Disgaea: Hour of Darkness/Walkthrough

Battle Basics 1
Follow the advice given in the tutorial, and this stage is very simple.

You may not return to this stage after its completion.

Battle Basics 2
Follow the advice given in the tutorial, and this stage is very simple.

You may not return to this stage after its completion.

Geo Symbols
Near the blue Exp +50% Geo Symbol is a raised panel that is not affected by any Geo Panels. Destroying the Geo Symbol from here will leave you unaffected by the Geo chain.

After this stage is completed, it is renamed "Practice Map" and the Exp +50% Geo Symbol will no longer appear.

Magnificent Gate
Near the base panel are two geo symbols. One of them increases the enemy's strength and one increases the amount of experience you gain from defeating the enemies. Before destroying the Enemy Boost geo symbol, you should check the bonuses being offered for having a high combo count. If the bonuses include alot of experience or good items, you may want to put the experience geo symbol on the Geo Panels before destroying the Enemy Boost symbol to create a large chain. Alternatively, destroy the Enemy Boost symbol and then place the Experience symbol on the colored tiles to increase the experience gained from defeating the enemies.

Once the Enemy Boost symbol is out of the way, you should have no problem defeating the foes.

Blessed Court
The four ghosts near the Base Panel can be quickly destroyed. When they are killed, move two character onto the yellow Geo Panels which give them Attacks +1 and Def +50%. Line up your ranged attackers behind these two characters. The remaining enemies will attack, and the two character on the yellow Geo Panels should be able to easily hold them off.

Corridor of Love
The Boggarts near the entrance should be killed as soon as possible. Once this is accomplished, move the characters into the water which is affected by Recovery +20%. Standing in this water should make it easy to defeat the archers which come and attack you. After they are defeated, you may want to remain in the water until your characters are fully healed. Finally, proceed up the stairs and finish off the remaining forces.

Hall of Caresses
Before rushing in to battle, keep in mind that up ahead is an enemy with a bow and an enemy with spells both on Geo Panels affected by Attacks +1 and Enemy Boost x6. These enemies will most likely be able to defeat one of your characters in a single attack.

With this in mind, there are two tactics that can be used to minimize the damage they cause.
 * Throw a character with a sword skill high enough to use Blade Rush next to the Geo Symbols. Then use Blade rush to destroy all three in a single attack.
 * Move two characters with a fist weapon skill high enough to use any Specials next two the enemies on the Geo Panels. The fist weapon skill will knock the enemies off it, and then you can move characters of your own on to it to prevent them from coming back.

Once the enemies on the Geo Panels are taken care of, focus your attention on Mid-Boss. He has powerful attacks that can cause alot of damage. To make defeating him easier, leave the Attacks +1 Geo Symbol alone, and have your characters use it to their advantage. Make sure Mid-Boss doesn't get on these panels, or you will be in for a tough battle.

Forsaken Land
All of the zombies on this stage are weak to fire, so Red Mages and Red Skulls will deal alot of damage. Avoid going near the cliffs until the zombies are taken care of. Once the zombies are dead, throw your melee characters up the cliff and have your spell casters cast from below to take out the Archers and the Cleric.

Icy Breath
This stage is filled with more zombies which are weak to fire. They start off next to each other, so using skills that affect multiple panels (such as Blade Rush and higher level magics) will take the zombies out very quickly.

Eternal Winter
There are more zombies in this stage. Like the ones before them, they are all weak to fire. Finish them off quickly, because more enemies will be flying in to join them.

Whether you're prepared or not, the Imps and Gremlin will show up in a few turns. They use a skill that damages the character in front of them, and the two panels on the side of that character. This attack can be very damaging, since it has a chance of poisoning affected characters. To deal with this attack, spread your characters out. Putting them in a checkerboard pattern will ensure that no two of your characters are ever affected twice, and since the enemies dont care whether their friends get hurt, they will be dealing alot of damage to your enemies this way. Keep in mind that you do not gain experience for enemies that are killed by other enemies or by poison, so deal with the flyers as soon as you can.

White Death
In this stage you will be fighting Flonne, her Dragon, and her army of Imps and Gremlins.

There are a few tactics that can make this battle easier.
 * Keep your characters in the first few panels around the Base Panel. This will cause the Imps and Gremlins to come attack you, but Flonne and the Dragon will not. Your characters will all be bunched together, so they will be taking alot more damage, but will make fighting Flonne and the Dragon much easier.
 * Send your characters in, but keep them spread out to avoid multple characters being damage by the Imps. Have a character or small group of characters engage Flonne separately to prevent her from healing the rest of her troops.

Like the battles before it, most of the enemies here are weak to fire, so employ this to your advantage.

Gaudy Entrance
The Brawlers here start far away, and can be engaged separately from the others by keeping your characters far enough away. Killing them individually will make this a very easy battle.

Golden Courtyard
Near the base panel are several Brawlers. These can be killed fairly quickly. Do not worry about the rest of the map for now, since it is divided by a line of No Entry panels.

After the brawlers are dead, move your ranged attackers up next to the No Entry panels. There are two Brawlers with bows that can damage your characters, so focus on taking them out first. The priest will advance and try to heal his friend; take him out. When everyone else is dead, destroy the No Entry Geo Symbols and finish off the Manticore.