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As the seventh entry in a long-running SRPG series,Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtuelesshas a lot to live up to, both in terms of appealing to long-time fans and in righting the perceived wrongs of the mediocre previous entry. It managed this with aplomb and is a great entry point for both fans and newbies to the series.
That said, it’s still a complex strategy game that can feel a bit overwhelming at times, especially when you have complex mechanics such as the Dark Assembly and the Item World introduced to you. Despite having a great set of tutorials on offer, there’s a few things that would be handy to know going in.
Expand Your Roster
Disgaea 7 allows you to amass a very large roster of characters. A huge one, in fact. In addition to the main roster of characters, who you’ll obtain at a rate of about one per chapter for the first hours of the game, you canrecruit generic units, both humans and monsters, from the Recruiter in the corner of your base.
Recruiting a character only costs an amount ofmoney, and higher tiers only provide a few extra stat points, so you needn’t feel like you have to shell out for the strongest recruits.
It’s a good idea tohave at least one unit of every class in the game. That way, you’ll have access to theirEvilitiesand be able to call on them in a battle that could use their skills. This flexibility can be incredibly helpful as battlefields get more complex. Note that while they might seem similar, the different genders of the same ‘class’
Don’t worry about spreading yourself too thin - equipment will make up for most of the difference in stats between high-level and low-level units, and low-level units can catch up in levels very quickly thanks to a large level difference giving you more experience when killing foes. In addition, you can help a unit catch up usingExperience Juice at the Juice Bar.
In addition to the Recruiter, you can also get a few units to join by beating them up when you goNetherworld Sightseeingonce it unlocks. Each area has one or two generic units in unique colours that you can get to join you.
Don’t Neglect The Item World
TheItem Worldis a wonderful place. It allows you to boost thelevel of a piece of equipment, which will, in turn, increase itsstats. While there are ways to fully optimise this process, simply battling (or skipping) your way through the levels within an item will be enough to give it a significant boost.
While the results may initially seem disappointing (items with low stats will gain smaller boosts from increased levels), going through the Item World holds many benefits:
In many cases, the boosted stats given to an item can feel like an afterthought compared to the raw benefits of going through quick and easy battles!
With clever usage, you can easily use the Item World to make your strongest items even stronger, vastly increasing their usefulness and extending their shelf lives. For example, if you manage to get a powerful sword from the Evil-Gacha and then gain enough levels in the Item World, it will likely be the best weapon for Fuji for numerous chapters and allow him to breeze through the story.
One strategy is toskip the fightswhen the enemy levels get too high and make alifting tower that gets a unit to the exit panel within one turn. This isn’t possible on stages where there are Gatekeepers, but you can usually get a fair few levels using this strategy.
Most Important Dark Assembly Unlocks
While you’re given plenty of the game’s mechanics simply by progressing through the storyline, there are a few things that can only be granted by theDark Assembly. You’ll want to acquire these as soon as they appear:
Better Items at the Store
30
This bill will unlock every time you complete a chapter, starting with Chapter 1. It will unlock thenext rank of itemsat the store and always has a high chance of success for a cheap mana cost.
Pull Evil-Gacha!
150
This unlocks theEvil-Gacha at the Netherworld Hospital, which allows you to spend points earned through healing into a gachapon system. The items made available through this system are incredibly powerful and can make your characters far more powerful than they should be, far earlier than normal. Available from Chapter 2.
Let’s Have Fun With Cheat Codes
100
This unlocks theCheat Shop, which lets you adjust various settings. Basically, it allows you to lower the rate at which you gain a certain currency or stat (such as mana, experience, or skill experience) to boost others. Available from Chapter 2.
Inherit Evility
2,000
This allows you to use the Skill Shop to create Evility scrolls from those your characters have acquired. This way, if a character (especially a unique character) learns a particularly useful Evility, you may use this function (along with mana) to copy that Evility and give it to other units. This can save time grinding for class levels or let them access Evilities that would otherwise remain impossible to learn.
Best Cheat Shop Settings
It can be tough to work out how you want to alter the settings in the Cheat Shop. After all, to boost any of the meters above their normal limits, you’ll have to make sacrifices.
The meters we recommendsacrificingabove others aremoney and mana. This is because it is incredibly easy to amass large amounts of these, and you’ll naturally gain a ton of HL and Mana Juice through regular Item World usage or grinding.
On the other hand, it’s far more beneficial to your team’s strength toboostyourclass proficiency, special skill experience, and weapon mastery.
How To ‘Obtain’ The Best Equipment
While using the Netherworld Hospital’s Evil-Gacha is a great way to acquire overpowered equipment, it will only provide a few types of equipment, and randomly at that. There is a far more reliable way to get your hands on some of the better items before they show up in shops:stealing.
There are a few different ways to steal items - theStealing Handitems can be used by anyone, butBandit and Thief generic classesgain access to more reliable thievery skills.
Ceefore’s unique Evilitygives her a chance to steal enemy equipment upon defeating them, but this isn’t a reliable way to target specific pieces of equipment.
Bandits and Thieves learn two skills that allow them to steal:
Your chances of success depend on the difference between your thief’s level and the target’s level, as well as on the skill’s enhancement level. It’s recommended toboost your Cat Snatch skill up to at least +2to get a decent chance of success.
Now you may be wondering where you’re going to get these great items. The answer is theItem World. The enemies in the Item World will be using weapons, armor, and accessories of a similar level to the item you’re currently inside, with a chance of higher-ranked items every now and then.
Eventually, theenemy levels will get so highwithin the Item World that your thieves will likely not have a chance to steal from them, but you’re able to snag great items from even the first stages within an item - you can get some pretty awesome pieces long before you could normally. This will help you gain items of the same rank as those you obtain from, for example, the Evil-Gacha that aren’t actually offered by the Evil-Gacha.
If you’re looking to make a single dedicated unit designed from thievery, we recommend using thefemale Thieves. Their unique Evilityboosts steal successby 100 percent, effectively doubling it.
Don’t Forget Your Healing Items
While it may seem like thesingle-use healing itemssold by the shopkeeper in your base are expensive, you’ll soon be rolling in money - enough to keep a healthy supply of the best items, at least.
These are more useful than you might think. They have a range of two tiles, can be used by any unit, and are one of the rare sources of SP recovery in the game.
Dedicated healer units are nice to have, but they’re often slow and better off using their turns to buff allies rather than top up their HP values. Instead, consider using up your supply of healing items.
