Super Mario RPG Switch Restricted Weapons/No Deaths Run - Booster Pass and Booster Tower
0Original version video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xODcmbTM0
Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO2o0_k4kOryFUHsFDdkj9f0n2YfuNKar
New relevant rules:
-Default party of Mallow/Bowser (original lesser characters party)
-Mid-battle switching is restricted to discretionary usage (new feature, will be needed later)
-Chain Chomp is banned (involves a weapon that had been made redundant; relevance is minor)
-Masher is banned (balance issues ahoy)
Bowser--and it's pointless to hide that he becomes a good guy for once in this 27YO game when the remaster's Attract Mode shows him being a party member--is a rock solid addition to our party and will prove to be such in this challenge run. In the original, he was basically the least adept party member, with few uniquely useful aspects to his name as a result of a setup that can have him be called Armor Knight: The Super Mario RPG Character. Here in the remaster, however, he has the aid of Triple Moves with one particularly useful one involving him (Clown Car Barrage, which involves the Mallow/Bowser team too, go figure), he's stabilized by the much cleaner item system (we will see why that's relevant in the future, by the way), and perhaps most importantly, he has his Ally Buff of Physical DEF, clocking in at a 25% increase at 5+ Chain.
I make use of this part to make points about why the Physical DEF Ally Buff is very handy, barring some perfect play where all enemy physical attacks would have any damage already nullified as a result of all of them being blockable. If you don't get it, besides that single target magic attacks are blockable as well and tend to be more intuitive to block at that, the PDEF Ally Buff is particularly good at achieving the Timing Chain mechanic's goal of rewarding consistency with timing management. Any physical attack that isn't sweetspot blocked benefits instantly, and the benefit can actually add up especially if the physical attack has a multiplier at that, such as with Carni-Kiss's 2x damage. Not only that, but there's also the added point that any action where you lose the Timing Chain still has the relevant Ally Buff apply to the action's damage management where applicable, keeping in mind that you're most likely to lose a Timing Chain on an enemy's physical attack block if you're knowing what you're doing. This makes Bowser's PDEF Ally Buff VERY handy at minimizing momentum loss, and you can use your own actions to set a 3 Chain back up too.
Booster Tower in general was already tailor made for teaching the player how Bowser plays out, and it does a stellar job here too with covering about the Ally Buffs, which the game mentions in the Switching tutorial now at this point where they're starting to have stat numbers to actually scale well off of now. For reference, Chain Chomp, with their 60 PATK, the highest of any mook in the tower other than Blaster (70 PATK) whose Bullet Bill attack is mercifully predictable to mitigate the early timing requirement, deals 21 damage base to L7 Mallow with Mega Pants and Wake Up Pin, but the PDEF Ally Buff reduces that to 12. Things inevitably get even better with other non-Special mooks. Just keep in mind that some enemies can do things that can easily disrupt your Chain. Jester in particular can be a right nuisance with this notion, making up for the sad loss of the Magic Evade stat which he had 80 points in, with how obtuse his attacks can get, in effect still maintaining the idea of staggering Bowser's utility.
Here's the strategies I can devise for the Special variants of enemies in the tower with Mallow/Bowser and no Jumping:
-Orb User (24 HP/120 PDEF with Recover) - wipe out everything else first; Orb User will be a GD Bat, but his 50 PATK after the Special boost will be easy to wall.
-Snifit/Spookum (75 PATK) - watch how this guy behaves more carefully
-Jester (72 PATK) - best to make sure the auxiliary threats are cleaned out and make sure things are under control fast.
-Dollox/Remo Con (84 PATK) - Fireball will instantly destroy this guy regardless of his HP.
-Rob-Omb (126 HP/94 PDEF) - he's probably content to SD on his own; if that doesn't work for you, he's weak to Fire and has 24 MDEF total, but non-fatal Fire will have Rob-Omb react with immediate self-destruct, so best to set him up first if feasible. He's not immune to Fear or Bolt, so Thunderbolt or Terrorize will still help with that, though Mallow and Bowser are still slower than Mario.
-Blaster (360 HP/105 PDEF) - repeat Chain-boosted Thunderbolts; Blazer is, as displayed, blockable now, checking the biggest threat.
-Lava Blubble/Fireball (82 PATK) - focus fire physical attacks on the Special Lava Blubble
-Chain Chomp (300 HP/97 PDEF) - Chain-boosted Thunderbolts; Carni-Kiss is, as displayed, blockable now even if it already wasn't, checking the biggest threat.