Phantasy Star Saga: I D O L A !! *Discuss* *Tips and Tricks* *Strategy Moves*

You're correct in that Popopurin is pretty much a better Kempel and Emil, but they all have their uses. The point of elemental conversion is that your elements go up when *you* take damage. Meaning if an Idola goes multi-target happy, you can pretty much bury it with Elemental blasts in very short order.

Also Multi-target attacks from you aren't good if you're looking to zero in on specific parts. If you're looking to do tons of damage/rank higher in Idola Battle ranking, Multi-target is the way to go. Random Target multi-hit is great as well, but you don't see that in Elemental Blast form.

As for limit breaking, it's about a 35-40% difference between 0 and +4. Obviously a 5* is more likely to see 40%, but a Base 4* Event character like Melissa gets 30% from going to +4. I'd say both Limit Breaking and Starting element is pretty important in Idola battles since you are locked to 8 turns worth of action, and depending on what you are fighting, you need to be able to output damage quickly, especially against Idolas that have Elemental Resonance (a skill that makes them gain 4 points for all elements). The faster you can output damage, the better off you are, especially since 1 turn can spell the difference between exposing a core and surviving, or taking a bad hit and watching it all snowball to a party wipe. At the same time the higher stats will help your survivability, though I dare say in the face of an S rank Idola, the Starting element value will help you far more than the stats, since one Elemental blast from most Idolas will most likely kill one or more characters, Leo and Aries especially. So the faster you can muster the firepower to deliver damage via access to better attacks and buffs, and maybe throw in an elemental blast, the faster you can expose its core, and prevent it from doing anything. You can use that time to keep attacking it, since you'll do extra damage, or use that time to buff yourself up, and deliver another devastating followup (if that option is available to you).

I'm going to add a third category of importance - Status effects. Idolas can be affected by them, and there are a lot of them that will cause much grief for your enemies. Any characters that can cause elemental sever (icon is a grey hexagon) are a pretty huge asset to fighting Idolas if you aren't confident in your defense - this state causes those inflicted to gain 0 element from their attacks, which basically saves you from having to eat stronger attacks (assuming they don't have the necessary element to begin with) Burn and poison are self explanatory, and with Idolas you always get 3 times the effects, since it will affect every part (also assuming it has more than 0HP). And shock, prevents targets from using EBs. I'd say anyone that has the ability to inflict these statuses are well worth it regardless of limit-breaking. Freeze would be great too... if it didn't take one or 2 attacks to break them out of the status.

tl;dr version: Limit Breaking is important, but in the face of missing limitbreaks for base 5* characters, a maxed out 4* will definitely suffice - and some 3*s as well, since many of them carry useful status effects and buffs (Like Sasha, whose Chaos form has a blast that makes her take ALL of the damage directed at all your characters for a turn, effectively preventing a party wipe), but most importantly, it gets your starting elements up, and it allows you to summon more powerful idolas sooner (there's a reason why when the game first started, the only S rank Idolas all came from 3 and 4* characters as the lead).

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Originally Posted by Lyrise

You're correct in that Popopurin is pretty much a better Kempel and Emil, but they all have their uses. The point of elemental conversion is that your elements go up when *you* take damage. Meaning if an Idola goes multi-target happy, you can pretty much bury it with Elemental blasts in very short order.

Also Multi-target attacks from you aren't good if you're looking to zero in on specific parts. If you're looking to do tons of damage/rank higher in Idola Battle ranking, Multi-target is the way to go. Random Target multi-hit is great as well, but you don't see that in Elemental Blast form.

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So what is the proper approach/best point gain to Idola battles then? I may be approaching them incorrectly, as I thought the objective/what gained the most points was to flat out defeat them, which since I was bumped up to Hope I rank yesterday, that isn't really possible for my team. For instance, I can't stand battling Aries, because she literally boosts her own element while also attacking three times = almost insta-Elemental Burst, and of course hers hits the whole team, twice. The only thing that ever survives that is any OP helper I have along.

If I am just supposed to be doing as much damage as possible (for max points), what setup is best to run then? One of each element (per team), or at least three + one other, in order to stack/hit as many EBs at once? Or a full team of one element to get access to one strong EB really fast and frequently?

And which Idola (Idolas? Which is the proper plural form?) should I be targeting? One that has all three parts the same element (so easier to combat with weak element, but risk eating several EBs as it builds them fast with 3x attacks per turn), or one with three separate elements? Should I be focusing on ones that have a ton of HP left, or just pick off stragglers with barely anything left?

As mentioned, I usually only do a majority of my damage/survive from OP helpers (I make the full eight rounds/turns almost every single battle, though I tend to avoid Aries so that might be part of it), but my team isn't really doing much of importance other than building up element and boosting whichever OP helper I pick to be the spearhead of the attack basically.

As for points, which points am I supposed to be trying to max? The one in the bottom left of the results (XP and bond) screen? The one on the Idola summary/scorecard page when it is defeated? They don't seem to be the same number (and the amount gained on your rank progression bar seems to be another/different number as well), so not even really sure how it is even calculated, let alone which one I am supposed to be focusing on.

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Status effects. Idolas can be affected by them, and there are a lot of them that will cause much grief for your enemies. Any characters that can cause elemental sever (icon is a grey hexagon) are a pretty huge asset to fighting Idolas if you aren't confident in your defense - this state causes those inflicted to gain 0 element from their attacks, which basically saves you from having to eat stronger attacks (assuming they don't have the necessary element to begin with) Burn and poison are self explanatory, and with Idolas you always get 3 times the effects, since it will affect every part (also assuming it has more than 0HP). And shock, prevents targets from using EBs. I'd say anyone that has the ability to inflict these statuses are well worth it regardless of limit-breaking. Freeze would be great too... if it didn't take one or 2 attacks to break them out of the status.

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I do occasionally get Burn to inflict on them and noticed it was helpful (drew Bernhardt in that ill-timed draw yesterday, so get his status effect now too if I bring him along), but since I was focusing on trying to hit high burst damage when core was exposed instead of overall high damage across all three parts (even though two are already at 0 HP it still counts I guess?), it was more of just a helpful/that's nice kind of thing. In fact, I had no clue when I first started as to why/how a 0 HP part can still move/attack/etc, but I have kind of just accepted that the HP bars don't really mean much other than a) if core is possible to expose, or b) if you can defeat it by dropping the core to 0.

I would have to recheck which members I have that can inflict them with decent reliability, but don't have many options since I have only done the 10 gacha ticket and 2x 3000 pulls.

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As a whole, I am guessing that with the small amount of characters available in the game atm, and how it is set up atm, that building one really strong 8-character team isn't viable at all, and that you actually need to make use of almost every character you have then? There are a couple that aren't designed that well so I probably still won't use them, but I suppose I can try to work in some of the other 3* characters I had been neglecting a bit.

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Also, max level is not increased when Limit Break is done unless they are max level at the time, correct? Or did I read that wrong? If that is the case, I may have to re-do one or two of my 3*s next time I draw them I guess. I had an extra copy of Amane and Tanya so I had done the initial +1 for better stats, but probably shouldn't have I guess? Also, how would that work if I draw a second one, and then use the current +1 as the Limit Break copy? Is is like NT weapons in PSO2 where it will count both, or is it just the flat +1 no matter what?

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As for current events, which of the two should I be focusing on more? Of course I would like to get enough of both currency to buy the whole store out, but I started playing halfway through the event so have to prioritize a bit. I have the Stella Reindeer soul symbol and two copies of Melissa so far, but not sure which I should focus on more from here. I do want to at least get all of the copies of Melissa. I run the Christmas quest in the downtime between Idola battles (I auto-run the lvl.20 quest, since the few times I tried the lvl.40 it gave basically the same drops and amounts, so I stick to the cheaper and auto-able lvl.20).

Do any of the items in the exchange have high priority as well, or just focus on the soul fragments/Melissa? (I have no idea what the 5* item is for, but it being 5*, pricey, and very limited suggest it is important.)

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So what is the proper approach/best point gain to Idola battles then? I may be approaching them incorrectly, as I thought the objective/what gained the most points was to flat out defeat them, which since I was bumped up to Hope I rank yesterday, that isn't really possible for my team. For instance, I can't stand battling Aries, because she literally boosts her own element while also attacking three times = almost insta-Elemental Burst, and of course hers hits the whole team, twice. The only thing that ever survives that is any OP helper I have along.

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Your Idola Battle Rank exp and normal Rank exp gain in an Idola battle is proportional to the effective damage you do. There will be bonuses for breaking parts and exposing the core, and penalties if you lose characters and an even bigger penalty when you completely wipe out. That said though, the penalties are % based and you'll never hit a situation where you get no reward outside of one exception. So really, the best approach to these fights will be doing the most damage you can while minimizing the damages you've taken. If it means knocking off the weaker ones, go for it. Some gain is better than no gain at all - just remember that damage, breaking, and exposing yield the biggest benefits.

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If I am just supposed to be doing as much damage as possible (for max points), what setup is best to run then? One of each element (per team), or at least three + one other, in order to stack/hit as many EBs at once? Or a full team of one element to get access to one strong EB really fast and frequently?

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Consider that your Law lineup is usually going to have better defensive skills and Chaos has better offensive skills. Also consider that when you use Reverse rush, you're either going to boost your own defense switching from Chaos to law, or debuff the enemy's defense when switching from Law to Chaos. Also remember that these buffs and debuffs get stronger when you charge it up (every turn by not using it) and also that you gain 2-4 element for all types depending on that charge level.

The exception I mentioned earlier is when you are completely outclassed and it actually manages to heal itself for more than the damage you do. In that situation, the log will record negative damage, and your end result will be 0 normal and idola battle rank exp.

It's up to you how you want to compose, but one way people have been using a lot is to build one mono-element line whose specific goal is to deal damage to either break a part or reach a checkpoint. Then fill your other line with characters composed of different elements that have element blasts that cost 8 points or less. When your single element team has broken a part, or is about to break a part/hit a checkpoint, use a fully charged reverse rush. The reason for this is because a full charged reverse rush contributes 4 element points for each element you're using in the line you switched, to, and exposing the core yields another 4 point bonus, which sets you up with 4 characters with 8 element points each. You can bury the Idola with 4 consecutive EBs this way. Or if you put in characters with EB that cost more, expend the turn, and fire it later

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As for points, which points am I supposed to be trying to max? The one in the bottom left of the results (XP and bond) screen? The one on the Idola summary/scorecard page when it is defeated? They don't seem to be the same number (and the amount gained on your rank progression bar seems to be another/different number as well), so not even really sure how it is even calculated, let alone which one I am supposed to be focusing on.

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That's for 2 different rankings that happen at the same time. One for fighting against other Idola, and one for your Idola summonings. You can focus on both, one or the other. Chances are though if you focus on Idola summonings, you're going to be doing Idola battles too since you need core pieces to summon, and fighting other idola is the fastest way to collect them. These of course are just weekly rankings, and are optional. But highly recommended to sneak in runs because they will pay out Star Diamonds, meseta, and Star Beast badges.


On levelling character bonds, idola battle isn't the best place for that - you should just run the lowest stamina cost quest you can. You will always gain 10 points + any modifiers. Though every now and then there will be a class training event where you would get more bond exp than normal - the last time we saw this, it was handing out 20-30 bond exp per mission clear, very helpful to run that when the next one shows up!

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Also, max level is not increased when Limit Break is done unless they are max level at the time, correct? Or did I read that wrong? If that is the case, I may have to re-do one or two of my 3*s next time I draw them I guess. I had an extra copy of Amane and Tanya so I had done the initial +1 for better stats, but probably shouldn't have I guess? Also, how would that work if I draw a second one, and then use the current +1 as the Limit Break copy? Is is like NT weapons in PSO2 where it will count both, or is it just the flat +1 no matter what?

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Max level is increased by way of Rarity upgrade. (It's the last option in the menu at the bottom of your character upgrades screen) To increase a character's rarity, you must have maxed it'ts level up to the current cap, and then expend Star bits, which you can obtain either by dismissing your characters or by trading in Star Beast medals at Melissa's shop. The rarity acquired/needed will correspond to the current rarity of the character you dismiss/upgrade. And yes, this means that you could upgrade a 3* to a 5*, dismiss the resulting 5*, and get 5* Star bits.

Limit Breaking co-exists with rarity upgrade. Basically, you can do both, so you don't have to worry about not limit breaking at max level.

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As for current events, which of the two should I be focusing on more? Of course I would like to get enough of both currency to buy the whole store out, but I started playing halfway through the event so have to prioritize a bit. I have the Stella Reindeer soul symbol and two copies of Melissa so far, but not sure which I should focus on more from here. I do want to at least get all of the copies of Melissa. I run the Christmas quest in the downtime between Idola battles (I auto-run the lvl.20 quest, since the few times I tried the lvl.40 it gave basically the same drops and amounts, so I stick to the cheaper and auto-able lvl.20).

Do any of the items in the exchange have high priority as well, or just focus on the soul fragments/Melissa? (I have no idea what the 5* item is for, but it being 5*, pricey, and very limited suggest it is important.)

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Focus on Melissa. The Red orbs you get from idola battle are easy to get. You will get more by having the reindeer stella souls equipped (to a max of 4) but the other xmas souls boost the red orb rate as well. And the Reindeer Stella soul is kinda trash outside of the event. (gain defense as soon as you hit 5 water element, effect only happens once and lasts 1 turn). Melissa however, is an excellent character, and also inflicts shock. I also love her side story too.

What is level character bonds? what is the status for it located at for this: character bond points? And what is the best place or mission to get rappy feathers at? And with this double money and double experience events going on: what is the best place or mission to get the most for money and most for experience. 2 seperate mission. 1 for money and 1 for exper. thanks in advance.

Character bond level/points would be indicated by the pink orbs and meter on your exp summary. By levelling the bond, you can do character side stories. And when you complete the 4th one, that character can undergo Fate Divergence (evolution).

Rappy feathers, just farm any mission, they pop up anywhere, though at a low rate.

As for double exp and meseta, well, all the hard missions are going to pay out roughly the same exp, so if you really want to take advantage of the event, I'd just run the daily meseta missions so you get both exp and money.

@Lyrise have you seen an actual psycho wand drop from dolls?

How do you limit break the main char?

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Originally Posted by wahahaha

@Lyrise have you seen an actual psycho wand drop from dolls?

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Not at all. I only have a piece farmed from the canyon, but just a single piece. Problem is Psychowand pieces all drop from areas that don't straight up benefit you at all, while I can farm God Hand pieces from the daily exp and meseta missions, and those are quite useful as well (for those not in the know, God hand has an effect to regen 5% max HP per turn)

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Originally Posted by Angry_Ryudo

How do you limit break the main char?

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You can't. I suspect they'll be automatically limitbreaking Uly as the story progresses.

Where can i locate these missions at to get the psycho wand please? Link: https://expi-games.jp/idola/object/detail/24132

They're all hard difficulty missions. Each region you select will contain one of those quests.

-in the first region (Sheltan Peninsula beach) it can drop in the first, second, and fourth areas (starting from the furthest down)
-In the second region (Sheltan peninsula forest), the 3rd area (again starting from the bottom up), 2nd mission (hard mode) as well as the forest area (the right path on that fork), and the last area after the fork.
-In the 3rd region (Zozma Mountain trail), going from bottom up, the 4th area (after the village) hard mode, 8th area hard mode (base of the mountain), and the final area in this region, hard mode.
-In the 4th region (Empire Border canyon) it'll be the area where the path splits into a dead end. (4b)

Those are all the current known locations for the pieces. But with the ongoing events, I would recommend against trying to farm these right now, not that I can stop you from doing so.