Hypothetically beating Army Eye

[etony33]

It's probably impossible, but damnit, I want to do it. Here's what I need to know in order to crunch the numbers properly:

1. What would be the hypothetical max stats for each character? I know that the levelups are not static, and that there is a considerable range of stat gains at each level up. How much of a range is there, and is there a "rubber band effect" (in other words, will the game prevent you from getting the best possible levelups every time)?

2. How, exactly, is the damage formula calculated? What is the min/max range?

3. Would killing one Army Eye prevent them from using plasma rings? Because killing *one* probably isn't that farfetched.

[Zucca]

IIRC each army eye has a "monster tech" which engages plasma rings and ends the battle. Then it runs the subroutine to switch party position to Gaira and moves their equipment into another location (in memory). At least this is what I remember when I looked at Army Eye stats inside the disassembly.

[fogeltje]

You only have a few turns until they cast their plasma rings. I don't think you can take them out even if you are max level. It has been done with cheats of course. However you will be stuck and can never progress your game.

[etony33]

I know that. You get, I believe, three turns to do 3000 damage to each of them.

I figured out a couple years ago that it's theoretically possible to beat Re-Faze without cheating. The odds are ASTRONOMICALLY low (by my estimates, you have a 0.1% chance of surviving three Megids without healing in between, and you need to do that 18+ times in 70 chances).

But it's not zero. I did it on an emulator, just loading the state over and over until Megid did 211 damage or less. I wonder if the same can be done with Army Eye.

[Zucca]

The success rate for the "plasma ring tech" is 100%, or 255 out of 255 (or like... may have been 127 out of 127, but 100% none the less) when looking at the disassembly.

[etony33]

Yes, I know. It would have to be done extremely quickly.

Rolf, Kain, Shir, ???, all at level 50. Max levelups every time, max damage rolls every time, Megid/Nagra, Nasag, Nagra, ???
It would be really freaking rough and most likely impossible, but if anyone can make this work somehow, it's me. That's why I'm wondering what the hypothetical max damage would be for each of those.

[Zucca]

Was it on the third round when Army Eye throws the plasma rings? Assuming everyone is faster than any of the Army Eyes, you'd need to deal at least 1000 damage on each Army Eye, on every turn. So it's at least 250 damage per party member using some group targetting tech.

[Doctor Hooves]

The final Army Eye on the third rounds casts the plasma rings. If somehow you could focus on just one, you could beat them, especially with Brose.

Rolf should spam Megid, Kain should spam either Nasag or Brose. Shir should span Nagra, and Rudo could aid you with a gun.

If Rolf runs out of the Megid TP, then a spell like Nazan could be used (despite what some websites claim, Rolf doesn’t learn Nagra at level 40, Megid is his finale).

[etony33]

Hmmm. So, only the third one has that technique, huh?

[lorenzo]

The Plasma Ring has 100% chance of being used, but the actual attack is not used until the 9th time the technique is accessed. When an Army Eye (or hypothetically any other enemy with this technique) gets a turn, the game runs the Plasma Ring function; the first thing it does is add a counter and, if that counter reaches 9, the technique is used, otherwise they switch to a regular attack.

[Zucca]

the first thing it does is add a counter and, if that counter reaches 9, the technique is used, otherwise they switch to a regular attack.

So basically that counter gets three increments per turn. If the party manages to get rid of one, they get more time to beat the rest. Still a very tough challenge.

[fogeltje]

Interesting info all this. I think I still have an emulator savegame with Nei at level 50. I could of course try to level others but I think that will happen in the foreseeable future.

[etony33]

How do you intend to fight Army Eye with Nei? That is obviously not possible without hacking, and if you're going to do that, you might as well just give everyone max experience.

[etony33]

I made a PS2 hack with Nei remaining in your party. She sucks after Climatrol.

[The PS Logo]

To effectively pull this off, every character would individually have to do 750 damage minimum each round, or use multi-target techs for 250 damage minimum to each Army Eye per round. This does not include healing after using Megid.
PSII's battle mechanics do not help in the multi-target case as the damage window shows the total damage dealt, with no indication as to how much damage each Army Eye took. While 750 in the damage window looks perfect, one Army Eye could actually be dealt 249 damage or less, and you won't know which one took the lower amount of damage.