Had beaten it once before, but didn't too much endgame stuff and I also sucked at it and played on Easy with a lot of life. >_> Played on Normal and generally kept a fairly low life but I raised it a lot for the harder boss battles.
Such an amazing game. Probably the most creative, stylish, and fun game this gen.
Going to go for some of the endgame stuff now... Hopefully 100%, but maybe (probably..) not. I'm kind of worried about low drop rate Ultimate difficulty crap, mostly because I really just mash with my partner... >_> Maybe I'll try (need?) to fix that, but in the mean time, who do you guys think is the best to mash with? I'd guess Shiki since she attacks with every panel (without having to levitate) and can't burn herself for overmashing (like Beat can), but idk.
Any tips on what do for shops and item abilities? Should I just spend a ton at a bunch of places and see what I get, or is there any better to go about it? Are there any specific days where you have open access to all or most of the shops right off the bat?
Looking at an Item List FAQ it looks like Scarletite can really only be used on Stickers... and most of them seem pretty good. I guess that I should make sure I don't have to farm for Hollow Leg, the Extra Pin Slots, and Chain 16, but all the rest seem comparable enough....
Yeah, I went and got Hollow Leg and Chain 16, already had both extra pin slots. Already had Safe Landing (Neku) and Tech Exp (Juggle exp), too. Decided to get the fusion stickers before the attack/defense stickers and now only 1 more of those for Shiki.
Joshua's level 3 fusion is pretty awesome. "here eat a comet"
Been grinding the game, now have all the Secret Reports besides Another Day's. Also went and used a lot of the money pins I've been saving to 100% most of the store people (Not any of the really expensive places, though..). I think I have a fair amount of pins and mastered pins... But I haven't been leveling up evolvable ones. Kind of a pain to look up what I need to do for each, so I just said f*** it >_>. I've boosted Bravery, HP, Attack, and Defense via food a fair amount, I think.
The mammoths are *really* stupid. Meteor drop pins, Healing Flamingo, and a partner with jump seems to get the job done, but it's still a real pain.
Also, I'm having serious trouble with Pork City in Another Day. The enemies just seem to have too much health, and they're... well, actually tough enemies. I know that the trend chart says that only a certain brand of pins will work, but can unbranded ones work? There are these negativity absorbing frogs on a Mus Rattus only floor and there are literally only two Mus Rattus pins that deal damage, but not Negativity damage... and one requires obstacles. I made it past the first floor, but had to go down to normal. I might be able to get past the second floor on normal but it just doesn't seem worth it....
Does your completion rate drop if you sell all of a type of pin? If not, why can't I just level one and trade it in for the Fan when I'm done with pretty much everything else? Or is the Fan really really good or something?
..Really? When you make those items, do you ever lose something you can only get one of? Are any of the "only one" made items pins that you can sell?
And good to know that unbranded pins work in Pork City. Cornix (Reaper version of the Meteor Drop pins) should make the mammoth fights a lot easier...
Sounds like a pain in the ass to that much leveling... but oh well. Maybe I'll just cheese and advance my DS's clock by a week for the SDPP... Actually, that'll probably too little and still take really long. Maybe less time but way more monotonous and boring..
So wait, there are apparently pins that only drop from certain pigs over the course of the weeks. What if you sell those (And you can sell at least some of them)? Does the pig come back or are you screwed?
I guess you could buy it over a mingle shop, maybe? Not like that makes all that much of a difference, though....
Alright.. Will have to make sure I don't screw that up. Don't think I will, though.
So, uh... Those Shockwave pins, the basic pins where you slash enemies and Neku does a sword slash repeatedly at them with a knockdown finisher? Masamune, Yoshimitsu, etc? THE FIRST LETTERS (which is the graphic on the pins) SPELL OUT MONKEY! (for jupiter of the monkey, their brand) That definitely goes in there with the really stupid "mindf***" s*** like ArticUNO/ZapDOS/MolTRES, etc. >_>
On a bit more serious note, who do you guys usually use for a partner? Joshua seems the best by far, his finishers hit all the enemies on one side, he's pretty easy to mash with, I at least find his Cards way easier than anyone else's system (Actually, Shiki's on Normal/Easy and maybe Hard might be easier, but the Square and Star cards make it a good deal harder on Ultimate, imo), and he has that uber air finisher if you give him clothes that boost up his number of combo branches and panels.
Technically, I guess that Beat is probably better for single bosses/enemies, since he'll do more damage and can get some crazy combos with the cards if you're really good at that, but I'm not that good. >_>
How good are the Gatito sets, anyway? Definiely seems like you'd need to build a deck around most of them, since they take up so much space. Big Bang/Big Crunch is the exception to that, though, I suppose.
I actually prefer Beat over Shiki on Ultimate. Shiki's cards having a 1/5 chance each time for mashing is pretty bad, and it takes a good amount of concentration for me to keep up with it well. With Beat's cards I can glance up from time to time and see if I can find a double suit, and still have to look up occasionally to get a skull and not burn. Just easier to earn combo cards for me with Beat than Shiki when on Ultimate, I guess. Air Cancel also seems way better than Backlash, but not that it really matters all that much.
Wow,Sheep Heavenly Resonance pin is probably the worst pin in the game. It affects *two* pins, and both have low efficiencies and are just overall bad at dealing damage. (They're Crackle Pop Barrier and Creepy Weepy Barrier.. Both make barriers around Neku that deal damage but you don't have much/any mobility and enemies don't usually run into you) ...Well, maybe there's something close in near uselessness that's a Reaper or Angel pin, that'd be worse. Don't think there are any of those, though.
Working my way through Pork City pretty well. I still have a lot of trouble against Mammoths on the top screen, but Time Bomb (Shrew and Tin Pin Ifrit for unbranded ones) and Apport T (Meteor Drop pin, Cornix is the unbranded one) pins work really well. Getting a non-Whale heal off isn't too hard either. The other enemies aren't too difficult but the Red frogs that heal from Negativity damage (Damage from most long range attacks) are pretty f***ing annoying. They'd be a lot more difficult if I didn't have the Wolf Pin (Velocity Attack, Neku's dash becomes an attack and you can control it for a good amount of time).
Actually just beat Panthera Cantus on Ultimate.... sort of. Used the cheapass strat of Eden Set, Regen threads, max level, and Splish Splash Barrier. Didn't use the SS Barrier very well, though; I'll probably put in Monkey Leisure for its 6 charges and 100% heal with a 5x Puck if I do it again. I had a 4x or 5x Drop Rate at Max level so I had like a 65% chance (I believe) of getting the pin and managed to get it. Whenever I go to battle the guy again, I'll make sure to actually try to kill him a non-stupid way (On Hard or lower >_>).
Also, don't attempt this strategy with a total of +4 Combo Panels and +2 Combo Branches from threads on Joshua. >_>
..Actually, +Combo Branch is okay since it's optional to use but you need to get your finisher out pretty quickly since it's rather laggy, so you probably won't use it very much.