Board 8 > How do you choose your party for things like RPGs?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's always a tough call for me :\
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After I pick a baseline of what a doable party should consist of, I pick on preference of character

That said, Ill Level everyone evenly

EVERYONE
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Asagi_Igawa posted...

After I pick a baseline of what a doable party should consist of, I pick on preference of character

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I use the characters I like most, but I have veto power in case any of my favorites are so bad that they'd make things too hard.
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I'll usually find out what the strongest team is, then model my team on it with my own preferences mixed in.

That usually involves changing a role or character if I dislike the "best" configuration.
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Usually I rotate people so everybody is used

If theres someone I dislike or sucks gameplay wise then that becomes harder so it doesnt happen
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Oh oh!

If the story calls for it, I try to fit them in, like fighting against somebody that one particular party member has a very deep grievance against

But theyre usually mandatory members for that fight anyway
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far too often I just use the first party members they give me the whole game
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I go with characters I like most, and then consider how useful -- especially if there's banter, etc like in Bioware games. Sometimes I'll ignore usefulness in favor of banter hah
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I mostly pick people I like, but if I really don't like their skills then I'll use someone else.
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Characters I like, and I'll generally powerlevel if they are less then useful in their current state.
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Are we talking about a JRPG with fixed characters or a WRPG where the character design is more fluid and the people are probably generic?

Because I approach those completely differently. Most recently I've been playing D:OS2 and went back to look at DA:O, and that seems to not be what this thread is about.

edit: and based on how I played FF13, where I actually put Vanille in my party, I'm going to say I pick for strength/synergy. Fang-Sazh-Vanille was a solid group that wouldn't have been improved by subbing any single member for someone else. I'm aware Lightning-Fang-Hope is usually the most popular choice, but I found my version worked at least as well.
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Captain Toad
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Sceptilesolar posted...

I use the characters I like most, but I have veto power in case any of my favorites are so bad that they'd make things too hard.

basically this, except I'll also usually try and have a healer in my party, even if I don't like any of them
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Depends on the style of game, but usually I have a slot reserved for a character I like, and a rotational slot for a plot relevant character at the time. Then I just fill in the other spots to balance them out. Like in Persona 5 I basically had a slot reserved for Makoto, and mixed up my party for the different palaces depending, like having Yusuke for the Museum, or Morgana for the Space Station.
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I balance how much I like them with how "complete" the team is with them on it.
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I'm pretty 90% on trying to pick the characters most relevant to an area of the game, 10% on preference. I find the challenge of making teams work in a situation fun.
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Definitely characters I like.
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It depends on the difficulty of the game, honestly.

If i can customize the main character in terms of power, I'll munchkin the shit out of that so the rest of the party can be based completely on personality. (Example: Kotor, Mass effect)

If it's a standard jrpg, it doesn't really matter who is in your party- you can just level people up. But yes, to save time I usually pick a squad and stick with it. (Example: final fantasy 6)

I've been burned by srpgs before, losing hours and hours of progress due to leveling the wrong characters up. I don't usually play those, but when I do you'd better believe I select characters based on power (example: battle for wesnoth)
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Thief, healer, chick with the biggest boobs
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The characters I like most. Most JRPGs are easy enough to beat with any team

Whoever are the cutest girls

ProfitProphet posted...

Thief, healer, chick with the biggest boobs

This, except swap Thief with Warrior.
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I usually rotate my party members regularly. I have a favorite party, of course, but I like to mix things up and get everyone involved.
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Dantezoid posted...

far too often I just use the first party members they give me the whole game

This. Especially true for the last one or two members of the party to be added. I often find that late party adds have a lot of catching up to do experience-wise or are very niche characters and relatively unnecessary to the balance/success of the party.
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Voted the fifth option as that is definitely the main thing I pick based on

But realistically there's some mix of plot relevance and combat utility thrown in there too. Like I'll never pick characters I outright dislike, but I might pick a character I like a bit less than my mains if they seem particularly prominent in a certain part of the game or I want them for some sorta strategy or utility.

But I mean given I often run parties without any full healer in them, utility considerations are pretty minor.
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A dedicated healer plus whoever I like most.
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I pick whichever party is deemed the best by the players, usually

If the game is easy or there's no "best" set up I just go with characters I like that don't suck in combat
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1st playthrough rotate around unless I really hate a character

On replays I go for max efficiency
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I try to think it's my favourites and while true in many cases (FF7 --> Tifa and Vincent) quite often you just have to use a white mage at anytime. I hate Raine in Symphonia and at least for bosses she is a must (and then to grind she needs to be in regular battles too). So I went with the second option but I still do try that at least my first and second favourite are in the party at all times.
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linkhatesganon posted...

I hate Raine in Symphonia and at least for bosses she is a must (and then to grind she needs to be in regular battles too)

No she isn't. I've beaten Normal, Hard, and most of Mania (didn't get stuck just got bored/distracted by other things) running Lloyd Zelos Sheena Genis for almost every boss.

You just need to be super aggressive with combo locking the enemy and good at blocking/dodging. Zelos/Kratos along with an item once in a while is as much healing as you really need.

Which is kinda the case for most games, really. If you run a squad without a healer, you need to actually use the fact that you have more output to your advantage. But if you do, it's usually fine.
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If I can, I rotate so that everyone gets some mileage. That gets really difficult for some RPGs, though, so I go with Option 4.
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I use the lowest level character so that I keep everyone around the same level
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Lopen posted...

linkhatesganon posted...

I hate Raine in Symphonia and at least for bosses she is a must (and then to grind she needs to be in regular battles too)

No she isn't. I've beaten Normal, Hard, and most of Mania (didn't get stuck just got bored/distracted by other things) running Lloyd Zelos Sheena Genis for almost every boss.

You just need to be super aggressive with combo locking the enemy and good at blocking/dodging. Zelos/Kratos along with an item once in a while is as much healing as you really need.

Which is kinda the case for most games, really. If you run a squad without a healer, you need to actually use the fact that you have more output to your advantage. But if you do, it's usually fine.

I think my party at most times was Sheena (my main, I could get really good at doing combos with her), Presea, Raine and Genis. And I do like to play super aggressive, the problem is that then my party will get busted too!
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ProfitProphet posted...

Thief, healer, chick with the biggest boobs

Weren't those all the same person in Infinite Undiscovery?
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linkhatesganon posted...

think my party at most times was Sheena (my main, I could get really good at doing combos with her), Presea, Raine and Genis. And I do like to play super aggressive, the problem is that then my party will get busted too!

Well

The problem to me looks more like your non Raine party members kinda need Raine to make the party vaguely work. You kinda need Lloyd (or Regal) to extend combos long enough to stagger lock enemies enough for non Raine healing to be enough.

Like that team you posted probably has the hardest time of making long combos of any party configuration.

It's more a party composition thing than Raine is mandatory thing tbqh
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Rotate always. Makes it feel like a fun adventure if the spotlight is always revolving.

If it's a replay I'll even plan out who the most flavorful characters are for different sequences too.
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Lopen posted...

You kinda need Lloyd (or Regal) to extend combos long enough to stagger lock enemies enough for non Raine healing to be enough.

Also, Raine is useful at extending combos that the game arbitrarily forces to end after 40-ish hits with her Photon ability, so it's nice to have that too even if the healing isn't enough to sway you. You're just crippling the party without her
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Pretty sure Genis or any spell can actually do that. I know I've gone into hundreds of hits no problem.

Maybe I'm not thinking of what you're talking about though.
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utility first.
characters second.

but in cases where a waifu is super good, work around her unless she really, really sucks.
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It depends on a lot of things. I used to make sure I always had a balanced party, but recently I've decided to rotate and pick crew members randomly. I don't know if I could do that if there was a majority of characters I didn't like though.
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Lopen posted...

Pretty sure Genis or any spell can actually do that

The only other move that can bring up downed opponents is an instant Demon Fang as far as I know. And Dark Sphere, but you need action replay codes for Raine to access that.
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