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

[DEI2EK]

Just now, IDiivil said:

 

No, you just have to enter every map once.

Cool thanks, so basically that and the bounty targets go hand in hand

[Dragon-Archon]

28 minutes ago, 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?

There's a trophy guide on PSNP that explains how to obtain each trophy  .

[ars]

1 hour ago, Dragon-Archon said:

 

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

 

If you'd like to read Iris' question before commenting it was specifically about flags. My assessment was could be anywhere from 100 to 1000 hours because every refresh costs 1k gold and for that you get your four chances for a flag reward. If you want to bring something to that discussion then let's find out the size of the reward pool the game rolls from, and some sort of a guesstimate how often you saw flags as a prize.

 

IMO War mode shutting down doesn't add much of any extra playtime to the game assuming one has enough flags. There are offline methods to achieve levels even faster than online, players are going to walk the 20000 steps, do hundreds of Quest Clears for Mercenary Rank S, and farm Short Sights for a completely random amount of time regardless the online is up or not.

[flashpool23]

11 hours ago, ars said:

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.

I think this is what was happening with me so I'll change up my party a bit before trying for it again.

[Dragon-Archon]

3 minutes ago, ars said:

 

If you'd like to read Iris' question before commenting it was specifically about flags. My assessment was could be anywhere from 100 to 1000 hours because every refresh costs 1k gold and for that you get your four chances for a flag reward. If you want to bring something to that discussion then let's find out the size of the reward pool the game rolls from, and some sort of a guesstimate how often you saw flags as a prize.

 

IMO War mode shutting down doesn't add much of any extra playtime to the game assuming one has enough flags. There are offline methods to achieve levels even faster than online, players are going to walk the 20000 steps, do hundreds of Quest Clears for Mercenary Rank S, and farm Short Sights for a completely random amount of time regardless the online is up or not.

So far, it seems there are only 7 offline flags available besides the starting flag, so it seems obtaining more after the server closure won't be possible, unless the daily flags are tweaked. I seriously doubt that will happen though. That means the trophy will most likely unobtainable for anyone who got 1 or less flags from the online part. But, if you want to map the reward pool, feel free to do so.

 

If you know of an offline method that enables people to earn exp and support skill mastery faster than spamming online war battles, please share. I'd be delighted to add it to the trophy guide.

[Kristycism]

7 minutes ago, Dragon-Archon said:

There's a trophy guide on PSNP that explains how to obtain each trophy  .

 

Actually, I had the same thoughts on that one. The guide does a really good job of explaining what Travel Quests are and how they work. But it doesn’t actually state anywhere how to unlock that trophy (by going to each area once).

 

And the PSN trophy description is misleading. I also thought I needed to visit every single square in a single Travel Quest, but I did it and it didn’t unlock (obviously, because that’s not what the trophy is for).

 

The rest of the Guide was super helpful, it’s really only that one trophy that I was confused on, and probably only because I overthought it.

[Dragon-Archon]

6 minutes ago, Kristycism said:

 

Actually, I had the same thoughts on that one. The guide does a really good job of explaining what Travel Quests are and how they work. But it doesn’t actually state anywhere how to unlock that trophy (by going to each area once).

 

And the PSN trophy description is misleading. I also thought I needed to visit every single square in a single Travel Quest, but I did it and it didn’t unlock (obviously, because that’s not what the trophy is for).

 

The rest of the Guide was super helpful, it’s really only that one trophy that I was confused on, and probably only because I overthought it.

Ok, thanks for the heads up. I've added some information to the trophy and I hope this clears up any confusion people have about it.

[ars]

8 minutes ago, Dragon-Archon said:

So far, it seems there are only 7 offline flags available besides the starting flag, so it seems obtaining more after the server closure won't be possible, unless the daily flags are tweaked. I seriously doubt that will happen though. That means the trophy will most likely unobtainable for anyone who got 1 or less flags from the online part. But, if you want to map the reward pool, feel free to do so.

 

If you know of an offline method that enables people to earn exp and support skill mastery faster than spamming online war battles, please share. I'd be delighted to add it to the trophy guide.

 

There are only 8 guaranteed offline flags yes. I have no real reason to suspect the GameFAQs forum posters who've said the flags are a rare quest reward, but I didn't pay attention to whether I saw flags as a quest reward as of yet. The current assessment is the game is not going unachievable but specifically the flags will multiply your playtime because you need lots of gold to refresh the quests. Gold you have to get the hard way, because you can't access War.

 

Disregarding flags or making a PvP manageable Troop you don't need more than perhaps 200k gold total to beat the game with ease. There is nothing specific in online that gives a clear advantage to playtime, except get your first chars lv99 ASAP. You are fighting more yes, but you are not taking steps on the map, fetching the guaranteed support skill, or meeting Barr, which are things you are going to do anyway regardless you spend extra time in War mode or not.

 

The offline powerlevel method is in OP, and yes it's way faster than hiring Sallypally

[DEI2EK]

1 hour ago, Kristycism said:

 

Actually, I had the same thoughts on that one. The guide does a really good job of explaining what Travel Quests are and how they work. But it doesn’t actually state anywhere how to unlock that trophy (by going to each area once).

 

And the PSN trophy description is misleading. I also thought I needed to visit every single square in a single Travel Quest, but I did it and it didn’t unlock (obviously, because that’s not what the trophy is for).

 

The rest of the Guide was super helpful, it’s really only that one trophy that I was confused on, and probably only because I overthought it.

Echoing the thoughts here, other than that one trophy the guide has been super helpful

[Dragon-Archon]

1 hour ago, ars said:

 

There are only 8 guaranteed offline flags yes. I have no real reason to suspect the GameFAQs forum posters who've said the flags are a rare quest reward, but I didn't pay attention to whether I saw flags as a quest reward as of yet. The current assessment is the game is not going unachievable but specifically the flags will multiply your playtime because you need lots of gold to refresh the quests. Gold you have to get the hard way, because you can't access War.

 

Disregarding flags or making a PvP manageable Troop you don't need more than perhaps 200k gold total to beat the game with ease. There is nothing specific in online that gives a clear advantage to playtime, except get your first chars lv99 ASAP. You are fighting more yes, but you are not taking steps on the map, fetching the guaranteed support skill, or meeting Barr, which are things you are going to do anyway regardless you spend extra time in War mode or not.

 

The offline powerlevel method is in OP, and yes it's way faster than hiring Sallypally

So far, I've only encountered each nation's flag as quest rewards from their respective story quests. However, these are flags that can only be deployed on the battlefield, thus don't count for the trophy. Could you post a link to the GameFAQs thread where they mention more flags can be obtained?

 

Well, online wars also speeds up the mastery gain for support skills, since these are fixed amounts per battle. Unlike attack skills, there are no pyroxene to increase said support skill mastery. Seeing how farming Orbs of Training isn't a reliable method, it comes down to fighting as many fights in the least amount of time.

 

It seems like a good alternative once the servers are down, but it depends heavily on finding it and having the gold to refresh. That same gold can now be used to hire an Over Spin Paladin and rip squads apart for guaranteed exp and support skill mastery. If the quest does show up without needing to manually refresh, it's a nice bonus though.

 

32 minutes ago, DEI2EK said:

Echoing the thoughts here, other than that one trophy the guide has been super helpful

I've edited that trophy's description. Could you read it over and tell me if there's something missing/unclear?

Edited September 23, 2019 by Dragon-Archon

[DEI2EK]

@Dragon-Archon it looks good to me, thanks for editing it

[Kishnabe]

4 hours ago, Dragon-Archon said:

So far, it seems there are only 7 offline flags available besides the starting flag, so it seems obtaining more after the server closure won't be possible, unless the daily flags are tweaked. I seriously doubt that will happen though. That means the trophy will most likely unobtainable for anyone who got 1 or less flags from the online part. But, if you want to map the reward pool, feel free to do so.

 

If you know of an offline method that enables people to earn exp and support skill mastery faster than spamming online war battles, please share. I'd be delighted to add it to the trophy guide.

 

For earning EXP:

 

I just go to map, I spam meeting the Medics till I get Holly who gives me 10 TP.

 

Use Experience buff, keep walking around till I get an event (Mercs, Barry, or Monster Tamer).

 

Avoid Monoceros, rest are not a pain for 4 members.

Leave after I have gotten 13+ events, I get a Support Skill from Kingdom (so far boosted all but 2 needed skills needed for trophy, better than having to level up certain characters for a specific support skill) 

 

On some occasions it is better than going online. Barry gave me 8K experience, while one battle online ranged from 800-2000xp. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Kishnabe

[ars]

8 hours ago, Dragon-Archon said:

So far, I've only encountered each nation's flag as quest rewards from their respective story quests. However, these are flags that can only be deployed on the battlefield, thus don't count for the trophy. Could you post a link to the GameFAQs thread where they mention more flags can be obtained?

 

I can go do a more exhaustive search after I get off work if acasser and you are not to be trusted saying so yourselves.

 

8 hours ago, Dragon-Archon said:

online wars also speeds up the mastery gain for support skills, since these are fixed amounts per battle. Unlike attack skills, there are no pyroxene to increase said support skill mastery. Seeing how farming Orbs of Training isn't a reliable method, it comes down to fighting as many fights in the least amount of time.

 

This seems backwards. If one already has all the flags, their next priority is dropping Short Sights because that is the biggest lottery in the game. We know where it drops and it doesn't drop from War. WHILE farming Short Sights, whatever skill Barr or faction leader drops instead, does not need Mastery.

 

Same with gold. You only might want ridiculous amounts of gold to get all the jewelry. Nothing in the offline game can seriously threat your pug troop, even if they're Rank F and TEC 99, if the troop composition is well planned and the characters properly equipped. So you don't worry about Mercenary Rank or recreating characters. You'll stand to make less than a dozen of them, mostly for skill farm, thus you don't need the gold to spend.

 

Remember my sole focus on this debate is there's less than a week left of War. Certainly there are many great and useful aspects to War, but as it stands new players have time to use War for pretty much get their pug troop level 99. After that, I already said whatever they do in War they'll only do again in Travel mode, so they might as well do it only once in Travel mode.

[HuntingFever]

Which menu do you have to enter, to visit the Faction Capital so you can talk with Elder Passerby?

[ars]

Its on the bottom in the base menu, Visit the Capital or something similar. You should be under Contract and have received End of War screen prior, in order for him to spawn.

[platinumplayer12]

Can you get flags from the war if you dispatch troops from detachment? Or do you need to stay on the war screen until one ends? I quess you can't retreat to the menu?

Edited September 24, 2019 by platinumplayer12

[HuntingFever]

1 hour ago, ars said:

Its on the bottom in the base menu, Visit the Capital or something similar. You should be under Contract and have received End of War screen prior, in order for him to spawn.

Thanks for the info .

[ars]

57 minutes ago, platinumplayer12 said:

Can you get flags from the war if you dispatch troops from detachment? Or do you need to stay on the war screen until one ends? I quess you can't retreat to the menu?

 

You get nothing from detachment except small amount of xp and Royals. All drops come from fighting yourself (or logging in to receive End of War as explained in OP).

[platinumplayer12]

5 minutes ago, ars said:

 

You get nothing from detachment except small amount of xp and Royals. All drops come from fighting yourself (or logging in to receive End of War as explained in OP).

Can you get the end of war flag after fighting a one fight within war and then retreating ? (returning to main menu) Sorry about another question the retreating option just confuses me.  

Edited September 24, 2019 by platinumplayer12

[ars]

Some have said you wouldn't even had to Dispatch, simply make a Contract and enter the War screen once to get the rewards list and the map updated, then a second time to get End of War unless you already got it logging in Online mode. But I haven't tested this.

 

I doubt it affects anything if you retreat, it just means if you re-enter War, you cannot access any zone except the one you retreated from until the battle timer runs out. You've already participated in the War which seems to be the only thing the game cares about.

[platinumplayer12]

Thank you very much!  The only thing i am still wondering is can you get flags from lost battle? Does the result of the battle effect the drop rate in anyway?

[ars]

You only get a chance at drops anywhere by succesfully beating the mission/battle/whatnot

[fbdbh]

SERIOUS QUESTION

 

What about Policy Points? One-third of them are related to War activities. Or can you put points indefinitely into the first two categories? Isn't there a cap?

[Dragon-Archon]

4 hours ago, ars said:

 

I can go do a more exhaustive search after I get off work if acasser and you are not to be trusted saying so yourselves.

So, I ask for a source and suddenly it turns into pointing fingers that acasser and me can't be trusted ? Right, if you genuinely want to discuss something, let me know, because I'm not in the mood for twisting words.

 

4 hours ago, ars said:

This seems backwards. If one already has all the flags, their next priority is dropping Short Sights because that is the biggest lottery in the game. We know where it drops and it doesn't drop from War. WHILE farming Short Sights, whatever skill Barr or faction leader drops instead, does not need Mastery.

 

Same with gold. You only might want ridiculous amounts of gold to get all the jewelry. Nothing in the offline game can seriously threat your pug troop, even if they're Rank F and TEC 99, if the troop composition is well planned and the characters properly equipped. So you don't worry about Mercenary Rank or recreating characters. You'll stand to make less than a dozen of them, mostly for skill farm, thus you don't need the gold to spend.

 

Remember my sole focus on this debate is there's less than a week left of War. Certainly there are many great and useful aspects to War, but as it stands new players have time to use War for pretty much get their pug troop level 99. After that, I already said whatever they do in War they'll only do again in Travel mode, so they might as well do it only once in Travel mode.

Why is it backwards? You say yourself that time's running out for the war portion of the game and that this is meant for new players and yet the OP only praises the offline stuff. Even when the online leveling is mentioned, you say the offline is more "consistent and faster", while not mentioning the tons of gold you need to refresh quests. How does any of this take advantage of the last week of online war? As if new players can afford to resfresh quests that often to make it more consistent and faster than online wars.

 

Gaining skill mastery goes fast during online wars as you need to transfer all attack and support skills to a single unit. Barr does drop grimoires, but not every single one of them. In fact, farming skill mastery is usually faster than relying on RNG to give you the missing skills. And as for Short Sight, the 500 step method is better to farm that one. While that can't be done during online wars, it also can't be done during the offline red dragon powerlevel method. Besides that, I created a Valkyrie unit that allows players to easily obtain the trophy for the 99-hit combo and dealing 20,000 damage. The first only requires a Move Up or Action Up flag and the latter a Witch's Chase Zone. While these trophies aren't as grindy and time consuming as some of the others, it does reduces the need to create a unit for those trophies, especially when people are using another class for  Skill Completionist.

 

If you believe the offline methods are better, you're free to do so. However, you shouldn't exclude online methods from the OP while there's still time to take advantage of those. 

 

1 hour ago, fbdbh said:

SERIOUS QUESTION

 

What about Policy Points? One-third of them are related to War activities. Or can you put points indefinitely into the first two categories? Isn't there a cap?

You can refresh the policy point requirements, but all three objectives (exp, gold, and royals) will refresh. For dispatching to war: you can dispatch, immediately call the squad back, and dispatch again until you have reached the required amount. The cap increases as your mercenary rank goes up.

[GunfighterHefty]

19 hours ago, Dragon-Archon said:

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

 

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. 

Yes...no...I don't know anymore. I started a Lan contract, which renewed itself because I don't know why. I got a flag after the first war ended. On the second war contracted to Lan, I got nothing yesterday or today. It ended today, nothing. I started a new contract with Fiel(sp) and checked the map, dispatched, etc. And there was no man to give me a flag yet. 

 

I'm sure I will luck into the few more I need but was just trying to make sense of this mess.