Rush to NG+?

[Kayderim]

Is it a good idea to rush to NG+ and complete all sidequests there? I'm currently at level 10 and just beat my second dungeon (this one in Legendary, it was great!) and i like how the game works, so i want to 100% it and do every sidequest possible to get all achievments.

But i saw an achievment that requires me to beat NG+, so i was wondering if it is wise if i just rushed the story and save all the sidequests / side content to the next run, i don't mind the game being hard, i actually prefer it that way.

Is there anything i can miss on the first run that i can't get on NG+?

[Ylie-Ylie-Ylie]

Hiya, 100% NG and halfway through NG+ person here - I wouldn't recommend rushing for NG+. While all sidequests, hunts and achievements can be scored on NG+, you're probably better off taking your time with NG. Pick up a guide if you're struggling to find things, and if the NG dungeons feel too easy, play them on Legendary and restrain yourself from using the most cheesy strategies (hi, Garrison/Monika/piercing ice spells Knolan) outside of emergencies.

The only things that carry over to NG+ are perk points and ability to choose any character into your party once you reach Harm's Way, and NG+ ramps up the difficulty in a rather unfair way: it just dumps several extra levels onto all enemies in an area without increasing XP or gold drops. The numbers don't really get adjusted in any way, either, so higher-level enemies will usually just swipe the floor with your characters without letting you come up with any witty strategies, but enemies your level or below are a minor threat or just trash fights to power through. Itemization also isn't changed (outside of NG+ exclusive Legendary item rarity tier for craftables/drops giving slightly better bonuses) so if you grind a tiny bit too much or spend some Shadow Coins on unique gear, the game's difficulty will fly out the window.

Regional level locks fortunately still apply so you can eventually match or outlevel the enemies, but be ready to suddenly run into level 6 enemies with level 1 party at the very start of the game, or level 16 enemies with a level 10 party in Rushlands (near 2nd dungeon). The first one? Challenging and may push you to grind, but is still doable. The second? Usually ends in a party wipe until your own party hits that level range. Also, you'll be often short on gold and resources up until 3rd or 4th dungeon, even if you grind, which only serves to stall you rather than offer you a fair challenge.

The only exceptions to the usual scaling rules are Arena fights (they stay at a certain level range at NG, but scale to your party level on NG+) and Sky Pirates (airships flying over world map that start fights with special enemies - their level is always scaled to your highest-level party member on NG, but NG+ scales up their levels by highest party level+3, taking these already tough fights and making them borderline impossible for most of the game due to sheer numbers advantage - they can 1-shot your party from full health with ease no matter what busted gear you have or how many different buffs you stack). This means maxing out the Arena is a viable option on NG+, but completing the full round of Sky Pirate fights for Bestiary and Sky Captain achievements becomes a major hassle.

Most achievements are easy to clear on NG - 100% lore entries, beastiary and fishiary mostly rely on your patience for dungeon re-runs and grinding (tip: you can rest at the inn to reset Fishmonger's Wharf fishing spots - they're the only place where you can get the four rarest fishiary entries), Sky Captain achievement is best done on NG due to reasons mentioned above, Arena and Hunts are doable on both NG and NG+, and legendary weapons and level 3 bursts mostly depend on doing a little bit of snooping around for items with an occasional relatively forgiving RNG element.

Finally, keep in mind that if the base game takes about 40-50 hours to beat as a total completionist, NG+ will take you about just as much time - if you want to get those NG+ achievements, make sure you won't burn yourself out along the way. I've played some lengthy RPGs and grind-heavy games before, so I know for sure I'm stubborn enough to beat the game again, but I still ended up caving in a bit and using 3rd party tools to speed up combat and map animations because I simply got tired of watching the same lengthy attacks for over 80 hours. I can also feel a little bit of a wear creeping in by 5th dungeon (out of 8).

TL;DR try to do as much stuff as possible on NG, definitely get as many perk points as possible on NG before NG+, do all Sky Pirates on NG b/c NG+ encounters are busted, expect NG+ to be grindy at times, the game's difficulty is unfortunately kinda whack on both NG and NG+ and you can't do much about it

[Kayderim]

Originally posted by Ylie-Ylie-Ylie:

Hiya, 100% NG and halfway through NG+ person here - I wouldn't recommend rushing for NG+. While all sidequests, hunts and achievements can be scored on NG+, you're probably better off taking your time with NG. Pick up a guide if you're struggling to find things, and if the NG dungeons feel too easy, play them on Legendary and restrain yourself from using the most cheesy strategies (hi, Garrison/Monika/piercing ice spells Knolan) outside of emergencies.

The only things that carry over to NG+ are perk points and ability to choose any character into your party once you reach Harm's Way, and NG+ ramps up the difficulty in a rather unfair way: it just dumps several extra levels onto all enemies in an area without increasing XP or gold drops. The numbers don't really get adjusted in any way, either, so higher-level enemies will usually just swipe the floor with your characters without letting you come up with any witty strategies, but enemies your level or below are a minor threat or just trash fights to power through. Itemization also isn't changed (outside of NG+ exclusive Legendary item rarity tier for craftables/drops giving slightly better bonuses) so if you grind a tiny bit too much or spend some Shadow Coins on unique gear, the game's difficulty will fly out the window.

Regional level locks fortunately still apply so you can eventually match or outlevel the enemies, but be ready to suddenly run into level 6 enemies with level 1 party at the very start of the game, or level 16 enemies with a level 10 party in Rushlands (near 2nd dungeon). The first one? Challenging and may push you to grind, but is still doable. The second? Usually ends in a party wipe until your own party hits that level range. Also, you'll be often short on gold and resources up until 3rd or 4th dungeon, even if you grind, which only serves to stall you rather than offer you a fair challenge.

The only exceptions to the usual scaling rules are Arena fights (they stay at a certain level range at NG, but scale to your party level on NG+) and Sky Pirates (airships flying over world map that start fights with special enemies - their level is always scaled to your highest-level party member on NG, but NG+ scales up their levels by highest party level+3, taking these already tough fights and making them borderline impossible for most of the game due to sheer numbers advantage - they can 1-shot your party from full health with ease no matter what busted gear you have or how many different buffs you stack). This means maxing out the Arena is a viable option on NG+, but completing the full round of Sky Pirate fights for Bestiary and Sky Captain achievements becomes a major hassle.

Most achievements are easy to clear on NG - 100% lore entries, beastiary and fishiary mostly rely on your patience for dungeon re-runs and grinding (tip: you can rest at the inn to reset Fishmonger's Wharf fishing spots - they're the only place where you can get the four rarest fishiary entries), Sky Captain achievement is best done on NG due to reasons mentioned above, Arena and Hunts are doable on both NG and NG+, and legendary weapons and level 3 bursts mostly depend on doing a little bit of snooping around for items with an occasional relatively forgiving RNG element.

Finally, keep in mind that if the base game takes about 40-50 hours to beat as a total completionist, NG+ will take you about just as much time - if you want to get those NG+ achievements, make sure you won't burn yourself out along the way. I've played some lengthy RPGs and grind-heavy games before, so I know for sure I'm stubborn enough to beat the game again, but I still ended up caving in a bit and using 3rd party tools to speed up combat and map animations because I simply got tired of watching the same lengthy attacks for over 80 hours. I can also feel a little bit of a wear creeping in by 5th dungeon (out of 8).

TL;DR try to do as much stuff as possible on NG, definitely get as many perk points as possible on NG before NG+, do all Sky Pirates on NG b/c NG+ encounters are busted, expect NG+ to be grindy at times, the game's difficulty is unfortunately kinda whack on both NG and NG+ and you can't do much about it

Thanks a lot !

[Ylie-Ylie-Ylie]

Hi, me again - small correction for NG+ Arena: the levels actually scale by a set amount (level listed in the menu+3/+4 for bosses), I just somehow managed to do the fights at just the right level for the enemies to match my party two times in a row. I tried the 3rd round just now (lvl 21 on NG) with a lvl 27 party and the enemies were only lvl 24 (+ lvl 25 boss).

I can also confirm Sky Pirates are basically impossible to do, it's not wonky coding screwing me over - you can steamroll a single enemy 3 levels above you if you play right (and especially if you cheese them...), but a party of 2-3 tanky enemies with high damage output is simply a wall you can't climb. Basic Pirates are 3 levels above you, but higher-tier ones (airships with a skull on the front) are whole 4 levels higher, and at that point the game's level scaling mechanics will just lower your damage output against them by about 10% (data-mined info, the game won't tell you about it). Combine that debuff with the enemy's higher defenses, HP pool, damage and having to fight THREE OF THE BASTARDS at once, and it feels borderline impossible to beat them.

[Kayderim]

Originally posted by Ylie-Ylie-Ylie:

Hi, me again - small correction for NG+ Arena: the levels actually scale by a set amount (level listed in the menu+3/+4 for bosses), I just somehow managed to do the fights at just the right level for the enemies to match my party two times in a row. I tried the 3rd round just now (lvl 21 on NG) with a lvl 27 party and the enemies were only lvl 24 (+ lvl 25 boss).

I can also confirm Sky Pirates are basically impossible to do, it's not wonky coding screwing me over - you can steamroll a single enemy 3 levels above you if you play right (and especially if you cheese them...), but a party of 2-3 tanky enemies with high damage output is simply a wall you can't climb. Basic Pirates are 3 levels above you, but higher-tier ones (airships with a skull on the front) are whole 4 levels higher, and at that point the game's level scaling mechanics will just lower your damage output against them by about 10% (data-mined info, the game won't tell you about it). Combine that debuff with the enemy's higher defenses, HP pool, damage and having to fight THREE OF THE BASTARDS at once, and it feels borderline impossible to beat them.

Yeah, i messed up, i was playing the game blind so i didn't know that snake thing was the final boss and the game would end if i kill it, so i got into NG+ a little earlier.

I'm already in junktown and so far i didn't have much problems, what i do know is that i want to do all sidequests, and get all characters to lvl 30, and so far all of them are lvl 12, i was thinking about keep switching them every 2 dungeons but i think i'll just keep 1 team fighting until i get to the legendary weapons part, the low lvl team with legendary weapons would make the fights a breeze, and i want to complete the dungeons on the mythical diff too, the only problem i can see having is grinding all the 600 shadow coins to get all skins, i'm fishing at every pool i find i only have like 60.

Oh yeah, can you tell me if i beat a dungeon on the mythic difficulty, will it count towards the beat all dungeons on legendary achievment?

[Ylie-Ylie-Ylie]

Originally posted by Kayderim:

Yeah, i messed up, i was playing the game blind so i didn't know that snake thing was the final boss and the game would end if i kill it, so i got into NG+ a little earlier.

I'm already in junktown and so far i didn't have much problems, what i do know is that i want to do all sidequests, and get all characters to lvl 30, and so far all of them are lvl 12, i was thinking about keep switching them every 2 dungeons but i think i'll just keep 1 team fighting until i get to the legendary weapons part, the low lvl team with legendary weapons would make the fights a breeze, and i want to complete the dungeons on the mythical diff too, the only problem i can see having is grinding all the 600 shadow coins to get all skins, i'm fishing at every pool i find i only have like 60.

Oh yeah, can you tell me if i beat a dungeon on the mythic difficulty, will it count towards the beat all dungeons on legendary achievment?

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't answer that final question - I did all legendary runs on my first playthrough. IMO it should count Mythic runs towards that, but if you have any leftover ones and the achievement doesn't score, feel free to go back and re-run them on Legendary, they should be easy at that point.

I also kept my party rotated to level up all characters - keep in mind that the game has aggressive level scaling and your gear only adds so much to your stats; my low-level Garrison with high-level weapon (Sharkbait, unlocked by completing the Fishiary or going into NG+ with completed Fishiary) could 1- or 2-shot same-level enemies but struggled against anything 3-4 levels above him.

For Shadow Coins, your best answer is grinding dungeons (re-running them several times to get extra items to trade for SC) or fishing like a madman. Fishmonger's Wharf (north of Junktown) resets every time you rest at the inn, so you can go there, fish out all available holes (3rd hole unlocks after Deadwatch and 4th hole - after Crimson Garden), use map teleporter near Junktown to return to the village, rest, teleport back, fish again etc. A single run with 3 holes unlocked will give you at least 30-40 coins, especially if you fish in the dungeons too.

Also, one more update on the Sky Pirate saga: I can handle them now, with a lvl 30 party, best gear, strong enchantments and 2-3 Ultimate Weapons. At that point everything else folds in 2-3 turns anyway, I have almost everything unlocked and it's basically a victory lap before beating up C'Drall again. Either I suck at the game or my end-game party is that broken, bleh.

Good luck with NG+ :)

[Kayderim]

Originally posted by Ylie-Ylie-Ylie:

Originally posted by Kayderim:

Yeah, i messed up, i was playing the game blind so i didn't know that snake thing was the final boss and the game would end if i kill it, so i got into NG+ a little earlier.

I'm already in junktown and so far i didn't have much problems, what i do know is that i want to do all sidequests, and get all characters to lvl 30, and so far all of them are lvl 12, i was thinking about keep switching them every 2 dungeons but i think i'll just keep 1 team fighting until i get to the legendary weapons part, the low lvl team with legendary weapons would make the fights a breeze, and i want to complete the dungeons on the mythical diff too, the only problem i can see having is grinding all the 600 shadow coins to get all skins, i'm fishing at every pool i find i only have like 60.

Oh yeah, can you tell me if i beat a dungeon on the mythic difficulty, will it count towards the beat all dungeons on legendary achievment?

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't answer that final question - I did all legendary runs on my first playthrough. IMO it should count Mythic runs towards that, but if you have any leftover ones and the achievement doesn't score, feel free to go back and re-run them on Legendary, they should be easy at that point.

I also kept my party rotated to level up all characters - keep in mind that the game has aggressive level scaling and your gear only adds so much to your stats; my low-level Garrison with high-level weapon (Sharkbait, unlocked by completing the Fishiary or going into NG+ with completed Fishiary) could 1- or 2-shot same-level enemies but struggled against anything 3-4 levels above him.

For Shadow Coins, your best answer is grinding dungeons (re-running them several times to get extra items to trade for SC) or fishing like a madman. Fishmonger's Wharf (north of Junktown) resets every time you rest at the inn, so you can go there, fish out all available holes (3rd hole unlocks after Deadwatch and 4th hole - after Crimson Garden), use map teleporter near Junktown to return to the village, rest, teleport back, fish again etc. A single run with 3 holes unlocked will give you at least 30-40 coins, especially if you fish in the dungeons too.

Also, one more update on the Sky Pirate saga: I can handle them now, with a lvl 30 party, best gear, strong enchantments and 2-3 Ultimate Weapons. At that point everything else folds in 2-3 turns anyway, I have almost everything unlocked and it's basically a victory lap before beating up C'Drall again. Either I suck at the game or my end-game party is that broken, bleh.

Good luck with NG+ :)

Thanks, i'm almost by the end now, 3 characters are already lvl 30 and i have 3 ultimate weapons, only mission epic parts for the others, it was hard at first but i'm loving this, difficulty. Also, only 3 - 4 achievments to go until i got them all. This game is amazing