[Guide] Getting S Ranks

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Sasarai10
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Sasarai10 »

Antimatzist wrote:Don't bother S ranking Level 5 on your first try, the quest guild item and armor you can dig is more important. You can still S rank it on your second run.

Armor? Hm I lost it but never mind. I think I got it on my first playthrough already, since I remember I dag up pretty much everything.

Yeah I scored only A but it seems technically impossible here to score "S". Never mind at least I'm satisfied for getting "S" in 1 and 4.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

Even the first Level 5 of Obel Ruins has different configurations, but I think only two with different treasures to find.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Wolkendrache »

Every level has 3 configs, even the first level 5. The 3 different chest items are: Goblin Overcoat, Cape of Darkness, Dragon Scale Bracers. The first two of them can only be obtained in this stage, so only 1 per playthrough.
I'm usually trying to get the Goblin Overcoat, and if I play NG+, get another one. It's the best armor for Nalkul and Champo.

Why would you bother to attempt S rank on first level 5?
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Sasarai10
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Sasarai10 »

Wolkendrache wrote:Every level has 3 configs, even the first level 5. The 3 different chest items are: Goblin Overcoat, Cape of Darkness, Dragon Scale Bracers. The first two of them can only be obtained in this stage, so only 1 per playthrough.
I'm usually trying to get the Goblin Overcoat, and if I play NG+, get another one. It's the best armor for Nalkul and Champo.

Why would you bother to attempt S rank on first level 5?
Well I went there I scored "S" in 1 and 4....so why not in 5 too? I think I have a Goblin Overcoat on my previous playthrough. I'm not sure but never mind.

I'm doing well though. I have scored "S" in every map till Laboratory, without facing any difficulty. Although I believe things will start getting harder from now on. :|

And if only I knew Star Earrings can be found in that chest next to the waterfall, in those Ruins, I wouldn't bother with Rita's challenge. :cry:
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

I'm near the end of another Tactics run, again of course with S Ranking everything. As a bit of a challenge, I never used Hero IV in any battle (not even optional ones), and, well, it makes the game not harder at all.

Ever since Wolkendrache and I discussed here about our different approaches - him using the weapon runes, me the elemental sword runes - I was interested in his approach. And for whatever reason, I didn't even have to rely on it too much and the game is still the easiest it has ever been to me.

On the other hand, I now fully exploited how broken Mizuki is. She avoids everything without any trouble. I usually pair her with Eugene as a sponge for magic attacks or just drawing the enemies' attention, and with some water tile support, they are invincible. Unicorn Rune is also broken since enemies like to line up perfectly, and since it pierces through, you can hit A LOT of enemies. Mizuki's only drawback is that her rune only targets a single enemy, but really, you don't need more.

My other main party consists of Kyril, Andarc and Maxine. Maxine is probably my favourite mage, because she's got good magic and average speed. I think average speed is an advantage, since she'll move often after the first set of enemies made their move, so she can target them with her fire rune, but she's not as slow as Jeane or Simeon who're taking 3 turns per battle maybe. The Mercenary Leader unfortunately joins super late, so I haven't used her a lot yet.

As for EXP hunting, I used support characters a lot this time after Haruna, since my main cast was overleveled because of the Ruins. Yu, Carrie, Gary and Cedric get EXP based either on the "average level" of the stage, the character they use their skill on, or the highest character of yours (I haven't really checked yet). In any case, if the level difference is high enough, they'll get up to 630 EXP (maximum), or at least around 500-ish. This means that for every enemy on the map, you need to have at least one support action taken. This can be tricky if you're too quick. In the first Graska battle, I had Carrie and Yu in the trailing team doing their thing every turn and just scored an A. Turns out, I need two characters doing it, because I'm just too quickly done with finishing the enemies and you need to get 7500 EXP in that battle. Same for some of the Obel Ruins. Fortunately, later stages are very forgiving with the turn requirement, so you can switch out characters, lay out elemental beads (also lots of EXP for underleveled characters) and still get the S Rank.I prefer using the support characters because a) Gary's ability is pretty useful in maximizing damage, b) Yu can target characters very very far away so he doesn't need to catch up with the main group, and c) it's easier and cheaper than refilling elemental beads into the equipment of your low-level characters.

You also need to be a bit lucky with your Ruins configuration, because the enemy number may differ a lot. In Obel Ruins Stage 5, the minimum number of enemies is 10, but the maximum 16 - that's 3000 EXP difference you need to gather!

It also showed me again how useless some characters are. Great-Sword Users are slow and have the worst skill rune (I tried to use Mitsuba a bit, but also found her inferior to most other characters). Claw, Dart and Bow users, on the other hand, are supreme, because they have hard hitting runes, attack over a large range and also have area attacks. And I still think Pablo ranks for worst character in the entire game.

I'm a bit sad how one-sided the game becomes after Kooluk opens. I think the hardest battles to S Rank are before, but also mostly due to some luck that you'll need in some battles. The two Middleport battles tie for me as hardest battles to S Rank (together with Obel 1), because you need to keep Rita safe, get lots of EXP and not die. Every battle after this one gets progressively easier to S Rank.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by srd_27 »

Antimatzist wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2023 2:26 am My other main party consists of Kyril, Andarc and Maxine. Maxine is probably my favourite mage, because she's got good magic and average speed. I think average speed is an advantage, since she'll move often after the first set of enemies made their move, so she can target them with her fire rune, but she's not as slow as Jeane or Simeon who're taking 3 turns per battle maybe. The Mercenary Leader unfortunately joins super late, so I haven't used her a lot yet.
Simeon & Maxine have the same stat growth for SPD. You might just be unlucky with Simeon's growth (or lucky with Maxine).

But with this game, having a low speed is some times an advantage as you said.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

Doesn't Simeon have a D in speed and Maxine a C?

EDIT: Ah no, but I still don't like to use Simeon, lol.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Wolkendrache »

Antimatzist wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2023 2:26 am And I still think Pablo ranks for worst character in the entire game.
Pablo’s got higher HP (B) and Spd (B) than Jeane (both D) and he’s got the Jump skill iirc. Imo it’s more risky to use Jeane. Strategy-wise I give him a Fire Rune asap and develop that skill, and let him follow earth element fighters on their route (else give him a Rage Robe, but it’s weak).
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

True, Jeane is probably even worse.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by KFCrispy »

Antimatzist wrote: Fri Sep 01, 2023 2:26 am I'm near the end of another Tactics run, again of course with S Ranking everything.
Congrats! I have that recording of my S rank playthrough on Youtube under the Suikosource channel but did it extremely slowly over the years. I haven't updated the Youube or touched the game in a while, but I have everything done up to the very last fight vs Fishkas. I did 2 trial attempts and couldn't get an S, so I took a break and haven't worked on it in a while. If you have recordings of your game getting S ranks, do you mind sharing?
Antimatzist wrote:And I still think Pablo ranks for worst character in the entire game.
yes he is terrible, but he has 2 great unites, so if you unlock the co-ops, you can switch him in for some powerful unites and fast EXP!
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

Co-op attacks unfortunately get more useless as the game progresses. it's really a shame.

I haven't recorded my S Rank playthrough no because ... well, I don't know! I actually wanted to do it initially, but forgot about it. Maybe I'll do another run next year and hopefully this time, I'll remember to record it! But don't the two Iskas battles have the same S Rank item?

Now I also got S Rank in Obel Ruins 1 which was the last one I was missing before going to the final battle. This definitely is the hardest to pull of, also because you ideally do it on the configuration with the least enemies.
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Re: [Guide] Getting S Ranks

Post by Antimatzist »

KFCrispy wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 12:02 am Congrats! I have that recording of my S rank playthrough on Youtube under the Suikosource channel but did it extremely slowly over the years. I haven't updated the Youube or touched the game in a while, but I have everything done up to the very last fight vs Fishkas. I did 2 trial attempts and couldn't get an S, so I took a break and haven't worked on it in a while. If you have recordings of your game getting S ranks, do you mind sharing?

I forgot to record it, but I got Rank S, dug out the treasure and stole his equipment. I was lucky with the last one, but I could have done it in a little less risky move. I think the key is to cast Canopy Defense in the beginning. This will protect basically your entire party from Fishcas' attack. if you space your characters out, he will only be able to target 2 or 3 at the same time, which gives you plenty of time to deal with the fishmen (I'm not sure if they respawn infinitely, but it slows down at some point) .

Another strategy could be to equip one of your non-Thunder mages with a Thunder Rune and let them cast that spell which targets everybody on a Thunder tile (of course, keep your characters off!). The enemies love to lay down Thunder elemental terrain A LOT, so chances are high you can target them all for heavy damage.

As for the treasure, I used Cedric to run on one of the sideways and sneak to the rune cannon at the end. Also got a bit lucky here, but you could distract the enemy with Eugene.

Oh, and this was probably the only battle I S Ranked WITHOUT using Eugene at all. On my first try, I had him in the party and that somehow provoked Fishcas' to attack very early on. I also think he likes to target Kyril, so you could play around with hunting him with either of them.
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