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LATEST EPISODE Episode 45: Hall of Murond Cathedral What is Final Fantasy Tactics? In the summer of '97, a little company (then) called Squaresoft released a strategy RPG for the Sony Playstation called Final Fantasy Tactics. And it was good. drat good. Marrying the Job System from FF3 and FF5 to the turn-based strategy gameplay of the Ogre Battle series, and including an intricate and well-written story and cast, FFT quickly became (and to this day remains) one of the flagship SRPG titles. What is FFT 1.3? First, I'll let the creator get a word in: quote:Final Fantasy Tactics 1.3 is a difficulty and content modification for Final Fantasy Tactics. The primary goal of the project is to re-balance the gameplay mechanics of the original while adding difficulty. The project started with the idea that players did not need to impose artificial rules on themselves to make Final Fantasy Tactics challenging if a mod could be created to do it for them. FFT 1.3 alters job, monster, item, and battle statistics to make the entire game provide a challenge that matches the complexity and depth of its customization system. It's been in development since 2008 and is maintained by Archael. Several spin-off versions of 1.3 have been created as a result of demand by fans to experience the mod on other platforms or in other ways. 1.3 does not alter the game's storyline or its characters. Is it really that hard? Yes, it is. FFT 1.3 requires a fairly intimate familiarity with the inner workings of FFT's battle system. There are a lot of little particularities and oddities that are in no way obvious, and the mod as a whole engenders a rather specific playstyle that doesn't really crop up in the base game. Additionally, there's no real way to brute force your way through; because of the way enemies scale, leveling up actually makes fights harder. The odds will be stacked heavily against you in every single battle, often in very unfair ways. This mod regularly rides the line between "challenging" and "bullshit". Later chapters stray into I Wanna Be The Guy territory, and the optional content...well, you'll see. Who is 1.3 (and this LP) for? While the mod is meant for FFT veterans, for the purposes of this LP I'll be assuming only a passing familiarity with the game. I won't be transcribing every line of dialogue, and the focus will be more towards the mechanics of the mod (though I'll still try to get the whole story in there); if you've never heard of FFT before, you might like to check out OrangeFluffySheep's excellent vanilla LP as well. What is FFT 1.3 Content? Again, I'll let the creator tell it: quote:FFT Content 1.3 is a version of 1.3 with all the content of the full mod but stripped of much of its more difficult aspects. Storyline enemies have fixed levels instead of scaling with the party's level, letting the player power level in order to overcome difficulties. Storyline enemy gear is significantly weaker and Boss-type units are less powerful. This version of 1.3 came about after a large Let's Play FFT 1.3 thread from Something Awful by Declan MacManus revealed that many people desired the changes present in 1.3 but without the difficulty. From that moment on, the Content version of the project has been updated as new releases come out. What will you be showing off? I intend to show every story battle, including all of the optional content. An exception of note is the Deep Dungeon, where I plan to do one battle per map. I'll show off random battles as the urge strikes me, or by request of the thread. You're a dirty, cheaty-faced cheater! Well, yes and no. I WILL be using a save editor (namely FFTastic). However, I'll do so only to (a) avoid a lot of dumb grinding, and (b) sometimes give the little peoples funny names. I WILL NOT use cheats to do anything that could not be done completely legitimately within the game. This is purely a quality-of-life thing: I'm not going to spend five hours watching my team run around Mandalia Plains throwing rocks at each other to grind JP, nor will I load/reset a million times to get a rare monster spawn so I can show off some poaches. You wouldn't want to watch it and I don't want to do it. Thread Stuff * Plot spoilers are okay. Put tags around anything major, but otherwise talk about the story as much as you like. Just don't turn the thread into an SCP entry. * Do not discuss specific battle set ups until we get to them. This LP is for showing off the weird and wonderful mechanics of the mod. * If you decide to play along, please feel free to post updates and screenshots of your progress, provided you stick to the above. * Tangents are a-okay so long as they're at least vaguely related. Comparisons to other games are fine, so long as you remember that every FF is the worst game in the series. * Keep Archaelchat to a minimum. Yes, the guy can be a bit abrasive sometimes, but this LP isn't about him. Bitching about the mod is fine, bitching about the creator is not. * Please make requests. If you want to see a class, a skill, a setup, a map, a monster, or just about anything else, ask and I'll do my best to provide. Episode 0: The Middle is the Beginning is the Middle Episode 1: Gariland Rock City Episode 2: Mandalia Plains Episode 3: Sweegy Woods Episode 4: Dorter Trade City Episode 5: Sand Rat Cellar Episode 6: Thieves' Fort Episode 7: Lenalia Plateau Episode 8: Fovoham Plains Episode 9: Fort Zeakden Episode 00: The Beginning is the Middle is the Beginning Episode 10: Dorter the 2nd Episode 11/1: Araguay Woods, Part 1 Episode 11/2: Araguay Woods, Part 2 Episode 12: Zirekile Falls Episode 13: Zaland Fort City Episode 14/1: Bariaus Hill, Part 1 Episode 14/2: Bariaus Hill, Part 2 Episode 15: Zigolis Swamp Episode 16: Goug Machine City Episode 17: Bariaus Valley Episode 18: Golgorand Execution Site Episode 19: Gate of Lionel Castle Episode 20: Scorpio Episode 000: War! (Good God, Ya'll!) Episode 21: Goland Coal City Episode 22: Inquisition at Lesalia Episode 23: Orbonne - Library Episode 24: Orbonne - Izlude Episode 25: Orbonne - Wiegraf Episode 26: Grog Hill Episode 27/1: Yardow Fort City, Part 1 Episode 27/2: Yardow Fort City, Part 2 Episode 28: Yuguo Woods Episode 29/1: Gate of Riovanes Castle, Part 1 Episode 29/2: Gate of Riovanes Castle, Part 2 Episode 30: Aries Episode 31: Roof of Riovanes Castle Episode 0000: Can Anybody Find Me... Episode 32: Dougola Pass Episode 33: Bervenia Free City Episode 34/1: Finath River Roundup, Part 1 Episode 34/2: Finath River Roundup, Part 2 Episode 35: Zeltennia Cathedral Episode 36: Bed Desert Episode 37/1: Walls of Bethla Garrison, South Episode 37/2: Walls of Bethla Garrison, North Episode 38: Bethla Garrison Sluice Episode 39: Germinas Peak Episode 40: Poeskas Lake Episode 41: Gate of Limberry Castle Episode 42/1: Inside Limberry Castle, Part 1 Episode 42/2: Inside Limberry Castle, Part 2 Episode 43: Gemini Episode 44/1: Capricorn, Part 1 Episode 44/2: Capricorn, Part 2 Episode 45: Outside Murond Cathedral Episode 45: Hall of Murond Cathedral Sidequests Sidequest: Mysterious Metal Orb Sidequest: The Hunter Sidequest: Colliery Underground Third Sidequest: Colliery Underground Second, Part 1 Sidequest: Colliery Underground Second, Part 2 Sidequest: Colliery Underground First Sidequest: Underground Passage in Goland Sidequest: The Steel Giant Sidequest: The Orrery Sidequest: Nelveska Temple Sidequest: The Stranger Sidequest: Cloud Sidequest: The Sword in the Stone Arena: Zeklaus Desert I Arena: Zeklaus Desert II Arena: Zirekile Falls I Arena: Zirekile Falls II Arena: Grog Hill I Arena: Grog Hill II Random Battles: Choco Rumble Random Battles: Warlock of Bariaus Hill Class Acts: Squire Class Acts: Chemist Class Acts: Priest Class Acts: Knight Class Acts: Wizard Class Acts: Marksman Class Acts: Oracle Class Acts: Thief Class Acts: Time Mage Class Acts: Monk Class Acts: Mediator Class Acts: Geomancer Class Acts: Summoner Class Acts: Lancer Class Acts: Sage Class Acts: Samurai Class Acts: Ninja Class Acts: Dancer Class Acts: Bard Monster Talk with Archael Upper Class: Engineer Upper Class: Holy Knight Upper Class: White Chocobo Upper Class: Onion Knight Upper Class: Rift Traveler Upper Class: Heaven Knight Upper Class: Hell Knight Upper Class: Death Knight Upper Class: Sword Saint Upper Class: Divine Knight Upper Class: Temple Knight Upper Class: Steel Giant J. Alfred Prufrock fucked around with this message at 06:01 on May 8, 2014 |
# ? Dec 3, 2012 03:40 |
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# ? Apr 23, 2024 13:58 |
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Chapter 0: The Middle is the Beginning is the Middle We start off with a nice little framing device. The whole game is a story being told generations after the fact. I think it's pretty neat. Normally this is the bit where the thread would pick a name, but I just love myself too much for that. You'll get the chance to name things later. Regdate is kind of like a birthday, yeah? September 9 leaves me a Virgo, which is pretty neutral as far as gameplay is concerned. I'm sure there's one or two "best" birthdays, but eh... Our story opens with a prayer and a princess. If you guessed that we're going to end up rescuing her, congratulations! You win nothing. We aren't told much before being thrown into the scene. There's a princess, Ovelia, and our protagonist, along with some Knights and mercenaries, are here to protect her. Which is fortunate, because outside, another group of Knights have come to abduct Ovelia. They're dressed in the livery of Duke Goltana, one of the most powerful nobles in Ivalice. We'll be learning a lot more about the politics later. Right now, they're just some guys making threats... ...but Gafgarion gives no fucks. And with that, the battle is joined! The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just like in vanilla, Orbonne the First involves a whole lot of watching the computer play the game. This is one of the few things I've seen in other FFT mods that I really wish would make it into 1.3: the ability to control guest units. Right now it's just boring, but later down the line it will get a bit more hazardous to my sanity. Oh hey, this is new. Enemy units in 1.3 have a lot more JP to allocate, so they'll break out advanced abilities early and often. Anway, let's check out our skills, eh? Everything looks familiar enough, except for Yell, which now has a charge time? Yell now adds the Haste status, since direct Speed manipulation is gone. Haste is very powerful in 1.3, where getting extra turns is huge. Let's go ahead and use it on Gafgarion. Agrias does that thing she always does, managing to get a double Stasis Sword right off the bat. That's our girl. A couple of notes about Sword Skills in 1.3: they cost MP, and they're somewhat less reliable, being subject to evasion. Don't get me wrong, they're still drat powerful, just a bit more in line with other abilities than they were in vanilla. And what's this? Knights picked up some ranged status breaks the ones that Zalbag used to pack. Power Ruin here drops the target's PA by a hefty 3 points. Cheer Up is now included in Basic Skill, but it's much less useful than before, since Brave/Faith manipulation has also been axed. Now it's as powerful as an instant-use Regen can be, which is to say "not at all". And first blood goes to Gafgarion, who K.O.'s an enemy archer... ...only to watch him be instantly revived. Get used to seeing this. All. The. God. drat. Time. The constant cycle of K.O.'s and resurrection-spam is called "sandbagging" and is a principle strategy in 1.3. The reasons for this are myriad, not least among them the fact that the Tactics AI loves to prioritize revival, but also because of a bit of a rocket-tag effect at higher levels. The primary method of sandbagging is to throw a poo poo ton of Phoenix Downs, as we see here, since Item is instant, costs no MP, and always works. Magic-based sandbagging is less common due to charge times and failure chance, though it can potentially be more powerful. We'll go deeper into sandbagging as it comes up in play, but for now just know that it's very important and very prevalent. Agrias gets another multi-target Stasis Sword, this time proccing a Stop on the enemy Chemist. (For some reason her AI is doing much better this time around than on my first attempt, where she took no action other than move -> wait the entire fight.) The Heal skill has gotten a solid upgrade in 1.3, now being able to remove Stop and Berserk. Another K.O. and another revival. I'll gloss over these even more in the future, but it's important to impress upon you all just how frequently this happens. Haste gives Gaffy (did you know his name is Gaff Gafgarion?) another quick turn, and he whips out Dark Sword to refill his MP. If you've forgotten about Dark Sword from vanilla, don't worry: it's much more useful in 1.3, what with Sword Skill users actually having a to care about MP and all. A couple more K.O.'s put us into a 5 vs. 2 scenario. This battle is already won, the rest is just cleanup. Beat Down is a brand new skill in 1.3 belonging to the Basic Skill set. It deals fixed damage (60%), but has an abysmally low hit rate, so the AI loves it. More sandbagging! The Archer class no longer exists, having been replaced by the Marksman with an all-new skill set. Timed Strike is the best bits of the old Charge set rolled into one. Rad takes a swing at Lezales and promptly gets murdered by Counter, becoming team Ovelia's only casualy. Good going, Rad. Finally, we finish the fight with a true Tactics classic, Throw Stone. Meanwhile, Ovelia is doing what every good princess ought to do: getting her royal rear end kidnapped. Delita socks her in the baby-maker and hauls her away, pausing to deliver the best line in video game history before riding off. I love that guy. Next Time: Rocks Fly, Squires Die J. Alfred Prufrock fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 12, 2013 |
# ? Dec 3, 2012 03:41 |
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And the remake totally ruined that line. Anyway, this seems like such a pain in the rear end. Is Orlandu as godlike as he was in the original?
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 03:50 |
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God...I tried playing the Content version of this hack, but I kept dying on this mission because Ramza kept getting knocked out an the AI is useless so I never gave it a proper shot.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 04:46 |
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Finished 99.9% of 1.3, cause Altima was a dick. I've toyed with the thought of a 1.3 Content LP. The WotL 1.3 is hilarious in that one of the enemy Marksmen at the start has a 20 WP bow. Will you be showing off the new recruitables and revamped ones? Corvinus fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Dec 3, 2012 |
# ? Dec 3, 2012 04:53 |
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Corvinus posted:Will you be showing off the new recruitables and revamped ones?
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:08 |
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Oh, another one of these! I'll be watching intently; haven't found the will to replay 1.3 since I beat it wayyy back when and apparently there's a bunch of new stuff now. Here's hoping 1.3 doesn't break you like it broke the other two would-be LPers! edit: I think it's important to note that 1.3 content was actually born of the last attempt at LPing this. Several goons complained that they wanted to play the re-balanced game and the new stuff without suffering the difficulty, and Archael actually popped into the thread, discussion was had, and content was made. Heavy neutrino fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Dec 3, 2012 |
# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:15 |
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Wow, a Let's Play of Final Fantasy Tactics 1.3 Insane Mode? I will be keeping an eye on this let's play. I've always had interest in the game but never could get it to work... nor I am insane enough to attempt to. ;PTheWorldIsSquare posted:Anyway, this seems like such a pain in the rear end. Is Orlandu as godlike as he was in the original?
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:16 |
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I remember the last attempt to LP this. I can't quite remember why it collapsed, but here's hoping the same fate whatever it was doesn't befall you.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:22 |
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Please make backups of all your saves. Please copy the backups off of your computer, like on Dropbox or something. I really want to see you finish this LP. Thanks for showing it off.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:27 |
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Hey look another 1.3 thread. I guess I can give ol' 1.3 another try as well as start to familiarize myself with that save editor because gently caress grinding. Who knows. I might end up posting my own strats on certain missions. Thwack! fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Dec 3, 2012 |
# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:37 |
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Once you learn the quirks of 1.3 it's not that hard to slap the AI around except on a couple of the most ballcrushing battles. Even the Colliery battles.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 05:40 |
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Good to see another shot at this game. I just started a playthrough of 1.3 Content the other day. It's nice being able to deck my team out however I want without worrying that I'm destroying the game or resorting to an SCC. The revamps to some classes (especially Archer) are pretty nifty.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:17 |
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May God have mercy on your soul. This game broke the last guy who LP'd it.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:20 |
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Sorites posted:I remember the last attempt to LP this. I can't quite remember why it collapsed, but here's hoping the same fate whatever it was doesn't befall you. As I remember, the guy doing it just wasn't having any fun. Playing the game was a meaningless chore, both for him and the thread, so he just said 'look, here's the situation' and shut up shop. Not a single person in the thread blamed him.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:22 |
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Dr Pepper posted:May God have mercy on your soul. In the great tradition of hard as balls SRPGs, like Hoshigami: Ruining Your loving Life.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:27 |
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Azure_Horizon posted:In the great tradition of hard as balls SRPGs, like Hoshigami: Ruining Your loving Life. To be fair, I think even something like Luigi's Mansion would break an LPer if they forced themself to update several times a day.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:49 |
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Azure_Horizon posted:In the great tradition of hard as balls SRPGs, like Hoshigami: Ruining Your loving Life. Why did you have to remind me of that loving game? At least it was kinda almost fun to try to break in places, unlike the awful slog our esteemed OP has wisely chosen to work around.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 08:52 |
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Dr Pepper posted:May God have mercy on your soul. That is a gross exaggeration, sir. Also I want to see bards, show me bards.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 09:02 |
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What happened to the old thread? Burn out? it got as far as I generally do in FFT before I get bored of the fights FFT1.3 Content is great fun, and one thing I've always wondered is, is all the stupid quasi grinding really necessary to beat the regular version? Doesn't sound like that's all that skill based if so, or at least any more so than having enemies level scale such that you can't power level everything.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 10:50 |
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I highly recommend the Content version, but the standard 1.3 is just a huge exercise in tedium, whether it's sandbagging in battles or grinding JP outside. Archael and his buddies take the stance that anyone who dislikes anything whatsoever about 1.3 is just a pansy loser who can't take the pain, but really a lot of the difficulty is just how loving long everything takes. Nothing says "fun" like spending the first 30 minutes of the battle throwing phoenix downs, and the next 30 trying desperately to get even one single enemy to stay down long enough to crystallize, as they sandbag you. Oh, and you have to grind in ridiculously stupid ways, because you can't let anyone level up too much -- hit certain breakpoints and every enemy will suddenly start showing up in a full set of equipment from the next chapter.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 11:34 |
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megane posted:I highly recommend the Content version, but the standard 1.3 is just a huge exercise in tedium, whether it's sandbagging in battles or grinding JP outside. Archael and his buddies take the stance that anyone who dislikes anything whatsoever about 1.3 is just a pansy loser who can't take the pain, but really a lot of the difficulty is just how loving long everything takes. Nothing says "fun" like spending the first 30 minutes of the battle throwing phoenix downs, and the next 30 trying desperately to get even one single enemy to stay down long enough to crystallize, as they sandbag you. Also, your avatar rules. I love Look Around You.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 11:36 |
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This update will be quick, as the fight is neither particularly long nor especially interesting. Chapter 1: Gariland Rock City And we're now in a flashback within a flashback. Insert Inception joke here. Historically, problems like this have popped up all the time. Just look at the aftermath of pretty much any of the Crusades; large groups of armed men who find themselves with nothing to do and who are already used to pillaging foreign lands can cause quite a ruckus. Some monarchs were even said to have intentionally push conflicts towards more violent ends just to ensure there were fewer soldiers coming home to roost. This is...not really correct. Both Larg and Goltana get referred to as "prince" sometimes but they're actually both dukes. Larg is the queen's older brother and the Duke of Gallione, the western part of Ivalice. Seems even the amateurs are being pressed into service. One of the Knights gives us our mission. I like the phrase "tortured thieves" even if I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to mean. We've got the rest of the cadets following Prufrock on this one. Of the six, two get benched, while these four make the cut: Note the two Squires carrying Bow Guns: the class can equip crossbows in 1.3, giving them a bit more reach. What is it with generic bad guys and underestimating the kids that immediately murder them? Anyway, besides this chump, who is still a Squire despite the name, the only new unit on this map is: ...Akintunde? Quite the moniker. Anyway, he's packing a Bow Gun, as well as Precision (the Marskman skillset) secondary, and Jump +1 to get a little height. It's worth keeping an eye on this fella; with good compatibility or a Timed Strike he can oneshot your units from full health. Anyway, we start the battle off right...with Throw Stone, of course! The AI follows suit. It's like the opening of FFTA, except we didn't even bother to use snowballs to hide our rocks. Just a few turns in and we've already practically won. I get really lucky with double good compats. Dropping the Chemist this early is huge and makes the rest of the fight something of a cakewalk. Now they're on the defensive with their best support unit lying on the ground. Seems like a bad time for trash talk. Prufrock is having none of that poo poo. (This is another good line.) A second... ...and then a third K.O. quickly follow the first. Without the Chemist throwing potions in between my unit's moves, the opposition is much easier to knock down for good. In addition to Weapon Guard now costing 0 JP (so we'll be seeing it a lot more frequently on early units) several weapon types have had their Guard % tweaked, with swords in particular seeing a significant raise. This in turn makes positioning more important, since more than ever you want to be attacking from the sides and rear. Here is Cheer Up's animation. Don't expect to see it a lot. For my part, two Chemists means none of my units gets K.O.'d. I usually take both Chemists on this map for that reason, though if there had been a third Bow Gun floating around I would have probably made an exception, just to raise the chance of taking out their Chemist ASAP. Delita finishes the fight exactly like he began it. Prufrock might be just a little naive. Especially because he immediately proceeds to loot the bodies. This is an RPG, after all. Well, we have our orders: head to Igros castle, where we can sit on our asses "guarding" things. I'm sure nothing interesting will happen along the way. For next time: let's name our band of merry men! I need four names, or a general naming theme (no Power Rangers).
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 12:43 |
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Obvious suggestion for theme: Famous poets.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 13:14 |
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...Pity there's two ladies instead of one, or I'd have pushed for Gwyn's four knights. How about past or present ring members from the KoDP thread instead?
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 14:27 |
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Obviously the theme should be Sailor Moon characters
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:26 |
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Figures of the French Revolution.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:29 |
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TheWorldIsSquare posted:Figures of the French Revolution. Building on that Les Miserables characters since the movie is coming out this month.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:32 |
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:Building on that Les Miserables characters since the movie is coming out this month. Technically Les Miserables wasn't actually the French Revolution, but hey. I second this.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:36 |
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TheWorldIsSquare posted:Technically Les Miserables wasn't actually the French Revolution, but hey. I second this. I know but it's close enough for my tastes.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:37 |
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Characters from Shakespeare
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:38 |
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Mystery Science Theater 3000 characters.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:50 |
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The things they called Dave Ryder that I didn't use. Punch Sideiron, Crud Bonemail, Stump Beefknob, things like that.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 16:56 |
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Mega Man 1 Robot Masters
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:21 |
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Orange Fluffy Sheep posted:The things they called Dave Ryder that I didn't use. Second Vote for Dave Ryder names! You can only have manly names as this mod is made to test the testosterone levels in your chest hair!
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:22 |
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Dr Pepper posted:Obviously the theme should be Sailor Moon characters I second this, or else if that doesn't work, Dragonball Z & GT
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:27 |
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Members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:33 |
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Thwack! posted:Members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. This is far too fantastic not to use.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:41 |
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Thwack! posted:Members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. I agree with this.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 17:59 |
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# ? Apr 23, 2024 13:58 |
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Lovecraftian Horrors You know you want a Chemist named Shub-Niggurath.
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# ? Dec 3, 2012 18:12 |