Disgaea 2 is the sort of game that can be played in two ways: you can play it as it is, straightforward and true, or you can milk it for what it’s worth, min-maxing every stat until you’ve number-crunched your way to victory. You can probably guess which path I chose right from the start.
This is turning out to be a double-edged sword. The purpose of number-crunching is to get to the point wherein my party can pound enemies into submission. It means being able to fight level 50 foes using a character that’s at level 150 (more or less). That number is not an exaggeration. It’s actually pretty tame compared to the insane amount of damage that you can do in the game.
The double-edged sword part comes in the details. Disgaea 2 feels so different from the original that I’m really at a loss with some of its new features. How do Bailiffs and Felonies work? How can Specialists marry? I restarted the game because I want to unlock Magichange in Axel mode. It’s beginning to feel like a big mistake at this point because of the way my enemies are scaling. Any insight on this?
These are only some of the questions I have about the game. They actually remind me of my pre-Naxx days in WoW. Back when ilvl 213 was all the rage, I didn’t know about spreadsheets or Elitist Jerks or online rogue resources except for Shadowpanther. I was using a custom spec, gemmed Agility whether it was best for me or not and used enchantments based on recommendations from the said website. That was it. No min-maxing, no gem cross-checking, no nothing. I always found myself wondering if I was doing the right thing or not. There was no other rogue in my guild to ask. I just winged my way through Naxx whenever I could find a group to run it.
I don’t remember how I found Elitist Jerks, but when I did it was like a godsend. The site literally has everything you need if you want to maximize your toon’s potential. You want to know the optimum spec for this patch? The answer’s there. Why is the top DPS rogue in your raid not using Rupture? You’ll find out there too. Why is Sin gemmed for AP yet running heroic 5-mans as Combat? I actually don’t think the answer’s there but that’s a very specific question anyway.
All the reading that I’m doing right now with Disgaea 2 is really bringing me back to my days as a rogue who didn’t know what to do. If you find yourself asking why your DPS is so low or why that similarly-geared guy is doing a lot more damage than you are, you’re not alone. We’ve all been there. I’m here to tell you that the resources are out there. As you can tell from the links above, it’s not just this site. I’m also convincing myself because I’ll admit that reading about this new stuff is frustrating, especially when it doesn’t seem to make sense. Still, there’s always the trial and error. Now if only reading can extend my PSP’s battery life…