Without Shadwblade:
Lvl Exp HP TP Str Mtl Agi Dex
1 00 25 10 8 6 7 5
2 21 31 13 9 7 8 6
3 109 34 17 11 8 9 7
4 293 39 19 13 9 10 8
5 625 49 22 14 10 11 9
6 1145 53 28 15 11 12 10
7 1902 62 32 17 12 13 12
8 2933 67 34 18 13 14 13
9 4276 74 37 20 14 15 15
10 5974 77 40 21 15 16 16
With Shadwblade:
Lvl Exp HP TP Str Mtl Agi Dex
1 00 25 10 8 252 2 251
2 21 31 13 9 253 3 252
3 109 34 17 11 254 4 253
4 293 39 19 13 255 5 254
5 625 49 22 14 0 6 255
6 1145 53 28 15 1 7 0
7 1902 62 32 17 2 8 2
8 2933 67 34 18 3 9 3
9 4276 74 37 20 4 10 5
10 5974 77 40 21 5 11 6
These numbers were done mathematically, not empirically, and I'm not positive about the zero values. Some might be off by 1.
Anyway, the benefit is more-or-less limited to crazy technique damage, but Chaz's first offensive technique (Tsu) is learned at level 4. So while you're at level 4 but before you hit level 5, Chaz will have a base Tsu damage of 255+48. This is before weaknesses are factored in, which would probably put it in the ~450 damage area. This could conceivably make for a super fast Juza/Gy-Laguiah/Zio corridor but it is useless if Chaz reaches level 5.
His agility will remain at a very low value but because these bosses use so many single-target attacks I could see this being viable until Lashiec. Not sure what you would do with a level 4 Chaz at that point. Maybe he could just stay at level 4 but die against Lashiec.
Also, given that at level 4 Tsu can only be used 3 times, I'm not sure this would be a good idea at all when it gets to endgame bosses. Maybe if Ataraxia is in play.
BIG EDIT:
I've been giving this a lot more thought. I knew about the Shadwblade rollover but never really figured it had a practical application because it can only really be used at level 4, but knowing how well the party can operate at low levels I think this could really go somewhere.
Prior to Zio's Fort, here are the group's experience-related stats:
Gryz: Lv: 6 / Ex: 1089 / Nx: 644
Alys: Lv: 7 / Ex: 2569 / Nx: 1209
Hahn: Lv: 2 / Ex: 112 / Nx: 4
Chaz: Lv: 3 / Ex: 112 / Nx: 181
Rika: Lv: 1 / Ex: 0 / Nx: 15
The strategies up until this point (yes, all two fights) are pretty clearly the fastest possible.
In order for a Shadwblade strategy to work, two things need to happen in Zio's Fort. Chaz needs to reach level 4 (181 experience points) without reaching level 5 and he needs to get a Shadwblade. This can happen in one fight; either a Shadowsabr with only two party members alive or a Shadowsabr and a Ripper together with all party members alive. In order to beat Juza without leaving it makes sense that the second one is the better option.
Shadowsabr: 525
525 / 5: 105
525 / 4: 132
525 / 3: 175
525 / 2: 263
Ripper + Shadowsabr: 498 + 525 = 1023
1023 / 5: 205* (this is the best option if only making one trip)
1023 / 4: 256
1023 / 3: 341
After the fight noted above, Hahn, Chaz and Rika would gain levels as follows:
Hahn: Lv: 3 (learns Wat) / Ex: 317 / Nx: 1
Chaz: Lv: 4 (learns Tsu) / Ex: 317 / Nx: 308
Rika: Lv: 3 (2 levels, nothing learned) / Ex: 205 / Nx: 30
In order to do this fight quickly, a combination of Gryz's Crash and Alys' Vortex would do nicely. It would be best to create a macro before Igglanova 2 as follows:
Gryz (Crash), Alys (Vortex), Chaz (Attack), Hahn (Attack)
This could be used for the Shadowsabr/Ripper fight as well and save some input time.
The Crmc-Sword from BirthVally could be skipped which saves a second or two.
The way the game would play out would be a little different:
Juza: Chaz would get two shots of Tsu against Juza for roughly 900 of his 1500 HP. Then Chaz would need to die (along with Alys, Hahn and Gryz for best XP use). With this, and maybe Hahn using Wat, a lot of the time spent in the extra fight would be made up right here.
Gy-Laguiah: Chaz does roughly 1350 of Gy-Laguiah's 2580 HP in 3 turns, then dies. This will be faster.
Zio: Chaz does roughly 1350 of Zio's 2889 HP in 3 turns, then dies. This will be faster.
Chaossorcr: Chaz can kill this guy in one hit, but we can't really let that happen. Let Chaossorcr kill Chaz, then Rika use Eliminat. Slightly slower.
Dark Force (1): This guy is actually flagged "extra weak" to Tsu. Chaz will do about 1800 of his 4540 HP in three turns if he can live that long. Raja can even use Ataraxia if necessary to get Chaz to use more Tsus. Then Chaz has to die. This will be faster.
Xe-A-Thouls: This should be both slightly faster and slightly easier - with Chaz doing ~600 HP each turn with Tsu it should only take two turns to kill one of them and remove their counter attack. Then Chaz dies.
Lashiec: Things will get tricky here; janus was unable to get Lashiec to avoid using a multi-target attack, instead having him use Thndhalbrt every other turn and a sleep move on the "safe" turns. With Chaz's low agility it is unlikely he would be able to attack more than once - maybe if we had Chaz revived by Rune or a Moon-Dew item, but this would be sacrificing someone else's turn for Chaz's ~450 damage Tsu. In the current run, Chaz is just dead for the whole fight so it's not like it would be
losing time, it's just difficult to gain any.
(Tangent: I'm thinking it may be worthwhile for Wren to get the Napalmshot for Lashiec (weak to it) and PD (running out of Flare), but I'm not sure)
Dark Force (2): The current fight was so well-manipulated that Chaz would be safe. He can use Tsu for ~450 damage three times, then have him use Eclpstorch as an item in macros. This should do maybe ~72 damage each turn. Then he dies.
Dark Force (3): Similar to the previous fight, Chaz is safe, but he'll only be doing ~1350 damage unless an itemcast of some sort is used. It doesn't make sense to have Flamesword or Thundrclaw, but maybe it would be worthwhile to get the Laco-Rod from Espermansion. Or, hey, maybe he could just die. It would be hard to save time starting here, but Chaz would still be useless if he was levelled at this point. It probably makes more sense to keep him dead.
De-Vars: This will be worse by about 20 damage per turn... which really isn't that bad. But worse nonetheless, probably by one full turn.
Sa-Laws: Chaz will get his standard three shots of Tsu, but Sa-Laws is the only boss not weak to it. It will only do about ~300 damage per Tsu. This will be a good bit worse. I'm pretty sure you can't use itemcasts against Sa-Laws either without provoking Legeon.
PD: Here's my thought: Chaz can use Tsu three times for 450 damage each (~1350 total). If Raja is brought, he can refresh this 3 times with Ataraxia.
The other option is giving Chaz the Elsydeon and forgetting about the Shadwblade at this point. Chaz's attack with Elsydeon, given his level 4 stats, would do ~200 damage (current run is ~260 normal, ~400 for Crosscut).
Chaz's damage wouldn't really be that bad, but either way this fight would probably be slower than the published run.
Probably. All the characters besides Chaz are going to have marginally more experience when Chaz is dead all the time. I think Rune will have Nafoi, which would make a 50 damage/turn difference.
Another thing to consider for PD would be yoinking Hahn's Mahlaydggr which would cost about 4 seconds and has an itemcast for about 160 damage. This might be useful for any character doing less than 160 each turn, like Raja, maybe.
Anyway, yeah, this level 4 Chaz with Shadwblade thing might have some serious potential. Anyone see any big issues?
