How should I play Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness?

So, I got this game a couple of days ago, and I'm just starting Chapter 2. I've noticed that each battle, I've only been able to use ten guys. Units, whatever they're called. Anyway, should I choose ten guys now, and use only them for the entire game, so I'm using the same group of fighters for every battle, or spread out the experience between everyone?

Thanks.

It is a lot easier to maintain a small group.

Just try to maintain a regular squad of 10. That said though, for your regular squad of 10, you should try to have all your bases covered in terms of strategy so that you can handle any situation.

Any tips on how I should go about doing that? Are there any characters essential to the plot I should feel obliged to put into my party?

You don't have to use story characters. That said though, Story characters like Laharl usually have higher stats/aptitudes than normal units so they're usually more useful. As for tips on team composition, it really depends on what strategies you plan to use. For example, for going through the story, I think I had Laharl, Flonne, Etna, A warrior, 3 Mages (One for each element), a healer, an archer(Possibly 2, can't remember) and I can't remember the rest(It's been quite a while since I played). But as you can see from my team, I can do multiple strategies with these recruits. Long range bombardment, Turtle tactics, something I like to call "Moving Fortress" tactics, All out offense, etc.

Your team composition will really just rely on what kind of tactics you want to use really.

Guess it is also worth pointing out that learning spells with the whole master pupil stuff is useful too. That way for example, your Laharl can learn some healing and you can teach your healer (which I personally had trouble leveling up) some offensive magic and all that.

I didn't use this until rather late in the game which is kinda a mistake I guess since it can be really useful.

Edit: And I have to recommend an axe wielding warrior too since they are pretty damn powerful!!

Guess it is also worth pointing out that learning spells with the whole master pupil stuff is useful too. That way for example, your Laharl can learn some healing and you can teach your healer (which I personally had trouble leveling up) some offensive magic and all that. I didn't use this until rather late in the game which is kinda a mistake I guess since it can be really useful. xWoW_Rougex

Ah, I heard about that feature. The game didn't describe it very well in my opinion, could you possibly explain it to me?

Disgaea is one of those games you can literally play for months. It has tons of little subtlties and quirks, though you dont really need them just to tackle the main story battles. I never really paid much attention to the master/pupil spell learning thing, or whatever those things are called that 'live in' your weapons that if you capture them in the Item World it makes your weapons stronger.

If you are going to tackle the post story and things that require characters with levels measuring four digits then yes thats how you get characters that strong. But for just the story you shouldnt need to worry about the deeper mechanics just yet.

sorry if this post is vague, its been a while since I played. ;)

It's been awhile, but I think that you can replay levels after you've finished them. That way you can power level your other chars that you don't use as much. Another neat trick is that you can throw 1 monster onto another. That gives you a single bigger monster to kill.

Best strategy is to have three high level warrior's (i use Laharl + Samurai's) and few mage's to give boost's. Should to do the trick even in high level dungeons.

It's good to have 10 people that you use but I use more so I have differnent classes that I might need at difernet times. By the way, you should unlock a ninja buy getting a male brawler and fighter to level 10 or higher. They are really worth it.

It is a lot easier to maintain a small group.

Loegi

[QUOTE="Loegi"]

It is a lot easier to maintain a small group.

Hanzoadam

Yeah, if you ask at the Disgaea afternoon of darkness game board, you'll get a much more detailed response.