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CloseFriend
Aug 21, 2002

Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.
Don't feel like combing the entire thread? CLICK HERE FOR WIKI!!

I did this thread a while back, and I thought it was so useful I decided to try again.

Basically, the idea is that we give advice to people who haven't played a game that they'd need to make the game easier, or in some cases, winnable. Just remember, spoilers probably won't be too useful to these players.

Some of these I haven't played in a while, so I'm rusty on the details, but that's where you come in. So let's begin!

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
· The game is meant to be SOL: Restarted over and over so that you're more powerful. You're not supposed to clear it in one playthrough, so don't bother trying.
· Use as little of your Party XP as you possibly can while playing through. If you need 2-3 XP to bump a character up a level, that's fine, but in general, you don't want to use much of it. The idea is that Party XP carries over when you restart, while regular levels don't. When you SOL: Restart, you can apply all that Party XP and make yourself really powerful at the beginning of the game.
· Don't touch your Dragon Powers unless you're 100% sure you're going to restart. If the D-Counter gets too high the game is unwinnable, so leave that poo poo alone unless you're planning another run-through.

Odin Sphere
· In this game, you don't gain levels by fighting, but by eating, so make sure you're always planting seeds. At the end of every battle, suck in some Phozons to get your Phozon level up, but make sure you get lots of food too.
· Almost every boss in this game is a major difficulty spike. Don't be afraid to go back to the beginning of a stage if you feel in over your head. You won't lose any items or any advancements whatsoever, so this is a great way to make sure you're prepared.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
· Spreading rumors is the bread and butter of advancement in this game. It's how you get weapon upgrades and how you unlock all the game's secrets. So make sure you spend a lot of time talking to the Rumormongers and spreading rumors in the Kuzunoha Agency.
· After the rooftop fight in Kasugayama High, the story only advances after you talk to everybody (all those green specks) on the overworld map, then go to the Kuzunoha Agency.
· In the basement dungeon, there are really just two rooms. You advance the story by going back and forth between them.

Persona 3
· Never ever ignore Elizabeth's requests, no matter how annoying they may be. They're how you get the really powerful Personae, even if they're not a direct result of each quest.
· Get your Academics, Charm, and Courage up as fast as you can. You need them to get every Social Link. The good news is that they carry over on replays, so after the first time you never need to do it again!
· Never go more than two in-game months without doing something with all your contacts. Any longer and they'll go into Reverse, which is a time-consuming pain in the rear end to fix.
· Once you make plans with a friend over the phone, never ever cancel on him/her. That's the quickest way to go into reverse.
· When the choice comes up, don't hug Yukari.

Radiata Stories
· For your first playthrough, you should recruit either all humans or all non-humans. There's a plot twist halfway through that robs you of half your Friends List. Don't worry; you'll be explicitly told what's going on at the time.
· The non-human path has the happier ending, if that makes a difference.

Suikoden I
· Keep Pahn leveled up with your party and in your party as often as possible. There's a fight you get in where only he participates, and if he's underleveled you're hosed.

I know I have more of these, but they're just not coming to me. Any other takers?

EDIT: My bad, it's Pahn.

MUCH LATER EDIT: apekillape's Wiki appears not to exist now. Sorry!
EVEN LATER EDIT: What was aborted is now reborted! Centipeed's Wiki.
EVEN LATER AFTER THAT EDIT: Current (as far as I know) wiki link to Before I Play. Sorry I didn't catch this sooner, Centipeed!

CloseFriend fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Oct 22, 2011

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Monkey Lincoln
Dec 1, 2001
gumshoe

Team Fortress 2
. Don't snipe a heavy till you've sniped him medic, otherwise it could take 2-4 shots.
. By right clicking, you can spin sentries/teleporter exits before building them.
. Jump, then crouch when rocket/bomb jumping. You'll take half the damage and go farther.
. research stab/sap macros, so you can stab an engie and sap his stuff, instead of the other way around, which usually gets you killed.
. If you're not building a sentry, building an ubercharge, or placing stickybombs, you're wasting setup.

Megaman 9
. You're not that old, it's just really loving hard.

Keyboard Fox
Apr 14, 2006

CALM THE HELL DOWN
I'd love to see something for Fallout and Deus Ex, the first I haven't played yet and the second I haven't gotten the hang of yet.

Dwarf Fortress:
-Your first few fortresses ARE going to fail. This is a game of trial by error.
-Trees regrow slowly, so if you have the choice between building something out of stone or wood, use stone.

Keyboard Fox fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Sep 28, 2008

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
Fallout:
*The rats are in case you need enough experience to level, so ignore them.
*Allies are extremely helpful in the early to mid-game.
*Psycho (or two) is your best friend in the wasteland and he works best over quests with tons of enemies in tight spaces.
*Aim for Speech as it is very important at high percentages.
*Tycho gets very angry when you kill people in his town.
*Stick to small guns early on and then energy weapons when you have hundreds of ammo for it.
*A few more points in barter allows you to trade your stimpack for almost two of theirs.
*Don't bother with using the keyword system unless you read about them on some other site.


Suikoden
*Place one water rune for each character you will be using often. The heals add up quickly enough.
*Expect to have people (gently caress you Luc) die often during failed RPS turns. Levels help a lot during those fights.
*Always take a character who is very weak and fight a few battles to make him close to your level and then forget him, until it happens again.
*Don't execute anyone or lose duels.

Scalding Coffee fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Sep 28, 2008

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben

CloseFriend posted:

Suikoden I
· Keep Riou leveled up with your party and in your party as often as possible. There's a fight you get in where only he participates, and if he's underleveled you're hosed.

I know I have more of these, but they're just not coming to me. Any other takers?

You mean Pahn, right? Riou's the official name of the main character from Suikoden II.

And it takes like five minutes to level up characters who are really far behind, so if you know when that fight's coming up, you can just build him up and sharpen his weapon then. That's what I did.

Edit: Unless it's possible to save right before that fight when you don't have the option of leaving to level up, which is something I hadn't considered, and this would be good advice. Nevermind.

the entire Suikoden series, Valkyrie Profile, Tactics Ogre, and Hoshigami
* Play the entire game pouring over a guide, so you don't accidentally miss someone/something and have to replay the entire loving game to get the best ending.

Rollersnake fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Sep 28, 2008

MrSlayer
Nov 27, 2007
you are now manually breathing
Deus Ex
- Upgrade Computing to at least "Trained" when starting a new game. You can now hack any and all computer terminals, making the game ten times easier.
- Focus on Computing, Electronics, Lockpicking and Pistol at the beginning of the game; you should be able to bypass pretty much anything in the first couple of levels with very little fuss. You can then branch out into the other weapon skills based on which weapons you're using.
- Avoid swimming, environmental training and medicine on your first go. Your skill points are best spent elsewhere.
- When Paul offers you a choice of weapon at the beginning, take the GEP Gun. The other two weapons can be found elsewhere in the level and you won't get another GEP gun for a long time (and it's a lot more useful than you might think).
- Throw all of your accuracy mods into your sniper rifle. It pays off big time.
- Deus Ex doesn't really tolerate the run-and-gun approach early on; try to be more methodical and exacting when starting out. Use your riot prod on individuals and sneak around groups of enemies.
- Once you get past the first level or two, and you actually get some cool augmentations to use, the game becomes a lot more fun. :) Ballistic Protection + Regeneration + Combat Strength = :black101:

Cant Build Here
Jan 9, 2006

Monkey Lincoln posted:

Team Fortress 2

. By right clicking, you can spin sentries/teleporter exits before building them.
. Jump, then crouch when rocket/bomb jumping. You'll take half the damage and go farther.
. research stab/sap macros, so you can stab an engie and sap his stuff, instead of the other way around, which usually gets you killed.


Didn't know ANY of these things! Looks like it really will make the game a bit easier.

EVIL Gibson
Mar 23, 2001

Internet of Things is just someone else's computer that people can't help attaching cameras and door locks to!
:vapes:
Switchblade Switcharoo
Earthbound (I actually started playing this game the first time ever)
-You DO have to grind a bit on the purple guys before you take on the first boss. Level 8 at least for your big damage PSI ability, level 10 for an even easier time. Just spam that ability as much as you can on the boss.

This was the one thing that prevented me from enjoying the game at all. Just the insane difficulty of that one guy. After that, it's easy.
edit: If anyone is going to post something along the lines of beating the dude at level 2 or something, this is for a normal player heh.

BadAstronaut
Sep 15, 2004

Anyone want to do me some Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura starter advice?

Great idea for a thread.

Keyboard Kid
Sep 12, 2006

If you stay here too long, you'll end up frying your brain. Yes, you will. No, you will...not. Yesno, you will won't.

EVIR Gibson posted:

Earthbound (I actually started playing this game the first time ever)
-You DO have to grind a bit on the purple guys before you take on the first boss. Level 8 at least for your big damage PSI ability, level 10 for an even easier time. Just spam that ability as much as you can on the boss.

This was the one thing that prevented me from enjoying the game at all. Just the insane difficulty of that one guy. After that, it's easy.
edit: If anyone is going to post something along the lines of beating the dude at level 2 or something, this is for a normal player heh.

Are you talking about Frank and his robot? You can win easily at level four or five or so, using PSI Lifeup/items. If you're talking about the first sanctuary boss, you should easily hit a good level without grinding.

Wesley Walker
Nov 12, 2006

Soul Calibur IV

- online play is a completely different game than single player or the Tower
- pick one or two main characters and learn their moves in training
- concentrate on finding lows as they are much harder to block, especially in online

- if you're playing single player, read the game thread and find the Astaroth setup
- the AI is extremely vulnerable to throws and at high levels will flawlessly block just about anything

- if you're playing online, never play anyone with a connection lower than 4
- you can beat somebody who's played hundreds of matches if their win % is around 50
- mix highs and lows, find and use your character's quickest moves, don't worry too much about complex combos at first


Halo 3

- pick up a Battle Rifle, and keep the crosshairs on the enemy's head at all times

Wesley Walker fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Sep 28, 2008

PKMN Trainer Red
Oct 22, 2007



Rainbow Six: Las Vegas 1 or 2
- The key to strategic team based shooters is simple... it's the Seven P's! Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The number one mistake you can make is to rush into any room without a plan or a strategy. For the vast majority of the games, time is on your side, so use it.

- Most the weapons are very well rounded. In my experience, though, I would always keep at least one Assault Rifle, and then whatever else you want to play with (depending on your play style). Don't take a Sniper Rifle, however, because you can do the same drat thing with an assault rifle and a good scope, AND you don't need to dedicate a weapons slot to it.

- The 6x scope is your friend.

sc4rs
Sep 15, 2007

This is what I think of your opinion.

fett_72 posted:

Halo 3

- pick up a Battle Rifle, and keep the crosshairs on the enemy's head at all times

Halo 3

- If your opponent has a Battle Rifle and has the crosshairs on your head at all times, NEVER NEVER NEVER run in a straight line towards them. Strafing is the only way you'll survive.

- If you're planning on playing online, start with bigger games and work your way to smaller ones. In a bigger game you'll find more people who haven't noticed you and can work on getting the jump on people, and there won't be as many people focused on killing you when you first start.

Dominic White
Nov 1, 2005

Breakdown (Xbox)
Play on Easy. Normal mode is roughly comparable with Halo on Legendary. Hard mode is for masochists. Easy is roughly comparable to what Normal should be.

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Lost Odyssey

-Each area of the game has a kind of "recommended level" you'll know you've reached it if you complete a battle and only get 1 or 2 experience points. This means with the proper set up you shouldn't have any problems with the next boss fight.

-You can change any and all gear mid-combat with absolutely no penalty.

Mint Mania IIDX
Aug 21, 2007

by Fragmaster

CloseFriend posted:

· When the choice comes up, don't hug Yukari.
I know this applies to her S. Link, but it's fine on the beach, yes?

Hyphen-B
Nov 28, 2004

by Nyc_Tattoo

Monkey Lincoln posted:

Team Fortress 2
. Don't snipe a heavy till you've sniped him medic, otherwise it could take 2-4 shots.

While this is normally a good rule of thumb, a fully charged headshot will kill anything in one shot, including a fully over-healed Heavy.

Shrecknet
Jan 2, 2005


Mass Effect
Get Rich quick. No, really, get the "Rich" achievement as soon as possible, don't save anything as far as gear or drops, just sell it all, and sell it all to the doctor on the Citadel for max profit. There are exploits for infinite money, you don't have to use them, but the game is criminally easy as soon as you can get your hands on Spectre gear.

Woffle
Jul 23, 2007

I loved this thread last time and I will love it this time. Anyone want to provide a few tips for X-Com: UFO Defense?

Mr E
Sep 18, 2007

Dominic White posted:

Breakdown (Xbox)
Play on Easy. Normal mode is roughly comparable with Halo on Legendary. Hard mode is for masochists. Easy is roughly comparable to what Normal should be.

No, Easy mode is what Hard should be. I still can't beat the drat game.

Painkiller

- Make sure to take the time to collect as many Tarot Cards as possible, they are extremely useful.

- Bunnyhop EVERYWHERE

AnotherBodak
Apr 3, 2006
I like to watch.

BadAstronaut posted:

Anyone want to do me some Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura starter advice?

Great idea for a thread.

Also looking for advice here, including suggested patches, mods etc. I'm told it's a buggy piece of poo poo to start with, but cleans up nicely with a few tweaks and such.

Stealthgerbil
Dec 16, 2004


Counter Strike 1.6
-Remember that people can hear you when you run, so walk if you are about to enter an area with hostiles or if you are sneaking.
-Always use the small cross hair size.
-The scout is more accurate in the first level of magnification on the scope, the second level, while closer, actually isn't as accurate.
-If you are CT, always buy a kit.... enough said.
-if you are a T, when you get into the bomb site and it is clear hit c-4 to radio in 'sector clear', it is a big help for the bomb runner.
-Also if you are the bomb runner, never charge in first. Your job is to make it to the bomb site alive and unhurt so you can protect it well.
-It is easy to wall people if you pop out for a split second and then just fire through the wall where they are. If you know the map well enough to can adjust for them running as well. Alternatively, you can spam common spots. In 1.6 weapons do more damage through walls then in source, so it is a more common tactic.
-The famas is possibly the best rifle in the game, simply because the 3 shot burst can kill people instantly. However you need good aim.
-Do not use an SMG if possible. They cannot shoot through walls, do minimal damage at a distance, and are more inaccurate then most rifles.
-The key to killing people is burst fire. The guns in 1.6 are very accurate when fired in bursts.
-If you do spray at a person, you can compensate for your spray by aiming lower. Just watch where your bullets hit and adjust accordingly..

Axiem
Oct 19, 2005

I want to leave my mind blank, but I'm terrified of what will happen if I do

tendrilsfor20 posted:

Mass Effect
Get Rich quick. No, really, get the "Rich" achievement as soon as possible, don't save anything as far as gear or drops, just sell it all, and sell it all to the doctor on the Citadel for max profit. There are exploits for infinite money, you don't have to use them, but the game is criminally easy as soon as you can get your hands on Spectre gear.

As well, Wrex and Garrus are generally thought to have the best shore party dialogue lines.

Getting ally achievements gets you good stuff. Get your people early and keep them. Use a guide for Asari ally.

Complete Wrex's armor quest before going to Virmire. You will not regret it.

Always keeping your Charm/Intimidate at its max is a good idea. Using Charm/Intimidate is the best way to get Paragon/Renegade points (opening up more ranks). However, if you're going to playthrough with a character a second time, don't waste the skillpoints, as you get Charm/Intimidate just by becoming more Paragon/Renegade.

If you plan on playing a non-combat character, first create a soldier, equip him with an assault rifle, and get the Assault Rifle achievement as quickly as possible. Then give your non-combat person the Assault Rifle ability. It's far better than a pistol.

CloseFriend
Aug 21, 2002

Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Mint Mania IIDX posted:

I know this applies to her S. Link, but it's fine on the beach, yes?
I don't think it matters either way there. From what I've looked up, that doesn't affect anything. It shouldn't affect her Social Link, that I'm sure of.

doctor 7
Oct 10, 2003

In the grim darkness of the future there is only Oakley.

Call of Duty 4:
- the M16 is the best weapon in multiplayer
- never sprint around counters in multiplayer

Halo:
- the sniper rifle and shotgun make you the ultimate anti-personnel bad rear end in multipler
- the AR is pretty good

Halo 2:
- the sniper rifle and shotgun make you the ultimate anti-personnel bad rear end in multipler
- the SMG is useless unless you dual-wield with a Plasma Rifle

Halo 3:
- the sniper rifle and shotgun make you the ultimate anti-personnel bad rear end in multipler
- the AR is pretty good
- the SMG is useless unless you dual-wield with a Plasma Rifle

Mass Effect:
- The pistol is a loving stellar weapon. Using marksman you can fire almost as rapidly as an Assault rifle with none of the spread and, if it's maxed with achievements and upgrades to your character you can use it constantly.
- You need to have a biotic on your team. Life, and other disabling abilities, can save your team and turn long fights into 20 second excusions by using it right in the beginning of a fight before any enemies can do anything.
- If you plan on playing through your game multiple times, say three or more times, then don't invest any points in either Persuade or Intimidate. You can gain up to 4 points in each skill per playthrough, reaching the max 12 on your third time through.

KoTOR 1 & 2:
- Go all in. Either completely good or bad but don't go in the middle.

Ted Stevens
Jun 2, 2007

by T. Finn
And for the Fallout/Deus Ex crowd: Save constantly.
Before you leave a town, save. Fallout
Going to turn a corner, there's probably a robot/surveillance camera/guy with sniper rifle, shotgun pointed at your head nearby

Conserve explosive weapons- Deus Ex
Your basic pistol is your best friend throughout the game. It will always be useful for some purpose, whether it's popping some perps head or triggering traps.- Deus Ex

Use tactics and knowledge from other games to the new game you are playing- all games

That door/closet/weapon sitting all by itself probably has an imp or zombie right behind/next to it- Doom 3

When in doubt, a 6x6 grid is your best friend- SimCity 2000 (old, but I was just playing this game at work)

Sion
Oct 16, 2004

"I'm the boss of space. That's plenty."
Metal Gear Solid 4

- Hammer the L1 button in cutscenes whenever you lose Psych! You can get it back whilst the cutscene is still playing.
- Sometimes getting an extra second is the difference between being seen and having a 95% camo index. When the coast is clear shake the control pad to shed your current camo, run to the next place you wanna be and you'll blend in a lot faster.
- Don't think too hard about the story, you'll only get angry/hurt your head.

Grand Theft Auto 4

- The triggers on your control pad are fully analogue! If you get in a car and just slam on the accelerator you'll fishtail like crazy so take it gentle at first.
- Cover is really your friend in this. For long range single target shots ditch the M4 and go with a handgun. Left Trigger, pull down on the right stick a little and then pull the right trigger. You should headshot most times.
- Become best buddies with Roman. His taxi service is marvelous.

Sion fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Sep 28, 2008

Jive One
Sep 11, 2001

BadAstronaut posted:

Anyone want to do me some Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura starter advice?

Great idea for a thread.

There was a patch and mod pack that was available in past Arcanum threads but I can't seem to track it down. You might want to start here since it looks like this is the only remaining active community. Anyways, if you want to play a thief character and are interested in the thieves' guild, make sure you have at least one point in persuasion by the time you go to your first town. With an unmodified version of the game, tech characters are underpowered and magic characters are overpowered so plan accordingly. Also remember you can't ride trains if you're too magic-oriented.

Master of Orion
-If you play as the Alkaris then you want to use huge stacks of small ships. These get a nice defensive bonus and combined with your racial bonus they will be extremely hard to hit.
-Don't neglect missiles. Beam weapons are nice but you generally can't use them until you move to close range which wastes your first few turns.
-Try to acquire outdated ship tech. You may have something better but you want as many options as possible if you need to downgrade something to save on space or cost.
-Never ever pass up chances to build missile bases, factories or automation all the way to capacity at the first opportunity. This will maximize a planet's output quicker and is better in the long run since you wont have to play catchup upon further discoveries.
-Never allow any one civilization to become too expansive, even it means going to war. If they're elected in the galactic council then it's likely game over so keep everyones' voting power(except yours) balanced.

Bob Smith
Jan 5, 2006
Well Then, What Shall We Start With?
X3 Reunion

-> Get the Xtended Mod. Seriously, it nearly doubles the scope of the game.
-> Terran Ships are the most powerful in the game hands down, but actually getting them is a real bitch.
-> Universe Traders should be your main source of economy. They can be forgotten about to an extent, which is really useful.
-> The manual is full of errors and references to cut features. Ignore it.
-> Use the number pad and Home/End/Insert keys to precisely place stations on the sector map.
-> Stop off at a station every so often so you don't lose hours of progress.

Front Mission (SNES/DS)

-> Your main character should either choose missiles or machine guns as his weapon focus. They offer the quickest ways of killing things, and as a result keep him alive.
-> Rifles are mostly useless unless you get Switch and Aim.
-> Guide is seriously broken beyond belief, so if you want a challenge don't abuse it.
-> Check carefully to see if your Arm melee damage is larger than your Melee weapon damage. It sometimes is.
-> Movement is better than Leg HP every time. Use high-HP bodies but high-Move legs.
-> Integrated weapons are useless most of the time.

CloseFriend
Aug 21, 2002

Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.
Don't forget, this is probably as good a place as any to make requests if you don't feel like you're playing a game "right."

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I could use advice on Ultima 7 and Final Fantasy Tactics. :shobon:

Bob Smith
Jan 5, 2006
Well Then, What Shall We Start With?
I would personally like some advice on STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl, Neverwinter Nights 1 and Civilisation 4, please! I dearly love them all, but they all beat me sideways.

brap
Aug 23, 2004

Grimey Drawer
STALKER: SoC
- Don't try to use plain iron sights. You will not be more accurate than your crosshairs when hip firing. You will get more accurate once you get a scope.
- In the early part of the game, engage enemies by getting close by moving between cover and firing when the enemy is fully in your crosshairs. It often helps to go for headshots even though you will miss a few before you hit.
- Learn the keybinds, like the [ key to use a medkit and the ] key to use a bandage.
- Don't try to do every optional quest. Some of them are broken, many are simply wastes of time. Money is not especially key to your success. Sometimes the reward you get for, say, collecting and item and returning it to someone is worse than if you simply keep the item. There is no compulsion to follow the orders of anyone giving you an optional quest.
- Your armor's condition is represented by the blue meter. It becomes less effective as the condition worsens.
- You probably shouldn't equip artifacts that increase your radiation until you equip artifacts that reduce your radiation. If you have positive radiation, it will slowly kill you. Negative radiation will increase your resistance to radiation in the environment.
- You can press M to view the map much more efficiently than pressing P to simply bring up the PDA. By pressing P, though, you will be shown all your current quests and can double click on the one you want the minimap to point you to.

Does anyone have some more tips?

John Pastor
Jan 5, 2007

I think I'd like to hold off judgment on a thing like that, sir, until all the facts are in... I don't think it's quite fair to condemn the whole program because of a single slip up, sir.
Grid
  • Always hold off on new races until you can afford one of the better cars for that event. You wouldn't think it would make a significant difference, but it will, especially when you've got a team like Ravenswest competing.
  • Don't do driver events where you drive for another team, unless it's for the Le Mans because you can't afford a car to participate yourself. You'll acquire money and renown much faster driving for yourself.
  • Speaking of the Le Mans, participate and do well. You get some extremely valuable sponsors from it. Remember, the race is very, very long, so you don't need to be in first place the whole way if you can regain it. You're racing by class, so the cars against which you must excel will not significantly exceed yours in performance.
  • Conquer one region at a time, unless you absolutely can't stand a race you need to beat. Again, moving up in tiers opens up extremely well-paying races and sponsors.
  • The AI is extraordinarily willing to knock you the gently caress out of the way, and in almost every race there's no penalty for their doing so. Do not get between an AI car and their chosen line, or they'll sweep right across and send you spinning. Speaking of collisions, in the Touge race, get ahead of the other car, then force them to ram you. They'll take a huge time penalty, which will allow you to take the rest of the race carefully and win on time. This is especially useful in the East-meets-West Viper vs. Honda or whatever challenge, because the Viper is heavy as poo poo.
  • Test drive your cars to get a feel for how they'll respond to your chosen control settings. The cars may not be realistic, but they do tend to be consistent, so learning how to handle a car once- well- will usually set you for future races.

Rome - Total War
  • Be the Romans. This is a no-brainer.
  • Hire mercenary hoplites to bolster your forces. Let them do the dying. Roman infantry is generally too valuable to be sacrificed lightly.
  • Heavy infantry in the center, light infantry on the flanks. Always fight on the defensive. Cavalry should be in the rear, and should sweep out to protect your flanks and attack theirs once the battle is joined. Don't throw away your general, because if he dies, your morale drops like a rock.
  • Don't be afraid to maintain a second line of reserve infantry behind. You can order your first line to disengage, and while it won't be pretty, you can often save a tired unit by having them run through your second line. Just don't forget to order the reserve unit to fill the gap.
  • Flanks are extremely vulnerable. Keep yours clear, always pummel your opponent's. This is especially true with hoplites. If you're charging the front of a hoplite, you're doing it wrong, and will die.
  • Always have a unit or two of light cavalry to run down fleeing survivors and skirmishers. Don't let the enemy retreat with intact units. Try and kill them to the last man if you can- especially archers and other annoyances.
  • The artillery you can bring with your units is next to useless against walls, but gently caress if it doesn't kill enemy soldiers like the dickens. Scorpions on a hill can fire over long distances, with fair accuracy, and skewer whole columns at a time. Once they get experienced- which they will quickly, if you don't let them die like a retard- they'll fire faster, further, and more accurately. You can have a battle half-over before the melee starts.
  • When fighting Carthage, bring skirmishers- Velites, specifically. Use them against elephants. They're cheap, so it's worth losing a unit of them to cause to rampage a unit of elephants- especially when those elephants are still among enemy troops.
  • You can try the manipular formation (line each of Velites, Hastati, Principes, Triarii, each falling back through the other when tired) if you're a masochist. I'd recommend Principes in the center, Hastati on the flanks, and Triarii in reserve, with Velites as skirmishers. Get archers if you can find them, because they'll outrange your Velites. Post-Marian, your units will homogenize- while simultaneously growing in effectiveness- meaning that you can pretty much just build big lines and crush the hell out of them.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl
  • Distance is your friend. Get a rifle as soon as possible and use it. The first assault rifles you'll encounter are on the Military soldiers underneath the bridge in the area out in which you start. Using a suppressed pistol, you can kill their leader when the other soldiers look away and steal his rifle and gear.
  • Once you get to the Duty camp, the first thing you should do is go through to the warehouses. A bunch of Duty soldiers will ambush a group of Freedom guys, who will drop the best weapons you'll find for a while. Steal their weapons and ammo, keep the best rifle in the best condition, and sell the rest to buy more supplies.
  • Always fight from behind cover. Find cover over which you can shoot when crouched, but behind which you're hidden while low-crouched. Pop up, shoot a guy in the head, crouch, reload. Rinse and repeat. Grenade use is not a significant concern in this one, unlike in the prequel.

John Pastor fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Sep 29, 2008

Philosopher King
Oct 25, 2006
Suikoden
For the love of god, don't step on the old mans grass.

ultrachrist
Sep 27, 2008
Some more for Mass Effect

-- All classes are not created equal. The hardest difficulty is a joke as a soldier, but you will have to work hard for it if you play something like a pure engineer.
-- Same goes for your party members, though I guess it makes sense that a hardened mercenary like Wrex would be more skilled than most of your crew. They don't all work with the same class structure as PCs either. Wrex is a "Krogan Battlemaster" and Liara is an "Asari Scientist" (or something like that) which allows them different bonuses / skill combinations.
-- The ally achievements are weird. The hardest one to get will be Liara's since you get her last (don't do any citadel side quests before leaving) but the other characters seemingly have uneven requirements and you may not get them at the times you'd expect.

Oblivion
-- Has a very strange way of autoleveling monsters in comparison to your skills. By not leveling up or focusing entirely on minor skills, the game becomes easier. It's possible (and likely) to completely screw yourself and make the monsters nigh impossible to kill if you play the game like most normal RPGs. Read http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Efficient_Leveling for a detailed approach.


I'm about to start playing Hitman: Blood Money if anyone wants to mention anything.

EVIL Gibson
Mar 23, 2001

Internet of Things is just someone else's computer that people can't help attaching cameras and door locks to!
:vapes:
Switchblade Switcharoo

Keyboard Kid posted:

Are you talking about Frank and his robot? You can win easily at level four or five or so, using PSI Lifeup/items. If you're talking about the first sanctuary boss, you should easily hit a good level without grinding.

Like I said, I know there was going to be *SOMEONE* who was going to say this exactly, but that fight was the main turnoff for me in the previous three attempts over the years to play the game. I remember going into healing attrition where I had to heal to live and maybe two or three shots in between, but I had no where enough Psi to kill the robot. The Psi SATAN! (my favorite word) spell turned that fight mega easy and introduced me to a good game.

Now I went through the two next cities with no problem, but am at the point where I am getting my rear end handed by the five moles to pay off the band. I am now grinding myself up in preparation for that.

Woffle
Jul 23, 2007

Final Fantasy Tactics

-Early battles, much like Deus Ex, will be boring! This is because your characters just can't do much other than use items and hit stuff. Hold out! As your characters start advancing in other jobs, the strategic options will open up.

-Use multiple saves and any time you're asked to save between missions (ie with no time on the world map between) save in a new slot. People who know the game know what I'm talking about.

-JP Boost should be the first skill you make every character learn.

-The Guest/Special characters are powerful so use them. TG Cid is overpowered but even Agrias and Mustadio are very powerful if used correctly. The exception here is Cloud. He starts out at level one and in my experience isn't worth it.

-Unless you want to drive yourself crazy, don't bother trying to get all of the rare/unique items. It takes forever and is not necessary for a normal play through. I think the best way to enjoy this game is to just follow the story, grinding where necessary.

-Play it on PSP. The story is better, there are neat bonuses, it looks nicer.

Hard Clumping
Mar 19, 2008

Y'ALL BREADY
FOR THIS
Deus Ex:

-The first section of the game is what turns a lot of people off to it. Many learn to like it in time, but just know that this game gets exponentially better as you move along.

-Always explore. I've played this game many times, and, like a good book, each playthrough I find something new (I didn't see Morpheus until my third-or-so playthrough, easily my favorite dialogue of any game ever)

Anachronox:

-Patch, god drat you, patch this game. (Secondary: Learn the speed-up key included in one of the patches. It's important.)

-Just like above, Don't worry if you find the first section of the game boring. Just keep going, and you'll soon find yourself having a blast.

Hard Clumping fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Sep 29, 2008

A Rabid Llama
Aug 19, 2003

Donkey PUNCH

CloseFriend posted:

Don't forget, this is probably as good a place as any to make requests if you don't feel like you're playing a game "right."

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I could use advice on Ultima 7 and Final Fantasy Tactics. :shobon:

Tactics is horribly breakable. You can easily grind any battle and get as much JP as you want for whoever you want. You get JP for any action that completes successfully, even hitting your teammates. You also always get JP for your main class, even if you're using your secondary-class abilities.

One of my favorite grind tactics, though, is to use Mediators and use whatever ability it is that they have that lowers a target's Brave (Taunt?). If you get an enemy's Brave below a certain point, they turn into a chicken. As in, they literally turn into an actual chicken. This means they can do jack squat until their Brave naturally regenerates, which you will of course be keeping from happening with further Mediation. Now, surround the chicken with units and do unwholesome things to it raise whatever skill you want! As a bonus, units close to a unit that gains JP will gain a little JP in that class too.

If you want a good "holy gently caress this is broken I am awesome" class to shoot for, look up how Calculators work. Master Calculator, then change that person into a Black Mage and give them Math Skill as a secondary... damage machine, makes the game too easy.

Edit:

The Capm posted:

Final Fantasy Tactics

-Use multiple saves and any time you're asked to save between missions (ie with no time on the world map between) save in a new slot. People who know the game know what I'm talking about.
Holy poo poo this this this. You want to at LEAST alternate between two save slots, and more is probably wise.

-JP Boost should be the first skill you make every character learn.
Less grind, more filling!

-The Guest/Special characters are powerful so use them. TG Cid is overpowered but even Agrias and Mustadio are very powerful if used correctly. The exception here is Cloud. He starts out at level one and in my experience isn't worth it.
Orlandu (TG Cid) is really loving good, and you just have him handed to you, so take advantage of that

A Rabid Llama fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Sep 29, 2008

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Ratatozsk
Mar 6, 2007

Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

CloseFriend posted:

Don't forget, this is probably as good a place as any to make requests if you don't feel like you're playing a game "right."

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I could use advice on Ultima 7 and Final Fantasy Tactics. :shobon:

So far as Final Fantasy Tactics, abuse the hell out of Ramza's Yell (and later Scream.) If a battle's giving you a tough time, use this as a crutch while you figure out a strategy.

If you have an archer (A) that you want to use to shoot some guy (B), who's too close, aim at square (C) directly in line with him- A.B..C. The arrow will hit B on the way to C.

Calculators are awesome, but they come later on.

There are plenty of other strategies, but you can play this game through in very very different ways, so it works best to try lots of things and work out your own style.

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