Monster Train 301 (Eternal)

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Monster Train is back for the first time since Eternity's patch. So of course most of us are wondering how easy or hard it's gonna be right? Fyi, there is no golden ticket nor true boss stage this time (The train engines). All you get are 2 tickets daily and 4 on weekends.

So after a few runs and tests, Normal / Hard / Expert can be done with your regular characters. No issues there, considering there are no restrictions at all. You can use potions, you can use revival bonuses.

But for Hell Mode, you will get your balls rocked. You can check out the Monster Train update on the game website here btw.

In Hell Mode, you cannot-
  • Use potions
  • Use bonuses
  • Use Natal Rings
If you're dead even once, you're staying dead. No second chance, no nothing. You're going to need a heck lot power to win even this mode, you can't afford careless mistakes for they are each a step towards failure.

But it's solo-able nonetheless. Character choice is important here so, whom do I think fits this job?


Dark Rin. Her abilities are second to none when it comes to real massacre. For one, she hits real hard and easily decimates even Champion level enemies without too much effort. Her mobility (via techniques) is also important because they have evasive properties, which are of utmost importance when attempting Hell Mode.

More importantly? The ability to heal herself through her attacks which are not under the healing restriction. Combine these with her devastating skills, there's no reason not to use Rin.


Some of you might ask, why not Geas? Why not WF-Dio?

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Geas is good against enemy masses no doubt, but her melee abilities causes her to have terrible recovery time and she has no evasive measures should she be countered against. Freeze Tempest? Core Break?

Unfortunately for her, Freeze Tempest is not a DoT type attack, 95% of the enemies faced are small, and that reduces the skill's damage efficiency because it requires physical contact for damage. Monsters at the Hell Mode aren't going down in one Freeze Tempest- she's going to be out of luck. Core Break is just a little better than Freeze Tempest in damage, but it's not the ideal weapon. Because the Monster Train is a linear stage setup, your enemies are too scattered to take full damage from Core Break.

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The other choice, Dio? Bringing a character that has to wait for AP and without overwhelming melee combat strength is going to run him down very fast. In Hell Mode, time is not a luxury that any AP character has.

I'm certainly not going to bash Onrush's usefulness and power, but Dio has one aggravating problem- The Security Patrols

At any time, they may simply take out their shields and nullify the entire Onrush attack, leaving Dio AP-exhausted and helpless while he waits for the recharge for another go. Not enough? You can't budge them, they will obstruct Dio (or anyone for that matter) entirely until his attack ends, and they have the ability to stop Dio from reaching his key targets.

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I can't stress enough that your strongest characters aren't always the real trump cards. It's not a life-and-death game, but it's a high-stakes one. You want the rewards? You want to win? Know your character limitations, formulate your strategy, and win.

Well it doesn't matter in a team run anyway. You have 4x the power, figuratively speaking, so your chances of victory are much higher. The only problem again is? You share your loot.

And I don't want to! That's why I always love solo (。・ε・。)

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Sorry to disappoint but there won't be any complete guides on this dungeon. Just have fun ~ I will post up a video on each difficulty level when I have the resources to do so~

Normal
Video Link: Monster Train (Normal)

Hell
Video Link: Monster Train (Hell)


To be frank, I think Hell Mode is a waste of time. While the difficulty transition is only somewhat significant, and enemies have more HP combined with Champion level buffs, the drops are not worth it.

For every completed run, your sure-win prizes are usually a reinforcement-related item and a pair of uniform and accessory coupon, 1 each. For card boxes, you simply get a higher chance of Archimedia/Alcubra cards, which aren't always that fantastic either.

When you factor in the limited pays per day, and the inability to at least reforge the Monster Train set into Epic/Relic grade equipment- just don't try too hard and start slamming your keyboards etc. But if you must, I offer you some tips and observations for success.

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1) Second Carriage - The Cannons
In all other modes, the cannons on both sides fire only 1 shot per volley. In Hell Mode however, they will always fire 3 shots per volley. Which means you're pretty much in a rut until you get rid of them. Make them your priority target, or you will suffer too much DoT damage from the fire.

If you're using Dark Rin, use her Jump Technique 2 (upward one) to zip onto the carriage roof, break the first cannon and use it again to safely zip across the middle gap to reach the opposite cannon.


2) Third Carriage - The Levers
This is the healing mechanic only Dark Rin can abuse. The two levers that are supposedly used to disrupt the Prisoner's special attack remain as tangible targets even after the stage is cleared. Before you enter the last carriage to battle Casey Bones, freely abuse your Dark gauge's healing ability and keep attacking at the lever until your HP is full again.

In case of real emergency during the fight when you need to recover HP, attempt to activate the Dark gauge quickly and use Unstoppable Strength on the lever, which should recover almost all your HP in one burst.


3) Engine Carriage - Boss Mobs
Make killing his Attendants and Security Patrols a priority. They are the nuisance that can kill you before even Casey Bones does.

When Casey Bones discharges the steam vents, he'll be stationary the entire time and that's good, because you'll definitely want to stay still in the safe gap you might have found yourself in - His bastard mobs, if you kept them alive, might just push you into the steam as they try to jump onto your position, and killing you (Those vents WILL HURT LIKE HELL, I assure you) while you vent your own time on the other side of the screen.

Another reason in doing so (killing them first), is because of the very short time you have to collect your drops before the run ends, (less than 5-6 seconds). If they were all over the place, uncollected, you're going to lose some of your hard earned loot.

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