The GWJ JRPG Club - Q2 2020 - Bravely Second: End Layer

Those timers run while the console is in sleep mode, too. I just left them overnight or while I was at work. You don't need the game idling in the background.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Those timers run while the console is in sleep mode, too. I just left them overnight or while I was at work. You don't need the game idling in the background.

I figured that was the case, and I've let it run in sleep mode during the day while I'm working. Just something about leaving it on overnight, even on sleep mode, feels slightly weird to me. So are the rewards from doing this worth it deeper into the game?

Regarding the base, I'm pretty sure the timers count down even if your 3DS is completely powered off. I presume you could even fudge the system clock if you want to but I never needed to. Also, you get a steady stream of workers added to your pool as you play through the game so you can easily juice the completion time of whatever project you're interested in. Every worker halves the completion time so it goes something like 70->35->17->9 hours etc. Throw 10 workers at something and you'll be done before you know it!

The base itself gives you opportunities for these kind of boss battles that have pretty good rewards. Even to the point of overpowering your party :).

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Regarding the base, I'm pretty sure the timers count down even if your 3DS is completely powered off.

I didn't notice this happen after last night, but I'll be keeping an eye on it to see if it happens overnight this time. I assigned a couple of people to the 90 hour bridge (and I plan to add more tomorrow when they're available), so it'll be easy to see if that one has gone down. One of the party chats also mentioned that it runs when the characters are sleeping, so I assume that means it could work if the game is off.

I could always just look it up to confirm I guess.....

You fully power down your 3DS over night? Huh. I never turn mine off. If your habit is to power it off, then yeah, those times are a bit of a pain!

My 3DS always drains the battery in only 2-3 days of just being in sleep mode so that’s why I’d usually power it off.

Sorry if I’m mistaken about powering down and timers, maybe I made sure to always plug in my 3DS while I was playing the game.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

You fully power down your 3DS over night? Huh. I never turn mine off.

This was my though too.

My 2DS (is anybody else playing on a 2DS rather than a 3DS?) stays on all the time while I am playing a game. I normally charge it every second or third night.

That’s the thing, I don’t like to leave it plugged in for days at a time if I don’t have any particular plan to play it. But I also like to be able to pick it up randomly if I feel the urge and still find it holding a charge. So those needs conflict.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

That’s the thing, I don’t like to leave it plugged in for days at a time if I don’t have any particular plan to play it. But I also like to be able to pick it up randomly if I feel the urge and still find it holding a charge. So those needs conflict.

When I'm not playing anything (which is basically any time we are not playing a 3DS game for the club) both the system and the charger get put away. Part of the fun of having a 3DS game to play is getting it all set-up on the bedside table.

When I am playing something, especially on a handheld system, I normally don't go more than a day or two without putting at least a little time in.

Sundown wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Those timers run while the console is in sleep mode, too. I just left them overnight or while I was at work. You don't need the game idling in the background.

I figured that was the case, and I've let it run in sleep mode during the day while I'm working. Just something about leaving it on overnight, even on sleep mode, feels slightly weird to me. So are the rewards from doing this worth it deeper into the game?

Oh yeah. The special moves are great. The healing special, in particular -- which is tied to the staff -- becomes a party-wide full heal, and can also restore MP and add BP.

You'll also get a steady stream of random, consumable items as you check in. Consumable damage items like the bomb fragment are great, in the beginning for wiping out all enemies and stringing together a combo of wins for bonus pg, XP, and JP -- you can do this as soon as you have a full party of four. There are also consumable items that power two of the job classes. Even though you can't control what you get, getting some periodic deliveries helps your bank account throughout the game.

Yesterday, I ... ahem, defeated ... the game's first Ba'al. The design reminded me a lot of the witches from Madoka Magica.

As a morning update, no progress had been made on the bridge overnight when my 3DS was turned off. So if someone wants work on the base to continue overnight (especially for some of the things that take a long time unless you assign like 10 people to it), then expect to leave the system on sleep mode overnight.

My friend code: 2165-6951-8984. Please feel free to add me, and I'll go through the thread and add others as well. Speaking of which, would it make sense to list these in the first post by any chance?

I'm up to three characters in the party again and have just hit Level 5 with Yew. Really enjoying things so far. So smooth.

For a bit there I was wondering if I were playing the same game as everyone else, but now I get the whole bridge building thing. I've just reached that point in the game and have started building a bridge on the base. I don't have any issues leaving my 3DS in sleep mode plugged in beside my bed.

And I should add I'm finding the voice acting/script more tolerable now. It's clear they were aiming for a sort of dorky Dad humor, and while it's often cringe-worthy, I'm doing okay with it now.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Speaking of which, would it make sense to list these in the first post by any chance?

Sounds like a good idea, I'll make it a reality this afternoon (provided my meeting does not go on forever).

Edit: It's done. All friend codes listed so far are now visible on the OP for this thread. I will update the list of some get added. Let me know if I missed any!

^Awesome, thanks!

Glad your meeting didn't go on forever.

It ended up being a 15 minute thing, and 5 of them were spent by somebody complaining about my test data being in XML instead of JSON, and another 5 by everyone complaining about my microphone being too low in Microsoft Teams (which is weird because it's fine in Skype for Business).

I don't think I have ever turned my 3DS off since I got it. If it's not being played, it's plugged in on the end-table next to my couch, same with the Vita. Guess everyone has very different ways of using devices.

Speaking of the base, I am kind of glad they removed the weapon store. I didn't use a lot of the weapons in Default because I had completed the base in that game by the time I hit chapter 3 or 4 (lots of sleep time on the device due to work/sleep). Since I knew there would be stretches I couldn't play for >18 hours, I would target getting things done in 20ish hours so I could start it before bed and it be ready for reassignment when I got home from work. Speaking of which, I don't think I have checked in in almost a week. Better start the next batch of buildings...

Okie dokie, I've added everyone's codes from the first post.

Sundown wrote:

As a morning update, no progress had been made on the bridge overnight when my 3DS was turned off. So if someone wants work on the base to continue overnight (especially for some of the things that take a long time unless you assign like 10 people to it), then expect to leave the system on sleep mode overnight.

Sorry about that! Misremembered it completely.

By the way, as Mr GT Chris has played this game already, and I think started on a NG+, pairing someone with his Mii is a great way to access some high-level abilities early. Thanks, Mr GT Chris!

I think I have sent friend requests to everybody.

My code is 2638-4566-6277

I will start this game... tonight... see how it goes

I got the summoner asterisk (with Hresvelgr), and found my first summon (Deus Ex)! Mephilia, the summoner, wasn't too bad of a boss fight after I dispatched her guards. Her summon, Hresvelgr, hit less hard than I remember it hitting in Bravely Default, where it could wipe the party. Here, everyone survived when she cast it, which is probably in part because my levels were just a touch over the recommended level range for the map where I fought her (20, vs. 15-19). Tiz ended the battle early with a special attack, doing about 3,500 damage to her -- which was almost half her health. I did not expect that!

For anyone wondering how to find summons:

Spoiler:

There are weird owl sages scattered throughout the game's dungeons. If you don't have the summoner asterisk, they'll tell you to get lost; if you have it, they'll offer to test your worthiness and teach you a summon if you pass. The test: they'll cast the summon at you, and one of your party members must survive. You won't have any turns to use Default or to cast buffs, so make sure you're properly equipped before talking to them!

I'm up to Level 8 now, still a party of three, but making progress. Fun times!

They keep adding stuff to the game, too. Special attacks, special points, custom attacks, friend summons, etc. I'm not quite sure how some of this stuff works, but I expect it will sort itself out as I play more. The tutorial things are moderately helpful, too.

I did have one quick question about the friend thing. When I looked at my status in the friend list, it shows me as a Level 1 Wizard, but I'm better than that, really I am. Is there a way to update my own status or will that just happen automatically. And I now have three official friends in the game, cool!

And it doesn't matter who does what job, right? There are no innate abilities that make one character more suited to one job than another?

I’m not able to answer about the friend stuff without having the game in front of me, as I never used it in the first game.

There are stat differences between your party members. You can see them clearly if you make everyone a freelancer and unequivocal all gear. I think Yew has the highest offensive magic power, Magnolia has the best magic defense, Edea’s the strongest, and maybe Tiz is the fastest? But really, the differences are small enough that anyone can do anything.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I did have one quick question about the friend thing. When I looked at my status in the friend list, it shows me as a Level 1 Wizard, but I'm better than that, really I am. Is there a way to update my own status or will that just happen automatically.

You need to send a move. On the same part of the menu where you can use friend summons, you should have an option to send an attack. I think that updates not only your move but also your level and class that other players see.

LastSurprise wrote:

I’m not able to answer about the friend stuff without having the game in front of me, as I never used it in the first game.

There are stat differences between your party members. You can see them clearly if you make everyone a freelancer and unequivocal all gear. I think Yew has the highest offensive magic power, Magnolia has the best magic defense, Edea’s the strongest, and maybe Tiz is the fastest? But really, the differences are small enough that anyone can do anything.

Ah, got it, that makes sense. So having Yew as a wizard and Edea as a Charioteer should work nicely.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I did have one quick question about the friend thing. When I looked at my status in the friend list, it shows me as a Level 1 Wizard, but I'm better than that, really I am. Is there a way to update my own status or will that just happen automatically.

You need to send a move. On the same part of the menu where you can use friend summons, you should have an option to send an attack. I think that updates not only your move but also your level and class that other players see.

Ah! Thank you as well. I'll be sending moves all over the internet now.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
LastSurprise wrote:

I’m not able to answer about the friend stuff without having the game in front of me, as I never used it in the first game.

There are stat differences between your party members. You can see them clearly if you make everyone a freelancer and unequivocal all gear. I think Yew has the highest offensive magic power, Magnolia has the best magic defense, Edea’s the strongest, and maybe Tiz is the fastest? But really, the differences are small enough that anyone can do anything.

Ah, got it, that makes sense. So having Yew as a wizard and Edea as a Charioteer should work nicely.

My phone clearly doesn't know me well enough, if it auto-corrects unequip to unequivocal.

I got to Level 7-9 last night, and now have a party of four, which I assume will be the main party for the game.

I'm really enjoying things, despite only half-understanding most of the mechanics and how things go together. I may slow down and read up on things if I continue to be confused after a couple more hours.

Have people messed much with the Abilink stuff? I linked people to some of my characters and they immediately had all sorts of upper-level job skills. It felt a little bit like "Here, take all these advanced job skills," and defeated the fun of leveling up. So I unlinked everyone and am going without for now.

I did not really use it at all in Default due to having no friends to link with. I think the main point of it is so that you can pick up skills from jobs you are not leveling on that character. Say you leveled Yew as a magic type, but there was a skill in thief or something you thought would be really neat. You could use a friend's Ablink to grab that thief skill for Yew without having to level Yew's thief class. I believe the intention is to ease grind requirements for some builds, but it can definitely fall into that "you now have access to stuff you shouldn't" camp.

Still in Chapter one and making progress. Everyone’s at level 18. I did first sidequest where you choose a new class to unlock. I went with the Thief, since I prefer spell specialists to generalists and have never really liked Red Mages all that much. The enemies in that dungeon were also annoying, since they were the first ones that started throwing status effects around. I then did the next dungeon at the bottom of a crater.

I’ve also got all of the areas in the base unlocked and at least at level 3 (you can unlock them by doing the bridges and tunnels that take a long time to unlock). And now I have a decent system for moving people around and getting the different buildings leveled up to unlock more special move parts. Still haven't used special moves much, but it’s there.

Right now I have Yew as a full time Wizard, Magnolia as my healer with a backup magic, Edea is alternating between Fencer and Charioteer, and Tiz is now a Thief and is doing amazing physical damage with bows. Like, he had been a Charioteer for awhile and his damage output was disappointing, and then I made the switch after a side quest and he’s got my second best damage output now, after Yew and his spells. I still have the Physical damage booster and Born Warrior on Tiz as well to speed up how fast he gets to top damage output with his wepons.

Also, I found a use for Weapons Toss, which is the Charioteer ability. Normally I don’t like these types of attacks since I assumed the weapon was gone after throwing it (maybe I was wrong), but here you get it back at the end of the fight, but also throwing the weapon ignores physical defense, and so even enemies with really good defenses still get torn apart with a thrown axe.