Megaten Ichigaya Gold Sponsoring Guide

Forming a Party
A basic Ichigaya Gold Party should have at least the following:
1. Sponsor (You) – This person buys the plates and follows the party throughout the dungeon.
2. Damage Dealer – Someone needs to deal damage right? The party’s performance will depend in the teamwork between the Damage Dealer and the Enhancer. You can have 1-3 damage dealers depending on how strong they are, but you need AT LEAST one of them. If the damage dealer can’t even 1-hit Gakis, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you kick that person.
3. Enhancer – The party’s defense and performance is greatly affected by this member. If you don’t want your party to fail, make sure your enhancer has at least 2.5 enhance and 140+ Intelligence. You only need one of these.

-Don’t Be Cheap-People usually do 10 runs or so, then they will need a repair/restock break. If you don’t have enough money to sponsor 10 runs in a row, then go farm more and come back later. People get pissed if you only sponsor 1 run (Each run is 3-5 min with a decent party and the party usually expects to last 30 min.) Also, runs are done right after each other. As soon as you come out of the dungeon you’re expected to start the next one unless someone asks you to wait or you have to brb. Some ways to get money for sponsoring are Plasma Farming in Nakano or selling AP stuff if you’re an AP buyer. Plasma Farming gets you 100k or so per hour, you can farm for a while and get 500-600k. Don’t worry, you’ll get most of your money back from the treasure chests in boss room. Each treasure chest has 3-4 diamonds, which sell for 5k each. If you check the changing prices constantly, you might be able to find the plates at less than 15k. When you see them at that price, you might want to buy and store at least 20. That way you’ll be actually making profit AND leveling up!

-Don’t be a hero. Don’t go attacking stuff on your own. This will only make things slower considering only one hit can hit a target at a time. (Maybe you’re thinking meleeing a demon is a good idea, but you may actually be making a gunner who can 1-hit it have to wait until you’re poking it so he can shot it down.) You’re a sponsor after all, you just need to follow your party and look pretty.

–Boss Room. Once you reach the boss room you’ll need to wait for the enhancer to pulse the party and cast mirrors (if they have any.) DON’T go inside if no one else has clicked the NPC, this might kill you. If it’s a Rambo Party (the players rush straight to the boss), you’ll need to follow the party and go to the center of the room. If it’s a Lure Party (A gunner or demon lures the boss), you’ll need to turn right immediately after you’ve entered the room so you won’t get aggro from any other demons. If it’s a “King” party (the party members go down the elevator to farm HDDs that will make multiple bosses spawn), you’ll need to run to the center or to the end of the boss room depending on what your party says. Once inside the boss room, don’t attack anything or it’ll get you killed. You should be restricted to dodging/countering if possible.

Some useful notes about your XP facts:

• Experienced is nerfed for each party member you add. When defeating a monster solo, you get 100% of the XP; each time you add a party member, 10% is lost, up to the point where a full party gets 60% of the total XP (4 additional party members = 40% split).
• Jikokuten gives, as a base, 500k XP; in a full party, this gets reduced to 300k as pointed by shamoul.
• The amount of XP required from 1 to 70 is 276,267,000. Assuming neither you nor your party members have any sort of XP-boosting consumables/gear, it’d take you ~921 runs to get from 25 to 70; however, XP-boosting consumables and gear are so commonplace in this day and age that the number of runs WILL be drastically reduced. (For instance, assuming you always have a 5x incense when doing runs and NOTHING else, those 921 see themselves reduced to 185.)

Some other miscellaneous pointers:

• As stated by shamoul, Shields (class 5 Enhancement skills) aren’t required for Ichigaya Gold runs — people that “need” them are crappy players, period. Any damage dealer worth their own salt should be perfectly able to completely dominate the place merely with pulses and Super Armor. While they’re always a welcome commodity, they’re not a requirement.
• In a similar vein, Enhancers with 140 Intelligence aren’t exactly required either — with so much overpowered damage gear in our server, anyone with 100+ Intelligence should fill the party’s most basic needs more than fine in regards to pulses. Again, having max power pulse is a welcome and valuable commodity, but not a requirement.
• If you have people of a very high level in your party that state their capabilities to handle themselves (a self-enhancing melee, for instance), leave them be. Since they can operate “alone” in a sense, the dedicated Enhancer will have one less party member to worry about unless the situation grows dire, which means more focus on keeping you and the other party members alive and in good condition.
• If at all possible, make sure that you carry with you some status heals and group HP heals, and one or two pieces of gear to prevent getting incapacitated (Sleep, Paralyze, Stone, Muddle, etc.); if the Enhancer finds him- or herself busy, knowing that you’re out there giving a hand can make their job easier.
• If you’re sponsoring runs strictly for a leveling purpose (you’re too low level to participate in the party otherwise), DO listen to what the others tell you. Usually, they have your best interests at heart, and know their way around the place, the mobs and the boss. Usually.