Legend of Mana

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-04-23 08:18:54 pm

Sir VG: 2013-04-23 07:39:15 pm

2013-04-23 02:49:25 am

Fucking Weeaboo

This appears to be the Jumi storyline, 2:27:04. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9898909

Edit: Been skimming through the videos, just to see land placement, AFs gathered, and mission order and such. Here's what I've noticed (Watched Dragon and Faerie)

1. He works on the missions to complete the storyline earlier than I do.
2. The Lost Princess is completely skipped in Faerie. He found a way to get the 18 AFs w/o having to do that mission. That alone almost makes up the difference between their 2:08 and my 2:18 runs (While he does get the Jade egg, that's a small portion of the time of the mission.)
3. Land placement for Faerie was where I was starting to use, almost. He was down 1 row.
4. Dragon's placement is weird. Not because of what he chose, but what the game dictates is the "starter" square. Normally in a 6x6 grid that makes up the local map, your space is the same. If the rows are A-F top to bottom and the columns 1-6 left to right, the usual starting square is D3. But for the starting space, it's actually D4. The spot chosen for Dragon is the only place I've seen that. There certainly may be others, but I haven't found any yet (not that I've looked hard). Through me for a loop the first time I was mapping it out.
5. The weapon choice is interesting, going with gloves rather than 2H Sword. The starter gloves have an attack of 8, compared to 12 for the 2H sword. Even for dragon the weapon he buys from Lumina is 13, which the one I normally get there is 25. Yes he's DEVASTATING enemies. Even without getting Heishishoren (which is attack 62) the run is much faster. The question is why. He's doing a lot of techniques/specials that I don't use normally (and the buzzing tells me maybe a bad command turns into a cancel?), so it'll be interesting to figure out.

I still need to watch and map Jumi, but it will be interesting to figure more stuff out.

Edit 2: Watched Jumi. Thoughts:

1. Time could be cut a slight amount by not placing one AF. Since Medallion is the first in the circle, it doesn't need to be placed. From my count, he has 19 AFs before Cage of Dreams.
2. He managed to skip Reach for the Stars by starting Can't Look Back?! That...is one crazy strat I never would have thought of. Normally you have to do Reach for the Stars to do Flourite, but I guess by triggering Reach then starting Can't, it must fail Reach, allowing you to continue? That cuts out Enchanted Instruments 101 (which is triggered by the completion of Reach) entirely. CRAZY MAN. I'm gonna have to try this out myself on the US version just to see what the game quest log says, but that's my guess.

Their IGT is 2:36, compared to my 2:48. Cutting Enchanted saves about 2 minutes, not doing Reach saves about 6 (although a bit is lost by starting Can't Look Back).

Just skimming through all 3 videos has been really interesting. I'm curious to dig more into this, though it will take some figuring out since the text is Japanese.

This appears to be the Jumi storyline, 2:27:04. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9898909

Edit: Been skimming through the videos, just to see land placement, AFs gathered, and mission order and such. Here's what I've noticed (Watched Dragon and Faerie)

1. He works on the missions to complete the storyline earlier than I do.
2. The Lost Princess is completely skipped in Faerie. He found a way to get the 18 AFs w/o having to do that mission. That alone almost makes up the difference between their 2:08 and my 2:18 runs (While he does get the Jade egg, that's a small portion of the time of the mission.)
3. Land placement for Faerie was where I was starting to use, almost. He was down 1 row.
4. Dragon's placement is weird. Not because of what he chose, but what the game dictates is the "starter" square. Normally in a 6x6 grid that makes up the local map, your space is the same. If the rows are A-F top to bottom and the columns 1-6 left to right, the usual starting square is D3. But for the starting space, it's actually D4. The spot chosen for Dragon is the only place I've seen that. There certainly may be others, but I haven't found any yet (not that I've looked hard). Through me for a loop the first time I was mapping it out.
5. The weapon choice is interesting, going with gloves rather than 2H Sword. The starter gloves have an attack of 8, compared to 12 for the 2H sword. Even for dragon the weapon he buys from Lumina is 13, which the one I normally get there is 25. Yes he's DEVASTATING enemies. Even without getting Heishishoren (which is attack 62) the run is much faster. The question is why. He's doing a lot of techniques/specials that I don't use normally (and the buzzing tells me maybe a bad command turns into a cancel?), so it'll be interesting to figure out.

I still need to watch and map Jumi, but it will be interesting to figure more stuff out.

Edit 2: Watched Jumi. Thoughts:

1. Time could be cut a slight amount by not placing one AF. Since Medallion is the first in the circle, it doesn't need to be placed. From my count, he has 19 AFs before Cage of Dreams.
2. He managed to skip Reach for the Stars by starting Can't Look Back?! That...is one crazy strat I never would have thought of. Normally you have to do Reach for the Stars to do Flourite, but I guess by triggering Reach then starting Can't, it must fail Reach, allowing you to continue? That cuts out Enchanted Instruments 101 (which is triggered by the completion of Reach) entirely. CRAZY MAN. I'm gonna have to try this out myself on the US version just to see what the game quest log says, but that's my guess.

Their IGT is 2:36, compared to my 2:48. Cutting Enchanted saves about 2 minutes, not doing Reach saves about 6 (although a bit is lost by starting Can't Look Back).

Just skimming through all 3 videos has been really interesting. I'm curious to dig more into this, though it will take some figuring out since the text is Japanese.

Omnigamer

Edit history:

Omnigamer: 2013-04-24 12:02:05 am

Omnigamer: 2013-04-23 08:58:12 pm

Omnigamer: 2013-04-23 08:55:41 pm

2013-04-23 08:55:29 pm

All the things

The cancel they do is pretty simple. Just leave an empty magic slot and press it at the right time to cancel the lag at the end of your heavy attack. Timing varies by weapon.

If the Glove strats are the same, they farm a Spiral Claw or Gigas Glove (Gigas in Fairy) from Narcissos in the mine. Prior to that they spend a little bit of time in the jungle to get a staff, although I don't really know why.

I'll write up the general routes for the other runs as I watch them. I have enough knowledge of Japanese to figure out what they're equipping, at least.

Sir VG

2013-04-24 12:05:22 am

Fucking Weeaboo

I basically need to know equipment and skills/techniques. I can get a pretty good idea on some of it since I have a list of enemy drops and I can probably deduce skills, but it'll take some time either way, since I'd actually have to not skim the video. If you can come up with it faster, great. I've got a couple of days off of work, so that's probably what I'll be doing during that free time.

Omnigamer

Edit history:

Omnigamer: 2013-04-24 08:15:38 am

Omnigamer: 2013-04-24 08:10:02 am

Omnigamer: 2013-04-24 12:52:15 am

Omnigamer: 2013-04-24 12:41:10 am

2013-04-24 12:39:41 am

All the things

With Fairy they start with glove and switch both abilities to guard. After a while they switch it out both to counter, followed by dash and backdash (lunge and retreat?), and then eventually swap it for Illusion and counterstrike (the characters read Jolt; not sure exactly what it matches up to). During the jungle sequence he farms for a staff from the Tomato Men. I really have no idea what the drop is since it doesn't match up with what should be available. My closest guess at a translation is Kerryuikeon, but it's a 38 atk Staff with +1 Sk and +2 Lk. Maybe the drops are different between versions? He also equips the Iron Pot lid helmet at this time. The next equipment change takes place in the mine, where he gets a 35 atk Gigas Glove with +4 Pw and -5 Sp. So yeah, I'm really not sure how they're getting those atk values on those weapons. They don't really change anything out afterwards and stick with that setup until the end.

EDIT: The drops and/or weapons are most likely different in the JP version. This is backed up by some posts on GFAQs asserting that there is no attack cap (!) and materials have different weapon properties than in the US version. So the same weapon routes probably won't work for the NA release. Running the JP version doesn't do us much good since we only have the visual route to go off of and there aren't any other resources available, so for things like other drops we have no idea what to expect.

With Fairy they start with glove and switch both abilities to guard. After a while they switch it out both to counter, followed by dash and backdash (lunge and retreat?), and then eventually swap it for Illusion and counterstrike (the characters read Jolt; not sure exactly what it matches up to). During the jungle sequence he farms for a staff from the Tomato Men. I really have no idea what the drop is since it doesn't match up with what should be available. My closest guess at a translation is Kerryuikeon, but it's a 38 atk Staff with +1 Sk and +2 Lk. Maybe the drops are different between versions? He also equips the Iron Pot lid helmet at this time. The next equipment change takes place in the mine, where he gets a 35 atk Gigas Glove with +4 Pw and -5 Sp.  So yeah, I'm really not sure how they're getting those atk values on those weapons. They don't really change anything out afterwards and stick with that setup until the end.

EDIT: The drops and/or weapons are most likely different in the JP version. This is backed up by some posts on GFAQs asserting that there is no attack cap (!) and materials have different weapon properties than in the US version. So the same weapon routes probably won't work for the NA release. Running the JP version doesn't do us much good since we only have the visual route to go off of and there aren't any other resources available, so for things like other drops we have no idea what to expect.

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-04-24 06:57:00 pm

Sir VG: 2013-04-24 02:32:52 pm

Sir VG: 2013-04-24 02:31:45 pm

Sir VG: 2013-04-24 12:23:49 pm

2013-04-24 10:56:07 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Lunge and Retreat make sense, because those two lead to Evade, which I'm pretty sure the "dodge and split into 3" move is. Counterstrike can't be done until Counterattack is learned (Counterattack is learned from Defend, Counterstrike is learned from Counterattack. I use this setup in my runs, actually).

Edit: Been looking over Dragon. Techniques/Skills fall right in line with the US version, but the drops are definitely different. For instance, during Guardian of Winds, he farms the Yeti-type monsters at the beginning for a claw with ATK of 35. Nothing in my monster drop list is a glove with ATK 35. Given the monster levels are definitely under Lv 15, the US would get drops no higher than Lv 4 (Drops have 8 levels, higher levels and Polterbox get access to higher levels), the highest level ones come from Narcissos (I'm pretty sure it's the same monster as what he farms) which drop SpiralClaw (Gloves, ATK 19) and GigasGlove (Gloves, ATK 18), both with a 12.5% drop chance. That's...quite a handicap I'd have to deal with.

Dragon Route for Skills, Techniques, and Weapons

Code:

Weapon: Gloves
Starting Abilities: Jump [Square], Defend [X] [These are default.]

The Lost Princess
Learned Technique
Equips 2 Technique - Jawbreaker (default) and Lightning Kick (Learned)

Faeries' Light
Buys IronGlove (13 ATK) - Lv 2 Gloves

Monster Corral
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Fallen Emperor
Learned New Skill - Counterattack
Equipped Skill: Cheer on X

Guardian of Winds
Farmed Yeti for a drop (ATK 35!, presumably IsheGlove?)

Field Trip
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Ghost of Nemesis
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Dragon Princess
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Crimson Dragon
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Summer Lovin'
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Swapped X Skill to Counterattack
Learned Skill - Counterstrike

Cage of Dreams
Swapped X Skill to Counterstrike

Legend of Mana
Swapped [Square] Skill to Counterstrike
Swapped X Skill to Cheer

Run Complete. IGT: 1:42

Faerie Run:

Code:

Weapon: Glove [ATK 8]
Starting Abilities: Defend [Square], Defend [X]

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Ability: Counterattack
Set Ability Counterattack to [Square] and [X]
Set Technique Jawbreaker (Default) to R1
Learned Ability: Counterstrike

Huntin Du'Cate
Farm: Tomato Man - Staff [ATK 38!, WTF is it?]
[Equip Staff and Helmet]
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Jawbreaker is auto-removed.
New Ability/Technique Learned (I presume Evade [Ability])

Teatime of Danger
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Mine Your Own Business
New Ability/Technique Learned (I presume Gust [Technique])
Farm: Yetis - Gloves (ATK 35, presumably IsheGlove?)
Set Abilty Evade on [Square]
Set Ability Counterstrike on [X]
Set Technique Jawbreaker on R1
Learned 2 Techniques - Unsure, but guessing Bloody Knuckles and Mental Barrier
Equip one on L1, probably Mental Barrier.

Murmuring Forest
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Flame of Hope
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Two Torches
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Gorgon's Eye
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
No Items/Skills/Techniques

In Search of Faeries
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Pokeihl: Dream Teller
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Star Crossed Lovers
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Heaven's Gate
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Infernal Doll
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Faeries' Light
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Cage of Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Legend of Mana
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Game Over [IGT: 2:08]

Lunge and Retreat make sense, because those two lead to Evade, which I'm pretty sure the "dodge and split into 3" move is. Counterstrike can't be done until Counterattack is learned (Counterattack is learned from Defend, Counterstrike is learned from Counterattack. I use this setup in my runs, actually).

Edit: Been looking over Dragon. Techniques/Skills fall right in line with the US version, but the drops are definitely different. For instance, during Guardian of Winds, he farms the Yeti-type monsters at the beginning for a claw with ATK of 35. Nothing in my monster drop list is a glove with ATK 35. Given the monster levels are definitely under Lv 15, the US would get drops no higher than Lv 4 (Drops have 8 levels, higher levels and Polterbox get access to higher levels), the highest level ones come from Narcissos (I'm pretty sure it's the same monster as what he farms) which drop SpiralClaw (Gloves, ATK 19) and GigasGlove (Gloves, ATK 18), both with a 12.5% drop chance. That's...quite a handicap I'd have to deal with.

Dragon Route for Skills, Techniques, and Weapons
[code]Weapon: Gloves
Starting Abilities: Jump [Square], Defend [X] [These are default.]

The Lost Princess
Learned Technique
Equips 2 Technique - Jawbreaker (default) and Lightning Kick (Learned)

Faeries' Light
Buys IronGlove (13 ATK) - Lv 2 Gloves

Monster Corral
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Fallen Emperor
Learned New Skill - Counterattack
Equipped Skill: Cheer on X

Guardian of Winds
Farmed Yeti for a drop (ATK 35!, presumably IsheGlove?)

Field Trip
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Ghost of Nemesis
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Dragon Princess
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Crimson Dragon
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Summer Lovin'
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Swapped X Skill to Counterattack
Learned Skill - Counterstrike

Cage of Dreams
Swapped X Skill to Counterstrike

Legend of Mana
Swapped [Square] Skill to Counterstrike
Swapped X Skill to Cheer

Run Complete. IGT: 1:42[/code]

Faerie Run:
[code]Weapon: Glove [ATK 8]
Starting Abilities: Defend [Square], Defend [X]

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Ability: Counterattack
Set Ability Counterattack to [Square] and [X]
Set Technique Jawbreaker (Default) to R1
Learned Ability: Counterstrike

Huntin Du'Cate
Farm: Tomato Man - Staff [ATK 38!, WTF is it?]
[Equip Staff and Helmet]
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Jawbreaker is auto-removed.
New Ability/Technique Learned (I presume Evade [Ability])

Teatime of Danger
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Mine Your Own Business
New Ability/Technique Learned (I presume Gust [Technique])
Farm: Yetis - Gloves (ATK 35, presumably IsheGlove?)
Set Abilty Evade on [Square]
Set Ability Counterstrike on [X]
Set Technique Jawbreaker on R1
Learned 2 Techniques - Unsure, but guessing Bloody Knuckles and Mental Barrier
Equip one on L1, probably Mental Barrier.

Murmuring Forest
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Flame of Hope
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Two Torches
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Gorgon's Eye
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
No Items/Skills/Techniques

In Search of Faeries
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Pokeihl: Dream Teller
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Star Crossed Lovers
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Heaven's Gate
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Infernal Doll
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Faeries' Light
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Cage of Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Legend of Mana
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Game Over [IGT: 2:08][/code]

Omnigamer

Edit history:

Omnigamer: 2013-04-25 08:01:15 am

2013-04-25 07:59:59 am

All the things

The gloves he gets from the Narcissos (yeti guys) is a Gigas Glove in either route. The material properties are completely different in JP version, which is probably why there's such a drastic difference in stats. The Staff on the other hand doesn't have a clear translation, but I suppose it's a Baobab Staff.

Sir VG

2013-04-25 11:56:37 am

Fucking Weeaboo

The stat changes leads me into a bit of a thought process. First, whether the Japanese and US versions are different categories. Given the huge difference in that claw alone, it makes me feel that they are. Second, how to weapon up in the US version. If I go with the same route and land placement, I think I'd actually need to go with 2H Sword, as I have been doing. I can still do the weapon cancel, plus waggling the analog stick allows for some pretty fast movement (it's just hard to do for a long run). I start with Menos2HSword (ATK 12), buy Iron2HSword at Lumina (ATK 18), then pickup Braveblade (ATK 37) during Ghost of Nemesis. The gloves may be faster, but the ATK is considerably lower (8, 13, and 19 if I farm the Narcissos). I also need to test if dropping the Deathbringer II fight (using the Saga Frontier II save) for the Heishishoren sword would save time over getting it (the ATK of it is 62, but it does take about 5 minutes to complete the mission, probably a little less now with the new technique).

Been watching Jumi as well, but the run learns a bunch of techniques at once and I've lost track of what's what, so I'll probably need to play along in order to start figuring things out.

The stat changes leads me into a bit of a thought process. First, whether the Japanese and US versions are different categories. Given the huge difference in that claw alone, it makes me feel that they are. Second, how to weapon up in the US version. If I go with the same route and land placement, I think I'd actually need to go with 2H Sword, as I have been doing. I can still do the weapon cancel, plus waggling the analog stick allows for some pretty fast movement (it's just hard to do for a long run). I start with Menos2HSword (ATK 12), buy Iron2HSword at Lumina (ATK 18), then pickup Braveblade (ATK 37) during Ghost of Nemesis. The gloves may be faster, but the ATK is considerably lower (8, 13, and 19 if I farm the Narcissos). I also need to test if dropping the Deathbringer II fight (using the Saga Frontier II save) for the Heishishoren sword would save time over getting it (the ATK of it is 62, but it does take about 5 minutes to complete the mission, probably a little less now with the new technique).

Been watching Jumi as well, but the run learns a bunch of techniques at once and I've lost track of what's what, so I'll probably need to play along in order to start figuring things out.

Omnigamer

Edit history:

Omnigamer: 2013-04-25 12:08:17 pm

Omnigamer: 2013-04-25 12:07:52 pm

2013-04-25 12:05:05 pm

All the things

If you write down the timestamps I can take a look through for the abilities and any other drops. Techniques are more difficult since they use a lot of kanji, but you can figure those out just by watching instead.

But yes, with the vastly different weapon properties they should probably be different categories. My intuition is that they attempted to rebalance things for the US version, which is why some material + weapon combinations are especially poor (such as MaiaLead Hammer). Go go US HardType. There's no way to tell at this point if they made other tweaks, like enemy stat changes or minute changes to quest requirements.

Sir VG

2013-04-25 03:28:29 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

I watched Jumi the whole way though, and while there's a few techniques I haven't figured out, I've got a pretty good idea on things. A couple of the late techniques learned during Teardrop Crystal weren't used though. I don't know for certain what he used, but I have a very strong idea on one of them though, based upon its actions.

I also noticed a couple of things different between this and the US version. When the notes appear on the world map, the US version than shoves you back into the locations you were at. The Japanese version doesn't. This doesn't account for much time, but it's still a worthwhile note to make.

Code:

Weapon: Spear [ATK 11]
Starting Abilities: Spin [Square], Defend [X]

The Lost Princess
Learned Ability: Counterattack

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Technique: Mighty Javelin(?)
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Set Technique Mighty Javelin(?) to R1

The Flame of Hope
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
Purchase: IronSpear [ATK 16]
Equip IronSpear, IronPot(?)

Summer Lovin'
Farm: Sahagin for a spear [ATK: 39, VizelSpear(?) TrueSpear(?)]
Learned Ability: Evade
Set Ability Jump to [Square]
Set Ability Counterattack to [X]
Learned Ability Counterstrike(?)

The Looking-Glass Tower
Learned Ability (?)
Learned 2 Abilities (?) (?)
Set ability to [Square] (Evade)
Set ability to [X] (Somersault)
Learned ability (?)

Drowned Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Infernal Doll
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Little Sorcerers
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Lucky Clover
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Cosmo
(No forced reentry to home?)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Two Pearls
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Alexandrite
(No forced reentry to Domina?)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Faeries' Light
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Reach for the Stars (Start Only)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Can't Look Back (Start Only)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Flourite
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Teardrop Crystal
Equip SwordOfFate [ATK 50]
Equip Ability (Counterstrike) on [X]
Learned Technique (?) [Triple Tiger?]
Learned Technique (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]
Learned 2 Techniques (?) (?)
Equip Technique on R1 (?) [Triple Tiger?]
Equip Technique on L1 (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]

Cage of Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Legend of Mana
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Game Over [IGT: 2:36]

I watched Jumi the whole way though, and while there's a few techniques I haven't figured out, I've got a pretty good idea on things. A couple of the late techniques learned during Teardrop Crystal weren't used though. I don't know for certain what he used, but I have a very strong idea on one of them though, based upon its actions.

I also noticed a couple of things different between this and the US version. When the notes appear on the world map, the US version than shoves you back into the locations you were at. The Japanese version doesn't. This doesn't account for much time, but it's still a worthwhile note to make.

[code]Weapon: Spear [ATK 11]
Starting Abilities: Spin [Square], Defend [X]

The Lost Princess
Learned Ability: Counterattack

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Technique: Mighty Javelin(?)
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Set Technique Mighty Javelin(?) to R1

The Flame of Hope
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
Purchase: IronSpear [ATK 16]
Equip IronSpear, IronPot(?)

Summer Lovin'
Farm: Sahagin for a spear [ATK: 39, VizelSpear(?) TrueSpear(?)]
Learned Ability: Evade
Set Ability Jump to [Square]
Set Ability Counterattack to [X]
Learned Ability Counterstrike(?)

The Looking-Glass Tower
Learned Ability (?)
Learned 2 Abilities (?) (?)
Set ability to [Square] (Evade)
Set ability to [X] (Somersault)
Learned ability (?)

Drowned Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Infernal Doll
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Little Sorcerers
No Items/Skills/Techniques

The Lucky Clover
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Cosmo
(No forced reentry to home?)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Two Pearls
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Alexandrite
(No forced reentry to Domina?)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Faeries' Light
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Reach for the Stars (Start Only)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Can't Look Back (Start Only)
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Flourite
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Teardrop Crystal
Equip SwordOfFate [ATK 50]
Equip Ability (Counterstrike) on [X]
Learned Technique (?) [Triple Tiger?]
Learned Technique (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]
Learned 2 Techniques (?) (?)
Equip Technique on R1 (?) [Triple Tiger?]
Equip Technique on L1 (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]

Cage of Dreams
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Legend of Mana
No Items/Skills/Techniques

Game Over [IGT: 2:36][/code]

Polsy

Edit history:

Polsy: 2013-04-29 02:46:31 pm

2013-04-29 02:32:49 pm

That's some nice work, getting the TrueSpear certainly helps. Ability translations after the "--":

Quote from Sir VG:

Code:

The Lost Princess
Learned Ability: Counterattack   -- Twister

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Technique: Mighty Javelin(?)  -- This is Counterattack
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Set Technique Mighty Javelin(?) to R1  -- Twister


Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
Purchase: IronSpear [ATK 16]
Equip IronSpear, IronPot(?)  -- it's not called that but it's definitely what he gets from Niccolo's Business Unusual so it's the same item

Summer Lovin'
Farm: Sahagin for a spear [ATK: 39, VizelSpear(?) TrueSpear(?)]  -- TrueSpear
Learned Ability: Evade
Set Ability Jump to [Square]
Set Ability Counterattack to [X]
Learned Ability Counterstrike(?)  -- Mighty Javelin

The Looking-Glass Tower
Learned Ability (?)  -- Counterstrike
Learned 2 Abilities (?) (?)  -- Somersault, Back-Roll
Set ability to [Square] (Evade)
Set ability to [X] (Somersault)
Learned ability (?)  -- Dragon's Bite



Teardrop Crystal
Equip SwordOfFate [ATK 50]
Equip Ability (Counterstrike) on [X]
Learned Technique (?) [Triple Tiger?]  -- Iai Strike
Learned Technique (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]  -- (yes)
Learned 2 Techniques (?) (?)  -- Maelstrom, Triple Tiger
Equip Technique on R1 (?) [Triple Tiger?]  -- (yes)
Equip Technique on L1 (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]  -- Maelstrom

That's some nice work, getting the TrueSpear certainly helps. Ability translations after the "--":

[quote="Sir VG"]
[code]
The Lost Princess
Learned Ability: Counterattack   -- Twister

Niccolo's Business Unusual
Learned Technique: Mighty Javelin(?)  -- This is Counterattack
Set Ability Lunge to [Square]
Set Ability Retreat to [X]
Set Technique Mighty Javelin(?) to R1  -- Twister

Niccolo's Business Unusual 2
Purchase: IronSpear [ATK 16]
Equip IronSpear, IronPot(?)  -- it's not called that but it's definitely what he gets from Niccolo's Business Unusual so it's the same item

Summer Lovin'
Farm: Sahagin for a spear [ATK: 39, VizelSpear(?) TrueSpear(?)]  -- TrueSpear
Learned Ability: Evade
Set Ability Jump to [Square]
Set Ability Counterattack to [X]
Learned Ability Counterstrike(?)  -- Mighty Javelin

The Looking-Glass Tower
Learned Ability (?)  -- Counterstrike
Learned 2 Abilities (?) (?)  -- Somersault, Back-Roll
Set ability to [Square] (Evade)
Set ability to [X] (Somersault)
Learned ability (?)  -- Dragon's Bite

Teardrop Crystal
Equip SwordOfFate [ATK 50]
Equip Ability (Counterstrike) on [X]
Learned Technique (?) [Triple Tiger?]  -- Iai Strike
Learned Technique (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]  -- (yes)
Learned 2 Techniques (?) (?)  -- Maelstrom, Triple Tiger
Equip Technique on R1 (?) [Triple Tiger?]  -- (yes)
Equip Technique on L1 (?) [Cutting Bamboo?]  -- Maelstrom
[/code][/quote]

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-06-02 11:46:31 pm

2013-04-29 03:45:31 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Thanks for the info, Polsy.

Having watched all 3, it'll be a matter of figuring out weapons. Given that the gloves are much weaker than 2H sword, and I can make the cancel trick work pretty well with 2H sword as well as fast maneuver w/ waggle the analog, I think I can use whatever weapon is strongest. Here's what I'm thinking (incomplete, need to come up w/ Faerie):

Dragon:
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
Iron2HSword [18] (Purchase in Lumina)
Braveblade [37] (Enemy drop during Ghost of Nemesis)

Jumi
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
Braveblade [37] (Enemy drop during The Looking-Glass Tower)
SwordOfFate [50] (Given at the start of Teardrop Crystal)

I don't fight any of the enemies during Faerie that give me Braveblade during Faerie, so I'm still figuring out what enemy I'm gonna use for a drop for a weapon. Here's what I've got for choices:

Dainslaif - Braveblade [ATK 37] Drop Level: 4 / Throatslitter [ATK 24] Drop Level: 3
Goblin - Earthsplitter [ATK 31] Drop Level: 4 / BlackElk [ATK 26] Drop Level: 3
Dark Stalker - Levatine [ATK 26] Drop Level: 4
Springball - Juggernaut [ATK 20] Drop Level: 3
Ape Mummy - SprialClaw [ATK 19] Drop Level: 4
Narcissos - SprialClaw [ATK 19] Drop Level: 3 / GigasGlove [ATK 18] Drop Level: 4
Imp - TrueSpear [ATK 17] Drop Level: 4
Sahagin - TrueSpear [ATK 17] Drop Level: 4

The first one I come across on this list is Ape Mummy. There's one right before the boss during Teatime of Danger. I think the last enemies before Irwin are Dark Stalkers, but not 100% positive. I believe I face Springballs in Cage of Dreams, but going for a drop there won't be worth it (if I get it, great. If not, 1 ATK PT won't matter that late in the game).

Lumina would be a Lv 3 shop (10th land placed and 2 spaces from home) so if I'm wrong about Dark Stalker, I can get a Steel2HSword [ATK 25] from the shop in Lumina.

So it looks like it's gonna be this for Faerie:
Faerie
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
SpiralClaw [19] (Enemy drop from Ape Mummy during Teatime of Danger)
Steel2HSword [25] (Purchase in Lumina) [Maybe? Test this against SpiralClaw for whether +6 ATK is better than the speed advantage.]

Yeah, the Faerie storyline is gonna suck in that regards.

Thanks for the info, Polsy.

Having watched all 3, it'll be a matter of figuring out weapons. Given that the gloves are much weaker than 2H sword, and I can make the cancel trick work pretty well with 2H sword as well as fast maneuver w/ waggle the analog, I think I can use whatever weapon is strongest. Here's what I'm thinking (incomplete, need to come up w/ Faerie):

Dragon:
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
Iron2HSword [18] (Purchase in Lumina)
Braveblade [37] (Enemy drop during Ghost of Nemesis)

Jumi
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
Braveblade [37] (Enemy drop during The Looking-Glass Tower)
SwordOfFate [50] (Given at the start of Teardrop Crystal)

I don't fight any of the enemies during Faerie that give me Braveblade during Faerie, so I'm still figuring out what enemy I'm gonna use for a drop for a weapon. Here's what I've got for choices:

Dainslaif - Braveblade [ATK 37] Drop Level: 4 / Throatslitter [ATK 24] Drop Level: 3
Goblin - Earthsplitter [ATK 31] Drop Level: 4 / BlackElk [ATK 26] Drop Level: 3
Dark Stalker - Levatine [ATK 26] Drop Level: 4
Springball - Juggernaut [ATK 20] Drop Level: 3
Ape Mummy - SprialClaw [ATK 19] Drop Level: 4
Narcissos - SprialClaw [ATK 19] Drop Level: 3 / GigasGlove [ATK 18] Drop Level: 4
Imp - TrueSpear [ATK 17] Drop Level: 4
Sahagin - TrueSpear [ATK 17] Drop Level: 4

The first one I come across on this list is Ape Mummy. There's one right before the boss during Teatime of Danger. I think the last enemies before Irwin are Dark Stalkers, but not 100% positive. I believe I face Springballs in Cage of Dreams, but going for a drop there won't be worth it (if I get it, great. If not, 1 ATK PT won't matter that late in the game).

Lumina would be a Lv 3 shop (10th land placed and 2 spaces from home) so if I'm wrong about Dark Stalker, I can get a Steel2HSword [ATK 25] from the shop in Lumina.

So it looks like it's gonna be this for Faerie:
Faerie
Menos2HSword [12] (Start)
SpiralClaw [19] (Enemy drop from Ape Mummy during Teatime of Danger)
Steel2HSword [25] (Purchase in Lumina) [Maybe? Test this against SpiralClaw for whether +6 ATK is better than the speed advantage.]

Yeah, the Faerie storyline is gonna suck in that regards.

Omnigamer

2013-04-29 11:26:03 pm

All the things

A bit off-the-wall, but does anybody know the actual formula for damage? Is it straight addition between your Pw and a weapon's atk, or is the formula a bit more complicated?

My thinking is that it may be possible to plan out level-ups and abuse the 1.75 growth rate from hammers in place of farming up moderately stronger weapons. 2HSword and Glove both have 1.25 rates which is quite good, but if it's reasonable to plan out ~10 level ups to occur with hammer equipped, that's an extra 5 Pw. If the formula works in such a way that makes that advantage similar to having a weapon with 10 more atk or something like that, it may be worth looking into. It would mean many more pauses, but that shouldn't matter if the goal is game time.

Sir VG

2013-04-29 11:39:59 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

The formula is a bit weird for monster levels, but damage from what I've seen is pretty consistent, so it must be straight attack. Monster level is based upon stuff like the land's mana levels, how many lands were placed before it (including home), and distance from home.

Also, remember that in-game time counts EVERYTHING. Yes, even if you pause in the midst of fights. I've determined that the in-game timer starts after you've selected your local map. So stuff like picking location, character name, etc is before the timer starts.

As for planning level ups for the higher attack stat, I'm not so sure about that. I never gain that many level ups anyways (I'm usually 23-27 at the end of runs) and attack of weapons seems to be much more important than character attack points. Swapping to a much weaker weapon for a fight doesn't seem smart, IMO. I could be wildly wrong, but I think it would cost more time than it saves. Most of the long boss fights are due to stupid invulnerability periods (like Irwin and Akravator) rather than low ATK or high DEF or the like. Looking over my old runs, there's only about a handful of boss fights that go over 1 minute as it is, with quite a few under 30 seconds.

The formula is a bit weird for monster levels, but damage from what I've seen is pretty consistent, so it must be straight attack. Monster level is based upon stuff like the land's mana levels, how many lands were placed before it (including home), and distance from home.

Also, remember that in-game time counts EVERYTHING. Yes, even if you pause in the midst of fights. I've determined that the in-game timer starts after you've selected your local map. So stuff like picking location, character name, etc is before the timer starts.

As for planning level ups for the higher attack stat, I'm not so sure about that. I never gain that many level ups anyways (I'm usually 23-27 at the end of runs) and attack of weapons seems to be much more important than character attack points. Swapping to a much weaker weapon for a fight doesn't seem smart, IMO. I could be wildly wrong, but I think it would cost more time than it saves. Most of the long boss fights are due to stupid invulnerability periods (like Irwin and Akravator) rather than low ATK or high DEF or the like. Looking over my old runs, there's only about a handful of boss fights that go over 1 minute as it is, with quite a few under 30 seconds.

Omnigamer

2013-04-29 11:48:45 pm

All the things

Right, it wouldn't be worth it unless Pw counted for more than atk. But the reasoning wouldn't be to just have higher offensive power, but rather to replace having to farm up additional weapons from enemies. One point of Pw would have to be worth at least 2 or 3 points of atk for this to be effective. It's reasonable from a game development standpoint for that to be the case, but it's hard to test in a game like this.

Sir VG

2013-04-30 12:28:08 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Yeah, it's hard to get exact figures on damage, other than visually watching the bar. Enemy HP isn't displayed in numbers nor do your attacks show such. I think the monster encyclopedia shows something related to Lv 1 stats, but I'm not sure. About all I've gauged is that an attack damage is consistent and not some variable damage thing like Final Fantasy games. Same ATK in, same DMG out. I can try playing around with things none-the-less, but like I said, swapping weapons for the level ups will probably not save me time, especially since while I may have a general idea when a level up will occur, a lot of the monsters only drop EXP 50% of the time, so I can have those weaker weapons for more time than I want (quite a few at least do have their Drop 1 & 2 slots both be EXP, which would man 75% chance). I might figure out a way to test it. I'll figure something out.

Polsy

2013-04-30 03:09:04 am

Well, you can probably do something with an emulator and watching memory, though it'd probably be a bit of effort to figure out where the enemy HP is before you kill them. Might give that a go later.

Sir VG

2013-04-30 04:52:10 am

Fucking Weeaboo

While testing something, I found out that the skills (both techniques and abilities) learned are NOT dependent on EXP. I've learned Shield Breaker and Counterattack despite having 0 EXP so far. My guess is that it's tied into number of kills made. I haven't tested whether it's PC only or whether partner kills count as well. I think it's also affected by if you have 1 or 2 abilities the same. The Faerie JAP RTA learned it considerably faster than what I did, but they did have defend on both Square and X. Defend leads to Counterattack which is why I think equipping it on both counts for 2x learning. I'm still playing around with this to find out more.

Omnigamer

2013-04-30 07:46:50 am

All the things

Quote from Polsy:

Well, you can probably do something with an emulator and watching memory, though it'd probably be a bit of effort to figure out where the enemy HP is before you kill them. Might give that a go later.

For many systems this would be pretty simple, but PS1 has notoriously poor tools for this. PSXjin allows for memory watching, but has no action replay support (otherwise used for "poking" certain addresses). The only emulator that allows you to view and debug the assembly instructions is pSX, but it doesn't have a sensible memory search or action replay support. For LoM it might be okay to just be able to hunt through memory, but in the event that enemy HP values are stored in the MIPS registers you'll need to use pSX to view them. It's a pain no matter how you do it.

Polsy

2013-04-30 03:10:25 pm

Yeah, I just used a generic memory watcher/editor and ePSXe. Pretty unlikely to be reliable for sharing memory addresses with people but it's ok for just taking a look.

Played through the Tower of Leires/The Looking Glass Tower doing ~6 damage with a MenosSword(10), 11 with an IronSword(15) and 24 with a WendelSword(30) so yeah it seems like it's more-or-less 1:1 attack:damage as far as weapons go at least.

Level/power seems really ineffective, I leveled up 20 times (by modifying the xp figure repeatedly) to bring my power from 20 to 40 and did 9/15/31 damage.

Sir VG

2013-05-01 09:09:09 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Beat my Dragon time today, 1:53 IGT. I picked up a SpiralClaw just before the 2nd mini-boss on Guardian of Winds (I am not farming for it) but didn't get my Braveblade very quickly, so I lost about a couple of minutes there. Outside of that, no major issues. Should be able to get 1:51 on the US version. Not sure about 1:50, since I figure I was a high 1:53.

Weapons Used: Menos2HSword, Iron2HSword, SpiralClaw, Braveblade.
Skills: Defend/Defend, Counterattack/Counterattack, Lunge/Retreat, Evade/Counterstrike
Techniques: Rising Crush, Marble Stream

Polsy

2013-05-02 03:42:58 am

Nice result for just a few(?) tries, anyway. I tried to watch the stream but work wasn't being very conducive so I didn't catch much.

Sir VG

2013-05-02 03:49:27 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Managed to get Faerie down to 2:12 today. I figure I can probably get a 2:10 if everything goes right and I don't get trolled by chests, NPCs, and those snakes.

Snakes...why did it have to be snakes...

Sir VG

2013-05-03 02:49:01 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

I finished up a practice run on Jumi today. Even with screwing around, mistakes, and other general nonsense, I finished with a 2:50. My current record is 2:48, which when I get serious should be easily smashed.

Here's a few things I found out.

1. SwordOfFate is ATK 40, where the Japanese one is ATK 50. So just like everything else, it's nerfed.
2. With the current route, I have to sell stuff if I want to get a Iron2HSword (ATK 18) during The Flame of Hope.
3. Weapon setup is: Menos2HSword (Initial), Iron2HSword (18, if I buy during TFOH), BraveBlade (ATK 37, The Looking-Glass Tower as a drop), SwordOfFate (ATK 40, Teardrop Crystal).
4. As I speculated earlier, starting Can't Look Back does indeed fail Reach for the Stars. This allows me to skip Enchanted Instruments 101.

I'm still planning on learning Evade and Counterstrike for abilities. I did learn Iai Strike for 1H Sword Skills, but didn't use it after.

There's still a lot of nitpick things to look at, but the general routing is solid. And scoring 2 new personal records in 3 days is awesome. I consider my "Hope of Mana" stream sessions a success. I had a ton of fun, great experiences, and got back in touch with the game I love. THAT is what speedrunning should be about.

I probably won't get a chance to run again for a bit, but stay tuned. Cause I've got more goodies in store. Smiley

I finished up a practice run on Jumi today. Even with screwing around, mistakes, and other general nonsense, I finished with a 2:50. My current record is 2:48, which when I get serious should be easily smashed.

Here's a few things I found out.

1. SwordOfFate is ATK 40, where the Japanese one is ATK 50. So just like everything else, it's nerfed.
2. With the current route, I have to sell stuff if I want to get a Iron2HSword (ATK 18) during The Flame of Hope.
3. Weapon setup is: Menos2HSword (Initial), Iron2HSword (18, if I buy during TFOH), BraveBlade (ATK 37, The Looking-Glass Tower as a drop), SwordOfFate (ATK 40, Teardrop Crystal).
4. As I speculated earlier, starting Can't Look Back does indeed fail Reach for the Stars. This allows me to skip Enchanted Instruments 101.

I'm still planning on learning Evade and Counterstrike for abilities. I did learn Iai Strike for 1H Sword Skills, but didn't use it after.

There's still a lot of nitpick things to look at, but the general routing is solid. And scoring 2 new personal records in 3 days is awesome. I consider my "Hope of Mana" stream sessions a success. I had a ton of fun, great experiences, and got back in touch with the game I love. THAT is what speedrunning should be about.

I probably won't get a chance to run again for a bit, but stay tuned. Cause I've got more goodies in store. :)

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-12-27 02:50:06 am

Sir VG: 2013-12-27 02:49:51 am

Sir VG: 2013-05-05 12:40:48 pm

2013-05-05 01:55:58 am

Fucking Weeaboo

SS Dragon 1:53:

For the most part, the run is solid. The biggest single time waste was having to farm for Braveblade, which cost me about 1:45. Akravator and the Sierra/Vadise fights were big trolls. Hitodama went better than usual - usually he's a big troll too. I did get a SpiralClaw during Guardian of Winds, but that's more of a bonus than a necessity. It's only 1 ATK higher than what I have (Iron2HSword) but it is faster. And since Ghost of Nemesis is the next fighting mission after, it's not worth farming for.

I figure a good goal is probably 1:49. While still several minutes slower than the Japanese RTA, they do have a massive advantage with SpiralClaw, which while 2 points weaker than the US Braveblade, it's considerably faster. I may be able to narrow the gap more than that, but right now that's the next goal. Cutting out 4 minutes (1:45 by not having to farm) seems reasonable to me.

-----------

Single Session Faerie Storyline in 2:12:

I got trolled by the same NPC in the same location that the Japanese RTA did, just in a different way. Also, SNAKES SUCK.

SS Dragon 1:53: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe6pN5zpILI

For the most part, the run is solid. The biggest single time waste was having to farm for Braveblade, which cost me about 1:45. Akravator and the Sierra/Vadise fights were big trolls.  Hitodama went better than usual - usually he's a big troll too. I did get a SpiralClaw during Guardian of Winds, but that's more of a bonus than a necessity. It's only 1 ATK higher than what I have (Iron2HSword) but it is faster. And since Ghost of Nemesis is the next fighting mission after, it's not worth farming for.

I figure a good goal is probably 1:49. While still several minutes slower than the Japanese RTA, they do have a massive advantage with SpiralClaw, which while 2 points weaker than the US Braveblade, it's considerably faster. I may be able to narrow the gap more than that, but right now that's the next goal. Cutting out 4 minutes (1:45 by not having to farm) seems reasonable to me.

-----------

Single Session Faerie Storyline in 2:12:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2QXN2vhX2s

I got trolled by the same NPC in the same location that the Japanese RTA did, just in a different way. Also, SNAKES SUCK.

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-05-27 04:07:54 am

Sir VG: 2013-05-27 02:14:41 am

Sir VG: 2013-05-24 04:34:12 pm

2013-05-24 12:26:38 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Dragon is now down to 1:52 today, but missed 1:51 by the skin of its teeth. I have developed a new strat for dealing with the two luck bosses - go for the weaker IronGlove instead of Iron2HSword and then pray for a SpiralClaw (or at least GigasGlove) drop during Guardian of Winds. The rest of the bosses don't have the massive invulnerability periods that Hitodama and Akrivator have, so having the slower but much more powerful Braveblade will still be used for the rest of the run. But with the gloves, getting the rhythm down for stunlocking (while using regular attacks instead of heavy attacks) is a better way to go. I figure it's about 120-126 BPM on timing.

Edit: 1:50! Going for the IronGlove strat is definitely pro. I lost some time in later section like the BraveBlade drop, but overall it went really well.

Edit (05.27.2013) - In studying the differences more between US and Japanese, I can finally truly realize why my time on the US version is gonna be much slower than the Japanese version. I'll never be anywhere near the Jap RTA. Why?

1. Weapons are nerfed. As stated before, the US weapon drops are much weaker than the Japanese ones. SpiralClaw in the Japanese version has ATK 35, while the US one is 19. While I do pick up Braveblade as a drop which is 37...
2. Since the gloves are faster, even with a 2 ATK stronger weapon, the J version has an advantage on speed.
3. The enemies, noticeably bosses, are buffed on the US version. For instance, look at Land Dragon, the 2nd dragon boss in The Flames (at about 14:50 on PT 3 of the J RTA). That boss has 2 health bars and dies in about 2 hits. The US run doing the same route? The same boss has NINE health bars. I don't know how the formula on boss HP got changed so much, but it did.

It's something I'm gonna study more as I continue to play, but yeah, the time differences are gonna be massive and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except take what I learn and apply the best I can.

Watching more videos, boss HP is just screwed up in general. Some are higher in the US, some lower. Boreal Hound has about 2.25 bars in the US while he has at least 5 in the Japanese version (about 5 1/3 from my gathering). Just weird.

Dragon is now down to 1:52 today, but missed 1:51 by the skin of its teeth. I have developed a new strat for dealing with the two luck bosses - go for the weaker IronGlove instead of Iron2HSword and then pray for a SpiralClaw (or at least GigasGlove) drop during Guardian of Winds. The rest of the bosses don't have the massive invulnerability periods that Hitodama and Akrivator have, so having the slower but much more powerful Braveblade will still be used for the rest of the run. But with the gloves, getting the rhythm down for stunlocking (while using regular attacks instead of heavy attacks) is a better way to go. I figure it's about 120-126 BPM on timing.

Edit: 1:50! Going for the IronGlove strat is definitely pro. I lost some time in later section like the BraveBlade drop, but overall it went really well.

Edit (05.27.2013) - In studying the differences more between US and Japanese, I can finally truly realize why my time on the US version is gonna be much slower than the Japanese version. I'll never be anywhere near the Jap RTA. Why?

1. Weapons are nerfed. As stated before, the US weapon drops are much weaker than the Japanese ones. SpiralClaw in the Japanese version has ATK 35, while the US one is 19. While I do pick up Braveblade as a drop which is 37...
2. Since the gloves are faster, even with a 2 ATK stronger weapon, the J version has an advantage on speed.
3. The enemies, noticeably bosses, are buffed on the US version. For instance, look at Land Dragon, the 2nd dragon boss in The Flames (at about 14:50 on PT 3 of the J RTA). That boss has 2 health bars and dies in about 2 hits. The US run doing the same route? The same boss has NINE health bars. I don't know how the formula on boss HP got changed so much, but it did.

It's something I'm gonna study more as I continue to play, but yeah, the time differences are gonna be massive and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except take what I learn and apply the best I can.

Watching more videos, boss HP is just screwed up in general. Some are higher in the US, some lower. Boreal Hound has about 2.25 bars in the US while he has at least 5 in the Japanese version (about 5 1/3 from my gathering). Just weird.