[VIDEO] Let's Play Labyrinth of Touhou 2 Hard Mode

[Siruppercut]

Hello everyone, It's my first let's play so don't expect much. I fail at humor so don't expect anything funny. People don't laugh at my jokes, instead they are laughing at me. This is my second random picked team challenge run on Hard Mode. Adds difficulty to the game and trying out new characters is always fun unless your stuck with Cirno.

Rules - I am only allowed to use my random picked team throughout the game with the exception of gaining battle points necessary to unlock other boss fights.

What is Labyrinth of Touhou 2?(Copy paste from LoT2 wiki)

It is an RPG-dungeon crawler similar to the Etrian Odyssey games, featuring Touhou characters.
Combat is time-based, using a party of 4 battlers and 8 reserve characters, each with their own special traits and abilities. Much of the game's strategy is based around choosing and managing your team.

I will be posting video of all the boss fights. I will not be commenting in the video.

Most of the early fights are too short anyways to make comments because I'm too awesome.(Offense over Defense)

Game mechanics.(If you want to bother reading it.)

When your ATB bar fills past 10,000 you are able to act. Depending on your actions, the ATB bar will decrease at a certain rate.

When you are attacking and you see the text in
red = strong
white = neutral
blue = weak

When the enemy attacks and the text is
red = pain
white = neutral
blue = strong against

Affinities
X = very weak
Δ = weak
— = neutral
O = strong
double circle = very strong

Aliments
PSN - HP is constantly reduced.
PAR - ATB bar will not increase.
HVY - Ally can not be switched out to backline. Enemy speed is slightly reduced.
SHK - ATB bar is halved.
TRR - Ally lose MP every time they take a turn. Enemy stats is slightly reduced.
SIL - Ally can not cast spell. Enemy MAG and MND is reduced.
DTH - DEATH
DBF - Specified stat is reduced.

Scarlet Light 25% = item drop rate

My random picked team.

Floor 1

Boss: Malignut Eater

Why is a squirrel holding a umbrella?
Kogasa Tatara's umbrella has been stolen by squirrels.
Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the umbrella?

Love the name of the squirrel Malignut Eater.(very dangerous eater)

Malignut Eater weak against FIR and PHY.
My strategy is using Suwako's Moriya's Iron Ring(PHY atk) to inflict paralyze. Then kill off all the minions with Kanako's Misayama Hunting Ritual.(PHY atk all)
Yuyuko attacks with Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana.(DRK atk) Death proc so the battle ended before I got to switch out to Mokou.
Then swap out Yuyuko for Mokou and finish the fight with Fujiyama Volcano.(FIR atk all)

I lied, there is no strategy for the first boss. If you lose, you didn't level up enough.
I got charged money to fix the umbrella after finding it. Nitori wants the $ doesn't even care about our friendship. I never gave the umbrella back to Kogasa Tatara.

Boss: Youmu Konpaku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIINmR-sMvM

One of Youmu's sword is stolen by Cirno. You run into Cirno and steal the sword back. When you try to give the sword back to Youmu, she accuses you of stealing it and attacks your party.

Youmu Konpaku weak against DRK and MYS
Sanae uses Miracle Fruit(30% atk,mag,def,mnd,spd) on Yuyuko. Ran uses Banquet of General Gods(20% atk,mag on everyone in front row)
Parsee - Grudge Returning(DRK atk high chance to inflict terror) Yuyuko - Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana(DRK atk high chance to inflict death)
Parsee - Jealousy of Kind and Lovely(DRK atk only deals damage if terror is inflicted) Another Flawless Nirvana for the overkill.
Didn't expect Parsee to deal higher dmg than Yuyuko.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Siruppercut

[Siruppercut]

Floor 2

Encounter with first FOE in game.(Etrian Odyssey)
FOE Chrysolmallos and Alice Doll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PonQMXduSEc

2 fights in one video and it's still under a minute. >.> Yuyuko why are you so awesome.(instant death x2 no challenge)

Boss: Kaguya Houraisen
Kaguya and Mokou are having a contest to see who can climb the tree faster.(Doesn't make any sense unless you play the game) That is her idea of fun and also challenging your party to a battle.

Kaguya what big eyes you have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dLF-_t7e14

Kaguya Houraisen weak against SPI, DRK, and PHY.
Kanako using Mad Dance on Medoteko(SPI atk can inflict HVY) which lowers speed slightly.
Buff Yuyuko as much as possible with Sanae and Ran.
Damage race to see who kills who first.

Done with floor 2. My awesomeness(sarcasm) makes the game look plain easy on Hard Mode. The game will get more difficult. Possibly the last boss of Floor 3 might be the first semi challange boss.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 3

Great Tree Poisonous Wasp and Lesser Golem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vcTKN22GqQ

Wasp becomes another victim of Yuyuko's instant kill.

Lesser Golem is weak against WND and DRK. It has low HP but incredibly high DEF and MND.
Even with Yuyuko's Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana(strong DRK atk) was not able to damage it. I was under leveled but not really sure if 2 or 3 more levels would make any difference. Key to winning this battle was Utsuho's Giga Flare due to ignoring MND and Wiggle's poison. Golem mainly targets the left most character so I kept replacing the characters he kills and hope he doesn't target Utsuho.

Alaya-Vijnana

Alaya-Vijnana weak against FIR, CLD.
First fight that requires some strategy. My strategy is using 3 support characters to buff up DEF,MND early before taking too much damage while buffing my 2 main attackers Mokou and Suwako with Sanae. Without Reimu, you can't drag out the fight or your going to lose since keeping everyone healed is a problem.
Satori with her passive skill Spell Card Recollection can mimic any of your front line party members spellcards.

[Siruppercut]

Final Boss of Floor 3

Komachi Onozuka is weak against FIR,WND,NTR. First difficult boss in game.
It is very important to have in the first slot someone who has high death resistance. The main thing to watch out for in this fight is when Komachi is below 40% HP.

She will use Narrow Confines of Advici just one time. AOE attack that causes death, all stats down 50%, terror, and paralyze.
Yuyuko has a passive skill that enhances death resist for your entire party long as she is in the front row.

The key to winning this fight is to keep her alive until she uses Narrow Confines of Advici.

I went ahead and left out 2 bosses on Floor 4 because Yuyuko keeps cheesing them with death. 28 second fight video gets lame.

Floor 4 Fujiwara no Mokuo Weak against CLD,SPI, and WND. Battles are starting to get challenging where you need to switch out your characters and use strategy.
Normally you want to buff as much as possible before you start damaging Mokuo due to her regaining 1100 HP each turn.

Since I'm not using Reimu, its really hard to keeping everyone healed. I just started to deal damage right away as I buff my 2 main attackers Kanako and Suwako.
Main thing to worry about in this fight is when Mokuo reaches 0 HP she will resurrect herself and keep using Fujiyama Volcano each turn.
Not many characters in this game can survive a single hit even with good fire resist equip at least on Hard Mode. You need 1 person who can take the hit to win the fight.
I made a huge mistake. I was suppose to use Mokuo to take the hit but I accidentally switched out to Youmu instead and gambled on Sanae to take the hit.

Mokuo has a passive trait Resurrection which gives 90% chance to revive after being K.O.ed if you max the skill and have enough TP.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 5 Boss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka1OTa4xE5Q

Hina Kagiyama weak to FIR and SPI. The main thing to watch out for is Hina's spellcard Biorythm of the Misfortune God.(reduces all stats to -50% on everyone including herself)

After uses Misfortune Reversal to make all negative stats into buffs. Then immediately follows up with a random spellcard.

My strategy is when she uses Biorythm. Deal enough damage before she uses Misfortune Reversal so she skips her attack phase and repeats the process.

How I managed to deal enough damage. Satori's passive Trauma Recollections gives 24% damage boost from attacks they are vulnerable to.
Mokou's passive Blazing increases fire damage and Fighting Spirit 5% damage boost each turn per level caps at 6.
This allows Mokou to deal massive damage with buffs. Chen's passive Instant Attack(allows her to attack immediately when switched out to front row)

Floor 6 FOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bslsi4G-Ss

Yuugi Hoshiguma weak to SPI and WND. Her attacks are extremely strong. Enough to kill most characters in a single hit.
At below 50% HP she will start using Knock Out in Three Steps which will kill anyone in a single hit unless you are over leveled.

My strategy is to use Mokou to tank using her passive skill Ressurection(90% chance to revive after being K.O.ed spending 6 TP)
My back up tank Chen with high evasion. I used Wiggle's poison and Kanako to deal most of the damage.

We finally catch up with Tenshi who stole the sword. Story of the game in short. Rinnosuke's Ame-no-Murakumo is stolen. You are helping him retrieve the sword back.
You do not need to kill Tenshi to win the fight but you do get very good drops if you do. Tenshi will run on her 9th turn and you automatically win the battle. The recommended level for this fight is level 40. Which is a hell of a lot of grinding. Probably at least 4 times the exp of my max level. I choose not to grind and just wait out 9 turns. The pic shows Tenshi is dealing nearly 7 times Wiggle's max HP.

Shows how extremely under leveled I am for this fight.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 7

Alice Margatroid optional boss fight didn't last but about a minute. Used Mokou as tank with ressurrection. Sanae and Satori buff Kanako and deal insane damage.
Kanako without buffs took nearly 1/4 of her HP in a single attack and killed all the dolls she summoned.

Floor 8

We finally catch up with dual wielding kawai swordswoman Tenshi-chan. She actually says that in game. Fangs don't make you cute. While Tenshi, Reimu, and Marisa are having a chat. Iku the stoner is just chilling in the background. Reimu notices shes acting wierd. Iku is under Tenshi's control and is ordered to attack.

Iku Nagae another easy fight lasting about a minute. Buffed Suwako took out nearly 1/3 of her HP with a single attack.

Floor 9

Ran Yakumo another optional boss. Easy fight Kanako deals over 1/3 HP in a single attack.

Tenshi alignment weakness HVY and SIL. This is one of the harder fights if you don't know what to expect. She has high DEF and MND making most attackers dealing very little or no damage. Only two ways to deal with Tenshi with my team. Poison strategy or Monk subjob using Iron Mountain Charge.(Ignores % DEF)

Tenshi hates characters with buffs. She will always target someone with a buff with Sword of Hisou.(DEF targeting spirit attack which can remove buffs)

Youmu has high SPI and DEF. I used her to take the hits and DD. Long as I keep Youmu buffed Tenshi will only target her. Only thing to watch out for is when she uses focus and follows up with Ame-No Murakumo's Wild Dance.(AOE spirit attack) After you defeat Tenshi. She goes Super Saiyan and destroys you. You can win this fight but it is impossible on Hard Mode without cheating. Even Youmu with over 300 SPI resist takes over 3000 dmg.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 10 Boss Remilia Scarlet and Sakuya Izayoi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNpoHIGDdTc

Remilia Scarlet weak against FIR and DBF. Mostly uses single target physical attacks. Sakuya Izayoi weak against WND, PAR, and SHK uses AOE attacks.
The main thing to watch out for is when Remilia is under 50% HP she uses Blood Drain which boosts stats on both her and Sakuya greatly.
When Sakuya is under 50% HP she uses Private Square several times in a row which is a unresistable paralyze leaving all your characters unable to act.
If Sakuya is dead Remilia will use Curse of Vlad Tepes to increase all her stats. If Remilia is dead Sakuya will use Lunar Clock to increase her speed.

The best strategy for this fight is to kill Sayuka first and leave Remilia above 50% HP.

I used Satori as my main tank with Guardian subjob, Sanae Enhancer, Mokou Warrior, and Kanako Sorcerer.
Satori has passive skill Frontline Guard when the user is on the leftmost position will take 8% less damage. Passive Eyes that Percieve Reality if attacked by a enemy with buffs damage is calculated as if enemy buffs are non existant.

Floor 12

Divine Beasts Golden Mirror weak against CLD and NTR. It has high DEF and MND.
I used Suwako's Froggy Braves the Element.(CLD attack reduces MND)
Even without DEF or MND ignoring attack Kanako buffed made short work of the fight.

Magatama of Amber Fangs weak against DRK. Yuyuko's Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana killed it with instant death.

Floor 12 Final Boss Tenshi.

Final battle with Tenshi weak against DRK, SIL, and HVY. Music is really nice and I think Tenshi's final battle is the only time you get to hear this music.
She is pretty much the same as her previous fight with different resistance. Will attack characters with buffs with Sword of Hisou.
Have one character with high SPI resist and keep them buffed and healed. Although she is weak to DRK. Yuyuko and Parsee's dark attacks were dealing no damage to Tenshi. Also Monk subjob doesn't work for this fight like the previous due to her high NTR resistance. The only character I had that could damage Tenshi was Utsuho with Giga Flare.(mystic attack ignores MND) Long dragged out fight because of my low level.

After defeating Tenshi Ame-no Murakumo shows his true form. A sentinel sword who has been controlling Tenshi.

My party getting wiped out. Parsee taking over 20 times her max HP. You don't have to win this battle. It is possible to win if you can proc death with Yuyuko's Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana but most likely also need Reisen's Intense Vertigo passive skill to lower resistance and lots of luck.

[Blademaster!]

I could never really get into Touhou because it was just so huge, but all the games are doujin games right? I'm impressed that they look this nice. I was expecting them to be of a bit lower quality.

[Siruppercut]

While most of the games are fan made amateur self published work. There are some professional small gaming company like Strawberry Bose who makes doujin games as well.
The graphics in LoT2 is a huge improvement compared to their first game. There are a few Touhou games planned for release on the PS4 and PS Vita but not expecting any English release.

Off topic I wanted to do a playthrough for Devil of Decline(Touhou + Persona) but with my limited Japanese and no translation for the game would be difficult to explain things.
Awesome game with good music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmNd-uITEo

[Siruppercut]

Floor 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqLVLXJhcFU

Memorized Knowledge weak against DRK and PHY. This boss will buff MAG to 100% and then use Ether Flare(mystic attack) and repeat the process. A buffed Ether Flare will kill anyone but Komachi and Satori.

At least one person needs to be able to take a hit from Ether Flare and be able to switch in your damage dealers. Satori is perfect for this with her high HP and MYS resist. Also her passive skill Eyes that Perceive Reality.(enemy attacks is calculated as if buffs are non existant)
One thing to note is this boss has low DEF and high MND. Best to bring damage dealers that target DEF. This is the first time Chen is extremely useful. Chen has very high speed and short delay on her spellcards allowing her to hit several times before the boss is able to act.

Floor 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxpzR3ullmY

Optional boss Yuuka Kazami weak against FIR and CLD. The main thing to watch out for in this fight is when Yuuka is at 33% HP. She will use focus and then follow up with Master Spark which will kill everyone.
My backup in case I can't kill Yuuka before Master Spark goes off is Mokou with resurrection.(90% chance to revive after being KOed)
I was able to kill her and didn't have to resort to switching Mokou in to take the hit from Master Spark.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0AWzNUaFA

Optional boss Yuyuko Saigyouji weak against FIR and WND. She will start the fight with her strongest attack Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana.(dark attack with high death effect) You will need high death and dark resistance. If you can survive and recover from the first barrage, rest of the fight is fairly easy. At 33% HP she will focus and follow up with Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana again. You either need to kill her ASAP or prepare to take another hit.

Floor 12

Another optional boss Flandre Scarlet is weak against FIR, CLD, and DBF. I was really under leveled for this fight but decided to try it anyways. The key to winning this fight is to keep Flandre's stats debuffed and have high DRK resist for your first slot and good MYS resistance for everyone in the front row. First thing you want to do is debuff ATK, MAG, and SPD on Flandre. I didn't have anyone who can debuff SPD since I'm only using the 12 characters picked by someone to do my challenge run.

Even with STR or MAG debuffed to -50% all of Flandre's attacks still deal massive damage. She will use at 66% HP Forbidden Fruit.(strong mystic attack) At 33% HP she will use Great Calamity.(decreases everyone's HP to 1 even characters in the back row) At this point it is a damage race to see who kills who first. I didn't choose to heal and just buffed my characters to finish the fight ASAP. At 20% HP she will use Laveatein.(strongest fire attack in game) This deals insane damage like Master Spark.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 15

Glowing Azure Giant weak against FIR and SPI. This boss buffs itself to 100% in all stats starting and again at 50% HP. Can use Rasetsu Fist DEF ignoring physical attack that deals 6-7k dmg, wind and nature AOE attacks. Characters in the first and second slot should have high physical resistance especially the first slot. I didn't have Tenshi to use in this playthrough to remove buffs.

I am under leveled and was expecting a severe ass kicking for the first time. Ended up kicking ass instead.

This boss isn't as easy as it looks especially being 7 levels under the challenge level. My awesomeness even amazes me sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeyqH5JKVDM

Yukari Yakumo weak against NTR and DBF. She uses AOE spirit and wind attack. At 33% HP uses Great Calamity(reduces all MP to 0) like she did in the first game. While she is weak to debuff, it doesn't help much debuffing her. She will remove the debuff right away. It's better to buff your own characters instead.

The no grinding in game finally caught up to me. Was 9 levels under the challenge requirement. This is the first boss I lost to. Close fight could have won with one more attack. I tried two more times and the results were even worse. Got destroyed the second time and third fight wasn't any better.

Like the old cheesy Kung Fu movies, time for some training and come back to avenge my loss. I ended up grinding 5 levels and this fight became another rush beat down.

[Siruppercut]

Floor 16

Black Goddess of Fertility weak against SPI, WND, and PHY. While this boss only has 342,000 HP it regenerates over 80,000 HP per turn. You have to deal enough damage to kill it before it can regain all his HP back. First thing to do is buff your damange dealers before attacking. Then hit with everything you got to overcome its HP regen. Gambler is a excellent subjob to use for this fight. Passive skill High Stakes 60% dmg boost for double the MP cost. After buffing only took me two attacks to kill.

Floor 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHqr6zR6I5s

Golden Orb of Reverse Time, Forward Time, and Canopy Fighting against 3 Orbs

Reverse Time uses strong AOE fire, cold, and nature attacks.
Forward Time uses attacks that halves HP, status debuff, heals 30,000 HP, and it can also revive the other Golden Orbs if it is the only one remaining
Canopy heals for 100,000 HP or buff all allies defenses by 50%

Best strategy for me was to kill Reverse Time first. All of the AOE attacks it uses hits hard. Then kill Forward Time second since it will revive both other Golden Orbs if it is the last one remaining.

Floor 13

Last optional boss need 72+ achievements and 400 battle points with Komachi. Shikiekei Yamaxanadu weak against FIR and NTR. Compared to the first game she is much easier. First turn she will use Wandering Sin.(dark AOE attack with chance to inflict all status ailment) She will use Focus at 80%, 60%, 40%, 20%HP and follow up with Last Judgement(single hit spirit attack) which ignores defense and deals 30,000 damage. Also when she uses Focus her DEF and MND increases greatly. Last Judgement always target your left most character so you can use your least favorite Touhou character as a sacrifice or use Mokou with resurrection.(90% chance to revive after being KOed using 7TP)

I beat her down so fast, I got the achievement Waifu beater.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Siruppercut

[Siruppercut]

Floor 20 Last 2 guardians before the final boss.

Mirror of High God weak against CLD and NTR and Magatama of the High God weak against DRK.

Not much to say other than total rush beat down.

My preparation for the final battle. I reset all my characters stats using Tomb of Reincarnation. Not enough money to raise stats on all characters and only characters in my party that could deal damage would be Utusho, Parsee, Wiggle, and Yuyuko. You want your front line members to have high physical and spirit resists for this fight. Also decent death resist is needed.

I choose Sanae, Satori, Yuyuko, and Kanako. They all have high spirit resist especially Yuyuko and decent physical resist except Satori.

Subclasses I used for each character.
Sanae Enchanter - Boosts buffing skills. Miracle Fruit(normally 30% all stats boost) gives 48% all stats boost with enhanced buff passive skill.
Yuyuko Transcendent - Passive skills raise stats and damage.
Satori Strategist - Passive skills reduces buff decay rate, boost damage and damage taken.
Kanako Hexer - Passive skill Enhanced Hexes 20% bonus to debuffs. Spellcard Hex White Curse lowers enemies DEF and MND.

Final Boss

Ame-no Murakumo weak against DRK. It has 3 phases.

First Phase uses only normal attacks and AOE attack Ame-no Murakumo Slash.(deals physical and spirit damage)

Second Phase once HP is below 75%. It uses Divine Exile heals 50% HP. Gains new attacks Rasetsu Fist(defense ignoring physical attack) and Yakumo's Futsu no Mitama no Surugi(physical attack that drains MP and heals based on the amount of MP drained usually heals over 200,000 HP)

Third phase once HP is below 66%. It will use World Devouring Calamity(reduces all MP to 0) Below 50% HP uses Grace of Tama no Oya no Mikoto to heal its HP back 50% and max out DEF and MND. Below 40% HP uses World Devouring Destruction.(all characters HP down to 1) At 25% HP uses Divine Messenger's Light(summons 2 guardian statues) then uses World Shaking Military Rule.(AOE stat up 100%) Gains 2 new attacks Start of Heavenly Demise(powerful AOE spirit attack) and True Ame-no Murakumo's Slash(powerful spirit attack)

Normally this fight will take most people anywhere from 10-20 minutes. With my strategy it took me little over 6 minutes. Really surprised I was able to beat him so fast.

Simple strategy Sanae and Satori buff Yuyuko and Kanako with Miracle Fruit(raise all stats) and heal with Yasaka's Divine Wind.

Yuyuko dealing all the damage with Deadly Swallow Tail.(dark attack ignores 50% MND) Kanako debuff DEF and MND with Hex White Curse.

The main thing to watch out for is the final phase when Ame-no Murakumo summons 2 guardian statues. He will follow up with Word Shaking Military Rule.(AOE all stats 100%) Delay is fast so you need to make sure you have a damage dealer ready to take out both statues before they receive buffs. If you don't kill the statues and they have buffs then it will be a Game Over.

Ending in short.
The originator of the incident was the Ame-no Murakumo, given life as the tsukumogami. It remained silent after defeat. The sword was sealed in the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu, Yukari, and Byakuren combined their powers to erect a secure barrier around it. Byakuren mentions the sword can break the barrier anytime if it wanted to but the barrier is to keep other people from stealing the sword.

My thoughts on character tier in my random playthrough.

High Tier
Sanae is incredible with all the Moriya Shrine members. Even without she is good. Can take care of random encounters easily with all Moriya members bonus in party.
Satori able to mimic any spellcard makes her very versatile. Also her passive skill to boost damage on everyone is excellent.
Kanako is amazing able to deal four types of damage and very durable. Can also inflict Heavy which is bugged in game making her even better.

Cheese Tier(In between High and Mid)
Yuyuko Powerful dark attack that can even auto kill lots of bosses.

Mid Tier
Mokou, Suwako, Youmu, Utsuho, Wriggle

Low Tier
Chen, Ran, Parsee