First:
http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/staff/ss2/index.shtml For in-depth information.
Second: If I ever get off my ass and do a second TAS, it'll be to this game. Shining Soul 2 is one of my favorite games of all time.
Third: We've got some crunching to do here before I even think about a serious attempt at running the game. What stuff? Well...
1) First and foremost, which character would work best for a TAS?
2) What weapons/armor should I use?
3) What items should I take along?
4) What kind of things should I manipulate for (by way of enemy drops)?
5) What soul(s) would be best to use in any given situation?
6) Should I do Advance Mode, too? It'd be impressive to low-level it.
And tons of other things.
For instance: Should I do Grandma Colita's Well for my first summon, or should I go to the Collosseum and get Oblivion? Obviously, Oblivion is faster (and cooler) - but the Well would give me EXP that I'm going to definitely need.
RPG Classics lists the "needs to kill" monster in each board, which definitely helps. Go to that monster, kill it, and the path to the next area opens. Simple and clean. It also lists drop items and crap for monsters. I know certain monsters drop Summons - theoretically, it's possible to get a Level V summon before the end of the game, but the question is - would the time wasted by collecting and fusing be made up in fast boss destruction and such? Strong summons can make a load of difference, especially early on.
In addition to all this, what ores should be manipulated to get dropped and what schwag should be aimed for via forging? Manipulating the smithy is easy enough. Manipulating for the ore itself, on the other hand, is not.
So... if anyone else knows the game fairly well, join in. The quicker I get info collected, the sooner I can make some attempts.
[Edit: Okay, it's been decided. Without a doubt, the Ninja would be the fastest to use. Why? Two main reasons (taken from GameFAQs):
Speed: 8 SP to start, +4 per level. Optional. It lasts about 1 minute at
all charge levels. Your movement speed increases with each additional charge level. This spell does not affect attack rate.
Backstab: Passive. This skill increases your final damage by 1/3 of your
base damage per skill level when you strike an enemy from behind. Maxed out, you do ~3.33 times your normal damage when striking from behind. There's a simple trick to take advantage of this skill in solo, simply charge up the sword attack, and then face away from the enemies before using it. As you back into them, they will technically be facing 'away' from you, even though they are actually behind you. This tricks the game into giving you the damage bonus. The sword's attack doesn't have as much range in the back, so this is a tricky method, but the damage bonus works against any enemy.
That speed boost is definitely the way to go. In fact, pretty much all level-up upgrades should probably be split between Sword and Speed, with the occasional bone thrown to Backstab. Backstab was included because it'd make boss fights faster. In theory, anyway.
And, depending on whether the naming codes in the (U) version are allowed (
http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/staff/ss2/secrets.shtml) I'll be getting the Dream Hat. This gives a Walking Speed +20 and SP Recovery Rate +1 bonus. Needless to say, this would be a pretty huge boon to the cause, since not only would you be moving faster than normal between Speed charges, your SP would also recover faster, which is DEFINITELY a good thing, since Speed burns through a massive CHUNK of it.
Slight update: Bis thinks the naming thing is alright, but suggested that I ask other folks who know the game better on what degree of cheating this kind of thing is. So... I'm asking. What do you lot think? Should the naming code be allowed or not?]
