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For a second there I forgot the game's rules and thought you were gonna get Graham's Flag and was gonna vote for giving it to Timp. I mean, an all black custom mech for the rival of the main character? That's got Timp all over it. Can't decide between Haro and Leopard, help.
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Apr 12, 2017 22:18
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Stay the course, get the Haro MA if only because I never got it in my playthrough.
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Apr 13, 2017 01:07
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show me this Haro before a I cast another vote in this good rear end lp
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Apr 13, 2017 01:37
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Herr Tog posted:show me this Haro before a I cast another vote in this good rear end lp I can't actually pull up its stats but it's a monster of a giant MA with an I-Field, amazing all-around stats, haro funnels, bubble gatling guns, and a drill arm.
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Apr 13, 2017 02:35
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Ace of Aces posted:I can't actually pull up its stats but it's a monster of a giant MA with an I-Field, amazing all-around stats, haro funnels, bubble gatling guns, and a drill arm. gently caress LEOPARD GUNDAM
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Apr 13, 2017 02:52
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Haro Genki!
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Apr 13, 2017 03:36
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G Gundam is the greatest thing
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Apr 13, 2017 05:36
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:G Gundam is the greatest thing 
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Apr 13, 2017 07:21
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Haro! Show the world the terror that is that big ball of death and chaos!
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Apr 13, 2017 07:50
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As somebody working his way through his own playthrough, had I chosen Garrod first, I'd push for the Haro, if only so that I don't feel like I wasted all those levels just to turn it into the Leopard.
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Apr 16, 2017 15:50
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As a quick update, I'm planning on posting sometime this week, I've just been busy with university work and uh. Persona 5.
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May 8, 2017 11:27
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Wellp now that I finally have some free time, IT'S A No gameplay this update, though, because of something I totally forgot about - the next two stages are nearly impossible without a second team. However, by sandbagging the first generation break on each stage and then completing the EX stage the same way, it's possible to basically cheat your way to a second team, so we'll be doing that. That means that it's time to vote on our next Master. Before that, though, I buy some stuff: Kawaii Uguu and Timp both get Basic OSes as promised, and Timp gets ahold of the GX Basic. Garrod gets the GX we captured last update. The shop's default items are actually pretty interesting; one of the things they include are a series of disc items that increase a unit's terrain rankings. Since "B" is average I don't often rely on them, but in this instance I can use it to bump the GX's C in the air up to a B, letting it fly reasonably. I also pick up a part for him that reduces his EN costs by 5% to help make up for Satellite Cannon being ridiculous. I also give the Carry Base a bit of an upgrade - in addition to the hangar, it gets a Beam Flag and a Ring Psycommu, which are ship-specific Option Parts; the Beam Flag increases Leader Area by 1, while the Ring Psycommu restores 10% MP to all pilots within the ship's Area, per turn, that have less than their default MP value, which is really useful since it dramatically reduces the amount of time you spend with low MP if you have a bad turn.  I might have mentioned this before but Original the Character units don't have good growths. They usually get +3 per level up divided among two stats.  Kawaii Uguu is coming along nicely, though.  One advantage to sandbagging like this is that I get a couple of extra parts. There are 94 OPs unlocked by stage completion. There are 29 World Tour stages, 5 World Core stages, and 5 OVER World stages. You will unlock less than half of the OPs in the game by simply playing it. This one gives +10 Awakening to the pilot of the equipped unit.  And this one gives +3 mobility, accuracy, and evasion. I stick one on Claire's Leo Oz Spec so that it can hit stuff with its extremely-inaccurate Dobergun.  Between stages, Ellis' Tornado Gundam becomes the Gundam BASIC.  Kawaii Uguu is becoming more of an all-rounder than Timp.  This is the Turn A Gundam's special ability that regenerates 5% HP every turn, as an item. Fittingly, the boss of that stage has it, but I'm not going to spoil you on what that is for a while (there will be three updates between now and then).  And now it's finally time! You can see the original options here. I'll make some additional comments down the bottom, so read everything before you go THAT GUY. Amuro Ray, the White Devil (Gundam 0079)    The man, the myth, the legend. The protagonist of the original Gundam, not even his father even hit him (but maybe he should have). Red Buster is the Char-killer skill, while Re-Act lets a unit that has already moved, move again, which is astonishingly powerful. He comes with the Gundam BASIC, as you'd expect; even as a BASIC unit, it's very balanced, with no clear downsides other than a lack of a strong weapon (due to not having the bazooka). Also, Amuro's White Devil skill increases Mobility and Attack by 5 to a maximum of 25 when piloting Gundam units, which is hilariously good. Kou Uraki, the Illusionary Marksman (Gundam 0083)    Kou is the protagonist of Gundam 0083, rival to Anavel Gato and pilot of the GP01 (and, eventually, the GP03). His stats are skewed towards defense and ranged, and he is an Oldtype which is something that we need to start considering because we'll be moving into the B-tier in a few stages time. His spells are kind of weird; Mobility Up and Tension Up speak for themselves, while Beam Reduce gives the target an I-Field for one turn, and Damage to EXP Up causes the the unit and pilot to gain EXP in proportion to the damage they take for one turn. He comes with the GP01 BASIC (it can change form, thankfully), although we already have a GP01 not-BASIC. Kamille "IS A MAN'S NAME, AND I'M A MAN" Bidan (Zeta Gundam)    Kamille is the protagonist of Zeta Gundam and might actually be the least-heroic protagonist of any Gundam, and I'm including Hathaway's Flash in that. The Zeta Gundam BASIC he comes with is an amazing unit for a BASIC; while its stats are typical (around 20, 6 move, etc.) it can transform into its Waverider form for travel in air and space, and it has an actual finisher in the form of its Hyper Mega Launcher, which also stops it from being sniped. Kamille himself has balanced stats with a monstrous natural Awakening of 35, and his Heir to the Stars default skill gives him +5 to his combat stats (same as a Basic OS), while increasing his Awakening by 30 when in super-high tension states. He also possesses an unusual skill, EN Absorption, which steals 50 EN from a targeted unit (which doesn't have to be an ally) and gives it to his own unit. Commander Quattro "He is a Char" Bajeena (Zeta Gundam)    Quattro, like Char (if you somehow didn't know, they're the same person), is a glass-cannon kind of unit, prioritizing offense over defense. His Newtype skills have degraded, but in exchange his command stats are much higher, which makes him an adequate choice for a support Master. Speaking of Newtype, his default skill raises his Awakening stat to 32 (bemusingly giving him a higher default Awakening stat than Char, despite the lower base stat) and increases Awakening weapon damage which would be good if the Hyaku Shiki had any. The Hyaku Shiki BASIC he comes with is a very plain unit with no real downsides, and it comes with a bazooka with 3~5 range to help prevent him from being sniped as well as to do more damage. Haman "The Queen of /m/" Kahn (ZZ Gundam)    Haman comes with high stats all over with a very slight balance towards Avoid, plus 30 Awakening and high leadership stats. She also has Newtype, so her default Awakening is 40, but it's more meaningful for her because her Quebley BASIC actually has Funnels, so she can put the bonus damage to use. There's not really a lot to say about her; she doesn't have any downsides and is generally a good unit. I suppose the main problem is that her Quebley will rapidly stop being relevant in terms of its tech line, but it can branch out into Mobile Armors (she's also a good choice for a Haro). Amuro Ray, the Ace of Aces (Char's Counter Attack)    What can I say? High stats everywhere except Defense. Newtype means his Awaken is at 32, matching his OYW counterpart. His leadership skills aren't great, but who cares when you have the Nu Gundam? Speaking of, the BASIC has no Fin Funnels (or Fin Funnel Field), which makes me mildly salty because the Fin Funnels are actually a modular addition and so they could have modeled it without them (it spends the middle third of CCA without them!), and also makes his Newtype skill not so great right now, but obviously it upgrades into the Nu Gundam and then everything is stupid from there. Char "Sell Me Your Asteroids And I Definitely Won't Drop Them On Earth" Aznable (Char's Counter Attack)    Like Amuro and Haman, Char is in the "really high stats" club and has Newtype, and like Amuro, his Sazabi BASIC can't do anything with that skill. It does, however, have an anti-snipe weapon in the form of its scattering megaparticle gun (which, like the Tornado Gundam's version of same, does more damage to large units). Its main downside is that once you turn it into the Sazabi you're almost at the top of the tech tree (if you can call that a downside) so there's not really anywhere to go. Banagher "Banana" Links (Gundam Unicorn)    Banana is the protagonist of the last big Gundam moneysink, Unicorn (it is really pretty though), although this game is missing most of the "newtypes are literally magical" bullshit from the last leg of Unicorn. His stats are geared towards defense, with high Avoid, Defend, and Awakening. Intuition is a slightly odd skill; when using a Psycommu-equipped unit or equivalent (Psycoframe, for example), the power of Awakening weapons rises by 500, which is kind of huge. Sadly if a unit works for it is hardcoded, you can't just put an Option Part on and call it a day. As for the Unicorn, the BASIC version does suffer from having to reach a ridiculously high level to become a proper Unicorn (it's like, level 11 or 12, from memory), but it's still a solid unit, despite lacking all of its special systems (no I-Field, Destroy Mode, etc.). Since you don't get a chance to steal a Unicorn for ages, he's a pretty solid choice. Full Frontal, the Second Coming of Char (Gundam Unicorn)    Full Frontal was such an interesting character until they decided he was literally Char's ghost inhabiting some kind of flesh puppet (SRWV does away with this because SRW isn't poo poo). Anyway, Full Frontal is kind of like CCA Char with a worse themesong; his stats are high all over, although he is kind of glass-cannonish. However, his unique skill, Second Coming of Char, is like Red Comet but better; in addition to increasing the unit's Attack and Mobility by 5 (max 20) when piloting a Red unit, it also increases Awakening weapon power by 500 (under the same conditions). As for the Sinaju Basic, it's missing a couple of weapons but is another really solid unit, complete with an anti-snipe bazooka. As it goes up it starts turning into Mobile Armors really quickly, so it's useful in that regard, and Full Frontal has high leadership stats. Seabook "Vanilla" Arno (Gundam F91)    There's really nothing I can say to spice up Seabook. He doesn't have a title, he doesn't have any meme lines, and his most popular appearances are in his persona as Kincaid Nau in Crossbone Gundam. Anyway, his stats are a bit low after the high-power parade we've just seen, but they're very well balanced and tuned towards defense. Seabook is also a Newtype which I had totally forgotten about; his default skill, Vigor, causes his MP to rise faster (which is pretty good). Somewhat fittingly, the F91 BASIC is pretty much a weaker Zeta Gundam, possessing basically the same stats, but it can't transform and its VSBR has less range and power. It does have a beam shield, though, which is very useful (you don't get the Biocomputer until you upgrade it out of BASIC), and it can fly a little bit. Seabook doesn't have great leadership stats, but his Adjacent HP Recovery spell is very powerful - it restores 10,000 HP to all units within 1 panel of him. Tobia Arronax, the best Gundam Protagonist (Crossbone Gundam)    Click here if you don't believe me. Anyway, we used Tobia as the example, although I've always wondered why he doesn't have an X3 BASIC (since this is Crossbone Tobia, not Steel 7/Skull Heart Tobia, who actually used the X1). Like Seabook, Tobia has Vigor, and the X1 BASIC is a little more specialized than most units, possessing two melee attacks (one physical and one beam) so that he can ignore Anti-Beam Coating and whatever. The X1 also has a Beam Shield, like the F91, which is a very useful thing, although its main power is that it can eventually upgrade into the Full Cross, which is an endgame-tier unit. We will be getting a non-BASIC X1 next update though. DOMON KASSHU, THE KING OF HEARTS (MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM)    Domon is all about that 40 melee. His Avoid and Defense are pretty good, but his other stats are nonexistant. Having said that, he has Critical Up, which is very powerful on a G Gundam character, along with Gundam Killer, and the 20% HP/EN Recovery makes him nearly impossible to kill. His Shining Gundam BASIC doesn't have Shining Finger Sword, which really hurts its ability to actually kill things, but you can fix that with a few boosters, and Domon's default skill, King of Hearts, increases the power of non-finisher Melee weapons by 100 (to a max of 1000), which is nothing to sneeze at. Heero "Self-Destruct" Yuy (New Mobile Report Gundam Wing)    I shouldn't really joke about that since one of my pet peeves is people forgetting that Heero only self-destructed once, when completely backed into a corner; he was certainly willing to get himself killed (especially at the start of the show where he thinks he's totally loving blown it and is going to get half the colonies destroyed in retaliation), but growing out of that is a huge part of his character development. Anyway, Heero is pretty notable for being a character whose BASIC unit is almost totally untouched from its upgraded version - aside from stats, all the Wing is missing is its MAPW; it can still change form for distance travel, and its attacks are much more powerful than is typical, plus its Buster Rifle is a huge hit (4500 penetrating beam yes). As you can see in Heero's stats, he's massively skewed towards his Defense stat, but his Melee and Shooting are both high and balanced at 28; his Taciturn skill increases both unit and pilot Defense by 2 (max 12). He also has a fairly unusual skill in the form of Physical Reduce, which is the opposite of Beam Reduce; it gives the targeted unit Chobham Armor for one turn, which halves the damage of bullets, non-beam melee, and Hissatsu attacks (the Shining Finger icon). Most importantly, however, is that it can upgrade into the Wing Gundam Ver.K after you get it out of BASIC which looks loving amazing. Loran "Could Beat Gurren Lagann" Cehack (Turn A Gundam)    A while back on /m/ someone proposed a cocktail called a Laura Rolla, which is a margarita with a frankfurt hidden under the umbrella. Anyway, Loran has balanced stats and Diligent, which increases his own EXP gained by 10% to a maximum of 100%, and comes with a very useful spell called Post-Movement Attack, which is kind of like Assault in SRW; the unit can use any of its weapons after moving, including MAPW (which is HUGE for some units). His Area Recovery spells are also really helpful as a support master. Unfortunately, he really suffers from having a bad default skill when bought as a Master; you can get him in the shop as Laura Rolla, who has a very good skill of the same name, so he really suffers from the same problem as Zechs. Also, we already have a Turn A BASIC. Harry "UNIVEEEEEEEEEEERSE" Ord (Turn A Gundam)    Harry is the Cyclops-looking Char Clone from Turn A, although he's more like a Quattro clone (wears glasses instead of a mask, has a gold unit, etc.). Like Char, he's a glass-cannon type unit with high offensive stats, although his defensive stats lag behind and he's not a Newtype; his Gold SUMO BASIC has a very powerful attack in the form of its I-Field Sword (1~2 3700 melee yes please!) and it can go through anti-beam coating with its Heat Fan. Strangely, despite having the I-Field Sword it lacks its I-Field, and is otherwise very vulnerable to being sniped. Harry's default skill is Chivalry, like Zechs'; it increases accuracy and evasion when fighting one-on-one, which is great for Master units. Kira "Jesus" Yamato (Gundam SEED)    Holy poo poo Kira is a good pilot. In addition to his already-great stats, SEED works like a toned-down version of Heir to the Stars: +5 to all combat stats, +20 Awakening at high tension. However, on Kira it can become even dumber because after a certain level he can get Ultimate Coordinator, which causes those boosts to become +7/+30. His spells are very well thought-out for him since his later units have a lot of MAPWs. As with th Aile Strike we acquired, the BASIC is a reasonable mobility unit, although it doesn't fly so good (C in the air), and we are kind of drowning in SEED units. Oh, and it doesn't have Phase Shift Armor for some reason. Athrun "Moses" Zala (Gundam SEED)    Like Kira but worse honestly. The Aegis Gundam lacks its multiphase beam cannon, can't fly, and they took out its transform mode; Athrun's stats are mildly higher and his spells are arguably better (Movement Up, Gundam Killer, Tension Up), but it's hard to recommend him over Kira. Or at all. He has SEED as his default skill, so his stats do get pretty high, but that's about it. He's better as store-bought squad filler. Shinn "Angry Eyes" Asuka (Gundam SEED Destiny)    That's not a joke, by the way, that's the closest thing Shinn has to a title (Ikari no Me, literally "Eyes of Anger"). Like the other SEED characters you can pick as Masters, he has SEED by default, which pushes his combat stats into a pretty high range (his defense is low but who gives a poo poo when he pilots PSA units), and for some reason like all Coordinators in this game he's also a Newtype. His BASIC unit is pretty interesting though, since it's the Sword Impulse (presumably because that was the first unit he used in the show); its anti-ship sword is a very strong weapon, but it also reduces the target's tension on hit, which is odd but useful. His Beam Boomerang does the same thing. Setsuna F. Seiei, Is Gundam (00 Gundam S1)    The protagonist of Gundam's second foray into Super Robot genre (after G Gundam), and a rather impressive melee specialist. This is actually a bad thing because the vast majority of his later units primarily have ranged attacks and starting with low Shooting hurts a lot. His stats are all about Melee and Reaction, and like Heero he has Taciturn, which helps make up for his garbage defenses. The Gundam Exia BASIC is primarily missing its finisher attack, although it doesn't fly so good and lacks its GN Drive special ability (which recovers EN every turn), but its GN Sword is unignorable, as it's a penetrating melee weapon (no can defense). More importantly, it offers an early way to get into the 00 tech tree. It also can turn into a bunch of Mobile Armors (the GN Arms lineup), which are useful to put in Master slots. Graham "IN THIS MOMENT, I WILL SURPASS EVEN AN ASURA" Acre (00 Gundam S1)    If Graham isn't your non-pornographic favorite 00 character then you're wrong. His Custom FLAG BASIC is a really solid unit, although it doesn't into space (you can fix it with a disc, though, as demonstrated earlier in the update), with no real weak points and it has Rod Defense, which I loving hate when the enemies have it and love when I have it. His Graham Special skill is unique to him and increases his critical rate and MP gain after battle by 2 (to a maximum of 7); at max level, this can actually negate MP loss in some instances. Having said that, he comes into the wrong side of the 00 tech tree, although being able to reach the Susanowo and then Musarao are not bad things (the latter in particular is an amazingly good unit). Flit "REMOVE VAGAN" Asuno (Gundam AGE)    Flit's stats are all level at 25 except his leadership stats, but X-Rounder pushes his Reaction and Awakening by 5 (max 20), so he has an edge there. The AGE-1 Normal BASIC has no special abilities - it lacks the AGE System to give its attacks an extra 10% power and can't change packs - but its attacks are solid all-around, although it suffers from being able to be sniped. There's nothing really good or bad here; although we will be getting an actual Gundam AGE in two updates' time. That's everyone who wasn't previously covered. Recommended: Kamille, Haman, CCA Amuro, Banagher, Full Frontal, Setsuna Not Recommended: OYW Amuro, Seabook, TOBIA ARRONAX, Flit, Kira, Athrun, Shinn I mean you could pick someone else but that's my take on it; the first six are amazingly good pilots and/or open tech tree options we don't have (mostly and), while the latter mostly fall into "bleh pilot" or "in a tech tree we're already working on or will very shortly have access to the same unit but better". I'll update again in a few days rather than taking loving forever this time, so get voting! Full Frontal The reason I'm salty about Full Frontal is that he's Zeon's version of doing something the Federation once did. In Zeta Gundam, the reason the Federation (or rather, the Titans) are creating a new Gundam is essentially to ride on the fame and legend of the Gundam name from the OYW in order to rally people. In Unicorn, it's all but explicitly stated that that's what's going on with Full Frontal - he's not actually Char, but someone who has undergone reconstructive surgery and training to mimic Char, in order to give Neo Zeon a hero they can rally around, since they're at an all-time low. Then all that goes out the window when they decide Full Frontal is some kind of meat puppet grown to provide a host to Char's ghost, nevermind that what Full Frontal is doing is basically 100% against what Char came to understand by the end of CCA, and doesn't align with his goals at all. But hey, good writing, modern Gundam, pick one. Vote!
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May 28, 2017 05:48
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Frontal, since I liked using him for all three of the maps he was available for in SRWV.
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May 28, 2017 06:09
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Haman. Mostly because she's one of my favorite UC villains.
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May 28, 2017 06:24
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Kamille The man has always been one of my better masters in the PSP games. Also the Zeta is one of my favorite Gundams and more of it is never a bad thing.
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May 28, 2017 06:40
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Haman because she was my second choice after Judau.
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May 28, 2017 06:47
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Haman, though I demand that you put a Nu Gundam on your team  eventually
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May 28, 2017 07:05
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I'll abstain from voting, as while Tobia is cool, I more want to see more of the Crossbone lineup after seeing the X-3's sword in SRW V.
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May 28, 2017 08:13
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Haman, though I also demand that you get a Nu Gundam eventually. Maybe even... give HAMAN the Nu Gundam. 
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May 28, 2017 13:32
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As you don't recommend Tobia. Or meh towards Graham. I would go for pretty lady. Haman
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May 28, 2017 14:55
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Heero Buster Rifle Mail Beams 420erryday
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May 28, 2017 20:22
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Katejina Loos. ...wait, she's not on the list? Okay, fine, how about Kai Shiden. Wait, he's not an option either? Bah! CCA Amuro then.
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May 29, 2017 01:02
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Setsuna. Your team is not Gundam without him.
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May 29, 2017 01:15
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I'll vote for Kamille, because she was my second favorite Gundam heroine behind Loran.
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May 29, 2017 01:23
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Haman, because I also picked her as my second Master unit.
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May 29, 2017 03:10
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Well SOMEONE has to vote for Domon so I will
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May 29, 2017 03:19
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MechaCrash posted:Katejina Loos. Katz Kobayashi Herr Tog fucked around with this message at 03:54 on May 29, 2017 |
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May 29, 2017 03:48
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DOMON KASSHU, THE KING OF HEARTS G Gundam Best Gundam
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May 29, 2017 04:40
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Herr Tog posted:Katz Kobayashi 
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May 29, 2017 05:21
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There is an unpicked Uso Ewin in these screenshots and I demand this be rectified in the name of V LASER.
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May 29, 2017 16:12
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Kamile, Space necromancer who uses the power of fallen souls to penetrate another man and get his mind blown.
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May 29, 2017 18:35
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Andy Waltfeld posted:There is an unpicked Uso Ewin in these screenshots and I demand this be rectified in the name of V LASER. I'd have voted for him but A) he was my first master, not my second, and B) We already have a Free Capture dude.
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May 29, 2017 20:47
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:DOMON KASSHU, THE KING OF HEARTS But no real this
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May 29, 2017 21:17
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:DOMON KASSHU, THE KING OF HEARTS You know what, gently caress it. Changing my vote to Domon, if for no other reason than that my playthrough taught me that the G Gundam tree is an absolute bitch to get into.
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May 29, 2017 21:23
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:THE KING OF HEARTS Finger EVERYONE!
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May 30, 2017 01:16
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Sordas Volantyr posted:You know what, gently caress it. Changing my vote to Domon, if for no other reason than that my playthrough taught me that the G Gundam tree is an absolute bitch to get into. At least we start with Busshi in the shop and a bunch of stuff wanting to Design into Cusshing. You want to see true devtree hell, you'll get it from my Crossbone Vanguard writeups for A3 once I'm finally done plodding through them.
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May 30, 2017 02:40
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If Kamille gets enough lines to be his charming self. Kamille. If not, Graham.
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May 30, 2017 06:41
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I say we should go by the only true metric. Fashion sense. And with all due respect to every other pilot there that only leaves us with one option. Harry Ord. chiasaur11 fucked around with this message at 07:59 on May 30, 2017 |
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May 30, 2017 07:54
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chiasaur11 posted:I say we should go by the only true metric. Fashion sense. That's Steven Stone, right? Anyway, stop voting, it's time to write an update. 
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May 31, 2017 10:22
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 10:04 |
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Unless I've miscounted it's a goddamn tie so I bought Domon as a Master in order to get into his skill tree; we'll get Haman soon enough. See here's the thing: warships are expensive. After that couple of stages of not-grinding and the expense of setting up Domon's BASIC unit (with a Booster to give it +1 move, a Unit EXP Gain part, and making its air rating a passable B), we have 66066 credits. The cheapest ship that can operate in air and space is the White Ark and it costs 205200 in dosh. So we'll do this stage, and then afterwards I'll give you some highlights from  OFFSCREEN GRINDING and the Super Menu Wars that follows.Stage A-5: Space Pirates  After an establishing shot to show that we're near Jupiter...  Since this is one of the stages I blew through to get a second Master the obnoxious Event Skip text is going to be there until we get to the first Generation Break, I'm sorry.    : Deploy the mobile suits! : Yes, sir!Three mook suits spawn in at the back of the non-suspiciously named capital ship.  : Sir... those pirates. Why are they attacking Jupiter exchange students like us?: Silence, Arronax! This doesn't concern you!: Huh...!? Then the three mook suits explode. : That... that's...!?: Grr... the enemy is using old models! So what's taking so long!?: W... wrong! The old models are a diversion! The real enemy is elsewhere! : It's a Gundam! Why do the pirates have a Gundam!?: What are you doing, MS Team!? Regroup! Attack! : It's useless! All the pilots are done for!: Grr... we've been overwhelmed! We can't go on like this! I have a civilian mobile suit pilot license! Let me go instead! : O-oi! You aren't a pilot, right!? : I'm an engineering student, so I can pull the trigger, at the very least... no... I'm a substitute gunner! Come on! I'll be your opponent! I can't afford to die here... Gundam or whatever you are. You don't actually need a warship - a unit in the Master slot can deploy without one. They do lose out on all the benefits of being assigned to a warship, but hey, it's one more unit.  This break trigger is really easy, probably because the next one is an rear end.   Tobia's Batara and the enemy Zondo Gei units are essentially interchangeable, similar to Usso's situation on stage 2. Their stats are a bit higher than the mook units we've faced previously, though, since they're from UC 133-138ish. If you come right here without doing what I did this can be a bit of an uphill battle to do in a timely fashion (not that there's any time limit, but it's still annoying) because of how fragile Tobia is; having Domon on the south side of the map is a huge advantage.    Garrod's performance is a lot higher now that he's not using a BASIC unit, funnily enough.    Mark's new Phoenix Gundam is no slouch either. The Phoenix has two kinda sawn-off beam rifles that it can stick together into a much bigger gun.  Something strange happened and Ellis' melee stat became higher than her ranged stat so here she is messing up a Zondo Gei. I haven't shown it off but the GM and Jegan both have amazing Beam Saber animations too (the GM jumps up and gets silhouetted by the sun and everything!).   Meanwhile, Ranalow gets things done with his Turn A BASIC. It takes a while to upgrade, but...   Mark's new Feather Funnels do cost 20 MP as well as 20 EN, but holy crap they're useful - their range is 2~7 and it only goes up from there.   Rare, exclusive footage of the Gundam Hammer actually hitting.    Domon has a long way to go, but he'll get there.    Bemusingly, Tobia uses his default theme, which is the same thing Kincaid had when the Crossbone Gundam X1 spawned in. On the enemy phase...   Domon please. The enemy is smart enough, usually, to move to range 4 and shoot at him from there, where they can snipe at him with impunity - it's the main challenge that faces a G Gundam unit. When he upgrades I'm going to use some optional parts to limit the impact that has.   He ended up living with about 700 HP. On my turn, by having Tobia and Domon support one another (as they're both Master units), I can get away with a bit more than I should be able to - I still have to send Garrod down to support, and Tobia runs out of turns, but they take out the three Zondo Geis down the bottom, which normally ends with Tobia running away with his tail between his legs.  It took me longer to make this than I want to admit but thankfully the G Gundam music is really good.  The reason I'm doing this is not actually to prepare for the next Break, but to prepare for the Secret that comes along with it. The next Break is kind of infamous for being difficult, but we'll get to that when we get there.  I forgot that Kincaid starts moving after you take out his mooks. Annoyingly, he didn't move far enough for Tobia to engage, which means I'm getting the Break on the enemy turn - not the worst thing in the world, but it's still frustrating.  : What...!? It's too fast!   : drat you... you drat pirates! 10 years overseeing the Interplanetary Student Exchange Program... earning the Federation's trust... and just when the plan finally got up and running... these pirates show up! But I won't let you ruin my carefully crafted plans!: Plans...!? Sir!? What... what are you saying...?: Everything I've done is for the Supreme Ruler, Crux Dogatie, purging every Federation worm infesting Mother Earth... and for the sake of the Jupiter Empire!  Despite using the nuke animation the 'wreckage' of the ship is in pretty good shape. That's not apropos of anything, it just bugs me. Oh, and Tobia's unit starts exploding. : Urgh... this thing got damaged by the explosion's shockwave! : Get out of the cockpit!: Huh...!? : What...!? Why... why are these pirates helping me!?: Are you alright? Can you hear me?: You... you're-!?: The Crossbone Vanguard Space Pirates. My name is Kincaid... Kincaid Nau!: Crossbone... Vanguard...!?I missed the screencap but a bunch of Jupiter ships and MS spawn in at the far left side. : That... that's...!?: The Jupiter Empire... although it acts like a regular colony, they've actually been slowly preparing to pounce on their prey. They want to take Earth for themselves!: Make the Earth... their own...!? I always thought that Karas acted more like a commander than a teacher... I want to make this abundantly clear: the Crossbone Vanguard have a space pirate ship. In addition to standard thrusters, it uses a massive 'beam sail' that essentially works as a solar sail. In the manga, Tobia and Kincaid break it off at the base and topple it to cut an enemy capital ship in half. Crossbone Gundam is great. : Yes! The explosion destroyed the poison gas aboard the Smashion. : I understand. Removal of hazardous items complete! Switch Mother Vanguard to assault mode! Fire at the Jupiter army!: Amazing... these aren't your regular pirates!An alarm goes off in the X1's cockpit... : Wait! Back off! Berah! Something's amiss...!  : What!? Is that the Jupiter Empire's...!: No... the Jupiter Empire fleet's under attack!? Those are... the aliens from the rumors! The ELS!  : We won't get anywhere by just looking at them! Let's probe the ELS to figure them out! If you haven't seen Trailblazer, this is that batshit crazy Innovator they dug up who died in like two minutes to sell the ELS.  Also like a billion ELS spawn in (it's three sets of 9, so 28 targets, plus the carriers). : They're moving! Take countermeasures! We're not dying here! Let's take them down in one fell swoop! Our job is to make sure that doesn't happen. The reason this Break is infamous for difficulty is because if you just leave Descartes to it, he'll get overrun, but it's surprisingly difficult to feed him 10 kills, and moreso within 5 turns.    It got cut off by badsubs but she says "We'll defeat all of Zeon's enemies by dawn!" She and the units she spawns are all Zudahs, which are basically Zakus on SANIC, but hers is slightly special due to her being a team leader, which causes it to spontaneously mutate into a commander variant. (Andy swears up and down at me that it's actually the upgraded version but I didn't get a screenshot so it's whatever.) Zudahs are sadly not that useful (their tech tree tops out very fast) but they are really cool. The primary upshot of having this Break-and-Secret occur in the enemy phase is that you can listen to the extremely awesome Igloo BGM for the rest of the enemy phase. Anyway it's still the enemy phase so the ELS converge on the B-Team.   ELS have paper-thin defense, but they can move a long way, they're quite fast, and their attack counts as funnels, so it bypasses most defensive abilities (like Phase Shift Armor!), and there are a lot of them. Moreso than any other faction, the ELS rely on quantity over quality. Oh, by the way, since it ticks down at the start of each player phase, I now only have four turns to wipe out 10 ELS with Descartes.  And he starts over here.   His Gadelza is our first chance to play with a very large unit, size XXL. XXL units move more like battleships - you have to rotate them manually, and their attacks are heavily-dependant on their facing. As a side effect, the game will not show you the range on their attacks in the menu, which is kind of annoying. Descartes has Post-Movement Attack, allowing him to use his 8000-power Large GN Blaster attack after moving - the main problem is keeping his EN up. And, you know, getting him to the battlefield in time. To that end, rather than fighting, I have all my units start falling back - the B-Team, towards Carry Base, while the Master units begin moving all the way east to prepare for the next break.  Oh, but I shoot down Monique on the way, primarily to give Claire's extremely slow Leo Oz Spec a chance step so that she can actually retreat. On my next turn, Descartes finally gets into range.  : I got too close! My head... is filled with voices! They're screaming! Because of the way the PSP G-Gen titles do their animations, they're quite processor-intensive. Attacks like this in particular can make the game really slideshow, earning derisive nicknames for some units (Gundam Harute is known as "Gundam FRAMERATE" in some circles).    I really like Post-Movement Attack.  Halfway there...  I had Kincaid fall back to the Mother Vanguard earlier, so I send him out now to support Descartes - otherwise Descartes will run out of energy very quickly and get overrun. : This enemy... is unstoppable!   Pictured: Kincaid stopping the ELS. His mobility in space is so high the ELS practically can't touch him. Incidentally, I find it interesting that this stage combines 00 and Crossbone, since SRWV did the same thing years later.  I really love the Crossbone animations in this game. SRWV's aren't as good. That aside, the enemy phase has a problem where the ELS are smart enough to realise that Descartes can't hit anything at range 1 if it's not directly in front of him.  And then they do this. Descartes is also almost totally out of EN, so I use Garrod to top him up.   For all I've talked poo poo about Descartes his unit is actually very powerful - this is its weakest attack.    This is his Lock3 GN Missile attack, and it's another one that's liable to destroy your framerate as well as the enemy. On the other hand, thanks to this, we manage to get the next Generation Break!  East of where Kincaid's pirate forces attacked from at the start of the mission, we have a series of explosions, and then Flit and the AGE-1 Normal appear!   He's sparring with Woolf Eneacle and his Genoace Custom, which is the AGE equivalent of a GM Custom.  : You won't defeat me by just running away! Come on! Give me that Gundam! : I won't lose!Flit dashes past Woolf's G-Exes... : The Gundam is my mobile suit!... and scores a hit in passing. : Hmph! Looks like you're good at running your mouth! It's about time I got serious!: Fine by me!The two close up, but then Woolf's radar goes off. : Hm...!? Three pairs of the dragon-mechs from A-1 spawn in. : UE? Why here, in a place like this!?: Tch! Flit, get out of here!: No! I've got a score to settle with the UE! The Gundam and I can do this!: Shut up! Did you see that? : That... big thing...!?: I don't know how, but they snuck a large warship under our noses! Flit! Get back! Don't you realise what we're dealing with!?: But...!: Your current equipment isn't suited for this... hurry! Tell the Diva about the warship! Go!: Right! I get it...Flit retreats. : What an obediant child. Now then... let's see how you do against the White Wolf!  Fortunately, this one is a lot easier than the first break of next stage. Most importantly, Woolf doesn't even need to be a part of it - which is good because the Fa Bose can blow him apart in one shot from its main guns if you have a bad roll.    Soma "Best Girl" Peries spawns in roughly SSE of the map center, kind of opposite to where the previous Secret units arrived. She brings two Tieren Space Types with her (otherwise known as: junk), and they aren't really a threat, save for how evasive Soma is - but she struggles to do damage.    Space pirate ship. I'll have to destroy the Mother Vanguard eventually, so I have it provide stand-off support for Kincaid and Descartes, who I largely leave to clean up the ELS.    Ok Descartes slow down a bit, jesus christ. On the enemy phase, the large ELS "battleship" units start moving. Their attack animation is a thing:  Oh, and Descartes finally takes enough damage to trigger his Alert dialogue.  ... and so does Kincaid. DODGE THEM MORE.  On the other side of the map, Woolf gets engaged by one of the UE mechs. : I'll show you... the true power of Woolf Eneacle!   I'm not feeling that true power. By the way, the Genoace and Genoace Custom's weird beam-gun-knife thing's sound effect is very clearly the blaster sound effect from Star Wars (the old ones).   And this is why the Fa Bose is dangerous. My last save was before Descartes engaged an enemy for the first time so rip.  I fatfinger Garrod's menu so it takes one turn longer to get the break which isn't actually that bad because it means I can do this with Garrod right away. Is the Moon Out?  Elsewhere, the Mother Vanguard cleans house. There are better warships you can buy, but I kind of make it a point to get this one since... you know. Space pirate ship. I have Kincaid retreat this turn to see if his X1 can equip its Anti-Beam Cloak, since it appears in the menu and I genuinely don't remember, so Team B moves out onto the remains of the ship Tobia rode in on, which gives a 15% terrain bonus - which is huge. By the way, no, it can't equip its ABC. Andy informs me that the ABC has become a permanent defensive option for the Crossbone units, but their models and animations for it no longer exist (it used to be a "form change" in World that would wear off after using it for a beam attack).  So here's Kincaid and the Mother Vanguard putting a hole in an ELS battleship. Speaking of battleships, I have the Mother Vanguard activate its Dispersal ability to help me try and evade Soma's accurate attacks. Instead, she beats the crap out of me on counterattacks and I don't do even half her health. A-Team, you've failed me.    I always feel like the GP01 does less damage than it should. I'm sure that the numbers here aren't unusually low or anything. Maybe it's just that I'm used to sticking Gai in the Strike Noir or whatever.  This is the kind of damage a Super Critical Tension, Pinpoint Attack, Satellite Cannon does - it's even a penetrating ranged attack, which means it completely ignores all defensive options (even I-Fields and abilities that exclusively negate ranged attacks). I don't go all in on the Fa Bose yet; I need it to release the UE dragonmechs it's holding first. On the enemy phase, Domon 'luckily' survives being beaten up by two of the UE dragonmechs that are on his side of the Fa Bose, the battleship releases its own contingent so I can kill it, and Soma gets counterattacked to death after picking on Timp.    Bye bye!  On my turn, I use Kincaid to lock in an overkill on one of the ELS battleships, and then move the Mother Vanguard to an odd position.  Then Kincaid and the B-Team knock over the remaining ELS, and finally, I have Garrod finish off the Fa Bose with another Pinpoint Attack...   On the enemy phase the Fa Bose manages to miss Garrod again which is actually slightly problematic because its tension falls as a result, into the 'cool' area of its gauge, which causes it to take reduced damage. Fortunately, YET ANOTHER SATELLITE CANNON resolves the problem...  "Sometimes I even amaze myself!"  In my opinion the single best reason to hit the OVER Impact on this stage is so that you don't have to babysit the Genoace anymore. : Your luck ends now!: I won't take your life! Stop resisting!: I will cut down anyone who gets in my way!: If you don't want to die, scram!So I immediately shoot down the Mother Vanguard. : Evacuate now! Don't throw your life away!Everything on the map that can be captured is now capturable, so it's time for Free Capture! [vacuuming noises] Then, Team B moves on Descartes. : Hmph! You lower breeds are far too lenient!Also, since I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've used it, Here's Kawaii Uguu summoning an entire battleship out of thin air.On the enemy and Over Impact phase, Garrod survives the remaining UE troops after a lot of and Kawaii Uguu and Gai shoot down Descartes on a counterattack (he failed to put a dent in Uguu's Gundam, even).: Gurh... this is the end... Yes good. Then I abandon my B-Team in the cold darkness of space to go and rescue Garrod and Domon. Speaking of Domon, since he was already falling back, he ends up engaging Woolf, which is good (since Woolf is very weak). : You will regret challenging me!  You may be sensing a slight discrepency in unit strength on this stage. On his turn Woolf makes the fatal mistake of closing to range 1 so he can use his more powerful Heat Dagger. Unfortunately, engaging Domon in melee is a Bad Decision and he gets Shining Fingered for his troubles. : Tch... they've really done it this time!As for Team A, they finally meet up with Garrod and help feed the remaining UE enemies to Domon. And that's the stage!   The GN Drive optional part we pick up from this is great - it restores 5% of the unit's max EN at the start of each player phase.  Garrod got the highest score somehow, but pleasingly Domon ranked, and that +30 will help move him towards buying School of the Undefeated of the East.  Claire's Leo Oz Spec becomes a Taurus. While not wildly better, it has a lot more mobility, and Claire's low stats (other than Awakening) make her a prime candidate for being stand-off fire support.  The GX becomes the GX Divider - it loses its Satellite Cannon, but it becomes more mobile and has slightly higher stats. Also, you have to do it to get to the Double X.  Kawaii Uguu's Impulse becomes the Destiny Impulse, some bullshit prototype never seen in the show which looks much cooler than the actual Destiny. Aside from its attacks, the big addition is its Mirage Colloid System, which gives +10 accuracy when attacking - good because the Destiny Impulse's boomerang and beam cannon aren't as accurate as you might like.  The GP01 we were holding onto becomes the GP00 "Blossom". If you aren't familiar with 0083's GP timeline, the Blossom was a high-performance unit that excelled in all areas and could even function as a radar/scout unit, but it was scrapped when the pilot lost control and totalled the unit (he died, too). In addition to being a solid all-around performer, its Large Beam Rifle has a power of 4000 for the economic cost of 18 EN (although it's not a penetrating Beam), and it offers an EWACs system, granting +10 accuracy to units from the same team who are within its EWACs range.  In the interest of Domon not dying, I turn his Shining Gundam BASIC into the Rising Gundam. Its main concern is how quickly it chews through MP, but with a deployable shield and higher stats all around, it will help keep him alive so I can then turn it into a better G Gundam unit.  On a whim, I trade Abram's Duel Gundam for a Tieren All-Region Type; as you can see, its stats are overall quite decent, and while it lacks a knockout punch weapon, it's economical, can't really be sniped, and can operate in any terrain. I'll demonstrate the highlights of grinding sometime tomorrow, this took way longer than I thought it would due to Woolf getting his stupid rear end killed.
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May 31, 2017 15:31
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