The "Pray" Command: A Good Idea or What?
I have been appointed, by a 6 to 1 vote in the Supreme Council of Lubyland, to write a series of articles that will expound the intricacies of EarthBound for the benefit of the common gamer. (I am the only member of the Supreme Council to vote against this motion. I frankly have better things to do, but The Artist Formerly Known As CPTCrunch categorically refused to have anything to do with these articles, so he persuaded everyone to give me the job.) It is our hope that, through perusing these articles, you will gain a better grasp of the nuances of this wonderful game that is now approaching its eighth birthday (in North America.)
Presently we shall delve into the topic of this first of an indefinite series of articles: Paula's "Pray" command. What is it useful for, really? Zeth already wrote an in-depth review of each of the prayer results, but I will list them off quickly, as they will be, obviously, a central point to our current discussion. In order of how commonly they occur, they are:
- Very subtle light (recovers about 10% of each character's max HP)
- Dazzling light 1 (a PSI flash alpha spell that generally works on allies but not enemies)
- Warm light (recovers about 20% of each character's max HP)
- Heavy air (causes all parties' defense to drop; usually works on allies but not enemies)
- Mysterious aroma (causes all characters in the battle, friend and foe, to fall asleep)
- Mysterious light (recovers 5 or so of each character's PP, except Jeff, of course)
- Terrible, heaven-rending sound (causes all friends and foes to feel strange)
- Golden light (Fully recovers a single, randomly chosen character's HP)
- Dazzling light 2 ("Chases the enemy" and deals a couple hundred HP of damage)
- Rainbow colored light (revives all dead allies AND enemies and restores full HP)
These nine effects can be sorted into four categories:
- Useless (Dazzling light 1, Heavy air, Mysterious light).
- Slightly useful (Very subtle light and Mysterious aroma). The Very subtle light is helpful if a character has received mortal damage and is about to die; it will save him/her with a little bit of HP. When you have all four characters, usually at least one of them will awaken before the enemy(ies) do(es).
- Useful (Warm light, Golden light, Dazzling light 2 and Rainbow colored light). Even revived enemies mean more exp. for you.
- Bad news (Terrible, heaven-rending sound). Feeling strange is crippling, especially later in the game when your characters have powerful attacks and so do the enemies.
Our research shows that you will receive a useless result about 30% of the time; a slightly useful one about 40% of the time; a useful one about 25% of the time; and the Terrible, heaven-rending sound about 5% of the time.
So the next question we need to investigate is: On balance, all things being equal, is it worth the risk to pray? Generally, it is; most of the time you'll get a useless result, but a fair amount of the time you'll get something good. Of course, then we have to balance this against the fact that Paula has powerful PSI attacks that are usually more useful than any of the prayer results.
Many gamers use the "Pray" command only as a "last resort" when, for instance, Ness and Poo are already dead, Jeff has received mortal damage and his HP is rolling off, and you only have Paula left and she probably can't hold up much longer. Then, it is said, it is wise to Pray and hope for the rainbow-colored light. However, the fact of the matter is that you have only a 1 in 50 or so chance of getting the rainbow colored light, so, in most cases, it is a better gamble to see if Paula can hold up by herself. If her HP is running out and she's the only one left alive... well, there are steps one can take to avoid such a situation. For starters, make sure Paula is carrying (a) At least one food item, to recover her own HP if needed, and (b) At least one Cup of Lifenoodles or Horn of life, so she can revive Ness or Poo. This is, in nearly all cases, a much wiser thing to do than to gamble on the rainbow-colored light.
The question follows, then: When is it useful to Pray? Is it ever? It is the belief of this author that it can be useful, in some situations:
- If Paula is feeling strange, Pray is a safer bet than using any kind of attack.
- As before mentioned, Pray is a good way to try and save a character whose HP is rolling off from death (since Very subtle light is the most common Pray result.)
- Early in the game, Pray is generally more useful and a safer risk than late in the game. The effect of the "Dazzling light chased the enemy" result, in particular, causes a fixed amount of damage; that is, the amount of damage it deals to an enemy doesn't increase as Paula's levels increase. It will be about 150-300 HP throughout the game. Therefore, it can be a very powerful attack early in the game, but nothing remarkable later. Against Mondo Mole particularly, Paula's best option after he puts up a psychic shield is to pray and hope for the dazzling light.
There are also some situations when Pray is NOT a good idea:
- Any time that you've chosen a very powerful attack with any of the other characters (like PSI Rockin, bottle rockets, PSI Starstorm, etc.) Paula usually will go first in battle, so if you get the Terrible, heaven-rending sound effect, it will probably cause these powerful attacks to be turned against you, which can be disastrous.
- Generally whenever your HP levels are fine and you're not in any kind of trouble. That is, unless you feel like messing around, as many gamers often do.
- As we have discussed, late in the game Pray is a pretty poor command, since (a) Most enemies later on are immune to the effects of Heavy air and Dazzling light 1, (b) Dazzling light 2 becomes no longer really useful, and (c) the Terrible, heaven-rending sound gets to be more serious a problem as the power of your attacks increases.
If you're just messing around, you can use Pray over and over and over and have some fun. Sooner or later you'll get everyone feeling strange, which can be both amusing ("Poo could not turn into Jeff!") or challenging ("Jeff fired the Multi-bottle rocket! 2133 HP of mortal damage to Poo!") Also, you will occasionally revive enemies you have already defeated. By doing this, I managed to gain something close to a million exp. from one fight against a Starman Super, Starman and Atomic Power Robot in the Stonehenge base.
The necessity of using Pray in the third stage of the battle against Giygas goes without saying, and there is no need to discuss it here.
As a general rule, the Pray command is pretty weak, and you shouldn't use it more than a handful of times in a game. Most of its effects represent a waste of a turn a majority of the time. The next inquiry of interest is: How could it have been made better? I propose a twofold answer to this question:
(1) Make it more of a gamble (more of a 50-50 split between good and bad effects), and
(2) Make both the reward and the cost greater.
I would believe that a good list of possible prayer results, if I were afforded the opporunity to return to 1995 and reprogram the game, would be something like:
- Keep the warm light, Terrible, heaven-rending sound, and Rainbow colored light effects.
- Change the Mysterious light effect to recover about 10% of a character's max PP.
- Change Dazzling light 2 to an attack about twice as powerful as Paula's normal Bash attack.
- Change Dazzling light 1 to a PSI Flash beta spell, rather than alpha. (As it is in the game, Dazzling light 1 can cause crying or, in rare circumstances, feeling strange. Changing it to be like a flash beta spell would make it cause crying and feeling strange, but also sometimes paralysis or death.)
- Make a rare effect wherein Paula just drops unconscious.
- Make a rare effect wherein the Escargo Express man shows up and either (a) Gives you a totally randomly selected item, or (b) relieves you of a totally randomly selected item from any character's inventory. Talk about a gamble. You could get a Picture postcard; then again, you could get an XTerminator Spray. He could come and take away a Croissant, or... he could snatch your Sword of Kings. Now THAT would be interesting.)
- Make an effect similar to the Sudden guts pill.
- Make an effect that adds another enemy from the area in which you're in to the battle.
- Make an effect that disables everyone in the battle's PSI (friend and foe.)
There are a lot of other interesting things that could be done with it, and that would make the Pray command much more fun (and much more dangerous/rewarding) to use. It would be wonderful if someone were to determine how to hack EarthBound to change the prayer results, but to do the things I suggest would require Xodnizel-level l33tness.
This brings us to the conclusion of our investigation into the matters of the Pray command. IF anyone reads this and is in any way offended by the content included herein, please be advised that Philip Morris, Inc., is responsible. You are encouraged, if you disagree with any of the above listed points, to write an article in response, addressing these differences in opinion. This article will self-destruct in five seconds.
Accepted for submission by unanimous vote of the Supreme Council of Lubyland, 1/27/03, 1753 hrs.
I have been appointed, by a 6 to 1 vote in the Supreme Council of Lubyland, to write a series of articles that will expound the intricacies of EarthBound for the benefit of the common gamer. (I am the only member of the Supreme Council to vote against this motion. I frankly have better things to do, but The Artist Formerly Known As CPTCrunch categorically refused to have anything to do with these articles, so he persuaded everyone to give me the job.) It is our hope that, through perusing these articles, you will gain a better grasp of the nuances of this wonderful game that is now approaching its eighth birthday (in North America.)
Presently we shall delve into the topic of this first of an indefinite series of articles: Paula's "Pray" command. What is it useful for, really? Zeth already wrote an in-depth review of each of the prayer results, but I will list them off quickly, as they will be, obviously, a central point to our current discussion. In order of how commonly they occur, they are:
- Very subtle light (recovers about 10% of each character's max HP)
- Dazzling light 1 (a PSI flash alpha spell that generally works on allies but not enemies)
- Warm light (recovers about 20% of each character's max HP)
- Heavy air (causes all parties' defense to drop; usually works on allies but not enemies)
- Mysterious aroma (causes all characters in the battle, friend and foe, to fall asleep)
- Mysterious light (recovers 5 or so of each character's PP, except Jeff, of course)
- Terrible, heaven-rending sound (causes all friends and foes to feel strange)
- Golden light (Fully recovers a single, randomly chosen character's HP)
- Dazzling light 2 ("Chases the enemy" and deals a couple hundred HP of damage)
- Rainbow colored light (revives all dead allies AND enemies and restores full HP)
These nine effects can be sorted into four categories:
- Useless (Dazzling light 1, Heavy air, Mysterious light).
- Slightly useful (Very subtle light and Mysterious aroma). The Very subtle light is helpful if a character has received mortal damage and is about to die; it will save him/her with a little bit of HP. When you have all four characters, usually at least one of them will awaken before the enemy(ies) do(es).
- Useful (Warm light, Golden light, Dazzling light 2 and Rainbow colored light). Even revived enemies mean more exp. for you.
- Bad news (Terrible, heaven-rending sound). Feeling strange is crippling, especially later in the game when your characters have powerful attacks and so do the enemies.
Our research shows that you will receive a useless result about 30% of the time; a slightly useful one about 40% of the time; a useful one about 25% of the time; and the Terrible, heaven-rending sound about 5% of the time.
So the next question we need to investigate is: On balance, all things being equal, is it worth the risk to pray? Generally, it is; most of the time you'll get a useless result, but a fair amount of the time you'll get something good. Of course, then we have to balance this against the fact that Paula has powerful PSI attacks that are usually more useful than any of the prayer results.
Many gamers use the "Pray" command only as a "last resort" when, for instance, Ness and Poo are already dead, Jeff has received mortal damage and his HP is rolling off, and you only have Paula left and she probably can't hold up much longer. Then, it is said, it is wise to Pray and hope for the rainbow-colored light. However, the fact of the matter is that you have only a 1 in 50 or so chance of getting the rainbow colored light, so, in most cases, it is a better gamble to see if Paula can hold up by herself. If her HP is running out and she's the only one left alive... well, there are steps one can take to avoid such a situation. For starters, make sure Paula is carrying (a) At least one food item, to recover her own HP if needed, and (b) At least one Cup of Lifenoodles or Horn of life, so she can revive Ness or Poo. This is, in nearly all cases, a much wiser thing to do than to gamble on the rainbow-colored light.
The question follows, then: When is it useful to Pray? Is it ever? It is the belief of this author that it can be useful, in some situations:
- If Paula is feeling strange, Pray is a safer bet than using any kind of attack.
- As before mentioned, Pray is a good way to try and save a character whose HP is rolling off from death (since Very subtle light is the most common Pray result.)
- Early in the game, Pray is generally more useful and a safer risk than late in the game. The effect of the "Dazzling light chased the enemy" result, in particular, causes a fixed amount of damage; that is, the amount of damage it deals to an enemy doesn't increase as Paula's levels increase. It will be about 150-300 HP throughout the game. Therefore, it can be a very powerful attack early in the game, but nothing remarkable later. Against Mondo Mole particularly, Paula's best option after he puts up a psychic shield is to pray and hope for the dazzling light.
There are also some situations when Pray is NOT a good idea:
- Any time that you've chosen a very powerful attack with any of the other characters (like PSI Rockin, bottle rockets, PSI Starstorm, etc.) Paula usually will go first in battle, so if you get the Terrible, heaven-rending sound effect, it will probably cause these powerful attacks to be turned against you, which can be disastrous.
- Generally whenever your HP levels are fine and you're not in any kind of trouble. That is, unless you feel like messing around, as many gamers often do.
- As we have discussed, late in the game Pray is a pretty poor command, since (a) Most enemies later on are immune to the effects of Heavy air and Dazzling light 1, (b) Dazzling light 2 becomes no longer really useful, and (c) the Terrible, heaven-rending sound gets to be more serious a problem as the power of your attacks increases.
If you're just messing around, you can use Pray over and over and over and have some fun. Sooner or later you'll get everyone feeling strange, which can be both amusing ("Poo could not turn into Jeff!") or challenging ("Jeff fired the Multi-bottle rocket! 2133 HP of mortal damage to Poo!") Also, you will occasionally revive enemies you have already defeated. By doing this, I managed to gain something close to a million exp. from one fight against a Starman Super, Starman and Atomic Power Robot in the Stonehenge base.
The necessity of using Pray in the third stage of the battle against Giygas goes without saying, and there is no need to discuss it here.
As a general rule, the Pray command is pretty weak, and you shouldn't use it more than a handful of times in a game. Most of its effects represent a waste of a turn a majority of the time. The next inquiry of interest is: How could it have been made better? I propose a twofold answer to this question:
(1) Make it more of a gamble (more of a 50-50 split between good and bad effects), and
(2) Make both the reward and the cost greater.
I would believe that a good list of possible prayer results, if I were afforded the opporunity to return to 1995 and reprogram the game, would be something like:
- Keep the warm light, Terrible, heaven-rending sound, and Rainbow colored light effects.
- Change the Mysterious light effect to recover about 10% of a character's max PP.
- Change Dazzling light 2 to an attack about twice as powerful as Paula's normal Bash attack.
- Change Dazzling light 1 to a PSI Flash beta spell, rather than alpha. (As it is in the game, Dazzling light 1 can cause crying or, in rare circumstances, feeling strange. Changing it to be like a flash beta spell would make it cause crying and feeling strange, but also sometimes paralysis or death.)
- Make a rare effect wherein Paula just drops unconscious.
- Make a rare effect wherein the Escargo Express man shows up and either (a) Gives you a totally randomly selected item, or (b) relieves you of a totally randomly selected item from any character's inventory. Talk about a gamble. You could get a Picture postcard; then again, you could get an XTerminator Spray. He could come and take away a Croissant, or... he could snatch your Sword of Kings. Now THAT would be interesting.)
- Make an effect similar to the Sudden guts pill.
- Make an effect that adds another enemy from the area in which you're in to the battle.
- Make an effect that disables everyone in the battle's PSI (friend and foe.)
There are a lot of other interesting things that could be done with it, and that would make the Pray command much more fun (and much more dangerous/rewarding) to use. It would be wonderful if someone were to determine how to hack EarthBound to change the prayer results, but to do the things I suggest would require Xodnizel-level l33tness.
This brings us to the conclusion of our investigation into the matters of the Pray command. IF anyone reads this and is in any way offended by the content included herein, please be advised that Philip Morris, Inc., is responsible. You are encouraged, if you disagree with any of the above listed points, to write an article in response, addressing these differences in opinion. This article will self-destruct in five seconds.
Accepted for submission by unanimous vote of the Supreme Council of Lubyland, 1/27/03, 1753 hrs.
