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Post by Max Galactica on Jan 5, 2016 10:27:47 GMT -5
I interpreted one of Dunban's roles as an optional "agility tank" that soaks up aggro by dodging everything, but you can also make him into a normal attacker like Shulk. I preferred playing as Dunban when there aren't any mechon around; his arts string into some effective combos. Also, Max Galactica , isn't the weight stat rather pointless, or did I not understand it right? Based on the numbers, any agility loss from heavier armor appears to be rectified (and then some) with an agility gem or two. Can you explain what you mean by combos? And I finally remembered to ask this: why the heck are Nebulae (those bubbles that respond to Ether) so hard to beat?! I find I pretty weird that you get Melia halfway through Makna and then Riki very shortly after (whereas Sharla got half of Gaur Plain and all of Ether Mine before the next party member, and Dunban got all of Satorl and the other half of Makna before the next party member). It's just such a short time to try her out. Hope the next (and last?) party member doesn't show up too much sooner.
Loved Frontier Village. The Nopon are so weird and adorable when voiced. The Chief looks and sounds great, Riki's introduction and especially the party's reaction (those close-up faces) had me in stitches, and that close up view at the top of the village, of the wings I mentioned loving, has me dying to go there (and lemme tell you, it is plain weird seeing a giant blanket of what is either water or ether in the sky. Eryth Sea, I assume? It's getting so close to the Head now, this game does a great job of generating anticipation
Might as well ask again now that I'm a bit further, anything I need to be wary of anytime soon? That's because nebulae are incredibly resistant to physical damage. You need to hurt them with ether attacks to be effective. And yes, you won't get the last party member in a LONG time. You'll find out about the water in the sky soon. I assume you found Dedeba, who you deliver the Highmore Caviar to? Other than that, you don't need to be worried about any timed quests for quite a while. Also, there's an upcoming boss that's pretty difficult if you don't know how to properly use Monado Purge or a certain art that Melia will learn soon. Also, I'm still not sure how to mark spoilers. I'll probably be getting into some with my answers soon (I don't consider the above as spoilers).
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on Jan 5, 2016 11:34:51 GMT -5
Spoilers are marked with a bracket, "spoiler" (no quotation marks and no space after the bracket), and a closing bracket.
Same for ending spoilers, except, you put a / before the word spoiler.
So not too different from GFAQs.
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Post by Max Galactica on Jan 5, 2016 13:02:13 GMT -5
Spoilers are marked with a bracket, "spoiler" (no quotation marks and no space after the bracket), and a closing bracket. Same for ending spoilers, except, you put a / before the word spoiler. So not too different from GFAQs. Alright, thanks. Let me try it here. This is a spoiler. You shouldn't be reading it. EDIT: Seems to have worked. Thanks!
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on Jan 5, 2016 23:09:58 GMT -5
Hey, I really like that party members sometimes address NPCs during quests, with the dialogue differing based on the quest (oh Zazaban), and I also love when party members besides your lead come into that conversation.
Is there some kind of truly complete game script out there that tells every single thing every party member can say for every quest, including 2nd/3rd member step-ins to conversation? I imagine it'd be a monumental effort to record those lines for all the party members, but I figured I'd ask anyway.
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Post by Wolfe on Jan 6, 2016 1:21:01 GMT -5
Can you explain what you mean by combos? In this game and in XCX, some arts have effects that work directly off of other arts. For example, Dunban's Electric Gutbuster will inflict break if used after Gale Slash, and Thunder will force the enemy into daze if an aura is active. Using Gale Slash also tends to put you into a perfect position to use Thunder, because Thunder's AoE is a fan shape behind him, and Dunban scoots forward when he uses Gale Slash. In XCX, arts may reward bonus TP if an aura is active, or bonus damage if used in a melee/ranged combo (two or more melee/ranged arts in a row), or other effects. These games are very active for command-based combat. ...Hope the next (and last?) party member doesn't show up too much sooner. You will have seen every region of Bionis before you acquire the last party member.
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Post by Max Galactica on Jan 6, 2016 1:42:28 GMT -5
Hey, I really like that party members sometimes address NPCs during quests, with the dialogue differing based on the quest (oh Zazaban), and I also love when party members besides your lead come into that conversation. Is there some kind of truly complete game script out there that tells every single thing every party member can say for every quest, including 2nd/3rd member step-ins to conversation? I imagine it'd be a monumental effort to record those lines for all the party members, but I figured I'd ask anyway. For almost every quest, there is one specific party member that will comment on it. Meaning you have to have that party member active when you take the quest so you can get that extra dialogue. Everyone else just gives generic dialogue that's used for every quest. Usually the person who comments is the person that seems the most strongly connected with the quest you're taking. Although it's not always very obvious, so the only way to get it for every single quest would be to use a guide.
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on Jan 6, 2016 2:26:05 GMT -5
Can you explain what you mean by combos? In this game and in XCX, some arts have effects that work directly off of other arts. For example, Dunban's Electric Gutbuster will inflict break if used after Gale Slash, and Thunder will force the enemy into daze if an aura is active. Using Gale Slash also tends to put you into a perfect position to use Thunder, because Thunder's AoE is a fan shape behind him, and Dunban scoots forward when he uses Gale Slash. In XCX, arts may reward bonus TP if an aura is active, or bonus damage if used in a melee/ranged combo (two or more melee/ranged arts in a row), or other effects. These games are very active for command-based combat. ...Hope the next (and last?) party member doesn't show up too much sooner. You will have seen every region of Bionis before you acquire the last party member. So are they considered useful because you can do them all with one character and don't have to rely on party members for it? And how well does the AI utilize them? Hey, I really like that party members sometimes address NPCs during quests, with the dialogue differing based on the quest (oh Zazaban), and I also love when party members besides your lead come into that conversation. Is there some kind of truly complete game script out there that tells every single thing every party member can say for every quest, including 2nd/3rd member step-ins to conversation? I imagine it'd be a monumental effort to record those lines for all the party members, but I figured I'd ask anyway. For almost every quest, there is one specific party member that will comment on it. Meaning you have to have that party member active when you take the quest so you can get that extra dialogue. Everyone else just gives generic dialogue that's used for every quest. Usually the person who comments is the person that seems the most strongly connected with the quest you're taking. Although it's not always very obvious, so the only way to get it for every single quest would be to use a guide. What a pain it'd be to try to do that without a guide!
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Post by Wolfe on Jan 6, 2016 2:45:28 GMT -5
So are they considered useful because you can do them all with one character and don't have to rely on party members for it? And how well does the AI utilize them? Teamwork remains a priority in both games, but it can be helpful to play a character like Dunban who can manipulate the enemy with break/topple/daze himself, plus his ability to either draw or shed aggro. I'm not convinced combos are something the AI pays attention to, other than the basic break -> topple. The first game in particular is known for ineffective AI on characters with whom strategy can really make a difference, like Shulk or Melia. By the way, can you check if the mobile version of ProBoards allows you to select posts? If you select posts and then click reply, you'll quote multiple users in one post. In the desktop format, there's a drop down menu next to the "like" button.
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on Jan 6, 2016 13:01:42 GMT -5
Looks like there is.
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Post by Wolfe on Jan 7, 2016 3:30:09 GMT -5
Good to know, thanks. I know you said the mobile version was a bit of a pain.
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on Apr 29, 2016 17:38:00 GMT -5
Out of college and finally playing this again. In a fit of madness, I'm trying to do all the quests currently accessible before Eryth Sea (unless it has a split choice with each choice leading to a different/exclusive quest that locks me out of the other but said quest isn't accessible yet; I'm holding off on those so I can see both exclusive quests) so that I can be a bit less interrupted with the story later on (I have a guide that says when any of the quests expire). I'm overleveled as heck, but surprisingly not burnt out. So that's a positive.
You may now ridicule me.
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on May 1, 2016 14:41:25 GMT -5
"Pepa so cute she could die and it would be cutest Nopon death ever!"
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Post by DarknessLink7 on May 1, 2016 14:57:31 GMT -5
"Pepa so cute she could die and it would be cutest Nopon death ever!" The Nopon are hilarious. XD Also, glad to see you're back to this game!
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on May 1, 2016 18:10:17 GMT -5
Yep! I am officially at Eryth Sea. Previewed it some 20-25 hours ago but then decided I wanted to do some heavy duty job grinding so I didn't save back then. Looks really nice, though I really thought Prison Island would be the horn of the Bionis, not some random floating rock, haha.
Gonna advance the story hardcore now that those jobs are out of the way.
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Meta
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Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on May 2, 2016 5:31:33 GMT -5
Advance the story I did. All the way through Prison Island. (Kinda nice being overleveled to an extent; enemies don't attack me, and I can just burn through bosses if I wish to see the story first) The High Entia are awesome. Especially Sorean and Kallian of course. Nice to have royals that aren't total asscaves or not helpful or plain evil. I think the events in Alcamoth/related were paced really well, and the whole "Melia arc" was really satisfying to play out. Though I wish Reyn had a bit more tact, and that they would play up his positive traits we saw at the beginning of the game!
Oh yeah, and it was great seeing so much more of Alvis.
Prison Island definitely made more sense once I got there. It's awesome that they hyped up the Giants so much, and that the combination of the High Entia lore and the dialogue with Zanza makes you wonder what their agenda is (speaking of agendas, ALVIS). Awakening the Bionis is apparently doomsday, and I feel like Zanza wants to do just that, but I don't know why. He did forge and wield the Monado, which makes it almost seem like he IS the Bionis, since as far as I know only the Bionis fought the Mechonis. And could the Bionis' weapon have anything to do with the Monado? The fact that Fiora (welcome back btw, you look awesome) tried to get Zanza to stop doing whatever he's doing (and also the fact that she knows about Zanza means Xord's "when my eyes were opened" quote has more context) makes me think the Mechon really don't want Zanza being free. Maybe the Mechonis is awakening as well, and freeing Zanza would give Bionis the upper hand. Somehow the Mechon know more than the High Entia. And do they too have precursors like the Giants?
And Metal Face probably just wants to kill everyone. I LOVED getting to hear more of him. F*** the boss fight though. Seems like he only ever went after Shulk (I had Dunban so I should've gotten some aggro!) and had a relentless barrage of attacks that I barely survived by spamming Monado Speed. And of course aggro meant no Backslash or Slit Edge. Hearing YWNON was great though.
Disappointed that we don't get to go on the Bionis' horn.
All the stuff I mused about above is for me to look back at later to compare answers. Don't answer any of it please, I obviously want to learn myself.
Though, do tell me how I was supposed to fight a Metal Face. I was 4 levels above him for gosh sakes. I gotta say, Metal Face is a total badass in the air. He's fast and dodgy and has a vehicle mode and gives no f***s. I like Quick Step gems. Sucks that it maxes at 25% >.> Also, are there any things at all that are locked out upon completing Prison Island? I know Quests aren't (I have a great guide showing me exactly when and what quests expire) but I just want to make sure there isn't anything else before saving my files and backup files to there.
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Post by Max Galactica on May 2, 2016 8:58:40 GMT -5
Advance the story I did. All the way through Prison Island. (Kinda nice being overleveled to an extent; enemies don't attack me, and I can just burn through bosses if I wish to see the story first) The High Entia are awesome. Especially Sorean and Kallian of course. Nice to have royals that aren't total ass****s or not helpful or plain evil. I think the events in Alcamoth/related were paced really well, and the whole "Melia arc" was really satisfying to play out. Though I wish Reyn had a bit more tact, and that they would play up his positive traits we saw at the beginning of the game!
Oh yeah, and it was great seeing so much more of Alvis.
Prison Island definitely made more sense once I got there. It's awesome that they hyped up the Giants so much, and that the combination of the High Entia lore and the dialogue with Zanza makes you wonder what their agenda is (speaking of agendas, ALVIS). Awakening the Bionis is apparently doomsday, and I feel like Zanza wants to do just that, but I don't know why. He did forge and wield the Monado, which makes it almost seem like he IS the Bionis, since as far as I know only the Bionis fought the Mechonis. And could the Bionis' weapon have anything to do with the Monado? The fact that Fiora (welcome back btw, you look awesome) tried to get Zanza to stop doing whatever he's doing (and also the fact that she knows about Zanza means Xord's "when my eyes were opened" quote has more context) makes me think the Mechon really don't want Zanza being free. Maybe the Mechonis is awakening as well, and freeing Zanza would give Bionis the upper hand. Somehow the Mechon know more than the High Entia. And do they too have precursors like the Giants?
And Metal Face probably just wants to kill everyone. I LOVED getting to hear more of him. F*** the boss fight though. Seems like he only ever went after Shulk (I had Dunban so I should've gotten some aggro!) and had a relentless barrage of attacks that I barely survived by spamming Monado Speed. And of course aggro meant no Backslash or Slit Edge. Hearing YWNON was great though.
Disappointed that we don't get to go on the Bionis' horn.
All the stuff I mused about above is for me to look back at later to compare answers. Don't answer any of it please, I obviously want to learn myself.
Though, do tell me how I was supposed to fight a Metal Face. I was 4 levels above him for gosh sakes. I gotta say, Metal Face is a total badass in the air. He's fast and dodgy and has a vehicle mode and gives no f***s. I like Quick Step gems. Sucks that it maxes at 25% >.> Also, are there any things at all that are locked out upon completing Prison Island? I know Quests aren't (I have a great guide showing me exactly when and what quests expire) but I just want to make sure there isn't anything else before saving my files and backup files to there. Nice to see you're progressing with the story. The next several areas are excellent, story-wise. Honestly, the boss wasn't that hard for me. I beat him on my first try, despite being kind of under-leveled. Were you maining as Shulk? And no, nothing gets locked after Prison Island. Things will start getting locked after a couple of areas, though.
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Post by DarknessLink7 on May 2, 2016 11:32:37 GMT -5
Reading another person's thoughts on a story as they play it is always fun. :> It would be cool if you kept us updated as you progress! XBC is truly a masterpiece that I wish I could relive all over again.
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Meta
BLADE Major
Posts: 239
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Post by Meta on May 2, 2016 11:38:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I was using Shulk (I may be the only one who does this, but when a boss has a strong connection to a character, I like to control that character in the fight, at least for now). He just wouldn't let up on the aggro the entire fight. I don't know why.
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Post by Max Galactica on May 2, 2016 11:52:42 GMT -5
Yeah, I was using Shulk (I may be the only one who does this, but when a boss has a strong connection to a character, I like to control that character in the fight, at least for now). He just wouldn't let up on the aggro the entire fight. I don't know why. Do you have Shadow Eye leveled up sufficiently (probably around level 5-7)?
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Post by heroponriki on May 2, 2016 11:56:35 GMT -5
In case you were wondering, Prison Island is roughly the halfway point in the game. Nothing gets locked out until after the events at Mechonis Core by the way.
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