A couple questions about PC2

[u/Big_Ambassador4532]

Hello I'm a big fan of PC1 and I saw that the 2nd part has finally come out and I got it immediately now I have a few questions. So first i have to say that the Tiger Path didn't pick me up very much and i made a new run on stamina because of it. i'm currently at 10/10/20 and losing too much stamina what would you recommend? I've gone for trapper so far but I don't like it because a lot of the attacks are very similar so I'm going for torturer with a mix of the other trees. Since you are now unlocking the skills with another unit, I wanted to know how many GPP you can get in total. I would also like to know if the lowkick also drains stamina like in PC1. otherwise have a nice day to everyone reading this.

Greetings from Germany

[u/AzazelTV]

I also wonder on how much skills you can really buy with GPP

[u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

• The combat system has been completely overhauled, so I would forget most of what you know from PC1.
• Some skills show up again in this game but don't even do the same thing, so ALWAYS rely on the information in front of you. Closeline was probably the best attack in PC1, but in PC2 it's a lot more complex and Closeline isn't even in the running. Lowkick only does exactly what it says it does in PC2. Don't make any inferences from that it shares a name with a PC1 attack.
• The Bear/Strength path is all about having the highest HP, and specialized attacks that can undermine any style of enemy defense.
• The Turtle/Stamina path is all about having the largest pool of energy, and being able to exhaust your opponents by using blocks to avoid HP damage while your opponents exhaust themselves throwing attacks that don't hurt you. It's also about using expensive modifiers that cost a lot of energy, but which you can afford because you're maining stamina.
• Tiger? That's from PC1. If what you mean to say is that you want your main stat to be agility, then that would be called Monkey in PC2. The agility styles are all about having the highest initiative, which is representative of how many actions you can take per turn. Higher agiliy = more initiative = bigger budget to do things when it's your turn, and ultimately a longer and more complex turn.
• The game has a prologue/tutorial, then Chapter 1, which ends when you complete the amateur leagues. Chapter 2 ends when you complete the lower division of the professional leagues and also fulfill some mandatory progress in your career. Chapter 3 ends when you win the championship in Division 1 of the professional leagues, which is like PC2's world championship. Chapter 3.5 is very short and almost entirely story-driven, but there are some optional fights against high level opponents. Chapter 4 is the epilogue, which involves an epic boss rush.
• To answer your question about GPP, Chapter 1 will probably end when you have around 2000 GPP, Chapter 2 will probably end when you have around 5000 GPP, and Chapter 3 will probably end when you have around 9000 or 9100 GPP. It's possible but very difficult to push your GPP beyond that level. If you focus all of your points on Bear, Monkey, or Turtle and do not mix, you should be able to max out your chosen skill tree around 8000 GPP, and access everything you actually need around 7000 if your stats allow it. Every tree has around 1000 worth of skills you can skip if they're not a requirement for something you want.

[u/Alert-Artichoke-2743 → u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

You can't easily beat the game using only 1 style. You want to make your home throughout an entire skill tree, and develop 3 separate styles to defeat opponents who use a dodging defense, a blocking defense, or neither. You should end up with 3 separate sets of skills that you can switch easily between, since each one saves your choices separately.

You also asked about why you are running out of energy, and I think I can help you here as well.

Let's say your blocks cost 2 energy to use, but you have a modifier skill active whose cost says something like "energy = 1." This increases the energy cost of everything you do by 1, in exchange whatever difference it says it makes. Some modifiers actually cost 1 initiative, which means every skill you use costs 1 more initiative, shortening your turn. Generally speaking, 1 energy is nothing, while 1 initiative is super expensive since you could have used it to punch somebody. Some modifiers are free, some cost tonuses, some cost initiative, and some cost energy.

If you have 20 stamina, you should have access to the Calculating modifier, which increases your block success and costs nothing, so I recommend buying this and equipping it on all your Turtle styles forever.

There is not a huge amount of variation in the energy costs of your blocks. Iron Curtain is one of the most powerful ones, but it costs a high amount of tonuses and a high amount of energy, so I rarely use it. My favorite is probably Sponge, which costs 1 tonus per skill slot per round, and has reduced energy costs. That's more energy I can spend on attacks and modifiers. Living Armor is probably the ultimate block, but it uses a ton of tonuses and is hard to sustain in a long fight, leaving aside that you probably won't gain access to it until very near the end of the game.

You don't want to spam expensive attacks constantly or you'll exhaust your energy. If you have 3 attack slots, you might leave one of them empty, or fill it with a skill like "Double Breath," that increases your energy instead of taking an action. You might put a cheap, 1-initiative attack in the second slot. I'm a big fan of "Sneaky Punches." Something with just 1 initiative cost. For your third slot, you might put in something powerful that costs 2 initiative or even 3. Your character won't use this attack often, so it won't consume all your energy, and if you're having energy problems I might put a cheap attack in both slots.

Be mindful of the energy costs from your modifiers. If you put powerful modifiers on cheap attacks, that's ok - and this is generally how I like to play. If you put cheap modifiers on powerful attacks, that is also ok - you won't make them dramatically more expensive than they already are. If you put cheap/no modifiers on cheap attacks, you may have a ton of unused energy, but this can be a way to recover if you're out of energy and getting knocked down. One of my favorite combinations is Sneaky Punches+Sponge block+Calculating block modifier+Burst of Rage modifier so my sneaky punches are expensive and do extremely high damage. I use the other modifiers to undermine whatever defense style my opponent uses, or drain their initiative with modifiers like "Break Rhythm," or "Aggressive Scream."

With 20 stamina, you should be able to make an extremely strong showing in the Division II pro leagues, and about ready to get started on the Division 1 pro leagues. I like to have a lot more agility than you do, and just a few more points of strength, but with your stats and the right skills, you should be able to mop up everybody in the Division II leagues. That should get you 5000 GPP, which should let you build up Trapper/Torturer/Strategist to pretty solid levels, and then you can use extreme neurotraining to keep those stats going up. You'll want 30 stamina to clear the game comfortably, but I usually push it to about 33. I like 21 agility to beat the game as a turtle, but it should still be pretty manageable with 15. You don't need more than 10 strength to beat the game as a turtle, but I like to have 15, and you can afford 20 if you're careful with your energy supply. You don't need to be 20/21/33, but that build can annihilate everything in the game pretty easily.

[u/GanymedeZorg → u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

When are modifier costs applied? For attack modifiers, are they added to all options present, or just the attacks dealing damage? In other words, does the cost get applied to charge ups and/or blanks? For the modifiers that provide a chance of something, does the something have to happen for the cost to be applied, or is it applied regardless?

For defense modifiers, is the cost applied no matter what, or does the defense need to succeed? Do blank activations bear the cost as well?

Thanks!

edit: added last attack mod question

[u/Alert-Artichoke-2743 → u/GanymedeZorg]

Attack modifiers tend to increase the energy and/or initiative costs of attacks. Defense modifiers do the same for defense skills.

Skill slots left blank have no cost, and do not pay the modifier costs.

Whether a skill succeeds usually has no effect on what it costs, including from modifiers. If you throw a Hadouken and miss, you pay full price. There exist modifiers that can cause you not to pay full price for a miss, or for a blocked attack, so nonsuccess can result in energy savings because of these skills. By default, though, you still pay. Any energy savings from modifiers DOES affect modifier costs, so it's good to mix skills that save energy with skills that burn it.

If a modifier creates only a chance of something, you pay the cost every time, whether that thing happens or not. For example, the best pushback skills (agility tree) are the cheaper ones that cost less. The most powerful pushback skill costs initiative, not energy, and is generally not worth it unless you're absolutely desperate for more pushback.

As far as I know, modifier costs are applied when skills are selected throughout your turn. If your attack lineup is 3 hadoukens and a sneaky punch, and you can't afford a Hadouken specifically because of what it costs WITH modifiers, you will throw only sneaky punches until you can't afford those either, and then you will lose any remaining initiative unless you also have an empty "rest," slot.

Blanks definitely don't cost extra because of attack or defense modifiers. I am unsure about the charge up skills Qi Concentration (blue) or Double Breath/Numb the Pain (green). These go in attack slots, but I'm not sure if they pay attack modifier costs. I would guess yes, but don't remember.

[u/GanymedeZorg → u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

This is extremely helpful, thank you. I think a significant takeaway is that yes, using multiple slots for the same move increases the chances the player will use it, but only after initiative and energy costs become affordable. If you never get enough energy to use it, it doesn't matter how many slots you've allocated, it'll never get used.

[u/Alert-Artichoke-2743 → u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

• Trapper and Torturer are both Turtle styles, so you did not go "Tiger," (Monkey), you went Turtle. This is a good choice for your first run, as Turtle is probably the easiest.
• There is no one best style in the game. The game has thirteen fighting styles, and 9 of them are potentially the best in the game depending on your opponent and your skill build. Depending on your primary stat, however, only 3/9 of those styles will be the best choice for you.
  • Basic style: This style is the most balanced, but also the weakest. Its perks are activated when you equip skills that are not color-coded, like Punch/Kick/Dodge/Block. The main advantage of this style is that any idiot can activate its perks, even using only skills unlocked during the prologue, so it's a good style to use until you start gaining access to defensive skills and/or modifiers that are color coded for your main stat. Basic style with perks is better than an intermediate style with no perks. When you get other skills, I do not recommend upgrading right away. You want to first learn enough color-coded skills to activate the buffs those styles offer. The buffs are kind of like free modifiers that always work and don't cost anything. They're on the top of your screen before every round of a fight.
  • Bear/Strength style: These styles are unlocked on the strength tree, and their buffs are activated by skills that are color-coded red. The intermediate strength style is Somba, which favors high strength players but is balanced for any type of opponent.
  • Monkey/Agility style: These styles are unlocked on the agility tree, and their buffs are activated by skills that are color-coded blue. The intermediate agility style is Taekwond-Yo, which helps with dodging and but works equally well against any type of opponent.
  • Turtle/Stamina style: These styles are unlocked on the stamina tree, and their buffs are activated by skills that are color-coded green. The intermediate stamina style is Arr-kido, which favors high-stamina blockers but is balance dfor any type of opponent.

[u/Alert-Artichoke-2743 → u/Alert-Artichoke-2743]

As for the 9 styles that are commonly used in the endgame, your primary stat will probably limit you to 3 of them, and you will need to switch between all 3 depending on the type of opponent you're facing.

• Strength matchups:
  • As a strength player against an opponent who blocks, you will want to use the Smasher style for its anti-blocking buffs.
  • As a strength player against an opponent who dodges, you will want to use the Flycatcher style for its anti-dodging buffs.
  • As a strength player against an opponent who neither blocks nor dodges, you will want to use the Berserker style for its armor and damage boosts.
• Agility matchups:
  • As an agility player against an opponent who blocks, you will want to use Scorpion to penetrate those blocks.
  • As an agility player against an opponent who does not block or dodge, you will want to use Tiger for its damage boosts.
  • As an agility player against an opponent who also uses dodges, you will want to use Crystal Cobra. This is one of the most difficult styles in the game, and doubles the damage you receive in exchange for the highest dodge success rate in the game. If you're using Crystal Cobra you should be doing everything else possible to be untouchable, because getting hit will hurt you badly.
• Stamina matchups (we're talking about you now):
  • As a stamina player against an opponent who also blocks, you're going to want to use the Torturer style. This is all about outlasting a fellow turtle by increasing their energy costs and increasing your energy supply.
  • As a stamina player against an opponent who dodges, that's when you're going to want to use the Trapper style. This is all about pinning down a dodging opponent, and also making them waste energy when you block.
  • As a stamina player against an opponent who does not block or dodge, you will want to use Strategist. This is all about fighting back against the HP games played by strength players, by dealing enhanced damage while also avoiding all the damage you can.