RPG Progress Report

[Xeogred]

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

Curious bmoc, did you play Xenoblade X?

Just hit chapter 8 tonight in Xenoblade 2.

Chapter 7:

Jin and Malos was the hardest part for me thus far. Went back to an inn to level up a few times and then just tried to wing it. I suck at using Rex with Nia as a Blade or healer, so I'm not a fan of that setup for her. This part was frustrating without Pyra/Mythra! I've been rocking Morag as a Master Defender but for this battle I put Uka on him, she's been rocking with him when I need some extra healing. I already forgot, but I think I put on three healers for Nia here because I didn't want her to do anything but healing. Then I controlled Zeke as a Master Attacker and hoped for the best. Finally got it after a few tries. It helps that I looked things up only to see it's a story battle where you have to whittle down Malos only...

Then in the second half, it forced me to play as Rex again and threw out Morag for Tora which was bad news since I haven't worried about their setup in awhile. But omega Pyra was just too much and I beat that part my first try thankfully.

I chose "Pyra" for the name since that's how Rex met and knows her, showed her his parents grave, etc.

Morytha is like straight up the underground civilization ruins in Xenogears, hehe. Monolith Soft continues to love this theme. Probably a Japanese thing still hailing back to their horrifying experience from being bombed.

Still not sure if it beats the first Xenoblade for me story wise, but gameplay wise I like this one a lot more for sure.

Field skills were a dumb idea though. I haven't hit any walls with them, but it's annoying switching Blades in and out just to get through an area.

[bmoc]

I did play Xenoblade X. I enjoyed it well enough but I was expecting another grand story like in the other Xeno games. So in that respect, I was left wanting. Otherwise the gameplay was solid. I still want to know how the thing in the after credit scene was possible. Maybe we will get a X2 one day?

[Ack]

Might and Magic VI

Last night I continued my work to clear out the Dragoons' Fort and discovered my first artifact weapon, a nasty looking dagger with vampiric abilities. While the fighters and veterans within proved to be tough opponents, I used level geometry to lure them into places where I could easily dispatch them one at a time. End result, they're dead, I'm not.

Once out, I took my newfound experience and gold to bulk up on what spells my casters have access to in their chosen schools. I then sought out the obelisk in the area and pressed northwards, to the perpetually snowing Frozen Highlands and Castle Stone. Lord Stone had quests for me, to rebuild a temple in Free Haven and plunge into it's sewers to find the Prince of Thieves. My marching orders secured, I returned to Free Haven and got to work.

Rebuilding the temple was relatively easy. All I had to do was find a carpenter and a stone Mason, convince them to join me, and enter the ruined temple. The NPCs which wander around town are randomly generated with each loading of the game, so I sought them out until I found the two that I needed. It took me five minutes, but I could see it taking longer if you aren't lucky. Either way, the temple was restored.

As for the sewers, that was a little more complicated. I moved in and found it full of rats, thieves, and priests of Baa. I've gotten pretty good at swapping between turn-based and real-time combat to tackle threats, so I took on each horde as necessary and fought my way through to the end. I also profited heavily off the loot the thieves had acquired; hey, nobody said a thing about returning any of it. I soon found the Prince of Thieves cowering under his bed as well as a special axe squirreled away in his sock drawer.

Now I am presented with a small problem: nobody in my party uses axes. Ack has a sword, Noise a mace, Popo and Marurun daggers. I'm thinking Popo should swap to axes, but I dislike having wasted skill points. At the same time, it wasn't a huge investment compared to other skills, so perhaps I will give him the axe once I find someone to teach him. I just hadn't seen many up to this point.

That conundrum aside, I returned to Castle Stone with the Prince of Thieves in tow and was granted both council approval and the rank of Priest for Noise. Becoming a High Priest will be much harder, but that is for another time. My work in Castle Stone and Free Haven complete for the moment, I caught a ship for Mist.

Once back in Mist, I visited Lord Newton to report my success in finding the Fountain of Magic, for which Marurun was elevated from a Sorcerer to a Wizard. I acquired more spells and worked to further beef up my skills, especially in magic. I then plunged into the local dungeon, the Silver Helm Outpost. I hear they have a princess or something imprisoned in there.

Also, congratulations to Popo, the first of my party to attain a Mastery level in any skill. He is now Master of Disarm Traps. There is no thief class in the game, but Popo is the next best thing.

Work Completed

Council Quests: 1/7
1st Promotion Quests: 3/6
Sidequests: 14/26
Obelisks Found: 4/15
Sections of world map visited: 6/15

[marurun]

Slow forward advancement in SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu on DS. I'm now in World 4. My esper has been really slow to advance. She's lagging in every stat but spirit, and she has the lowest HP in the party. Not sure what to do to speed her up a little. I tried putting her in the front of the party but it didn't help. I'm managing to keep her well-equipped with Fire, Cure, and Flare at least, though she's slow as butt, so she tends to go last. My robot is pretty killer. I seem to do OK on money so far, so he's well equipped, with every stat doing well except spirit, which isn't all that useful for robots. My human is a buff death machine. I've been focusing on Taijutsu (martial arts) because I like them. I tend to always keep one or two final hits around just in case. Her HP keeps going up and up. She's got 600+ HP, and the next highest in the party is 300+. She ALWAYS goes first. Even my monster is finally doing well. I found a Python app on-line that lets you figure out what monsters are available to you based on where you are in the game, and if you pick what you are at present and what you want to be it shows you the various evolutions needed to get there. I'm currently a WereWolf, which is nice and strong, but I'm considering something else.

One thing I've noticed about World 4 is that suddenly there are a lot more spellcasters around, and spells like Fire and Blizzard can fuck you up, as much as you can use them to fuck your enemies up. It's kinda scary. Also ran into a boss with an instant death attack, which was fun. Thankfully I crushed him quickly enough I only lost one party member. I suspect there's some nuance in the mechanics that I'm missing, but until I realize it I'm stuck on my current path. I am committed to this tomfoolery!

[MrPopo]

For your Esper, she definitely needs to take an action in battle, but more than one action I don't believe affects things. Position in party doesn't matter; what matters is the quality of enemies you fight.

[marurun]

Sounds like I need to boost my Esper's speed so she pops up early enough to act...

[MrPopo]

Or take turns using defend on your other characters.

[Ack]

Might and Magic VI

Well, as it turns out, my concerns over giving Popo the ability to use axes was short lived, as reaching Expert status in Dagger allows him to wield one in his off-hand. This means Popo's got some ridiculous damage output, as he's now dual wielding and has the highest to-hit of the party with both weapons and bows. I also didn't use his skill points until I could get Axe to Expert status so I could let him attack faster. End result? Popo's a regular meat grinder.

I also used the ridiculous number of potions I acquired from the sewers under Free Haven to mix and match some alchemical masterworks. Might and Magic VI has a hidden component that allows you to combine basic health, mana, and energy potions in different combinations. Keep mixing and you may eventually reach an all powerful black potion, which do things like give large stat boosts (one time only) or heal all magical aging. Ack was the beneficiary of every stat boost I could create, so he's now got some of the best stats of the group. I'll now need to go about doing the same for Popo, Noise, and Marurun. Just be careful when mixing; do it wrong, and you'll kill your character.

Anyway, getting back into the game, I started back a the Silver Helm Outpost, which I completely raided to rescue a damsel in distress and complete another quest. As it turns out, the damsel was necessary for a job promotion quest, and even though I don't have anyone of the class that it promoted (Paladins), these quests are still worth a boatload of experience, so off I went to complete it. As the Silver Helm Outpost is the only dungeon in the Mist area, I hopped a ship back to Castle Ironfist to hand over the maiden and then headed back towards Free Haven and further north from there once more into the Frozen Highlands.

The Frozen Highlands form an interesting stumbling block. The enemies that populate it aren't particularly tough, but they're so numerous that it can form a wall to progression. Worse yet, there are harpies, the hardest of which can instant curse your entire party just by looking at you. This means no spells, which makes life much more difficult. Still, I headed up to Castle Stormgard to receive a new council quest and another job quest.

The council quest proved easy enough: find a hermit and talk to him about ending the endless winter. The job quest is one I desperately want to do, but it means fighting off the hordes, so I decided to come back to it. Seeking the hermit required I head into the Kriegspire territory, which meant much harder enemies: earth golems, minotaurs, and drakes. I found the hermit and the city of Kriegspire, but dang if the monsters didn't drive me back to Stormgard as soon as I spoke with the hermit. Still, that's another king backing me in the council at least. I then returned to Free Haven and ventured west, towards Blackshire.

Blackshire is nice, but it's got problems: air elementals and werewolves. The town has some important Masters though, so I sought them out and had Ack declared a master of both Sword and Shield. I then accepted a quest to free the town of its werewolf curse, so now I find myself in the Lair of the Wolf, intent on freeing the people. Werewolves are tough, but the oozes found within suck more because they can only be hurt by magic, so I duck in, kill a few with fire bolts from Marurun, and then duck back out as necessary.

So that's my current progress: more done quests, and some nice upgrades, but I'm also in tougher territory that is giving me a hard time. I might look to heading back towards other regions, and I'll need to return to Mist soon; Marurun is approaching the point where he can become a Master in both Fire and Water magic, and I desperately need him to master Water Magic spells. Town Portal is pretty pitiful until mastered, and once done, it'll make getting around the world significantly easier.

Work Completed

Council Quests: 2/7
1st Promotion Quests: 4/6
Sidequests: 15/26
Obelisks Found: 5/15
Sections of world map visited: 8/15

[MrPopo]

I have to call you out here, Ack. So far you've neglected to mention the epic opening movie for this game. For shame.

[Ack]

I have to call you out here, Ack. So far you've neglected to mention the epic opening movie for this game. For shame.

Hahahahaha, you're just upset because you know that "3DO" logo obviously means quality.