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 Wild Arms XF, or "Wild Arms: Crossfire," is a strategy RPG spinoff of the Wild Arms series, developed by Media.Vision and released on the PSP in 2008. The game follows the story of Clarissa Arwin and her companion Felius, who travel to the kingdom of Elesius in pursuit of the man who stole Clarissa's mother's sword, Iskender Bey. Wild Arms XF is a class-based strategy RPG. Each character can change their class before battle, and much of the strategy revolves around selecting the correct class to counter your enemy's forces. You can also mix and match the skills of various classes; as you level up your class, you learn its skills and can then equip them while playing as a different class. I bought Wild Arms XF just because it has "Wild Arms" in the title, and it kind of introduced me to the strategy RPG genre (I had played SRPGs before, but never really got into them before this). It's still one of my favorite games in the genre, likely due to a combination of it being my first, and me being a huge Wild Arms fanboy. The beginning of the game can feel a little bit restrictive, as a lot of encounters seem to have one "correct" strategy and set of classes you're meant to use, but as you progress and gain more options, you're able to approach the battles more freely and the game gets to be a lot of fun. This LP will be primarily screenshot, with videos for the (atrociously) voice acted scenes. The video content will also be transcribed and presented with screenshots, if you just can't stand to hear the voice acting. I'll also be providing Tindeck links to all the music, and you'd better click them because it's all incredible. Prologue: Seed of the Dandelion Act 1: Path of the Founding Knights Act 1-1 Act 1-2 Interlude - Class Roundup 1 Act 1-3 Act 1-4 Act 1-5 Act 1-6 Act 1-7 Act 1-8 Interlude - Class Roundup 2 Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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May 13, 2014 23:26
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Music: Crossfire "The land is covered in flames, and those who battle sadness leave behind a trail of tears. And yet-- Some still strive for a glimpse of what lies beyond the sorrow..."  Welcome to Wild Arms XF! I've got nothing to say here that hasn't already been said in the OP, so we're just gonna jump right in and start a new game. The song that plays on the title screen, Crossfire, is Wild Arms XF's requisite remix of Courage, the Wild Arms main theme. Video: Prologue Generally video links are just for if you want to hear the voice acting, but this scene actually has a fair bit of animation (well, if you can call "still images with special effects" a form of animation), which comes across a bit better in video than screenshots. Music: Wind that Blows During the Interlude    I know you're here, Rupert! Show yourself! ... Music: Beauty and the Shining Sword  --! The same dirty trick as before...  The blond-haired woman shoots at her attacker, but...    With a swing of his sword, he deflects the shot.   Well, that's a little harsh. You're the one who asked me to show myself in the first place! ... Return my mother's sword! There's no way you could use it anyway. ... Hate to admit it, but you're right. No point in dragging this thing around if I can't get at its true power. But I have to ask--why can't I get it to unleash that huge blast of energy again? How should I know? Even I don't know how it works. My mother was the only one who could wield it. She wanted to use it to--  Bwah hah hah! That's rich. What a ridiculous dream. How...how dare you! Hey, watch it with the death glare, missy. You're gonna spoil that pretty little face of yours. Enough already! Just return my mother's sword! All right, all right. Here...  Rupert tosses Iskender Bey, and it lands point-down in the dirt.  Heh. You're as gullible as they come. Rupert quickly closes the distance, placing himself between the sword and the girl.  (He had another sword?!)  Now who were you calling a coward, missy?!  What the--?! Felius! Th...thank you. You need to be more cautious, Clarissa. You can't just rush in like that. drat, I was so close, too... Oh well, I suppose wherever little missy goes, big brother is sure to follow.  Felius attacks, but Rupert dodges away.  So give me back my mother's sword! Sheesh! Settle down! Is that all you know how to say? You know...if, as you say, there's no way I can use the sword's power... And you honestly don't know of any way to unlock said power...  Then I suppose there's really no reason for me to let the two of you live, is there? Felius! Watch for his draw! I see it! Oh, you do, do you? You really think you can foil me that easily?  It is a relief to have found you, sir. I'm afraid our scheduled meeting time has already passed. I'm kinda in the middle of somethin' here... Forgive us, sir, but we were asked to ensure that you arrive at the harbor in time. If we tarry too long, I worry that you might miss your vessel. Should that happen, the next passenger ship does not depart until-- Fine, fine. But what about these two pests? You gonna stall 'em for me? ...No. We'll eliminate them.The robed men step forward.  Hate to skip out on the fun, but I guess I got no choice... Rupert, wait!  The robed men activate some sort of device, and... Music: Slap the Cheek in a Mood to Kill   It looks like they're not just here to stop us. We're brought into the Tactics menu, which precedes every battle in the game. From the tactics menu, we can adjust our party, change classes and equipment, take a look at the map, and view the win conditions of the battle. Most of these things are locked to us right now, though. Pretty much all we can do here is look at the map and check the win conditions.  A simple objective for a simple mission. This game actually has quite a bit of mission variety, but for now we just have to murder everyone.  "Everyone" being Rupert and four generic enemies, from the look of things. There aren't really any preparations to make at this point in the game, so we just jump right into the battle. Music: The Painted Future Set Upon an Easel   Different from most SRPGs, the battlefield in Wild Arms XF is divided into hexagons, or "HEXes," rather than squares. HEXes can have different effects (mud will decrease a unit's speed, while wooden planks will increase it, for example.), and different heights as well. If a HEX is too high, your unit won't be able to climb it. The "0 h" in the top-right corner is indicating our current HEX is at a height of 0. Over across the right side of the screen, we have the turn order. Each unit's position in the turn order is determined by his or her Reflex stat; if a unit is fast enough, it is possible for them to go multiple times before a slow unit gets a turn. Right now it's Clarissa's turn, and we have a few options. For now, we choose to move her.  Clarissa has a Move stat of 3, so she's able to move up to three spaces away from her current position. Moving a unit will not end their turn, but some Original Commands (abilities) cannot be used after moving. After moving, we choose to attack.  A unit's attack range is determined by the weapon they have equipped. Clarissa is a unique unit in that she's able to equip Strahl Gewehr, a gun that allows her to fire infinitely in a straight line, as long as nothing obstructs her line of fire. However, the farther away your target is from Clarissa, the less accurate and powerful her attack will be. Most units can only attack their immediate surroundings without the aid of an Original Command. Clarissa's weapon, Strahl Gewehr is also unique in that it levels up with her; other units will need to replace their weapons periodically, but Clarissa can continue to use Strahl Gewehr for the entire game. We choose to fire at Strider Tarata.  Wild Arms XF is very transparent with its numbers. When you choose to attack a unit, you're told exactly what your odds of hitting are, and how you'll affect the target's stats.  Next up after Clarissa is Rupert's turn. With each turn he has, he moves farther away from the battle. We progress toward the enemy line, with Clarissa taking shots at the enemies with each of her turns. Felius can only attack adjacent HEXes, so he's forced to wait after his moves until we close in on the enemy.  After a few rounds, we finally get close enough for Felius to attack.  His attacks hit much harder than Clarissa's, though he's less versatile thanks to his short range. I'll take this opportunity to explain some of the status information displayed across the bottom of the screen. HP and MP are self-explanatory, as are ATK and DEF. MAG indicates the strength of your character's magic attacks, while RES indicates their magic defense. I've already explained the MOV stat, and CLM shows how high you can climb. If a HEX is more than three "height levels" above Felius, he can't climb up it, since his CLM stat is 3. VP requires a bit of explanation. Each piece of equipment has a weight value. At the end of each turn, whether you perform an action or just wait, your VP will decrease by your character's overall equipment weight. Once your VP hits 0, you'll take HP damage equal to your equipment weight each turn. You can't drop below 0 HP this way, but running out of VP is still a very very bad thing.  The battle continues, and we're able to flank this enemy unit with Clarissa and Felius.  When you have an enemy flanked and target them with a standard attack, you'll perform a Formation Art.  Formation Arts give a significant boost to your damage output. The projected damage for Felius' attack was 38, but since Clarissa joined in, we hit for 51 instead. You can also do a three-way formation art by forming a triangle around an enemy, and a six-way formation art by surrounding an enemy on all sides. Note that the damage and accuracy for Formation Arts are determined solely by the attacking unit's stats, which are then boosted by a flat amount. The stats of the supporting units are not used in the damage calculation at all. Setting up Formation Arts to increase your damage output is a very important part of battle in this game. But enemies can do Formation Arts as well, so it's just as important to ensure your own units don't get surrounded.  As the battle progresses, Rupert eventually reaches the end of the map. Once he reaches this point, he spends each turn simply waiting. We continue moving closer to him and eliminating the enemies. When either Clarissa or Felius gets close to Rupert, a cutscene occurs.   He swings his blade, and...  Hmph. This would've been easier on both of us if you'd gotten yourselves squished under there... Anyway, I gotta get a move on. But quit followin' me around, missy--or next time'll be your last. As long as you remember that, I'm sure we'll get along just fine. And just when we'd gotten this close...! ...See ya 'round. I'll figure out Iskender Bey's secrets myself--even if it takes me a lifetime to do it. Rupert turns around and leaves the battlefield.  And the battle continues as before.  We eliminate the final enemy, and the mission is won. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones   After each battle, the spoils screen comes up, and we're awarded Gella and items. This screen is kind of silly, because the "Gella Earned" value ticks down to 0 and is added to the "Total Gella" value. Except it starts ticking down instantly (literally the first frame it appears), so you can't really tell how much Gella you earned from a battle unless you know your total Gella going in. It's not really a problem, it's just kind of goofy.  And then we get our experience. EXP is just regular character experience, while CSP is Class Skill Points, experience for your character's current class. Each character also has EXP and CSP multipliers, which are determined by that character's contribution in battle. Music: Stagnation Brings Impurity to the Truth  Wyman: Heh heh... I never though this little vial would come in handy...  --?! It's too late, Felius... They're already dead. So it would seem. They poisoned themselves when they realized they'd lost... What kind of secret did they share with Rupert? What could they have been willing to die for in order to protect? ... Not only did he get away...he managed to cover his tracks completely. One of the robed guys said something about a ship. He must've been headed for a harbor somewhere...Music: None   Hey, what's that? This looks like...some sort of badge? Did this belong to Rupert? Hmmm. He must have dropped it in the skirmish earlier. It looks like the kind of symbol you'd find in the emblem of a royal family, if that helps any.Music: Make a Wish to the Wind and a Vow to the Light Yes, that's it--a royal seal! I saw one just like this... The royal seal of Elesius! ...Elesius? It's an old country on the eastern continent, across the sea... Hold on a second... I could've sworn I saw this in one of Mother's notebooks... I didn't do anything. You're the one who figured it out, Clarissa. I must've been so young that I don't remember anything about it. I bet we can catch a ship to Elesius from one of the harbors nearby. You intend to pursue him? ...Yeah. I don't know what Rupert is planning, but I can't allow him to use Mother's sword for evil! Will you...come with me? ...  Thank you, Felius. I feel like I could go anywhere with you by my side. If we're to catch Rupert and reclaim Iskender Bey... We need to head across the sea--to the kingdom of Elesius!Video: Opening Music: Honki no Uso (True Lies)  And with that, the opening animation plays and the prologue comes to an end. Compared to the fully animated openings of the previous games, Wild Arms XF's opening animation is fairly disappointing, but it's worth watching regardless. The opening theme, Honki no Uso, was performed by Kaori Oda and composed by Noriyasu Agematsu, with lyrics by series composer Michiko Naruke. Honki no Uso is Michiko Naruke's only contribution to the soundtrack of Wild Arms XF. Tune in next time, for the beginning of Act 1!
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May 13, 2014 23:26
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theshim posted:That is some All of the music in this  Krysmphoenix posted:I can explain why VP is bullshit but there are missions later that handle it a lot better. Wild Knight posted:VP kind of sounds like total bullshit, but I'm guessing there are ways to replenish it. I guess it's intended to punish sitting around with your thumb up your rear end, if I'm understanding it correctly? Yeah, VP isn't my favorite mechanic... There are items that replenish it, but keeping your VP up is really a hassle. On the bright side, it affects enemies too, so by the time you're running out of VP they'll probably be running out soon as well.
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May 14, 2014 01:09
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Krysmphoenix posted:Yes, assuming players and enemies run out of VP at the same rate, they'll clearly be out of VP by the time you go through all of yours once. I guess it's more like "By the time you're out of items to refill your VP." It's not often that battles last long enough for that to happen though, unless you stall a whole bunch.
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May 14, 2014 01:45
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Glazius posted:I kind of like the idea of a soft time limit enforced by gear. Are there some classes that are just heavier-equipment than others, or is there a good variety within classes? The better a piece of equipment's stats are, the heavier it is. You could equip a unit with a weaker weapon to conserve weight, but a general rule of thumb is that melee classes that use heavy weapons and armor are going to lose VP faster than wizards. scissorman posted:I agree with the sentiment, great to see this game played here. The interface is decent. You can only see the movement range for one enemy at a time, and some of the menus are kind of awkward to navigate, but you get used to it pretty quick and it's not a problem after playing for an hour or so. I'll be posting the next update later today, by the way. I don't have any schedule in mind with this LP, but I want to update at least once every two or three days.
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May 15, 2014 16:53
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Krysmphoenix posted:Except the heavier melee classes tend to have more VP to go around too. Which is why I said "lose VP" instead of "run out of VP"  (VP was never much of a problem for me, so I couldn't really remember which units tend to run out first. So I worded it in a less specific way)
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May 15, 2014 17:09
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Music: Wind that Blows During the Interlude  Each act of the game is divided into numerous sub-acts. Each sub-act contains at least one story mission, and a few events. Music: A Stroll on the Town with You     For it to be this ordinary? It may seem that way, but remember, Rupert might have connections here. We mustn't relax our guard. Yeah, I guess... But we should at least check out the town. 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. And we're put into control. Towns in Wild Arms XF are made up of a series of menus. There are NPCs to talk to, and the Shop, Synth. Shop and Bar serve gameplay purposes. We head into the shop.  Once we select a destination, we're brought to yet another menu. Gilliam there has an orange exclamation point by his head, which means talking to him will progress the story.   Hmmm......Sorry. Can't recall anyone like that... But isn't Fast Draw one of those skills you can't lean, 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?After speaking with Gilliam, we talk to the shopkeep.  Which gets us a sub-sub-menu. The stores in Wild Arms XF are all-purpose, so we can buy items and equipment here. We can also talk to the shopkeeper, but he's got nothing interesting to say. We leave the store and head into the Synth. Shop.   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?We can't actually use the Synth. Shop yet, unfortunately, but these will prove very useful to us later on. We head to the bar next.  Battle Fanatic just explains Formation Arts to us, so we talk to the bartender.  The Hire function is used to hire generic units to fight with you, but we can't make use of it until later in the game. Talking to the bartender is required to advance the story, though.   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.We're finished in the bar, so we head out to the outskirts of town.  The outskirts house nothing but NPCs. Most of the NPCs in this town just offer gameplay hints, so we just head straight for Heinz and talk to him.   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?We head to the shop to do so.   Oh, don't worry about payment. We're giving them away for free to Drifters as part of our welcome campaign.Obtained a Map of Elesius!  Huh... The Kingdom of Elesius is pretty big, isn't it? In this wide of an area, the odds of us running into Rupert are extremely slim. Do you want to give up? No way. Elesius may be large, but compared to the whole 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! Now that we have our map, we're allowed to exit the town and continue on our way. Music: Filgaia Extra Land  Upon exiting Port Atriage, three destinations appear on our map. Our ultimate destination is the town of Poliasha to the northwest, but to get there we have to pass through the Trader's Road and then the Windhalt Gatehouse. The red exclamation point indicates an event, so we head north to the Trader's Road. Music: In the Sunlight  The ship was packed tight with passengers, after all, and the port wasn't much better... That's true. ... ...?The dog stares at Clarissa for a moment, then turns and leaves.  All right, that's enough rest for now. That village is still quite a ways ahead, and we need to get moving if we want to make it by nightfall. 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 tranquillity. I guess that's a possibility. Is that worrying you? ... ...? 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. You may be her daughter, but that doesn't make you responsible for the actions of the man who stole it. ...! 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. ... 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. You can now use the "Change Class" menu. Wild Arms XF's main gameplay mechanic has been introduced. The event scene isn't over though, so I'll go into detail on it afterwards.  BOOM Music: Footsteps Which Lead the Way to Peril  That was certainly something... C'mon, Felius! (This dog... I saw him earlier...) Mean-Looking Man: That merchant tried to mess with us. He's a criminal and he needs to be punished!  ...He's telling the truth. You shouldn't get involved in this. You don't want the Martial Guard on your back... The martial who?Mean-Looking Man: I'm guessing you're a traveling couple, eh? Hmph. In that case, I'll be collectin' a toll from you--once I take care of this godforsaken mutt. You may not believe this, but that white dog came to my defense when those goons attacked me... No...I believe you. He knows just as well as I do that none of this is your fault. Our ARMs are ready, Clarissa. Yep. And I guess we've got a faithful white knight by our side now, huh? ... And we're brought to the Tactics screen. Dog has joined our party.  During the previous scene, we unlocked the Change Class menu option.  At the moment, we have access to four generic classes: Secutor, Elementalist, Fantastica and Gadgeteer. In addition to the generic classes (of which there are 16 total), each character also has an exclusive class that only they can use. Clarissa's exclusive class is Dandelion Shot, and Felius' is Halberdier. I'm going to post a detailed breakdown of all our classes in a couple updates, but for now, here's a quick rundown of what each of these classes are: Dandelion Shot is Clarissa's exclusive class. It's the only class that can equip Strahl Gewehr, allowing Clarissa to fire in a straight line for an unlimited distance. The Dandelion Shot has all-around stats and its focus is split between dealing damage and support roles. Halberdier is Felius' exclusive class. The Halberdier uses polearms, and is focused on damaging enemies. The Halberdier has high attack and defense stats, and possesses the skill "Overflow," which increases the power of attacks with each enemy defeated. Secutor is a generic class, usable by anyone. The Secutor fights with swords and axes, and uses strong physical attacks to damage enemies. Elementalist is a generic class, usable by anyone. The Elementalist is a spellcaster which can attack with all four of the game's main elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Fantastica is a generic class, usable by anyone. The Fantastica is a support class, with buff and debuff skills. Gadgeteer is a generic class, usable by anyone. The Gadgeteer is a support class that uses items to support other units. For the most part, a unit can only use items on itself, but the Gadgeteer can use items on adjacent units. It also possesses the Mystic command, which extends the effective area of an item, allowing one item to target multiple units at once. Crossbreed is dog's exclusive class. It does dog things, and is the only class dog can use. Now that I've explained all these classes, I'm going to proceed to not actually change anyone's class. This battle is like an extension of the prologue's tutorial, and introduces some new mechanics. To keep things simple, I'm leaving Clarissa and Felius as a Dandelion Shot and a Halberdier for the time being.  From the tactics screen, we can also view the map. These numbers indicate where our party will spawn. Clarissa is 1, dog is 2, and Felius is 3. In later missions, we'll be able to choose which unit starts on which HEX, but the starting positions are locked in this battle.  We're up against three Fantasticas. The win condition is to defeat all enemies. With our preparations complete, we begin the battle. Music: Birds Soaring Over the Battlefield  We're not out on a pleasure cruise either, you know! We can hold our own against anyone!  As of this battle, we now have access to Original Commands! Original Command is just Wild Arms' name for abilities.  As you would expect, you spend MP to use Originals. It's worth noting that some Originals can be used after moving, while others cannot. Howling Shot, for example, cannot be used after moving. Also worth noting is that "Ignores the 'flying' attribute" in Howling Shot's description is a lie. Anyway, we begin the battle by moving in toward the enemies. They start far away, so we have to spend a couple turns closing the distance.  Joining us in this battle is dog. Dog has very high move and climb stats, and fairly high attack, defense/resistance and HP. He also has no Originals, cannot use items, and cannot equip things. He can move and attack and nothing else. Dog lacks versatility, but he's surprisingly useful thanks to his high stats. And since he can't equip things, his weight stat is 0 and so he never loses VP.  We close in on the enemy and start to attack. Since two of the enemy units are standing in a line, it's a prime opportunity to try out an Original: Clarissa's Howling Shot, which attacks all enemies in a straight line.  And it misses one of them, defeating the point. It did deal 45 damage to the other target though, which is more than a standard attack.  The enemies then move into an ideal position for Felius' Shockwave, which hits three spaces in front of him. It's almost like this battle is a tutorial on Originals or something. (I don't think the AI is actually programmed to set these things up for you, it's just a happy coincidence.)  We continue eliminating the enemies, and are even able to set up a three-way Formation Art in the process. Clarissa's standard attacks were doing about 30 damage to these guys, but with the aid of Felius and dog, this attack dealt over 60 damage.  Since all the enemies in this battle are Fantasticas, they spend most of their turns buffing each other and debuffing us. Once in awhile they attack, but dying isn't really very likely in this fight. We eliminate all three enemies with ease. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones  With this, the part of the game that really feels like a tutorial is mostly over. Major gameplay mechanics are introduced through most of act 1, but the battles from now on require at least a little bit of strategy, unlike these first two.  After the battle, Clarissa learned the Dandelion Shot OC skill. As a unit gains CSP, they learn their class' skills. Later on we'll be able to equip a select number of skills to each of our units, allowing us to mix and match our classes. Equipping the Dandelion Shot OC allows Clarissa to use Dandelion Shot Originals regardless of her class. We're not allowed to equip it until the game gives us a tutorial on it, though. Music: Trembling to the Distant Thunder  Martial Guardsman Braddock: Well, you're gonna regret picking a fight with the Martial Guard in Elesius! I can guarantee you that!  A textbook thug through and through... Well, that just confirms it--now I know for sure this is all their doing.Video: Dog Music: In the Sunlight  Done what??? What's this... There's a tag on your collar? Are you somebody's pet? Let's see...  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! ...!  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! ... ... ... Dog turns around and leaves us.  What was that all about...? Oh! That's right!Music: Even Only Fragments of Hope Held Close  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 do you mean? The...Martial Guard? Those men from before? We've only just arrived in Elesius, so... Who are they? They're Drifters hired by the state. As you can see, they use that authority to do pretty much whatever they want. 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* 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... 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. 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... Meanwhile... Video: Windhalt Gatehouse This video features a great voice actor. Music: Trembling to the Distant Thunder    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* And with that, Act 1-1 comes to a close. Tune in next time, for an actual interesting battle! Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 22:46 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 19:44
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Krysmphoenix posted:Still, it's a shame the "Crossbreed" class never gets anything cool. I guess having MOV and CLM 5 is nice but...eh. Good for setting up Formation Arts though. Yeah, it's too bad Crossbreed doesn't at least have some skills or a single Original or something going for it other than mobility and the VP thing. I mostly use Labby for setting up Formation Arts and opening treasure chests. And thanks for the tip on his RFX, I'll be sure to correct the spot in the update where I said it's high. Widestancer posted:Does this have any form of Arc-En-Ciel? That attack in one form or another has plagued me throughout several games in the series. Yes, Arc En Ciel is in this game. But as far as I can remember, it's only used by an optional enemy.
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May 15, 2014 22:45
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TKMobile posted:So, I don't think it's quite been revealed yet, but in this canon are ARMs still just guns, super guns and/or any special weapon like Iskender Bey? It's been talked about enough that I'm willing to explain it. ARMs are a device that allows you to change your class, which is why in the latest update Clarissa said "Let's make sure our ARMs are functioning properly" and then we unlocked the ability to change class.
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May 16, 2014 04:49
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Glazius posted:Has every ARM got the infinite diversity of class change inside it, or is that just the party and everybody else is factory-locked? You buy and download new classes for your ARM (under normal circumstances in other countries. The sale of ARMs and classes is banned in Elesius), and everyone with an ARM can do it. Some NPC in the next town talks about this in a throwaway piece of dialog. I plan to include that in the update, but I don't really think mentioning it now is a spoiler.
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May 16, 2014 13:14
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 Music: Filgaia Extra Land  With the completion of Act 1-1, a new destination has opened on the overworld: Windhalt Gatehouse. And since we're in a rush to get there before the gate is closed on us, Port Atraige is no longer an option. We continue forward into Windhalt Gatehouse. Music: CRISIS DRIVER  Upon loading the map, we're greeted with a scene.  A mercenary hits some sort of weird crystalline object...  ...and the bridge is raised. Looks like that whole "Make it through before they close the gate" plan didn't work out. The camera pans to the south-east.  Guess word's already made it over here. Now what...? Perhaps this gang is more disciplined than they seem... Or perhaps-- Huh?!Clarissa takes a step forward.  Look! Labyrinthia! ...?! The white dog... Now he's attacking the guards! Labyrinthia, stop!  ... ... Clarissa runs ahead toward the dog.   ... ...Hello. ...  Then that must be the woman! Age 34 years, address and occupation unknown! How rude! I mean, sure, I'm jobless and homeless at the moment, and I've been through a lot-- But 34 years old?! Come on! I'm only 17! You seriously think I look *that* old?! ...Well, who knows? ... That's not important anyway! Trivial at best! What's important is, you're a terrorist plotting to overthrow the government, and you've got a bounty on your head that'd make any of us filthy rich! Overthrow the government?! Look, maybe I got in a little trouble earlier, but don't you think you're overreacting a bit? And yet another person comes running in from the direction we came.  ...You again! (Huh...? So they didn't close the gate to catch us?) ...Hmm? This girl... She can't be the 34-year-old we're looking for. Why is this guy so obsessed with people's ages?! ...That's not important, anyway! Trivial at best! What's important is, you're all under arrest! And once we take you in, we'll have all the time in the world to book you for plotting against the government!"You're all under arrest! All two of you, counting the dog!"  And we enter the Tactics menu.  A quick view of the Conditions screen tells us that we'll need to use an Original Command that can reach high places in this battle. Also worth noting is that this battle can be won in two different ways. We can either activate the switch, or we can defeat all the enemies. The menu isn't particularly clear, so it's easy to read it as "activate the switch and defeat all enemies" by mistake. Also also worth noting is the "view target object" button. Since this battle mentions a switch in its win conditions, we can hit "view target object" to see what switch they're referring to. "View target area" will come up in later missions.  Hitting "view target object" shows us the switch. It's on a high platform, which explains the warning that we'll need to be able to reach high places to win this battle.  And now is the perfect opportunity to change our classes around for the first time!  We change Clarissa to an Elementalist, our only available class with Original Commands that can reach high places.  While we're at it, we switch Felius to a Secutor because I haven't used a Secutor in battle yet. You cannot change dog's class because he is a dog. His class is forever "Crossbreed." Our preparations are complete, so we start the battle. Music: Birds Soaring Over the Battlefield  Our only units are Clarissa and dog.  We're up against five opponents. Two Gadgeteers, two Fantasticas, and a Secutor. The switch is on top of the column in the top-right corner of the above screenshot.  Clarissa's spells only have a range of 5, and cannot be used after moving. When we changed our class we had to unequip Strahl Gewehr as well, so we can't shoot either. We have no choice but to wait after moving Clarissa closer to the enemy.  Here's another mechanic that hasn't really been shown in battles before now. Fantastica Braddock gets a turn, but since he's so far away from us, he just waits. He'll start advancing toward us if we move someone closer to him, but it's possible to get through this entire battle without ever drawing his attention if you position your units correctly.  Clarissa's turn comes up again, and it's time to figure out what spell we're going to cast. Hitting the circle button while selecting a unit's action allows you to freely move the cursor around the map. We place it over Terry and hit X to get more info on him.  It shows us his stats and his equipment. We can also hit right or left on the d-pad to bring up more information.  This page has a more detailed stat breakdown. But more important is his list of elemental resistances in the window on the right. Terry has a high water resistance, and a low wind resistance. This menu is of vital importance when selecting which of an Elementalist's spells to use.  We cast Vortex on Terry, doing 78 damage. The orange damage numbers indicate that we exploited his weakness.  Unfortunately, he just uses a Heal Berry to undo the damage I inflicted. Since he's a Gadgeteer, the Heal Berry restores 150 HP, while it would only restore 100 when used by any other unit. We trade blows with this Gadgeteer and Fantastica for a few turns, not really making and real progress, and then...   Clarissa, you've got to start looking before you leap! ...Sorry, Felius! Say, who's that? Hello there. I'm just a common outlaw on the lam. I'd be happy to explain in detail later, if you like. ...An outlaw?! I think I'd prefer you explain now... There's no time for that. Those mercenaries closed the gate to cut off our escape path and strike us from behind. A classic strategy, really. Even as we speak, Martial Guard support troops may be approaching from the rear... What?! What're we supposed to do, then?! Let's open the checkpoint gate. After all, if the gate can be closed, it's only natural that it can be opened as well. If we use an Original attack that can reach high elevations, that should be enough to trip it and open the gate. My Lightning ought to suffice. And so, Felius and the Suspicious Woman join us on the battlefield.   Felius's high attack stat meshes well with the Secutor class I placed him in, and he's able to wipe out enemy forces in a single attack.  Before long, the Suspicious Woman's turn comes up. Our goal is to get her within range of the switch so she can hit it with her Lightning ability.  Suspicious Woman's default class is Arcanist, which is unique to her. She has extremely useful skills, but she's not very mobile, with an extremely low Reflex stat and a Move stat of 3. Lightning is just a lightning elemental attack, as you would expect. It cannot be used after moving. Revive also does what you would expect. Revives a fallen ally (currently useless, since losing a single unit is a game over in this battle) Warp transports her to another space of your choosing. It cannot be used after moving. Replica creates a decoy target to distract enemies.  As I mentioned, Suspicious Woman's Move stat is 3. So moving her within range of the switch will take an eternity.  Unless we spend 8 MP to use Warp, which has a range of 6. We move her to the space indicated in the above screenshot.  Moving toward the switch gets Secutor Glenn's attention though, and he starts advancing toward our party. Note that he's level 12. All the other enemies on this map are level 3.  Because of his high level, Glenn is a powerhouse and can completely wreck your units. While it's technically possible to clear this mission by defeating every enemy, it's much easier to simply activate the switch than it is to deal with Glenn.  And so we continue moving Suspicious Woman toward the switch each time her turn comes up. In the mean time, Clarissa and Felius are occupying the other enemies.  We also move dog over to the treasure chest. To open a treasure chest, you just have to stand next to it and hit it with an attack. This chest just contains a Heal Berry, but chests on later maps will contain very useful items.  She's nearly killed by Glenn, but finally, Suspicious Woman's turn comes up again and we cast Lightning on the switch.   The switch is activated, and the bridge is lowered. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones   And the battle comes to a close. Completing the battle nets us enough EXP for Clarissa to reach level 5. And we're rewarded with a cutscene that may have the worst voice acting we've heard so far. Video: Labyrinthia Music: None  ...This should be far enough, I think... You sure fought hard back there, Labyrinthia! ...Huh? Um...yes, we're certainly grateful for your efforts, too. But, uh, I was actually talking to the dog here... Tony is a recurring name in the Wild Arms series. Every Wild Arms game has a Tony in it somewhere. ...Music: An Honest Smiling Face Huh?! But...the name tag said Labyrinthia... Indeed. Because that's my name. Let's say, if Tony had a little accident somewhere --not that such a thing would ever happen, mind you-- Rather than knowing the dog's name, wouldn't it be more useful to know the name of his owner? That's why I put my own name on the tag. I've never seen someone look so proud of herself for exercising basic common sense.  You knew? She told me when we met earlier. That's why we arrived late to the battle. ... ...Well, I suppose it all worked out in the end. Anyway, we should introduce ourselves! As you probably already know, this is my traveling companion, Felius. And my name is... Labyrinthia takes a step closer to Clarissa. Wha...what is it? Surely you're not thinking that I look like a 34-year old, too... ...I'm the one who's 34. But more importantly...Tony turns to look at Clarissa as well.  ...!!Music: Everything Seems Suspicious  What the heck are you doing?! First the dog, and now you...?! Your Highness! It's really you! I never believed that you had perished, Your Highness! To lose our beloved princess to such an awful fate... I knew it couldn't be true! What? What are you talking about?! Tony, come here! It's the princess, Tony! It's been an entire year, but she's alive and well! But...I...I'm... My name is CLARISSA ARWIN!! And seriously...is this how you and Tony would act around the princess? No... Forgive me, I got excited... ... Well, anyway. I'm sorry--I wish I was your princess, but I'm afraid I'm nothing of the sort!  That kind of thing only happens in stories! People don't just lose their memories that easily! As you say, Your Highness. However... Felius and I have only just arrived in Elesius. We've been chasing a man across Filgaia. We weren't anywhere near this continent a year ago. We were, let's see... That's right, we were traveling far to the south of here. ...Ah, I get it. That's an excellent cover story! It's not a cover story! I'm afraid Clarissa is telling the truth. ... I see... My apologies. I didn't mean to cause trouble. No, it's all right. I'm sorry if I was a little harsh, I was just so taken aback... Anyway, thanks for your help at the checkpoint. Your quick thinking saved us all. Oh...? Truly? Your Highness! This...this is such an honor... Hey! Hello? I just told you that I wasn't your princess! Felius, say something! Yes, of course... They could catch us at any time. We were heading to Poliasha. If that works for you, you're welcome to join us. I'd be delighted. ... ... Tony yawns, bringing an end to the cutscene, and to Act 1-2. Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 17:27 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 16:48
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PFlats posted:You didn't delete that. God drat it. Fixed, thanks. I was supposed to notice that when proofreading, but I was in a hurry and said "Oh, I don't need to proofread this one, it was the test post." Krysmphoenix posted:Also I'm not sure if you can reach the target with an Elementalist Original. I know that Lightning has infinite vertical range (something the game never explicitly tells you) and that's why it can reach but the elemental spells I think are just a little too low. Yeah, I never actually tried to hit it with an Elementalist. I just made Clarissa an Elementalist because the mission conditions make it sound like that's what you need to do, since you don't know Labyrinthia is going to join you midway through the fight. Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 17:30 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 17:28
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As of now we have access to 8 classes. 4 generic ones, and 4 character exclusive ones. This post is going to examine each of our available classes, detailing all of their Originals and Skills, and their uses in battle. This update is entirely gameplay information, and can be safely skipped if you don't care about any of that. Before we get into it, I want to explain exactly how classes and skills work. Each class has a selection of innate skills, which are active at all times when playing that class. As you gain Class Skill Points, the unit's current class will level up, unlocking these skills for use when playing as other classes. Each character starts with three skill slots, and each skill occupies either one or two slots. Each class also has a Special Skill, unlocked when your class level reaches 7. Unlike the other skills, the Special Skill is only active once the class reaches level 7, and cannot be equipped by other classes. The amount of CSP required to level up is as follows: Level 1: 0 CSP Level 2: 8 CSP Level 3: 22 CSP Level 4: 47 CSP Level 5: 90 CSP Level 6: 165 CSP Level 7: 293 CSP With a few exceptions, killing an enemy unit grants every one of your units (whether they participated in battle or not) 1 CSP.  Dandelion Shot is Clarissa's character class, exclusive to her. The Dandelion Shot is most suited to support, but it is capable of dishing out moderate damage. The most notable feature of the Dandelion Shot is its ability to equip Strahl Gewehr, a gun that levels up with your character level, which can fire infinitely in a straight line as long as no objects are between you and your target. Original Commands Howling Shot Fires a beam of light in a straight line, hitting all enemies in its path. The game claims this attack ignores the "Flying" attribute, but that's incorrect. Howling Shot cannot be used after moving, and can only be used when Strahl Gewehr is equipped. Sacrifice Sacrifices HP to attack the enemy. The more HP you have when you cast it, the more damage is inflicted. Normally reduces HP to 1, but if you have a corsage (the Dandelion Shot accessory) equipped, HP is instead reduced by 50%, with no penalty to damage. Sacrifice cannot be used after moving. Encourage Greatly increases the RFX of all adjacent units until the end of their next turn. Rob Turn The target's next turn is given to this unit. Rob Turn cannot be used after moving. Skills Dandelion Shot OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Dandelion Shot Original Commands. Soul Survivor (CLV 3) Unit becomes immune to instant death attacks. Dandelion Shot EQ (CLV 4) Allows the unit to equip Dandelion Shot equipment. Throw Block (CLV 5) 40% chance to nullify projectile attacks. Courageous Heart (CLV 6) When this unit enters crisis, MAG, RES and EVA are multiplied by 120%. Unlike other crisis skills, this effect lasts for the entire battle, even if the unit leaves the crisis state. Extra Critical (CLV 7) Critical hit damage is multiplied by 2, as opposed to the standard 1.5. Skill Slots +3 (Special) The number of skill slots increases by 3. Dandelion Shot is useful for taking shots at distant enemies, though once you hit CLV 4 with it, Clarissa can leave Strahl Gewehr equipped regardless of her class. Her Originals are all fairly useful, Rob Turn in particular. The Dandelion Shot also has a very good selection of skills, especially since Courageous Heart persists when Clarissa leaves crisis (this may be a bug, since no other skill that activates in crisis persists after the unit is healed)  The Halberdier is Felius' character class, exclusive to him. The Halberdier is well suited to dealing damage, and also has some support abilities. Original Commands Shockwave Targets 3 adjacent HEXes, harming enemy and ally alike. Can only be used when a polearm is equipped. Upper Hand A ranged attack that deals more damage to enemies that are on a HEX above the caster. Can only be used when a polearm is equipped. Disarm A physical attack that has a chance to unequip the target's weapon. Can only be used when a polearm is equipped. Status Absorb All status ailments are removed from nearby allies and applied to the caster. Skills Halberdier OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Halberdier Original Commands. Overflow (CLV 3) The strength of all this unit's attacks are increased by 10 for each enemy this unit has killed in the battle. Crisis AIM Up (CLV 4) While the unit is in crisis status, AIM is multiplied by 150% Halberdier EQ (CLV 5) Allows the unit to equip Halberdier equipment. Counter Rate Up (CLV 6) Increases the odds of a counterattack. Odds are increased by more when more enemies are adjacent to the unit. Attack Assist (CLV 7) Edit: Apparently this actually does work! I suppose it just has a very low activation rate, or something. Skill Slots +3 (Special) The number of skill slots increases by 3. The Halberdier is a fairly useful class,  The Arcanist is Labyrinthia's character class, exclusive to her. The Arcanist has high magic stats, but abysmally low reflex and move, which would render it as the least mobile class in the game if it weren't for its Warp ability. Original Commands Lightning A lightning-elemental magic attack. Deals additional damage to mechanical enemies. Cannot be used after moving. Revive Revives a fallen ally. The revived unit is placed in a nearby HEX of your choosing, and some of their HP is restored, based on Labyrinthia's MAG stat. Warp Warps the user to another HEX, ignoring obstacles; has a range of 8. Cannot be used after moving. Replica Creates a replica in a nearby HEX of your choosing. The replica has 1 HP, and can move and wait when its turn comes up. Skills Arcanist OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Arcanist Original Commands. Arcanist EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Arcanist equipment. Attack & AIM Down (CLV 4) If a basic attack by this unit hits, the target's AIM is reduced. Critical Extra Turn (CLV 5) The unit is granted an additional turn immediately after landing a critical hit. Distortion (CLV 6) If an attack hits the unit for less than 25% of her max HP, it instead deals 0 damage. Magic Effect +25% (CLV 7) Damage and healing from magical attacks are multiplied by 125% Skill Slots +3 (Special) The number of skill slots increases by 3. Arcanist is an extremely useful class, especially early on when Revive Fruits are an expensive luxury. As far as I'm aware, no enemy resists lightning elemental damage, so it's essentially a non-elemental attack that certain enemy types are weak to. Her Warp command makes her extremely mobile as long as she has the MP to support it, and Replica is essential to perform a CSP farming trick later in the game (and it's a useful ability in its own right). Her skills aren't bad either, with Distortion making minor damage a complete non-issue, and Magic Effect +25% boosting her damage output.  The Secutor is a generic class available to all human units. The Secutor has the highest attack rating of any class in the game, and sports a good physical defense to go with it. Unfortunately, Secutors have extremely low magic attack and magic defense. Original Commands Hard Smash An extra-powerful physical attack. Can only be used when a one-handed melee weapon is equipped. Smart Drive A physical attack that cannot miss. Smart Drive will never miss, but the hit percentage is calculated normally, and then the attack's final damage is multiplied by that percentage. So if you have very low odds of hitting the enemy, Smart Drive will do very low damage. MP Burst Has an 85% chance of tripling the caster's current MP. If MP Burst fails, the caster's MP is reduced to 0. Change Equipment Opens the equip menu for the caster. The caster's turn is used up, even if you exit the equip screen without making any changes. Items cannot be changed this way, only weapons, armor and accessories. Skills Secutor OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Secutor Original Commands. Wait & Heal VP (CLV 3) If the unit's turn is spent waiting without moving, they will recover 5% of their max VP. Blood Heat (CLV 4) The power of counterattacks are multiplied by 125% Weapon Block (CLV 5) 25% chance to block basic attacks. Secutor EQ (CLV 6) Allows the unit to equip Secutor equipment. ATK +25% (CLV 7) The unit's ATK stat is multiplied by 125% Retaliate (Special) When Weapon Block activates, the blocked damage is dealt to the attacker. Secutors are great for raw physical damage output, especially with commands like Hard Smash to further boost it. MP Burst is also an extremely useful, if risky, Original to have on casters, if you can spare the skill slots for Secutor OC.  The Elementalist is a generic class available to all human units. Elementalists have the highest magic attack rating of all classes, and sport a high magic defense to go with it. The main purpose of an Elementalist is to target enemy weaknesses with their four elemental spells. Original Commands Crush An earth-elemental magic attack. Cannot be used after moving. Freeze A water-elemental magic attack. Cannot be used after moving. Fire A fire-elemental magic attack. Cannot be used after moving. Vortex A wind-elemental magic attack. Cannot be used after moving. Skills Elementalist OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Elementalist Original Commands. Elementalist EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Elementalist equipment. Wait & Heal MP (CLV 4) If the unit's turn is spent waiting without moving, they will recover 2% of their max MP. Crisis Conserve MP (CLV 5) While in crisis, the cost of Originals is reduced by 25% Magic Block (CLV 6) 25% chance to nullify incoming magic attacks. MAG +25% (CLV 7) The unit's MAG stat is multiplied by 125% Reflect (Special) When Magic Block activates, the blocked damage is dealt to the caster. The Elementalist's skills are extremely useful for any casting class, with the ability to restore MP by waiting, reduce MP costs in crisis, and multiply their own MAG stat. It's always a good idea to have either an Elementalist or someone with Elementalist OC around, since many enemies are weak to one or more elements.  The Fantastica is a generic class available to all human units. The Fantastica has fairy unimpressive stats by itself, but it possesses buff and debuff Original Commands and skills, making them valuable regardless of their weakness in battle. Original Commands Slow Down Lowers the target's RFX stat. Cannot be used after moving. Feeble Mind Lowers the target's MP by the value of the target's max MP divided by 5. Invoke The target's attacks will have a 100% hit rate and their critical hit and skill activation rates will be boosted until the end of the target's next turn. Rush For two turns, the target may use any Original Command after moving, including ones that do not allow it under normal circumstances. Skills Fantastica OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Fantastica Original Commands. Fantastica EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Fantastica equipment. Zone Effect (CLV 4) Any ally who begins their turn adjacent to this unit gains a 10% boost to their EVA and AIM stats until the start of their next turn. Any enemy that begins their turn adjacent to this unit takes a 10% penalty to their EVA and AIM stats until the start of their next turn. Arts Support (CLV 5) Formation Arts and Combination Arts performed by this character gain a 10% damage bonus. CSP Up (CLV 6) If this unit is alive at the end of battle, their CSP multiplier is increased by 0.4 Object Attack (CLV 7) Basic attacks from this unit will destroy barrels and push blocks. Extra Support (Special) Doubles the effect of Zone Effect and Arts Support. Fantasticas are very useful to have around, as their Originals are all very good (especially Rush, which can make the target unit far more effective for the two turns it's active), with their passive skills being a nice bonus. The CSP Up skill is also great, and every unit should end up with Fantastica at least to level 6 at some point.  The Gadgeteer is a generic class available to all human units. Gadgeteers are focused on item use, and can either perform support or offense, depending on what items you outfit them with. Original Commands Mystic The effective area of an item is extended, allowing one item to be used on multiple targets. Note that healing items will heal enemies and allies alike, and offensive items will damage both enemies and allies as well. Skills Gadgeteer OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Gadgeteer Original Commands. Gadgeteer EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Gadgeteer equipment. Decelerate (CLV 4) When a basic attack from this unit deals damage, the target's Accumulated RFX (the accumulated time needed for the target's next turn) is reduced by 25% Item Effect Up (CLV 5) HP damage and healing effects of items used by this unit are multiplied by 1.5. MP and VP recovery items are not affected. Item Range Up (CLV 6) Increases the range of all items, along with Mystic, by 1. This also increases the range of self-use items, allowing them to be used on adjacent targets. Item Carry Up (CLV 7) Increases the unit's item slots from 4 to 7. High-Class Items (Special) Allows the unit to use high-class items. High-class items are simply powerful items, such as Full Revives. Gadgeteers are an invaluable class, thanks to their ability to spread Heal Berries around to their allies, especially with the Mystic command. You can also equip them with offensive items such as elemental gems and target large groups of enemies all at once with Mystic, making them a useful attacking class as well. By the late game, you should probably have at least one level 7 Gadgeteer, so you can make use of high-class items.  Crossbreed is Tony's character class, exclusive to him. Tony cannot change his class from Crossbreed. Crossbreed has no Original Commands and no Skills, and units in the Crossbreed class cannot use items. Units in the Crossbreed class have a 125% cuteness modifier. Despite how gimped he is with his lack of skills and inability to change his class or use Original Commands and items, Tony is a surprisingly decent party member. He's got fairly high stats to make up for his shortcomings, his inability to equip means his weight is always 0, effectively giving him infinite VP, and he boasts the highest move stat of any class in the game. By the end of the game you'll probably be using more versatile units in his place, but Tony is a legitimately good unit when your party is still small. He's particularly useful for setting up Formation Arts, or collecting treasure chests scattered around the battlefield. And that wraps up this class roundup. I'll put another one together the next time we unlock a set of generic classes. Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 02:25 on May 29, 2014 |
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May 18, 2014 20:34
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ultrafilter posted:So how does equipping skills from a different class work? Is it like FFV, where you have a certain amount of blank slots and you can pick from whatever you've learned? Yeah. Every unit starts with 3 slots, and skills take up either 1 slot or 2 slots. I'll add an explanation of that to the post.
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May 18, 2014 21:14
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 Music: Filgaia Extra Land  The chapter opens on the world map, and we're immediately thrust into a tutorial on Class Skills, which we've just unlocked.  Each of our units starts with three skill slots, but more can be obtained. Every time you change your class, your skills are reset to empty, but you can save favorite lists to quickly set them back up.  Some skills take up multiple slots. Dandelion Shot OC, for example, takes up two whole slots. Leveling up various classes and equipping their skills is of vital importance to building effective units. But we don't have a lot of skills at the moment, so we're going to move on with the game for now.  After completing Act 1-2, the town of Poliasha has opened to us, and all previous locations have been locked. We proceed into town. Music: So Warm and Soft  The Poliasha NPCs are still pretty big on game mechanics chat, but there is some worthwhile dialog in here. We head into the shop first.   Did you guys come here from overseas, too? Well, in that case, here's some news for you. This came as a huge surprise to me, but unlike pretty much any country ever, they don't sell ARMs in the shops in Elesius! Apparently ARM sales were prohibited by law about fifteen years ago! And what's worse, the shops don't even have any Access Points! So basically, if you want to buy a new class, tough luck! You need official permission to use Access Points, and there's a ton of paperwork involved! It's like, are you serious?! I mean, ARMs are all over the place everywhere you go in Filgaia. What a pain in the neck this place is.So there's our explanation of exactly what ARMs are and how they work, with bonus info on how things are in Elesius specifically. The other dialog in the shop is pretty unimportant and for some reason looking at the shopkeeper makes me really mad, so we head out.  The Synth Shop here is closed too, so we head into the plaza.  Any Labyrinthia is hanging out here, so we talk to her.  It's a little late for lunch, I suppose, but how about a quick bite together? I'll be over there with Tony in just a moment. It's the two-story building at the far end of this street. Just follow the savory scent--you can't miss it! The Inn has been added as a destination, so we head inside.   Wow, that looks great! What?! You dunk the whole slice of bread into your soup? Not really. I would hate for you to think that we were all so, um... What? What's wrong with that? It's way more tasty this way! You think so too, Tony, don't you? I'm with Clarissa here. Dunking your bread in the soup is the correct way to eat. Dunking an entire sandwich into a bowl of soup is even better.   ... Ah, yes... The explanation... Is it...difficult to talk about? No, it's just a long story. ... All I know right now is that you're a fugitive on the run and I happen to look like a dead princess. I can see how that might not be easy to explain, but think about us--how are we supposed to know what to believe? I do see your point... Well, I'll do my best.Music: Scholar's Facility (Senate)  While most of Filgaia had been mired in endless strife, the kingdom of Elesius had amended its customs to pursue policies of peace. The driving force behind this effort was Hrathnir, the current king. But just as everyone had begun to anticipate a new era of everlasting peace, a single incident cast a pall over the entire kingdom:  The stresses of leadership had taken a toll on King Hrathnir's health... So the princess led a small contingent to search for medicinal herbs in the mountains, where she was caught in a landslide. It had been thought that King Hrathnir was suffering from nothing more than fatigue, but after the death of his daughter, his condition worsened, leaving him unable to lead the nation. In his place, the duties of governance fell to a council of advisors whose membership drawn from the highborn houses of Elesius: The Council of Elder Statesmen. But the Council's policies differed from those of King Hrathnir. They preferred to rule through coercion. The Martial Guard was formed under the pretext of ensuring domestic tranquility. But in truth, they act as an arm of the Council, able to wreak havoc and suppress dissent without the approval of the king. Now, the peace and tranquility that Elesius had enjoyed is slipping away, slowly but surely, leaving a palpable sense of unease in its place.   The king's declining health, the Council's rise, and the formation of the Martial Guard... But it all stems from the death of the princess one year ago... ...And...that's the princess you say I look like? Not just "look like." You may as well be identical twins. And I would know, having had the privilege of serving as Her Highness's tutor. The same jade green eyes, the same honey-colored hair... This isn't good... Your resemblance to the late princess, you mean? That, and...well, everything. Elesius looked so tranquil, but now we know there's a darkness spreading over it... And there may be some who choose to hide in that darkness... Yeah... Mostly, but there was one other thing... What might that be? Well... When we first met, you said that you were a fugitive on the run...? Ah. So you're still stuck on that... Well, of course I am! How am I supposed to relax when I'm sitting across the table from an escaped fugitive? I can understand that... Perhaps even now, agents of the Council of Elder Statesmen are hunting me down? That is quite a statement... The incident with the princess a year ago... I too originally assumed it was a tragic accident, but I now know that it was an act of treachery. Do you have proof? Nothing that I can show, but I've heard the Council admit to ordering it with my own two ears. I see... So they've branded you as a criminal in order to suppress what you know. Mother, Father, forgive me... ... ... Is that something a prudent person would ask? Huh...? Oh...that. Well, not really, but... I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm afraid that I would have to refuse your assistance anyway. But... Your resemblance to Her Highness Alexia is so striking that even I mistook you for her. Were you to remain here, I fear that resemblance might get you entangled in some very dangerous situations. And I would hate for you to think ill of my beloved Elesius because of it. ... If nothing else, Labyrinthia is being more rational than you, Clarissa. She's made an accurate assessment of the situation you'd be placing yourself in. But the decision is yours, Clarissa. ...Yeah...Music: So Warm and Soft  We're put back into town. The game advances when we return to the inn.  Yes The room upstairs is all yours. I better see all you here in the mornin'--I cook a mean breakfast!Video: Poliasha Inn Music: None  Are you awake? I am if you need me to be.Music: Feelings Told Through Words  Sorry to disturb you... And there's something else I need to apologize for... ... Even though we're on an important quest, I failed to think things through, and I almost got us sidetracked again... That impulsive streak of yours... I know that it's coming from a good place. But it's a dangerous situation and, really, the politics of Elesius are none of our business. Maybe I'm being reckless... But the urge I feel to help as I learn more about this country... It can't just be me. I think Mother would've felt the same way. Hmm... Yes, Melissa probably would have. Don't I have a duty to keep Mother's dream alive? It's your dream too, after all. Indeed we have. Let's make Mother's dream come true one day, okay? I guess I just wanted to say that. Thanks, Felius. You always listen so patiently to my blathering. Good night... Clarissa goes back to bed, and the screen fades to black... Music: None  What is it?! Get dressed, now! Labyrinthia is waiting downstairs.Music: Under the Sky Scorched by War  What's going on...? The town has been set aflame... Oh no! Because of us...?!  I dunno what y'all have done, but this hasn't got nothin' to do with you. ...But... They're tryin' to make an example out of us. This ain't the first time Poliasha's burned--it happens all the time 'round here. There was some trouble over the tax levies a little while ago. They're probably lookin' for revenge. Attacks like these have become a fact of life in Elesius. But what about you?! It'll be too suspicious if I'm not here when the soldiers arrive. Besides, I can buy you more time that way. And didn't I just tell ya? They're taxin' the hell out of us. It wouldn't be good business for them to kill me. Not that I'd go easily if they tried to drag me somewhere, mind you! But... We can't just... She says she'll be okay--we should trust her. Even if we did stay, attempting to fight off the Martial Guard would only bring more trouble to the lodge. At the moment, retreat does seem to be our best option.Felius and Labyrinthia leave.  ... Truly, the more I look at you, the more I realize how strongly you resemble the princess. That's why we can't let the Guard get their hands on you! I won't let the people of Elesius suffer through that tragedy again. We're miserable enough already. I'm so sorry, Ms. Ellen. Forgive me... I'll put the night's food and lodgings on your tab. Come back sometime and pay it off, all right?Clarissa leaves.  Well, it's time to show those bastards the fury of a woman scorned. There ain't no way they're takin' me quietly! What is it, Tony? ...The camera pans to the opposite end of the road.  Right now, the only place the roads 'round here lead to is Creedmore Prison. Clarissa! Our first priority is getting out of here! ...Though it doesn't look like it'll be that easy... Well, perhaps I can be of some service! I've got a brilliant strategy in mind, so hear me out, you two. D.E.R. is short for "Direct Event Report." It's a full analysis of the current situation and the way the battle will likely unfold. Relying on my D.E.R.s will help you make the tactical decisions needed to overcome even the most hopeless-looking of situations. They'll serve as a guide to what the best equipment, items, and classes will be for the battle ahead. Let's take a look at the Tactical Map we'll be fighting on.   It's important to note that the Martial Guard forces that attacked Poliasha seem quite powerful. If we attack them head-on, we may be faced with heavy casualties. These blocks can be moved by a Fantastica using the Object Attack skill. If we barricade the road with these blocks, we might be able to outflank the enemy without crossing a single sword with them. I think that would be the most effective approach to escaping from this map. ...It's extremely important that you adjust your units' classes for the battle situation ahead. You can change classes in the Tactics Screen before each battle, so keep my D.E.R.s in mind before setting foot on the battlefield. We're brought into the Tactics Screen, where we're now allowed to rewatch the D.E.R. if we need to. The D.E.R.s exist to give you some idea of what you'll need going into the fight, so you don't have to start over when you realize you really should have brought a certain class in with you. For this fight, following Labyrinthia's advice, we switch Clarissa and Felius both to Fantasticas. We leave Labyrinthia as an Arcanist and initiate the battle. Music: A Quick Night in Elesius  ...'Course, if you feel like puttin' up a fight, I'm not gonna stop you. It'd sure help make the job feel a bit more worthwhile! Besides, I'm gettin' pretty sick of patrollin' the outskirts of town anyway! As the battle begins, we send Clarissa forward to block the alleyway, as the D.E.R. recommended. The enemies in the alley are much higher levels than us, so it's a good idea to avoid fighting them.  Only a Fantastica (or someone with the Fantastica's Object Attack skill equipped) can attack objects to move or destroy them. The exception to this rule is treasure chests, which can be attacked by any unit.  This map has a narrow alley off to the side, allowing us to slip past the enemy. There are two enemies on the other end of this alley, but they're at our level, so we can take them on.  The enemies in the alley, meanwhile, get super confused when their path is blocked and just kind of rub against this building trying to walk through it and get to us. The AI in this game is kind of bad if you put a wall between you and the enemy.  The path we're taking has barrels blocking it, which can only be destroyed by someone with Object Attack. Labyrinthia can warp through them, but the rest of our party will need a Fantastica to bust through. This is the first time I noticed that this barrel is Class Level 5. He's also a male, apparently.  As we approach the other end of the path, the enemies on the other side attack us. They aren't dangerous though.  To fulfil our objective, we just need to get each of our units into the target zone, or the two spaces along this edge of the map.  When a unit ends its turn in the target area, they warp out of the battle and cannot be brought back in. So if you have a unit you want to use to help usher your other units across, you need to be careful of where they're standing at the end of their turns.  Ultimately, this battle is not difficult at all if you follow the D.E.R.'s advice. We easily get all of our units into the target area. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones  Music: The Dark Clouds Cover the Shadow of Evil  ... Those poor villagers... ...They're probably being taken to prison. What for...? It's a warning from the Council, I imagine: if you try to fight us, you'll end up like this. They're using the prison as a threat. By virtue of its merely being there, it acts as a deterrent, sapping any would-be dissidents' wills to fight. ... ...Isn't there anything we can do to help this country? Clarissa... I want to do something! I want to rescue the people who have been so kind to us! Is that such a terrible idea? Only you can decide what you want to do, Clarissa. All I can offer is to protect you while you pursue those goals. If your hope is to restore peace to Elesius, you'll find no more fervent ally than I. If you insist on going, please let me join you. While I may not look it, I'm actually a very capable woman. I'll show you just how useful I can be. ...
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May 21, 2014 01:15
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  Music: Even Only Fragments of Hope Held Close  Is something wrong? Nah, with that pigeon's wings, it'll reach the mansion in no time. ... Is that not what you meant? Not really, no... The recipient of that pigeon's message is the son of the Captain of the Royal Knights, and the scion of House Brenton. And knowing my Levin, there's no way he'll take an injustice like this sitting down. He's a good kid. And you think we can trust him? Of course we can! He was one of my pupils, just like Her Highness the princess. Well...I guess if you're that confident about someone other than yourself, he should be fine, but still... I don't want to risk anyone's lives saving the villagers. But in order to peaceably resolve a conflict with a lawless band of thugs like the Martial Guard, we'll need an even greater power. So consider it safest for all concerned to have the Royal Knights take action. I see... I guess that's the only chance we have...Music: So Warm and Soft  There are still some people in town. Most of the town's services are out, but if we go to the store Jim the Drunk will sell us things. Yes, some random drunkard just wandered in and started tending the store after the actual owner was taken by the Martial Guard.  There are a few other people around town as well, who will give us some information.   Incidents like this have been goin' on all over the kingdom for the past six months. With the king too ill to rule, they're trying to keep the peace with an iron first and a rabble of Drifters. The Martial Guard was established ostensibly to keep needless strife from tearing apart the land... But they're causing most of the strife. What could the kingdom possibly be thinking, stoking the flames of conflict on purpose like this?After wandering around town, we head out to the overworld. Music: Filgaia Extra Land  When we arrive on the world map, a new mechanic is introduced. Note that there's a destination on the map other than the village and the spot marked with an "!" If we go to an empty space, we'll initiate a free battle.  A free battle is just a battle with a random collection of enemies (each spot on the map has a few different possible groups to pull from). These battles are important for grinding up CSP (and EXP, to a lesser extent. CSP is more important); it's always a good idea to drop by and do a battle or two every few story events.  After our free battle, we head forward into Promise Hill.  I did indeed. Let's take a look... ... ... ... ...Music: Footsteps Which Lead the Way to Peril  What? You can tell?! Apparently the raid on Poliasha was an official order from the Council of Elder Statesmen. And it gets worse... The people of Poliasha are to be publicly executed for inciting civil unrest... So they're planning to make an example out of them after all. What about Levin? Isn't there anything he can do?! Apparently Levin wasn't able to mobilize the Royal Knights. But at the end of the letter, he wrote "I promise I'll do something!" And he enclosed a key for the rear entrance of the prison. ... ... He couldn't mobilize the Royal Knights, but at least he hasn't given up... ...Yeah. Levin is like that... After that scene, Creedmore Prison opens as a destination. We enter it. Music: From Anxiety to Impatience   So that key was real after all... The prison was originally a fort built to defend Elesius against foreign invasion. Most of the military installations in the kingdom are managed by Levin's family, House Brenton. They are the family that leads the Royal Knights, after all. Hmm... We're right on time, and this is where Levin had arranged to meet us... Someone's coming. Quick, hide! That's no friend of ours! A woman with no eyes walks past, talking to herself.  That must be Levin... He's probably trying to create a diversion, but it's much too dangerous... ... Let's rescue the people of Poliasha as fast as we can. Accomplishing our objective and withdrawing quickly is the best way to get Levin out of danger. Right!    I'd imagine they've divided the villagers among each of the buildings. We'll need to save them all... It looks like the doors have just been barred shut, so all we have to do is remove the bars to free them. If the guards discover us, the villagers' lives would be in danger. I'd prefer to carry this out undetected... Once we get them out, we can have them regroup in the storeroom we passed on the way here.Music: The Famous Me and the Can-do Woman I absolutely adore this track's title.     To break them out, we'll need to go up to each door and execute the "Wait" command to open it. If any of us are caught in the guards' line of sight, that'll be the end of the game right there. We'll have to be very careful. To sum up: open all the doors, and keep yourselves hidden from the guards. If you end your turn within a line of sight, you'll be discovered. Make sure you're always in a blind spot before finishing things up. The guards will move whenever their turn comes up, and that'll change their lines of sight. You'll want classes high in RFX or MOV for this job. That's right. It's a stealth mission in a strategy RPG. This is the first story mission that allows us to pick our party. It's also the first mission that won't allow us to use our entire party. We use Clarissa as a Gadgeteer (for its high RFX and MOV), Labyrinthia (for her Warp), and Tony (for his MOV). Felius sits this one out. Music: Death Trap Siege  For this mission, we need to visit each of the nine huts and wait by the doors. If one of our units is in a guard's line of sight at the end of a turn (either our turn or theirs), it's an instant game over.  Waiting in any of the three HEXes adjacent to a door will open it. Note that both the game and myself say "wait," but you don't actually have to select the "wait" command. You can stand by a door and then use an item or perform some other action, and it will still count as waiting by the door.  When we open a door, the villager inside thanks us and then disappears from the map. The game isn't mean enough to make us babysit the AI.  The guards have a very predictable patrol route, so this mission is simply a matter of paying attention to where they are and where they'll be after their next turn, and then placing your units out of their sight.  Every time a guard's turn come up, they walk forward, clockwise around the edge of the map. They always move to the next open space between two buildings (or the next corner) and stop there. The game helpfully illustrates their current line of sight after their movement is complete.  We continue stealthily moving across the map, freeing villagers whenever possible. Tony is a very smart dog. My dog couldn't unbar a door, that's for sure. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones  After a few minutes, we've visited every hut, and the mission ends.  Despite not participating in battle, Felius leveled up. In this game, every unit available for the mission earns EXP and CSP (though units who don't participate don't get any multipliers, of course). So as long as a unit can be selected for a mission, they'll reap the rewards. Inversely, if a unit cannot be selected for the mission, they'll earn nothing. Music: Make a Wish to the Wind and a Vow to the Light   Everyone, please stay calm! All that's left now is to get out of here. It's clear. They don't seem to have realized what's going on yet. We should be able to get out before they do.  The Martial Guard is still out there... Don't worry. We'll see you safely back to Poliasha. Remaining here is far more dangerous. ... ... What's wrong with y'all? Show some backbone! Poliasha is our home. How can you be afraid to return to your own home?! Yeah, she's right... Let's do it! Let's go back to Poliasha! Yeah! Look, the front gate's open! ...Who's that next to the gate? Levin! ...Sorry, Ms. Wordsworth! I had a plan, but it got kind of screwed up. I knew I could count on you to pull through, though! And what if we hadn't?! You can yell at me later! Just hurry up and--Music: A Dramatic Turn  Suddenly, enemies rain from the sky!   And more enemies approach from behind! Video: Prison Break  Don't worry. I anticipated this. Ready to admit defeat? I don't recall ever losing to you! And furthermore, we would never surrender! Enough of this folly! People of Poliasha, run for the gates now! We'll cover you, so ignore the guards and make haste! ...Us? What's the matter?! Run for it! That may be true, but... They have weapons! My legs are shaking too hard. I can't run!  ... Not everyone can pull it together at times like these. Most people whine and complain about the world from the comfort of their own homes, but when it comes to do something about it, they can't even run with their own two feet. ... Hah hah hah! Take a good look at the cowards you came here to protect! Still think they're worth saving? ............We will protect them no matter what!Music: PRINCESS ARMY  Proud people of Elesius! Do not flinch away from your dreams! --?! --!! You must defy the opposing winds and race headlong for the gate! Is that...the princess...? Rise to your feet! Gather your dreams and run! The very future of our nation awaits on the other side of that gate! That...that's absurd! I thought Princess Alexia died in that accident last year! P...Princess Alexia...? ...? ...! Look everyone, it's the princess! She's returned to us, alive and well! We can't let her down like this! Y...yeah! We've endured a lot these past six months, but it's time to stand up and start moving forward! Run, everyone! RUN! We shall be the shield that protects you! Race towards the gate, and never turn away from your goal! Let's take a look at the Tactical Map we'll be fighting on.  For that "The enemy line looks like this" line, the camera pans over the entire map. There's a few enemies behind us, two in the middle, and one next to Levin.  We'll need to concentrate less on defeating the enemy and more on keeping the villagers alive. Don't forget to heal them as necessary. As for the enemy by the prison gate... Well, let's rely on Levin to deal with her. He'll have to secure our escape route for us. That's right. We just went straight from a stealth mission directly into an escort mission. We set Clarissa to a Gadgeteer, Felius to a Fantastica, and leave the others as they are. PRINCESS ARMY is still playing, and will continue to play for the entire battle.  Joining us for this battle is Levin the Martial Mage. As its name implies, the Martial Mage is split between magic attacks and physical attacks. Blast is a magic attack Graviton does damage to the enemy based on their equipment weight Rushing Beat is a physical attack that deals damage based on the difference between Levin's RFX and the target's RFX Cancel Strike is a physical attack that cancels the enemy's next turn. Levin has stupidly high RFX and the second highest base MOV of any unit (second only to Tony), so his greatest strength is in his mobility.  Which is why he spends most of this battle standing in one spot and killing the nearest enemy.  Disregarding Levin, the goal of this fight is to keep the villagers alive. Every time a villager's turn comes up, they run straight for the gate, ignoring everything in their path (unless an enemy is standing in the way, in which case they'll go around) "Keeping the villagers alive" should be read as "Keeping Brown alive," because every single time I've lost this mission, it was because he died. He's old and frail, so he's got poo poo MOV, poo poo RFX, poo poo HP, and poo poo DEF. And he starts right near Nanasato, the requisite high leveled enemy who exists to keep the player from passing the mission by simply killing every enemy unit. (Nanasato isn't that tough, though. Killing her is completely reasonable, if not more practical than just keeping the villagers alive.)  He has trouble keeping alive.  A lot of trouble.  It's imperative that Clarissa (or some other Gadgeteer. I picked Clarissa for her high base RFX) follows Brown around and babysits him. Look at his HP in the above screenshot. Dude is fragile as hell.  When she's not healing Brown, Clarissa uses her Dandelion Shot OC to cast Encourage, boosting the villagers' accumulated RFX so they can get to the gate more quickly.  Unfortunately, the enemy line is mostly made up of Fantasticas, who cast Slow Down on your entire team. It's really bad for Clarissa to get slowed, because then Nanasato can get two hits in before she gets a chance to heal.  But the Halberdier OC "Status Absorb" actually works on stat debuffs, too! So Felius' job in this battle is to keep Clarissa from being slowed. He also spends a turn casting the Fantastica's Slow Down on Nanasato, to reduce her chances to beat up on Brown.  It's important to keep Nanasato from attacking the villagers, so the Dandelion Shot OC "Rob Turn" and the Martial Mage OC "Cancel Strike" are useful. In the later parts of the battle, when the villagers are nearing the gate and there's not a lot to worry about, they spend their time and MP keeping Nanasato from getting any more turns.  I sent Tony to open the chest off to the side. He's not super useful in this battle, since attacking the enemy isn't so important.  I have Labyrinthia spend her first turn creating a Replica to distract the enemies, and then just have her cast Lightning on random enemies. Eliminating an enemy gets you 1 CSP, so it's good to kill as many as you can, even when that's not your objective.  As the villagers reach the gate, they disappear from the map, just as our units did in the previous chapter. Eventually all the villagers finally reach the gate unharmed. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones  Music: The Dawn Will Surely Come  Back in the prison storeroom, Tony found a bunch of powder kegs. I made some...slight modifications. I expect the Martial Guard is rather occupied with trying to contain the fire right about now... Tony loves fireworks. Especially big ones. I wouldn't want to get on your "stalwart companion's" bad side... All that matters is that the rescue was a success! Mostly due to Clarissa's quick thinking. Speaking of which, I'm going to go throw Clarissa a life preserver. Looks like she's in trouble over there... It's such an unbelievable honor to be rescued by you personally, Your Highness! Uh, yes, of course... And Your Highness, might I possibly have a word with you...? Oh, uh, certainly...Labyrinthia and Clarissa take their leave of Brandon and Fellman.  Um, ah... Levin, could you be a dear and go tend to the wounded over there? ... Hmph... If you say so, teach. Sure. And thanks for your help today... Heh heh! Wow, to hear Princess Alexia thank me like that... I feel like I have the strength to do anything!Levin and Labyrinthia leave Clarissa.  ...Music: None 
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May 24, 2014 03:39
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Cake Attack posted:Maybe I just have the magic touch, but I've been playing this game thanks to this LP and despite what it says in the Class Roundup, Felius' Attack Assist just worked for me. Huh. I don't think I've ever seen it work, and a couple of places online say it's busted, so I figured they were right. It must just have a really low activation rate or something. I'll correct the Halberdier description, then. Thanks! Also, I'm glad to see that the LP has already got at least two people to play the game themselves!
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May 29, 2014 01:48
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Nihilarian posted:So the Secutor doesn't have a level 7 ability? Is that a balance thing? No, they don't. I didn't completely forget about it, shut up. (it's ATK +25%, I fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out.)
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May 29, 2014 02:25
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 Video: The Council of Elder Statesmen   As the chapter begins, we immediately cut to the map and zoom in on a city to the east.  Music: Scholar's Facility (Senate)    As alway,s you're preceded by the vulgar stench of tobacco. Does it please you to summon me as if I were a common servant? I suppose such boorishness is to be expected from those of lesser birth. ... Hmph. This is because you stalled the executions for so long, Charlton. It is the council's duty to employ proper methods of governance. But your habit of needlessly tormenting the populace... Perhaps you fancy yourself a monster from a children's storybook? Such an insolent tongue! To compare my methods to a mere children's story...! The people need sound leadership and proper guidance. If bloodshed is required in order to achieve that, it is imperative that we keep it to an absolute minimum. Perhaps you should consider refining your methods a bit, Reverend Mother Edna? This whole Creedmore business was your idea in the first place, Charlton. Now if that'll be all, I've got other business to attend to. ...Then perhaps you would be interested to hear that the liberator of the prison camp was the late Princess Royal Alexia?  ...That...that little chit of a princess? That's impossible! I saw to it that...um, I mean... Um... ... No, no, it can only be an impostor! An impostor using Alexia's name to incite a rebellion! Hmmm... Using a fake princess as a figurehead to foment political unrest... You certainly make it sound plausible. What, you're just going to leave it at that?!  Rupert Dandridge?! Since when did they start allowing stray dogs into the Council Chamber? I hadn't pegged you as the type to take up work like that on your own... In the month since I got here, the work's been nothing but dull. I'm ready for some action. And I mean, a lass parading around as a ghost princess? Sounds too good to pass up. So how about I go expose her for ya? It's not a matter for you to concern yourself with. You don't even know what Princess Alexia looks like. Heh. You have a point. Focus on your own job--getting the Martial Guard in order! All right, all right. Just sayin', I'm up for whatever, so long as the money's good. Such impudence... Despicable! It's not a Wild Arms game without a scene to show you what the villains are up to. Music: In the Sunlight  Thank you, Levin. You saved us all back there. Not just me, but the people of Poliasha, too. Heh heh! You really mean that? Man, to be praised by Princess Alexia herself...! ... (Hmmm... Tony seems to have taken quite an interest in Clarissa lately...) ... Huh? Your Highness...? Are you not feeling well or something? Geez, Ms. Wordsworth, talk about a buzzkill... Please give my regards to your father, the Captain of the Royal Knights. Once I tell Father about the conditions in this country, and the attacks by the Martial Guard, and about who's behind these attacks... Well, I bet it'll finally sink through that thick skull of his. And now the princess is back, too! Elesius really can return to the way things used to be, when all anyone wanted was to live in peace... ...All anyone wanted was to live in peace... Next time you see me, the Royal Knights'll be right behind me! Together, we can reclaim that peace! Until then...! Levin leaves us.  And we're brought to the world map. We head straight into Poliasha. Music: So Warm and Soft  It's all thanks to you, Your Highness. Working to reclaim the peace that we've lost is a duty that all citizens of Elesius share. I'll be counting on you to continue the struggle. Truly, we can't thank you enough, Your Highness. I will never forget the debt that we owe you!Brandon and Fellman leave, and a woman approaches.  Who are you? I, um... Until a few months ago, I was a servant working for His Majesty... I...I made a foolish mistake, and was sent to the prison... But...um...what I wanted to say is... Please, calm down and try to speak slowly. I'm sorry... I was hoping to speak with Her Highness about her honored father, His Majesty King Hrathnir. While His Majesty had been bedridden for quite some time, his condition has taken a turn for the worse recently, and continues to decline... His Majesty the King?! ...? Please continue. Now that Your Highness has returned, I would respectfully suggest that you visit His Majesty as soon as possible, before...um... I understand. Thank you, you've been most helpful. Of course, Your Highness.The woman leaves.   Yeah, thanks... I'm fine. I'm just a little tired......Lying to people like this... It just feels so horrible. Even if the lie was intended to save them... ... Felius... How long am I going to have to continue this? ...Clarissa... I'm sorry... If you hadn't encountered me, you wouldn't have become involved in all this... It was inevitable that we'd collide head-on with these issues during our pursuit of Rupert. Your lie didn't cause this situation. The blame for this rests on someone else's shoulders. Even so...I'm still going to have to deal with the consequences of it... ... Clarissa! What...?! Stop that, Labyrinthia! That's too weird! No, it is my responsibility. Having lived twice as long as you, I have a duty to act as a responsible adult. Please allow me to protect you from whatever perils might befall you in this land! ...Labyrinthia...... I'm sorry... It's really me fault for letting myself get all down like this. I can't just sit around-- Not at all. I can't mope around like this forever, after all. ...? I haven't got a clue what you're talkin' about, hun, but whatever. Could you come meet me back at the lodge? Sure. We'll be there in a moment. I'll be waitin'.We're brought into the town menu and are allowed to walk around. The NPCs all have new dialog after the prison break.  Oh, uh, can I shake your hand? And lemme get your autograph, too!They're more or less entirely like this. Mountains of praise and adoration for Clarissa, the "princess." None of the NPCs have anything particularly important to say, so we head to the inn. Music: In the Sunlight  ...? First off, I need to thank you for saving us all. And about you not really bein' the princess... I'll keep that to myself. It'll be our little secret. ... In dark times like these, we need a little sunlight. So... Well, not just for that, but...I'm gonna wipe your tab clean. Your food and lodging the other night... That's on me. Really?! Hey, now, don't get all excited on me. You're supposed to be a princess, remember? Oh... Sorry... Sure! I couldn't possibly refuse you. A whole bunch o' mush bugs popped up while we were out of the village, and I'd like you to go wipe 'em out for us. ...Mush bugs? Ah, they got some fancy name for 'em over on the coast... Jelly blobs, I think? Anyway, they're always ruinin' our boats and fishin' gear. Usually around this season, the whole village goes out with torches in hand to burn 'em off, but this year we need everyone to help with the rebuildin'. I understand. So how about in addition to clearing our tab, you throw in dinner tonight, and we'll call it a deal? You sure know how to work those angles, Your Highness. Hah! Now who's working the angles?We've just unlocked the ability to hire Drifters, or generic units. We can hire them at any inn or bar. Music: So Warm and Soft  First, we're given a randomly generated spread of stats. We can hit the shoulder buttons to reroll, but I normally don't care enough to bother.  After that, we pick an initial class for our Drifter, and their sex. Initial class doesn't really matter that much, since you can just change it anyway, but the unit will come pre-equipped with gear for their starting class. We also pick a voice for our Drifter from a list of 6, but that doesn't really matter with screenshots.  And then we pick our Drifter's starting level. For every level you add, you're charged an extra 100 gella.  And finally, we give our Drifter a name. For now, I hire two Drifters: a woman named Virginia, and a man named Rudy. This brings our total party size up to 6, giving us a full party. Music: Filgaia Extra Land  And now that we've got Drifters, the Search function has been unlocked.  For a small fee, we can send our Drifters out to search for items. We can send up to six drifters to one location. The more drifters we send to search, the more items we'll get (and the more expensive the search will be.) There are also key items called Item Scopes, of which we have one. The more Item Scopes we have, the rarer the items our Drifters will find. Searching for items takes time, as well. Searching the Bandit's Forest takes two unspecified units of time. (Days, I guess?)  From the search menu, we can pay 100 gella to pass one unit of time. Participating in a free battle will also pass one time unit.  After enough time has passed, our search party returns with items in hand.  You can't proceed with the story while a search party is dispatched, so don't send one out immediately before going on a story mission. (I forget about this a lot and get really annoyed) Anyway, we head to the Rusty Docks, after our item search has concluded. Music: The Famous Me and the Can-do Woman   In quests when you have your choice of party size and makeup, your starting point will be displayed by colored HEXes like these. Use the "View Map" command to see where your units will begin the battle. It's a good idea to check this every time you set off for the battlefield. Our mission is the defeat the Jelly Blobs...those "mush bugs" Ellen told us about. Jelly Blobs are known for their high resistance to all forms of physical attack. The Blobs are weak against magic, however, so an Elementalist-centric party would be the wisest plan of action... However, magic attacks will have little effect in the water, so the first order of business is to get the monsters on solid land. That's when the real battle will begin. Use a fire-based skill on the lanterns to light them up. You can also use a water-based skill on them if you want to put them out. Gremalkins work the opposite way from Jelly Blobs. Magic attacks are mostly ineffective against them. It'll be important to strike a balance in your party between anti-Blob units and anti-Gremalkin units. Use the class-changing abilities of the ARMs to create the most effective party possible. For this battle, we're able to set all our units and their positions manually, much like we can with free battles. Note that this is a full party; you're never allowed to use more than six units at a time in this game.  We set Clarissa and Rudy to Elementalists and set Virginia to a Secutor, while leaving Felius and Labyrinthia as a Halberdier and Arcanist, and then we start the battle. Music: A Beast, Brute and Monster's Claws  As the battle begins, we send Clarissa and Rudy into the water, while sending our other units north around the lake. It takes 1.5 MOV to travel through water, severely decreasing our units' mobility while wading.  Clarissa and Rudy get started on lighting the torches. All four torches need to be lit before the Jelly Blobs will start to move. Until then, they spend all of their turns waiting. Attacks only do 1 HP of damage while the blobs are in the water.  While Rudy and Clarissa are in the lake, our other units take care of the Gremalkins on land. Like Labyrinthia said, the Gremalkins take reduced damage from magic attacks, so we stick with physicals.  Unfortunately, if you hit a Gremalkin while standing adjacent to it, it will counter with Bloodsucker, restoring some of its own HP. You could try to get around this by using ranged attacks like Felius' Upper Hand, but it doesn't really do enough damage/heal enough to matter.  Once all the torches are lit, the Jelly Blobs start to flee. They'll spend all of their turns moving away from the fire, even after they've gotten onto land.  If a Jelly Blob's turn ends next to one of your units, it will attack. But they don't specifically seek your units out, they only attack if it's convenient.  As the blobs get out of the water, we pick them off with Lightning from Labyrinthia and Fire from Clarissa and Rudy. We make short work of them. Music: The Victorious and the Lost Ones  This is a very easy battle, and kind of feels like filler. It kind of feels like a mandatory free battle. I suppose it exists as a sort of introduction to that sort of fight.  Despite being easy, it's worth a ton of EXP and CSP!  Look at all that stuff we got! All our units leveled up like, three times and learned a bunch of skills.  Anyway, we're done with the mission, so we head back to Poliasha. Video: Princess Clarissa Music: The Dawn Will Surely Come  --! Huh?! This isn't me being my usual reckless self. I really did think this through before deciding. May I ask why? I don't intend to continue playing the part of the princess forever. If anything, it's the opposite. I have to break free of this lie as soon as possible. The only way to do so is to return this country to the true royal family. You mean His Majesty, King Hrathnir? Yeah. I just need to free the king from the influence of the Council and then explain the situation to him. Then we can return the country to its rightful rule. ...If we're going to clash with the Council, then we'll probably run into Rupert along the way. But, Clarissa... I know. This means I'll have to bear and even heavier burden... But I want to do this. I want to lead the people of Elesius back to the peaceful lives they once knew. ...Thank you, Felius. In that case, I've got an idea that might help. We need to report back in any case, so why don't we discuss it further at Ellen's place? Sure, that's fine, but...what sort of idea? That makes me a little nervous... Oh, it's no big deal. Just a little way to speed your transformation along. That's all, really. Music: An Honest Smiling Face   These clothes are so frilly. It feels so weird... You sure you're not really a princess or somethin' from somewhere else? It's not just the clothes, y'know. I can sense a vague air of nobility about you, too. Well, please don't! I don't have any of that! I explained the situation to the people of Poliasha, and they took care of everything, from procuring the fabric to sewing the garments. Now no one could possibly doubt that you truly are Alexia Lynn Elesius, Princess Royal of the Kingdom of Elesius. You don't think we're overdoing it a bit? Not at all. This is perfect.  Oh, you're all just loving this, aren't you? Go ahead, laugh it up! Have your fun! Tony yawns, and then...  Music: Torrential Threat x Sudden Reversal --! What's going on out there? There's a messenger! From...from the Council of Elder Statesmen! ...The Council... Felius... Yes... This certainly confirms our suspicions that Rupert is involved with the Council. ...I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes... I am so pleased to see that you truly are alive, Your Highness. ... However, I hope Your Highness understands that this nation has undergone many changes during your absence. And you think that's an excuse for the horrors the Council has put my people through?! Respectfully, Your Highness, I was not sent here to fight with you at this time. The honorable Chairman seeks only what is best for the national interests of Elesius. He hopes to resolve this matter in as peaceful a manner as possible. And the scene cuts off here, bringing act 1-5 to a slightly abrupt end.
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May 30, 2014 22:45
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Cake Attack posted:I never realized you could pay money to pass time. Whoops! Once you amass a bunch of Item Scopes, you can get some pretty good stuff from searches. You can safely ignore it without any real repercussions, though. It's mostly something to do when you're planning to do free battles anyway, so you're getting a bit more accomplished while you level.
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Jun 2, 2014 00:09
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 Video: House Brenton  Music: A Trusting Heart   You just don't get it, Father. You can't protect Elesius just standing around! You're the one who doesn't understand, Levin. You need to give more thought to what it would mean to mobilize the Royal Knights! We both want to protect the country! So why are you being so stubborn? To mobilize the Knights without a royal decree would be treason! What you're advocating is nothing less than a coup d'etat! ...Father... Surely you understand what's happening in this country. Our ailing king is powerless to stop the Council of Elder Statesmen from running the country as they please. Now squads of thugs calling themselves the Martial Guard are terrorizing the people they're supposed to be protecting! But the princess has survived her accident! She's returned for us! There's still some good left in this country. There's still a chance to save it! But we have to act! As a scion of House Brenton, I have a duty to stand up and fight for this injustice! And as the lord of House Brenton, I cannot condone any man who would defy the will of the Kingdom of Elesius.  One day, you too will understand... Stoically enduring the things you cannot change is another way of fighting for your country. ...We're as far apart as ever, aren't we, Father... We often argue when we speak, but I always thought our hearts were on the same side... ... ... ... The men of House Brenton have pledged their swords to the kingdom since time immemorial. If you leave now, you will never be able to pass through our gates again. ...Then I disown you, Levin. From this day forward, you shall have no affiliation with House Brenton. You may go where you want and do as you please...Levin leaves.  ......Music: None ...Protect your princess well.Music: What You Seek is Certainly There   Thank you for raising me to be the man I am today. The gratitude I cannot convey with my words, I will convey with my deeds.Levin departs from House Brenton, and the scene comes to an end. Music: Spiral of Anxiety   ...So you're saying the Council desires domestic stability as much as we do? Of course, Your Highness. Lord Charlton is well aware that, due to unfortunate procedural deficiencies, the Martial Guard is not fully under control. Such matters pain him deeply. His desire is to work hand-in-hand with you to resolve these issues, Your Highness. ...Then I will meet with him. Clar-- It's all right, Felius. He will awair you in the Guardian Shrine, in the mountains north of here. It is Lord Charlton's hope that the divine Guardians of Elesius will bear witness as the future of our nation is written before us. Very well... I am quite certain that it will, Your Highness. I have relayed the message from my master in its entirety. If it pleases you, Your Highness, I shall now take my leave.The robed man leaves. Music: So Warm and Soft  And we're brought to the town menu. We're free to leave for the Guardian Shrine right away, but the NPCs have some new dialog.   These animal spirits are embodiments of the power that guides the world. You can't see them, but they're supposedly all-powerful. All of the things that exist in the world have Guardians for them--a water Guardian for the oceans, a fire one for the flames, and so on. There's also a spirit for every human emotion, from love to bravery...even fear, too. It's all a bunch of gobbledygook to me, though...  The water over there was contaminated with minerals from the earth, turning it into a large, poisonous swampland. You'd best be doubly sure you have enough Antidotes to make it through there before venturing off.This is actually really good advice. It's worth stocking up on Antidotes for the next map, although it is fairly easy to get through without needing any.  I'm sure the Alcohol Guardian is blessing his biggest follower with this deep insight! I...I think I might be his Chosen One! Oh my gosh!I wonder what kind of skills the Alcohol Medium would impart... ...Anyway, the rest of the NPCs here pretty much all just say "There's no way this isn't a trap," so we head out to the world map now. Music: Filgaia Extra Land  We're allowed to return to Port Atraige now, if we want to. We don't want to, though.  Instead, we want to head north to Fallen Fowl Swamp, which stands between us and the Path to the Guardian Shrine (which stands between Fallen Fowl Swamp and the Guardian Shrine) Music: Outrageous Folks   Bandit Samille: I think the expression is "squirrel with an acorn"... Bandit El Jackson: Hey, "squid with an ear o'corn" works too! Bandit Samille: Right, whatever. Either way, they got something good!  They seem awfully careless. I can't imagine the Council would use their troops this way. They're probably nothing more than bandits. Bandit Samille: I think she's a bit long in the tooth to be called "girl"...  ...We'll fight them. Poliasha is behind us...and they're heading straight for it.Music: The Famous Me and the Can-do Woman    Our mission here is to wipe up all of these bandits...but that poison swamp is going to be a major hassle. Any unit that blunders into the swamp will be immediately inflicted with the "Poison" status ailment. Poisoned units lose a certain amount of HP with every turn they take. We should prepare a way to cure ourselves of poison, just in case. The bandits are just as aware of the swamp as we are. I doubt they will abandon their higher positions without a fight... We'll need units with long-range attacks to effectively deal with these people. Another idea is to take some high-MOV units and have them act as a wedge for the rest of the party. If we could combine the two, building units with high movement range and long-range attacks, I think that'd be the best option. The right combination of classes and skills can make a party many times more effective than otherwise. Try out some setups and see what you discover. For this mission, we make Clarissa and Rudy into Elementalists, Virginia into a Gadgeteer, and leave Felius and Labyrinthia as a Halberdier and an Arcanist. (It probably would have been a good idea to change Felius to something else, but things work out fine anyway. (Spoiler: I win the battle)) Music: Birds Soaring Over the Battlefield  There's a narrow walkway leading across the swamp, and we'll be sending our units across it. It's a roundabout path to take, but it's much better than wading in poison (and taking a 1.5 MOV penalty on top of that, since the water is waist-deep)  There are Elementalists positioned on islands through the swamp, but they're easily dealt with by hitting their weaknesses with Elementalist originals.  As we cross the bridge, we encounter Samille, who's a Geomancer. Geomancer originals are centered around HEXes, with spells like Shut Out, which prevents movement in and out of a HEX for a couple turns.  Samille repeatedly uses Shut Out to cause mild inconvenience and irritation, but we hammer on him with spells from Clarissa and Labyrinthia, and attacks from Felius, and he goes down like a chump. He doesn't actually attack even once, he just spams Shut Out. I guess it would really suck if you were in the swamp and he hit you with that? I suppose that's probably what they were thinking when they made him a Geomancer.  Unfortunately, the safe path across the swamp has a HEX with a height of 3, and Clarissa and Rudy only have a CLM of 2. The smart thing to do would have been to put them in a class with 3 CLM and give them the Elementalist OC skill, but I like to live on the edge. Rudy and Clarissa trudge through the poison swamp and go around the obstacle.  Meanwhile, I have Labyrinthia warp across the swamp to grab this treasure (it contains a Revive Fruit). I believe Tony has enough CLM to get up here, but why poison the poor dog if you can avoid it?  As we approach the cliff, the Elementalists on top start slinging spells down our way. El Jackson is particularly dangerous, since he's kind of like a "boss" unit, and has much stronger attacks and defense than his companions. Since the Elementalists are on a high cliff, Felius has outlived his usefulness at this point. I equipped him with Fantastica OC and he does toss out a couple buffs, but he really doesn't do much.  Tony on the other hand, is incredible and can leap up a cliff in a single bound, so we send him up to start whittling down the enemies while we wait for Clarissa and Rudy to arrive from their slow trudge through the sludge. Labyrinthia can cast Lightning on them as well.  Once Clarissa and Rudy arrive, we have Virginia Mystic an Antidote to cure them both of their poison at once. They're both still in the water on this turn, but poison is added at the end of a unit's turn, so as long as they move out of the swamp on their next turns, they won't be poisoned a second time. On Virginia's next turn, she Mystics a Heal Berry to restore the HP they lost in the swamp. These two actions are the only reason I brought a Gadgeteer at all.  Once everyone arrives at this end of the map, it's just a matter of tossing spells up at the enemies. Tony and Labyrinthia can both get up there, which can be necessary for Labyrinthia depending on the enemy position, since Lightning has a weaker range than elemental spells.  Before long, we defeat the last enemy and the mission comes to an end. Music: Outrageous Folks  Bandit Samille: Hey...you don't remember this happening before, do you? I can't recall it all too well... Something about pretending to by the Founding Knights...? Bandit El Jackson: Eh, who cares about the past? Not me! Even if it was a beautiful age of glorious, gleeful abandon...! Bandit Samille: Well, you can act as unflappable as you want, but we're still going to run away, right? Bandit El Jackson: Eee hee hee hee hee hee!  El Jackson and Samille flee.  Perhaps this is what the fall of a nation looks like from ground level. They're as much victims as anyone else... Victims of the twisted chaos in this kingdom... Meanwhile... Music: The Lie Named Heavy Make-Up   This Alexia who claims to be the princess is an imposter--it is the only possible explanation! Unless... Could this be a scheme of Charlton's to discredit me? To topple me from the Council?! Gyaaah! I...I'm just talking to myself! And how dare you question me--it's no business of yours! Then I shall be on my way. But next time you have a conversation with yourself, I'd appreciate it if you would lower your voice. It's only natural for my interest to be piqued when I hear my own name. Grrrrrr... Charlton! What's going on with that imposter princess?! "Imposter Princess," indeed... Why are you dragging your heels on this?! Hurry up and kill that swindler! It's not quite that simple... --! Why are you so certain she's an imposter? Why won't you entertain even the slim possibility that the real Alexia has survived to oppose us? ...Because...I did it. I disposed of her... Killed her, myself... Yes...I was the one who got rid of her! I buried her alive under a mountain of rubble! That's how I know! Heh...that's right, it was you, wasn't it? ... ...Mock women all you want, pig. You'll swallow those words soon enough. For now, let's see how you're planning to "take care of" our impostor!Edna storms out of the Council Chamber.  Music: Filgaia Extra Land  Meanwhile, back at the farm, we've been given access to the Guardian Shrine. The Path to the Shrine is just a place for free battles and searching, so we walk right through and into the shrine itself. Video: Guardian Shrine Music: None   We've arrived a bit early. It seems no one from the other side is here yet. ...Music: Feelings Told Through Words We came to a place like this with Mother a long time ago. ... Do you remember, Felius? Yes... Of course I do. ...I will never forget it...   We're shown three pictures in quick succession.  Music: None  Clarissa interrupts Felius' brooding, and the camera pans to her. Music: Overflowing With Mysterious Power  Strahl Gewehr glows for a moment, and then returns to normal.   I don't know! It just started glowing... The shrine too, glows for a few moments before returning to normal.  ... What was that? It was like the shrine was whispering... Let's ponder that later. The meeting with the Council is supposed to start soon. We must prepare. TO BE CONTINNUED IN ACT 1-7 Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 00:30
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vilkacis posted:Am I the only one who gets audio on the right side only in the Guardian Shrine video? Shoot. I had to record that video differently from the others, and didn't notice I screwed the audio up because I was listening through speakers. I'll get that fixed as soon as I can, thanks for letting me know. edit: I'll fix that video "as soon as I can," or "in about two days, maybe." Here's the version with both audio channels. I edited it into the update itself as well, of course. Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 18:52
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 Music: Scholar's Facility (Senate)   ... The Guardian Shrine? Y'know, I heard they call the princesses of this country "princess mediums", 'cause they can use the power of Guardians and such... Is that how come Elesius has been able to terrorize its enemies for so long? Elesius didn't gain its strength from any Guardian-given power to lay waste to enemy lands or slaughter opposing armies. The power that built Elesius was the ability to hear the words of the Guardians, a gift that has been handed down through the women of the royal family. I'm not followin' ya there, boss. Simple force is what decides conflicts. What use is hearin' voices? Force can destroy a nation, but it doesn't make building one any easier, much less maintaining order once it's built. Is that so? It is the ability of the princess mediums to connect with the Guardians that keeps Elesius stable and strong. The very existence of that power sends an unmistakable message to the people about who is the ruler, and who is being ruled. Clear stratification based on one's inherited gifts is a tradition that has preserved Elesius since the time of our forefathers. Hmph... Whatever... ... But now that system is breaking down. Though I couldn't say whether it's Hrathnir's doing or Alexia's... You intentionally chose the Guardian Shrine, which has such deep meaning for a princess medium... So what's the plan? Tell me how you're finally, thoroughly, and brutally going to put an end to that wretched little... Wha...? I said there is no plan. But while there is no plan, there is a process. That's why I asked the princess to come to the Shrine. A process...? Yes. A way of handling such matters in accordance with the traditions of Elesius. It doesn't matter whether she really is the princess or not. Either way, she claims to be the leader of a nation. So I will oppose her from the same position. ... Bwah hah hah hah...! Playin' by the rules, huh? Now that's a good one, boss! It shouldn't be long now... The Council Chairman requested this meeting. Why is he nowhere to be seen? Sir Charlton has entrusted his message to use. We hope that will suffice. ... As chairman of the Council of Elder Statesmen, Sir Blunt is deeply troubled by the current situation. So, in order to preserve the well-being of the kingdom Elesius... Music: Footsteps Which Lead the Way to Peril How could...! Come, now, doesn't that strike you as a little one-sided? It may be worth reminding you that the Princess is on our-- Yes...a princess whose veracity remains to be proven. However, regardless of her identity, the woman who dies here shall be marked an imposter--a commoner posing as royalty. Do you understand? The Council has found you to be a rebel element and ratified a plan to eliminate you as soon as possible. And if you do turn out to be the real princess... Then it will be all the better for Elesius's future if your life is ended now. I was worried about a trap, but I never thought he'd declare all-out war on us. And I doubt he's about to stop with words alone, either... The robed men activate their ARMs, changing into a variety of classes.   --Move it, everyone! We've got to get out of here! Clarissa...? What the heck was that?! I think Clarissa has the right idea!Music: The Famous Me and the Can-do Woman     Whenever an enemy or ally ends his turn, that counts as a single turn, adding one to the total. The number of units on the Tactical Map--and especially the number of enemies--will play an enormous role in our strategy.   Either way, we can't afford to let our guard down. We're free to choose whichever route we like: each one can be penetrated well enough in its own way. Use the strategy that works best for each situation. For this mission, we have to reach the target area in 99 turns. That sounds like a lot, but since each unit's action is considered one turn, they add up quickly. We're only bringing four units into this map, which brings the total number of units on it up to 13, giving us less than 8 full rounds of each unit acting once. We'll also lose the battle if a single ally is defeated. We bring in Clarissa as a Dandelion Shot, Felius as a Halberdier, Labyrinthia as an Arcanist, and Virginia as a Secutor. We don't really need any more units, so we leave two open slots to provide a bit more leeway with the time limit. Music: Genocide Buster  We're going to be sending our units up the Elementalist path. There is a treasure along the center path however, so we'll need to send someone in to retrieve it.  So we're going to be sending Labyrinthia in after the chest, since she's the most capable of avoiding combat. Why do we want to avoid combat with the unit on the center path, you ask?  Well, he's level 21 for one thing. He's also a Sentinel, a class we haven't seen so far. Sentinels have this neat skill that reduces the MOV stat of all adjacent units, which makes it very difficult to walk around them. They also have an Original that pushes the target unit back by one HEX. This Sentinel is positioned specifically so that you'll try to walk past him, stop next to him because of your reduced MOV, and then he'll get a turn and push you into the pit. Which is an instant kill, of course, meaning game over on this particular map. Yes. This happened to me the first time I played. I'm sure it happens to most people, since you don't have access to the Sentinel class at this point, and have no way to know what their skills and originals are. Of course, you can kill this Sentinel if you use the right strategy (ranged attacks and liberal use of Clarissa's Sacrifice skill, which ignores defense), but I don't really think you're expected to go through the middle.  Instead, we have Labyrinthia open the chest (which contains a Secutor weapon)...  And then she warps across the main gap, rejoining with our main group.  Meanwhile, with our main party, we give Clarissa as many opportunities to Encourage as possible. Since we're under a time limit, we want our allies to go quickly and eliminate enemies before they get a chance to act. The time limit becomes more lenient as we kill enemies, since there are less units on the map to spend turns. Another viable strategy is to send two parties out, one on either side, to eliminate all of the Elementalists and Secutors alike. It'll probably take a couple extra units to do this safely, but killing those extra enemies makes up for the time limit penalty you take by bringing extra units out onto the map.  Every 20 turns, the Guardian Shrine trembles for a few seconds.  I suppose this is just to make sure you don't forget that you're under a time limit? Kinda like how the music speeds up during the last 100 seconds of a Mario stage.  The enemies aren't really super hard to kill. They have very low defensive stats so you can clear them out quickly, but they can hurt you pretty bad if you let them (note that the above screenshot is actually indicating 113 damage, I just caught it a frame before the 100s place was drawn.)  It doesn't take too long before we've killed all the Elementalists and start to approach the door, as you can see by the turn indicator.  The Secutors from the other end of the map do come after us as we approach the door (the Sentinel does not budge), but they don't really have time to do any harm before we slip past.  And after the battle, we get a ton of equipment that none of our classes can use. Hm. Music: None Video: Exiting the Guardian Shrine  ...That was a close one!Music: Overflowing With Mysterious Power  Again, Strahl Gewehr glows for a moment.   Meanwhile...   It feels like all of Filgaia is trembling... ...  ... If only I could intervene... The kingdom of Elesius has already lost so much... I do not wish for it to lose anything more... I wish I could prevent it...Music: Filgaia Extra Land  And we're back to the map screen. Everything is closed off to us except for the Path to the Shrine. We enter it. Music: None  Music: CRISIS DRIVER  I had orders from Corporal Magnus to reinforce the team at the Guardian Shrine, but it looks like things didn't quite work out that way. Ah... Oh, no!The camera pans back to the way our party came from.  We took several casualties in the cave-in, but it will not effect our assignment. We will carry out our objective this time. Hah hah hah hah hah! I couldn't have asked for anything easier! This makes the trip all the way from Fort Molasar more than worth it, no doubt about that! Urgh... Suddenly, a figure appears atop a nearby cliff! Music: This Sword Style Rages Still  Oh, Levin... ...I'm sorry, that's just the way he is... Levin takes a step forward and attacks the nearby pillar!    You've just cut yourself off from us, Levin! Wait, whaaaaat?! ...I really can't apologize enough... This is just the way he is...    But we need to keep Levin alive, or else it's game over. Be sure to keep a close eye on his remaining HP at all times. We can't bring units across the fallen pillar blocking the way ahead. Attacks, on the other hand, won't be hampered at all. We'll need to take advantage of that with long-range attacks in order to help Levin out. For this battle, we load up with Elementalists, so we can attack enemies from across the fallen pillar. Labyrinthia can warp across it, so she continues to be extremely useful (I really like Warp, if you couldn't tell from how I use it to skip obstacles in just about every battle)  So for this fight, we have to keep Levin alive and kill all the enemies. It doesn't matter how many of our other units die, as long as Levin lives to the end. The enemies on Levin's side of the field are actually really wimpy, so this is trivially easy. It's not hard for Levin to take out all the enemies on his side without help, but I use Elementalists to sling spells across the barricade anyway, since that's what the game wants me to do.  The enemies on the main party's side of the battlefield are very buff by comparison. Most of the enemies on Levin's side of the field have ~50-75 HP, while enemies on our side have ~150-200.  So our approach to this battle is to position casters near the pillar to attack enemies for Levin, while using them to set up Formation Arts for other party members to clear out enemies on our side.  There is a "boss enemy" on Levin's side of the field, who has about 250 HP and actually poses a threat. Thankfully, Levin can keep him in Cancel Strike Hell, which is a viable strategy to completely destroy any single target.  In the end, this battle comes to a quick close without any difficulties. Music: The Lie Named Heavy Make-Up   Heh heh heh... I bet they're havin' a good ol' time out there. Shakin' up the place and everything, no doubt. I can't bear to wait here a moment longer! Music: Father Thunder Clad in Heavy Armor  Reverend Mother, please, allow me...The captain helps Edna to her feet.  As the leader of the Royal Knights, I do believe that I am a member of this Council... Is it strange that I would pay a visit to the Council Chamber? It's a pleasure to see the doors of the Council Chamber thrown wide open. However, I fear the breeze may occasionally allow some insects in... Well, then... I got some paperwork pilin' up, so I'd, uh, best run along and earn my keep...Rupert and Edna quickly leave the Chamber.  The Royal Knights are the sword of Elesius, wielded by His Majesty the King. I thought it wouldn't be prudent to needlessly endanger the Council by providing it with such a dangerous toy. ... You've a very hard head, Captain. Indeed. Sir Chairman, we Royal Knights are the very wall that protects Elesius. It is our job to be as hard and as heavy as we can. A wall should not be easily swayed. I am touched by your concern, Sir Chairman. And if I may return the favor... Perhaps you might consider cutting down on the cigarettes? Not only could they impair your health, but the smoke itself could blind one's eyes to the hazards of the road ahead. I shall keep that in mind.Charlton too, leaves the Council Chamber. 
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Jun 10, 2014 07:30
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 Music: The Dawn Will Surely Come  I failed to mobilize the Royal Knights, so this is the one and only body I have to pledge to your cause... Captain Eisen couldn't be budged...? I knew Father had the mind of an ox, but I never knew he could be *this* stubborn... No, Levin. Captain Eisen's decision was the right one. The Royal Knights cannot act without the express orders of His Majesty. And besides... I believe that Captain Eisen may be fighting beside us all the same. He most likely felt that he couldn't afford to leave his own battlefield. ... I'm more than happy just to have you on board, Levin. Your Highness... I no longer have the backing of House Brenton. I'm just plain "Levin" now. But nonetheless, I will fight with the strength of a thousand men! I may have failed Your Highness in my task to secure support of the Knights, but in their stead I pledge my full potential! I look forward to fighting beside you. Th-thank you, Your Highness! (And yet again I find Tony staring at Clarissa, enthralled... The way he gazes at her, it's almost as though he has a special place in his heart for her... Or is it just my imagination?) (Perhaps I simply cannot bear to acknowledge what's happening between them... That I'm slowly being replaced as his mistress...)The way she's talking, you'd almost think Clarissa was stealing away her lover or something.  You needn't sweeten your words around me, Levin. You lament the state of Elesius as much as I, and share the same hopes for its future. That should make us friends. Your... Your Highness, I...I'm unworthy of the kindness of your words! But I'll strive to work hard to do my best to earn Your Highness's friendship! I just said that you didn't need to talk that way... ... We can't count on the support of the Royal Knights and our own numbers are few. I believe it is time we stepped up our campaign. The Martial Guardsmen we encountered earlier spoke of a Fort Molasar. Perhaps we should go on the attack, and seize the fort...? You always propose the most drastic of measures in the most casual of tones... With their troops having battled us here, there can't be many left holding the fort. Furthermore, toppling it would prevent the Guard from mounting attacks against the towns in this area after we move on. Fort Molasar isn't far from here! If we act before they can regroup, we can take it even with our current numbers! Very well, then. Prepare to change course to Fort Molasar! Let's bring the battle to the Martial Guard's home ground! Fort Molasar is added to our map, but we have to make one stop along the way. Video: Chevalet Blanc Music: An Honest Smiling Face   What? We're a "liberation army" now?! That's right! A magnificent liberation army! Wouldn't it be much more convenient if we had a name to call it by? And besides-- A good symbolic name would inspire those who seek liberation to rally under our banner! Yes, I suppose you have a point there... See? That's a great reason, right? It's not just because a good name would make us seem all suave and mysterious or anything! ...If you feel that strongly about it, why don't we leave the name up to you? Really?! To be honest, I've been secretly pondering the matter for some time now...  ...Chevalet Blanc...? ...Hmm... Well, knowing you, I figured you'd come up with a name that sounded more manly and powerful... Like something with the word "Vanguard" in it... I was sure you'd like it... But this happened long ago in the old capital of Schnell, which is now abandoned... Whoa, give it a rest, teach! Surely the princess knows the founding legends of her own country? Oh! Uh...right! Of...of course I know them! Why do I get the feeling you two are hiding something from me... No, that's not the case at all! ... Hmph, you're acting like you just dodged a bullet... And now we have access to Fort Molasar. We head straight there. Music: Slap the Cheek in a Mood to Kill  Martial Guardsman Quaid: Whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn't hear anything about an invading party! What's the watch doing out there?!  No matter what adversity comes, no matter what foe threatens us, just stay calm and do as you've been trained! Of course I am! First off, sap their forces as much as possible! You don't need to defeat them... Just rob them of their energy--bit by bit if necessary! And then when the foe is well and battered... Martial Guardsman Quaid: Your classic plan of action, Corporal... And with your dark sword, we can make it happen! I'm not pleased with the idea of unleashing our full power to quell this pack of rabble-rousers...but we cannot afford to lose this stronghold.Music: The Famous Me and the Can-do Woman    The enemy will attempt to drain us of our VP (Vitality Points)...and that makes our plan of action obvious. We'll need to prepare a reliable method to recover VP, and take the enemy leader out as quickly as possible. Study the Tactical Map carefully and move your units so they make it to the leader quickly and efficiently. This map is kind of a tutorial on VP. It's massive and designed to a super long time to traverse, so you're pretty much guaranteed to run out of VP by the time you reach the captain, even taking the shortest route. To help with this we want high MOV classes. We also bring a couple of Fantasticas, which are necessary to open shortcuts. It's also very important to make sure every one of your units has at least 3 CLM (except for Labyrinthia, who can use Warp to cheat her way across the shortcuts)  To counter the VP exhaustion, we load our party up with Nectars, which cure Max HP Down (not relevant in this battle, but will be later on) and restore 100 VP. I make Virginia a Gadgeteer and give her a few, intending for her to keep everyone up on VP so they don't have to waste their turns eating Nectars. I make sure each unit has one as well though, just in case I accidentally put them out of Mystic's range. Music: Birds Soaring Over the Battlefield  Allow the sheen of my demonic sword to become the final memory of your mortal lives!This guy sounds like a middle schooler. His sword isn't even that great, he's just a dork.  Fort Molasar is a huge map with a long, winding pathway. With a Fantastica, you can push those big blocks around and create a few different shortcuts. I'm honestly not sure what the fastest route across the map is, but pretty much any of them should work as long as you don't walk all the way down the path without taking any shortcuts at all (doing that would probably drain your VP three or four times over) Some routes require more CLM than others, and most routes will put you up against Sentinels, which take a long time to kill and are difficult to run past because of their skill that reduces the MOV of adjacent units.  Of course, since their strategy is to drain your VP, that wouldn't work if they ran out of VP in the process. So every single enemy on this map has the Wait and Heal VP skill, which recovers a small amount of VP when you spend your turn doing nothing.  To avoid the Sentinels and allow myself to bring some lower CLM classes, we ignore the first block and run straight forward along the normal path.  At the corner is a Fantastica, and some boxes that mark the path to the next shortcut. The path I'll be taking is on the other side of those boxes. We need to kill Fantasticas quickly, because it would be disastrous if they start tossing Slow Down around on your party.  After we clear the enemy, we use the Fantastica skill Object Attack to bust those crates and proceed forward.  I move a bit too close to the edge and draw the attention of an enemy Sentinel, but we dispatch her quickly and move on. If I had tried to move past her where she normally stands, she could use Heavy Strike to knock my units down the cliff, erasing progress. I've never taken the long path on this map, but I imagine it's an awful, frustrating, sixteen hour process.  After the boxes we smashed through, we hit this little block pushing puzzle (which Levin can just ignore because he's got mad ups) If you push these blocks in the wrong direction, you can block the shortcut off to your low CLM units, so you have to be careful. If a unit gets stuck down here, they're just gonna be useless for the rest of the map, because there's no way you're going to get them around the long way before you kill the commander. One strategy is to intentionally kill them and then pop a Revive Fruit at the top to get them caught up with the rest of the party, but it's simpler to just forget about any units you trap on the wrong side of the shortcut.  Once the blocks are in position, every unit but Labyrinthia can easily climb up to the top of the map. Labyrinthia can warp her way up.  This Gadgeteer is the last unit standing between us and the commander and his cohorts. You can see my VP is still in good shape too, thanks to the path I took. I believe I took the best route, but it might be better to cut straight through the middle using the first block. I've never gone down that path because it requires high CLM to get over that first block.  Since Levin's got his Air Jordans on, I can send him up to grab this chest without having to get around the enemies first. The chest contains a Gella Card, which increases the Gella gained from the battle you use it in.  Finally, I have Virginia toss out a Mystic'd Nectar to fill up our VP before I confront the commander.  Magnus is pretty tough. He's got loads of HP and hits hard. He's got pretty good defenses as well, making it hard to kill him quickly. Edit: Edvarius posted:Something I don't think was mentioned is that the "demonic blade" the commander was referring to has the special property of dealing extra damage to units low on VP, so if you don't take some precaution about that he's going to tear through your troops when you finally reach him.  Thankfully, the Dandelion Shot's OC "Sacrifice" ignores the enemy's RES stat, instead doing damage based Clarissa's current HP value. This attack typically drains Clarissa's HP to 1, but when a Corsage is equipped, it halves her HP instead (the attack still does full damage.) With Clarissa at full HP, Sacrifice does 98 damage to this guy.  And that's my strategy for taking down Magnus as quickly as possible. Clarissa spends all of her turns casting Sacrifice, while Virginia spends all of her turns feeding Clarissa Heal Berries. Everyone else hits Magnus for whatever damage they can inbetween Clarissa's Sacrifices.  Of course, abusing Levin's Cancel Strike is always a good idea against enemies with high attack power like this guy. Just to make sure he doesn't smack Clarissa after she casts Sacrifice but before she gets her HP back up.  It doesn't take long before the commander falls and the battle comes to an end. Video: Weisheit Note: This is technically three separate scenes, but they're all voice acted and are all right in a row, so I consolidated them into one video.  Music: Trembling to the Distant Thunder  Go on, finish me! I refuse to live with the shame of defeat! I refuse to endure the disgrace of capture! Come on already! Surely you attacked us with the resolve to kill or be killed?! ...Whether you're killing or being killed, don't assume death will so easily absolve you of your crimes. The burden that you bear cannot be tossed away so easily! Grr...! There's something I want you to do. You're familiar with the Council of Elder Statesmen, I assume? I have a message for their chairman, Charlton... You have stolen the peaceful lives of our people and the future of our nation. In order to return these liberties to their legitimate owners, we of the Elesius Liberation Army, Chevalet Blanc-- What?! A pack of rebels declaring way against an entire nation? You will relay the decision of Chevalet Blanc to Chairman Charlton. That is the duty you must fulfill. Levin, send him off to the Council. And be careful, all right? Get your grubby mitts off me, boy! I'm the commander of this fortress! A-all right, all right! I'll go! Nobody cares what you think. Now get moving!Levin and Magnus leave the room.  I wonder if that was wise...? If everything proceeds according to the scenario I plotted out... Clarissa's declaration of war will establish Chevalet Blanc as an enemy of the Council. And hopefully, the more the Council is preoccupied with us, the more they'll loosen their stranglehold on the people of Elesius... I believe they will. But still... ...I don't want to feel like I was being dragged into this conflict. Rather than having this fate thrust upon me, I wanted to seize it myself. I wanted to make it my own decision. ... On the day when you can finally tell the truth to the world, I'll be right there beside you, helping to explain. But until then-- You shall continue as commander of Chevalet Blanc, Princess Royal Alexia Lynn Elesius. And it is a pleasure to serve you, Your Highness. ...Yes.Music: None  Well, let's continue our inspection of the fortress. There must be some resources or information here that will aid us.And so they explore the fortress, and we transition into a different scene... Music: Even Only Fragments of Hope Held Close   Your Highness, is everything all right? You seem...different. I understand, but... Everything's fine, Levin. Let's connect our ARMs to this. We might be able to download some new classes. You unlocked the Sentinel class! You unlocked the Sacred Slayer class! You unlocked the Excavator class! You unlocked the Geomancer class!  They sure do. But on the other hand... By making it so simple to acquire combat abilities... Perhaps they make ti a bit too easy to bring about conflict with others... ... ... And with that, this scene comes to an end. A full writeup of each of our new classes is on its way, but to quickly sum them up: Sentinel is a tank class, designed to soak up loads of damage and make it difficult for the enemy to attack your other units. Sacred Slayer is a support class, focused on keeping your party alive with healing Originals. They're much more effective at healing than Gadgeteers, thanks to their increased heal range and the fact that they don't have to rely on items. Excavator is an unusual class, able to find items hidden on the map and interact with the environment in unique ways. Geomancers have mastery over the land. They can interact with Ley Points (which ordinary units can't even see), allowing them to increase the power of elemental attacks or warp across the map from Ley Point to Ley Point. And now we move on to yet another voiced scene, which is also included in the video linked above. Music: The Dark Clouds Cover the Shadow of Evil    It's Weisheit. That's a lie! The Weisheit I know is a wizened old man. I have learned a great deal about you all from my late predecessor. Predecessor...?! Despite my youthfulness, I have inherited everything from my predecessor. Thus I humbly request that you consider me the new embodiment of "Weisheit." What the...? Am I the only one that's not gettin' any of this? I'm not seeing the whole picture here either. What I do know is... Thus the renewed acquaintance. Yet another suspicious new entry to the Council... Was this appointment your doing? Hmm, Charlton? And with this, our cast is complete. We take one last look at Weisheit, and Act 1-8 comes to an end... Hamsterlady fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 02:48
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Edvarius posted:It's embarrassing to admit, but this battle stopped me cold the first time I tried to play the game. Anyway, something I don't think was mentioned is that the "demonic blade" the commander was referring to has the special property of dealing extra damage to units low on VP, so if you don't take some precaution about that he's going to tear through your troops when you finally reach him. I didn't know that, actually! I'll add that into the update, thanks!
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Jun 26, 2014 04:18
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vilkacis posted:Missing a portrait here - the last part here is actually Labyrinthia's line. Thank you kindly. I should have known I got the speaker wrong when Levin responded with "Ma'am" instead of "Your Highness."
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Jun 27, 2014 23:12
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Since the last class rundown, we've gained acess to five new classes. One unique class and four generic classes. I'll be going into detail on each of them, starting with Martial Mage and working my way down the list of classes we unlocked in the previous update. Martial Mage is Levin's character class, exclusive to him. The Martial Mage is an extremely mobile class, with extremely high RFX, MOV and CLM stats. It's kind of like a human version of Cross Breed, but even more mobile, and with actual skills and OC. Original Commands Blast A non-elemental magic attack of moderate strength. Unlike most magic attacks we've seen so far, Blast can be used after moving. Graviton Does damage based on the target's WGT and current HP. The heavier the target, the more damage is dealt, and the more HP the target currently has, the more damage is dealt. Graviton can be useful as an opening attack on a heavy unit, but it rapidly becomes useless as you deal more and more damage to the enemy. Graviton cannot be used after moving. Rushing Beat A physical attack that does increased damage based on how much faster Levin is than his target. Cancel Strike A physical attack that cancels the target's next turn on a successful hit. This is Levin's most useful attack by far, and can easily be abused to keep a powerful enemy in purgatory so they can't attack you at all. Useful in conjunction with Clarissa's Rob Turn if you want to completely ruin the enemy's day. Skills Martial Mage OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Martial Mage Original Commands. Martial Mage EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Martial Mage equipment. Skip Enemies (CLV 4) Allows the unit to move through HEXes occupied by enemies. The unit cannot end his movement on top of an enemy, however. Detonation! (CLV 5) The unit's skill activation rate is increased from the start of battle until the unit first takes damage. Execrate (CLV 6) Increases the success rate of inflicting a status ailment by 150% Counter-Counter (CLV 7) The unit has a chance to counterattack in response to being hit by a counterattack. Skill Slots +3 (Special) The number of skill slots increases by 3. Martial Mage is a very useful class. The high mobility allows Levin to set up for all sorts of different strategies, especially with the aid of the Skip Enemies skill, and his Originals are very good. The Martial Mage's biggest drawback is VP; a low base VP combined with a high RFX stat means that Levin will run out of VP much more quickly than all your other units when he's set to Martial Mage.  The Sentinel is a generic class available to all human units. The Sentinel is a class focused on defense. Sentinels can not only tank through enemy hits directed at themselves, but they can also protect allies thanks to the skill Defender. Original Commands Heavy Strike Knocks back a unit whose WGT is lighter than the user by one HEX. Can only be used when a one-handed melee weapon is equipped. Heavy Strike can knock enemies into pits, killing them instantly. Allowance A physical attack that always leaves the target with at least 1 HP, useful for catching wild Pokemon. Can only be used when a one-handed melee weapon is equipped. Force Field Nullifies all HP damage and special effects targeting the user until the user's next turn. Amplifier Increases damage dealt by the user's next attack. Cannot be used after moving. Skills Sentinel OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Sentinel Original Commands. Anti-Knockback (CLV 3) The unit is immune to being knocked back by attacks such as Heavy Strike. ZOC Effect (CLV 4) Enemy units cannot move into two consecutive HEXes adjacent to this unit within a single move action. DEF +25% (CLV 5) The unit's DEF stat is multiplied by 125% Sentinel EQ (CLV 6) Allows the unit to equip Sentinel equipment. Defender (CLV 7) If an adjacent ally is targeted by a single-target physical attack, there is a chance that this unit will switch places with them before the attack connects. If this occurs, damage from the attack is halved. This unit and the protected unit will not return to their original positions after the attack, instead taking each other's places on the map. Auto Guard (Special) The unit has a chance to reduce the damage from an enemy's physical attack by 75%. If the unit activates Defender, Auto Guard has a 100% activation rate, which results in 1/8 regular damage when combined with the reduced damage that accompanies the Defender skill. The Sentinel is useful as a sort of mobile wall. The ZOC Effect makes it very difficult for enemy units to pass by a Sentinel placed in a narrow space, and skills like Defender allow the Sentinel to protect nearby allies. As you would expect from someone in such heavy armor, the Sentinel has very low RFX, MOV and CLM stats, so they're most well suited to being placed into an advantageous position and left there. I like how both the male and female Sentinels have huge heels on their shoes, which only seems like it would make it easy to topple them over.  The Sacred Slayer is a generic class available to all human units. The Sacred Slayer is a support class, with skills based on keeping ally units alive. Original Commands Heal Restores the target's HP. HP restored is determined by this unit's MAG stat. Sanctify Deals heavy damage to undead enemies. Cannot be used after moving. Fragile Lowers the target's DEF and RES. Cannot be used after moving. Turn Shift Trades turns with the target, and increases the user's RFX until the user's next turn. Skills Sacred Slayer OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Sacred Slayer Original Commands. Sacred Slayer EQ (CLV 3) Allows the unit to equip Sacred Slayer equipment. Crisis RFX Up (CLV 4) RFX is increased based on the number of allies in crisis and the number of allies who are dead. Dead allies increase RFX by more than allies in crisis. Damage Recovery (CLV 5) After taking damage, there is a low chance to recover HP equal to 10% of damage received. RES +25% (CLV 6) The unit's RES stat is multiplied by 125% Widespread (CLV 7) Expands the effect radius of magic Original Commands. Paladin (Special) Causes Sanctify to instantly kill any undead it hits. Also reduces the chance that this unit will be affected by negative status effects. Sacred Slayers are very effective healers, much more so than Gadgeteers, our previous best class at healing. Widespread is obviously useful to pair with Heal in order to heal several allies at once, but it's also a very good skill for any caster, as it allows you to hit multiple enemies at a time with offensive magic. Sanctify is also an invaluable skill to have in encounters with undead, especially on a Sacred Slayer with Paladin. Unfortunately, Sacred Slayers are very slow, so it's not uncommon for a unit in danger to die before a Sacred Slayer can get a chance to heal them.  The Excavator is a generic class available to all human units. Excavators are focused on gathering items and gella. Original Commands Analyze Displays more detailed information on the target's status screen. Detect Reveals hidden items or units in surrounding HEXes. Switch Turns gems into gem blocks and vice versa. When used on a unit, exchanges the target's HP and MP. Cannot be used after moving. In & Out Spends the current turn changing the unit's carried items. Skills Excavator OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Excavator Original Commands. Attack High/Low (CLV 3) Extends the vertical range of projectile weapons to 8, unless the attack's range was already greater than 8. Gella Bonus (CLV 4) When this unit kills an enemy, that enemy drops gella. Item Bonus (CLV 5) When this unit kills an enemy, that enemy has a chance of dropping an item. Excavator EQ (CLV 6) Allows the unit to equip Excavator equipment. Discover Item (CLV 7) The character will sometimes discover an item after moving. Rare Item Bonus (Special) Allows more valuable items to be discovered through Discover Item, and doubles the gella received from Gella Bonus. Excavators are kind of a weird class. Their main purpose is to collect hidden items scattered around the battlefield. Some of these hidden items are very good, so it's worth following a guide and bringing an Excavator along to pick up good items (don't try to find all the hidden items without a guide, that's dumb.) They also have the Switch OC, which is used for puzzles in a few specific maps, and can also be used to swap a unit's HP and MP values, which can come in handy in certain situations to either heal one of your units or deal major damage to an enemy with little to no remaining MP. Not all enemies are vulnerable to Switch, however.  The Geomancer is a generic class available to all human units. Geomancers have many Originals and skills that interact with the battlefield itself, rather than directly affecting units. Original Commands Translate Warps the user between Ley Points of the same element. Replace Exchanges the positions of the user and the target. Cannot be used after moving. Shut Out Locks the target's HEX, preventing movement in or out for a few turns. Cannot be used after moving. Ley Spread Extend the element of the Ley Point on which the user is standing on to the entire battlefield. Attacks of the same element are strengthened, while attacks of the opposing element are weakened. Skills Geomancer OC (CLV 2) Allows the unit to use Geomancer Original Commands. Ley Attack (CLV 3) Basic attacks made by the character will have the same element of the Ley Point the character is standing on. Move & Heal HP (CLV 4) The character recovers 5% of their max HP at the end of any turn in which they use the move command. Geomancer EQ (CLV 5) Allows the unit to equip Geomancer equipment. Ignore Move Cost (CLV 6) The character treats the movement cost for entering any unobstructed HEX as 1. Crisis MOV Up (CLV 7) MOV and CLM are both increased by 1 for each ally in crisis and 2 for each dead ally. MOV and CLM cap at +4. Ley Boost (Special) Boosts certain stats by 20% when standing on a Ley Point. The stat boosted is determined by the element of the Ley Point. Earth - DEF, RES Water - MAG Fire - ATK Wind - AIM, EVA, RFX Geomancers are another niche class. Shut Out and Replace are always useful, but most of the Geomancer's skills are centered around Ley Points, which are much more situational. Each battlefield has various Ley Points scattered around, which only a Geomancer can see. I believe the ability to see Ley Points is actually tied to the Geomancer class as well, making most of their abilities worthless on other classes unless you bring a Geomancer along anyway or stumble into a Ley Point by accident. Ley Points will come up in the actual LP soon, where I can provide a better explanation with screenshots and the like. Just know that taking advantage of Ley Points is useful and occasionally necessary, but only in very specific scenarios. Ignore Move Cost and Crisis MOV Up are good skills to shove onto Levin if you want to make his movement options even more absurd than they already are. And that wraps up the second class roundup. A lot of the classes in this set are more situationally useful, compared to the base 4 classes that are pretty important to have around for the entire game, but they all have their uses.
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Jun 28, 2014 21:44
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A couple things. First: sorry for the delay in updates. I just started a new job and I am also addicted to Final Fantasy XIV (the second one is the real reason, but the job thing sounds more legitimate). I plan to get an update together this weekend, if I don't get distracted by other stuff. Second: the first two Wild Arms games are on sale on the North American PSN for $0.99 each, playable on PS3 and Vita. You should get them if you don't already own them, that price is a steal! It's a flash sale, so act fast if you want 'em.
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Jul 11, 2014 21:02
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gently caress you, archives! Update coming this weekend, I promise. Unfortunately, the thread should fall into the archive on Friday. So I'm posting this to make sure that doesn't happen because I seriously am going to update this weekend but for real this time, ok! Also I'm gonna try changing my workflow to maybe fix some of my burnout issues, so hopefully next time it won't take two months for me to work up the motivation to take screenshots.
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Sep 10, 2014 04:30
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I'm sorry. I'm dealing with a lot of stress in real life right now, and writing LP updates just isn't something I want to dedicate hours of my time to at the moment. It's probably safe to call this abandoned, unfortunately.
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#
¿
Nov 5, 2014 01:07
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