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,@ 2007-12-22 14:19:00 |
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Hardcore, Episode 8
[For links to earlier entries, visit my journal's listing.]
This is it... the moment when it all goes down...
...Wait, wrong game. But close enough - this is a pivotal chapter. The difficulty is suddenly through the roof. I'll be fortunate to make it through these with more than one character standing, if I make it through at all. All the min-maxing up to now is for this very chapter...
Theatre of Death: How very aptly named. Enemy Boost x3 all around, the opposite corner of the map the only hope, and only three characters that can throw. This, more than any other, is likely the battle that makes people think this hardcore is impossible. I've done it before, but will I do it now?
The right is easier than the left - shorter and fewer enemies - so I set up a throw chain: Flonne goes out two tiles, Laharl one, and Etna stays on the Base Panel; Laharl grabs Etna, Flonne grabs Laharl and throws him out as far as possible, Laharl throws Etna to the back wall, and Etna moves right up to the Cyclops and throws it to the side corner. I also bring out a Zombie and stand it diagonally adjacent to Flonne (towards the right corner) in the hopes of drawing more fire away from Laharl, who may actually survive the turn. This works better than I expected; the zombie is gone, but neither Laharl nor Flonne is even attacked! Etna takes a Putrid Breath that thankfully doesn't poison her. On the second turn, Laharl runs up to Etna and tosses her as far as he can; Etna then moves diagonally down from the Enemy Boost x3 Geo Symbol and - noting its weakness to Fire - I have her hit it with Spear Storm. It does about a third more damage than it needs to in order to pop it off.
Wow, that certainly went better than I ever remember it going before...
Despite the music still being melancholy, I can't help but feel the battle is going to go a lot peppier from here on out. I rebunker Flonne and come out with the big guns. Choux, Hoggmeiser, and Ozmyere combo away the three Man-Eaters that came in from the left and were dumb enough to stand together in a line; Axis and Andrealphus take out another, with Maderas left striking air. Ozmyere is paralyzed in the return fire, but it's nothing I can't work around - at this point the upper hand is clearly mine. A fairly straight beatdown ensues; I don't dare merge anyone, or even try to toss an enemy into the Base Panel - I decide I'll simply take the 1375 EXP the Bonus Gauge offers. Once the stumps are all dealt with, I activate the DEF -50% Symbol and let Laharl and Etna poke the Galactic Demons down; they never move, so Overlord's Wrath and Avalanche are quite safe.
Frigid Garden: Why, it's the Binary Battle! You can make any level monster you want from one to sixty-three inclusive from each set of six opponents. Flonne, then Etna, then Laharl each in turn moves up to the line of enemies right outside the Base Panel and throws the one in front as far towards the back as they can; yeah, I'm begging for a Stomp-O-Rama, but I'll live. Oddly enough, it doesn't come - the level-38 Man-Eater simply attacks Etna. Weird. Oh well. Laharl and Flonne finish merging the three, and a 6-hit combo (including a Prinny Barrage, because I could) gives Etna the credit. I end turn, and the Treants start their march. I end turn four more times, and - well, what do you know, they're all in a line. Second verse, same as the first, for the most part; I left Flonne standing too far back, resulting in Laharl countering the level-4. Oops. Etna's Avalanche leaves it with 44 HP, and it uses Paranoia to take out Choux and knock Flonne and Axis down to half their HP; I decide this is a good time to try a capture. Flonne uses Power of Love to get others topped off, everyone is put back in the bunker except Etna, and... Etna gets the prick with a Counter. Of all the times for it to stop using specials... Well, that leaves the Oakrots, which need to be "woken up" by approaching them, which Etna does, Defending just across the bridge. Again, Laharl counters the level-4 enemy away, but this time the level-59 remainder successfully made it back to the Base Panel, which it destroyed. Etna's Avalanche ends the battle.
14 KOs until Sofia's Mirror...
Freezing Souls: Delivery's here! Who ordered a s***-ton of death? The enemies are acutally well-equipped for a change, and at level 28 are no pushovers. Since they carry a variety of weapons, it's difficult for any one particular formation to prove superior. The obvious strategy is to bum-rush the Geo Symbols before entering the No-Fly Zone ("Not even a bird can get in here!"), and this is exactly what I do. I keep my units huddled fairly close together, picking Defend when out of range, and one by one deal with the enemy units as they arrive. None of my units are lost in the ensuing melee, although Choux comes close. Flonne uses Power of Love to heal up everyone but Etna while Etna takes out the Enemy Boost x3 and Attacks +1 Geo Symbols; Etna then throws ATK -50% onto the yellow and, after waiting a few turns to make sure the Bravehearts have worn off (needless to say, the enemy Mages are out of SP), the army marches forth to victory. The monsters take the center, Defending, to draw fire; Laharl, Etna, Flonne, and Choux flank the archers. 2000 EXP for my top ten!
Under the Moon: This is where all those Orbs suddenly become quite useful. I start with the three humanoids in a diagonal line, Defending; the enemies do their Dances and group together a tad. For the next turn, I retreat the line to the back wall - Laharl is on the Base Panel - and Defend again; now they're in a good position to ambush. (Note to self: if there's a next time, use a knight's-move formation here - Ice Dance attacks in an 'X'.) Over the next two turns, I form, surround, and dispatch two level-54 Nightmares before the enemy cavalry arrives. Flonne uses Power of Love in the hole in my formation left by the latter, then I take out the remaining Nightmares singly as Ozmyere tries - and largely fails - to soften up the oncoming opposition with a Zombie Gatling. When they do arrive, they line up orthogonally to combo Light Dances - lucky me. Etna broadsides them with Turbulence, then the rest of the party closes in and, in two turns, the enemies are still standing but not looking so good. I decide to go big; a level-93 Chernobog wipes out the Base Panel (farewell SP), then Etna wipes it out.
Things seem to be going a lot better than my previous attempts. If I can keep up this momentum - and keep from doing stupid things - then I should be able to finally make it this time. - ZM
[For links to earlier entries, visit my journal's listing.]
This is it... the moment when it all goes down...
...Wait, wrong game. But close enough - this is a pivotal chapter. The difficulty is suddenly through the roof. I'll be fortunate to make it through these with more than one character standing, if I make it through at all. All the min-maxing up to now is for this very chapter...
Theatre of Death: How very aptly named. Enemy Boost x3 all around, the opposite corner of the map the only hope, and only three characters that can throw. This, more than any other, is likely the battle that makes people think this hardcore is impossible. I've done it before, but will I do it now?
The right is easier than the left - shorter and fewer enemies - so I set up a throw chain: Flonne goes out two tiles, Laharl one, and Etna stays on the Base Panel; Laharl grabs Etna, Flonne grabs Laharl and throws him out as far as possible, Laharl throws Etna to the back wall, and Etna moves right up to the Cyclops and throws it to the side corner. I also bring out a Zombie and stand it diagonally adjacent to Flonne (towards the right corner) in the hopes of drawing more fire away from Laharl, who may actually survive the turn. This works better than I expected; the zombie is gone, but neither Laharl nor Flonne is even attacked! Etna takes a Putrid Breath that thankfully doesn't poison her. On the second turn, Laharl runs up to Etna and tosses her as far as he can; Etna then moves diagonally down from the Enemy Boost x3 Geo Symbol and - noting its weakness to Fire - I have her hit it with Spear Storm. It does about a third more damage than it needs to in order to pop it off.
Wow, that certainly went better than I ever remember it going before...
Despite the music still being melancholy, I can't help but feel the battle is going to go a lot peppier from here on out. I rebunker Flonne and come out with the big guns. Choux, Hoggmeiser, and Ozmyere combo away the three Man-Eaters that came in from the left and were dumb enough to stand together in a line; Axis and Andrealphus take out another, with Maderas left striking air. Ozmyere is paralyzed in the return fire, but it's nothing I can't work around - at this point the upper hand is clearly mine. A fairly straight beatdown ensues; I don't dare merge anyone, or even try to toss an enemy into the Base Panel - I decide I'll simply take the 1375 EXP the Bonus Gauge offers. Once the stumps are all dealt with, I activate the DEF -50% Symbol and let Laharl and Etna poke the Galactic Demons down; they never move, so Overlord's Wrath and Avalanche are quite safe.
Frigid Garden: Why, it's the Binary Battle! You can make any level monster you want from one to sixty-three inclusive from each set of six opponents. Flonne, then Etna, then Laharl each in turn moves up to the line of enemies right outside the Base Panel and throws the one in front as far towards the back as they can; yeah, I'm begging for a Stomp-O-Rama, but I'll live. Oddly enough, it doesn't come - the level-38 Man-Eater simply attacks Etna. Weird. Oh well. Laharl and Flonne finish merging the three, and a 6-hit combo (including a Prinny Barrage, because I could) gives Etna the credit. I end turn, and the Treants start their march. I end turn four more times, and - well, what do you know, they're all in a line. Second verse, same as the first, for the most part; I left Flonne standing too far back, resulting in Laharl countering the level-4. Oops. Etna's Avalanche leaves it with 44 HP, and it uses Paranoia to take out Choux and knock Flonne and Axis down to half their HP; I decide this is a good time to try a capture. Flonne uses Power of Love to get others topped off, everyone is put back in the bunker except Etna, and... Etna gets the prick with a Counter. Of all the times for it to stop using specials... Well, that leaves the Oakrots, which need to be "woken up" by approaching them, which Etna does, Defending just across the bridge. Again, Laharl counters the level-4 enemy away, but this time the level-59 remainder successfully made it back to the Base Panel, which it destroyed. Etna's Avalanche ends the battle.
14 KOs until Sofia's Mirror...
Freezing Souls: Delivery's here! Who ordered a s***-ton of death? The enemies are acutally well-equipped for a change, and at level 28 are no pushovers. Since they carry a variety of weapons, it's difficult for any one particular formation to prove superior. The obvious strategy is to bum-rush the Geo Symbols before entering the No-Fly Zone ("Not even a bird can get in here!"), and this is exactly what I do. I keep my units huddled fairly close together, picking Defend when out of range, and one by one deal with the enemy units as they arrive. None of my units are lost in the ensuing melee, although Choux comes close. Flonne uses Power of Love to heal up everyone but Etna while Etna takes out the Enemy Boost x3 and Attacks +1 Geo Symbols; Etna then throws ATK -50% onto the yellow and, after waiting a few turns to make sure the Bravehearts have worn off (needless to say, the enemy Mages are out of SP), the army marches forth to victory. The monsters take the center, Defending, to draw fire; Laharl, Etna, Flonne, and Choux flank the archers. 2000 EXP for my top ten!
Under the Moon: This is where all those Orbs suddenly become quite useful. I start with the three humanoids in a diagonal line, Defending; the enemies do their Dances and group together a tad. For the next turn, I retreat the line to the back wall - Laharl is on the Base Panel - and Defend again; now they're in a good position to ambush. (Note to self: if there's a next time, use a knight's-move formation here - Ice Dance attacks in an 'X'.) Over the next two turns, I form, surround, and dispatch two level-54 Nightmares before the enemy cavalry arrives. Flonne uses Power of Love in the hole in my formation left by the latter, then I take out the remaining Nightmares singly as Ozmyere tries - and largely fails - to soften up the oncoming opposition with a Zombie Gatling. When they do arrive, they line up orthogonally to combo Light Dances - lucky me. Etna broadsides them with Turbulence, then the rest of the party closes in and, in two turns, the enemies are still standing but not looking so good. I decide to go big; a level-93 Chernobog wipes out the Base Panel (farewell SP), then Etna wipes it out.
Things seem to be going a lot better than my previous attempts. If I can keep up this momentum - and keep from doing stupid things - then I should be able to finally make it this time. - ZM
