I recently restarted this game, after not being really get into it some years earlier.
How do I effectively combine weapons? So far from my experiments it seems that two weapons of the same type, but made of different materials, produce the best results.
But when I combine different weapon types the results are pretty random (I guess they're really not, and there's a table for every possible combination). Like a staff and a spear make a crossbow etc.
Anyone can give some tips for a new player? Vagrant Story thread.
>>316458083
the game pretty much gives you all the weapons and armor you'll need in chests
all you need to do is maintain their efficiency (DP and PP), equip the right gems, combining the right hilt with the right blade (type is the most important weapon and armor stat, followed by affinity and then class)
be sure to learn all chain attacks on the first dummy by chaining gain life and gain magic
the game becomes a cakewalk once you get the fusion spells and hrrakles and prostasia
oh and make sure you use the analyze spell once you get it
that's all for now, have to go out now
good luck OP
>>316458667
oh, and always equip a shield
fuck 2handed weapons
>So far from my experiments it seems that two weapons of the same type, but made of different materials, produce the best results.
That's mostly the answer.
I think it goes something like bronze + iron, then that iron + iron to make hagane. Damacine isn't going to be forgable in the first playthrough.
Also, all weapon types have a linear sequence of weapons. Sparta is the shittiest sword, then scimitar, then rapier, then short sword, etc. You'll always want to upgrade whenever you can.
I'd like to suggest experimenting some more, but some of the more advantageous mixes are so arbitrary that you're probably better off looking up a chart on gamefaqs.
>>316458768
I've seen that one mentioned often.
>>316458667
Thanks. Although I think I'll skip the dummy grinding part. Don't like doing that in games.
>>316458809
>Sparta is the shittiest sword, then scimitar, then rapier, then short sword, etc
Isn't rapier piercing? How does it compare to slash weapons like scimitar?
I think some enemies are extremely resistant to one type of damage and vulnerable to the other. Like zombies seem to shrug off blunt attacks, and skeletons don't care much about slash attacks.
Is Affinity more important than the Type of damage? I've heard Class is pretty useless.
>>316459047
Yeah, but rapier is a bit of an oddball because most one-handed swords are edged. For the most part, if you want a piercing weapon you should use a spear. It's useful to have at least one favoured weapon for each damage type and swap gems in and out whenever you want to fight a specific enemy type. You can also use gems and spell buffs for elemental affinity, and with some enemies you'll probably always have to do that. Phantoms being the worst.
>>316459452
>Phantoms being the worst.
Yeah, even the regular ones are a pain.
Oh, yeah, what about Swords vs one hand Axes? Both have Slash damage Type. And I think the same reach.
>>316459452
>if you want a piercing weapon you should use a spear.
Or a dagger if you'd prefer something one-handed. Spears are the most commonly piercing type, but I think quite a few daggers are too.
>>316459553
Whichever you prefer, to be honest. I mostly used swords because it's suprisingly easy to get good hagane ones early on when you know how and when to combine them, but axes should be just finet too.
>>316459553
Axes and maces share the break arts so there's that.
>>316459047
Type followed by affinity and class is the cousin you never want to talk to at family reunions.
>>316459783
>>316459716
Hm, okay. Would you say the game would be more enjoyable to play completely blind or with a weapon combine cheat sheet at hand?
>>316459942
While there's certainly plenty of stuff the game doesn't tell you, it's fine to play blind.
And as stated on previous posts, keep a weapon of each type, you'll soon get enough gems&spells to change affinity to whatever your target is weak to.
>>316459942
I enjoyed it without a cheat sheet years ago, but then I also got super fucking tired of fighting bosses for ages due to doing almost no damage because my weapons were shit. Keep running blind if you like it that way, but I really won't blame you if you get fed up and go for the combine chart.
Just keep in mind that even with super forged weapons, some bosses are almost fucking impossible to damage properly.Seriously, fuck that Wyvern.
>>316460163
>>316460217
I'm not really worried about problems with class or affinity on my weapons.
But the comment about sort of linear progression of weapons of the same type threw me off. I actually didn't even think Rapier was the same class as Scimitar. I was going to just combine two Scimitars and two Rapiers separately, only upgrading the material they're made of.
But apparently that's not exactly the best way to upgrade my weapons. On the contrary, it'd just leave me with starting weapon models in the end, just of higher grade metal.
Also, it might just be me, but I found Warlock spells to be mostly useless, outside of very specific bosses. The damage they do is so little compared to the MP cost, assuming they even hit in the first place.
Casting Healing spells to damage Undead is pretty effective though.
>>316460386
I suppose the best thing to do is keep track of the core damage stat (bottom right corner of the weapon stat screen, top of the list, I think). You should be able to spot the difference pretty quickly, bronze scimitar has about 7-10 damage stat and an iron or hagane shortsword is about 15-20 or something.
But if you're worried about making bad forges and losing potentially good ones (which is entirely justified, honeslty), then have a glance at the forge chart and you'll probably see a common trend of sorts.
>>316460470
Had the same thoughts, think the damage spells are really gear dependent and as such not worth it until NG+.
>>316460636
There's just a small problem in the fact that weapons of higher grade materials inherently do more damage than those of low grade.
Just yesterday I combined my trusty iron scimitar into a hagane spatha (which is apparently the shittiest sword around). Although, it still does more damage.
>>316460767
Well yeah. I think it's something like +1 base damage for bronze (considering there's nothing below bronze I don't know how that works, but there you go), +3 for iron and +5 for hagane. Silver is like +4 plus some other specific advantages I can't remember. It's good against undead and/or phantoms or something. It's also used for Damascus forging, but again you can't do that until NG+.
But considering that a base spartha is about 5 damage and a base short sword is about 12... well, you'll probaby see the difference in performance anyway. I think a bunch of enemies start dropping iron short swords and other reasonable weapons some time after you get to the first mine, but the knight and undead enemies are a good source for weapon drops. If you've got the patience for it anyway.
>>316460470
warlock IS useless, high mp cost, need a staff, and shit AoE for a lot of them
all the other magic schools are great though
>>316461316
>Silver is like +4 plus some other specific advantages I can't remember. It's good against undead and/or phantoms or something.
Yeah, I've picked up a silver dagger in some chest. Lots of light damage and great vs undead.
>a bunch of enemies start dropping iron short swords and other reasonable weapons
Speaking of which. Are those drops actually random? I.e. do I have an infinite supply of spare weapons for combining in theory.
I thought those might be a guaranteed drop the first time you clear that specific room or something.
>>316461415
drops are infinte and random
i have no idea if hitting a specific area has an effect on what you get (i.e. hitting the right arm for the weapon drop)
>>316458083
having a Blunt, Piercing and Edged weapon can make the game a lot more palatable and helps you deal more than one damage on bosses.
Analyze everything, then change your weapon, change it's gems etc. So that it exploits each enemy's weakness.
This game is about 50% menu work.
>mfw the last boss
Fucking PTSD shit right there
>>316461532
>This game is about 50% menu work.
I don't mind that. The more or less slow paced combat is even better for me, since I'm playing this on PSP.
>>316461583
matsuno has a thing about putting circles for his final bosses
i mean, vayne from ffxii is a guildenstern rip off
not OP but I have a question
Do break arts override your weapon's type and affinity?
>>316461764
I'm OP, and even I can answer this one, since the game literally tells you that on the break art selection screen.
It overrides the Type but keeps the Class and Affinity of the weapon used.
>>316461764
Well, what does the break art say?
Some do, some don't.
Oh, and another question.
Would using the same weapon on every enemy I come across result in a super weapon, effective against every enemy type, or a real shitty weapon with negative class and affinity across the board?
>>316461764
>>316461764
Yes, the attack will only do the type/element/whatever that the Break Art says it will do.
>>316461914
It's more or less the latter since raising one stat decreases another.
>>316461914
It'd be really unbalanced, but probably wouldn't be shit against everything.
You can complete the game with just one weapon, however, you'll be dealing negligible damage and it will take forever.
>>316461583
>Special Attack: Bloody Sin
Vagrant Story is such a great game
>>316458083
I know a lot of /v/ hates GameFAQs, but the Combat Mechanics FAQ contains pretty much everything you might want to know about the combat mechanics of the game and Beamup still updates it, even after all these years. Definitely worth a look, it that's your sort of thing.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/914326-vagrant-story/faqs/56772
>>316461827
>>316461835
>>316461918
Thanks, I remember playing through VS over 20 times as a kid but I don't remember using BAs much even though I had them all and they looked cool
The best ones were swallow slash, accursed umbra and DRAGON FANG (seriously OP, get that one, it's for daggers)
>>316462145
oooh, and Riskbreak for staves is a must
>>316462020
it can be cancelled fortunately
Vagrant Story desperately needed a sequel which could fix a number of problems of the original game like useless attack spells (you can only make them good on ng+++), no difficulty scaling in ng+, very slow casting animations taking too much time and a way to quickly swap the weapon setups.
>>316462145
I usually just forget about Break Arts. How do I unlock them exactly?
>>316462303
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOLwWSMenmY
but it did get a sequel, anon
why does the MC on the cover art have such fucking stupid hair
who looked at this and went "yes. this is fine."
>>316462310
kill stuff with the appropriate weapon
that's it
>Sydney's entire life
how much suffering can one man endure
>>316462438
is the duke the only objectively irredeemable character in the game?
>>316462553
Politicians in general are the largest assholes in VS. Ashley was almost mindbroken in the beginning of the game, hypnotized to the level of obedient puppet.
>>316458083
I would suggest picking three weapons, 3 you can effectively combo with. I cannot remember what pairs with what but certain strengths like human works with beast and shit like that, while it decreases strengths in other fields..
Risk unfortunately is a dead mechanic, what I used to do is simply build my chains up to cause damage, its slow, but its very safe, as long as you get your hit in before a lot of the bosses can attack, you can easily chain with a weapon you are familiar with, install some healing arts and you cannot be killed.
Vagrant story to this day is my GOAT, it has a hell of a lot of weaknesses, and runs like shit if you got it on PSN, but I'll always hope for a hd remake (and maybe a RISK overhaul).
>>316462961
without the risk mechanic the game would've been a cakewalk though
you just need to do 8 chains and then stop
the biggest challenge is keeping track of all the weapon stats ( class, affinity, type, DP, PP, gems, material) so you don't end up doing zero damage
>Merlose is just an observer and plays a very little role in the game
Fuck this.
I wanted her to be the second playable character, that ass is too godly.
>>316463285
Vagrant Story sfm porn when
>>316463285
it wouldn't be realistic for an inquistor with no training to start kicking monster ass
Although playing as someone who can't use chain abilities (those are canonically specific to Ashley, right?) could be a nice hard mode
btw, why did none of the generic crimson blades use break arts?
>>316463636
>btw, why did none of the generic crimson blades use break arts?
Probably because they are a sign of a true weapon masters like Ashley or Tieger and Neesa. Generic knights are barely able to use magic, not to mention something more advanced.
I like vagrant story just for the fact that it showed how great of a company Squaresoft was at one time.
This was a hardcore RPG for enthusiasts. This was not some one-size-fits-all, lowest common denominator bullshit game.
That attitude is completely lost in modern AAA gaming.
>>316464420
is there a modern equivalent to vagrant story? I don't feel like replaying it
>>316465178
Not really. It was unique both gameplay and story-wise.
Your best bet is DeS/DS1 probably.
>>316465178
in terms of challenge? most likely
in terms of gameplay? none
>>316465336
challenge
>>316465282
Dark souls had the place feel, I cannot think of a game where I was literally in just one big city, and every area felt different but connected like DS did in comparison to Vagrant story. In terms of gameplay, not sure, I cant put my finger on why but I played Last remnant not too long around and I got some serious Vagrant feels, perhaps because it doesn't spoon feed you? Not sure. Literally the only mechanic that comes close would be V.A.T.S system.
That Vagrant Story soundtrack tho'
>>316465596
>That Vagrant Story soundtrack tho'
Speaking of which, if you want a game with the same feel as VS, play in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, it's pretty close even in terms of atmosphere and has the same person working on ost.
>>316461914
If it's the same weapon and you never upgrade it, it won't be much good because it'll have much lower stats than weapons you'll find later and won't do much damage against later enemies.
It'd be a superweapon if you consistently upgraded it. You'll keep most of the enemy boosts and it's base damage will go up for each upgrade. This is basically what I did and my late game one-handed sword was pretty much unstoppable, even against enemies resistant to edged damage type.
>>316466849
I didn't mean the same weapon you start the game with, of course a weapon you'd upgrade ever so often. I just mean in terms of class/affinity changes.
>>316467163
Well yeah, pretty much. Once you've got your favourite weapon in hagane, you can just straight up improve it along the weapon line until you get the best one of it's class, constantly using it to level up it's monster affinities. I'm pretty certain once you've got two hagane weapons of the same type you can upgrade it to the hagane weapon of the next level, so you can just continually do that and end up with a god tier weapon. I didn't even have the Wakazashi or whatever the final one-handed sword is, but it was still near the end of the line (I think it was a Khopesh or something) and was so overloaded with enemy affinity that it was destroying most enemies even without buffs, even against the end-game bosses.
>>316467573
Hm, okay, I'll keep that in mind.
And I'll keep a few other weapons just in case.
>>316465178
Last Remnant, if you're looking for deep mechanics
>>316467659
I'd suggest doing the constant upgrade approach for one of each weapon type. One blunt, one pierce, one edged. That should keep you covered for the entire game.
>>316468487
>that English dub
I really wanted to get into that game, but my fucking god does it make my ears bleed.
