Adam R. Wood (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} zotmeister) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} disgaea,@ 2007-06-09 12:10:00 |
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Hardcore, Episode 2
Seeing the 3,000+ HL I had in the till, I decided to spend it on "buying" some rare muscles; I also got the Psyche Orb while I was at it (it took, like, a hundred tries before the hospital offered me a rare one - it was obnoxious). As luck had it, the Muscle Fight was the same rarity as the Muscle Brawn, so I decided that was a good level to stop at; it also had an all-important Pharmacist, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances. I buy four Candies and three Faerie Dusts and save the remaining 1,464 HL; I'll probably need it to foot hospital bills. I notice Etna still has just a Common Spear, but as she's level 11 with 337 HP at the start of Episode 2, I figure I'll live. I'll probably get a better one off a Bonus Gauge soon enough.
Forsaken Land: I toyed with the idea of capturing one of the zombies here, but thought better of it. I paired off four of the five, and actually let Laharl take out one of the resulting two as well as the odd one out. Etna threw an archer into the cleric, and would have thrown the other in as well were it not for an excessively effective counterattack. D'oh.
Icy Breath: The first turn sees Laharl using Blazing Knuckle in the obvious place, leaving three almost-KOed zombies; Etna then promptly tossed one into the Base Panel, where the Prinnies alone were enough to effect the capture. Rockin'. Laharl took out a second with a counter, and Etna sent the third into capture as well (I'm now down to two Prinnies). Like clockwork, the backlot zombies start to close in; they get paired up and taken down. The last two I figured I'd try to capture, so I put Laharl back in the Base Panel; the attempts were successful.
Which/how many enemies should be merged together or captured - and when - is something I haven't really decided upon yet. Capturing lets me actually field more units in the early game and actually gives me a chance of getting some of the better treasures out of the hospital; of course, KOing the enemies means more experience. At any rate, I now have four new party members, or at least I will when I can afford to foot the hospital bill for their recovery. I had the HL for two of them. I give them the equipment off my Prinnies. I also buy a fourth Faerie Dust, largely because I'm paranoid. I had the money for either that or a Candy, but not both. I probably should have bought the latter.
Eternal Winter: The first real test. This battle was my main sticking point in my earliest attempts at the hardcore. The problem, of course, is that bloody Hell Pepper ability that will be a thorn in my side for quite some time. I don't merge the enemy zombies together or try to capture them - I simply finish them off as quickly as I can. My new party members help this tremendously. As the imps approach, I put my characters into diagonal lines so that any one use of Hell Pepper cannot possibly hit more than one party member. I have Etna head for the high ground - that one corner spot up and right from the Base Panel - while Laharl and company do the best they can to soften up the wingeds. Due to the miracle that is Blazing Knuckle, Laharl got two, with a zombie getting a third - this battle is going FAR better than I expected it would. Etna needed to use a Faerie Dust early on, but other than that the whole affair went off without a hitch. Etna actually found herself coming back down from her usual hiding place in order to mop up with Prinny Raids and a Sky Lunge. Laharl even managed to survive the battle somehow, getting 50 EXP from the Bonus Gauge.
The hospital gives me a rare Imperial Seal after the battle, whose rarity just happened to match that of a Bulletproof Vest a Bonus Gauge gave me in the first episode. I decide to give Etna that pairing, leaving the Muscle Fight as her third item; Laharl gets his original Imperial Seal back.
White Death: Ever seen a battle guide for Disgaea that told you to take out Flonne quickly before dealing with the dragon? You know, like, every guide on GameFAQs for it? They often even go so far as to use words like 'obvious' or 'of course'. Well, I disagree, and how. For the love of sanity, look how they're standing when the battle starts! A level-13 angel is not only FAR easier to fight than a level-8 dragon, but it's also worth more experience. In fact, I'll usually throw an imp in there as well - at level 19, she's worth even more, and she still doesn't get any offensive abilities (she'd get Holy Arrows at 20, hence the imp instead of a gremlin). She can't heal herself, you know. I start by pulling out a single Prinny, putting it just to the side of the Base Panel, and ending turn; this lures out a single Imp. Etna and Laharl make quick work of it, then Etna hides in the corner while an imp and a gremlin join the fray. Laharl takes out the imp, then hides in the corner himself while Etna retreats to the Base Panel. I bring out a zombie to Faerie Dust Laharl. Despite Etna having been ignored in that corner, though, Laharl and the zombie find themselves double-Peppered. Oops. The zombie's gone, but Laharl hangs on, and gives Etna the boost to get straight from the Base Panel to the spot next to the dragon. Stupid dragon never even got a chance to move. At that point, I pull everyone out of the Base Panel and put them in a nice, neat diagonal line. The wingeds all fall for the decoy while Flonne takes a whack at Etna's backside with her staff - no damage. Laharl, on his last legs (I never bothered to cure his repoisoning), gets a Candy from my one remaining zombie (the Prinnies are all toast) and adds the imp to the angel. The zombie then gets ganged up on, with Flonne now actually capable of dealing the same amount of damage as the gremlins (only without the whole poisoning thing). Etna - and Laharl, for as long as he lasted - then mopped up.
"Wow - you defeated my dragon!" Flonne says in the cutscene.
"No, I didn't!" I say in response, as usual.
I've been challenged to a game of Catan; I'll try to get through the Item World section later on this weekend, but I do have lots of stuff to do. - ZM
Seeing the 3,000+ HL I had in the till, I decided to spend it on "buying" some rare muscles; I also got the Psyche Orb while I was at it (it took, like, a hundred tries before the hospital offered me a rare one - it was obnoxious). As luck had it, the Muscle Fight was the same rarity as the Muscle Brawn, so I decided that was a good level to stop at; it also had an all-important Pharmacist, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances. I buy four Candies and three Faerie Dusts and save the remaining 1,464 HL; I'll probably need it to foot hospital bills. I notice Etna still has just a Common Spear, but as she's level 11 with 337 HP at the start of Episode 2, I figure I'll live. I'll probably get a better one off a Bonus Gauge soon enough.
Forsaken Land: I toyed with the idea of capturing one of the zombies here, but thought better of it. I paired off four of the five, and actually let Laharl take out one of the resulting two as well as the odd one out. Etna threw an archer into the cleric, and would have thrown the other in as well were it not for an excessively effective counterattack. D'oh.
Icy Breath: The first turn sees Laharl using Blazing Knuckle in the obvious place, leaving three almost-KOed zombies; Etna then promptly tossed one into the Base Panel, where the Prinnies alone were enough to effect the capture. Rockin'. Laharl took out a second with a counter, and Etna sent the third into capture as well (I'm now down to two Prinnies). Like clockwork, the backlot zombies start to close in; they get paired up and taken down. The last two I figured I'd try to capture, so I put Laharl back in the Base Panel; the attempts were successful.
Which/how many enemies should be merged together or captured - and when - is something I haven't really decided upon yet. Capturing lets me actually field more units in the early game and actually gives me a chance of getting some of the better treasures out of the hospital; of course, KOing the enemies means more experience. At any rate, I now have four new party members, or at least I will when I can afford to foot the hospital bill for their recovery. I had the HL for two of them. I give them the equipment off my Prinnies. I also buy a fourth Faerie Dust, largely because I'm paranoid. I had the money for either that or a Candy, but not both. I probably should have bought the latter.
Eternal Winter: The first real test. This battle was my main sticking point in my earliest attempts at the hardcore. The problem, of course, is that bloody Hell Pepper ability that will be a thorn in my side for quite some time. I don't merge the enemy zombies together or try to capture them - I simply finish them off as quickly as I can. My new party members help this tremendously. As the imps approach, I put my characters into diagonal lines so that any one use of Hell Pepper cannot possibly hit more than one party member. I have Etna head for the high ground - that one corner spot up and right from the Base Panel - while Laharl and company do the best they can to soften up the wingeds. Due to the miracle that is Blazing Knuckle, Laharl got two, with a zombie getting a third - this battle is going FAR better than I expected it would. Etna needed to use a Faerie Dust early on, but other than that the whole affair went off without a hitch. Etna actually found herself coming back down from her usual hiding place in order to mop up with Prinny Raids and a Sky Lunge. Laharl even managed to survive the battle somehow, getting 50 EXP from the Bonus Gauge.
The hospital gives me a rare Imperial Seal after the battle, whose rarity just happened to match that of a Bulletproof Vest a Bonus Gauge gave me in the first episode. I decide to give Etna that pairing, leaving the Muscle Fight as her third item; Laharl gets his original Imperial Seal back.
White Death: Ever seen a battle guide for Disgaea that told you to take out Flonne quickly before dealing with the dragon? You know, like, every guide on GameFAQs for it? They often even go so far as to use words like 'obvious' or 'of course'. Well, I disagree, and how. For the love of sanity, look how they're standing when the battle starts! A level-13 angel is not only FAR easier to fight than a level-8 dragon, but it's also worth more experience. In fact, I'll usually throw an imp in there as well - at level 19, she's worth even more, and she still doesn't get any offensive abilities (she'd get Holy Arrows at 20, hence the imp instead of a gremlin). She can't heal herself, you know. I start by pulling out a single Prinny, putting it just to the side of the Base Panel, and ending turn; this lures out a single Imp. Etna and Laharl make quick work of it, then Etna hides in the corner while an imp and a gremlin join the fray. Laharl takes out the imp, then hides in the corner himself while Etna retreats to the Base Panel. I bring out a zombie to Faerie Dust Laharl. Despite Etna having been ignored in that corner, though, Laharl and the zombie find themselves double-Peppered. Oops. The zombie's gone, but Laharl hangs on, and gives Etna the boost to get straight from the Base Panel to the spot next to the dragon. Stupid dragon never even got a chance to move. At that point, I pull everyone out of the Base Panel and put them in a nice, neat diagonal line. The wingeds all fall for the decoy while Flonne takes a whack at Etna's backside with her staff - no damage. Laharl, on his last legs (I never bothered to cure his repoisoning), gets a Candy from my one remaining zombie (the Prinnies are all toast) and adds the imp to the angel. The zombie then gets ganged up on, with Flonne now actually capable of dealing the same amount of damage as the gremlins (only without the whole poisoning thing). Etna - and Laharl, for as long as he lasted - then mopped up.
"Wow - you defeated my dragon!" Flonne says in the cutscene.
"No, I didn't!" I say in response, as usual.
I've been challenged to a game of Catan; I'll try to get through the Item World section later on this weekend, but I do have lots of stuff to do. - ZM
