Chrono Compendium

Enhasa Halls - Chrono Series Analysis => Chrono Trigger DS Analysis => Topic started by: Chocobo_Fan on December 01, 2008, 06:51:15 pm

Title: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 01, 2008, 06:51:15 pm
I just beat Lavos and I'm about to go into the Dimensional Distortion, and I'm wondering what the best party is. In the SNES version I always used Crono, Marle, and Janus, though people say that Glenn's better than Marle. However, now, it seems that people say that Marle's better than Glenn... Is it because there are better things than Haste Helms now? (Master's Crown comes to mind...)

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm just curious.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Matt72 on December 01, 2008, 07:04:02 pm
I always used a party of Ayla, Marle, and Chrono. Ayla and Chrono for their physical strength, and Marle for support. Plus, their triple-tech is amazing.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 01, 2008, 07:12:47 pm
I took Crono, Glenn, and Janus and raid the Black Omen. Crono for natural reasons, Glenn b/c of the Grandleon's effect on the Mammon Machine, and Janus for his line and theme in the 2nd Zeal battle. Worked for me. If I recall I would take Janus, Lucca and Robo for OmegaFlare. In the Outer Core battle (World Revolution is BGM for those who don't understand the name), I could use OmegaFlare and Flare consecutively to destroy each arm. (2 for the left side, and 2 more to finish the right). Recently before I lost my progress to LV 99, I would take Crono, Janus, and a third character, I forget which one (has been many years since I last played).
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: justin3009 on December 01, 2008, 07:43:14 pm
I always did Crono, Ayla, Robo.  Robo had a tech to heal everyone that actually healed quite a massive bit of HP.  Ayla for her 9999 hit Bronze Fist, and Crono for Luminaire.  Cast Luminaire a couple times, have ayla attack whomever, and if Robo can, use Shock.  It's awesome <3
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Meushell on December 01, 2008, 10:20:12 pm
I like Marle, Lucca/Magus, and Glenn/Ayla. Which combo I prefer depends on my mood. I don't know if you can reach the Dimensional Distortion before Crono dies in New Game +.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: art_garfunkel on December 02, 2008, 12:18:25 am
Use whoever you want. If you spend some time leveling up, any team can beat any challenge in the game.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 02, 2008, 03:47:19 am
My Lavos team (& as far as I could tell the quickest route to victory) has mostly always consisted of Crono for Luminare (& maybe confuse on the Left Pod) and Lucca & Robo for Flare & healing (respectively) and also DoubleBomb (which at higher levels is more powerful than Flare+Shock combined)...Robo, of course, has to be in the 3rd position in the party so that Area Bomb/Double Bomb can target the Core...

Though for the Dimensional Vortex it might be wise to take a different party for each one...One with Crono, one with Marle, & one with Lucca...

And Robo is better than both Marle & Frog in my book.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Dark Serge on December 02, 2008, 04:09:56 am
During a normal game Chrono, Marle, Ayla, during New Game+ Chrono, Magus, Ayla. Chrono and Magus kick ass and Ayla's charm ability always comes in handy. And in New Game+ you don't need heals.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 02, 2008, 05:16:44 am
Yeah, because Hallation doesn't effect you when you're in New Game+ :lol:
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Dark Serge on December 02, 2008, 06:14:50 am
Well, when you come through the BO with Ayla, you should have 20+ MegaElixirs or something charmed, so no probs there ^^ It's waste to put Marle in your party just cause the heals are convenient
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: utunnels on December 02, 2008, 06:44:07 am
I usually use Magus, Ayla and Lucca.

XD
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 02, 2008, 08:22:23 am
Well, yes, I know that Ayla deals auto-9999 damage on a critical, but she needs to be level 90 or so first. >.> I'm only level 60 or so.

Robo's better than both Marle and Glenn you say? I see...

And yeah, of course, the best party at ** levels is Ayla with the Valor Crest, Robo with the Apocalypse arm and the Dragon Tear, and someone else, (probably Crono since Luminaire is the strongest spell in the game...) but I'm not there yet...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Romana on December 02, 2008, 08:26:53 am
For my first CTDS playthrough, I used Crono, Ayla, and Marle as much as possible in order to quickly level up a single party and beat the game faster. I swear I'll actually use Magus for once someday.

Back in the SNES version, I used Crono, Marle, and Frog most of the time.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Dunsparce on December 02, 2008, 11:03:22 am
I always end up using Crono(For Luminare), Robo(For healing), and Ayla(For sheer power).

Though using Frog + Marle for Double Cure is always nice.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 02, 2008, 11:07:19 am
Wouldn't Magus be more suitable for sheer power? Or did you mean sheer physical power?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on December 02, 2008, 11:43:17 am
See, I always saved all of my tabs (now called Capsules) and gave them all to Magus right when I got him.  That made him pretty super-de-duper.  My wicked Magus, along with Crono and Robo were a very formidable team.  All three had good physical attacks, Crono and Magus had good magic attacks, and Robo had healing for backup (like I needed it, HA).
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 02, 2008, 11:46:11 am
Something I thought of. Save up the tabs, and distribute them evenly between Crono and Magus.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: utunnels on December 02, 2008, 11:51:18 am
In DS version, you have Dreamreaper for Magus( 4x damage when critical).
Although that's not the strongest weapon, but already makes him a good physical attacker.
BTW, you can easily maximize his strength without capsules/tabs, although he's a magician, but like Magil in RD, who's a strong hand-to-hand fighter.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Dark Serge on December 02, 2008, 01:16:26 pm
Meh considering you get so many tabs (every New Game+, every Spekkio form x1 in every New Game+, plus some more hidden elsewhere) I always give them to everyone evenly
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 02, 2008, 05:18:14 pm
Good plan, Dark.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 02, 2008, 06:06:47 pm
Yeah, I always try to distribute capsules evenly. I also try to play based on story, not just statistics... I like Janus, Glenn, and Marle a lot, so I enjoy having them in the party. Although once I get to ** levels, I will definitely simply switch over to Ayla, Robo, and Crono.

What's the best equipment, though? Since I'm not using Marle, I have Haste Helms, Nova Armors, Golden Studs, and ultimate weapons on all. (minus Glenn -- gave him the Champion Medal instead)

Oh, and all three characters of my main party have ** Speed. (Charms a gazillion from the Panels in the BO) That + Haste Helms = awesome. :D (I still need to work on Magic and Strength, but eh...)

Edit: I just noticed that I can lock topics by clicking "Additional Options" under the post. o.O Is this a bug or something? It wasn't there before, and I know I'm not a mod...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 03, 2008, 03:23:05 pm
Why Magus...? While when you first get him he has a good Magic stat, in terms of physical power he's fairly middle of the road. Even with his new weapon and the Dragon Tear his critical % is still pretty low...and I wouldn't want to rely on him as a physical attacker anyways since there are others better suited...As a mage, though, he quickly gets overtaken by Crono, Lucca & Robo, especially if you invest your Magic Tabs...

Tabs can be charmed off of various monsters all over as well as prize items in the Monster Arena also, btw.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: art_garfunkel on December 03, 2008, 03:24:56 pm
Why Magus...?
Because he floats.

Honestly I have always used him for purely cosmetic and story reasons. Magus just looks awesome. (Especially his magic.)

Chrono/Magus/Robo. Enough said.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 03, 2008, 03:41:50 pm
Yeah, I can understand wanting Magus for those reason (& he has some of the best quotes too, of course, so I always love to bring him everywhere), but people were speaking of using him & giving him Tabs to further power him up, those were who I was referring to.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: art_garfunkel on December 03, 2008, 03:46:48 pm
Yeah, I can understand wanting Magus for those reason (& he has some of the best quotes too, of course, so I always love to bring him everywhere), but people were speaking of using him & giving him Tabs to further power him up, those were who I was referring to.
Honestly I find Trigger to be an unchallenging game. After a couple of run-throughs and a lot of tabs any party can easily beat anything in the game. I've never understood the need to create the best mathematical party possible; this isn't Phantasy Star II. (Possibly the only RPG i've ever played that I really felt number-crunching did me any good. Well, that and Final Fantasy VI Advance. Those bonus dungeons are brutal.)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 03, 2008, 03:59:34 pm
Art, in contrast, I hit a roadblock in Nizbel at the Reptite Lair. As in, I was not able to defeat him, and every time I challenged him, he pwned me.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 03, 2008, 05:27:05 pm
Well, like I said, I use my team because I found it to be the quickest way to defeat Lavos...When you've gone through the game 20+ times, it normally comes down to speeding through the bosses, I think...Or at least Lavos so you can get the other endings & such...But, no, it's not a particularly difficult game, especially once you know everything's weaknesses & what-not...but people will still bring up who's better, who's stronger, etc...so those things are discussed, obviously...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: IStoleTheStars on December 03, 2008, 10:15:01 pm
I typically used a party of Crono, Ayla and Robo for all my new game+ run throughs. Once I beat the game the first time, they were up around level 60, and by the time I obtained the new ending, they are all close to lv 70.

Robo With the Crisis arm and Prism specs at max health, doing Rapid Punch (haste helm is a bonus)= 6k+ damage to the new optional boss you have to beat in order to obtain the new ending. The boss was dead in only a few rounds, and I lost no one.

Ayla charms a crazy amount of elixirs off of enemies, and does a fair amount of damage (1200 If I recall to the new boss), as well as despensing my disgusting supply of Mega Elixirs and items to heal the party. The Dragons tear item helps her a lot.

And Crono just uses fury repeatedly, About 2k-2.5k damage to the same boss with the rainbow.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: tripehound on December 03, 2008, 10:56:42 pm
I tend to roll with Crono/Robo/Frog, once all of their optimum equipment is obtained. If I outfit Robo as IStoleTheStars mentioned above, also with a Gold Stud, their triple tech is incredibly cost effective: 3000-ish damage for only 5 MP, depending on levels. Defensively, both Robo and Frog learn all-ally healing techs, which when double-teched, will max out health. Throw in Crono's ability to reviving party members as a fall-back, and I've got myself a nice little protective net.

Offensive magic is a little weak in the diversity category (very lightning biased), but this group tends to work best in long dungeon crawls (Black Omen), where, against the average enemy, it doesn't come into play very often. More smash (physical attacks), less flash (magic).
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 04, 2008, 01:53:17 am
Actually, that offensive magic set is diverse in one regard as it includes all types: Crono (Light), Robo (Light, Fire, Shadow), & Frog (Water)...Though Robo's probably best to put in the first position since Area Bomb has such a limited range...but w/e...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: The Entity on December 04, 2008, 03:23:13 am
I always have Crono and Marle in my party, except for a certain period when Crono is *ahem* not in the party. I usually rotate the third person regularly so everyone else gets enough experience and TP (until they learn everything, that is).
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Nezz on December 07, 2008, 10:44:47 pm
Well, Robo definitely needs a spot. Heal Beam is essentially the best healing move in the game, healing at about 10 health per magic point, so you should be healing your entire party for almost half their health by that point. Then Uzi Punch is just destruction, using Crisis Arm it deals somewhere around 5600 damage, eclipsing just about every other solo attack in the game in sheer damage. Shock, if I'm not mistaken, has the second highest magic multiplier, right behind Luminare, and though hampered by Robo's less then stellar magic stat, still does more magic damage then Flare. Lastly, once you get Armageddon Arm, use it with Dragon's Tear to crank out some serious damage. Just make sure you gave him some Speed Capsules, and a few Magic Capsules.

Crono of course makes it in, Luminare being the most powerful spell in the game and Frenzy doing some more then ample damage. That and he's the main the character, you couldn't go without him, could you?

Lastly, Ayla. Before I would have said Magus, but now, with Angel's Tiara and Regal Dress (both of which are found in DV) she finally manages to beat the glass ceiling created by Haste Helm. Her Triple Kick does some pretty insane damage, Valor Crest adds a little bit of damage output, and Charm still holds its usefulness. Plus, Beast Toss with Crisis Arm Robo does some of the highest damage in the game. Of course, if you get her to level 99, then she more or less becomes another Armageddon Arm Robo, with no Capsules required!

If you really feel like it, bring along Magus instead of Ayla, I did. While Dark Matter is pretty bad, his Magic stat will keep him above even Crono for a while, and his new weapon actualy makes him pretty decent physically. Also, no capsules. Plus, he looks damn cool.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 08, 2008, 05:47:13 pm
Indeed. My prefered party is (end-game) Crono, Robo, and Janus. (That guy's Magic stat is simply godly... O_O He had 60 or so when I first got him, while everyone else had 40-50 or so. Therefore, Dark Matter > Luminaire for non-NG+ runs) However, at level 65 or so, Lucca becomes better than Janus. (Flare is stronger than Dark Matter, though lower than Luminaire)

At level 99, of course, the best party is obviously Robo, Ayla, (Double 9999-age FTW!) and Crono. Though at level **, you're basically gods anyway, so it doesn't really matter, does it? :/

Oh, and Shock isn't the second strongest spell, by the way. Flare is:

Quote from: V_Translanka
Luminaire: (level + Magic) * 20.5

Flare: (level + Magic) * 17.5

Shock: (level + Magic) * 16.5

Dark Matter: (level + Magic) * 15.5
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Nezz on December 08, 2008, 07:25:59 pm
Huh, my bad.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Jutty on December 08, 2008, 07:58:31 pm
I like Robo, Frog, and Crono. Sometimes I will substitute Magus for Frog just because he is a bad ass. The game is pretty easy tho you can really just use whoever you want.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Void on December 11, 2008, 03:30:18 am
Last Run i used Crono,Frog,Lucca but i like to pick different teams every playthrough so it keeps it fresh to me.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 11, 2008, 10:20:56 am
Have you run out of different groupings yet?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Void on December 11, 2008, 11:19:12 am
yeah but it still feels fresh everytime
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: mikeb123 on December 11, 2008, 05:30:49 pm
I'm normally to lazy to replenish mp every so often, so I bring Ayla and Crono to beat up Lavos with physical attacks. As for the third character, I choose either Marle or Robo for their healing magic or if I need someone to use an item.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 12, 2008, 05:59:05 pm
With Golden Studs, you barely ever need to replenish MP... Except at, like, save points with Shelters or something, but, I mean really, 25% MP costs is just...amazing. Even final techs cost a measly 5 MP with that thing. O_O

Oh, and my equipment setup is always:

[Ultimate weapon]
Haste Helm/Angel's Tiara
Nova Armor/Regal Gown
Golden Stud

...with a Valor Crest for Ayla and a Dragon Earring on Robo, of course.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Zipp Dementia on December 14, 2008, 02:04:46 pm
I think Crono is over-rated as a character.  He's balanced as far as attacks go, but his defense leaves things to be desired.  Especially magic defense, ugh.  I like him because of all the tech combos, but I prefer a party of Magus, Marle, and robo
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 14, 2008, 06:17:49 pm
Luminaire is the most powerful spell in the game, Frenzy is a pretty awesome physical tech, has one of the best ultimate weapons in the game, and has pretty good stats. (His Magic Defense actually isn't that bad, actually -- it maxes out at level 60 or so) You do need a lot of Magic Capsules to power up his Magic stat for Luminaire to be uber-awesome, but I think he's pretty good...

Everyone has their own preference, though. :/ I find that Robo for physical/healing, Crono for both magical and physical power, and Janus/Lucca for raw magical power are pretty good.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shee on December 14, 2008, 06:38:30 pm
When I first get Robo, I give him the Berserker for a bit.  I do the same with Ayla for a while.  Pretty much the first you're with Ayla, I give her the Berserker..it's like a nice power hit that's often critical to open every fight!

Later in the game I'm usually with Crono/Magus/Ayla or Frog instead of Ayla.


Less than a minute later, same thread, different post, (same Bat-Channel) Shee posts this instead of just editing his first post...
                                                                                                                                                    ~V_Translanka


FORCE EDIT: Oh..this is DS...haven't played it, but I assume it's the same in this regard.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HyperNerd on December 14, 2008, 06:55:58 pm
I'm with Crono, Frog, and Magus most of the time, simply because I can basically just spam the A button on weaker enemies. And the charecters are Kick-Ass.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 14, 2008, 07:16:28 pm
Yeah, Glenn's Heal is pretty good... Plus he can actually deal decent physical damage. :p Until you get Haste Helms, though, Marle tends to be better, since Haste is so awesome... (In my opinion, anyway) As soon as you do get HHs, though, Glenn and Robo become better healers.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 14, 2008, 07:30:27 pm
I always took Crono, Glenn, and Janus into the Black Omen, each for obvious reasons.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 14, 2008, 08:08:56 pm
I always took Crono, Glenn, and Janus into the Black Omen, each for obvious reasons.

Because you don't like to switch mid-Omen? >_>
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: x_XTacTX_x on December 14, 2008, 08:10:36 pm
Crono/Magus, Robo, Ayla

Case Closed.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Acacia Sgt on December 14, 2008, 08:41:31 pm
Magus, Crono, Robo for the final battles. Although for the Black Omen I use Magus, Robo, Ayla.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 14, 2008, 11:44:48 pm
I always took Crono, Glenn, and Janus into the Black Omen, each for obvious reasons.

Because you don't like to switch mid-Omen? >_>

Uh, no.

Crono is the leader (beyatch), Glenn absorbs power from the Mammon Machine b/c of the Grandleon (and has Frog Squash for when an enemy has Life Shaver), and Janus for his song while fighting Zeal 2 (and has some of the best magic in the GAME).
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 15, 2008, 07:55:33 am
I always took Crono, Glenn, and Janus into the Black Omen, each for obvious reasons.

Because you don't like to switch mid-Omen? >_>

Uh, no.

Crono is the leader (beyatch), Glenn absorbs power from the Mammon Machine b/c of the Grandleon (and has Frog Squash for when an enemy has Life Shaver), and Janus for his song while fighting Zeal 2 (and has some of the best magic in the GAME).

Yeah, so basically you only have to put in Frog & Magus before teh Zeal fight...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 15, 2008, 08:16:45 am
There are enemies before the Zeal fight that have use Life Shaver, like the Terra Mutant.

[/offtopic]

Which of the two 1000 AD girls do you take to the Factory in 2300 AD after you meet Robo? I took Lucca every time.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 15, 2008, 08:54:35 am
I switch between the two in different playthroughs sometimes because they both get new weapons there, but Lucca's is more useful since it can confuse robots...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Romana on December 15, 2008, 08:56:40 am
I usually take Marle to the factory because of her healing techs; I have a weird thing against using up too many healing items in one area...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: KebreI on December 15, 2008, 03:20:25 pm
Chrono(Good Magic and Attack balance), Robo/Frog (tank and Healing), Ayla (crazy beast lady)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: YbrikMetaknight on December 16, 2008, 03:08:31 am
It's all about Chrono, Marle and Ayla. Love lots of other parties, but that's the one I use the most for kicking ass.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 16, 2008, 03:16:17 am
And how much ass does Marle manage with Ice 2? Gods, why didn't they give Marle or Frog Hexagon Mist?? Someone hack the fucker right now! Who needs Cure 2 anyways? >_>
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: utunnels on December 16, 2008, 03:20:58 am
Well, if everyone's magic is strong, Magus is no longer a worthful magic user, and his lack of triple/dual skills will make him even weaker. Still, Crono is the strongest IMO, because he's the protagonist.  :lol:
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 16, 2008, 05:12:43 am
Magus' Magic is strong because he has a high starting Magic stat...One thing that makes him useful is his access to each Magic type (and his level 2 Magics are more powerful than everyone else's too)...and I was mostly j/k...but I just don't really like the idea that the party doesn't have access to the most powerful Water Magic...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Yourgingerestfan on December 16, 2008, 06:22:16 am
Marle's skill set is worthless imo
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 06:37:54 am
Worthless? I wouldn't go that far... She's a great healer until Glenn's Magic stat gets pumped up enough for Heal to be more effective, not to mention Haste is one of the best statuses in the game, and she's the only one who learns Arise. Once you get Haste Helms, though, yeah, she's pretty much useless. :/ But she's great before that.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 16, 2008, 07:29:39 am
I still say that someone with an actual attacking Tech beats her 2~3 turns she spends casting Haste on everyone...Haste Helms are so vastly superior because you don't have to have Marle...And she doesn't have a team healing Tech...

Robo's my healer of choice. Not only does he have good enough Magic to make his team healing Tech great, but he's also just regularly a powerhouse...No falling back on something stupid like Ice 2 when he's not healing for Robo...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 09:30:23 am
Marle needs a LV 3 Spell (I called my idea "Blizzard" but maybe someone *cough*Chocobo*cough* has a better idea) instead of Life 2. Maybe give that to Frog, and get rid of that almost useless Frog Squash. Or maybe Crono since he has Life 1.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: KebreI on December 16, 2008, 04:17:05 pm
Frog Squash is definitely not useless.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 06:39:37 pm
I said "almost" useless. It's good for fights like Terra Mutant.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 07:02:33 pm
Yeah, someone needs to replace Marle's Cure II with Hexagon Mist... :/ I think Frog Squash should stay, though, since Glenn should have some physical techs.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 07:16:39 pm
He has some. Slurp Cut and Leap Slash are physical Techs.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 07:19:37 pm
I know, what I meant was that he shouldn't have an tiny handful of physical techs, and then a ton of magic ones... Frog Squash seems pretty nice, so I think it should stay.

Marle on the other hand... Say goodbye to Cure II and hello to Hexagon Mist!
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 07:23:22 pm
I know Marle is Water, but wouldn't Hexagon Mist have to be Ice for Marle to use it?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 07:30:15 pm
Actually, I've never seen Hexagon Mist... (Always killed Zeal too fast. :p) It's a Water spell, though, you say? Hm...that could indeed cause problems.

Blizzard or Freeze would work then. (I like Blizzard. It sounds cooler than my idea, Glacier or Freeze...)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 07:46:39 pm
Glacier is a Double Tech with Ayla, I think. If not Ayla, then Glenn.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 08:03:41 pm
I know, and I thought of scraping that idea, but in the DS version it is renamed to the more accurate "Glacial Freeze", so just "Glacier" as a regular tech is now up for grabs. ("Glacier" kind of sounds sucky, though, I think Blizzard is way better...)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 08:12:31 pm
You decide, not me.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 16, 2008, 08:23:50 pm
Blizzard it is, then. :D Now all we need is a hacker who can make a mod for Marle...

Also, this is getting WAAAAAY off-topic, not sure if that's a bad or good thing. o.O
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 16, 2008, 08:25:40 pm
Honestly IDC.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 16, 2008, 11:58:57 pm
Hexagon Mist works as an Ice attack just as well as just regular Water (which Marle is anyways, really)...The Tech is two triangles coming together to form a 6-sided (thus the "hexagon") star...It got a new name in the DS version, but I forget what it was called...

That's one thing the Encyclopedia's missing...pics (& vid...lord, that'd eat up bandwidth) of each Tech...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 17, 2008, 09:17:38 am
I think I remember seeing Hexagon Mist once against Zeal 2. And nah, I don't think it would work. Blizzard would, but what can we replace it with?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 17, 2008, 07:48:56 pm
Cure II? So that Marle's tech list would look like:

Aura
Allure
*Ice
*Cure
*Haste
*Ice II
*Arise
*Blizzard

Cure II really is useless, so...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 17, 2008, 08:50:33 pm
I'd change Aura to be more like Cure.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 18, 2008, 12:02:07 am
I don't see why Hexagon Mist (I just checked, it's called Starburst in CTDS) wouldn't work...besides, it's the ultimate Water Magic...I don't see how anything else could work...I wonder how the damage for it is calculated, though (no one's done the mechanics of the monster Techs!)...

I don't remember Blizzard, what did it look like...? It inflicts Chaos?? >_>
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: YbrikMetaknight on December 18, 2008, 12:26:10 am
If Crono can use two Lightning-based spells and an ultimate spell that's much more in line with simply being light-based (Luminaire, obviously) as a Light-elemental character, why couldn't Marle use Ice, Ice II and Hexagon Mist? Though if we're making a new Ice-based ultimate magic, I always liked the name Deep Freeze, myself.

And y'all can bash Marle all you want (and ok, I'll admit, Cure II is pretty useless), but I love Iceberg Toss (that is Cube Toss's new name, right?), Ice Sword 2 and especially Final Kick. Always have. That (combined with Crono and Ayla's nice double techs) are why my favorite party is still Crono, Marle and Ayla.

Of course, I also love Crono-Frog-Ayla, Crono-Frog-Lucca, Crono-Marle-Lucca, Crono-Frog-Robo, Magus-Marle-Lucca, Frog-Ayla-Robo and Magus-Lucca-Robo, to name a few. So many good combinations, each with strengths and weaknesses.

And I think I've beaten Lavos with every combination except for most of the ones that don't have triple techs.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 18, 2008, 01:20:16 am
I'd say go with the name Absolute Zero...it's possible because it's Magic!
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 18, 2008, 03:56:35 pm
Isn't one of Once-King Dalton's techs called Absolute Zero? If not, then by all means, yes, Absolute Zero is a perfect name for the most powerful Ice magic.

(Also, Blizzard doesn't exist in-game, I think Shadow came up with it. :p)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: maggiekarp on December 18, 2008, 04:23:01 pm
What the heck does Hexagon Mist look like?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 18, 2008, 04:25:21 pm
V already gave a description a page back or so...

(Also, it's called Starburst now)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 18, 2008, 08:44:18 pm
IDK, I know Dalton has a Tech called Second Wind that induces a variant of Lock-All except your accuracy is unaffected and you can still use items.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Deezer509 on December 18, 2008, 10:20:38 pm
At a certain level, it's time to throw self preservation to the wind and go all offense.  That's why, as soon as New Game+ is available, my permanent team is Crono, Ayla, and Magus.  Pure offense, baby.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 18, 2008, 10:35:16 pm
Actually, Lucca is better than Janus at higher levels. (Flare has more attack power than Dark Matter) Also, Robo can deal far more damage with the Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist combo and the Apocalypse Arm...

And also, I just have to quote V:

Quote from: V_Translanka
Yes, of course, because Halation doesn't affect you when you're on a NG+...  :lol:

Healing is important sometimes, even on a New Game Plus. (Fortunately, Robo has Heal Beam in addition to the 6000+ damage/turn he can dish out with the Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist combo...)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Acacia Sgt on December 18, 2008, 10:39:54 pm
Healing is important sometimes, even on a New Game Plus. (Fortunately, Robo has Heal Beam in addition to the 6000+ damage/turn he can dish out with the Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist combo...)

Which is why I always have Robo on the top three to use for the final battle.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 18, 2008, 10:43:53 pm
Yeah, now that I think about it, Apocalypse Arm really sucks. Crisis Arm can dish out way more on average. Even with a Dragon Earring, Apocalypse Arm only has a measly 30% critical rate...

Constant 6000+ damage > 9999 damage 1/3 of the time.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Acacia Sgt on December 18, 2008, 10:52:49 pm
Couldn't agree more in that. Now I'm asking myself why I did the latter one instead of the former like in the SNES version.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 19, 2008, 12:05:24 am
Isn't one of Once-King Dalton's techs called Absolute Zero? If not, then by all means, yes, Absolute Zero is a perfect name for the most powerful Ice magic.

(Also, Blizzard doesn't exist in-game, I think Shadow came up with it. :p)

Well, it looks like Blizzard does exist in-game (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Monster_Techs.html#Blizzard_.2F_Chaos) (it's CTDS retranslation is Miasma though)...and Dalton doesn't seem to have a Tech called Absolute Zero (http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Dalton_(Monster).html#Dalton_Plus)...In CTDS he's got Gale Slash, Energy Spheres & Burst Sphere (along with the Iron Orb & elemental counters)...

Yeah, now that I think about it, Apocalypse Arm really sucks. Crisis Arm can dish out way more on average. Even with a Dragon Earring, Apocalypse Arm only has a measly 30% critical rate...

Constant 6000+ damage > 9999 damage 1/3 of the time.

The only problem with the Crisis Arm setup is that if you get hit, your damage goes down (9 times out of 10...though I don't think I've ever been hit with a damage ending in a 9)...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: utunnels on December 23, 2008, 08:18:07 am
Speaking blizzard magic...look at the upper right corner of the page...
The box cover art seems like a dual tech such as fire sword, strange because Marle is famous for her ice magics...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 23, 2008, 11:03:46 am
Holy crap, new skin! Kick ass! :D

[/offtopic]

Actually, it's the Triple Tech, Frost Arc. You might not notice it from how it looks, but Crono is jumping off of Glenn's back. If you look at Frost Arc in action, you'll notice Marle's Ice flashes blue and red. The artist must've captured it while the ice was colored red.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: utunnels on December 23, 2008, 11:17:06 am
Yeah, you are probably right.
Maybe the the background is a snow field, so a red flash is more eye-catching...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 23, 2008, 11:40:15 am
Who knows? *shrugs*
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: maggiekarp on December 23, 2008, 12:46:34 pm
Marle's final tech is a Light spell because her magic is influenced by the ones she loves (see also, Kid is a red/fire innate). The box cover clearly comes from an alternate dimension where Marle falls in love with Lucca!

There's also the old "her ice turns red in the triple tech depicted here" or "Toriyama designed the characters before everything was put in place storywise" explanations...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 23, 2008, 12:51:37 pm
Maggie, have you ever seen Frost Arc in action?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: maggiekarp on December 23, 2008, 05:32:10 pm
Yep, I even made a gif of it once.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 23, 2008, 06:43:01 pm
OK. Does the pic displayed top-right look like Frost Arc to you?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: maggiekarp on December 24, 2008, 05:45:00 pm
Yes, although I'm thinking "Arc Impulse" from the old game, is it the same spell retranslated?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Romana on December 24, 2008, 05:47:36 pm
Yes, although I'm thinking "Arc Impulse" from the old game, is it the same spell retranslated?

Yeah, Arc Impulse became Frost Arc.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: The Black Wind on December 24, 2008, 09:31:41 pm
My preference is Magus, Crono, and Frog.

Crono's stats are maxed out, so he's the powerhouse of the team. Luminaire is fucking lethal when his magic is maxed out. And with Frog's magic maxed out as well, his Heal will restore over 600 HP to all three of them, which is more than enough. He's also equipped with a Haste Helm to make up for the fact that neither his critical rate nor his strength can possibly match Crono's. Magus has the Gold Stud equipped so that he can keep spamming Dark Matter attacks.

Runner-up: Crono, Marle, and Frog

Haste Helms are equipped on both Marle and Frog, so all I have to do is cast Haste on Crono (who has a Master's Crown instead) and I just spam Frost Arcs until the battle is won. Not to mention their Double Cure will restore all health if needed, which is perfect for Hallation.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on December 24, 2008, 10:51:57 pm
Flare actually deals more damage than Dark Matter, though, so a better party for NG+ runs would be Lucca, Crono, and Glenn.

(Janus's Magic stat is so godly that Dark Matter outclasses Flare for most of the game, though. :p)

And also, I prefer Robo over Glenn. He can dish out way more damage, (6000/turn) and can heal just as much with Heal Beam.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HyperNerd on December 24, 2008, 10:57:36 pm
I generally just choose my favorite Charecters, Although they're actually all my favorite charecters. I usually use the same party as Black Wind, but I don't use them to Spam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE). I use a bit more variety in my attacks.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on December 25, 2008, 01:06:10 am
Flare actually deals more damage than Dark Matter, though, so a better party for NG+ runs would be Lucca, Crono, and Glenn.

(Janus's Magic stat is so godly that Dark Matter outclasses Flare for most of the game, though. :p)

And also, I prefer Robo over Glenn. He can dish out way more damage, (6000/turn) and can heal just as much with Heal Beam.

Actually, Heal Beam (Mag × 10) is more powerful than Heal (Mag × 6.5). Crono+Lucca+Robo FTW~!! Though I think you might be able to make a case for Marle or Frog because of Double Techs (I certainly don't feel like doing all of that math, but feel free to go nuts (http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/563538/14148))...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HyperNerd on December 25, 2008, 01:30:59 am
Brain... Failing... back to Monty Python... No Math or Logic...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on December 25, 2008, 02:14:59 am
I usually use the same party as Black Wind, but I don't use them to Spam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE).

Neither do I. I just go at the enemy and let them have it as best I can.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Eket on December 25, 2008, 06:32:17 am
Crono, Frog and Ayla (Definately for the first playthrough)

- Charm
- Decent Heal(like you'll need anymore in CT) and if you do there is Slurp Kiss
- 3D Attack kicks ass
- Falcon Strike

You might be lacking a slight bit in magical power, but luminaire is enough in 9/10 situation

Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: The Prophet on December 30, 2008, 07:42:51 pm
The only thing I could tell you as that having two healers that can unleash a double tech that can heal everyone is better than spamming Heal. Anyways, there's a certain point in one of the Vortex that you HAVE to use Lucca, I reccommend Ayla to use the Inferno Kicn and Robo for Healing.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: The Black Wind on December 31, 2008, 05:22:56 pm
The only thing I could tell you as that having two healers that can unleash a double tech that can heal everyone is better than spamming Heal.

I prefer not to use up two turns just to heal everyone, though. I'd rather have two people constantly attacking with the other person reserving magic to heal when needed and simply hacking away until then.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Syrek on January 06, 2009, 05:28:46 pm
For the first playthrough I used Crono, Lucca and Marle just because they were the original 3 and it only makes sense. In the second playthrough I just used Crono, Magus and Gleen mainly because their my favorite characters.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HyperNerd on January 06, 2009, 06:11:49 pm
Glenn. And I switched charecters a whole lot in my first playthrough, second I just kept Marle, Lucca, And Crono (And when Crono was dead, replaced him with Magus and Eternal Darknessed everything.) Third, I no longer care, and usually Keep Frog and Crono in my party, along with a filler charecter. I got all 13 endings yesterday, BTW.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Onikage725 on January 07, 2009, 07:00:23 pm
Is there really a "best" party?

I'm kinda in flux these days. I use Robo more than I ever did as a kid. And I took a team of Crono, Frog, and Marle to fight Lavos my first DS playthrough. And I fought the DD with Crono, Robo, and Magus. I used to use Crono, Frog, Magus as a rule but I really just used them in the LS this time out. In my current game I'm thinking of leaving Crono dead, but I haven't decided who to make my new team leader. I used to opt for Magus due to his power and the cool factor (and the fact that he comes in basically as a Crono alternate with far more ties to the main plotline), but that makes little sense from a team standpoint. I'm thinking Frog or Lucca for my "captain."
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HyperNerd on January 07, 2009, 07:19:51 pm
Lavos was the hardest with Magus, Lucca, and Marle for me.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on January 07, 2009, 08:41:58 pm
Is there really a "best" party?

Yeah, there isn't 8 pages worth of answer in this topic for ya (with several others asking your same question already even)...>_>

I suppose it depends on your definition of "best", but I'm assuming it means the most powerful/useful in terms of battle. Some people choose to believe it means their favorite to use because of personality or w/e else though, I guess...But who cares? My question is still why ask the question that the topic itself is asking?

The only thing I could tell you as that having two healers that can unleash a double tech that can heal everyone is better than spamming Heal. Anyways, there's a certain point in one of the Vortex that you HAVE to use Lucca, I reccommend Ayla to use the Inferno Kicn and Robo for Healing.

While I just used my regular team for that one, I think (might've replaced Crono for Magus), Ayla is a fairly good choice since she's got a natural Fire resistance which would be good in the Lucca Mirror Match.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Onikage725 on January 08, 2009, 12:29:13 am
Yeah, there isn't 8 pages worth of answer in this topic for ya (with several others asking your same question already even)...>_>

I suppose it depends on your definition of "best", but I'm assuming it means the most powerful/useful in terms of battle. Some people choose to believe it means their favorite to use because of personality or w/e else though, I guess...But who cares? My question is still why ask the question that the topic itself is asking?

Whoa... pump your brakes. It was a rhetorical question. I wasn't really "asking" if there was a best party.

*My* point was just that the question the topic was asking is highly subjective. I attempted to illustrate that (perhaps poorly?) by mentioning the various parties I've used to good effect, for various reasons.

And I don't really care what other people have said/asked. I was addressing the topic itself and the TC. Maybe I should have quoted the initial post? I didn't think it'd be necessary this far in.

EDIT: Just a note since my significant other thinksI was being rude, "pump your brakes" is just something I've gotten in the habit of saying since Tropic Thunder. No offense intended.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on January 09, 2009, 05:50:27 pm
This is a bit off-topic, but Onikage, I think that for a team leader, I'd say Marle. She has the most ties to Crono and does have a bit of a leadership aspect. (being the royal heir and all) Lucca's good too, though.

(Janus definitely would not make a good leader personality-wise, I think... He strikes me as a loner who prefers to do things by himself, not really one who's good at leading...)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on January 09, 2009, 05:54:09 pm
I think Magus makes a fairly good leader...I mean, look what he was able to accomplish with the Mystics...I don't know if he's as much of a loner once he joins the party (or perhaps just once he's out of Zeal). He's capable of using the party to his own advantage...I don't think he'd want the rest of the party ordering him around, so he'd take the lead spot himself...he does seem to have the most experience out of all of them, eh?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Onikage725 on January 09, 2009, 06:02:42 pm
This is a bit off-topic, but Onikage, I think that for a team leader, I'd say Marle. She has the most ties to Crono and does have a bit of a leadership aspect. (being the royal heir and all) Lucca's good too, though.

(Janus definitely would not make a good leader personality-wise, I think... He strikes me as a loner who prefers to do things by himself, not really one who's good at leading...)

I agree about Magus 100%. When I used to put him in charge, it kinda felt like... well if you're a Dragon Ball fan, there's this part in the Cell Saga when Goku is put out of commission. Vegeta, despite being a jerk and loner, winds up with the crew following his lead just because he's the strongest protagonist on the field. Magus has good leadership capability, but he's a bit of an odd fit for the main group.

I've thought about Marle. She does seem to have the most motivation to save Crono, and is the de facto character to hang with him on the peak after. I just don't see her as a leader-type figure. I know she's a royal, but she kind of plays against that type during the game.

Ok, so I guess right now it's a tie for me between Lucca and Glenn. I say Glenn because, having lost Cyrus and then Crono, I could really see him spearheading the project to get back his best friend. Also, if you have him in your group when you recruit Magus, he shows the authority to send the others off. He also makes the choice to allow Magus into the group. Without him, it's a 3 person group effort. He really seems to come into his own and his old lack of confidence is gone.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Magus_Brokenhart on January 10, 2009, 06:17:09 am
Ayla, Lucca, and Robo. Physical, Spellcaster, combination. Once at maximum stats, Ayla does 9,999 at criticals, which is more likely with the new equipment you can get in the game. Equip Robo and Lucca properly, and the Fire Tackle takes 9,999 as well.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Fireseal on January 10, 2009, 01:30:55 pm
My characters are lvl 86-94. I imagine the very best party at the very end would be Crono, Robo and Ayla.

Why Crono? Place a Wrath Band on him with Dreamweaver, he'll crit/counter almost all the time. Plus Luminaire does around 6000-7000 damage for me and Crono's Magic stat isn't even at the max yet. He'll do that much damage from Luminaire, plus any monster that tries to attack him will receive a couple of more thousand of damage. Him being able to revive is a plus also, sure it's not Arise, but it's still much better than using an Athenian Water.

Why Robo? He can play damage dealer, only if crit of course, with Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Tear. And if someone's HP is low, just use Heal Beam to heal the entire party for 500+ HP, for only 3 MP it's definitely worth it. Not sure about this, but if Magic stat affects Robo's healing then he'll eventually be able to reach 999HP from Heal Beam. He can also use a Shadow tech(kind of useless), a Fire tech(in close proximity) and a Light tech. They do decent damage when you don't need to use Heal Beam, or if you don't want to take a gamble hoping he'll do 200 damage instead of 9999 damage.

Why Ayla? Her last weapon does 9999 damage when she crits, correct? I don't know about you, but she crits an awful lot for me, even without Valor Crest. And if she is equiped with the Valor Crest, she'll have a 50% chance of counter attacking, and most likely she'll do a crit on that! You can't beat that. She can also Charm, if that'll even be worth at lvl 99. haha

Why not Marle? Haste, Cure II and Arise sound nice. But she's not that great in the damage department, as most of you know. Venus bow would only be useful for the Lavos Core if you're too lazy to kill off the other Lavos parts, and killing the tyrano while not bothering with Azala, and killing Nizbel if you forgot to bring a character that uses Light techs.

Why not Lucca? Flare does seem to do a little more damage than Dark Matter, but still doesn't hold a candle to Luminaire. Wondershot's damage is way too random. I haven't tried Spellslinger's damage yet, but even so I can't see how she could replace any of the three I mentioned.

Why not Frog? Sure, getting a powered up version of Masamune seems awesome, but it seems to quickly fade away from it's initial awesomeness. Hero's Badge and the Champion's Badge doesn't seem to add that much of a crit boost, probably I am not that lucky, but I used Frog quite often to notice that there is not much difference in crits. His most powerful attack would be his Frog Squash, but I have never seen its damage go past 6000 even with his HP below 100HP(maybe you need to be below 10HP?). Even at lvl 99 you can still get hit for a 100 damage and it's a pretty big risk to keep Frog at that level of health, considering how other do alot more damage/decent amount of damage and don't need their HP to be low for that. Heal is a very great spell, but it doesn't seem to be as effective as Robo's Heal Beam. Robo would be a better choice in terms of healing, and damage dealing.

Why not Magus? He was a very useful character to use, he could still do decent damage with regular attacks, did a lot of damage with his magic and had a tech of every affinity. But sadly his usefulness rapidly overshadowed. Sure his last weapon makes him do up to 4000 damage on a crit, but it's overshadowed by Robo and Ayla's damage imput by crit attacks. He does a couple of thousand damage on whichever tech he uses, but it always seemed to stay that way from day 1 until lvl 90. He's lvl 90 in my game and I imagine that he'll only be able to do 2500-3000 with Dark Matter even at lvl 99 because his Magic stat had been maxed around 10 lvls ago. It's sad that Crono's Luminaire does more damage by twofold, more often threefold depending on which monster you're fighting, and not even maxed Magic stat.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on January 10, 2009, 09:42:21 pm
Actually, Ayla's regular critical hit % for that 9999 hit (once she's level 96...hooray...?) is only 10%...add the Dragon Tear's boost of, what...? 10 or 20%...? And it's still pretty lackluster (I'm pretty sure the Armageddon Arm has the same %'s). I'd rather go for an attack with more consistency.

The WonderShot, on the other hand, can do about as much damage as Crono's Rainbow...then 1/3 of the time it does either 2x or 3x that (unfortunately the other 1/3 it does 1/10th or 1/2)...But I barely use her physical attack on anything but regular battles anyways...Otherwise it's Flare Flare Flare (or DoubleBomb w/Robo)...which isn't that much lesser than Luminaire (20.5 compared to 17.25, Flare is still the 2nd best multi-target single Magic Tech)...

Also, if you don't use Athenian Waters, you'll probably just end up using Ethers...Which is more expensive...?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Fireseal on January 11, 2009, 12:17:22 am
It won't cost a thing if you can end all of your battles within a few seconds, and within 1-2 minutes for boss battles. I'm not sure about you, Ayla has been doing crits on all of her hits for me, perhaps I'm just lucky in the crit department. Before Crono would ever have the chance to use a 3rd Luminaire, Ayla would have already done 2 9999's, and that's if Robo missed on a crit(w/ Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Tear) or had the need to use Heal Beam, otherwise Crono would've barely had the chance to use a 2nd Luminaire before the fight ends.

Another thing that's neat about Robo and Ayla's 9999 crits, is that the damage is not affected at all by monsters that have a very high defense, so fighting against Nizbel, those pesky Jugglers and even the Lavos Core, I've got 2 out of 3 characters that when they land a crit, it will still do 9999 damage. Now when I got the wondershot, I had hoped that it would actually do random damage on any mob, but it is still affected by a monster's defense. And usually the monsters with really high defense and that you have to wait for them to 'turn it off', that normally also counts for nearly nullifying magic damage. This would make her replaceable by even Marle(ok maybe a little exargeration) with her little 777 damage bow.

There would be no use for Athenian Waters, nor for Ethers, considering that with these three party members(Crono, Robo & Ayla) you can end any battle within a turn or two, then return to EoT and heal. If Robo misses a crit(I'll admit that happens enough times to be noticeable) and Ayla misses a crit as well(very unlikely for me), oh well it'll just take me a 3rd turn, but by then Crono would have already done 14000 damage to everything on the screen, and that's not counting the counters from Crono and Ayla, which at least one of the two will counter after every attack monsters give.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Chocobo_Fan on January 11, 2009, 12:29:02 pm
Wow, Luminaire does that much damage? O_O Yeah, it's pretty powerful... It's practically a light-elemental Ultima, using FF terms...

And for the billionth time,

Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

(Apocalypse Arm has 10% crit rate, yes, and also the Dragon Earring raises it by 20%, to only 30%... The Valor Crest raises it by a mere 20% as well. However, since none of her weapons have any Attack anyway, not to mention the 50% counter rate, it's worth it)

And I always give a Gold Stud to Crono. Luminaire's damage is godly, yes, but it costs a ton of MP... I like magic better than physical attacks anyway.

Here's my reasoning for the party of Crono, Robo, and Ayla: (Replacing Ayla with Lucca until level 96, of course...)

Crono: Can you say, LUMINAIRE? Plus a Gold Stud means you can keep blasting stuff to smithereens all day long.

Robo: Heal Beam heals for more than Heal, and he can dish out a ton of damage with Rapid-fire Fist if you have the Crisis Arm. (We're talking more than Luminaire, here. Also, the "last digit must be a nine" thing isn't a big deal. With Haste Helms, he attacks extremely rapidly, and a single Heal Beam will get him back up to full)

Ayla: Bronze Fist. This one goes without saying.

Lucca: Flare ((level + Magic) * 17.5) is better than Ayla's attacks until she gets the Bronze Fist, and her high Magic stat can help keep Flare up with Luminaire for a while.

Marle: A must-have until the end-game sidequests, though her novelty wears off once you start getting Haste Helms and the ultimate techs. Also, Cure II is near-useless, as her Magic stat is high enough that a normal Cure (or even Aura at very high levels) will heal practically 999...

Glenn: Heal Beam > Heal, plus Frog Squash is annoying to pull off and isn't as hard-hitting as Luminaire, Flare, and Rapid-fire Fist late-game.

Janus: As awesome as he is, Luminaire >>> Dark Matter, and Flare > Dark Matter. His Stamina is pretty low also. His Magic stat is so godly that he's the best caster until a NG+, though.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on January 11, 2009, 04:46:31 pm
Post Dissection!

Wow, Luminaire does that much damage? O_O Yeah, it's pretty powerful... It's practically a light-elemental Ultima, using FF terms...

Another reason why I use Crono.

And for the billionth time,

Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

(Apocalypse Arm has 10% crit rate, yes, and also the Dragon Earring raises it by 20%, to only 30%... The Valor Crest raises it by a mere 20% as well. However, since none of her weapons have any Attack anyway, not to mention the 50% counter rate, it's worth it)

:picardno

9999 damage in a single Critical Hit makes it worth the low Critical Rate. This is seriously getting annoying.

And I always give a Gold Stud to Crono. Luminaire's damage is godly, yes, but it costs a ton of MP... I like magic better than physical attacks anyway.

Meh, so do I, but physical attacks aren't completely useless. High-level Crono doing Frenzy puts Left (Lavos Core) Bit down quick.

Robo: Heal Beam heals for more than Heal, and he can dish out a ton of damage with Rapid-fire Fist if you have the Crisis Arm. (We're talking more than Luminaire, here. Also, the "last digit must be a nine" thing isn't a big deal. With Haste Helms, he attacks extremely rapidly, and a single Heal Beam will get him back up to full)

Problem is, he doesn't have a Single-Tech derivative for Cure 2. Frog/Marle > Robo b/c of Cure 2 and Double Cure.

Ayla: Bronze Fist. This one goes without saying.

Soon it will be Magus, Robo, and Ayla.

Marle: A must-have until the end-game sidequests, though her novelty wears off once you start getting Haste Helms and the ultimate techs. Also, Cure II is near-useless, as her Magic stat is high enough that a normal Cure (or even Aura at very high levels) will heal practically 999...

:picardno

Not as completely useless as you think. Antipode Bomb 3 = Zeeky Boogy Doog/WTF Bomb

Glenn: Heal Beam > Heal, plus Frog Squash is annoying to pull off and isn't as hard-hitting as Luminaire, Flare, and Rapid-fire Fist late-game.

Grandleon > Mammon Machine. 'Nuff said.

Janus: As awesome as he is, Luminaire >>> Dark Matter, and Flare > Dark Matter. His Stamina is pretty low also. His Magic stat is so godly that he's the best caster until a NG+, though.

True as that may be, it doesn't make him useless. Can you say Eternal Darkness and Omega Flare?
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Fireseal on January 11, 2009, 05:09:38 pm
Sure I haven't mentioned anything about Double and Triple techs. It's because they are obsolete to me after characters are at lvl 80, why wait up for double/triple techs when your characters can do equal or more damage on their own?(except for Marle)

Sure they were fun to do during the first play through the game, but after that it's basically mashing the A button, making the double/triple techs really just for show.

So for the Lavos Core fight, just get Crono, Robo and Ayla to keep attack the right Lavos Core. Bam! 9999, Bam! 9999, BAM! 14dmg(from Crono) Bam! 9999  ... There you go, all done, and that 14 dmg did make a difference, since the Lavos core has 30000HP! Within 2 minutes if your characters are hasted. Within 3 minutes if you're not hasted and Center Pod decides to use Demon Star(looks really neat that one) that takes 10 secs to show off and whatnot, or another attack that takes awhile like Dreamreaver.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on January 11, 2009, 08:49:22 pm
All those things people are talking about needing NG+ aren't if you just make good use of Tabs. As for BronzeFist, who cares...? By the time you're level 96, nothing's bothering you anyways. Pretty much all Double & Triple Techs don't equal the damage of multiple Single Techs...And Cure 2 is lame. Pretty much when do you ever need to heal just one person? Heal Beam rulz.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Onikage725 on January 12, 2009, 09:30:20 pm
Hm, good points on Magus. On a first play through he's fairly godly, but he gets a little less so on NG+.

Though, really, it's kinda moot on NG+

I was about lvl 70 with my team when I started my second game, and so far nothing can scratch me. Heck, many normal enemies miss or do 0 damage. Luminaire is a guaranteed win in any normal encounter, to the point that I forcibly hold back from using full force just to keep things entertaining. I challenge Lavos after every major event for new endings, and he's been my personal plaything since the word go. Properly equipped, he was manageable with a lvl 68 Crono going solo, easy with Crono/Marle, and laughable with a 3-party team. I'm just hoping that if I don't bring Robo with me, maybe the DD will provide some challenge. I used him the first time out, and even that fight went too fast.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on January 12, 2009, 10:38:42 pm
A cool new thing making Lucca even more awesome is the Lucca-only equip Elemental Aegis...Elemental immunity...not bad...! Lynx would have had trouble with her if she had that equipped.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Shadow D. Darkman on January 12, 2009, 11:14:28 pm
I guess she either didn't have it on her or didn't have it at all. Kato just might have caused a TB to get rid of it (He can do that b/c he is the True Entity. His avatar is the Entity mentioned in CT.) so that Lucca could die. Poor Lucca.

Someone mentioned that Crono might have died due to lack of Author's Granted Immunity (which was only taken away once before, at the Ocean Palace), and didn't have the assurance he would come out alive.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Rootballs on January 29, 2009, 01:18:43 pm
Crono/Robo/Ayla or Crono/Frog/Marle

Crono with Dreamseeker/MCrown/RPlate/Prism Specs
Robo with Apoc Arm/MCrown/RPlate/Dragon's Tear
Ayla with Fist/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Valor Crest
Marle with Venus Bow/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Golden Stud
Frog with Masamune(Complete)/MCrown/RPlate/Champ's Badge

1st party for sheer power, 2nd for control
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: ZealKnight on January 29, 2009, 08:45:36 pm
I say Magus, Crono, and Ayla.

Alya has tremendous power, plus Triple Kick can do 1200 three times. But the difference in her power in comparison with Robo is that Robo has 3 different elements, while Ayla has speed. I like this better seeing that you have the best magic user in the party, who has all the elements. Next Crono is perfectly balanced, this helps because he can use strong magic and attacks. Magus and Crono both have some decent speed as well, better than the rest of the team. The only other character I would recommend is Frog, due to his critical attacks, strength against magic users, and healing, he also has some decent magic stats also.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Fireseal on January 29, 2009, 09:42:05 pm
As far as I don't want to admit it, Magus fails after awhile, heck Lucca outdamages him on physical attacks, you know you're pathetic when..? I didn't even bother grabbing him when I finally got to face the Dream Devourer.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: ZealKnight on January 29, 2009, 10:14:47 pm
I never use his physical attacks but when he has the gold stud he only needs to use spells.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: PaulLuigi on February 06, 2009, 04:45:54 pm
I like these lineups. 

Crono/Robo/Ayla or Crono/Frog/Marle

Crono with Dreamseeker/MCrown/RPlate/Prism Specs
Robo with Apoc Arm/MCrown/RPlate/Dragon's Tear
Ayla with Fist/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Valor Crest
Marle with Venus Bow/Angel's Tiara/RGown/Golden Stud
Frog with Masamune(Complete)/MCrown/RPlate/Champ's Badge

1st party for sheer power, 2nd for control

For this party: Crono/Frog/Marle

Frog+Marle have double cure, which is really nice when you are fighting things that can disable status immunity and do a lot of damage.  There are only 2 abilities that restore status in the game (besides the item), but this tech does it for everyone and heals them fully.  Combine this with the fact that Marle and Crono can both bring dead characters back to life, and you've got an extremely survivable party.  I usually use this party on the first playthrough because it is so hard to take down, and Chrono+Frog still have good offence (esp. with haste from Marle).

For this party: Crono/Robo/Ayla

There's just one thing I've gotta change about the items--Robo should have a haste helm and nova armor instead.  He doesn't benefit at all from the master crown's damage+ because he either crits and does 9999 or doesn't crit and does pitiful damage.  Haste helm makes him attack twice as often, which means twice as many 9999 hits.  But of course you still need status immunity if you're going to lose the master's crown, which is why you go for the best status immune armor, which is Nova armor.  And by the time you've got all of these items, Robo's magic defence and stamina are **, so all you lose from dropping Regal Plate is just a tiny armor value.

Quote
Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

Crisis arm... so you have to heal every time you get hit, or do terrible damage?  That rapid fire fist better be pretty dang good to warrant this, I'll have to try it.  I also have to agree with the people that say the crit % for Ayla and Robo seems higher than 30%.  I've got them both level** strength** speed** etc. and they seem to crit about half the time.

Quote
Equip Robo and Lucca properly, and the Fire Tackle takes 9,999 as well.

Gotta try this one too.  9999 against who?  lavos core/pods are the standard in my book.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on February 07, 2009, 07:40:01 pm
Quote
Crisis Arm/Rapid-fire Fist > Apocalypse Arm/Dragon Earring. PERIOD.

Crisis arm... so you have to heal every time you get hit, or do terrible damage?  That rapid fire fist better be pretty dang good to warrant this, I'll have to try it.

I think Shock would do more damage than that though...or, if you were going to go that route then you could just do Dragon Arm & Prism Specs to do more damage (consistently).

I also have to agree with the people that say the crit % for Ayla and Robo seems higher than 30%.  I've got them both level** strength** speed** etc. and they seem to crit about half the time.

I think by "the people" you mean Fireseal...That seemed to be the only other person who thought the laws of probability were bending for them...Perhaps your Ayla seems like she's getting more criticals because that's how you're used to her, but once she gets the Bronze Fist, her crit hit % goes down from a respectable 35% (which, with the Dragon Tear would be quite good) to 10%...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Fireseal on February 10, 2009, 11:58:33 am
Aha, but the laws of probability WERE indeed bending for me, even after obtaining the Bronze Fist. :D  To not have Ayla in my party would've just been plain... retarded. :D

If you want a challenge even at lvl 99, pick Marle, Frog, and Magus. Frog's Masamune kind of fails after awhile, Water II does decent damage after having ** on magic stat and it's risky to have him on low HP for Frog Squash.  Marle, well... even at ** Ice II still sucks lol..  Magus, eh... *cries for saying this* ..sucks at lvl 99.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: The Black Wind on February 17, 2009, 06:39:32 pm
Magus is a fucking beast in CTDS with his new ultimate equipment and a Gold Stud. I just wish there was something that would make him deal critical hits a lot more frequently in situations where magic is useless (i.e. Dream Devourer's second phase), because the Dreamreaper easily makes his attacks stronger than Crono's when dealing critical damage, even without any damage boosts.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: deviant_ambition on May 12, 2009, 09:55:38 am
Best party includes a red mage/jack-of-all-trades, a mage, and a tank.

Crono
Magus
Ayla (charm ftw)
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on May 12, 2009, 11:45:41 am
Crono's basically a Paladin...Robo is the real Jack-of-All-Trades.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: kingpingu30 on August 21, 2009, 08:50:37 pm
I am relatively new to the whole Chrono scene, so I do not know everything about everything yet.

My preferred team is usually Crono, Magus and Robo. But, Lucca and the Spellslinger weapon+ Prism Specs is actually quite awesome. And, theres Ayla...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: pyro_dragun on August 22, 2009, 09:38:30 pm
As far as I don't want to admit it, Magus fails after awhile, heck Lucca outdamages him on physical attacks, you know you're pathetic when..? I didn't even bother grabbing him when I finally got to face the Dream Devourer.
I know, why did square make dark matter suck so much and give him some of the worst weapons in the game :( Magus is one of my favorite characters to use too.


I never use his physical attacks but when he has the gold stud he only needs to use spells.
The thing is, with endgame Magus, his spells suck compares to everyone else. Dark Matter is the worst ultimate, it only has a 15.5 multiplier. Take in comparison, Robo's shock is 16.5, Lucca's Flare is 17.25, and Crono has the best single cast spell in the game in Luminaire with a multiplier of 20.5. Plus at this point, speed doesn't matter since everyone will have been maxed out. Even ayla's tail spin (16.5) does more then magus' dark matter.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: ZaichikArky on August 22, 2009, 10:25:58 pm
People like to argue about the best team all the time. I don't think there is such a thing as "best team" in the game, or any rpg for that matter. It's all a matter of preference. I like using Crono, Ayla, Marle the best probably, but that's just me because I found that this combination worked best against Lavos when I beat him over and over to get the endings in the DS version.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: V_Translanka on August 23, 2009, 03:04:29 am
It sorta depends on your definition of "best", but I usually see it as fastest way to take down Lavos, myself. So to me, using Marle is a waste of time.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: GenesisOne on August 23, 2009, 03:39:35 am
My approach to boss fights would be defense first.  If I can assure myself that I have best possible defense for my characters against a formidable boss, then my offensive power will follow more naturally than finding out during battle that I have sub par defense stats.

That being said, I believe the best armor for the men would most likely be:

OzziePants, Moon Armor, and Power Seal.

Or if you're playing the DS version, it would be:

Ozzie Pants, Saurian Leathers/Regal Plate/Shadowplume Robe (Magus only), and Power Seal.  

I believe the best armor for the women (either version) would most likely be:

OzziePants, Prism Dress, and Power Seal.

Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: kingpingu30 on August 23, 2009, 09:43:13 am
Well, I reckon there will never be a time where max defense is needed, not even for ocean palace lavos, who I beat today using a haste helm/nova armour combo on the guys, and Angels tiara/elemental aegis on Lucca. Oh, and Ozzie Pants cause auto-confusion, so if you wanted to use them, you would need to use an accesory that stops confusion, because I heard that even armour that gives status immunity cant stop its auto-confuse.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: pyro_dragun on August 29, 2009, 02:35:07 am
My approach to boss fights would be defense first.  If I can assure myself that I have best possible defense for my characters against a formidable boss, then my offensive power will follow more naturally than finding out during battle that I have sub par defense stats.

That being said, I believe the best armor for the men would most likely be:

OzziePants, Moon Armor, and Power Seal.

Or if you're playing the DS version, it would be:

Ozzie Pants, Saurian Leathers/Regal Plate/Shadowplume Robe (Magus only), and Power Seal.  

I believe the best armor for the women (either version) would most likely be:

OzziePants, Prism Dress, and Power Seal.


No, sorry defense is not THAT important. Status protection is much more important for the final battles. Plus ozziepants have autoconfuse on them.

In the SNES/PS1 version, best gear is as follows:
Males: Haste Helm, Nova Armor, PrismSpecs
Females: PrismHelm, PrismDress, PrismSpecs

Weapons:
Crono - Rainbow; Marle - Valkyrie; Lucca - Wondershot; Ayla - Bronze Fist; Frog - Masamune; Robo - Crisis Arm; Magus - Doom Sickle

In the DS Version:
Males: Master's Crown; Regal Armor, Prism Specs
(All Males except secret character and Robo's alternate setup)

Females except Lucca: Angel's Tiara, Regal Gown, PrismSpecs
Lucca replace the Regal Gown with Elemental Aegis

Weapons: Crono - Dreamseeker; Marle - Venus Bow; Lucca - Spellslinger; Ayla - Bronze Fist; Frog - Masamune  :|; Robo - Crisis or Apoc Arm*; Magus - Dreamreaper

Robo's Alternate Best Setup: Apoc Arm, Haste Helm, Nova Armor, Dragon's Tear (This setup is broken and way too abusable)
This damage does 9999 on critical but crap other wise, so imo it would be best to have autohaste on him so he can attack as frequently as possible, and dragon's tear to up the critical rate

On my first playthrough, no NG+ here's how all of my characters are set up:
I only have 2 prism specs, 1 dragon's tear, 2 master crowns, 1 regal gown, and 1 angel's tiara so I gear swap a lot depending on who I have in my party. I have 3 Prism Dresses and 6 Prism Helms though from doing the Black omen in the present, then 600 ad, then finally antiquity and charming them off of zeal. That nets 3 helms and 3 dresses, and for the rainbow shell reward, I chose to get 3 prism helms.

Crono - Dreamseeker, Master's Crown, Regal Armor, PrismSpecs (Magic is at 70ish, so I think I can do about 3k of damage with Luminaire to the new boss, 6k on normal monsters)
Marle - Venus Bow, Prism Helm, PrismDress, GoldStud (I don't really use her that much...)
Lucca - Spellslinger, Prism Helm/Angel's Tiara, Elemental Aegis, GoldStud/PrismSpecs
Ayla - Iron Fist, Angel's Tiara/Prism Helm, Regal Gown, Valor Crest/Prism Specs
Frog - Masamune, PrismHelm, Saurian Armor, Champion's Badge
Robo - Apoc Arm, Haste Helm, Nova Armor, Dragon's Tear
Magus - Dreamreaper, Master's Crown, Shadowplume Robe, Gold Stud/Dragon's Tear/PrismSpecs

Imo, PrismSpecs payoff more then dragon's tear on Magus, cause then you have higher damage overall overtime, and criticals hurt a hell of a lot more.

Robo is just broken with that setup. I don't use Regal Armor + Master Crown on him because doubling his crap damage still makes him do crap damage. His critical is the only thing you want from him with the apoc arm, so you absolutely NEED dragon's tear to make it worthwhile. Otherwise just use PrismSpecs + Crisis arm with the Mastercrown and regal armor. I try not to use robo too much though, cause he just makes the game too easy. He has the best single tech heal in the game (Heal Beam), can dish out the most damage with either the apoc arm OR crisis arm setup, and has both a good physical tech and spell.

The team I like to use for most battles is : Crono, Ayla, Magus. It's not even that great of a team since it doesn't have a good healer, but I like Magus a lot :)

The absolute best team in the game is: Crono, Ayla, Robo. If you lose with this team to ANY boss, you suck. If you have robo's apoc arm setup, you can probably beat the dream devourer without even healing once.

Worst team at deal damage is probably Frog, Magus, Marle. At least if you use Lucca, you can team up with Marle for Antipode Bomb III. This team has got nuthin, LOL



Although Magus is my favorite character, sadly he becomes much less useful overtime. No dual techs and dark matter is the weakest ultimate in the game. I wish Square would've given it a multiplier that could compete with Luminaire, cause then Magus would a lot more amazing. Hell, I'd even venture to say they they should've given dark matter a multiplier of 22, since magus is *Supposed* to be the strongest magician in the game. But my rantings about Magus' shortcomings won't change a thing.  :lol:
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: GenesisOne on August 30, 2009, 03:00:56 am

Darn... :(

I seriously thought I had it all worked out.

Next time I play, I'm gonna take these strategies into consideration.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Kirlia on September 05, 2009, 09:11:54 pm
The party I used to clear the game had Lucca, Frog, and Ayla in it (all were around level 65). Frog had Heal and could use Slurp Kiss with Ayla if I needed extra healing. Lucca, before a New Game +, was one of my best magic users. I put the Golden Stud on her (and I almost always seemed to do decent damage with the Wondershot....I was lucky most of the time). Ayla was my favorite physical attacker; her Triple Kick was incredibly useful against magic-resistant enemies. By the time I used New Game +, I used the other characters a lot more, especially Robo.

Marle is probably the least useful character by the endgame, as she lacks a strong ultimate attack (and considering how powerful characters are when they're in the 90s, Arise doesn't need to be used much, if at all) AND a Single Tech move that can heal all allies (unless you use a Double Tech like Cure Whirl), but I still like her. Haste is useful until Haste Helms and Angel's Tiaras are obtained.

Robo is the best healer in the game. His Heal Beam heals my characters fully every time (even if everyone is at 1 hitpoint!). I almost always have Robo equipped with the Crisis Arm, but I had a Dragon's Tear and the Apocalypse Arm equipped when I beat the Dream Devourer.

Lucca is an awesome character; Spellslinger is a great weapon as long as you keep an eye on your MP. With me, she always has a Golden Stub equipped, so casting Flare twice will still mean that the Spellslinger deals 1200+ damage or so. She also has the Aegis, too.

Frog is another great character, but his Heal only restores 600-700+ HP to all allies at a maxed out magic stat (as opposed to Heal Beam's 900+ with Robo's magic stat maxed out).  Frog Squash was useful in the few times I used it.

Crono is a bad-ass. Luminaire is the best magic attack in the game. It usually does 5000+ damage (add or subtract 2000 depending on the enemy's magic resistance, though) at a high magic level. Thank you, Dimentional Vortex in 100 A.D. where I can repeatedly charm for Magic Capsules!

Ayla is also a bad-ass. Her Charm ability can get unlimited capsules (even in the original CT for the SNES, you could get unlimited Strength Capsules at the Black Omen) and Golden Studs. Yes, I love Golden Stubs. Ayla often has a Valor Crest equipped, though. She gets Criticals about 30-50% of the time.

Magus is (naturally) is a bad-ass. I use him a lot, partially to hear what he has to say in the side-quests (especially at the Lost Sanctum). Too bad that he has no Double Techs and only two Triple Techs to his name. If he had a few more Double and Triple Teches, he might've been the best character in the entire game (well, he is to some, I suppose, but it would have been way harder to dispute). Dark Matter is still a useful technique (but still weaker than the awesome Luminaire), and I like that he can use the other elements (Lightning II, Ice II, Fire II).

With my New Game + and everyone at Level 99/**, I use a party of Crono, Robo, and Magus, or a party of Lucca, Frog, and Ayla (Lucca for Magus, Frog for Robo, and Ayla for Crono). When I use Marle, she is usually with Frog/Robo and Crono. 

This is my first post, by the way. I've lurked here for a while, but I finally made an account. Yay.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: kingpingu30 on September 05, 2009, 10:22:23 pm
I tend to use Crono, Robo and Magus, although Ayla and Lucca keep taking the places of a character once in a while.

And, welcome to the forums, Kirlia
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: ZombieBucky on September 05, 2009, 10:40:06 pm
i found myself with crono, ayla, and frog. ayla kicked ass. frog healed and did attacking. crono attacked and did the lifing and the magic rape. when crono was out magus was in his place, so every now and then i use magus to do attacking and magic rape.
good times.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: kingpingu30 on September 08, 2009, 06:05:58 pm
Mixing party layouts can be fun every once in a while too. Although Triple Techs are usually outclassed, I like some of their animations.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Lakonthegreat on September 09, 2009, 07:52:11 pm
I always use Chrono, Lucca, and Marle. Why?

Luminaire
Antipode Bomb III
Luminaire
Antipode Bomb III
Luminaire
Antipode Bomb III
Luminaire
Antipode Bomb III
Luminaire
Antipode Bomb III

Dead Lavos.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Zephira on September 09, 2009, 08:17:32 pm
Rainbow/Luminaire > Dark Matter > Aura/Cure/Ether works just as well, in nearly the same amount of turns. Once you're past level 60 (and I'm nearly all **), the "best team" doesn't even matter. The best team could be just Crono, as you can start a New Game+ and kill Lavos in a little over a half hour, counting the time spent in the Millenial Fair.

My definition of the "best team" is the one you're most comfortable using, one with the best lines, and coolest attack animations (but I'm a graphics whore so that's to be expected). I'm pretty sure I use the same team that my dad used, too, so.. I'm kinda biased :lol:
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: kingpingu30 on September 10, 2009, 01:46:03 pm
I don't think that it matters if you are biased towards a certain team, Because it is your game. I nearly always use Magus, cos I like the whole badass thing, and he has all the elements. I use Robo, cos he's a robot. I use Crono cos of Luminaire. I also use Ayla for... Obvious reasons... And I use Lucca cos of an ace weapon (spellslinger) and flare. I use Frog cos Masamune=awesome. And marle cos of the various combo techs. I love 'em all!!!

I reckon there are fave teams, but none of them are truly the best unless you like those characters. So every1 has their own best team in that regard.

My main team is Magus, Robo and Crono (I know I keep mentioning this, but notice that I am not saying that it is the best. they're my faves for killage.)

Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: manekrox on October 14, 2009, 12:52:19 pm
of course marle, ayla chrono

reason: FINAL KICK TRIPLE TECH=6000+ damage.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: TMC on February 06, 2010, 11:47:07 am
Crono, Robo and Ayla is the team I like most. The game becomes broken with Robo's ultimate weapon (found in the Vortex) combined with Dragon's Tear (obtained in The Lost Sanctum)...
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: FaustWolf on February 06, 2010, 05:40:36 pm
Just Magus, struttin' alone with that fine-ass cape. What a great Darth Vader effect his sprite has.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Yourgingerestfan on February 07, 2010, 10:48:45 am
I'll use any team as long as Lucca is in it :P
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Farmerjoe on May 03, 2010, 06:01:28 am
I always use Robo, Lucca and Crono. Robo can inflict crazy ass damage when using the Crisis arm and Lucca and Crono inflict heavy damage when using Luminarie and Flare back to back.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: _Janus_ on May 24, 2010, 12:15:13 pm
I hate Crono so much gosh :picardno

I always use Robo, Lucca and Janus
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Kenshuke on July 24, 2010, 04:37:07 pm
I don´t have a fixed party, I always put Ayla and Robo, and at the third character slot Lucca, Marle or Frog >__< More often Lucca.

Ayla with her strength is always a great fighter against magic users and at the blackbird. His ultimate weapon is amazing, i really love it. Her techs are really powerful i think =O But I prefer using charm to steal some items :3

Robo can heal, use magic and powerful attacks, all in a character *__* The first time i played it was my secret weapon ò.ó

Frog is a Robo2, but since his physical attacks aren´t really that powerful i prefer to have Robo.

I actually dislike Marle, but I can´t deny his job as a healer is great, and she has the useful Haste with her ^^ But in a battle with monsters she is really nothing but a support.

I love Lucca, she has a protection skill and huge-damage magic skills like Flare *__* And her weapon can be terribly useful.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Delta Dragon on July 25, 2010, 03:45:41 am
I didn't use it all that much on the first time through, but on new game plus at least one I use a lot is Crono Ayla and Robo.  One of the main reasons is their triple tech.  It's one of the few worth using, especially with one or more Gold stud. 
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: TimePhazer on September 11, 2010, 10:18:38 pm
I always use crono Glenn and magus all with haste helms and moonbeam armor around lvl 60 each
crono is an all-around death machine glenn is just my favorite and has some decent healing and magus is a great magic user

when fighting lavos 1 frenzy destroys the left bit and after that i just go beast on the right bit. around 3 or 4 rounds lavos is no more.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: WasteOfTime on November 13, 2010, 08:44:04 am
Crono, Frog/Robo, and Ayla.

Why you would use anything else is beyond me. The game is hardly difficult to begin with, but I'm baffled as to why people are taking Marle or Magus so often here.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: TimePhazer on November 23, 2010, 08:18:50 pm
Why you would use anything else is beyond me. The game is hardly difficult to begin with, but I'm baffled as to why people are taking Marle or Magus so often here

BECAUSE HE IS BAD ASS
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Manly Man on December 11, 2010, 06:56:45 am
Personally, I tend towards a team of Crono, Magus and Ayla, especially in the New Game/Continue+. Crono and Magus are basically one another, but switched around. Crono has amazing attack power and speed, and his magic isn't all that shabby either. Magus, on the other hand, isn't anywhere near as great as Crono physically, and even with the considerable damage his scythes do, he just can't match up to Crono, especially when Crono gets his ultimate weapon. As for Magus' magic, though... I've got him doing about twice as much damage magically as Crono, and even able to outdo Lucca in terms of how efficiently they're blown away. He may not be much of a help when it comes to just whacking enemies with a physical attack, but he can lay waste to hordes of enemies with his magic. Both Crono and Magus are fast, so they can toss in an item whenever it's deemed necessary; that's the only reason I survived Queen Zeal my first time around, because I almost always had someone available to use a megaelixir when Zeal started using the 1HP moves on me like crazy.

As for Ayla, I think she's just amazing. She does just about as much damage as Crono, if not more, with her physical attacks, and even when you have all of them with ** speed, she still gets to go first. Equip her with something that increases her damage, or in some cases critical hit rate, and she'll beat just about anything into a fine, red paste, especially when she gets the Bronze Fist. Sure, her magical abilities suck, but with raw physical power like that, who needs it? Basically, with this team, I just crush pretty much everything that comes my way. The items, especially the elixirs  and megaelixirs, are going to be just about all you'll need to get by in terms of healing, and on the Black Omen you can even buy elixirs, which I've done to the point of having 89-99 of them on me at all times.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Boo the Gentleman Caller on December 11, 2010, 01:00:56 pm
During my New Game + playthrough's I tend to use Crono, Marle, and Ayla. Marle normally wouldn't make my party, but with the Twin Charm tech they allow me to stock up on Tabs and other helpful items.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: EgyLynx on December 12, 2010, 02:19:54 pm
Everyone has L99 ... there no right answer... i think.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Ciphermind on July 03, 2011, 01:11:04 am
I pretty much exclusively stick to Crono, Frog, and Magus.  The vortexes are no exception.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: HeadlessFritz on August 03, 2011, 02:59:26 am
Crono, Frog and Ayla. Slurp Kiss is the most cost-effective healing spell in the game. Frog can always Heal if Ayla is not ready. Crono has Luminaire and Life. 3D Attack is pretty strong. Downside is Frog and Crono's combos which kinda suck.

I actually dislike Magus as a fighter. He's weak. Dark Matter is the least powerful of the final techs (I think even Shock beats it) and he got no double techs. His triple techs are cool, but not cost effective and waste an accessory.

Magus is cool, but he's just looks ;)

Okay, Frog isn't the best choice, but he's just awesome. He's like a medieval Yoda.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Bard_of_Time on August 03, 2011, 12:10:43 pm
Honestly, I've found that every character has their strong points, and can be used to play up anything.

Crono is pretty great all around. I mean, he'd better be. You're stuck with him for almost all of the game.
Marle is an effective healer, and she has Haste, which makes me happy. I hate being pokey.
Lucca has fire elemental attacks, as well as some neat weaponry and protect. She makes up for being a bit pokey by being LUCCA THE GREAT.
Frog has some great physical stuff, and combined with Marle can do some epic healing. Plus, he's a talking frog with a sword.
Ayla can steal stuff (always great, especially when seeking the Wolflobe Sword) and beats the shit out of everything.
Robo is a robot. What more can I say?
Magus has shell (or the equivelent thereof) and has some naaaasty magic attacks.

Any combination of the three of those can fit any play style or preference. I'm partial to Magus-Marle-Lucca because Magus is a pimp and I looooove my buffs. Can anyone say Haste+Shell+Protect? Is nice set up.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Bradums on August 07, 2011, 11:40:00 pm
I generally use Crono (Massive phys attacks + high crit % + Luminaire), Marle (Haste+Heals/Combo Techs), and either Frog (High crit % + off-heals/Combo Techs) or Magus (Decent phys attacks + Heavy magic damage).

I switch around a bit, since everyone is useful enough not to be dead weight, but I mainly use that party. Or, I switch Ayla in for Marle for more damage and a little healing.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: tripehound on August 08, 2011, 06:55:06 pm
I actually dislike Magus as a fighter. He's weak. Dark Matter is the least powerful of the final techs (I think even Shock beats it) and he got no double techs. His triple techs are cool, but not cost effective and waste an accessory.

It's all in the stats.  :wink:

It's true that, due to his late entry into the game as a playable character, players who rely on boosting stats through heavy tab usage might notice that, by the time they are able to obtain Magus, he may not be the most powerful character in the lineup. Despite that, I believe Magus has the highest natural magic stat of any playable character, which consequently means that any magic-based attack coming from him (Dark Matter) is going to put up ludicrous levels of damage. For the argument of comparison, though, it's all going to depend on how well developed the rest of the characters are statistically.

If he feels stunted, feed him some magic tabs, or give him some magic boosting equipment, and he should be throwing death out of his fingertips.

I don't happen to recall how this translates to characters with maxed stats, but by the time players are able to reach this point, each character in the party should be able to kill Lavos simply by farting in its general direction, so the discussion is partially moot in this aspect.
Title: Re: Best Party?
Post by: Bradums on August 08, 2011, 07:24:19 pm
Agreed. In my recent playthrough on the DS, Magus did decent attack damage and his Dark Bombs were throwing out 1200+ while the other characters were critting for 900-1100. Not too shabby, in terms of single-target effects. Of course, for mass destruction, it's Luminaire all the way. I don't think Dark Matter can compare, but it does the job well enough.

Then again, doesn't Luminaire derive from Crono's Str stat, as well as Mag? Or how is that calculated? I know it relies on Str to some extent. In conclusion: Crono defies logic and is using cheat codes >.>