__________.__ __ \______ \ | _____ _/ |_ ____ ____ ____ | ___/ | \__ \\ __\/ _ \ / _ \ / \ | | | |__/ __ \| | ( <_> | <_> ) | \ |____| |____(____ /__| \____/ \____/|___| / \/ \/ ________ .__ .___ / _____/ __ __|__| __| _/____ / \ ___| | \ |/ __ |/ __ \ \ \_\ \ | / / /_/ \ ___/ \______ /____/|__\____ |\___ > \/ \/ \/ _________________________________________ | | | Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch | | Platoon (Casino Game) FAQ | | Version 1.2: March 4, 2013 | | Written by SoopaSte123 | | | | Copyright 2013 SoopaSte123 | |_________________________________________| Index -------------- (1) Introduction (2) Rules (3) General Strategy (4) Abusing the AI (5) F.A.Q. (6) Legal (7) Credits Introduction (1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The casino is a fun diversion in Ni no Kuni. You can easily sink hours playing the different games there, and there are some useful prizes as well. There are your standard slots games, blackjack, double cross (an advanced version of the friendship trial challenge), and the unique card game platoon. If you're really lucky you may be able to win big at the slots, but platoon is your best bet for winning big money. I had a lot of trouble the first few times I played platoon, as I didn't have a sound strategy and I got frustrated by the platoon girl's constant smack talk (who would hire a dealer that would taunt the customers??). Eventually, though, I developed a strategy that easily has won me millions of chips, and I thought it best to give some help to anyone who is struggling like I did. NOTE: To reduce confusion, I'll be referring to Aces as Bishops and referring to Jokers as Wizards (some people only look at the symbol and don't know the actual card number). Rules (2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Platoon is a 2 player game. Each player is dealt 10 cards and must arrange them into 5 piles. Every pile has a point value corresponding to its cards: - Number cards 2 through 10 are each worth their value in points - Jacks (J) and Queens (Q) are worth 10 points each - Kings are worth 10 points and will instantly WIN against any basic pile - Aces (Bishops) are worth 1 point and will instantly LOSE against any pile EXCEPT against a pile with a King, which it will defeat - Jokers (Wizards) are worth 0 points and causes players to SWAP PILES before deciding the winner Other rules: - Wizards cannot be placed in a pile alone - If neither pile contains a King or Bishop, the highest point total wins - If both piles contain a King, the pile with the highest point total wins - If both piles contain a Bishop, the pile with the highest point total wins - If both piles contain a Wizard, the piles are swapped twice, so players keep their original piles After arranging their 5 piles, you (the challenger) predict a pile you think will win. Your opponent (the house) will then pick a pile it thinks will win (though it seems to be random). Next, cards are drawn from the deck to decide who goes first. Players will then take turns picking one of their piles and one of their opponents piles to "battle" using the rules above. The winner is tallied, and the next player continues by picking two piles to battle. If your predicted pile wins a battle, you add half of your current wager amount to the total wager amount, while if your predicted pile loses, the wager amount stays the same. If your opponent's predicted pile wins a battle, your wager amount is halved, while if the pile loses the wager amount stays the same. You win the round (the campaign) if, at any point, you accumulate 3 battle wins. You lose the round (and your entire wager amount) if, at any point, you accumulate a combination of 3 losses and/or ties. General Strategy (3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save your game, then go buy 1000 chips (use L1 to speed up the process). Each set of rounds will cost you 200 chips, so 1000 chips gives you 5 sets of rounds, which should be enough to win big (if it isn't, you can reload your save and try again). You may notice that after a successful round, you will be given the option to use your winnings as your new wager or to take your winnings and quit. ALWAYS CHOOSE TO USE YOUR WINNINGS AS THE NEW WAGER. The game will automatically end once you have won 6 rounds in a row, and this will maximize your winnings*. The only reason to quit early is if you don't want to reload your save when you run out of chips. Regardless, you start by wagering 200 chips and the game begins. *Update: If you end round 6 without surpassing 99,999 chips, you may enter a 7th round, where if you win, you can end up with >400,000 chips. Therefore, you may wish to purposely cut your bet in half by letting your opponent's predicted pile to win. If you don't have the best hand and it looks like too much of a gamble, don't worry about it, but it's still good information to know. Thanks to carl8000 for the info. A common mistake is to try to make all 5 piles winners, which spreads you too thin and you end up losing. Remember, you only need to win 3 out of the 5 battles! However, it's also foolhardy to ONLY have 3 piles designed for winning, since you'll lose if the computer has one surprise hand. Instead, our strategy is to have 3 winners, 1 loser, and 1 insurance pile. The piles should consist of the cards listed below (each pile set is listed in order from most desirable to least desirable): Possible WINNER piles (you should have 3) -> Wizards, paired with your lowest card (ideally with a value less than 5) -> Kings, placed alone -> Card combination with point values 18+ (above 20 is recommended) -> Wizards, paired with Bishops (if you have multiple Bishops) Possible LOSER piles (you should have 1) -> Bishops, placed alone -> Your lowest valued card Possible INSURANCE piles (you should have 1) -> Card combination with point values 8-10 (or 7 if necessary) -> Bishops, placed alone (if your hand has two or more Bishops than Wizards) NOTE: If you have an abundance of great cards (like 3 kings), you can choose to make your insurance pile from the set of possible winner piles, but don't weaken a strong 20+ pile down to 18 or 19 to make your insurance pile stronger. We don't want to spread too thin! Once you have 3 winners, 1 loser, and 1 insurance, it's time to place your prediction on a winner. Pick your best winning pile and move on. Hopefully you get to pick the battles first, but either way, this is your order of battle priorities: 1.) Your insurance pile VS opponent's pile that only contains 1 card 2.) Your Wizard+LowCard VS opponent's largest pile 3.) Your King VS opponent's largest pile 4.) Your Wizard+Bishop VS opponent's largest pile 5.) Your largest point pile VS opponent's medium-sized pile A SECONDARY rule is to try to battle your prediction pile early on and to try to avoid battling your opponent's prediction pile. This must be a secondary consideration, however, since getting half your winnings is better than losing and getting none at all. With these strategyies in mind, you shouldn't have too much trouble. However, if you're still having trouble (or want to destroy the AI and make money even faster), the next section goes over how to abuse the AI. Fair warning, it will take away any and all excitement and thrill out of the game, so if you're playing for fun and not for chips, you best stay clear. Abusing the AI (4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Thanks to bmf4ever for discovering the AI can be predicted* Using AI prediction really trivializes this game and makes a lot of the strategizing unneccessary. This means if you're playing for fun and not for the purpose of raking in chips, you'd best stay clear of this section. Once you learn the AI strategy, it cannot be unseen. You've been warned! The first thing to notice is that the AI will always tend to put the special cards (Kings, Wizards, and Bishops) on the left when making piles. For example, their piles may be set up like this: (K) (K,5) (W,2) (10,9) (J,Q,3) But never this: (K) (10,9) (J,Q,3) (W,2) (K,5) This means that ANY TIME YOU SEE AN ALL NUMBER PILE (which can include Jacks and Queens), EVERY PILE TO ITS RIGHT IS ALSO A NUMBER PILE. The next thing to notice is that the AI will always put Bishops in piles to the left of the Kings. This means that ANY TIME YOU SEE A PILE WITH A BISHOP, EVERY PILE TO ITS LEFT ALSO CONTAINS A BISHOP. It also implies that ANY TIME YOU SEE A KING, THERE WILL NEVER BE A BISHOP IN ANY PILE TO ITS RIGHT. The third thing of note is that Wizards can be placed on any type of card, but will always appear to the left of that card without a wizard. For example, you may see: (B) (W,K) (K) (W,5) (Q,J,2,3) But never: (B) (K) (W,K) (Q,J,2,3) (W,5) TO SUMMARIZE, the order of pile preference for the AI is this: Wizard+Bishop, Bishop, Wizard+King, King, Wizard+NumberCards, NumberCards The piles on the right will always be right of those listed on the left, and vice-versa. It's also worth noting that number cards can be included with any of the piles, but this rarely affects things unless you've got King vs King or Bishop vs Bishop. What does this mean for strategy? Well first of all, your insurance pile should now target a single card that is furthest to the right, or use a mediocre winner pile to attack a small pile that you know is only number cards. You can also use this knowledge to sacrifice your loser pile by targeting the AI's left-most pile, hoping for a Bishop (if you have a low card) or a King (if you have a Bishop). Of course the Wizards can complicate things, but it still gives you a much better chance to win with a bad hand. I hesitate to list more strategies because a lot of it is circumstantial and common sense (as long as you know the AI rules). With this knowledge, it will be really surprising to ever lose a round of Platoon and you can max out your chip count to 9,999,999 if you so desire. Frequently Asked Questions (5) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where is the casino? A: If you have to ask, you probably aren't far enough in the story. It's in a place called Tombstone Trail, and, without spoiling anything, it won't be there the first time you visit. Q: The AI sometimes predicts MY pile to win. Should I try to make that pile lose? A: No, that's an easy way to lose the game. Avoid battling with that pile if you can, but don't sacrifice the win by deviating too much from the battle priorities order. Q: The AI sometimes predicts MY pile to win. Should I be predicting my opponents pile to win? A: No, it's much more reliable to pick your strongest pile. Q: Why not combine your Wizard with your Bishop? I do it and it always wins! A: It's riskier. If your opponents pile has a King, you lose. If it's a Wizard+NumberCard, you lose. If it's a Wizard+Bishop, you tie, which is effectively a loss. Wizard+LowCard beats Kings, Wizard+Bishop, and certain Wizard+NumberCards. Wizard+LowCard will lose against Wizard+King, but that's not a common occurrence. Also, Bishops placed alone are great for loser piles, as they can sometimes surprise you and win. Q: Why not pick your loser pile to battle your opponent's biggest pile? A: That's a valid strategy, but I try to avoid it. Kings and Wizard+LowCards are much better for taking out the big piles. Also, the faster I win, the less chance my opponent has for getting her prediction right and stealing half my wager. I guess the best scenario for it would be if you ended up with 3 winning piles of number cards less than 20 points... sacrificing your loser pile could be your best bet. Q: The AI cheats! She's been demolishing me! It's so unfair! A: I've been there, believe me. I once had a game where I had a hand of all number cards and my opponent had 2 Kings and a Wizard+Bishop. Just try not to get too frustrated. Come back again later and give it a try, or read over my Abusing the AI section to give it a taste of its own medicine. Q: What do I do with all my chips? Can I trade them in for coins? A: Unfortunately, you cannot trade your chips in for coins. You can, however, spend them on some useful items, and even a few familiars! Q: Where do I trade in my familiar tickets? A: The Temple of Trials. Legal (6) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2013 SoopaSte123 I don't mind anyone using this faq as long as credit is given to me, SoopaSte123. Both S's capitalized. None of this soo-paste stuff. Please don't email me, but feel free to message me on Gamefaqs if you have any questions or comments. Thanks. Credits (7) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gamefaqs user Nooope: I struggled horribly with Platoon until trying out his strategy. My strategy is a refined version of his, and without his help I would probably still be yelling curses at my TV in frustration. So thanks! Gamefaqs user bmf4ever: Discovered (and more importantly, shared with the community) the basic pattern of the AI. Incredibly useful to know, so thank you! Gamefaqs user carl8000: Gave me the tip that having less than 100,000 chips at the end of round 6 allows you to enter a 7th round, potentially winning you more chips in less time. Thanks!