Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

This is the true face of Seth, the last party member to join the quest. He has been forced to abandon his false skin by exposure to the Aero-Prism. Now we see him for what he truly is - a new incarnation of Dark Force. In many ways, this incarnation was vastly different from all the other Dark Forces we have seen. He was the first to appear in a cinema scene, walked and talked like a person, and even has actual human like legs. This giant creature was clearly built for combat and infiltration.

I always found this odd...I had an easier time with Dark Force 3 than Dark Force 2. Dark Force 3 is a later boss and you fight him with four party members as opposed to five, so I'd think he'd be tougher, but I always had an easier time with him when compared to Dark Force 2. Anyone else agree with this?

Both of the dark forces were kinda easy for me actually. I guess 3 was easier then 2 but they were both pretty easy. I guess it was due to me being stuck in Air Castle for so long that I ended up almost in my mid 50's before facing him.

Kaloes wrote:Both of the dark forces were kinda easy for me actually. I guess 3 was easier then 2 but they were both pretty easy. I guess it was due to me being stuck in Air Castle for so long that I ended up almost in my mid 50's before facing him.

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My party’s levels were nowhere near that high until the very end of the game - actually, not even then. However, I have to agree with Kaloes here: for some reason, I found all three Dark Force battles a breeze.

Lassic, on the other hand, gave me an almighty headache the first time I played. In retrospect, it was simply poor strategy on my part; I was stupidly saving up our stock of DEWs for later in the game. The team barely escaped alive; we were really on our last legs when Lassic finally went down.

After playing the whole thing through once, I learned my lesson: one has less need of DEWs for subsequent bosses, because the party-members have more TP for healing. So there’s no point in holding anything back against Lassic.
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Until recently I never knew you could use the Psyco Wand on Lashiec to take down that uber magic upgrade he uses. I always fought him with full force, even when he used that magic upgrade he hit hard but I always pulled through to the end. Using the Psyco Wand is the right way to fight him but its just not my way, I've always fought him without using it and will still continue to fight him without it. And on my recent saves, one where I used my FAQ to keep Alys i was missing Rika so my healing was gone for that battle and I still made it through. and on my other save where I edited out Chaz for Alys and used many glitches to get hahn and demi in my group so Alys Rune Demi Kyra and Hahn could take on the world I still made it through him as well, and the dark force fights with this group was a breeze as well. So I guess its all about preperation.

[face=Times New Roman]The Psycho Wand can be used on all the bosses, even the Rykros tower guardians (the "Neutralised" message invariably appears, but I'm not sure whether it makes any tangible difference to the damage inflicted on them).

But I'm amazed that you managed to get through Lassic without healing spells, Kaloes. I relied heavily on Rika's SAR and GISAR, to the point where she scarcely had any TP left by the end of the battle. Did you stock up on DEWs and Trimate in advance?

I'll simply have to try your "Alys trick" at some point. It must be fun watching Alys level up, acquiring new skills and techniques, and fighting the final bosses. Must be a bit spooky when Chaz meets Elsydeon, though: Alys appears in those sequences, even though she's presumably waiting outside for him with the others. [/face]

I really never stocked up on Dews, usually if I find them I always forget I have em in my inventory anyways. I had maybe 10 trimates on me when I went to face lashiec, its not hard, just time consuming. When using Alys against Lashiec I found it better to randomize between her skills. Give her Kyra's slashers since Alys has vortex, which will do somewhat between 130-210 damage depending on her level. after all the vortexes were up I focused on using NaFoi with Alys as her Mental stat is actually quite high then most people believe it to be.

I think Dark Force 3 is easier because his attacks are the same skill set Seth uses. He wastes a lot of turns trying to throw out status effects that easily removed, instead of going for actual damage.

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Thoul wrote:I think Dark Force 3 is easier because his attacks are the same skill set Seth uses. He wastes a lot of turns trying to throw out status effects that easily removed, instead of going for actual damage.

If you use up most of Seth's skills beforehand, does it make any difference to his repertoire as Dark Force after the transformation?

As previously noted, it makes no difference if Seth's HP decline to zero and he deteriorates into a "Dying" state. The dialogue and transformation to Dark Force take place just the same. But I've always wondered whether depleting his skills has any impact on the boss battle.[/face]

I highly doubt it, I put a infinite health code on one time and drained Seth down to 0 on all his skills and TP and when I fought DF3 he went on a onslaught, even with my infinite health I put the thing on turbo and let the battle sit there everyone defending for about 2hrs and he was still blasting me with skills.