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Let's Play Soul Shepherd 6-10.
- EdgeOfChaos
- 10/18/2014 05:05 PM
- 11792 views
Full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sW4kMiM2rY&list=PL819buUmyXo7Rw44Z9CITP7qhdwTe0V9R
First part: http://rpgmaker.net/games/2628/media/2247/
Same deal as 1-5. We can now explore into the next village, and past the Dog door(s).
Progress:
Chimera: killed
Paras-whatever-his-name-is: killed
Lamia: killed
Siegfreid: killed
Dragon Whelp: killed
Ares: killed
Bonus video: fails against ares. Now you can see how annoying he is too!
First part: http://rpgmaker.net/games/2628/media/2247/
Same deal as 1-5. We can now explore into the next village, and past the Dog door(s).
Progress:
Chimera: killed
Paras-whatever-his-name-is: killed
Lamia: killed
Siegfreid: killed
Dragon Whelp: killed
Ares: killed
Bonus video: fails against ares. Now you can see how annoying he is too!
Posts
//This door doesn't even say how to unlock it//
"It's sealed shut." is the message I attach to doors that don't have a way to open them within the demo. It's going to require a soul from a later area, I just don't know which one yet. x.x
"It's sealed shut." is the message I attach to doors that don't have a way to open them within the demo. It's going to require a soul from a later area, I just don't know which one yet. x.x
Ohh, I thought it would unlock after some story event - okay. What about the Dragon Whelp soul? I never found that one. Perhaps it's after Ares (but I assumed he is the second boss, and the end of the game).
Parts 7/8 uploaded.
Parts 7/8 uploaded.
author=EdgeOfChaos
What about the Dragon Whelp soul? I never found that one. Perhaps it's after Ares (but I assumed he is the second boss, and the end of the game).
Dragon Whelp is before Ares, I haven't seen parts 7/8 yet to know if you went to the area where Dragon Whelp is yet.
Sidenote: The reason there are people beyond the door you need Kerb's soul to get through is the Black Gate is supposed to send people to random locations on this world, not the same spot every time. But I don't really mention that anywhere soooo... I should see about working that in.
I went to every side of Dustopia, into the Labyrinth, into the Rat door, into both caves (on the plains area), into the castle (east area) and explored the whole ruins (north area). I guess I'll look some more o.0. I'm assuming Dragon Whelp is a boss? Or is he a random encounter?
author=EdgeOfChaos
I went to every side of Dustopia, into the Labyrinth, into the Rat door, into both caves (on the plains area), into the castle (east area) and explored the whole ruins (north area).
Someone else had this issue as well, so it seems I definitely need to address it. When you go into the labyrinth, before going into the lava basement, there are paths to either side you can take. These paths are not dead-ends, they're part of a unique mechanic for this area.
author=EdgeOfChaos
I guess I'll look some more o.0. I'm assuming Dragon Whelp is a boss? Or is he a random encounter?
I'm going to go ahead and answer this question with: Yes. ^_^
You probably still wouldn't be able to take down Ares as you are now, but there is something you need to do to address his healing, yes.
Some comments about Ares... I tend to make what is *currently* the end of the game harder than it will be when it is no longer the end of the game. Once I have more content, I feel okay with going back and making things a bit easier, as I have repeatedly done with the very beginning of the game. Also, if you thought lack of a life bar was annoying against Kerberos... Yeahhhhh. Future versions will have some sort of life bar, though. Sooo, definitely give Ares a shot, and he has been beaten by me and at least one other person, but if you get frustrated with him: know that he'll be easier once I finish more game, and there's currently nothing to see beyond him so you could always wait if you want. Also, his design needs a little thematic work, aside from just being really hard. And on a stylistic note, I'd rather he be Tyr than Ares... I just don't have an appropriate one-armed swordsman graphic. :/ So he may wind up getting a total makeover, too. He's not currently a boss that I'm fully satisfied with.
Naraka may also be a *bit* much right now. It isn't really too *hard* it's just so *long*. Several people have cleared it, though, so it isn't prohibitive. I'll let you come to your own conclusions.
How has the soul drop rate and general grind level of the game felt so far? I imagine this varied a lot from area to area, so if it only felt bad in some areas and not others, feel free to specify.
Naraka may also be a *bit* much right now. It isn't really too *hard* it's just so *long*. Several people have cleared it, though, so it isn't prohibitive. I'll let you come to your own conclusions.
How has the soul drop rate and general grind level of the game felt so far? I imagine this varied a lot from area to area, so if it only felt bad in some areas and not others, feel free to specify.
Nabraka is unfair, because when you drop down into the lava part it's game over 9/10 times. Maybe not for you, but if you don't know the layout, you die immediately. Is the labyrinth required to play? Because if not, I'm skipping it; not taking the hours to learn the lava layout. Is that dang dragon in there? Cause if so, I have to go get it. I'm guessing he is a "boss random encounter" like that stupid swordsman who swept my team in 2 shots.
How are you supposed to deal with Ares heal? If I can get the heal down, I might be able to beat him - I can survive his attacks quite easily. I thought of using Agony, but that only reduces it to half. Half of 15000000 heal is still too much for me to beat.
Balance thoughts:
The grind under the castle was very bad for the same reason the beach was bad. Boss(es) along the way, and the castle enemies suck your SP away. The rest seems just about right. One really annoying thing is when you beat a boss for the first time and don't get its soul.
The path leading from Dustopia east path to the castle is way too lengthy.
I also address this in the video, but gloom is quite silly.
The units in the castle are strange imo. The pirates deal a ton of damage, but the rest of them kind of suck. Also the shadow enemy has like, 50000 HP, but that's not reflected when you get the soul. The enemy is absurdly tanky, but the character is very squishy (don't really like that)
In the second segment of the game, the bosses are far too weak. Chimera and para-whatever didn't even phase me. I had to try chimera like 4 times, but that's because he wouldn't give me his darn soul. I even took normal enemies souls over boss souls many times...
How are you supposed to deal with Ares heal? If I can get the heal down, I might be able to beat him - I can survive his attacks quite easily. I thought of using Agony, but that only reduces it to half. Half of 15000000 heal is still too much for me to beat.
Balance thoughts:
The grind under the castle was very bad for the same reason the beach was bad. Boss(es) along the way, and the castle enemies suck your SP away. The rest seems just about right. One really annoying thing is when you beat a boss for the first time and don't get its soul.
The path leading from Dustopia east path to the castle is way too lengthy.
I also address this in the video, but gloom is quite silly.
The units in the castle are strange imo. The pirates deal a ton of damage, but the rest of them kind of suck. Also the shadow enemy has like, 50000 HP, but that's not reflected when you get the soul. The enemy is absurdly tanky, but the character is very squishy (don't really like that)
In the second segment of the game, the bosses are far too weak. Chimera and para-whatever didn't even phase me. I had to try chimera like 4 times, but that's because he wouldn't give me his darn soul. I even took normal enemies souls over boss souls many times...
author=EdgeOfChaosIt's basically required, yes. It doesn't block your path, but some of the loot is too useful to skip. Siegfried and Dragon Whelp can both be tricky to beat, because they both basically require a mechanic that you've never *needed* to use before.
Nabraka is unfair, because when you drop down into the lava part it's game over 9/10 times. Maybe not for you, but if you don't know the layout, you die immediately. Is the labyrinth required to play? Because if not, I'm skipping it; not taking the hours to learn the lava layout. Is that dang dragon in there? Cause if so, I have to go get it. I'm guessing he is a "boss random encounter" like that stupid swordsman who swept my team in 2 shots.
Hmm... perhaps the map could be redesigned in such a way that you wouldn't wind up taking the wrong path before reaching the stairs. For now, though, if you keep track of your position relative to the stairs, that's the direction you need to go once you drop down.
author=EdgeOfChaosAgony is an important part of it. Then it's just a matter of pumping out the damage. If you are surviving his attacks "easily", then you probably need a more offensive setup to get the job done. His gimmick forces you to make him a dangerous battle.
How are you supposed to deal with Ares heal? If I can get the heal down, I might be able to beat him - I can survive his attacks quite easily. I thought of using Agony, but that only reduces it to half. Half of 15000000 heal is still too much for me to beat.
author=EdgeOfChaosGloom only has a ~20% chance of working, depending on your Will and the enemies' Will. With a good spec, you might be able to get this up to 25% (and less than 10% against hypers). So it's basically like doing 25% damage to all enemies. It could possibly be toned down a *little* (players certainly wouldn't mind this when they are on the receiving end of it), but I don't think it's *that* bad. Have you tried using Daybreak? That's not nearly as devastating when it hits, but it hits a lot more often. I wonder how you'd think they compare. You could try some of the more potent ailment skills, too. Will-based attacks can be quite strong, a lot of people make it through the whole game without ever really giving them a chance.
I also address this in the video, but gloom is quite silly.
Still can't find Dragon Whelp. I did so many battles in that area, so I guess he isn't a random encounter..
How do you beat Ares? I see the theory, but I can't get enough damage to beat him even after making my two attackers have the most offensive build I can. Maybe dragon whelp would help, but apparently I can't find him. I don't even know how much HP he has, this is another time when healthbars would help so much.
The thing about Gloom is when I initiate vs. a 4 enemy team, it's probably going to kill at least one and make the battle so much easier. This is an example from one my recent battles: 3 pirates and the ghost guy. A very dangerous battle due to all the party damage. Gloom takes out 1 pirate and the ghost guy (he's Weak to it), rendering the battle not at all dangerous.
I don't find daybreak all that useful. I deal about as much in Daybreak as I do in party Sword damage abilities. And daybreak has diminishing returns as the battle goes on.
Plus, even if it wasn't OP, instant death would still seem like a bad idea. The extremely high reward of it and the low chance of it makes it a luck based ability to the extreme. Landing even a single one of these on a character can change the battle for the enemies, and even hitting a Hyper enemy with it as the player can reduce the challenge significantly. It seems pretty lame...
How do you beat Ares? I see the theory, but I can't get enough damage to beat him even after making my two attackers have the most offensive build I can. Maybe dragon whelp would help, but apparently I can't find him. I don't even know how much HP he has, this is another time when healthbars would help so much.
The thing about Gloom is when I initiate vs. a 4 enemy team, it's probably going to kill at least one and make the battle so much easier. This is an example from one my recent battles: 3 pirates and the ghost guy. A very dangerous battle due to all the party damage. Gloom takes out 1 pirate and the ghost guy (he's Weak to it), rendering the battle not at all dangerous.
I don't find daybreak all that useful. I deal about as much in Daybreak as I do in party Sword damage abilities. And daybreak has diminishing returns as the battle goes on.
Plus, even if it wasn't OP, instant death would still seem like a bad idea. The extremely high reward of it and the low chance of it makes it a luck based ability to the extreme. Landing even a single one of these on a character can change the battle for the enemies, and even hitting a Hyper enemy with it as the player can reduce the challenge significantly. It seems pretty lame...
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I feel like you can probably figure out where to find a dragon whelp just from the enemy's name.
author=EdgeOfChaos
The thing about Gloom is when I initiate vs. a 4 enemy team, it's probably going to kill at least one and make the battle so much easier.
If removing enemies from the battle is what you find makes Gloom overpowered, then I'd think Numb would feel even moreso. Have you tried using that skill?
author=EdgeOfChaos
I don't find daybreak all that useful. I deal about as much in Daybreak as I do in party Sword damage abilities. And daybreak has diminishing returns as the battle goes on.
If that's true, then you're able to clear the enemies in two sword attacks? There isn't much point in bothering with any type of Body/Mind/Wrath/Malice attacks in those kinda situations.
author=EdgeOfChaos
How do you beat Ares? I see the theory, but I can't get enough damage to beat him even after making my two attackers have the most offensive build I can. Maybe dragon whelp would help, but apparently I can't find him.
Dragon Whelp would help, if not be vital. As would Siegfried and the loot from Naraka. And Dragon Whelps hang out where there's a lotta fire~
Yes, I did find whelp. I was searching in the right place before, but his spawn rate is like 5%? so I didn't find him. When I did find him, he did around 3500 to all with a breath. I still can't beat him, and it's worse because there are about 20 battles inbetween each whelp. How are you possibly supposed to beat them? I am using Eclipse and Fire Guard from the shield, does not help.
author=EdgeOfChaosHis spawn rate is 12.5%. Eclipse and Fire Guard should be the only Whelp-specific things you need... There's the standard tactic of Weak, too, of course. 3500 is way higher than the breath should deal under these circumstances, but you may need to use Eclipse with a tanky character and Guard with everyone else.
Yes, I did find whelp. I was searching in the right place before, but his spawn rate is like 5%? so I didn't find him. When I did find him, he did around 3500 to all with a breath. I still can't beat him, and it's worse because there are about 20 battles inbetween each whelp. How are you possibly supposed to beat them? I am using Eclipse and Fire Guard from the shield, does not help.
Yeah, the spawn rate for when people are trying to fight these enemies on purpose is a problem. I'm considering creating an item that the Preta would be looking for and adding it to one of the chests in Naraka. Once you retrieve the item for him, he could sell you a consumable item that summons Siegfried and Dragon Whelp for farming purposes.
Sidenote: I really am curious to hear what you think of the Numb skill compared to Gloom, though. I'm not just saying that to be contrary. :P
I mean 3500 before Eclipse, Fire Guard, and Guard on every character but those two. After that, it does around 1000. I certainly survive the 1000, but then he follows it up with another Whelp Breath, which does around 1400 more (if I don't guard with every character). This does indeed kill me. Or he uses his Force spell which does the same to all. I'm going to equip the equipment that gives the most armor even if it means giving up other stats and see how it works...
Anyways Siegfried was pretty easy - killed him in 2 tries (one to see his tactic, one to kill), but this boss is something else, wow. He's doing about 1.5x what Kerberos was doing to me back at that level... For perspective, the final boss (currently) deals 1800-2000 with his fire spell.
I am assuming the instant Hyper/ChargeUp/Whelp Breath at the start of battle is scripted? If not, it may just be bad luck. But I've tried whelp 4 times (with the crapload of random encounters) with different tactics and I am pretty sick of it...
Anyways Siegfried was pretty easy - killed him in 2 tries (one to see his tactic, one to kill), but this boss is something else, wow. He's doing about 1.5x what Kerberos was doing to me back at that level... For perspective, the final boss (currently) deals 1800-2000 with his fire spell.
I am assuming the instant Hyper/ChargeUp/Whelp Breath at the start of battle is scripted? If not, it may just be bad luck. But I've tried whelp 4 times (with the crapload of random encounters) with different tactics and I am pretty sick of it...
author=EdgeOfChaos
I mean 3500 before Eclipse, Fire Guard, and Guard on every character but those two. After that, it does around 1000. I certainly survive the 1000, but then he follows it up with another Whelp Breath, which does around 1400 more (if I don't guard with every character).
Subsequent breaths shouldn't deal any additional damage (unless he's enraging). Are you aware that Fire Guard only lasts for the turn that it is used?
author=EdgeOfChaos
I am assuming the instant Hyper/ChargeUp/Whelp Breath at the start of battle is scripted?
Yeah, it's scripted.
I am aware. The spell itself is absurdly powerful on its own, it's doing 1700 uncharged. With a guard I can get it down to, idunno, 1300. But the thing is, I can't predict when he'll use it. If I use fire guard and he uses his force spell, I just wasted a turn. Also he begins enraging on turn 2 or 3 if I remember right, so that hurt.
author=EdgeOfChaosiirc, it's a sacrifice you just have to make. It enables you to be a bit more offensive in your setups of your other characters, though, which makes up some of the damage. Note that knowing one of your characters is going to rally each round can definitely affect which formation you'd wanna use.
But the thing is, I can't predict when he'll use it. If I use fire guard and he uses his force spell, I just wasted a turn.
I beat him simply by brute forcing it (eventually). Got some lucky move rolls. Also collected the swordsman's soulshards and am using them.
So I went back to try ares again.. I'll just say, you have probably created the most annoying boss that is possible to be created. This guy is truly frustrating.
1: Agony keeps failing. I only ever can fight him 1/3 or 1/4 times because agony fails the rest.
2: A single miss at the wrong time means I don't win. I also need crits, because his HP is so ridiculous.
3: I've said this before, but it bears repeating. WOW, the path between the castle and the town is long.
I quit most of the fights (after agony fails) so fast that the characters are probably getting whiplash going back and forth, so that isn't wasting so much time. Walking there is a serious pain. Kerberos's path only took like 30 seconds, whereas this takes 3-5 minutes depending on encounters. This boss is REALLY annoying. I also don't see how I can increase my damage any farther, as I now have the best souls so far (Whelp, Siegfried, Lamia, and Tyrant) and I can do anywhere between 3000 and 5000 per non-impulse attack, and up to 9000 with impulse.
Needless to say I didn't beat him. I'll try again tomorrow I guess.
So I went back to try ares again.. I'll just say, you have probably created the most annoying boss that is possible to be created. This guy is truly frustrating.
1: Agony keeps failing. I only ever can fight him 1/3 or 1/4 times because agony fails the rest.
2: A single miss at the wrong time means I don't win. I also need crits, because his HP is so ridiculous.
3: I've said this before, but it bears repeating. WOW, the path between the castle and the town is long.
I quit most of the fights (after agony fails) so fast that the characters are probably getting whiplash going back and forth, so that isn't wasting so much time. Walking there is a serious pain. Kerberos's path only took like 30 seconds, whereas this takes 3-5 minutes depending on encounters. This boss is REALLY annoying. I also don't see how I can increase my damage any farther, as I now have the best souls so far (Whelp, Siegfried, Lamia, and Tyrant) and I can do anywhere between 3000 and 5000 per non-impulse attack, and up to 9000 with impulse.
Needless to say I didn't beat him. I'll try again tomorrow I guess.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
You'll think of something. Maybe there are new support skills that were introduced after Kerberos that you didn't try out and forgot about.