Persona 3: "Congratulations on surviving your illness."
Yeah, thanks, Aigis.
The September full moon battle has come and gone. It went thusly:
Battle: *Begins!*
Main Character: *critical hits Hermit for almost 1,000 HP damage*
Whole party: *All-Out Attack!*
Hermit: WTF 5001 HP damage??? *dies*
So yeah, that was quick. I wound up taking Akihiko (resists electricity), Shinjiro (because I want to get SOME use out of him), and Koromaru (cuteness factor). Not that it mattered.
Then there was plot, and rescuing Junpei, and several fruitless days of interrogating Chidori, and then more plot. (I should note that I didn't interrogate Chidori; that was Akihiko and Mitsuru's job, not that it helped, since she wouldn't talk to them.) And then a typhoon. No, really. Naturally, I got caught in it and spent three days in bed.
The first half of the fourth block of Tartarus opened sometime around 8 September; I spent some time levelling the rest of the party and then cleared out the rest of the half-block by myself. This took remarkably little time, because I am hugely overlevelled; even the Sleeping Table on floor 135 didn't do much to me, and that's one of the nastier bosses in P3 proper. Part of my problem is that I get so wrapped up in training my personae - "one more skill, c'mon" etc. - that I forget I'm levelling up along with them. That goes for my teammates, as well; if they're close to gaining a level and/or a new skill, I'll level-grind until they get it. And possibly the next, if it's close enough in level to the last. As a result, I hit level 76 on 13 September. That just ain't right.
However! I have some absolutely kick-ass personae. I fused a custom Moon Seth, complete with Ragnarok, Repel Dark (which he doesn't precisely need, as he's resistant to darkness/death attacks, but it comes in handy), Growth 3, Mind Charge (which drastically boosts the power of your next attack spell), and... Fist Master.
Well, they can't all be winners.
Because Seth is still weak to light - he'll eventually learn Repel Light, but not for a while yet, because I fused him without first starting the Moon S. Link and he got no experience bonuses - he pretty much needs Growth 3. Once he gets Repel Light, I'll feel much more comfortable using him in battle, but a persona with a weakness to light or darkness spells is something of a liability, especially since those are the instant death spells and if the main character gets hit with one of those, it's Game Over.
I've also got Justice Melchidezek. Mine is a custom fusion, and even has a Heart Item. (Said Heart Item confers immunity to light attacks, which is absolutely vital for Koromaru.) Unfortunately, I neglected to get Growth 3 on him, so I've had to raise him up the old-fashioned way, which is something of a chore considering he has three levels between his next-to-last skill and his last one, with close to 40,000 experience points needed per level. And that's WITH the experience bonus you get from a maxed-out S. Link. So it's taking a while. He's also been slightly nerfed, and now specializes entirely in physical skills. Unfortunately, he seems to have lost Weary Thrust, which would have come in handy for soloing, so he's of limited use on top of that.
I also had Temperance Yurlungur, but wound up using him in a fusion tonight. I probably should re-fuse him, anyway, as he's weak to electricity AND death, and I neglected to get resistances to either on him. Either that or I'll buy him back once Melchizedek is done.
Odin has some good skills (Thunder Reign!) but at this point is largely in my active list for the S. Link bonuses. And because he's decent fusion fodder. Raphael is also S. Link bonus/fusion fodder, as is Surt (and I'll be finishing his S. Link very soon). I also fused Thor tonight, but he's...well, Thor, and is thus contractually obligated to suck. (This seems to be a constant in every SMT game I've played.) On the plus side, the Thor I fused has a Heart Item that will nullify Aigis and Yukari's lightning weakness, so he's not completely useless. Also, I'm very close to maxing out that S. Link, so he shouldn't be in my party too long.
Better still, I gained access to the remaining fusion types (Cross, Pentagon, and Hexagon) while I was in typhoon-induced la-la-land. As a result, I now have Daisoujou! And even better, I maxed out the Hierophant S. Link today, too, so I got the maximum experience bonus when I fused him! So now he only needs to learn one skill, Hama Boost, which will make him that much nastier. Daisoujou is awesome.
Daisoujou was also one of Elizabeth's fusion requests. The next was Alice with Megido, which would have been a lot easier if I hadn't insisted on getting Null Light on her as well. Alice, like Daisoujou, is a special fusion - Cross, in her case, to Daisoujou's Pentagon - and most of the personae you use to create her, well, suck. I managed to get Null Light on a Lilim and Megido on a Nata Taishi, but it took forever to get her to inherit both of them. The next fusion request is Lilith with Mabufudyne, which I don't even want to think about right now, even though she'd be useful, and easier to level due to my having finished the Devil S. Link quite some time ago.
I also fused Abaddon again, complete with his heart item, but then I had to use him in another fusion. I'll have to buy him back later, because he has a really good heart item.
Okay, enough gushing about fusions.
Party-wise, I've largely been concentrating on levelling up Shinjiro, for some ungodly reason. I've managed to get him up to level 53, but he doesn't get another skill until level 55. I'm really not sure why I'm bothering, given how brief his stay in the party is; I really think he's best used in a New Game Plus, when you've got access to Monad and he can gain levels hand over fist in there even before the September full moon battle. Meanwhile, Ken, Akihiko, and Yukari have all learned all of their pre-upgrade skills, while Mitsuru, Junpei, and Aigis need two more each. Koromaru has four or five more to learn, but as his persona doesn't get an upgrade, I'm not in as much of a hurry.
Oh, and I unlocked a new movie in the control room on the fourth floor of the dorm. September's movie features Shinjiro and Koromaru, and a cooking show. It's kind of cute.
Next up: MOAR LEVELLING. Also: catching a movie with Shinjiro. After that: buckets and buckets of angst.
The September full moon battle has come and gone. It went thusly:
Battle: *Begins!*
Main Character: *critical hits Hermit for almost 1,000 HP damage*
Whole party: *All-Out Attack!*
Hermit: WTF 5001 HP damage??? *dies*
So yeah, that was quick. I wound up taking Akihiko (resists electricity), Shinjiro (because I want to get SOME use out of him), and Koromaru (cuteness factor). Not that it mattered.
Then there was plot, and rescuing Junpei, and several fruitless days of interrogating Chidori, and then more plot. (I should note that I didn't interrogate Chidori; that was Akihiko and Mitsuru's job, not that it helped, since she wouldn't talk to them.) And then a typhoon. No, really. Naturally, I got caught in it and spent three days in bed.
The first half of the fourth block of Tartarus opened sometime around 8 September; I spent some time levelling the rest of the party and then cleared out the rest of the half-block by myself. This took remarkably little time, because I am hugely overlevelled; even the Sleeping Table on floor 135 didn't do much to me, and that's one of the nastier bosses in P3 proper. Part of my problem is that I get so wrapped up in training my personae - "one more skill, c'mon" etc. - that I forget I'm levelling up along with them. That goes for my teammates, as well; if they're close to gaining a level and/or a new skill, I'll level-grind until they get it. And possibly the next, if it's close enough in level to the last. As a result, I hit level 76 on 13 September. That just ain't right.
However! I have some absolutely kick-ass personae. I fused a custom Moon Seth, complete with Ragnarok, Repel Dark (which he doesn't precisely need, as he's resistant to darkness/death attacks, but it comes in handy), Growth 3, Mind Charge (which drastically boosts the power of your next attack spell), and... Fist Master.
Well, they can't all be winners.
Because Seth is still weak to light - he'll eventually learn Repel Light, but not for a while yet, because I fused him without first starting the Moon S. Link and he got no experience bonuses - he pretty much needs Growth 3. Once he gets Repel Light, I'll feel much more comfortable using him in battle, but a persona with a weakness to light or darkness spells is something of a liability, especially since those are the instant death spells and if the main character gets hit with one of those, it's Game Over.
I've also got Justice Melchidezek. Mine is a custom fusion, and even has a Heart Item. (Said Heart Item confers immunity to light attacks, which is absolutely vital for Koromaru.) Unfortunately, I neglected to get Growth 3 on him, so I've had to raise him up the old-fashioned way, which is something of a chore considering he has three levels between his next-to-last skill and his last one, with close to 40,000 experience points needed per level. And that's WITH the experience bonus you get from a maxed-out S. Link. So it's taking a while. He's also been slightly nerfed, and now specializes entirely in physical skills. Unfortunately, he seems to have lost Weary Thrust, which would have come in handy for soloing, so he's of limited use on top of that.
I also had Temperance Yurlungur, but wound up using him in a fusion tonight. I probably should re-fuse him, anyway, as he's weak to electricity AND death, and I neglected to get resistances to either on him. Either that or I'll buy him back once Melchizedek is done.
Odin has some good skills (Thunder Reign!) but at this point is largely in my active list for the S. Link bonuses. And because he's decent fusion fodder. Raphael is also S. Link bonus/fusion fodder, as is Surt (and I'll be finishing his S. Link very soon). I also fused Thor tonight, but he's...well, Thor, and is thus contractually obligated to suck. (This seems to be a constant in every SMT game I've played.) On the plus side, the Thor I fused has a Heart Item that will nullify Aigis and Yukari's lightning weakness, so he's not completely useless. Also, I'm very close to maxing out that S. Link, so he shouldn't be in my party too long.
Better still, I gained access to the remaining fusion types (Cross, Pentagon, and Hexagon) while I was in typhoon-induced la-la-land. As a result, I now have Daisoujou! And even better, I maxed out the Hierophant S. Link today, too, so I got the maximum experience bonus when I fused him! So now he only needs to learn one skill, Hama Boost, which will make him that much nastier. Daisoujou is awesome.
Daisoujou was also one of Elizabeth's fusion requests. The next was Alice with Megido, which would have been a lot easier if I hadn't insisted on getting Null Light on her as well. Alice, like Daisoujou, is a special fusion - Cross, in her case, to Daisoujou's Pentagon - and most of the personae you use to create her, well, suck. I managed to get Null Light on a Lilim and Megido on a Nata Taishi, but it took forever to get her to inherit both of them. The next fusion request is Lilith with Mabufudyne, which I don't even want to think about right now, even though she'd be useful, and easier to level due to my having finished the Devil S. Link quite some time ago.
I also fused Abaddon again, complete with his heart item, but then I had to use him in another fusion. I'll have to buy him back later, because he has a really good heart item.
Okay, enough gushing about fusions.
Party-wise, I've largely been concentrating on levelling up Shinjiro, for some ungodly reason. I've managed to get him up to level 53, but he doesn't get another skill until level 55. I'm really not sure why I'm bothering, given how brief his stay in the party is; I really think he's best used in a New Game Plus, when you've got access to Monad and he can gain levels hand over fist in there even before the September full moon battle. Meanwhile, Ken, Akihiko, and Yukari have all learned all of their pre-upgrade skills, while Mitsuru, Junpei, and Aigis need two more each. Koromaru has four or five more to learn, but as his persona doesn't get an upgrade, I'm not in as much of a hurry.
Oh, and I unlocked a new movie in the control room on the fourth floor of the dorm. September's movie features Shinjiro and Koromaru, and a cooking show. It's kind of cute.
Next up: MOAR LEVELLING. Also: catching a movie with Shinjiro. After that: buckets and buckets of angst.