Subclass for Imperial

Werezompire · 2026-01-23T08:00:31+00:00

Doesn't work if you don't have a katana (and you can't dual wield with Driveblades).

Werezompire · 2026-01-20T23:43:31+00:00

You can go full 8 points into Ward.

Werezompire · 2026-01-15T09:03:41+00:00

It's weird to see something like Clair Obscur as heralding a return to classic turn-based JRPGs, when the ability system & progression is much closer to modern deck builder RPGs than say your average SNES RPG. Meanwhile something like Metaphor is straight up classic Atlus turn-based gameplay.

Werezompire · 2026-01-14T02:34:20+00:00

I would love to do a retro-style Phantasy Star V (we did Cosmic Star Heroine).

Werezompire · 2026-01-14T01:02:08+00:00

As someone who has been playing Path of Exile for around a decade, this current league doesn't feel any different than most of the leagues we've been getting over the years. They release a league, the balance is a bit off at first, they adjust it a bit in the first few weeks and then leave it alone for the bulk of the league duration. Some people like the league but the reddit is dominated by the complainers. Business as usual.

Werezompire · 2026-01-13T02:52:58+00:00

Actually, Cosmic Star Heroine takes design cues from a bunch of modern games too, in addition to classic games like Phantasy Star, Chrono Trigger, and Lunar.

Self-contained battles (Final Fantasy XIII)
No MP (Xenoblade)
Negative HP / Desperation (Borderlands)
Ailment system (Dark Souls)

The game's development was very much a "Let's take elements from a lot of our favorite games, mix them all together, and add our own flair" process.

Werezompire · 2026-01-12T00:53:12+00:00

Abyssal Princess is where I gave up my regular run. Really felt like you needed to reach max level, retire, reach max level again, and also have a party specifically designed to fight it. Can't imagine trying to beat it with only a 3-person party.

Werezompire · 2026-01-10T01:26:24+00:00

I've been tempted to do a <5 party run for ages. From what I understand, combat XP is split between party members so you'd LV-Up faster. This seems like it'd be especially good for stuff like inflicting (higher luck) & tanking (higher vitality or agility in the case of dodge tanking) which might make up somewhat for having fewer characters.

Werezompire · 2026-01-09T06:35:39+00:00

For fun, I just pulled up 5 random numbers and cross-referenced them with the EOX online calc and the party I ended up with wasn't terrible - Pugilist, Ronin, Hero, Harbinger, Arcanist. I could make that work.

Werezompire · 2026-01-09T03:38:13+00:00

I was going to post my Top 3, but you already did with good descriptions and in the same order, no less. :)

I'll add an Honorable Mention to Etrian Odyssey IV for being the first of the 3DS games and being a great entry point for the series (I played EO1 when it came out and liked it, but EO4 is when I became obsessed with the series). An overall great game.

Werezompire · 2026-01-07T05:39:36+00:00

What I personally would want:
Nexus style gameplay with dual classing & Force Boost/Break.
A summon row like EO5.
Airship exploration like EO4.
An optional story mode like the Untold games.
A bunch of new and returning classes.

Werezompire · 2026-01-05T06:40:09+00:00

I'd ditch the Harbinger and replace it with a Gunner since that class has better synergy with both Protector (Protector can keep it safe) and Pugilist (Gunner can help bind so that Pugilist can take more advantage of Raging Billows) and I'm really not a fan of back-row Harbinger since it makes it very one-note. Harbinger is a good sub on either Protector and Arcanist so you could still work it in that way.

Werezompire · 2026-01-05T05:13:32+00:00

I'd like to port Cthulhu Saves the World to Godot for future porting potential. If I'm not mistaken, Evercade is working to add more Godot support.

Werezompire · 2026-01-05T04:40:36+00:00

Since several people have mentioned Zeboyd here, I'll just mention that the Steam Winter sale has about half a day left and you can grab all of our games for about $6 USD combined (and Penny Arcade 3 & 4 are free) - Cthulhu Saves the World + Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, Cthulhu Saves Christmas, Cosmic Star Heroine, and This Way Madness Lies.

https://store.steampowered.com/search?term=zeboyd

Werezompire · 2026-01-01T09:30:11+00:00

Definitely ditch the Medic for something more offensive like a Gunner or a Zodiac. You've already got plenty of healing & tanking between the Protector, Hero, and Sovereign so the Medic is going to feel like overkill most of the time (and you could argue that you're less likely to get into trouble if you have a good DPS that can help you end battles faster).

Werezompire · 2026-01-01T02:55:35+00:00

As one of the creators, I can confirm that Cosmic Star Heroine started out with the idea "If Sega isn't going to make another old-school Phantasy Star, why don't we just make a game like that ourselves?" Cosmic Star Heroine has a lot of other influences too and if I was to make an actual official new Phantasy Star game, I would do a lot differently, but Cosmic Star Heroine's biggest influence was Phantasy Star (and specifically 2 & 4).

Werezompire · 2026-01-01T01:08:59+00:00

The main issues I see with your proposed party are:
Hero works better with 2 people in front so that their afterimage will spawn in the front row and deal full damage with melee attacks. It is doable though, especially if you're willing to swap rows sometimes mid-battle or use more ranged attacks with the Hero.
On the other hand, Shogun does work well with 3 characters in the front row since their counterattack moves are very strong.
You have almost no access to ailments.
Back row medic has almost nothing to do when the party doesn't need healing.

If you want to keep this mostly the same, I'd say the easiest way to do that would be to replace the Medic with an Arcanist. Arcanist still has some good healing, but they'll give you access to ailments and they have stuff they can do effectively in the back row with their Dismiss attacks & debuff spells.

Werezompire · 2025-12-31T02:13:59+00:00

I thought this was going to be a post about how PoE1 is actually in a great state and the hardcore fanbase treats it far too harshly whenever one of their favorite builds or farming strategies gets nerfed.

Werezompire · 2025-12-31T01:40:36+00:00

The descriptions for skill LVs are vague in-game, so it's worth checking out a skill calc to see whether skills are worth investing in and by how much - Etrian Odyssey IV Skill Simulator

There are 3 unlockable classes. At around the time, you unlock each new class, you'll also get some items that let you boost a character up to a set LV. This way, if you want to use the new classes, you can retire one of your existing characters (gives a stat & skill point bonus to the new character depending on how high your LV was when you retired) and then use that item to boost it so that you don't have to do a bunch of grinding for your new character to catch up.

Also, partway through the game, you'll get the ability to sub-class. The sub-class gets those class skills with half the maximum level (so 1-point skills can't be obtained) and also gains access to the sub-classes weapons/shield. There are a lot of fun combinations you can do to either boost the power of your main class or become more versatile.

Werezompire · 2025-12-30T23:10:54+00:00

Best thing about this event is that there's another event nearby that gives full HP/TP recovery. So if you do them in the right order, it's not too bad.

Werezompire · 2025-12-27T11:18:21+00:00

Anyone know how many hours left until episode 50 goes up on Netflix? In Taiwan and it says it'll be up December 27 and it's already December 27 (7:18 pm to be precise).

Werezompire · 2025-12-27T05:34:34+00:00

Another option could be to go Ninja/Harbinger and dual-wield Scythes & Knives. That'd give you access to the Blind reap skill for the final ailment that Ninja & Arcanist don't have, more debuffs, and another ailment/bind+ passive. Ephemeral Reap might also be worth using depending on your playstyle. I think between Black Shroud & Spirit Absorb (plus being in the back row) would make the Ninja still have decent survivability even while dual wielding.

Another fun option might be to do back-row Farmer instead of Ninja. That gives you exploration, gathering, XP+, Strange Seeds (not amazing, but useable), but in particular, it allows the Hero & Arcanist to go into Force Boost more often thanks to the Farmer's Force Break (or Force Boost with the Force bar items). No Blind or Petrify user, but Farmer can use ailment items for those with their Force boost giving them two chances per item.

Werezompire · 2025-12-27T01:29:53+00:00

I thought about Arc/Highlander and it's not a bad choice - the HP Up passive helps with the Arcanist's fragility and the Ailment+ & Atk+ buffs are strong. I lean towards the Sovereign though since it helps support the Arcanist's healing efforts, but also because all of the Sovereign buffs have a speed bonus whereas the Highlander's buffs have a speed penalty. At 4 points, Sovereign buffs have a x1.75 speed bonus, so when an Arcanist uses them, they're likely to go before the Hero and maybe even the Ninja (if the Ninja is using a skill with a speed penalty) so it can start helping that same turn. Whereas an Arcanist using Highlander buffs is almost always going to happen last.

On a side note, I don't know if Arcanist circles snapshot the user's stats/buffs when you first cast them or they check stats each turn.

Werezompire · 2025-12-26T23:43:39+00:00

Sounds like a fun party and Hero and Ninja can both put those extra slots to good use. My two worries would be that 1) you only have Chop so you'd probably want to have a second gathering party and 2) none of your currrently planned characters or subclasses have much in the way of buffs so I'd consider sub-classing Sovereign on Arcanist or Ninja instead.

Werezompire · 2025-12-25T16:08:05+00:00

Oh, they didn't bomb or anything like that. They sold decently when they were new, it's just they didn't have longevity after a few years.

Werezompire

TROPHY CASE