I know. Works even better with Natalia on the field with a Sunlight Chamber on Piercing Line, allowing two Fo F artes to be used at the same time, and allowing her to blast away at people from a distance to keep them stunlocked when she isn't taking advantage of the Fo F's.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!Most definitely. It creates an Fo F, can Fo F change, and deals about the same damage without pushing the enemy farther away from you.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!I might have phrased that incorrectly before. What I meant was that, if I'm remembering right, Severing Wind has less knock back than Soaring Light Spear, although it still does have some knock back. I'd say once you get either Final Cross, or a Sunlight Chamber'd Void Tempest, use those to enter Razing Phoenix, since they have very little knock back, and both enter Razing Phoenix well.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!Okay, two things:
1: There is way too much Lost Forever in this game. I can't get the sword for Guy's second Mystic Arte, or the last Arte that I need to grind for Tear's anymore.
2: The Jewel of Lorelei is disgustingly overpowered. It heals Luke so fast that he's never in danger of dying, unless he gets hit full-force by a Mystic Arte.
I have a message from another time...Wait, the Jewel of Lorelei can be equipped? Never knew that. Awesome. As for the Lost Forever, I agree, and it's really bad because you miss out on a lot of really helpful things, such as Guy's sword and Tears Judgment spell, as you mentioned.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!Yeah, it can be equipped in the Accessory slot (don't be fooled when Anise says that it seems to be a Capacity Core).
It repeatedly (and quickly) refills Luke's HP and TP whenever they're not at full. Just having it equipped can make Luke damn near invincible unless he takes a Mystic Arte full on, since a few seconds of freerunning away will pretty much patch him up nicely, and I never need to worry about overuse of my Artes. I haven't been using it for boss battles because it feels too strong. Though, I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up losing it when I get the Key of Lorelei. But them's the breaks.
I have a message from another time...Abyss really raises some questions, doesn't it? The mark of a good game.. makes you think, and might even make friends disagree.
Working my way through Graces now. I love the CC battle system, although the story's isn't blowing my mind so far (right now, we're going to fight Lambda for round two).
Question! Tales of Graces art style or Tales of Vesperia art style?
Personally, Vesperia's art style was just a treat to look at. Simple and cell-shaded, yes, but that was its beauty. And they had some wonderful atmospheric effects, too. Grace's, soft-shaded and somewhat shinier, just kind looks blotchy and sloppy. Plus, I really really like Vesperia's face design and expressions.
edited 13th May '12 3:38:49 PM by jec
I prefer Vesperia's art style, compared to what I've seen of Graces.
![]()
Huh, well that is awesome. As for the Key of Lorelei, yes you do lose it once that forms. I just thought the jewel was simply a key item, not an accessory. Likely makes going through the Coliseum incredibly easy. Are you sure only Luke can wear it, because while it's unlikely, if everyone in the party can wear it, it'd be hilariously broken for the coliseum battles and getting those super awesome weapons.
On the subject of art style and character design, am I the only one who thought Legendia's was really, really weird? I mean, Senel's tattered clothes and iron cuffs pretty much scream "escaped prisoner", but he's actually a career soldier. And it's not simply a case of being captured and then escaping, since he's wearing it while on duty at the start...
And while I like Luke's design, it always had a similar problem with me. It just doesn't really say "spoiled aristocrat"; I honestly thought until I actually started that he was some sort of traveling swordsman type.
I can't stand any of Legendia's character designs. Senel is just painful to look at, and even the fmc bugged me. I mean, her BANGS. Her BANGS. They come like, 4 inches off her forehead! Clohe's was okay, though, and Jay's and Grune's weren't too bad either.
You make a good point about Luke. The only thing really aristocratic about him was his long hair, and well...
Graces-wise, the general proportions kinda bug me, but the designs are solid. However.. My sister pointed out Hubert kinda looks like a stripper, because he has those high heels and a skirt-like coat that flares out at his waist. And I cannot unsee...
Symphonia and Phantasia were good.
Vesperia was pretty good, but I liked Judith a lot more before she became Miss Fanservice. Also, Estelle's nipple-dress? Just, why?
Wait, Exhibition Match as in Cameo Team in the Team Coliseum? Damn. Those guys are insanely strong. Must be as powerful as you say, if it makes Luke Nigh-Invulnerable.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!Yeah. I'm pretty sure most everyone died a lot, but Luke stayed alive for very long, and I managed to come out on top. My strategy was Mint first, then the spellcaster, then the bow-woman, then the sword-guy.
Once I beat the game, I think I'll go back, without The Jewel of Lorelei, and see if I can actually beat them.
Strangely enough, none of them used their Mystic Artes during my battle. I got time-stopped once, but Mint was down at that point. I think they used an item.
Amusingly, there is apparently an accessory that works in a similar fashion for Anise, if you do the Ant Lion Man sidequest. The Jewel of Lorelei is a massive game breaker, but thankfully you only have it for a very small number of dungeons. Unless I'm mistaken, though, the Ant Lion Doll is yours to keep forever.
I have a message from another time...What difficulty are you playing on? They're usually a bit more trigger-happy on Unknown mode, and Reid will use Burning Phoenix every single time someone is in range of it after using Rising Phoenix.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!It was Normal mode. Hard is too hard, but I think that even on Normal Mode, it was too easy to do it.
By the way, I've got three of the Component Weapons for the Planetary Fonic Arte. However, at this point, the trail on any further weapons has run cold. Are there clues that I missed?
Also, how do I re-read the Ancient Scroll that is part of Jade's sidequest for new Artes? I completely forget the poem.
edited 13th May '12 5:25:45 PM by Enlong
I have a message from another time...One fun thing about Unknown mode is that, y'know the Liger Queen? The easy first boss of the game, where you thrash her, and then Jade comes in and makes it even easier? Well up until Jade shows up, the fight will be Luke dealing 1 damage and Tear will be dealing in the hundreds if I remember correctly. You need to get her down to half health, and she has five digit health. Took me and a friend 3 hours to do on our first Unknown mode run. Then we used the World Map glitch to buy super strong weapons to let us thrash early game bosses if they were going to become slog fests like that.
For the Catalyst weapon quest, I'd honestly just suggest going to Gamefaqs for it, since it gets really complex, and the last weapon is found in an obnoxious manner in the final dungeon.
edited 13th May '12 5:32:26 PM by Alfric
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13239183440B34964700 Alfric's Fire Emblem Liveblog Encyclopedia!Alright then. I found the first three (well, the second two) through in-game direction, so I was just hoping there was more.
Is there a way to go back to the poem for Jade's personal Arte sidequest?
Also, why exactly is Jade called the Necromancer? Is it because of his inventing Fomicry?
I have a message from another time...Actually, the long hair sword off added to that "traveling swordsman" look to me. Less like a mark of fashion and more like someone who just didn't care about cutting it. I actually like his design quite a bit, but it just sort of sends off the wrong vibe.
I actually am fond of Graces' designs, though.
![]()
![]()
Not really I think. He's called the Necromancer because He tried to bring his mentor back. He got her back, but as a crazed slaughter, and is the very tough Bonus Boss of this game. It was her death and failed resurrection that I believe is responsible for Jade's Heel–Face Turn (well, sorta)
I know. I know.
This game has a very powerful ending. You did fight the final boss with Luke and Tear in the party, right? They snag the mid-fight scenes and intro if they're in (rightfully so, it makes for one of the best endings to a final boss ever), if they aren't whoever's player 1 (and in control) gets a mini-scene to talk to the final boss.
I do believe Tales Of The Abyss is one of the greatest videogames I've ever played.
edited 13th May '12 9:17:14 PM by Nicktendonick
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.Of course I had them in the party. They had the strongest reasons to be in that fight, and they're my best team-mates anyway. I also used Guy for similar reasons, and Jade because I've never seen a reason not to use him at all times.
Also, darn it. I can only fight the exhibition match once.
Well, if I'm going to replay the game again to get all that Lost Forever stuff, then I guess I can also look forward to a victory untainted by totally broken accessories.
Re: Necromancer: Well, I was in the ballpark, anyway. It's still connected to his being the father of Fomicry.
edit: Man, the Singles Tournament is a real slog with Jade. You basically have to force your way through with Thunder Lance over and over again, because nothing gives you enough time to even cast Energy Blast. And one of the things basically requires you to Mystic Cage as fast as possible.
edited 13th May '12 10:09:26 PM by Enlong
I have a message from another time...

What makes Guy so ridiculous is that once you get the skill that lets you do FoF changes with half fields, he can use Severing Wind once and immediately follow it up with Dragon Tempest off of the half wind field, then just repeat that over and over. It's amazing for keeping enemies stunlocked.