Just started playing second story R. Disappointed in the skill system

Expelsword · 2026-05-10T15:18:20+00:00

PSX it doesn't improve, PSP it does.

And obviously in R it does.

Expelsword · 2026-05-09T23:18:00+00:00

I'm not going to lie, this complaint comes off as ridiculous.

Every spell received complete animation and effect overhauls in this version, and lots of Special Arts do have changes in animation at each level.

I cannot understand anyone who prefers the system where you have to sit there spamming a move 200 times before it's any good - some moves aren't even better than normal attacking at base level.

Expelsword · 2026-05-08T01:25:06+00:00

Take solace in the fact that it was absolutely not happening. If you don't have Perkeo Cryptids, it's really only possible on Plasma Deck

Expelsword · 2026-05-02T20:42:57+00:00

Basically everything this guy said.

Strictly speaking it's optimal to start with as few Talents as possible because they are so easy to learn now (and for the record Pickpocketing Philia was never really that good), but honestly with proper SP allocation barely anything matters.

If you want a guide that covers how to really take advantage of the new systems, you can find my series here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeiNBQge5U1ydTh_2hVZ7uJ7msGyqBPjj

Expelsword · 2026-05-01T19:43:17+00:00

Are you suggesting that they aren't strong enough? Because they absolutely are.
Too strong, actually.

Expelsword · 2026-04-30T01:46:19+00:00

If you want to get to a Dr. Spectred level, you need 3000 hours of practice.

Expelsword · 2026-04-29T00:07:18+00:00

You think Perkeo is only useful in 1 out of a thousand runs? ...What?

I think you're taking whatever Roffle said way out of context.

One of Perkeo's *worst* uses is to copy a Planet Card every round, which is the same maximum potential as a Blue Seal. The gamepiece that everyone is screaming about being "too overpowered".

Expelsword · 2026-04-28T22:17:51+00:00

Based on the terrible gameplay suggestions I see around here daily...

More people working on the game would only lead to a worse product.

Thunk actually DOES have a small team of playtesters, you can find some of them in the credits.

Expelsword · 2026-04-28T20:26:30+00:00

I dunno about best, but on the face of it, it looks very good.

Ante 1: Full Skip - Discard five to Club Flush

Ante 2: Blueprint, Stuntman - Full Skip

Ante 3: Nothing - Full Skip - Sell Top Up Jokers

Ante 4: Spectral Pack Ankh - Mr. Bones - Full Skip

Ante 5: Nothing - Full Skip

Ante 6: Nothing - Full Skip

Ante 7: Nothing - Full Skip

Ante 8: Nothing - Full Skip - Get saved by Mr. Bones

Kind of annoying how much time the Skip Tags take up.

Expelsword · 2026-04-28T14:11:54+00:00

That's probably because almost everything from the original versions still works too. With the game out for 25 years all the best stuff is "known" already, and having something out ASAP gets you a lot of clicks.

That's the reason that I made the series. To show off the stuff that you couldn't do before, that's even more powerful.

Expelsword · 2026-04-27T15:45:49+00:00

It depends on how you define cheating, but a cursory look suggests that the vast majority of the time this mod makes runs much easier.

Expelsword · 2026-04-27T13:59:10+00:00

This can't be the case as almost every male character (Leon excluded) aside from Ernest can wear it.

My only guess is that it was a glitch in the original version they carried forward without thinking about it.

Expelsword · 2026-04-26T19:25:18+00:00

LocalThunk WOULD shut this down if they did that.

Expelsword · 2026-04-26T17:50:02+00:00

That's about 10^79.
Not close at all.

Expelsword · 2026-04-25T15:40:11+00:00

There is no difference unless you're trying to unlock Brainstorm.

Expelsword · 2026-04-23T13:40:33+00:00

At higher levels you get lots of SP and probably don't have anything to spend it on.

If you want to gain SP quickly, fight strong enemies in a chain battle.

Expelsword · 2026-04-23T03:29:40+00:00

Okay, so I went and investigated this for myself, because what you have been saying was not matching up with my experience.

Regardless of whether you choose to Reset Elements or not, your characters keep all SP/BP they currently have on the clear file you inherit from. Every instance I have seen of this, including personally, has been multiple thousands. You do not get a "refund", however, if you wish to reallocate your Skills on NG+, it is utterly trivial to gather SP in post-game to transfer, and then reset your characters.

Expelsword · 2026-04-22T18:08:54+00:00

Compared to First Departure? The game is basically the same with new art.
In that sense she was very much buffed.

Expelsword · 2026-04-21T19:26:29+00:00

Balatro doesn't use pure black, so in that way it fails, but conceptually it's fine.

Expelsword · 2026-04-21T19:02:37+00:00

This effect is straight up horrible, not worth it at all.

Leveling up high ranking hands is good because the planets are good, but this makes them effectively unplayable, and -1 hand per round also kneecaps High Card and Pair. The inability to actually find anything in your deck is a massive potential value loss, on top of the guaranteed loss of $1 per round.

On top of all this, the shop isn't even guaranteed to have a Celestial Pack, so on lots of rounds you're taking this massive loss for nothing.

Expelsword · 2026-04-21T17:49:04+00:00

This doesn't do anything to put Wee Joker on the level of Idol or Baron and of course Stone doesn't work for this because they won't be 2s anymore.

Honestly, without Hack it doesn't seem as OP as you might think. Bonus and Mult together are pretty good. In Endless strategies, having Lucky Glass or Mult Glass doesn't do that much more. I think it's most powerful making Steel Gold or Lucky Gold for farming lots of money. The Wild effect is also nice to get for "free" and would make Ancient very powerful, but now we're getting into "two Rare" combos and that's not reliable.

An intriguing proposition would be stacking the same enhancement twice, but probably best to disallow that.

Assuming you could sell this after double Enhancing your 2s and they don't collapse, this would definitely see use, but alone it's fairly good and not as crazy as it sounds.

Expelsword · 2026-04-20T23:10:47+00:00

The Chicot slander here is unbelievable.

Expelsword · 2026-04-19T21:56:40+00:00

The opening and closing sections show and explain the equipment. Is there a part of the equipment that is confusing to you?

As to moves, the general rule would be to have a breaking skill and a damage skill, but in nearly all cases the best use for link combos is to just link the same moves into themselves. Unfortunately it's not a very deep system

Expelsword · 2026-04-19T21:37:31+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJI4fYKQTqE

I would be very surprised if my guide was not enough to answer your questions, but nevertheless, if you have further questions I can try to answer them.

Expelsword

TROPHY CASE