PSA: only focus on Squad Flags while the game is online (and other notes)

[ars]

After scrambling for the game with only two weeks notice I've done a good 50 hours on the game but also dug for information of what all should be done before server closure. This is a to the point post compiling what I know about the most difficult to achieve things. It is focused on people who are already familiar with the game, but if you're not, simply read on How to Get Squad Flags and decide whether or not you can still go for it:

 

TL;DR: the server shutdown mainly affects Squad Flags, and Contracts IF you let one run past shutdown. BE OFF CONTRACT BEFORE SERVER CLOSURE (link)!

 

HOW TO GET SQUAD FLAGS (ONLINE)

 

SHUTDOWN ALARM you need a total of 20 Squad Flags for a trophy. You can review how many you have going to  Party Menu ->  Equipment.

 

Guaranteed 1 PER DAY (ONLINE): beating the tutorial, making a contract with a faction through Policy, entering War and Dispatching a Troop. Your faction can lose and you still get the flag!

- Wars last 24 hours realtime. After that entering War will declare End of War and grant you any rewards won there (note: you must be in online mode for this). After this, go to your faction capital and talk to Elderly Passerby in the Plaza.

Guaranteed 6 (OFFLINE): Start a Single mode Infiltration Quest. There are six maps, and each one has a hidden flag. It's a step puzzle.

- Review video solutions (link) for each map (nicovideo might or might not be disabled for your country).

If desperate, PS Store sells 10 Squad Flags available at 0,95 EUR (EU) each (or 6,95 EUR for a bundle of all of them).

- your region's price and Store content may vary, unfortunately, but this applies to most people

 

You will also get 1 guaranteed Squad Flag on beating Tutorial, and another 1 reaching Mercenary Rank S. This means you can get guaranteed 8 offline flags without paying, and further 10 as long the DLC flags are not delisted.

 

Potentially this means you're guaranteed to get the Flag Collector trophy even if you start on Sep 27th, as long your Store carries the DLC flags. Community believes no further flags are found in offline mode! This is the only trophy that is directly affected by server closure.

 

HOW TO GET MERCENARY RANK S (OFFLINE)

 

This is required for a trophy, and is as simple as getting around guesstimate five hundred Quest Clears (OFFLINE) total. Supposedly fighting in War mode (ONLINE) has a hidden counter which makes the rank rise faster. You can use it, or not, while the game is online. Otherwise:

Start Quest -> Travel, immediately after you loaded a zone  Return to Base. It will take exactly 170 Quest Clears (link) to rise from Mercenary Rank A -> S. 

 

HOW TO GET SKILL COMPLETIONIST  (OFFLINE)

 

Every character class has 8 skill pools which are randomly selected on character creation. They unlock their last skill around level ~52. Policy -> Hire a character, then go powerlevel in a specific Single mode mission (OFFLINE). You need to be AT LEAST Mercenary Rank C in order to equip the Hooligan toolbag! Method and required field skills (link) explained. You generally need to create 2-3 characters of a class and get them level 52 to unlock all the skills for that specific class.

 

If you Contract with Fiel (ONLINE) you can use a player created War powerlevel system fighting battles there (link). The offline method is more consistent and much faster especially if you already have a level 99 Troop XP Up leader. However your Contracted faction might be waging war against all the other three for the day, which will exclude you from doing the Single mode quest farm (you cannot accept any quests from a faction you're at war with).

 

Skills are "Extracted" through Train -> Create Gran Grimoire. Skills have a Mastery level, xp similar to character xp, which will also rise through battling enemies. You can review your xp gain through  Party Menu -> Status. To create a Gran Grimoire you need 3 levels in Mastery, or just 1 if you also spend an Orb of Training provided you have any.

 

You require one specific Support Skill, "Short Sights", which doesn't come naturally anywhere. This one you get from two places:

 

Travel (any region) (OFFLINE). Either take 500 steps total OR count activating a total of 13 random events (= sudden cutscenes). You can switch Travel zones as long you don't exit the mode itself. You do not have to fight if a random event offers one. After either requirement is fulfilled, go to any faction capital and visit Royal Castle. You will now be given a guaranteed Support Skill, one of which is Short Sight. If you have a Contract (ONLINE) you must visit your Contracted faction capital instead of any other. Note you cannot make or end Contracts after game goes offline.

 

While doing the method above, one of the random events you trigger is Barr the knight who challenges you to a fight, beat him. One of his drops is Short Sights (link). Barr is one of a total of 12 random events, plus one more if you just killed a Bounty. My experience is he appears more often than the general 1/12 chance, but YMMV.

 

Equipping Acrobatic Shoes in   Party Menu ->  Equipment will quicktime your movement animation in zone maps while pressing  making the grind much, much faster. Acrobatic Shoes are found from Travel -> Ruinsholt in the southernmost Fixed Chest (link). Fixed Chests are golden non-TP ones you can only open once. Do yourself a great service and go pick them up ASAP.

 

[END]

 

I believe this is all the most finicky stuff. I repeat the Squad Flags are the only thing directly affected by server closur. Focus on flags  One last thing, Golden Baku (trophy) is in Travel -> Eclise (link). General suggestion is you get it on first try if you empty all the chests on the map. If not, Travel elsewhere and back, reloading the map.

 

My thanks to many members on the site who provided valuable input and/or corrections to this compilation!

 

[RANDOM]

 

The offline game and even PvP is a complete walkover even with TEC 99 (= +99% xp and a buff in Guard) characters with lowest affinities, as long you maxed their STR/MAG out and use level 51 gear. I've done 300 PvP battles with my TEC 99 pug troop and lost two since I made lv99. For the record I don't use a single Overspin Paladin. IF you want to minmax then character progression to finish battles faster is roughly STR or MAG (damage), then VIT (action points), then AGI (move points) (link). Considering the amount of battles you need to do your sole point is to fight and finish it ASAP. Making tanks will only make the marathon longer. You occasionally WILL meet player-made Troops specifically built to grief yours in War mode, but this is a rare occurrence to the point you don't need to waste time trying to counter it.

 

You do want to use a Paladin! This is not for Overspin, this is for Speed Zone (=30% less move cost). That, or in your Group Formation you need to deploy an object called Move Up flag. These will allow you to get in hit range even if the enemy troop is deployed all the way back. Finishing enemies in round One takes half the time compared to finishing in round Two.

 

If you use Google Docs, there is a massive spreadsheet that compiled all the bounties, skills and their descriptions, weight calculator, etc in a single place (link). You can copy this to yourself for editing personal records.

Edited September 24, 2019 by ars
latest edit: added (link) wherever there's an embedded URL, since some readers did not realize they're links

[Dragon-Archon]

25 minutes ago, ars said:

HOW TO GET SQUAD FLAGS (ONLINE)

 

SHUTDOWN ALARM you need a total of 20 Squad Flags for a trophy. You can review how many you have going to  Party Menu ->  Equipment.

 

Guaranteed 1 PER DAY (ONLINE): beating the tutorial, making a contract with a faction through Policy, entering War and Dispatching a Troop. Your faction can lose and you still get it!

- Wars last 24 hours realtime. After that you'll be notified about End of War. Go to your faction capital and talk to Chatty Elder. 

Guaranteed 6 (OFFLINE): Start a Single mode Infiltration Quest. There are six maps, and each one has a hidden flag. It's a step puzzle.

- Review video solutions for each map (nicovideo might or might not be disabled for your country).

If desperate, PS Store sells 10 Squad Flags available at 0,95 EUR (EU) each (or 6,95 EUR for a bundle of all of them).

- your region's price and Store content may vary, unfortunately, but this applies to most people

 

Potentially this means you're guaranteed to get the Flag Collector trophy even if you start on Sep 27th, as long your Store carries the DLC flags. I have not tested or researched how to get flags offline! This is the only trophy that is directly affected by server closure!

 

 

For the daily flag, I noticed you first need to have a contract, wait for the new war to start, visit the War menu to see the war declarations, and finally visit the plaza of your contracted nation. Once there, talk to the NPCs, one of them will give you a flag.

 

Besides that, there's 1 guaranteed flag for completing the tutorial and another guaranteed one for reaching Mercenary Rank S. If people resort to purchasing the DLC flags, they only need 2 from online stuff. Otherwise, it's 12.

 

Obtaining flags from online wars (it's not pvp btw, but you vs A.I.-controlled characters from other players) is random and you can only obtain flags that you don't have yet. One exception to this are the 6 Infiltration Quest flags and the Mercenary Rank S flag. Those can only be obtained by meeting the requirements. 

 

Also important to point out: flags that can be placed on the battlefield don't count, only the ones in the upper right and left corner of the screen. 

 

25 minutes ago, ars said:

HOW TO GET SKILL COMPLETIONIST (OFFLINE)

 

Every character class has around 2 or 3 skill pools.

Each character has 8 different patterns.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Dragon-Archon
Added info

[ars]

Thank you @Dragon-Archon, I misunderstood all the GameFAQs posts. I'll edit the skill patterns you generally need 2-3 edit: character hires to get all the skills available for a class.

 

Also I have unfortunate news, @Han_the_Dragon made woes you might not be able to make a Contract with a faction once the game goes offline. I tested this with my Vita in flight mode, and it's true. Means Short Sight skill is only a random drop from Barr once the servers go

Edited September 21, 2019 by ars

[DEI2EK]

For the Golden Baku, I found it on my first travel quest in Eclise like the guide says it’s most common to find in there 

[IDiivil]

1 hour ago, ars said:

Thank you @Dragon-Archon, I misunderstood all the GameFAQs posts. I'll edit the skill patterns you generally need 2-3 edit: character hires to get all the skills available for a class.

 

Also I have unfortunate news, @Han_the_Dragon made woes you might not be able to make a Contract with a faction once the game goes offline. I tested this with my Vita in flight mode, and it's true. Means Short Sight skill is only a random drop from Barr once the servers go

 

Some random person on GameFaqs posted that if your contract runs out, you do get the steps reward from the last leader you were in contract with.

[fbdbh]

Thank you, kudos!

 

Few questions:

 

- Any class can learn all skills? I started with a Lancer, but learning a new skill wants to replace his "Combo+"... what's the deal here?

- Are the DLC flags exclusive to the DLC?

- Do these "class up" shenanigans affect skill learn? Are they safe to use on my main skill learner? Can you S rank everything on one character?

- Is the Short Sight really that rare? I barely started and I have it on my Lancer lol

 

[Iris Heart]

I only have one question, once the server is shut down, will it be impossible to get the 20 flags offline? If that is the case, I really wouldn't mind to grind for hours and hours and hours, but, if the servers closure will gonna make the platinum unobtainable, then I would just forget about the platinum and playing the game only for my own pleasure later in the future.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Iris Heart

[ars]

15 minutes ago, fbdbh said:

Thank you, kudos!

 

Few questions:

 

- Any class can learn all skills? I started with a Lancer, but learning a new skill wants to replace his "Combo+"... what's the deal here?

- Are the DLC flags exclusive to the DLC?

- Do these "class up" shenanigans affect skill learn? Are they safe to use on my main skill learner? Can you S rank everything on one character?

- Is the Short Sight really that rare? I barely started and I have it on my Lancer lol

 

 

a: There's class related attack skills, which only the specific class can learn. So you have to choose a class, keep making characters and unlock all the skills within that class. Support skills etc can be inserted in any character.

 

b: Don't know what you're asking. Squad Flags are Squad Flags.

 

c: Class up improves stat affinity (=less points until you get an extra point in  stat). You see it as stars next to the stat when leveling up. Disregard it unless you want to brag in PvP War mode.

 

d : You're very happy you got it so soon

[fbdbh]

6 minutes ago, Iris Heart said:

I only have one question, once the server is shut down, will it be impossible to get the 20 flags offline? If that is the sace, I really wouldn't mind to grind for hours and hours and hours, but, if the servers closure will gonna make the platinum unobtainable, then I would just forget about the platinum and playing the game only for my own pleasure later in the future.

 

If the above is true, all you have to do is log in on 2-3 days while being in a contract, visit War ans then Capital to snatch an online flag, the rest can be obtained offline + store. 2-3 times 5 minutes of your time.

 

4 minutes ago, ars said:

 

a: There's class related attack skills, which only the specific class can learn. So you have to choose a class, keep making characters and unlock all the skills within that class. Support skills etc can be inserted in any character.

 

b: Don't know what you're asking. Squad Flags are Squad Flags.

 

c: Class up improves stat affinity (=less points until you get an extra point in  stat). You see it as stars next to the stat when leveling up. Disregard it unless you want to brag in PvP War mode.

 

d : You're very happy you got it so soon

 

Thanks!

 

b. 20 flags are needed, 10 can be bought via DLC. Are those 10 not available via normal play? Is the DLC just a time saver or actually giving 10 flags you can't get anywhere else?

Edited September 21, 2019 by fbdbh

[ars]

3 minutes ago, Iris Heart said:

I only have one question, once the server is shut down, will it be impossible to get the 20 flags offline?

 

We don't know, they're supposedly random drops too but 100 extra hours, 1000 extra hours? We don't know.

 

49 minutes ago, IDiivil said:

 

Some random person on GameFaqs posted that if your contract runs out, you do get the steps reward from the last leader you were in contract with.

 

This is a cool thing, unfortunately Contracts only run max 5 days. We don't know whether a Contract can last indefinetely in Offline mode. You should still get a flag max 5 days after closure if you make a Contract at the very last moment. Unfortunately no one can know what happens after until we see it...

4 minutes ago, fbdbh said:

 

If the above is true, all you have to do is log in on 2-3 days while being in a contract, visit War ans then Capital to snatch an online flag, the rest can be obtained offline + store. 2-3 times 5 minutes of your time.

 

 

Thanks!

 

b. 20 flags are needed, 10 can be bought via DLC. Are those 10 not available via normal play? Is the DLC just a time saver or actually giving 10 flags you can't get anywhere else?

 

They're not available through gameplay and I've never dropped one beating a PvP troop. I've dropped other exclusive things like King's weapons so I gather you have to pay for the DLC flags

[Mesopithecus]

7 minutes ago, fbdbh said:

 

b. 20 flags are needed, 10 can be bought via DLC. Are those 10 not available via normal play? Is the DLC just a time saver or actually giving 10 flags you can't get anywhere else?

 

No, those 10 are DLC exclusive.  Also you can't get them as a drop from any teams you encounter during wars that are using the DLC flags, they are non-transferable.

[grifteskymfning]

Are the Vita DLC flags the same as the PS4 DLC flags?

 

Can you get 10 DLC flags on Vita, cross save to PS4 and get 10 more flags?

[Iris Heart]

1 hour ago, fbdbh said:

 

If the above is true, all you have to do is log in on 2-3 days while being in a contract, visit War ans then Capital to snatch an online flag, the rest can be obtained offline + store. 2-3 times 5 minutes of your time.

 

 

I see, I still would need to start the game but it doesn't sound so bad at all. I may give it a try. 

 

1 hour ago, ars said:

 

We don't know, they're supposedly random drops too but 100 extra hours, 1000 extra hours? We don't know.

 

 

That sounds horrible... 100 or 1000 hours because of the RNG.

[Rick_Sanchez]

1 minute ago, Iris Heart said:

 

I see, I still would need to start the game but it doesn't sound so bad at all. I may give it a try. 

 

 

That sounds horrible... 100 or 1000 hours because of the RNG.

the thought of spending 1000 hrs in a game (again) is off putting but I'd hate to have a plat I can no longer obtain.

 

I'll start this up when I get home tomorrow after I finish 15 waves in EDF Insect Armageddon.

[Iris Heart]

5 minutes ago, Rick_Sanchez said:

the thought of spending 1000 hrs in a game (again) is off putting but I'd hate to have a plat I can no longer obtain.

 

I'll start this up when I get home tomorrow after I finish 15 waves in EDF Insect Armageddon.

 

I will start it tonight, since I am just clearing the Crash Team Racing Time Trials, I could give it a try to Grand Kingdom when I am getting too frustrated on Crash.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Iris Heart

[DEI2EK]

I never really thought about doing this, but doing the 500 steps then going to the capital seems like it’ll be a good way to get skill tomes for that all skills trophy

[fbdbh]

31 minutes ago, grifteskymfning said:

Are the Vita DLC flags the same as the PS4 DLC flags?

 

Can you get 10 DLC flags on Vita, cross save to PS4 and get 10 more flags?

 

There is no cross save in this game.

[grifteskymfning]

Just now, fbdbh said:

 

There is no cross save in this game.

 

Fair enough.

[Kishnabe]

I got like like 4 flags in less than in a hour by playing Online War.

 

Go in with in at least a level 40 team. 

 

One Guaranteed for participating in a War and when that day War ends. Go to Castle and talk to townsfolk, get flag.

 

So far at 15 Flags.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Kishnabe

[ars]

I've done some minor clarifications and terminology corrections (it's not Chatty Elder but Elderly Passerby who gives you the War flag etc). Since @RNumbers and @Bumperklever are both confirming a similar location for Acrobatic Shoes, I felt confident enough to include it in the OP. Thank you both for the info!

 

I also added a mention of the online powerlevel system and linked the instruction wiki by the original creators of it, since a few people asked information on it and some have had trouble getting hires to work. The wiki contains step-by-step instruction how to murder your own squad with ridiculously OP overspin pallies. Yes that's exactly what you'll do if you don't know how to use them properly!

 

This pretty much makes the original post feature complete! For specific trophies this site has a very well written guide with vast explanations on every aspect of the game. My PSA was rather of the type "if you want smooth sailing towards the plat do this, this, and that while the game is still online", so it won't stay relevant for too long after server closure. If you didn't start yet you should be starting right now, hope the OP helps you get a headstart on the game

[Rick_Sanchez]

okay just sent my troops to war via troop dispatchment. I signed up for 5 wars in the contract does that matter for getting flags or is it still one a day?

[ars]

AFAIK your contract will run for 6 days and you have to log into War mode daily to get an End of War notice @Rick_Sanchez. So let this one run but don't start another prolonged Contract. Flags are one per War as explained in OP  

[Rick_Sanchez]

alright thanks for letting me know. I also went ahead and purchased the 10 flags since it's so cheap.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Rick_Sanchez

[flashpool23]

On 9/21/2019 at 5:27 AM, ars said:

HOW TO GET SKILL COMPLETIONIST  (OFFLINE)

 

Every character class has 8 skill pools which are randomly selected on character creation. They unlock their last skill around level ~52. Policy -> Hire a character, then go powerlevel in a specific Single mode mission (OFFLINE). You need Mercenary Rank B in order to equip the Hooligan toolbag! Method and required field skills explained. You generally need to create 2-3 characters of a class and get them level 52 to unlock all the skills for that specific class.

I don't know if it was just on my end but I had access to the Hooligan toolbag at Mercenary Rank C....so one earlier than B.

 

On 9/21/2019 at 5:27 AM, ars said:

OR Travel (any region) (OFFLINE). keep making steps until you meet Barr who challenges you to a fight, keep beating him. One of his drops is Short Sight. Barr appears relatively often, but is a random encounter so there is no definite pattern when he does.

Does Barr have a set level? I've only tried for him twice and he was high 90s so I definitely wasn't ready for him yet.

[fbdbh]

5 hours ago, flashpool23 said:

 

Does Barr have a set level? I've only tried for him twice and he was high 90s so I definitely wasn't ready for him yet.

 

I fought him in the first area and beaten him under lv15, and he must've dropped short sights, because last time he offered to "fight again" (I don't remember the first fight, it was a year ago). Might depend on where / when you encounter him? No idea.