Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories/Town Fields

Stage 1-1: Beginner's Field
Dark Sun - 3 Difficulty
 * 1) Nothing
 * 2) Revives all fallen enemies
 * 3) (repeat)

While the Dark Sun's effect is potentially hazardous, the Sun itself only has a difficulty of three. You should be able to take it out with a single ascent sacrifice around Lv80 if they're a warrior-type. A lower level unit could also take it out with one strike if you lift them several times over. Once the main threat is gone, this map is fairly simple. There are only three enemies, positioned far from one another at distant corners of the map. Since these enemies won't approach until one of your characters enters their attack range, you can choose to only fight one or two at a time.

The monsters in this stage have rather weak weapons for their level, and they possess no forms of armor, so don't let their levels fool you into thinking they're unbeatable. You might even be able to defeat all three with characters Lv40 or lower, if you have good sets of equipment.

An Observer's DEF is usually half or less of its RES, and, as stated, these particular enemies possess no armor. Because of this, you should be better off fighting them with physical attacks instead of spells.

Stage 1-2: Reflection Pool
Geo Symbols - Red panels only
 * Null symbol 'Enemy Boost +50%' on Red Panels

Dark Sun - 2 Difficulty
 * 1) None
 * 2) None
 * 3) Game Over
 * 4) None (repeats)

How to Unlock: Have one of your units take any kind of damage in the normal 1-2 stage. Transportation to the Dark World version is optional.

This battle is fairly simple, and mimics the normal stage 1-2 in terms of Geo Symbol and enemy placement.

While an instantaneous Game Over is potentially threatening, you should be able to end this battle in the first three or four turns, so sacrificing a character to destroy the Dark Sun could be a waste. If you still wish to destroy it anyway, nearly any sacrifice of a melee-type Lv45+ or agility-type Lv65+ should be able to do the job, but higher leveled sacrifices are recommended.

The Enemy Boost Geo Symbol is exactly 17 spaces away from your Geo Panel. If you have a decently-leveled thief, or other gun-user/Archer with at least 6 spaces of movement, it should be easy to take out the symbol while only wasting two characters' actions on the first turn. Have any unit with at least a 5-panel Throw execute a Base Panel-Throw on the chosen gun-user to position them closer to the Geo Symbol. If your unit has 6 Move, it should be able to get within 5 spaces of the Geo Symbol, close enough range for a normal gun attack or an Archer-class bow attack. (If you only have a Gunner/Archer with 5 Move, you can use a Heavy Knight's Throw of 6 panels to have essentially the same results.) Destroy the Geo Symbol to unleash a Nullify Geo Effect which should lower the HP of your Orc foes by a few hundred, and remove their +50% Bonus. Your Base Panel Thrower and Gunner will take this damage as well, but it probably won't finish them off if they have 600 or more HP.

If you accomplished the above without ending your turn, the Orcs should still be laid out in their bunched-together pattern, and you can still send out seven or eight more units to attack. If you have at least three strong Mages or Skulls, it should be easy to finish off the Orcs with area-of-effect Star spells, or with elemental spells if you target their elemental weaknesses. If any enemies are still standing after your magical attacks, they will probably be weakened to the point that physical attackers can finish them all off with less than a handful of attacks.

Stage 1-3: Psycho's Hideout
Geo Symbols - Purple panels only
 * Null symbol 'Enemy Boost x3' on Purple Panels

Dark Sun - 5 Difficulty
 * Random afflictions (HP DMG, SLP, AMN, etc)

How to unlock: Take damage from an enemy. Transportation is automatic and party member positions on the map are retained.

First thing you should toss someone over to the Geo Symbol and blow it up. That will make your life a lot easier. After that's out of the way, the best strategy here (and for any stage with 3 or fewer enemies) is the Thieves' Steal Consciousness. Putting one or two of those bad boys to sleep will make this battle much more manageable.

If you lack Thieves in your party then you can use mages, archers, or gunners to attack the Garms from afar for a couple rounds. Toss your best range attackers across the ravine in the first round, and then pull out some cannon fodder and leave it near the Base Panel to act as a distraction. The Garms will then have to make their way across the Ravine the hard way, allowing you to work them over one at a time for a few rounds. You'll want to include a healer in your stack since the Dark Sun will inflict some pretty annoying ailments or damage of its own.

Stage 1-4: Dead Tree Field
Geo Symbols - Aqua panels only
 * Aqua symbol 'No Lifting' on Aqua panels
 * Aqua symbol 'Reverse Damage' on Aqua panels

Dark Sun - 10 Difficulty
 * 1) Ally Changed into Dragon
 * 2) (repeats)

How to Unlock: Kill either an enemy or ally Green Skull on the normal 1-4 stage. Transportation to the Dark World version is instantaneous.

If you have one or two Healers (or other characters with healing spells) of decent strength, this stage should be no problem for you. All eight magicians are lined up in a 2x4 pattern on the Reverse Damage Geo Panels, and will not move from their positions, so you should be able to take them all out in two Giga Heal area-of-effect spells. Try not to have your characters advance more than they must to cast their spells, as the mages could possibly survive and try to counterattack. However, they won't move from their positions by their own actions, and won't be able to hit your units if you're out of their spells' range.

If you somehow don't manage to defeat all of your enemies in the first turn, or if you only have one Healer, it probably won't hurt much to just keep her out there to endure your enemy's attacks. Healers have naturally high RES, and you've likely focused her armor to enhance RES since it's the stat used for healing spells. Add that onto the fact that all Healers have an innate ability to resist elemental attacks, and you'll know your Healer is sure to survive the magician's fire spells.

The Ally Change will only affect one of your human characters on the map, chosen at random. Since healing spells are kept with the change into monsters, there's no need to worry about Healers.