Part 6: Back to School

Last time we were introduced to Episode 2, Mao's Heart. Today, we see the second wave of Tutorial maps and I give you a lesson in Homeroom.

Tutorial 4- Geo Blocks


Today's tutorials are all on Geo Blocks. These are, as I mentioned in the first set of tutorials, a new feature to Disgaea 3. They replace Geo Symbols in effect. The difference is that they can be stacked and stood upon. What we're going to see is that in a lot of Disgaea 3 maps Geo Blocks will effectively replace Geo Panels entirely. The map will be covered in a layer of Geo Blocks that make the actual effect at any given point more variable than ever before. Let's see what Geoffrey has to say.



Geoffrey, what's the deal here? I already learned about Geo Blocks.
Yes, but you still have much to learn about how to handle them.
This time, you will erase negative ally effects by disposing of Geo Blocks.
Young Master, can you tell me where the source of the Enemy Boost +50% effect is?
Is this a test? Interesting…



Correct. But only partially. It is far from a perfect answer.
The real answer is that it comes from all the Geo Blocks on this map.
The Geo Blocks themselves contain the effect. Hmhmhm.
You will be affected the moment you step on the Geo Block. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate these.
You mean… all of them?
I prepared this map for our tutoring session, so it is a perfect example.
If you throw this Geo Block next to, or on top of the same colored Block…
Ahh! Excellent! They all disappeared!

So, whenever a Geo Block is thrown or falls into contact with a Geo Block of the same color, all connected blocks of that color clear. We get a large amount of bonus from this, although unlike a Geo Chain there's no 'chain' bonus. Characters that fall during a Geo Chain take damage in a manner similar to what happens when Geo Panels change color. Oh, and Geo Blocks are worth mana, so if we want to farm mana in the early game killing them is a decent option.



Clearing Blocks raises the Bonus Gauge, giving you better rewards in the end. I recommend aggressively pursuing this.
It requires wisdom, ingenuity, and imagination, but I'm sure someone of your caliber should be fine. Am I right?
Indeed. Of course. (Why does he sound so sarcastic…?)

Tutorial 5- Geo Blocks


Here's another tutorial on clearing Geo Blocks. In this case we need to clear Geo Blocks in order to reduce a height too high for us to jump. This is going to happen a lot in Disgaea 3, as they take advantage of the better hardware of the PS3 to make very vertical maps.



Indeed. There's a stack of Geo Blocks that tower like a parental grudge. What am I to learn from this?
It takes analysis and cognitive thought to make learning worthwhile… But have it your way.
There are a few simple rules for dealing with Geo Blocks.
Blocks of the same color that connect with each other from the start cannot be lifted.
Which means, to conquer this map, you will need to…
Attack all of the Geo Blocks, or throw other same-colored blocks and make them disappear… Right?
That is correct, Young Master. And remember, characters will take damage by falling from cleared blocks.
Of course they do. So on this map, I can use that colored Block to clear… Or I can do it one block at a time…



On this map I demonstrate the technique of using a monster to 'bounce' a thrown item. Mao throws a Geo Block from where it starts to the Nekomata, who bounces it into the wall of Blocks, clearing them. This technique is incredibly useful, because after we execute the bounce we can cancel out the monster's action and have them do something else as well.

Tutorial 6- Geo Blocks and Height


This tutorial is again on the idea of Geo Blocks controlling the height of the map. We turn a tall tower into a stepped tower by clearing a set of blocks. If we leave the blocks, the bow-using warriors will smash us with their large stacked Enemy Boost effects.





Now that we're done, we're ready to go to the Heart Bank, which we'll be doing next time.





Disgaea 3 101: Homeroom


Before we leave for the day, let's talk about Homeroom. In the Homeroom we can see all our characters, carry out any task we could in the Dark Assembly in previous games, and do some things that are peculiar to Disgaea 3. We can move people's seats around. We might want to do this for many reasons, one of which is that characters have higher chain rates with characters sitting next to them in class.



So let's try to pass a Homeroom bill. We want to create a new club, the Robber Shop. This will allow characters to share the Mana gained by their friends sitting next to them in class. It's a good way to get weak characters or ones who just don't kill very much some Mana. Who we propose the bill with matters, as the representatives all favor certain types of characters.



Prinny will explain how this works in brief now.



The class reps will now begin their vote, but before that, you should do a little preparation.
In other words, send your bribes. You should give the reps what they want to make them agree with you.
Blue reps are leaning towards approval, while red is against. Try to get the influential reps on your side, dood.
By giving a bribe to a class rep, you will affect all the reps of the same species in the same way.
But a rep who leaned toward approval before the ballot won't necessarily always agree. They're demons after all.
When you're done prepping, press the triangle button and select Begin Vote or Return to Class.
The Mana used won't be returned, but returning to class if you're not confident is an important strategy.
Well, I mean, it's better than dying. Anyway, let Homeroom begin, dood!

Our goal is to fill up an approval gauge above 50%. Aye votes fill the gauge by an amount depending on the type of senator. Unlike previous games all the senator types favor specific types of items, which can make some of them very hard to bribe. Anyway, we have good approval and can easily pass this bill.



Now we've got a new club. If we go to Assign Club in the Homeroom menu, we can put people in this club, like so:





Clubs have many benefits beyond what they state. The leader gets bonus stats from the members, can share their spells if adjacent to them, and characters must be in the same club to Magichange. Proper use of clubs is key to Disgaea 3.

Next Time on Disgaea 3: The Heart of a Rival! Raspberyl's Return!