Shining Force - Retro Playthrough - May 2015

[singlebanana]

You are searching all of the chests as well right? There are some good items in those right from the beginning.

I don't think I've come across any yet.

Here's a pic of what they look like if this helps:
[img width=256 height=224]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/shiningforce/images/items/find_steel_arrow.gif[/img]

I just got back to the first town after going through the first 3 battles.  I haven't seen any chests yet.  I must look harder.

If you go to the main castle in the first town, you can seek out a room to the upper left before entering the castle. There are 6 chests in there with some very helpful items. The chests are great and I'd be sure to check out every area of every town before buying new weapons and items. You can save some coin this way.

[shaggy]

You are searching all of the chests as well right? There are some good items in those right from the beginning.

I don't think I've come across any yet.

Here's a pic of what they look like if this helps:
[img width=256 height=224]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/shiningforce/images/items/find_steel_arrow.gif[/img]

I just got back to the first town after going through the first 3 battles.  I haven't seen any chests yet.  I must look harder.

If you go to the main castle in the first town, you can seek out a room to the upper left before entering the castle. There are 6 chests in there with some very helpful items. The chests are great and I'd be sure to check out every area of every town before buying new weapons and items. You can save some coin this way.

I thought I went everywhere I was allowed to in the first town.  I'll have to look again.

[singlebanana]

Checkpoint #2 will be going up tomorrow. How is everyone doing so far in terms of progressing? If you have any issues, post them and we can help you through it.

[Disposed Hero]

All of my gaming stuff has been packed up for the past few days, but I just pulled my Genesis out last night to play a little Shining Force.  I just finished the first battle in Chapter 3.

I'm at the point now where I have about 4 or 5 more characters total than what I have room for in my active party, so it's getting tough trying to decide who to cut and who to keep.  I'm going to check out a character faq and see what the general opinion is on who the best characters are. 

Spoiler (hover to show)

I want to check with a character guide to make sure I'm not investing in characters that aren't very good later in the game, and not ignoring characters that haven't reached their potential yet.  For example, I'm pretty sure I've read before that Ken's usefulness starts to taper off at a certain point, and Arthur becomes one of the best Knights in the game, but right now Ken is a total badass and Arthur is weak and underleveled.

[singlebanana]

Yeah Steven, I just made it to the beginning of Chapter 6 last night and now have a ton of characters that I don't know whether to swap out or not. I'm not going to consult a guide regarding endgame characters and just kind of go with what works for me. I'm still finding Ken to be really helpful in terms of great damage and an okay tank (lots of HP). Lately, I've ditched my healers for healing items, which I find are sufficient for now and the higher octane offense prevents me from having to heal too much anyway.

I mentioned earlier that I had to do some grinding at the circus battle, but I can honestly say that I haven't had to do any more since then, which has been nice.

As far as defense and power potions go, I used those up when I got them, but didn't know that the Bread of Life, Legs of Haste, and Turbo Pepper (which I haven't found yet), are also one time use character upgrades. If you have saved these items and not used them, be sure to hold onto them for use until after you are promoted. I understand that once promoted, your stats reset and you basically lose the value of these upgrades.

I also want to mention something regarding a great weapon that all of you should pick up along the way during the second checkpoint. I am mentioning it now, since Steven seems to be getting close to this part and I don't want anyone to miss it.

Spoiler (hover to show)

In Chapter 4, during the battle with General Elliot, a weapon called the Heat Axe is suppose to drop off of a Lizardman. However, in my battle this did not happen. Just a guess, but I think that the toon who took out the Lizardman might have been carrying a full load; it might save you guys some money if you make sure each toon has an open slot before the Elliot battle. Immediately after the battle, I entered the town of Pao (the 2nd, moved version) and went to the weapon shop. I checked for "deals" with the merchant and low and behold, there was the Heat Axe for I believe around $6800(?). It sucks that I had to pay for it, but it was well worth it because it is a great weapon for Luke or Gort (does about 20 damage a turn when it hits). It's nice to know that the game allows you to still grab an item that may have been missed due to an unforeseen circumstance. This is the first time I have found a "deal" in this game, but I have been checking in every town and will continue to do so.

 

By the way, this game is f@$king fantastic! I love the diversity of the characters and the strategies, and find myself craving it when I have to put it down for a day or two. 

[Disposed Hero]

Yeah Steven, I just made it to the beginning of Chapter 6 last night and now have a ton of characters that I don't know whether to swap out or not. I'm not going to consult a guide regarding endgame characters and just kind of go with what works for me. I'm still finding Ken to be really helpful in terms of great damage and an okay tank (lots of HP). Lately, I've ditched my healers for healing items, which I find are sufficient for now and the higher octane offense prevents me from having to heal too much anyway.

Yeah, my healers were pretty much the first units to go when I needed to make room.  I'm keeping Gong around for now, mostly because he is a pretty decent fighter, and his healing spell comes in handy sometimes.  I think the biggest complaint against Ken is that his defense rating stays fairly low throughout the game, so while he may have really high HP, it gets drained rather quickly.  Perhaps a Defense Ring or something similar would be a good way to offset this.  Right now I have him equipped with a Power Ring, so he's dishing out a ton of damage.

As far as defense and power potions go, I used those up when I got them, but didn't know that the Bread of Life, Legs of Haste, and Turbo Pepper (which I haven't found yet), are also one time use character upgrades. If you have saved these items and not used them, be sure to hold onto them for use until after you are promoted. I understand that once promoted, your stats reset and you basically lose the value of these upgrades.

I haven't been using my Defense and Power Potions.  I've been finding quite a few of them, so I should probably start using them.  I didn't know about the items that grant permanent stat upgrades.  I probably never even used those on my previous playthroughs....

I also want to mention something regarding a great weapon that all of you should pick up along the way during the second checkpoint. I am mentioning it now, since Steven seems to be getting close to this part and I don't want anyone to miss it.

Spoiler (hover to show)

In Chapter 4, during the battle with General Elliot, a weapon called the Heat Axe is suppose to drop off of a Lizardman. However, in my battle this did not happen. Just a guess, but I think that the toon who took out the Lizardman might have been carrying a full load; it might save you guys some money if you make sure each toon has an open slot before the Elliot battle. Immediately after the battle, I entered the town of Pao (the 2nd, moved version) and went to the weapon shop. I checked for "deals" with the merchant and low and behold, there was the Heat Axe for I believe around $6800(?). It sucks that I had to pay for it, but it was well worth it because it is a great weapon for Luke or Gort (does about 20 damage a turn when it hits). It's nice to know that the game allows you to still grab an item that may have been missed due to an unforeseen circumstance. This is the first time I have found a "deal" in this game, but I have been checking in every town and will continue to do so.

   

Thanks for the tip on the weapon.  I could never figure out if there was any pattern to the Deals that the vendors would occasionally have, but now that you mention it, the deals are probably just any weapons that an enemy drops that you're not able to pick up.

By the way, this game is f@$king fantastic! I love the diversity of the characters and the strategies, and find myself craving it when I have to put it down for a day or two. 

I feel the same way.  I didn't think I would get too into this playthrough since I've played this game before, but it's just as awesome as my first time through! 

[singlebanana]

Also, I wanted to mention something I was previously unaware of in the game in regards to casting spells. As your casters get stronger, they will earn higher levels of certain spells, such as Blaze, Freeze, Heal, etc. Of course the higher level spells cost more mana to cast and do more damage and often affect a wider area. When casting, you are auto set to cast the highest level spell, but until the other day, I did not know that you could still cast the same spells at a lower level (and thus use less mana). You do this by selecting the spell and then pressing your D-pad to the left to lower the spell level (increase it by pressing right). Once you have the level you want, simply press "A" and cast as normal. I know this probably isn't news to some of you. Especially you fancy pants gamers with your goody goody manuals.  

[Disposed Hero]

Haha, I can't believe I never knew that!  Thanks, that tip will come in handy.

[singlebanana]

Haha, I can't believe I never knew that!  Thanks, that tip will come in handy.

It's funny. I was bitching about why they wouldn't implement a system like this.....and then I accidentally figured it out. It's the small things like this that make the game really ahead of its time.

And also, what the hell does a guy have to do around here to get some KARMA?  ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? 

[Disposed Hero]

Alright man, I guess that tip deserves some positive karma... 

[shaggy]

You are searching all of the chests as well right? There are some good items in those right from the beginning.

I don't think I've come across any yet.

Here's a pic of what they look like if this helps:
[img width=256 height=224]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/shiningforce/images/items/find_steel_arrow.gif[/img]

I just got back to the first town after going through the first 3 battles.  I haven't seen any chests yet.  I must look harder.

If you go to the main castle in the first town, you can seek out a room to the upper left before entering the castle. There are 6 chests in there with some very helpful items. The chests are great and I'd be sure to check out every area of every town before buying new weapons and items. You can save some coin this way.

Finally found it.  I don't know how I missed it the first time through.

[singlebanana]

Checkpoint #2 is up.

[shaggy]

As far as defense and power potions go, I used those up when I got them, but didn't know that the Bread of Life, Legs of Haste, and Turbo Pepper (which I haven't found yet), are also one time use character upgrades. If you have saved these items and not used them, be sure to hold onto them for use until after you are promoted. I understand that once promoted, your stats reset and you basically lose the value of these upgrades.

This was one of my questions I was going to ask.  I'm playing on the Sonic collection and I have no manual!  Some annoyances in the game that I found is the lack of any description for items.  Does the manual say what each item is?  Another thing is when buying weapons there is no indication of who can use the weapon or how much better/worse/same it is, although that was typical for games like this around that time.  Last is, you can only carry 4 items!  I find these chests and I have to constantly give items to other characters and when you back out of that menu you have to start the holy selection process again.  Annoying!  I still love the game, though.

[shaggy]

Also, I wanted to mention something I was previously unaware of in the game in regards to casting spells. As your casters get stronger, they will earn higher levels of certain spells, such as Blaze, Freeze, Heal, etc. Of course the higher level spells cost more mana to cast and do more damage and often affect a wider area. When casting, you are auto set to cast the highest level spell, but until the other day, I did not know that you could still cast the same spells at a lower level (and thus use less mana). You do this by selecting the spell and then pressing your D-pad to the left to lower the spell level (increase it by pressing right). Once you have the level you want, simply press "A" and cast as normal. I know this probably isn't news to some of you. Especially you fancy pants gamers with your goody goody manuals.   

How do your spells level up?  By using them or do they go up with your level.  Something I found out by accident is if you hit B (cancel button) while in a battle on the map, you can scroll to any enemy or someone in your team and see info and stats about them.

[singlebanana]

Spells level up with your characters. When you buy a weapon, the shopkeeper will ask you who you want to give it to. When you select a toon to give it to that can't use it, the shopkeeper will say, "_____ cannot use this, give it to him anyway?" If you don't want to buy it, just press B and back out. Who can use what becomes common sense after you get use to it: your hero uses swords, the warriors use axes, the centaurs lances and spears, casters use staves, bowmen use arrows (later artillery), and monks and non-humans use no weapons at all. Weapons get stronger as you go from town to town, so just assume any new weapon you haven't seen is better than what you have. Even if you screw up, you can get some of your money back by selling. You earn plenty of gold playing directly through the game and I have had no money issue through Chapter 7.