The Half-Blood Prince scrawls in the margins...

[Muuuu teki]

...(tee-hee) his notes for Phantasy Star: EOTM.<p>The Laconian Rod is exceptionally effective against the "Deathworm" enemies (using it causes a one-hit K.O.), like the Outerbeast; this makes two Guardian Claws a viable option for Rika over a Silver Tusk (the only weapon outside of the Elsydeon) or Genocide Claw that cause more than one point of damage.<p>A very efficient way to heal is to walk around the overworld of Motavia or Dezolis (the enemies on Rykros are rather strong) and get into fights, using the Guardian Rod to heal. Robots heal by walking and can't die, so it's just as well. Uses no money, and won't heal characters you want to keep dead (so nobody hits level 99 too soon).<p>Paladin Blow is as strong, if not stronger, than Grand Cross, when at comparable levels. Pity I can't have a party of Raja, Wren, Rune, Hahn, and Chaz.<p>Even when Grand Cross might not connect (or Paladin Blow is used), Efess is still typically Rune's strongest attack in the final battle and The Edge.<p>Paladin Blow, furthermore, only hits one enemy, making it best saved for the final battle.<p>Oddly enough, ALL the instant death spells are all incredibly effective against the powerful dark enemies in The Edge.<p>The Mahlay Dagger, when used as an item, is almost as strong as Hahn's attack with an extra Laconian Dagger, hitting for about 120 damage when his attack does about 150 (right after he rejoins the party). So, shield Hahn and use the dagger as an item.<p>Destruct is pretty much useless after reaching levels beyond 70 (when Wren has enough Posibolt to keep it going throughout the final battle); Grand Cross / Paladin Blow hits for about 800 alone, and Rika and Wren have even more to add. Even if Rika still used Deban, you'd get around 999 or so damage.<p>This occurs especially when attacking Prophallus at higher levels. Grandcross will hit for 999 anyway (even more if the combo is broken up!) at levels beyond 70.<p>Hahn, Raja, and Demi are probably the best options for the fifth character, having healing spells and strong techs and skills, both offensive and defensive. Kyra is not as effective against single characters (boss battles), and Gryz cannot heal as auxiliary, meaning that Chaz would have to take over for him (has low TP). Rune and Hahn have better attack options than Kyra (lacks any powerful skills except Tandle), and Raja's healing is a more useful option in the final battle against the multiple-character-hit attacks (like Megid, by PD3) than Medice. St. Elmo's Fire is as strong as Tandle. Medical Power is also an excellent choice, allowing you to keep fighting even if Demi might be the only one still alive (making it easier to beat PD at really low levels).<p>Raja makes it too easy because he can attack OR heal, while Rika does the other (if you run out of TP for NaSar, use Ataraxia, the most broken single technique in the game!).<p>Once a character has 15-20 uses of whatever skill is needed to be used in the final battle (Posibolt, Crosscut / Rayblade, Doubleslash, Phononmezner / Medical Power, St. Fire / Miracle / Ataraxia, Efess [and Legeon / Tandle], Vision, and Tandle / Medice) magic and other skills can be used to take on the enemies in the darkness (SaVol, for example, is good for Hahn to use in the Edge, better than NaZan or NaWat since it usually connects and is, of course, a one-hit K.O. technique).<p>By level 80, if you need a challenge, kill off Rika, Wren, and / or the fifth party member and battle like that against the PD. I will later attempt to beat the PD with only Chaz at level 90.<p>(Whole game is obviously much easier than PS2. Higher-level techniques cost MUCH less than in PS2 (almost half-price!!), some weapons can have chance of instant-death, Megido has no backfire and presumably doesn't relate to characters' HP, Star-Dew and Moon-Dew can easily be purchased after fighting DF3, no characters get possesed as they did in PS2 (I don't count Seth's event, as a result), the game tells you where to go almost to the letter (minus dungeons), and the storyline doesn't have the punch of PS2. This is not to mention that there is a five-character party, like in PS3.)<p>However, what is unfortunate is that only the 'fifth' party member can be changed without hacking save-states (cannot, obviously, be done on a real Genesis).<p>The Ice-Digger renders the Hovercraft obsolete, since it can cross sand too, but it's got much higher HP than the Hydrofoil, which should NOT be used unless crossing Motavian waters (NEVER on Dezolis or Rykros).<br><p>[size=small][Edit by Muuuu teki on [TIME]1123297191[/TIME]][/size]

[gbrooks]

And here, knowing I was looking in a PS forum, I thought this thread was going to be about the new Harry Potter book.

[Muuuu teki]

It's a Layan thing. OMG PS6 SPOILERZ!!1!

[Malakai]

These are all very nice pointers, but since when did this forum become gamfaqs.com?

[Muuuu teki]

I dunno. Just thought you guys would appreciate this (and gamefaqs scares me a bit... :p ).

[DaveGeorge]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what i "paladin blow"? I've beaten PSIV several times and never heard of it !@#$

[Malakai]

Paladin Blow is a combo attack where Chaz performs Rayblade at the same time that Hahn does his Astral skill, thus hitting a single enemy with a very powerful force.

[KexMex]

<blockquote><i>Originally posted by Malakai</i><p>Paladin Blow is a combo attack where Chaz performs Rayblade at the same time that Hahn does his Astral skill, thus hitting a single enemy with a very powerful force.<br></blockquote><p>That one is used excessively by me, btw.

[DaveGeorge]

Ah thanks. I hardly ever use Rayblade, that must be why I did not know about it