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Okay, that's a pretty great powerup. It makes for some nice foreshadowing, but I dunno if that's going to pay off.
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Jul 11, 2017 01:49
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drat, Agate is tougher than I gave him credit for. Although, I'm a bit surprised they didn't give Agate and Tita some form of a tag-team craft, like a Dragon Dive variant performed by Tita chucking Agate like a fastball. Unless they're saving that for Cold Steel 3, that is.
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Jul 11, 2017 03:27
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I'm ashamed to admit, I benched Tita for a long time even after this door, so I didn't really get the full value of Orbal Gear. Not that I think that would have changed my later teams.
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Jul 11, 2017 03:28
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If you don't like Erika's Success Dance then you have no soul.
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Jul 11, 2017 03:41
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And thus Agate was roped into becoming the stoolpidgeon character in a family sitcom. Be sure to tune in next week to Redhead and the Russells. Also, Agate getting subjected to a disproportionate quantity of physical abuse seems to become a running gag in the series. At least it didn't involve nerve toxin or an elite Ouroboros enforcer this time. Kinda makes me worry about what Falcom has in store for him in Cold Steel III. Getting stepped on by a Divine Knight? Getting launched out of a Railway Cannon? Having to sample Margarita's cooking? Orbal Gear is complete bullshit in the best possible way. It's essentially Rean's Spirit Unification (minus S-craft capacities) that costs 5 times as little and never runs out unless you somehow forget to heal for 5 minutes straight. Mechanically, what the game does when you use the craft is remove Tita as a character from the battlefield and replace her with another character the game labels Orbal Tita, which is why accessories like the Gladiator Belt no longer work and why status ailments, buffs and debuffs don't carry over. Near the end of the game, a fully buffed Orbal Tita can frequently do 5-digit damage with her charge-craft and is one of the few characters who can tank the game's strongest enemy attack and have a chance to remain standing. (on normal at least) One little snafu about Orbal Gear Tita is that she takes up more space on the battle grid than a normal character, so if she's too closely grouped with enemies or other party members, Orbal Gear can't spawn until you get her some room by moving her away from the crowd. Super Jay Mann posted:If you don't like Erika's Success Dance then you have no soul. If Erika ever becomes playable, her Success Dance should be a craft. It doesn't even have to do anything. In fact, it shouldn't do anything aside from looking silly.
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Jul 11, 2017 08:22
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Erpy posted:And thus Agate was roped into becoming the stoolpidgeon character in a family sitcom. Be sure to tune in next week to Redhead and the Russells. The Divine Knight bit is all but assured and I can see an insane plot needing Agate to be shot out of a cannon while Olivier is munching popcorn in the background. Margarita's cooking, I think he'll be spared that. The most I can see is Margarita trying and Tita intervening during a slapstick sequence. Oh, and he'll have to witness Rean headpatting Tita. How old are Tita and Agate going to be in CS3 by the way? Super Jay Mann posted:If you don't like Erika's Success Dance then you have no soul. Case in point, grandpa Russel.
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Jul 11, 2017 09:54
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Omobono posted:How old are Tita and Agate going to be in CS3 by the way? Since the game takes place in 1206, 4 years after FC, Tita should be 16 and Agate should be 28. Omobono posted:Case in point, grandpa Russel. I love how Grandpa Russell didn't just mention that Erika's Success Dance has no actual effect on the tests, but apparantly went through the trouble of sifting through a large amount of statistical data for the sole purpose of officially and scientifically backing up his claim. Like ReallyPants said, the Russells can be a surprisingly petty bunch. It takes a special degree of spite to back up your casual poo poo-talking with full-blown research papers. 
Erpy fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Jul 11, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 10:24
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Regarding Tita's Orbal Gear, the most remarkable thing about it is that all of her equipment stat numbers are counted as raw numbers in Orbal Gear form. This means buffs will work off them (they normally don't work off equipment numbers, only from innate stats + quartz). This also means that attack buffs have something like double the amount of effect on Orbal Gear than other characters, and she hits incredibly ****ing hard with them. (Defense buffs also have a far bigger effect on her, but defense buffs suck rear end regardless so it's not much to note about.) That's also the reason why any non-number effects from equipment and quartz are lost; Orbal Gear Tita is effectively a new entity as far as the game is concerned, with base stats basing off Tita's original stats.
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Jul 11, 2017 16:39
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So accessories like the Tiger Heart will still work?
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Jul 11, 2017 16:46
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Yeah, they do. (minus the Seal-immunity) Apparantly it's purely the special effects like status ailments, immunity, reflection and EP/CP regeneration that's discarded. The stat bonus from accessories is factored in.
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Jul 11, 2017 16:58
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Basically the only true weaknesses of Orbel Gear Tita are that she has no S-Craft and you have to waste a turn to enable it. Also I guess walled by high DEF monsters but those are pretty rare anyway. Otherwise it's nothing but straight 
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Jul 11, 2017 19:48
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She also can't participate in any combo crafts (because that would be Cold Steel level cheese) or use any arts and there's no way to protect her from whatever status ailments she's still vulnerable to. I think seal, blind and possibly deathblow too. Also, aside from her bullet barrage, which has a medium radius and is centered on an enemy instead of the grid, she has no way of hitting multiple enemies who aren't closely grouped together. (in other words, the exact opposite of her normal self, which specialized in crowd control) However, that's what Anelace and Dark Matter Ex are for. I think the only enemies whose defense a fully buffed Orbal Tita can't just rip through are the high level Shining Poms.
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Jul 11, 2017 20:37
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Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jul 12, 2017 |
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Jul 11, 2017 23:54
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Yay Estelle! Going on stats alone, she'd be a bad choice this time around. Now that you can switch her in and out, her all-around above average stats kinda pale in comparison to the specialists. But her versatile crafts and above average reach (and man, her range can be unrealistically ludicrous by the end if memory serves) keep her competitive with everyone else. Honestly, how often do you get an RPG where you have to go out of your way to get a lovely party? Pokemon excluded.
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Jul 12, 2017 00:55
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Overdosing Heavenly Bliss is absolutely a top tier song. It's not my personal favorite from the game, but it's a drat good piece of music. Estelle's great, but I agree with Rabbi. Now that she's not mandatory, her shortcomings are a lot more apparent. I still used her for a big chunk of the game, because she's the real protagonist and because I'm sentimental.
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Jul 12, 2017 01:09
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I seem to be mostly alone in not being all that fond of Overdosing Heavenly Bliss. Can't really say what exactly it is puts me off the song - maybe I preferred the heavier tracks? Still a great song though, I just don't seem to love it as much as everybody else. My own pick for 'best song in the game' might go to The Crimson Stigma (which plays during this boss), but a big chunk of the reason I like it so much is that I think it works particularly well at that specific moment of the game, what with Kevin having gone all murder-mode again.Rabbi Raccoon posted:Yay Estelle! Even if Estelle were Josette-tier in gameplay terms, I'd still be sorely tempted to put her in the party simply because she is The BestTM.
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Jul 12, 2017 01:10
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Oh no! Kevin OD'd on protagonist now that Estelle's here! Now he has to sit out and we get to know more about him by association with Ries!
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Jul 12, 2017 01:26
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I can't believe that Kevin is dead.
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Jul 12, 2017 02:18
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When I played I didn't realize how much I missed Estelle until I got her back. 
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Jul 12, 2017 02:21
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It's a rare piece of fiction where the protagonist is everyone's favorite character.
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Jul 12, 2017 02:59
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my favorite is anelace actually
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Jul 12, 2017 03:21
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nrook posted:It's a rare piece of fiction where the protagonist is everyone's favorite character. Olivier isn't the protagonist
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Jul 12, 2017 03:28
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Oh boy, now it's Ries's time to shine! There are gonna be so many conversations.
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Jul 12, 2017 03:32
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 May a thousand thorns adorn your flesh with sorrow! Become dust, and vanish into the void of ignorance! May a thousand thorns adorn your flesh with despair! May you be as garbage, ignorant and alone!From what I've heard, the former one is what Kevin is actually SUPPOSED to say while clusterbombing the opponent with his murder-spears. He's literally reciting his S-craft chant in the scene preceding the battle. Brittany mentioned this during the preview chat. The top one is the most accurate localization, so they kept that one in the scene, but since the battle lines were all recorded back in 2011, way before 3rd's script was even touched, they had no choice but to keep the discrepancy in. I love the S-craft and that quote though. Kevin's truly terrifying when he drops the "aw shucks"-persona and goes all Spanish Inquisitor on the enemy. This is probably the only time the Sky games don't give you any input on whether you want to set your new S-craft as your S-break or keep the old one. (despite the fact that Grail Sphere is much better as S-break due to its use as a panic button) With the game giving you a new S-craft that that has an elemental property (one out of 3 in this game IIRC), denying you the S-break set option and pitting you against a boss who has Time and Space weaknesses but more ADF than the final boss or any Shining Pom you run into in order to nerf the effectiveness of Death Scream and Dark Matter, it really isn't subtle about telling you "Come and use your new toy"! The fight was a big pain for me at first due to the fact that Astarte likes to focus on magic-based attacks and like most Trails players I wasn't really paying that much attention to my ADF stat, which causes you to take a lot of damage from the big guy. And yeah, Estelle suffers a bit from being one of the last ones to join while you already have truckloads of other characters to use. Her Morale craft is no longer as useful now that you have access to the more effective La Forte spell (or possibly even Zodiac) and stat-wise she's average in most categories. (Tita and Anelace, who have the same strength-stat as Estelle both have ways of boosting their attack output beyond a simple 25% buff) Her AOE-crafts are still fairly effective and her role as the group's cheerleader is uncontested. Not to mention she's still more effective than Josette, no doubt to her own great relief. Speaking of whom, can I make a request for one of the next Star Doors? (the one on the next plane, actually, number 7 if I recall correctly) Could you bring Josette, equipped with the Lunar Seal and Super Gladiator Headband to that one? Erpy fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jul 12, 2017 |
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Jul 12, 2017 20:39
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Erpy posted:Speaking of whom, can I make a request for one of the next Star Doors? (the one on the next plane, actually, number 7 if I recall correctly) Could you bring Josette, equipped with the Lunar Seal and Super Gladiator Headband to that one? Sure, why not. e: actually, does it have to be those two accessories? Does something special happen? Josette will get murdered if she doesn't have one other thing. 
Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Jul 13, 2017 |
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Jul 13, 2017 21:21
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There's something adorable about Joshua openly calling Estelle his girlfriend. This might be the first time he does so. I was also amused seeing Estelle get jealous of Josette. Who'd have thought. Speaking of whom, it's kind of cute seeing the fake Jenis student and the real Jenis student striking up a friendship here.Really Pants posted:Sure, why not. Yes, those two accessories and no, as long as you didn't grind her up to very high levels, she won't get murdered. Basically, 9 high-level targets + Lunar Seal + Super Gladiator Headband + one specific skill = LOL. It also works with Joshua and Agate, but I prefer Josette because a) it's funny because Josette gets to do it and b) Estelle's a forced party member, meaning I imagine that she'll be forced to watch with growing disbelief. Erpy fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Jul 13, 2017 |
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Jul 13, 2017 22:28
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I still love how one of Estelle's S-Craft's is "True Pummel". It's so... unpretentious.
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Jul 14, 2017 00:10
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OddObserver posted:I still love how one of Estelle's S-Craft's is "True Pummel". It's so... unpretentious. That's Estelle for you in a nutshell. It's why she's great!
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Jul 14, 2017 01:08
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That's why she has Joshua; to take care of things that can't be fixed with a good beating.
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Jul 14, 2017 01:18
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:That's why she has Joshua; to take care of things that can't be fixed with a good beating. ...I just realized: Estelle is Leroy Jenkins.
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Jul 14, 2017 02:40
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OddObserver posted:I still love how one of Estelle's S-Craft's is "True Pummel". It's so... unpretentious. I can't say for sure, but it's possible the original Japanese name of that S-Craft is more elegant.
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Jul 14, 2017 05:47
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Erpy posted:I can't say for sure, but it's possible the original Japanese name of that S-Craft is more elegant. It's "(Shin) Reppa Musougeki", which if I remember translates as something like "(True) Rapid Unbeatable Attack". Estelle is not subtle.
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Jul 14, 2017 14:21
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AweStriker posted:It's "(Shin) Reppa Musougeki", which if I remember translates as something like "(True) Rapid Unbeatable Attack". Subtlety is for people whose choice of weapons aren't very large sticks. This is the true reason Joshua is around, otherwise every place Estelle went to would be accompanied by explosions and ultra violence.
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Jul 14, 2017 14:37
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Lynkericious posted:Subtlety is for people whose choice of weapons aren't very large sticks. This is the true reason Joshua is around, otherwise every place Estelle went to would be accompanied by explosions and ultra violence. Oh come on, making things explode is Erika's job. Estelle doesn't have grenades.
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Jul 14, 2017 14:39
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havenwaters posted:Oh come on, making things explode is Erika's job. Estelle doesn't have grenades. With a long enough lever, I can move the world.
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Jul 14, 2017 14:44
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Lynkericious posted:Subtlety is for people whose choice of weapons aren't very large sticks. This is the true reason Joshua is around, otherwise every place Estelle went to would be accompanied by explosions and ultra violence. You mean:  You need the little musical note and the dashes there. Epsilon Moonshade fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Jul 14, 2017 |
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Jul 14, 2017 15:10
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havenwaters posted:Oh come on, making things explode is Erika's job. Estelle doesn't have grenades. While true, I didn't necessarily say that Estelle would be the cause of the explosions, they just have a nasty habit of following her. I mean a short list of things that have exploded around Estelle: Other peoples grenades, air ships, regular monsters, archaisms, well laid plans.
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Jul 14, 2017 18:51
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Ouch. Kevin. She probably took risks to protect him because he was an angelman or whatever the hell.
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Jul 15, 2017 05:03
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are you ready for pictures of fish 
Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Jul 16, 2017 |
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Jul 15, 2017 23:28
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Really Pants posted:are you ready Estelle sure isn't. edit: but yeah I think I got lucky when I did this door and only had one time where rng screwed me. Meaning Narche hosed me but I missed like 3 times in the third chapter but still won my first time through. Thank you rng gods. MagusDraco fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Jul 15, 2017 |
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Jul 15, 2017 23:37
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