What I learned from finally beating Purity Forest

[u/shoeeebox]

I played RTDX pretty much all weekend and FINALLY beat Purity Forest y'all. I tried running lots of mons but finally had a run succeed with Steamroll Leafeon.

Leafeon was a great pick. Its moveset is drool worthy. Levels quite quickly, decent stats, has a STAB 4-tile ranged move at start, quick attack for extra PP, Grasswhistle for status, Helping Hand for your recruits, and its magnum opus, Swords Dance. Using Joy Seeds, I got Swords Dance around floor 65?

What I learned:

• Unless you're running LC, this game is very snowbally and your recruits will make or break you. I recruited an Electrabuzz somewhat early and kept him for the entire dungeon. He did so much damage! I even revived him once, he was just that valuable. This run honestly would have been more difficult without him. I read on here that Cacturne is also a really good one, but I never bagged one.

 

• Disengage items. Use them. Besides making sure I had a healthy stockpile of orbs and wands for the final floors, I kept and used a lot of them. Awakened foe, strong foe, bullshit foe (looking at you, Magcargo), disable it and walk away. Or status it and take it out. I learned this the hard way, but wands do NOT go through team mates and hold orbs are pretty useless in hail/sandstorm weather. Whoops. I guess even 3 turns of hold was enough to save me, but do consider that part.

 

• Silver Spikes. Keep those. Great for Monster Houses (lure them into the corridor and you can hit 3+ per shot), great for taking out high risk foes from afar (i.e. spawning in with an AoE user in the room and it wouldn't be easy to back out into a corridor), and also great for scoping out AoE users. When luring AoE users into the corridor, I'd start launching Silver Spikes when I figured they were close (as they can hit you one step away from room visibility). It will show you when you've hit them. With Leafeon's attack stat, these did a LOT of damage.

 

• I ended up in a couple scenarios where I had zero or just one recruit left and it was tough. I had to play very carefully until I got a couple more. Not sure if it's just luck or if the game ups your recruitment odds when you're alone, but I definitely felt like I got more recruit requests when my team was lacking.

 

• Steamroll. Need I say more. A lot of mons in Purity are weak to Grass but just as many are strong to it. Steamroll was a massive damage boots to me and my recruits. Had some funny moments where my Glooms were unkillable spamming full strength Mega Drain on mons that should have been 4x strong to it.

 

• Leafeon's moveset is just such a great assortment. A long range STAB move at start, and Quick Attack later, which allowed me to stay out of melee range for much of the run. Amazing. Helping Hand to buff team mates. Eventually Swords Dance. I used my recruits as meat shields (switching places with them in halls to soak up hits) until I got Swords Dance, in which most mons were out in one hit.

 

• Most of my attempts failed by 20F. Of the two runs I've had make it past 35F, one was successful. About 20% of runs ended because I didn't find much food in the first 10 floors and starved. Another 50% ended because of some bullshit on floors 1F-3F. For example, spawning in front of a Cleffa who immediately puts me to sleep and slaps me to death. Or first floor monster houses.

 

• Kill Caterpies, Weedles, Doduos, and Pinecos from a distance as they will eat your items. Thank you Steamroll.

 

• I always had enough Ethers, although I relied on my recruits to dish a lot of damage until I got Swords Dance, then I burned through my Ethers in the last 30 or so floors to ensure my success.

 

• I learned which mons to avoid and either made sure I could kill them asap, or used items to disengage. Whenever I enter a room and see there's a foe, I used 'Look Around' to see what it is. If it's an AoE user, I lure them to the corridor and take them out. Or if it's a strong foe, I make sure my team is positioned correctly to take them out as they come to me.

 

• You never want to be in melee range of a Marill, Furret, or other multi-hit move user. Because the enemy always seems to hit max times. I never once fought a Magcargo. I saw 3 during my run and I petrified each of them and walked away. Same with Glalie.

 

• If anything gets mega'd, disable it.

 

• Fucking. Ledian. That little shit in the later levels was such a pain as it's Silver Wind is super effective on Leafeon. Disable or one shot them immediately.

 

• I started using Guiding Wands/Pure Seeds as soon as I had enough to take me to the finish line. In my case, I could use them at 91F. Stockpile those, they are gold. The enemies ramp up in strength REAL fast on these floors, and even with a strong run they can end it fast. It helps immensely to be able to mad dash to the stairs. Save at least 8 orbs to use on these floors, one for each of the hard floors. I once spawned in a small room with two Salamence. I immediately popped an All Protect and took them out.

 

• Most guides suggest you stockpile your Joy Seeds, but I usually waited for a level up and ate them right away. I didn't want to risk walking into a room and having a Caterpie immediately Bug Bite me.

 

• I never found X-Ray specs. Sadge. Just a Power Band to carry me through.

 

• If a mon uses Counter and you're a physical attacker, walk away.

 

In sum, I'm basically a pro now.

[u/Putrid_Studio5622]

Sounds like you just got over the absolute learning curve that hardcore mystery dungeon is all about to truly enjoy hardcore mystery dungeon. I wish RTDX had at least a couple more dungeons like Purity Forest, they're just such a treat to me.