Tactics Ogre Reborn: Evanescence, My New Favorite Skill

[@CoffeePotato]

I did end up testing this in PSP. It works the same way, but is way harder to use due to it needing TP, which had no Insta-Charge. You can literally just load up with MP items and go ham with invincibility mode here. In PSP it actually shows the Stilled icon, here it doesn't, but mentions that you are stilled in words instead. The original also used different versions of the countdown timer, which is interesting. Also, this state seems immune to Living Corpse, Animate Dwsd, and all other forms of Resurrection and Exorcism. The Lord has a ton of potential tech here has a reset. If used on the final unit, it seems to result in an instant game over, but I think it bugged once in PSP and kept going. I might have just missed something there, but this move was definitely touched up between the versions. It can also be used in conjuction with the Stinky set to cheese Coda 4's finale back and forth, though you're better off not risking it. Fun, though.

[@ThroatShredder1087]

The food from auctions charged TP

[@Bladescorpion83]

WAKE ME UP INSIDE!

[@CoffeePotato]

That's 7 references to the song, keep it going!

[@ohyeo777]

Incredible find! This opens up so many interesting strategies, especially considering the synergy with styx shift. I can't wait to see what other obscure details we learn with more testing.

[@CoffeePotato]

I'm still expecting to find something for Back Attack, Shadowbreak and Condemn. Everything was so tailored for particular things, there had to be something hidden .

[@1money11]

had i known it leaves you stilled instead of koing you id have used it by now, this is a huge discovery your excitement is contagious man hahaha

[@CoffeePotato]

I was giddy over this one. Not only is it total stealth, but also a half HP heal if they're critical, while still attacking 😮

[@oopygt59]

Bro keeps coming out with the new content. Credit to the game for having great depth.

[@blake.1312]

I'd never used it because I thought it was a silly situational ability, like TO likes having, but the concept is simply brilliant!! I love it!

[@CoffeePotato]

There's always something weird to everything 😂

[@doha057]

What a profoundly deathly skill!! Damn I feel like I know nothing yet about this game. No one ever use it to find out either. Kudos

[@CoffeePotato]

It's such a tiny detail that makes this so good, we've all been sleeping on the insane strength of this skill.

[@doha057]

@@CoffeePotato This actually aligns perfectly with Ninja's fake death pill if you think about it. Its in Sekiro. I wonder if it is one of those mistranslated cases. Time to check Japanese description.

[@orcbrand]

@@doha057 do let us know if you find out what the japanese description says

[@doha057]

@@orcbrand might take awhile, don't know Jpanese or anyone who does. But I will pin bookmark this video, in case I find something.

[@orcbrand]

@doha057 oh. if I had the Japanese text i know someone who can

[@Zeon081]

Insert "Bring me to life"

[@CoffeePotato]

That's 6 instances of the joke, let's keep it rolling 💪

[@jamesk2325]

I remember you mentioning evanescence in the ninja guide abd saying you needed to test it I'm so glad you did because this is completely WILD and I never would've thought this could happen You better believe my eyes bugged out of my skull when I saw "stilled" Does condemn prevent their revival? It seems like it should but given they're stilled it seems like exorcism should kill them and that doesn't happen, so

[@CoffeePotato]

Nope, due to a technicality, they are too alive to be exorcised, but too dead to be revived XD

[@jamesk2325]

@@CoffeePotato new insane final boss strategy? :D

[@Pacifo]

I wish this ability was in One Vision. It looks really overpowered

[@CoffeePotato]

Right? Immediately had to check if it got recycled into something.

[@Burak_C]

Wow I'm speechless. I'm curious if this actually lowers loyalty since its stilled. It probably does.

[@tostonesgg]

Fake death pill vibes from mgs3 lmaoo how cool!

[@CoffeePotato]

Rename to ketchup, put back as an item in OV 🤣

[@the8anarchist]

consider my mind blown, i've played TO since the version on the PS1, and had the PSP version the day it launched in the US, i NEVER used this ability ever because i didnt want to void my no incapacitation runs. damn near a decade and a half, and this thing is actually kinda good.

[@CoffeePotato]

Right? I was kicking myself for never trying this.

[@MVCx_xB]

oh my god. the ultimate playing opossum ability i'd neglected this skill in favor of seeing if the draconic spell of sacrifice to revive ally units works on undead. (which, yes, it does. go deploy a ghost warlock and load them up with this spell, they will be able to use it and it will still have the spell effect raising your living units. there are still the limitations of mass revive being a 25% chance so idk how great that is to strategize around but its there )

[@purussanguis9885]

omg.. I only ever tried it with a zombie ninja XD.. it said "stilled", can a necro animate perhaps?

[@andrewtaylor4484]

Tried after watching this vid, can’t necro-animate sadly :(

[@CoffeePotato]

Was about to say, since you can't Resurrect either, it's seemingly it's own state or suspended death.

[@rottenmeat5934]

Hey! Can you styx shift the ninja while they’re down?!

[@CoffeePotato]

You sure can.

[@bronysaiyan5236]

Speedstar meditate 4 denam with guardian force maybe?

[@CoffeePotato]

@@bronysaiyan5236 It could work for something, sure.

[@chie970]

It's also a great band. I think

[@CoffeePotato]

Woohoo, 10 references to the band now 😂

[@namvo3013]

This can make choking point blocker or cheese clone summoning boss I think

[@CoffeePotato]

This move opens a ton of doors, including taking over for the Zombie Octopus back row sneak.

[@elolawynladriel]

Does it void the no incapacitation titles?

[@CoffeePotato]

I'd assume no, since it's zombie status, but I'll check and report.

[@Galanthos]

I'd also be curious to know if Boon of Swiftness still effects the unit in terms of how swiftly they can get back up. Or if Velocity Shift or Paradigm Shift works on them while they are down.

[@andrewtaylor4484]

Just checked (after seeing this vid), it does not count as an incap (even on the warren report!), it shows as stilled status. Couldn’t necro-revive as a zombie, but also didn’t give me a ding on incaps :)

[@ahmedfalahy9337]

Didnt know evanescence worked like that Would have been more awesome if the skill gained more power the lower their HP was

[@CoffeePotato]

Would have been, but the hide alone is worth the cost.

[@rottenmeat5934]

Not only is this skill useful, but you might even revive by the time you recover from double attack!

[@CoffeePotato]

😂😂😂

[@rune9055]

Why did the Knight do +1k damage ??

[@rottenmeat5934]

Bombs, yo. They do damage based on your current highest weapon skill. So level 40 plus earring gets you insane damage.

[@CoffeePotato]

Weapon Skill bonus on his weapon, his earring, and he could get that to 1.6k+ if he picked up some physical bonuses.

[@rune9055]

I see. So basically any class can hit those numbers with bombs; or does one class has a damage advantage over the other?

[@BTPHawklaser]

Wow... this is crazy. No one probably bothered to try it because the tooltip pretty much implied it was just an overpriced self-destruct style of move. If only they had mentioned that wasn't the case.

[@CoffeePotato]

It's hilarious, but such a Matsuno thing to do 🤣

[@fredeffect2350]

Wow! Does it count toward your incapacitated number?

[@CoffeePotato]

It doesn't count as an Incap.

[@fredeffect2350]

I will certainly be employing this skill then!@@CoffeePotato

[@secretbunnyninja]

I tested this skill a lot, hoping I could basically have a suicide bomb unit, surrounded by team members with revive items since the revive orb is the only one you can throw at range without lobber for the purposes of speedrunning, and the revived unit gets an immediate turn hence potential for abuse, I just couldn't make it work. I didn't try using it in a training battle, but one thing I did remember from playing the game is that you can't have any unit perma-die for any reason in training. I would assume if you do this on a non-training battle they are dead if you don't beat the map by the count down. But either way it just wasn't enough damage to justify, and being that the AI is making quicker decisions on most maps than you can as a human, I couldn't figure it out. Definitely interesting tho.

[@benedict6962]

Fascinating. I never connected the dots that the training mode interaction applies to real combat too. NOW double attack makes more sense. You can stack up RT because exploding resets your RT into the 3 turn timer and makes them invul. Corpses don't really get pushed around. Styx Shift could've been used to send them to the backline and Double Attack as soon as they stand up. Spellcharge works pretty well in this case. Hmmmm. Double Attack, Weapon Skill, Evanescence, Steelstance. Double Cursed Katana. Knight or Rune Fencer base stats. Jump in the fight, double attack, explode. Cursed Weapon RT gets you back up quicker. Wake up, activate Steelstance, walk up to an enemy and use a Shot to explode a second time. Will Steelstance reduce the damage? Get someone to Spellcharge you. When your turn rolls up again, you're in the perfect position to rinse and repeat.

[@CoffeePotato]

Dang right, it's a sinister little thing. Also an interesting way for the Lord to sort of put themselves in stasis to get behind the lines.

[@benedict6962]

I kinda want to make Hamilton do this build

[@Zeon081]

I wonder if you have a team of only ninjas and all of them use this skill will the game think that you lost the battle or will it break enemy AI?

[@CoffeePotato]

It will give you a game over, but you can time this into a bizarre game of Whack a Mole.

[@orcbrand]

I did catch what happened as soon as you used the skill... I never even tried this in any of my playthroughs... I thought it worked like Pumpkin Bomb, which I like to use with a zombie pumpkin.... but evanescence legit "stills" units that aren't undead? On both PSP and Reborn??? Huge oversight then that the description says it leaves them "INCAPACITATED" because that's a completely separate condition and that's *literally* my excuse for never using this skilll...

[@CoffeePotato]

It's misleading in the funniest way. It's had us fooled for over a decade 🤣

[@rabbyd542]

Do you get game over if your whole team used this?

[@woodsie8965]

You just figured this out, And how many hours do you have in this game? lol

[@CoffeePotato]

Ungodly amounts. There's so many mechanics that rarely show up. This is an odd case of a unique knockout state. It was years before anyone figured out the 100% hit rule, it just keeps on having more around every corner. It's why I'm still looking into Back Attack and Condemn. There's some oddly specific reason they're there, I guarantee it.

[@ManiManiPlays]

"Stilled". Oh. Ooooooh. In my defense, I don't really use ninja, and I don't think I've ever once used Evanescence.

[@DarkSol13]

Insert obligatory Bring Me To Life joke actually, would Denam even Game Over if he was the only one on the field and did this? hmmmm...

[@CoffeePotato]

Instant Game Over if he's the last one, but combined with Lord Cheese and Auto Cards, it's basically Rest from Pokemon 😂

[@orcbrand]

...they might actually have been thinkin of the joke when they named this skill now that I know this is how it works~! LOL

[@CoffeePotato]

@@orcbrand It would be on brand 🤣

[@ValeVin]

What the actual fluff.

[@CoffeePotato]

Right? How have we never noticed this?!

[@orcbrand]

@@CoffeePotato probably because the description of the skill lied to all of us!

[@CoffeePotato]

@@orcbrand They do that a lot, it's why I'm still convinced Back Attack and Condemn have some secret use.

[@benedict6962]

@@CoffeePotato does Condemn prevent a ninja from getting back up?

[@CoffeePotato]

@@benedict6962 It doesn't, but does have a bizarre different interaction ill cover tomorrow.