Shining Force - Retro Playthrough - May 2015

[singlebanana]

Nice work Shaggy!  Seems that you're moving right along.  Achievements updated.

Thanks, I'm worried I missed 4 now.   Maybe I just didn't get that far yet.  I've noticed when in battle if you kill the "main" enemy, the battle will end and you will miss out on experience points.  I'm not sure if each battle has a "main" enemy but it isn't too hard to figure out who the "main" enemy is so make sure you save him for last if possible!

That's a good point. Not all battles have a "main" enemy, but a lot do. The kind of rule of thumb is to not kill the enemy that speaks at the beginning of the battle. This is usually pretty obvious. Thanks for pointing this out.

[Neo]

Wow, sounds like you are kicking some a@$ shaggy lol...I just made it to chapter 3....trying to catch up guys.

Quick update and maybe a little advice if anyone's willing...

Spoiler (hover to show)

 I just made it to chapter 3...the mountainous village with the quarry battle. I beat the battle...got the moon stone and saved the game, haven't advanced any further. I was just wondering, I promoted My main and ken but they seem a little weaker actually I was hoping for the opposite. Im sure its just because they have been reset to level one again, be it at a higher rank. I was just wondering if the whole promotion thing was worth it or would I be just as good leaving some of the characters at the base classes? I mean are the new classes going to be freaking epic the farther I progress or is it all worth it? any input would be appreciated. My gut tells me they are worth it but some times the climb isn't worth the view if you catch my meaning. Just wondering if it's something that's really going to pay off in the long run(which im pretty sure it will) or would I do just as good to leave the classes alone? Also....

Do any of the shops EVER have deals? lol....I haven't noticed any yet so I was just wondering if there will ever be a shop keeper kind enough to throw a 25% discount on a kick@#$ sword or something? I don't really care I was just wondering about this? thought it was funny the game has a deals tap but so far I haven't been able to save money on nothing lol.....

Furthermore....this game is amazing....such a good trip to the past! OHHHHH how I really genuinely miss the old graphics and gameplay mechanics of these old school games. Stories were ALWAYS good it seems like. And I just love them. This is turning out to be one heck of a fun game to me. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE the newschool games as well and the way they can make games today is absolutely beautiful....but something about these old 16, 32, 64 bit graphics just seem so artistic and colorful and just beautiful to me as well. This game is really pretty. And I love the enemy design and how when you change weapons and classes your characters actually change....GREAT STORY...nice fantasy world....just right up my alley. So glad y'all picked this game....otherwise I would have missed it. I'm having a blast guys...Hope y'all are too. Can't wait to see what kind of stuff unfolds a little later in the story! Later.

[Disposed Hero]

Wow, sounds like you are kicking some a@$ shaggy lol...I just made it to chapter 3....trying to catch up guys.

Quick update and maybe a little advice if anyone's willing...

Spoiler (hover to show)

 I just made it to chapter 3...the mountainous village with the quarry battle. I beat the battle...got the moon stone and saved the game, haven't advanced any further. I was just wondering, I promoted My main and ken but they seem a little weaker actually I was hoping for the opposite. Im sure its just because they have been reset to level one again, be it at a higher rank. I was just wondering if the whole promotion thing was worth it or would I be just as good leaving some of the characters at the base classes? I mean are the new classes going to be freaking epic the farther I progress or is it all worth it? any input would be appreciated. My gut tells me they are worth it but some times the climb isn't worth the view if you catch my meaning. Just wondering if it's something that's really going to pay off in the long run(which im pretty sure it will) or would I do just as good to leave the classes alone? Also....

Do any of the shops EVER have deals? lol....I haven't noticed any yet so I was just wondering if there will ever be a shop keeper kind enough to throw a 25% discount on a kick@#$ sword or something? I don't really care I was just wondering about this? thought it was funny the game has a deals tap but so far I haven't been able to save money on nothing lol.....

Furthermore....this game is amazing....such a good trip to the past! OHHHHH how I really genuinely miss the old graphics and gameplay mechanics of these old school games. Stories were ALWAYS good it seems like. And I just love them. This is turning out to be one heck of a fun game to me. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE the newschool games as well and the way they can make games today is absolutely beautiful....but something about these old 16, 32, 64 bit graphics just seem so artistic and colorful and just beautiful to me as well. This game is really pretty. And I love the enemy design and how when you change weapons and classes your characters actually change....GREAT STORY...nice fantasy world....just right up my alley. So glad y'all picked this game....otherwise I would have missed it. I'm having a blast guys...Hope y'all are too. Can't wait to see what kind of stuff unfolds a little later in the story! Later.

When you promote characters, they lose a percentage of their stats (I think it's a quarter or something like that).  But now that they're promoted, you're going to start seeing much higher stat increases when they level up.  Plus, your units can only use the best weapons in the game if they're promoted.  So to put it simply, yeah, it's definitely worth promoting them.  There is a little bit of strategy involved, like if you wait a few levels to promote them, apparently it's better in the long run, but most people just promote at level 10 or so.

About the deals, I'm pretty sure the vendors only offer them if you missed an item in a battle.  Like if an enemy unit drops a really good weapon and you didn't have any inventory space to pick it up, the shopkeeper will offer it as a deal.

Anyway, be sure you take that Moonstone and use it to recruit Zylo before you leave town.  I'm not sure if he's missable or if the game forces you to get him, but either way, you'll definitely want to have him.

[singlebanana]

Yeah, Zylo is a BEAST! ...... see what I did there?

[Neo]

When you promote characters, they lose a percentage of their stats (I think it's a quarter or something like that).  But now that they're promoted, you're going to start seeing much higher stat increases when they level up.  Plus, your units can only use the best weapons in the game if they're promoted.  So to put it simply, yeah, it's definitely worth promoting them.  There is a little bit of strategy involved, like if you wait a few levels to promote them, apparently it's better in the long run, but most people just promote at level 10 or so.

About the deals, I'm pretty sure the vendors only offer them if you missed an item in a battle.  Like if an enemy unit drops a really good weapon and you didn't have any inventory space to pick it up, the shopkeeper will offer it as a deal.

Anyway, be sure you take that Moonstone and use it to recruit Zylo before you leave town.  I'm not sure if he's missable or if the game forces you to get him, but either way, you'll definitely want to have him.

Yeah I figured it was worth it to promote them. Just making sure. And about zylo, I had already figured I had to do SOMETHING with him just talking to people around town. Didn't know you could recruit him on "THE FORCE" lol...but I'll make sure to do that. And that definitely explains the deals thing too. I was just wondering because every town ive been too nothing was on the deal list so I guess now I know why. Thanks man. I was just making sure on some things. Sounds like you enjoyed your playthrough. Game is pretty fun isn't it? I like it. Fun playing it with y'all man.

Yeah, Zylo is a BEAST! ...... see what I did there?

Wouldn't be punning towards Disposed Hero would you? lol...

[shaggy]

Yeah, Zylo is a BEAST! ...... see what I did there?

Zylo is awesome!!!  He will never leave my party.  I want to try Domingo but I can't find a character to remove to fit him in.

@Neo - I heard that to get the strongest characters promote at level 20.

[singlebanana]

Domingo is a great toon, but you need to get him out early and keep him in. He has good magic and mobility, and he can actually tank physical damage pretty well.  I used him until endgame.

[shaggy]

Domingo is a great toon, but you need to get him out early and keep him in. He has good magic and mobility, and he can actually tank physical damage pretty well.  I used him until endgame.

Great, now I have to figure out who to dump.  I found out early that you need to healers to heal. I tried one but I couldn't get to everyone and ran out of magic to heal.

[singlebanana]

I stopped using healers pretty early on. You have plenty of gold, so buy two seeds for each toon. Remember that you can use the healing items from one character on another during your turn.

[Disposed Hero]

Domingo is a great toon, but you need to get him out early and keep him in. He has good magic and mobility, and he can actually tank physical damage pretty well.  I used him until endgame.

I'll second this.  I don't feel like he was an essential character for me personally, but still a great addition to the team.  I wish I could have leveled him up a bit higher before the end of the game so he would have had his higher level spells.

I stopped using healers pretty early on. You have plenty of gold, so buy two seeds for each toon. Remember that you can use the healing items from one character on another during your turn.

I used Khris for most of the game, but admittedly she was pretty useless.  As soon as I got Torasu (who gets recruited late in the game), I started using him.  I would agree with the comment about ditching the healers and just using Healing Seeds, except Torasu gets the very useful Aura spells, which can heal multiple units in one turn. 

[singlebanana]

Yeah, I actually used Torasu for endgame as well. You get him very late and he has already been promoted, so it's worth keeping him around for Aura. I thought that a lot of the casters got kind of washed out toward the end anyway, but I kept a few around to attack multiple mobs at the same time with the higher level spells. Tao and Domingo made the final cut for me.

[Disposed Hero]

Tao and Domingo made the final cut for me.

Same here.

[Neo]

Nice to know about torasu. I use lowe and khris on my battle party but have been thinking about ditching them for more useful damage dealers. Have to make sure i get torasu. I do like having 1 good healer on my squad. 2 i think is overkill. Most of the time i hit stay on the healeers turn anyway so just feels like a waste. Torasus multiple healing spell sounds nice. Ive been wanting something like that my whole playthrough so far. Guess i can kind of ditch lowe and chris for now and focus more on damage dealers. Just hold out for torasu. Ill try it anyways see how it goes.

[Neo]

Tao and Domingo made the final cut for me.

Same here.

I love tao. Havent recruited domingo yet. Ill keep my eyes open

[singlebanana]

Tao and Domingo made the final cut for me.

Same here.

I love tao. Havent recruited domingo yet. Ill keep my eyes open

I'm pretty sure Torasu joins your party automatically. Getting Domingo takes a few steps, so if you want want him, you may need to look at a guide.