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 Through the door is the end of the line.  Dhoulmagus is enveloped in a sphere of water above the altar of darkness!   "There's nowhere for you to run now. We've got you cornered." "I made a promise to my brother... You'll pay for what you did!"After this you're given one last chance to retreat if you need it. But if you press on...   "If I'm not mistaken, you're the very same servants of Trode I had the displeasure of meeting at Maella Abbey. So! You think you can defeat me and lift your master's curse! Ha ha ha! What admirable loyalty! But alas, I am not receiving visitors at present!" "A small price to pay for obtaining such unimaginable might! Anyway, you won't be staying long, will you!?" "You won't be able to fulfil your master's wish."   Dhoulmagus  Stalked by Fear  code: First off, Acceleratle. I want it on at all times. This makes sure Eight, Angelo, and Jessica can move before Dhoulmagus and heal up. That stat block still doesn't describe the danger here.  After all, this clown has tricks up his sleeves. Thankfully, the other two aren't full-fledged Dhoulmagi. code: As evidenced by what he does with his second turn this round. What, you thought bosses would only do one thing to you a round?  The debris hits two random targets for really high damage. Here Jessica's taking 71 damage.  I made my cheeses for this.  C-c-cold breath is the m-m-most damaging breath attack and thus cheese in the game.  It's being softened by their ice resistance, but it's still more than the fire cheese would do. This is a fourth off the clones by itself.  The clones usually elect to attack. It isn't much by itself but it adds up with the tricks the real one uses.  Speaking of! The big guns!  gently caress! And he can do something else in the round on top!  Two cheese a fight. This is half off of the clones already.  This is most of Angelo's life at the moment. The Cheiron's bow can be used as an item to heal the party.  It doesn't look like much, but it's for everyone, far more efficient than a cast of Midheal, and it's free.  The relief in this fight is that Dhoulmagus and his clones can all waste turns laughing. It isn't frequent but it means thousands of whips aren't hitting you.  His cheese exhausted, Eight goes to boomerangs. I use regular attacks to save on MP.  Yangus is focusing his efforts on one clone at a time, so one falls. It's easier to take out the flunkies so there isn't as much damage flying around.  It's only about 90 HP, and while it's annoying his HP is going up, it means your HP is not going down.  JESUS CHRIST HOW TERRIFYING.  Yes, Angelo has a ring of awakening. Eerie Gleam is 100% accurate sleep that bypasses resistances and immunities. Unluckily for us, he's the guy with Tingle!  Ah, hello there. Up to now DQ8 was playing around. This is the real game knocking on your door.  All buffs are removed. That Acceleratle is out. Oomph, Kabuff, Magic Barrier, Insulatle, all out. You may have noticed I've not been psyching up. This is why. Disruptive Wave removes tension too. Already it takes 3 turns of psyching up to get a profit out of it, and now it can be removed at any time.  The clones can use Wind Sickles. With our magic resistance it isn't any worse than their physical attacks.  The other clone falls soon thereafter. Is it too late to call them clownes?  Eight's switched to flame slashing while Yangus sticks to Wind Sickles. This oomph takes damage from 65 to 130, as long as he doesn't  Oh you fucker.  Dhoulmagus also has this move. If anyone got fisticuffs I would've been using this most of the game up to this point, but this is our introduction. It's like a multi-target Wind Sickles, doing Woosh damage modified by level. It comes out to less damage than the thousands of whips thanks to our magic resistance.  Eventually, even with all his tricks, he is defeated.  "Had I not been healing, I would have crushed you in an instant. But never mind! It is time we brought this little show to an end! What a pity..."  Dhoulmagus launches countless thorny vines from the sceptre! "Hwa ha ha ha hah! You will writhe in the unbearable agony of these thorns forever!"  Right as the thorns strike, the mysterious protection Eight has from curses kicks in!  The party still is engulfed...  Or so Dhoulmagus thought.  The vines wither and crumble away. "What!? Why isn't it working!? What kind of trickery is this!?"  Dhoulmagus is wrapped in dark energy!  And from it emerges-  A beastly figure!  "You worthless fools! Prepare to be crushed! You will never pester me again!" Dhoulmagus does... something with the healing sphere. What it does is provide the scenery for the Dhoulmagus   (only way I could get the music without a spoiler in the description) code: How polite of you to open with the worst thing you can do!  50 to 90 damage, and there's no element to be resisting here.  And he always attacks twice a round, and he's got no time-wasters like laughing.  His physicals are strong but they do follow some really brutal moves so they're almost a relief. Only one person is missing most of their HP!  The Cheiron's Bow is working overtime. It may seem weak in the face of the damage he deals but trust me, it works out extremely well.  He has a new level to breath attacks.  Not as bad as his feathers since most shields have some fire resistance on them.  And this comes back, and it's worse here because healers moving after Dhoulmagus means someone could die.  First, Acceleratle must be up at all times. Second, if I can get time between Caduceus uses to use it, Magic Barrier as well. Dhoulmagus now has some nasty magic attacks up his sleeve.  Eight can heal. This fight will remind you of this. He and Yangus can take quite a bit without needing attention but Jessica and Angelo are constantly in danger of being taken out suddenly. Yangus is using Stainless Steal Sickle every round. It's not much but it means I am constantly working towards victory. The last thing you want is to be put completely on the defensive, because unless you made far too many Cheiron's Bows and use all of them every round, you're gonna run out. Dhoulmagus will not.  He has War Cry, and Magic Barrier makes it a breather.  Angelo gets a one-turn break from healing due to that War Cry, so savor it. This is the only time he has a chance to attack.  I sometimes recast Acceleratle even if it isn't removed, because I don't want it expiring either. That it stacks with itself is just icing on the cake.  Kacrackle is the top of the crack line.  Thanks to all the magic resistance, it is his least dangerous move.  OH loving  5 attacks at 1/3 power each, coming out to about 1.66 times normal damage. This can come out of nowhere and kill someone if you aren't ready. Even then it can come dangerously close.  This is fine, his turn isn't that valuable.  Yangus had more missing HP here, but Angelo was at a lower number. It isn't about how much a character is missing but how low they are, you dig?  This is fine. The two who dodged are the two who matter.  Eventually I call in the monster team to take the heat for a moment.  Deadnoble's there in hopes he uses his crest at least once.  Talos is better than the party, by the way.  He's even much tougher and resists a lot of Dhoulmagus's attacks.  Deadnoble fails to use his crest. Alack.  Kasizzle is a lot like Kacrackle. Similar range, similar magic damage.  Spike fails to heal. If a monster called into battle casts a buffing or healing spell, it affects the party too!  Yangus keeps chipping away. 2,460 HP is a lot but even if it takes Yangus 51 turns to win, it's still a win. Eight chips in with Flame Slash often, too.  The Cheiron's Bow makes this feasible, nay, reliable. Dhoulmagus uses so many multi-target moves that lacking multi-target healing is a real pain in the behind. It's a sudden shock, a shift. Dhoulmagus is so unlike previous bosses. He moves twice. He'll dispel buffs and tension. He drops AoEs frequently. This fight is so hard because it's a massive jump when the party's been steadily growing. It's far more demanding than the Great Argon Lizard, that's for sure.  Kasizzle's damage to the party, by the way. It's still not his sharp feathers or his  gently caress  Goddamn that combo. The feathers are technically the worst thing he can do but this certainly feels the worst with how close it can get someone to death!  Despite all his power, his magic, and his strength... 
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| ← # ? May 19, 2016 02:16 |
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