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BNW Beta RC25-27 Playtest Notes
WoR Start->Falcon Get->Brown-D->Ancient Castle Start

Celes starts her journey at Level 20 with 9 ELs in Phantom. She wears Blood Sword/Rising Sun/Mystery Veil/Power Armor/Back Guard/Gale Hairpin/Phantom. I'm apparently bonkers, as I'm heading straight past Tzen without stopping there. With Clear and Float, Celes was mostly able to handle herself. There were a couple wipes on the walk to Mobliz, but nothing too bad for intentionally gimping myself.

Still 20/9 for Phunbaba 1. Took about 4 fights before I stumbled onto a winning strategy. Went in Vanished to dodge early Bodychecks, as well as Floated. Wore Rising Sun/Gold Shield/Helm/Armor/Reflect Ring/Safety Glove. Cast Slow while Phunbaba was punching air, then queued Phantom for after his first Mega Volt. Second Mega Volt put me critical and triggered Safety Gloves. Then Celes snapped into a Slim Jim and nothing Phunbaba could do was threatening.

Just hopped on a chocobo to reach Nikeah. Clear makes it easy to run from fights, and I was still 20/9 with Celes for Tentacles. She wore Blood Sword/Falchion/Mystery Veil/Power Armor/Life Bell/Sprint Shoes/Phantom. Opened with 2 Rasps from Celes on the Regen Tentacle while Edgar used his Drill on the other three. Turtling was easy with these two, and once there was only one Tentacle, Phantom sealed the deal.

Encounters in the Kohlingen area, that I saw, were solved with NoiseBlaster and Blackjack. It's almost like I'm not down a member. Heading into the Tomb, Edgar is 20/13 Unicorn, Celes is 21/9 Phantom and Setzer is 22/12 Shoat. The randoms here reminded me that Runic was a great thing to do every single turn. Blackjack and some combo of Flash/BioBlaster/Drill handled everything here. Levels were 23/13 Setzer, 22/14 Edgar and 22/10 Celes for Chesticle... 

...who opened by dropping Celes with a Plasma... smashing! Edgar gives Celes the Defibrillator and Chesticle Darks her for more than her Max HP... Edgar Defibrillator's her again and this time Setzer casts Lifeline instead of Poison. In fact, Dark and Plasma were OHKOs on Celes and Setzer, fun times. Some Sap, Slow, as well as some solid Poisons from Setzer allowed me to win the day. 

Same levels for Dullahan. I geared mostly for defense. Since that left everyone with a Diamond something, I was pretty safe here. Opening with Golem+Seraph helped cement that. Edgar and Celes would either cast Slow or Rasp, Setzer spun Go Fish if someone was hurt. Pretty tame fight over all.

I decided that I was going to do the WoR as backwards as possible, so I headed off to the Opera House. I did make a quick pit stop to pick up a fourth party member, as the Veldt itself isn't listed on the map anywhere. Also traded in a Rage Belt for Blizzard Orb and Ninja Mask for Cat Hood.

Levels before Brown-D were Celes 22/11 Phantom, Edgar 22/14 Unicorn, Setzer 24/14 Shoat and Gau 23/14 Stray. I played with gear across attempts, but ended up with Celes using Soul Sabre/Diamond Kite/Magus Hat/White Dress/Ribbon/Gale Hairpin/Phantom, Edgar using Trident/Gold Shield/Genji Helm/Diamond Mail/Back Guard/Black Belt/Golem, Setzer with Switchblade/Targe/Diamond Helm/Diamond Vest/Fairy Charm/Hero Ring/Seraph and Gau with Club/Targe/Cat Hood/Tabby Hide/Blizzard Orb/Magic Cube/Fenrir.

This fight was freaking intense. Meteor would wipe my party, Edgar was the only one who could reliably survive Razor Leaf, with variance or MBlock sometimes sparring the others. Playing around those two attacks was the key to my success. Rule number one was keep Rerise on everyone, this was primarily Celes's job and Setzer pitched in when a Go Fish! wasn't needed. Rule number two was use Runic whenever Celes had a free turn. Edgar's job was pretty much just C/C and holding his turn to Drill immediately after Landslide set Regen. Gau usually cast Float when big party wipes happened, but I used Red Bulls if only one person dropped. Otherwise, Ninja Gau brought BIG DAMAGE and Setzer chipped in with Blackjack occasionally as well.

I bought a couple Crystal Kites, a Crystal Helm and a Rune Blade. I had to sell most of my Butterflys to do that, so there goes my early grinding nest egg. Then it's off to the Ancient Castle on my odd little backwards tour of the WoR. Levels for Ce/Ed/Se/Ga are 23/22/24/23. Celes is EL 12 (Phantom), the rest are EL 15 (Unicorn/Shoat/Stray). 

Master T wasn't too bad. Phantom before his first Flurry of Ganks and then a lucky Quark Edge saw to that. Had to leave because I never re-filled MP after Brown-D. Gonna actually post this and call it a 'night'.

BNW Beta RC25 Playtest Notes
3/15-18/2019
IAF->Nice Job Breaking It, Hero

For IAF, I brought Edgar, Gau and Setzer. Edgar is level 15, Gau is 20 and Setzer is 17. Edgar has 7 Unicorn ELs, Gau has 10 in Stray and Setzer has 6 Shoat. Setzer has Demonsbane/Targe/Stat Hat/Power Armor/Stat Stick/Magic Cube/Seraph, Gau has Club/Targe/Green Beret/Tabby Hide/Mystery Egg/Sprint Shoes/Stray and Egdar has Trident/Gold Helm/Power Armor/Black Belt/Life Bell/Golem.

The IAF continue to be some of the hardest "randoms" in the game, but Rain Man and Blackjack/lulBars got me through. Before Ultros 4, I swapped Edgar to Elec Sword/Targe, Setzer to Gold Shield and Gau to Gator Hide. Ultros and Chupon were no problem. Gau never had to come out of Albatross, but I slipped up on IAF proper the first time and wiped because Diffuser hit while I wasn't at full HP. Next time around I had either Edgar or Setzer rocking Cure 2/Go Fish each turn to keep up with Diffuser. Gau just wrecked face with Rain Man.

I forgot to buy stuff for Shadow, so he's underperforming through here. He rejoins at level 17, with no ELs to his name. I gave him a couple Healing Shivs and called it good enough. Levels now range from 16-20, and ELs from 8-11.

Got to fight lots of FC randoms. I gave Edgar a janky Blood Sword/Scimitar/Hero Ring combo that only backfires against a Djinn once. I fought so many encounter because it took forever to find the Brainpan/Gargoyle Rages. Most encounter were "hard until you figured them out," although figuring them out usually meant AOE Spamming with Slots/Tools/Rage/Throw. The Behemoths were an exception, but once someone pointed out that Gau had Imp they went from difficult to boring. Imped and Sapped Behemoths were my enemy of choice for Scrapper Rage, which seems odd.

Alright, here goes Atma. By the time I got there, Shadow and Edgar were Level 20, Setzer was Level 21 and Gau was 23. ELs were 9 Phantom Shadow, 11 Shoat Setzer, 12 Unicorn Edgar and 13 Stray Gau. Gau wore Club/Targe/Green Beret/Gator Hide/Sprint Shoes/Fairy Charm/Stray, Shadow had Kotetsu/Demonsbane/Ninja Mask/Ninja Gear/White Cape/Power Glove/Phantom, Edgar had Blood Sword/Scimitar/Gold Helm/Power Armor/Hero Ring/Spirit Stone/Siren and Setzer had Switchblade/Targe/Green Beret/Power Armor/Amulet/Magic Cube.

I managed to take him out first try. Gau Raged Brainpan. At first, Shadow tried to keep Rerise up, but the MP cost and Purges were too much. He just focused on Throwing Shuriken or reapplying Float, with some item use peppered in. Edgar pretty much Slowed and Cure 2'd. Setzer either Blackjacked or Go Fished as the situation called for. Setzer ate all three of Atma's Rasps, so his options were limited anyway. I did manage a totally unplanned Golem off of Triple Bar the one time I messed up Blackjack, but I don't think it saved me in any extreme way.

Phase 2 started as Shadow's turn came up, so I managed to Dispel->Slow quickly. Mind Blast was troublesome, but my gearing allowed me to be mostly fine. Would echo the request for a WoB Ribbon now that it's not the omni-protection it once was. Shadow threw my 3 Ninja Stars here, then was back to Shurikens. Otherwise my general plan didn't really change much. Shadow dropped once to Flare Star, but otherwise I don't think anyone went down. There was some luck involved there, as Atma only Flare'd Edgar and Gau, who both had high HP and Stam. This fight felt easy, but I think I was coasting on a combination of luck, levels and skill that made that happen.

Only note from the escape is that Bat Ladies appear to be the only enemy to still give SP but no XP, not sure if it's intentional, just wanted to point it out.

BNW Beta RC24 Playtest Notes
3/13/2019 3/14/2019
Imperial Banquet->Pre-FC

The Imperial Banquet is what it is. I'm not a fan of locking unique copies of scarce items behind something this obtuse, but it is what it is. I talked to all the soldiers with 8 seconds to spare and got some loot. Then I said "fuck this noise" and put some *redacted* on Terra until I was at Thamasa. I bought some things, but still haven't run through my Zozo testing nest egg.

Burning House is meh. I might have struggled if I'd been stingy with Tinctures, but I only needed the one before reaching the Restore Point anyway. I backtracked and fought one more Grenade formation as Strago was sitting at 14 SP. After that, I have Locke at level 21, Strago at 17 and Terra at 16. For ELs Terra has 8 Maduin, Locke 11 Ramuh and Strago 5 Shiva. Terra's wearing Elec Sword/Targe/Tiara/White Dress/White Cape/Life Bell/Bismark, Locke has Icebrand/Scimitar/Stat Hat/Ninja Gear/Black Belt/Thief Glove/Ifrit and Strago has Thunder Rod/Targe/Stat Hat/Cotton Robe/Magic Cube/Stat Stick.

Against Heartfire, Strago opened with an Aqualung, Terra Slowed Heartfire and Locke Cure 2'd the party to undo Heartfire's opening move. After that Terra healed, Locke stabbed Heartfire and Strago used Ice2 when Heartfire was alone or Aqualung to clear the adds. It was a short fight thanks to Ramuh Locke+Shiva Strago.

Randoms up to Ultros 3 were pretty much Blaze/Aqualung fodder. Once I had Osmose, this was even a sustainable plan. Before Ultros 3, Terra was level 17, Strago was 18 and Locke was 21. For ELs, Terra had 10 Maduin, Strago had 8 Shiva and Lupin had 12 Ramuh. Terra had Elec Sword/Targe/Stat Hat/White Dress/Life Bell/Barrier Cube/Bismark, Strago had Fire Rod/Targe/Stat Hat/Gator Hide/Magic Cube/Black Belt/Carbunkl and Locke had Flametongue/Gold Shield/Stat Hat/Ninja Gear/Black Belt/Power Glove/Kirin. Locke and Strago were in the front, Terra was in back.

Two procs from Stragos Fire Rod were pretty much all the damage I needed here. Terra was getting one shotted by Tentacle, but she's on the frail side anyway. 

Nothing else to note, off to FC soon enough.

BNW Beta RC24 Playtest Notes
3/11/2019
Sealed Cave
Took Terra/Setzer/Edgar/Gau to the Sealed Cave. I was trying a couple niche strategies. Terra had Flametongue/Full Moon/Stat Hat/White Dress/Magic Cube/Gale Hairpin/Carbunkl, Setzer had Dice/Targe/Green Beret/Power Armor/Mystery Egg/Back Guard/Seraph, Edgar had Fire Lance(2-Handed)/Stat Hat/Power Armor/Black Belt/Power Glove/Unicorn and Gau had Club/Targe/Stat Hat/Ninja Gear/Sprint Shoes/Black Hat/Stray. As I started the caves, Terra is level 11, Edgar 12, Setzer 16 and Gau 18. Terra has 5 Maduin ELs, Edgar 5 Unicorn and Gau has 9 Stray ELs. Edgar was soloing the front row. Gonna note here that I went in with 23 Holy Waters.

Well, 1440 on everyone with Exploder seems totally worth it, but my Gau is a smidge overleveled here I feel. Zombones are the only enemies unphased by this, so I used Lich for them. With that little bit of data gathered, I swapped Gau to White Cape/Stat Stick. Before the Battle on the Bridge, I swapped Edgar to Elec Sword/Targe and double White Capes, while Terra gave Gau her White Cape to replace his White Cape. Edgar was level 13, Setzer 17 and Gau 19, and I didn't buy anymore ELs before the BotB.

Battle on the Bridge was super easy. Gau went with Sewer Rat, Edgar Bio Blastered and Setzer either Triple Bar derped or Go Fish derped. 

BNW Beta RC23
3/10/2019
Opera House->Southern Continent Shopping

Brought Sabin and Gau to the Opera House. Sabin rocked Hell/Poison Claws/Bandana/Ninja Gear/Black Belt/Knight's Cape/Golem. Locke had Full Moonx2/Green Beret/Ninja Gear/Sprint Shoes/Thief Glove and Gau had Targe/Bandana/Ninja Gear/Magic Cube/Stat Stick. Locke is Level 15, Gau is 13 and Sabin is 12. Locke has put 6 ELs in Ramuh, but Sabin and Gau are at 0 ELs since they missed the Zozo party (Celes has 6 ELs unspent because I'm waiting for Phantom). 

I have way too much money so I'm not really going to mention what I've purchased anymore. I'll mention if money starts to get tight, but I don't see that happening with 91k after I backtracked for things I'd held off on. 

Gau annihilated the Rats with Albatross or Leafer. Sabin was good for pincers, but wasn't any more effective than Locke against the 5 rat pack. I had time at the end to give Sabin and Gau each 3 ELs in Stray and teach them both Imp, as well as give Locke his Healing Shiv and Targe back. Otherwise same levels as before, rats seem to be intended to help with SP/ELs, nice. 

Ultros 2 was handled easily with Gau in Stray Cat, Sabin Pummeling and then Clawing and Locke mostly stabbing people's HP to full (I forgot that Aura Bolt was available here). Imp Song was used twice and missed Gau both times and Sabin once. I just left Locke as an Imp since his stabs were still pretty much full heals.

Bought a Gale Hairpin to go with Celes's Back Guard. She also has Iron Cutlass/Targe/Green Beret/Mythril Vest/Siren and is level 12. Ran around to Tzen/Maranda. ChickenLips is deadly, especially if one Muddles Gau and then you eat multiple AoEs. Wyverns were pretty pushed as well. Got two Scimitars for Celes, 2 Ocean Claws for Sabin and upgraded Sabin and Gau's Bandanas to Tiger Masks. Also bought a White Dress, but haven't put it on Celes yet.

Celes, Gau and Sabin are all level 14, Locke is 16. Sabin and Gau have 4 ELs in Stray, Locke has 6 in Ramuh and Celes has 6 ready to spend on Phantom.
 

BNW Beta RC24
3/11/2019
Vector->Cranes

See my last post for gear and levels. Wow, Wyvern nerf may have gone too far, although Gau and Sabin having Tiger Masks also helps.

Bought a set of elemental swords in Vector and gave Celes an Elec Sword. I got lucky in my first 5 Onion Kid fight and got a Stat Hat. Then I swapped Locke's gear around, going with Dual Switchblades, Stat Hat and White Cap+Thief Glove for maximum speed and a little insurance for Mugging Onion Kids. Also swapped out Sabin's Black Belt for a Life Bell and Celes's Scimitar for a Full Moon, because counters complicate stealing, ahem, 'treasure hunting.' Then I got quite a bit luckier and picked up 3 more Stat Hats from the next 5 Onion Kid fight, so now everyone's wearing them.

Sabin picked up Fire Dance in here, pretty good timing. Spirit has been great here, helping Celes keep her MP full and helping whittle down larceny targets before I kill them. Even before Fire Dance, the enemies here were pretty tame. I left the first area with 10 Stat Hats, only need 2 more :).

Before fighting Shiva/Ifrit, I put a Flametongue on Celes and an Icebrand on Locke, both with a Scimitar off-hand and in the front row. Sabin got his Black Belt back too. Locke is level 18, Celes is 16 and the others are 15. Locke has 7 Ramuh ELs, while Sabin and Gau have 6 in Stray. Celes still has no ELs.

I actually wiped on my first attempt at Shiva/Ifrit, Chill and Fever were wrecking me, so I swapped Celes and Locke's Off-Hands to Full Moon. Gau also decided to use Ram instead of Sun Bath three turns in a row... Once I stopped drawing all the counters, I just wailed on Ifrit with Locke, Celes Runic'd and Sabin Slowed the pair when Runic was down or joined Locke in attacking Ifrit. Gau mostly Rammed stuff...and now I check the PrintMe and see that Rhydon and Vulture are 1/3 Healing, oops.

Upon reaching 024, Gau and Sabin had hit level 16 and Sabin was up to 7 Stray ELs. Equips were the same as my first attempt at Shiva/Ifrit. 024 rolled Ice weak right away, so Locke and Celes let him have it while Sabin threw Tonics and Gau derped in Flan. Then there were a couple Demi->WallChanges before he landed on Lighting and Locke and Celes threw a couple Bolt 2s ftw. Also, I Kirin here at some point.

Gave Locke an Elec Sword for the Mine Cart ride. Mag Roadies got Sabin critical and poisoned just in time for 128 to Net+Rapier him dead. That started a spiral that led to another wipe... This time I swapped Gau and Sabin back to Tiger Masks and gave Locke Ifrit. I also gave Locke dual Shivs and moved him to the back row, swapped his White Cape for Sprint Shoes too.

128 managed to open by killing Sabin once again, but I rolled the dice on Flan and Gau came through, pulling Sabin to his feet. Locke focused on keeping people on their feet and Sabin threw Pummels til one connected with 128. Locke fed Gau a Green Cherry after he used SlowX, and Gau switched to Rain Man. Once both arms were out at the same time, Locke was able to join in on the pain infliction with some Bolt 2s and 128 fell quickly.

Had a normal amount of randoms before Cranes. Went in with the same load out I used for 128. Gau did Rain Man. I kept trying for BAR-BAR-BAR, but kept getting Go Fish. Locke spot healed and Sabin cast Float, then Golem and finally beat on the Left Crane with this Ocean Claws. The Right Crane seemed to use Repair immediately upon the Left Crane stopping moving, which was odd. Seeing the Left Crane come back with only 2500, I beat it up some more before I mopped up the Right Crane.

Gonna wrap up and snag Mog, Rondo and some Rages/Steals at the Veldt, although I don't think I'm currently missing any Rages...

BNW Beta RC19-22 Playtest Notes
3/4/2019-3/9/2019
Edgar Damage Tests

Level 9 +0 Magic
Junkie: 268 (not OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 442-452 (not OHKO)
SlamDancer: 442 (not OHKO)

Level 9 +2 Mag (Bracelet)
Junkie: 290-318 (potential OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 426-478 (not OHKO)

Level 9 +5 Mag (White Cape)
Junkie: 340 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 456-498 (not OHKO)

Level 9 +7 Mag (Magic Cube)
Junkie: 314-348 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 480-518 (potential OHKO Hobo)

Level 9 +12 Mag (Magic Cube+White Cape(I skipped +9/10 Mag, sue me))
Junkie: 342-386 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 512-582 (OHKO Hobos)

Level 10 +0 Mag
Junkie: 290-308 (potential OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 454-490 (probably not OHKO Hobos)

Level 10 +2 Mag (Bracelet)
Junkie: 304-314 (OHKO, note: 2 data points)
Hobo: 470-516 (Maybe OHKO Hobos)

Level 10 +5 Mag (White Cape)
Junkie: 322-352 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 490-510 (Potential OHKO Hobo)

Level 10 +7 Mag (Magic Cube)
Junkie: 352-368 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 520-544 (OHKO Hobo)

Level 10 +12 Mag (White Cape+Magic Cube)
Junkie: 376-414 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 564-620 (OHKO Hobo; Potential OHKO SlamDancer)

Level 10 +12 Mag (White Cape+Magic Cube)
Junkie: 376-414 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 554-630 (OHKO Hobo; Potential OHKO SlamDancer)

Level 11 +0 Mag
Junkie: 330-350 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 496-516 (Potential OHKO Hobo)

Level 11 +2 Mag (Bracelet)
Junkie: 324-366 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 494-550 (Potential OHKO Hobo)

Level 11 +5 Mag (White Cape)
Junkie: 364-388 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 530-590 (OHKO Hobo)

Level 11 +7 Mag (Magic Cube)
Junkie: 378-396 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 558-614 (OHKO Hobo, Potential OHKO SlamDancer)

Level 11 +12 Mag (Magic Cube and White Cape)
Junkie: 396-444 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 600-678 (OHKO Hobo, Most Likely OHKO SlamDancer)

Level 12 +0 Mag
Junkie: 340-362 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 494-546 (Potential OHKO Hobos)

Level 12 +2 Mag
Junkie: 356-388 (OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 518-588 (OHKO Hobos)

Level 12 +5 Mag
Junkie: 370-402 (Still OHKO)
Hobo/SlamDancer: 578-600 (Good enough, OHKO Hobos, Potential OHKO Slamdancers)

Level 12 +7 Mag
Junkie: Guess
Hobo/SlamDancer: 586-640 (OHKO Hobos, potential OHKO SlamDancers)

Level 12 +10 Mag
Junkie: Paste
Hobo/SlamDancer: 618-690 (OHKO Both)

BNW Beta RC18 Playtest Notes
3/4/2019 1530-1630
Zozo to Esper Get

Randoms were pretty rough, put I had a squishyish party. I never wiped, but I went through quite a few P Downs and Meats. By the time I hit Dadalama, Cyan was Level 14, Locke was 13, and Shadow and Gau were both 12. Cyan and Shadow were in the front row. Cyan had Kotetsu/Bandana/Hard Leather/Knight Cape/Life Bell. Shadow had Kusarigama/Butterfly/Green Beret/Karate Gi/Power Glove/Black Belt. Gau had Targe/Green Beret/Ninja Gear/Sprint Shoes/Magic Cube and Locke was rocking Healing Shiv/Buckler/Green Beret/Ninja Gear/Talisman/White Cape.

Got super lucky with Kusarigama hitting Net right away, and then Gau's first action in Conjuror was Frazzle for Sap. Then I had Shadow move to the back to throw Butterflies. Spoon did 405 to Locke here. I never saw the Slim Jim/Jump combo, Butterflies and Dispatch were both hitting for about 1200 while Locke spot healed and Gau made sure Cyan had Rerise.

Brought Cyan and Edgar along to IMTRF. Then I totally ran from a bunch of randoms on the way back to Nikeah/Figaro Castle. 

Bought two more Targes (I really only bought one initially apparently) and 3 Mythril Vests as well as the Bio Blaster and Drill, leaving me with 117 GP. Then I realized I'd need Golem ASAP for this party... Oh well, I was going to XP off to test Bio Blaster in Zozo. I'm gonna throw this up and try to compile a more concise/sorted set of playtest notes for the run up to Zozo.

BNW Beta RC18 Playtest Notes
3/4/2019 0930-1400
Serpent Trench to Zozo Start

Sabin's lines when you find the diving helmet might have been the moment I fell in love with BNW. The bit where Sabin tells Cyan that the helmet will help him breath and Cyan protests that there are three of them. Sabin: "I'll be good. I've had training...can't [Gau] just act like he's a fish or something?"

Anyway, in the Trench the battles were pretty much Dispatch/Suplex city for Cyan/Sabin, Antlion from Gau was a nice compliment to that. Got to Nikeah with over 25K GP. Bought 5 Bandanas to have 8, 2 Poison Claws, a Kotetsu and a Dragoon Seal. leaving me with 15k GP.

The bartender in Nikeah is missing a period from his caption.

As I board the ship for South Figaro, Sabin is level 12, Cyan is level 10 and Gau is level 9.

On team "Charge at Kefka and Steal his Shit" is Locke (Iron Cutlass/Buckler/Bandana/Karate Gi in the front row with Knight Cape/Life Bell), Celes (Iron Cutlass/Buckler/Banadana/Cotton Robe/Safety Glove/Black Belt), Edgar (Iron Cutlass/Buckler/Bandana/Hard Leather/Power Glove/Goggles) and Gau (Buckler/Green Beret/Karate Gi/Sprint Shoes/Magic Cube).
Levelwise, almost everyone is 9 except Sabin at 12 and Cyan at 10. 

Managed to ninja through and only fight 2 randoms before Thanatos. Autocrossbow+Crawler rage obliterated them though. Thanatos was taken care of by Autocrossbow/Stray Cat plus some Ice and Butterfly pokes. I like how Polarity pulls characters out of the protection of Cover now. Very cool dynamic.

Kefka was pretty much the same thing it's been since I learned the Stealing trick. Celes Runic, Locke Steal, others Defend or throw Meat as necessary. I don't think Gau has a non-Magic healing Rage at this point, which is probably for the best.

On my trip to Zozo, I pick Gau, Cyan and Locke, obviously planning to just shortman the whole segment. When Edgar gives his speech that includes talking to Arvis for your gear, maybe he can hint at being able to get Shadow in Kohlingen?

Bought 2 Full Moons and 10 Butterflies, leaving over 11k in my Coffers. I skipped buying anything in Figaro Castle, not having Edgar there was nice. Then I recruited Shadow and said goodbye to some of that. He got Locke's Power Glove/Black Belt and Locke got a Safety Glove/Talisman. Bought 2 more Green Berets here too and put them on Locke/Shadow, as well as 2 Targes. On the beginning of my Western Continent trek, my party is level 10. I continue to use melee attacks on Mandrake because I'm a genius. In Jidoor I picked up 3 Ninja Gears, a Kunai and a Kusatigama. Then I bought 25 Phoenix Downs and headed for Zozo with 173 GP in my pocket. At this point Cyan has hit Level 12, and the rest of my party is still 10. 

First few combats in Zozo were tricky, but that was mostly a matter of trying to Steal from everything. Gau went with Soldier until I got my first Shiv, at which point Shadow picked it up and moved to the back row. Headed back outside to save and take a break.

BNW Beta RC18 Playtest Notes
3/3/2019 1030-1300
South Figaro Basement to Gau Get

Locke is in the front row with the Knight's Cape/Safety Glove, a Buckler and an Iron Cutlass. Celes is in the back throwing a Boomerang (let's see if I remember to change that when I need Runic). Oh, Black Belt is nice here. That'll replace Locke's Safety Glove... and then an Officer/DobermanX2 formation just crushed Locke as he valiantly defended a full health Celes. This got Locke moved to the back row and given a Boomerang. After that, randoms here were standard fare. On the other hand...

Phantom is brutal. It outsped 41 Speed Celes and Doom'd Locke. Celes managed to dodge what is apparently a sleep attack and eat Demis until she could Cure it to death, but the fight could have easily gone south and forced a replay of the whole basement. If you don't want to tone the battle down, could it be traded with the Black Belt chest so it's at least closer to the save point?

Anyway, I high tailed it to Sabin's Cabin after that for some heals and headed off to face Hell Rider. Celes and Locke had one Boomerang each in the back row and they tore through the randoms in the cave. For Hell Rider I gave Locke back his Iron Saber and Knight's Cape. Celes also grabbed an Iron Saber, and she's wearing the White Cape and Magic Cube. The fight was the standard Runic tutorial. Forgot to check levels before this fight. No one leveled after, so hopefully I remember to check at K@N.

At the Choco-vender, I picked up a pair of Spirit Claws, 70 Dried Meat (up to 99) and, 10 Phoenix Downs (up to 22), 20 Shuriken and 10 Smoke Bombs, leaving me with 657 GP. Shadow got Black Belt/Goggles, Sabin got Knight's Cape/Safety Glove (although Shadow is in the front row for now). Randoms before the camp weren't too bad. Everything falls pretty quick to Suplex+Shadow Attacks. Sabin and Shadow were level 9 entering the camp.

Thanks to forewarning I swapped Sabin's Spirit Claws out for Mythril before fighting Telstar. I opened with Pummel, and everything was fine until the soldiers showed up and knocked Shadow down to the dirt. Luckily, that was when Sap decided to kill Telstar and a Phoenix Down, Interceptor and 200 GP worth of split target damage got the fight over with everyone alive. For now, Shadow gets the Power Glove.

Alrighty, a little gear swapping sees Shadow still rocking Black Belt/Power Glove, Cyan makes an interesting fashion choice with a White Cape/Knight's Cape combo, Sabin got the Green Beret and The Safety Gloves/Goggles. Phantom Forest/Train encounters honestly feel bland without the Wight's using Blaze on death. Oh well, I assume that was deemed too brutal. The Ghost Merchant is just different enough to stand out, I like it. Picked up 10 Remedies and a Ghost Ring. Just over 3k in the coffer now. At the pre-Soul Train Save, Sabin is level eleven and his sidekicks are both level ten.

Put a Ghost Ring on Cyan for Soul Train. 3 Mindblows and some Dried Meat later and the Soul Train was no longer feeling pain (because I killed him). At the Fall, Shadow gives his Power Glove to Sabin and his Black Belt to Cyan, who also laces up his spiffy new Sprint Shoes. Same levels for Rizopas as for Soul Train. Sabin got worn down by the Pirahnas and end up at 3 HP when Rizopas showed up and El Nino'd. Cyan Empowerer'd ASAP and then they both threw Dried Meat at Sabin. Then it was Spirit Claw attacks and Dispatch for a couple rounds and he was down. 

Recruited Gau. I just gave him Storm Belt/Magic Cube for now. Hunted Rages and got a Life Bell. Now Gau has Sprint Shoes/Magic Cube in back row. Sabin has Power Glove/Black Belt. Cyan has Life Bell/Knight's Cape. I'm gonna hunt some more Rages cuz I want to actually use Gau for once...

BNW Beta RC11 Playtest Notes
3/1/2019 0800-0900
Start Banon's Scenario to Celes Get

Alright, this Equipment Imp. I think BTB asked for position feedback and I feel like he should be one tile south of the northern boundary, directly north of the save point (four steps north of the save).

As soon as I begin Banon's adventure, I realize that my suggestion for the Imp's placement isn't a great idea. The imp already kind of overlaps with the "Fleeing the Empire's troops..." message (I have a screenshot if this somehow hasn't already been reported). Maybe put him at the intersection of the line between Locke/Sabin and the one between Banon/Save Point(I also have screenshots of my terribly described suggestions)?

On the River, I actually found myself casting a status spell. Without Sabin's Claws to fall back on, Imp was the best damage mitigation I had against the Wizardly Albatrosses. Then it was back to cure battery-ing for the rest of the trip for Terra. Boomerang+Buckler is really a great Terra setup for this segment, it allows Terra an MP free, relatively safe, form of damage. I also like the treasure that you moved to the Moogle Cave, it's either a surprise upgrade or a hint of what's to come. This segment always feels so short, I can't help but get it out of the way first. If anywhere in this game could get a boss, I would definitely suggest one for Banon's route.

Unequ-Imp worked for Terra/Edgar. 

Onto Locke and Celes's Excellent Adventure. Thank you for keeping the lung removal threat, such a great line. Also, please make "Password" the password >.>.

I've never experienced the fabled "South Figaro Mansion Slow Down" but I had a few frames of spriteless backgrounds when entering or exiting the mansion's backdoor while dressed as a merchant. This lag also happened in the upstairs hallway when I tried to enter the drafty room, unless I hadn't been anywhere except that hallway since leaving said drafty room.

The soldiers in here mention an "informer," I think the word you want is "informant." "Spy" or "agent" might fit better too.

Has there always been a soldier playing with New Derp Boy and Tapir-girl? Should the NPC who complains about the draft in the drafty room still be there during this segment?

Love your Celes here. Actually sticking up for herself and trying to help her captors see the error of their ways. Why does Celes still have her sword, from a narrative perspective? 

Alright, the save next to Celes's cell seems a good spot to wrap this up. Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion to...Attack of the Hell Rider!

BNW Beta RC11 Playtest Notes
2/27/2019 2100-0025
Game Start to Scenaro Split

Intro is intro. I enjoyed solving the puzzle of the Mammoth battle. I can't help but wish the Whelk actually had time to go inside it's shell once, but I can see wanting to get this part of the game over with and we get to see that gimmick again later.

Mines were no biggie. Terra could burn all the rats at once and then clean up the junkies. It's nice to see the Flashback Battle working as intended. Protecting Terra was as easy as ever. Captain helped confirmed that Stop turns the ATB red.

Only had one random between Narshe and Figaro Castle. Locke stabbed a bird and Terra burned to rabbits. Good times. Got ACB and NB+10 Dried Meat and 6 Phoenix Down with 1500 GP in the coffers.

During the "Terra Casts Magic" Scene, Edgar say "Ddddddid you just see what I saw...?" I think this would read better as something like "D-d-did..."
Cave to South Figaro is the Terra and Edgar show. Locke can have some use picking off those evasive Hornets, but he has to eat that melee counter for now. I feel like one of the 1000 GP chests in here could swap with the Tincture in the Mines to have something other than 1000 GP in the chests here, or maybe make them like 500, 1000 and 1500 GP.

In S Figaro I got 1 Goggles, Bracelet and a Knight's Cape, as well as 2 Iron Cutlasses, a Boomerang, Bandana, Hair Band and Cotton Robe with 361 GP left. The two hidden chests in the SFigaro Basement could be a little bit better. I'm not saying Sprint Shoes/Hyper Wrist good, but maybe a free Iron Cutlass and Iron Shield or something? Girl in Derp Kid's new room says "My Dad's..." PS: Still sad that Shadow jacked up his matricide fee.
(If we're comparing to the original, it really depends on the GP -> USD conversion rate >.>)

Raid counter on the Trilliums is actually pretty brutal at this level. That cost me a PD. I worry that you were a little heavy handed with the melee counters. I didn't get a Boomerang for Locke and I find myself just not attacking with him to avoid Raid/Blind/Whatever. Other than that, really enjoyed solving the puzzles of the random encounters here. The Vaporitex2/Scrapper encounter was the highlight for me. I liked the treasure changes here. 

Vargas was pretty standard fair. ACB and Fire took care of the Bears, and then Terra healed while the boys dealt damage. Gave Sabin Knight's Cape and shuffled gear a bit. 

Got Safety Glove. Confirmed Locke gives you his gear before he leaves. Banon is automatically in back row, but game still says "I hope you put him in the back row." Lete River was pretty straight forward. Battles felt less 'puzzley' than Mt Kolts, unless you count "always focus fire the Albatross," as a strategy.

Ultros was pretty standard fare. Sabin and Edgar brought the deeps, Banon brought the main heals, Terra held her turn to Cure Banon when he took a ST tentacle to the face. I will say I feel like a MT+ST Tentacle combo shouldn't outright kill Banon, and I'm pretty sure it would have. Don't make escort missions more painful than they have to be...)
(Knowing what level you were at is especially helpful in cases like these)

Unepu-Imp takes everything from Terra/Edgar/Sabin at the beginning of the split, but I'm gonna stop here for the night.
 

Shadow was level 23, 11 ELs in Fenrir. Sabin level 23, 11 ELs in Terrato. Edgar was level 23 with 12 Palidor ELs, and Strago was level 28 with 17 Odin ELs.

Sabin's Pummel was expected to do 1102-1226, it did 1278.

Sabin's Ocean Claw Attacks, I think the damage calc is saying 2146-2389. I recorded individual swings which ranged from 1168-1268 so possible range of 2236-2536 for two attacks (22 attacks recorded).

I'm not sure what the expected damage is for my Shadow's Water Scroll, see my note about the Damage Calc below. I think it should be 3496-3811. Between the 7 scrolls I recorded, damage ranged from 3594-3910.

Edgar's Trident Jumps were expected to do 5298-5893, they did 5644-6216 (five Jumps total).

Tsunami should have done 2923-3252. The two I used did 3060 and 3188. I threw a Raze by accident, it should have done 1461-1626, and did 1631.

Regen should heal Strago for 175-195 a tick. I caught 11 ticks that were between 174-196 *headdesk*

Brown-D only hit my party, by which I mean Strago, with 3 attacks. Normal attack to backrow Safe Strago did 549 (513-572 expected). D-Claw against Front Row Strago (Polarity's a bitch) did 1071 (1026-1145 expected). Then Strago ate one more regular attack while Safe and in the Front Row for 734 (684-763 expected).

Not sure how to check the following numbers, but Brown-D took 228-252 damage from Sap. His Quakes healed him for 1224-1352 and his Landslides healed him for 609-666

Brown-D used Landslide three times. The first and third time, it healed him and he "sped up." The second time it didn't seem to affect him at all.

Shadow's Elemental Scrolls section is using Def instead of M.Def. It's usable, but the arrow points to the wrong value.

Also, if Fenrir's going to have a secret +1MBlock, just include it in the BNWCP so I don't spend 5 minutes trying to figure out why his MBlock is off by one.

First I show everyone being naked.

Then I take off Strago and Gau's Espers.

Then I board and land the Airship.

I take Shoat off of Setzer.

I get on the Airship.

I put Shoat on Setzer.

I land the Airship.

Setzer and Relm have +25% Max HP. I top them off with Dried Meat.

I fight some Ravens, Setzer and Relm still have high HP. I kill the Ravens.

Setzer and Relm have non-boosted HP.

Here's what (I think) I know:

1) Opening the skill menu for a character with an Esper while you're on the Airship deck gives that character a 25% boost (only checked that math once, but it looks right).

2) Landing the airship sometimes gives all characters who have an Esper the +25% HP boost.

3) Looking at a character's Skill menu while on the overworld map will clear the bonus for that character.

4) Entering Narshe clears the bonus for all characters

5) Same for finishing a battle.

In Narshe, I fiddle with Espers for a bit and HP stays the same. Then I enter the Beginner's school. On the entrance, I open the menu and look at Setzer's Skills, his HP goes up. I exit from the Beginner's School to Narshe and everyone's HP is boosted. Go to world map and HP is instantly back to normal.

Ugh, I missed something. I think that it's affecting everyone with an Esper as soon as I close or open the menu while it's affecting one character with an Esper. 
In other words, with everyone's HP as it should be, I look at someone's Skill Menu (while they have an Esper equipped and I'm in a zone where it's happening) and they have boosted HP but no one else does. I close and open the menu and everyone with an Esper has an HP Boost.