Ashs Adventures

For those of you who haven’t listened to the podcast yet, the Game of the Month for July is Astebreed. It’s a Bullet Hell shooter available on PC on a number of services, and recently, also on PS4. I didn’t honestly think I was going to get the members of our podcast to play this game, and I’m still not sure if they’ll like it, but it should be interesting talking about it. Even if you haven’t played a Bullet Hell game before, I think this is a pretty good starting point. I had screenshots of me playing this at one point, but you’ll have to settle for screenshots from Steam for now.

The Game

All I really need to say here is that Astebreed has you controlling a giant robot with lots of guns and a big sword. It’s predominantly a side-scrolling shooter, but there are also times where it plays more like a corridor shooter (i.e. StarFox). As expected from this type of game, you have a significant amount of firepower, as do enemies. In addition to a standard shot, you also have a lock-on shot and a large sword. It’s this last element that changes things up, as the scoring system encourages slicing enemies in half, and swinging your sword can destroy enemy shots. Also unlike a lot of traditional scrolling shooters, you don’t die in one hit, you have a health bar that is somewhat generous, and even regenerates if you go a while without getting hit.

The Presentation

Astebreed is the spiritual successor to a game I’ve never played, Ether Vapor. It has a self-contained story that reuses some characters from the previous game, and pays a lot more attention to story than I’d expect from a shooter. For starters, it has Actual Characters and an ending that isn’t just “Congrats, you blew up the bad guys”. There is voice acting, but none of it is in English. Cutscenes exist between levels to develop the plot.

The Choice

I almost made the Game of the Month for July the Final Fantasy 5 Four Job Fiesta. Kodra even suggested that I should, so we could talk about Final Fantasy (like we don’t do that enough). I went with Astebreed because I wanted us to play something a bit different. We’ve mostly had games of the month that have been a bit methodical, between RPGs, strategy, and puzzle games. We haven’t had any actual action games, and this seems like a good candidate.

I did mention another game, however: Jigoku Kisetsukan is free on steam, and is a “tribute” to the Touhou series. I bring this up because it’s nice to have a comparison to a different style of Bullet Hell, and this is actually a very good example (it’s a better game than a lot of shooters on Steam that are not free). That said, the difficulty curve in this game is more like a brick wall than any actual curve, and the graphics aren’t entirely cohesive. I recommend giving this a shot if you make it through Astebreed before the end of the month, as Astebreed is a very short game.

Source: Ashs Adventures
On July’s Game of the Month

The Earth crystal is the last one encountered in the story, and some fairly impressive jobs are a reward for making it this far.

Dragoon

This is one of my favorite classes, but it’s unfortunately the worst of this lot. It’s not bad by any means, but the other 3 are potentially game breaking and Dragoon is just good. Dragoons have their signature !Jump ability as their innate command. The user leaves for a turn before coming down on an enemy, this does double damage if the user is equipped with a spear. They also have !Lance, which steals HP and MP from a given target. Finally, they learn Equip Spears. Sadly, a fiesta class can’t take this and !Jump.

• !Jump is very, very useful to avoid damage if you can time it well. It also has the benefit of ignoring row, so you can have a very survivable dragoon still doing the same damage they would in the front.
• !Lance is based on magic, so it’s more useful on Mage classes than it is on Dragoon. It also helps some of these classes (*cough* Summoner *cough*) with their MP issues.
• Crystal dragons near the end of the game have the Dragon Lance as a rare steal, which is stronger than the Sealed Weapon spear (Holy Lance). Even if you don’t have a thief, you can get this one with the Thief’s Knife.

Samurai

The last of the heavy armor classes, Samurai has a lot going for it. Their innate command is !Zeninage, better known as Gil Toss. This damages all enemies by literally throwing money at them. Their innate passive is Shirahadori, which causes them to sometimes evade melee attacks. They also learn !Mineuchi, which I’ve honestly never found a use for. It’s supposed to paralyze enemies, but it doesn’t thanks to a bug. (I believe the bug is fixed in the Mobile version.) Their final command ability is !Iainuki, which attempts to instantly kill all enemies. Samurais also learn Equip Katanas.

• Zeninage does damage based on your level and the enemy’s defense, with a very large multiplier. The cost is based on your level and the number of enemies. Because most of the damage comes from the multiplier, it’s fairly ineffective against high-defense enemies unless you level like Belghast.
• Most katanas have a decent chance to crit, which deals double damage and ignores defense. The Sealed Weapon katana (Masamune) also causes the holder to always act first in battle and casts haste when used as an item. This alone would make Samurai a top-tier class.
• Iainuki has a base success chance of 85%, but will fail against targets immune to instant death (but not undead). Feel free to perform your Odin impression on as many things as possible.

Chemist

The only thing you need to know about chemist is that it can revive the entire party for 0 MP, and that’s not its strongest ability. Chemists have the innate passive of Pharmacology, which doubles the effect of healing items. Their innate command is !Drink, which allows the user to use the drink items for a variety of buffs. The real power in the class in !Mix, which takes two items in your inventory and produces an effect of some kind. Most of these are fairly defensive, but there are some exceptions. There are effects that can’t be duplicated by any other class available to Chemists this way. Their other commands are !Recover, which casts Esuna on the part for free, and !Revive, which casts Raise on the party for free.

• Keep a mix list handy. There are too many effects here to memorize.
• Chemists are unfortunately not at all gifted offensively. Caster-like commands can make them more useful in random battles, should you choose to fight them.
• A lot of the really good mixes require either a Dragon Fang or a Turtle Shell, both of which are only found from enemy drops. Keep an eye out for sources of these.

Dancer

Dancers have low strength, not great agility, and the worst HP in the game, but they’re the fiesta class most likely to do 9999 physical damage, and their unique equipment includes the best defensive item outside of the bonus dungeon. The Dancer innate command is !Dance, which randomly produces one of 4 effects: an attack for x4 damage, hp drain, mp drain, or confusion. Dancers also have !Flirt, which just attempts to confuse an enemy. The final ability dancers learn is Equip Ribbons, which does what it says. Dancers themselves don’t need this ability to use ribbons.

• While !Dance normally has 4 options, some gear removes the charm in favor of an extra chance to attack. The most useful of these is the Rainbow Dress, because the others cover up a gear slot that could have something more useful in it (like a Ribbon). If you have a thief, you can steal a Lamia’s Tiara (which has this effect) in the floating ruins, well before you’re supposed to have access to it and actually before you even have the dancer job available.
• Ribbons are headgear that grants immunity to most status effects in addition to a large amount of defense. Don’t ask me how a simple ribbon does this, but it makes Equip ribbons one of the best passives in the game.
• As mentioned, Dancers have the worst HP in the game, and unlike Bards and Red Mages, need to be in the front row to deal good damage. The drain dance helps with this a little bit, but expect your dancer to die a lot.

Thanks for sticking with it this long. The Fiesta starts on Monday; I hope you take part. Remember to tweet proof of your victory to @Aggrochat if you finish!

Source: Ashs Adventures
Job Training Part 5: The Earth Crystal Jobs

The nature of the Fire Crystal jobs means that this is a bit of a grab bag. The Fire Crystal is special in that you don’t get all of the jobs associated with it at the same time. Geomancer, Ninja, and Beastmaster appear initially, then you’ll get Bard and Ranger a bit after the Ancient Library.

Ranger

Master of the bow and arrow, Ranger has some of the best abilities in the game. Their command, !Aim, delivers an attack that never misses, but it’s disabled while blinded. Their other commands include !Animals, which has a variety of random effects based on your level, and !Rapid Fire, which is potentially the best ability for physical attackers. It delivers 4 attacks at random enemies for half damage, but these attacks never miss and ignore defense. (It’s 1/3 of the traditional power combo.) On a single target, this can more than double your damage output (thanks to the defense ignoring effect) while still allowing shield use, unlike Twohanded or Dual-Wield. Rangers also learn Equip Bows.

• !Animals has some disappointing damage effects, but Nightingale is a heal that also cures blind and poison on the entire party. If you give !Animals to a caster, it’s even heals for a decent amount.
• Bows require two hands, but are relatively strong weapons. Ones to note include the Hayate bow in Exdeath’s castle (which will sometimes use Rapid Fire automatically) and the Artemis Bow found in Istory falls, which is more powerful than the Sealed Weapon Yoichi Bow (but unlike the Yoichi bow, doesn’t crit).
• !Rapid Fire does not trigger additional effects on weapons that have them. This means you can’t critically strike with it, but at the same time you’ll never accidentally run from battle with the Chicken Knife, or heal undead enemies with the Assassin’s dagger.

Ninja

The purpose of the Ninja is to flip out and kill people. The Ninja command is !Throw, which can fling weapons or certain other items (scrolls and shuriken) at enemies. Their innate passives are Dual-Wield and First Strike. Dual-Wield allows holding a weapon in each hand, and it’s another 1/3 of the game’s traditional power combo (Seriously, they made it Bartz’s EX burst in Dissidia). First Strike causes you to get preemptive attacks more often. Ninjas can also learn !Image, which is identical to the White Mage spell Blink, and gives you two copies that let you avoid physical attacks. Finishing out the list is !Smoke, which guarantees an escape from battle (as long as you are able to run normally).

• Scrolls deal magic damage when thrown, so giving a ninja a magic ability (or conversely giving !Throw to a mage) can boost the damage done by scrolls significantly.
• This is a one-shot trick, but Throwing the Excalipoor uses its listed attack power. It’s kind of hilarious to get a few thousand damage out of a weapon that does 1 damage if you swing it normally.
• The comment I’ve already left for White Mages and Knights applies here too: !Image makes it really hard for things to hit you with physical attacks. Some enemies only use physical attacks. Other enemies can be berserked into only using physical attacks.

Beastmaster

Beastmaster is a class that varies in power depending on where you are in the game. Their innate command is !Catch/Release, which can catch an enemy at low health and later unleash it in battle for an effect. Their other commands are !Calm, which Stops “magical beasts” (but also Omega in most versions, for some reason) and !Control, which takes control of an enemy. Berserk/Confused enemies can’t be controlled, and physical attacks will break it. Berserkers and Beastmasters aren’t exactly friends. Beastmasters also learn Equip Whips.

• The HP Threshold for !Catch and the chance of success for !Control are both made better by equipment. The Korango Gourd can be earned in Quelb (check the well) and the Hypno Crown can be found shortly after that in Drakenvale.
• In World 1, Sand Bears are one of the best capture options, as they perform a strong physical attack when released.
• The attacks Blaze, Breath Wing, and Lightning all do 25% Max HP damage to anything not immune to that element. 4 of these will kill (or nearly kill because of rounding) anything with less than 39,996 HP. Yellow Dragons in Exdeath’s castle have Lightning. Exdeath has 32,768 HP. Sadly I’m told this doesn’t work anymore in the mobile version.
• If you want to get AP early, Skull Eaters in Jachol Cave can be controlled. Winning a Skull Eater encounter gets you 5 AP, just be careful not to use magic on them.

Bard

Bard is a very strong support class, and I’d actually consider it one of the best. Their innate command is !Sing. There are two types of songs: The first (and more common) type has an effect on either all enemies or all allies. The second causes the user to sing continuously, raising the party’s stats until they either die or take a physical attack. They also learn !Hide, which removes the user from battle until you use Reveal. Bards also learn Equip Harps, which is more useful for passing some speed and magic to another class than for actually equipping harps.

• Bards come in at #2 on the “Worst HP in the game” list. Keep them in the back row!
• Most harps do %current health damage, and don’t work on bosses. The Sealed Weapon harp, the Apollo Harp, instead does a decent chunk of non-elemental magic damage, and x8 damage to Undead and Dragons. (For whatever reason, it doesn’t work on Bahamut.)
• If all of the living members of your party are hiding, and the battle is escapable, it will count as an escape. If the battle isn’t escapable (and you don’t highly value your time) you can run some bosses out of MP by doing this.
• Bardsongs tend to be quite miss-able. Romeo’s Ballad is in Istory, Alluring Air is in Lix, and Mana’s Paean has a very short acquisition window in the Ancient Library, when you get the quest for the four tablets.
• One of the best songs requires mastering the piano. Every place that has a Bar has a piano, although these are sometimes well-hidden. Collect your prize (Hero’s Rime) from the minstrel in Crescent.

If you’re wondering, the third part of that combination I mentioned twice is Spellblade. Tomorrow I’ll be finishing up with the final jobs you’ll receive, the ones from the Earth Crystal. The Fiesta starts on Monday!

Source: Ashs Adventures
Job Training Part 4: Grab Bag

Sadly, not all jobs are created equal. The jobs described today aren’t bad, but they need a bit of support from the rest of the party. The exception is Mystic Knight, which is an all-around awesome job that got stuck in here because I’ve grouped the jobs by crystal, and it comes in at the same time as Red Mage and Berserker. It’s still quite unique, but in very good ways.

Mystic Knight

Mystic Knight is one of the more unusual jobs in FF5, and it’s one example of a concept that re-appeared in much less powerful forms later in the series. Mystic Knights use their command, !Spellblade, to charge their swords with spells. Elemental spells multiply your physical damage against targets weak to that element, they don’t do anything otherwise. Status spells will always inflict their status on the enemy as long as you hit them and the target isn’t immune. Statuses that can be inflicted with !Spellblade include poison, sleep, silence, and stone (!). Near the end of the game, Flare just provides a large non-elemental damage boost. Mystic Knights also have Magic Shell as an innate passive, which gives them Shell when in critical condition.

• Break spellblade is an instant kill against anything not immune to stone. Most bosses after you get Break have this immunity, except for Odin, Twintania (when charging Gigaflare), and one of the sections of the final boss.
• Most available sword magic is Black magic, but Silence and Holy are White. Don’t forget to pick them up.
• If you need to beat Fork Tower (and with a Mystic Knight you absolutely want to do this) and you don’t have any casters, Omniscient can’t do anything to you if you silence him with every hit.
• Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Holy, and Bio will instantly kill things weak to their element, or do 4x damage if the target is immune to that effect. Killing things quickly with this class is just a matter of picking the right spell.

Red Mage

How good it is to get Red Mage depends on if you have any of the four classes I mentioned yesterday, and how willing you are to earn the 999 AP that learning !Dualcast requires. The Red Mage command ability is !Red, which includes the first 3 levels of White and Black magic. This does grant 2nd-tier elemental spells and Cura, but these start to fall off in effectiveness at the end of World 1. FF5 is the first game in the series to give Red Mages their signature !Dualcast ability, which allows casting two White, Black, Time, or Summon spells in a single turn. (The corresponding command ability must also be equipped.) Equipping !Dualcast also grants the ability to cast anything a Red Mage could cast.

• Red mages don’t have a lot of HP, so be aware that they might need extra attention if you put them in the front row.
• Red mages might not have much damage, but they do still have Confuse, Silence, and Sleep. These remain useful, even after the -a level spells no longer are.
• Even without any other casters, a character with !Dualcast can cast Raise twice. This means recovery from unfortunate situations is made quite a bit easier.

Berserker

My love for you is like a truck. Berserkers are very straightforward: they hit things. As long as they’re alive, they’ll swing their weapon or fists at anything in front of them, and there’s not much you can do about it. Their innate passive is Berserk, you can’t control them so they have no command. Mastering Berserker grants Equip Axes. It’s not all bad news: Berserkers have high strength and are immune to confusion, It’s just that sometimes they have a tendency to make things unpredictable.

• In most versions, Berserkers attack randomly. In the iOS/Android version, Berserkers are much more predictable and attack the target in front.
• Axes and hammers ignore a portion of enemy defense, but have a large damage range and tend to be somewhat inaccurate compared to swords. Don’t forget that Berserkers can use Knives to get around this.
• Harvesters (Found near Crescent Isle) can drop a Death Sickle, an axe that has a chance of inflicting Instant Death. This works on a lot of things, including a few bosses.
• When you fight the Sandworm, you should kill your Berserker(s). Trust me on this one.

Geomancer

Geomancer varies in quality depending on where you are in the game. Their command, !Gaia, uses a random ability based on the area you’re in and the user’s level, higher levels generally enable more powerful abilities. Some of these are very powerful (Cave In is basically Meteor), but many of the low-level ones are not. Randomness can also make this a bit frustrating. Geomancers have a pair of innate passives: Light Step avoids damage from ground hazards (spikes, lava), and Find Pits causes you to leap back from collapsing floors. A single Geomancer in the party provides these benefits to the party, so there’s not much point in giving these to other classes. As a side note, Geomancer is the fastest class to master.

• If you’re playing the Mobile version, !Gaia’s randomness no longer has a level component. This means that you can get powerful spells earlier, and the results are weighted a bit towards them, making Geomancers quite a bit better.
• There’s a section in Drakenvale that requires falling into a pit. Don’t let Geomancer keep you from advancing in the game here.
• !Gaia is a very good command to give to mages that aren’t doing a lot of damage on their own, like White or Time Mages. It probably does more damage than that measly flail you were thinking of having your White Mage use, anyway.
• !Gaia mostly deals earth and wind damage, so keep Gaia Gear and Air Knives handy for boosting those elements.

Tomorrow: Jobs I’m having a hard time of thinking of a good collective description for. Hope to see you at the Fiesta next week!

Source: Ashs Adventures
Job Training Part 3: The Misfits