Tag Archives: badges

Kappy’s Spotlight — Fire Pop

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering a really unique item in 64 that has an effect most items don’t: FIRE POP!

Before we jump in, I want to relay some sad news — this will be the last Kappy Spotlight…for now. I feel I’ve covered many of the lower-tiered things when it comes to Paper Mario combat and I think it’s time to retire the series for now to focus on other things. I’ve also been busier than ever and finding time to write has been increasingly more difficult. If I’m ever inspired to cover something else, I will, and I’ll still be trying to write a few more things for Paper Mario Talks as well, so do look forward to those! Anyway, enough of that — let’s look at Fire Pop!

firepop

Move: Restores 20 FP and reduces HP by 1.

The “reducing HP by 1” part is what’s interesting. 20 FP is a pretty nice FP heal, but what’s more interesting is being able to finely tune Mario’s HP with an item that can also restore a good amount of FP. When you look at the item, it’s really not amazing by any means. It’s cool, and the effect is unique, but more often than not you can just get to Danger or Peril through being attacked and knowing which attacks to guard and not guard, and it doesn’t have the fine-tuning that, say, a Dried Shroom or Mistake might have when it comes to taking damage over a large number of turns. However, this item could lead to some interesting badge setups. Let’s check out a couple strategies involving Fire Pop!

LAVA PIRANHA STRAT

This is a little bit of a special case, but I wanted to include this because it shows off Fire Pop. Over the past couple of years, the Glitz Pit has done Community Challenges. These were challenges hosted by the server that everyone could participate in. The gist was that every month, we’d proceed through a Chapter and set restrictions for the bosses & mini-bosses (including all optional ones) that came from community members. The restrictions for Chapter 5 for Lava Piranha were:

– Only items with “candy” or “pop” in their name could be used (attacking items excluded)
– Sushie cannot be used
– You cannot equip Ice Power or Fire Shield

– You cannot use multi-target attacks/items

NOTE: We did Chapter 5 in October of 2018, hence the “Halloween Candy” restriction.

Okay, so now that you’ve seen the restrictions, you can probably see why Fire Pop is used. Let’s take a look at the strategy!

10 HP, 10 FP
BADGES: Power Bounce, Hammer Throw, Double Dip, Quick Change, Dodge Master, Power Plus x2, Defend Plus, Mega Rush (30 BP)
ITEMS: Fire Pop, Lemon Candy, Thunder Bolt

T1: Turbo Charge, Fire Pop *Guard only Bud attacks
T2: Power Bounce (4 bounces), Fan Smack [Phase 1 Ends]
T3: Fan Smack, Double Dip (Lemon Candy, Thunder Bolt)
T4: Hammer Throw, Outta Sight
T5: Hammer Throw [KO]

Because of the candy restriction, perfect FP use wasn’t too much of a worry because basically, all the items with “pop” and “candy” in their names restore a good portion of FP. I knew I wanted to use Peril, but I needed a way to get into Peril Turn 1 and in the second Phase since Lava Piranha was guaranteed to attack then. Enter Fire Pop. Because of my restriction on items, I was basically chained to 3 or 5 HP heals. Damage Dodge wouldn’t allow me to get back into Peril off of a Phase 2 attack, so I turned to Defend Plus. I had more than a few ways to get into Peril but decided to make use of Fire Pop. I do want to note that while this is a strategy showing off Fire Pop, it didn’t help me in saving turns or BP — it was more for flash here. Anyway, I added Power Bounce for a quick KO Phase 1 and Hammer Throw for Phase 2 and I was set. Let’s begin the battle!

Turn 1 is setup. We Turbo Charge and Fire Pop to restore the FP lost from Turbo Charge, then get into Peril through specific guarding. Then, we Power Bounce for 30 damage and Fan Smack, ending Phase 1 quickly. Now Phase 2 starts. We Fan Smack and Double Dip Turn 3 with a Lemon Candy to restore 5 HP and our FP once more, along with a Thunder Bolt. I want to note that had we note recovered with the Fire Pop Turn 1, we wouldn’t’ve had enough FP for that Double Dip. Turn 4, we Hammer Throw for 13 damage as Turbo Charge goes away. And guess how much HP Lava Piranha has left? That’s right: 12 HP. We Hammer Throw for now 12 damage to end the fight with perfect damage!

Like I said before, Fire Pop wasn’t the crux of my strategy, but I wanted to show this off because it used Fire Pop to eliminate a guard I needed to pull off to get into Peril and is an actual unique strategy that I used during an actual challenge featuring today’s spotlight, which is, well, rare!

Okay, let’s look at another strategy with Fire Pop!

CRYSTAL KING STRAT

10 HP, 5 FP
BADGES: Super Jump Charge, Power Plus x2, All or Nothing, Power Bounce, Flower Saver, Mega Rush, Damage Dodge (30 BP)
ITEMS: Fire Pop

T1: Super Jump Charge, Turbo Charge *Guard two bits
T2: Fire Pop, Electro Dash (65)
T3: Chill Out, Electro Dash (60)
T4: Hammer, Electro Dash (43)
T5: Star Storm, Electro Dash (miss AC) (35)
T6: Power Bounce (3 bounces), Electro Dash [KO]

This strat is a little complicated and requires a little RNG, so let’s dive in! As I’ve mentioned before in my Mega Jump spotlight, Crystal King has 70 HP, 6 ATK, and 2 DEF. The goal of this strat was to get into Peril using a Fire Pop and then KO him with a Power Bounce once he was low enough. Because of the 2 DEF, we equip all ATK-increasing badges and Super Jump Charge and lean on Flower Saver and Damage Dodge for support. With this setup and a Fire Pop’s FP healing, we can get away with 10 HP 5 FP against Crystal King!

So, let’s jump in. We set up Turn 1 with Turbo Charge and Super Jump Charge and guard two of the bits. Each bit does 4 damage, so we take one and guard twice (it’s 2 damage with Damage Dodge) to get to 2 HP. Next turn, we restore our FP with Fire Pop and simultaneously put ourselves in Peril! We Electro Dash because Watt has nothing else to do and we don’t have the luxury of Quick Change with this badge setup. This turn, Crystal King summons more ice bits. Next turn, to prevent ourselves from being KO’d, we Chill Out and guard all of the bits. We once again Electro Dash.

Turn 4, we Hammer to pile on some extra damage and set us up for the Power Bounce finisher. This is also the turn that Turbo Charge will end, so we should attack to make sure it wasn’t wasted. Currently, Mario’s base ATK with the Ultra Hammer is 6. With two Power Plus badges and All or Nothing, that’s 9. With Turbo Charge, that’s 10, and with Mega Rush, that’s 14. Factor in Crystal King’s 2 DEF, and we’re at 12 damage. We Electro Dash as well, leaving Crystal King at 43 HP. At this point, Crystal King will summon ice bits again — he doesn’t change phases until he’s at or below 35 HP.

Next turn, we Star Storm for 7 damage, leaving Crystal King at 36, and then miss Electro Dash’s Action Command to put him at 35, just enough to activate the next trigger. At this point, there is some slight RNG which we will not be accounting for — I call these “RNG Chokepoints” in a strategy. Normally, I try to make these at the beginning of a fight and only have one or two maximum, if possible. Sometimes, a strategy needs a little RNG to work, and it’d be too difficult to work around it or working around it defeats the whole purpose of the strategy. Here, Crystal King has a chance to heal since his HP is under 38. It’s not a strong chance since he’s entering Phase 2 and will likely use bit spit this turn, but it’s something to consider.

Anyway, assuming he uses bit spit Turn 5, Turn 6 we KO him. Currently, Mario’s base ATK with Ultra Boots is 3. With the ATK-increasing badges, it’s 6, and with one Super Jump Charge, it’s at 9. With Mega Rush, it’s 13. Subtract Crystal King’s 2 DEF, and we’re at 11 ATK. Crystal King actually has a chance to cap at 3 for Power Bounce without Dodge Master equipped, so that’s the cap we’re going to use. 11 + 10 + 9 = 30 damage exactly, and leaves him with just enough HP for Watt to finish him off with Electro Dash for perfect damage!

Fire Pop is unique and cool and it is fun to build a strategy around/with, so give it a try if you’re looking to manipulate Mario’s HP in a different way!

And that’s it for my spotlights (for now). I hope you all have enjoyed them and maybe learned something while reading them. If you’re wanting to ask me questions directly, Twitter and Discord are the two best ways to reach me, and I’m always happy to help strategize or just talk about combat in Paper Mario!

Just Sayin’

 

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Kappy’s Spotlight — Return Postage

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering another badge in TTYD that is a pitiful return on BP investment — RETURN POSTAGE!
 
Returnpostage
BP Cost: 7
Move: Returns half the damage Mario receives back to direct attackers.
Glitz Pit Rank: FF
 
OOF! FF tier, the lowest you can get for the Glitz Pit. But really, it’s not hard to see why. For 7 BP, Mario gets a permanent Spite status (basically, attackers take half damage dealt to Mario on direct attacks). Notice how I said “direct attacks”. This status, honestly, is bad, and that makes Return Postage even worse. It can be used against normal enemies to some effect since most have direct attacks, but since Return Postage is the reward you get for completing the Pit of 100 Trials, the only true way to utilize it very effectively is to complete it pre-Chapter 3 and try and utilize it as you go through the game. Now, for challenge runners completing the Pit pre-Chapter 3 is pretty easy, but it’s still not worth it as the reward for completing the Pit when enemies deal pretty mediocre damage until Chapter 6, so you’re at best dealing 2-4 damage back to enemies and bosses…if it even activates. I said that Spite is bad, and that’s because it only affects direct attacks. Any projectile or magic attack is automatically unaffected, but check out what else isn’t affected:
 
  • Cortez’s Bite
  • Smorg’s Miasmas (tentacle and claw)
  • Dragon (Hooktail/Gloomtail) Stomp and Bite
  • Magnus Von Grapple 2.0 Drill
  • Doopliss’ Mario Hammer attack
…and more! As you can see, most late-game bosses just don’t care about the Spite Status, even if their moves technically make contact. Still, this badge can be put to use against bosses that do inflict direct damage; let’s get to the strat!
 
BOWSER & KAMMY STRAT
 
15 HP, 5 FP
BADGES: P-Up D-Down, Mega Rush, Power Rush, Mega Rush P, Power Rush P x2, P-Up D-Down P, Double Dip, Flower Saver P x2, Power Bounce, Jumpman, Return Postage, Double Pain, Quick Change (39 BP, 42 w/HP Plus) **If using 2 Power Plus P instead of a 2nd Power Rush P, it’s 50 BP, 53 w/HP Plus
ITEMS: Point Swap, Power Punch
 

Click here to see the strategy in action!

T1: Double Dip (Point Swap Goombella, Power Punch), Veil
T2: Can’t move due to Veil *Guard Bite, Superguard Kammy attack if it targets Mario
T3: Power Bounce Kammy (5 bounces) [KO], Multibonk Bowser (6 bonks)[KO]
 
This strategy is pretty wild, so let’s dive in. First off, check out all that BP. We could get away with less BP if we had more Mario HP, but the big problem there is that the more turns we let the fight go on, the more chances Kammy has to ruin our strategy with her magic. So, we need to finish this by Turn 2 or 3. I wanted to really make use of Return Postage, so I decided on a Turn 3 finish because of Bowser’s AI. More on that later. Bowser has 70 HP, 7 ATK, and 2 DEF. He’s a tough one. Kammy’s got 50 HP, 5 ATK, and 0 DEF, so basically, a souped-up Magikoopa that has access to basically all of their magic at the same time. Yeah, she’s a real pain.
 
Okay, so the big problem to solve here is dealing significant damage to Bowser because 2 DEF goes a long way in reducing damage. To take out both on Turn 3, we’re gonna need some damage. The classic Double Dipping Point Swap will work well, and let’s abuse Return Postage and Double Pain to get Mario into Peril, so we’ll Point Swap our partner. We could use Yoshi, but he needs more ATK to achieve the same damage Goombella can and there’s no way Stampede is taking out both of them unless we invest into way more BP, so let’s use Goombella. Because we’re Point Swapping Goombella, let’s have her take on Bowser since we can include a Power Punch in that Double Dip for a free +2 to ATK. With the above badges, Goombella’s base is 3 – the 2 DEF = 1 + 9 from Mega Rush & two Power Rushes, 1 from P-Up D-Down P, and the +2 from Power Punch gives a whopping 13 ATK. Nice. Mario’s got it a little easier since he’s dealing with Kammy. He’s at 3 + 2 from Jumpman and P-Up D-Down, and 7 from Mega Rush + Power Rush. That gives him 12 ATK total. Alright, we’ve got the damage we need to take on both. let’s get into the fight!
 
NOTE: We’re assuming you’ve just leveled up off of Grodus, which is why we’re starting with max HP & FP.
 
Turn 1 is setup. To understand why I’m using Veil, let’s look at Bowser’s AI. Bowser has 3 attacks: Fire Breath, Bite, and Stomp. He will use those three attacks in order as long as he suffers no recoil damage. Fire Breath is a ranged move, making it impossible for him to take recoil, and he always uses it Turn 1. Turn 2 he’ll be using Bite, which is a move that, luckily, is affected by Return Postage! So, Turn 1 we prep Goombella with Double Dip, and swap her out for Vivian and use Veil. We’re now at 4 FP because Veil is 1 FP.

Turn 2, we come out of Veil. The way Veil works is that Mario loses his next turn. So, if you use Veil Turn 1 without moving Mario, Mario can move Turn 2, but Vivian cannot. If Mario moves Turn 1 and then Vivian uses Veil, Mario & Vivian can’t move Turn 2. Because of this, there’s literally nothing we can do Turn 2 except take Bowser & Kammy’s attacks. Now, I want to be clear on something — this strategy can be foiled if Kammy…

  • Makes herself or Bowser invisible
  • Electrifies Bowser or herself
  • Buffs her or Bowser’s DEF
She does have a chance of using any of those things on Turn 2. She can also buff her or Bowser’s ATK, but because Bowser goes first, this is of no concern to us. If she does use any of what is listed above, you’ll simply need to reset. Given how many strategies I’ve created thus far that crush Grodus into the ground, it shouldn’t be hard getting back to this point. In fact, this badge setup deals with Grodus quite well — it’d be an easy 1-2 Turn fight as long as you bring an extra Point Swap and a Fire Flower to that fight. Anyway, enough about Grodus, let’s get back to this fight; Bowser will always Bite Turn 2 due to how his AI works. So, he’ll Bite Mario and we guard it since we’re taking 8 damage right now with P-Up D-Down equipped. Guarding brings it down to 7, which is doubled to 14, bringing Mario down to Peril. Bowser takes 7 damage from Return Postage because Return Postage comes after Double Pain is applied to the damage. It’s a nice perk of the badge. Now, Kammy either buffs ATK or attacks. If she attacks Vivian, it’s whatever, but if she attacks Mario, we need to superguard. I always love having some superguarding in strategies, so this is welcome.
 
Turn 3, we go in for the kill. Mario Power Bounces Kammy for an exact 50 damage with 5 bounces (12 + 11 + 10 + 9 + 8). We’re now at 1 FP because Power Bounce is 3 FP and we’ve had 4 since Turn 1’s Veil. We swap to Goombella, and Multibonk 6 times. Bowser has 70 HP, but after Return Postage he’s at 63, and Multibonk right now does a perfect 63 damage (13 + 12 + 11 + 10 + 9 + 8). With two Flower Saver P badges, Multibonk is 1 FP. Both are KO’d Turn 3. Perfect damage, perfect FP use, and with Return Postage! Does it get any better than this? Yes, but is it flashier? Absolutely not!
 
I want to point out that a different strategy with Mario locking Bowser into Bite with Return Postage (because he’ll always take recoil, and thus never move onto Stomp) is also a really cool way to utilize Return Postage, but you could also just use Zap Tap. At the end of the day, Return Postage is just a terrible badge when it comes to normal combat, but it’s really, really fun to use, and that’s something I actually really appreciate about the badge. If you’d like to see more Return Postage use, check out my Return to Sender run on YouTube, where I played through the game casually with Return Postage after beating 10 HP No Mega Rush P Pre-Hooktail Pit. It’s a good time.
 
I’ll be taking suggestions again for the next one, so be on the lookout for that Tweet/Post!
 
Just Sayin’

Kappy’s Spotlight — HP Drain

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering another badge in TTYD that definitely drains you just for thinking of using it — HP DRAIN!

 

HP_Drain_TTYD
BP Cost: 1
Move: Decreases Mario’s ATK by 1 in exchange for recovering 1 HP after attacking.

Glitz Pit Rank: E-

Yikes, E-. But, after viewing the comparatively broken HP Drain in 64 (where you restore HP for every attack up to 5 max) and coupled with Last Stand being slightly worse than its 64 counterpart, it’s easy to see why HP Drain is ranked so low. It’s really hard to fit onto a strategy. Most of the time, you could just recover more HP, or use a Dried Shroom/Mistake with Double/Triple Dip for more versatility. And when it comes to looping through Peril/Danger with HP, it’s hard to justify it when you can KO most bosses in 2-3 turns anyway, and those 1 or 2 turns are generally spent setting up and not in Peril. The dip in ATK is also really hard to deal with for such a small reward. Once you get to larger HP values, it becomes even worse since you have larger healing in the form of Sweet Treat/Feast & items. Really, this badge doesn’t do a whole lot for Mario. With that said, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we can definitely still implement a cool Peril loop with the right support. Let’s see what we can do against one of the toughest bosses in the game!

BONETAIL STRAT

10 HP, 5 FP
BADGES: Last Stand x2, Mega Rush, Power Rush, HP Drain, P-Down D-Up, Defend Plus, All or Nothing, Power Plus x3, Flower Saver, Power Bounce, Quick Change (47 BP)
ITEMS: Horsetail, Dried Shroom, Mistake x5, Courage Meal

*Only Guard Breath

Click here to see the strategy in action!

T1: Hammer, Bomb (190)
T2: Horsetail Mario, Courage Meal (186)
T3: Spin Jump, Mistake Mario (163)
T4: Spin Jump, Mistake Mario (140)
T5: Power Bounce, Mistake Mario (100/120)
T6: Power Bounce, Mistake Mario (60/80/100)
T7: Power Bounce, Mistake Mario (20/40/60)

IF 20 HP 

T8: Jump [KO] 

IF 40 HP 

T8: Power Bounce [KO] 

IF 60 HP 

T8: Power Bounce, Dried Shroom Mario (20)
T9: Jump [KO]And here we are, a nice Peril loop with a ton of support. Check out the crazy item spread that’s being used. Here’s the breakdown: Bonetail has a massive 200 HP, 8 ATK, and 2 DEF. Ouch. We need a lot of ATK to deal good damage, so we get back up to 3 with a Jump and equip an All or Nothing and Power Plus. Now, we’re Peril looping with HP Drain, so let’s see what we can do to achieve that. With two Last Stands, damage is divided by 3 in Danger and it rounds up, not down.

8 divided by 3 rounds up to 3 damage.
7 divided by 3 rounds up to 3 damage.
6 divided by 3 is a flat 2 damage.
5 divided by 3 rounds up to 2 damage.
4 divided by 3 rounds up to 2 damage.
3 divided by 3 is a flat 1 damage.

Looking at those numbers combined with Bonetail being able to use breath, we set a baseline for 6 damage. Unfortunately, without farming P-Down D-Up badges, we can’t reliably get Breath to 1 damage in Danger, so we’ll have to think of something else. So, let’s get to 6 damage. Bonetail has 3 attacks: a Stomp and Bite that don’t pierce and his Breath that pierces. All attacks deal 8, so let’s equip P-Down D-Up to reduce the Breath’s damage to 7. With a Guard, that’s 6, allowing us to take 2 in Danger. Now, the Bite is unguardable, so we equip an extra Defend Plus to make that 6. As shown above, Guarding the Stomp doesn’t matter since it’ll be 2 anyway, but we won’t Guard anything but the Breath since Stomp inflicts no status effects.

Okay, with that out of the way, we need to bring our damage back up to 3. With HP Drain and P-Down D-Up, we’re back at 1 ATK, so we equip two more Power Plus badges. Lots of BP, but it’s necessary to not have this drag on for 10+ turns, although it’s totally possible with 20 items. Okay, we’re at 3 with a Jump, and with a Mega Rush and Power Rush, we’ll be at 10 with a Jump in Peril. That’s 20 damage with a Jump and 40 with a Power Bounce. To loop Peril, we need to get to 3 HP every turn, so our partner will be healing Mario with Mistakes and Dried Shrooms. Nice, love using these items. Okay, we’re set. Let’s get into the fight!

We need to get Mario into Peril first. Right now, Bonetail will deal 6 no matter what, so we Hammer and Bomb for 6 + 4 for 10 damage. Mario’s now at 4 HP. Next turn, we use a Horsetail to heal 3 damage and put Mario at 7, allowing us to get to Peril after Bonetail attacks. We also use a Courage Meal with our partner to deal 4 damage. Turn 3, we Spin Jump to deal 10 + 13 damage. With Flower Saver, Spin Jump is 1 FP, and we’re at 2 HP thanks to HP Drain. We use a Mistake to heal 1 HP and 1 FP, putting Mario at 3 HP and back at 5 FP. We Spin Jump again to deal 23 more damage, which coincidentally is 46 with the previous turns damage, giving us a nice clean 50 damage in 3 turns, and we heal with another Mistake. Bonetail’s now at 140, so we Power Bounce for 2 FP for 40 damage and heal with a Mistake, putting Mario at 4 FP. At 100 HP or less, Bonetail has a chance to heal 20 HP, and he can heal twice for a total of 40 HP healed. This doesn’t really matter besides the very end. We do this two more times, putting Mario at 2 FP. At this point, Bonetail has either not healed, healed once, or healed twice, leaving him with 20 HP, 40 HP, or 60 HP. At 20, we just Jump to end with perfect damage. With 40, we Power Bounce and end the battle with perfect damage and perfect FP use. At 60, we Power Bounce, heal with a Dried Shroom, and Jump for perfect damage and perfect FP use. Not bad, not bad at all! By the way, Quick Change is there for if you need to swap a partner out to take more Breath attacks. Due to RNG, you may not even need it, but it’s there just in case.

I also need to add that this strategy will not just be straight attacks if Bonetail heals. You will need to spend a turn Appealing with Mario & Partner to ensure that you only are attacking when in Peril.

I also need to add that this strategy will not just be straight attacks if Bonetail heals. You will need to spend a turn Appealing with Mario & Partner to ensure that you only are attacking when in Peril.

I won’t show the strategy, but I also highly advise you check out Koop’s Even Turn No Superguards fight against Magnus Von Grapple 2.0 where he utilizes HP Drain. It’s awesome.

HP Drain isn’t great. As you can see, it requires a lot of support to really make it effective. However, I do think this badge is awesome to strategize with and definitely challenges you to get creative. Give it a try if you’re looking for something interesting to use!

 

Just Sayin’

Kappy’s Spotlight — Charge

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering another badge in TTYD that boasts a lot of power, but little use — CHARGE!

Charge_TTYD
BP Cost: 1
FP Cost: 1
Move: Increases the damage dealt from Mario’s next attack by 2.
Glitz Pit Rank: D+

Charge actually almost barely made the cut into C Tier for the Glitz Pit, and it’s not hard to see why. For only 1 FP, Mario can do quite a bit with +2 ATK. The ability to stack charges can lead to insane damage output, and the fact that it stacks with Spicy Pasta and Hot Sauce means you can get away with some crazy charge-boosted attacks in just a few turns with Double Dip or Triple Dip. The big downside, of course, is that it takes up Mario’s turn, and you can easily achieve the +2 with a Power Punch that a partner can use instead of Mario. For the most part, you don’t need the extra +2 ATK to defeat bosses; Power Punch/Power Lift/Power Rush/Mega Rush is really all you need to take down most bosses in 1-3 turns. Still, there’s definitely some use with Charge, so let’s jump right into the strategies!

RAWK HAWK STRAT

10 HP, 5 FP
BADGES: Charge, Jumpman, Power Plus, Power Plus P x2, Power Bounce (24 BP)
ITEMS: Power Punch

Click here to see the strategy in action!

T1: Charge, Power Punch Mario (M: 7, Y: 7/10)

T2: Power Bounce (6 bounces), Ground Pound (KO)

This is a nice 2-turn strategy that doesn’t use any Danger. Turn 1 is all setup. At this point, Mario has the Super Boots, giving Mario a base of 2 ATK for his Jump. With Jumpman and Power Plus, it’s at 4. With Charge and Power Punch, it’s 8. Now, Rawk Hawk has 40 HP and 0 DEF, and his attacks won’t even put Mario & Yoshi in Danger Turn 1, so we’re not really concerned if we guard or not.

Turn 2 is where it all goes down. (8+7+6+5+4+3) = 33 damage. Yoshi at Base rank does four bounces with Ground Pound, so we just increase his ATK by 2 so it starts at 3. (3+2+1+1) = 7, which is just enough to KO Rawk Hawk. Easy, and no Danger abuse needed!

GLOOMTAIL STRAT

10 HP, 10 FP
BADGES: Charge, Jumpman, Mega Rush, Power Rush, Power Bounce, Feeling Fine (12 BP, 15 with FP Plus)
ITEMS: Point Swap

Click here to see the strategy in action!

T1: Charge, Point Swap Mario (M: 1) *Don’t guard
T2: Power Bounce (5-cap), Rally Wink, Power Bounce (5-cap)

Another two-turn strategy with Charge! It’s Gloomtail (80 HP, 8 ATK, 2 DEF), so we really needed to crank up the power with Peril.

Turn 1, we set up with Charge and a pretty unique way to achieve Peril against Gloomtail on Turn 1 with Point Swap. At this point, we have 9 FP, so Mario will have 9 HP now. Gloomtail always uses Breath first, so we don’t guard to take 8 damage and go down to Peril. We use Feeling Fine to ensure we aren’t poisoned.

Turn 2, we simply Power Bounce twice thanks to Rally Wink. With 10 FP, we have just enough to do this with perfect FP use. We do two 5 bounce Power Bounces for perfect damage. First, Mario starts at 1 ATK with Ultra Boots thanks to Gloomtail’s DEF. Factor in Jumpman, Mega Rush, and Power Rush, and we’re at 9 ATK. With Charge, we’re at 11. So, the first Power Bounce does (11 + 10 + 9 + 8 + 7) = 45 damage. The second Power Bounce deals (9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5) = 35 damage. 45 + 35 = 80. Perfect damage!

Charge is an easy substitute for Power Rush and for a quick boost in power. What holds it back is that it’s just so easy to achieve Danger/Peril already, so you can just use a Power Punch or Power Lift to increase your ATK further than a +2. Still, its ability to naturally use 1 FP and increase ATK is something that can be used cleverly. Feel free to use the strategies I’ve made or adapt them to something else!

I’ll putting up another poll for the next spotlight . Look out for it!

Just Sayin’

Kappy’s Spotlight — Bobbery

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering a partner in TTYD who’s bombastically underwhelming — BOBBERY!!

1200px-Bobbery1.png
Moves:
Bomb — Deals damage to a single enemy (4/5/6 damage) [Front only]
Bomb Squad [3 FP] — Throw 3 bombs that explode one turn later for 3 damage each.
Hold Fast [4 FP] — Inflicts half-damage back to physical attackers.
Bob-ombast [9 FP] — Damages all enemies (8 damage)

Glitz Pit Rank: 6th (of 7 Partners)

Unlike Paper Mario 64, Partners in TTYD serve different purposes and can be included in strategies since they can be hit and have many, many more badges that can affect them. As such, I will be sharing strategies for these partners.

Bobbery is sitting at the 2nd-to-last position on the Glitz Pit Tier List. Yikes. Besides his fantastic HP as a tank and good base damage, Bobbery suffers tremendously once everyone is upgraded to Ultra Rank and you start stacking ATK+ badges on them. He’s the 2nd best tank in the game with a massive 40 HP pool at Ultra Rank, but he’s too FP inefficient and doesn’t cover as many enemies as he’d like without bringing that FP inefficiency into play. Despite this, he’s great at Level Zero – probably the best option there thanks to his base HP and ATK – but that alone isn’t going to make up for it when contenders like Vivian, Flurrie, and Yoshi exist in Level Zero runs. He’s also got a really unique niche use as a way to clear Fog with his moves/Appeal. Let’s break those moves down:

BOMB

Bobbery’s Basic attack. 4 damage at Base rank is pretty great, but it’s basically a Hammer attack. It can only hit the front. Bonus points for him being able to flip Clefts with this move, though! It can also clear Fog. Unfortunately, because of partner balance Flurrie also gets to 6 at Ultra Rank, making Bobbery’s upgrades less impactful in terms of power. You’ll use this move if there’s a spiky enemy or a Cleft, but otherwise, you’ll stick with something stronger.

BOMB SQUAD

This is Bobbery’s ace in the hole but unfortunately is outclassed once you start stacking power. This move can be an incredible way to defeat certain bosses. Cortez, Smorg, and even Magnus Von Grapple 2.0/Grodus can all be disrupted heavily by Bomb Squad. You can also use it to skip a turn in Shadow Queen’s Phase 2, which can be invaluable, but ultimately is still niche since you can just KO them outright with well-planned strategies. Bomb Squad actually has an amazing niche in Impossible Mode, where it can be used to ultimately optimize turns since it’s the highest damage-dealing move in your arsenal that can hit multiple opponents. The biggest drawback to Bomb Squad is that it can’t have its damage increased by any badge that raises ATK, so it’s stuck at base 3 even at Ultra Rank. If it could be increased I guarantee Bobbery would be seen in a different light off this move alone, but alas.

HOLD FAST

The worst move by far in Bobbery’s arsenal. It’s literally the Return Postage badge as a partner move, and it’s not great. While the idea of having this move on the highest HP partner is good, the fact that many attacks later on aren’t direct attacks really sells the move short. Hard to justify it when basically every boss after Chapter 5 isn’t affected besides a select few moves, and you can’t double the damage Bobbery takes, so you’re forced to use a Spite Pouch to deal more damage. It’s just not good when you can do so much more.

BOB-OMBAST

This is probably Bobbery’s second-best attack behind Bomb Squad, and is actually quite good at Ultra Rank. 8 damage base is strong. Unfortunately, it costs 9 FP, meaning you’re really digging into your FP to use this move when fantastic moves like Shell Slam, Stampede, and Fiery Jinx are all 6 FP and can deal way more damage. This is basically diet Supernova that costs FP. It’s an explosion, so you can definitely get use out of it by flipping 4 Clefts or dealing extra damage to 5 Phantom Embers, but otherwise…well, you have better, more FP-efficient options.

Now, let’s look at a strategy with Bobbery featuring Bomb Squad!

CORTEZ STRAT

10 HP, 10 FP
BADGES: Jumpman, Power Plus x2, Power Bounce, Flower Saver (21 BP, 24 with FP Plus)
T1: Bomb Squad, Spin Jump (10)
T2: Bomb Squad, Spin Jump (0) -> Phase 2 -> (18) (16) [Gem now exposed] (10) (4) (0) -> Phase 3 -> (18)

T3: Power Punch Mario, Power Bounce (4 bounces) [KO]

This is a modified strategy from one of our Puzzle Challenges hosted on the Glitz Pit. I wanted to specifically show this strategy to expose it to others and show how cool Bomb Squad is. This is a really nice, clean strategy and I love it, so let’s jump in!

We’ve set up Mario so that a Spin Jump does 4+6 damage against Cortez, who has 3 phases with 20 HP each. He has 4 ATK and 1 DEF. Our goal here is to completely skip Phase 2 with Bomb Squad. So, with Super Boots, Mario’s Jump does 2+2, and Spin Jump does 2+4. With DEF, we’re at 1+3 on Spin Jump, so Jumpman and two Power Plus badges put him at 4+6. We’ll be using FP every turn, so we put on Flower Saver so that Mario’s Spin Jump is 1 FP and Power Bounce is 2 FP.

Turn 1, we Bomb Squad and Spin Jump so that Cortez is at 10. It doesn’t matter who he attacks since this is the only turn he’ll get to attack. Turn 2, we Bomb Squad first to ensure we have six bombs out, then Spin Jump again to end Cortez’s Phase 1. After he transitions to Phase 2, the bombs from Bomb Squad thrown Turn 1 explode. Cortez sinks once when the bone pile is attacked in Phase 2, and the bombs attack the bone pile, so he sinks once, then exposes his gem on the second bomb. Now, on the third bomb, the bomb hits both the bone pile and the gem. Cortez’s gem actually has -1 DEF, and Bobbery’s bombs from Bomb Squad have 3 ATK, so he takes 2 on the bone pile and 4 on the gem, resulting in 6 damage total and leaving him at 10 HP. Now, two more bombs go off because the bombs from Bomb Squad can actually set each other off, and with two more bombs Cortez’s Phase 2 ends before Turn 3 has even started. Remember, we’re still at the end of Turn 2! And finally, the last bomb goes off and inflicts 2 damage on Cortez.

Now, finally, Turn 3 starts after Phase 2 is completely skipped. We have 2 FP left after two Spin Jumps and two Bomb Squads (both costing 4 FP total per turn). We Power Punch Mario and perform a Power Bounce with four bounces. With a Power Punch, Mario’s base 4 (factoring in Cortez’s DEF) is now at 6. (6+5+4+3) = 18 damage. And that’s exactly what we need to defeat Cortez’s third Phase and end the fight! I like this strat because you can really see how Cortez was definitely a boss for Bobbery. He annihilates him with Bomb Squad, and it’s amazing. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Now let’s look at Bob-ombast!

SHADOW SIRENS & DOOPLISS STRAT

15 HP, 15 FP
BADGES: Jumpman, All or Nothing, P-Down D-Up, Power Plus P x2, P-Up D-Down P, Mega Rush P, Power Rush P x2, FP Drain, Multibounce, Double Dip (30 BP, 39 with 1 HP Plus and 2 FP Plus)

ITEMS: Point Swap, Shooting Star

Click here to see the strategy in action!

T1: Multibounce, Bob-ombast (26, 26, 16)

T2: Double Dip (Shooting Star, Point Swap Bobbery) (20, 20, 10), Bob-ombast [KO, KO, KO]

This is a variation of the classic “Double Dip and destroy with Yoshi” strategy, but with Bobbery! There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s dive in!

The goal of this strat is to finish off the Shadow Sirens & Doopliss with Bob-ombast. To do that, we need to get Bobbery in Peril. So, we’ll need to use Point Swap. We also don’t want Mario to be KO’d Turn 1, so we equip P-Down D-Up to guarantee he lives all 3 attacks in the worst case (4 from Doopliss, 6 from Marilyn, and 3 from Beldam with guarding). Bobbery’s got 40 HP, so he can’t die Turn 1 even with P-Up D-Down P equipped. We also have FP Drain equipped, but we’ll get to that a little later. With two badges that drop Mario’s ATK, we need to boost that back up to normal, which is 3 with Ultra Boots. So, we equip Jumpman and All or Nothing, a classic combo that boosts Mario’s ATK by two for jumps at the BP cost of one Power Plus. We gave Bobbery all we could for boosting a partner’s ATK for maximum damage.

Okay, let’s actually get into this! Turn 1, we Multibounce for 3 damage each. Now, Multibounce is 2 FP, but because of FP Drain, we get 1 FP back, leaving us at 14 FP. We then Bob-ombast for 11 damage (8 base + 3 ATK from badges), which is 14 total for the turn. Now, here’s where FP Drain came into play. Without it, we’d be at 13 FP, and 13-9 is 4. With FP Drain, we get that one crucial FP back to be at a perfect 5 FP. Then, Doopliss and the Shadow Sirens attack. Turn 2, we are now able to do the classic Double Dip -> Point Swap thanks to FP Drain. We use a Shooting Star first for 6 damage, then Point Swap Bobbery, putting him at 1 HP and giving us all of our FP back. In Peril, Bobbery has +5 ATK from Mega Rush P and +4 from the two Power Rush P badges. That’s 9 ATK total, bringing Bob-ombast up to a staggering 20 damage beast of a move. As you can see, we’ve left Doopliss and Marilyn, who have 40 HP each, at 20. Beldam, who starts with 30 HP, has 10 left. With one last Bob-ombast, we finish off Doopliss and the Shadow Sirens at the same time, with perfect damage on Doopliss and Marilyn. Unlike other strategies, Bobbery’s insane FP requirement for Bob-ombast requires a couple FP Plus badges or some level ups in FP, so it’s a little unoptimal compared to a partner like Yoshi with his 6 FP Stampede. However, achieving a 2-turn fight with Bobbery is pretty cool, and it’s always nice to use FP Drain!

That’s it for Bobbery. All in all, his few strengths are greatly outclassed by other partners thanks to his insanely bad FP economy and the inability to increase Bomb Squad’s power. However, he is a great tank and you’ll be hard-pressed not to use him in a Level Zero run; and, Bomb Squad can actually obliterate certain bosses. As always, feel free to modify or use these strategies yourself and try out Bobbery sometime! You might be surprised.

Next time, I’ll be covering another badge in TTYD. I wonder what it will be… oh, and hey, check out that Puzzle Challenge I mentioned earlier that features Bobbery. It’s pretty sick.

Just Sayin’

Kappy’s Spotlight — Mega Jump

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It’s that time again: #KappySpotlight time, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today, I’ll be covering my first badge in 64, and probably the worst Jump badge of them all in said game — MEGA JUMP!!

Mega_jump_badge
BP Cost: 3
FP Cost: 6
Move: Deals Jump (3+3) + 4 damage to a single enemy.
Glitz Pit Rank: F

Mega Jump is one of the last badges you get in Paper Mario 64. You get it in Chapter 7, and while it has the “Jump is a Hammer” property of Power Jump and an added 2 damage compared to that badge, it costs triple the FP of Power Jump and triple the BP. Triple the FP and BP for +2 damage? Yeah, it’s easy to see why challenge runners don’t really use the move often. And by the time you get it, you’ve got basically every option that outclasses it. When you can just Power Bounce (or even Power Jump!), it’s tough to compete, especially when the other two are just so much more FP efficient. However, if you’ve got a lot of FP to spare, you can make some use of that extra damage.

CRYSTAL KING STRAT

15 HP, 40 FP
BADGES: Mega Jump, All or Nothing, Power Plus, Last Stand, Damage Dodge x2, Flower Saver, Mega Rush (27 BP. 30 with HP Plus)

ITEMS: Shooting Star

T1: Mega Jump (60), Electro Dash (55) [Guard 2]
T2: Mega Jump (45), Electro Dash (40)
T3: Turbo Charge, Do Nothing
T4: Mega Jump (25), Electro Dash (20)
T5 or T6: Mega Jump (5), Electro Dash [potential KO]

If heal T4 & T5

T7: Jump (6), Do Nothing
T8: Shooting Star [KO]

This is actually a pretty cool strat, but look at how much FP you need! Crystal King has 70 HP, 6 ATK, and 2 DEF. Despite these actually pretty good stats, he’s a huge pushover with easy-to-abuse AI, meaning we can destroy him with Mega Jump provided we have the FP. This strategy also nicely showcases the power of Peril combined with Last Stand in 64.

The goal of this strategy was to get rid of the RNG that Crystal King has for healing with Mega Jump and Electro Dash. Let’s start with the setup. Turns 1 & 2, we just Mega Jump and Electro Dash for 15 damage per turn. At base, Mega Jump deals 10 damage. With Crystal King’s DEF, we’re at 8, so we equip a Power Plus and All or Nothing to get that back up to 10. Now, Crystal King uses Bit Spit if he has Ice Bits on the field, which he does Turn 1. We take 4 damage each from those without guarding. With guarding, we take 1. So, we get hit by one then Guard two of them for (4+1+1) damage to be at 9 HP. Turn 2, Crystal King will summon Ice Bits. Turn 3, we set up Mario with Turbo Charge so that Mario will be dealing 15 damage instead of 14 damage in Peril. Mario does nothing to ensure Crystal King doesn’t try to heal just yet. He’ll use the Ice Bit Spit attack. We don’t guard any attacks, putting Mario at 5 HP with the first Ice Bit. Now that Mario’s at 5 HP, Last Stand kicks in, which means the other two Ice Bit attacks deal 2 damage instead of 4. With those two 2 damage attacks, Mario’s gone from 9 HP to 1 HP, putting us in Peril.Turn 4, we begin our manipulation and continue on this path until Crystal King is KO’d. On Turn 4, Crystal King is triggered to use Ice Beam. If he heals, we just Mega Jump and Electro Dash again Turn 5, and if he heals again after that, we Mega Jump and Electro Dash Turn 6, then take the guaranteed Ice Beam and do it again. Turn 7, Turbo Charge wears off, so we Jump and Do Nothing. At this point, Crystal King can either Ice Beam or create 3 clones. To circumvent the cloning, we use a Shooting Star to guarantee he gets hit and is KO’d. if he uses Ice Beam earlier, then we KO him earlier. Perfect damage and a lot of Mega Jump — nice! If you wanted, you could have 45 FP and not need a Flower Saver. I just liked being able to fit in 30 BP perfectly if HP Plus is used.

Now, there are a couple other places you can use Mega Jump, and that’s against Hallway Bowser and Final Bowser. Given that both can get rid of Water Block/Cloud Nine/Turbo Charge, as well as having an extremely punishing 3-cap most of the time for Power Bounce, you can get around the same damage over time with Mega Jump, even if you’re Power Bouncing in Peril, especially since it can be hard to maintain if you’re not great at Guarding Bowser’s attacks. Other than that, I see no reason to try and use this in normal battles., It’s likely overkill and just a waste of FP.

All in all, Mega Jump comes way too late to really be useful, but try it out next time you’re fighting Final Bowser! You might be surprised. As always, feel free to use the strategy I made or adapt it into something yourself! I’ll be doing a vote for my next spotlight, so please be sure to follow me on Twitter or join my Discord server to get notified when I ask for suggestions!!

Just Sayin’