Current Events > Am I doing something wrong in Star Ocean 3? (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm at the Shrine of Kaddan and just getting my ass kicked. I have Fayt, Cliff, and Maria in the party and we're all level 20 and I'm getting wrecked from little mage enemies and suits of armor enemies. Not to mention the crystal enemies are supposed to be tough anyway. Maybe I need to be utilizing item creation to get better items?

Can anyone help me out here?

It's probably your gear, yeah. IIRC the game doesn't give you much Atk from levels and instead you get it from your weapon. While I don't know if you are having issues from not doing item creation, you probably haven't got current gear and the game is punishing you for it.

ellis123 posted...

It's probably your gear, yeah. IIRC the game doesn't give you much Atk from levels and instead you get it from your weapon. While I don't know if you are having issues from not doing item creation, you probably haven't got current gear and the game is punishing you for it.

That's definitely the issue I'm thinking. So basically, I should upgrade my gear via item creation? Or is there someplace I can go shopping for new, upgraded gear?

I do remember theres a point in the game where some of the enemies are way too tough to fight and you just gotta run or you can be a cheeseball like me and sell one of the items you get for map completion for a bunch of money and buy some overpowered weapons early on.

Ah, SO3. I remember the many difficulty spikes it had such as that....

Just use stun bombs

the game expects you to make use of the item creation system to make yourself stronger gear
the in story stuff you get doesnt cut it so if you never use item creation you will always feel super weak
item creation and you can destroy anything with ease

Shrine of Kaddan is a difficulty jump, but it isn't an area where your stats really make or break your success. It's more of a skill/mechanical knowledge check than anything else. If you understand how AAA works and have skill setups with actual synergy you can get through the whole game (post game included on Galaxy at least) without touching IC.

What is your skill setup looking like?

Cliff and maria both have some chessy early moves that can just solo. Cliff especially with Hammer of Might, it goes through guard or whatever it was called in that game and just does absurd damage in a big ass aoe.

I remember a point early in the game where I always have Fayt craft some super-powerful sword which kinda carries you through 10 hours without needing to upgrade.

nel who is with you for most of the game is an optional party member
the old shirtless daddy character is in 2 cutscenes and is a mandatory party member
doesnt make any sense (unless you know he wasnt playable in the original japan only version of the game. neither was mirage)

and he carries a sword. has huge muscles. you expect him to be a warrior type character. but his stats and moves are just a carbon copy of sophias who is a mage

mirage is also a clone of cliff in battle with a bit of maria mixed in
but a bit better than cliff

Ving_Rhames posted...

Shrine of Kaddan is a difficulty jump, but it isn't an area where your stats really make or break your success. It's more of a skill/mechanical knowledge check than anything else. If you understand how AAA works and have skill setups with actual synergy you can get through the whole game (post game included on Galaxy at least) without touching IC.

What is your skill setup looking like?

i'll get back to you on specifics, but i've been trying to balance everyone's stats. so everyone has a 3 or 4 for all 4 of the major stats. skills? you know what i mean.

and yeah, i've been doing just fine up to this point in the game. even using the side kick cancel cheese against the tough bosses like vox. but now everyone is getting wiped out pretty easy

Derek_Anderson posted...

and yeah, i've been doing just fine up to this point in the game. even using the side kick cancel cheese against the tough bosses like vox. but now everyone is getting wiped out pretty easy

I know side kick spam gets a lot of attention but it really isn't that good. Close range moves just kinda suck in this game. I promise you will have a lot better luck spamming cliff's hammer of might or maria's aiming device than you will with side kick.

If you have no attachment to Fayt I would just drop him, he is just pretty shit in general. All his best moves are moves he gets super late and even then he is mid tier at best.

Skyscraper101 posted...

I know side kick spam gets a lot of attention but it really isn't that good. Close range moves just kinda suck in this game. I promise you will have a lot better luck spamming cliff's hammer of might or maria's aiming device than you will with side kick.

If you have no attachment to Fayt I would just drop him, he is just pretty shit in general. All his best moves are moves he gets super late and even then he is mid tier at best.

Interesting. I could just roll with Maria, Cliff, and Nel then. Be a lot easier to control the character that doesnt have healing so I dont have to worry about it

Derek_Anderson posted...

Interesting. I could just roll with Maria, Cliff, and Nel then. Be a lot easier to control the character that doesnt have healing so I dont have to worry about it

Yeah I would highly recommend Nel. She has a move she gets fairly early called flying guillotine which is another just absolutely ridiculously good move, probably better than Maria and on par with Cliff. Definitely tied for best early game move, and honestly late game it is still top 10.

Make sure you are using attack moves, offensive spells, and HP healing moves a lot to make them more effective as well.

in star ocean 1 there were 4 mandatory party members. 8 party slots and about 9 recruitable characters giving you a lot of choices

star ocean 2 only had 2 mandatory party members and even more optional characters to fill those 8 spaces up

then star ocean 3 gave you 6 mandatory characters with only 2 free slots. and only 4 optional party members (seriously its weird nel is optional she is with you for like 70% of the game)

then star ocean 4 and 5 dropped the recruitment system all together

yusiko posted...

in star ocean 1 there were 4 mandatory party members. 8 party slots and about 9 recruitable characters giving you a lot of choices

star ocean 2 only had 2 mandatory party members and even more optional characters to fill those 8 spaces up

then star ocean 3 gave you 6 mandatory characters with only 2 free slots. and only 4 optional party members (seriously its weird nel is optional she is with you for like 70% of the game)

then star ocean 4 and 5 dropped the recruitment system all together

I wonder how theyre going to do it with SO6. Looks so far like its all mandatory members again. Would be interesting if they went back to the optional member in the next gen

The worst part of 2 is that I can't get two of my favorite members in the same party because recruiting one of them makes you unable to get the other.

The only star ocean I actually purchased iirc, new as well.

Irony posted...

The worst part of 2 is that I can't get two of my favorite members in the same party because recruiting one of them makes you unable to get the other.

Yeah that shit is wack. It doesnt really make sense either but whatever. Im gonna do two playthroughs and recruit everyone I didnt in the first one in the second one etc