Thokeus

Newbie
Jan 14, 2025
38
6
OK, I couldn't play the last couple days, and before getting back to it I had a couple of questions (keeping in mind I'm still on my probably doomed purity run).

I think I heard somewhere that it was optimal to do festival of greed by d20. Does this mean finish it on d19, or d20? Also, what does it do?

Something else is that my current idea for my build was to kinda try to have some magic firepower. I was aiming to grab Thunderbolt as quickly as possible, but I'm now getting the impression the "just attack" builds are kinda much stronger? Anyone can give advice there?
so your expecting a triple a title out of a rpg maker game?
I think that was a comment on a review that blasted the game for being a slow burn actually fairly long game with a emphasis on gameplay. I do think it's important to have a proper tag system for hgame given how sometimes it can be hard to know if something is a 2hr game or a 50hr one, but I think SKA actually does tag that?
 

timdraco

Newbie
Jun 17, 2017
35
25
i actually like this game, so it wasn't me on that comment blasting it. I was being sarcastic to previous poster not serious. As to how long a game is, i think the more you play the better the game is. I wouldn't have spent as many hours on this game trying for save games to share if i didn't like it. As to strong builds, it depends on what route your taking. If you're going straight corruption there's a few factors you have to consider. Like if you have the requisite skills and abilities to make a corrupt build. If you're going purity, then yes magic is a strong build.
 

timdraco

Newbie
Jun 17, 2017
35
25
Continuing on builds, also enemies have a lot of strengths and weaknesses so finding something that's universal op build is hard. Some enemies are weak to magic, some to physical damage. So my strategy is to find something that works for how i play and stick to it.
 

Noon_Shadow

Newbie
Nov 7, 2018
35
24
I think I heard somewhere that it was optimal to do festival of greed by d20. Does this mean finish it on d19, or d20? Also, what does it do?
That's for an optimized playthrough. I believe you're still working on your first playthrough, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you don't take a ton of optimized decisions leading up to it, you can get stuck during the Festival of Greed event by trying to tackle it too early. The benefits are that some of the NPCs you rescue will give you a few extra items.

Of course, don't wait too long. The story doesn't progress until you finish the event, so most of the world and quests are locked off, and you get a lot more opportunities to get better materials and such once the world opens up. If you're trying for an optimized playthrough, you might just want to follow a walkthrough.

Something else is that my current idea for my build was to kinda try to have some magic firepower. I was aiming to grab Thunderbolt as quickly as possible, but I'm now getting the impression the "just attack" builds are kinda much stronger? Anyone can give advice there?
Unless you're trying to min-max, you do want some of both. Some enemies later have insane physical defense but are weaker to magic, and vice versa. But in the early game, especially, physical attacks combined with using Light 1 to get tactical advantage are mostly going to cover it. The game seems designed around giving players lots of options, but you're not expected to learn every single spell and Martial in order to win. Thunderbolt is viable, but there's a spell you can fairly soon called "Lightning sword," which kind of makes it redundant. But there's also a few skills you can't get quite yet that make MAT builds much more viable, and Aura starts stronger with physical attack than magic.

There's also some spells which are just necessary to progress. Like Fire 1 to burn some plants to open paths, there are other places you won't be able to reach without certain spells.
 
May 8, 2022
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That's for an optimized playthrough. I believe you're still working on your first playthrough, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you don't take a ton of optimized decisions leading up to it, you can get stuck during the Festival of Greed event by trying to tackle it too early. The benefits are that some of the NPCs you rescue will give you a few extra items.

Of course, don't wait too long. The story doesn't progress until you finish the event, so most of the world and quests are locked off, and you get a lot more opportunities to get better materials and such once the world opens up. If you're trying for an optimized playthrough, you might just want to follow a walkthrough.



Unless you're trying to min-max, you do want some of both. Some enemies later have insane physical defense but are weaker to magic, and vice versa. But in the early game, especially, physical attacks combined with using Light 1 to get tactical advantage are mostly going to cover it. The game seems designed around giving players lots of options, but you're not expected to learn every single spell and Martial in order to win. Thunderbolt is viable, but there's a spell you can fairly soon called "Lightning sword," which kind of makes it redundant. But there's also a few skills you can't get quite yet that make MAT builds much more viable, and Aura starts stronger with physical attack than magic.

There's also some spells which are just necessary to progress. Like Fire 1 to burn some plants to open paths, there are other places you won't be able to reach without certain spells.
Getting tier 3 skills (or max tier 2) before you go off for the final showdown in Richard's realm is highly advised too. It takes a while to learn but once you get the required tier 3 skills (Like Light, Fire, Thunderbolt, etc.) you will be really powerful. Only downside is you'll need a lot more mana to use, but that's easy to fix tbh.

More importantly: exploring ALL of the Demonic realms before going into Richard's throne room and getting all of the materials in those realms is also highly advised. Especially since you can get a lot of Ether, which in turn you can make a MATK increase potion (+5) for Charlotte or John. (Imo it's MANDATORY that he learns "Light" for late game, and gets every matk book gifted to him). Well either that, or getting mana stones to increase total mana for John. (Charlotte has enough, she's a mage after all)
 

Thokeus

Newbie
Jan 14, 2025
38
6
Or a Aura-Alicia path where they screw two guys at the same time. (Not Richard or anyone they know, just some random studs at a club or w/e)
I'd much prefer a real lesbian path between them... but I also don't think Alicia would be able to /begin/ such a path without first going through random studs, simply because of how messed up she is.
Getting tier 3 skills (or max tier 2) before you go off for the final showdown in Richard's realm is highly advised too. It takes a while to learn but once you get the required tier 3 skills (Like Light, Fire, Thunderbolt, etc.) you will be really powerful. Only downside is you'll need a lot more mana to use, but that's easy to fix tbh.

More importantly: exploring ALL of the Demonic realms before going into Richard's throne room and getting all of the materials in those realms is also highly advised. Especially since you can get a lot of Ether, which in turn you can make a MATK increase potion (+5) for Charlotte or John. (Imo it's MANDATORY that he learns "Light" for late game, and gets every matk book gifted to him). Well either that, or getting mana stones to increase total mana for John. (Charlotte has enough, she's a mage after all)
Wait, does this mean I shouldn't gift the matk books to Charlotte?

Also, can I ask for advice for early festival of greed on a purity playthrough, especially if it's possible when trying for a mage build? (and do I need to be d19 when doing it, or is d20 fine?).
 
May 8, 2022
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I'd much prefer a real lesbian path between them... but I also don't think Alicia would be able to /begin/ such a path without first going through random studs, simply because of how messed up she is.

Wait, does this mean I shouldn't gift the matk books to Charlotte?

Also, can I ask for advice for early festival of greed on a purity playthrough, especially if it's possible when trying for a mage build? (and do I need to be d19 when doing it, or is d20 fine?).
Okay so...Finishing the festival before Day 19 (before!!) means that you will get 2 vitality potions instead of 1 from a rescued maid. Not doing so is not that big of a deal so long as you finish the festival AT or BEFORE day 39. (for Maid) Meaning you talk to a merchant to take you to the festival on day 28, the festival goes on day 29.

Finishing it in 29 or less days ALSO means you'll get 500 gold. If you don't, you'll get 200 gold from a merchant in the congregation. Day 49 and you won't get anything from him.

Also yes, do NOT give the matk books to Charlotte. As a mage character, she earns more than enough through level-ups.

You can 100% beat the Festival of Greed with a Mage Aura, but it will be very difficult. The best way to do it is to combine Magic and Melee in order to win. Meaning you hit with a magic ability to get the "superior advantage". (instant crit next turn if you target weakness, such as "fire" for a blue slime.) And then you hit one of the two big bad guys to deal the most damage.

I hope this helps and isn't too confusing.
 
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Iexist

Engaged Member
Jul 20, 2018
2,008
3,219
I'd much prefer a real lesbian path between them... but I also don't think Alicia would be able to /begin/ such a path without first going through random studs, simply because of how messed up she is.

Wait, does this mean I shouldn't gift the matk books to Charlotte?

Also, can I ask for advice for early festival of greed on a purity playthrough, especially if it's possible when trying for a mage build? (and do I need to be d19 when doing it, or is d20 fine?).
If you're going for optimization in the long-run, then yeah, giving M.Attack Books to John is more effective than Charlotte. This is because Charlotte only has Fire 2 at most as her offensive spell, and while that's not bad, it's not particularly great either.

John on the other hand, in a latter quest, can be taught the Light spell as long as Aura knows Light 2 herself. That Light 1 spell is later upgraded to Light 2 after a certain quest, and Light 2 does double damage to demons, which are the things you'll eventually end up fighting the most with John in the party. On top of that, you can then gift him with "The Art of Light", after you have Aura learn it of course, which gives the Light Spell 50% M.Def Penetration. Lastly, if you have the Orb of Light Artifact, it benefits John too, and there is no equivalent artifact for Fire.

The end result is that with some effort, you can make John hit decently hard with the Light Spell, which then translates into Tactical Advantage, which then lets him hit hard with even basic attacks, at least against enemies that don't have absurd Def, or which have their armor broken because of either Acid Bomb or Brittle 2 in the case of enemies with the Rigid trait.

The only way it could be better would be if you could somehow teach John Radiance, but that's unfortunately impossible... You MIGHT be able to teach him Stone Mind though, now that I think about it, and with that as an auto-spell, even if he only gets one shot off from that spell, it could be devastating.

It'd be tricky in terms of timing, or maybe impossible if you're trying to push hard on purity.
 
May 8, 2022
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If you're going for optimization in the long-run, then yeah, giving M.Attack Books to John is more effective than Charlotte. This is because Charlotte only has Fire 2 at most as her offensive spell, and while that's not bad, it's not particularly great either.

John on the other hand, in a latter quest, can be taught the Light spell as long as Aura knows Light 2 herself. That Light 1 spell is later upgraded to Light 2 after a certain quest, and Light 2 does double damage to demons, which are the things you'll eventually end up fighting the most with John in the party. On top of that, you can then gift him with "The Art of Light", after you have Aura learn it of course, which gives the Light Spell 50% M.Def Penetration. Lastly, if you have the Orb of Light Artifact, it benefits John too, and there is no equivalent artifact for Fire.

The end result is that with some effort, you can make John hit decently hard with the Light Spell, which then translates into Tactical Advantage, which then lets him hit hard with even basic attacks, at least against enemies that don't have absurd Def, or which have their armor broken because of either Acid Bomb or Brittle 2 in the case of enemies with the Rigid trait.

The only way it could be better would be if you could somehow teach John Radiance, but that's unfortunately impossible... You MIGHT be able to teach him Stone Mind though, now that I think about it, and with that as an auto-spell, even if he only gets one shot off from that spell, it could be devastating.

It'd be tricky in terms of timing, or maybe impossible if you're trying to push hard on purity.
You can teach John three abilities/spells. And it is important imo to teach him Light, Stone Mind and Brittle.

Now I know what you're thinking. "what's the point of Brittle?" well, it reduces a target's DEF for three turns. It might not sound like a big deal late game, but it is against some of the stronger greater demons you'll find in many of Richard's domains.

Not to mention it is MOST useful for the "reverse summoning" quest too. Especially against the final boss there, which I won't spoil for others.
 
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whittle

Member
Dec 18, 2023
133
131
You can 100% beat the Festival of Greed with a Mage Aura, but it will be very difficult. The best way to do it is to combine Magic and Melee in order to win. Meaning you hit with a magic ability to get the "superior advantage". (instant crit next turn if you target weakness, such as "fire" for a blue slime.) And then you hit one of the two big bad guys to deal the most damage.

I hope this helps and isn't too confusing.
If I remember correctly you can (or could, speaking from older version knowledge here), RNG willing and difficulty depending, practically clear the initial FoG boss fight with just the trio thanks to perika buffs, particularly John's counter skill. Naturally RNG-based battling tends to suck ass, but as long as the game is regularly throwing softballs in the way of countered attacks I'm pretty sure Aura could be completely unspecced (or even flat out "dead") and still have a non-zero chance to clear the Arwin fight as long as you have at least some perika to spend.
 

Thokeus

Newbie
Jan 14, 2025
38
6
I hope this helps and isn't too confusing.
Thanks. any advice on who to gift the other books to?

It helps a lot, I just wouldn't have realised that someone else could us the matk book better than Charlotte without actually getting to the lategame first, I think.

So I guess early on magic for Aura is mostly considered useful for setting up physical abilities, but later on that changes? Or is it that way forever?

I'll have to think about what to do, it does feel like I screwed myself timeline wise and I might not be able to scrap a win on d18 (not enough sharpened, not yet done armour upgrades as I was hoping for better mats).

Speaking of upgrade mats, what kind of mats are "good enough" to use, and is there a way to survive until you get the better mats, or are they nonstarters?
 

Noon_Shadow

Newbie
Nov 7, 2018
35
24
Now I know what you're thinking. "what's the point of Brittle?" well, it reduces a target's DEF for three turns. It might not sound like a big deal late game, but it is against some of the stronger greater demons you'll find in many of Richard's domains.
Brittle II is a damn good spell, also, because it causes "defenses broken" on rigid enemies. That only really applies to one enemy type in the final dungeon, sure, but it's very helpful along the way. Eligos is a bitch to fight if you don't have Brittle II. It makes the Clockwork Forest/Tower almost a cakewalk as well. It also helps with some enemies on the Judgment of Pride quest.

Also it targets every single enemy instead of just one. I over looked the spell for a long time but I've decided Brittle II is worth getting on basically every playthrough now.
 

Iexist

Engaged Member
Jul 20, 2018
2,008
3,219
You can teach John three abilities/spells. And it is important imo to teach him Light, Stone Mind and Brittle.

Now I know what you're thinking. "what's the point of Brittle?" well, it reduces a target's DEF for three turns. It might not sound like a big deal late game, but it is against some of the stronger greater demons you'll find in many of Richard's domains.

Not to mention it is MOST useful for the "reverse summoning" quest too. Especially against the final boss there, which I won't spoil for others.
Well, yeah, that'd be the ideal combo of spells to teach John in the long-run, but actually pulling that off on a Purity run is likely insanely hard. Getting Stone Mind to 2 is going to be expensive no matter what, and likely time consuming. Same with Brittle 2, because both of those require you to join Pasciel, and on a Purity run, you can only do that by paying 20k gold, AND you need another 2k just for the spells. Well... no... I think you could get Stone Mind 2 from that bitch with Slay the Demon... but that seems inefficient when Item Stance 2 is there and highly effective for Bomb Spam... especially since you can't get said skill from anywhere else at all.

That said, I don't remember Brittle being particularly useful for the Final Final boss of Reverse Summoning... Pretty sure Clairedolus didn't have Rigid? And in the dual battle, you don't really need to beat Claire's armors, cuz Dolus is relatively easy to own by abusing Truthmaker's weakness. Of course, I might just not be remembering it right because I tended to abuse Acid bombs and Blessed Acid bombs on every boss fight basically.

Thanks. any advice on who to gift the other books to?

It helps a lot, I just wouldn't have realised that someone else could us the matk book better than Charlotte without actually getting to the lategame first, I think.

So I guess early on magic for Aura is mostly considered useful for setting up physical abilities, but later on that changes? Or is it that way forever?

I'll have to think about what to do, it does feel like I screwed myself timeline wise and I might not be able to scrap a win on d18 (not enough sharpened, not yet done armour upgrades as I was hoping for better mats).

Speaking of upgrade mats, what kind of mats are "good enough" to use, and is there a way to survive until you get the better mats, or are they nonstarters?
Let's put it this way, my late-game Aura could hit over 3k damage with Light 3 and Stone Mind 2 on Demons in Richard's domain. She could one-shot Wrath Demons, Greed Demons and Lust Demons and just about 2-shot everything else.

That said, my run wasn't 100% pure. So I had a bit more money to invest in things by sheer dint of the Alchemist Discount, learning spells for lewds from the sage, getting free Alchemist recipes from a store that opens later in the game. Etc. I kept things from having Aura get fucked by anyone other than George on Earth, but she sure got molested a lot, gave a bunch of handjobs, a couple of blowjobs and got fucked by the slime, but Gooey apparently doesn't count as cheating.

So yeah, Mage Aura can murder Demon enemies, but she'll have a hard time in certain other contexts. Like the Dragon optional boss... though on the other hand, she'll absolutely obliterate the Phoenix that you need to kill before said dragon, and the Phoenix can be tough for physical attacks to handle, especially since you running Lighting Blade there is hard.

On the OTHER hand, Rampage 3, if you can get it, is THE boss killer move with a bit of set-up. Break their armor, use Lightning Blade, debuff their defense, maybe use the super-stat-buff drug if you don't mind the corruption hit... and then utterly obliterate the boss you land it on. It's theoretically possible to one-shot a number of bosses with Rampage 2 and 3 if you play things right.
 

Noon_Shadow

Newbie
Nov 7, 2018
35
24
Phoenix can be tough for physical attacks to handle, especially since you running Lighting Blade there is hard.
Liquefy Weapon coating makes Phoenix pretty trivial. Phoenix and the firespirits have PHYs resistance, but their defense is garbage.
 
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For all those that suffer mid-late game, just remember: you can turn your "Small" slime into a "Medium" slime at the Magic Academy. You need it to be level 10 minimum.
 

Iexist

Engaged Member
Jul 20, 2018
2,008
3,219
Liquefy Weapon coating makes Phoenix pretty trivial. Phoenix and the firespirits have PHYs resistance, but their defense is garbage.
Ah right, I forgot about that. I never remember that coating, because I think you only get 1 for free and it's one of the more expensive coatings to make

For all those that suffer mid-late game, just remember: you can turn your "Small" slime into a "Medium" slime at the Magic Academy. You need it to be level 10 minimum.
I can't see that being viable without Bonding 1 though, since Summoning 2 increases the MP cost all on its own on top of whatever increases you had getting the Slime to lvl 10...

That said, Medium slime is definitely pretty strong in various uses. I honestly used the Earth Medium Slime for my Brittle 2 dispenser in my run, around Clockwork Forest, which let Aura use her first turn to nuke with Splash 2 boosted by Stone Mind. The wind one was amazing during the underwater part of Richard's Domain. Lightning is always good for human opponents... so on and so forth. To say nothing of the "use Bloodshot Eyes on the slime" tactic which can do wonders.

Even more so if you splurge for Bless 2 and Bloodshot Eyes+ and Bless THAT... it honestly gets a bit ridiculous if you can afford it for important battles.
 
May 8, 2022
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Ah right, I forgot about that. I never remember that coating, because I think you only get 1 for free and it's one of the more expensive coatings to make



I can't see that being viable without Bonding 1 though, since Summoning 2 increases the MP cost all on its own on top of whatever increases you had getting the Slime to lvl 10...

That said, Medium slime is definitely pretty strong in various uses. I honestly used the Earth Medium Slime for my Brittle 2 dispenser in my run, around Clockwork Forest, which let Aura use her first turn to nuke with Splash 2 boosted by Stone Mind. The wind one was amazing during the underwater part of Richard's Domain. Lightning is always good for human opponents... so on and so forth. To say nothing of the "use Bloodshot Eyes on the slime" tactic which can do wonders.

Even more so if you splurge for Bless 2 and Bloodshot Eyes+ and Bless THAT... it honestly gets a bit ridiculous if you can afford it for important battles.
It was viable for me when I played Nightmare. I managed to somehow, little by little: level up the slime to level 20. It was a long and agonising process but I ended up doing it. And oh, how useful it was for Richard's domain.

I plan on doing something silly. Play a whole game on "Normal" with NG+ buffs but without ever using a slime. I will probably regret that lmfao
 
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