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How feasible is a OneManArmy challenge in Disgaea 1?

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GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#1: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:18:11 PM

I've just ordered a used copy of Disgaea 1. Unfortunately I have a bit of a penchant for the One-Man Army challenge. How feasible is it in this game? Can you even form a party of one man/unit?

Any other notable One-Man Army challenges anyone has pulled off or thinks would be interesting in other games? Currently attempting a One Character Run (Rush) in The Last Remnant.

edited 19th Apr '10 1:19:29 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Kayeka from Amsterdam Since: Dec, 2009
#2: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:22:00 PM

All I can say is that you can deploy only one unit on the field, if you would choose to do so.

Miijhal Since: Jul, 2011
#3: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:23:45 PM

Hmm. You might need two or more for a handful of missions (I can't recall whether Disgaea 1 had any missions that required you to throw a character), but it's otherwise quite feasible. You can beat Baal with a single character if you're dedicated enough.

Hylarn (Don’t ask) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#4: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:23:48 PM

Hm, depends on how you define it. You'll probably need extra characters for some of the puzzles, but one character can handle most of the combat if you grind a bit.

arimnaes Falls Up Since: Apr, 2009
Falls Up
#5: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:26:04 PM

It's well-allowed within the game mechanics - you simply have access to all the characters in your "party" each mission, and you can deploy as many (up to 10) or as few as you want. You don't even have to deploy them all from the beginning.

As to whether it's feasible... yeah, probably. Although you'd have to give them a ranged weapon or spells in order to complete a number of stages, and you might still have to occasionally use a second character for maps that require throwing. Your best bet would be to play through the first few stages normally and then lose to the first boss, earning you a Nonstandard Game Over that nevertheless counts as "completing" the game. Then you can start a New Game Plus in which you can immediately recruit the hideously powerful Secret Character and try to solo the game with her. You'd probably still find the early game pretty difficult, though, since it takes a while before you unlock stages that are good for Level Grinding.

Just as a side note, said hideously powerful Secret Character only exists in the DS version, if I'm not mistaken.

edited 19th Apr '10 1:27:17 PM by arimnaes

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#6: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:31:03 PM

^Sounds like a good strategy. Plus I get to see the Nonstandard Game Over.

edited 19th Apr '10 1:31:26 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Miijhal Since: Jul, 2011
#7: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:46:04 PM

Oh, that reminds me. You will need two characters for effective level grinding, but one of them can be level 1 and never attack. You just need them to prevent the enemies from being able to move.

Medinoc Chaotic Greedy from France Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Chaotic Greedy
#8: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:52:21 PM

Also, it's hard to use the Extra Gain with only one character. If you can't heal yourself, expect a looooong game. Also, remember that some maps have "ally damage 20%" geo panels, and destroying the commanding symbols in the first turn(s) usually requires a good amount of Fastball Special...

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#9: Apr 19th 2010 at 1:53:00 PM

Awesome. Thanks for the tips. I'm sure I'll see why I need the second character when I play.

No Anti-Grinding I hope. Its currently a race between how fast I can get equipment and how fast the enemies catch up with my current level in The Last Remnant.

EDIT: ^(Gulp) then I'll just have to make up for the lack of team-strategies with sheer raw power. (and I'll have to balance it up as well... this is getting complicated real quick.)

Which character is best for this kind of thing?

edited 19th Apr '10 1:54:48 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Comonad This bacon is awesome from 19th Jan '38 3:14:07 AM Since: Jan, 2001
This bacon is awesome
#10: Apr 19th 2010 at 2:03:39 PM

There is nothing even close to Anti-Grinding in Disgaea, don't worry.

As for your character choice, Laharl's probably your best bet. Unique characters have higher affinities than generics until very late in the game, and if you're planning to go into the post-game you'll need a sword or axe user. Also, he gets good unique abilities, and as a sword-user you'll get a great weapon for the last chapter or two.

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.
stevebat Since: Nov, 2009
#11: Apr 19th 2010 at 3:42:49 PM

Majins can be very useful for One Man armies too bad their requirements are insane

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.
slowzombie Platypus! from Way up North Since: Jan, 2001
Platypus!
#12: Apr 19th 2010 at 3:46:00 PM

Yeah, a Diving Majin could make an one-man challenge fairly easy, but that's pretty much exclusively new game + (and not nonstandard game over new game + either)

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Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#13: Apr 19th 2010 at 4:30:01 PM

Back when this game first came out, One-Man Army was the recommended strategy for newbies. If anything, I wish there was more support for leveling a balanced party, because that's quite a bit more of a challenge.

Ramus Lead. from some computer somwhere. Since: Aug, 2009
Lead.
#14: Apr 19th 2010 at 5:02:22 PM

Depends...

Warriors are good early game as they have the beefiness to take on plenty of foes. You'll need to start bringing along several healing items though.

Mages are tough early game until you reincarnate them enough times to get all elements available and then you'll be rocking. Especially in the ice area where all enemies are weak to fire (well, almost all), you can do some easy leveling there.

Plenaire, super secret character, game breaker. Also very easy to get if you know how to. (Of course, if you're not playing the DS version, she's not available).

Also, whenever I reply the game, I like to use a group of five. It's challenging since you don't get the full ten but also not necessarily easy since not all experience is being put into a single character. That being said, Etna, Male Warrior, Female Warrior, Ninja, and Samurai. Etna Mode.

edited 19th Apr '10 5:04:27 PM by Ramus

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Miijhal Since: Jul, 2011
#15: Apr 19th 2010 at 5:47:04 PM

@Game: Not only is there no anti-grinding, it actively encourages it.

And the reason you'll need that second character is because two maps are covered in 'invincibility' geopanels, with only a handful of panels that they don't cover. These are the best maps for grinding, because you can toss all the monsters in one space not covered by it to create one extremely high leveled monster that you can smack away at with impunity. These maps are useful into the first few 100 levels.

Cidolfas El Cid from Toronto Since: Jan, 2001
El Cid
#16: Apr 20th 2010 at 7:00:38 AM

My experience is the smaller your party, the easier it is to level. If your characters don't beat enemies, they don't get EXP, so divvying up all the EXP among 10 characters will take you forever to get anywhere.

Of course, I also got sick of the gameplay almost immediately, so downloaded a Level 9999 Laharl gamesave to get through the game's awesome story. Unfortunately that didn't help me with Etna Mode...

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
Miijhal Since: Jul, 2011
#18: Apr 20th 2010 at 4:37:40 PM

I'd generally recommend playing as a mage or a female fighter, then later changing to a knight, and late in the game, leveling up some characters just enough to unlock Angels, and then again later on enough to unlock Majin.

edited 20th Apr '10 4:38:30 PM by Miijhal

Comonad This bacon is awesome from 19th Jan '38 3:14:07 AM Since: Jan, 2001
This bacon is awesome
#19: Apr 20th 2010 at 5:09:11 PM

If you reincarnate, though, you'll have to level all the way back up on your own.

Torment liveblog is still hiatusing. You can vandalize my contributor page if you want something to do.
Miijhal Since: Jul, 2011
#20: Apr 20th 2010 at 5:11:21 PM

You'll also be much more powerful, though, and by then, you'll likely have all the stages you need for easy grinding.

edited 20th Apr '10 5:11:33 PM by Miijhal

Medinoc Chaotic Greedy from France Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Chaotic Greedy
#21: Apr 23rd 2010 at 12:30:53 AM

Another thing that will make you suffer: The first stage of the Gargantua Deck. A non-magician character will have a very hard time taking out the guns, and without the lift&throw mechanic it's impossible to make a rush for the exit without spending at least one turn out of cover.

I know my strategy to destroy all guns (including the big ones, because they're worth a lot of EXP when you're around level 40) hinges on magic and teamwork:

  • 5x Magic Boost to double the main caster's INT (2x are enough on subsequent turns to keep it doubled)
  • Magic on the small guns
  • Hit&Run magic attacks on the big guns, using the lift&throw mechanic.

By the way, it's funny to see a big gun caught in a Brawler's "King of beasts" combo...

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
stevebat Since: Nov, 2009
#22: Apr 23rd 2010 at 7:00:59 AM

Uh is destroying the guns really worth it? I usually run by them.

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.
Medinoc Chaotic Greedy from France Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Chaotic Greedy
#23: Apr 23rd 2010 at 7:26:18 AM

Well, it's usually worth the EXP it gives you: I managed to put my barehanded L.38 rogue (ex-brawler) in front of an almost dead L.100 big gun, and he gained ten levels at once.

And you can do it several times, as long as you don't complete the chapter (and maybe the next one too). It's a major leveling up place, for your magic users at least.

Also, it's impossible to sneak by them alone: If you don't carefully apply the Fastball Special, someone is going to be shot at by a pair of level 100 guns.

edited 23rd Apr '10 7:26:31 AM by Medinoc

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
TheAdversary Since: Jan, 2001
#24: Apr 23rd 2010 at 8:38:37 AM

About the anti-grinding thing:

I didn't even read the rest of the posts, but let's just say that Disgaea always gave me the impression of being the ultimate game for people who like grinding. You can grind stats, levels, weapons, skills, classes, anything. And the game has many things to ease them all four you without it stopping being... well, the grindy-est game ever.

That said: if you manage to do a good strategy for grinding, you can and will beat the game with only one guy. You are bound to if the most powerful storyline boss is level 90 and you can grind into the thousands. The bonus bosses are also in the thousands but you can still manage them if you lear the finer mechanics of the game.

And why yes, you can change your class mid-way through, although you may lose some skills. The only way of not losing that many skills is grinding mana and even then you will go back to level 1 so you'll have to grind your levels back. See the pattern?

edited 23rd Apr '10 8:41:43 AM by TheAdversary

stevebat Since: Nov, 2009
#25: Apr 23rd 2010 at 8:44:37 AM

I am working on a divine majin with max attack that is leveling to level 1000ish restarting at level one and grinding back up. eventually the stored level count will max out at 105000(ish) which at that point I level up to 9999. Reincarnate AGAIN! then level up to level 9999 for max stats. oh and Cave of ordeals 3 is permantly ingrained in my mind

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.

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