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 Rest in Peace, My Friend Just because we're done with the most annoying part of the dungeon crawling aspect doesn't mean we're done with everything.  Door on the left lets us grab some decent healing.  Door on the right's another Life Terminal. No Karma Terminal near here, so gotta backtrack a little for one.  Oh, there's another of these things. Alright then.  Boss: Device Gate Core Epic Battle So, this time around we DO have an actual boss fight against these things. There's only one of each of the turrets but they're a little stronger than before. They also have more HP on top of that; 2200 each instead of 1600.  The Gate Core is currently resistant to everything, so we'll ignore it for the time being. It also doesn't attack either; instead, it opts to give us a classic RPG staple. Each of its first turns are used for a countdown from 5 to 1.  Thankfully, Gale picked up Rakukaja almost immediately after the Laser Cannons before.  Tarunda is only really effective on the 20mm Machinegun but its helpful all the same.  I'd also actually stack Sukus in this fight, if only because the Laser Cannon might miss and waste their turns. Not overly common but it's nice to have it happen.  Like so. The 20mm Machinegun and Laser Cannons attacks are identical to before, so there's no new tricks here. I actually DID consider bringing Roland instead of Cielo for this one because he's the only person with a semi-important skill but decided against it.  The Hee-Ho ring only voids the Frost Ray on the wearer, true, but it does cost 2 turns all the same.  ...This is also the one time that Revert Pulse actually is a possible issue. Because the Machinegun is right there and can very easily ruin whoever gets reverted.  On the Gate Core's sixth turn, it has finished its countdown and does something.  It opens up revealing a small rocket launcher. This uses its turn, of course. Even better: no matter what happens this turn, it still cannot attack. Even if they crit or hit a weakness or something, the Gate Core does not get to fire this round.  Once its open, its resistances switch to the same as the other two. That means we can pelt it with triple Makakajad Ziongas and slice through its 3300HP.  You will probably want some kind of anti-Fire spell. Roland has Drain Fire which is the ideal one to have frankly, but Void Fire is sufficient.  The core has all of one attack you see, and its actually very powerful. It'll deal about 150 damage to everyone with capped Rakukajas.  ...But its fire elemental so we can negate it entirely.  It also defines "successful" very weirdly, and will close again on its next turn.  Since the 20mm Machinegun has a chance to inflict sleep sometimes, this is a good time to see the best new change to sleep. A bit of a double edged sword, but since you regain 10% HP and MP every time you get a turn now having characters get put to sleep isn't always an immediately bad thing. It's nice for the MP regen if nothing else.  There's not much reason to actually do so, but you can still drop the Laser Cannon and Machinegun if you want. It does make things a little bit easier to deal with, but at a cost.  With either one destroyed, the Gate Cores countdown speeds up a bit.  And by a bit, I mean a lot. It drops to only taking 2 turns now; this is technically a reset on its counter here since it was part way through and all. It also has the added effect of making the fight go faster on account of not having to wait around as long.  But what if you destroy both the Laser Cannon AND 20mm Machinegun?  Since either one has an effect on the countdown, both make it even fastr.  Just... make sure the second one gets destroyed when its closed. Genocide Mode means it will never close again and instead spend every single turn firing off its Flare Cannon.  But if its closed when it enters this mode, then it still has to waste a turn opening.  If you get it to this state, you should be in a position where you outright cannot lose. It only has one attack and you can negate that effortlessly.  Decent Karma, a fair bit of good money and a Wild Bomb for our troubles. Naturally, there's no AP to be had though.  And with that, the gate in opens up and we can continue unimpeded. Silence    She's not gonna like this.  I'd think your lives would depend more on not bothering... End The way forward is pretty linear at this point but first... Battle for Survival Hey, it's Vetala again. Hi Vetala! He's actually encounterable before the Gate Core just fairly rarely. He's more common on this side. Also, not really any different to when we fought him as the first boss. It's always disappointing fighting a boss and having it pop up later as a regular mook, y'know?  We could also run into Laksmi. Same caveat as Vetala, above. She's actually just kind of easier than her DDS1 incarnation since she has a weakness to Force now. Rest in Peace, My Friend So, we just fought the boss of the dungeon... and there's more dungeon to go past that gate. Sort of makes sense, but doesn't make it any less awkward.  At least there's a small terminal right here.  ...Right before yet another gate. At least the panel's right there. Activating it leads to our next cutscene too. Defensive Line Silence  I must admit, I am quite impressed with how well the Lokapala have been holding off the Society's soldiers so far. Indra The Lokapala are smarter than we thought.   Wait, what?!  I'm with this guy. That sounds like a suicidally stupid idea.   If she's killed... Then our liberation won't... Ma'am!  As long as she desires this, we can do nothing. Silence During that small interlude, Roland managed to get the door to open... Epic Battle ~ Prelude You'd expect it to be quicker, but more important is that there's something on the other side.  That is a lot of snakes. Must be those guys who came running from the security camera place. Boss: Yaksa Raja Naga; 5+ Dragon Naga Epic Battle So, we first have to deal with 3 Nagas. They're a bit tougher than normal though.  And by "a bit" I mean a lot tougher. Normal Nagas would be obliterated by this.  It's also a very good idea to come into this fight with Void Mute.  Unlike normal, these guys will spam good electric spells.  ...Very good electric spells at that. They'll also consistently use Void Fire and most crucial...  Makajam or, later on, Makajamon. You really, really don't want that.  I'd use the first three to stack buffs since the Raja Naga comes in as a reinforcement and all.  The Rakukaja mantra also comes with this debuff. It's a very good debuff.  It costs 40MP so its very expensive, but its 2 Tarundas at once. It does absolutely nothing else. Its cost makes it not as good as just casting Tarunda twice mind you, since it costs more than casting it seperately three times, but its more convenient.  Anyway, the Raja Naga is only weak to Fire. He nullifies Electric and the usual boss stuff. The Nagas still repel Electric but have the usual boss immunities added on as well. Oh, the king of the snakes also has one other immunity but we'll get to that later.  Much like his subjects, the Raja has an affinity for Electric spells. This manifests itself in Mazionga and Ziodyne of course.  He does have one other trick he came prepared to show off as well.    Conviction is a heavy tiered Physical attack. That damage is with 3 Rakukajas and 2 Tarundas, so its not to be taken lightly.  Oh and it is an instant kill to anyone who's been Muted. That's the big reason why you don't want it to happen.  Since he can only use it with 2 Nagas, he'll more often than not spawn in a new Naga every turn he's missing one.  Since the Raja himself has 2 press turns, the newly spawned Naga can act on the same turn its summoned.  If its the only Naga, it'll almost always Void Fire. The first normal Naga to act really, really loves doing that.  It's also during the part with the Raja where the lesser Nagas will cast Makajamon occasionally.  Its not common, but Raja Naga CAN Maziodyne as well. Doesn't always do it, and if he has two he'll prioritise Conviction for the most part.  Still, whenever he does it that makes it easier to go on the offensive. Since he only has 2400HP, he doesn't really last all that long when you do attack him.  His other immunity is Earth which is pretty much entirely to stop you treating him like a normal Naga, or casting Materazi when they have Void Fires up.  Other than that, he has no particular tricks and its just a relatively long fight. Once he dies the fight ends.  And he gives better everything in comparison to the Gate Core. More Karma, more money, the +4 Vitality gem and even a fairly large amount of Atma! Silence    Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!  Adil! What's happening!?   What coulda happened to dem?  Wait, Roland, what?    Roland...  End Rest in Peace, My Friend Roland's totally gonna be fine, right? We're near the end of the plant so we should just finish up...  I see this guy managed to survive the battle.  He's asking the right question but at the wrong time.  There's still a short walk to get where we want to go, but at least there's no fights at this point.  Free Power Data inside that room, though.  Another slight fork in the road.  The door to the right lets us pick up some more cherry blossoms.  The path to the left looks rather promising...  Unfortunately there's no way to get inside.  That just leaves the other door to the west. Another branch, but this one's much more straightforward.   We're supposed to be going to the control room.We can't go north even if we want to.  So that just leaves this room to the west. The Control Roomhey so just watch this instead if you can. no really.  It makes sense to have Gale be the one to do all the technical stuff here. He has the best chance of succeeding, even if it is only just slightly better than the other two.  It does look like he's succeeded though...  But only for a very short while. I guess it just didn't take.     Put simply: we don't. Great.  Roland! That... is a lot of blood. No... We can't.  And it's Roland's. Just keeps getting worse doesn't it...  Where are you, Roland! We're coming!    I think Roland's got the right idea. Sucks to even think it though.  Fortunately, Roland's spotted the main generator room. I have one trick up my sleeve. You need to get out of here. You can't do that! It's all my fault that... Karma       Meganada's large, imposing, hella slow but has at least three mouths. Two of which are identical to Prithivi's huh... odd that.       The one thing not made clear here is that at this point, you can hear Meganada stomping in the background. He's just about caught up to Roland...  Meganada   Understandably, Fred doesn't quite take Roland's self-cornering very well.  Tries to run off to help him, but Cielo's quick enough to not let that happen.  Let go of me! Listen to me! You have to come to your senses!  So, Argilla just cries on Sera once. Silence From this, she gets the Water Crown atma.  This does explain the one thing the game is so eager to spoil though!      One short fade to black later...     Wait, what? No, that's a terrible idea. What are you doing. Stop being dumb.            End Rest in Peace, My Friend Well, poo poo. In the space of 2 dungeons, we've lost 3 people.   Gaining one does not really make it better.  But, well, Sera inheriting Serph's power is not just there for fun. She starts with Serph's skills and mantra grid left exactly as is. The bullet he had equipped she just happens to have too. She even starts with his stats and then automatically levelled up to be on par with Gale and Cielo. ...Disappointingly, she DOES start with the mantra Serph was learning when he left but it is not mastered. That shouldn't be something that bugs me but it does all the same. Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 02:34
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Also of note, now that Sera is in the party she is party leader and we can control her level ups. And by that I mean we can put all her points into Magic for Reasons.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:50
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drat, Roland was a cool dude. Poor old guys in JRPGs, they always get the short end of the stick.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:53
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Is the end of the game just "everyone dies"?
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Feb 20, 2015 02:54
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At this rate I won't be surprised if it is. 
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Feb 20, 2015 03:13
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It seems like it... I hope not.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:27
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Aumanor posted:Well, seeing as everything in this world has explicitly been said to be made out of DATA, it being a simulation seems more likely than not to me. I was more thinking everything in OUR world is technically data, as well, since you can use math formulas to figure out pretty much anything. And since the game is a simulation (Junkyard) in a simulation (Nirvana, possibly?) in a simulation (the game itself being played) in a ???simulation??? (our real world that dragonatrix is making/posting the LP in), that it gets deep very quickly. But from the updates so far, it doesn't seem like it'll get stupid at the same rate, if at all. Sorry, OP, I have a tendency to get obsessed with figuring things out from every angle, if I'm accidentally spoiling anything, just tell me to shut up. OHH, wait. I just thought of something! Angel is basically a traitor who's doing her own thing, and the Embryon are just information, like that one Karma Guard said couldn't possibly have real bodies. Jenna's whole thing with Sera entering the Junkyard program is to get the Tribe + Sera to care about each other enough that Serph & co. self-substantiate into the real world (except with data bodies), and then she's going to convince them to enter the data stream the HAARP satellite is sending to the sun (maybe she hacked the satellite beforehand?) since they're already data anyway, and we're gonna end up killing god, who is the sun just like Katchuguschi was, because this is SMT, you HAVE to kill god eventually?
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Feb 20, 2015 03:34
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I guess it's nice to see someone actually messed up like Roland in the world of JRPG flesh wounds. Except not 
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Feb 20, 2015 04:11
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I find it amusing that the game suddenly builds up this relationship between Roland and Argilla at the last moment. Considering both seem in great danger of biting the bullet, or maybe have already done so in Roland's case.
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Feb 20, 2015 04:21
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Since I knew the mythology when I was playing this game, I couldn't help but scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! at the screen when Roland left the party here.
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Feb 20, 2015 08:07
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Can't wait for the next dungeon update. Exciting. mauman posted:Since I knew the mythology when I was playing this game, I couldn't help but scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! at the screen when Roland left the party here. Any insight? Does it parallel their atma origins or something like that?
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Feb 20, 2015 08:25
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^Dragonatrix posted:
Holy gently caress I love this entire sequence of events.
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Feb 20, 2015 09:18
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Long story short, Meganada beat the poo poo out of Indra in Indian mythology and then tied him up and mounted him on his loving chariot. Meganada, or Indrajit, was basically invincible before every battle because of a specific ceremonial prayer he did prior to every battle that made him basically invincible. Its only after interrupting the ritual that he can be beaten, but even then it still takes two other gods 3 days and 3 nights to do it. So basically, if my quick jaunt through the internet is correct, he's a pretty big badass and was mentioned as specifically beating the poo poo out of Roland's Demon's namesake. Hence why he kept calling out to Indra when he was stalking Roland. Let me know if any of this is verging into accidental spoiler territory with the ritual thing.
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Feb 20, 2015 10:09
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ultrafilter posted:Is the end of the game just "everyone dies"? I think it's fair to say that this is the Embryon's Darkest Hour.
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Feb 20, 2015 12:55
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well, hey, Heat's still out there somewhere, probably. gently caress that guy, though.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:51
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But I think he feels really really bad about killing Serph, guys?
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Feb 20, 2015 17:55
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Kaboom Dragoon posted:I think it's fair to say that this is the Embryon's Darkest Hour. Well, it can't be that bad, between Cielo and Gale team Best Characters is still on our side. Could be worse.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:57
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CmdrKing posted:Well, it can't be that bad, between Cielo and Gale team Best Characters is still on our side. Could be worse. Do you really want to tempt the game? We lost the silent main character, the rival, the new character and the girl! What's there to stop them from killing off the comedy relief and the blatantly main character despite having fixed levels?!
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Feb 21, 2015 03:05
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Wait, I thought Sera was the girl.
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Feb 21, 2015 03:31
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Mraagvpeine posted:Wait, I thought Sera was the girl.
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Feb 21, 2015 03:35
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Green Intern posted:But I think he feels really really bad about killing Serph, guys? I think it's more that we've actually got Sera with us now. What's he going to do, not follow her like a lost puppy?
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Feb 21, 2015 03:44
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Well, uh, just wait until we get back to the EGG and run into ole Heat.
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Feb 21, 2015 03:46
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Serph will be back in the party (as Heat using his skull as a sockpuppet).
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Feb 21, 2015 04:08
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Bluntly put, most of the payoff for the various mysteries and emotional wrenching in DDS is tucked away at the end of the EGG revisit. It's a hell of a thing and I've been looking forward to it most of the thread.
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Feb 21, 2015 10:16
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Well, all Sera has to do is load an earlier save and not gently caress up this time. Easy. Oh who am I kidding, this is SMT. We're gonna have to kill God, won't we. Again.
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Feb 22, 2015 00:39
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Lunar Suite posted:Well, all Sera has to do is load an earlier save and not gently caress up this time. Easy.
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Feb 22, 2015 01:05
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AradoBalanga posted:Name a SMT game where you didn't have to kill a deity du jour at some point during the endgame. In SMT-land, gods are as common as pebbles, the team has already killed quite a few of them! 
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Feb 22, 2015 01:18
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Split a piece of wood, lift a rock, and there, you will find a god worth killing.
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Feb 22, 2015 01:24
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How do you label something as a God?
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Feb 22, 2015 01:37
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Mraagvpeine posted:How do you label something as a God? Kill it.
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Feb 22, 2015 01:56
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Mraagvpeine posted:How do you label something as a God? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu2op9bM-bo This is the god of Fabulous and his fellows!
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Feb 22, 2015 02:06
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Koorisch posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu2op9bM-bo Whaaaaaaaaa  What did I  What the HELL did I just watch?!
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Feb 22, 2015 06:29
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Something wonderful. 
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Feb 22, 2015 06:36
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Koorisch posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu2op9bM-bo That did seem like an accurate depiction of defining God 
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Feb 22, 2015 07:01
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va31JGXUmkg You've just got to get into the groove, man!
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Feb 22, 2015 14:10
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mauman posted:Whaaaaaaaaa I'm pretty sure that is in fact all you need to know about SMTII's plot.
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Feb 22, 2015 17:01
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Digital Jello posted:That did seem like an accurate depiction of defining God And Lucifer, while we're at it. You can tell it's Lucifer in a Megaten game because he's always got really nice clothes.
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Feb 22, 2015 20:08
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KataraniSword posted:And Lucifer, while we're at it. ♫ Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste... ♫ Yep, sounds about right.
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Feb 23, 2015 06:31
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Rest in Peace, My Friend Before we set off for the EGG, we'll take this opportunity to talk to everyone.  I don't know... but I'm ready. Very well. You will lead the Embryon. Sera... I'll tell you one thing that I was able to comprehend... Lives link to one another, and the world continues. Living beings have a need to compensate for the lives that have supported them. There are fights that prove unavoidable, and enemies that must be defeated... and one day, we ourselves may all be defeated. If you can do that, something will change... And only you can find out what that is. I'm myself, now. I can make my own decisions. Good luck, Sera... I had a lot to tell you... But, now dat you're here, I can't think of anything. but I'll tell you this... Try your best.Alright, now we'll leave and go back to the EGG Facility.  We can't allow you to pass. Now you'll see what guards are really made of! Heroic Battle It seems incredibly arbitrary, but there is a slight reason why Sera starts in Human form here.  It's so she can tune as a free action in the fight. Everyone else did it in cutscene, but this works too.  It does unfortunately mean she just does the normal in-engine tune animation though. Sera's avatar is Varunani, the consort (...and adopted daughter) of Varuna.  Born from amrita, so represents that. May or may not also be Lakshmi depending on context and interpretations.  The fight itself is 2 Efreets. They, uh, don't last very long. Vs. Meganada Silence Meanwhile, back in the main generator room...  Argilla finally gets there while we're distracted by the generic goons.    Welp, Roland's being eaten by Meganada. I think it's safe to say that he's definitely really dead now.  Unsurprisingly, Argilla does not take this too well.  It's probably a good thing the rest of the facility's been vacated at this point. The plan is to blow it sky high and all...    Meganada's a bit too much for   At least Prithivi has one advantage no one else does. Her arms can stretch pretty drat far...  How about you suck down the power...  ...Well then. Meganada's not letting that happen. Also jeez, he has six mouths. That's ludicrous.  Prithivi even gets drat close to the one lever that controls everything too, but just can't quite reach it. What Is It To Live A Life (DDS2 vers.) Somehow, Roland is still alive...  I think Prithivi's surprised by this as well, but it's naturally hard to tell. Also she has a completely normal human ear in this form. Kinda weird, that.     .....And then Meganada just snaps her neck.    Silence End Urban Area With the power plant gone for good, we regain control back at Sala Park.  Someone has to put an end to dis, ja? That fire is the light of life, which we must carry on. As per usual, before we run off to the next area, we'll head back to the city to do some shopping and stuff.   With all that's going on, I haven't had much time to spend with her. Please play with her, if you can; I'd like her to have more friends.We actually have met her daughter! It's that kid we talk to to try the Dyaus shmup minigame. ...i can nearly get to the end of stage 2 now. nearly.  More importantly, we can get a ton of money now just by selling the cherry blossoms and other stuff too.  Not ranking up from just that, though. Instead, we get a rarity; the store's stock changes slightly here from the plot.  Light Balls and Core Shields are now available, no strings attached. That they're available right at this moment sure is convenient...  But now we'll abuse the store a bit to trade exactly $600,000 in total. This gives us the penultimate tier of the Mad Mart and it's pretty great.  We could buy the Al Azif but that's a waste of $100,000, even if it is a 1000 Mad Mart points in one fell swoop. We'll grab it later for that reason though.  The Chakra Elixir is $200,000 and something we'll pick up when we can afford it. Same as before so really good.  Same with the Image, but we CAN get this now. Just need to sell the Shard first and that'll push us over $150,000.  Beforehand though, to max out the Mad Mart we need a total of 17,000 points. It takes 6,000 to get the penultimate rank. So we gotta do everything we just did over the course of ~2/3rds of the game and then some. Fortunately, the Image, Elixir and Al Azif give us 4,500 points right off the bat.  There's also 3 new rings we can pick up for a total of $120,000 (it's these or the Graven Image right now though, and I'm picking the latter). That still leaves 3,300 points to accrue the old fashioned way which is not easy to do at all.  Might be tempted to actually buy some of the more expensive bullets just to speed it up. We'll see. Five Years Before No, I don't know why there's a second "here's the name of this dungeon!" thing. I certainly have an idea, but you'll see that soon enough.  First room is identical to before, but with two changes. Thre's this guy freaking out right by the elevator downwards now.  Also Johnny off to the side. He might've been here before and I just ran past him without thinking but I don't remember.   That applies to both business and relationships. Remember that. ........Sorry. Do you know what makes a woman more than just a female? And here I thought it was a secret that makes a woman woman. You need to accept that you may never able to understand it... But, I'm sure that he did.We don't have anything else to do with Johnny right now, so we'll just talk with him and move on.   Aha! Everyone's... They're gone! Hee hee hee... The voice took everyone away! Can't you hear the voice? See...? It's crying...Oh and this guy isn't just freaking out. He's gone completely bananas.  Anyway, we'll take the elevator down and... come to a completely dark dungeon.  It's a good thing I bought far too many Light Balls then. Seriously, 15 is completely overkill and I shoulda sold like 10 of 'em but I just... didn't.  Anyway, now we can see better for a little while.  This doesn't matter too much for getting around, since the layout is identical to before. Instead, it prevents us getting jumped and every fight being an Ambush. Speaking of which... Battle for Survival Hella, Pisaca. No JoJo's (and therefore also Queen) references in your repertoire this time around? Alright then. Instead, it just has an obvious gimmick revolving around Mute.  Purskis used to cast Electric spells. Now they're weak to them. What cruel fate. A good way to gently caress with you if you're expecting them to be identical to DDS1 though. ...Big "if" mind.  Next up we have the actual Feng Huang. SMT games have a nasty habit of mixing up this guy, Suzaku (we fought her in DDS1) and Phoenix. Sadly, Phoenix is not appearing in this game so they can't complete that triangle. I think Imagine is actually the only game with all 3... and gets all of their names right. Even down to calling Suzaku by her original, Chinese name of Zhe Que instead! Also, huh, he has Megido. You wouldn't know it because he never casts the bloody thing. Five Years Before Since the dungeon's layout is "same as before but a little harder to see," we'll just skip ahead to where the first 01 security door was.  Before continuing further on in, we'll head back to the room to the north. There's not really much here, save for a new Soma Drop though.  There's nothing to the south, so we'll go past the old 01 door and run into a couple Pisacas.  We hit them with Fire, and they die.  Before we take the elevator further down, there's now a treasure in the spare room we skipped past before. It's just a couple Magic Mirrors which will help a lot I'm sure. Now we can take the elevator... Corruption Silence Maybe it's just me, but the lower levels of the EGG Facility are pretty damned creepy.     That would make this God's will. What is God, exactly?   That is conversing with God?   ??? I think that the way people have lived, and God destroying our world... We ignored something very important, so...   I kinda miss it.  End Five Years Before Alright, so this part of the dungeon is much different to before. Not just in appearance, but in concept (you know all those Light Balls we have? Yeah, they're useless now) and general layout too. Well, kind of. The overall layout is the same but how we get where and when is different now. Battle for Survival But first, let's deal with some Chimaeras. These guys are potential bastards if they get the first move. Explode is a special fire spell.  It's a random hitting one, but for mid-tier damage. Yep, instead of just light damage like before, there's that and one stronger for all elements.  Cold Wave is that for Ice, by the way. Explode is their only nasty trick, but it's a very nasty trick. Three Teras or two Terazis drop them at least.  Hresvelgr is back now and has a changed moveset and weakness. She still gets 2 press turns a round, but her Ice moveset now plays more to our advantage. Also has Marevert despite being weak to Gun. Kinda self-defeating there. Five Years Before The sideroom we just ran past has a couple of Magni Bombs in it now, if you need an itemised Materazi. More importantly, big swirly vortex blocking the path.  Are you ready for a teleporter dungeon? I know I am! It's actually not all that bad, but I don't really mind teleporter dungeons that much.  Also we can talk to Gale and Cielo here. But... I shouldn't hate them, right? As long as you understand, it is fine. I'll remain on your side, even if the whole world turns against you. It's pointless to hate people... I can help you carry the burden caused by the hatred of others. That should make it easier on you. We support Sera because it's de right thing to do, ja? Dis all woulda happened wit' or wit'out Sera. You can't blame her for it! I mean, look at de people here. Honestly, dey're good for nothin'. Suddenly, I am glad that Cielo is not God. He's a cool dude, but...  Anyway, we'll just leave that room now and step out into the hallway.  It's not immediately clear where we are at first. Going south, though, brings us to a door that won't open. It doesn't matter though; this is clearly the room where Meganada was frozen before. Battle for Survival Couple new demons now, and Throne is the least interesting one in a long while. Seldom ever gets turns, even rarer it bothers with anything other than Mind Charge and then dying immediately. Also freezes super easily.  Usually, but not always, comes with a Legion. Seemingly likes throwing around ailments but it's actually just Stun. Shame, because "Legion that can abuse Charm spells" is my favourite gimmick that was only ever done once.  Small thing that you might not expect, is that we do not get to control Sera's levels. Just like everyone else, she handles that herself. She does focus on Magic though, so that's nice. Five Years Before Straight north of the room we just left, there's a minor split in the path. The warp to the west just sends us back to the start of B10, so we'll take the one north.  This gives us both progress, and drops us in a room with a couple HP Data.  It gets very slightly more complex from the nextpart, since it's one of those three-way intersections and all. The door to the east just throws us into the warp point that sticks us at the start of B10 so we'll ignore that.  Instead, we'll go south and take the stairs there up to B10 anyway. Doing it this way though puts us behind the warp point at the entrance.  This puts us at another intersection, and yet again we will go south from here.  A lot of the rooms from now on have a warp in them. We'll be taking this one right away.  It drops us off in the middle of a corridor with these electric/laser gates. If we just walk through that, we'll take damage. This is our equivalent to damage floors. Thankfully, the map is coloured purple in these areas. How considerate.  Also this is where we use Core Shields. Again, kinda have way too many of these things.  Going north in this corridor is completely pointless, by the way. Whichever side you enter these warps from has no effect on where they drop you. Makes sense.  This one drops us off a little bit to the north, of the intersection we were just at.  We want that, though, since the room to the far north has a new plant in it. Nothing else up here, so we'll head back to the damage corridor.  This time we'll go south through it, of course. You may think you have spotted a pattern at this point.  You'd be wrong, though. The warp you can see on the map (the "!") is the one at the entrance for what its worth.  This time around, we'll take the west path and then enter the northern room. The western room drops us off back where we just were mere seconds ago.  The northern one, however, drops us off past the warp to the south and lets us take the stairs down to a different part of B11.  Ignoring that warp, and going around the corner instead.  The room to the north there isn't really worth our time. It's just a Tiger's Eye. Kinda lame.  The other one gives us a surprise forced fight. And this one's a bit harder than a couple Pisacas. A bit. Heroic Battle  HUANG LONG %$X1? O%-, DRAGON RING ?A" So, Hanuman's big thing here is that the two of them can combo a Magic Repel. A mild annoyance, but nothing major.  They have High Counter, so it's not like we can just punch them to death. Except we can, because the Graven Image easily outheals their damage.  When not comboing, or alone, they start spamming Earth spells. Sure, whatever. Not weak to Force though; only weak to a couple ailments but without Magic Repel we can just blast them and they will die. Five Years Before Also one of them had our reward for kicking Huang Long's teeth in. This makes the fourth; only one more to go.  It makes the wearer resist Almighty. Pretty drat handy that. There's definitely a couple spots where it is worth using.  The warp in that room drops us off back in the corridor. At It's at least considerate enough to stick us past the one that was blocking it though.  Door to the left is just for backtracking, so we'll go north and use another core shield.  Damage corridor brings us to another intersection, and we'll go south here. ...I might be tempted to rescind what I said about that pattern not being what you think.  So we're gonna fight a couple Chimeras. We hit them with rocks and they die. The end.  Around now, Sera masters Holy Beast and finally picks up AP Divide. It's a little harder to get this time around, clearly.  Worth it though, because it's one of two that opens up this $400k beauty.  Insatiable is the same as before, and Devour Mana is pretty self-explanatory too. Atma Premium is new though. Remember Atma Bonus? Yeah, this is that but gives you even more. Also they stack. AP farming is really, really easy here. Shame we don't have anywhere near enough money for it at the moment, though.  Just gonna go around this corner to west. Pretty obvious this is progress just from looking at it.  That drops us off a little further north of the small terminal and warp there.  Going through the north there as well, and then carrying on to the west.  Once again, this lets us warp past another warp spot and go further downstairs.  Beginning to get some deja vu. Just gonna go around the corner and go into the room at the end again. Battle for Survival Hey look, it's a new enemy. Hi, Orthrus! Kind of a shame he's ridiculously underwhelming though. Hit him with ice and he dies. And if not, he's almost definitely frozen.  Also this guy. He can self-destruct dealing almighty damage, throw around Death spells or cast Debilitate to make your stats Loa.  Five Years Before Once again, we're thrown into the middle of a damage corridor. Gonna pop another Core Shield then and run north.  Was beginning to think we'd skipped past this Life Terminal, because I could not remember where it was. Anyway, going through the door to the west.  Drops us off to the north then, and we can go down again.  This brings us nicely to the area where we needed the 05 card before. Just about done with this already.  Goin' through the door and then south from the terminal.  This puts us north, of course. Then we can head east and into the room there.  This in turn puts us on the southern corridor so we can go west and enter the room there next.  In there, we get to fight 2 Legions. They get Zionga'd and die. Big shocker.  After that, we take the warp and come right to the final small terminal of the area.  Next room up is where we fought Abaddon before, but there's nothing like that in there now. Battle for Survival There are, however, random Hecatoncheires running around on this floor. I feel like these generic ones could take the boss version quite easily. Might just be me though.  Also Hanumans. They can still Magic repel in a combo, but they're even less of an issue now.  It's so sad and painful... I heard that voice, and I wanted to comfort it... And then I was here.There's no crazy teamkilling Tribvhana dudes in here, but there is a crazy scientist man. Sure, whatever. Battle with Rare Devil En route to the elevator, run into a bunch of Omoikanes again and luck out in hitting them this time around.  Not the fifth, though, because I um. No one has Force spells equipped. And multi-target stuff doesn't work.  Everyone that we hit correctly self-destructs which is the only way to kill any of these things.  Thankfully, they're weak as balls so there's no risk of anyone dying from this. Would be hilarious though.  ....Y'know, $60,000 for each Omoikane here is not too shabby at all. 1538 karma is an odd and arbitrary number though. Five Years Before Speaking of the elevator, it's remarkably nice how it's not obstructed or anything.  Taking that back all the way down to the EGG. Once there, we can snag the +4 Strength gem.  Can't really do much of anything else from here, though. Back up we go then.  There is this warp in the room to the south of the terminal at least.  This one drops us back on B30 but just past the broken bit of walkway.  There's also another warp right here, but this one puts us by the Malachite so we can get this way as well. 
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Feb 27, 2015 21:06
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 12:01 |
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welp. RIP Roland and Argilla. Jesus, I'm glad we didn't actually have to fight that monster. ...Okay so Sera replaces Serph, I assume Heat's going to find his way back to the party eventually, and that leaves our fifth spot completely open.
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Feb 27, 2015 21:28
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