THE iDOLM@STER 2 Gameplay Thread

[AweOfShe]

Oh, yeah. Yes I do. Sorry 'bout that.

[Setsuna]

The icon is really obvious when you get it. I would like to note that it is possible to get a true end on your very first run using only Miku/Ai/Eri/Ryo as your only paid DLC. I should record that sort of run one day.

Is that before or AFTER you abuse a loophole in how 'new games' are calculated?

For those who don't know, it's possible to unlock 98% of the first store, (the other 2% requires you to finish the game once first, which is of course the 765 headset) with a single run. You don't go into New Game+ mode until BK is available (Because until then, none of the 'Items on sale which require a loop' will be available to you), something which I found out the hard way )

Why is that note relevant?

In theory, if you have enough time on your hands, a game doesn't count as completed as a new game until you well, actually complete week 55 and force BK to unlock. The game WILL not recognise you've even finished it the FIRST time until both conditions happen.

In turn, this means if you deliberately stall BK's unlock, and NEVER post a producer score (namely, complete the game at week 55, just run to week 54, then start over as many times as it takes), you can buy out one entire store, and have everything accessible to you (charms included) for a single shot (Hyper if you so wish) True end S rank right off the bat, and the game will note it as your first run.

You don't even need any DLC for this to happen.

[TheTanStar]

What I meant was from absolutely nothing -- Like you started a new profile then played the game from beginning to end without aborting/starting a new run. I've come close to achieving it on 360 and PS3 Normal, ending up one or two weeks short due to not forcing reporters.

[Daverost]

That's some interesting info. I'll see what I can do to push to the top 10. I can avoid a bad end on this run for sure, but a Good end would be better than the Normal I'm headed for.

[Daverost]

A new day, a new set of questions. I managed to get into the top 10 last night, so I secured a Good end.

I'm having some problems with scoring, though. I'm barely squeaking by in a lot of festivals (by less than 200 points in some cases) and my highest score so far is 45000. I know you need 76500 for one of the trophies, so that worries me a bit. I mostly have questions on tactics.

One tactic seems to be to hit 1.50x in the main stat and try not to let it fall below about 1.45 or 1.46x. The other seems to be to hit 1.50x and use it until a Burst. The first seems like an early game tactic before you have high danketsu and the latter seems like the tactic to use after Bursts start giving good points. Does that sound right?

Should I start with a Memory Appeal every time to boost base modifiers or only in Festivals to get an early lead?

I can only assume it's going to come down to 2nd cycle+ equipment or something to boost the points I get per appeal.

[satty]

A new day, a new set of questions. I managed to get into the top 10 last night, so I secured a Good end.

I'm having some problems with scoring, though. I'm barely squeaking by in a lot of festivals (by less than 200 points in some cases) and my highest score so far is 45000. I know you need 76500 for one of the trophies, so that worries me a bit. I mostly have questions on tactics.

One tactic seems to be to hit 1.50x in the main stat and try not to let it fall below about 1.45 or 1.46x. The other seems to be to hit 1.50x and use it until a Burst. The first seems like an early game tactic before you have high danketsu and the latter seems like the tactic to use after Bursts start giving good points. Does that sound right?

Should I start with a Memory Appeal every time to boost base modifiers or only in Festivals to get an early lead?

I can only assume it's going to come down to 2nd cycle+ equipment or something to boost the points I get per appeal.

For festivals:

Use a song that has a fast BPM. There's an amulet that really increases your voltage meter, but lowers the amount of points you get on burst. It's mainly used as a voltage stopper. There's a tactic, but that involves having 2 to 3 hearts.

-Get voltage meter to near full, use an appeal, then burst
-Switch the character with L1/LB, then use a memory appeal
-If you have a 3rd heart, switch to another character, then use the last memory appeal.

That increases the voltage meter more than if you used all of them on one person. And tap R1 as fast as you can when you both you and the CPU have full voltage meters; it's possible to beat the CPU in activating it.

[Daverost]

Yeah, I have the amulet from the Tokyo area. Not really impressed with it due to the score gimping. I'm one festival away from being able to get the other one, though. The one that also boosts Memory Appeals.

I guess I'll be okay if I have it for festivals. Will song scoring just improve by better stats? I'm probably at my limit for this run.

[satty]

Yeah, I have the amulet from the Tokyo area. Not really impressed with it due to the score gimping. I'm one festival away from being able to get the other one, though. The one that also boosts Memory Appeals.

I guess I'll be okay if I have it for festivals. Will song scoring just improve by better stats? I'm probably at my limit for this run.

To my knowledge, it does. Better to set up clothes that power up your main stat.

[Daverost]

Okay. I think I'm limited by first cycle wardrobe. I bought the most expensive stuff there was. I'll hit up the Extra Episode and the new cycle shop next run. Thanks!

[satty]

Okay. I think I'm limited by first cycle wardrobe. I bought the most expensive stuff there was. I'll hit up the Extra Episode and the new cycle shop next run. Thanks!

Hey, no problem at all.

[Daverost]

Just wanted to take a second to thank everyone that offered advice. I finished my first cycle.

I pulled off a break on week 52 that put me at #1, turned off auto-save and lost on purpose to Jupiter to get the hell training trophy then reloaded and beat them first try, and scored the Ocean Blue and Grand Prix awards. (I cleared the capital area too for the amulet and passed up another area that I was less than 10k fans short of for another amulet after a low-fan performance, so I could have gotten 3 area awards if I wanted). These were my results:

Image Level - A
High Score - A (55892)
Total Sales - B (3762332)
Top Chart Position - A (1)
Rewinds - A (0)

Overall - B

My top seller song by the end of the game was 2393185 units.

Now I'll grab the Princess Melody and start a second cycle :3

[Daverost]

What would you guys recommend for the third song? Should I do what I did with the second and just do lessons up through Fujisan Rock and use the release week to do a national audition and just forget about it, or should I bother trying to do well with it at the cost of some lessons?

I was thinking I'd let the third song go like I did the second (the second hit #22 with only a shoddy performance on release week at a national audition) and focus on doing lessons so that after the third song's release I can focus on building fans and focus on sales for the last two songs. Is there a better strategy?

[satty]

What would you guys recommend for the third song? Should I do what I did with the second and just do lessons up through Fujisan Rock and use the release week to do a national audition and just forget about it, or should I bother trying to do well with it at the cost of some lessons?

I was thinking I'd let the third song go like I did the second (the second hit #22 with only a shoddy performance on release week at a national audition) and focus on doing lessons so that after the third song's release I can focus on building fans and focus on sales for the last two songs. Is there a better strategy?

You might need to drop the lessons at this point and go for fans with your third song.

[Daverost]

Is image level 12/13 going to be sufficent for that? When should I try to pick up the remaining levels?

[satty]

Is image level 12/13 going to be sufficent for that? When should I try to pick up the remaining levels?

If you're aiming for an A rank in Normal, you need Image Level 14 at least. You could use the two(?) weeks between the top 20 getting into Idol Academy and that week when you get on the boat to train, assuming you manage to get to the top 20 by that time.