PlayStation > Playstation Help > Playstation Walkthroughs > Game Guide | ||
|
Vagrant Story - Analysis Written By: Henry H. Jerng (hjerng@leland.stanford.edu) |
================ VAGRANT STORY Introduction FAQ ================ by Henry H. Jerng on March 14th, 2000 at hjerng@leland.stanford.edu CONTENTS I. Personal Notes II. Vagrant Story A. Story Introduction B. Charaction Introduction C. Script to the Introduction III. Gameplay A. Screen Display B. Controls C. Battles C. BATTLES 1. Battle System Analysis ------------------------- In preparing to fight with monsters, remember that weapon attack is the basis of battle. You must fight many monsters and the Holy Knight sqad in Lea Monde. To fight these enemies, first try to remember the weapon attack, the basics of battle. First, learn the flow of combat. For ways to fight monsters, there are 2 types of attack: weapon attack and magic attack. I'll first show you the flow of battle by using a most basic weapon attack scenario as an example. When in relax mode, you can enter the battle mode by pressing the circle button. The basic controls in the battle mode are not that different from those in the relax mode. Exceptions: circle button = open target dome; X Button = return to relax mode. Step 1: Discover enemy. Go to battle mode. When not in battle mode, you cannot attck with weapons. However, because recovery (such as health) is slow in battle mode, to stay in the battle mode is an invitation to danger. Special features of battle mode include: recovery of HP, MP, and Rick is slow, and Phantom Point decreases. Step 2: Open target dome. The size of target dome changes depending on the weapon. The target dome is a dome that displays the limit of your weapon's reach. The bigger the weapon's range value, the bigger the dome becomes. If the dome is big, you can attack your enemy from a distance, and naturally the chances of receiving damage will decrease. Step 3: Select a limb to attack. The damage value and hit rate differ from limb to limb. When you have the enemy within the target dome, now you will select a limb (body part) to attack. Because the damage value and hit rate differ from limb to limb, you should try to attack a limb with the highest hit rate and the biggest damage value you can find. Step 4: After selecting a limb, begin attack. Whenever you attack, Risk goes up. When you decide on a limb to attack, you'll naturally move to attack. No matter if you hit or miss, the Risk value goes up. Because Risk will exert various effects on the battle when it gets high, you'll want to defeat the enemy quickly. (When the Rick value gets high, your hit rate will drop and the damage value inflicted will increase. It will be easier to dish out a critical hit.) Step 5: The battle ends when you defeat the enemy. Maybe the enemy will drop an item. If you defeat the enemy, the battle will end. The expended HP, MP, and Risk will automatically recover. If there is no other enemy around, try to change quickly back to relax mode because the recovery speed is faster. And, when the battle has ended, the enemy may drop an item or two. 2. Kick Monster's Ass with a Powerful Force ------------------------------------------- (Acquire magic by reading "Grimoa") Magic is said to have ordinarily existed long ago, more than 2000 years ago. That power exists in Lea Monde. If you can use them, there's no need to be afraid of monsters. - Acquire magic by reading "Grimoa" You can obtain the power of magic by reading spell books called "Grimoa", which you get from chests inside the dungeons or monsters as war spoils. Magic that you've remembered can be used infinitely, although it will consume MP. There are 4 types of magic: Sorcery, Theology, Warlock, and Enchant. They each have different roles as introduced below. You can use magic by selecting from menu options, or you can operate it speedily by using shortcut command (using the L2 button). a. Sorcery- assistance type (L2 button + square button) Sorcery has an important assistance role. It can cause status changes such as poison or paralysis on the enemy, or it can increase your own ability. When a long battle (such as a boss fight) is foreseen, these magics are helpful. Examples: Miserable Body (Cause enemy's strength to decrease for a fixed time; its attack and defense abilities both drop; try to use this on monsters with high attack ability), Protect (increases weapon and armor status temporarily; a magic useful on a boss fight), and Unlock (open chests and key-requiring doors with magic). b. Theology- recovery type (L2 button + triangle button) Theology has the role of recovering your health and curing abnormal statuses. The magic "heal", which recovers HP, also has the effect of giving damage to undead monsters. Examples: Heal (Recover HP by healing wounds; can give damage to undead monsters), Antedote (Recover from poison; has the same effect as the item "Spiritual Prayer"), and Generous Heal (HP will steadily heal for a fix time; useful in a long fight). c. Warlock- attack type (L2 button + circle button) This type has the role of giving damage to the enemy. If you are using it with the same essentials as a weapon attack, it is possible to give big damage to multiple limbs. As for these magic, you can give bigger damage as your intelligence increases. Examples: Fireball (attack magic with fire property; red-hot fireballs launched to inflict damage on enemy; effective against water- type monsters), Spirit Surge (attack magic with spiritual property; spirit of light released to cause damage; effective against the undead with high darkness properties), and Explosion (attack magic with physical property; explosion ignited at enemy's location and causes damage to multiple limbs). d. Enchant- attribute type (L2 button + X button) This magic causes various attributes to be added to your weapons and armor. When attacking a monster with the attribute of fire, water, wind, or earth, you can turn the battle to your advantage by using protective magic to resist weapon-based or powerful attribute attacks. Examples: Frost Attach (water-type attribute magic; changes weapon's attribute to "water attribute" temporarily; effective against fire-type monsters), Spark Guard (fire-type attribute magic; changes the armor's attribute to "fire attribute" temporarily; resistance against fire increases), and Soil Guard (earth-type attribute magic; changes the armor's attribute to "earth attribute" temporarily; resistance against earth increases. -Magic collectively puts enemy to rout by attacking multiple limbs. There are magic that has a wide range of attack. If used correctly, you can obliterate the enemy in one hit, but you cannot use too much because they use up too much MP. These magic have levels, and if its level becomes high its effective limit becomes larger. And if your too close, you'll get hurt too. -Magical power changes depending on your equipment. Intelligence values greatly affect the power of attack magic. If you equip a weapon that causes INT to increase and enter battle mode, the weapon's intelligence value is added and damage is increased. In case of recovery magic, pay attention to the armor's "magic defense power (INT/DEFENCE)". The more this "decrease", the more the recovery value gets bigger. For using recovery magic in the middle of battle, you can consider taking off the shield. 3. The Various Abilities Useful in Battle ------------------------------------------ There are deadly fighting techniques sealed in your memory. As the game unrolls monsters and fierce battles, battle abilities will bring various support effects to your fighting. If you reach eventual levels, will you even need weapons and armor?! There are two techniques: attack and defense techniques, also known as Chain Ability and Defense Ability, respectively. Chain Ability enhances your attack, and Defense Ability enhances your defense. You can activate them by pressing buttons at proper timing. There are many supplemental attacks, damage reduction, and beneficial things, but everytime you use them the Risk gradually increases. a. Chain Ability This will allow you to defeat the enemy without giving it a chance to counterattack. For Chain Ability, you can link up attacks by pressing buttons at the right timing (by synchronizing with the "!" mark displayed on the screen). To get a knack for Chain attack, get acquainted with every ability's "motion" and "!'s timing". The motion is divided into 3 types. I want you to remember their movement and timing and make them useful in battle. (Weapon Motion) Additional Damage Type (A-type) On top of being relatively easy to perform, they have a rather highly useful value. Just disburse this type alternatively with another, you will connect many hits. Examples: Heavy Shot, Mind Assault, Raging Ache, Insane Ache, and Crimson Blade. Recovery Type (B-type) An operation to quietly dispose of the enemy by thrusting the sword. Timing is critical, and try to remember it precisely to handle to Gain Phantom. Examples: Gain Life, Gain Magic, Gain Damage, and Gain Phantom. Abnormal Status Type (C-type) It gives abnormal status such as silent, poison, and paralysis. It is relatively easy to perform, but it is highly difficult to get the timing of the rightward motion. Examples: Paralysis Pulse, Numbing Claw, Dullness Bind, and Snake Venom. b. Defense Ability They work similar to the Attack Abilities; you must assign the abilities to square, triangle, or circle buttons and press one at the proper time. 4. Break Arts Exist in Your Weapons. ------------------------------------- Break Arts attack by consuming your HP, unlike magic that uses MP. It's a powerful technique that can pulverize the enemy in one blow if certain criteria are met. a. It's possible to defeat the enemy in one hit. You can use Break Arts by expending your HP. Their attack powers are things that can't be estimated. If you use it with considerations for attributes and type, it's possible to bury the enemy in one hit. Break Arts is different from magic, and you cannot use it if you're not in battle mode. Because it will consume HP, it is the same thing as if you had actually fought. It's good that it gives big damage, but you should try to be careful because if they are used too much, you may lose quickly. If you use it often, you need to recover HP very often. b. The number of defeated enemies will become experience points. You can remember Break Arts by defeating a set number of enemies. If you look at menus, you will know how many you still need to kill until the next Break Arts. A point is the same as one enemy you must kill, so if the point for swords is 10, then you can remember the next sword Break Arts if you kill 10 more enemies with a sword-type weapon. c. There is Break Arts even for bare hands. You may mostly consider Break Arts as a "powerful weapon attack" simply hidden in every weapon type, but actually that is not what they are. Break Arts has "attack attribute" and "attack type" in techniques, and there are cases where if they depended on the weapon type, they would be completely different. For example, sword's "Dark Slayer" has the attack type of "cut", but this does not change even when you use Rapier (a pierce-type weapon). This applies to attributes too. Because Break Arts exist even for bare hands, the breadth of fighting will probably become wider if you let yourself have the attribute to fight bare handed. 5. Advanced Battle Techniques ------------------------------ Fight freely with all the techniques! Colorful magic, numerous Battle Abilities, whole-body Break Arts... I'll introduce a battle technique for livening up these attacks. a. Fight without receiving damage by getting a headstart with long- distance attacks. As a way to kill enemies without getting damaged, headstart attacks can be joined with distance attacks. Equip a weapon with wide range and wait for the enemy to get near. If you open and shut the dome quickly, you will know when it is in battle range at any time. After you've made your first attack, you can run away before the enemy attacks. Attack again when it gets near again, and you can defeat it without getting attacked by the enemy. Get a knack for making its movement slowed by attacking the legs first. Monsters attack when there is a "!" in their overhead balloon. If you can attack quickly before that happens, it's possible to get a headstart even with a weapon like a dagger. b. Continuous attack using abbreviated commands. After attacking with weapon, attack with magic or Break Arts by quickly pressing the L2 button. If you press the circle button at the same time as you let go of the L2 button, you'll be back in the weapon battle, and there will be some time remaining. Progress in battle while verifying the abbreviated commands often by pressing the L2 button. c. Check enemy attribute and attack its weak point. If you do not match the weapon you're carrying with the enemy's race, attribute, and type, then you cannot give as much damage as you think possible. The magic "Analysis" is useful at that time. You can see the enemy's status by using this magic and pressing the L-R button to open the status screen. Try to attack with a weapon that correctly suits the enemy. d. Battle techniques that use Battle Ability When you can't find the enemy's weakness, or you don't have the weapon that works, try to attack with Battle Ability. Battle Ability has things that can give damage with no connection with attack ability, is different from normal attack, and has success rate that does not deteriorate depending on the rise in Risk. There are times when they work on bosses, and its appeal is to give damage without regard to anything. If you use practically the ability, even if Risk is 100, you can defeat any enemy. 6. Introduction to Customization -------------------------------- You can get your hands on high-quality equipment by grasping the systems for how various weapons and defensive items grow and how they can be combined and assembled. a. The set up of weapons and defensive items (Disassembling and assembling weapons and defensive items) Weapons are divieded into "Blade" and "Grip", and they can be replaced with various other parts. A weapon's performance is decided with the grip's performance as the core, and that is combined with the blade's. The blade can be strengthened by the mixing, but you'll use grips as you get them. It's a good idea to destroy one's that you won't use. Shields can be equipped and un-equipped with mystery stones. There are shields that can equip multiple stones, and it's important how they are combined. b. Development system for weapons and defensive items. Weapons and defensive items develop thru use. Parameters that conform to certain criteria will change depending on the race and attributes of monsters you encounter. Even equipments basically low in attack and defensive abilities can have their performance raised to some degree by having their race and attribute parameters developed. Furthermore, if you utilize combination and development together, you can create very high performance equipment. c. Values change by making attacks and receiving attacks. Weapon's parameters change by attacking and defensive item's parameters change by receiving enemy attacks. Pay attention because parameters can increase by this mutual relationship, but there are also things that can decrease them. (If you turn on "display the equipment development value", the value change in parameters will be shown.) d. Effects of DP, PP, and equipment repair. DP and PP increase or decrease depending on combat. If DP is zero, equipment performance reduces by half. If PP reaches maximum, attributes are increased. In short, if both DP and PP are at their maximum, you can realize the full performance of that equipment. You can recover lost DP by repairing equipment in the factory. Because PP decreases gradually in battle mode, it's better to operate in relax mode. 7. Changes in Attribute/Race Parameters ---------------------------------------- Developing and enhancing weapons and defensive items may be better called increasing parameters. Basic attacks and defense abilities are established on various weapons and defensive items, but you can conduct battles with a good deal of strategy by grasping contents of parameters and increasing them. I'll explain about attributes and race that have effects on them and their properties. a. Attribute's relations and its rise Attributes have connections that have "natural laws" that exclusively antagonize each other. This shows that attributes are mutual weak points. If you attack an enemy with some attribute, then the attribute that antagonizes that enemy's equipment rises. In short, this is how youw weapon can automatically adapt to that enemy's weakness. For defensive items, because they receive attacks, the attribute that is the same as the enemy's rises. This shows endurance toward that attribute. b. Attribute's relations and increase/decrease of their values Race parameters also changes attribute values through attacks and defenses, and the enemy's race is a influence. However, the relationship between races is like in the table below (not shown); for example, if you attack a human, that weapon's beast and undead values decrease. Naturally, your basic consideration is to understand how to use weapons depending on race, because weapons are effective against races that you have highest values against. You should develop three types of weapons: Type 1 = human / phantom; Type 2 = beast / dragon ; Type 3 = undead / evil. - About combining weapons and defensive items You can combine weapons and defensive items in factories, but it's hard to get a high performance weapon by simply combining haphazardly. You need to consider the points from combining weapons, shield, and defensive items, while investigating trends in parameter changes. If you roughly understand the main points on combing weapons, then you know that the three important factors are material quality, types, and parameters. 8. How to Fight in Order to Forge Your Equipment ------------------------------------------------- Your equipment are enriched only when you understand how to fight. Your weapons and defensive items develop after repeated battles. Here, I'll introduce some practical battle strategies in case you want to intentionally develop your equipments. a. It's important what attribute your weapons are made of In enriching weapons, there are ways to increase race and attribute parameters. Race affects amount of direct damage, and damage gradually increases only when race value rises. Meanwhile, the numerical value of various attributes determines the weapon's special attribute- which is the one with the highest number. By increasing both the race parameter and attribute parameter, you can give huge damage by developing weapons directed at the enemy's weakness. b. One attribute per weapon One thing to watch out for when developing weapons is to have one attribute per weapon. The weapon's attribute is the one with the highest numerical value, and other attributes are ignored. You should efficiently raise your capability by attacking enemies with different attributes with different weapons. When attacking enemy with same attribute, you can more efficiently increase attribute and race parameters by using a different weapon, but when considering all the types, attributes, and races, it may be insufficient no matter how many weapons are available. c. Seriously consider the hit rate and increase the frequency of attacks There's no reason why parameters would change by attacking just once, but it certainly is easier for them to change if you increase the frequency of attacks. Furthermore, if an attack is not successfully made, parameters do not increase. So, your weapon's enhancement probably progress more if you select limbs with higher hit rate and lower damage. d. Combination is basic to enrichment of defense items In the case of enriching defensive items, it's basically enough to just combine them. You can gradually combine war trophies from monsters and create high grade defense items by paying attention to defensive values against every type of attack. Then direct attacks won't be much of a problem. Against attacks such as magic and special attacks, try to defend by equipping special stones on shields. If you can increase all the parameters and not stick to just one attribute, then no attack will be able to touch you. For example: This is how you make defensive items against the fire attribute, such as a fire attack like dragon's breath. First, find monsters that attack with that attribute and receive their attacks while minimizing damage with defense ability. In the case of enriching shields, you must be in battle mode. To suppress reduction of PP, the weapons need to be drawn. d. Finally, your efforts will be rewarded Your equipment are appreciably fortified by fighting with careful thought. You'll allow your equipment to inherit attributes by combining them with things obtained from monsters, and they will evolve into powerful weapons and defensive items. From this slow but sure effort as well as research on monsters and weapon/defense items, the strongest equipment will be born. THE END |
Please note that A.P.I shall not be held responsible for the accuracy of this article. |
Absolute PlayStation v3.00 © 1995-2006
Playstation | PlayStation 2 | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Play Free Games | Blogs