FE10 - Beat this nearly two weeks ago. Think I had a reset on both E3 and E5, no real shocks there. The final boss also one-rounded Kurth, which I did not expect. Guess that's what I get for not levelling him. Note to self: next time I do that, leave him on the bench for Gareth/Sanaki/whoever.
Super PC #2 has a bit of an awkward starting position and needs to be traded a weapon, but his stats are competly broken (40 magic + doubles everything) and it's nice to have someone who specialises in killing the magic auras.
Notes on the other PCs...
Naesala never did hit SS Strike, and I certainly gave him his share of action. Respect for him down a tad.
Caineghis OHKOs Swordmasters, aka the enemy he doesn't double. Well then. He's better than I thought.
Pelleas is very solid until E-4 where he just starts failing abysmally. Stupid speed cap. Fortunately he can fall back on his staff rank, Micaiah-style, though he's not as good at it.
Jill, similarly, surpasses Titania at that point for similar reasons. They were pretty close to equal beforehand.
Volug hit SS Strike in E-1 and was pretty much Nailah Jr. A bit less in every stat and no Formshift, but shockingly close overall. Had better Atk than Naesala which is surprising. And that sexy earth support. Raw defences were the main thing that needed some work, but at least he has HP/evade.
Marcia, the Wishblade user, spent almost all her time in E3 using Wyrmslayer instead. Bit of a testament to the usefulness of that weapon. Oh yeah, on that note, Titania > Jill on that map for similar reasons... except that Jill was much better against the boss, the only PC I had besides Caineghis who did any notable work there. Caineghis, fortunately, is practically soloing the guy with the help of a heron and a dragon, so it doesn't matter.
Not much else to say. Game rules as always. New plot was appreciated, though shouldn't have been withheld, etc., etc., you know the story there.
SH3 - Beat Purgatory. The hardest part, honestly, was the beginning, where Johnny has to survive alone against remarkably competent enemies including an unusually tough solo boss, who killed me once. I got Shania as my second PC, and she proceeds to break the game with Sun Flare -> whatever @ 1.5x damage Dream Porter combos, and Sunlit Vale / Shining Zephyr to own bosses. It takes until the third boss to start getting quick hits, and by the fourth you can mercilessly combo them to death, though the sixth at least put up a decent fight. Envious Jealousy itself is pretty much Lady minus; yes he's better unscaled, but certainly not for the time. Like Lady he 2HKOs, has Lost Progress, and a lot of HP. Unlike Lady he has no MT whatsoever, which not only eases the threat and healing concerns, but it means that even if he gets a Double, you're not going to be wiped out. And he only has one turn. And lacks the Entrance shenanigans, or the possibility of a three-part D-combo. Now, he DOES have Quick Hits, which of course have the potential to be scary, but really, nothing special otherwise. Probably about on par with Gilbert as a boss, honestly.
Still, the dungeon overall was pretty fun, as expected. Randoms were awesomely damaging by the end, but very merciful on Stock Gauge bonuses, so the game really encouraged comboing them to death before their damage could become an issue. I imagine that if you got ambushed you would die horribly, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't have a Warning Device; technically the sidequest that gives it isn't a prerequisite, but I imagine if you're doing all the other sidequests that ARE, you'll stumble upon that one.
Ether Purge is predictably broken, though really lacks any practical use whatsoever, outside NG+. OHKOs all randoms but really expensive. I guess you can use it to help own the final boss, particularly after a Sun Flare and Soul Valet it should just be devastating, but whatever. Maybe I'll go do that at some point when I'm bored.
Levels for fighting EJ were 62 Shania, 60 Johnny, and everyone else in the mid 50's. It's amusing how Johnny will easily have the MP for two Ether Purges in-game but only gets one in the DL, but honestly he's pretty fortunate to have it at all.
EDIT: Oh right, almost forgot to mention the game's other superboss, which is a beefed up Tin Lion from SH2. Very amusing. He basically works like this (gameplay spoilers!):
-He gains 1 stock gauge per action.
-On a normal turn, if he has no stock, he'll spend a turn assessing the situation (and gain stock), at a normal recharge rate.
-If attacked, he'll counter with Kill. Kill is the most broken ST attack ever pretty much; it does 10000 damage (though if you're really lucky you can dodge it), and has no recharge time whatsoever, meaning he gets another turn right after, this time with stock, and this is bad because...
-If he gets a turn with stock, he'll Double and use Kill twice. With the same stock gaining and zero recharge time.
-He takes 0 from all physical and magical damage.
If you've been paying attention, then you should have put together that as soon as he uses Kill once (i.e. reaches his second turn, or counters), he'll get an infinite chain of turns and keep attacking until you're dead.
Basically the only way to kill him is to exploit his two status weaknesses, in order. The first is Apathy, which stops him from gaining Stock. This allows him to use Kill counters safely; yeah, it kills a PC and gives him another turn, but he'll gain no Stock and promptly will use that turn to assess the situation. The second is poison. Pretty cute solution. Sounds obscure, until you remember that the SH3 bestiary shows status weaknesses, so Johnny can take a picture, and then you can check it after the first time you lose to him (it's a pit fight, so no game over when you do).
MK is next, for the Tals and Pyros everywhere.
