less HP than Felius, has less Defense and much less speed and evasion than either. He does have 5 Move, but between his lack of Originals, lack of passives, lack of equipment, and that speed, his days as a party member are numbered. This is a good time to mention VP. In short, with every action, you lose an amount of VP equal to your total equipment weight; once you're out of VP, you lose that much HP instead. There is no dog equipment, so White Dog has 0 Equipment weight. Why does he have VP? I don't know. In theory, VP imposes a time limit on maps. In practice, low VP just makes you lose out on a few Class Points after battle, since it affects your CSP modifier--+0.3 CSP for 75%+ VP at end, +0.2 for 50-75%, +0.1 for 25-50%. Class equipment weight and class VP modifiers tend to go together such that you lose it at a roughly constant rate no matter what, so it's never a very big deal.   (New)    yesssssssssss Two tutorials: Originals (immediately after this) and Items (on Felius's first turn). I've already told you about both.   Clarissa has four Originals. Let's take a moment to talk about Howling Shot. For reference, shooting one of them in the face at this distance would do 13 damage with a 69% chance of hitting.   Howling Shot does 150% damage (before defenses), ignores the accuracy and damage penalties for increasing distance, and hits absolutely everything between Clarissa and the end of the map so long as there's no obstacles in the way. Howling Shot is basically Strahl Gewehr without the nerfs, and it can be absolutely devastating. Sadly, it also costs 32 MP, can't be used after moving, and Clarissa has pathetic attack power right now, so it'll be a long time before it's actually worth the cost. But we'll get there.  Instead, Clarissa moves up and uses Encourage. Acting ends your turn regardless of whether you've moved, and some Originals are pre-movement only.  Encourage hits everything around her (enemies included) and speeds up the character's next turn significantly.    The enemies are Fantasticas, the starting support class (and one of the ones available to the party now). Invoke sets the target's accuracy to 100% and increases their critical and skill activation rates greatly... And only lasts one turn. Needless to say it's not doing them much good.  Felius's relevant Originals at the moment are Upper Hand (perfect accuracy, ranged, bonus for targeting enemies on a higher elevation) and Shockwave (attacks three adjacent hexes, does 125% damage). 85% accuracy isn't bad.  48 damage.   Fantasticas use range-two Bells, which are relatively poor weapons. Fantasticas are still pretty dangerous attackers for other reasons, though, so they're worth being careful around. Clarissa only has 3 Move, so she moves up and Encourages White Dog.  Clarissa Encourages Felius, too, since he's blocking her line-of-sight to the Fantastica I've been attacking.   Shockwave is exactly as strong as a two-person Formation Arts (125% bonus before defense applies), so there's no reason to go for that instead; Formation Arts CAN critical, and Originals usually can't, but the chance to maybe kill the Fantastica isn't worth passing up free damage on the other one.  Slow Down is a Pre-Move Original, so using that keeps that Fantastica out of the way. I don't mind at all.  So the Fantastica below Dog has 1 HP, and the other has 37. White Dog does 28 damage to the one below and 30 to the other.  Playing Wild ARMs XF correctly is all about doing multiple things at once every single turn, if you can--Felius's movement was both for the two-target Shockwave and to set up this fatal Formation Art.  Clarissa moves up and finishes him, execution-style. One target left. Felius moves up and uses Upper Hand, Dog uses a Formation Art on the other side of the target, and Clarissa...     ...blows him the hell up. Sacrifice is a magical attack ~200% stronger than baseline magic in exchange for scaling down as she loses HP (at half HP, final damage is halved) and reducing her HP to 1 (normally) or by half (if she's wearing any kind of Dandelion Shot armor). The HP reduction seems problematic, but Dandelion Shot has a skill that boosts her Magic/Resistance/Evasion by 20% until she dies once she crosses 20% HP--once you have that skill learned, Sacrifice's HP loss is actually just a way to deliberately trigger that buff. Sacrifice is the strongest attack in the game unless the enemy is very weak to one of the elements, and Clarissa is one of the game's most powerful mages... But it's either Sacrifice or Howling Shot, and personally speaking, I know where my loyalties lie. (I'll be going all over class and character details in a mechanics post to follow.)     Just one CP short of a Class Level 2 for both human characters!  White Dog reaches level 2, Clarissa and Felius stay at level 3. (New)  Martial Guardsman Braddock: Well, you're gonna regret picking a fight with the Martial Guard in Elesius! I can guarantee you that!    What's this... There's a tag on your collar? Are you somebody's pet? Let's see... La...Labryn...Labyrinthia? So your name is Labyrinthia? That's a mouthful. I'll just call you Labby. ... ...Labby...? ... So are you a boy dog, or a girl dog? I'd better check to make sure!This train of thought is prompted by Japanese honorifics. (She starts off with "-kun" and moves to "-chan," then wonders which to use.) ...!   Watch it with the nose! Huh? Hey! S-stop! Bad dog... No! Bad dog!! What's gotten into you?! BAD! NO! Stop it! I'm serious... Eeeekk!  ... ...  ... What was that all about...? Oh! That's right!  (New) I particularly recommend this one.  All right, that should do it. It's a pretty crude splint, but it should at least get you walking again. You have my gratitude. But...are you going to be all right? Me? I'm fine! This is barely a scratch. No, it's not that... Oh. What did you mean? Don't you understand? You raised arms against the Martial Guard! The...Martial Guard? Those men from before? We've only just arrived in Elesius, so... Who are they?  Why would the kingdom of Elesius employ such people, unless they're planning to start some sort of war? That's what I'd like to know. The king's reign was supposed to bring us an era of uninterrupted peace. But instead...*sigh* (pause) I can't imagine how it went so wrong. Our quiet lives have been shattered over the last few months. It's not only the tyranny of the Martial Guard. Just getting by from day to day has become a grueling ordeal. I had no idea... Anyway, if you two were traveling this road in order to cross at the northern checkpoint, you'd better get moving. When the soldiers from before report what happened here, they'll probably slam the crossing gate shut. Sounds like we'll need to hurry. Clarissa? Yeah, but... Don't worry about me. It's not far to the port, and you've patched me up right. So hurry on now, before the gate's closed! We will. You be careful too, all right?Clarissa and Felius leave. ...Such a spirited girl. Like a wildflower blooming in a barren field. Elesius sure could use a bit of her hope and resilience right now... ... DarkHamsterlord also gave me permission to link to another video. I think the video of the following scene is the best exhibition of why this game doesn't really need videos for the voice acting.    Hmmm. Looks like a good opportunity to show command what we're capable of. You lot--don't get cocky just 'cause the target's a woman, you hear?!  Hmm... It looks like this is the checkpoint, but what's with all the activity? This couldn't possibly... could it? Indeed, it must be! this is all because of me! *Sigh* I'm sure I could get through here easily enough, but I need to join up with Tony first... My, being a fugitive is such a hassle!The prologue is a single fight, but the rest of the game is broken up into Acts of ten or more parts. Next time, a breakdown of the first two characters and their classes... And then we'll get into Act 1-2. Until then! Einander fucked around with this message at 12:35 on Jul 16, 2015 |
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Jul 16, 2015 03:48
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I am particularly fond of the worldmap theme of this game. It's goddamn solid.
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Jul 16, 2015 04:16
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Einander posted:Sadly, it also costs 32 MP, can't be used before moving, and Clarissa has pathetic attack power right now, so it'll be a long time before it's actually worth the cost. But we'll get there. You mean after moving? Einander posted:
This line has a pretty interesting implication. Anyone with a unique class is using their actual skills that they've learned in life, while everyone else is just equipping a class from the ARM. So all these chumps don't even know how to properly hold a sword (or a bell) without cheating, while Clarissa can use ridiculous blood magic that she picked up on her travels somewhere?
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Jul 16, 2015 04:23
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Einander posted:
I don't think this is the right image.
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Jul 16, 2015 04:26
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felius is not all there and it's very tragic, please do not make fun
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Jul 16, 2015 04:28
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Fixed both, thank you.
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Jul 16, 2015 04:37
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Also "Dast Draw"?
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Jul 16, 2015 04:38
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SSNeoman posted:Also "Dast Draw"? Haven't you heard of it? It's a kind of quick-draw technique only available to dastards. (Also fixed.)
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Jul 16, 2015 11:57
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Wait, wait, did I see that right? You're going to bench Dog? I think we all know who's the real user of Dast Draw here  (also you have a missing Clarissa portrait (search Clarissa:) and extra img tags around dog's portrait.)
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Jul 16, 2015 12:05
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Look, a dog that can't use a sword, set people on fire or play basketball just can't make the cut on this team. I've got a quota to meet here. (Also fixed! This is why I update earlier in the day than this, I'm bad at error-catching when I'm tired. Thanks, all.)
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Jul 16, 2015 12:40
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Einander posted:a dog that can't use a sword, set people on fire or play basketball Of course that's what you'd think, dogbencher. 
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Jul 16, 2015 13:22
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Sadly, Dog can't use ARMs to break the game with stupid class combos. Looks like technology wins again, suck it nature/animals
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Jul 16, 2015 20:37
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Clarste posted:This line has a pretty interesting implication. Anyone with a unique class is using their actual skills that they've learned in life, while everyone else is just equipping a class from the ARM. So all these chumps don't even know how to properly hold a sword (or a bell) without cheating, while Clarissa can use ridiculous blood magic that she picked up on her travels somewhere? Well. Clarissa, as a jRPG protagonist, has a 99% probability of having Special Powers. Anyway, so Sacrifice here is the real reason that setting up for Laser Gunning People from Across the Map isn't really worth it. In addition to its ludicrous power, it has another attribute: it ignores defense. XF defensive stats are actually pretty noticeable, and there's no shortage of enemies who go from "threat" to "dead" because you're ignoring that defense on Sacrifice. So while I definitely look forward to what a tricked out Stahl Ghewer is gonna do to the game, setting up to bulk up Sacrifice is the more practical move if you're playing at home.
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Jul 16, 2015 20:50
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If I didn't buy an avatar this year, I would have bought it now. Edit: Oh god, you named it barkly.gif
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Jul 16, 2015 20:55
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vilkacis posted:Of course that's what you'd think, dogbencher. Beautiful. Adding that to the second post. just as planned I'll probably mess with codes and see if I can give Tony access to all equipment at some point, because gently caress it, gundog. Someone's gotta use Strahl Gewehr while Clarissa's grinding up all the passives she'll need. (The sad thing will be that I fully expect that if I do this and give him a sword, his attack will still be lower than a Secutor, because a Secutor has Attack +25% passively on top of a great modifier. Poor Dog.) CmdrKing posted:Well. Clarissa, as a jRPG protagonist, has a 99% probability of having Special Powers. Yeah, Magic Clarissa is definitely a better character for most of the game; it's the build I'd personally recommend from an efficiency standpoint, if just because Gunner Clarissa doesn't come into her own until you get the last set of classes, and that's quite a wait! But what's the point of an LP if I do the thing that pays off immediately, rather than culminating in glorious lasergun vengeance in the last quarter?
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Jul 17, 2015 01:51
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Personally I'd recommend support Clarissa because generics can very easily outdo her stats (and those of the entire cast of unique characters) given just a few minutes of re-rolling.
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Jul 17, 2015 03:37
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Einander posted:When I discovered this during my first playthrough, I resolved then and there that I would find a way to make Clarissa a laser beam death goddess, the kind of character who can kill half the enemy team from the other side of the map. I do not accept your bullshit mechanical restrictions on this beautiful instrument of death, XF! There are classes and there are class skills and there are equipments, and I will find a way. I could get behind a Blame! SRPG.
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Jul 17, 2015 04:39
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Krysmphoenix posted:Edit: Oh god, you named it barkly.gif Yes, well, what else could I possibly have named it? Einander posted:gundog Must happen. Must.
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Jul 17, 2015 07:09
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Heavy neutrino posted:Personally I'd recommend support Clarissa because generics can very easily outdo her stats (and those of the entire cast of unique characters) given just a few minutes of re-rolling. Which is why the no-name scrubs are getting dumped one-by-one every time a new story character joins up (except Dog, because Dog can't use an ARM). The generics are the best at everything statistically (which is boring) and don't have custom classes (also boring). Using the story characters instead gives you a pretty well-rounded party with some neat character-specific skills. Class Breakdown 1, Character Breakdown 1 Most numbers and mechanics courtesy of the excellent mechanics guide on GameFAQs. New classes: Dandelion Shot, Halberdier All classes start at Level 1, and Level 2 of any class always gets you the ability to equip that class's set of Originals. All classes have all of their learnable passives equipped at all times, with the exception of the Special ability, which is usable only if a) the class is mastered and b) only while the character is in that class. Some Originals cannot be used after movement; this is marked as Y (can be used after moving) or N (can't be used after moving). Stat growth is not affected by classes. All (non-movement) stats are relative to the average of the classes. Dandelion Shot Stat modifiers: code:Weapon: Strahl Gewehr. Infinite range, 2 vertical tolerance, requires line-of-sight, damage decreases with distance from target. Low attack, average magic, average aim, light weight. Unique item; weapon strength scales with user level. Despite game descriptions (and common sense), cannot ignore enemy Flying property. Armor: Corsages. Average defense, second-best resistance, average evade, average weight. When Sacrifice is used, HP instead drops to 50%. Originals: Howling Shot (32 MP, N): 150% strength attack to all targets on a line. Infinite range, requires line of sight, 2 vertical tolerance, Strahl Gewehr distance penalty on damage does not apply for this attack. Requires Strahl Gewehr. Sacrifice (16 MP, N): 200% strength magical attack to a single target, scaling linearly down to 0% damage if used at less than full HP. Ignores enemy Resistance. User's HP is reduced to 1 after use (50% with a Corsage equipped). Encourage (8 MP, Y): All units adjacent to Clarissa will gain their next turn much more quickly. Rob Turn (32 MP, Y): Attempts to inflict Turn Stolen; when an afflicted enemy's turn comes up, Clarissa acts instead. (Susceptibility to status varies with enemy.) Passives: Soul Survivor (Dandelion Shot 3): Immunity to instant death attacks. Dandelion Shot EQ (Dandelion Shot 4): Can equip Strahl Gewehr and Corsages regardless of class. Throw Block (Dandelion Shot 5): 40% chance to nullify an attack from a projectile weapon or Item Toss. Courageous Heart (Dandelion Shot 6): When the character first enters crisis (25% HP), her MAG, RES, and EVA are multiplied by 120%. This effect lasts the entire battle. Extra Critical (Dandelion Shot 7): Increases critical damage. Skill description suggests it can activate multiple times to further increase damage, but the exact mechanics are unknown. Special (Mastered): +3 Skill Slots. Halberdier Stat modifiers: code:Weapon: Polearms. 1 Horizontal, 2 Vertical. Two-Handed. Average attack, very low magic, average aim, heaviest weight. Attacks ignore Hard enemy property (reduces most physicals to 1 damage). Armor: Gauntlets. Second-best defense, second-worst resistance, below average evade, second-heaviest weight. User gains Defender passive (user has a low chance of switching hexes with an adjacent ally after that hex is targeted with a physical attack but before the attack hits; user and target do not switch back afterward). Originals: Shockwave (12 MP, Y): 125% damage to three adjacent hexes. 2 vertical tolerance. Requires a Polearm. Upper Hand (20 MP, Y): +5% damage to target for every tile above user. Ignores enemy evasion. 3 range, downward vertical tolerance 4, upward vertical tolerance 10. Disarm (8 MP, Y): 50% damage; on hit, has ~40% chance of unequipping enemy's weapon. Requires a Polearm. Status Absorb (16 MP, Y): Transfers all negative statues from allies within 3 squares to Felius. Passives: Overflow (Halberdier 3): +5% damage for each enemy he has killed so far in the battle. Crisis AIM UP (Halberdier 4): AIM multiplied by 150% while the character is in crisis (below 25% HP). Halberdier EQ (Halberdier 5): Can equip Polearms and Gauntlets regardless of class. Counter Rate Up (Halberdier 6): Increases the character's chance of getting a counterattack by an unknown amount. The description suggests that the increase is based on the number of adjacent enemies. Attack Assist (Halberdier 7): Presumably due to a bug, this skill does nothing. Special (Mastered): +3 Skill Slots. LBDG Checklist: - Dandelion Shot Level 2: Dandelion Shot Originals. - Dandelion Shot Level 4: Dandelion Shot EQ. - Dandelion Shot Level 7: Extra Critical. New characters: Clarissa Arwin, Felius Arwin All of the numbers rank the character relative to the other story characters (the humans, anyway); 6 is cast-worst, 1 is cast-best. Clarissa Arwin Stats: code:Mage OR LBDG / Support Clarissa's stats encourage you to go with magic, and her speed and power make her quite good at it. If you build her for magic, then she's quite capable of blowing single targets the hell up with Sacrifice, and if she's not wearing a Corsage, casting Sacrifice will trigger Courageous Heart, making her even stronger. Since Courageous Heart lasts until she dies once activated, using it early in a fight (and surviving) effectively turns it into a permanent buff--Courageous Heart Clarissa is the strongest mage and a ridiculous magic tank. The alternative, which I'll be showing off, is Strahl Gewehr. Her low attack and its low attack means this requires quite a lot of investment--it's not something you can pick up on the side after using her all-game as a mage, so pick one or the other early on. Which is better is an open question. In terms of party composition, the others story character are three fighters, one mage, and one character who can go either way, but only one of those fighters is a ranged attacker; the question is whether you want three fighters and three mages or two fighters, two archers, and two mages. In terms of party effectiveness, Mage Clarissa is good all game, while Gunner Clarissa is much less impressive until the last set of jobs. In terms of party support required, Mage Clarissa is initially quite dependent (needs a Fantastica's Rush to use magic on the same turn she moves, needs a heal after any Sacrifice) but grows past that; Gunner Clarissa will always depend on one particular three-turn buff (but this is because the buff is absurd, and this can be mitigated). Regardless of what you do with her build, though, Clarissa will be spending quite a lot of time spammming Encourage. Increasing the speed of up to five characters at once is quite powerful, and it's incredibly cheap--even at the beginning of the game, Encourage's cost is only a problem if you go wild with other skills. If you decide to go the long, rocky path of the Laser Beam Death Goddess, you'll be spending quite a bit of time with Clarissa playing support. Felius Arwin Stats: code:Melee Tank Halberdier is nothing very special, so in practice, Felius is essentially a generic character that you're required to use on some maps. That's not a problem, though, because physical characters are quite good in this game. Just remember Halberds exist when enemies with Hard come up, and remember he has Upper Hand for when enemies are a) evasive b) out of range or c) somewhere too high to reach--it's not glamorous, no, but in terms of pure utility Upper Hand is one of the game's better physical skills. Einander fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Jul 25, 2015 |
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Jul 18, 2015 00:34
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Wait, Attack Assist does nothing? What does the game say it does?
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Jul 18, 2015 01:18
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Clarste posted:Wait, Attack Assist does nothing? What does the game say it does? When Felius and an ally are both adjacent to an enemy, attacking the enemy will sometimes trigger Felius to attack as well. It doesn't seem to work, though; I've seen reports that it just works very rarely, but... I'm skeptical. For what it's worth, another class can do that with every ability (you attack, they attack; cast magic, they cast magic) with a fairly high activation rate, so it's not too much of a loss, but it's a shame to see him lose a unique ability.
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Jul 18, 2015 01:47
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it works ive seen it, you can trust me, your pal cake attack
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Jul 18, 2015 02:13
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