Dear ToshX,

[Omeganitros]

500 Omega Points for forewarning me to not use my GRADE points to buy EX Gems.

Sincerely,
Omega

P.S. I beat ToS yay

[Omeganitros]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Dear Wonder Chef,



Frustrated,
Omega

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Spoilers for you new ToS players

500 Omega Points for forewarning me to not use my GRADE points to buy EX Gems.

Sincerely,
Omega

P.S. I beat ToS yay

No problem :P

I bought EX Gems my first run through, I think, not knowing what GRADE was really for.

Also, wonder chefs don't do jack. I mean who REALLY cooks after every battle? People just heal with Raine and get items that restore X amount of HP or AP per enemy killed if it lacking health/mana causes a problem.

Also, get on AIM sometime so we can talk about your second playthrough :P There are tons of AMAZING things that're usually missed on the first playthrough. I'm talking Sword Dancers, Niflheim, "legendary weapons"(well, pretty much), Abyssion, etc.

I usually come on at night. Usually around midnight in Eastern Time.

ALSO, MAKE SURE YOU TRANSFER YOUR BATTLE DATA OVER TO THE NEW GAME. This is critical, and it only costs 10 GRADE anyway. Just trust me on this :P

Oh, want a guide on what to get in terms of GRADE stuff?

[Omeganitros]

Re: Dear ToshX,

K on AIM now.

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Erm, I can't get on right now. Do you just want me to list what GRADE stuff you should probably get?

[Omeganitros]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Well, it's too late really. I only had..I think 1,470 GRADE, give or take ten. Unfortunately, Battle Data was not one of the things I did.
I did the thing that lets you earn more GRADE, 2X EXP, the thing that lets me hold on to my equipped EX Gems and their effects, and the thing that lets me keep my Monster list. I think that's all I did. I like my Monster list, and by the time I got to the final boss' final form I was out of Magic Lens. =/

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Well if you're just now starting over, it'd be a VERY good idea to go back, finish the game again on that save, and start with different GRADE stuff. Getting that Battle Data thing will save you as many hours later on as you spent playing the entire game the first time through. Seriously.

Here's what I'd get based on what you seem to want.

EXP x 2 Pay 1000 GRADE
Receive more GRADE after battle Pay 100 GRADE
Transfer over Memory Gems Pay 20 GRADE
Transfer over Minigame data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Monster Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over play time Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Relationships (How much each character likes you) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over the number of times you used certain spells/techs Pay 25 GRADE
Transfer over Character Collection (Figurines) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Battle Strategy data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over World Map data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over Collecter's Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Start the game with 500 more HP Pay 250 GRADE
Get more bonus EXP from combos Pay 50 GRADE

Total: 1,515 GRADE

[Omeganitros]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Well if you're just now starting over, it'd be a VERY good idea to go back, finish the game again on that save, and start with different GRADE stuff. Getting that Battle Data thing will save you as many hours later on as you spent playing the entire game the first time through. Seriously.

Here's what I'd get based on what you seem to want.

EXP x 2 Pay 1000 GRADE
Receive more GRADE after battle Pay 100 GRADE
Transfer over Memory Gems Pay 20 GRADE
Transfer over Minigame data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Monster Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over play time Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Relationships (How much each character likes you) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over the number of times you used certain spells/techs Pay 25 GRADE
Transfer over Character Collection (Figurines) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Battle Strategy data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over World Map data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over Collecter's Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Start the game with 500 more HP Pay 250 GRADE
Get more bonus EXP from combos Pay 50 GRADE

Total: 1,515 GRADE

I'm going to modify your list so that the stuff that doesn't suck is bolded.

EXP x 2 Pay 1000 GRADE
Receive more GRADE after battle Pay 100 GRADE
Transfer over Memory Gems Pay 20 GRADE
Transfer over Minigame data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Monster Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over play time Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Relationships (How much each character likes you) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over the number of times you used certain spells/techs Pay 25 GRADE
Transfer over Character Collection (Figurines) Pay 10 GRADE
Transfer over Battle Strategy data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over World Map data Pay 10 GRADE
Tranfer over Collecter's Encyclopedia data Pay 10 GRADE
Start the game with 500 more HP Pay 250 GRADE
Get more bonus EXP from combos Pay 50 GRADE

Total: 1,380 GRADE

Everything else on that list is like...I'm just going to get it again / didn't do it the first time anyways.

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Uhh, you're really gonna want the EXP w/ combos thing.

Besides, you can't buy anything else with 1,380 GRADE that'll cost less than like 400 GRADE, which goes over your limit. Just get the garbage because it's cheap and will save time.

[Tibs]

Re: Dear ToshX,

I don't see how anyone can go straight from finishing one playthrough of a game to staring another.

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Tibs, in one week I beat the game twice without stopping to do much other stuff except normal daily stuff like go to a friend's house, etc.

Twice in a row. Same damn story, same usual stuff.

Really, it's not that bad with this game. With all of the extra stuff you get, it's actually kinda fun to do more than one "playthrough" at a time.

[Tibs]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Can you at least skip the cutscenes the second time through?

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

I thought you could do that the first time through.

I think you press start and then a certain button(it'll tell you which one when you pause) to skip cutscenes.

[Squeek]

Re: Dear ToshX,

No, not in Tales. You just mash the button.

Also, I did two runs of Abyss straight, and I am now on my third.

Also, wow they made Symphonia really easy. You need ~9,500 grade to get everything in Abyss.

Increase Over Limit - 450
Play Time - 10
20 Items - 400
Gald - 1000
Recipes - 50
Cooking Ability - 50
Titles - 500
Character Disc - 10
Collector's Book - 10
World Map - 10
Mini-Games - 10
Battle Info - 10
Artes - 1000
Arte Usage - 100
Increase HP - 250
10x Experience - 3000
Grade - 100
FS Chambers - 150
AD Skills - 900
Capacity Cores - 500
2x Gald - 600
Items - 500
Synopsis - 10
Special Items - 10

On my first run, even with a bunch of grinding to get some levels in and some Grade leveling in there, I had about 4,000. Got all the 10s, 2x EXP, Grade bonus, FSC, AD Skills, and C.Cores.

After my second run, I apparently got too much Grade. Ended up with 14,000. Didn't Grade-level at all. Didn't grind levels at all. So I bought everything.

[ToshX]

Re: Dear ToshX,

Yeah, the thing is, with ToS, if you don't hunt for GRADE/grind/do other stuff that requires levelling and just play through the story and its sidequests, there's no way you're going to get the 6,000-7,000 or whatever it requires to get everything.