Here's the deal. Everytime you use a move, even on errantry the cpu records it. After you use a certain move 50 times, the next in its chain becomes accessable. (That's why you get the "difficult to get technique" phrase from the errantry guy).
DEFINITION-Chain: A move that produces another move(but more powerful) similar to the original when used 50+ times. ie, Gali's Firewall-used 50+ times->Blazewall used 50+ times->Napalm. (Class increase may be a factor.)
So how do I get all the moves for my monster when it has several moves to unlock? Example: My Gali has 12 moves that need to be "unlocked." How can I possibly use his moves 50 X 12 = 600 times?!?
Easy!!! When you combine your monster, he retains EVERY chain that you "unlocked" including all partial unlocking. Partial unlocking means-if you only managed to use a tech 25 times before your life's end, you only have to use it 25 more times after you've combined.
There are two catches:
1)The monster which you unlocked all those techs for, must be the same MAIN breed after combining.
2)ALSO, when combining, you must choose that monster 1ST in the combining process, then choose the 2nd(Doesn't matter what) monster to combine with.
Example: I have a (Gali/???) with 4 moves unlocked. I want to combine it with my Angel(Pixie/Gali) because they have good combo. I MUST choose my (Gali/???) 1ST when asked to do so, then I choose my Angel. After the combining, I get one of 4 possible monsters: Gali, Angel, Pink mask, and Pixie. In order to retain all 4 unlock techs and any partially unlocked ones, I must get either a Gali or a Pink mask because both of them have Gali as a mainbreed.
I suspect that I'll get all of my Gali's moves by its 3rd or 4th generation.
I won't provide the evidence for this cause this is already too long of a post. I actually tested this stuff out so if you want proof, just ask me.
-- RNA (RNA@Ribosome.nuc), December 04, 1999
Answers
Some questions: What affects good/evil technique acquisition? It is still rather puzzling as I do not know what techniques to put into practice to obtain the coveted moves.
Great job RNA! Zoinks luvs ya!
-- Zoinks (kboi513@icqmail.com), December 04, 1999.
I agree with this since my 3rd gen Emerald Eye got the long rang flick move after one tournament. And flick was the move I had used most with his fathe
-- Golden Boy (chrisbee@exploremaine.com), December 04, 1999.
Yep. That's how I got most of the moves for my moves list. It's common sense, really. Start out with more moves and a longer lifespan, and it'll make it easier for you to acquire all the techs. For some mosters with an incredible amount of moves (e.g. Arrow Head, Wracky, Zuum), there was no way that I could fight enough times and go on enough errantries to have all the moves with a first generation monster. On top of that, I also had to raise monsters of different natures in order to get almost all the moves (I'm still working on some... like the Pixie POW move chain I have going).
What I think is different is that, even though the offspring is of another primary breed, it still starts out with more moves if the first monster chosen to combine with already has a lot.
Speaking of moves, I'd also like to add a side comment about their ratings. As all of you know, each move has a rating in each category that ranges from E-S. Perhaps some of you already know this, but the spectrum is not that discrete e.g. not all moves that are rated D force hit for the same damage. Instead, it is more like a continuous spectrum from E- to E to E+ to D- etc... and finally to S+. For example, Deathbringer is an incredibly powerful move that deals more damage than the Zilla's Earthquake - with both being S force moves and everything else (POW, enemy, critical hit) held constant. The Hopper's Flick does not do as much damage as its Rapid Flick, which happens to be the next one in that chain but is given the same 'D' force rating. This also applies to Hit% and Withering ratings. Sharpness is incredibly tough to measure for this, but I suspect that it applies to that stat as well.
-- Sean Chang (chang.319@osu.edu), December 04, 1999.
So here is a question: If combine two monsters of the same breed, will they add their practice together? A Blue Thunder that does meteor dive 25 times and another equals a centaur that has a rating of 50 or
-- Golden Boy (chrisbee@exploremaine.com), December 04, 1999.
1) For the partial unlocking in my main post: you can change the "25" with any #(number). When you combine, the amount of times needed to access the next tech in the chain is just (50-#).
2) As for class, I still have no idea because I have not noticed any "unlocking" of any sort as I move up in classes. (Except in B class: defence errantry)
3) For Good/Evil techs. My guess is that the cpu records the number of times you use a tech no matter what alignment you are (There's no reason they shouldn't). Therefore, you may have unlocked an evil attack even when you're not evil (The same goes for good). You may not even know that you unlocked a tech because you were in the wrong alignment. Whenever you want to get the tech, just turn yourself evil/good. Also, unlocked good and evil techs carry over as well, just like normal techs. Example: my (Gali/???)'s "Red Wisp-Blue wisp" combo carried over (They're both good techs).
4) For Good/Evil tech aquisition: I'm not sure, but I think some good/evil techs can be unlocked only by using neutral techs while there are others that can be unlocked by using techs with the same alignment. However, all chains are set and you can't really unlock something unless you know what move you need to use to unlock it.
(Note: a monster can learn both evil and good techs. There was even one time when I combined 2 monsters to get a neutral monster that started off with 1 good tech and 1 evil tech.)
5) I haven't tested what happens if two monsters of the same breed are combined. I think it would apply the same rules as if they were both different. ie, they would not take an unlocked tech from monster 1 and an unlocked tech from monster 2 and put it into resulting monster 3. Like I said, I haven't tested this so don't quote me on it.
Since so many people agree with the main argument, I guess I don't have to put in another long message that shows my evidence...right?
For Sean Chang, I think it would be a good idea if you made a new thread about the spectrum thing. It is such good info but there is really no way that anybody could find something like that if its hiding in this thread. I think it was mentioned before but I don't remember where I saw it.
With regard to the spectrum, I also noticed it as well. When in battle, you'll notice that two attacks side by side have the same HIT rating but 1 move shows a better HIT% than the other.
Hmm... I might start a new thread on that spectrum thing. Not now since I have finals to study for. :)
At any rate, I've had a monster that once or twice inherited a tech that appears later in a chain, but did not begin with the tech that is required to open it up. e.g. Big Bang without knowing Bang or TwoJumpBlows without knowing Jump Blow. Seems like a random thing, but that shows how indiscriminating tech inheritance is.
I've also had a tough time trying to get a monster to inherit a special tech. Perhaps it has happened before, but I wasn't keeping track.
-- Sean Chang (chang.319@osu.edu), December 05, 1999.
Further testing has forced me to re-evaluate my original argument.
HERE's WHAT HAPPENED: I used my hare's "high kick" 50+ times to unlock the next in its chain (high kick -> spin kick). However, it did not let me get the spin kick. I then left it and began working on "kung fu fist" so I could eventually get "kung fu blow." After getting "kung fu blow", I noticed that "spin kick" was finally unlocked. From this experience, and from reading about a thread that mentioned cross-over techs, I combined that knowledge to help redefine the definition of "Chain."
DEFINITION-Chain(Revised):A move or a combination of moves that produces another move(but more powerful) similar to the original or originals when used 50+ times(each). ie, "high kick" & "kung fu blow" +50 (each) -> "spin kick"
Also, another test:
1)After unlocking the new move "kung fu blow" which in turn, unlocked "spin kick," I decided not to get the move and went on to combining. After combining to get another hare mainbreed, I went right to errantries to see if I could still get the new moves, "kung fu blow" and "spin kick" which I had unlocked before but did not get. Well, I couldn't get them! They were locked all over again!
2)My second test involved getting "kung fu blow" but not "spin kick" and then combining right after. The results were baffling, my next hare mainbreed could get both "kung fu blow" and "spin kick" even though it never got "spin kick" before.
By the above testing 1), it is obvious that my definition of partial unlocking needs more re-evaluation. My prior definition was the result of the mere knowledge that excessive use of a monster's forte carries over to the next generation mainbreed's forte.
IMPORTANT!: If you want to get all the techniques for a monster, use the main procedure of this thread. However, you may want to leave out the part about partial unlocking as it still needs further testing. So to be safe, make sure COMPLETELY unlock the move and AQUIRE it as well before combining.
To tell how many times you've used a skill: I only battle when I get to S class. At that time, most of my battles are close together so I have no problem remembering how many times I use a tech. I usually just focus on 1 or 2 at a time. The cpu doesn't show that kinda info. its kinda like not showing us our monster's actual stress level, its nature, its style, its form, etc. These all have numbers associated with them but the programmers just don't show it to us for their own reasons. (Probably to simulate reality and to increase difficulty.)
There is another factor(in addition to regular chains and crossover chains) to consider when attaining techs. Go to "Breed specific techs/chains" in the "battles" category for more information.
Also, you do not need to "hit" with each use. Some techs require you to only use it 30 times in order to unlock the next in its chain.