Several Questions regarding the game, please help!

[Bread]

Shockingly, its so hard to find info about my questions since they range from conflicting information to confusing information to outright 0 results lol. This game is too underrated, I wish its more popular.

But anyway, my questions!

1) Are challenges character wide? Like, if I claim it on Kasane (my first and current playthrough) will they stay claimed on Yuito? Or do all the challenges in-progress outright reset and I'd have to start from scratch when I start my Yuito playthrough?

2) What carries over in NG+? In particular that I want to know, do bond levels carry over? What about gifts and their appearances in the hideout once gifted? I've read a lot of conflicting info like bonds carry over while some others claim they don't so I'm very confused.

3) In relation to q2, some claimed you are given the option to reset to level 1 on your second playthrough while some say you're outright reset to it (meaning no choice), so my question is, since I'll be doing Yuito's second, if I choose to or am forced back to level 1, does this apply to Kasane and her party too? Or will it just be affecting Yuito/Yuito and co?

4) When is the best time to start Karen DLC?

5) Are Plug-in Parallelization Program H and V gifts necessary to be given to party members to complete their respective gift list? Right now under library, and under check gifts for party members, there are a few "???" items left for me on the list. Are the Plug-in Parallelization Program H and V part of said gift list? Or can I just give these to the 2 most used party members in my party?

That's most of my questions right now off the top of my head, apologies for asking so many but if you know any of these I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me! Thank youu!

[Bread]

Първоначално публикувано от Sakyubasu Megami:

1. Challenges are character wide and everybody gets the benefits. They carry over in NG+ and theres more challenges that will unlock the more you play the more will appear. You probably won't see all the challenges until Post NG+.

2. Everything carries over in NG+, Kasane and Yuito have their own bonds, and you'll see everything you did in your previous playthrough after you join up with the team. So don't worry about Bonds Gifts not being in the hideout right away. They will all appear after you reach X part in the game. You also might be worried at the start of NG+ when you can't see your brain map, gear, and such but its all there once it becomes accessible after the tutorial bits.

3. You are given the option to reset all of your levels in NG+, don't do it, and have everything carry over. It makes the 2nd playthrough a lot faster. Before starting NG+ I recommend you max out all bond levels that you currently have access to.

4. You should start Karen's DLC in NG+ Post Game when you have done all the DLC Bond Ep's. You want Nexus Drive and such.

5. You should have everybodies plugin's unlocked by NG+. You can give the program gifts to anybody.

Hope that helps and feel free to ask more if I missed something! XD

Thank you!! You helped a lot with my questions. Just a couple more if you don't mind!

2. About 2, I know that I can swap between Yuito and Kasane once I've finished both playthroughs. So this means that when I swap back to Kasane my bonds and gifts given are retained too right? Sorry, I just wanted to confirm it xD

5. I might've phrased this question badly, let me rephrase it. Do the program gifts H and V count towards the gift list when you check specific characters? I'm a bit of a completionist and would like to fill up the gift list but I kinda dont wanna grind 10 H and V gifts just so everyone would have 2 slots if they don't count towards the gift list. Especially when I only have select favourites that I only use during missions xD

[Bread]

Първоначално публикувано от Sakyubasu Megami:

Първоначално публикувано от Bread:

Thank you!! You helped a lot with my questions. Just a couple more if you don't mind!

2. About 2, I know that I can swap between Yuito and Kasane once I've finished both playthroughs. So this means that when I swap back to Kasane my bonds and gifts given are retained too right? Sorry, I just wanted to confirm it xD

5. I might've phrased this question badly, let me rephrase it. Do the program gifts H and V count towards the gift list when you check specific characters? I'm a bit of a completionist and would like to fill up the gift list but I kinda dont wanna grind 10 H and V gifts just so everyone would have 2 slots if they don't count towards the gift list. Especially when I only have select favourites that I only use during missions xD

2. Yeah, everything is retained, in endgame its like your playing 2 main characters, so bonds as well as gifts given will be shared between everybody. :)

5. It does count to the gifts given, but not only that, having more slots for plug-ins give them more stats to use while your not using them in the party, and they are still effecting their SAS. Damage, SAS power duration, power effectiveness, recovery, and so forth can all be effected by plug-ins even if your not using the party members in your current team they are still effected by plug-in's that use SAS. Thats why I recommended you get them anyways specially for endgame Post NG+ for the DLC and VR. XD

Your welcome and I don't mind at all! :3

Oh! That helps alot, I'll start gifting V and H plug-ins to the ones that I use most first then. Once again, thank you so much, if only I could I'd mark both of your posts as answers for anyone else who has similar questions xD

One last question, please! Do you have a recommended plug-in setup for party members? I know health is the no-brainer since they tend to stand in the way or not dodge out of attacks sometimes but what about attack and power?

Does equipping them with either of those stat boosts do anything such as power increasing their SAS power/Combo visions/Assault visions and attack increasing their attack while they're out on the field? Its strange that the game doesn't cover this for party members or at the very least make the effort to clarify what these stats do for your AI since they only explain what they do for your main character.

[Bankai9212]

Well the ai isn’t the greatest and to be honest unless you are using a specific style you don’t need most of it. But knowing they work even when not on the field means you can apply buffs to reserve characters.

[Bread]

Първоначално публикувано от Sakyubasu Megami:

Първоначално публикувано от Bread:

Oh! That helps alot, I'll start gifting V and H plug-ins to the ones that I use most first then. Once again, thank you so much, if only I could I'd mark both of your posts as answers for anyone else who has similar questions xD

One last question, please! Do you have a recommended plug-in setup for party members? I know health is the no-brainer since they tend to stand in the way or not dodge out of attacks sometimes but what about attack and power?

Does equipping them with either of those stat boosts do anything such as power increasing their SAS power/Combo visions/Assault visions and attack increasing their attack while they're out on the field? Its strange that the game doesn't cover this for party members or at the very least make the effort to clarify what these stats do for your AI since they only explain what they do for your main character.

It does while they are out on the field but some don't link through SAS like for example Defense and HP on somebody your not using won't do anything for you. Power should be tied to crush damage and weapons are tied to attack damage. A lot of plugins will only work on the main character or characters who are in your party. But there's some that work through SAS. I'd recommend you use Enhance Burn for Hanabi, Enhance Shock for Shiden, and potentially Combat Vision Resonator+* for party members you don't use if you want a vision build. Otherwise you can use Power on everybody so that should give them more crush damage on assault visions and combo visions in SAS. You need better weapons to do better attack damage and some weapons have special bonuses.

So like you can get weapons that do 25% more damage and enhances SAS bonuses as an example. So look for weapon sets like that to build all your party members with. There are weapons that also do bonus crush damage. For a Vision build on the main characters I recommend System "Double Edged Sword" +*, Combat Vision Resonator+*, and Optional Assault Vision* so you can use Visions as much as you want while also having an enhanced chance to get call visions. For team mates your currently using in your party, more HP, Defense, and Power is always fine. You could also give them Auto-life Support+* so they can revive themselves twice per battle. I personally use the Weapon: Elysian Monolith Ark* for higher chance at inflicting Shock Status. Plug-Ins: Double Edged Sword, Double Edged Sword+*, and a Sp Weapon Attack Enhancer+* on the main character to get S ranks in the VR Simulator. lol Builds are difficult to recommend for everything because it really comes down to your playstyle and what you find most effective. XD

Thank you for the recommendations and information! They helped alot, I have a better understanding of what those stats do for the party members now. Thanks so much for helping me!

[Bankai9212]

To be fair shock is probably the only good status effect, never found tick damage for burn any good, maybe below hard.

[Bread]

Sorry to interrupt the damage discussion but I have a question about bond episodes (sorry!), can I rewatch these on my subsequent playthroughs again? I did make a habit to record some of the memorable ones but I'm curious about being able to rewatch all of them in another playthrough. Since you've confirmed that everything carries over, even bond levels, I was curious on how the game would handle bond episodes since that ties to bond levels too :o

[Bread]

Първоначално публикувано от Sakyubasu Megami:

Yep, you can rewatch them in a NG+ playthrough as long as you don't skip them. XD That means every time you do a NG+ all the Bond Ep's will replay even on max level. :)

That's good to know! More things to look forward as I replay the game xD