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,@ 2007-09-29 17:36:00 |
|
Hardcore, Episode 4
Hoggmeiser "borrows" some equipment from the Prinny Squad, including a Statistician-bearing Dark Orb. What was a Prinny doing with it to begin with? Oops. The 5000 HL he "provides" brings my bankroll to 14K, enough for me to "buy" a rare Muscle Dream... and it's a beauty, containing an Aeronaut, a Cryophile, and an Armsmaster, all at 25. Its rarity matches a pair of Orbs Laharl is equipped with, so despite myself I let Laharl keep it for the time being. Although I technically could get the Moon Orb as well, I decide to put it off for one battle just in case something screwy happens (not to mention that for a time I was healing hitpoints as well with the equipment I was cycling - I almost ran out without getting it!)
Road of Flames: Such a friendly map. It's almost as if the game is intentionally powering me up for a big battle. ...Oh, wait, it is. I merge three of the nearby starting enemies, weaken them a bit, let Hoggmeiser take 50% damage, then KO a level-36 enemy for double experience via a big ol' combo... a little too big, with Flonne alone getting the credit. Oops... she's level 13 now, jumping into second place. The remaining three enemies suffer a similar fate, with a Prinny Raid leaving the level-34 monster with 2 HP. GRRRRR! I decide Laharl can have that one rather than risk another turn. 274 EXP to the survivors is the reward.
The rare Moon Orb provided yet another Armsmaster, this one a 22. Rarity-wise, though, it matched nothing I already had, and I didn't want to break up the sets I already had, so I gave it to Choux. There was a level-36 Teacher in it, and that would have gone to waste anywhere else, so I don't feel too bad about it.
Parched Ground: I let Laharl take the lead - he now has over 900 HP - and in a none-too-fancy manner I take the six near enemies and triple them up, with Etna getting both KOs. After taking several turns to heal up, I advance just far enough to lure out all the remaining Pumpkin-types. I managed to get them surrounding Hoggmeiser, who of course used Spinning Slash to soften them up. He KOed one of them with it - Flonne shot it the turn prior - but the other two were merged and scored by Etna with a Sky Lunge. The two Killer Armors were merged and KOed by Etna in short order. A Magnifying Glass in slot 1 gives Etna a bit of a boost.
Blazing Field: There are a number of interesting ways to fight this battle. With only three characters capable of throwing, though, things are a bit more limited. Personally, I have a fear of Enemy Boost, and the Damage swap-in is really just a convenience, so here's what I do first turn: Laharl throws Etna to the right-hand side of the last enemy in line, she throws that enemy onto the Enemy Boost +50% Geo Symbol; Flonne takes the enemy in front and merges it into the new back-of-the-line; Hoggmeiser takes the spot it occupied and defends. The Enemy Boost is gone, Hoggmeiser is blocking the bridge, and only Etna is really at any risk. She can take it. Turn 2, Laharl throws Flonne along the map edge, she throws the Damage 20% onto the red field, and Etna retreats to that safe strip and defends; Hoggmeiser backs up a panel and a Zombie blocks the bridge side, both defending. A few turns later, Flonne gets a level-27 KO (Laharl came up a little short) and Etna a level-18 KO. I pull the Damage symbol back off the red once it'd been there four turns, rendering the remaining opponents very weak and easy pickings. Unfortunately, status conditions made my merging campaign less than perfectly efficient. (Not having Espoir bites the wax tadpole.) Losing Hoggmeiser in the process, Etna bags a level-44, a level-23 (shared with Flonne), and a level-26. 200 EXP for everyone!
Molten Labyrinth: Mid-Boss stands atop the archway like he owns the place, because he does. Not half the pushover he was the first time around, this is a battle to take very seriously. No merging tricks here. I lure the first enemy out alone and deal with it promptly. When the flood arrives, Hoggmeiser, Laharl, and Flonne combo together and Etna uses Avalanche to pick off singletons. I bring out the expendables and arrange everyone in a checkered pattern in the hope of scattering the enemies' attacks and minimizing damage; it seems to work. The first of Mid-Boss's two Adonic Blasts hits Hoggmeiser and Choux, both of which stood standing; all of his reinforcements fell the next turn except one, a Mandrake on the rear bridge that seemed content to simply watch for the moment. It changed its mind the next turn, after Vyers dropped a Zombie; it was immediately surrounded and punished. I retreat most of the rest of my party, in the hopes that Vyers wastes his other Adonic Shot; "But of course!" he does, dropping Hoggmeiser and another Zombie. If you read the first episode log I posted here, you should know how I finished Vyers off without taking further damage. (Sometimes he's silly and moves back and forth on a bridge a couple turns, but that doesn't change the tactic any.)
Phew! - ZM
Hoggmeiser "borrows" some equipment from the Prinny Squad, including a Statistician-bearing Dark Orb. What was a Prinny doing with it to begin with? Oops. The 5000 HL he "provides" brings my bankroll to 14K, enough for me to "buy" a rare Muscle Dream... and it's a beauty, containing an Aeronaut, a Cryophile, and an Armsmaster, all at 25. Its rarity matches a pair of Orbs Laharl is equipped with, so despite myself I let Laharl keep it for the time being. Although I technically could get the Moon Orb as well, I decide to put it off for one battle just in case something screwy happens (not to mention that for a time I was healing hitpoints as well with the equipment I was cycling - I almost ran out without getting it!)
Road of Flames: Such a friendly map. It's almost as if the game is intentionally powering me up for a big battle. ...Oh, wait, it is. I merge three of the nearby starting enemies, weaken them a bit, let Hoggmeiser take 50% damage, then KO a level-36 enemy for double experience via a big ol' combo... a little too big, with Flonne alone getting the credit. Oops... she's level 13 now, jumping into second place. The remaining three enemies suffer a similar fate, with a Prinny Raid leaving the level-34 monster with 2 HP. GRRRRR! I decide Laharl can have that one rather than risk another turn. 274 EXP to the survivors is the reward.
The rare Moon Orb provided yet another Armsmaster, this one a 22. Rarity-wise, though, it matched nothing I already had, and I didn't want to break up the sets I already had, so I gave it to Choux. There was a level-36 Teacher in it, and that would have gone to waste anywhere else, so I don't feel too bad about it.
Parched Ground: I let Laharl take the lead - he now has over 900 HP - and in a none-too-fancy manner I take the six near enemies and triple them up, with Etna getting both KOs. After taking several turns to heal up, I advance just far enough to lure out all the remaining Pumpkin-types. I managed to get them surrounding Hoggmeiser, who of course used Spinning Slash to soften them up. He KOed one of them with it - Flonne shot it the turn prior - but the other two were merged and scored by Etna with a Sky Lunge. The two Killer Armors were merged and KOed by Etna in short order. A Magnifying Glass in slot 1 gives Etna a bit of a boost.
Blazing Field: There are a number of interesting ways to fight this battle. With only three characters capable of throwing, though, things are a bit more limited. Personally, I have a fear of Enemy Boost, and the Damage swap-in is really just a convenience, so here's what I do first turn: Laharl throws Etna to the right-hand side of the last enemy in line, she throws that enemy onto the Enemy Boost +50% Geo Symbol; Flonne takes the enemy in front and merges it into the new back-of-the-line; Hoggmeiser takes the spot it occupied and defends. The Enemy Boost is gone, Hoggmeiser is blocking the bridge, and only Etna is really at any risk. She can take it. Turn 2, Laharl throws Flonne along the map edge, she throws the Damage 20% onto the red field, and Etna retreats to that safe strip and defends; Hoggmeiser backs up a panel and a Zombie blocks the bridge side, both defending. A few turns later, Flonne gets a level-27 KO (Laharl came up a little short) and Etna a level-18 KO. I pull the Damage symbol back off the red once it'd been there four turns, rendering the remaining opponents very weak and easy pickings. Unfortunately, status conditions made my merging campaign less than perfectly efficient. (Not having Espoir bites the wax tadpole.) Losing Hoggmeiser in the process, Etna bags a level-44, a level-23 (shared with Flonne), and a level-26. 200 EXP for everyone!
Molten Labyrinth: Mid-Boss stands atop the archway like he owns the place, because he does. Not half the pushover he was the first time around, this is a battle to take very seriously. No merging tricks here. I lure the first enemy out alone and deal with it promptly. When the flood arrives, Hoggmeiser, Laharl, and Flonne combo together and Etna uses Avalanche to pick off singletons. I bring out the expendables and arrange everyone in a checkered pattern in the hope of scattering the enemies' attacks and minimizing damage; it seems to work. The first of Mid-Boss's two Adonic Blasts hits Hoggmeiser and Choux, both of which stood standing; all of his reinforcements fell the next turn except one, a Mandrake on the rear bridge that seemed content to simply watch for the moment. It changed its mind the next turn, after Vyers dropped a Zombie; it was immediately surrounded and punished. I retreat most of the rest of my party, in the hopes that Vyers wastes his other Adonic Shot; "But of course!" he does, dropping Hoggmeiser and another Zombie. If you read the first episode log I posted here, you should know how I finished Vyers off without taking further damage. (Sometimes he's silly and moves back and forth on a bridge a couple turns, but that doesn't change the tactic any.)
Phew! - ZM
