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6 Point Strategy - Soul Nomad & the World Eaters

Taking the scope of 6 Point Strategy further and further, this installment will focus on Nippon Ichi's Soul Nomad & the World Eaters, a turn-based strategy game for the Playstation 2.

Soul Nomad is a grid-based strategy RPG. The twist is that units on the grid are actually squads, called rooms. Each room is staffed with individual characters, as determined by the player. When a room attacks another room, each character takes an action based on class as well as grid location. For example, a Soldier on the front rank will slash with his sword, a Soldier on the middle rank will throw a rock, while a Soldier in the back will take no action. Now that you know the basics, let's hit our 6 points.


Less is More.
While Soul Nomad is squad-based and has a dizzying number of unlockable classes, resist the temptation to build everything and try use it all. The fact is that one strong level 50 character will DECIMATE a room full of nine level 20 characters. If you spread yourself too thin, you're going to have a hard time keeping up with the more challenging battles. I personally tend to use one room, with a few support rooms ready to deploy for special situations.

Don't Run Out of Gas
Okay, so you've got your room all set up and you charge into battle. Everything starts off great, but you suddenly fall apart at the end. What happened? Well, attrition plays a big part in Soul Nomad. Each time you move, attack, or get attacked, it reduces your stamina. When your stamina gets below 50%, your stats plummet. You can take no action during your turn to replenish some of your stamina, or use an item.
The other thing to remember is that there is no in-battle resurrection. If a character's HP hits 0, (s)he's dead until the battle is over. Any room that you intend to get much use out of needs at least one healing unit, such as a cleric.

Leadership is Key
Each room has a leader, and if that leader dies, the entire room is destroyed (if the main character dies, it's game over). So, while it's tempting to just make the toughest character the leader, that's not always the best plan. The room inherits special qualities from its leader. For example, if you make an archer the leader, then the room gains the ability to attack at range. Also, each room will have special attacks that are determined by the leader.

Choose Your Friends Wisely
In addition to the special attacks, a room can have combo attacks as well, which are determined by the units in the room. Some attacks depend on a mix of characters, such as melee and ranged, and others are for the story characters. This is something you have to think about when you build a room. If you have 8 or 9 pyremages in a room, then you will have access to DEVASTATING combo attacks that can be executed at long range. But that room will also be extremely vunerable to attack.

Go To Your Room
As you progress through the game, you can unlock different types of room to put your characters into. These rooms have different bonuses and penalties that they confer, and choosing the right room for the right squad is crucial. For example, the room Medicine Bag restores 100% of your stamina if you take no action, making it a good option to fight the attrition that plagues your main room. On the other hand, since I use my secondary rooms for spot removal of problem units, I tend to use Los Banditos, which gives a freshly deployed room the next turn. Another thing to consider with rooms is Inspections. These are random battles that you can use to power up your rooms, not to mention your characters. For every 20 battles you clear in a room, you get one extra placement slot in the room, until you have a total of 9 places. The other thing to remember is that every Inspection room has a boss, called either Room Sentry or Room Tyrant. This will be a squad that is much higher in level than other enemies on that floor. Each one of these boss squads defeated gives you a star, up to a maximum of 25. Each star in turn will grant most rooms some kind of bonus.

Recon, Recon, Recon
Before each story battle, you will have an option marked Recon. ALWAYS choose Recon. This will show you the layout of the battle you're about to face. This can be CRUCIAL to your success. While it won't show you any surprises that might be waiting, such as reinforcements, it will show you the level and type of many of the enemies you will face, as well as the terrain types and the win condition. This information can be immensely helpful, as many of the room powerups depend on the terrain and types of enemies you are facing.

Soul Nomad can be a very confusing game, but with a little preparation and a little knowledge, it can be one of the most fun SRPGs to come along in a long time.

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