RPG Progress Report

[MrPopo]

So combat starts off as Ultima IV's with six characters instead of eight. The major change is when you attack you are given a targeting cursor; you can move this within your attack range to pick your target (this is most noticeable with ranged weapons, but even melee weapons can now attack melee). This cursor will follow the target if it remains in range, so if you shoot a bow at an enemy three squares away, then it takes a step to the left, your cursor will automatically follow. If the monster moves out of range it resets to be centered on you (which is not a valid target, so it doesn't eat your turn if you're mashing through).

I'm not sure yet what role the virtues play. So far the enemies I've run into have been bloodthirsty sharks, bridge trolls shaking me down for money, headless monstrosities, skeletons, and disease carrying rats, and I've fought them all. I've been able to meditate at four of the shrines so far and unlock their quest, and one of them was Compassion, so either I haven't run into anything that tanks compassion or the virtue isn't as important.

[Xeogred]

Just hit chapter 5 in Xenoblade 2.

I knew Morag would be joining you eventually. That nice little anti-hero Xeno curve ball character. As much as I like Tora and Poppi, along with Tiger Tiger being easy (I'm playing post patch haha), I think I might switch out Tora for Morag now.

I kind of spoiled myself on Zeke being playable eventually too, but he also didn't seem harmful with the two hilarious encounters so far. Can't wait to get him.

Now I can switch between Pyra and Mythra... so many systems to manage in this game, but it's a rare case of me actually enjoying all of it and not minding. Still not burned out at all and I'll keep going. Loving some of these recent revelations too and the back half will probably get even crazier story wise knowing the trend in Xeno games.

[marurun]

Thanks for the monster explanation. Still not sure how to exploit it, though. Trying to find monster levels or values is a pain.

[bmoc]

Just got my last rare blade in Xenoblade 2 - Agate. Doing her prospecting quest now.

[MrPopo]

Tonight, with a heavy heart, my Avatar sent all her companions to hang out in various inns around the world, for she could not bear to see them go in harms way (read; the terrible experience system means it's much easier to just use one character). Steeling herself, she grabbed a Magic Axe and began to finish her journey to all the shrines. Once that was complete she purchased a Frigate and started the long process of completing the quests given by each shrine; learn from the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom and report back, one shrine at a time. She's also learned of several important clues as to the whereabouts of the ways to stop the Shadowlords and the Crown Jewels, as well as joined the Resistance.

[Ack]

Might and Magic VI

I have been going about combat all wrong. When last I wrote about the game, I was debating trying out the turn based combat system instead of real-time. Well, I tried it. Instant success. Far fewer enemies made it to me, which meant fewer status problems and an easier time taking on large groups of enemies. As a result, I very quickly wrapped up the abandoned temple near New Sorpigal and wrapped up the remaining local quests I had picked up. Then I headed to Castle Ironfist.

Castle Ironfist is a lovely mountainous resort city hampered only by a fanatical cult, organized criminal gangs, and hordes of lizard men. But there are shops and teachers of important skills such as higher levels of armor and bow usage. I managed to train my party up and start making them experts in combat fields, which in turn let me go out into the field and wipe away the packs of people plaguing the mountain passes and roads. I also managed to pick up more quests, and once the world was clear, it was time to do more dungeon delving.

Unfortunately, the folks in the local dungeons are tough hombres. I cleared out what I could of the Dragoons' hideout as well as the Shadow Guild and found evidence of their collusion. After some further tough scrapes in the Temple of Baa and running into some ghosts in some old haunted castle, I decided it was best to turn in some quests. This led me back to New Sorpigal.

Once I returned, I tried to get back to Iron fist, but with no horses available, I instead took a boat ride to the Misty Islands. This lead to a quest where I had to go island hoping, wiping out Followers of Baa. After all my time taking on the likes of the Dragoons, the task proved easy. But the Silver Helm Outpost in the town of Mist did not, so I again hopped ship, this time to Booty Bay.

Now I find myself fending off a temple full of cannibals in the hopes of finding treasure. At least the experience is good. I don't know where my adventures will take me next, but it has been a fun ride.

[Stark]

Persona 5

Got through first dungeon, with two trips. Just waiting for the confession of the bad guy. Now I'm at the stage I always find daunting of Persona games, deciding where to spend my time. I've done a little each with Takemi, Sojiro, and Ryujii.

[bmoc]

So I finally settled on an end game party setup in Xenoblade 2. It allows me to kill even the hardest super bosses with ease. I think Ophion and Gladiator Orion are the hardest by a large margin. The highest level super boss does not hold a candle to them. Story spoilers below if you haven't gotten to the point where Rex can use any blade.

I'm typing all this up from memory so forgive me if I misspelled something.

Rex - Overclock Bangle, World Tree Drop
-Mythra - Critical V, Fast Blade Switch VI
-Pyra - Blade Combo Boost VI, Fusion Combo Boost V
-KOS-MOS - Special Lvl 2 Plus V, Affinity Max Attack V, Telepathy V
-Catalyst Scimitar Blade - Fast Blade Switch V, Telepathy V

Morag - Ester Shoes, Hero Vambraces
-Theory
-Aegaeon
-Brighid
^All with Ultimate Shield and some sort of aggro boosting aux core. Aggro Attack Up V if possible

Tora - Ester Shoes, Hero Vambraces
-Poppi QTpi - Evasion Mod V, Dark Element Core, Front Attack/Vendetta Mods
-Poppi QT - Evasion Mod V, Earth Element Core, Front Attack/Vendetta Mods
-Poppi Alpha - Tank Mod V, Lightning Element Core, Block and Front Attack/Vendetta mods

I am running with two tanks and Rex is pulling double duty with healing and damage. Some of the super bosses can one-shot even well equipped characters so having two tanks really helps if one dies. Rex is very very capable with both damage and healing with this setup. Each of his blades have some form of healing and the Catalyst Scimitar blade is in my opinion the best healer blade in the game. The two tanks ping-pong aggro when doing blade combos but that is alright, they can both take it.

Here is my break down of why I chose each blade and why I chose those aux cores to use on them:
Mythra - Mythra is capable of spamming arts if equipped with a high crit rate. She also generates Special Attack levels very quickly because of this. I chose Fast Blade Switch on her so I can switch back to her and quickly generate a level 2 KOS-MOS special (more on that in a bit).
Pyra - After getting Mythra, Pyra's strength lies in Blade Combos. She has a great Blade combo modifier so I only bust her out during Blade Combos, otherwise I use Mythra.
KOS-MOS - She is my main damage dealer. Her lvl 2 and above Special Attacks are extremely strong. Lvl 2 is especially strong because it is a group heal in addition the a very damaging AOE attack. Her lvl 3 and 4 specials hit multiple times so they are very good in chain attacks and full burst. It is possible to do a max damage hit with KOS-MOS (outside of a chain attack) late in a fight due to the World Tree Drop's damage boosting capabilities.
Catalyst Scimitar Blade - This blade is my "oh crap" button. I switch to her for the near full group heal Art she has and typically switch back to Mythra or KOS-MOS. She also has good damage for a healer so if I need to heal some more after the group heal, I'm not sacrificing as much dps as I would with other healing blades.
Theory - She is an S-tier tank. Her counter attacks do 450% damage. I usually begin a fight with her level 1 Special as it has extra aggro. The Ultimate Shield aux core effectively turns blocks into evades.
Aegaeon - Not as good as Theory for damage but he is a very serviceable evasion tank. Definitely A-tier.
Brighid - Another S-tier tank in terms of damage. She keeps up with Theory after a few evades.
The Poppies - Poppi QT & QTpi do very respectable damage as tanks. Poppi Alpha has extremely high block with the right chip and mods.

[Kuruwin]

Might And Magic VI mixes low level dungeons and high level dungeons and there's several ones that you aren't suppose to go when you first reach Ironfist. The only dungeon there that is doable is the temple of baal one and it can be tough. Usually it's good idea to kill all the enemies you can find on the world map before going into dungeons.

[Ack]

Might And Magic VI mixes low level dungeons and high level dungeons and there's several ones that you aren't suppose to go when you first reach Ironfist. The only dungeon there that is doable is the temple of baal one and it can be tough. Usually it's good idea to kill all the enemies you can find on the world map before going into dungeons.

Yeah, I noticed that. I did manage to clear out the Shadow Guild and the thug groups from the Dragoons' Cavern, though I left the oozes that roam the waterways down there. The Temple of Baa I actually found harder, mainly because of the traps it would use with mass enemies. At one point, they spawn in every skeleton in the game to take you on. I'm not even playing, it's ridiculous. I think they borrowed skeletons from other RPGs just to have enough. And Ray Harryhausen's work in Jason and the Argonauts. I just knew it. All my life I've been hated by skeletons.

In the meantime though, I did take my experience and build on it, clearing out the Temple of Tsantsa of cannibals and snakes. At the end I found a woman imprisoned, but after waiting some time to jump ships, I returned to Ironfist only to learn she did not count as a maiden necessary for the Paladin's upgrade quest. No matter, this is when I took the time to wrap up the Temple of Baa for the chime and then return to New Sorpigal to finish up more quests. The monsters around New Sorpigal had respawned, as had the items, which meant more horseshoes for skill points and several barrels with stat boosts. I acquired the necessary skill boosts and Expert training that I could get and then pushed back to Ironfist and then to the southern strip of land that made up Bootleg Bay.

Bootleg Bay is where I had been previously to find the Temple of Tsantsa, only now I was much further south. I cleared away the cannibals I found camping on the shore and discovered the Hall of the Fire Lord but decided to save it for later. However, there is a small hamlet on the coastline, where I found the Fountain of Magic. I believe this means I will need to return to Mist for another job upgrade in the future. I also received a quest to clear out the nearby Temple of the Fist, which I did relatively easily. With the few things done in this area, I kept on my journey toward Free Haven, which is where things got interesting.

Free Haven is massive, but the area around it is overrun by hordes of archers and mages that like to lay waste to travelers. However, there is a nearby castle, Castle Timber, where Lord Timber sits. He gave me another job quest, this time to upgrade my Knight to a Cavalier. I took it and marched out into the world, killing whatever foes got in my way but skirting the main groups until I could get to a real town to sell off the gear I had accumulated and buy some spells. As I said already, Free Haven is huge, and I discovered this was also the hometown of the lady I had rescued from the Temple of Tsantsa, which presented me with a hefty reward. Better gear, important mobility spells, and necessary training were all to be had, so I built up a better group and marched north to a little suburb of Free Haven called Rockram. This is where I found an old cavalier in a bar who offered his support, and so I turned around and marched south again to Castle Timber.

Now Ack is a Cavalier, while Popo, Noise, and Marurun are all honorary cavaliers. The next step, to become a Champion, is much more difficult, so I likely won't be able to fulfill that quest for some time. But I did clear out the area around the castle and found the Dragoon's Keep. I've been asked to clear it out for a reward, so I put in a sizable dent in the knights and rats within. These guys were tough hombres used for bosses in the Dragoons' Cavern, but here they're regular fodder. That's fine, I'm now a lot tougher too. I look forward to clearing them out and wrapping up this quest for more experience. I have Masteries and Titles to seek now.

As I've stumbled across some resources online that help me keep track of things (world maps are always welcome), I figure I'll start keeping a tally here of in-game progress, which I'll add to as I get further along. I'll keep this info spoilered so folks who don't want to see quest tallies and info about the world don't have to:

Work Completed

Council Quests: 0/7
1st Promotion Quests: 1/6
Sidequests: 13/26
Obelisks found: 3/15
Sections of world map visited: 5/15