Helpful Tips on Expert Difficulty

[Azlisle]

A, Expedition 69

If there's anyone else out there doing NG0 Expert please drop some helpful tips on how you've managed so far. Mobs are mostly one shot even with just their normal attacks. I am enjoying this difficulty and it does bring everything together, Pictos, Luminas, and Tints. Character Solo, Duo or Trio rotation matters too.

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Parry Timing - Look at the hands not the blade.

Dodge Projectiles - Dodge when projectile is halfway or almost touching you.

Cannons or Nasty Spells - Dodge when you see the lights go off or the spell closes in on itself.

Mixing Dodge and Parries - Yes, you can mix them but do not expect a counter attack. A counter attack only happens on a full perfect parry.

Sound Cues and Visual Cues - Sometimes you need to rely on both to instinctively parry or dodge. Dodging is safer than parry but perfect parrying a full moveset will lead to a more meaningful counter attack.

Chromatic Bosses - These have similar movesets to their normal counterparts but are faster and have longer combos. Some have phases when you reach a certain hp threshold.

Use Tints - HP, AP, and Revive Tints are a must in this mode. Pick up everything that you can and go to the Curator to upgrade their amount.

Level Up Wisely - HP is prio to make room for mistakes but have your 3 main stats loaded and balanced too. The 3 sword icons are placed differently per character build.

Weapons - Weapon choice is crucial as some mobs have certain elemental weaknesses. Level up your favorites at the Curator.

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If I've missed anything feel free to add your insights fellow Expeditioner, for those who come after. Heading out again to find those chromatic units. Follow the lamps / lanterns or light source in the environment when lost. If there's a dark path, steel your heart. When one falls, we continue!

[Felinger]

Why put anything on HP when you basically get one shotted by everything?

[Smile]

What do you mean by "Look at the hands not the blade" ?
Could you elaborate?

[Loudness]

Originally posted by Felinger:

Why put anything on HP when you basically get one shotted by everything?

Stop wearing trash picos and grind a bit.

[toughnails]

A lot of this advice is rather pointless as different enemies have completely different timings. Some projectiles are slow, others so fast you have to dodge/parry immediately when they light up.

Also, put most of your attribute points in Agility, having more turns is much more beneficial than anything else. Luck also scales well to about 40-50 or so. Vitality and Defense are honestly pretty pointless past 20 unless you're in act 3 and your weapon scales from these stats. Once you start getting good pictos with big Health and Defense bonuses (end of act 1/start of act 2), just respec and put those points into Agility/Luck. TL;DR 2:1 Agility/Luck is the most optimal

[Azlisle]

Originally posted by Felinger:

Why put anything on HP when you basically get one shotted by everything?

Dear Expeditioner, as a Chromatic Nevron Hunter, you have to document the enemies' unique movesets. How will you last long if you don't have enough health? Picture this, the enemy's damage is 1001 and you have 1000 hp. You die after getting hit once. But let's say your hp is 1002, and you have solidifying pictos. You get hit by 1001 and you survive with 1hp + 2 shields provided by the solidifying pictos. You survive 3 more hits to see the full moveset. Crazy right? Watching the full dance of a Chromatic Nevron.

[Tanix]

Do not prioritize HP. Do all might and agility and kill most stuff before it attacks.

[Lunarblaze]

Can you even reasonably get to a point where chroma bosses don't one shot you? I mean, I haven't tried since it seemed like an impossible task. If you can't, might as well go full glass cannon and work on an AOE rotation for trash mobs.

[Felinger]

Originally posted by Tanix:

Do not prioritize HP. Do all might and agility and kill most stuff before it attacks.

This guy gets it. And if they attack first just counter it. That's the way.

[Giganx]

For Expert Shields are more important than HP. No matter how much you dump into HP you're dead in 1 or 2 hits a lot of the time.

Just get all the pictos that give you shields at battle start; gives your allies shields on death; etc. Having 3 shields on start and getting 3 shields whenever a party member dies makes you way more durable than 5000 hp will. Then you can ignore Vit/Def and just pump everything into damage.