Disgaea 5 Carnage Dimension Route

Basically goes through all story segments of this game. The story arc actually continues in the post game after beating the main story, and the final story segment ends with unlocking the Carnage Dimension. There are also additional mechanics unlocked upon entering the post game that are utilized.

In this game, a lot of features are gated behind story progress. Completing the Carnage Dimension questline will give you access to every feature the game has to offer, and you can actually work towards powering up your items within a reasonable time frame.

For general purposes, no DLC will be utilized in this route.

General Notes:

Before even beginning a run, the most important thing to change is the settings.

On the Settings option page 1, set 'Ally Effects', 'Enemy Effects', 'System Effects', and 'Battle Menu Effects' to OFF, then set 'Combat Speed' and 'Player/Cursor Speed' to Super.
On Page 2, set Text Speed and Auto-Scroll Speed to Super.
On Page 3, set 'Current Fast Forward Speed' to ON and 'Skit Fast Forward Speed' to x4.

Every single unit in our party has a use at some point in the run, although not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
Use Killia as main killer for the first half of the game. Usalia and Killia get utilized later. Killia is chosen because of Overload, access to 2 elemental skills, and attack boost/multiple turns during Revenge Mode making him OP later. Usalia has access to Braveheart and her Overload, which is a full-screen nuke. She can also attack from anywhere after an ally attacks, which together with Killia's Overload, allows both characters to demolish bosses.
Some maps have some enemy placement manipulation. By that, I mean if the units on the map are positioned the same way after ending your turn. The enemies will move the same way every time when they get to move. Finding out whether a manipulation is optimal is mostly trial and error, and the manipulation can be difficult to describe through words alone, so for maps that have some manipulation involved, you are better off watching one of my videos for reference.
4 Warriors are created for throwing purposes. 5 Celestial Hosts (Angels) are created later for support and extra bodies for sacrificing.
Episodes 1 through 4 are fairly standard (and is very reset heavy), consists of using items to heal and evilities to prevent status.
Cheat shop is used to gain easy levels during the required Item World trip in Episode 3.
Short grind session after Episode 4 (about 5-6 minutes) and another one after Episode 9.
Killia is placed in Foot Soldier Squad with 10 characters to increase stats by 10%.
Evility 'Shaking Excitement' is used to power up stats and one-shot most non-boss enemies.
Main way of clearing the later maps fast is activating Revenge Mode and using Squad Attack with Killia to defeat critical enemy squads.
During the final 6 Episodes, Usalia's Overload is heavily utilized combined with Killia's Overload and Usalia's Support Attack to clear most maps in 1-2 turns.
In this game, whenever a skill would be used for the first time, the animation will always play out. This introduces another element in the routing process, and some stages are actually routed out to avoid seeing certain animations.
While the speedrun does not have any huge RNG time swings other than Item World, there always exists the looming possibility of losing a few seconds due to bad RNG. Primary sources of RNG in this run include bills failing, counterattacks, Revenge meter gain, damage rolls, Nicks (lowered damage), and Critical hits on your characters.
A Spear is used as the main weapon from Episode 5 onwards due to it running off one stat (ATK), and having a ranged attack.

The "Sacrifice Technique"

This is one of the most important strategies used in the run. Offer up 3 weak units to the enemies and have Killia/Usalia out. The weak units will all hopefully die, and Killia/Usalia will more often than not, go into Revenge Mode. Think of your weaker units as "fuel" for Revenge Mode. Killia normally needs 3 sacrifices to trigger Revenge, while Usalia normally needs 5. As a result, Fighting Instinct evility is placed on Usalia to make it so she needs 3 sacrifices to trigger Revenge.

Episode 1

Note: Normal attacks are exclusively used here. Main source of RNG is number of counterattacks (max 2), and damage rolls (Nicks, criticals can be the difference between OHKO or 2HKO)

1-1

Killia regular attacks front enemy, end turn. All living enemies should attack him, ideally Killia will double counter and kill two of them. Normal attack last enemy, hope it one-shots or you get a counter.

After fight, skip bonus gauge/MVP tutorials by mashing Triangle and X

Go to Recruiter NPC, skip through dialogue Make 4 Good-for-Nothing Warriors. Put the -5 points towards HP (hold Triangle/X then press left to allocate all points)

1-2

Skip the scene at the start of the stage. Move Killia towards nearest enemy one space, end turn. Move towards nearest enemy and attack. Keep moving towards enemies and attacking them to death. When near Logan, end your turn at a 'wall' so he doesn't Triple Strike you.

1-3

Move towards enemies and attack. Everything should be one-shotted barring a bad damage roll.

1-4 (No cutscene)

Move towards enemies and attack. Hopefully Killia will counter a lot.

1-5

Use a Mint Gum on Killia first turn. Move towards enemies and attack. Red Magnus will be attacking enemies as well. Stay away from him and let him do his thing.

We need Killia to kill as many enemies as possible (best scenario is 5) to be on track for the EXP route for the next episode.

Episode 2

Any setups needed at the start of each episode will be listed before beginning each stage. Make sure you follow them in sequence.

Go to Equip shop, buy Slippers, Kitchen Knife (latest sword) and Cotton Bandana. Use 'Try On' to equip them as you buy each item. Kitchen Knife should be equipped to Killia's main weapon slot.

Go to Item shop. Sell all items. Buy 11 Hard Candy (Hold Square/Y and press Up to add 10), 2 Cafe Au Lait, 4-8 Fairy Dust.

Go to Skill shop. Get Mean Guy Evility for Killia. Immediately equip Mean Guy on Killia. This will allow him to comfortably OHKO most regular enemies going forward.

Kitchen Knife is used because Zombies are slightly weak vs sword.

Talk to Prinny above the shops you just visited. Head to Dimension Prinny afterwards.

2-1

Attack Green Geo Symbol on blue tiles with Killia. Kill the enemies with normal attacks.

2-2 (Manip, this indicates that some enemy placement on this map is manipulated)

If Killia didn't kill enough enemies in 1-5, use a Hard Candy on the first turn.

Move counterclockwise and kill the 2 Zombies and 1 Witch with normal attacks. Killia should hit level 8 and learn Exploding Tiger after killing these 3 enemies.

If he isn't lvl 8 by the time the first 3 enemies are defeated, use healing items until he is. Go to Killia's status screen and auto-arrange (Triangle/X) the skills so that Exploding Tiger is on top. Kill any Slimes with Exploding Tiger. Use regular attacks on other enemies.

End your turns such that the last Skull and Zombie line up nicely towards the end, Blade Rush them once they're lined up.

2-2 — After defeating the slimes, end your turn right here and a Magician will move in a way that you can kill him off with a regular attack and set up for the last manip of this stage.

2-2 Final enemies — The final two enemies will line up nicely by simply ending your turn here, which you will do anyways by attacking the previous Magician.

2-3 (Manip)

Use a Hard Candy/Cafe Au Lait first turn. Killia must have at least 18 SP before engaging the Slimes. Move towards enemies and kill Slimes with Exploding Tiger, Zombies via Blade Rush if lined up nicely. Use normal attacks on Thieves.

Move to the spot that is 1 down, 3 right from the purple Geo Symbol, then end your turn to manipulate both of the Imps to line up in Exploding Tiger range. Kill both with Exploding Tiger.

2-3 Imp Manip — The Imps at the end will line up nicely to hit both with Exploding Tiger.

2-4

Attack Witch on left with Killia (normal attack). Use one Prinny and a Warrior (best to access from bottom of list, note that Christo joins your party at this point, and so will need one more button press to access Warriors) to lift Null Geo Symbol and throw it to the yellow Geo Panels. Move Killia forward in the left area to destroy Geo Symbol near Zombie.

Move down and attack nearest enemy. When Mage drops down and 3 units are lined up, use Blade Rush. Use normal attacks to kill everything else. If there is a turn Killia is not attacking, use it to heal him with an item.

2-5 (Manip exists, but is unreliable because you get a different outcome based on whether a Zombie gets counterattacked.)

Attack nearest 2 Zombies to the left with normal attacks. Use Blade Rush if you can hit multiple Zombies. If poisoned, heal with Fairy Dusts/Hard Candies. Use Exploding Tiger from behind on the boss.

2-2 — This is the best outcome but it requires that the 2nd Zombie to the left be killed off on the first attack via counterattacks or a critical hit.

This is the most RNG-heavy stage as the amount of times you get poisoned can decide whether you lose/gain time.

Episode 3

Talk to Squad NPC, put Killia in a squad, Capture Squad preferred as it is first on squad list.

Go to Pleinair, set Killia's subclass to Warrior, attempt to pass 'Better Items' bill with Killia and hope it succeeds (about 60% chance). If Bill does not pass, pass it with someone other than Killia.

Set a Prinny's subclass to Mage/Witch, and Geese's subclass to Cleric/Clergy.

Once 'Better Items' bill is passed, attempt to pass Cheat Shop bill with someone other than Killia (Christo, Geese, and Red Magnus have enough Mana). This is about a 55% chance to succeed.

Once you exit the Assembly menu, keep pressing Triangle/X until you skip the dialog for the Cheat Shop. If you don't, the camera will pan over to the Cheat Shop, losing a good amount of seconds.

Go to Skill shop, buy Poison Vaccine, Tough Guy and immediately equip those evilities on Killia.

Buy and equip Jewel Blossom (sword), Life Jacket x2 (keep Slippers) on Killia.

Go to Item Shop. Sell all items and buy 11 Cotton Candy, and 2-3 Fairy Dust

3-1

Deploy 1-3 sacrifices (number depends on Killia's revenge gauge, you need to quickly check his Revenge meter and discern how many you need). Have Killia attack of the two Slumber Cats to the right with a regular attack. When in Revenge Mode, target Alraunes/Slumber Cats that are above you with Squad Attack. Use normal attacks on the remaining Imps.

3-2

Kill passive Warrior and Valkyrie to the right with normal attacks. After those two are gone, end Killia's turn above the red ball near the base panel, then head up and use Exploding Tiger on two of the Slumber Cats.

If you get inflicted with Forget, normal attacks should kill them just fine. Move towards the left and take out the other Slumber Cats with Exploding Tiger/normal attacks. Once Killia gets into Revenge Mode, Squad Attack the Imps. Use Fairy Dust to heal Forget if Killia still has it while in Revenge Mode.

3-3 (manip)

Kill the initial Archer/Slumber Cats with normal attack/Exploding Tiger. Squad Attack the Imps. The group of Archer/Warriors should be taken out with Exploding Tiger.

3-3 — You should end your 2nd turn on this spot to lure both Slumber Cats to the poison pool. Make sure Killia attacks both Slumber Cats once each and can do an attack on his current turn before proceeding to the next step.

3-3 part 2 — After hitting both Slumber Cats once, head here and attack the Archer

3-3 part 3 — Head here to the Archer's back and hit her again. This should kill her.

3-3 part 4/>
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This will put you in position to move here and attack the other Archer.
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<img src= — And finally, head to this spot, Exploding Tiger the Archer and end your turn. the Warrior and Archer will line up nicely next turn, allowing you to hit both with Exploding Tiger.

3-4

Move Killia down to the poison pool, and stay there. Enemies should follow you and get poisoned. Focus on enemies that can be killed in one hit with Exploding Tiger.

If Killia gets into Revenge Mode, use Squad Attack on a Valkyrie that has a Healer in her squad. This saves you the trouble of going to the end of the map to kill the Healer.

Talk to Dimension Prinny for scene.

Put Killia in Foot Soldier Squad, make him leader, then fill the remaining 9 empty spots with units.

Go to Cheat Shop. Move EXP % to 160% (basically, drop everything else and give it to EXP) and turn up enemy strength to max.

Go to Item World NPC, enter Gate Key.

Item World (Most RNG-heavy section)

We only have one objective here: to level up the Gate Key to 10 and get out ASAP. We do not want to stay in the Item World any more than is necessary.

This section requires a lot of quick decisions. Quickly determine whether you can hit multiple enemies with Exploding Tiger or Blade Rush. If you can hit multiple enemies with skills, do so. Otherwise, use a regular attack on the nearest enemy.

When in the 1st level, move Squad Attack to be 2nd from top on Killia's skill list.

Basically kill every enemy on the map until Gate Key is level 10. Squad Attack kills every enemy except Gatekeepers.

Ideal RNG involves getting Mystery Rooms that give levels (Fortune Teller Good/Great Luck, Arena) and/or level spheres/fish, as well as floors with favorable enemy layouts (low enemy count, no enemies on islands, etc)

Bad RNG involves unfavorable Mystery Rooms, Proto Darkdeath appearing, unnecessary events (Lucky Board, Bottle Mail), invincibility/reverse damage panels, and enemies spawning on islands.

If you have to go all the way to floor 10, get Killia into Revenge Mode by sacrificing units and Squad Attack everything. Defeat Item General through normal attacks.

Once item reaches level 10, immediately exit via Gency Exit.

Turn enemy strength down to lowest setting at Cheat Shop. Heal up and enter the next story map.

As a warning, if you don't go through all 10 floors due to getting good leveling events, you MUST pay attention during Episode 5's grind. Killia may not learn 'Vacuum Slice X' by the time the grind is over, and if that happens, you must use sword attacks going forward until he does.

3-5

Deploy sacrifices to the left. Have Killia Exploding Tiger the boar enemy to the right. Once Killia is in Revenge Mode. Squad attack the enemies to the left. Kill off other enemies. Ignore the Mothmen at the top and any enemies near them, as the Mothmen should finish them off on their own.

Episode 4

Go to the Equip shop. Enter the Sell menu, find the Gate Key and lock it by pressing L while it's selected. This prevents you from selling it.

Buy 100 Thimbles (first Fist item, hold Triangle/X and press Up to add 100 of them for buying).

Go to Skill shop. Get Paralysis Vaccine, Weaken Vaccine, Muscle Increase evilities.

Equip Muscle Increase on Killia.

Find Yellow Prinny in base (top left of base, in a corner)

4-1

Exploding Tiger on groups of Prinnies. Regular attack for single targets. Squad Attack boss Prinny's squad if you get in Revenge Mode early on. If 3 turns have passed, you're better off just using Exploding Tiger.

4-2 (Manip)

Move forward, use Exploding Tiger on groups of enemies. Orcs in cross formation can be manipulated to line up to kill 3 with Exploding Tiger. If you get Revenge Mode, Squad Attack the nearest enemy.

4-2 part 1 — After getting rid of the initial 3 Orcs, end your turn here and two enemies will line up nicely.

4-2 part 2 — End your turn here and the Orcs below will line up nicely to hit 3 with Exploding Tiger

4-2 part 4 — Once all Orcs are gone, move here and the two Brawlers will line up nicely.

4-3

Make a tower of 5 (4 Warriors + Killia, Lift Killia from Base Panel), throw Killia to northeastern area of the map. Attack the Null Geo Symbol. Warriors will get killed triggering Revenge Mode. Squad Attack the enemies below Killia, defeat the enemies to the left with Exploding Tiger.

4-4 (Manip)

Deploy 3 sacrifices in the 3 spaces above the Base Panel to trigger Revenge Mode. Have Killia use Exploding Tiger on the Orcs, then Squad Attack Archers the moment Killia enters Revenge. Defeat the Fairies with regular attacks.

4-4 part 1 — Set up your first turn like this. Killia has used a healing item on himself at this point.

4-4 part 2 — 2nd turn, head up here and attack the Orc.

4-4 part 3 — Revenge Mode should be triggered by the 3rd turn. Move here and Squad Attack the Archers.

4-4 part 4 — After the Squad Attack, stay at the same spot and attack any surviving Orcs, and the Fairies should line up nicely as shown. When they do, Exploding Tiger them.

4-5 (Manip)

Move forward with Killia, attack the nearest Orc with Exploding Tiger. Deploy 2 sacrifices next to him and have them Use Cotton Candies to heal Killia.

Next turn, have Killia defeat the other Orc, and head to the right edge of the map. Use Squad Attack on one of the Imps on the other side.

Once that's done, you can either choose to attack the remaining enemies, or back off and have Usalia defeat the remaining enemies. Use Cotton Candy on Usalia if her HP is low.

4-5 part 1 — Set up your 1st turn like this and have Killia kill the first Orc. Only 2 sacrifices are used because we want to hit Revenge Mode a few turns later.

4-5 part 2 — On the 2nd turn, take care of the remaining Orc and move here.

4-5 part 3 — 3rd turn, head behind the Nether Noble and Exploding Tiger him.

4-5 part 4 — At this point, you should have Killia in Revenge Mode. Squad Attack the Imp that's in range like so. If Killia isn't in Revenge yet at this point, end turn in place and he should get it.

Episode 5

We'll take about 5-6 minutes to grind first before continuing.

Talk to Dimension Prinny to get Usalia.

Add Usalia to Foot Soldier Squad (Killia should still be leader). Add a character to Curry Connoisseur squad (Hedler is best, as he's one spot above Usalia).

Go to Curry NPC. Make curry by using Hard Candy as base, use all Thimbles as other ingredient.

Go to Cheat Shop. Set Enemy strength to 16 stars. Max out on EXP % (200%).

Go to the Item shop. Sell all items. Buy 21 Taiyaki.

Go to the Equip shop. Buy 100 Thimbles. Equip Killia with Machete (best available Sword) and Floral Spear (best available Spear) as a subweapon.

Setup your Evilities as follows:

Mean Guy
Tough Guy
Weaken Vaccine
Poison Vaccine
Paralysis Vaccine

Grind*

Do 2-1 once.

To do 2-1:

Have Killia pick up green Geo Symbol, throw it at a Zombie. Have a Warrior pick up Geo Symbol on yellow tiles, throw it to green tiles. End your turn.
Next turn, send someone out to use a Taiyaki on Killia. Magichange Usalia with Killia on the 2nd turn. Use Blade Rush or Squad Attack on the enemies.

Hellfire Shot should unlock during the first battle. Move it to the top of the list, and Exploding Tiger should be 3rd on the list, below Squad Attack.

Once you get Hellfire Shot, use it to hit everything in this map. The reason we do this map only once is to unlock Hellfire Shot for Killia.

Afterwards, eat the Curry and make another one with Taiyaki as base ingredient, 100 Thimble as other ingredient

Do 4-2 once. Killia's level should be around 99-100 when finished.

To do 4-2 Braveheart Killia with Usalia. Keep using Hellfire Shot and heal with items as needed with other units. Killia will level up very quickly.

Things should become a lot easier after the first 3 Shrooms are dead.

Squad Attack should be used on the next group of enemies after taking out the initial 3 Shrooms.

Mushrooms are lvl 99, which gives EXP equivalent to that of a lvl 323 unit.

Killia should learn Vacuum Slice X during this grind segment. If he hasn't, you'll need to main a sword for a bit until he does. This can happen if you get really lucky in the Item World section.

After clearing 4-2:

Head to the Cheat Shop. Lower the enemy difficulty back to normal. -200% to EXP and +200% to Mana.

Buy 3 Falcon Shoes, equip all of them on Killia. Buy a Fist weapon for Killia (Brawler's Cestus), and replace the Machete with it.

Heal up before tackling the next story map.

Back to Episode 5

5-1

Swap Killia's main weapon to the Floral Spear by pressing Square/Y with your cursor on Attack. Poke (aka normal attack) the Valkyries with your spear. Hellfire Shot Skulls, then Hellfire Shot the Gunners. If in Revenge Mode, target either the Skulls or Gunners (Preferably Gunners).

5-1 — By staying here when taking care of the Magicians, you can take care of the final group within 2 turns.

5-2

Go up and kill the red Zombies/Slimes with Hellfire Shot or regular attacks. Once no more Zombies spawn, or all red enemies are gone, Squad Attack a green Zombie below to kill off all remaining enemies.

5-3 (Manip)

Move up, Hellfire Shot Maids, then red Zombies. Move up again, Hellfire Shot the middle 3 enemies, then clean up. If Hellfire Shot can't hit multiple enemies, poke them. Manipulate the Maids at the top area to group together by ending your turn two spaces below the leftmost Zombie that you Hellfire Shot, then kill them both with a regular attack.

5-3 — Simply take out the group of 3 in the center with a Hellfire Shot and end your turn here, and the remaining two Maids will group together next turn.

5-4 (Manip)

Head all the way down left. Poke the Chimera you encounter. Most of the stage is using Hellfire Shot to hit the most enemies, and at least one Squad Attack thrown in somewhere. If the Healer and other Chimera position themselves such that they can both be hit with Hellfire Shot, go for them first.

5-4 — Get rid of the Chimera on the 1st turn.

5-4 part 3 — You'll get a Healer and Chimera to group up as a result, allowing both of them to be killed with Hellfire Shot.

5-5

Hellfire Shot everything. Target areas where Hellfire Shot can hit the most enemies. If in Revenge Mode, Squad Attack the Maids, and target the Mother Zombie with Hellfire Shot to one-shot her.

Episode 6

6-1

Head forward and poke Lady Samurais. Use Hellfire Shot to kill Ninjas, and Exploding Tiger on Izuna. Stay one space away from Ninjas so their Evility doesn't kick in.

6-1 — If you go here after defeating the Lady Samurais, two Ninjas will line up.

6-1 part 2 — Before attacking those Ninjas, move up one space as show, and the other 3 Ninjas on that roof will line up nicely.

6-2

Move Killia to area with 3 Lady Samurais and kill them (Hopefully he doesn't go into Revenge Mode during this time). Destroy Geo Symbol, kill all enemies in big red area. If Revenge Gauge close to full, get into Revenge Mode, Squad Attack enemies in the big red area to kill 5 units. Normal attack anything in spear range. Move to end and defeat lone Ninja via Hellfire Shot.

6-3

Deploy 3 sacrifices. Move them to the right. Killia moves to the left. Focus on killing Ninjas. Get into Revenge Mode. Squad Attack a Slumber Cat. Kill any Ninjas remaining with Hellfire Shot.

6-4

Defeat group of 5 Orcs to right. Go for the boss (Horseman). Move forward to the main battlefield and Hellfire Shot any enemies in the way. If in Revenge Mode, Squad Attack whatever is remaining. The boss is best taken care of with normal attacks.

6-5

Switch weapon to Fist. Use normal attacks until you win.

Episode 7

The ability to move your base NPCs becomes available.

Move the following NPCs:

Quest
Items
Weapons
Skills
Pleinair
Recruiter
Cheat Shop
Curry
Squads
Interrogator
Netherworld Research

If Killia has mastered the Warlord class (which he should have), go to Skill shop. Buy Shaking Excitement evility. Buy EXP Gain, Workshop Intern, and Mana Lover evilities for Killia. Buy Poison Vaccine and Mean Guy for Usalia.

Make Killia's evility lineup (7 slots to work with)

Shaking Excitement

Poison Vaccine

Paralysis Vaccine

Weaken Vaccine

Equip the Evilities you bought for Usalia.

7-1

Deploy 3 sacrifices and Squad Attack. Use Hellfire Shot on everything else and hope it all connects. Squad Attack Gunners if Revenge Mode is triggered

7-2

Move forward. Hellfire Shot everything. Squad Attack Shrooms if Revenge Mode is triggered

7-3

Hellfire Shot everything. Get into Revenge Mode and Squad Attack a Gunner or Healer. This kills the Thief that's out of reach.

7-4

Hellfire Shot the bears at the bottom of the cliff. Move closer to the bottom of the cliff, then climb up and Hellfire Shot the Armor Knights. Use your Squad Attack on the final group of enemies (Bear + 2 Armor Knights) to skip seeing a fairly long Magichange skill animations. Hellfire Shot everything else.

7-5

Use Hellfire Shot to take out 2 Red Skulls first, then focus on other enemies and kill them with Hellfire Shot. Equip Fist when only Bloodis is left. Get into a counter war with him.

Episode 8

Consume the curry, then start the next story stage.

8-1

Swap main weapon back to Spear. Dispose of the Magic Knights through normal attacks with spear equipped. Defeat left one, then the right one. Head towards the Orcs and use Exploding Tiger to kill them. Once the Orcs are gone, the Eryngi will be in a T formation. Hellfire Shot them.

8-2

Head up. Hellfire Shot the two Armor Knights. Get rid of the Imp on green panels. Head towards the blue area with 3 Imps and end your turn near them. Get into Revenge Mode and Squad Attack the Imp on the blue panels. This kills off a Gunner and Mage that's far away, plus an Armor Knight. Clean up the rest of the enemies with Hellfire Shot.

8-3

Make tower of 4 Warriors. Throw them to the yellow Succubus at the upper end of the map. Throw the Succubus out of bounds. Have one Warrior throw Killia forward from the base panel. Killia moves to other yellow Succubus and throws her out of bounds.

Next turn, have Killia kill the Professor, and move the Warriors towards the center and end turn so they can be sacrificed to trigger Revenge Mode. Squad Attack any Succubus once in Revenge Mode (Do not do so while next to one due to their Evility). One Magic Knight will come towards Killia. Take her out. Head over to last Magic Knight and poke her.

8-4

Warp to the panels, take out the enemies with Hellfire Shot. Use Exploding Tiger on the Succubus enemies. Orcs will usually live a Hellfire Shot, so it may take 2 turns to kill some of them.

8-5

Switch weapon to Fist. Use normal attacks until you win.

Episode 9

Buy latest spear, Bravery Belt, and Shell Shield. Equip them to Killia. The Shell Shield actually is necessary as Killia will probably die without it, I checked.

The biggest time loss in this episode will be getting Lifted by the Wrestlers in 9-1 and 9-4. Don't let this happen.

9-1

Swap Killia's weapon back to Spear. Throw Killia to the group of 4 enemies up ahead. Hellfire Shot them and move Killia left towards the other enemies. When in Revenge Mode, Squad Attack female Brawlers to kill off one Wrestler at the end. Head over to kill the other Wrestler with Hellfire Shot once other enemies are dead.

9-2

Those two units that you changed subclasses with back at episode 3 (Geese and a Prinny)? Magichange them with Killia at the start of the stage. Poke the nearest Warrior and deploy 3 sacrifices in an L formation. Squad Attack the nearest enemy next turn. Most enemies should be one-shotted due to the Geo effects. Attack, Hellfire Shot, etc. Use whatever hits the most enemies.

9-3

Attack the Slumber Cats and Nekomatas with Hellfire Shot. Use Squad Attack on the Lady Samurais once Revenge Mode is attained.

9-4

Hellfire Shot the Imps and Lady Samurais. Head towards the right. If you get into Revenge Mode. Squad Attack the Warriors/Imps. Hellfire Shot the Wrestlers at the top

9-5

Have Killia use Hellfire Shot on everything. Focus on Chimeras first to get rid of stat debuffs

Episode 10

There is another huge setup here.

Clear Magic Knight class quest

Arrange party by level. Usalia should be 2nd and Killia on top.

Keep Poison Vaccine on Killia. Swap the other evilities out for Mean Guy, Muscle Increase, EXP Gain, Workshop Intern, and Mana Gain.

Sell all items, Buy latest sword and Water Pistol as subweapon (1st Gun) for Killia and another Bravery Belt.

At Cheat Shop, set EXP to max, enemy difficulty to 1*

Add Mean Guy and Tough Guy evilities back and the EXP Gain, Workshop Intern, and Mana Gain to Killia.

Set Killia subclass to Magic Knight, Usalia to Warrior subclass.

Attempt to pass Martial Trial 1 bill with Killia. This bill can a lot of tries to pass, and each failure costs at least 7 seconds.

Clear Martial Trial 1 14 times. Set 'Vacuum Slice X' to top of Killia's skill list, Magichange with Usalia to Killia's subweapon before using Vacuum Slice X. Take note if a Raiju Howl is won from the Bonus Gauge

Buy 3 Bravery Belts and latest ATK monster weapon for Usalia.

Lower difficulty at Cheat Shop, -200% from EXP and bump Mana to 250%.

Heal up the party before continuing.

10-1

Use Vacuum Slice X on the first group of Zombies, then set Hellfire Shot back to top.

10-1 — Start by using Vacuum Slice X on these Zombies.

10-1 part 2 — Next turn, use Hellfire Shot on 3 Zombies and move here.

10-1 part 3 — Clean up another 3 Zombies with Hellfire Shot and move here.

10-1 part 4 — The Chimeras should end up in a way that Vacuum Slice X can hit both of them.

Get rid of at least 3 enemies in the second Zombie squad, then Squad Attack the second Zombie group. Clean up everything else with Hellfire Shot.

10-2

Send out 3 sacrifices and have Killia out. Next turn, deploy Usalia and set her Braveheart to the top of her skill list, then put Prinnical Meteor second. Have Usalia Prinnical Meteor the Mothmen to the left and Killia Squad Attack the Zombies. At this point, clean up the remaining enemies with Killia and Usalia.

10-2 — Position sacrifices like this, then bring out Killia and immediately end turn.

10-2 part 2 — You will get this formation of enemies. Prinnical Meteor the Mothmen and Squad Attack the Zombies.

10-2 part 3 — At this point, you just need to clean up whatever's left with Hellfire Shot/Prinnical Meteor

10-3

Head up with Usalia and Braveheart herself, and have Killia head towards the narrow passage, then end turn. Thief will throw a Zombie towards Usalia. Defeat the Thief and the Zombies near her with Prinnical Meteor. Head towards rest of enemies and Hellfire Shot them. Use Squad Attack on whatever hits the most enemies.

10-4

Hellfire Shot the nearest group of 3 Rabbits. Hellfire Shot another group of 3 to the right. Wait two turns. Hellfire Shot closest group of Rabbits (should hit 5 units). Get into Revenge Mode. Squad Attack the largest group of Rabbits. Clean up the remaining group.

BIG SETUP:

Power up Usalia's Braveheart to +2. Get Usalia Fighting Instinct and Shaking Excitement evilities and immediately take out any evilities she had previously and equip both Fighting Instinct/Shaking Excitement on her.

Move Usalia to the top of the party.

10-5

Deploy 4 units around the Base Panel. Bring out Usalia. Use Braveheart on herself, and use her newly unlocked Overload to win.

Episode 11

NOTE: From here on out, with a few exceptions, the run is primarily about optimizing the first turn setup. The main goal for most maps will be setting up 3 sacrifices to all get killed on the first turn with as little actions/skill animations from the enemies as possible. There is a very particular way to set the sacrifices up for most of the stages. It's probably best to watch a video to view the first turn setups.

As a general rule, only Killia/Usalia and the sacrifices should be out on the first turn (More units out means less Revenge Gauge gain). Deploy all other units after Revenge Mode is acquired.

Unless otherwise stated, all maps from here on out will require 3 sacrifices. Most of these later stages will mention whether you need to use Braveheart and the number of units you need to surround Usalia with.

As a side note, even though you can now attack every enemy, you do run the risk of having some enemies randomly survive once in a while, as accuracy is capped at 99%, unless you use Christo (makes accuracy of adjacent allies 100%) as one of your units surrounding Usalia, in which case, you will always hit them.

11-1 to 11-2

Usalia Nuke, Braveheart with 1 unit

11-1 Sacrifice Setup — From this point onwards, stages that require sacrifices will have a picture of the optimal first turn setup. This is for 11-1

11-2 Sacrifice Setup — And this is for 11-2.

11-3

No sacrifices needed. Get a unit out, throw Killia forward. Move him so that he is one space away from a Maid and end turn. Pick up and throw nearest Maid towards exploding barrels. Head towards the other Maids and end your turn one space away from the rightmost Maid. Defeat the remaining Maid with Hellfire Shot.

11-4

Braveheart Usalia first turn, then Usalia Nuke with 4 units. Throw Usalia forwards with 2 units and dispose of the maid boss.

11-5

Usalia Nuke, Braveheart with 3 units

Episode 12

Accept and clear Celestial Messenger quest, create 5 Celestial Hosts, all low level. Create any 2 high level units. You can create a unit up to 80% the level of your highest level unit. Buy and equip Chimera DNA on Usalia. Buy Leafy Fan as well, but do NOT equip it. If Raiju Howl is acquired from MT1 grind, do not buy Leafy Fan. Head to the Netherworld Research NPC and send both your high level units you created earlier to each research the top 2 Netherworlds on the list.

From here on out, use Celestial Hosts as the units to surround Usalia, as they boost units they are adjacent to. Feel free to add Christo to the lineup for added insurance against misses. The setups listed in the next stages are the minimum number of Celestial Hosts you need to surround Usalia with to one-shot everything in the map barring bosses. Feel free to add Christo as an extra unit in case you want to make sure all the lesser enemies die.

12-1 to 12-3

Usalia Nuke, 1 Celestial Host