Most Broken techniques/strategies in video games

[Komeiji Koishi]

They can be from any game, any genre, any system. Difficulty in making/setting up not taken into account. As long as it is broken and people can't dispute against it. A video link/actual video in post would be nice but isn't required. No Call of Duty or Halo EVAR.

Here's two to start it off. From Baten Kaitos Origins, it's the Apotheosis and Frigid Queen's Festival Ex Combos. The first one does a sh*t ton of damage to one enemy and heals Sagi for about 600 hp each time, the other does a sh*t ton of damage to multiple enemies while boosting Guilo's defense, not that he'll need it.

EXAMPLE:

Edited September 1, 2012 by Spiriter Kalas

[Ein]

Buffs and debuffs break Nocturne and make Hard mode possible.

And the game WANTS you to use them.

[Ike-Mike]

Snap the game disc in half.

[Gold Vanguard]

Knights of round from FF7.

That is all.

[Scarlet]

On the topic of Final Fantasy, ULTIMA QUICK ULTIMA ULTIMA ULTIMA ULTIMA in FF6. Roflstomps pretty much anything in the game and makes even the bonus dungeon in the GBA Remake mostly a cakewalk.

Technically, 8 attacks with two Ultima Weapons that do 9999 damage per hit is even more broken, but that requires tons of grinding (which I dislike).

The Danger Mario setup in Paper Mario TTYD.

Basically, you spend all your level ups on BP only so that you can equip a lot of badges, and lower your max. HP from 10 to 5 as soon as possible to constantly be in "Danger" status. You can have +1 damage on your attacks for 6 badge points... ...or +2 damage for 1 badge point if you're in "danger".

When taken far enough, you can literally kill even the final boss in one attack, before they even get to act.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Knights of round from FF7.

That is all.

Hehe especially if you gameshark your way to get that materia thingy without chocobo breeding! SPAMAHOY!

Crissaegrim in SotN (Castlevania). That thing is just wrong on so many levels. Move will slicing everything to fucking bits? Got it. Alucard shield + Shield Rod is disgustingly broken.

[Esaka]

Meta Knight

Tap B

[OrangeCrush980]

The Magic Knight's Severing Wind + Guardian Field infinite combo in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is one of my personal favorites. (Un)fortunately, there are some important enemies that aren't stunned by it (such as the final boss) so it doesn't completely break the game.

[Wen Yang]

Guts + Auto item in Valkyrie Profile.

Invincible!

Edited September 1, 2012 by Kopfjager

[Shadow Mir]

Since Final Fantasy was mentioned, I suppose the Aura spell in FF8 deserves mention. It allows a character to use their limit breeak without needing to be at low HP.

[Just call me AL]

Using Scouts in VC games are always helpful for quick clears, which you're encouraged to do BTW. But I've found that at least a Shocktrooper or two, and the occasional Lancer, Sniper, Engie, or any combination of the three helps as well when used in tandem with Scouts.

Also Penetrate + Aim Critical = one of the strongest Order combos in VC1, or so I've heard. (Unfortunately, Orders were nerfed in VC2.)

Unfortunately, there's always the issue of the occasional tanks and gun turrets that makes you glad that skills like Anti-intercept/Strong Willed exist. But then again, turrets and tank bullets are why I listed Shocktroopers and Lancers. Adding to that, Lancers are part of why I listed Engies. (Thankfully, more Anti-tank units such as Maulers and Anti-tank Snipers exist in VC2, and expendable ammo is easier to refill.) And of course, there's important enemies, which cut down most units in their sight whenever possible. (I'm looking at you, Selvaria Bles.) And then, there's the V2s in VC2. Making such strategies powerful, but not completely game breaking per se.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Little Al

[eclipse]

Pokemon Conquest: Warrior with Impact + Infernape/Chandelure. This gives you four hits to make your opponent flinch. . .if he/she doesn't die outright from Fire Spin's damage first. The only thing that negates this is Flash Fire, and that's exclusive to a couple of Pokemon (which a not-quite-as-broken Gyarados can take care of).

Yggdra Union: Shield/Gravity Chaos. What Shield won't take care of (namely, Genocide), Gravity Chaos will.

Gungnir: Pablo. Want an insta-heal? He can do that. Want to nuke stuff in a 13-square radius? He can do that, too. Need to exorcise undead? He'll take care of that. Rods range from blah to amazing, and stacking books on top of that is ridiculous.

FFTA: Red Mage with Doublecast with Elementalist as a secondary ability. You can nuke things, heal, inflict statuses, and dodge most laws (about the only thing that will well and truly screw this build over is Rapiers/Color Magic/Status, but why in the world would you do that to yourself?) Alternately, Stopshot with Concentrate and a full set of thieving skills. Don't get me started on Concentrate Assassins.

[Shadow Mir]

Pokemon Conquest: Warrior with Impact + Infernape/Chandelure. This gives you four hits to make your opponent flinch. . .if he/she doesn't die outright from Fire Spin's damage first. The only thing that negates this is Flash Fire, and that's exclusive to a couple of Pokemon (which a not-quite-as-broken Gyarados can take care of).

Yggdra Union: Shield/Gravity Chaos. What Shield won't take care of (namely, Genocide), Gravity Chaos will.

Gungnir: Pablo. Want an insta-heal? He can do that. Want to nuke stuff in a 13-square radius? He can do that, too. Need to exorcise undead? He'll take care of that. Rods range from blah to amazing, and stacking books on top of that is ridiculous.

FFTA: Red Mage with Doublecast with Elementalist as a secondary ability. You can nuke things, heal, inflict statuses, and dodge most laws (about the only thing that will well and truly screw this build over is Rapiers/Color Magic/Status, but why in the world would you do that to yourself?) Alternately, Stopshot with Concentrate and a full set of thieving skills. Don't get me started on Concentrate Assassins.

I actually thought about mentioning what you mentioned about Yggdra Union. Although GC is no use on a certain manly knight or Brongaa Knight Gulcasa (who, incidentally, is pretty broken in general, not just as a BK).

Speaking of Yggdra Union and broken... There's the aforementioned Genocide (power up by sacrificing party members? Oh crap. Its user also has the best weapon type in the game? This is gonna suck... Especially considering that losing after Genocide means you lose a ton of Morale), and Reincarnation (Revives all members and changes them to a class that's advantageous against whoever the user's facing, except against bows, in which case he goes neutral; or scythes, against which he doesn't use it at all; it doesn't help the dude who uses this has No battle penalty).

As for Gungnir, aside from Alissa with Shangri-La or the Oni Lance (yay for defence ignoring attacks), nothing really stood out to me as broken... maybe I'm not looking hard enough, haha.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[darkkfan]

FFTA: Red Mage with Doublecast with Elementalist as a secondary ability. You can nuke things, heal, inflict statuses, and dodge most laws (about the only thing that will well and truly screw this build over is Rapiers/Color Magic/Status, but why in the world would you do that to yourself?) Alternately, Stopshot with Concentrate and a full set of thieving skills. Don't get me started on Concentrate Assassins.

^this

That build was one of my favorites, I ran it in the first game along with a Summoner/Red Mage in the first game and an even more devastating Spellblade/Red Mage combo build in FFTA2.

Edited September 1, 2012 by darkkfan

[Keiya]

Since Final Fantasy was mentioned, I suppose the Aura spell in FF8 deserves mention. It allows a character to use their limit breeak without needing to be at low HP.

Aura + Low HP = Crisis Level Max = Duel and Shot will always have max time, Renzokuken will always have 8 hits (except boss battles) and will always trigger a finishing blow, Selphie's special Slot spells will appear very often, Rinoa's Wishing Star and Invincible Moon will always trigger.

Most broken techniques require a lot of work or luck to do though. Even the fabled Crissaegrim or Alucard Shield + Shield Rod need you to actually get those items in order to use said broken tactic. But what about games where the broken tactic doesn't require too much work?

For example, in earlier Street Fighter 2 builds, there was no beating Sagat. At all. Either you died by Tiger, low Tiger, or you tried to jump in and you got hit by either standing RH or a Tiger Uppercut. There's a reason why he's soft-banned.

Another would be in earlier copies of Final Fantasy II (the original on NES and Dawn of Souls on the PSX), where you can literally cut yourself repeatedly in a fight to boost your stats, and you can start at the very beginning of the game.

And for World of Warcraft PvP? Rolling a Blood Death Knight. No, really. They hit like trucks and have amazing survivability because of how their class and talents are specced. At least Frost Mages were still squishy once you get through their icy obstacle course. Also, Pre-3.3, any stripe of Paladin, who have a billion cooldowns and don't need to grind or a secret item/build to do so.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Keiya

[Shadow Mir]

Aura + Low HP = Crisis Level Max = Duel and Shot will always have max time, Renzokuken will always have 8 hits (except boss battles) and will always trigger a finishing blow, Selphie's special Slot spells will appear very often, Rinoa's Wishing Star and Invincible Moon will always trigger.

Most broken techniques require a lot of work or luck to do though. Even the fabled Crissaegrim or Alucard Shield + Shield Rod need you to actually get those items in order to use said broken tactic. But what about games where the broken tactic doesn't require too much work?

For example, in earlier Street Fighter 2 builds, there was no beating Sagat. At all. Either you died by Tiger, low Tiger, or you tried to jump in and you got hit by either standing RH or a Tiger Uppercut. There's a reason why he's soft-banned.

Another would be in earlier copies of Final Fantasy II (the original on NES and Dawn of Souls on the PSX), where you can literally cut yourself repeatedly in a fight to boost your stats, and you can start at the very beginning of the game.

And for World of Warcraft PvP? Rolling a Blood Death Knight. No, really. They hit like trucks and have amazing survivability because of how their class and talents are specced. At least Frost Mages were still squishy once you get through their icy obstacle course. Also, Pre-3.3, any stripe of Paladin, who have a billion cooldowns and don't need to grind or a secret item/build to do so.

Crisis level, eh... Dang. Never really played FF8 though, so yeah; I was just going off of Aura's effect. And learning this means I STILL need to have low HP to get the best out of my limit breaks, haha.

[Integrity]

Play High Men.

Buy Sorcery books.

Get Paladins.

Get Fly.

ok win

Lower difficulties also accept ALL LIFE BOOKS AND TORIN or ALL DEATH BOOKS AND WRAITHS too.

(master of magic)

[shadowofchaos]

Crisis level, eh... Dang. Never really played FF8 though, so yeah; I was just going off of Aura's effect. And learning this means I STILL need to have low HP to get the best out of my limit breaks, haha.

Final Boss/Omega Weapon: Triple someone. Triple Aura. Have Selphie at Low HP.

Use Limit Break, Use Limit Break... Dig through Selphie's slots for The End. "Full-Cure" when needed.

Heh. It's a bit harder with Omega Weapon because he actually does stuff that instakills you. Final Boss? "Hell's Judgement" reduces you to 1HP. Rinoa's Invincible Moon is likely to activate, and if it does... you're pretty much set. And if you see it wear off, Full-Cure immediately... and it usually goes off first before the boss because Limit Breaks take priority in the move queue.

Aura's broken. Period. GF's? What are they? I only need them for my commands.

lol. Lion Heart killed the 2nd to last form and then The End on the last... I should have just attacked 10 times with the "attack" move... but that would have killed the "epicness" of Limit Break spam.

Edited September 1, 2012 by shadowofchaos

[Shadow Mir]

Final Boss/Omega Weapon: Triple someone. Triple Aura. Have Selphie at Low HP.

Use Limit Break, Use Limit Break... Dig through Selphie's slots for The End. "Full-Cure" when needed.

Heh. It's a bit harder with Omega Weapon because he actually does stuff that instakills you. Final Boss? "Hell's Judgement" reduces you to 1HP. Rinoa's Invincible Moon is likely to activate, and if it does... you're pretty much set. And if you see it wear off, Full-Cure immediately... and it usually goes off first before the boss because Limit Breaks take priority in the move queue.

Aura's broken. Period. GF's? What are they? I only need them for my commands.

lol. Lion Heart killed the 2nd to last form and then The End on the last... I should have just attacked 10 times with the "attack" move... but that would have killed the "epicness" of Limit Break spam.

Broken indeed. Because the only thing more broken than limit break spam is the poor sap who winds up on the wrong end of it, lol.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[Darros]

Use Seth in FE8.

[Gold Vanguard]

Master Knights in FE4.

[Ein]

Jihad and Big Bang spam in Strange Journey is kind of awesome.

Kind of makes the Protagonist useless in combat since he can barely keep up damage wise but at least he goes first whenever he uses items. >w>

[Integrity]

Master Knights in FE4.

Master Knights are very flexible but I wouldn't call them game-breaking at all.

[Stark]

Some people have mentioned it, but Castlevania:Symphony of the Night is probably one of the most breakable games of all time. Just off the top of my head:

-The Chissagrim, a sword that slashes 4 times as fast as you can press the attack button, killing even the final boss in a matter of seconds.

-The Vorpal Sword, a weaker version that only hits as fast as you can press the button, but still decimates everything.

-The Alucard Shield + Shield Rod combo, which deals 255 damage per second, heals 8 points per second, and grants temporary invincibility, just by walking into enemies.

-The Iron Shield + Shield Rod combo, which summons a knight who throws his sword across the screen. Available early, will likely kill the next few bosses in a single use, and is good forever.

-Soul Steal, a spell that Alucard starts with that hits the entire screen multiple times and heals you.

-Wing Smash, which Alucard can use once he gets bat form. Also for very fast travel, grants invincibility for the duration, and is actually a solid damage option on large bosses. But it's best for fast, invincible travel.

-The Death glitch, which lets you start the game with endgame level equipment and potentially get Alucard Shield + Shield Rod less than 25 minutes into the game.

-The Ring of Varda, which gives obscene stat boosts. And you can equip two.

-The Blood Cloak, which converts damage to hearts, allowing you to spam the very powerful cross subweapon.

-Although it's very hard to obtain, the Duplicator gives you unlimited use of items, give you infinite healing and the ability to instantly kill all non-boss enemies in the room.

-Scraping the bottom, here, but Mist Form with Poison mist makes you invincible and allows you to damage enemies for the duration of your MP.

I'm sure I missed a few, but yeah.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Stark

[Darros]

Master Knights in FE4.

I disagree, actually. Sure, Master Knights are amazing, but they don't start that way, and they don't exactly break their game by eliminating the need for training other characters in the game like Seth does.

EDIT: Integ beat me to it.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Silver the Hedgehog