Tales of Vesperia 7/7 Completionist Playthrough

[Life]

This is a playthrough that is designed to get every single achievement possible in this game. I play the game 7 times, using each of the characters as my main character during that playthrough. On a Yuri run, Yuri is my playable character at all times. On a Karol run, Karol is... Yeah, you get the point.

Also, the party is optimized for that character. Estelle will always be fighting with Repede (Lovely Dog) while Raven will have Estelle, Rita and Judith in the party (Chivalry). Figured I should toss that in somewhere.

Hopefully I can get all the achievements. I'll start real updates when I move onto my second run. Oh and there are tons of spoilers here so be warned.

Current progress: Gattuso on Estelle (2/7)

Collector's Book:

 

45/46 Items (98%)
290/397 Main Weapons (73%)
35/48 Sub Weapons (73%)
43/50 Head Coverings (86%)
81/100 Body Armour Pieces (81%)
57/87 Accessories (66%)
34/34 Food Items [COMPLETE]
135/150 Synthesis Materials (90%)
91/147 Valuable Items (61%)

 

Monster Book:

 

76/116 Human (66%)
37/53 Beast (70%)
31/37 Bird (84%)
26/39 Magic (67%)
19/24 Plant (79%)
27/29 Aquatic (93%)
23/30 Insect (77%)
17/20 Inorganic (85%)
11/16 Scale (69%)

 

Achievement List:

 

Vesperia Master []

Too Much Free Time []

To Points Unknown []

Grand Battles [COMPLETE]

Jackpot [COMPLETE]

Piggybank []

They Call Me... []

No More Grinding []

Map Nerd [COMPLETE]

Monster Nerd []

Item Nerd []

Character Study []

Little Mad Scientist [COMPLETE]

Back Up Plan []

The Hit That Keeps On Hitting [COMPLETE]

Eureka! [COMPLETE]

First Strike [COMPLETE]

Big Game Greenhorn [COMPLETE]

Big Game Hunter []

Smarty-pants [COMPLETE]

Speedster []

Ahhh, Memories []

Recovered The Aque Blastia [COMPLETE]

Ended Alexei's Ambitions [COMPLETE]

Defeated The Adephagos [COMPLETE]

Bunny Guild Member []

Low Level Challenger []

Secret Mission 1 (Zagi 1) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 2 (Goliath) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 3 (Gattuso) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 4 (Zagi 2) []

Secret Mission 5 (Dread Giant) []

Secret Mission 6 (Gigalarva) []

Secret Mission 7 (Barbos) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 8 (Zagi 3) []

Secret Mission 9 (Pteropus) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 10 (Outbreaker) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 11 (Belius) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 12 (Tison & Nan) []

Secret Mission 13 (Schwann) []

Secret Mission 14 (Zagi 4) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 15 (Baitojoh) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 16 (Estelle) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 17 (Yeager) []

Secret Mission 18 (Alexei) []

Secret Mission 19 (Gusios) []

Secret Mission 20 (Khroma) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 21 (Flynn) [COMPLETE]

Secret Mission 22 (Zagi 5) []

Secret Mission 23 (Duke) []

So yeah. I'm using this topic to keep progress. This goes alongside my FE7 S Rank runs too.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Life

[Life]

First Update:

Pretty much done my Yuri run. I'm at the final save point (got the achievement Back Up Plan for touching every save point in the game) and I'm about to try to get the Meteorite Blade so that I won't have to do it again (makes Tarqaron so much longer). Hopefully I can get it.

Also, I'll be fighting Duke's 3rd form too. Yay...

[frat_tastic]

I've only beaten the game once, and used Karol for the whole game, pretty much starting when I got him.

I started a second playthrough, but I've only just finished the Shaikos Ruins after getting Rita. Then I got other games and got distracted.

I'd really like to see us get Tales of Graces, since it supposedly has the best combat system out of any Tales game yet, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting it. Sadface.

[Life]

I've only beaten the game once, and used Karol for the whole game, pretty much starting when I got him.

I started a second playthrough, but I've only just finished the Shaikos Ruins after getting Rita. Then I got other games and got distracted.

Well, FFXIII and FE7 are distracting me as of the moment but ToV is possibly my second favourite game of all time (Baten Kaitos Origins on the NGC is my favourite by a mile). It doesn't get corny until the final scene after the last boss battle which is a huge plus. Not to mention that all the characters are balanced for the most part... Until Rita finds the Milky Way in Tarqaron.

Also, Karol is my favourite character in the game but his problem is that he only gets the Mjolnir halfway through Zaude after 2 boss battles (Yeager and Poseidon). Which is great and all... but he needed it 3 dungeons ago for Bactian (he's the only healer until Yuri gets Dein Nomos and Guardian Field), Heracles and Zaphias Castle. So yeah, that's his main problem. Aside from that, he's awesome, especially after he finds the Golden Hammer.

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, FFXIII and FE7 are distracting me as of the moment but ToV is possibly my second favourite game of all time (Baten Kaitos Origins on the NGC is my favourite by a mile). It doesn't get corny until the final scene after the last boss battle which is a huge plus. Not to mention that all the characters are balanced for the most part... Until Rita finds the Milky Way in Tarqaron.

Never played. Is the "Milky Way" perhaps related to all that "blah blah blah" stuff on YouTube?

[frat_tastic]

The Milky Way gives Rita an ability where she can't be staggered while casting. So yeah, I guess it would help some with the "blah blah blah" stuff. That all comes from people being able to insta-cast when in overlimit though.

Edited May 25, 2010 by frat_tastic

[Life]

Never played. Is the "Milky Way" perhaps related to all that "blah blah blah" stuff on YouTube?

Technically, Rita says an incantation before doing a spell. For Tidal Wave, she says "O mad and greedy waters, rise up and storm the very heavens; Tidal Wave!". However when she's in Overlimit, she can instantly cast spells. And as a result... "Blah, blah, blah... Tidal Wave!"

The Milky Way (weapon) allows her to not get interrupted during spells, which has always been the most important skill that a mage in Tales games can get.

So they're not exactly related but sorta. It's just that Rita is broken once she equips the Milky Way since she can get to Overlimit quickly and then spam Tidal Wave for Grade/Money farming.

[frat_tastic]

And of course it always helps that Tidal Wave hits every enemy on screen, so Rita can fill up the overlimit bar so fast that as she soon as she goes out of overlimit, she can go right back into it.

[Narga_Rocks]

Doesn't overlimit prevent staggering in ToV? I would think that would already make the instant cast and quick filling of the overlimit bar pretty crazy.

[frat_tastic]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't prevent staggering. I'm not 100% sure, since I've never actually had anything GET to Rita without dying when she's in overlimit, but I don't think that it stops you from being staggered. I'd have to try it out.

[Life]

Only Overlimit level 4 prevents staggering.

Level 1 is a basic OL.

Level 2 is added attack and mattack.

Level 3 allows for Mystic Artes to be used.

Level 4 makes your character invincible. I've had level 4 on during enemy MAs and I've taken no damage (I pulled that shit during Duke's Brave Vesperia MA and it was awesome).

[Narga_Rocks]

That's a shame. I find myself liking ToS more and more.

Although, I had some fun photon spamming with Marta in ToS:DotNW. Sometimes I felt bad, but mindless 100+ hit combos against bosses that never get to do anything is always fun. Especially on pathetic final bosses. Makes me remember how nearly every enemy would "fall" if you hit it enough in ToS to prevent more combos unless you time a Raine Photon or some kind of demon fang from Lloyd or a ton of hourglasses just perfectly to prevent the combo from ending...

Again, I find myself liking ToS more and more. I suppose there were things you could do even in ToS to make the game super easy, but it seemed like not nearly as much as with some of the others. And those YouTube no damage Abyssion solos were fun to watch and showed skill. If it worked like ToSII then you'd get something like this:

against him appearing online rather than fun things like these:

Oh, and you could achieve elemental absorption from some elements and nullifying an element meant your character acted like the fire/whatever wasn't even there so it didn't affect combos. Not like Dawn of the New World where you can only get damage down to 1 from elements no matter what you equip and it'll always stop what you are doing (like, say, casting something important).

[Life]

Narga, you're watching the wrong stuff.

Since watching Estelle and Rita in the 200 man melee is boring (Tidal Wave spamming for Rita and Force Field glitch for Estelle), here's a couple of videos from the 200 man melee with other characters. This is all done on Unknown difficulty, gotten only after beating the game and buying it from the Grade shop.

Yuri Part 2

Yuri Part 3

Judith Part 1

Judith Part 2

And some other shit too:

This guy (Omegaevolution) is my Youtube god. He's played all of my favourite games and put playlists up for them (ToV and ToS, both Baten Kaitos games, FE10 even though I haven't played it) which is awesome.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Life

[Narga_Rocks]

Narga, you're watching the wrong stuff.

Since watching Estelle and Rita in the 200 man melee is boring (Tidal Wave spamming for Rita and Force Field glitch for Estelle), here's a couple of videos from the 200 man melee with other characters. This is all done on Unknown difficulty, gotten only after beating the game and buying it from the Grade shop.

Yuri Part 2

Yuri Part 3

Judith Part 1

Judith Part 2

And some other shit too:

Which should make ToV better than Dawn of the New World by a lot (not really a surprise given the amount of effort each one received). My dislike of ToS II is probably still justified. You can get through most battles by spamming various healing spells with Marta and offensive spells with the quickly overpowered monsters. (deleted your extra post)

Oh, and I think I liked the no damage Lloyd vs. Sword Dancer 3 video more than the Yuri soloing Kratos video. One that relies more on tempest. There's another video that's just rising falcon + attacks from behind which is kinda boring.

and yeah, omegaevolution has great videos.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

Got it. In any case, my second runthrough will probably be my Rita one since I want to save Speedster for Repede (first fighter I ever cleared the 100 man melee with) and my low level challenge is for either Raven or Judith (need to be less than level 15 after defeating Barbos at Ghasfarost).

[Momo]

Playing through the same game seven times in a row sounds really boring. Do you really like it that much? It looks pretty good (I haven't played it, as I have no 360) but I couldn't see myself doing it that many times.

Which should make ToV better than Dawn of the New World by a lot (not really a surprise given the amount of effort each one received). My dislike of ToS II is probably still justified. You can get through most battles by spamming various healing spells with Marta and offensive spells with the quickly overpowered monsters. (deleted your extra post)

That goes for every Tales game though, it's just that the monsters aren't literal. ToS2's not a bad game really, it just feels like Abyss, if it was really half-assed.

[Narga_Rocks]

That goes for every Tales game though, it's just that the monsters aren't literal. ToS2's not a bad game really, it just feels like Abyss, if it was really half-assed.

There were still a lot of things I liked about ToS that weren't posssible in ToS2. Though I did like Fenia thanks to a relatively cheap spell in terms of MP that does about the same damage as spells twice as expensive (granted Blazing Hearts doesn't have as big an area of effect). Too bad Fenia caps at level 100. And it's also fun to just spam meteor storm repeatedly with overpowered monsters when facing multiple enemies. There were things I liked about it, but not as much as with ToS.

[Life]

Well, I've figured out some shit on the order of my runs and how to attack the achievements with the right characters. Should look like this.

Run 1: Yuri (Completed) - Get as many achievements as possible

Run 2: Repede - Get as close as possible to Item Nerd achievement by stealing everything not nailed down (I'm thinking of Gauche and Droite's swords to be exact) along with as many achievements as possible

Run 3: Judith - Get Low Level Challenger achievement (Level 15- after defeating Barbos)

Run 4: Estelle - Get as close as possible to They Call Me... achivement aside from Yuri's Secret Mission title and coliseum titles (need to heal 4 million HP with Estelle for one of the titles but I always bench her once Raven learns Love Shot since Raven + Yuri + Karol make for better instant healers than Estelle and her fancy spells)

Run 5: Karol - Get Ahh, Memories (haven't faced Kratos yet and I'd love to do it while controlling Karol)

Run 6: Rita - Get Speedster and No More Grinding achievements (Blah blah blah... GAME OVER!)

Run 7: Raven - Every other achievement. I've picked Raven for this job since he must be present for no less than 2 of the Secret Missions (Gigalarva and Yeager). He also gets Rainsong pretty early which will help for Alexei, Gusios and Zagi. Considering putting this run on the Unknown difficulty to ensure that I get each secret mission.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Life

[Life]

I'm back! And I'm finally starting the meat of playthrough 2, Repede's story!

Since I transferred over all my weapons, I'm trying to give Repede skills that he'll need early rather than the obligatory Strength skill which he can learn at another time.

After Zaphias:

Repede - Level 6 Ultimate Dog Warrior

534 HP, 84 TP

209 Physical Attack

491 Physical Defense

89 Magic Attack

196 Magic Defense

99 Agility

27 Luck

Equipment:

Main - Karakaze +1

Sub - Eternal Ring

Head - Ninja Dog Mask

Body - Aer Fragment

Acc - Order of the Imperial Honor

[Life]

UPDATE! YAY!

Finished up to the end of Caer Bocram. Run's going quite fast since I've already got all the weapons and my ultimate armor takes like 12 damage from the Dreaded Giant. Quite hilarious.

Party is Repede, Estelle, Karol and Rita. Rita's currently trying to learn Resilience which makes her a shoo-in for this run (yay no staggering during spells against bosses like Alexei and Yeager) and Repede has already learned Thievery. Thievery + Thief's Tattoo + Steal Plus = Still missing chances to steal, apparently. Kinda sucks but it's not like Collete was any better at stealing shit.

[Life]

Another update!

I am now at the start of Ghasfarost and I think the team that I shall use for the majority of the game will be Repede, Raven, Estelle and Rita. Estelle might lose her spot to Karol depending on how fast he fully learns Nice Healing Smash, though.

Repede now knows 6 Artes:

Sonic Dog

Crescent Fang

Falling Leaf

Punishing Fang

Thievery

Sonic Return (Arcane which allows me to activate Divine Dog)

I should probably get Lightning Dog (Sonic Dog + Hellfire & Gale) and Sonic Fang (Sonic Return + Chain & Crucible) soon but no real rush. As long as I get them before Pteropus, life should be easy.

[Narga_Rocks]

Kinda sucks but it's not like Collete was any better at stealing shit.

Item Getter? I suppose it needed a gem of each level (or something you won't have for a while) but she does get 100% success rate once you have that. Well, okay, fine, she needs to actually get a solid hit in and she needs to not get hit on her way down, but that aside her success rate is 100%. Oh, and in DotNW you need to not be attacking something with Glory (unless something allows for a solid hit). Not sure about enemies in ToS that aren't staggered after one hit.

[Life]

Part 1 done! Barbos hit the ground quickly but that being said, I did switch to Raven half-way through pummeling the fat man just to try and hit him with Blast Heart. Failed but I did connect with a Fury Blast right at the end of the battle. Gave Repede the kill, though.

Repede - Level 24 Ultimate Dog Warrior

1564 HP, 211 TP

507 Physical Attack

582 Physical Defense

283 Magic Attack

269 Magic Defense

198 Agility

32 Luck

Equipment:

Main - Takemikazuchi

Sub - Eternal Ring

Head - Ninja Dog Mask

Body - Aer Fragment

Acc - Thief's Tattoo

Artes:

Sonic Dog (Base)

Crescent Fang (Base)

Punishing Fang (Base)

Thievery (Base)

Falling Leaf (Base)

Sonic Return (Arcane)

Divine Dog (Burst)

[frat_tastic]

I've been doing my second playthrough, and I swear, I CANNOT HIT YEAGER WITH RAIN AND GET THE DAMN SECRET MISSION. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's really frustrating.

[Life]

I've been doing my second playthrough, and I swear, I CANNOT HIT YEAGER WITH RAIN AND GET THE DAMN SECRET MISSION. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's really frustrating.

I've never done it but I do have a tactic that I want to use.

I'm gonna put the game on Unknown and spam Rainsong when I'm in Overlimit with Raven. The second that he opens up his heart, I'm switching to Rain. Should work since Rainsong actually explodes upon using Taunt. I'm also going to make sure that nobody else attacks at that time.

Here's a couple other ways you can do it. Taken from GameFAQs directly.

For Yegar, you have to perform a Guard Break on him. You'll find he blocks a lot anyway, just keep on hitting him when he is blocking and eventually you'll get a guard break and he'll go into "exhausted" animation. Hit with anything else other than Raven's attack then and you'll blow it, so be sure to stop attacking, switch to Raven and hit the button!

Secret Mission 17 (Yeager):

"Make Yeager's heart explode by using Raven's Rain arte." This is the

infamous Secret Mission 17, hardest of them all. If you can do this,

you can do them all. When Yeager reveals the hermes blastia in his

heart during the second half of the battle, guard break him, then have

Raven use his Rain arte. The best way to do this is to set everyone on

Guard with No TP usage. They'll not do anything but guard like that.

Afterwards you take Yuri and attack Yeager in Over Limit. When you see

him start guarding attacks use Destruction Field over and over. It

should take 5-7 Destruction Field's depending on difficulty and how

powerful your character is. After 4 pause it each time and if you see

Yeager's guard break stop the Destruction Field spam and swap to Raven.

Yeager will still have the basic blue shield protecting him so you need

to down that first. Best way is to equip a weapon that allows the use

of Rainsong altered arte and fire off 1 of those to break the shield

and then swap weapons and go back and spam rain.

Another strategy that worked for some is to simply have Karol, Repede

and Yuri go all out attack on Yeager while Raven sits back in over

limit spamming Rain. This never worked for me but it has worked for

others like Penguin of Doom.

There's a reason why I'm saving this run for last.