Is every Disgaea game after this one SUPER TEDIOUSLY GRINDY?

[Hansell1001]

I ask because I really want to master them without super long and tedious hours. And Im one to like grinding, but this Disgaea 1 game is insane. Maybe bc Im not a super fan of tactic turn base, even though, I have played others and liked them.
Plus, I want to experience subsequent Disagea games because I see videos and the latest ones look so beautiful and with better UI and sounds.

Maybe I can sklip a few to reach the conditions Im asking?
Any advice welcomed.

[JI06CT3P]

I wonder

[Bomb Bloke]

So far I've played right through the first two games, and put a ton of time into the third as well.

For those looking to "master" the game, Disgaea 1 is by far the least grindy of the three, offering the best shortcuts for getting ahead quickly and the easiest bosses to beat.

Disgaea 2 plays largely the same, but the monster capture system is nerfed (you can no longer get level 9999 characters within just a few hours of starting), statisticians are gone (replaced with a "felony" system that requires you to spend a lot more time in the item worlds), and the pirates are introduced (forcing even more item world runs). It's important to know that you can't obtain max-rank items until you've found all the pirates, and will "waste" any attempts you make before then. The absolute final boss of the full "Dark Hero Days" edition basically requires you to be able to swing for over a hundred million damage a shot.

With Disgaea 3 the developers went all in on grinding. The extra gain system that let you quickly pass spells between team members? Gone, and in addition to level requirements you additionally have to pay mana to unlock the skills you do get access to. Mana gain has been nerfed hard, and even your ability upgrades require the stuff. There are also quite a number of important abilities that are now class-specific and can't be transferred, so even with transmigration you still have to put a whole lot of extra time into training up a larger group of characters to cover those. And don't get me started on the "class world" nonsense... pretty much everything you could get quickly through the Dark Assembly before, now requires you to do a ten stage "item world"-type run as well, only there are these wretched cube things everywhere blocking the camera and you need to waste time popping them all to lower the ridiculous mana costs you'll be charged at the end and raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Maybe just play Disgaea Infinite, the visual novel game. There are also the Prinny titles to consider ("Can I really be the hero?"), if you'd rather something a bit more skill-based.

[JI06CT3P]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

So far I've played right through the first two games, and put a ton of time into the third as well.

For those looking to "master" the game, Disgaea 1 is by far the least grindy of the three, offering the best shortcuts for getting ahead quickly and the easiest bosses to beat.

Disgaea 2 plays largely the same, but the monster capture system is nerfed (you can no longer get level 9999 characters within just a few hours of starting), statisticians are gone (replaced with a "felony" system that requires you to spend a lot more time in the item worlds), and the pirates are introduced (forcing even more item world runs). It's important to know that you can't obtain max-rank items until you've found all the pirates, and will "waste" any attempts you make before then. The absolute final boss of the full "Dark Hero Days" edition basically requires you to be able to swing for over a hundred million damage a shot.

With Disgaea 3 the developers went all in on grinding. The extra gain system that let you quickly pass spells between team members? Gone, and in addition to level requirements you additionally have to pay mana to unlock the skills you do get access to. Mana gain has been nerfed hard, and even your ability upgrades require the stuff. There are also quite a number of important abilities that are now class-specific and can't be transferred, so even with transmigration you still have to put a whole lot of extra time into training up a larger group of characters to cover those. And don't get me started on the "class world" nonsense... pretty much everything you could get quickly through the Dark Assembly before, now requires you to do a ten stage "item world"-type run as well, only there are these wretched cube things everywhere blocking the camera and you need to waste time popping them all to lower the ridiculous mana costs you'll be charged at the end and raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Maybe just play Disgaea Infinite, the visual novel game. There are also the Prinny titles to consider ("Can I really be the hero?"), if you'd rather something a bit more skill-based.

I see, thanks

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

So far I've played right through the first two games, and put a ton of time into the third as well.

For those looking to "master" the game, Disgaea 1 is by far the least grindy of the three, offering the best shortcuts for getting ahead quickly and the easiest bosses to beat.

Disgaea 2 plays largely the same, but the monster capture system is nerfed (you can no longer get level 9999 characters within just a few hours of starting), statisticians are gone (replaced with a "felony" system that requires you to spend a lot more time in the item worlds), and the pirates are introduced (forcing even more item world runs). It's important to know that you can't obtain max-rank items until you've found all the pirates, and will "waste" any attempts you make before then. The absolute final boss of the full "Dark Hero Days" edition basically requires you to be able to swing for over a hundred million damage a shot.

With Disgaea 3 the developers went all in on grinding. The extra gain system that let you quickly pass spells between team members? Gone, and in addition to level requirements you additionally have to pay mana to unlock the skills you do get access to. Mana gain has been nerfed hard, and even your ability upgrades require the stuff. There are also quite a number of important abilities that are now class-specific and can't be transferred, so even with transmigration you still have to put a whole lot of extra time into training up a larger group of characters to cover those. And don't get me started on the "class world" nonsense... pretty much everything you could get quickly through the Dark Assembly before, now requires you to do a ten stage "item world"-type run as well, only there are these wretched cube things everywhere blocking the camera and you need to waste time popping them all to lower the ridiculous mana costs you'll be charged at the end and raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Maybe just play Disgaea Infinite, the visual novel game. There are also the Prinny titles to consider ("Can I really be the hero?"), if you'd rather something a bit more skill-based.

You said: "you can no longer get level 9999 characters within just a few hours of starting"
How do you do that?? get level 9999 in just a few hours?? Define "few hours" in this context?

[Bomb Bloke]

Whittle a monster's HP and SP down to near nothing then throw it into your base panel. It'll fight all the team members still in your base, and if defeated, it becomes your character permanently. You need to target a monster type that you're able to create through the Dark Assembly already. Invincibility geos help with the weakening process, and remember that you can throw enemies together to merge their levels. You can also use the Dark Assembly to make enemies stronger, too.

From Disgaea 2 onwards you're disallowed from capturing monsters of a higher level than the main character, but in Disgaea 1 you can recruit monsters that're much stronger than any of your current team members, then use them to capture way stronger monsters again, and so on.

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Whittle a monster's HP and SP down to near nothing then throw it into your base panel. It'll fight all the team members still in your base, and if defeated, it becomes your character permanently. You need to target a monster type that you're able to create through the Dark Assembly already. Invincibility geos help with the weakening process, and remember that you can throw enemies together to merge their levels. You can also use the Dark Assembly to make enemies stronger, too.

From Disgaea 2 onwards you're disallowed from capturing monsters of a higher level than the main character, but in Disgaea 1 you can recruit monsters that're much stronger than any of your current team members, then use them to capture way stronger monsters again, and so on.

Until recently, I didnt know you could throw monsters to the base panel.
But heres what I found out:

Its tougher from one might think.

I was experimenting with that in the EARLY stages in the game (maybe stage 2 I think it was), I threw a martial artist LV 5 to the base panel and...he pummeled the floor with the rest of my cast. (lvls ranging from 20 - 50).

Plus, I read some discussion that you cant do this with bosses and sub bosses.

Theres def luck involved.

[Bomb Bloke]

Martial Artists aren't monsters, so yeah, throwing one of those into your base will be an automatic loss.

Even with monsters, it's very important to reduce their HP and SP as much as possible before you make the throw. And definitely pay attention to what you can make in the Dark Assembly: for eg, just because you've unlocked the Nekomata (rank 1 Kit Cat), doesn't mean you can capture a Bastet (rank 6).

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Martial Artists aren't monsters, so yeah, throwing one of those into your base will be an automatic loss.

Even with monsters, it's very important to reduce their HP and SP as much as possible before you make the throw. And definitely pay attention to what you can make in the Dark Assembly: for eg, just because you've unlocked the Nekomata (rank 1 Kit Cat), doesn't mean you can capture a Bastet (rank 6).

Ok, now lets continue to the strategy of reaching 9999 in a few hours.

I capture a high level MONSTER (but not higher than rank 1(?)... then what?

[Bomb Bloke]

Having captured a monster of a higher level than anyone in your party, your party now has a new highest level character and can hence capture even higher level monsters.

So go do that,

As mentioned, you can throw enemies together or use the Dark Assembly to gain access to stronger targets. The item worlds offer the fastest advancement, of course: beat harder stages for better bonus gauge items, enter those better items for even stronger enemies.

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Having captured a monster of a higher level than anyone in your party, your party now has a new highest level character and can hence capture even higher level monsters.

So go do that,

As mentioned, you can throw enemies together or use the Dark Assembly to gain access to stronger targets. The item worlds offer the fastest advancement, of course: beat harder stages for better bonus gauge items, enter those better items for even stronger enemies.

Right! doing it now with a Succubus on CoO. Lets hope I capture her.
The SP reduction is also mandatory? or just cripple the HP?

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Martial Artists aren't monsters, so yeah, throwing one of those into your base will be an automatic loss.

Even with monsters, it's very important to reduce their HP and SP as much as possible before you make the throw. And definitely pay attention to what you can make in the Dark Assembly: for eg, just because you've unlocked the Nekomata (rank 1 Kit Cat), doesn't mean you can capture a Bastet (rank 6).

Ok, now lets continue to the strategy of reaching 9999 in a few hours.

I capture a high level MONSTER (but not higher than rank 1(?)... then what?

Hey I captured the Succubus!..and got an achievement at the same time! Thanks!
Now I just keep Pokemon hunting without ever needing to do grinding the old fashioned way or reincarnate?

[Bomb Bloke]

Getting a level 9999 character is no silver bullet - if you're looking to "master" the game, you'll still need to grind item world stages like crazy, and you'll still need to train up humanoid classes.

Once you have an adequately strong monster, your next steps from there are to use it to level the strongest humanoid weapon you can get your hands on, and then to use that to powerlevel your humanoids. In particular you need a Thief with several thousand levels, or ideally one at max level. This'll allow you to pluck the max rank weapons from the Item Gods, who are found at floor hundred of legendary rank 39 items. Training a max level Divine Majin also doesn't hurt, as that class is the best combatant in Disgaea 1 by a mile.

You can obtain a r39 legendary spear each cycle by talking to the one in the castle after a character in your team has earned at least 25 spear skill. You'll likely obtain at least one or two other legendary r39s from the bonus gauges while levelling that up, and so on.

Weak characters can be powerlevelled by standing them next to stronger ones and then performing team attacks on high-level enemies. To minimise the amount of time you spend levelling your humanoids, though, you'll want to repetitively send them to Cave of Ordeals stage 3 in Etna mode with the difficulty set as high as they can handle it. Once you've got some decent weapons in your arsenal (fists and swords are best for non-magic users), even a level 1 character will be able to take out everything there with a single attack, potentially jumping past level 1000 with a single move. Grind to 5000ish, transmigrate, repeat until you're happy you've earned enough bonus points and then level to 9999.

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Getting a level 9999 character is no silver bullet - if you're looking to "master" the game, you'll still need to grind item world stages like crazy, and you'll still need to train up humanoid classes.

Once you have an adequately strong monster, your next steps from there are to use it to level the strongest humanoid weapon you can get your hands on, and then to use that to powerlevel your humanoids. In particular you need a Thief with several thousand levels, or ideally one at max level. This'll allow you to pluck the max rank weapons from the Item Gods, who are found at floor hundred of legendary rank 39 items. Training a max level Divine Majin also doesn't hurt, as that class is the best combatant in Disgaea 1 by a mile.

You can obtain a r39 legendary spear each cycle by talking to the one in the castle after a character in your team has earned at least 25 spear skill. You'll likely obtain at least one or two other legendary r39s from the bonus gauges while levelling that up, and so on.

Weak characters can be powerlevelled by standing them next to stronger ones and then performing team attacks on high-level enemies. To minimise the amount of time you spend levelling your humanoids, though, you'll want to repetitively send them to Cave of Ordeals stage 3 in Etna mode with the difficulty set as high as they can handle it. Once you've got some decent weapons in your arsenal (fists and swords are best for non-magic users), even a level 1 character will be able to take out everything there with a single attack, potentially jumping past level 1000 with a single move. Grind to 5000ish, transmigrate, repeat until you're happy you've earned enough bonus points and then level to 9999.

Now this is a more complete guide I was talking about.
But I dont think you can do it in a few hours to reach lv9999. ?

Also, you mentioned cycle? Is it mandatory to involve cycles? I wouldnt want to unlock story maps again every time.

Now the difficulty increase..
They just increase in stats, correct? or the AI becomes more "ruthless"?

Finally, I have heard about Etna Mode before. But what is it exactly and how I unlock it?
(Spoil me storywise the less), thanks.

[Bomb Bloke]

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Also, you mentioned cycle? Is it mandatory to involve cycles? I wouldnt want to unlock story maps again every time.

Completing the song collection involves getting every song to play at least once. There's no way to do this on a single play through, as many only play during the credits of particular ending sequences.

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Now the difficulty increase..
They just increase in stats, correct? or the AI becomes more "ruthless"?

The AI never changes, increasing the difficulty simply causes enemies to spawn at a higher level. If an enemy would already spawn at max level, then increasing the difficulty further won't make him any more dangerous.

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Finally, I have heard about Etna Mode before. But what is it exactly and how I unlock it?
(Spoil me storywise the less), thanks.

At the very start of the game, Etna uses an arsenal of weapons to wake Laharl and kick off the plot. Etna mode is an alternate storyline in which she goes a bit overboard and ends up killing him instead. With Laharl dead, she takes over as the new main character.

To cycle into Etna mode you need to read every entry in her journal over the course of a regular playthrough. This is done by finding the hidden switches in the castle that'll allow you into her hidden room. You need to go in on the first chapter, and then read the updates for every chapter afterwards. Success awards you with a Testament (high-end emblem equip), and whenever you start a new cycle after that, you'll be given the option of playing in Etna mode.

Stages in Etna mode have higher enemy levels than in Laharl mode, so it's the ideal place to train. There's also a unique title Etna can earn there, by doing the same thing you need to do to get Laharl's special title in Laharl mode. Plus there are a couple of more endings to reach.

Be aware, though, that you lose access to all of your other story characters while playing Etna mode. The final versions of Disgaea PC also have a bug which causes Flonne's inventory to glitch when starting Etna mode, so be sure to take everything off her before you do so!

[Hansell1001]

Originally posted by Bomb Bloke:

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Also, you mentioned cycle? Is it mandatory to involve cycles? I wouldnt want to unlock story maps again every time.

Completing the song collection involves getting every song to play at least once. There's no way to do this on a single play through, as many only play during the credits of particular ending sequences.

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Now the difficulty increase..
They just increase in stats, correct? or the AI becomes more "ruthless"?

The AI never changes, increasing the difficulty simply causes enemies to spawn at a higher level. If an enemy would already spawn at max level, then increasing the difficulty further won't make him any more dangerous.

Originally posted by Hansell1001:

Finally, I have heard about Etna Mode before. But what is it exactly and how I unlock it?
(Spoil me storywise the less), thanks.

At the very start of the game, Etna uses an arsenal of weapons to wake Laharl and kick off the plot. Etna mode is an alternate storyline in which she goes a bit overboard and ends up killing him instead. With Laharl dead, she takes over as the new main character.

To cycle into Etna mode you need to read every entry in her journal over the course of a regular playthrough. This is done by finding the hidden switches in the castle that'll allow you into her hidden room. You need to go in on the first chapter, and then read the updates for every chapter afterwards. Success awards you with a Testament (high-end emblem equip), and whenever you start a new cycle after that, you'll be given the option of playing in Etna mode.

Stages in Etna mode have higher enemy levels than in Laharl mode, so it's the ideal place to train. There's also a unique title Etna can earn there, by doing the same thing you need to do to get Laharl's special title in Laharl mode. Plus there are a couple of more endings to reach.

Be aware, though, that you lose access to all of your other story characters while playing Etna mode. The final versions of Disgaea PC also have a bug which causes Flonne's inventory to glitch when starting Etna mode, so be sure to take everything off her before you do so!

Huh? You mean there is actually a little bit of exploration in this game?
But the castle is super tiny, I would have find them switches already.

Now, I won't ask about the endings spoilers, but in what parts of the story can I find them? I know I unlocked one when Mid Boss killed me the second or third time. But I didn't pay that much attention to it at the time. I remember it asked me to end the cycle but I chose not to. Beyond that, Im clueless to the other endings (besides the main story one ofc).

Just confirm if I can leave that to the end of my achievement path?
I want to start with the hardest tasks that dont require more playthroughs.