Experiment failed.
Jul. 10th, 2022 05:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedSet Flonne up two days ago to recruit a Fiend, something you can only hunt in the Item World through some of the highest-tier items in the game, only two of which are particularly accessible, in triple-digit levels.
To that end, she managed to clear one promotion exam, but failed the next. I started grinding her in order to clear four more in order to unlock the Stronger Enemies bill. This culminated in accessing the Item World via a level 10 Plundering Hand, where the enemies were only a few levels above my party but already quite powerful both offensively and defensively for me to take several hours and multiple tries to make it to B18 before Laharl, my strongest fighter, and Flonne herself, both bit the dust and I had to use a Mr. Gency's Exit. (Keep in mind that you can easily exploit Geo Effects and Geo Puzzles themselves if you get lucky on a given floor.)
This already proves that I was simply not ready to attempt to raise my enemies' levels in the regular stages just for an increased EXP rate.
Here's the thing, though: For that game's randomization walkthrough, I don't want players to simply write something off even if it seems obvious that they would not obtain it within one playthrough of the main story. All 37 generic classes should be accounted for by default whenever someone lands to create a new character, because there are classes with specific requirements, some more easily fulfilled than others. These range from Archers, who only require mastery level 3 with bows, to Majin, who require five other specific classes at level 200, three of whom themselves require the other two at certain levels to unlock. Needless to say, no one is going to comb through the selection every visit they pay, for anyone they may have unlocked by accident, and those you can't unlock accidentally should still at least have a chance to shine, even if their recruitment ends up postponed.
Since I have now ruled out the idea of pursuing promotion exams and Stronger Enemies directly (the latter should be for when most enemies are too weak), the most I should do when I determine something out of reach to recruit is to give my chosen recruiter the strongest matching-type equipment they have in each slot, let them pass as many exams as they will naturally, and give them special attention from then on until they fulfill their mana quota (I did surprise myself in past playthroughs with how much they could rake in through the Item World when I really focus on them). Promotion exams can always be revisited upon either fulfilling a quota or setting up a new character or bill to pursue, and demon rank 11 is still the litmus test through which to determine readiness to pursue the strongest generic monsters in the game.
To that end, she managed to clear one promotion exam, but failed the next. I started grinding her in order to clear four more in order to unlock the Stronger Enemies bill. This culminated in accessing the Item World via a level 10 Plundering Hand, where the enemies were only a few levels above my party but already quite powerful both offensively and defensively for me to take several hours and multiple tries to make it to B18 before Laharl, my strongest fighter, and Flonne herself, both bit the dust and I had to use a Mr. Gency's Exit. (Keep in mind that you can easily exploit Geo Effects and Geo Puzzles themselves if you get lucky on a given floor.)
This already proves that I was simply not ready to attempt to raise my enemies' levels in the regular stages just for an increased EXP rate.
Here's the thing, though: For that game's randomization walkthrough, I don't want players to simply write something off even if it seems obvious that they would not obtain it within one playthrough of the main story. All 37 generic classes should be accounted for by default whenever someone lands to create a new character, because there are classes with specific requirements, some more easily fulfilled than others. These range from Archers, who only require mastery level 3 with bows, to Majin, who require five other specific classes at level 200, three of whom themselves require the other two at certain levels to unlock. Needless to say, no one is going to comb through the selection every visit they pay, for anyone they may have unlocked by accident, and those you can't unlock accidentally should still at least have a chance to shine, even if their recruitment ends up postponed.
Since I have now ruled out the idea of pursuing promotion exams and Stronger Enemies directly (the latter should be for when most enemies are too weak), the most I should do when I determine something out of reach to recruit is to give my chosen recruiter the strongest matching-type equipment they have in each slot, let them pass as many exams as they will naturally, and give them special attention from then on until they fulfill their mana quota (I did surprise myself in past playthroughs with how much they could rake in through the Item World when I really focus on them). Promotion exams can always be revisited upon either fulfilling a quota or setting up a new character or bill to pursue, and demon rank 11 is still the litmus test through which to determine readiness to pursue the strongest generic monsters in the game.