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

[ars]

6 hours ago, flashpool23 said:

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.

 

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.

 

Good thing about the bag, because you'll get access to offline powerleveling sooner. I'll edit it n a bit.

 

Similar to Bounties Barr is a set low level the FIRST time you meet him. He then becomes fixed lv 96 any subsequent fight. You can make do with two lv 90+ chars with max MAG/STR and lv 51 weapons in order to outdps him.

 

Any Random Encounter can happen in any Travel zone, it's just a pool of 12 events (+1 more IF you cleared a Bounty previously). The game rolls whether there's a random encounter, then rolls again which one it is for a cool 1/12 chance for Barr. I've generally gotten Barr couple times when going for the 500 steps / 13 encounters method but YMMV.

[fbdbh]

Again a few questions (unrelated to server shutdown, but high activity here, and I want to at least learn the basics):

 

- Do I need to be lvl99 to use these paladin powerlevel guides? I'm not able to hire anybody higher levels.

- I'm around lvl20 (at least I have a squad there), so what's my best option to level up quickly in a few days?

- How the hell do I know if a class has different skills than my main skill collector character? I keep hiring Lancers, but they come with the same four attack skill (do they get different ones later? or I just hire until I get something different?)

- Is the fixed "Ability" skill needed for Skill Completist? Because I can learn a new one, but it would replace my old one. Can't learn both.

- Where can I check which bounties I've defeated? They keep respawning.

[Milktastrophe]

1 hour ago, ars said:

 

Good thing about the bag, because you'll get access to offline powerleveling sooner. I'll edit it n a bit.

 

Similar to Bounties Barr is a set low level the FIRST time you meet him. He then becomes fixed lv 96 any subsequent fight. You can make do with two lv 90+ chars with max MAG/STR and lv 51 weapons in order to outdps him.

 

Any Random Encounter can happen in any Travel zone, it's just a pool of 12 events (+1 more IF you cleared a Bounty previously). The game rolls whether there's a random encounter, then rolls again which one it is for a cool 1/12 chance for Barr. I've generally gotten Barr couple times when going for the 500 steps / 13 encounters method but YMMV.

Barr isn't fixed lv96 on subsequent fights. I've fought him about five times and he's always at my party's level (so it was around 15 to 20).

[ars]

1 hour ago, fbdbh said:

Again a few questions (unrelated to server shutdown, but high activity here, and I want to at least learn the basics):

 

- Do I need to be lvl99 to use these paladin powerlevel guides? I'm not able to hire anybody higher levels.

- I'm around lvl20 (at least I have a squad there), so what's my best option to level up quickly in a few days?

- How the hell do I know if a class has different skills than my main skill collector character? I keep hiring Lancers, but they come with the same four attack skill (do they get different ones later? or I just hire until I get something different?)

- Is the fixed "Ability" skill needed for Skill Completist? Because I can learn a new one, but it would replace my old one. Can't learn both.

- Where can I check which bounties I've defeated? They keep respawning.

 

Read the OP, there is a link to the powerlevel method and an explanation to when and how to unlock and extract the skills.

 

The fixed Abilities aren't required (and CANNOT be extracted), only all the possible class specific skills and the 43 support skills. For Lancer specifically this webpage lists all the skills and the starting pattern of each skill pool.

 

Bounties respawn after IIRC five Quest Clears. If you Travel before that, they stay marked in switch area menu as "routed". If you didn't make personal notes or let five Quest Clears pass then you have no record of what you already did.

 

40 minutes ago, Milktastrophe said:

Barr isn't fixed lv96 on subsequent fights. I've fought him about five times and he's always at my party's level (so it was around 15 to 20).

 

Ah, I presume he scales to your highest character level then. In other words I had already made a lv 99 Troop XP Up leader, but my pug xp farm members were very low. Barr would then proceed to be lv 96 leading to slaughter.

 

Edit: I've also tested and confirmed you will get a guaranteed support skill from ANY faction capital when off contract and doing the 500 steps method. This means Barr will not be the only place to get Short Sights after server closure, you still get the leader chance as usual.

Edited September 23, 2019 by ars

[Static_Rook]

1 hour ago, fbdbh said:

Again a few questions (unrelated to server shutdown, but high activity here, and I want to at least learn the basics):

 

- Do I need to be lvl99 to use these paladin powerlevel guides? I'm not able to hire anybody higher levels.

- I'm around lvl20 (at least I have a squad there), so what's my best option to level up quickly in a few days?

- How the hell do I know if a class has different skills than my main skill collector character? I keep hiring Lancers, but they come with the same four attack skill (do they get different ones later? or I just hire until I get something different?)

- Is the fixed "Ability" skill needed for Skill Completist? Because I can learn a new one, but it would replace my old one. Can't learn both.

- Where can I check which bounties I've defeated? They keep respawning.

 

Most of these are answered in the guide here or on the power level wiki page, but here are quick answers:

 

-No, read the wiki page. There are paladins for hire for all level ranges.

-The answer is always the online War until it shuts down.

-Use the IGN Classes wiki to see the skill patterns.

-No, just the class specific Action skills and all the Support skills. Ability and Field skills don't matter.

-On the travel quest screen there are stats for each area. It shows how many bounties you still need to defeat in that area.

[Obscure_Ale]

By far the most valuable resource I have used so far is this Spreadsheet -https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1klLucvn27CZbI2_wdJbGcuS3sPzIPu2lxfF4Uv8OMeE/edit#gid=1146450806

• It lists all the bounties and notes for which skills are required to get to the out of reach ones and colours them red for which have level 51 weapon rewards and it also doubles up as a great checklist.
• It also lists all the skill patterns for each class and so far as I've followed it has been 100% accurate, It also lists the unique attack skills for each class that I again used as a checklist.
• Full list of colour coded support skills list and again a checklist to make things simple and clear for the Skill Completionist trophy.
• Merchant list for travel mode that list all weapons, gear, traps, objects and blueprints and where to buy them

There is also other various info on that that I found handy at explaining systems that could help also.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Obscure_Ale

[ars]

Thanks @Obscure_Ale, I immediately added this one. Might be highly useful for people who are starting out and want to write records in a single place

[fbdbh]

Thank you all, and sorry for being thick, but with all the official guides and posted info, I'm just very confused by how most of the game works. I spent a day researching how policy points work, for example. (Like... how the hell was I supposed to figure out that "okaying a fulfilled requirement" equals "actually immediately spending the point"). The way this game handles information is so backwards and esoteric, it's almost an art in itself. (Like... displaying better stats on an equipment with red... who does this? Ugh.) I still don't know what the game means by "investing resources", etc etc.

 

Really, thank you for this tremendously helpful thread, clears up so much.

[ars]

It's a general JRPG trope where the mechanics aren't fully explained nor have a tutorial, so you find out your answers through either trial and error or googling a post by someone who did the same. Ultimately the game is not that complex. Obviously if one isn't accustomed to processing information like a good amount of wiki pages, forum posts etc it'll be a chore, but doing it one can only get better at it

 

The main gripes you represented amount to "I don't like how the user interface works". You could pull this argument as-is and insert it in console wars, MAC or PC debate, or anything really. There's no answer to that. Either the devs did it how you like it and someone else doesn't, or they did it how someone else likes it and you don't. The only advice one could give is you might want to take JRPGs with caution, as they very often have sprawling menu systems...

[fbdbh]

1 hour ago, ars said:

It's a general JRPG trope where the mechanics aren't fully explained nor have a tutorial, so you find out your answers through either trial and error or googling a post by someone who did the same. Ultimately the game is not that complex. Obviously if one isn't accustomed to processing information like a good amount of wiki pages, forum posts etc it'll be a chore, but doing it one can only get better at it

 

The main gripes you represented amount to "I don't like how the user interface works". You could pull this argument as-is and insert it in console wars, MAC or PC debate, or anything really. There's no answer to that. Either the devs did it how you like it and someone else doesn't, or they did it how someone else likes it and you don't. The only advice one could give is you might want to take JRPGs with caution, as they very often have sprawling menu systems...

 

Yeah, I get that, I play many JRPGs. But even with something like Dragon Quest Heroes 2, which is quite horrendous in terms of the sheer amount of mechanics and collectibles, it has a bestiary in the menu and each marks if the wanted monster is defeated or not, and so on. So just this example: an easily accessible "remaining bounties" entry in the menu would've been nice. An in-game skill checklist would've been nice. Basic information (such as steps, gold, time played) are all over the place, very untidy. These are not hidden, just on more click farther apart. I like the sense of discovery, experimentation, but some things just should be upfront and more streamlined.

[Static_Rook]

3 hours ago, fbdbh said:

Thank you all, and sorry for being thick, but with all the official guides and posted info, I'm just very confused by how most of the game works. I spent a day researching how policy points work, for example. (Like... how the hell was I supposed to figure out that "okaying a fulfilled requirement" equals "actually immediately spending the point"). The way this game handles information is so backwards and esoteric, it's almost an art in itself. (Like... displaying better stats on an equipment with red... who does this? Ugh.) I still don't know what the game means by "investing resources", etc etc.

 

Really, thank you for this tremendously helpful thread, clears up so much.

 

Yeah, the red numbers threw me off at first, too. The translation seems like a rush job as well so that doesn't help.  

 

I wouldn't worry about anything but getting as much out of the War mode as possible while it's still up and running. You want to grind as many fortress fights with the EXP boost active as you can and the flags, levels, and skills will come.

 

Get your first team leveled up to 99 by using the powerlevel system, then use the endgame Paladins to level up more people from scratch. I switched them out two at time and was able to take on everything pretty easily. Focus on units that might get the skills you need for the completionist trophy. Use the spreadsheet / IGN wiki to see the skill patterns. Winning or losing the Operation doesn't really matter. You're just in it for the levels, and  the money to keep the grind going.

 

To invest resources, go to the capital of whatever country you're contracted to. Should be Fiel if you're using the powerlevel system. Go to the Barracks and the middle two choices will let you invest the different types of resources.

 

 

And I just realized, once you're in  a Travel quest if you bring up the option to go to a different area the Bounty names and general locations for that area will be listed.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Static_Rook
Added bounty stuff

[fbdbh]

2 minutes ago, Static_Rook said:

 

Yeah, the red numbers threw me off at first, too. The translation seems like a rush job as well so that doesn't help.  

 

I wouldn't worry about anything but getting as much out of the War mode as possible while it's still up and running. You want to grind as many fortress fights with the EXP boost active as you can and the flags, levels, and skills will come.

 

Get your first team leveled up to 99 by using the powerlevel system, then use the endgame Paladins to level up more people from scratch. I switched them out two at time and was able to take on everything pretty easily. Focus on units that might get the skills you need for the completionist trophy. Use the spreadsheet / IGN wiki to see the skill patterns. Winning or losing the Operation doesn't really matter. You're just in it for the levels, and  the money to keep the grind going.

 

To invest resources, go to the capital of whatever country you're contracted to. Should be Fiel if you're using the powerlevel system. Go to the Barracks and the middle two choices will let you invest the different types of resources.

 

 

And I just realized, once you're in  a Travel quest if you bring up the option to go to a different area the Bounty names and general locations for that area will be listed.

 

Well then I f***d myself over, because I'm in a 5 war contract AGAINST Fiel. At least until Wednesday or so.

[Static_Rook]

3 minutes ago, fbdbh said:

 

Well then I f***d myself over, because I'm in a 5 war contract AGAINST Fiel. At least until Wednesday or so.

 

If you have the Gold you can cancel your current contract. Fighting an Operation or two should get you enough.

[GunfighterHefty]

So...I selected a one war contract two days ago. The war "ended" yesterday but I got no contract reward...and the war is still ongoing, the 24 hour timer reset. Without me doing anything. I w as s able to get a flag from the guy yesterday after it reset, but not the first day. 

 

Am I missing something with this mechanic? I bought the dlc flags, so am at 12. Just curious what the deal was with the war status. 

[ars]

Guessing you made the Contract but didn't load War mode. You don't get the Flag if you don't "participate". I also noticed I didn't get the Elderly Passerby to spawn when I ran out of Contract and didn't make another.

 

Finally the Contract is for one to five FULL Wars, ie. the day you made it doesn't yet count towards fulfilling it.

[Saionji]

Can someone confirm that you can get 20 flags playing offline pls There isn't much time left so I will have to jump on the game if no one got enough flags playing offline only.

[IDiivil]

2 hours ago, ReimiSaionji9742 said:

Can someone confirm that you can get 20 flags playing offline pls There isn't much time left so I will have to jump on the game if no one got enough flags playing offline only.

 

Evidence seems to indicate that you can at most get 8 flags by playing offline, and then there's another 10 you can buy. So if you want to plat the game you'll have to play some online soon.

[Dragon-Archon]

2 hours ago, ReimiSaionji9742 said:

Can someone confirm that you can get 20 flags playing offline pls There isn't much time left so I will have to jump on the game if no one got enough flags playing offline only.

It seems it's impossible to obtain 20 flags from offline. So far 8 have been found.

 

4 hours ago, GunfighterHefty said:

So...I selected a one war contract two days ago. The war "ended" yesterday but I got no contract reward...and the war is still ongoing, the 24 hour timer reset. Without me doing anything. I w as s able to get a flag from the guy yesterday after it reset, but not the first day. 

 

Am I missing something with this mechanic? I bought the dlc flags, so am at 12. Just curious what the deal was with the war status. 

By contract reward, do mean a daily flag? If so, you need to view the war declarations for the new war, then go to your contracted nation's capital, and talk to the NPCs on the Plaza. The actual contract rewards are gold and royals multipliers. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Dragon-Archon

[Dragon-Archon]

On 21-9-2019 at 6:02 PM, ars said:

 

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

 

On 21-9-2019 at 7:54 PM, 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.

 

On 21-9-2019 at 7:56 PM, 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.

@ars Please don't spread unnecessary panic. About 50-100 additional hours is a realistic estimate, assuming people have enough flags.

[NetEntity]

24 minutes ago, Dragon-Archon said:

 About 50-100 additional hours is a realistic estimate, assuming people have enough flags.

 

Doesn't sound any worse than waiting on Demon Gaze Muramasas or SO4 drop grinding, to be honest. Not sure if I'll have enough free time to powerlevel, but deployment should cut it for the flags anyway, at least. I'll think about it when my folks get back in a few hours.

[Dragon-Archon]

1 minute ago, NetEntity said:

 

Doesn't sound any worse than waiting on Demon Gaze Muramasas or SO4 drop grinding, to be honest. Not sure if I'll have enough free time to powerlevel, but deployment should cut it for the flags anyway, at least. I'll think about it when my folks get back in a few hours.

Wait, you spent that long on Muramasas in Demon Gaze  ? Anyway, if you want to obtain the Grand Kingdom platinum, at least obtain 12 flags from online stuff (or 2 if you plan on purchasing the DLC flags). 

[NetEntity]

Just now, Dragon-Archon said:

Wait, you spent that long on Muramasas in Demon Gaze  ? Anyway, if you want to obtain the Grand Kingdom platinum, at least obtain 12 flags from online stuff (or 2 if you plan on purchasing the DLC flags). 

 

I mean it as an example of general RNGesus shenanigans and the "you never guess how long it will take, but it will probably be not as bad as it might seem", of course. He really liked me in Demon Gaze and gave me both of them shortly after I went down to the area. Back to back, too.

 

or did you forget my gloats and rants in the Let's Finish thread already

 

[Dragon-Archon]

3 minutes ago, NetEntity said:

 

I mean it as an example of general RNGesus shenanigans and the "you never guess how long it will take, but it will probably be not as bad as it might seem", of course. He really liked me in Demon Gaze and gave me both of them shortly after I went down to the area. Back to back, too.

 

or did you forget my gloats and rants in the Let's Finish thread already

 

Ah ok.

 

Now that you mention it, I do remember something about someone obtaining both Muramasa blades really fast  .

[DEI2EK]

What does The Road's End trophy mean exactly? Does that mean i have to touch every square on a travel quest on one map?

[IDiivil]

Just now, DEI2EK said:

What does The Road's End trophy mean exactly? Does that mean i have to touch every square on a travel quest on one map?

 

No, you just have to enter every map once.