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 Curer helps the rank-B semi-early clear. Yeah it's still earlier than the default "send robots" clear.  With Fullheals keeping the team alive, it's easy to get past the Drag Queens. Unfortunately, the Drag Queens are just the first fight.  Rank B is a weird zone where the first fight is far and away the most dangerous one.  These guys do have high attack, but they only do variations on single-target physicals, and only act once per round. Nothing like flame breaths or Kafrizzles.  The golem can psyche up and use desperate attacks. Sometimes at the same time, like here.  Hackzilla does grow pretty well but I haven't gained that many levels since last time. Not a good choice for member #3.  It's probably not going to be me this time.  After all, Talos is the only one left.  And the enemy has their own Talos!  The stone golem behaves a lot like the golem last round.  The rockbomb might be able to gently caress you up but it usually dies fast. For the worst, since the anti-Talos and the stone golem are the real dangers.  Unfortunately, Talos is not powerful enough to take on a near infinite stream of criticals, and falls...!  So I throw in Dumbking and try the Oomph RNG.  Curer did it, even if only barely. It took a dozen or so tries anyway. I really, really should not be trying to clear rank B before finishing this next segment of story. The robots help way too much. Not for fancy trick-like reasons, but simply because they have good stats and can hang this high.  The real prize is the new monsters that spawn. I'll be getting those when Emma joins in place of Jessica after we have to kill her. Oh uh, spoilers.  Though the new scythe is a fine item. It has 83 attack, nearly twice the Steel Scythe's, has a chance to fizzle enemies, and deals bonus damage to demons. Unfortunately, the last boss to have a demon type was Dhoulmagus. Everything else is either something else, or doesn't have a type like that at all.   "I keep my promise! I give you the prize. You will be the only one in the world to have this privilegio, ragazzo!" This means exactly what it sounds like. In addition to Memento Morrie, we have a second squad. "Just think about it! With the two teams, you will be fomridable in the outside world! You could have the one team for attacking, and the other team for the healing, ay? You make the different combinazione!" There's also this. You know, Memento Morrie is a great name, but another one still tickled my fancy. I wonder how many of you who suggested it knew I was getting a second team?  Either way, The Monstars is the second team's name.  Oh come on  I barely got the win this time, and new, extremely powerful monsters are around. A-rank can wait.  The Monstars is also 3 more spaces for monsters, giving us a total 12 buddies.  The cost of the inn is 1/4 less gold than normal.    "Is this a dream? It must be... Can you hear my voice, Eight?" "And now Jessica's gone, too... I wonder where she could be? Do you think this has anything to do with the curse? I'll be praying for her safe return." Rydon's Tower! The stone sword does only this. Can you imagine how annoying this would be if you had limited inventory slots and this sat in one for the rest of the game?  Immediately inside is the map. I'm not complaining.  Angelo gets a level and continues to push against the per-level skill point cap.  Inside the tower are an endless series of balconies and these statues. This slime complains about their weight.  Behold, Eight's powerful hoverhand technique! Treat that statue like your awkward crush!    There's these see-saw platforms. Upon stepping on one, It drops down with Eight's weight. Hah, it rhymes.  After crossing the halfway point, it tips over the other way. After getting off, the platform levels out.  There's also these little side-platforms on the side sometimes.  There are also monsters! Golems tend to be brick walls (heh) of HP and attack.  Without Jessica, I tend to run from most of the encounters. Without a 4th person it's way too much work to cut through these things.  Staircases provide a reliable means of changing floors, though all major progress must be done by solving puzzles.  What? This first one is simple.  Walk across the see-saw, go up the stairs, then put the statue on the side platform to weigh it down. A statue is much heavier than Eight so it keeps the see-saw down even if he's on the other side.  A statue is much heavier than Eight so it keeps the see-saw down even if he's on the other side.  This bridge provides a way back to the other side so we can leave even without MP for Evac.  Generic Living Statues finally show up here. You know how Talos only hits hard or hits harder? Same deal, but my face.  These big staircases provide screen transitions.  It's really hard to communicate visually what's happening here, because visually-open design obfuscates that. Perhaps on purpose? It's annoying. I don't like this dungeon. It's when you have 3 party members. It's killing the flow - first dungeon after Dhoulmagus is defeated, after all - and it's an annoying puzzle dungeon. Sure the Dark Ruins had puzzles, but the thing used it to heighten the tension of finally facing Dhoulmagus. And it had its dark religious iconography mixed in. This place? It's here because.  It's not that hard if you stop and think, and think in terms of which way it needs to point and not by trying to see what's going on. The area just does not accommodate that despite being so open in design.  And most of all, just ignore random encounters if you don't want to fight them. I spend the entire thing in holy water for a reason.  Now, this is just a gimme.  These mechanical staircases can move a statue up a level. You only need to do this here, and every other time is if you mess up.  With the statue, it's a straight shot up.  To this golden ladder that marks the 2/3 point.   An old man above us ascends even higher. Could he be Rydon?  Do you love railings I loving love railings I wish there were henchmen to kill so I could score a few dozen railing kills.  Oh gently caress me. Soulspawn are back to waste even more time!  This is one of two treasures here. I'd like one that isn't part of a Life Bracer for Later so this is nice.  So this last see-saw needs to stay balanced, which is done with statues on each side. Let me just push this last one on and  Oh gently caress me  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYway that's it. This dungeon isn't nearly as long as it feels.  Another bird motif. Almost like Empyeria is a religious figure or something.  The other treasure, and this is good to get for free. They still work as items for Eight and Yangus, after all. And alchemy, also Later.   "..." "You're all right, young'un! I'm Rydon. And what do you want with a sculptor like me, eh? ...You're looking for the Kran Spinels!? Ah, those old gemstones, is it?" ...No paydirt. "This is what I heard, like. One of my ancestors put them in a... ooh! Argh!" "Anyway, I heard one of my ancestors used them in a statue she carved. That's right... It was the pinnacle of her career, they say. Her best work. Where's the statue now? I can honestly say I don't know. You'll have to find it yourself, young'un. All I can tell you is the lady's name. If this old block of mine isn't letting me down, her name was... Alexandra. "That's about it, I'm afraid. Unless there's something else I can help you with? What!? My son said I should pay him a visit once in a while!? Ha ha ha! There's no time for that. If a novice like you can get to the top of my tower, I've got my hands full here. I'll just have to build it higher. The only way is up, as they say!"So yeah technically this was pointless. I'm glad this dungeon's over. It only took like 20 minutes but felt much longer due to being so bland. Orange Fluffy Sheep fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Oct 30, 2016 |
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