LEAPFROG'S PROFILE

I don't know if this fits with the setting you're using, but on the subject of allies, I really loved the way it was handled in one of the chapters of Live A Live.

You play a ninja who has to infiltrate an enemy estate, which is basically one big non-linear map and multiple approaches. You can complete the mission on your own (either by by stealth or combat) but there are also a couple of allies you can enlist on-site - one is a prisoner, another is a sort of... clockwork robot thing, and there might be a third but I'm not sure.

This leads me to think that you could have the meat of the game feature a solo character, but you could have minor recruitable allies depending on the nature of the mission at hand - trained animals, rescued prisoners or allied moles, mercenaries, or even an enemy that you've blackmailed or struck a deal with. You'd have to make decisions about the risk versus reward of trying to recruit an ally, whether taking one on board would limit your stealth options or represent choosing a side in a mission. It can keep combat fresh by giving you options without sacrificing the solo stealth theme, and it keeps the experience tight by definitively tying your combat ability with your story progress.

You can do the same thing with your character's abilities. If they rely on available equipment or resources, then you have to hunt for weapons or choose which to bring with you. Combine that with having to choose whether to engage in combat at all, plus the actual battle mechanics you have in mind already, and I don't think combat will get stale any time soon.

I've actually been selling all my growth eggs as a consequence of being forever broke. I thought they sold for a lot of money when I first started, but it seems fairly paltry now that I'm getting into Rank 4 honing and the like.

I'll probably start to regret this now that I've broken level 50 with several characters.

How weird. Exdeath can't wear hats. Is he the only mage that can't? Really hurts his usability for me, because I have an abundance of good hats but limited robe options, and usually my light armor is needed by a front row dude. Also surprised that he can't wear heavy armor.

Exdeath is rather attached to the helmet he's already wearing.
On the other hand, Golbez - who by the way can also wear heavy armour - doesn't let his stylish helmet prevent him from hatting up a storm.
Team Golbez all the way.

author=LockeZ
It was an event you apparently missed!

Kind of! I do remember seeing something about it now that you've refreshed me on it, and it seems like it was a really interesting exercise in symmetry. Plus, I'm just a sucker for multiple, intertwined scenarios.

If your gut is telling you to do another one, definitely go with that!

author=Jeroen_Sol
It's really not necessary to spend money on the game. At the very least not yet. At your point in the game, there's definitely a wall. The normal dungeons start to feel like they quickly become very hard, but many of the elite dungeons feel hard too. Just keep at it. There's a lot more mythril and stamina to be had.
...
Using money is not worth it anyway. With the ridiculous price of gems it almost feels as if they don't want people to spend money on the game.

I suppose I'm thinking less about necessity and more how painful it will be to watch banners go by without being able to pull on all of them, especially when priority moves from practical necessity to completionism as the game wears on and one wants specific items that are, by the nature of the gamble, going to be harder and harder to get.

To be fair, I'm not against spending money on the game in principle. It's fairly generous as far as freemium models go, and it's providing me with a lot of entertainment for free. Stamina/Mythril shortages aside, I wouldn't have minded paying for it outright. But microtransactions make me uncomfortable because A) they're a slippery slope, B) paying for things I can technically grind for feels wasteful and a little cheaty, and C) the systems that encourage them (gambling, playtime limitation) feel manipulative.

But then, I don't mind dropping a few dollars on real-life slot machines on infrequent occasions, so maybe I'm weird and contradictory.

author=Jeroen_Sol
If you haven't already, fully upgrade your 5 and 4 star equipment, and start getting in the habit of doing proper battle preparation for each battle. 4 star weapons are very good if you have synergy. Eventually you'll get to the point where you'll breeze through all the elites up to difficulty 60.

I'm not quite feeling the pinch yet, but I'm anticipating it. Vargas and some other annoyances aside, I'm usually able to do pretty well up to difficulties of 75 or so. I got lucky with some earlier pulls (Several 5* swords including Save the Queen; Golbez' armour; a couple of great rods) and I'm doing pretty well with abilities (I recently made Protectga and Shellga) so I'm in a decent position for now. I am however feeling the sting of loss harder than I used to, with growing stamina costs and fewer refills. It gets very tempting to drop a Mythril once in a while, but I've avoided it so far. Anything that isn't going on pulls is going to ability/inventory space (which is annoying, but whatever).

author=Craze
Yeah, pretty much. Good roll on that spear, though!

I recommend saving up your mythril for supposed lucky banners (1/2 off) coming soon. Anniversary and super super soul breakfast are coming up!

Trying to work out if "soul breakfast" is deliberate or an autocorrect thing. Then trying to work out if it's a "really good food" sort of breakfast or a "Shang Tsung" sort of breakfast.

author=Craze
I'd much rather have it on my tablet

Maybe I should dig out my tablet... I can grudgingly deal with the laggy inputs that pop up from time to time "Oh, you tapped Cecil for a microsecond? Clearly you intended to press down on him with intent and examine his stats, not transfer him to your party!" but what really gets me is when I'm trying to scroll through lists of things and it keeps going "Oh, you want to look at Thundara? Oh, you want to look at Blind? Oh, you want to look at Comet?" So annoying.