Star Ocean 2 Tips & Tricks on Universe Mode - Part 4 - Dias Flac

Channel:

Abaddon Daemon

Subscribers:

421

Published on August 17, 2021 5:00:02 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qsFGX-FFRQ

Game:

Star Ocean: The Second Story (1998)

Duration: 34:48

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5

I spent years as a Dias doubter, but have come around on him during my last few runs. He has a lot of flaws as a character, many of which were fixed in the PSP remake. His physical attack animation is so slow as to render it nearly worthless. It does have a somewhat interesting arc where it hits enemies around Dias' sides, but this almost never makes the slow startup worth it. This means he's purely a Killer Move character, so he's going to burn a lot of MP. The game may be trying to imply this by having him come initially equipped with a Mind Ring. Once you start to receive equipment that increases attack opportunities (Meteor Ring, Slayer's Ring), they will not work on Dias. This is very hobbling in the endgame. I suspect this may be related to Dias' overall theme of being intended as a Killer Move user... but there's no way to be sure it's not just another bug in a very buggy game.

The problem with Dias' nature as a Killer Move user is that most of his Killer Moves are style over substance. Many of them are very cool (I particularly like Full Moon Slash), but simply lack the practicality of a character like Claude or Chisato. This seems to leave Dias somewhat lost as a character.

The solution to his identity crisis is Air Slash, one of his starting Killer Moves. I imagine like myself, most players become accustomed to Claude's Air Slash, find it mildly useful but not amazing, then start playing with Dias and notice his Air Slash is much better. So they use it for a while, then move on to find better Killer Moves. This is the mistake, as Dias' Air Slash is one of the outright most busted Killer Moves in the entire game. It essentially transforms Dias from a swordsman into an archer. Because of its incredibly low MP cost, he will virtually never run out of castings, and when used at long range the move receives a 2x damage boost.

Further, Dias' ultimate weapon, the Crimson Diablos, is the strongest in the game, as it has a hidden Atlas Ring effect. If you compare it to other ultimate weapons it may not look that strong, but in reality it will be stronger than the Levantine Sword by the time you finally get one. Dias alone has a weapon this strong. When coupled with the bonus from long-range Air Slash, he'll be doling out massive damage at long range for the entire game under almost any configuration.

Finally, Air Slash has one final major advantage, which is that it has weird interactions with flying enemies, typically hitting them 3-4 times rather than the intended single hit. This results in Dias absolutely wrecking airborne enemies, which is a huge deal as they're often some of the otherwise most challenging bosses in the game.

EDIT: Srobson Scosta writes in that there is actually a second Meteorite on Disc 1, although it has the exact same prerequisites to obtain. If you Pickpocket Precis' father immediately after receiving the first Meteorite, he'll give up a second one. Once the Private Action is broken and he returns to his house, this opportunity is lost. Srobson provides a video demonstrating this here: https://youtu.be/MDtWh6bficw

This means you can use Precis to craft her SDUGA Punch as well as a Star Guard for Ashton on Disc 1. Although I should note that all of these gains are short-lived and only really benefit the Eluria Tower dungeon, which is already so dominated by Dias that this detail in the game isn't worth obsessing over if you prefer Bowman.



0:00 Optional: Atlas Ring
1:20 Optional: Evening Dress
2:35 Optional: Beret
3:08 Optional: Early Funny Slayer
5:17 Step 25: Leon
11:46 Optional: Skanda Ointment
13:39 Step 26: Attack Vials
15:18 Step 27: Hoffmann Ruins
19:56 Step 27: Hoffmann Ruins (Harfainx)
21:47 Step 28: Disc 1's Only Meteorite
24:54 Step 29: Recruiting Dias
29:43 Step 30: Shin
34:04 Optional: Loot Eluria Colony Armory

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