Sword/Shield/Staff?

[Monkey]

So I've read, picking the shield, sword, and staff +/- has different effects in final mix when compared to the original. Anyone have a full guide on the changes?

 

[Rydgea]

Ugh, I was just going to make a thread - either a KH Final Mix thread or a stats thread. I forget how peculiar the growth paths are in this game. I never really payed any mind my previous runthroughs, but what nets you the best growth stat?

I think I'm going to pick the sword for my Proud playthrough, but what about the questions that Selphie, Wakka and Tidus ask you? What are the appropriate answers? I hear it's a pain to level based on what answer you provide. I could be wrong. I want to know.

ReMIX guide, y u come out so late?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Ugh, I was just going to make a thread - either a KH Final Mix thread or a stats thread. I forget how peculiar the growth paths are in this game. I never really payed any mind my previous runthroughs, but what nets you the best growth stat?

I think I'm going to pick the sword for my Proud playthrough, but what about the questions that Selphie, Wakka and Tidus ask you? What are the appropriate answers? I hear it's a pain to level based on what answer you provide. I could be wrong. I want to know.

ReMIX guide, y u come out so late?

Pick the staff. Staff skills are awesome. You get scan a bit later, but damn it is good to have stuns and other combo enders early on xD

And choose all of the rudeass answers that seem conceited. That will make the 1-50 climb easier.

 

[axel95]

If your doing it on Proud, you should pick the shield. Yiu get Leaf Bracer and Second Chance way earlier.

 

[Wave57]

If your doing it on Proud, you should pick the shield. Yiu get Leaf Bracer and Second Chance way earlier.

Doing Proud without picking the shield just doesn't feel right to me.
The extra defense is needed, and leaf bracer, guard, and second chance really come in handy.

 

[BagelBreath]

...The answers matter? I thought it just affected the time of day or some shit. D:
I want to start over now. =/

 

[Magnus]

Pick the staff, drop the sword. It's the only way to go, really. Why? Because it will ultimately give you the strongest Sora. You get two extra MP that cannot be obtained through any other means (and your magic power is relative to your max MP). Many people make the mistake of thinking "I'm a warrior, so I'll go with the sword and probably drop the staff because I'm not really a magic user". Don't. The sword has got the worst bonus stats of all three choices and sacrificing the shield is very unwise (especially at higher difficulty settings).

How you want to level depends on whether you only want to max Sora out or not. Starting at dusk/night will require 100,000 less exp to reach level 100 (at the cost of a slow start). But for a speed-run, dawn/morning is better because your're not likely to have much time to grind.

 

[Solo]

Doing Proud without picking the shield just doesn't feel right to me.
The extra defense is needed, and leaf bracer, guard, and second chance really come in handy.

I second this. It's great to have Guard up early at level 15 although at the cost of getting Scan at level 21. Besides, picking the shield eventually gives you 8 item slots compared to 7 and 6 from sword and staff respectively, which can help quite a bit in tight situations.

Plus, you get Lucky Strike at level 24... item hoarding for synthesis can start early.

 

[Magnus]

Picking the shield is okay as long as you don't sacrifice the staff. But even though the extra DEF will help you a lot at first, I think the extra MP and magic power from the staff will be of greater use even on Proud mode when you're facing the more difficult bosses.

 

[Jesus]

I can see where you're coming from with the staff, but honestly if you don't pick the shield, you're gonna have a bad time, especially on this game's proud mode which is much harder than the original KH's vanilla difficulty levels.

The two MP bars were a tough sacrifice for me but the extra defense and the Leaf Bracer abilities have already come through for me numerous times. Not getting scan until later is kind of annoying, but manageable.

Also for anybody who hasn't yet, DON'T PICK THE SWORD. It's the coolest, but also the worst stat progression route to choose.

 

[Solo]

Picking the shield is okay as long as you don't sacrifice the staff. But even though the extra DEF will help you a lot at first, I think the extra MP and magic power from the staff will be of greater use even on Proud mode when you're facing the more difficult bosses.

You're right on that. More MP not only allows more casting of spells, but also prolongs the protective effect of Aero. This is a real boon in the long run. It also makes it way easier to strike Pink Agaricus 100 times.

Sadly though, while maximum MP can be increased by up to 6 (3 from Diamond Dust and 1 from each accessory; I don't remember if there are accessories out there that increases max MP by 2), item slots can't. While it's also true that the two extra MPs cannot be obtained if you didn't pick the staff, I feel way more secure dancing in the battlefield with the big guns (especially Enigmatic Man) with two extra Elixirs in my battle inventory.

In the end it's about preference, and please be aware that I'm by no means forcing my opinion on anyone else. I just find it the most comfortable style for me and I'd like to share about it, that's all.

 

[Magnus]

Indeed. Sacrificing the sword is the only thing that truly matters if you don't want to screw yourself over. It's such a red herring. Most people I know, myself included, chose the sword when playing the game back in the day because it looks cooler and feels more right that Sora should pick it knowing the other two options symbolically belong to Donald and Goofy - but knowing the consequences I don't see how anyone could pick it. It's the weakest of the three options.

For me, magic is superior to both physical attack and defence in that it allows both vicious attacks on the enemy as well as restoring your health. As for item slots, I think you can program Donald and Goofy to play defensively and put lots of potions and stuff in their hands. If any of the optional bosses are too hard one can always grind. I think the extra MP will allow you to deal devastating damage if you're maxed out (then again, wouldn't everything be a cakewalk at level 100 even on proud mode?).

 

[Monkey]

Pick the staff, drop the sword. It's the only way to go, really. Why? Because it will ultimately give you the strongest Sora. You get two extra MP that cannot be obtained through any other means (and your magic power is relative to your max MP). Many people make the mistake of thinking "I'm a warrior, so I'll go with the sword and probably drop the staff because I'm not really a magic user". Don't. The sword has got the worst bonus stats of all three choices and sacrificing the shield is very unwise (especially at higher difficulty settings).

How you want to level depends on whether you only want to max Sora out or not. Starting at dusk/night will require 100,000 less exp to reach level 100 (at the cost of a slow start). But for a speed-run, dawn/morning is better because your're not likely to have much time to grind.

Oh wow, thanks! I think I will go +staff/-sword and then with dusk/night, since I want my first playthrough to be a 100% one.

 

[Kevin Perez]

What would you guys recommend for somebody playing the standard mode? I don't have the game yet but I distinctly remember in one play through where, on the PS2 version that is, I played the game choosing the shield and sacrificing the staff. Perhaps I should do that to the sword instead. I'm one who also sees Scan as an absolutely necessity as well.

 

[Rydgea]

You guys are making me pick different thingsss, why? Why isn't there one straightforward answer, whyyy? *whine, rolls around* D:

Nono, I now see there's no true stat progression from choosing the sword. I stayed up last night looking for Final Mix FAQs, and I do desire the max MP.

They kindof hookwink you into picking the sword, because you think it's the one that will result in the most balanced SDG team, but really, in typical Sora fashion, it's because he clings to the Staff (Donald) and Shield (Goofy) that ultimately makes him more powerful, huh?

Thanks, Master Spockanort and Re:Magnus.

EDIT: Also with Monkey, I think I'll start leveling at Dusk, since I will take my time this playthrough anyway, the payoff being leveling faster from 40 and up.

 

[Solo]

What would you guys recommend for somebody playing the standard mode? I don't have the game yet but I distinctly remember in one play through where, on the PS2 version that is, I played the game choosing the shield and sacrificing the staff. Perhaps I should do that to the sword instead. I'm one who also sees Scan as an absolutely necessity as well.

If you're just planning to march to the end without worrying about grinding or whatnot a la casual gamers, then perhaps... perhaps sword is okay. Granted the stat growth leaves much to be desired and you won't get Leaf Bracer until level whopping 69, but at least it gives you somewhat cool offensive abilities early enough.

Like Sliding Dash? You get it early at level 6, and it helps you attack from quite a distance. If you're anything like me, you'd be frustrated that your Keyblade swing misses that one lousy Shadow when you think it's already within striking distance. This is a problem I faced with the Kingdom Key early in the game, and (because I fancied restricting myself by picking sword and giving up shield in Proud Mode on my last playthrough) Sliding Dash was a godsend that rectified that problem.

I'd still recommend either staff or shield over sword, though. The extra MP and defence can help you in boss battles where you're more likely to worry about surviving the next hit than dealing much damage. That's just me talking, though.

I actually have a note that I took from GameFAQs that shows the order of abilities learned for sword, staff, and shield. Do you think it's a good idea to post it so that others may benefit from it as well?

 

[Gonzales95]

I know I picked sword both in KH1 and 2 back in the day, didn't seem so bad in KH2 but definitely handicapped me in the original. Then, I saw a guide the other day and realised that picking the shield and sacrificing the staff appeared to give the most balanced stats (I'm not much of a magic user tbh, but it is useful occasionally), so I went with that. Plus, I wanted scan reasonably early on.

 

[MizuMikomi]

I've always picked the staff, since I prefer my Magic in Kingdom Hearts. I also found that to be the optimal choice for I.5 as well, since those finishers you get early on do make a fair bit of a difference. Not having guard until a long while in was a bit of a bother, but it was manageable nonetheless.

 

[Taochan]

Pick the sword if you're planning on largely button mashing.

 

[Magnus]

No, don't pick the sword. Here are the bonuses you get for your pick:

Sword = +1 item slot
Shield = +2 item slots
Staff = +2 MP

As you can see, there is no reason to pick the sword over the shield.

The game pretty much tricks you into thinking the sword is the best pick, because aesthetically it makes the most sense to see it in Sora's hand.

The tiny amount of STR you sacrifice when ditching the sword can be compensated for later on, either by boosting your stats with the proper equipment or by simply being able to take out many enemies in one swipe with a powerful spell and survive longer with more opportunities to use a cure spell.

Your big choice is between getting a very nice bonus of 2 extra MP, or 2 extra item slots. The only real downside to picking the staff is that many good abilities are not learned until much later on in the game, but unless you plan on doing a speed-run I'd say that you want to look at long-term goals and not what's best for you during the opening hours.

EDIT - Found this:

Source: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/684080-kingdom-hearts-hd-15-remix/faqs/67842