Jade Empire questions

[Texas Red]

I dont want to restart the game because Im not happy with some aspect of my character. I usually restart a new RPG on an average of 2 times before going through my first playthrough.

I dont quite understand a few things. First, is Focus *only* used for weapon handling and that bullet time thing? So if I want a character who wield melee weapons rather than just fights with his fists and legs I should take as much focus as possible? But what is the advantage of using weapons? There isnt any info given. Right now I can only see, from the starting styles, that using weapons drains you Focus while the other doesnt. Basically, what are the negative and positive sides for the weapons and fists/legs?

What for is chi used? Is it required for healing, magic and transformation? I didnt get so far as to know this, but Id like to plan my character out.

If I want to go with a weapon wielding character who ignores the magic and transformation elements, I should concentrate only Body and Mind?

Also, why are there such a large amount of styles? I assume anyone will just focus on a single style to improve as fast as they can.

 

[sportforredneck]

First, is Focus *only* used for weapon handling and that bullet time thing?

Yes.

So if I want a character who wield melee weapons rather than just fights with his fists and legs I should take as much focus as possible?

Yes.

But what is the advantage of using weapons?

Well they're basically the same as fists, other than weapons don't affect ghosts and they use up your focus.

Is it required for healing, magic and transformation?

Yes.

If I want to go with a weapon wielding character who ignores the magic and transformation elements, I should concentrate only Body and Mind?

Mostly, but some points should go into chi purely for healing if you ever need it.

Also, why are there such a large amount of styles?

A claim to variety, but in the end, they're all basically the same. Some are slower or faster than others, but that's really it.

 

[JoeDirt]

Jade Empire requires no thinking hat at all, so you really don't need to ask for advice on any particular aspect of it. Your hand will be held 100% of the way and everything will be mostly obvious.

 

[Tinkies]

Agreed. I completed the game using only Thousand Cuts and the beginner sword ( I don't remember it's name). There's no real difficulty to speak of; just hack your thousands of brain dead enemies until the end.
For the record, I didn't even know about the bullet time thing until the last boss used on me.

 

[Texas Red]

Ok, answer me this. What use are new styles to me if I already have upgraded the starting styles? Are they more powerful? Basically, why should I bother with them?

 

[omega3]

Weapons have more reach and they do more damage, but they deplete your focus and don't work againts ghosts. That's basically the difference between weapon and martial styles.

Some new styles are useful even when not upgraded, like the overpowered Paralyzing Palm which freezes enemies. Spirit Thief is useful for replenishing Chi.

I never bother with magic styles, and I only use two transformation styles towards the end of the game. I max out the martial style I start with, and a weapon style. The best weapon style is gained through the Imperial Arena, but if you don't want to wait that long you should just develop the weapon style you choose in the beginning of the game. Waiting until the Arena is more of a powergaming solution, since any style gets you through the game.

The different martial styles vary in range, speed and power. White Demon is slow but powerful, Thousand Cuts is fast but weak, Legendary Strike is in the middle, and I don't know about Leaping Tiger because I hate the animations. A fast style makes it easier to interrupt enemies. Any style will do, and I almost always go with Legendary Strike because it has cool animations. White Demon pisses me off because in reality such slow strikes would not do any damage.

 

[Gosling]

Weapons have more reach and they do more damage, but they deplete your focus and don't work againts ghosts. That's basically the difference between weapon and martial styles.

Later in the game some monsters and bosses will also be completely immune to martial styles.

Chi is required not only for magic and transformation styles, but for making your attacks more powerful, i.e. making chi strikes. You should hold down a special button when attacking ta activate this.

Easily the most powerful style in the game is a fully upgraded Jade Golem (transformation) used in focus mode - but you'd probably need a lot of chi and focus to get the most of it.

if I want a character who wield melee weapons rather than just fights with his fists and legs I should take as much focus as possible?

There are a whole lot of enemies in the game that can't be damaged with weapons, so make sure to upgrade at least one of your "hand-to-hand" styles.

Basically, while you can surely finish Jade Empire using only a couple of styles, the game encourages you to try different combinations of styles from different style trees. Just don't bother maxing out more than one style of each style group (martial, weapon, transformation, etc.).

Also take into consideration that on your first playthrough you'll probably be able to fully max out only four styles. Or 12 upgrade lines.