sharkfinblues' Profile
PALGN Casual
Contact Information
Contact Information
| Email address: | |
| Private Message: |  |
| MSN Messenger: | |
| Yahoo Messenger: | |
| AIM Address: | |
| ICQ Number: |
| Username: | sharkfinblues |
| Joined: | 24 Oct 2009 |
| $poons: | 22.80 |
| Total posts: | 142 [Show all] [0.02% of total / 0.11 posts per day] |
| Post Score: | 114 ( 116 /  2) [Show all] |
| Total votes: | 105 [Show all] |
| Location: | |
| Website: | |
| Occupation: | |
| Interests: | |
Referrals
sharkfinblues has not made any referals.
sharkfinblues has not made any referals.
Buddies
People with sharkfinblues as their buddy: 1
sharkfinblues' buddies: none
[Add sharkfinblues to your buddy list]
People with sharkfinblues as their buddy: 1
sharkfinblues' buddies: none
[Add sharkfinblues to your buddy list]
sharkfinblues' Recent Forum Posts
Re: Alan Wake Review (2 years ago)
One little thing: I definitely recommend playing on Hard from the outset.
Finished it last night and loved it. Can't wait for the DLC.
Finished it last night and loved it. Can't wait for the DLC.
Re: Great iPod Touch/iPhone Apps (3 years ago)
Chaos Rings was awesome. Sunk 30 hrs into it and, surprisingly, it was the story that kept me going. Very well written and cool story.
Reeder is an excellent Google Reader app. Better than Byline IMO.
Air Video is sweet video streaming software that can stream from Mac or PC to iPhone or iPad. Can convert on the fly. Very cool.
Reeder is an excellent Google Reader app. Better than Byline IMO.
Air Video is sweet video streaming software that can stream from Mac or PC to iPhone or iPad. Can convert on the fly. Very cool.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Yeah, I know the guy you mean.
Like I said in the ROF review thread... forget the story, it's all about the mechanics! You know this already, of course, haha. At least the characters are likeable and well-voiced, right?
If the characters were annoying AND the story was what it is, now that would be a hard pill to swallow even with the great battle system!
Like I said in the ROF review thread... forget the story, it's all about the mechanics! You know this already, of course, haha. At least the characters are likeable and well-voiced, right?
If the characters were annoying AND the story was what it is, now that would be a hard pill to swallow even with the great battle system!
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Yeah, it's up to user discretion of course! Whatever wins the fight! 
Have you faced the "junkyard dog" - I forget which chapter it was... A massive beast on all fours with truck parts strapped to it. Awesome-looking boss and a real bitch to fight, LOL. That was a merry dance that battle was - get caught in the open by his machine guns and it was a real mess.
Have you faced the "junkyard dog" - I forget which chapter it was... A massive beast on all fours with truck parts strapped to it. Awesome-looking boss and a real bitch to fight, LOL. That was a merry dance that battle was - get caught in the open by his machine guns and it was a real mess.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
The story certainly is a dog's breakfast. I preferred the party vignette's over the main story scenes too.
So, some general tips for hard bosses/fights:
- Keep enemies stun locked. A got 50 smash grenades as a quest reward and they were invaluable for this. You can also earn them in the arena. Late in the game your hand guns should have enough charge acceleration to stun easily and your MG can stun at the highest level.
- Avoid their attacks if you can. In some cases this means hiding behind barriers (especially ending a hero attack in cover) in others it means timing a jump during your hero action to avoid an incoming attack. That Yeti, for example, I'm pretty sure you can jump over his freeze attack.
- If using an ammo case, do use the "identify" ability (forget what that spell is called) to discover weaknesses.
- If they have armour plates, target and destroy the parts of their body that generate their powerful attacks first. E.g. the guys with the big hammers on their right arm.
- If they have a break in their armour, run your MGer past them, on the ground, and attack while you're next to the break in the armour to do as much damage as you can to the main body.
That's about all that comes to mind before my morning coffee. Hope that's of use.
So, some general tips for hard bosses/fights:
- Keep enemies stun locked. A got 50 smash grenades as a quest reward and they were invaluable for this. You can also earn them in the arena. Late in the game your hand guns should have enough charge acceleration to stun easily and your MG can stun at the highest level.
- Avoid their attacks if you can. In some cases this means hiding behind barriers (especially ending a hero attack in cover) in others it means timing a jump during your hero action to avoid an incoming attack. That Yeti, for example, I'm pretty sure you can jump over his freeze attack.
- If using an ammo case, do use the "identify" ability (forget what that spell is called) to discover weaknesses.
- If they have armour plates, target and destroy the parts of their body that generate their powerful attacks first. E.g. the guys with the big hammers on their right arm.
- If they have a break in their armour, run your MGer past them, on the ground, and attack while you're next to the break in the armour to do as much damage as you can to the main body.
That's about all that comes to mind before my morning coffee. Hope that's of use.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
TOTALLY agree about the core lifts! That's why I wanted to let people know about clearing a level and how you can then teleport back to base through energy stations. I trudged up core lifts 2 and 3 so many times before realising!
I've missed a bit on this thread. Hope the urge to frisbee the disc out the window has decreased a little!
I've missed a bit on this thread. Hope the urge to frisbee the disc out the window has decreased a little!
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Here's my tweaked to all hell guns, just so you know what kind of silliness is on offer in this game.
Leanne's MG's. When dual-wielded the averaged stats are 96/74, which is very nice.
Vash's HG and MG:
Zephyr's HG:
Disclaimer: Don't think you need anything like this to finish the game... I tweaked these after I'd already pretty much completed everything just cos I wasn't ready to finish playing and loved messing with the weapons so much!
PS Kyle, congrats on your breakthrough!
Leanne's MG's. When dual-wielded the averaged stats are 96/74, which is very nice.
Vash's HG and MG:
Zephyr's HG:
Disclaimer: Don't think you need anything like this to finish the game... I tweaked these after I'd already pretty much completed everything just cos I wasn't ready to finish playing and loved messing with the weapons so much!
PS Kyle, congrats on your breakthrough!
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
JmiYeo wrote
If you load all the knowledge from reading, you will not enjoy the game coz you take the trials and errors out, which is one main gish of the game with tactics, strategies and customisation.
Certain other things, like the teleporting back to base from energy stations once you cleared a level, I wish I'd known about much earlier as I could have done without so much hoofing it up and down Core Lifts 2 and 3!
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Kyle Clarthy wrote
Wow ... I must admit that I'm a little overwhelmed now.
Kyle Clarthy wrote
I haven't even really done any sort of exploring of the map ... when did you begin to do that?
Kyle Clarthy wrote
Also, I have to admit that the terminal thing really confuses me. I'm guessing it's something that's relatively simple, but it's hard to get your head around everything in this game straight away.
I only bothered with this twice in the game. Don't worry about it too much.
Kyle Clarthy wrote
Do you think that detracted from the experience, having everything open and unlocked, or would you have preferred to have a few tutorials? I think the tutorials in this game aren't very good at getting their messages across for the main part, and maybe if they were actually voiced or at least shown in action, instead of through pictures, it might have been easier to comprehend.
Kyle Clarthy wrote
Also, this might sound stupid, but how do you know what a boss is in the arena before you battle it?
The 20-3 boss is the only one where this particularly matters because it's easily the best chance you get to power level your machine guns. I gave Leanne the MGs, levelled her then quit the fight (by using the menu, or running out of the arena) when happy with her level, gave the MGs to Vash, re-started the fight, levelled him, and so on.
:breathes:
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
You're most welcome.
A few more points:
Don't forget you can trade coloured hexes for energy stations at the guild... being able to erect your own save points becomes super handy.
If you clear all hexes on a level you can then use any energy stations on that level to teleport back to base. Very useful on lower levels once you start having to traverse Core Lift 2 and 3.
Once the random encounters start to bug you, it's worth doing enough of the arena to buy the Strongman's Bangle for 100 copper coins. It stops all random encounters while travelling around the world map. Super useful!
Apart from that I didn't worry much about the arena until chapter 12 or so. At that stage of the game it can be very handy for levelling your characters if you need to. (The rank 20-3 boss is particularly useful for MG. But once you defeat the boss they're gone for good, so you need to do as much levelling as you want before finally killing them.)
If you want to use the arena for levelling you should connect at least the "2 x terminal effect" and "1.5 x experience" terminals that are somewhere on levels 4-6. The straight, dark green coloured hexes are good for this.
I spent ages farming the hexes, which was a bit of a waste of time, as 2 chapters later I found I had plenty of them just from some of the forced encounters.
A few more points:
Don't forget you can trade coloured hexes for energy stations at the guild... being able to erect your own save points becomes super handy.
If you clear all hexes on a level you can then use any energy stations on that level to teleport back to base. Very useful on lower levels once you start having to traverse Core Lift 2 and 3.
Once the random encounters start to bug you, it's worth doing enough of the arena to buy the Strongman's Bangle for 100 copper coins. It stops all random encounters while travelling around the world map. Super useful!
Apart from that I didn't worry much about the arena until chapter 12 or so. At that stage of the game it can be very handy for levelling your characters if you need to. (The rank 20-3 boss is particularly useful for MG. But once you defeat the boss they're gone for good, so you need to do as much levelling as you want before finally killing them.)
If you want to use the arena for levelling you should connect at least the "2 x terminal effect" and "1.5 x experience" terminals that are somewhere on levels 4-6. The straight, dark green coloured hexes are good for this.
I spent ages farming the hexes, which was a bit of a waste of time, as 2 chapters later I found I had plenty of them just from some of the forced encounters.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
You can either buy weapons when they're in the shop, find them in some dungeons, receive them as quest rewards or receive them as arena rewards.
Apart from getting a 2nd MG to allow you to dual wield, it's not that big a deal. Each new weapon is an incremental improvement over the earlier weapons: it's more about how you configure the upgrades.
I think I got a 2nd MG around chapter 7 from the Dakota Vein dungeon.
As for the money trick, it's best to do it in Chapter 6 or 7 when the wandering merchant is always at Waterless Bridge (?), which is on level 8 I think.
You buy as much iron and, errr, *something* from her - whatever the materials you need to craft Compact Scope Betas at the home town shop are - return to town, craft scopes, sell them to shop keeper for a profit, repeat. It takes a little while, but soon enough you can afford to buy 999 of each material and make about 700k each run.
You can do this later in the game too, it's just that the shopkeeper can be at one of two locations: Forsaken or Waterless Bridge making it slightly less convenient.
Apart from getting a 2nd MG to allow you to dual wield, it's not that big a deal. Each new weapon is an incremental improvement over the earlier weapons: it's more about how you configure the upgrades.
I think I got a 2nd MG around chapter 7 from the Dakota Vein dungeon.
As for the money trick, it's best to do it in Chapter 6 or 7 when the wandering merchant is always at Waterless Bridge (?), which is on level 8 I think.
You buy as much iron and, errr, *something* from her - whatever the materials you need to craft Compact Scope Betas at the home town shop are - return to town, craft scopes, sell them to shop keeper for a profit, repeat. It takes a little while, but soon enough you can afford to buy 999 of each material and make about 700k each run.
You can do this later in the game too, it's just that the shopkeeper can be at one of two locations: Forsaken or Waterless Bridge making it slightly less convenient.
Re: Skate 3 (3 years ago)
Eyce wrote
Nevermind the "Handplant x object above quarterpipe" challenges 
dloiscute wrote
360 flip front crook in skate 1 with Big Black walking around is the worst thing. Argh.
I'm currently trying to clean up what I have left on Skate 2. Trying to kill some of those spots is an insane PITA.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
I'm trying to think what I can add about weapons and weapon skills.
The max level for a weapon is 100 and the most important weapon is definitely your machine gun(s). By the end, I generally preferred to duel wield machine guns rather than carry an ammo case... but mid-game specialised ammo was extremely helpful. (And smash grenades were *hugely* helpful on some really tough bosses... so when you get some don't waste them!)
As you progress, it becomes more important to max out your charges during a hero action to activate the skills your character has with their weapon of choice (check the skills tab in the menu). This means raising your weapon level to increase your max charges, which gives you a greater damage multiplier and access to better weapon skills, and having enough acceleration on your weapon to hit those max charges during a hero action.
IMPORTANT: In case you didn't realise, as I didn't for ages, you can move your guns in the weapon customisation screen to make more room for scopes/barrels! Select a part to add to the gun then use the right analog stick to move the weapon body!
I read somewhere that a charge speed and acceleration of 100/40 was enough to finish the game, so that's what I worked towards for much of the game and that seemed ok.
Handguns are less crucial, but being able to get consistent gauge breaks and stuns was very helpful end game. I don't know how many charges I needed to stun with the HGs but it was far fewer than the MGs.
My end-game set up was:
1. Leanne - dual MGs
2. Vashyron - HG / MG
3. Zephyr - HG / First Aid
By the end I didn't have much use for grenades.
I might be able to post some pics of my OCD-compelled maxxed out end game guns on the weekend.
The max level for a weapon is 100 and the most important weapon is definitely your machine gun(s). By the end, I generally preferred to duel wield machine guns rather than carry an ammo case... but mid-game specialised ammo was extremely helpful. (And smash grenades were *hugely* helpful on some really tough bosses... so when you get some don't waste them!)
As you progress, it becomes more important to max out your charges during a hero action to activate the skills your character has with their weapon of choice (check the skills tab in the menu). This means raising your weapon level to increase your max charges, which gives you a greater damage multiplier and access to better weapon skills, and having enough acceleration on your weapon to hit those max charges during a hero action.
IMPORTANT: In case you didn't realise, as I didn't for ages, you can move your guns in the weapon customisation screen to make more room for scopes/barrels! Select a part to add to the gun then use the right analog stick to move the weapon body!
I read somewhere that a charge speed and acceleration of 100/40 was enough to finish the game, so that's what I worked towards for much of the game and that seemed ok.
>>>SPOILERS<<< wrote
You may have noticed Neverland on the world map. It's an (almost) end-game dungeon that is much tougher than the rest of the game. To succeed in Neverland, you pretty much need a level 100 MG user who can max their charges - I tested a few configurations and found a MG with about 70 charge acceleration and as much charge speed as you can get was as good balance. (My golden MG is something like 160/70.)
My end-game set up was:
1. Leanne - dual MGs
2. Vashyron - HG / MG
3. Zephyr - HG / First Aid
By the end I didn't have much use for grenades.
I might be able to post some pics of my OCD-compelled maxxed out end game guns on the weekend.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Just wait until near end-game when you've got weapons with good charge acceleration!
Re: Skate 3 (3 years ago)
Both EB and JB that I know of. JB's pre-order price is $89 I think, EB's more like $99.
Also, as for my post above. Apparently there is still a certain amount of magnetism on grinds on HC mode. Hopefully in Skate 4 they'll remove any magnetism completely in Hc mode
Also, as for my post above. Apparently there is still a certain amount of magnetism on grinds on HC mode. Hopefully in Skate 4 they'll remove any magnetism completely in Hc mode
Re: Skate 3 (3 years ago)
^ The off-board movement has been much improved. New tricks added. Hardcore mode makes the physics much more realistic - e.g. grinds have no "suck-in" whatsoever... if your line ain't perfect you aren't gonna get the grind; flip tricks are lower, etc. I.e. it's well fun, though pretty tough too. Also the skater models, especially faces, look better and more varied.
I tried both the Xbox and PS3 demos and noticed no frame rate issues on the PS3, which is great for PS3 owners.
I'm hoping it's only the demo, but the gfx took a hit from Skate 2. There's some obvious tiling on textures and the sun-drenched, bloom lighting of Skate 2 is completely absent. I.e. the environment felt quite horribly sterile to me.
I tried both the Xbox and PS3 demos and noticed no frame rate issues on the PS3, which is great for PS3 owners.
I'm hoping it's only the demo, but the gfx took a hit from Skate 2. There's some obvious tiling on textures and the sun-drenched, bloom lighting of Skate 2 is completely absent. I.e. the environment felt quite horribly sterile to me.
Re: Worst Game in your collection. (3 years ago)
The Saboteur. Hopefully, after today, that won't be the case. Assuming I can trade it for a free copy of the Avatar Blu-ray at JB.
Re: Resonance of Fate (3 years ago)
Hey Kyle, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying ROF. I had the same doubt as you when I was plugging this game in the article response thread. I love it... I hope anyone who listened to me does as well. *relief*
Re: Resonance of Fate Review (3 years ago)
In retrospect, I think it's definitely worth full price. For me. I haven't been this hooked on a game since Uncharted 2 and Demon's Souls before it.
If you don't mind importing, HKOfferhouse have the Xbox US version for USD $58 and the Asian Xbox version for USD $49. At that price, it's a steal. They're currently out of stock of the PS3 versions.
If you don't mind importing, HKOfferhouse have the Xbox US version for USD $58 and the Asian Xbox version for USD $49. At that price, it's a steal. They're currently out of stock of the PS3 versions.
Re: Resonance of Fate Review (3 years ago)
It's not even remotely as brutal as Demon's Souls. Like I said, I thought the game provided a steady progression of difficulty... even without a complete uinderstanding of the battle system initially, I never found it discouraging. By the end, when I really needed to know how things worked, I'd figured everything out.
So saying, here's some things that weren't covered or I missed in the tutorial:
- When doing resonance attacks, no matter who starts the attack, you can change who leads it by pressing L1/R1 (you pretty much want that to be your machine gunner)
- Your party doesn't have to attack in the same order each phase. Once all characters have had an action, the third character (for example) can have another action immediately, followed by the other two.
- Don't be afraid to take NO action with characters if you want a party member to have two turns in a row and you're not at the end of an action phase - the enemies only move when you move.
Ok, that's enough from me.
So saying, here's some things that weren't covered or I missed in the tutorial:
- When doing resonance attacks, no matter who starts the attack, you can change who leads it by pressing L1/R1 (you pretty much want that to be your machine gunner)
- Your party doesn't have to attack in the same order each phase. Once all characters have had an action, the third character (for example) can have another action immediately, followed by the other two.
- Don't be afraid to take NO action with characters if you want a party member to have two turns in a row and you're not at the end of an action phase - the enemies only move when you move.
Ok, that's enough from me.
Re: Resonance of Fate Review (3 years ago)
I finished this last night and loved every minute of it. I recommend checking this out if you're at all interested.
The story is weak but the characters are likeable and the world is nicely realised. I completely agree with the sentiment on art direction over polygon counts.
Regarding "Resonance of Fate fails to deliver the sweeping, exciting story so critical to the genre", I agree with the first point but, when the battle system and gun customisation is as enjoyable as ROF's, the mechanics are their own reward. I couldn't put it down.
I don't think the battle system was "unbelievably intricate". There are a number of facets to it, but the tutorial does do a terrible job of covering them. I didn't discover some of the finer details until I was 3/4 finished, but, a few certain boss fights aside, I thought the game provided a steady progression in difficulty and demanded you learn to master the battle system in a progressive way.
I hope there are sequels!
EDIT: I have the asian version of the game... I wonder if the manual explains some of the battle system details I didn't discover until late in the game?
The story is weak but the characters are likeable and the world is nicely realised. I completely agree with the sentiment on art direction over polygon counts.
Regarding "Resonance of Fate fails to deliver the sweeping, exciting story so critical to the genre", I agree with the first point but, when the battle system and gun customisation is as enjoyable as ROF's, the mechanics are their own reward. I couldn't put it down.
I don't think the battle system was "unbelievably intricate". There are a number of facets to it, but the tutorial does do a terrible job of covering them. I didn't discover some of the finer details until I was 3/4 finished, but, a few certain boss fights aside, I thought the game provided a steady progression in difficulty and demanded you learn to master the battle system in a progressive way.
I hope there are sequels!
EDIT: I have the asian version of the game... I wonder if the manual explains some of the battle system details I didn't discover until late in the game?
Re: Mass Effect 2 launch events (Bris/Syd/Melb) (3 years ago)
I won't make the launch but I'll be at that Mastodon gig too, nice! Unfortunately, Laneway Festival on Saturday and a going-away picnic for friends on Sunday mean I won't be getting the ME2 time I want for a little while.
Re: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3 years ago)
Yeah, it's rank... IIRC it's calculated on your win/loss ratio in the ranked playlist.
Re: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3 years ago)
Yeah I haven't finished any co-op on hard either!
Re: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3 years ago)
Ok, bad lag spike then? :/ Maybe he was just far enough away to get knocked down but not killed? Either way... it sucks, but hopefully doesn't occur too often?
Re: Mass Effect 2 Thread of hot, sweaty space love (3 years ago)
Just read that launch events for ME2 are happening in Bris, Melbs and Sydders on the 28th Jan at particular EB's. Details and registration here:
http://masseffect2.com.au/
Apologies if this is old news.
http://masseffect2.com.au/
Apologies if this is old news.
Mass Effect 2 launch events (Bris/Syd/Melb) (3 years ago)
This might be the result of that thread in the Bioware forums I pointed out a while back.
There are launch events for Mass Effect 2 happening at EB's in Sydney, Brisvegas and Melbourne on the 28th Jan. More details and registration here:
http://masseffect2.com.au/
Apologies if this is old news.
There are launch events for Mass Effect 2 happening at EB's in Sydney, Brisvegas and Melbourne on the 28th Jan. More details and registration here:
http://masseffect2.com.au/
Apologies if this is old news.
Re: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3 years ago)
fatpizza wrote
All the little annoyances of the game are really pissing me off now too
PS hopefully I'll catch you online one of these days man, hope you had a good Chrissy and NY.
Bionic Commando for me.
Sure it had a corny story, comical voice-acting and those terrible radiation zones, but the setting was great, it looked good and the core action was FUN and felt really solid. I loved it.
If I ever get around to completing it on Commando difficulty it'll be the first game I've ever 1000/1000'd.
I really liked that it's achievements were not just meaningless badges, but had an in-game effect. I also really dug the MP but it was hampered by limited player numbers.
Sure it had a corny story, comical voice-acting and those terrible radiation zones, but the setting was great, it looked good and the core action was FUN and felt really solid. I loved it.
If I ever get around to completing it on Commando difficulty it'll be the first game I've ever 1000/1000'd.
I really liked that it's achievements were not just meaningless badges, but had an in-game effect. I also really dug the MP but it was hampered by limited player numbers.
Re: Mass Effect 2 Thread of hot, sweaty space love (3 years ago)
Anyone seen this yet? Behehehe:
http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=75&PageNumber=1&jobid=16579666
http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=75&PageNumber=1&jobid=16579666