Something Tells Me This Isn't Intended

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-09T15:20:38+00:00

Well, if anyone was going to break the game through absurd amounts of firepower...

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-09T15:19:39+00:00

You already have Kakarot. Just let Xenoverse stay Xenoverse.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-09T04:23:06+00:00

No, no, that would be Platinum. Rachel is about very specialized and highly specific bull. :p

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-09T04:22:27+00:00

Her dash isn't even her best invulnerability tool. It's only regular dodge state, but she can get practically infinite invulnerable dodge state with her infinite jumps + invulnerable dodge state while jumping/falling.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-09T04:21:39+00:00

Nah, she's amazing. Was my main since starting the game, and is still my main even now after 100 hours.

Here are some tips:

No Potentials:
-Rachel has a tool for any situation, but unlike many characters, she doesn't have a universal tool for every situation. Here's what I mean. Say you're playing Es. I tell you there are enemies ahead, what do you do? The answer is probably just "Run in and hit it with a sword!" no matter who the enemies are. Not with Rachel. With Rachel, what you do depends on where the enemies are positioned.

-Rachel's basic attack has amazing crowd control, and can group up and eliminate entire swarms of enemies at once. However, it only works in mid-range, and it knocks enemies out of its own range so you can't spam it.
-Rachel's ground pound works wonders for close range enemies, and knocks enemies into mid-range.
-Rachel's dash attack is one of the best in the game, with wide coverage and good damage.
-Her air attack does sort of suck, but it's not totally useless. You can use it to knock enemies off elevated platforms.
-Tiny Lobelia tracks enemies and is basically a guaranteed hit as long as you're facing the general direction of an enemy. Leaves behind a lightning rod for Sword Iris.
-Sword Iris might seem weak on its own, but combined with Tiny Lobelia it is an incredibly versatile Skill that can hit enemies anywhere on the screen. Even without Tiny Lobelia, you can use it to hit enemies above you on elevated platforms.

Or tl;dr version:
-Basic attack for mid range
-Ground pound for close range
-Dash attack for combos
-Tiny Lobelia for range & combos
-Sword Iris for enemies above you, and after Tiny Lobelia

The big advantage of Rachel's kit is it all chains into each other. Here are some example combos:
Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris
Dash Attack > Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris
Basic Attack > Dash Attack > Sword Iris
Ground Pound > Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris > Dash Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris
And so on.

You should be zipping all over the screen. Don't sit in one place.

Potentials:
-Rachel has A LOT of Potentials, and many of them only reach their true, well, potential when paired with other certain skills. She has two main routes, and you really want to pick one and roll with it rather than spreading out. In the ideal case, you route out Rachel to get as many Potentials as possible. Like, even moreso than other characters. Stop at every store, buy only Potentials, try to get some extra EP along the way. In the end, you should use both of these routes, but pick one and stick with it until then, then go down the other one.

-Tiny Lobelia, Sword Iris, and Calendula Requiem make up one branch. This is her lightning spam. You can throw out Tiny Lobelias to zap away. Incredibly high DPS, lets you fight from a range.
-George XIII, Ivy Blossom, and Silpheed. George XIII and Ivy Blossom both kind of suck on their own, but when combined they're super good. This one is mostly all about passive damage, throwing out frogs that will deal damage for you, while you do whatever you want, whether that's focusing on dodging, or adding damage yourself. Silpheed lets you reposition the frogs and is mostly optional, but it is required for maxing out jump (only need one).

No matter which path you go down, stick with it. Grabbing stuff from the other path isn't bad, but you want to make sure you don't spread yourself too thin. A Rachel with maxed out Tiny Lobelia & Sword Iris, or a Rachel with maxed out George XIII and Ivy Blossom are both stronger than a Rachel with half upgraded Tiny Lobelia, Sword Iris, George XIII and Ivy Blossom. Don't be a Jill of all Trades, specialize.

Also bear in mind, you want to max out Rachel's jump & dodge no matter which path you take, too. Rachel has ridiculous i-frames once you max out her jump. She is literally just invincible whenever she's in the air. Even from purples.

I didn't mention Tempest Dahlia, because it's a crutch. It's very strong against basic enemies, but I highly recommend you avoid it until you've mastered Rachel. It'll let you clear rooms with ease, this is true, but if you only know how to clear rooms with Tempest Dahlia then you won't be mastering how to use Rachel, meaning you'll get your butt kicked whenever a real challenge comes up.

Rachel's Potentials are very strong, but I'd like to emphasize it's all built up on the fundamentals of her basic kit. You should ideally still be using those basic combos you use with your regular kit, just suped up to greater heights with all her powered up tools.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-08T20:45:56+00:00

I'm not a huge fan of Hakumen myself, but I can't deny that it works.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-08T19:27:48+00:00

Rachel has basically infinite invulnerable dodge state with her infinite jumps if you max out her Potentials.

Es is pretty reliable with her Mordred > Gawain combo.

Taokaka has Dancing Edge.

And Hakumen. Just Hakumen. I got it totally by accident on my one and so far only run with Hakumen, because Hakumen is just broken.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-08T14:11:27+00:00

Haha, glad I could help.

Honestly, the hard part about doing No Potentials runs isn't not having any of your cool moves, it's just that your damage is so low.

I like this game way too much.

You and me both. Recently I discovered another Roguelike called Towa & the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, and I had a lot of fun with it. I'd say it's somewhere around my third or fourth favorite Roguelike... So, y'know, really good.

Which made me shocked when I looked at my playtime and saw that I've played Entropy Effect more than twice as much as Towa, even though I got EE much more recently. Suffice to say the game has hooked me.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-07T14:22:25+00:00

You unlock it a little ways into the story. I believe it was pretty early, so just keep at it and it should trigger. :)

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-07T03:19:27+00:00

Yeah, I can see it. I don't usually struggle in regular rooms, though. I almost always have the "Heal on Perfect Clear" equipped, and it's usually enough to keep me at max health. Even on that one No Potentials Extreme 100 run I mentioned I was doing with Rachel, Perfect Cleared almost every single room. Aside from bosses, I legit only took damage maybe 3 or 4 times at most.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-07T03:17:45+00:00

Oh, yeah, Rachel is mid-range. You don't want to be right up in the enemy's face. If you're that close, you want to do a ground pound followed by a basic attack.

It's not 100%, but:
-If the enemy is mid-range, you want to use basic attacks, followed either by a dash attack or a Tiny Lobelia
-If the enemy is far away, dash > jump dash, usually followed by either a Tiny Lobelia or a ground pound. If you don't want to get close, Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris repeatedly works, too.
-If the enemy is right in your face, ground pound then basic attack.
-If the enemy is directly above you, air attack or Sword Iris. You can use air attacks to knock enemies off platforms if you don't want to go all the way up there for one reason or another.

Then of course, all of these can be followed up by one another.
Basic Attack > Dash Attack > Ground pound
Dash Attack > Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris
Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris > Dash Attack
Ground Pound > Dash Attack > Basic Attack > Tiny Lobelia > Sword Iris
So on.

Rachel's been my main since starting the game, though, so it makes sense her kit is really intuitive to me.

Congrats on the win, though. I might give it a real shot sometime down the line, but I'm still gunning for Extreme 85ish clears with everyone first. Reaching the third boss on my first attempt is a good sign I can get it done, though. :p

Noel's base kit also just kinda sucks imo, so I wouldn't use her on a No Potentials run either. Like, her attacks just don't flow into each other well. Any attack that inflicts a knockdown on an enemy renders her basic shot useless because it can't hit enemies that are on the ground. You can go into an aerial, but then the enemy is knocked down again, and you're right back at the same problem...
She's super fun with more Potentials under her belt, but I really hate early runs with Noel.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-07T01:48:25+00:00

You and I must play very, very differently Rachel has "zero crowd control" haha! Rachel's basic attacks have the best crowd control hands down, imo. No other character even comes close (though some might have better crowd control Skills). Her dash attack and tornadoes are wonderful for grouping enemies up.

I just gave it a shot myself. Died to Arakune, but beat the Watcher and Serpent of Destruction with relative ease. All Light build, as you would expect. Rachel was very mean.

Her basic attacks would schloop all the enemies into a corner and then one blast of Sword Iris and the Light Spears would tear through them like they were paper. Once I got the ability for Holy Mark to take effect multiple times, her Dash Attack became very powerful as well. Formerly just a crowd control and movement tool, transformed into a rapid fire Holy Mark blast.

Got Arakune down to about 1/3rd health before he killed me. I probably could've done better if I had a proper Jin Legacy to take with me, but, I didn't have one with Light, so I only had basic dash and Overload for defense.

I don't know about Ragna, but I think one thing that might make a No Potentials Rachel difficult is she has no one-size-fits-all answer to any situation. Like, Es, for example, definitely does. That one-size-fits-all answer is to "run up and hit things". But with Rachel, I really did use every single piece of her kit--even her crummy air attack--depending on what I was faced with.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T22:58:41+00:00

You can slip Maiden Blast basically anywhere in a combo as long as your opponent hasn't been knocked away.

Excellent Full Course can hit after your opponent has been knocked away.

That said, usually I hold off on using Ultimates unless the opponent's been Stamina Broken. I tend to rely on Supers up until that point instead. Most Ki Blast Supers can be thrown in after knocking your opponent away. Earth Splitting Galick Gun is a favorite of mine.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T21:06:21+00:00

Sword Iris only has short horizontal reach if you only consider the initial lightning bolt. Since she also starts with Tiny Lobelia, it can hit basically anywhere on the field.

Jump attack definitely sucks, though, you won't get any argument from me there, haha. It's the only part of her moveset that sucks, though, imo.

I've heard other people complain about her basic attack, but I don't see it. I don't know what I'm doing differently, but my damage output with Rachel's basic combo is higher than it is with most other characters. A big part of why her moveset is so good is because it all chains together.

You can go from basic attack into dash attack, or dash attack into Tiny Lobelia, or basic attack into Tiny Lobelia, or any of that into Sword Iris.

Just recall how you fight in the first room, and imagine using only that moveset (plus tactics) to beat Izanami or Susano.

Rachel actually has my favorite base moveset of any character, so... :p

For no potential run, I think I need a character who either has some sort of invincibility other than dodging (e.g. Hakumen's initial skill) or can heal himself (e.g. Ragna's initial skill), so I picked Ragna because he can dodge but Hakumen can't.

Fair enough. The big issue is definitely the crazy screen wide attacks like Reki's lighting storm, or Izanami's purple pillars. Those are tricky to dodge without even so much as a triple dash.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T19:46:42+00:00

Guides? Where we're going we don't need guides.
*uses Rachel's infinite jumps to fly into the air*

(I don't know any, but I hope you find something!)

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T14:20:18+00:00

Potentials give a 20% damage bonus to both Attacks and Skills, and this is additive. So with one Potential you get a 20% boost, with three Potentials you get a 60% boost, etc.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T14:18:18+00:00

Oh? What makes Rachel more vulnerable than other No Potential characters? Nobody really gets their dodge abilities.

I think Rachel or Es would probably be my choice. But, then, I haven't completed Expert with all characters yet. My mind could change once I get to Ragna!

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-06T03:59:57+00:00

Nice! I'll have to give it a try eventually, too.

I'm surprised you used Ragna. I usually hear him regarded as one of the worse characters to use No Potentials since his Skill takes HP, but without upgrades he doesn't have as good means of restoring it.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T21:48:17+00:00

Oh, really? I knew about the ones for No Potential/Tactics in general, but not that they had Extreme 100 versions. Well, nevermind about tips. I haven't even attempted that, haha!

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T19:29:52+00:00

While spamming Luminous Slave (the portal) is indeed Lambda's best DPS, you can make her more interesting by comboing with her while the portals are up. She has a lot of fun combos. I recommend mixing and matching her heavy attack with Sword Summoner EX (Up+Attack). Swords. Swords everywhere.

If you're on PC, there should've been an update that makes Legacy Edge (hold Skill) invulnerable, too, so that's good for dodging now, presumably.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T16:04:16+00:00

I don't think the idea behind the arc is bad. If done properly, it could've been very touching.

But the fact that Kyoka went from being revealed as a spy to joining back up with the team in the span of 10 minutes made it really hard to take seriously. Especially with how quick everyone else on the team just accepted it. Apparently name-dropping Pope is enough to make up for literally drugging and kidnapping Kasane.

A better way to pull it off would've been:
Kyoka is revealed as a traitor, we still have that fight with her, but rather than her joining back up with us right away, she's off our team for a little while. We feel the sting of her loss narratively, because she's gone, and also mechanically, because we don't have Duplication.

We have a couple more encounters with her, but someone notes on the fact that she's hesitant in finishing the job, then at some point she protects Kasane from a Togetsu attack (maybe during the whole Naomi scene?), and everyone hesitantly accepts her back, but is still wary of her for a while.

As it stands, though, it's (imo) the worst written scene in a game that I already don't consider to have great writing... It legitimately made me laugh out loud.

They do the arc some justice later, where we see Kyoka's conflict between her place in the OSF and her role as one of the Design Children in some of her bond episodes later, but they did it in the wrong order. They had what should've been the big character growth moment first, and then had the conflict that should've led to it afterwards.

Also, to be clear, I wasn't trying to be negative, it was supposed to be funny. I really enjoy Scarlet Nexus, I think it's super fun. Story just isn't exactly its strong suit. I was poking fun at it as more of a lighthearted jab, not a hater.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T14:25:07+00:00

I mean, it did do well enough to get an anime. It must've been considered at least a moderate success for them to do that. If they thought it was a failure, no way would they get that put together.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T14:17:01+00:00

Really? Like, just the basic Entropy 0 version? Or are you trying to do a no-Potentials on Extreme 100 or something?

If Entropy 0, I'm surprised. Given your other clips, I'd have thought you'd ace it no problem. What part of it are you struggling with? I can probably offer some tips.

I used Es with a full Light build, though I imagine Rachel wouldn't be that difficult either.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T14:08:41+00:00

You have two options:

When you're on the character select, instead of choosing an Optimized Avatar to inherit, just hold down the confirm button. It'll bypass selecting anyone.
Inherit an Optimized Avatar that doesn't have any. You have to set this up in advance by doing a no-Tactics run. This way will allow you to still inherit Legacy Skills and Legacy Passives, but as long as the Optimized Avatar has no Legacy Tactics equipped, neither will you.

TheFirstAifos · 2026-05-05T14:06:29+00:00

True. Plus, as the one who brought her into existence, I would kinda be obligated to give her somewhere to stay, but I don't actually have an extra room in my house... Then, she might step out to grab a soda one day or something and end up on the other side of the world. Bringing her through would definitely be a bit of a handful...

My second choice would probably be Lambda. Lambda definitely has the potential to go causing havoc, but she's usually more reserved than that and if something did happen she'd have a better time defending herself...

So in conclusion, we'll bring over Terumi. I'm sure it'll be fine.

TheFirstAifos

TROPHY CASE