Shining Force 2

[SpaceBooger]

I have a question... when playing the game back in the day I promoted all of my characters as soon as they reached level 20.
After reading elsewhere I have learned that it is best to wait to promote characters?
What level is appropriate to promote my characters - level 20 or the max level 40?

[spiritplx]

If you are in to min/max'ing, you will want to promote at 40. However, the game can easily be finished if you promote at level 20. It all depends on how long you want to spend leveling. For me, I always try to max out my characters (some what of a curse, I know). Although if you are going to max them, you should be playing on either Super or Ouch, or else it will just become too ridiculously easy.

Semi-leveling spoilers below...







Also, I am sure guides mention it, but make sure you get all your healers up to max level (40, and then 99) as they can get 10 exp every turn for healing (regardless if they actually healed hitpoints or not, unlike SF1). Other cleric type spells, such as boost and aura, net even more exp per turn.

One decent way to level people up after 37 promoted (about the max level they will reach from killing enemies, if memory serves me) is to give a character the protect ring, and have them cast it until it cracks, then egress and repair. Yes, this is extremely tedious, but it is faster than getting 1 exp per turn from attacking enemies.

I also tossed around the idea of exploiting the fact that the monsters continually respawn in the secret battle in the secret village (refer to a guide, or ask me for details, as I don't want to spoil it here). Basically surround the enemy spawn locations, hold down the C button on the controller and walk away for a long while (weeks?). Eventually your characters will die, but as long as Bowie stays back, you should be fine to egress once you get back. I realize this way is insanely slow, but it is completely automated, and eventually you will hit max level. I never actually tried this, so it is just a theory, so if anyone ever tries this, let me know how it turns out for you.

I am sure there are other tricks for leveling, but these are just the ones I found while playing. Hope this helps!

[MrPopo]

Honestly, you can just promote at level 20, due to the massive level cap post-promotion. Back in the SF1 days you only could get a maximum of 40 level ups, which meant that promoting at 10 would screw you out of a fourth of your growth. But with SF2 you'll end up getting about the same amount of level ups, either before or after promotion, assuming you don't grind.

[SpaceBooger]

I think I am going to try to wait it out until level 30... then promote...

[molotovwars]

I hadn't even thought of their being consequences to promoting early, but as it stands I accidently bumped my Genesis about a week ago and lost my Shining Force 2 save (just after getting the Caravan - not sure how far into the game that was) so I'll be starting over. Something to keep in mind while playing the game over.

[SpaceBooger]

I waited until 30 to promote and there is a huge difference between my promoted after 30 characters and the same level of classes the computer creates. My lv 3 Pegasus Knight is more powerful than a normal lv 10 Pegasus Knight. Going past 20 really did make a difference, Slade is probably my best character as of now.

[SpaceBooger]

I waited until 30 to promote and there is a huge difference between my promoted after 30 characters and the same level of classes the computer creates. My lv 3 Pegasus Knight is more powerful than a normal lv 10 Pegasus Knight. Going past 20 really did make a difference, Slade is probably my best character as of now.

So I beat the game this morning and have to say that with the above strategy I only lost on average 2 characters during each of the last 3 battles. (except the final boss) Slade, Peter, and Bowie were all promoted at level 30 and were at least level 25 for the final battle.
Promoting halfway between the minimum and maximum at level 30 worked great since Bowie only took 14 damage from Zeon's normal attack.

If anyone has small children and a Wii I highly recommend this game on the Virtual Console. The ability to save where you are (save state like) when you exit the game makes it great for picking up and playing for any amount of time - 10min to 2hours - perfect for a newborn's short but often naps and when a toddler is crawling in and out of every room.

[randombullseye]

I want to beat this game so bad. I've made it to the same spot twice now. I really, really need to play it and finish it. I'm right after the carnival tent battle. How much longer do I have to go?

[MrPopo]

That's Shining Force 1, and I think you're about 1/3rd of the way through, maybe a smidge less.

[SpaceBooger]

That's Shining Force 1, and I think you're about 1/3rd of the way through, maybe a smidge less.

Yeah thats sounds about right. Keep chugging away, the first game is shorter but it still is a long game. One of the main reasons this series is worth the entry price.