Dragon Warrior Monsters (NOTE: Team found!)

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-01-13 05:21:36 am

2006-01-12 02:43:20 pm

Never give up!

A new day, a new post. If this gets to be too many I'll ease up, maybe.

I completed D-class in the next part, after taking a couple of tries to gain more levels. FireWeed, Demonite, and Healer are what saw me through. I had skipped E-class altogether, although I'm headed to the Gate of Bravery (I need to acquire one more monster) before I head off to the Gate of Anger and take care of things there.

My time at this point is 1 hour and 17 minutes. I might very well stand a chance at sub-4 at the current rate.

Edit: I just went into the Gate of Bravery and got a female BeanMan (BeanWoman, perhaps? The game calls it a BeanMan even if it's female, which I find funny, and I think it does something similar with other monsters). Next thing to do is level up Golem and BeanMan (I have Demonite along for the ride too since he has healing magic) and then breed them to get Facer (which will have to be female). I'm at 1 hour and 18 minutes to this point.

Edit 2: Managed to level up Golem and BeanMan to the point where I could breed them. I didn't hatch the resulting Facer yet - I'm waiting for when my Demonite or my Florajay (which was just hatched) hits level 20, then I'll put the Facer in their spot in the lineup.

I'm just before what will be the true run of the Gate of Anger, with a time of 1 hour and 22 minutes. By the way, before I forget, I should note that I had to 'bless' the Facer egg (blessing an egg switches the resulting monster's gender, for the previously uninformed. Once the monster's hatched, its gender cannot be changed by any means).

Edit 3: I have tried several times but I still cannot beat the Battlerex at the end of the Gate of Anger. I don't think it's a problem with levels or power, since my monsters still deal sizable damage. I think it's my luck, as I can almost never get MP-restoring items (I can't get Potions yet, and ElfWater is incredibly rare right now) or have enough HP-restoring items available. I do know I have been fighting all the Dragonkids I can reach, because they give experience that I desperately need at this stage and that I can't easily get between now and the Gate of Reflection.

Edit 4: I've decided to handle this gate in two trips (I got lucky with the Warpwing this time). That way, I can run through with a more experienced monster group when I finally try to beat the Gate - particularly from my Florajay, who went from level 1 to level 12 in one trip. At 1 hour and 31 minutes right before the second trip starts.

Edit 5: Finally got rid of that pesky Battlerex. It turns out the secret was not only stocking up on Lovewater (and other healing items), but also coming through with nearly all your MP intact (Blazemore is the best spell I had available for beating her, and the monster of mine that had it, FireWeed, had the most MP of all). Things also got somewhat easier when I drained all of HER MP - she might hit harder but I only have to heal one monster at a time. Also, I'd managed to curse her early in the fight, and during one round she lost something like 150 HP from the curse (at least that's how I saw it), which is pretty sizable considering she's got 1000 HP altogether.

I'm at 1 hour and 41 minutes at the Arena, where I plan to fight the B-class match. I might have to level up some more though.

A new day, a new post.  If this gets to be too many I'll ease up, maybe.

I completed D-class in the next part, after taking a couple of tries to gain more levels.  FireWeed, Demonite, and Healer are what saw me through.  I had skipped E-class altogether, although I'm headed to the Gate of Bravery (I need to acquire one more monster) before I head off to the Gate of Anger and take care of things there.

My time at this point is 1 hour and 17 minutes.  I might very well stand a chance at sub-4 at the current rate.

Edit: I just went into the Gate of Bravery and got a female BeanMan (BeanWoman, perhaps?  The game calls it a BeanMan even if it's female, which I find funny, and I think it does something similar with other monsters).  Next thing to do is level up Golem and BeanMan (I have Demonite along for the ride too since he has healing magic) and then breed them to get Facer (which will have to be female).  I'm at 1 hour and 18 minutes to this point.

Edit 2: Managed to level up Golem and BeanMan to the point where I could breed them.  I didn't hatch the resulting Facer yet - I'm waiting for when my Demonite or my Florajay (which was just hatched) hits level 20, then I'll put the Facer in their spot in the lineup.

I'm just before what will be the true run of the Gate of Anger, with a time of 1 hour and 22 minutes.  By the way, before I forget, I should note that I had to 'bless' the Facer egg (blessing an egg switches the resulting monster's gender, for the previously uninformed.  Once the monster's hatched, its gender cannot be changed by any means).

Edit 3: I have tried several times but I still cannot beat the Battlerex at the end of the Gate of Anger.  I don't think it's a problem with levels or power, since my monsters still deal sizable damage.  I think it's my luck, as I can almost never get MP-restoring items (I can't get Potions yet, and ElfWater is incredibly rare right now) or have enough HP-restoring items available.  I do know I have been fighting all the Dragonkids I can reach, because they give experience that I desperately need at this stage and that I can't easily get between now and the Gate of Reflection.

Edit 4: I've decided to handle this gate in two trips (I got lucky with the Warpwing this time).  That way, I can run through with a more experienced monster group when I finally try to beat the Gate - particularly from my Florajay, who went from level 1 to level 12 in one trip.  At 1 hour and 31 minutes right before the second trip starts.

Edit 5: Finally got rid of that pesky Battlerex.  It turns out the secret was not only stocking up on Lovewater (and other healing items), but also coming through with nearly all your MP intact (Blazemore is the best spell I had available for beating her, and the monster of mine that had it, FireWeed, had the most MP of all).  Things also got somewhat easier when I drained all of HER MP - she might hit harder but I only have to heal one monster at a time.  Also, I'd managed to curse her early in the fight, and during one round she lost something like 150 HP from the curse (at least that's how I saw it), which is pretty sizable considering she's got 1000 HP altogether.

I'm at 1 hour and 41 minutes at the Arena, where I plan to fight the B-class match.  I might have to level up some more though.

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-01-14 01:08:51 am

2006-01-14 01:07:26 am

Never give up!

Okay.

I was able to get in some serious play time today, although only 1/3 of it was successful stuff. However, I did manage to skip C-class by beating B-class early, and I'm in the process of skipping A-class by going through S-class early. I have also managed to get two of my final three monsters - DanceVegi and WhipBird. Lionex is waiting a bit, because I need to beat S-class to get the other monster that'll allow me to get Lionex at all.

My time is 3 hours and 13 minutes to this point. So sadly, sub-4 might not be possible. However, sub-5 ought to be fairly easy.

Edit: Also, just a note that I am ceasing to give updates on this until my practice run is completed.

Red_Scarlet

2006-01-16 11:35:00 am

"I like to watch"

I'd like to see a run of this. I absoultely suck at Pokemon-type games and quit this one after about 8 hours. Maybe I could actually go through it then.

AquaTiger

2006-01-17 02:13:18 am

Never give up!

So I said before that I'd cease to make comments until the run was done. Well, time for me to speak up again.

My run hit a roadblock at S-class, and I had just happened to get the SkyDragon egg earlier in the run to see if I needed it. As it turns out, I've given that a try - the plan is to breed my Demonite (my weakest monster) with the SkyDragon and see if the resulting monster fares better.

Time pending.

AquaTiger

2006-01-26 02:42:45 am

Never give up!

Just an update.

My run is still at a bit of a roadblock with S-class, since I can't get MedusaEye (the result of a breed with Demonite and Skydragon) to stay alive long enough. But then I realized the MedusaEye and the Healer I got a LONG while back are opposite genders.

Therefore, I plan on breeding those two once I can bump their levels high enough.

In the real run, I plan on skipping the Skydragon altogether and breeding the Demonite with the Healer instead. I also plan on keeping Healer active longer than usual to make it level faster. Either that, or I'll get the Battlerex that wanted to join me at the Gate of Anger instead of turning it down.

I still clearly have some strategy refining to do.

By the way, my time at this point is 3 hours and 40 minutes, so while I hope to considerably cut my time, sub-7 is simplistic, and I may even get sub-5 if I do well enough.

AquaTiger

2006-02-08 11:57:16 am

Never give up!

Alright, it's about time I pick up this game again. I've just been putting it off for so long... and now that my other run that had been in the 'current' queue is completed, there is almost NO excuse not to get this done.

I'm technically still on the last trial run before recording, but I still think I'll be ready once the trial run's over.

getter77

2006-02-08 05:29:29 pm

100% runs=great to watch

:places a solitary rose on the grave of Aquatiger's backlog:

AquaTiger

2006-02-14 08:24:56 pm

Never give up!

I finally got around to picking this up again. My practice run, which I'm gonna finish before even attempting the real run, is STILL at a massive roadblock because of S-class - the luck I require in order to get the final battle of that class to go in my favor is insane. I'll detail what must happen early on in the fight:

-My party MUST enter the last fight at maximum health, so my MedusaEye (who's set to Cautious) will defend.
-The enemy Metabble must NOT use Explodet the first turn - that spell is too damaging. (I'm not sure if I can handle it casting Firebolt the first turn either.)
-My DanceVegi (set to Mixed) MUST use LureDance and get the Metabble and Roboster with it (and NOT the MetalDrak). (This part is actually the easiest to get.)
-The enemy MetalDrak MUST attack the Metabble by accident. (Here is the difficult part.)

The best that's happened to me is getting three out of four, and in that case I wound up dying when the enemy was down to one monster (the Metabble). The reason I need the MetalDrak to attack it is because none of my monsters have the needed attack power to kill it in time, whereas that MetalDrak can destroy it in one hit (would you believe me if I said that specific Metabble nearly has single-digit HP?).

I'm at 3 hours and 50 minutes right outside the spot where you sign up for S-class.

I finally got around to picking this up again.  My practice run, which I'm gonna finish before even attempting the real run, is STILL at a massive roadblock because of S-class - the luck I require in order to get the final battle of that class to go in my favor is insane.  I'll detail what must happen early on in the fight:

-My party MUST enter the last fight at maximum health, so my MedusaEye (who's set to Cautious) will defend.
-The enemy Metabble must NOT use Explodet the first turn - that spell is too damaging.  (I'm not sure if I can handle it casting Firebolt the first turn either.)
-My DanceVegi (set to Mixed) MUST use LureDance and get the Metabble and Roboster with it (and NOT the MetalDrak).  (This part is actually the easiest to get.)
-The enemy MetalDrak MUST attack the Metabble by accident.  (Here is the difficult part.)

The best that's happened to me is getting three out of four, and in that case I wound up dying when the enemy was down to one monster (the Metabble).  The reason I need the MetalDrak to attack it is because none of my monsters have the needed attack power to kill it in time, whereas that MetalDrak can destroy it in one hit (would you believe me if I said that specific Metabble nearly has single-digit HP?).

I'm at 3 hours and 50 minutes right outside the spot where you sign up for S-class.

Acryte

2006-02-22 05:22:42 am

Zelda Scientist®

And how are you faring now?

AquaTiger

2006-02-22 12:51:13 pm

Never give up!

Because of an insane amount of required luck, I'm STILL stuck at that one spot.

I refuse to level up further, however, seeing as it won't make a sufficient difference the way my monsters are.

I'll be away for the next three days, but I'll still be able to bring this game with me, so that bodes somewhat well.

AquaTiger

2006-02-26 05:53:31 am

Never give up!

Alright.

I decided to abandon that one practice run and try another one, because I learned my breeding strategy was quite erroneous.

Actually, the one for getting WhipBird is fine. For the DanceVegi sequence, I plan on breeding Golem with FloraMan (which can be gotten from the same gate as BeanMan) instead of BeanMan to get Facer.

As for the Lionex sequence, that undergoes the most change. I plan to breed the SkyDragon that can be gotten from an egg with a Gremlin to get Lizardman, then getting a Demonite from behind one of the Gates (forgot which one) and breeding it with a BeanMan (this is why I swapped this one out of the breeding with Golem; I've noticed it's harder to entice a monster if you've already befriended that kind before) to get Orc. From there, I plan on breeding Orc and Lizardman to get Lionex. The advantage of this strategy is that I get Vivify, which might make things easier on me. A potential disadvantage is horrid MP from the parents.

I'll discuss my time to this point in the NEW trial run later.

Alright.

I decided to abandon that one practice run and try another one, because I learned my breeding strategy was quite erroneous.

Actually, the one for getting WhipBird is fine.  For the DanceVegi sequence, I plan on breeding Golem with FloraMan (which can be gotten from the same gate as BeanMan) instead of BeanMan to get Facer.

As for the Lionex sequence, that undergoes the most change.  I plan to breed the SkyDragon that can be gotten from an egg with a Gremlin to get Lizardman, then getting a Demonite from behind one of the Gates (forgot which one) and breeding it with a BeanMan (this is why I swapped this one out of the breeding with Golem; I've noticed it's harder to entice a monster if you've already befriended that kind before) to get Orc.  From there, I plan on breeding Orc and Lizardman to get Lionex.  The advantage of this strategy is that I get Vivify, which might make things easier on me.  A potential disadvantage is horrid MP from the parents.

I'll discuss my time to this point in the NEW trial run later.

Stupid

2006-02-26 06:28:29 pm

defying gravity

I would definitely watch the run. I own the game myself but I never managed to beat the collosseum fight with the 2 grizzlys

AquaTiger

2006-03-21 01:05:30 am

Never give up!

I'm finally back to working on this practice run. After who knows how long.

So far, I'm right outside the Gate of Anger in 1 hour and 25 minutes. So technically, this is slower than before. But this might work for the better - my Lizardman (who replaces Demonite from my old run) has a pretty good attack power, so I can have him physically attack most turns and heal occasionally, instead of just defend and heal. Once I got him to a decent level, going through D-class was pretty easy. (This might also have to do with the Florajay spamming SleepAll, as well.)

Will keep people posted.

RoyJoy

2006-05-22 10:19:49 pm

Well, I'm going to try a run on this too, see how I do. I plan to start practice maybe tonight. I'll just erase my game... it's not that great anyways. I'm still stuck on Milayou. Hah! She's pretty tough.

AquaTiger

2006-05-22 10:22:15 pm

Never give up!

Alright, due to that thread earlier I thought I'd bring this back up farther.

My Gamecube game system (with attached GBP) is not back up yet, since I had to reorganize the desk as well as do a reinstall on this machine. However, I may consider practicing Dragon Warrior Monsters with an emulator soon, putting a savestate right at the start of where each segment would be and reloading it if a segment goes wrong. This way, I can gauge how rough some segments will be and find some ways to approach them well. (Reloading a savestate takes at least 30 seconds less than resetting a game system. And besides, other people practiced with emulators before doing real runs on their consoles - why shouldn't I?)

I should point out that in any segment with breeding, the breeding should probably be done near the END of a segment. Why? When you breed off any monsters, the game automatically saves, so there's no second chance there. (As for save abuse, I actually haven't tested that version of it. Someone tell me if reloading right after that kind of save, and then starting the next segment from there, saves any time.)

Alright, due to that thread earlier I thought I'd bring this back up farther.

My Gamecube game system (with attached GBP) is not back up yet, since I had to reorganize the desk as well as do a reinstall on this machine.  However, I may consider practicing Dragon Warrior Monsters with an emulator soon, putting a savestate right at the start of where each segment would be and reloading it if a segment goes wrong.  This way, I can gauge how rough some segments will be and find some ways to approach them well.  (Reloading a savestate takes at least 30 seconds less than resetting a game system.  And besides, other people practiced with emulators before doing real runs on their consoles - why shouldn't I?)

I should point out that in any segment with breeding, the breeding should probably be done near the END of a segment.  Why?  When you breed off any monsters, the game automatically saves, so there's no second chance there.  (As for save abuse, I actually haven't tested that version of it.  Someone tell me if reloading right after that kind of save, and then starting the next segment from there, saves any time.)

slowbro

2006-05-23 05:31:29 am

Wow, good luck at this, I remember reaching this game's ending long ago but feeling too beaten up by the game to continue any farther. A run of this would be awesome.

AquaTiger

2006-08-03 11:49:33 pm

Never give up!

Okay.

I know I haven't even discussed this game in months, but I discovered yet another wrinkle in my strategy.

The Whistle spell can substitute for getting a ShinyHarp, and make levelling that much faster. Trick is, GiantSlug is the first monster from which I have a real chance of getting that skill. And the earliest I can get one of those is from the Gate in the Researcher's Well. To enter that gate, I need some monster that has electrical capability, and the earliest one I think I can get is a BoneSlave from the Gate of Peace. Another advantage is that if I researched this right, the well gate has Metaly monsters behind it, which improves my levelling speed. Thus, I plan on going with that route.

This means my latest breeding strategy would be as follows:

Monster 1
-Breed the FaceTree won from one of the gates (Bewilder, right?) with a GiantSlug gotten from the well to get a Cactiball.
-Breed a Dracky with the Cactiball to get Florajay.
-When you can use May's Rayburn, breed the Florajay with it to get WhipBird.

Monster 2
-Breed a Stubsuck with the Dragon from the Gate of Villager to get Fireweed.
-Breed the Golem from the Gate of Talisman with a FloraMan to get Facer.
-Breed the Fireweed with the Facer to get DanceVegi.

Monster 3
-Breed a Demonite with a BeanMan to get Orc.
-Breed the SkyDragon gotten from the egg with Gremlin to get Lizardman.
-Breed the Orc with the Lizardman to get Lionex.
-In order to improve Lionex's MP situation, I may consider breeding him with a DarkEye, obtained from the Gate of Temptation.

One more thing. The first-tier breeding (first set of breedings for all setups, plus the Dracky/Cactiball breeding) should probably wait until level 20 for each monster, and the second-tier breeding (for the final resulting monsters) should probably wait until level 30 for each monster. I'll see if that's feasible in terms of time later - if not, I'll just do it the way I was before, which is 10 for first-tier and 20 for second-tier. (It probably couldn't have been done before, but it may be possible now thanks to Whistle.)

Okay.

I know I haven't even discussed this game in months, but I discovered yet another wrinkle in my strategy.

The Whistle spell can substitute for getting a ShinyHarp, and make levelling that much faster.  Trick is, GiantSlug is the first monster from which I have a real chance of getting that skill.  And the earliest I can get one of those is from the Gate in the Researcher's Well.  To enter that gate, I need some monster that has electrical capability, and the earliest one I think I can get is a BoneSlave from the Gate of Peace.  Another advantage is that if I researched this right, the well gate has Metaly monsters behind it, which improves my levelling speed.  Thus, I plan on going with that route.

This means my latest breeding strategy would be as follows:

[u]Monster 1[/u]
-Breed the FaceTree won from one of the gates (Bewilder, right?) with a GiantSlug gotten from the well to get a Cactiball.
-Breed a Dracky with the Cactiball to get Florajay.
-When you can use May's Rayburn, breed the Florajay with it to get WhipBird.

[u]Monster 2[/u]
-Breed a Stubsuck with the Dragon from the Gate of Villager to get Fireweed.
-Breed the Golem from the Gate of Talisman with a FloraMan to get Facer.
-Breed the Fireweed with the Facer to get DanceVegi.

[u]Monster 3[/u]
-Breed a Demonite with a BeanMan to get Orc.
-Breed the SkyDragon gotten from the egg with Gremlin to get Lizardman.
-Breed the Orc with the Lizardman to get Lionex.
-In order to improve Lionex's MP situation, I may consider breeding him with a DarkEye, obtained from the Gate of Temptation.

One more thing.  The first-tier breeding (first set of breedings for all setups, plus the Dracky/Cactiball breeding) should probably wait until level 20 for each monster, and the second-tier breeding (for the final resulting monsters) should probably wait until level 30 for each monster.  I'll see if that's feasible in terms of time later - if not, I'll just do it the way I was before, which is 10 for first-tier and 20 for second-tier.  (It probably couldn't have been done before, but it may be possible now thanks to Whistle.)

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-08-06 08:15:29 pm

2006-08-06 07:42:50 pm

Never give up!

Things have changed AGAIN.

I plan on throwing in a few more breedings in the series resulting in the first monster. Instead of capturing a GiantSlug, I plan on breeding a GoHopper with the Healer you get in the Beginning Gate to get it. Also, I plan on catching an Anteater to make the early gates faster, and then breeding it with the Dracky to get BullBird (I rephrased because Dracky needs to be first here).

From there, FaceTree will be bred with the GiantSlug as normally planned, and BullBird will be bred with the resulting Cactiball. I'm debating whether I even need to open the well gate, although I may still do so just because the idea of fighting Metaly monsters to level up is just too alluring.

Still working on how I'd segment this game, but I hope for very little 'on the fly' segmenting. This is because too many segments often costs more time than too few segments would.

My current test run has me waiting just outside the Gate of Talisman at 23 minutes. This is slower than my best, but faster than average. I wound up entering BOTH the Beginning and Villager gates twice because I wanted to keep monsters I'd gotten (Dracky and Anteater in the Beginning Gate; GoHopper, Stubsuck, AND Gremlin in the Villager gate). In the real run, when doing a gate where I want the boss monster and I NEED more than one extra monster from that gate, I'm probably going to worry about going through the gate once first and get the monsters from that gate I need (besides ones I NEED to get in the FIRST pass) on the second pass.

My current segmenting plan looks like this:
1. Go through intro area. Get Slib and save just outside the Beginning Gate (Slib must have 28+ HP here).
2. Go through the Beginning Gate, getting Dracky and Anteater (make sure they're different genders), and then beating and getting the Healer at the end. Save right before talking to the Arena lady.
3. Survive G class and save just outside the Gate of Villager.
4. Go through the Gate of Villager, getting Gremlin (gender irrelevant) and then beating and getting the Dragon at the end.
5. Go through Villager again, making sure you have a Warpwing, and just get Stubsuck and GoHopper (both must be female). Warp out as soon as you get both and save just outside the Gate of Talisman.
6. Go through the Gate of Talisman, and just get the Golem at the end. Save just before talking to the Arena lady.
7. Survive F class. Get a BeastTail if you can afford it, then make sure the SkyDragon's gender is opposite the Gremlin's and hatch it (again, if you can afford it). Save just outside the Gate of Bewilder.
8. Go through the Gate of Bewilder, picking up a Demonite (gender irrelevant), and then getting FaceTree at the end.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Things have changed AGAIN.

I plan on throwing in a few more breedings in the series resulting in the first monster.  Instead of capturing a GiantSlug, I plan on breeding a GoHopper with the Healer you get in the Beginning Gate to get it.  Also, I plan on catching an Anteater to make the early gates faster, and then breeding it with the Dracky to get BullBird (I rephrased because Dracky needs to be first here).

From there, FaceTree will be bred with the GiantSlug as normally planned, and BullBird will be bred with the resulting Cactiball.  I'm debating whether I even need to open the well gate, although I may still do so just because the idea of fighting Metaly monsters to level up is just too alluring.

Still working on how I'd segment this game, but I hope for very little 'on the fly' segmenting.  This is because too many segments often costs more time than too few segments would.

My current test run has me waiting just outside the Gate of Talisman at 23 minutes.  This is slower than my best, but faster than average.  I wound up entering BOTH the Beginning and Villager gates twice because I wanted to keep monsters I'd gotten (Dracky and Anteater in the Beginning Gate; GoHopper, Stubsuck, AND Gremlin in the Villager gate).  In the real run, when doing a gate where I want the boss monster and I NEED more than one extra monster from that gate, I'm probably going to worry about going through the gate once first and get the monsters from that gate I need (besides ones I NEED to get in the FIRST pass) on the second pass.

My current segmenting plan looks like this:
1. Go through intro area.  Get Slib and save just outside the Beginning Gate (Slib must have 28+ HP here).
2. Go through the Beginning Gate, getting Dracky and Anteater (make sure they're different genders), and then beating and getting the Healer at the end.  Save right before talking to the Arena lady.
3. Survive G class and save just outside the Gate of Villager.
4. Go through the Gate of Villager, getting Gremlin (gender irrelevant) and then beating and getting the Dragon at the end.
5. Go through Villager again, making sure you have a Warpwing, and just get Stubsuck and GoHopper (both must be female).  Warp out as soon as you get both and save just outside the Gate of Talisman.
6. Go through the Gate of Talisman, and just get the Golem at the end.  Save just before talking to the Arena lady.
7. Survive F class.  Get a BeastTail if you can afford it, then make sure the SkyDragon's gender is opposite the Gremlin's and hatch it (again, if you can afford it).  Save just outside the Gate of Bewilder.
8. Go through the Gate of Bewilder, picking up a Demonite (gender irrelevant), and then getting FaceTree at the end.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

hypershadow06

Edit history:

hypershadow06: 2006-08-06 10:03:01 pm

2006-08-06 10:02:18 pm

...

I have nothing helpful to say but I wish you luck !

I got about halfway through the game and it was very difficult. Very good game though, although I think the monsters were lost on me because I hadn't played a Dragon Quest game before. I would probably appreciate the game more now having played Dragon Quest VIII.

I'm looking forward to the watching the run Smiley

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-08-08 12:24:38 am

2006-08-06 10:29:52 pm

Never give up!

Well, yeah, some familiarity with the monsters might help a bit. And yes, the game gets very difficult near the end - my strategy is focused around trying to get a set of monsters that'll let me win the Starry Night Tournament (even though you can keep playing after that point, I consider the Starry Night Tournament the end of an any% speedrun like the kind I'm doing).

I might as well start listing 'strategies' for important fights - I mean, most of the work will be done by my monsters, but the question "what prep would I need to do beforehand?" is covered here.

Beginning Gate - Hale (Healer) - I just need to enter with a Slime, a Dracky, and an Anteater. They can take care of the work from there - I may need to heal them on occasion with Herbs, but otherwise I don't need to babysit them.

G Classification - I should enter this with a Healer, a Dracky, and an Anteater. Set the Healer's stance to Cautious and the other two to Charge. The rest is simple.

Gate of Villager - Dran (Dragon) - I need to enter this with a Dracky, either a Gremlin or a Healer, and an Anteater. The Gremlin or the Healer should be on Cautious, and the other two should be on Charge. This is mainly a battle of attrition - I will definitely need to stock up on healing items prior to this battle. My job is to aid Hale in keeping the party healthy while the other two kick some butt. Anteater has a fairly high attack power for this stage of the game, so that will make this fight faster.

Gate of Talisman - Golm (Golem) - I should bring a Dragon, an Anteater, and either a Gremlin or a Healer. The first two monsters should be on Charge while the last should be on Cautious. This should be much easier than the Dragon fight, since the Golem lacks a group-hitting attack.

F class - I need to bring a Gremlin, a Healer, and a Dragon in here. For all situations, the Healer is on Cautious. For the first two fights, the Gremlin and Dragon will be on Charge for the first round, then the Gremlin will be on Cautious while the Dragon will be on No Sp Sk (no special skills - basically means normal attacks only). In the final round, the Gremlin and the Dragon will be on Charge the whole time. If all goes well, the Gremlin will be able to get one Firebal spell off in the final fight, drastically reducing the time it takes to beat the Putrepup/MadRaven/Skullroo team at the end.

More on this later.

Edit: Now, it is very likely I'm going to be doing 'on-the-fly' segments in this run. This game is far more random than the Pokemon series is, especially since every gate level is randomly generated as you enter it (some floors, starting from the Memories and Bewilder gates, allow you to save without any 'BookMark' items, but most don't), and getting a monster to join you is more random and frustrating here than in Pokemon (since to get a second chance, you must enter an extra battle).

A sample I am going to show here soon (it seems I really can't upload ANYTHING right now) indicates such a situation where I may make an 'on-the-fly' segment.

Well, yeah, some familiarity with the monsters might help a bit.  And yes, the game gets very difficult near the end - my strategy is focused around trying to get a set of monsters that'll let me win the Starry Night Tournament (even though you can keep playing after that point, I consider the Starry Night Tournament the end of an any% speedrun like the kind I'm doing).

I might as well start listing 'strategies' for important fights - I mean, most of the work will be done by my monsters, but the question "what prep would I need to do beforehand?" is covered here.

Beginning Gate - Hale (Healer) - I just need to enter with a Slime, a Dracky, and an Anteater.  They can take care of the work from there - I may need to heal them on occasion with Herbs, but otherwise I don't need to babysit them.

G Classification - I should enter this with a Healer, a Dracky, and an Anteater.  Set the Healer's stance to Cautious and the other two to Charge.  The rest is simple.

Gate of Villager - Dran (Dragon) - I need to enter this with a Dracky, either a Gremlin or a Healer, and an Anteater.  The Gremlin or the Healer should be on Cautious, and the other two should be on Charge.  This is mainly a battle of attrition - I will definitely need to stock up on healing items prior to this battle.  My job is to aid Hale in keeping the party healthy while the other two kick some butt.  Anteater has a fairly high attack power for this stage of the game, so that will make this fight faster.

Gate of Talisman - Golm (Golem) - I should bring a Dragon, an Anteater, and either a Gremlin or a Healer.  The first two monsters should be on Charge while the last should be on Cautious.  This should be much easier than the Dragon fight, since the Golem lacks a group-hitting attack.

F class - I need to bring a Gremlin, a Healer, and a Dragon in here.  For all situations, the Healer is on Cautious.  For the first two fights, the Gremlin and Dragon will be on Charge for the first round, then the Gremlin will be on Cautious while the Dragon will be on No Sp Sk (no special skills - basically means normal attacks only).  In the final round, the Gremlin and the Dragon will be on Charge the whole time.  If all goes well, the Gremlin will be able to get one Firebal spell off in the final fight, drastically reducing the time it takes to beat the Putrepup/MadRaven/Skullroo team at the end.

More on this later.

Edit: Now, it is very likely I'm going to be doing 'on-the-fly' segments in this run.  This game is far more random than the Pokemon series is, especially since every gate level is randomly generated as you enter it (some floors, starting from the Memories and Bewilder gates, allow you to save without any 'BookMark' items, but most don't), and getting a monster to join you is more random and frustrating here than in Pokemon (since to get a second chance, you must enter an extra battle).

A sample I am going to show here soon (it seems I really can't upload ANYTHING right now) indicates such a situation where I may make an 'on-the-fly' segment.

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-10-19 01:58:05 am

2006-10-18 11:54:11 pm

Never give up!

After I finish up with midterms, I'm taking another shot at this game. And I've thought of ANOTHER breeding strategy.... I believe I can go through the endgame relying on just one monster. I'll use other monsters as I deem appropriate, but here's the strategy that will get the monster I want:

-Breed a Stubsuck with a Demonite (worry less about its MP - I'll fix MP issues later) to get a Gulpple.
-Breed a Dragon with the Gulpple to get an Andreal.
-Breed a Gremlin with a Spooky to get a MedusaEye.
-Breed the Andreal with the MedusaEye to get an Orochi.
-Breed the free SkyDragon with the Orochi to get Divinegon.

According to the Tiger Marmalade site for this game, a Divinegon has maximum or near-maximum resistance to almost EVERYTHING. The only spell it does not have near-maximum resistance to is MegaMagic, and even here it holds the distinction of being one of the few monsters to have ANY resistance to MegaMagic. (Far as its resistance to Zap and Explodet? Near-max to Zap, max to Explodet.) If I just level up enough, I can cover that problem, as Divinegon has some of the highest stat growths in the game ACROSS THE BOARD as well. His heritage allows him a good healing spell and some decent attack spells, and his immediate parentage allows him access to MultiCut and BiAttack/QuadHits. To round it out, if I REALLY level him, he naturally gets another nasty spell, BigBang.

Planned skills, by the way:
-Heal series (passed from Gremlin)
-FireAir series (passed from Dragon, Orochi, SkyDragon)
-FrigidAir series (passed from Demonite, but also natural)
-BiAttack series (inherited from Orochi)
-Blaze series (passed from Demonite)
-StepGuard (passed from Stubsuck)
-MultiCut (inherited from SkyDragon)
-BigBang (natural; if I don't get this, alternate is Infernos series from Gulpple or Andreal)

If all goes according to plan, I won't need anything else in the ENDgame. I will still need other monsters while this one is maturing, and here's my plan for those.

-Breed a Dracky and an Anteater to get Bullbird.
-Breed a GoHopper with a Healer to get GiantSlug.
-Early on, consider catching a Golem. Maybe breed either the Bullbird or the GiantSlug with it? I dunno.

How did I NOT see this before.....

Necessary monster locations:
Stubsuck - Gate of Villager
Demonite - Gate of Bewilder
Dragon - Free for completing the Gate of Villager
Gremlin - Gate of Villager
Spooky - Gate of Talisman
SkyDragon - Talk to Pulio after freeing him, then stand under the dragon in the farm
Dracky - Beginning Gate
Anteater - Beginning Gate
GoHopper - Gate of Villager
Healer - Free for completing the Beginning Gate
Golem - Free for completing the Gate of Talisman

Clearly, the Gate of Villager in this strategy is going to be painful, as four of my necessary monsters come from it. That may take two or, if I'm REALLY unlucky, three passes to get an optimal time. On the upside, I could potentially have Divinegon and the two companions by the Gate of Anger, making the remaining game considerably easier and probably faster. (I would probably wait until I can get all the necessary moves, but if that occurs before the Gate of Anger, so be it.)

After I finish up with midterms, I'm taking another shot at this game.  And I've thought of ANOTHER breeding strategy.... I believe I can go through the endgame relying on just one monster.  I'll use other monsters as I deem appropriate, but here's the strategy that will get the monster I want:

-Breed a Stubsuck with a Demonite (worry less about its MP - I'll fix MP issues later) to get a Gulpple.
-Breed a Dragon with the Gulpple to get an Andreal.
-Breed a Gremlin with a Spooky to get a MedusaEye.
-Breed the Andreal with the MedusaEye to get an Orochi.
-Breed the free SkyDragon with the Orochi to get [b]Divinegon[/b].

According to the Tiger Marmalade site for this game, a Divinegon has maximum or near-maximum resistance to almost EVERYTHING.  The only spell it does not have near-maximum resistance to is MegaMagic, and even here it holds the distinction of being one of the few monsters to have ANY resistance to MegaMagic.  (Far as its resistance to Zap and Explodet?  Near-max to Zap, max to Explodet.)  If I just level up enough, I can cover that problem, as Divinegon has some of the highest stat growths in the game ACROSS THE BOARD as well.  His heritage allows him a good healing spell and some decent attack spells, and his immediate parentage allows him access to MultiCut and BiAttack/QuadHits.  To round it out, if I REALLY level him, he naturally gets another nasty spell, BigBang.

Planned skills, by the way:
-Heal series (passed from Gremlin)
-FireAir series (passed from Dragon, Orochi, SkyDragon)
-FrigidAir series (passed from Demonite, but also natural)
-BiAttack series (inherited from Orochi)
-Blaze series (passed from Demonite)
-StepGuard (passed from Stubsuck)
-MultiCut (inherited from SkyDragon)
-BigBang (natural; if I don't get this, alternate is Infernos series from Gulpple or Andreal)

If all goes according to plan, I won't need anything else in the ENDgame.  I will still need other monsters while this one is maturing, and here's my plan for those.

-Breed a Dracky and an Anteater to get Bullbird.
-Breed a GoHopper with a Healer to get GiantSlug.
-Early on, consider catching a Golem.  Maybe breed either the Bullbird or the GiantSlug with it?  I dunno.

How did I NOT see this before.....

[u]Necessary monster locations:[/u]
Stubsuck - Gate of Villager
Demonite - Gate of Bewilder
Dragon - Free for completing the Gate of Villager
Gremlin - Gate of Villager
Spooky - Gate of Talisman
SkyDragon - Talk to Pulio after freeing him, then stand under the dragon in the farm
Dracky - Beginning Gate
Anteater - Beginning Gate
GoHopper - Gate of Villager
Healer - Free for completing the Beginning Gate
Golem - Free for completing the Gate of Talisman

Clearly, the Gate of Villager in this strategy is going to be painful, as four of my necessary monsters come from it.  That may take two or, if I'm REALLY unlucky, three passes to get an optimal time.  On the upside, I could potentially have Divinegon and the two companions by the Gate of Anger, making the remaining game considerably easier and probably faster.  (I would probably wait until I can get all the necessary moves, but if that occurs before the Gate of Anger, so be it.)

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-10-21 01:08:58 am

2006-10-19 04:14:05 pm

Never give up!

I separated this post in order to be able to write progress without filling the last one (used solely for strategies).

Since this game is more bearable for me to play in short spurts than Pokemon Silver, I'm going to do the tests for this setup first.

Currently at 42 minutes outside the Gate of Bewilder, which holds the last monster I need for my strategy to work. This is slower than my fastest, but I'm accepting suboptimal luck for the test run.

Even though I've just accessed the Shrine of Starry Night (for monster breeding), I have yet to get any monster to level 10. The closest is a Healer at level 8.

Edit: At 1 hour and 7 minutes right before entering the F-class matches. Took so long because I chose to make sure to breed the GiantSlug and Bullbird before going there, and that required some levelling up.

The plus side is that after a little time with wimpy monsters in some later gates, I'll be able to use Whistle and speed up the levelling process. (That, and I didn't completely clear Bewilder, rather entering once to get the Demonite, Warpwinging it out, and then going two extra times to level up, also Winging out of each. I plan on saving those Stubsuck monsters for when it's time to level up SkyDragon and Orochi, as I believe I can get the Divinegon before entering Anger and thus reserve THOSE bonus monsters for Divinegon.)

Edit 2: Several attempts later, at 1 hour and 39 minutes before the Gate of Bravery, I've learned some more things. I've decided I am not going to skip any of the first four classes. However, since I'll be able to use Divinegon before the Gate of Anger if I stall a little (particularly if I do a lot of monster raising in Bravery), I plan on skipping C-class and A-class altogether.

As far as party plans for each class match, I've got my choices thought out:
-For G-class, I won't have a lot of options. I'll plan on using Dracky, Anteater, and Healer.
-For F-class, my options open up a bit but are still limited. My current plan calls for Dragon, Golem, and either Gremlin or Healer.
-When my options finally open up for real in E-class, I plan on diversifying my party right away. I plan on having GiantSlug, Dragon, and Bullbird for this match. If I raise Dragon enough so he gets BlazeAir, this match will be a breeze, but I don't even think I need to go that far at all.
-I plan on getting Divinegon before the D-class match. My party set for the remaining matches (indeed, the remainder of the GAME) will be GiantSlug, Divinegon, and Bullbird.

I will need 160 G for the first four classes, and an additional 11000 G for the two classes of the second set I plan on participating in. I also need several thousand for the necessary Warpwings (the only gates I plan on completing fully are Beginning, Villager, Talisman, Anger, and Reflection; the first three have key boss monsters and the last two are required anyway - so I need to use Warpwings for most monster-raising situations), AND I may need a couple thousand more to evaluate/bless monster eggs (the blessing switches the monster's gender, which is crucial because of the breeding pattern I need to follow). All in all, we're looking at probably 16K to cover all expenses during the run. While this isn't comparatively money-intensive when viewed in the great morass of RPGs, nor is it money-intensive compared to playing the game casually, it's still a LOT I need to worry about. I will NEED at least one in-gate shop and some staves - anything above a MistStaff will help a lot - in order to cover the cost in a timely manner.

............I HATE being forced to draw a lucky hand.

Edit 3: To show how fast a Divinegon can be gotten in this game, I shall tell you that I am at 2 hours and 8 minutes, with this monster in my party at level 1. It can be gotten faster than this because I screwed around early, but I finally have my party setup for this test completely in place.

Once I can bring him to about level 10 or so - just want to get her some half-decent skills and then I'll march all over D-class.

Edit 4: With a level 5 Divinegon, a GiantSlug and Bullbird at levels over 15, and some strategy, I managed to clear D-class and am in front of the Gate of Anger at 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The only issue Divinegon brings is levelling - in any given gate, I have to harvest enemies with just the Divinegon and the GiantSlug for several minutes just to gain a few levels. Party stability from this point on will help that a bit, though, since I won't have to have any more monsters start from level 1 from now on.

On a side note, even with the Divinegon in my party, Mick STILL said I had no chance with the monsters I had (I imagine quite a few readers think the same thing). This before I kicked his butt without losing a party member (I came close a number of times, and that's when strategy kicked in).

Last Edit: Known level requirements:
=G-class: If I was able to beat Healer, I'm fine.
=Dragon: I ought to have all my active monsters at level 4, at least. Maybe a little higher.
=Golem: Probably level 6 or 7 for each monster.
=F-class: If I beat Golem, I'm fine.
=E-class: Whole party at level 10.
=D-class: If the Divinegon is at level 5, and the GiantSlug and Bullbird are at level 16+, I should be okay.
=Gate of Anger: Divinegon needs to be level 10. All others should be above 20 by now.

I separated this post in order to be able to write progress without filling the last one (used solely for strategies).

Since this game is more bearable for me to play in short spurts than Pokemon Silver, I'm going to do the tests for this setup first.

Currently at 42 minutes outside the Gate of Bewilder, which holds the last monster I need for my strategy to work.  This is slower than my fastest, but I'm accepting suboptimal luck for the test run.

Even though I've just accessed the Shrine of Starry Night (for monster breeding), I have yet to get any monster to level 10.  The closest is a Healer at level 8.

Edit: At 1 hour and 7 minutes right before entering the F-class matches.  Took so long because I chose to make sure to breed the GiantSlug and Bullbird before going there, and that required some levelling up.

The plus side is that after a little time with wimpy monsters in some later gates, I'll be able to use Whistle and speed up the levelling process.  (That, and I didn't completely clear Bewilder, rather entering once to get the Demonite, Warpwinging it out, and then going two extra times to level up, also Winging out of each.  I plan on saving those Stubsuck monsters for when it's time to level up SkyDragon and Orochi, as I believe I can get the Divinegon before entering Anger and thus reserve THOSE bonus monsters for Divinegon.)

Edit 2: Several attempts later, at 1 hour and 39 minutes before the Gate of Bravery, I've learned some more things.  I've decided I am not going to skip any of the first four classes.  However, since I'll be able to use Divinegon before the Gate of Anger if I stall a little (particularly if I do a lot of monster raising in Bravery), I plan on skipping C-class and A-class altogether.

As far as party plans for each class match, I've got my choices thought out:
-For G-class, I won't have a lot of options.  I'll plan on using Dracky, Anteater, and Healer.
-For F-class, my options open up a bit but are still limited.  My current plan calls for Dragon, Golem, and either Gremlin or Healer.
-When my options finally open up for real in E-class, I plan on diversifying my party right away.  I plan on having GiantSlug, Dragon, and Bullbird for this match.  If I raise Dragon enough so he gets BlazeAir, this match will be a breeze, but I don't even think I need to go that far at all.
-I plan on getting Divinegon before the D-class match.  My party set for the remaining matches (indeed, the remainder of the GAME) will be GiantSlug, Divinegon, and Bullbird.

I will need 160 G for the first four classes, and an additional 11000 G for the two classes of the second set I plan on participating in.  I also need several thousand for the necessary Warpwings (the only gates I plan on completing fully are Beginning, Villager, Talisman, Anger, and Reflection; the first three have key boss monsters and the last two are required anyway - so I need to use Warpwings for most monster-raising situations), AND I may need a couple thousand more to evaluate/bless monster eggs (the blessing switches the monster's gender, which is crucial because of the breeding pattern I need to follow).  All in all, we're looking at probably 16K to cover all expenses during the run.  While this isn't comparatively money-intensive when viewed in the great morass of RPGs, nor is it money-intensive compared to playing the game casually, it's still a LOT I need to worry about.  I will NEED at least one in-gate shop and some staves - anything above a MistStaff will help a lot - in order to cover the cost in a timely manner.

............I HATE being forced to draw a lucky hand.

Edit 3: To show how fast a Divinegon can be gotten in this game, I shall tell you that I am at 2 hours and 8 minutes, with this monster in my party at level 1.  It can be gotten faster than this because I screwed around early, but I finally have my party setup for this test completely in place.

Once I can bring him to about level 10 or so - just want to get her some half-decent skills and then I'll march all over D-class.

Edit 4: With a level 5 Divinegon, a GiantSlug and Bullbird at levels over 15, and some strategy, I managed to clear D-class and am in front of the Gate of Anger at 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The only issue Divinegon brings is levelling - in any given gate, I have to harvest enemies with just the Divinegon and the GiantSlug for several minutes just to gain a few levels.  Party stability from this point on will help that a bit, though, since I won't have to have any more monsters start from level 1 from now on.

On a side note, even with the Divinegon in my party, Mick STILL said I had no chance with the monsters I had (I imagine quite a few readers think the same thing).  This before I kicked his butt without losing a party member (I came close a number of times, and that's when strategy kicked in).

Last Edit: Known level requirements:
=G-class: If I was able to beat Healer, I'm fine.
=Dragon: I ought to have all my active monsters at level 4, at least.  Maybe a little higher.
=Golem: Probably level 6 or 7 for each monster.
=F-class: If I beat Golem, I'm fine.
=E-class: Whole party at level 10.
=D-class: If the Divinegon is at level 5, and the GiantSlug and Bullbird are at level 16+, I should be okay.
=Gate of Anger: Divinegon needs to be level 10.  All others should be above 20 by now.

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-10-27 07:28:11 pm

2006-10-27 01:48:45 pm

Never give up!

Okay.

There's going to have to be a LOT of level-grinding in the Gate of Anger. By the time Divinegon made it to level 10, BullBird and GiantSlug gained many more levels.

As it turns out, it wasn't Divinegon's upgraded breath weapons that let me beat Battlerex. It was GiantSlug's ability "CallHelp", which entirely took me by surprise. I had several rounds where GiantSlug was dishing out over 100 points of damage because of that skill. I was in fact able to beat Battlerex before she ran out of MP, which is not an easy task at all.

Anyway, I've completed the Gate of Anger and experienced Greattree's first growth spurt at 2 hours and 55 minutes. I'm going to try B-class next and see if I can open up some strong Gates in order to get Divinegon to a more reasonable level.

Edit: I took another look at the resistance chart, and it seems more monsters resist MegaMagic than I originally thought. (The majority of the Slime family, for instance.) Anyway, it sadly turns out that a lot of the skills Divinegon will get (and the one good attack skill GiantSlug gets, the CallHelp series) are not going to be useful in the final battle. Here's what I noted for crucial resistances of the final fight in the Starry Night Tournament.
-MetalKing is immune to any spell or magic ability I can throw at it (this includes CallHelp). In fact, the only resistance-reliant attack skill to which it is NOT fully immune is Gigaslash. I still have BiAttack/QuadHits for something relying on attack/defense stats, and thankfully MetalKing has hideous HP, so that may have to be my plan of action for dealing with it.
-Coatol is immune to the FireAir series, strong against the Blaze and BigBang series, and resistant to all else I can throw at it magic-wise. I suspect he also has the highest HP of the lot. I mentioned GigaSlash and Coatol is resistant to it.
-RainHawk is strong against the FireAir, Blaze, and BigBang series and immune to all other spells and magical abilities I can throw at it (including CallHelp). This is the monster that might give me problems surviving the first round, in all honesty, because it blasts out MegaMagic right away. I should also note that should I choose to add GigaSlash (by breeding the Divinegon with a Lizardman), RainHawk's immune to it.

And for my own monsters:
-GiantSlug resists MegaMagic, but is vulnerable to the Bang and Bolt series.
-Divinegon is immune to the Bang series, strong against the Bolt series, and resists MegaMagic.
-BullBird is strong against the Bolt series, but vulnerable against the Bang series and MegaMagic.

I tested two other bosses as well and here's the results on those:
-Durran is vulnerable to the CallHelp series, resistant against the FireAir and FrigidAir series, and strong against all else I can throw at it. He's also vulnerable to GigaSlash.
-BattleRex is immune to the FireAir series, strong against the Blaze, BigBang, Infernos, and MultiCut series, and resistant against all else I can throw at it. If I for some reason got it this early, BattleRex is resistant to GigaSlash.

If I have to create yet another strategy, I may consider getting a Lionex in place of BullBird. And make the Lionex a near-dedicated healer (it can at least get revival spells through its ancestry). FYI, Lionex is strong against the Bolt and Bang series but quite vulnerable to MegaMagic.

Here's what I'd do for that, anyway:
-Swap in 1EyeClown (from Bravery) for Gremlin in the MedusaEye breeding step. This gives IceBolt instead of Heal.
-Instead breed the Gremlin with a BeanMan, found in the Gate of Bravery, to get Orc.
-I have two options for getting Lizardman in this setup. Either breed a MiniDrak (from Bewilder or Talisman) with a SkulRider or Pixy (from Strength and Happiness respectively), or catch a wild Lizardman in the Gate of Reflection. I'd probably do the latter.
-Breed the Orc with the Lizardman to get Lionex. The advantage of waiting so long on this one is that I can get very good MP stats early on.

While we're on stats, here's noteworthy milestones I need to jot down.
-WhiteFire/WhiteAir: level 30, 210 HP
-Blazemost: level 28, 112 MP, 146 INT
-Infermost: level 27, 104 MP, 134 INT
-MultiCut: level 28, 154 HP, 140 MP, 168 ATT, 168 AGI, 148 INT
-BigBang: level 36, 196 HP, 196 MP, 208 INT
-GigaSlash: level 33, 231 HP, 164 MP, 198 ATT, 198 AGI, 198 INT
-QuadHits: level 24, 124 HP, 112 ATT, 136 AGI
-HealAll: level 16, 82 MP, 80 INT
-HealUsAll: level 28, 196 MP, 160 INT
-Revive: level 27, 174 MP, 152 INT

Okay.

There's going to have to be a LOT of level-grinding in the Gate of Anger.  By the time Divinegon made it to level 10, BullBird and GiantSlug gained many more levels.

As it turns out, it wasn't Divinegon's upgraded breath weapons that let me beat Battlerex.  It was GiantSlug's ability "CallHelp", which entirely took me by surprise.  I had several rounds where GiantSlug was dishing out over 100 points of damage because of that skill.  I was in fact able to beat Battlerex before she ran out of MP, which is not an easy task at all.

Anyway, I've completed the Gate of Anger and experienced Greattree's first growth spurt at 2 hours and 55 minutes.  I'm going to try B-class next and see if I can open up some strong Gates in order to get Divinegon to a more reasonable level.

Edit: I took another look at the resistance chart, and it seems more monsters resist MegaMagic than I originally thought.  (The majority of the Slime family, for instance.)  Anyway, it sadly turns out that a lot of the skills Divinegon will get (and the one good attack skill GiantSlug gets, the CallHelp series) are not going to be useful in the final battle.  Here's what I noted for crucial resistances of the final fight in the Starry Night Tournament.
-MetalKing is immune to any spell or magic ability I can throw at it (this includes CallHelp).  In fact, the only resistance-reliant attack skill to which it is NOT fully immune is Gigaslash.  I still have BiAttack/QuadHits for something relying on attack/defense stats, and thankfully MetalKing has hideous HP, so that may have to be my plan of action for dealing with it.
-Coatol is immune to the FireAir series, strong against the Blaze and BigBang series, and resistant to all else I can throw at it magic-wise.  I suspect he also has the highest HP of the lot.  I mentioned GigaSlash and Coatol is resistant to it.
-RainHawk is strong against the FireAir, Blaze, and BigBang series and immune to all other spells and magical abilities I can throw at it (including CallHelp).  This is the monster that might give me problems surviving the first round, in all honesty, because it blasts out MegaMagic right away.  I should also note that should I choose to add GigaSlash (by breeding the Divinegon with a Lizardman), RainHawk's immune to it.

And for my own monsters:
-GiantSlug resists MegaMagic, but is vulnerable to the Bang and Bolt series.
-Divinegon is immune to the Bang series, strong against the Bolt series, and resists MegaMagic.
-BullBird is strong against the Bolt series, but vulnerable against the Bang series and MegaMagic.

I tested two other bosses as well and here's the results on those:
-Durran is vulnerable to the CallHelp series, resistant against the FireAir and FrigidAir series, and strong against all else I can throw at it.  He's also vulnerable to GigaSlash.
-BattleRex is immune to the FireAir series, strong against the Blaze, BigBang, Infernos, and MultiCut series, and resistant against all else I can throw at it.  If I for some reason got it this early, BattleRex is resistant to GigaSlash.

If I have to create yet another strategy, I may consider getting a Lionex in place of BullBird.  And make the Lionex a near-dedicated healer (it can at least get revival spells through its ancestry).  FYI, Lionex is strong against the Bolt and Bang series but quite vulnerable to MegaMagic.

Here's what I'd do for that, anyway:
-Swap in 1EyeClown (from Bravery) for Gremlin in the MedusaEye breeding step.  This gives IceBolt instead of Heal.
-Instead breed the Gremlin with a BeanMan, found in the Gate of Bravery, to get Orc.
-I have two options for getting Lizardman in this setup.  Either breed a MiniDrak (from Bewilder or Talisman) with a SkulRider or Pixy (from Strength and Happiness respectively), or catch a wild Lizardman in the Gate of Reflection.  I'd probably do the latter.
-Breed the Orc with the Lizardman to get Lionex.  The advantage of waiting so long on this one is that I can get very good MP stats early on.

While we're on stats, here's noteworthy milestones I need to jot down.
-WhiteFire/WhiteAir: level 30, 210 HP
-Blazemost: level 28, 112 MP, 146 INT
-Infermost: level 27, 104 MP, 134 INT
-MultiCut: level 28, 154 HP, 140 MP, 168 ATT, 168 AGI, 148 INT
-BigBang: level 36, 196 HP, 196 MP, 208 INT
-GigaSlash: level 33, 231 HP, 164 MP, 198 ATT, 198 AGI, 198 INT
-QuadHits: level 24, 124 HP, 112 ATT, 136 AGI
-HealAll: level 16, 82 MP, 80 INT
-HealUsAll: level 28, 196 MP, 160 INT
-Revive: level 27, 174 MP, 152 INT

AquaTiger

Edit history:

AquaTiger: 2006-10-27 07:25:38 pm

2006-10-27 07:20:05 pm

Never give up!

I just realized it's been a year since I began this thread. This run is probably going to qualify for the "It's about time" award if I can ever complete it.

Anyway, I've decided that next time around, I'm going to not only throw in the Lionex breeding, but also try waiting to breed SkyDragon and Orochi until I've beaten S-class. (I probably will keep the Orochi in the party for the most part, just making sure to get SkyDragon some more levels before S-class.)

This way, I can gain a decent set of stats for Divinegon and still get it back up to speed quickly (grinding in Reflection shouldn't take nearly as long as grinding in Anger for the same number of levels). Since the stats of a bred monster equal a quarter of the combined stat totals of the parent monsters, breeding weak parent monsters leaves a weak resulting monster.

If I can't get anywhere with B-class this time around (I am struggling, that's for sure), I'm just going to start this over to try the new strategy.

(By the way, I still plan on grinding for levels a bit in Anger, just to make going right to B-class possible, but it shouldn't take nearly as long to do so with Orochi.)

Edit: At my current state, B-class is a complete roadblock. Therefore, I am starting over and trying this whole thing again.

Someone remind me how many failed strategies this is now.

I just realized it's been a year since I began this thread.  This run is probably going to qualify for the "It's about time" award if I can ever complete it.

Anyway, I've decided that next time around, I'm going to not only throw in the Lionex breeding, but also try waiting to breed SkyDragon and Orochi until I've beaten S-class.  (I probably will keep the Orochi in the party for the most part, just making sure to get SkyDragon some more levels before S-class.)

This way, I can gain a decent set of stats for Divinegon and still get it back up to speed quickly (grinding in Reflection shouldn't take nearly as long as grinding in Anger for the same number of levels).  Since the stats of a bred monster equal a quarter of the combined stat totals of the parent monsters, breeding weak parent monsters leaves a weak resulting monster.

If I can't get anywhere with B-class this time around (I am struggling, that's for sure), I'm just going to start this over to try the new strategy.

(By the way, I still plan on grinding for levels a bit in Anger, just to make going right to B-class possible, but it shouldn't take nearly as long to do so with Orochi.)

Edit: At my current state, B-class is a complete roadblock.  Therefore, I am starting over and trying this whole thing again.

Someone remind me how many failed strategies this is now.

stanski

2006-10-27 11:44:49 pm

wise fwom yo gwave

I'm really looking forward to seeing this game beat, as I like it 20 times more than pokemon and there are a million pokemon runs on here. So keep at it aquatiger!!!