A good party is this (IMO)
Hero (Thunder Sword from Necrogond Cave)
Fighter (Golden Claw)
Cleric (Meteorite Armband, Expel, Limbo)
Mage (Open, Blazemore, Firevolt)
Thats IF you'll wanna learn Open.
While playing on the actual cartridge, I encountered a glitch once while levelling up on metal slimes, but I'm not sure if I can recreate it. I had a pilgrim who did 20+ damage to a slime that was not a critical hit. He was equipped with a zombie slasher, so I was wondering if perhaps it had something to do with the weapon's bonus. But it could've been something different altogether. Anyway, this probably isn't even helpful at all, as criticals and poison needle strikes are probably manipulated easier, and the zombie slasher isn't a drop.
Also, I was curious... it was stated that the combat options are not easy to change... are drop items and level up stats the same way then?
I think that this game would be a great TAS to see. I know that a lot of planning would be necessary (what characters to use?) but this game was awesome and a lot of fun!
Yeah, sorry about that. I searched the forums using an engine mentioned in another thread and I guess only "DW3" popped up instead of "Dragon Warrior 3". Thanks for the link though.
While playing on the actual cartridge, I encountered a glitch once while levelling up on metal slimes, but I'm not sure if I can recreate it. I had a pilgrim who did 20+ damage to a slime that was not a critical hit. He was equipped with a zombie slasher, so I was wondering if perhaps it had something to do with the weapon's bonus. But it could've been something different altogether.
I've had the 20+ damage on metal slimes happen to me recently too, and it happens consistently. Always with a pligram attacking, and with a Zombie Slasher equipped. Seems to happen more often with metal slimes appearing after the third one, but I can't tell for sure. I encountered this in the tower north of dhama.
On another note, in DW2, when a Mace Master revives a metal babble, it comes back with tons of HP, and almost no defense.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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Is anyone still working on this project? I have created a WIP that gets up to the magic key. The movie ends when I get the golden claw and die. If anyone is interested in seeing it, send me a private message.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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Location: Alefgard, USA
I'll put some more information also.
There are of course two ways to avoid enemies in dungeons. Run or 'randomize' them away. In my test run, I've discovered that these two methods produce different outcomes as to where the next enemy will appear.
For example, I've discovered a couple of times (in my run) where it was faster to enter a fight and run rather than use the HEAL spell. For example, running caused the next fight to be ~120 steps away, while HEAL caused 3 fights to appear in that same 120 step area.
Also, SEEDS have different random outcome than herbs and HEAL, but the WIZARD RING gives the same outcome as herbs and HEAL. SEEDS can be used to avoid battles, and it is best to use them when they give you +3 attribute points.
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I have given up on this project but I am very interested to see someone else do it :)
Post a WIP please. The luck manipulation research you have done looks good. What party are you using? How long is the movie up to the magic key?
Joined: 7/30/2006
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However, I believe the toughest part of this game will shortly arrive in my WIP (which I cannot post now since I am at work and my WIP file is at home).
I believe it will be difficult to level up (which as stated earlier in this thread will be required in this game).
Before I level up, I will of course visit Portoga, Baharata, and Dhama.
Metal slimes can appear near Dhama, and will of course be the quickest way to level. Unfortunately, they appear either in large packs or with other enemies.
I was wondering if it might be best to be on level 3 or 4 before trying slimes, due to their BLAZE spell. A quick way to gain a couple of easy levels would be to fight the Demonites near Jipang. They chant deadly spells, but never have enough MP to use them. This may give me a bit more HP to survive BLAZE.
Level up statistics can also be manipulated. For example, If I do the following in the last round of a battle. HEAL, HEAL, Attack. That will give me a different level up than if I USE ITEM (non random) HEAL, Attack.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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Adelikat:
I am using 2 pilgrims and a Wizard.
Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to mess around with the poison needle much.
The movie up to the Magic Key is approximately 16 minutes, I believe.
Other luck manipulation simply involved my character's name. When I put an exclamation point after my name, the default pilgrim started with 9MP instead of 7MP.
Also, I have discovered that the Lottery can be randomized by HEAL spells and even by waiting periods. This may be useful on a higher level (so I can win more money). I could randomize a fight and win 26 to 1 odds.
Joined: 7/30/2006
Posts: 208
Location: Alefgard, USA
I'll try to post the WIP sometime tonight when I get home from work.
As of now, I had a couple of other things in mind that needed to be manipulated.
1. Try to get a Hunter Fly near Baharata to drop a Cloak of Evasion.
2. When I do level, manipulate the levels to try and learn spells sooner.
3. Figure out best strategy for leveling/beating Kandar 2.
4. After this, I get the boat. From here, the game would become a non-linear mess and a huge amount of planning would be required.
/////////
As an aside, on my console version, my brother and I encountered a 'glitch' once. (Well, we think it was a glitch). The PHANTOM SHIP appeared as he walked out of Aliahan Castle. It was literally right there for us to walk on at the beginning of the game. He of course walked on and got slaughtered. However, if this happened in a TAS, it could save a HUGE amount of time and skip many parts of the game......
Joined: 7/30/2006
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Location: Alefgard, USA
Oh. One more thing....
A useful piece of information I've discovered is that confused enemies can easily kill metal babbles and slimes in one hit. Poison moth powder can be purchased, and I picked some up in a treasure chest in Isis. This could be used in a very efficient way to produce some metal enemy kills.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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If this project somehow does get completed, I hope that it isn't too long or boring. As you know, this game is pretty long. It seems that I have a history of doing good TASes of bad games.... (Rambo, Breakthru, Golgo 13)
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Looks good so far. I am suprised you got that far without having to fight :O
18 min is much better than I though for that point of the game. In the pyramid you die presumably to save backtracking. Remember that your party can attack themselves in this game. That should speed that up quite a bit.
As for Kandar, he has HP regeneration of about 40-50 each round. That amount is random and will need to be manipulated somehow.
You can monitor enemy hp with the values 0500-0508. I reccomend using FCEU.16 and pluging those addresses into the memory watch feature.
I must admit that I am skeptical if this run will make it though. With the hard to manipulate rng, this run could end up quite long. Though it looks better than I would have expected so far. Personally, I think anything sub 3hrs would be publish-worthy.
Good luck, and keep the WIP coming :)
EDIT: holy crap about the phatom ship glitch :O That would save a ton of time including skipping the Boss troll fight which will be one of the toughest to do underleveled.
Hi Dave, I'm glad you've taken an interest in this game. It's a toughie, but you seem to have done some good testing/research so far.
Some notes on your WIP:
1) From the start you take an interesting strategy: getting a party right away. You use this well to hold lots of items and make use of the pilgrim's heal. You've convinced me it might be worthwhile. The real question is, how worthwhile is it? I know it doesn't cost much to revive level 1 chars, but right where your movie ends is where you will need to spend some agonizing time with the priest listening to the revival tune 3 times. How did you decide that it was better to make it to the golden claw with a party?
2) It seems like you don't always take the optimal path in some areas. For example, in the cave of enticement you take a few extra steps. Also, when entering the Pyramid and Isis for the first time.
Both of those are pretty minor though, compared to the main difficulties ahead, i.e. fighting. I'm still worried that it's all going to have to be pure brute force. I've become reinterested in this by your progress though. So I'll try to test some things when I get a chance.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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ledauphinbenoit:
I take extra steps for a reason. :-)
In the enticement cave, (and other dungeons) there is a chance to fight a monster when entering a new "room". (That is, when you walk into the darkness and a new place appears). Taking an extra step prevents this.
The extra step before the pyramid changed the enemy fights inside the pyramid. It made me fight 3 less fights. Taking the extra steps is much faster than healing or herbing 3 times!
Anyway, I remember watching your WIP a while ago up to the poison needle. Please keep me posted if you've found anything useful that I have missed so far. And thank you for watching my WIP.
Joined: 7/30/2006
Posts: 208
Location: Alefgard, USA
Also, when it comes to manipulation, I've got a fairly simple strategy.
First, I play in real time (or even sped up time) and mess around to find the quickest way possible. Then, I reply this quickest route TAS-style. This process works due to the nature of the RNG of this game...
EDIT:
In response to the below comment: Sorry for filling the thread, Guybrush! :-)
Well, those are good reasons for the extra steps. Always good to check in advance! Unfortunately stuff like that makes things look sloppier than in other TASs, but there's not much we can do about that in this game.
Joined: 7/30/2006
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Update:
I fought 4 bomb crags east of Kanave, and with the help of the poison needle killed them all. My characters got to levels 7,8,8,8.
I bought equipment, and manipulated a Cloak of Evasion drop on the way to Baharata. It is now time to manipulate some metal slimes to level some more before Kandar.
I can defeat his henchmen pretty easily, but not him. HP regen sucks. When I am strong enough, I figure in the battle, I can give the Wizard's Ring to the Wizard. Surround seems to work pretty well on the henchmen, and Upper on the hero (who can't parry) is a must.
Kandar also sleeps pretty well, so I need to make sure I learn that spell first.
I'll post a WIP if I can get past Kandar.
