Chapter 4 filler content is killing my motivation

[Kertheon]

My engagement is taking a nosedive with all these filler battles in questlines like the pirate graveyard and now in my first temple where most of the floors feel meaningless. I can't imagine how worse PotD will be...

And the quests do feel necessary to have a good state for the world with the extra characters/classes/equipment.

For the fans, how do you keep motivation on these dungeons? Any tips.

[Super Ourico]

You only really need to clear all that content on your third time around, to have a "perfect" chapter 4 while also having beaten the game on every path. Obviously you can do them your first time around, but it isn't necessary.

I would recommend farming floor 21 of Palace of the Dead on your first playthrough. Equipping your units with Winged Ring will make your life so much easier both in the Hanging Gardens and during other story fights.

[Kertheon]

Originally posted by Super Ourico:

You only really need to clear all that content on your third time around, to have a "perfect" chapter 4 while also having beaten the game on every path. Obviously you can do them your first time around, but it isn't necessary.

I would recommend farming floor 21 of Palace of the Dead on your first playthrough. Equipping your units with Winged Ring will make your life so much easier both in the Hanging Gardens and during other story fights.

I see, I will leave them for later them. Though 20ish floors on Potd do not sound that enjoyable either I will try to get the winged rings while I play the game in a more relaxed manner to not burn out.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

[Pickleton]

Honestly the first 25-ish floors of PotD are pretty easy as long as you bring a decently balanced team. Outside of a few skippable maps, you're not really forced into fighting on maps with a lot of pits, are about lvl35 generics, and they're mostly running around in the same gear you can buy in the store, and maybe a few spells here or there that you don't have yet (like the tier1 summons). It should be pretty simple to get up to floor 21 and farm wing rings, honestly, and it'll make future maps so much faster/easie, saving time in the long run.

In my playthrough, I was initially only planning on doing the first few floors of PotD so I could farm relics for Deneb's Wicce class, but had such a good/easy time in there (especially the first 5 or so floors) that I ended up staying until floor 25.

[Overeagerdragon]

For me the strategy is what keeps me going... but I'm weird.. throughout my life I racked up a good 32K hrs in the disgaea franchise so playing Ogre Tactics (which limits you in some huge ways in comparison) keeps me going on the accord of the strategy of it alone...

The whole concept that if you mess up your team composition for a battle can REALLY mess you up is quite refreshing for me whereas Disgaea eventually becomes a tad brainless because you have you main party who just dumps on the enemy from across the map without them having time to respond...

[eriol33]

yeah, I know what you mean. I have played this game on psx and psp, and on psx, I am sure I finished hellgate every time I started a new scenario. I cannot believe I had that patience because it's so mundane. You could also finish POTD later, in my opinion, newcomers better enjoy the story first. POTD is just too boring. It took me 35 hours probably, using AIs, and muting the music while doing other things.

[NBX]

I wouldn't recommend doing Palace of the Dead or the elemental temples on your first playthrough, and I wouldn't go farther in Pirate's Graveyard than you need to in order to recruit Azelstan (if you're able to recruit him, his sidequest has a few things you need to do during short time windows in early Ch4). Those sidequests drag the pacing to a grinding halt; I would just finish the story first and then you can go back and do whatever using the WORLD mechanic if you want to keep playing. The other Ch4 sidequests I don't think are nearly as tedious.

Winged Rings are really useful in general, but if you just want protection from bottomless pits for the final area, most frontline classes learn the Steadfast skill in the level 37-40 range which grants 100% immunity to knockback. It does take up a skill slot but it's a good option if you don't want to dive into PotD yet.

[Maroxad]

My motivation to keep me going forward was to listen to some good music.

You can also use the AI + Zombie winged to prevent permadeaths.

[easytarget]

Like most games of this genre, it's roughly 25-33% too long.

As for motivation, my 2 cents would be if you ever feel the need for a crutch of any kind to motivate you to play a game, you're playing the wrong game. ;)

[Zoid13]

its not really filler content. its optional side content and story for those that want to do it.
i see filler as pointless stuff thats mandatory and unavoidable during the main story if a game which TO doesn't really have imo (maybe a few too many hanging garden maps.

i enjoy the game so i can do POTD no worries. dont need to motivate myself. if i didnt like doing it i wouldnt.

[Pickleton]

Originally posted by Zoid13:

its not really filler content. its optional side content and story for those that want to do it.
i see filler as pointless stuff thats mandatory and unavoidable during the main story if a game which TO doesn't really have imo (maybe a few too many hanging garden maps.

i enjoy the game so i can do POTD no worries. dont need to motivate myself. if i didnt like doing it i wouldnt.

Yeah the game's actually not too terribly long if you skip all the side stuff. Chapter 4 in particular. Just Briganty's to Mrueva to Banisha to Heim and then the crawl through Hanging Gardens.