THE iDOLM@STER 2 Gameplay Thread

[Setsuna]

It seems to increase voltage from regular appeals as well, now that I look at it again. Seems unverified how large the increase is, though.

I need to finish my playthrough so I can get it and check it out, I guess. I wonder if it changes which appeals you get during the Burst, or if it still uses the appeal spread for whichever girl you have selected at the time.

For most part, there's a voltage boost, and the ability to have 3 people to participate in a special appeal.

It's not that useful compared to the other charms, although this hasn't been benchmarked, so it might be the replacement for the charm you can win in the Tokyo IA event (which isn't technically a regional, but has similar requirements)

There's only ONE formation for this though (Namely, no matter who you use, the actions are exactly the same for all 3), and it will only use 3 people even in a quintet.

[Corinth]

Mail Boost. Supposed to increase Voltage gain or something, but it doesn't really do anything on the XBox360 version. At least, the gain is so small, it doesn't do anything.

On the PS3 version, it supposedly gives you a Voltage bonus when you Memory Appeal. Maybe it does this in the XBox360 version, I never checked.

http://www44.atwiki.jp/idolmasterim2/?cmd=word&word=%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%96%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88&type=normal&page=%E3%82%88%E3%81%8F%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F
http://www44.atwiki.jp/idolmasterim2/?cmd=word&word=%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%96%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88&type=normal&page=PS3%E7%89%88%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%89%E6%9B%B4%E7%82%B9

Ohhhh interesting!  Thanks for the wiki links.  I tried searching there but since I only had the cell phone icon to go off of, I couldn't find anything.  Some of the comments there say that if you check your unit information while the icon is active, it explains the boost on that screen so I'll have to verify that. 

Edit:  I'm on my second playthrough now and just got a Mail Boost.  On the unit info screen above all of their faces, it does says MAIL BOOST!! and then an increase to voltage when doing an Omoide (Memory) Appeal.

[animagic4u]

It's not that useful compared to the other charms, although this hasn't been benchmarked, so it might be the replacement for the charm you can win in the Tokyo IA event (which isn't technically a regional, but has similar requirements)

There's only ONE formation for this though (Namely, no matter who you use, the actions are exactly the same for all 3), and it will only use 3 people even in a quintet.

How important are the amulets?
I never get them (I see them sort of as a waste of money).

I'm on my first playthrough and doing pretty awful which I expected because I didn't understand the certain gameplay aspects at first such as publicity.

[TweenDoriru]

How important are the amulets?
I never get them (I see them sort of as a waste of money).

I'm on my first playthrough and doing pretty awful which I expected because I didn't understand the certain gameplay aspects at first such as publicity.

Most of them (so -I- find, anyway) aren't that useful. The only ones I use are the strong rate-reducers (Rinkamo, Nikuwan, and Awanko...but really just Awanko because Vocal/Dance stuff is all I ever do). There's another one which raises the voltage per appeal/burst appeal which I use during Festivals but it doesn't seem to make -that- much of a difference. I forget the name of it. It's yellow and in the last Amulet slot in the 360 version :s

[AweOfShe]

There's only really 4 Amulets that are important, and can be acquired easily:
Niku-wan, Rinkamo, Awanko (the 3 best multiplier slowdown amulets), and Sugamo-chan (Voltage Booster)

They make the game much easier, and you can pretty much skip every other amulet. They were the only 4 amulets I had when S Ranking Hyper Mode multiple times.

EDIT: TweenDoriru beat me to it. XD

[Setsuna]

How important are the amulets?
I never get them (I see them sort of as a waste of money).

I'm on my first playthrough and doing pretty awful which I expected because I didn't understand the certain gameplay aspects at first such as publicity.

You heard them.

They also serve a secondary purpose - It sort of helps in tracking where you've been. Since you can get half decent stuff from the extra episodes, and/or DLC, I actually spend a LOT more on the charms than most, since every stage needs to be manually unlocked.

It's because of the fact that there's one for every region of the game - consequently, if you buy every charm, you know you've been everywhere, and consequently you've unlocked every stage in the game.

[JNiles]

How important are the amulets?
I never get them (I see them sort of as a waste of money).

I'm on my first playthrough and doing pretty awful which I expected because I didn't understand the certain gameplay aspects at first such as publicity.

I think you should get the amulets mentioned by the others, unless you're a DJ Max player and never miss a beat.

[JNiles]

Alright, I appear to not understand how counter appealing works.  If you use a memory appeal right after the opponent uses a memory appeal, it knocks the opponent's voltage meter down by a lot, right?  Because Jupiter keeps pulling this stunt on me.  I can't really watch the bars and the appeal circles at the same time, so I'm having trouble recognizing what's happening (might need to hit youtube).

[Setsuna]

Alright, I appear to not understand how counter appealing works.  If you use a memory appeal right after the opponent uses a memory appeal, it knocks the opponent's voltage meter down by a lot, right?  Because Jupiter keeps pulling this stunt on me.  I can't really watch the bars and the appeal circles at the same time, so I'm having trouble recognizing what's happening (might need to hit youtube).

I tend to broadcast all my games. If you want to see an actual game in Hyper mode (and the consequent requirements) from week 42 to 54 (and yes, this S ranked) there should be a number of auditions and festivals.

http://www.twitch.tv/alaylle/b/299372003

You can study it, and you'll probably see me do some rank 11 and 12 events more than a few times, which should demonstrate that at the top end of town, the timings and the attacks can be... interesting.

Essentially, BT2 does most of the math, although you can 'shut down' an appeal gain if you appeal at just the right spot (and furthermore, send it backwards) but this requires absurd timing.

[JNiles]

I tend to broadcast all my games. If you want to see an actual game in Hyper mode (and the consequent requirements) from week 42 to 54 (and yes, this S ranked) there should be a number of auditions and festivals.

http://www.twitch.tv/alaylle/b/299372003

You can study it, and you'll probably see me do some rank 11 and 12 events more than a few times, which should demonstrate that at the top end of town, the timings and the attacks can be... interesting.

Essentially, BT2 does most of the math, although you can 'shut down' an appeal gain if you appeal at just the right spot (and furthermore, send it backwards) but this requires absurd timing.

I did watch one of the hour-long streams a few weeks ago.  At the time, I didn't understand the nature of the gameplay and couldn't make the connection between the button presses and the results.  Thanks, I guess I'll give it another whirl.

edit: the "absurd timing" is what I needed to know most.  Guess I won't be going that route.

[Setsuna]

I did watch one of the hour-long streams a few weeks ago.  At the time, I didn't understand the nature of the gameplay and couldn't make the connection between the button presses and the results.  Thanks, I guess I'll give it another whirl.

edit: the "absurd timing" is what I needed to know most.  Guess I won't be going that route.

Well, basically, you can shut down their entire gain, if you appeal IMMEDIATELY after their appeal. When it does, it halts their gain, then docks the full loss. The odds on that are pretty low, and should be considered more of a bonus.

See the second part of the video (I think the first half is me trying to pull off an audition and failing) if you need to see scorings for festivals.

[Byuusan]

went between both atwiki and the english wiki  (lastly the manual) but i didnt seem to find any info on it.

Is the bright dot on the start of the voltage bar mean anything? Sometime it there, sometime it not. You cant really miss it if ti shows up, it so bright i might as well go blind on it.

[Setsuna]

went between both atwiki and the english wiki  (lastly the manual) but i didnt seem to find any info on it.

Is the bright dot on the start of the voltage bar mean anything? Sometime it there, sometime it not. You cant really miss it if ti shows up, it so bright i might as well go blind on it.

No, it happens every beat (but most people don't pay attention to it cause they're too busy trying to win) every time voltage adjusts for that side. It'll 'not complete' if the scoring period ends and it's part of the way through the animation.

There's not much to say about it, apart from the fact I've seen it happen on both sides, it doesn't mean much.

[Ekureiru]

I've been meaning to ask, is their some way to unlock S4U? Appears to be shown as three question marks for me.

I'm guessing it requires one playthrough to beat, but my playthroughs thus far have been... horrid.

[Setsuna]

I've been meaning to ask, is their some way to unlock S4U? Appears to be shown as three question marks for me.

I'm guessing it requires one playthrough to beat, but my playthroughs thus far have been... horrid.

S4U should be a 'off the bat' thing. If anything it's the extra episodes that should be locked out.