by Doc – Owner, Founder, Wishes TTYD’s Combat System Were Ported Into Some Kind of PVP Game Where You Select Two Partners And A Few Badges And Then Go At It
Spoilers are kept to a minimum.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a perfect remake, and if you played the original Paper Mario on the N64 or the Gamecube version, you likely won’t need this guide as you already understand the basics. However, if you’ve not played either, read on.
Basic Non-Obvious Information (No Spoilers)
Bosses are generally not vulnerable to attacking items like Dizzy Dial and Sleepy Sheep, nor are they vulnerable to partner moves or Star Meter moves that inflict statuses like dizziness and sleep.
As you gain more abilities to move in the overworld, Rogueport opens up a lot more as well. Experiment with things when you unlock a new ability or partner.
Trust the green rat.
Selling badges that you don’t expect you’ll need is an easy way to make money. You can always buy them back from the Badge Shop, as they never leave the Badge Shop’s inventory.
If you’re getting more than about 5 Star Points from each enemy in the area, you probably need to grind a bit and gain at least 2 more levels.
After a certain point in the game you can unlock Chet Rippo, who can shift your level ups to and from HP, FP and BP. Don’t stress over what you level up now, because he can always change it later.
Take some time between chapters and do a few troubles at the Trouble Center. Some of them are really helpful.
Always do the Stylish command. It’s muscle memory for me at this point.
When you level up, you get full heals on HP, FP and your Star Meter.
Guarding against attacks that inflict a status is better than Superguarding against those effects, because Guard moves protect from status. Superguarding doesn’t.
Badge and Battle Strategy
The game explains its mechanics to you quite well: don’t jump on spikes or fire without the proper badge, you can only hammer the enemy in front, and you need Badge Points (BP) to equip badges. I trust you have a basic comprehension of the mechanics of battle as they’re presented to you early in the game, and they don’t get much more complicated throughout the game: you just get more options to choose from.
Most of the battle strategy in Paper Mario: TTYD is really a question of trade-offs. You should be asking yourself “In how many turns can I eliminate these opponents, and am I willing to spend FP to speed that up a bit or spend HP to preserve my FP but take more damage?”. Efficiency is important because you’ll often find yourself outnumbered and attacked by 3-5 enemies per turn, so you want to kill them as fast as possible before they overwhelm you. When in doubt, pick one enemy and have Mario attack him while your partner uses an attack that hits all opponents.
Quake Hammer
Quake Hammer is the best basic badge that you can get, and is invaluable for the early and mid game. Quake Hammer is obtained near Flurrie’s house in Chapter 2 in a red ? block. Get this badge, and equip it immediately. Quake Hammer does 2 damage to every enemy on the ground for 3 FP. That’s not a lot, but it gets more useful as you play through the game because most shelled enemies are flipped over (i.e. Koopa-type enemies, Buzzy Beetles) by the Quake Hammer. If you want it to do more damage, you can eventually get a second and third Quake Hammer in the endgame, but you really only need the one.
Quake Hammer also ignores defense, so if you’re finding an enemy that is far too defensive for you to handle, Quake Hammer can help.
Not that you’ll need it for this, but it does hit enemies on the ceiling, too. Oh yeah – there’s a ceiling!
Quick Change
Quick Change is the single most broken battle badge in the Paper Mario series. For a cost of 8 Star Pieces (trade with Dazzle by going down the pipe in East Rogueport and to the left screen, then talk to the blue guy by the door) and 7 BP you can access any partner’s attack at any time without spending a turn. I won’t lie – 7 BP is an astronomical cost of BP, and that’s why I usually can’t equip it until the end of Chapter 1. It’s well worth the investment to put your first three upgrades into FP, BP and BP again to accommodate Quick Change so long as you typically hit defending action commands.
Its utility is tremendous: let’s say (I’ll omit some names so as to limit spoilers) you have the first two partners. You need the second partner’s Power Shell ability to hit everyone on the ground, but you only have the first partner out. You can either spend a turn switching partners and subsequently being attacked, or you can have Quick Change active to bring out the second partner and Power Shell your opponents into oblivion.
Let’s also say that you’re in a situation where your partner has just been hit with a status. Statuses don’t transfer from partner to partner, so if you switched out your partner you’d have a new fresh one. Quick Change lets you do that without hassle. Quick Change doesn’t sound useful on paper, but you’ll see it once you need it.
Power Jump/Power Smash
For a cost of 2 FP it’s often better to simply ensure that you kill the opponent in that turn than to leave yourself vulnerable to an attack. Power Jump/Smash gets more powerful as you progress through the game, and when combined with Flower Saver it costs a practically free 1 FP. Be advised that you do the same amount of damage when Jump and Smash, so you’re not missing out on one by only having the other. The game gives you Power Smash at the start and Power Jump is also available for purchase from the Badge Shop on the second floor of Central Rogueport (go up to the Inn, and head out the left door) pretty early, so picking which one to use is really a question of which you prefer based on its limitations.
I personally prefer Power Smash as it works against a broader variety of enemies, but doesn’t allow you to select which enemy you hit. However, against bosses that doesn’t matter – bosses are almost always the only enemy on the field.
Sleepy Stomp
Sleepy Stomp is a Jump attack that puts an opponent to sleep (though it won’t work on a boss). This doesn’t seem like much, until you realize that that sleep lasts for five turns. This gives you plenty of time to take out whatever other enemies need to be killed off.
If you’re finding yourself in a pinch, and you only have one enemy left, put that enemy to sleep without killing them. Then you can self-heal by using Sweet Treat as needed, and have your partner use Appeal to regenerate your Star Meter. Since the enemy is usually clocked out for five turns, you can usually get two full Sweet Treats off with Appeals before he wakes back up.
Power Bounce
If you’re really good at Jump action commands, then Power Bounce is worth getting. Power Bounce has you repeat the Jump action command and so long as you make the correct action command, you get to jump again (up to an undisclosed limit).
However, it’s relatively expensive in FP early on and I don’t expect new players to be all that good at the timing without some practice. I personally don’t use it often unless I have Simplifier too.
Super Appeal/ Super Appeal P
Super Appeal is for Mario, Super Appeal P is for the partner.
New players tend to rely much more on their Star Meter, which is perfectly fine. The attack you unlock after beating Chapter 2 is one of the most effective attack-all options for its cost and is basically never surpassed until the very end of the game. Even your partner’s attack-all moves don’t do more damage, save for one exception.
To fuel this, there’s nothing wrong with equipping the 1 BP Super Appeal or Super Appeal P. Because only Mario can use Star Meter “Special” moves, I equip Super Appeal P. That way my partner can appeal first to build up Star Meter, and then Mario can blast ’em away. Super Appeal is available from the start at the Badge Shop for only 50 coins, and Super Appeal P is inside the house in the forest in Chapter 2.
Item Hog/Flower Finder/Heart Finder
Item Hog is one of the best regular playthrough badges because it greatly increases the chance that you’ll get an item after battles, especially if the enemy was holding an item during the battle. Item Hog is an easy source of attacking and occasionally healing items, and the item dropped changes depending on the enemy. This is particularly useful when you’re facing an enemy that you don’t have an immediate answer for and need some time to whittle it down and/or build Star Meter – Fire Flower, POW Blocks and Dizzy Dials are all too common drops from Item Hog, and you can safely use one without worrying about saving it for later. You can get it from the Star Piece guy (same guy you bought Quick Change from) for 5 Star Pieces.
Flower Finder and Heart Finder have similar effects in that they guarantee the dropping of hearts or FP after battle. This is useful for keeping you topped off on HP and FP during your play. It doesn’t seem like much, but if you’re having to tough out battle after battle with no way to stop at an Inn inn-between (pun very intended) then these two are vital. You can buy these from the Star Piece guy as well.
Flower Saver
One of my personal favorite badges, Flower Saver reduces the cost of Mario’s FP-using attacks by 1 FP. There’s a Flower Saver P, but you really only need Flower Saver for a main game playthrough.
Flower Saver reduces the cost of Power Jump/Smash and Sleepy Stomp to the practically free 1 FP, and Quake Hammer costs only 2 FP. With Flower Saver and Flower Finder on together, you can basically use as many FP moves as you want with minimal repercussions. As long as you have at least one of the two equipped, you should be fine.
Lucky Start
This badge is controversial. It’s only accessible halfway through the game, is a bit out of the way and costs 4 BP. However, at the start of every battle it gives you a beneficial status effect that lasts for three turns. Typically this involves regenerating HP or FP, or making Mario dodgy. This is really helpful because it means that you’re getting 2 HP or FP per turn, or not having to spend much FP in beating the opponents. If you’re winning battles in 3-5 turns, Lucky Start is invaluable at keeping you topped off inside the battle.
I do recommend unequipping it before boss fights, as boss fights go on for too long for it to be of use.
Simplifier
There’s no shame in admitting you’re a noob. If you have a hard time hitting Action Commands, consider Simplifier. Just be aware that it reduces the amount of Star Meter regeneration you get.
Out-of-Battle Tips
When to Self-Heal with Star Meter
Items are for healing outside of battle, and the Star Meter is for healing inside of battle. If you’re needing healing, and one last hit will finish off your opponent, have Mario use the best available Star Meter heal first and then finish off the opponent with your partner.
Recipes
Paper Mario is easy if you’re prepared, and it’s easy to be prepared if you have good items. Even from the beginning of Chapter 2, you can start enhancing your items by asking an NPC in Central Rogueport to cook them. At the very least, cook your basic Mushroom items so they give you that little bit of an edge when you need them.
Partners
Throughout the game you gain the option to upgrade partners. Each partner can be upgraded twice, and upgrading adds HP to their pool, as well as +1 damage and another move. Be sure that you upgrade your partners when it’s available to you.
It’s also useful to have your preferred partner out in the overworld so you don’t have to switch into battle to use them (unless you have Quick Change).
Trouble Center
Completing Trouble Center tasks between chapters is a fun way to build out the lore of the world, and they occasionally get you a lot more than just money. You’ll find that it may even be strategically useful if you complete troubles in the later game thanks to their rewards.
Money Is Easy
Don’t hoard your money in the first and second chapters. While you won’t get a lot of it, there’s really nothing unlocked that early in the game that will require you to spend more than about 20 coins. The game is generous with items in the early game so long as you’re a bit explorative and keep an eye out for items in the field.
After Chapter 3 your money situation will get less tight, so don’t stress.
Amiibo Doctor 