|
Is it me...or is the Sun a lot more...ORGANIC than it should be? It's almost like being inside a god drat tree.
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 00:40 |
|
|
Really Pants posted:Seraph-Gale-a-Argillastic-Heat-Cielo-docious.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:29
|
|
|
mauman posted:congratulations....we've finally been formally introduced to the main character of the two games. Still doesn't quite make sense to me, it's clearly Serph for the grand majority of it. Unless you mean that Seraph is somehow around longer than Serph 
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:29
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:Still doesn't quite make sense to me, it's clearly Serph for the grand majority of it. Unless you mean that Seraph is somehow around longer than Serph Well, the sun is a pretty long final dungeon.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:32
|
|
|
W.T. Fits posted:No, he possesses the bruddah-nature. I lol'ed irl
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:36
|
|
|
W.T. Fits posted:No, he possesses the bruddah-nature.  Top-shelf.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 00:52
|
|
|
W.T. Fits posted:No, he possesses the bruddah-nature. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 01:02
|
|
|
Mraagvpeine posted:What if the whole party merged into one super OP character? I'll form the head. Heat can be the butt. W.T. Fits posted:No, he possesses the bruddah-nature. Yes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 01:39
|
|
|
Now I just want the Atma positions to denote which part of the super fused Avatar everyone is and yes I realize Jinana would be a singular buttcheek she'd wear that with pride.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 03:57
|
|
|
HiKaizer posted:Now you know why Serph had such a ridiculous name! It was so he and Sera could merge their names to make Seraph. This is literally the only reason why I was not even more surprised than I already am at this turn of events. Everyone's dead already where the hell can we go from here? 
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 06:17
|
|
|
EagerSleeper posted:This is literally the only reason why I was not even more surprised than I already am at this turn of events. Oh ye of little faith.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 06:52
|
|
|
Kemix posted:Is it me...or is the Sun a lot more...ORGANIC than it should be? It's almost like being inside a god drat tree. I guess that's supposed to be the dark part that has been covering the giant ball of fire since the apocalypse began.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 09:40
|
|
|
Petiso posted:I guess that's supposed to be the dark part that has been covering the giant ball of fire since the apocalypse began. I don't think the sun is actually a ball of fire in this context. It's more like the origin of all life, so naturally it's organic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 12:11
|
|
|
The sun is actually where the universe keeps its strategic reserve of amazing boss music, including the best opening seconds to a boss track in all of video gaming.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 15:09
|
|
|
Well, it makes sense. Kickin' rad tunes are, much like human beings, comprised entirely of data.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 19:27
|
|
|
Feinne posted:The sun is actually where the universe keeps its strategic reserve of amazing boss music, including the best opening seconds to a boss track in all of video gaming. You mean Divine Identity? Because that's one of the best pieces of music across the entire franchise to boot.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 20:08
|
|
|
The sun is made entirely of chiptunes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 21:19
|
|
|
Kaboom Dragoon posted:You mean Divine Identity? Because that's one of the best pieces of music across the entire franchise to boot. Is that what the non-Integral soundtrack calls the final boss' theme? Because that is what I'm discussing. On Integral it's his name, which is why I didn't give the track name.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 21:23
|
|
|
Yup, that's what it is. I will be writing things and gushing about it when we get to it for sure!
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 21:24
|
|
|
Green Intern posted:The sun is made entirely of chiptunes. Surely it would be Sol music.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 21:30
|
|
|
HGH posted:Yup, that's what it is. Yup, I love HariHari, don't get me wrong, but I love this game's final tune even more.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2015 23:25
|
|
|
 Nirvana  I had no choice... He was going to shoot Serph... so I... I... It was all for Serph, I... Oh... What have I done!?Yeah, so Argilla was totally jealous of Sera which is probably why Serph could manipulate her into shooting Heat easily. Really, I'd just be glad that's one part of the real world that didn't make it through to the Junkyard.  So, it wasn't clear before but each layer of the Sun has its own little gimmick. The 2nd layer was a large mess with all of the damage floors; the 3rd layer is very short but pads itself out with semi-invisible walkways. This one's just a straight line, but it's the only gimme in the entire layer. Battle for Survival Oh, Mada... how disappointing you are. To say he's meant to be able to devour the universe whole in one single gulp, with all deities inside it, he's... Just use Bufudyne and he dies in one hit. Indra was scared of this guy. Seriously.  Lilith also turns up here. Fatal Charm is clever. I like that. Shame she always turns up with either more Liliths or Girimehkalas. How's that Seraph Lore looking? Because it has an added bonus in that it cannot miss things that are neutral or weak. Sometimes I think they're not even trying any more.  Samael's upgraded his Mute weakness to an immunity and become easier in the process. That's disappointing. It does at least mean we won't be spending ages running around here to farm him now though. Might be why he's here in the first place. Nirvana Anyway, let's worry about making it through here now. Right away after the first yellow path, we can grab a free Revival Gem. Nice but useless with the orb.  This is also where a second large node is. Much like with the gimmicks, there's one of these per layer.  I... coulda swore we got this stat boost ages ago. Apparently not. Obviously not from this node since it requires two mantra that cost $400k each but you know what I mean.  Now is where things get a little more complicated. These rooms are large, devoid of any landmarks and the background couldn't be more blatantly copied and pasted if it tried.  So, uh, here's a quickly made map of the area for reference. It's not to scale by any means, but it gives the idea at least. We'll be going to the southern door first.  From there, we'll ignore the turn west and instead head through that door.  Entirely because this lets us grab some Magic Data. Now we can follow this path around or double back and take the turn. We'll do the latter since that lets us...  Find this small data terminal. The path south here leads to the same spot continuing past the Magic data would. So this is progress.  We'll ignore that and instead head to the western area in the semi-invisible walkway room. That brings us to something that leads into the 3rd floor. Normally we could not take this path, but... Epic Battle ~ Prelude We have the certificate from the Jack Frost quiz which grants us access through here. I just memorised the answers to all 100 questions because they're easy enough to do that, but if you don't know them offhand then you can find all answers on GameFAQs which I will presume is something it's actually worthwhile for. Because there's no way to gently caress that up, beyond sheer pure incompetence.  ...what no i didnt accidentally delete the footage of 40 of the randomly selected questions that would take forever to rerecord dont be silly  Hee-eautiful! *clap clap* Hee-honderful! But... Why? ...Eh, no reason! Life, hee... Life, ho... Hee ho is not fair! Optional Boss: Nether Jack Frost the Magnificent Battle with Rare Devil Obvious stuff outta the way first; Jack is still a Jack Frost even if there is a chance of him making good on promise to kill us. His fire weakness is still a very real thing.  Oh, I see-ho. You think I'm just a plain old Frost! Isn't that right!? Yeah, I'm talking to you, hee-ho! I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget! Heeeeeeeeeeho!!!!! Breath is a nasty, nasty move and you will want to take Jack seriously after this. Probably.  It's single-target Mega ice damage that hits 1-3 times and will murder the poo poo out anyone it hits twice. In Heat's case, he's done for if it hits period. Also it has a very high chance of freezing (wiki lists is as 100% but it's actually "only" about 75%). Nasty business, and Jack will never target anyone with it that has the Hee-Ho Ring. Keep this in mind for now.  So, Gale's around for an obvious reason.  Pyriphlegethon is straight up the strongest Fire spell, and that's including the special one you can only get via a Combo.  And you get it for absolutely no effort at all. It's very expensive at 70MP a cast but its multi-target Severe fire damage. For reference, the hardest hitting stuff we've used before has been Mega tier. This is above that. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. Granted this damage is with 2 Makakajas...  But so is this. Gale with ~20 magic less than Seraph will outdamage a boosted and amped Agidyne. Pyriphlegethon is nuts good.  Of course, Jack will not just sit idly by and let you buff and wail on him. His AI is scripted in a way that he will never Dekaja immediately, nor will he do it randomly. Do you have buffs? Yes? Okay, the turn after you cast them they stick around. The turn after that, he will remove them. It doesn't matter if it's +1 in one thing or +3 in everything.  So, Breath is Ice elemental and will gently caress you up. Just stick up any barrier and he can't do poo poo right? Nope. Jack wasn't the quizmaster for nothing. He's smarter than you average Frost, so he won't use Breath at all then. Despite him smacking Gale with a Ziodyne here, that's a good thing. It's still preferable to the alternative and he can't do Maziodyne.  Instead, he opts to Megidolaon for his multi-target damage.  Since all his attacks are magical, Spell Gloom (2x Makanda) is a good thing to bust out if ya got it.  Only, uh, remember to void ice if you do that. Because Breath is still pretty nasty and now Seraph is frozen.  If you get Frozen on his first turn, he uses his second to Psycho Rage.  Jack really wants to be taken seriously, you see.  So he will then use those 4 turns to punch the poo poo outta whoever gets frozen until they die. He then uses Breath on someone else and presumably kills them with punches as well. If you somehow have Phys Repel/Attack Mirror but no Void Ice (technically impossible but you probably won't have the latter equipped) then that works as an alternative here. Just not a very good one.  His Dekunda AI is identical to his Dekaja one. If you stagger your buffs and debuffs, you could technically make him waste one of his actions every turn.  Oh and as a last little gotcha, he has Tentarafoo as well. He doesn't use it much, but if you don't know it'll be coming he will smack you with it. Fortunately, Cielo has Null Panic which helps. Since it's MT, he'll use it even if one person is immune. A bit of a mistake on his part though.  Speaking of mistakes, that's some nice karma and a lot of money. But he gives no AP. And I had everyone equipped with AP boosting skills. Oops. At least I didn't need the slots for anything else so it wasn't as annoying as it could be. End Nirvana That was just a little hee-joke! Don't rush off... Don't b so rude, hee ho. Calm... Calm down, ho... Hee... Just a joke... ......Psych, ho! Heeyonara! Adios, amiho! And with that, Jack absconds and we won't see him again. Unless we run into him as a random encounter in which case he just gives us a free item. So no different to before. Let's just grab those items for kicking Jack's teeth in.  The Pass Ring is kind of a weird reward for the time this might take to do.  It's not bad, per se, since its effect isn't that terrible. It's just very niche and you won't really be running around with it equipped all that often.  The other reward is our old buddy, and former best bullet, the Magatama.  Like before, it's a flat 200 power with no added effects. Also like before, this is the only one of its ilk. Unlike before, it's not the best bullet. There is one above even this.  With that, we'll head back to the southern path and come to an even larger area.  Once more, here's a very rough idea of the layout here (not to scale, just a brief outline etc. etc.). We'll head on over to that X in the left corner first.  Mostly because it lets us get the Murder Rock for absolutely no hassle at all. And it's identical to before too. How bizarre. Next we'll head to the room over on the top-right corner.  This just lets us pick up a couple of nice, but not overly critical, items. That just leaves the northern most exit in the top-left corner which...  Well, this clearly isn't ominous at all. Both data and life nodes, huh?  ...Yeah, unsurprisingly, the linear path here leads to a door that looks very familiar. Epic Battle ~ Prelude And an inhabitant that we've seen more than enough of already.  wE do wHaTeVeR It TaKEs to SUrvIVe. YoU'Re the SaME aS ME... AdmIT IT... sAY it, BitCH! Boss Redux ~ Asura Camazotz Big Battle ~ Enemies Reborn So, Camazotz is slightly different to Hayagriva and his former incarnations. Appropriately, this fourth and final fight with the fucker is mostly harder than the other three. I say "mostly" because he's now weak to Electricity when not guarding. Why? umm...  His moves are mostly what we've come to know and love about Camazotz. Though he doesn't just throw everything at you immediately.  He's mechanically not too dissimilar to his third incarnation and is a chatty bugger too.  After losing ~1000 HP (he has 5000), he switches things up a bit. Since he only gets one press turn he opts to Rage now.  He likes using Winds of Hell a lot more here than he did previously. It is still Force elemental so we can deal with it easy enough. If he hits you with it, he'll probably guard at which point he will lose his Elec weakness and regain his normal Earth one.  Just keep blasting through another couple thousand and then he switches for the last time.  Rather than Raging, he now enters a Psycho Rage of his own.  Usually he follows it up with his favourite of combos.  Which consists of 3 Zotzilaha Banes in a row. One per person, and it's still Almighty, still drains and still inflicts Bat. Which I swear is worse here. Feels like it cuts stats more; HP and MP slashed to around half and your damage output plummets like a stone too.  Since he WILL get that off, this is when he guards for real.  No prizes for what he does after that, since Bats are weak to Force. And if you drain it, it's a guaranteed full heal since it hits for over one thousand damage. Which, yes, we do often. Always feels weird when it happens to us though.  But, eh, Bat is Bat and so he doesn't put up much of a fight. Gives drat nice money though. Nirvana I think I'd have rather had another flower; this is nice but we'll have plenty by the time they matter.  So, the fourth layer is something we'll be doing.... um.... Right now I guess. The third one was short as heck, and this one is even shorter. Or at least it feels like it.  First off, free item behind the entrance. Just a diamond, but it's there so why leave it?  The quiz Jack was not one of the Hip Hop Bros., since they're right here.  And are still amazing.  Large Data right by the entrance this time around. Probably for the best, since there enough floor anywhere else for it.  This layer's gimmick is moving platforms. And it's not as bad as that sounds, I promise! It's actually ridiculously linear for the first couple floors with no deviation whatsoever.  We get a bit of a choice on the third floor, so we'll take the right (eastern) pad first. Battle for Survival Because there isn't much movement to speak of, random encounters are actually pretty sparse on this layer. What ones there are, though, can be nasty in theory. Mithra not so much. Just use something to mute him and he's worthless.  He also frequently comes partnered with Thor. Who inexplicably has the same problem. It being a weakness is fair enough, but he basically never uses physical attacks. Nirvana Anyway, the platform leads us to... a very nice treasure haul.  The MP Data, Star Sapphire and Soma are all nice to have. Olive Branches are a new flower and are dropped very frequently by things on this layer, mainly Mithra and Thor. Dead End's a bullet.  A very nice bullet that inflicts Petrification. It used to be the only bullet worth buying, but now that's just a waste of money since we get it free. But wait, there was way more than 5 flowers here.  Yeah, uh, about that... 3 of the remaining 7 just make you eat damage. At least there's no ailments in there.  The last four are fights.  A single Kingu is cute but we have the Skull Ring which makes it a non-issue.  Ummmm.... The, uh, the Hope Diamond is the normal reward for this. The Lotus Seed is Kingu's drop. And it's quite rare to get at the moment. Because THAT is the best flower.  Fight #2 is a Girimehkala and two Barongs. They mostly like to Mind Charge into a Xanadu or the like. They should be glad they came with Girimehkala.  Because they're quite weak to death. And we just got the Murder Rock. They also turn up on this layer as random dudes. Just not very often.  Fight #3 is a Mithra and Girimehkala. Not a very threatening combo.  Last one is two Pallas Athena and Thor. Thor is not immune to death, so Murder Rock it is.  Speaking of Athena, we'll go back now and take the left platform to go further in. This brings us straight to an Athena.  Wait... You are no longer human. The blood of battle is warming in my veins... I have no choice but to challenge you! I hereby order you to fight. Prove your mettle, curious mortal! So we fight two Athenas. We Murder Rock them and they die.  Really thinking just giving us that for no trouble at all was not the best decision ever made. Anyway, another choice. We'll take the top platform first.  This leads us to a split in the path.  Left lets us pick up some Power Data...  While right gives us an Olive Branch. Nothing else here, so we'll double back and take the southern platform.  This brings us to a normal door and a small data terminal node around the corner.  Taking that platform before the turn...  A free gem. We can get these ones as drops on the second layer from Cu Chulainn. It's unnecessary but it's there.  The path there leads to another platform or a turn to a door. That leads to a dead-end caused by a giant hole...  Platform puts us on the path to filling that in. It's a very linear route so we'll leave that platform there forever now. It makes backtracking easier if you ever need to do it manually for some reason.  And now we run into a Girimehkala.  I was a Corporal in the Brutes... But, I was also born Girimehkala. No, I'm a knight... On a crusade. There's too much solar data here. I can't maintain my self... I need to eliminate unnecessary data. Yeah, that'll work... Unnecessary solar data like you! So now we fight two of these guys. Actually not even remotely a problem. Either have Argilla use Seraph Lore or if you don't have it or don't want to use it then (Ma)Hama(on) works just as well since they're weak and all.  In a move that looks very familiar, it puts us betwixt two more platforms. We'll take the top one first again.  This lets us pick up another new bullet and two Earth Walls for good measure. Mechanically the Forged Shot hits harder than the Dead End but does no added effects so its not as good.  Going back and continuing off the other path, we follow a long, linear line and come to a Samael.  Man and woman are not yet to become one. By God's will, your mind and body must be split asunder once more! Ingest once more the fruit of knowledge, and realize your sin.I think Samael is bad at his job, since that's... y'know what. Never mind. Anyway, it's just the one Samael so we murderise it in no time.  That brings us up to the eighth floor which is a bunch of circles held together by a spider's web. Naturally this leads us to our requisite boss fight for the area. Epic Battle ~ Prelude Boss Redux ~ Asura Rahu Big Battle ~ Enemies Reborn Compared to Camazotz, Rahu is relatively tame and that feels like a weird thing to say. Makes sense though, since Camazotz was based on his final incarnation but they're ordered based on when you originally fought them.  This time, his punches deal sub-100 damage with no Tarukajas. Oh how threatening that isn't.  And the head doesn't need to wait to complete its gimmick to use buffs.  Speaking of which, yeah, it's gimmick is unchanged.  Mostly. Dragon Thrash still removes someone from the fight until either the head, body or captive dies. It does not, however, target the person with the highest Strength now.  Oh and it still counters everything by draining some HP. But it doesn't matter because this time we kill it immediately.  And the body is still weak to Fire. Head was immune hence why we had to get rid of the head first this time around.  Rahu doesn't take losing half of his parts very well, to say the least.  I was expecting a Dragon Quake, but he instead removed the Taunt. Uh, sure thing bud. He then dies immediately because that does not matter.  So, uh, Rahu was easier than Camazotz, gives a similar drop, less money but more Karma. Oh right and each part only has around 3500HP. Same as Hayagriva. How weak.  He tries to even it out by giving us a better item though.  Next time, we'll deal with the fifth layer and its gimmick is going to be a fun one. I can just feel it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 03:09
|
|
|
I mean it's kind of bringing back an old joke but there is one big problem with this dungeon and that's the encounter ra-
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 03:45
|
|
|
Jack Frost's reason to kill you is hilarious. "eh. No reason. Life's not fair". Adorable. And dangerous! Jack Frost, still the best. Bat telling you that you should be dead is also hilarious, he doesn't seem to quite realize that everyone there except for Seraph, including him, is already dead. And now he's double dead. Bye Bat, no one will miss you. Again. And oh god the Hip Hop Brothers. I missed them so much. I guess I shouldn't be happy they're dead, but it means we see them again so yay!
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 03:46
|
|
|
Dragonatrix posted:
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 04:17
|
|
|
It says something that not only are the Jack Frosts great characters, they're somehow the most threatening thing we've had to fight in a while (like, 4 or 5 bosses are weaker than him or something). Bat does have one point though. The bat status effect with its little custom animations is pretty cute . Also, seeing that last boss fight made me realize something. Minor spoiler for an upcoming boss: is the Meghanada just a palette swap of Rahu? They have similar standing and Attack/punching animations.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 04:32
|
|
|
HGH posted:It says something that not only are the Jack Frosts great characters, they're somehow the most threatening thing we've had to fight in a while (like, 4 or 5 bosses are weaker than him or something). They might in fact be different skins of the same model, yes. Would hardly be the first time they did that for demons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2015 04:48
|
|
|
I like that the other shopkeepers have followed along with Johnny. Dude is an inspiration.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2015 23:52
|
|
|
I think I read somewhere that Bat has extra dialogue if you blast him with Argilla's special. No? I'm not usually tempted to buy new smilies, but I'm tempted to buy a new smilie, hee-ho.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2015 23:44
|
|
|
It'd be cool but ultimately worthless if he did, on account of that whole "being a boss so he's immune to Expel" thing. Maybe he was intended to not be at first so that could be a thing, but that'd end up making the fight even easier than it already is.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2015 00:02
|
|
|
vilkacis posted:I'm not usually tempted to buy new smilies, but I'm tempted to buy a new smilhee, ho.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2015 00:17
|
|
|
Dragonatrix posted:It'd be cool but ultimately worthless if he did, on account of that whole "being a boss so he's immune to Expel" thing. Maybe he was intended to not be at first so that could be a thing, but that'd end up making the fight even easier than it already is. I mean that's the Seraph Lore problem in a nutshell, really. It'll never be as awesome as Reincarnation or Pyriphlegthon because Expel attacks are generally not effective on anything that matters.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2015 00:28
|
|
|
Feinne posted:I mean that's the Seraph Lore problem in a nutshell, really. It'll never be as awesome as Reincarnation or Pyriphlegthon because Expel attacks are generally not effective on anything that matters. That's  for you!
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2015 02:23
|
|
|
Ooooooooh yes. This will get much use.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2015 02:28
|
|
|
Nirvana  My name's James Mason... Remember me now? You gave her my message. ...Thanks. I know she died too, but... I guess that's just karma. That means it's up to you to save the world, so we can be reborn in the first place. I'm counting on you. And with that, we've completed a man's last request and gotten a single Soma for out troubles. But the reward isn't important, really. Is it? Well, uh, yeah kinda. At least now we can sell that Lotus Flower we've been holding onto forever. First though!  This layer's gimmick is a bit different. More than different enough to warrant...  Schroedinger's name being inexplicably mispelt while he explains what's going on.  As long as you're inside, you will be unable to transform during battle. Proceed, Seraph.So, uh, yeah, this layer kinda fucks with how fights work more than anything else. And its not very fun either.  Since we won't be doing much fighting for the moment, we'll take the large data node right by the entrance and return to the surface. Gonna sell all this stuff to Johnny and end up with $3 million and change.  It's a start at least. Now we'll deal with the horribly unfun slog that is the first half of the fifth layer.  Gonna at least use some Estoma to make it a bit more palatable. Emphasis on the "a bit."  See, the fifth layer is when the encounter rate gets kinda bad. Estoma helps make it more on par with the default rates in every other dungeon thus far. Battle For Survival So, that thing about being unable to transform only applies to use. Enemies in the Sun do not have Human forms so they're unaffected by it. Problem with that is, as seen here, you can get fights that are actively impossible to win. If you want to fight proper, you have to use attack items which are completely worthless at this point.  Also there are still some new enemies. If we could tune, Surt would be completely worthless and chumped but as is, he's able to be a bit of a nuisance. When we can kill him proper, he drops Power Data and is not a rare fight. How nice!  ...On the other hand, there are Arahabakis. If we could tune, we could kill them. Because we can't, even if we had attack items worth half a poo poo, we wouldn't really be able to kill them. Nirvana So, this floor is the straightforward one for the layer. I'll let that settle in for a moment. It's big, expansive and annoying to navigate. Just made a minor note of all the treasure in the area, since most of it is not really very good. 1 = 2x Medical Tools; 2 = 3x Wild Bombs (how generous );3 = 2x Wind Walls; 4 = 2x HP Data; 5 = 1x Great Chakra; 6 = 1x Olive Branch But the X south of the exit is the only one really worth worrying about getting...  Because it's one of the five last remaining rings. Naturally, it's both simultaneously really quite good but also hella situational.  The description is a bit of a, uh, misleading and incorrect. See, it doesn't grant Phys Repel to anyone. Instead, it puts an auto-Void Phys on the entire party for the first turn. If you're gonna fight something that definitely will use a phys attack at the start it's useful but not something to always run around with.  I dislike this layer in general, so we'll just skip through it to get to the important stuff.  Which is to say loving murdering something that was dumb enough to get in the way immediately.  Let's finally try and Reincarnate something. Because gently caress it, I am not playing around with this.  It's expensive as hell at 99MP, and it's even weaker than Pyriphlegethon etc. but its Mega-tiered Almighty so it can sort of justify it.  Despite not being The Strongest, it is most effective since it will oneshot almost everything we can run into.  Pretty much immediately afterwards, we get a small rest spot with a data node. How nice.  Might need it because the next area is a little different, but has a less poo poo gimmick.  Beginning to think they just didn't even know how to spell Schroedinger for these few text boxes. As long as you're within that area, you will not have as much time to act in battle. Proceed, Seraph. So, this area is more playable and yet simultaneously kind of not. There's three seals we can walk through to start with. The western or southern ones are the best. The east one is a dead end.  Red spiral things like this one are the doors for the area.  They, uh, also happen to be one-way only. Took this one because it led to some loot.  Not much loot, mind you, but it's there.  The time gimmick here just means we have one less press turn than normal. So three party members gives us 2, two gives us 1 and one gives us a half.  So, giant one-way door maze. Fun stuff. Once again, mapped out like this because it makes it easier. As for loot; 1 = 2x Luck Data; 2 = 2x Bolt Walls; 3 = 2x Medical Gears; 4 = 1x Chakra Pot More important, though, is that there's a special encounter that pops up around the middle of the maze. Battle For Survival  Prove to me that you are worthy of his presence. So, Parvati is kind of vaguely annoying to fight at first. Can only really hurt her with Reincarnate for ~300 damage, or physical skills for about 200. At least at base; she gets 2 press turns and only uses the Almighty skills if she can't use the others. She also always gets the first turn; in this case it's to let her talk, but for every encounter after this one, she just pelts us with spells.  What makes her special is that she is a rare(ish) encounter with a rare(ish) drop. The Pinaka is actually a key item that we need later. And, no, I didn't get it on the first Parvati. It was the nineteenth. That's about average, to be honest. Nirvana So, after the maze, another small area with a new data node and some Magic Mirrors this time.  Obvious boss door at the end, but there's a branch in the path here for once. Wonder what that's abo-  ...Oh. There's two things we need to do to get this open. We're close to getting the first one done, but we can't do it for a while. So, the boss door? Epic Battle ~ Prelude  I'Ve HAd eNOugH of THiS BullShit! I'lL TeAR yOU guyS apARt... I'M geTtIng thE HelL OuttA HeRe! Boss Redux ~ Asura Ravana Big Battle ~ Enemies Reborn So, Ravana just has his second form here and, uh, he doesn't have Hunger Wave. Poor bastard's sole gimmick is gone.  Instead, he replaces it with a predictable pattern. At first he just uses physical skills.  A, uh, a lot of physical skills admittedly but still.  He has the same resistances as before, so no weaknesses and resistance to Phys. Needless to say, the Shield Ring kinda makes the first step of the fight a colossal joke.  After losing about 2000HP, Ravana gets a mite delusional and changes what he does.  Which is to use Infinite Wind, and follow it up with Phys stuff.  Or, rather, to use Infinite Wind, get it blasted back at himself for ~1500 damage because he can be Taunted to eradicate his defences. And he doesn't have Dekunda.  If it does hit you, it kinda hurts so there's good incentive to not have that happen.  After that, he'll almost assuredly be in the third phase. The reflected Infinite Wind alone is actually enough to do it.  Now he's Raging, which you'd think would matter if it was basically anyone else.  Instead, he just drops everything and begins to cast Elec spells. And absolutely nothing else.  He can't even really maximise that by hitting Gale's weakness for tons of turns.  Also he doesn't resist Elec either. Ravana is not very bright.  Once he's in critical he stops that. Mostly.  Instead, he Psycho Rages and then follows it up with something probably unexpected.   Two ailment spells in a row, being the biggest unexpected aspect.   That gets follows up by two of his bigger Phys skills.  And then a Magic Repel just to piss you off. Or, uh, he tries to Ailment you but it gets repelled because you probably expected some degree of spells and so threw a Magic Mirror out.  Because the game just gave us two, so of course we're going to use them. Ravana is not a hard fight for how good that monetary reward is. Nirvana And we get a Lotus Seed for our troubles too. Making Ravana actually worth just shy of 1mil singlehandedly. Not bad for sub-3 minutes of work.  So, the sixth layer next and it has the most absurd encounter rate out of everything in both games.  The actual layer design itself is kinda long and sprawling but not really in a troublesome way. And that's its gimmick. Nothing stupid, nothing annoying, nothing difficult. It's just very, very, very long.  At least its got the large node right by the entrance.  We'll start off by going to the south. This just leads to a single Hero Ration, but it'll do for the moment.  Going back to the north now, and we get a split in the path there. South leads to this area, and on the way... Battle For Survival  Don't expect it to be easy... Show me what you're capable of! So, much like how Parvati was kind of a mini-boss who did nothing but magic, Narasimha is kind of a mini-boss who does nothing but kill the poo poo out of you with Phys. He hits harder than Parvati, and gets the same auto-first turn thing. Shield Ring sounds nice but then you get blasted by 2 Ragnaroks and probably die immediately.  So long as that doesn't happen, he's not too difficult at least. The Nandaka, much like the Panaka, is something we want for later and is going to occupy a slot in our SP Items menu instead. Got this one on the 10th Narasimha which is a little bit on the quick side but not overly so. Nirvana Anyway, that second crossroad? This is the only thing to find to the north so gently caress that.  Just gonna take the glowy thing which is, uh, a teleporter. And I know what you're thinking, but no. It's not a teleporter dungeon. These are basically just one way doors more than anything else.  Well, I say "one-way" but immediately afterwards there's a teleporter that leads onwards and one that leads right back sooooooo.  Speaking of doors, two things passed that one behind us.  .....The actual item is just two Dekaja Rocks. Not worth it.  After leaving that room, the teleporter on Seraph's right leads further onwards.  This isn't as much of a choice as it seems, since south just loops back on itself and is a dead end. So east it is.  North here is progress, but through that door we can get something very, very good.  Hello, one of the best rings.  So, normally whenever you do a combo it takes one press turn per person involved. If whoever is wearing this ring initiates a combo, it only takes one press turn instead. Very, very nice.  With that, we can continue to the north and come to yet another fork in the road. There's nothing to the south though, so whatever.  Branches within branches, we'll ignore the turn for the moment and continue onwards to the east.  Mostly because I just want the loot more than anything else.  Other two are a Soma Drop (which is okay) and 2 Wild Bombs (which are not).  Backtracking to that turn we just skipped, and we can find this section's teleporter and carry on to the next area.  As before, though from this point onward, the teleporter that lets us go backwards will put us at the very beginning of the entire layer. Ick.  Loot in the room this time is a single crystal, and a Chakra Pot. Whatever.  This time around, its the teleporter on our left that lets us carry on.  Beginning to think gold containers on this layer are all spiteful. Pattern recognition etc. etc.  This is new though. It's just the +4 Luck gem but it's weird that this one of all things took so long to appear.  Following path onwards, and we get this branch. Gonna follow the wall to the left/north since there's nothing at all the other way.  Up here, there's a Great Chakra and two Ice Walls. Well, at least one of them was decent.  Immediately south of there, is our teleporter onwards. Nothing else in this area so we'll take this now.  I think you might be seeing a bit of a pattern at this point. So the room this time...  Forced fight with an Arahabaki. Noteworthy because there was no message outside the door that's all "hey fight in here, continue?" that normally happens.  Nothing else in here, so we'll take the left teleporter again.  Path here is very, very linear and has no diverging turns or anything. Only break is very short, very obvious and ends immediately. It gives us this.  Once again, nothing else here so we'll take the teleporter and carry on.  The room behind us this time contains our first small data node of the layer.  Yet again, the left teleporter lets us carry on deeper. We'll also be turning left here.  Here as well, but this time you can also see the nothing that lies to the west.  It's arguably not worth it, but this sells for so much it might very well make it okay.  Other way leads to this little multi-branching path.  First turn leads to the teleporter, which we'll ignore for the moment. Second turn leads to, uh, nothing.  And the door gives us another seed. Okay, sure.  Taking the teleporter and... another one? Already? Man, these things are really weirdly paced.  Once again, the left teleporter gives us progress and... yeah. Teleporter in that obvious big area in the tiny room.  Nothing else in the room but these Medical Gears. I get the feeling we're going to put these to use sooner or later now.  Left teleporter again, very linear path, etc. etc.  Though this time, we get "stairs" leading upwards rather than anything else.  And we're at the end of the layer, at last. Obvious boss door ahead, life node and a data node... But, uh, who could be beyond that door? I can't think of anyone left to refight from DDS1 that isn't our ally in some way.  There's also a couple flowers in this room as well, though these ones are different.  Not this one, obviously. This is nice though, I suppose.  No, these flowers are doors that lead to optional bosses. So, there's basically three boss fights in this one room. Looks like I know what we're doing next time! ...And, hell, I can think of a fourth we could throw into the mix while we're at it. So, that sounds good. Doing that, then. Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Apr 1, 2015 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2015 19:18
|
|
|
You're gonna handle them all in a row? Yikes. Hope that doesn't drag out too long. I know one of them felt like forever for me. Speaking of dragging out, that 6th layer is mean. And Ravana dies as he lived. A complete chump. With the most lazy looking physical attack animation around.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2015 20:57
|
|
|
Are you going to do the actual plot boss first, so he's not a TOTAL chump?
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2015 23:22
|
|
|
drat, the last dungeon seems like one giant unfun slog or is it just me?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 00:05
|
|
|
I kept hearing bad things about it but I found it surprisingly pleasant compared to DDS1's, Nocturne's or Strange Journey's final dungeons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 00:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 00:40 |
|
|
Oh, a tip about the Pinaka and Nandaka! While the drop rates are hideous (I got both within 5 kills, lucky me  ) there is a way to spawn Narasimha and Parvati more often. They only spawn on Noise levels 5 thru Max - most often at MAX, where they forcibly prevent you from going Berserk. So use Estoma Spray at low solar noise and then switch to the Magic Reed and you'll be more likely to encounter them.Feinne posted:Are you going to do the actual plot boss first, so he's not a TOTAL chump? There's basically no way to make the final boss of this game not a chump.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2015 00:16
|
|