S Rank S - A thread about its legends and myths

[Domi]

Ah... The legendary Rank... "S"... Once upon a time, boys from all villages adventured themselves in looking for this particular rank... No one knows if it exists, but that didn't stop people from facing that challenge.

In this thread, we'll discuss one of Falcom's hardest challenges in its entire history, in which even dying once will make you restart the game from the very beginning.

Requirements:

Total time: How long it takes to finish the game.

Rank S: Under 6 hours.

Level: The level you have when you finish the game. The higher your level, the lower your rank. Luckily, you can level down at the Church.

Rank S: 15 or less.

Skills: The number of skills you have learnt through the game from the weapons.

Rank S: 42 (in other words, all of them).

Treasures obtained: A percentage based on the number of treasure boxes you open. It only counts the chests found on the map, not those spawn by defeating enemies.

Rank S: 100%

Number of potions used: Self-explanatory. The less potions you use, the higher the rank.

Rank S: ???

Damage count: This actually counts how many times you are hit, NOT the amount of damage.

Rank S: ??? (579 grants you Rank S)

Deaths: Self-explanatory. The more you die, the lower your rank. Dying will increase this counter in 1, even if you think that going to the title screen and re-loading the same save file will save you. But it won't. Even using elexirs after dying won't prevent that number to increase.

Rank S: 0. (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ YOU FALCOM)

Save object count: This is not the number of times you save... rather, it's the number of times you interact and get full heal from those save points. So if you just want to get full heal, it will increase in 1 this value. Oh, yeah: the lower, the better rank.

Rank S: 5.

[Walke_893]

Just to add to the stat point trick, though I'm not sure about if it will be effective in a S rank run, is that it is best done after you get the Rock spell in Castle Strangerock. The Rock spell doesn't seem to work off the INT or STR stat or equipment but rather does damage depending on how it hits thus this helps alleviate levelling back up from level 1 where damage dealing is lacking.

[Domi]

Originally posted by Walke_893:

Just to add to the stat point trick, though I'm not sure about if it will be effective in a S rank run, is that it is best done after you get the Rock spell in Castle Strangerock. The Rock spell doesn't seem to work off the INT or STR stat or equipment but rather does damage depending on how it hits thus this helps alleviate levelling back up from level 1 where damage dealing is lacking.

Could be helpful, but you can also use the Dragon Slayer at level 1.

[Walke_893]

True, but dragon slayer relies on stat investment to do good damage. The Rock spell allows you speed up leveling from level 1 within castle strangerock itself, plus it also means you don't get into range of physical attacks. Of course this only helps leveling with Bella Fruede, the rock spell is pretty bad otherwise.

[Domi]

Sure, it's just I can't help but feel concerned about its limited use. But you made a good point, even if it's just for the very first levels.

[Walke_893]

So some questions that come to mind:
- How are treasure chests counted? On spawn or do you have to clear rooms to get 100%?
- Does the extra dungeon count towards the score?

Also I did a quick check to see what level 15 with Bella Freude was like and you end up with 126 BP to use however you wish. If you distribute that to use the best equipment (except Knight Helm) that leaves you an extra 41, +/- extra if you use skills, to play around with.

Fighting the Final boss with 20 Str is sufficient to win, now all I need to do is test to see what the best stat to equipment distribution is.

[Domi]

- There are types of treasure chests. Those that are found after defeating the enemies of a room and those that are unique, tied to concrete rooms and may need a unique solution (defeating a boss, solving a puzle...). I'm 99% sure that you need to open 100% of both types of chests for Rank S.

The chest that can be spawn after defeating normal enemies must be opened. If you skip or destroy them, you will be tied to a % lower than 100.

Now, if anyone could give us official confirmation...

- The extra dungeon never come to mind as counting for the final rank, but now you are making me doubt. There are a few exclusive items and unique chests there...

Also I just tested magic and spells on Galsius. Only Death works the first time you fight Galsius, and you can only hit him once per spell. It's also very easy to use: just make the character look at Galsius and do it. While Death has only 7 uses and it's highly recommended to use it for the very first part of the fight... you can probably hit him 4 or 5 times, which should deal like +50% HP. No magic works for the last part of the fight.

[Almar]

Originally posted by Domi:

Kind of... but that video is for an INT run.

Ooops. Getting Ice and Frost spells mixed up as well. :v

Originally posted by Domi:

- The extra dungeon never come to mind as counting for the final rank, but now you are making me doubt. There are a few exclusive items and unique chests there...

After beating the bonus dungeon can you go into it again? If you can does the chest on 5F still give Wooden Sword?
Not that this would really confirm anything but if it allows multiple Wooden Swords to be looted I'd say the bonus dungeon chests don't count torwards the final rank.

More stuff to test!

[Domi]

I remember (mostly as a joke, but looks like it was useful to know) when I beat the optional dungeon final boss, i got the magic sword then I used one the... Black Onyx? To get back to the village, then I got back to the final floor of the dungeon. I had to fight again the same boss (probably the only boss that does this) and after beating him, the chest that gave me the sorcery sword gave me money instead, like any other regular chest you find in the rest of the rooms.

I wish we had access to one of those Japanese guides instead of lacking so much information, which makes the achievement impossible (although I do it for the challenge and not for an achievement).

[Walke_893]

Unique equipment is one time only in the extra dungeon, they get replaced by potions instead. The good thing is that none of the equipment in the extra dungeon have skills so it may not count towards the final rank.

I'll see about attempting some runs to get more discernable info.

[Domi]

I'm not 100% sold on the optional dungeon as obligatory for Rank S. This deungeon was added in a patch (after the Japanese release back on 2005) and it would take a LOT of time, not just in order to get the chests (and this includes beating the boss), but also because you need to grind and that takes even more time.

Speaking of which, what spots are good for grinding? Not just exp, but also money and bones.

Also I just finished editing my XN map... with the exception of the castle. It's going to be a pain. Just look at this mess! http://falcom.xfu.jp/wiki/wiki.cgi/xanadu?page=%B4%F1%B4%E4%BE%EB

Oh, and if I didn't make a mistake counting... You need 98 keys for the "non-castle" areas.

I think I have almost everything figured out. I only need to know when to grind exp, when to level up X guardian, when to grind money... etc.

For those chests that you can't get right away (until you get the right artefact later), I recommend going for them after defeating Lorelei. Sure you can get them after defeating the lava boss, buuuuut after Lorelei, you'll have access to the skill that increases your run speed. For obvious reasons. Or if you really need to get those items before Lorelei, using a Black Onyx after getting the right weapon.

[Broso]

How are you going to heal up?

[Domi]

Originally posted by Virsalus:

How are you going to heal up?

By leveling up! And potions. you can use up to 24 after all.

Also I want to do some tests related to the whole save thing, maybe there's a way to rest without adding 1 to the save count.

Also Black Onyx are essential, now that I think about it.

[Broso]

Are you going to use the level down mechanic to stay around a certain level which makes getting another level easier?

[Domi]

Originally posted by Virsalus:

Are you going to use the level down mechanic to stay around a certain level which makes getting another level easier?

Level only counts when you beat the game, meaning you can be OP and then level down right before the final boss.

[Almar]

Perhaps try seeing if using the Rest option when talking to Char adds a save object use?

Also only just worked out that you can target enemies when using the Death spell by holding cursor over them. Not really that helpful but pretty cool.