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Highly Evolved
Haven't been keeping up with this thread for various reasons.  I generally don't watch segments before submission, but I may at a later time.  A little bit unmotivated to look up and help you with strategy stuff at the moment.  Maybe soon.
Alright, that's fine.  Also, I was wrong about how much time I'm spending at the other place.  It may be another 6-7 days, although I don't really know for sure.
Alright guys, I'm finally back.  I'm gonna get right back on this after a few days.
Sorry guys, my computer is having problems, so it's gonna take a few days getting it repaired.  I can't start until then.
Alright guys, I have some news.  Some good, some bad.

The bad news is, my computer had computer problems, and while I was able to get it fixed, I ended up sacrificing most of the files on it, which means that I've lost all records of my test runs.  You can still watch it on Youtube, but I won't be able to finish it, which means I still have no way of testing which levels are viable for grinding at the Monolith of Rhone.  However, I still believe that it's viable even at my lowly levels with good strategy and a lot of luck.  All the same, it would be nice if someone could copy my party and test it out for themselves.  However, one thing I want you to do differently than I did is to have Glynn with the Thunder Staff and Ruto with the Thunder Sword.

Which leads me into the good news.  The good news is that I've already figured out various ways of improving this run.  Blotter has pointed out a few shortcuts and general route improvements that I've overlooked in this thread, and as it turns out, I can very easily at least get Erdrick's helmet before the really hard part of this run begins.  Also, I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that I'm still probably going to go with the 16 Wizard Wands to get the Light Sword route that I came up with before.  I'm sorry to anyone who actually wants to use my route, but I just can't think of any faster way to get to Hamlin than the way I came up with.  The only other way I can think of to get all the money needed is to use the saving at Cannock trick and manipulating Thunder Wands, but that takes a lot of time, and it also prevents me from automatically being able to warp to Hamlin, so it's just flat out not viable..

Anyways, I'm going to be starting a new and improved, in which I get the Silver Key and get the Thunder Wand for Glynn, in the hopes that it speeds up random encounters.  Any questions...comments...complaints?
Hey guys, I've finally started work again! 



Check out my new, improved version of Segment 2!  Yeah, I'm skipping over Part 1, as I thought it would be redundant.  For timing purposes, lets just assume that it's the same as Part 1, with maybe a few extra seconds since I bought a third Herb.

It's started off really well to!  I managed to shave a whole minute and 18 seconds off of my old time!

Old Segment 2: 3:55
New Segment 2: 2:37

Old Total Time: 9:53
New Total Time: 8:35
In any case, here's my route...

Segment 3: Get Glynn, and go to the Lake Cave, making sure that by the end of the trip, I have enough money to revive Glynn in Segment 4, after committing suicide after getting the Silver Key.  To do this, I grab the 36-45 Gold chest, and also grab the Wing of Wyvern while I'm at it. 

Segment 4: Revive Glynn, sell his equipment, manipulate two Lottery Tickets by buying as many Herbs as I can.  Go to Hamlin, rest there, save.

Segments 5-7: Get Wizard Wands

Segment 8: Go to Weapon store, sell two of the Wizard Wands, buy Broad Sword and Full Plate for Ruto, give one of two Wizard Wands to Glynn.  Also, manipulate one Lottery Ticket if possible.  Go to Mirror of Ra location, get Princess, save.  The reason I give the Wizard Wand to Glynn now is because at this point, his inventory will be nothing but Herbs, so once I use up all the Herbs I got before giving him the Wizard Wand, the Wizard Wand will be at the top of his inventory, allowing him to use it more quickly in battle.

Segment 9: Win Wizard Wand, give one to Elani.

Segment 10: Buy Herbs and a Wing of Wyvern for Elani, manipulating around 3 Lottery Tickets while I'm at it.  Sell her Clothes as well.  Go get Cape of Wind, return, save.  Be sure you use Herbs to heal, you need to clear out more space to buy Herbs and manipulate Lottery Tickets with.  Oh, and you'll also need one more Wing of Wyvern.

Segment 11-13: Get more Wizard Wands.

Segment 14: Manipulate 4 Lottery Tickets by rebuying Herbs for everyone.

Segment 15-18: Get four Wizard Wands.

Segment 19: Sell all Wizard Wands.  You should have around 16500 Gold at this point. That should be just enough to get all the equipment you need to get as long as you fight all random encounters along the way.  Go through Tower, buy two Cloak of Evades, three Dragon Scales, get Gold Key at Zahan, get Leaf of Worldtree, get Jail Key and Light Sword from Wellgarth, get Dam Key from Rouge Fastfinger, get Sun Crest, go to Zahan to get Magic Loom, go to Zahan Monolith to get to Midenhall and get Token of Erdrick and Staff of Thunder.  Give Staff of Thunder to Glynn, go to Flame Shrine from there, get Sun Crest and Helmet of Erdrick, use Warp Wing to go to Hamlin, save.

Segment 20: Get Crest from the jail in Hamling, get Moon Shard from the big Tower, and make sure Glynn learns Return by the time you exit.  Go to Beran from there.  Save.

Segment 21: Sail to Tuhn, and give Magic Loom and that other thing to old man.  Return to Beran and save.

Segment 22: Get both the magic times again, and sail to Tuhn, get Water Flying Cloth.  Return to Beran and Save.

Segment 23: Go to Tuhn, get second Water Flying Cloth, give to Elani.  Go through tower to get Crest.  Use Outside to escape and Return to go back to Beran.

Segment 24: Go to Osterfair, get Crest, go to Lave Cave, get Eye of Malroth, return to Beran, Save.

Segment 25: Get Armor of Erdrick, Thunder Sword, and Life Crest.  Outside and Return, save.

Segment 26: Get Rubiss Charm, and go all the way to Rhone.

That's about all I have figured out at the moment.  I ran some tests, and with some luck, it's possible to win the Rhone encounters even with my lowly levels.  What do you guys think?
Edit history:
Nightmare: 2010-10-07 10:27:25 pm
Nightmare: 2010-10-07 10:26:57 pm
The Japanese real-time time is around 4:30.  I'm still a little questioned on how, but that's the general time to beat......

9 hours seems high, though I need to get back to playing this.  Though Pokemon XD is currently the first priority.

What's your time when you get the ship?

-James
Can I have a link to it?
http://ultimagarden.net (might need Google or babelfish.altavista.com to translate)

-James
Edit history:
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:39:05 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:38:49 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:38:16 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:36:15 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:36:11 pm
It took me around 58 minutes I believe, a time that I believe could easily be cut down with some better execution.

Not really sure what to click on.  Also, that seems like it'd be about right, as it took me around two and a half hours to get to the Monolith of Rhone even with my flawed first attempt.  Malroth himself is more luck than anything else, and his generals don't respawn after you kill them, so you can kill them in one go, go back to the shrine, heal up, and take out Malroth.
Edit history:
Nightmare: 2010-10-07 10:40:10 pm
58 minutes is not terrible, maybe manipulating some Eight Metal Slimes or Metal Babbles afterwards might be an order if somewhat possible to cut down on grinding time.

Too bad there's no known real Japanese streams for this so we could see possible mistakes or strategies.  I just got the feeling we're missing something we need.....

-James
I know.  But I know I can do better.  Also, you shouldn't have to grind at all at this point in the game.  You shouldn't have to grind until you get to the Monolith of Rhone.
Maybe you got to grind BEFORE you head up to the Monolith of Rhone.  Just seems you're sinking somewhere which is totally unnecessary.

IDK, even with execution mistakes cut down it seems off.  Just my feeling.  From what I played even on first attempt 7 hours seemed long, the game didn't seem all THAT unfriendly to grind compared to DW 1.  I haven't played the end in a while though, so I'll reserve comment.

-James
Edit history:
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 04:41:25 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 11:19:50 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 11:19:06 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:53:04 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:52:32 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:51:59 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:50:50 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:50:03 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-07 10:49:31 pm
No, seriously, I have done this before, I know what I am talking about.  I am not exaggerating when I say that grinding is totally, and completely unnecessary until the Monolith of Rhone when you are doing a segmented run, like I am. 

I have posted a whole bunch of test run videos, and am now doing improved versions of them.  I took around two and a half hours getting all five crests.  I made two route planning errors in that effort, but other than that, the only thing I can think of maybe doing wrong, is getting two Water Flying Clothes, which I am not sure is necessary.

EDIT:  Wait a minute, I think we are at a bit of a misunderstanding here.  Where did I say it took me 9 hours?  When I posted my OLD and NEW times, those are supposed to represent minutes, not hours..  I skipped redoing segment 1 since it would be redundant, so I added the old time of Segment 1 to the new Segment 2.

So, so far, in my old test run, Segments 1 and 2 took a total of almost 10 minutes.  In my new test run, Segment 1 and 2 have taken only 8 and a half minutes.  Make sense?

Anyways, here is the new video.  It is a bit longer than Segment 3, however, it cannot be helped due to having to get the Silver Key unlike the last route.

http://84.xmbs.jp/runta-148070-ch.php?guid=on
Edit history:
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-08 12:09:22 am
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-08 12:09:12 am
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-08 12:08:58 am
Hmm, well look at that.  It looks like even in my old run, I&amp;#39;m actually ahead of the guy in his run.  It took him around 1 hour and 2 minutes to get to the boat.

Anyways, it looks like I now know how high I have to grind in Rhone.  Here is what my levels are going to be before attempting Malroth for the first time...

Ruto: Level 19
Glynn: Level 17
Elani: Level 14
I'm sorry, I thought you meant 9 hours.  I apologize.

-James
Have you watched the video I posted yet?  What do you think of it?
Edit history:
Nightmare: 2010-10-09 10:06:11 am
Comp isn't syncing very well with it right now, I'll check it out sometime later.

But from what I saw, wow, killed the first cave at Lv. 1.  Impressive.

EDIT:  Got to seee it.  I don't know if that death warp was entirely necessary.  You got a Wing of the Wyvern, and revival in this game is excessively expensive.  Maybe a redo without the death warp would be an idea, that's totally up to you.  Then again, the enemy encounter rate is a pain in this game.

-James
Edit history:
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 04:48:27 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 04:47:11 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 04:41:46 pm
No, I think the Death Warp was necessary just to save a few minutes.  I considered just walking out, but even if I did want to, my party was so spent by that point in the cave, that I do not think I could have survived anyways.  Plus, as you said, the enemy encounter rate is excruciating.

Anyways, I have some good news.  I redid this segment, and have managed to shave off 30 seconds AND managed to get Glynn to Level 5 this time!  I edited my last post to include the new video.

Anyways, so far, here are the new statistics of speed...

Old Run: 17 minutes and 34 seconds
New Run: 19 minutes and 25 seconds

I would say that is pretty good considering that I never got the Silver Key in my Old Run.  What do you think?
Edit history:
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 07:05:34 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 06:45:32 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 06:29:36 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 06:14:37 pm
FionordeQuester: 2010-10-11 05:59:02 pm
I have now completed Segment 4.  Unfortunately, it&#39;s about a minute slower than the last Segment 4 because of the extra stuff I had to do that I didn&#39;t have to do in the last Segment 4, namely, selling most of my equipment, manipulating those Lottery Tickets, and reviving Glynn.  Still, I think it went pretty quickly despite that.



Old Run: 22 minutes and 41 seconds
New Run: 25 minutes and 5 seconds

It&#39;s too bad.  I&#39;m trying my best to cut down on the times, but getting that Silver Key eats up a pretty good chunk of time unfortunately.  I guess a difference of two minutes and 36 seconds is about all I can ask for all things considered.  Hopefully, the Thunder Staff will make up for the lost time by making battles go more quickly.

EDIT:  Also, I&#39;m trying to figure out just what that guy who did the Real Time run is saying, but when I put it through Babelfish, even though the words are technically correct, it&#39;s a grammar nightmare with extremely confusing expressions and word choices.  I can hardly figure out anything the guy is trying to say.

EDIT2:  Actually, you know what, it&#39;s still confusing, but I think I&#39;m starting to get the hang of what he&#39;s trying to say.  Once I&#39;ve figured it out, I&#39;ll post chunks of his plan.  Who knows?  His route could be absolutely brilliant for a single segment run.
Ok, I think I've finally figured out this guys route.  There was a lot I was just flat out unable to make sense of, but, I plan on working that out later.  For now, I think I've got the general idea of what he did.  I've copied and pasted the text, and reworked it so that the dialouge actually makes sense to those who don't feel like analyzing this for hours on end...

* [Midenhall]
Get Sword and 50G
Keep buying and selling Antidotes until you get two Slot Tokens
Sell the Tokens and buy two Herbs and Antidotes.  The Antidotes should last until you get the Boat. 
Go to Leftwyne.

* [Leftwyne]
Purchase a Leather Shield, then go to Cannock

* [Cannock]
Speaks to the king, then go to the spring of the hero

* Spring of Hero
When you speak with the old man, the guard is removed, suicide
Get Glynn, and make sure you have at least two Herbs.
Grind at the mountains south of Cannock until Glynn is Level 3.  Go to Hamlin

* [Hamlin]
Buy a Wing of Wyvern and fill up on Herbs.  After that, get the Mirror of Ra, and use it on Elani.  Go to the Lake Cave and get the Silver Key.  Saving it until now allows the group to "level lift" Elani up to Level 3 as they're getting the Silver Key and be able to teleport back at the same time, using the Wing of Wyvern found in the cave.  After all, those Baboons are preeeetttttyyy tough without Sleep.  Afterwards, get the Chain Sickle for Ruto so that he can kill Lizard Flies in one shot, and give Glynn the Copper Sword as well.  You purchase only a Chain Sickle, because you want to make absolutely positive that you have at least 2000G before getting to Wellgarth.  Go to the Tower of Wind.

* Tower of wind
Collecting the Gold chest as well as the Wind Cape and escape using a Wing of Wyvern.

* Dragon Horn
Get the Dews Yarn here.  And, if the person with the Wing of Wyvern dies, give it to someone who is not dead....I think.

* [Lianport]
Kill the Gremlins, get the boat, go to Zahan.

* [Zahan]
Get the Gold Key and use the Monolith of Zahan to return to Midenhall.

* [Midenhall]
Collect the Token of Erdrick and other treasures, save your game here, then go back to your ship.  After that, go about a screen north, then west the rest of the way to go to the Flame Shrine.

* [Flame Shrine] Collect the Sun Crest and use the portal on the right to get the Helmet of Erdrick.  After that, go back to the ship and head west, picking up the Leaf of Worldtree along the way.

* [Wellgarth]
Buy the Prison Key.  If you happen to be short on money, sell Ruto's weapon, as he can use the Equipment glitch to tide him over until his next upgrade.

* [Midenhall]
Kill the Evil Wizard and get his Thunder Staff, then head back to Wellgarth.

* [Wellgarth]
Sell the Thunder Staff, then buy "The Sword of the Consequence Inhaling and Light" then go to Zahan.

* [Zahan]
Get the Magic Loom and Return to Midenhall.  Go to Cannock from there.

* [Cannock]
Get Erdricks Shield and go to Midenhall again.

* [Midenhall]
Reset, then get another Thunder Staff.  Go back to Wellgarth.

* [Wellgarth]
Sell the Thunder Staff again and get a Shield of Strength for Glynn, then get the Watergate Key.  Go to Tuhn.

* [Tuhn]
Get Don Mahone to work on a Water Flying Cloth, then Return to Midenhall.

* [Midenhall]
Get another Staff of Thunder then go back to Tuhn and get the Water Flying Cloth to give to Glynn (at least, I THINK he's saying to give it to Glynn.  Probably to increase his chances of surviving and therefore casting Outside at the end of the next dungeon).  Buy the Magic Armor for Ruto and sell the Staff of Thunder again.  Go to the Tower of the Moon.  At the end, cast Outside, then Return to Midenhall to get another Staff of Thunder.  After that, go south to Osterfair.

* [Osterfair]
Disregard the Armor of Gaia, as your Magic Armor is already good enough.  Kill the Saber Tiger for the Crest, then start "level lifting" your party on the hills of Osterfair until they are at these levels...

Ruto: Level 17
Glynn: Level 15
Elani: Level 12

Be especially careful not to die, as Osterfair does not have a Church to revive your characters with.  After your "level lifting" is done, go to Wellgarth.

* [Wellgarth]
Buy a Shield of Strength for Elani, then go to the Seabed Cave

* Seabed cave
Get the Eye of Malroth, then go to Hamlin.

* [Hamlin]
Get the Crest in the Hamlin jail, then go to the Large Lighthouse.

* Large lighthouse
Get the Star Crest, beat up the Gremlins. Go to Baran.  Glynn should be at Level 16 before going to Baran, and shouldn't be far from getting to Level 17.

* [Baran]
Rest up, buy some Herbs, and go to the Cave to Rhone.  Get the Life Crest, Armor of Erdrick, and Thunder Sword before escaping.  Get Rubiss Charm, then go to the Cave to Rhone.  Give the Magic Armor and Sword of Light to Glynn and the Armor of Erdrick to Ruto.  "Level lift" your characters until they have these levels...

Ruto: Level 19
Glynn: Level 17
Elani: Level 15

Also, whenever you meet any Giants, always kill them last, because you're going to want the Sword of Destruction if you can manage to get it.  Also, some Demon Armor for Glynn would be nice.


* Atlas
Perhaps most difficult of Hargons Generals to beat.  He always focuses on one person until that person is dead before moving on to another one.  In addition, he takes something like 6-8 hits with Ruto to bring down.  Attack with Ruto and defend with the rest on Turn 1.  If Ruto becomes the first target, you're pretty much boned, although you can use the Sword of Light with Glynn and pray that it does something. Otherwise, your chances are decent enough.  Use the Sword of Light any time you feel it is prudent to do so.

* Bazuzu
You'll win no sweat with the Sleep spell.

* Zarlox
On your first turn, attack with Ruto, use the Sword of Light with Glynn, and use Sleep with Elani.  If neither of those two spells work, focus on healing with Glynn and Elani.

* Hargon
Attack with Ruto, and Defend and heal with Glynn and Elani.

* Malroth
...Yeah...your gonna need luck, lol.  Attack with Ruto, and Defend and heal with Glynn and Elani.  And whatever you do, DO NOT let Ruto die!
So, now that I went to all of that effort, I suppose I should give my thoughts on it.  First off, that's an absolute stroke of GENIUS on his part about taking advantage of the Lottery Tickets by buying and reselling Antidote Herbs until he gets them.  As for getting the Leather Shield, it may seem like a frivolous purchase, with the 4+ upgrade only blocking about 1+ of damage on average, but it's actually pretty crucial for surviving the Spring of Heroes while actually fighting the monsters, as he undoubtedly did.  I of course didn't need it since I was doing a segmented run, but still, this is valuable stuff for single segmenters.


Him getting Glynn to Level 3 is pretty much a given since the Prince is almost worthless until then.  I was baffled at first by his decision to post-pone the Lake of Cave, but it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider that he wanted to get Elani to Level 3 before attempting the Tower of Wind.  I of course, don't need to do that, as I plan on giving Elani a Wizard Wand from the get go and am not planning on grinding first.

Also, I've learned something valuable from this run.  I don't need to get Full Plates, Broad Swords, Clothes of Hiding, Dragon Banes, a second Water Flying Cloth, or any of that, which should be a tremendous relief to anyone who's planning on doing a segmented run of this game.  Of course, the Magic Armor will be needed to fill in the void, however, I think Magic Armor is far enough away that Wizard Wand gathering might not be needed for affording the Magic Armor.  The next tough dungeon isn't until a good ways away after all.

That being said though, a lot of his route is kind of a waste for someone doing this segmented, especially the way he grinds at Osterfair instead of Rhone.  Still, I learned some valuable stuff.