Golden Sun playthrough with boss baselines

[Life]

I've been bored for a while so I figured I'd go back to Golden Sun. If anyone searches the forum, they can find the old Class Tier List where I listed baselines for how quickly you can beat bosses without a summon rush. Gonna see if I can figure out RNG proof strategies (which is easy to do with the formulae and a proper understanding of how the classes work) for all the bosses in this game and the next one. It should be easier now doing at age 27 than 19 since I should be more open to finding new strategies.

I'm not going to narrate the plot, everyone knows it if they've picked up the game. But the battle system was built quite brilliantly and I plan to break it like usual.

Anyway, here's the tier list with a few modifications that I'll explain. Only GS1 classes are listed, I'll add in GS2 classes when I get there. Also, here's my original post on the matter, going back 8 years.

I am Chuck Norris tier:

Hermit

White Mage

Ninja

Apprentice/Page

Call me... Batman tier:

Cavalier (Mia)

Samurai

Dragoon

Brute

Ascetic (Garet)

Welcome to the Joe Schmo Show tier:

Seer

Enchanter (Ivan)

Swordsman

Pilgrim

Ranger

Squire

God, you suck tier:

Wind Seer

Shaman (Isaac)

Guard

Medium

Water Seer

Princess Peach Tier:

Flame User

Edited September 5, 2018 by Life

[Life]

Here are a few references:

Boss baselines as of Fall 2010
TFerguson's Guide on Golden Sun Mechanics

And I'm clearing Sol Sanctum now. I'll list any revised baselines in this post and have references to later posts in the topic about strategies and whatnots.

Oh and no summon rushes. They were bullshit 8 years ago and they still are bullshit today. All Djinn must start a boss battle on Set.

 

Bosses:
Bandit + 2x Thief - 3 Turns

Edited September 4, 2018 by Life

[Life]

Right. Bandit and 2x Thief in Vault.

The biggest issue with this one is levels. Ivan joins at level 4 but you won't get Isaac or Garet there without grinding. And level 4 unlocks Earthquake for Squire!Isaac (23 Dam increase over Quake) and Fire for Guard!Garet (20 Dam increase on Flare). Flint is the only available Djinn so he'll be constantly used and summoned. So, we're going with Isaac and Garet both at level 3 since level 4 is overkill and they should only be level 4 by the time I start Goma Cave.
 

 

Bandit:

244 HP, 8 Def, 72 Resist

Thief (x2):
110 HP, 5 Def, 72 Resist

Squire!Isaac (Flint):
42 Att, 22 Agi, 104 Earth Power

Guard!Garet:

46 Att, 18 Agi, 81 Earth Power, 104 Fire Power

Wind Seer!Ivan:

104 Wind Power

Flint:

Isaac RA = 49, Isaac RP = 32, Flint Mult Mod = 1.6
= 39.2 Base
PMultiplier = 1 + RP/400 = 1.08
= 42~45 Damage

Venus:

Isaac RP = 32
Base Damage = 30 + (0.03*244)
= 37.32 Base
PMultiplier = 1 + RP/200 = 1.16
= 42~45 Damage

Quake:

Isaac RP = 32 + 10
= 14~17 Damage

Flare (x2 attacks):

Garet RP = 32
= 17~20 Damage (x2)
= 34 Damage

Ray (x2 attacks):

Ivan RP = 32
= 40~43 Damage (x3)
= 120 Damage

What's annoying about this is that if Garet had Fire at level 3 rather than level 4, this becomes a 2 turn kill with 1 HP to spare (the team would do 245 damage in two turns assuming only a level up for Garet and not Isaac). Rather, it's a 3 turn because I simply just don't have the power, even if Garet goes Brute rather than Guard. Grinding is literally the difference here and fuck that. Also, I didn't calculate damage for the 2x Thief because Venus will hit all three of them without a damage reduction (changes in damage are based off of enemy max HP) and they should be dead after that and eating a Flare and 2x Ray.

For the record, Isaac's Att is as high as possible thanks to the Battle Axe that I bought for him before the battle. I'm trying to think out every single angle to this stuff. Only elemental levels matter for Garet and Ivan and both of those are at base here.

Also, decimals round down.

Bandit + 2x Thief = 3 Turns

Edited September 4, 2018 by Life

[Life]

Few notes about the tier list upon entering Kolima Forest.

- Page doesn't come online until Level 8 when Garet learns Volcano. This is actually kind of significant because that means that until that point, Garet's only usable class outside of boss battles is Guard (this is going to be deep into Tret Tree since I only hit Level 6 upon entering Kolima). Since there is almost no point in the game that Medium is useful, this moves Guard above it easily. I'll have to play more to see if Guard moves up past that but I'm really not convinced that it isn't a shitty class. Guard moves above Medium.

- The reason why Page isn't moving down a tier is because of the other half of the class: Apprentice. Gaia comes at Level 6 and give Isaac the one stat he actually cares about early in the game: PP. The difference between Knight!Isaac and Apprentice!Isaac is a 25% increase in PP along with a stronger move (Gaia has 5 more Dam than Earthquake and hits 3 enemies as opposed to Spire hitting 1 even though Spire costs less PP). Even when you consider that Knight!Isaac has better stat increases until you find Breeze in Tret Tree along with Cure, clearing enemies with less pain is so much more valuable in Kolima Forest. Apprentice/Page stays in Chuck Norris Tier.

- I'm going to be testing out a lot of classes on this run with a few notables that I really want to learn about. Specifically Seer!Ivan. Like Apprentice, it also becomes viable at Level 6 with Flash Bolt (it's not totally shit before that but not as good as Wind Seer prior) and once you hit Kolima, there are no more negative stat boosts (Wind Seer needs 4 Jupiter to say the same and that's not until Lamarkan Desert). Seer!Ivan's psynergy is also on the OK side of things (Growth, Bolt, Cure, Revive and Bind for situational use) but it will be lacking some midgame power before Blue Bolt comes at Level 22. I am currently going to move it up for now because Enchanter!Ivan requires 6 Venus or Mars (both relatively contested elements in large quantities) but the lack of Impact might mean that it drops in the future. We'll see, though. Seer moves above Enchanter.

- Djinn are great for single target battles but next to useless if you're facing 3 or more enemies. Even Diviner!Ivan does acceptable-ish damage with Flint if he has a decent weapon (unfortunately, I don't have the Magic Rod for Murk and the Bandit's Sword's unleash is the only one with a Mult Mod instead of an Add Mod which sucks for Ivan).

Edited September 5, 2018 by Life

[eclipse]

We have a subform for Let's Plays.

[Life]

My bad.