La Pucelle: Advanced Techniques & Analysis Guide
Version 1.12 (created 06/13/05, updated 09/06/05, US date convention)
by Matthew A. Peeler
[email protected]
This document is copyrighted 2005 by Matthew A. Peeler, and is intended for
entertainment and/or educational purposes only. This document should not be
reprinted, in whole or in part, without the express consent of the author.
The author has authorized this guide to be posted on the website:
http://www.gamefaqs.com
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Table Of Contents
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[0.1] Version Update
[0.2] Introduction/Purpose
[0.3] General Notices About The Guide
[0.4] Vocabulary
[1.0] What do you mean by "Advanced Strategies"?
[1.1] Tiers in La Pucelle
[1.2] What happens in the second tier?
[1.3] Can I use these strategies in the first tier?
[2.0] Prerequisites (What do I do first?)
[2.1] Characters and Monsters
[2.2] Types of Approach
[2.3] Heavy Hitter
[2.4] Attackers and Decoys
[2.5] Balanced Party
[2.6] Pros and Cons of Each Approach
[3.0] Increasing Stats
[3.1] Gaining Character Levels
[3.2] Leveling Items
[3.3] The Interaction Effect (the key to getting high stats)
[3.4] Gaining Stat Levels
[3.5] Braveheart/Magic Up
[3.6] Which Stats Are Important?
[4.0] Experience Gaining
[4.1] Experience Formulas and Categories
[4.2] Fratricide (Killing Your Own Characters)
[4.3] Goddess's Blessing
[4.4] Places in the Game to Gain Experience
[5.0] Item Combining
[5.1] What Is Added When You Combine Items?
[5.2] Choosing Base Items
[5.3] Is This Item Worth Combining?
[5.4] Best Store Items For Combining
[5.5] Item Experience and Leveling
[5.6] Guide to Efficient Item Leveling
[5.7] Stats on Monsters for Item Combination
[6.0] Prerequisites for the Dark World
[6.1] Surviving and Profiting in the Dark World
[6.2] Threats in the Dark World
[6.3] Purification of Dark World Monsters
[6.4] How Fast Do I Increase the DEI?
[7.0] Other Things of Note
[7.1] The Rosenqueen Store and Surveys
[7.2] Abusing the RNG in La Pucelle
[7.3] Other Observations
[7.4] Caps
[7.5] Acknowledgements
Searching by topic can be done by using Ctrl-F (Find) on the section number
enclosed in brackets by each section.
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[0.1] Version Update
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Version 1.00 (06/13/05): Initial version
Version 1.01 (06/18/05): A lot of small corrections. Clarification and renaming
of the abuse of the pseudo-random number generator. Added info about Baal and
The God's Ordeal, now that I have beaten him. Fixed Spd description and
switched Hit and Spd in order list. Added an extra experience category. My MV+4
was a quirk in the game, so it has been removed. Aspects do not seem to affect
item leveling at low levels, so this has been removed until I can prove
something more concretely. Added some caps and observations about when you are
ready for certain parts of the game.
(Pulled before submission in favor of Version 1.10)
Version 1.10 (06/20/05): After some time investigating, I've got a basic (well,
sort of basic) rundown of how items gain experience and levels. Made a new
section (5.5) for this. It seems to work well, only showing an error of +1
occasionally under controlled circumstances. Haven't calculated an R^2 for it
yet, but I bet it in the high 0.90s. Reworked element aspects in line with
this.
Version 1.11 (07/07/05): Fixed cap information after some posts and
investigation. R^2 for item expansion is in high 0.90s, so that section looks
good. Added some theories on new Baals in European/re-release Japanese
versions, but since I'm unable to play it in America, will have to remain only
theories for now. Explained number/date conventions for international audience.
Also added basic info for likely monsters for item combination (Section 5.7).
Changed some minor things for clarity. Added XP formula and Bestiary info.
Version 1.12 (09/06/05): Delay in update due to another project (nearing
completion). Added item element and multiplier combination effects. Item
interaction starts implementing on every 2/5 level basis after levels 500/1000,
so changed formulas to reflect this. Confirmed that some item abilities stack,
changed item section to reflect this as well. Experience formula for monsters
is based on rank of monster category, not Demon status. I have further info on
this and some purification data, but am waiting on permission to reprint.
Anubis and Reinbach III have done some work on Dark World difficulty and
stronger monster surveys, which has been added.
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[0.2] Introduction/Purpose
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This guide is an analysis and list of suggested advanced strategies for the
strategy RPG La Pucelle. Rather than having a complete walkthrough of the game
from beginning to end, this guide gives tips and details relating to the ending
portion of the game, for those players who wish to defeat the strongest enemies
in the game, make the best items, achieve the highest levels, and so on.
To produce this guide, I performed some basic analysis on the game's
statistical formulas. Once the mechanics of the game are known (level
advancement, item advancement, item combination, and so on), I could draw
conclusions on the best methods to achieve the desired results. The results of
these formulas are also provided for the interested. Other useful information
related to common questions about the game is also provided.
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[0.3] General Notices About The Guide
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Note 1:
I have provided several formulas in this guide, which have been developed using
statistical techniques conforming to generally held standards. Statistics is,
however, an imperfect science. These formulas are NOT guaranteed to be exactly
correct in every circumstance, but on the whole to be close. There seems to be
some amount of randomness in the game that changes results slightly for some
formulas.
Note 2:
Since I use a lot of statistics to get the results here, there are a lot of
formulas and mathematical and statistical terms. I realize this may be
intimidating to some readers. To remedy this, I have provided a vocabulary of
terms and try to keep math-speak to a minimum when stating conclusions.
Note 3:
For those readers who want to know the formulas and the rationale behind the
strategies, I have also provided them. I have in a few cases simplified the
formulas so as to make them accessible to anyone who is familiar with basic
algebra and the use of formulas (some of the formulas are too complex to be
easily calculated).
Note 4:
All analysis was done on the North American release. Foreign releases may be
different, but usually localization does not significantly alter the game
design. Also, this document uses standard US conventions on numbering (1
thousand million=1 billion, dates listed month/day/year).
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[0.4] Vocabulary
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Game Terms:
Stat: A character, monster, or item statistic. There are a total of 10 (HP, SP,
Atk, Int, Def, Spd, Hit, Res, MV and Jmp).
Main Stat: The major 8 statistics (HP, SP, Atk, Int, Def, Spd, Hit, and Res)
that can be raised/lowered by items and stat levels. MV and Jmp generally only
increase with specific items or skills, and cannot be improved by item
combination.
Base Stat: For a character or monster, their stats without any items equipped.
For an item, its stats at level 0.
Element/Elemental Aspect: The elemental icons are the colored graphics on
characters, items, and monsters that carry elemental effects. There are a total
of 7 (Blue=Cold, Red=Fire, Green=Wind, Lt. Blue/Cyan=Healing, Yellow=Lightning,
Purple/Magenta=Aid (Status), and White=Holy). Dark Portals and their streams
are also colored red, blue, green, or the various combinations above according
to their elemental properties. They can be combined to form the other four
elements.
Stat Increaser (Stat Increase Multiplier/Raises): The colored box icons below
the stats on an item that indicate how much it helps a character gain stat
levels. These exist for the main stats.
Stat Level: When a character kills monsters, stat experience is given to each
of the main stats based upon the items equipped. These turn into stat levels,
which can be seen at the far right of the status screen. Stat levels increase a
character's statistics and may allow additional skills.
Aspect: For an item, an aspect is a nonzero stat, an element, a stat increase
multiplier, or a special ability. The total number of aspects in an item is an
important factor in item combination. The maximum number of aspects an item can
have is 25 (9 stats counting MV, 4 elements, 8 stat inc., 4 abilities), but for
our purposes we only use 24 (MV does not transfer for item combination).
TNL Experience: The amount of experience required for a character to reach the
next level (TNL=To Next Level).
Off-color/On-color: When purifying a Dark Portal, elements that match the
portal (red, green, or blue) are called on-color. If the portal has a stream,
elements that match the color of the stream are considered on-color for that
stream, or portion of the stream that it matches if the stream changes color.
All other elements are called off-color.
Mathematical Terms:
Operational Symbols: + : Addition
- : Subtraction
* : Multiplication
/ : Division
^ : Exponents
% : Percent
Numerical shortcuts: K : (kilo-) Thousand
M : (mega-) Million
G : (giga-) Billion (US) (1 thousand million)
Coefficient: A numerical value that is multiplied by a variable in a formula.
Constant: A numerical value added to a formula.
Linear: A formula that contains a variable not raised to an exponent,
multiplied by a coefficient, then added to a constant. For example, the
experience formula below is linear.
Experience = 381.25 * level – 253
In this formula, the coefficient is 381.25 and the constant is – 253.
(A good portion of the formulas in La Pucelle are linear, or close enough to be
estimated by linear formulas.)
Linear Regression: A common statistical technique that tries to find a linear
formula to estimate data.
R^2: The square (second power) of the Pearson correlation coefficient (denoted
R), used as a measure of how accurate a regression formula estimate is. It can
only have values between 0 and 1, with 0 being completely useless (about as
good as guessing randomly) and 1 being perfect. The closer R^2 is to 1, the
better the formula is. (There are other measures for the reliability of a
regression, but for our purposes, R^2 works well.)
Strata/Tiers: A category or time period where a particular formula works. If a
variable works using one formula for a while, then moves to another, each time
it changes formula, a new stratum or tier is created. One of the subtleties of
La Pucelle is that it is a tiered game, in that, it works with one set of
formulas for a while, then changes to another set.
Arithmetic progression: A variable sequence that increases by adding the same
amount each time. The following sequence is arithmetic (+3 each time):
5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, . . .
Geometric progression: A variable sequence that increases by multiplying by the
same amount each time. The following sequence is geometric (*2 each time):
5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, . . .
Interaction effect: The amount that the effect that two variables have that is
larger than both of the variable's individual effects. For example, if one
variable adds 3 and the second variable adds 4, but both together add 9, the
interaction effect is +2 (the difference of 9 and 7 (3+4)). At later levels,
the interaction effect of items levels and character levels on the stats of a
character can be quite great.
Differences (First, Second, etc.): A sequential difference is the result of
subtracting a number in the sequence from the previous number. For example, for
the following sequence, the sequential differences are listed:
Sequence: 20, 25, 35, 50, 70, 95, . . .
Diff. (1 st): +5 +10 +15 +20 +25
The sequential difference is also called the first, or first order difference.
If we subtract each first difference from the previous difference, we get the
second difference. In the above example, the second difference is +5 for all
values. Similarly, we can get the third difference by subtracting the second
differences, and so on.
In La Pucelle, an example of a first difference is the experience required to
reach the next level (TNL experience), since it is the difference between the
minimum amount of experience between two levels (the sequence, in this case).
An analysis of the second difference helps us determine a formula for
determining a character's level.
Median (M): The middle value in a set of values, used as a measure of the
center of a data distribution. It is also known as the 50 th percentile value,
in that exactly 50% of the values in a data distribution fall below the median,
and 50% above, so it is exactly halfway between the values in the data set.
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[1.0] What do you mean by "Advanced Strategies"?
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I developed this guide to help with the advanced portion of the game, that is,
the part of the game dealing with the Dark World, getting demon titles,
fighting Baal, and so on, that exist past the regular walkthrough of the game.
For a walkthrough of the chapters of the game, see the people listed in the
Acknowledgements section, who have done excellent work in this regard.
I further called this an Advanced Strategies guide because I primarily focus on
the second (or advanced) tier of the game.
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[1.1] Tiers in La Pucelle
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One of the most important things to realize in La Pucelle is that it is a
tiered game. Basically, the computations done in La Pucelle use certain
formulas for one part of the game, then change them for another part of the
game. This divides the game into two tiers, or strata.
The first tier is designed for characters going through the main walkthrough of
the game, all the way to the end. This can be accomplished with characters
around level 50-60, but the game uses it until your characters are level 99.
The second tier is designed for characters of high enough level to tackle
monsters in the Dark World, get demon titles, fight Baal, and so on. The game
changes to this tier at level 100.
The game changes the calculation of some key formulas (experience, stats, level
progression) based on the tier it is in.
You can actually "see" the game change tiers. Watch the amount it takes for
your character to level up. For level 99, it should be around 200-300K,
depending on the character. For level 100, it will suddenly almost triple to
about 500-700K. Then, for level 101, sanity will return and it will drop back
to the previous 200-300K (actually a little less than before). This is due to
the change in formula.
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[1.2] What happens in the second tier?
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During the first tier of the game, the primary focus of defeating your
opponents can be easily accomplished by out-leveling them. In other words,
levels are extremely important in combat, and if you are of sufficient level,
combat is no problem. Most tough bosses (the Monster in Chapter 4, the Giant
Thing in Chapter 8) that prove difficult for a party of one level can be
defeated easily by the same party with a few more levels, or a few more
abilities.
However, when facing monsters in the Dark World (level 100+) or Baal (level
2000+), getting a bunch of levels above them is extremely time-consuming, and
also unnecessary. The game adds a few new things in the second tier to even the
odds.
First, item expansion and item levels becomes much more important. Get ready to
combine items like crazy.
Second, the game introduces a character/item level interaction effect that
increases stats dramatically.
Third, experience classes for monsters become more pronounced, allowing for
much more power leveling.
This guide is designed to explain all of these effects, and how you can use
that knowledge to your advantage.
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[1.3] Can I use these strategies in the first tier?
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These strategies can be used in the first tier of the game, with some
modifications. I'll note these as we go along. I think that a lot of power
leveling early is just so much wasted time, since the effects become so much
more pronounced after level 100, however, I realize some players may disagree.
I have not done much analysis into the first tier of the game, but I can
include some basic hypotheses about how to proceed within that tier.
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[2.0] Prerequisites (What do I do first?)
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I generally assume that you have played the game up to Chapter 12, getting the
Angel's Shoes and Goddess Ring in the appropriate chapters, and turning back
before you start to lose characters. This means that you will have 11 main
characters (Prier, Culotte, Alouette, Éclair (light or dark), Homard,
Papillion, Yattanya, Chocolat*2, Father Salade, and Monya-Monya (if you bought
him)). Check the walkthroughs for details on how to do this (in particular, the
Angel's Shoes are very useful). Those starting earlier may have to do some
substitution (Croix can substitute for Homard fairly well, but otherwise you'll
have to use monsters).
You should also be of sufficient level to have learned all of your main
character's attacks, and it is also useful to have all spells as well (all the
healing spells and Braveheart/Magic Up are the most important).
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[2.1] Characters and Monsters
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Now, it's time to pick a party.
In general, it is easier to manage a party of 8 characters used almost
exclusively in every stage, rather than juggling more than 8, since you can
only use 8 in a stage. So, we'll select 8 characters.
A lot of players like to use monsters, especially early in the game when you
don't have 8 main characters, however, the main characters have skills monsters
can never get, plus special attacks that can't be gained or duplicated by
monsters, also, monster purification is abysmally low, so we'll stick to the
main characters.
I suggest as the main party: Prier, Culotte, Alouette, Homard, Yattanya,
Éclair, Father Salade, and Papillion. The Chocolats are just too weak to start
and although Monya-Monya is a great spellcaster, both Culotte and Alouette can
purify, and Papillion has more attacks and MV.
Respectively, the characters strengths/weaknesses are as follows:
Prier: Strengths: High Atk, HP, multiple close and long-range special attacks,
Purifier, MV 9 (with MV+3)
Weaknesses: Low Res, slow expansion on attacks
Culotte: Strengths: High Int, SP, Res, long-range specials,
Purifier, quick level expansion on attacks
Weaknesses: Low Def, MV 8 (with MV+3), some Int based attacks,
costly attacks (Kitty Kitty = 90 SP per square affected)
Alouette: Strengths: High Int, SP, close and long-range specials,
Purifier, quick level expansion on attacks
Weaknesses: Low Def, MV 8 (+3), some Int based attacks
Éclair: Strengths: High Atk, HP, Int, SP, close and long-range specials,
Purifier, good at physical and magical attacks, MV 10 (+3)
Weaknesses: Low Res, 20% XP penalty (takes 20% more to level up),
costly attacks (Light & Dark = 100 SP)
Homard: Strengths: High Atk, HP, close and long range attacks, MV 9 (+3)
Weaknesses: Non-purifier, 20% XP penalty, slow expansion on attacks
Yattanya: Strengths: High Atk, HP, close and long-range specials
Weaknesses: Non-purifier, MV 8 (+3), Low Def,
costly attacks (Meteor Paw = 45 SP per square affected)
Father Salade: Strengths: Very high Atk, HP, high in all stats but Res,
MV 10 (+3), Purifier
Weaknesses: Low Res, costly attacks (Holy Truth = 63 SP),
40% XP penalty, very slow expansion on attacks,
no long range specials
Papillion: Strengths: High Int, SP, Spd, Hit, Res, close and long-range
specials, MV 11 (+3), quick expansion on attacks
Weaknesses: Low HP, Atk, Def, Non-purifier
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[2.2] Types of Approach
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So, how should you go about attacking the Dark World? There are three basic
approaches, which I have labeled
=Heavy Hitter
=Attackers and Decoys
=Balanced Party
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[2.3] Heavy Hitter
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Also known as BMOC (Big Man/Mother On Campus), this involves using one high
level character and seven lower level characters. The "heavy hitter" does all
the attacking, while the other seven can be used as decoys, casting
Braveheart/Magic Up, healing/purifying, and/or running for the exit.
The best "heavy hitters" are Prier, Homard, or Éclair (in that order). All
possess high damage Atk-based special attacks, at least one long range attack
(for monsters on different platforms), and above 8 MV (with MV +3). Using Prier
or Éclair removes a purifier from your decoys (you should almost never use the
hitter to purify), but both Homard and Éclair have the 20% XP penalty.
You will need one high level character and 4 powerful items (not including the
Angel's Shoes). The seven decoys need little (some Int boosting items perhaps,
and the Angel's Shoes if they are running for the exit).
For each level of the Dark World, deploy decoys to divert attacks from the
"heavy hitter" and purify monsters, while the "heavy hitter" kills what they
can. If there are too many threats (see Threats in the Dark World), decoy
attacks with the lower level characters and run for the exit.
This method quickly levels the attacker, but does nothing for the decoys, and
can have a high failure rate (If your attacker dies in the Dark World, it's run
for the exit every level, or be wiped out).
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[2.4] Attackers and Decoys
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Rather than using just one attacker, this strategy uses 2 or 3 attackers (high
level) and 5 or 6 decoys (low level). The idea is the same as that of Heavy
Hitter, but with more attackers, the party can attack more monsters. Decoys
tend to use Braveheart/Magic Up more often, and there is less running for the
exit, since the party can more easily handle multiple threats.
I would suggest 3 attackers (Prier, Homard, and Father Salade) and 5 decoys.
The reason is that Braveheart/Magic Up can only increase a character's Atk/Int
stat to 100% more than its original value, and each casting increases 20%, so
over 5 Braveheart/Magic Up casters would be useless. Éclair can serve as a last
resort attacker if necessary, and Papillion for a quick run to the exit if
needed. All the others cast, heal, purify, and serve as decoys.
You will need 3 high level characters and 12 powerful items (16 if you want
Éclair in an emergency). Again, the decoys need little and remember to use the
Angel's Shoes for a run to the exit.
This method does not gain levels quite as fast as Heavy Hitter, but is faster
than Balanced Party. Again, attackers gain levels quickly, decoys almost never.
With multiple attackers, the danger is less, as you can afford to lose an
attacker (or maybe two), but if all attackers are killed, your only choice is
to run.
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[2.5] Balanced Party
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This strategy seeks to have all of the party at roughly the same level, so
everyone can attack. This allows most levels of the Dark World to be swept
(kill all accessible monsters), and accumulates a lot of items and XP, but
requires a great deal of patience. (It's also a lot of fun to see Papillion Fan
Chop a Demon Lord for thousands of points of damage). Any of the purifiers can
purify instead of attack, so this method generally acquires more items than the
others.
Since all characters can attack, you will need at least 32 powerful items and
probably a few more for swapping out.
This method offers the most safety and, potentially, the strongest party, since
you can continue to attack monsters even with one character left. Level
progression, however, is extremely slow (you must advance all 8 characters,
rather than 1 to 3).
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[2.6] Pros and Cons of Each Approach
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Previous guides have advocated either Heavy Hitter or Attackers and Decoys
approaches, and these have their advantages, the main one being the speed at
which the attackers advance levels, and the limited number of items required.
I, however, use (and advocate) the Balanced Party approach. It's slower, but
has a much higher chance of party survivability, and allows for acquiring many
more items. Much of the information in this guide was developed to try to speed
up level advancement using Balanced Party.
If you use one of the other strategies, don't despair. The guide's advice still
works for them, as well.
++++++++++++++++++++++
[3.0] Increasing Stats
++++++++++++++++++++++
To survive the challenges required in the second tier, stats become all
important, so the best strategy is to increase your characters' stats to as
high as possible. There are 5 ways to increase stats.
Gain Character Levels
Equip/Level Up Items
By the Interaction Effect
Gain Stat Levels
Use Aid Magic (usually Braveheart/Magic Up)
Here's how each of them work.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[3.1] Gaining Character Levels
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You gain levels by earning experience (obviously). Experience is only gained
when the monster dies, and only by characters participating in the battle that
kills the monster. You earn NO experience by killing monsters in dark energy
streams, in miracle attacks, or if killed by damage-over-time (such as Poison).
Experience is split evenly between all characters participating in the battle.
Characters gain levels at different rates. Éclair and Homard have a 20%
experience penalty, meaning they require 20% more experience to gain a level.
Father Salade's penalty is 40%. All others gain at the same rate.
So, for example, if Prier needed 300K for a level, so would Culotte, Alouette,
Papillion, and Yattanya. Éclair and Homard need 360K (300K * 1.2) and Father
Salade 420K (300K * 1.4).
To get a picture of how much experience is needed for a given level, we must
examine not only TNL experience, but also the difference in TNL experience per
level (second difference). It appears that the second difference (amount TNL
goes up per level) bounces around quite a bit before stabilizing somewhere
around level 200. Once your characters enter the second tier, it actually drops
for a short period, then proceeds upward to (I think) stabilize around 1525 per
level (+/- 5 to 10 points).
What this means is that, for each level you earn (past around level 200), the
TNL experience goes up by about 1525.
To illustrate this, I'll use some actual data from my party.
To advance Prier from:
Level 325 to 326 takes 495010 experience points
Level 326 to 327 takes 496535 experience points (2 nd difference=1525)
Level 327 to 328 takes 498055 experience points (2 nd difference=1520)
Level 328 to 329 takes 499580 experience points (2 nd difference=1525)
Level 329 to 330 takes 501105 experience points (2 nd difference=1525), etc.
Again, these same numbers occur for Culotte, Alouette, Papillion, and Yattanya.
The others can be calculated by multiplying.
(Father Salade: From level 329 to 330 takes (501105 * 1.4) = 701547 XP).
As we will see later, this number 1525 will occur again in our formulas (it's 4
exp. levels).
This would mean that you will need about 1525*(current level) experience points
to gain the next level (TNL = 1525*level). This formula is a little low at the
beginning of the second tier, but gets better around level 200+.
Extending this further, we can get a rough formula for how many experience
points are needed for a given level. This formula would be:
Experience = (level) * (level+1) * (1525 / 2) – (around 0.7M-1.1M)
The constant here is actually lower at level 101 (about 0.7M) and starts
increasing slowly to around 1.1M as levels get higher (say, around 300+).
Again, let me state that this is a rough estimate, so it won't be exact, but it
will be close (say, within a few hundred K), and gets more accurate the higher
level you are.
As an example, to get to level 350 would require:
(350) * (351) * (1525/2) – 1.1M = 92,573,125 XP (around 92.6M)
The actual amount (observed through playing) is 92,570,240 XP.
Earning a level gives a small boost (somewhere around 3 to 7% for early levels,
less later) to each base stat. Its main advantage is in the interaction effect
that occurs after level 100.
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[3.2] Leveling Items
++++++++++++++++++++
Gaining item levels increases the stats on the item by multiplying the base
stats of the item (at level 0) by a tiered percentage as follows:
Level 1: adds 10%
Level 2-19: adds 5% (at level 19 = 200% or 2* base stats)
Level 20-99: adds 2.5% (at level 59 = 300% or 3*, level 99 = 400% or 4*)
Level 99 seems to be the max, so the most an item can increase is 4* base.
For example, an Atk 200 sword at level 0 becomes:
Level 1 : Atk 220 (+20)=10% of 200
Level 2 : Atk 230 (+10)=5% of 200
Level 3 : Atk 240 (+10)=5% of 200