Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness PSP New Features FAQ by Sethan ==== Introduction ============================================================= This FAQ is about the new features included in the PSP version of "Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness". I do not own the DS version, so I cannot include any data about that one. I do own the first game on the Playstation 2, and played through the main story, and very little of the extra content. However, I've nearly beaten all the content so far on the "Afternoon of Darkness" release, and I haven't seen a FAQ about the differences. So here we go! For those who don't know what the game is, I'll sum it up in a nutshell. There are strategy role-playing games where you build up characters and take them into scenarios in order to fight and progress along a story. The Disgaea twists the story and heaps a lot of extra play material into each game, increasing as the series progresses. Most games allow you to go to level 99; Disgaea caps out at 9999. And furthermore, you can improve on weapons and equipment by entering the "Item World", fighting through randomly-generated floors to increase the strength of your weapon. And there are a ton of classes to play with. I'll explain later on, when we reach that part. The tutorials are well written to explain everything, but they will only introduce you to the concepts. Playing around with them is crucial to understanding how they all interlock to improve your army of loyal peons. ==== Stage Changes ============================================================ Some stages have been altered in order to balance differently from the Playstation version. Unfortunately I failed to keep an accurate accounting of these, but primarily you will discover when you revisit stages there will be different things from before. Of special note, each boss stage will change when you finish it. Unique monsters or enemies will be replaced by tough, but more commonplace, enemies. One instance I can verify is in the Blair Forest, after Sardia is defeated, there will be two dragons waiting for you. In the PS2 version, you instead would find a lesser-powered Knight with similar equipment. There are other, minor changes which have been made. This is an example of what I meant when I said there were some alterations. ==== Hyperdrive =============================================================== Among the items most valued in the first Disgaea release was the Hyperdrive. You would find them if you fought to the bottom of a very high rank item and confronted the "Item God 2". They would always possess some special items, and among those was the Hyperdrive. It was an item which would allow the equipping character to travel anywhere on the map (except exit gates in the Item World). And once you got one, it was simple enough to go into its Item World and grab another. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness changes that. There is only one I am aware of, and that's if you descend to the bottom of a rank 40 item without exiting, kill the Item God 2 at the bottom, and have the empty space for it. You will be awarded the Hyperdrive only once; if you don't have empty room in your Item Bag, it will go to the Warehouse. If you have a full Warehouse, it will appear in the shop ONE TIME ONLY. Leave the shop accidentally and it is gone forever. So far as I have looked, there is no second Hyperdrive. ==== Tainted Staff and Foresight ============================================== At the Rosenqueen stores, patronage is appreciated and you will be rewarded as you shop by rarer items being made available. Your Customer Rank increases to 12 along a progress bar in the menu as you buy items; if you keep up with your army's equipment then you will find better equipment becoming available. If you pass the right resolutions at the Dark Assembly, you can improve your Product Rank as well, which stacks on top of your Customer Rank but cannot exceed it. Product Rank can also only reach 12. You can also add specific types of items for sale (Belts, Shoes, and Glasses) with the proper resolutions. As you proceed, two items will undoubtedly come up: the Tainted Staff and the Foresight (a pair of glasses). These items are glitched up in this re-release; they will possess incredibly powerful resident Specialists for their rank, and when you enter there will only be Laharl Clones inhabiting them with practically any item rank 1 to 39 in their inventory. And they'll be extraordinarily high level, with very strong statistics. This can make for some amusing and easy item searches, so long as you have a Rogue capable of stealing them. And as your fighting force grows stronger, they can also be great for training your levels. There are downsides. The Tainted Staff model is broken so it looks like you have nearly empty hands, and it cannot be used to attack. It also will always appear with one Alchemist (adds Poison to your blow) in any weapon. And the Foresight has a -100 Jump statistic; equipping one effectively prevents movement. Equipping two nullifies the effect by some sort of odd numerical error. NIS America was apparently aware of these glitches, but I don't know the full story about them. I do know they make the game much simpler when you can grab them and survive a trip. Foresights will contain the following specialists: Teacher (INT), Coach (SPD), Marksman (HIT), Master (SP), Manager, Statistician, Broker, Armsmaster. The four Bonus Specialists will be able to be moved, but are not subdued. Tainted Staffs will always have an Alchemist, but will also contain the following: Teacher (INT), Coach (SPD), Master (SP), Physician (RES) Manager, Statistician, Broker, Armsmaster. Again, the four Bonus Specialists will be able to be moved, but are not subdued. A word of advice; Managers, Brokers, Armsmasters, and Statisticians have a capped limit to how high they are effective. Statisticians, Managers, and Brokers only are effective to 300, while Armsmasters are effective to 1900. Each of these will show up in the glitched item at 10000 and higher; if you combine them on an item you will immediately reduce them to the capped effective level but they become unmovable (since they were never subdued in the first place)! Exercise caution when doing this. ==== Demonhall Mirror ========================================================= At the end of the Cave of Ordeals in the main game, you will find the Demonhall Mirror. Here, powerful demons will appear to test your strength. Each time, Geo Symbols will offer up a special challenge. The enemies you face will change each time, all of them being unique and well-armed. You can steal some rather good equipment from them if you have a good enough Rogue. Round 1: The Shark King. A Serpent-type monster, this is not that different than a high level of its family. The real problem is the Geo Effect on the floor: Ally Damage 80%. At level 550, you might have some trouble if you come direct from the Cave of Ordeals. Round 2: Gargo, Zommie, Goleck, Dratti, Manty, and Ghoss. They're all here, the layabouts from the castle; and they're no pushovers. The area has a Recovery 20% sitting on the floor so you can run into trouble if you're not doing heavy damage. They also have inflated health for their levels, so be aware of this! Round 3: True Overlord. Level 750 Great Wyrm type of enemy, which you may recall from the Blair Forest chapter. The arena Geo Effects are Warp, Enemy Boost x6, and No Lifting. Again, the health is inflated and you are going to be fighting uphill with the Enemy Boost. Warp is going to make it hard to truly handle a coordinated attack. Round 4: Serra Winguard, the High Priest. This solo fight is hampered by the fact her level is 1200 and the entire arena is blanketed in a Clone effect. FOUR Clone effects, meaning your problems grow quite bad if you leave someone out. If you can't take out the Geo Symbol fast then you will be facing a losing battle. She carries a Galactic Staff, which is a Rank 39 staff; it's worth trying to get a Legend version if you are patient enough. Round 5: Vesuvius the Fallen Angel. Another solo fight, but this Angel carries a massively rare rank 40 axe, the Apocalypse. You should go through trouble to snatch this item immediately. The Geo Effects in the area are ATK +100 and Ally Damage 40%. This should not be in consideration, just use the boost for extra damage. Round 6: Adell. Summoned forth from the mirror is Adell, protagonist of Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. He's equipped with a Monster-Type weapon instead of his usual Fist but don't let that fool you. He's murder at close quarters and the area is blanketed in Attack +3/No Lifting. Round 7: Adell & Rozalin. Together, from Disgaea 2, these two are a pain. Adell's eaten his vitamins and is stronger this time, and Rozalin can hit at range with her normal attack. Her special attacks are also quite devastating if you don't watch out. She will be using a Nemesis so be sure to prepare for stealing it. After this battle, you will find the Demonhall Mirror is out of new and unique fights, and will dispense 8 Ravanas and an Argus of considerable level on the platform. They will have an EXP+100 Geo Effect, making this an ideal place to come train your elite fighting force. ==== The Badass Overlord ====================================================== After beating up most everyone in the game, there's one last effort waiting for you. Pass the "Stronger Enemies" bill until it maxes out, and the Dimensional Guide will tell you of a disturbance in the Stellar Graveyard. Go to the new Primordial Soup to find a book which will be familiar to those who played Makai Kingdom; Zetta the Sacred Tome and Badass Overlord. He's no joke, being level 9999 and having an entourage of demons to support him, all at his level. He'll have Nemesis and an Arcadia, which you will want to grab. The area is divided into two zones by No Entry/No Lifting panels, and the Blue area you start on has Ally Damage 80% set down. The four symbols for it are not too far away, but will switch it to Green with Enemy Boost x3. There are five Tao Tiehs between you and the Geo Symbols, and at the Symbols are a Daemon and an Unholy King. On the other side, there are four Bahamuts, and a Behemoth. The two Geo Symbols controlling the No Entry/No Lifting will turn the barrier Green, as well. Zetta will zip around on three Warp/No Lifting tiles (Yellow) which will also turn Green when you hit them. The strategy I used was to clear the near area out and smack Zetta as he came in range with Dimension Slash. Beware, if you are within 5 squares, he will Zetta Beam you; it will hit three-width after it strikes, so be aware. After Zetta is out of the way, the trick to finishing the other side is much less hectic if you have strong characters. You may want to abuse the Green Geo Panel abundance to pump the Bonus Gauge, as it's set to a very high 65 rank this time. Sadly, there's no title change or similar on beating him. All you'll have is another crack at an Arcadia and Nemesis, which are in limited supply. ==== Etna Mode ================================================================ There's a secret chamber Etna uses to hide her diary from anyone who would like to read it. Finding it is the first trick; there are two switches hidden in the castle somewhere, and you need to trigger both before you can find the hidden room. You won't get hints as to where the switches are, but if you look around long enough you will find them. The room is, actually, pointed out by a Prinny complaining about a draft. Each chapter, be sure to visit thee room and read the diary entries. It not only enriches the plot of the game, but at the final chapter you will be given a Testament for free. Once you get this, you've unlocked Etna Mode on the New Game +. You can also unlock it via a code given to you in Etna's secret chamber when in Etna Mode already. For the NA release, you press Triangle, Square, Circle Triangle, Square, Circle, X. For the Japanese release, it's Triangle, Square X, Triangle, Square, X, Circle; their 'choice' button is the reverse of the NA control scheme. In Etna Mode, you lose access to Laharl and a good deal other optional characters. Specifically: Gordon, Jennifer, Thursday, Maderas, Kurtis, Priere, and Majorly. Anything you had on those characters will be saved for the next playthrough of the main game. Etna will not get access to the Demonhall Mirror levels, and her chapter progression is much different. The story takes a wild turn . . . I refuse to spoil it, however. If you enter the code from the start, the mode is harder but generally not much more difficult to work with than the main game. If you go in with a New Game+, however, you will notice the levels are actually continuing to grow higher as if it was an expansion to the main story. You will also find the bonus bosses behind the Seals (Priere, Majorly, Baal) have all been set to 9999 and will prove a considerable challenge. ==== Music Store ============================================================== A new addition to the castle courtyard is a skull who will tell you to search out the songs of the Netherworld. As you hear the tracks in the game for each event or level, they will unlock for you to purchase for a price. Most of the BGM tracks will be cheaply bought, but the songs with vocal components will be 10,000,000,000 HL to purchase. This is a scary sum, but once you start working through rank 40 items in pursuit of the top equipment and chewing through the bonus bosses . . . the money ceases to be an issue. Here is a track list of what you can purchase, and a guide towards when they should be available. Note, most of the tracks will become available as you actually play forward. The three tracks in quotations are ones I have not personally unlocked yet, so I cannot verify the names. BGM 01 Dark Whisper (instrumental) BGM 02 Dark Whisper BGM 03 Welcome to the Dark Castle BGM 04 Flowerbed BGM 05 Angel of Sorrow BGM 06 Angel Smile BGM 07 Dear Friends BGM 08 Rise of the Demon BGM 09 Elegant Demons (Item World Theme) BGM 10 Ode to Laharl (instrumental) BGM 11 Beam to the Future BGM 12 Go Little Girl! BGM 13 Footsteps BGM 14 Dark Adonis BGM 15 The Anthem of Braves BGM 16 March of the Planet Earth BGM 17 Eternal Fear (Defeat Baal) BGM 18 Great and Wild BGM 19 RosenQueen Netherworld Branch BGM 20 AKUMA Drops BGM 21 Fancy Ball BGM 22 Hystelic Kingdom BGM 23 Running Fire BGM 24 Witch Hunting BGM 25 Underworld BGM 26 Battle of Eight Beat BGM 27 Galaxy Wars BGM 28 Elegant Dance (Mid-Boss Fight Theme) BGM 28 Planet X (Final Chapter Battle Theme) BGM 30 Disgaea (Final Battle Theme) BGM 31 Fearless Whisper BGM 32 Dark Statue BGM 33 How About a Castle? (Etna Mode Theme) SONG 01 The Flower of Happiness (Normal Ending) SONG 02 Ode to Laharl (Earth Conquest Ending) SONG 03 "Etna Boogie" (Etna Victory, Chapter 5) SONG 04 "Tragic Marionette" (Flonne Ending, Chapter 3) SONG 05 What a Beautiful Life of Mine (Mid-Boss Victory) SONG 06 Red Moon (Episode 8 Epilogue) SONG 07 My Comrade (Episode 13 Epilogue) SONG 08 "Nightmare Girl" (Beauty Queen Etna Ending, Etna Mode) ==== Records Keeper =========================================================== Here's a fun time waster, tucked away in a corner near the Tutorial and Dark Assembly. At the "Save Shop" you will be able to view records of your game and see how you're progressing. There are three parts to his menu; Collection Record, Dark Record, and Collection Book. I'll talk about each in turn. The Collection Book records your classes as you unlock them, listing their root title and whether they are Human or Monster. There's a short lore passage with each one, just to entertain you. The use of this is mostly to keep track of what you've seen or not seen yet. Please note, unique units which join up and have a name not in the six-rank hierarchy of each class family will not unlock the entry. There are 17 different Human class families, and 20 different Monster families; each one has 6 ranks to it, for a total of 221 actual 'classes'. (There is no Rank 6 Prinny; it seems reserved for an ally which is never on the battlefield but has a sprite.) The Dark Record holds more information for you. Play time, number of New Game+, friendly kills (a very important number to track for those seeking all the different endings), and various other tidbits to track for your amusement. The third page will list the accomplishments you have unlocked through the game, specifically the bonus bosses you have killed. These follow: Item General killed Item King killed Item God killed Item God 2 killed Prinny God killed Astro Carter killed Zetta killed Adell killed Rozalin killed Priere killed Majorly killed Baal killed Prinny Baal killed The first entry, the Collection Record, will list all the items you have picked up as you played. You'll note a "NEW" tag on each item as you see it, and once you own it the name and rarity is marked down in the Record. Every item has three rarities (almost every item); Common, Rare, and Legend. This is noted in the "Rarity Number", which goes to 255. Legend items have a 0 to 7 Rarity, Rare items have 8 to 31, and Common items are the rest. All rank 40 items are Legend items, and many unique items which can be found will be automatically a Legend. I'm not going to reproduce the full tables here; that would really be a lot of text to scroll through. As for acquiring each item, a good rule of thumb is to go to the bottom of a Legend item and the Item God will be holding the item one rank higher than what you are in. A well-circulated trick is to use a Mr. Gency's Exit to leave on floor 99 and then descend to floor 100 and seeing if the item held is a Legend; if not, quit and reload. This is also the only method to earn a rank 40 item, save for the few special items which are limited in number. An Apocalypse can be stolen in Demonhall Mirror, from a Fallen Angel, and the Prinny Costume can always be obtained from Prinny Baal; almost endlessly. ==== Ad Hoc Multiplayer ======================================================= One of the other new things you can do after completing Chapter 1 is to enter Ad Hoc Multiplayer. A few things are enabled for this, Battling and Selling. This is a short-range multiplayer, which means you will need to be in the same area as the person you wish to play. I'm sure there are third-party programs which can get around this, but I have no knowledge of them. (I also would not like to be told about them constantly; there is a GameFAQs forum, please use that for multiplayer concerns.) Selling is a simple matter of putting the items you want to sell into your Shopping Bag and anyone can purchase them from you. You will not get money from this, nor will you actually lose the item. As well, they will not get any Specialists in the weapon; they will only get a copy of the item at the same rarity value and level. You are prohibited from selling rank 40 or above items, and you cannot purchase an item of the same rarity as one you already have. Example? You want to purchase a Longinus with Rarity 4, to finish up a character you have the perfect kit for except for a spear. Once you have it you cannot buy another one of that rarity so long as you actually own that Rarity 4 Longinus. If you want to buy one with Rarity 3, then you can still do that. Battling is a more complex affair, and you are pitted against a select squad from the other person. Eight characters only, and you will not gain experience from the battle, nor will you be allowed items. A varied toolbox of rules can be added for additional challenges or balances, and you will want to carefully look them over. Note: I haven't fooled around yet with the Ad Hoc Multiplayer aspects, I only know what little I gleaned from other sources. Such as the manual, and some friends who filled in gaps. In future versions, this may be expanded on, or someone can write up their own multiplayer FAQ file. ==== Closing and Contact ====================================================== Thank you for bearing with me for so long, as I know this is a far from complete guide. However, this will cover more in-depth than the forum topics, I think, and be a slight bit more accessible. Mostly, I just want this FAQ to be of some use to those reading it. If you have corrections or additional info, you can email me at simon_kereminde@hotmail.com. If you feel like writing your own FAQ on something I only glossed over, do not copy and paste my information please! I may not have slaved for months over a keyboard for this, but I think I deserve consideration. Do not repost this FAQ without my consent (and crediting me), which will be given if you just ask nicely. The current version is 1.0, being the first draft of the document.