FionordeQuester Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 (edited) Let's Play The 7th Saga: Episode 3 Part 3 This. This is why it's so dangerous. It doesn't do it often, but, needless to say, B. Protect or no, you're taking a dirt nap if you get unlucky here. So, don't even bother with the B. Protect, just use an M. Water right away... And hopefully, the Brains will fail to kill Esuna (in fact, that happened more often than not in my video), but, if they do, use an M. Water on her, and buff her with Agility and Defense while leaving Valsu the same. Then pound away at one's 158 HP and 50% Ice resistance until they finally die...or, if it's only a 1x Brain/2x Orc group, skip the Agility and just kill the Orcs with ICE2. Either way, after reducing the party to a single Brain, let Valsu die once again like so... Then stall until full HP, ICE2, rinse and repeat. Alternatively, you could also... 1) Grind near Melenam until Level 15, where you learn a spell that trivializes these guys... 2) Use a B. Protect, then stall until you're around 53+ HP and revive Valsu right away, so that you're a bit less likely to use a second M. Water (assuming, of course, that you aren't killed by a lucky Laser2 and a follow up attack while you're stalling). 3) Do this... But do this ONLY as a last resort if you don't want to use M. Waters. I don't like doing this because if the petrified Brain gets cured, that's yet another gamut of rounds that I have to risk getting Laser2'ed, AND that's 10 MP out the window... I realize that I'm jumping ahead a bit by using screenshots from the future, but I think this is important enough to address right away, because as soon as this update ends, we are actually going to be grinding against these guys until around Level 19-20. Why? Well first of all, they give an absurd amount of experience for this point in the game. In fact, they are an oddity in that they are one of three enemies that, in an act of mercy by the localization team, actually give more experience and gold in this version of the game than they did originally. But the other reason is that each Brain has a 1/8 chance of dropping a Recovery, a very rare item that restores all HP and MP when used, and is not buyable in stores. So my thinking was I would get here as soon as possible for that reason alone... Plus, I timed it out, and it took me 13 minutes to get up to Level 13 against the Melenam enemies, and about 11 minutes to get up to Level 14 on the spot I plan on grinding. Admittedly, I think I got kind of lucky with my grinding spot, but, the point is, the differences are pretty minimal, and certainly not worth giving up potential Recoveries. Now, 4 M. Waters SHOULD be enough to last us a while, because the more dangerous Brain encounters aren't super common, so we should be able to get what we need to get by the end...But enough about that, don't you want to explore the next town a bit? Lively Village Those apprentice portraits are where you can potentially find apprentices, and to clear up any confusion, when a portrait is ON a building, that means the apprentice will be inside there. If they're NOT directly on a building, that means they're outside that building...just in case there was confusion. Welcome to Eygus. I haven't seen a visitor from the continent in a long time. Are you from the continent? The towns there are big and fancy, aren't they? Are you really from the continent? Tell me about it, please. I am very interested. I want to go to the continent. The sage won't let me go. One of my favorite things about this section of the game is that instead of the previous few towns, which were mainly full of NPC dialogue all but spelling out what you were supposed to do, there's a lot of interesting background information instead. Case in point... Did you see the ruins of Melenam? A great civilization flourished there 5000 years ago. When people started to take peace and prosperity for granted, they began building weapons and eventually ruined their civilization. In the end, they say, it disappeared into the ocean. We are descendants of the survivors who escaped from Melenam to this island. Our ancestors were afraid to rebuild a civilization of dreadful power. They decided to live quietly on this small island. Turns out, this land of Melenam had a story behind it, and in fact, must have been pretty advanced if the presence of broken Tetujin and mechanical doors was any indication... Now, advanced enough to sink a civilization into the ocean might've been a bit of an exaggeration, but oh well. I do however wonder why the sage isn't letting that one dude off the island. In fact, I don't think they ever explain that... If you don't have Wind Rune: Rumor says the Wind Rune is hidden in the Cave of Melenam, and Saro used it to defeat evil a long time ago. It is supposed to have a magic power that sends you anywhere you want...instantly! If you don't have Wind Rune: That's the Wind Rune, isn't it? With the Wind Rune, you can go instantly wherever you want. If you do have Wind Rune: You'll soon need the Wind Rune that is hidden in Melenam. Find it and you'll know what to do next. If you have Wind Rune: Bring the Wind Rune to the Sage. He will tell you what to do. And as for the sage himself... If you don't have the Wind Rune: Mind your own business and leave the villagers alone. If you do have the Wind Rune: That's the Wind Rune. Yep, it's a rune...whatever If you do have the Wind Rune: You must have been sent on a very important mission. You better hurry. In the back room, you'll find the entrance that is connected to the continent. Please! And now we're confronted with one of the most implausible bits of geometry the game has asked us to just accept so far... So what is this? Really, just what is this? Is the game telling me that, not only did some guy actually dug SO FAR into the Earth as to go underneath the ocean, but actually dug far enough for this to reach another continent as well? And then dug 100+ foot deep crevices while he/she was at it? I mean, this is basically what the game is asking me to roll with... I want to say it's impossible, but with how crazy real life is...I dunno. I have trouble buying it, but...who knows? I mean, at least Melenam had the excuse of perhaps having some mechanical pathways up into the "Far Reaches, but this, this is just...wow... But whatever, we go to the end by going in a straight line south the whole way. And you know what time it is? Edited April 6, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 (edited) Let's Play The 7th Saga: Episode 3 Part 4 Kamil Dowanna It's time to bask in my favorite song in the entire game! It just has such a wide range of emotions, from a sense of loneliness, obligation, perseverance, intimidation, and even a tint of optimism. Essentially, it's a song that makes you think of a long and difficult journey made by an idealistic champion, full of hopes and dreams even while knowing how hard the journey is. And after the sense of hardship of the 2nd, and the relief of the 3rd theme, it's the perfect capstone to the journey the apprentices are on. They've had their time to recuperate, they've come to realize what they're really in for, but they've had their passions reignited, and gosh DARN IT if they aren't going to try their darndest to succeed!... Well, that, and I love all of the instruments, from the "tick tocking" "Tih, tih tih...TIH TIH TIH, TIH!, the ?horn? sounds at 0:18, the way everything will just stop at 0:41 and 1:29, to the way the flute jumps in pitch as what sounds like bells (or whatever they are) come in at 1:06... I love it ...and it's a good thing too, because soon, we'll be coming to what I think, is the low point of the game, at least, for me, so having this song does wonders for my mood. Why is it the low point? Well, you'll see...but back to relevant matters...here's our bestiary of enemies for this part of the game... Battle in a World of Light B.Protect...whatever. B. Demons, who can also appear in groups of two, and often accompany every other enemy here except the Despair. If they appear with Brains, I recommend skipping the B. Protect, nuking the B.Demon with ICE2, and then its business as usual with the Brain. This encounter I love, as once I kill one of these guys, I'll use MP Catcher on the other to earn back some MP. For now, I recommend using a B. Protect still, but later, I'll usually skip that step because with their low Speed, and something neat I'll have later, I'm confident that I don't need it. That guy on the left is the Manta, and it too has the Agility spell, along with 67 Speed to supplement that...lovely right? So if it thinks to cast that on itself, well... ...those aren't happy times. So if it seems like in my video, that I swing for the fences a little too often in dealing with them, well...maybe I do. While an ICE2 does have a slight chance of oneshotting a Manta, it's very unlikely. Maybe constantly spamming ICE2 meant more time spent using MPCatcher on hapless B.Demons, but, on the other hand, a 97 Speed enemy can REALLY troll you if the game is feeling like a jerk. Not that the game doesn't throw us a bone now and again :bone:...but anyways, let's head to Pell, shall we? Olvan Jaess Pell is called the town of water. Do you know anything about Melenam? Yes: Do you mean you've found it?! I wasted 25 years of my life looking for it! No: Rumor has it treasures are hidden there. Do you know about Eygus? I'm from there, but please don't tell anyone. Did you know there was a continent in the North? It was called Melenam, but disappeared into the sea. Wait, Melenam was a continent?! And the game is still talking about it? What's the deal with this place anyways? This isn't going to become important later on, is it? Did you take training classes and learn from King Lemele? He once saved my life when I was a child. I'm glad to hear that he is well. Nothing goes well these days. Until recently, we had a regular vessel to Bonro and other towns. We can't sail now because of the monsters. And here's why we can't go to Pandam. Frankly, I'm amazed anyone can get ANYWHERE considering the minefield that is the World Map. My husband spends all day singing in the tavern. People used to call him the Digger Quose, but not anymore. He no longer works, and I'm unhappy. Ah, come on . Surely he can't be that... Quose: I'm the best digger ♪in the village ♪...Sing a song. ♪ What a voice! I like my singing. Oh...Oh my ...well uh...good luck with that. Rune? I don't know, but ask the owner of the tavern. He might know something. Rune? I remember that a tribe in the South had something called the Water Rune. If you are going there, be careful. They are mean and tough. I traveled far seeking the Water Rune. Now I can't get it because of a stubborn old man. Ah, our next objective! Guess we'll have to watch ourselves, won't we ? Fortunately, there's no new enemies on the way there, so let's just see what's up. Troglodytes! This is the country of Guntz. Seems a little small to be a country, but then, perhaps this is one of those "pretend we're NOT trying to conserve memory" situations. Uga! Uga! Umpa! Umpa! Umpa! Umpa! Ah, I get it. You see, this here is the typical JRPG village of country bum... We haven't had rain for a long time and the crops are dying. Furthermore, we can't dig a well because the ground is too hard. It hasn't rained at all lately. The Water Rune must be losing its power. We have no need for weapons in this town. ...Oh... never mind then. I take it those other four were the brain dead in-laws? Either that or these other three were supposed to speak in a simpler manner before the localization happened. I saw someone asking the sage for the Rune. The sage is tough and stubborn. Be patient when you deal with him. Anyways though, here's the hint about how you're supposed to deal with this Sage, because... 1st Time: I'll never give it to you. It's our guardian! 2nd Time: You are wasting time. Leave at once! 3rd Time: Don't bother me anymore. I will not give the Water Rune to a stranger. 4th Time: I already told you. Forget about it and leave! 5th Time: You're going to make me angry. 6th Time: ....... 7th Time: ... 8th Time: Don't say a word! 9th Time: You are persistent, aren't you? All right, I'll make you a deal. If you can get us water for the crops without rain, I'll give up the Water Rune. You have to talk to him multiple times in order to proceed with the game, and I'm not sure how you're supposed to know to do this without talking to the NPC's...but then, I don't remember having any problems when playing this for the first time, so, who knows? This however I'm positive people wouldn't figure out the first time through! That said, what place do we know of that has lots of water? Pell is called the town of water. That's right! And, for whatever reason, the game pointed out the "Digger Quose" to us, so let's drop in on him, shall we? After getting this of course. It raises Agility by 30 when used, but I wish to save this for later, hence why I didn't get it right away. But anyways... Edited April 6, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 (edited) Let's Play The 7th Saga: Episode 3 Part 5 Quose: Do you need something? If No: I'm serious! If you are not, go away! If Yes: Do you want me to dig for Underground water? Hmm...Let me think. All right, I'll do it for you. Where shall I start? Well, for better or worse, here he is. Perhaps we oughtta talk to his wife first? Maybe she'll be happy that he found more work. Dear husband! What are you doing with strangers and where are you going? Go wherever you want! I give up. Or maybe not. Oh well, gotta do what you gotta do. Here we go, nothing up our sleeves... It is you again. Who is this man? What are you going to do with him? Great Achievement ...So I take it you're the one who dug that tunnel from Eygus to this continent? Dude's a real man-and-a-half isn't he? As promised, here is the Water Rune. Fanfare :D:WHOOOOOOOOOO!! Troglodytes! The Rune we are talking about is supposed to have magic power that restores lost energy if you use it during a battle. Or, more specifically, it randomly restores anywhere from 50-69 HP when used in battle, though it does nothing on the World Map. I've also heard about another Rune in Patrof, to the east. I suggest you go there.[/i] And so we get our new destination! Thanks a bunch dude! Wonder how all the other villagers are doing? We must find a new technology, rather than depend on the power of the Water Rune. I really do have to wonder about what the game was trying to communicate with the "Umpa!" noises if the other villagers are this well-spoken The sage is no longer a difficult person since you changed him. We thank you very much for saving this village. I would like you to visit this village one day so we can return the favor. And as for Quose, well... Quose: It was a tough job and I worked hard. I want to stay here for a while and help the villagers. At least he's charitable, though if we talk to his wife... Where did you take my husband? She's just as sad and bewildered as ever . And speaking of bewilderment... Sigh...it's time to grind again, and this time, for over an hour, not because we need to in order to get past the next area, but because, as I said, the Brain's give a TON of experience in addition to dropping Recoveries, so, see you next time. This is Fionordequester, signing out. Have a nice day, and Godspeed! MONSTERS THAT WE FOUGHT TODAY ************************************************************ *Brain Exp:284>484 Gold:130>220 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 128>158 Thunder 50 Poison Rcvry 1/8 MaxMP 150 Fire 50 Laser2 Power 50>65 Ice 50 Guard 85 Vacuum 50 Magic 50 Debuff 50 Speed 32 ************************************************************ *Manta Exp: 242 Gold: 110 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 88 Thunder 30 Agility Opal 1/8 MaxMP 50 Fire 30 Power 55 Ice 30 Guard 90 Vacuum 30 Magic 50 Debuff 30 Speed 67 ************************************************************ *R-Pison Exp: 2203 Gold: 1000 Class: 1 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 280 Thunder 30 Heal2 (None) MaxMP 30 Fire 30 Blizzard2 (If there's some kind of joke here, it's totally lost on me...) Power 90>120 Ice 30 Guard 92>100 Vacuum -- Magic 61 Debuff -- Speed 40>55 Edited April 6, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samias Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Man, these recaps are really entertaining. I can't believe they really made this game so much more brutal than the original, seeing as how other Japanese games of the time (Final Fantasy 2 (really 4) comes to mind) usually dumbed things down a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 (edited) Thank you Samias! And yeah, different companies did different things. For example, a lot of games like Battle Toads were made harder for us because, as it turns out, wherever Japan was located, you couldn't rent games like you could in the U.S. So the reason games like that were so hard was so that you couldn't just rent the game and then beat it without buying it. And of course, Enix was a different company than Square back then.And hey, here's another bit of info from CrossContaminant! There's another mention of the spoilery thing in Eygus in the Japanese version, though. I really think a translation is warranted, it's somewhat different to the English version.As for Red Pison, his text is largely the same. Hello there! It's me again, Pison! Long time no see! I was reborn out of hell as Red Pison to defeat you! Now it's your turn! Prepare yourself! Pretty standard stuff. More expressive than the translation, Nintendo of America censorship of "hell". Cross noted that the Guntz NPC's didn't originally have Umpas[...] I didn't say they don't say "Umpa" and so on, just that that text isn't in the text dump I'm using, in English OR Japanese. I'd have to go pull a Japanese copy of the game out of my ass and play through to find out what they say at that point in the game. :effort: Ah, well then, here's some screenshots from the Japanese version... Top one: Uda! Uda!Bottom one: Ugaa!The top one is in hiragana. The bottom one is in katakana. The last character is a sokuon, and indicates an abrupt stop. I don't know how it is usually transliterated beyond ending in an exclamation point. Hmm, I see. Were the speaking patterns of the villagers supposed to be simpler in the original version? Or was it still stuff like "We need a new technology in order to not depend on the Water Rune" and "Furthermore, our problems include...". Because there's a pretty big shift between that, and UMPA! A little, but the connotation I'm getting is "rustic", not "dim". Edited June 21, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 So, this next update is probably a most significant update because it's going to be covering the very first significant grinding period that lasts more than an hour and isn't broken up into parts like the early game was. This is around the point where the lack of Elnard levels starts to show, and I remember one dude, Krimsh, who stated his curiosity as to how I'm going to manage to get across what grinding is like in this game in screenshots... ...And I'm kind of wondering about that too. I have some ideas, but I don't want to post an update only for those ideas to fall flat. So, here are some things I've thought of... 1) Upload a full video of the featured grinding to Polsy (which I'll probably do no matter what). 2) Upload the toughest, longest fights individually on either GIF's or to Polsy. 3) Make GIF's of all the strategies used against the various encounters rather than simple screenshots. Like, I'll upload one GIF battling two Brains, one GIF against a Despair, one GIF against a Manta and B.Demon encounter, etc. So those are the three ideas I've come up with. And of course, I'll also say things like "leveling from 13 to 15 took X amount of time", because the strategies change depending on what level you are at. So what do you guys think? Do you even care about me getting that sense across, or should I just handle the grinding update like any normal update? EDIT: By the way, there's more bits of info on the translation in the above post should you be interested in that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 Yo, I feel as though I've been a horrible jerk for not saying this before (especially since I've already told other forums), but, due to computer troubles, I don't know when the next update will be. I already know how I'm going to do it...but I need my computer, you know? On the upside, I AM learning a lot about Shining Force, which I may LP next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 (edited) Alright guys, Monday is the tentative schedule on when the computer is going to be fixed, and therefore, I'm aiming to get this next update out on Tuesday... So, since I haven't done anything in this thread for a while, I guess I'll share a fanon theory I've come up recently. Does anyone else have it in their head-canon that Pison may or may not have been the former king of Aran? And that the old woman and man may have been involved in the murder of Romus's master? I mean, Pison is a bounty hunter, who's job description is that they'll take on a variety of jobs for money, and the defining trait of the king of Aran was his greed. And plus, we've seen Pison cheat death once already...so is it possible that him becoming R.Pison wasn't the first time he had done that? Or perhaps made some sort of deal with the Dark World to turn him into a monster? Perhaps the castle became cursed at some point (hence it's ruin, as well as the Statues and Chimera's). And then there's the fact that he seems to have visited Rablesk at around the same time that Romus started acting up. Perhaps he intentionally did something to rile up Romus (as the NPC's imply that Romus acting up was a fairly recent event) in order to ensure that our character wouldn't make it past the Cave of Earth before he was ready with, say, a Mimic pretending to be a chest? And could he have also visited the old couple, who may have assisted him according to this theory? After all, the old woman is strangely upset and angry when you first visit her ("Bah, I'm having enough trouble as it is what with Romus and all"), and then knows an awful lot about what exactly happened between the king of Aran and Romus...and just how would they know that Whistle would've been anything significant anyways? How did they know it would bring Romus peace? This theory, I leave to you. There may not be much in the game pointing to Pison being anything but some guy, and it's an awful heavy backstory to put behind some guy who greeted you with "Howdy! I'm that guy you beat, and I'm fricken RED now!" on your rematch, but, I thought it was a fun theory nonetheless ! Edited April 25, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted May 1, 2013 Author Share Posted May 1, 2013 Welp, looks like my computer screen is too busted to fix. As it turns out, turning it off every time you leave for even a minute was not good for it's life. You either want to leave it on for long periods of time, or leave it OFF for long periods of time...and it turns out that it's not good to keep your laptop on the recharger when it's already full!That said, the hard drive itself isn't busted, so I'm going to transfer the files on that computer over to the laptop tomorrow. Have a nice day, and Godspeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 (edited) Alright guys, the reason there's no update yet is partially because I wanted to help some people who are, apparently, not only obsessed enough to speedrun Yu-Gi-Oh: Forbidden Memories, of all things, on Twitch TV, but are now currently trying to beat a record of 5 hours and 40 minutes, something that anyone who's even slightly familiar with the game would gawk at, as that game is hard to the point where even THIS game seems like nothing in comparison...So, being a big fan of that game myself, I've been spending much time recording footage of me A-Teching Pegasus with non-fusion monsters all below 1600 ATK to try to help them out, because, frankly, anything to keep someone from spending like 10-12 hours at a time has to be a worthwhile use of time, right?...And then I found out that my current laptop is a piece of garbage that can't even run OBS (streaming software). Fortunately though, due to a recenet influx of money, I have now bought a new, ninja computer, and can now even transfer the files over to that new one (yeah, I tried with the old one, but it didn't work). And, best of all, I have footage of not only this current update, but footage of the next two updates after that[/i as well! So this hump of no updates won't last forever!But now here's my question to you! So far, I've been recording AVI files and uploading them to Youtube, but what if I simply streamed the video versions of The 7th Saga updates for you guys to watch? I think it might be more exciting, AND, if I decide to speak while streaming, it'd give you a chance to ask questions and a chance for me to practice narrating (though I of course will stay silent if I have nothing good to say).So what do y'all think?EDIT: Oh yes, and while this may be jumping the gun a bit, I've got two possible choices for games to LP after this one. Would you guys like to see Yu-Gi-Oh: Forbidden Memories, or Shining Force 1? Because I recently practiced for both of them, and would love to play either one (though I leaning towards Forbidden Memories just because Artix is doing Falsebound Kingdom on Something Awful). EDIT2: Also, no matter what happens, the Screenshot format would still be the main format for this LP, no exceptions. I was just exploring possibilities. Edited May 12, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samias Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I kinda like text LPs because I prefer reading rather than watching videos. I think you've been doing a great LP so far. I'm sort of leaning towards seeing a Yu-Gi-Oh LP if only because I'm less familiar with the game and I find LPs the most entertaining when I don't know anything/very little about the original material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 (edited) Hello everyone, and welcome to Let's Play The 7th Saga! Wherein I will be teaching you the sacred art of grinding. Now then...let's get to it, shall we? Now first of all, since it's been like 4 weeks since the last update, let's review enemy tactics real quickly... Battle in a World of Light B.Protect, and you should be fine. B. Demons, who can also appear in groups of two, often accompany every other enemy here except the Despair. If they appear with Brains, and you're level 13, I recommend skipping the B. Protect, nuking the B.Demon with ICE2, keep healing with the Water Rune until you begin a round with over 65 HP, B. Protect, and then keep attacking with over 65 HP until dead. If you're fighting a lone Brain, or you're Level 14, B. Protect and proceed as normal. B. Protect, kill one with ICE2, and use MP Catcher to steal some MP (unless you're almost full of course). That guy on the left is the Manta, and while ICE2 CAN kill them in one hit, it's very unlikely, so just ICE them to oblivion after killing the B.Demon. B. Protect or no, you're taking a dirt nap if you get unlucky here. So, don't even bother with the B. Protect, just use an M. Water right away... And hopefully, the Brains will fail to kill Esuna (in fact, that happened more often than not in my video), but, if they do, use an M. Water on her, and buff her with Agility and Defense while leaving Valsu the same. Then pound away at one's 158 HP and 50% Ice resistance until they finally die. Then let Valsu die once again like so... Then stall until full HP, ICE2, rinse and repeat. Alternatively, you could also... 1) Grind near Melenam until Level 15, where you learn a spell that trivializes these guys (but I think that's slower)... 2) Use a B. Protect, then stall until you're around 53+ HP and revive Valsu right away, so that you're a bit less likely to use a second M. Water (assuming, of course, that you aren't killed by a lucky Laser2 and a follow up attack while you're stalling). 3) Do this... But do this ONLY as a last resort if you don't have, or don't want to use M. Waters. I don't like doing this because if the petrified Brain gets cured, that's yet another gamut of rounds that I have to risk getting Laser2'ed, AND that's 10 MP out the window. So that's Level's 13 and 14 out of the way. So let's see how that works for us, shall? Now let's see how Level 15 goes! Oh, but wait, now we have to go shoppping! Shopping Trip! Now wasn't that riveting? Yes, because you can't buy items in bulk, it really does take more than one and a half minutes just to restock on items, hence why you'll almost never want to pass up on stealing MP from lone B.Demon's, even if there is a 30% chance of failure. Alright, doing good, just gotta... AAAAIIIIIIIUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!! So yes, as you've just seen, it is indeed possible to die, though to be fair, I would've survived had I cured Esuna's poison, and as you will see soon, I got REALLY screwed on magic. But enough about that, because... We have learned probably the best offensive spell in the entire game !! Why is that? Because...of...THIS!!! Heh, heh, heh, heh, gya ha, ha, ha, BWWWAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- ... So um, yeah, anyways, spend all your money on MHerbs, always make sure you have more than 60 MP before each...fight, and uh, use Vacuum with extreme prejudice, no matter HOW many trips back to the store you end up taking, heh, heh, heh.......... So, there's a little something I'd like to bring up now. Right now, Esuna is supposed to be at around 64 Magic right now, and 60 at Level 15...and yet, as of this Level, she was STILL only at 59 Magic. Now, for this very brief amount of time, that was an advantage, because using the Magic Hit% formula for Vacuum, I actually have a 96.08% chance of hitting a Brain with Vacuum, whereas normally, I wouldn't be able to use Vacuum effectively even at Level 15. Of course, the bad news is that, she's also more vulnerable, as you saw the first time she got killed. Had she had more Magic then, she wouldn't have gotten killed by that Brain/B.Demon combo. And unfortunately, this is going to be the source of MUCH frustration once we reach our final grinding spot...but for now, I have a bit of an advantage over the Brains. So why do I bring this up? Well, first of all, I felt that it was good to bring this up, so that you knew why I died the first time...and also because of this... Yeah, that's right. I missed a 96% chance of hitting AND got hit by a lucky critical from the B. Demon! At this point, since Vacuum has such a high chance of hitting, I skip the B. Protect altogether and just lay into them, but nooooooo, apparently the game didn't feel like giving that to me ! Great, so now not only can I not use Vacuum anymore, but now I've gotten screwed on Magic AGAIN! This is going to be so fun ! Ok game, I've been putting up with your stupid RNG for this entire 40-50 minutes of grinding, so don't you DARE do this garbage where you screw me on Magic yet agai- ...Heh, ok, good, that's what I like to see! So, once you've gotten to Level 17, you should be right around the point where you can safely just Blizzard1 groups of B. Demon's. However, even so, you'll usually want to leave at least one alive before ending the fight so that you can use MP Catcher, so it's still worth it to use Defense1 or B. Protect, in case MP Catcher misses. Other than that, DIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! And there we go...and that...as they say...is that! Anyways, this is Fionordequester signing out! Have a nice day, and Godspeed! But wait a minute, remember those Recoveries? Those items that those Brains have a 1/8 chance of dropping, that restore ALL your HP and MP? Well, we've fought a ton of Brains right? I mean, I counted, and we killed something like, 25 of them! So surely we must have a TON of... .......... . Well screw you too game. Edited May 25, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuertisimo Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) Changed because I couldn't figure out spoilers :p. Edited May 31, 2013 by Fuertisimo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 Spoilers Yeah, I know what you mean. However, would you mind putting a spoiler tag on that stuff? I'll answer it in my own, but, for those who haven't played, l'd like it to be hidden... In any case, at this point, you should just be running from all random encounters, using Agility on Valsu if necessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuertisimo Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Yeah, I know what you mean. However, would you mind putting a spoiler tag on that stuff? I'll answer it in my own, but, for those who haven't played, l'd like it to be hidden... In any case, at this point, you should just be running from all random encounters, using Agility on Valsu if necessary Thanks for the tip, I quit in disgust the other night and I'm not sure if I'm going to go back. If I do I'm just going to grind it to death and hopefully can finish it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) You don't really need to grind at those levels though. You're already strong enough to beat the next boss or bosses assuming you run from everything and make sure you have as many items as you can. As for the spoiler, the spoiler was that you mentioned Gorsia, who is supposed to be dead according to multiple sources before he shows up in the plot Edited May 31, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 (edited) So I've been considering using a new set of maps from now on, without the red circles present on the maps I've been using. No, instead, they already conveniently mark every treasure chest in a dungeon with some neat looking font done in the style of the game's menu. However, there is a catch, because in order to SEE those markings, you have to have the image enlarged to this... And I'm not sure whether having something that huge is worth the extra quality of the maps. Should I just mark the image with textboxes like I always do, or have really large maps like this? If at all possible, I'd like to make it so that they're relatively small, but can be enlarged just by clicking on them, but I'm not really sure how to do that. So would you guys like to weigh in on that? EDIT: Wait, actually, it seems "timg" can accomplish that...which is strange because it didn't work correctly when I tried it in SSLP test poster...but oh well, if I timg that baby, it'll be good right? Is there any convenient way to make it larger? It seems smaller than what it was even when I enlarge it. Edited June 8, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 (edited) [/img] Mini-Update #3: Apprentice Mechanics So remember when I was telling you about those Apprentice mechanics? All about their join rates, why we don't want to fight them, and all of that stuff? Well, now that we're a bit further into the game, I believe it's time to dive deeper into how they work. First of all, remember that table that told you who had what chances of fighting or join who? This one? Your Leader ----------------------------------------------------- Join% Wilme Lux Olvan Kamil Lejes Valsu Esuna ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Wilme 0 40 20 20 10 10 10 Lux 20 0 40 40 20 40 40 Olvan 30 40 0 50 10 50 50 Kamil 20 60 50 0 10 60 60 Lejes 20 20 20 20 0 10 30 Valsu 20 40 40 40 10 0 40 Esuna 20 40 20 20 10 20 0 Fight% Wilme Lux Olvan Kamil Lejes Valsu Esuna ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Wilme 0 10 30 30 50 30 30 Lux 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 Olvan 10 10 0 5 10 5 10 Kamil 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 Lejes 30 10 10 10 0 20 10 Valsu 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 Esuna 10 10 10 10 10 5 0 Well, unfortunately, that one is not correct anymore, because once you get the Water Rune, these rates actually change to this... Apprentice will offer to join: Kamil Olvan Esuna Wilme Lux Valsu Lejes ----- ----- ----- ----- --- ----- ----- Kamil: 50% 60% 20% 60% 60% 10% Olvan: 40% 50% 30% 40% 40% 25% Esuna: 20% 20% 20% 40% 20% 10% Wilme: 10% 10% 5% 20% 5% 0% Lux: 50% 50% 50% 30% 50% 30% Valsu: 40% 40% 40% 20% 40% 10% Lejes: 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 5% Apprentice will be indifferent: Kamil Olvan Esuna Wilme Lux Valsu Lejes ----- ----- ----- ----- --- ----- ----- Kamil: 30% 20% 40% 25% 25% 40% Olvan: 10% 10% 10% 10% 5% 10% Esuna: 30% 30% 10% 10% 20% 30% Wilme: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Lux: 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% Valsu: 40% 40% 40% 40% 40% 10% Lejes: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Apprentice will offer to fight you: Kamil Olvan Esuna Wilme Lux Valsu Lejes ----- ----- ----- ----- --- ----- ----- Kamil: 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% Olvan: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Esuna: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Wilme: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Lux: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Valsu: 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% Lejes: 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Apprentice will force a fight: Kamil Olvan Esuna Wilme Lux Valsu Lejes ----- ----- ----- ----- --- ----- ----- Kamil: 10% 10% 30% 5% 5% 40% Olvan: 50% 30% 50% 40% 55% 65% Esuna: 40% 40% 20% 30% 45% 40% Wilme: 90% 90% 95% 80% 95% 100% Lux: 10% 10% 10% 30% 10% 30% Valsu: 10% 10% 10% 30% 10% 70% Lejes: 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 95% And in case you're wondering why the first graph is so much simpler, well, that's because before the Water Rune, NOBODY had ANY chance of forcing a fight with you, unlike now, where over half of the apprentices suddenly become complete jerks :argh:! So basically, everyone becomes FAR more aggressive the instant you get the Water Rune... ...So much so in fact, that if you have anybody but Lux or Esuna with you, and they're alive when you get either the Water Rune, the Moon Rune, or the Light Rune (slight spoilers, but I felt it necessary), there is actually a chance of that partner stabbing you in the back and forcing a fight with you. And these chances are... Kamil and Olvan: 1/32 Wilme: 1/16 Valsu: 1/128 Lejes: 1/8 ...Ok, so it's not MUCH of a chance with anybody except Lejes, but still very interesting, and very unsettling when you think about it. And man, you'd better be careful too, because in addition to the Elnard boosts, the game....well, the game kind of cheats a bit in these fights, because... 1) The MP of the Apprentice you're fighting is always doubled. 2) All magical damage done to any Apprentices is cut to half of what it otherwise would have been (and in fact, according to Nitrodon, there seems to be code meant for halving physical attacks as well, though it seems to be bugged). 3) Every single Apprentice, EVEN THE ONES WITH NO HEALING SPELLS, will somehow be able to heal themselves, though the exact spells known to them depend on their level. However, fortunately, we do have one slight advantage in that their attack pattern is EXTREMELY simple. Their actions will always be, in order of priority (credits go to Nati on Gamefaqs for making the list)... 1. If HP is low, they will cast the best Heal spell they can afford.2. If they are not in Guard-Up status, they will cast Defense1.3. If they are not in Power-Up status, they will cast Power.4. If you are not in Guard-Down status, they will cast Defense2.5. They will select at random either a physical attack or the highest-power single-target attack spell they can afford. So you're always guaranteed to be able to get in whatever buffs you need to get in no matter what, and while this pattern can't be exploited against most apprentices, it automatically spells doom for Lejes should he be your opponent. Basically, so long as you keep raising your defense over and over and over again, he will eventually be left with nothing but his physical attacks, an extreme advantage for you no matter how high level he is. As for how much Exp. and Gold you get from each fight, it varies depending on what your level was when you beat them. If you can defeat him/her, you'll get Gold equal to twenty times your level, and you'll get Exp. equal to 205/64 times the amount of Gold. So, that's your mini-update for today. I'll be getting that next main update out as soon as I can! Edited June 21, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) The 7th Saga: Episode 4 Part 1 Kamil Dowanna Hello everyone, and welcome back to Let's Play The 7th Saga! This time, I felt like I oughtta post a screenshot of the time so far for those curious. I want to get it as low as possible by the end, so there's our progress... And here's our battle plan for this segment of the game. Now... Remember how I told you guys not to sell that Cotton Robe all the way back at Update 3? Well see, this ties into something else related to Magic. See, besides Wilme having a 30% natural resistance to fire, none of the characters have any innate resistance to spells of any sort. However, every single Accessory in this game, even the starting ones, have a resistance of at least 30% to all kinds of magic, hence why debuffs and the like don't always work on us. However, while most armors for physical characters have no such resistance, the mages get a bit of a break in this area, in that every robe except the Light and Xtri Robes have at least 20% resistance to Debuffs and Vacuum. And since we've been wearing the Xtri Robe since Update 3, we're going to want to replace that with the Cotton Robe, so as we can get that extra bit of resistance! Got it? Good, so stock up on some B. Items and Potions as well as at least 5 Magic Waters (or however many you can get) before moving on! Battle in a World of Light (Overworld Battle Theme) Here's our first new enemy, the Titan... And here's him getting bushwhacked! YEEEAAAAHHH!! This dude is basically just some generic enemy, though he does at least have a decent animation. Yeesh, no wonder Ticondera looks so blasted out, what with the EARTH ITSELF trying to kill you ! Ack, it's a bunch of freaky rocks! And they're making funny faces at me! WHADDAYA DO?!? ...: .... ...: ... Ok, ok, actually the truth was a little more embarrasing. See, I buffed up my Defense, but as you can see, one of their talents is Defense2, and combine that with a lucky strike from the other one, and well... ...that can land you in a bit of trouble...so, as much as I hated to do it... ...yeah. See, these enemies aren't normally this tough. In fact, they're usually pretty nondescript enemies that you can clear either with a few Vacuums or Ice2's once you pump yourself up. But, with those lucky shots they got in, I had to revive Valsu in order to ensure my survival. I probably would've survived ANYWAY, and it would've saved 1200G to not do so, but I never did like leaving things up to chance. In any case, these guys can also cast Defense1, Petrify, and MP Catcher, but usually aren't too remarkable otherwise, as their actual attacks wouldn't have had any chance of killing anyone not named Esuna. This guy on the other hand ...Alright, you know that kind of enemy you sometimes encounter in a video game, that obnoxious kind who's basically custom made to troll you? This guy is one of them, because in addition to being able to poison you, steal your MP or HP, lower your defense, AND increase it's own, it can also do this... Now, of course, it's not usually doing quite THAT much...at least not to Esuna. Yes, when you happen to NOT be one of the magic users (like say, a certain stupid pill snorting sucker in blue armor), these guys can really become a problem when paired with other monsters. So what do they give after being beaten? Yep. Read it and weep pal. Now, to be fair, these guys were originally a good bit weaker in Speed, Magic, and Defense, so the localization is partially to blame for this...but still...screw you ! Edited August 18, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) The 7th Saga: Episode 4 Part 2 Wilme Pelin (Mission Success Theme) Anyways, I need a break. Time we settle down and get some good ol'... Many people have died because of him. ....R and R and uh, rest up, get our heads cleared up... Something horrible is happening in Patrof. Leave the town before someone catches you. There's nobody left in this town who can fight him. You should leave before he finds you. ...and sigh in exasperation as, once again, some jerkwad shows up and ruins all our fun. And considering that all this has come just after dieing repeatedly to fricken Brains, this day really couldn't get any... One day he came and suddenly attacked the castle. He took the Star Rune from the King. He killed the King and all of the warriors loyal to the King. Since that day, he's been living in the castle and ruling this country. ...Ok, NOW it couldn't possibly get any... .........worse. Esuna: You, you're not...you must be blind, right? Blind? Whatever could you...OH! Uh, I mean YEAH, I AM BLIND! BLIND AS A BAT! Heh, heh, heh, heh...heh... Esuna: .... You know what, forget it, just tell me more about what's going on, alright? This town used to be rich and peaceful, but now it is like a prison. He is so cold-blooded that he killed all who tried to escape. The Star Rune...That is why nobody had a chance against him. The Star Rune is supposed to have magic power that doubles Defense Power when it's used during a battle... As opposed to defense power or Magic Power? The castle is tightly guarded and nobody can get close to it. However, someone once told me that there is a hidden passage from somewhere in the town to the castle. So that would be the next place to look for. But first... ...a quick trip to the Bar (marked by the swinging doors on the map) will result in this! Good thing too since, despite being able to show up in three different places, none of the apprentices will so much as lift a finger to help us . Anyways, walking into this thing from the bottom will unveil the secret passage to the castle! However, this is The 7th Saga, so naturally... Lejes Rimul (Dungeon Theme) Almost nothing ever comes easily in this game. Case in point? Meet the newest version of Trick! Now of course, you may be thinking "huh? Well this doesn't look so bad at all!". And in one sense, you'd be right. This guy is not one bit stronger than the previous version, and while it's Magic is as high as the Coccoon, it's only magic attack is the relatively weak Firebird. So it's not anything we haven't dealt with before, right? Well, guess what. Surpise! Turns out you're not the only one who knows Vacuum! And it's chances of dropping rare gems aren't any different than that of the first Trick, so these are fights you'd best avoid if you know what's good for you (though I suppose you could come back later with Vacuum resistant gear if you wish). And also, similar to how the Cave of Earth did not have a Trick in the original version, this dungeon ended up having more Red Tricks in our version. While they had only three Red Tricks on the second floor, we ended up with two more Red Tricks in the first floor on top of that to replace a Potion 3 and an MHerb. So nothing too significant, but that Potion 3 would've been nice ! 3DUUuQsjuQS9nHY9xMX442PEdg+'>Battle in a World of Darkness (Dungeon Battle Theme) So here's another troublesome new enemy. It is so fast that it actually has ALMOST as much as a Agility-boosted Manta, and while that's not so bad in and of itself, it also has this... Oh yes, and they can poison you as well. Needless to say, these guys can really end up chewing through your item reserves. So what's a guy to do? Well for lone battles, you'd want to cast Defense1 and beat them into the ground with Ice (Ice2 doesn't have a high enough chance of OHKOing them). Tag teams however...well, that leads us into yet another mechanic I haven't explained to you yet. See that guy on the right? Yeah, that really is that one enemy we could beat at like, Level 10, because ever since the Cave of Earth, this game has had a really odd habit of pairing extremely powerful monsters with extremely weak monsters, and now, we're going to use that to our advantage. Now, as I explained before, Speed is used for determining how likely you are to run away from a fight, however, one thing I don't believe I've mentioned is that when it comes to multiple enemy groups, the game compares your Speed to the average Speed of the enemy group rather than yours vs. the fastest enemy, or yours vs. the combined Speed of all enemies, or what have you. And since the Manrot and B. Demon literally have only a 3rd of the Speed the Spidek has, our chances of running successfully are drastically increased. And so... That's exactly what I end up doing against such groups! Hooray for discretion! Yes, I could fight the Spideks, but personally, at only 242 Exp. per pop, I don't think they're really worth the trouble, and should we run into THIS group... Well, obviously that's not something you'll want to be short on healing for. Really though, the only things I would suggest here is to always buff up your Defense if you have at least over half HP, and if you're a mage, use Blizzard1 and NOT Ice2, that way you'll be sure to hit at least SOMETHING. And then, if it looks like you're about to die, revive Valsu with a Magic Water and resume from there. Now finally, this is an interesting group. I personally chose to play risky with these guys by skipping the Defense1 and just blasting them all with Blizzard1. Generally this worked out for me, as this spell has a good chance of OHKOing each one at these levels, but if you wish to play it safer, that may very well be the way to go. After all, Esuna is the glass cannon of the 7 apprentices. Whatever happens, fight smart, use MPCatcher on B.Demon's if you think you need it, don't let Spidek's live any longer than is necessary, and generally you should be fine. Wilme Pelin (Mission Success Theme) Once you've arrived, get all the treasure, and proceed to finally confront this mystery villain. Who could possibly have done such horrible things to the people of Patrof? Could it have been Pison, our hellacious hellion? Could it have been some other dark power? Or could it have been as simple as one avaricious human whose eyes are set on nothing less than absolute power? Whatever the case, let us...go forth. Wait, WHAT?!? No, it can't BEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!! It's, it's... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLVAN!!! ... Olvan: Esuna, I've been waiting for you. I knew you would come someday. Are you still looking for the Runes? Forget about them and join me here. We'll have so much power together and you can do whatever you want. Alright, now always, ALWAYS say yes here, no matter what. You see, "No" gives you pretty much the response you'd expect, but if you say yes, he will actually take your word for it, to the point where unlike in Dragon Warrior 1... Olvan: Good. We will share the power and fortune. ...He will not only not do anything, but will let you leave the castle and even unlock the front door for you! What this means is that should you be all beat up and tired, you can actually recharge your batteries before facing him! But best of all, should you lose, you can STILL go right through the front door of the castle to confront him again. I of course, don't bother to go all the way back to town, but I'll always at least say Yes in case I lose. Plus, when you say yes, there is something really interesting that happens when you try to talk to the townspeople... Spooky, yes? I didn't even know the townsfolk had this dialogue until making this update, so discovering neat things like this even after repeated playthroughs is definitely a treat. Back on topic though, before we face Olvan, I should point out that he is NOT the only person you can fight here. In fact, once you get past the town of Eygus, the game will randomly choose either Kamil, Olvan, Wilme, Lejes, or Valsu to become the traitor apprentice. Not sure why Esuna and Lux are exempt from this, but...why don't we see what they say? Lejes: Esuna, I've been waiting for you. I knew you would come someday. Are you still looking for the Runes? Forget about them and join me. We'll have so much power together... Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, is that just a copy paste from Olvan? Well I guess so, I mean...I guess they're about similar in intelligence and the like, so ok. How about Wilme? Wilme: Esuna, I've been waiting for you. I knew you would come someday. Are you still looking for the Runes? Forget about them and join me... ...wait what ?!? They didn't even give any unique dialogue to Wilme? Well what about Valsu then?!? Surely the wise, kindly, religious leader would have SOME difference in how he... Valsu: Esuna, I've been waiting for you. I knew you would come someday. Are you still looking for the Runes? Forget about them and... Effort....you suck at it! But really, what's the point of having a traitor apprentice if you're not even going to DO anything with them?! At this rate, you really may as well have had Pison take the the throne. At least then we might've had a quick laugh or two! Olvan: Did you change your mind? Yes Olvan: Be good and don't get any big ideas. No Olvan: If your answer is "no", I won't let you leave here alive. Exclamation points man, exclamations! Did the localizers just forget they existed? But whatever, let's just get this show on the road, shall we? Edited August 18, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) The 7th Saga: Episode 4 Part 3 Epic Confrontation (Boss Theme) So here we are, our first apprentice battle! So how hard is this guy? Well...that kind of depends on when you beat R. Pison. See, in order to determine the apprentice's level, the game will take whatever level you were when you get past the Eygus Sage, and increase it by five. HOWEVER, once it determines the level, that level will be the same no matter how high you grind, hence why I wanted to get past R. Pison at as low a level as possible. So since I was at Level 13 after defeating R. Pison, Olvan here is now at Level 18, a level lower than mine. However, he still has a decisive advantage in sheer stats because of Elnard growths, so for those curious... Esuna: Lvl 19HP: 100MP: 108Pow: 37Grd: 51Mag: 70Spd: 72Wpn: 1Amr: 12 Olvan: Lvl 18HP: ~128MP: ~45Pow: ~63Grd: ~64Mag: ~62Spd: ~62Wpn: 40Def: 42 Here you go. Fortunately, we match him in every stat that matters, and we don't have to punch through his physical defense. The bad news? Olvan is a tough ol' dude with multiple castings of Heal2 and some good offensive power, so this fight can turn into a real endurance match if you can't put Olvan down quick enough. Hence, I use up one of the few B. Agilities we have, because Olvan can very easily kill you in two shots. So our strategy here...is basically to just pound Olvan with Ice2, and hope that you can kill him before he gets off a Heal2, because lowering his HP to any point past here... Is almost sure to trigger Heal2. This by the way is more-or-less the strategy for every enemy, because with Valsu in our party and Esuna being too pure and innocent to turn heel, physical attackers are the only people you're really dealing with. The only one who can really pound you with magic is Lejes, and I think we already went over just how much of an idiot HE is last mini-update, so that's pretty much it. Esuna Busy (Castle Theme) And ye, the townspeople rejoiced as a fool and his Rune asunder part. But suppose things had taken a different turn, and we had ended up not-so-lucky? Well, things will play out as the normally do, except for one little thing... NO, THEY'RE GONE. THEY'RE ALL GONE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Now beating Olvan is going to be totally...not different in the slightest . You'd think it would be completely impossible given that Olvan has the Water Rune...but oddly enough, he doesn't actually USE it at all. He'll still use nothing but Heal 1 and 2, and if you told him that you'd join him at first, you don't even have to go through the dungeon again. So how about we listen to the thanks of all those people we saved? We thank you very much for saving the town. I meant to tell you that if you travel north along the coast, you'll find the town of Bone. It might be worth exploring. People will be talking about you for years to come. People will be talking about you for years to come. Thank you very much. Peace has returned to us. You are our hero! You are our hero! Those people who sacrificed their lives must be at peace now their deaths are avenged We must rebuild this country from scratch and we shall do it The Star Rune...That is why nobody had a chance against him. The Star Rune is supposed to have magic power that doubles Defense Power when it's used during a battle... Daw look at all these happy faces :)! What a wonderful note to leave for Bone on! And since there's no new enemies, we'll just head straight there! Fortress City Welcome to Bone! Yes, welcome to Bone, a wide awake nightmare of hideous town design and pathways custom made to screw you up! Where is the Weapon Shop? I'm new here and I always get lost in town. Who designed the layout of this town? The streets are too complicated. See? Even the civilians admit it! You have come a long way from the South, but you can't go further north because of the treacherous mountains. Rune? Someone else was looking for it. What is it? I saw a dinosaur! Believe me! I saw it swimming. ...Dinosaurs don't swim...though even if they did, I find it doubtful you'd live to tell the tale on THIS overworld. There is Lake Fles in the East and someone claims that he has seen a dinosaur there. I don't believe the story of the dinosaur. The rumor is unfounded and stupid. Don't pay any attention. Dude, this TOWN is unfounded and stupid. No really, look at this... Not only is this structure the most needlessly complicated thing I've ever seen, but you are basically required to go into people's houses just to get anywhere! Even the paths to the fricken Weapon Shops are an exercise in home invasion! And why is the entrance at a higher elevation than the rest of the town? Is this game trying to tell me that there is literally either a giant ramp, or a huge set of stairs leading up into the town? And if it is, then where the heck aren't the safety rails on this stupid piece of garbage?!? I mean, I suppose if you're living in isolation like these guys, you'd better have your town set up differently than normal, but that just begs the question of why these NPC's would be so stupid as to live so far away from any kind of federal government! A historian somewhere has published his theory that Lake Fles and Lake Hargu are connected at the bottom. To prove the theory, a man went to the Cave of Miltu, by Lake Fles. He must have been out of his mind to believe such a story. Phew...well I suppose that this Cave of Milto would be our next destination...if we were in fact anyone else but Esuna and Lux. But as it stands now, all we have to do is talk to the kid marked on the map above! Gosh, I sure hope he didn't get lost :concerned:... I thought my uncle said he was in Bonro. This is Bonro, isn't it? ...HOW IN THE EVERLOVING FRUIT BASKETS DID YOU SURVIVE THAT KIND OF MIX-UP?!? WHY ARE YOU BY YOURSELF?!? HOW ARE YOU ALL BY YOURSELF?!? YOU ARE LITERALLY ON THE OTHER END OF THE CONTINENT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!! What, are you from the Gain school of butt kicking or something? Or, I guess you could've had one of your relatives take you there? Or perhaps you sailed there? But then who in their right mind would ever leave their child alone in a place like this? Aye basura... Yes That's what I thought. I don't understand. And now, here's where being Esuna or Lux gives you a different outcome... No-If Anyone But Esuna and Lux I'm in Bone, not Bonro? Thank you for telling me that. Is there anything I can do for you in return? Maybe.....I found this when I got lost in the Cave of Milto to the east... Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second there. Ok, so on top of somehow surviving the overworld, he then tells us that he went into the cave as well?! What possible reason did you have to go THERE of all places?!? Do you even realize that you went into possibly one of the most dangerous places on the overworld?!? DOES NOTHING FAZE YOU KID?!? WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TROUBLE GOING PLACES?!? IT MAKES...NO...SENSE!!! I don't know how to use it, but I am sure it is something valuable. I would like you to have it. Well then, thank you inexplicably invincible kid. Now perhaps we could brainstorm how to actually use it? When I picked up this Remote Control in the Cave of Milto, I saw a strange man. I thought he disappeared through the wall. Well, that's that I suppose. Now how about we get the conversation for our character? No-If Lux or Esuna I'm in Bone, not Bonro? Thank you for telling me that. Is there anything I can do for you in return? Maybe.....If you want to go to the northern part of the continent, you have to take a vessel from Bonro to Pandam. My uncle is working on a ship in Bonro and I'll ask him. Why don't you come with me to Bonro? No Maybe some other time.. Yes I'm glad. The more, the merrier! I'm Perole. And with him in our party, it's to get an A. Seed from the last house marked on our map... Neat shortcut eh? I for one never realized that you could pass through that section, though it does make me even more curious about how stable the town structure actually is... So with our newest A. Seed in tow, it's Bonro ho we go! Olvan Jaess (Town Theme) So see that building with the number 5? That's where we'll be heading, to talk to this...gentleman below. Perole's Uncle: Perole says you brought him over to me. Aaaaaaand I think we can now say certain that these guys are DEFINITELY not normal, if things weren't suspicious enough already. If Perole surviving the fricken Cave of Milto wasn't enough, Perole's Uncle is now literally reading Perole's mind. So basically, the only thing you can insinuate from this is that... A) Perole is part of an extremely powerful family of psychics. B) Perole and his uncle are extremely powerful necromancers, and in fact, the whole reason why their ship couldn't go to Pandam is because they accidently summoned monsters from the very pits of hell itself. C) Perole is in fact the spawn of Satan himself, and can in fact destroy every single one of us with nothing but a thought. Whatever the case, this is clearly not a family to be messed with . Perole's Uncle: Thank you. In return for your kindness, I'll make an arrangement for you to get on board. The vessel has just arrived from Pandam. Are you ready to go right away? No Perole's Uncle: Let me know whenever you are ready. Talk to him a second time Perole's Uncle: Would you like to catch the next one? Yes to either question. Perole's Uncle: Come this way. There's some new music here, but since auto-scrolling causes the file size to skyrocket, I simply must give you video instead. Ship Ride! And so, we have finally arrived at Pandam! But what of the Cave of Milto? Most apprentices will not get the same free ride to Pandam, so shouldn't you cover that cave as well? Well, fortunately, I agree with you, so... Frozen Depths of the Earth First of all, revive Valsu before setting foot in this cave, located to the east. Now, for this specific section of the game, I actually overleveled Kamil a bit, so that for these specific screenshots, he was Level 21 instead of 19-20, as he should be. However, his growths are so low that I can assure you that there's not much of a difference made there. Now then... As you can see, this place is fairly short and sweet, and despite the harder encounters, it should be pretty simple so long as you have your partner alive. Battle in a World of Darkness So here's our first fight. This one is very simple, in part because of the Star Rune... And in part because I took the time to recruit Olvan at Level 14 and steal his gear. Because of that, while Kamil still lags behind Wilme and Lux, he at least has defense covered, ESPECIALLY under the influence of the Star Rune, as seen here. Now, if you'll remember the Mini-Update about party mechanics, you'll know that each round lasts until both your apprentices have made a move, and the enemies will all pick an apprentice to attack at the beginning. So, by having Kamil go first with the Star Rune, you'll either want to have Valsu use Agility on Kamil, or use the Star Rune on himself depending on how many dudes attack Kamil. Whatever happens afterwards, power up Kamil's attack and kill them all. This one here is a little tougher, though thankfully very rare. Kamil will want to use the Star Rune again, however, Valsu will want to use Power on Kamil instead of Agility. I can't give you any step-by-step instructions after that, but generally, you'll want to try to keep both apprentices alive while getting Power and Agility on Kamil as fast as possible. After that, kill the Coccoon as quickly as possible, even if it has already cast Defense1 on itself. Unfortunately, it's very possible that Valsu will die if the enemies decide to gang up on him, but you should be able to at least make it through this fight. And now for this guy...and man, what a guy this one is. This here is one of the most infamous enemies in the entire game. He can steal tons of your MP, lower your defense, heal 90 HP, and revive his brethren with Revive2 (like Revive1, except it's guaranteed to work). Oh yeah, and he can also do this... And yes, that was WITH Kamil at full health. So basically he can kill you whenever he feels like it. This enemy here is one of the most buffed up enemies in this entire version. The exact amount they buffed him by will, of course, be added into the Bestiary, but to give you an idea, even assuming Kamil's stats were the same we have now, and we were fighting the Elnard Sage...the Sage wouldn't be able to hit for more than half of Kamil's HP with this same spell. Yeah, really. I'm completely serious. That's how much they buffed up this dude's Magic...And yes, we're going to be seeing more of this guy . Fortunately, it goes both ways once Valsu buffs your Attack, so it's still simpler than the previous fight. So here's our destination, at long last. The Remote will allow you to go through, but will we find that strange man that Perole mentioned? Why, yes we will! Finally, someone has found me! I've kept a secret for all these years, but since you found me, I'll show you what it is. This is a submarine I invented. People in the town believe it is a dinosaur. Yeah, we kinda got that. In other news, I managed to invent a conkledurr recently. Would you like to see it? I heard once that Lake Fles and Lake Hargu are connected at the bottom. I wanted to verify the story, so I built this submarine. I found that the story was true. So basically he went to all the trouble of inventing a new machine AND risking the wrath of all the Sage's in this cave...so he could check out a geological structure. And sadly, this is still more believable than Perole being able to step one foot inside the Cave of Milto. If you want to go to the north side of the mountain, travel underwater by submarine instead of trying to cross over the mountain. Would you like to try it? No If you change your mind, come back any time. Talking to him again Have you changed your mind about a ride? Yes Let's go! You'll enjoy the scenary. Submarine Ride! And so, here we are at the end of this update, in the tiny village of Dowaine. If you feel a sudden wave of nostalgia, well, you'll see why NEXT TIME, on Let's Play The 7th Saga! This is Fionordequester signing out. Have a nice day, and Godspeed! New Enemies We Fought Today (Check out the Sage!) ************************************************************ *Titan Exp: 264 Gold: 120 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ----------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 210 Thunder 20 (None) Opal 1/8 MaxMP 0 Fire 20 Power 65 Ice 20 Guard 100 Vacuum 20 Magic 40>55 Debuff 20 Speed 50 ************************************************************ *S.Witch Exp: 330 Gold: 150 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ----------------- ------------ ------------ ------------- MaxHP 160 Thunder 30 Petrify Opal 1/8 MaxMP 90 Fire 30 Defense1 Power 75 Ice 30 Defense2 Guard 100>140 Vacuum 30 MPCatcher Magic 50 Debuff 99 Speed 60 ************************************************************ *Cocoon Exp: 176 Gold: 80 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ----------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 67 Thunder 30 Heal2 Opal 1/8 MaxMP 80 Fire 30 Poison Power 63 Ice 30 Defense1 Guard 90>120 Vacuum 30 HPCatcher Magic 70>80 Debuff 30 Laser2 Speed 75>88 MPCatcher Defense2 ************************************************************ *R.Trick Exp: 440 Gold: 200 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ----------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 110 Thunder 40 Poison Pearl 1/16 MaxMP 80 Fire 40 Vacuum1 Topaz 9/16 Power 66>100 Ice 40 Firebird Ruby 3/16 Guard 100 Vacuum 60 HPCatcher Saphr 2/16 Magic 65>80 Debuff 40 Emrld 1/16 Speed 70 ************************************************************ *Spidek Exp: 242 Gold: 110 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ----------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 85 Thunder 20 Poison (None) MaxMP 50 Fire 20 Defense2 Power 60>70 Ice 20 Guard 84 Vacuum 20 Magic 60>70 Debuff 20 Speed 83>90 ************************************************************ *Sage Exp: 330 Gold: 150 Class: 0 * ************************************************************ Stats Resists Spells Drops ---------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 110 Thunder 50 Heal2 Opal 1/8 MaxMP 100 Fire 50 MPCatcher Power 80>90 Ice 50 Revive2 Guard 110 Vacuum 80 Defense2 Magic 60>110 Debuff 50 Firebird Speed 65>80 Edited October 24, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) Another Boner who saysI hear a dinosaur lives in Lake Hargu to the East had their line totally changed for the localisation. The original was Ahhhhh! ... Hey! Don't threaten me! By the looks of it, it's another bit of commentary on Bone's awful layout, providing numerous places for ne'er-do-wells to hang out and breeding a culture of hostility. Edited June 21, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 (edited) Mini-Update #4: A Very Special Message From Your New Overlord! Wilme: Greetings meatbags. Surprised to see me? Well I'm afraid your host has, shall we say, decided to take a less...executive position to this after some negotiations with me. So shall we get started? Wilme: So because you maggots are too stupid and pigheaded to learn a different language, your localizers have kindly taken the opportunity to shorten the amount of characters you can use. No doubt you are thankful for our benevolence, yes? But more importantly, I want to talk about my body. Wilme: Glorious isn't it? My looks are so dazzling, the others cannot even bare to look at me because of their envy. Wilme: Go ahead. Admire it. Also, I guess Lejes looks a little different to, with more pronounced horns, and a color palette with much more grey. But you know better than to pay attention with trifling details like that, don't you? So once you've gotten over your amazement (tough, I know), I wish to show you something else. Wilme: To those of you other apprentices who may be watching, look at these stats. This is a completely average level for me. Now look closer, then look back to yours, and back to mine. Sadly, your growths are not like mine, but then, we can't all be born lucky, can we? Wilme: I mean, look at this. This being wishes to be a wall, but I'm a wall and ever so much more. Nothing can even touch me! Wilme: And of course, a few levels never hurt either. Now let's talk science. Wilme: Windex, as you all know, is a multi-surface antibacterial than can kill 99.99% of bacteria in mere seconds. Colgate is a toothpaste that kills 90% of germs in all the cavities within the othrodontic areas. And as for me, my fists can kill 100% of whatever the heck I want them to. This is hard fact. Wilme: Here, have another level. You like them? Wilme: Good, because unfortunately, my levels are just about the only thing noteworthy about this cave. Well, that and I finally debunk some stupid rumor about a chest having a killer hand in it. Wilme: Look, I understand if my acquiantances are too afraid to do what I do, but must they make up excuses for their absence? It's so shameful. And speaking of shameful... Wilme: Is there really not ONE creature out there that can make me break a sweat? I'm fighting with only my hands. What more do you want from me?! Just how sad is... Wilme: .......... Wilme: Um... Wilme: So what do you think of those levels, huh? Wilme: It's just too bad that Bonro doesn't sparkle with the beauty that my bod does. And why does this ephemeral human shrink away from my celestial form? Does he not know that I am the one, destined to go into the Earth and make it my own? I guess religion really IS darkness... Wilme: Besides, I fancy myself more than God enough for any poor soul to hold onto. Wilme: I mean just what else do you need from a God other than that he rid your world of demons? Surely you wouldn't complain if I were to rule the world tomorrow, right? Wilme: In fact, if you're REALLY good, I'll even go ahead and rid it of Despair as well. Get it? Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh... Wilme: Anyways, I recommend you consider it. Because let's be honest, it's not as though you'll have much of a choice soon. But I promise I'll be gentle. Wilme: In fact, I'll even throw a freebie in there, just for you. For those of you who wish to worship me, but find themselves stymied by any foolish dicatator who thinks to stop my reign, I'll even do you a favor and rid them for you. In fact, those with weak stomachs may wish to look away, because... Wilme: I take the time to torture one such person before finally delivering the coup de grace. A little barbaric, but then, I think the punishment fit the crime. And for those who STILL wish to oppose me, well... Wilme: Just let me ask you this. If even HEATH LEDGER can't do anything to stop me, just what can you do? Just what, in those empty heads of yours, makes you think you can possibly stand up to that which has never been defeated before? Are you gods, come down from their laurels to seek my destruction, that I should be afraid of you? No? Then consider this a warning. Wilme: Whatever you may think of is only destined to fail. For you are meat, literally and figuratively, fit only to toil the Earth and, should I deem it necessary, to be buried beneath it. And if you don't like that, well, consider yourselves unlucky and just give up, for this world WILL be mine! GLORY BE TO YOUR NEW MASTER!! Edited August 18, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 (edited) The 7th Saga Episode 6: Doom and Defeat on the Dunes of Despair (Part 1) Hello everyone, and welcome back to Let's Play The 7th Saga, in which we... ...oh...oh dear...it's that time already, huh? W-well let's not get ahead of ourselves now! Firstly, here's the map... Now, we'll be needing Valsu for this journey, so heal him up at this here Church, and save yourself about a thousand Gold by not using M. Waters (but be sure you have some on hand!). Oh yes, and if you take a visit to this Inn, you'll get this handy dandy trinket! This'll give you 90% Vacuum resistance AND a mighty 20+ boost to Defense for all except Wilme and Lux. Handy, that! Here's the battle plan, or rather, a cluster of those colored arrows I love so much. So you know how Lux and Esuna are the only ones who start in Pandam, while the rest start in Dowaine, on basically the other side of this map? Well, obviously, their paths are going to differ, so here's the legend... Red=Kamil, Valsu, Olvan, Lejes. Yellow=Esuna Green=Lux and Wilme Purple=Wilme, Kamil, Valsu, Olvan, Lejes Orange=Lux Blue=Where everyone is going at some point or another. So if you're anyone but Wilme or Lux, you'll want to tag every single one of the towns not circled in green. In addition, Level 20 (or 21 for Kamil and Olvan) are the minimum level needed to make our next grinding session go smoothly, however, fighting past that level before that next session actually costs more time than just going straight to where we want to go. Anyways, as for the path Lux and Wilme should take, they're the same as far as wanting to go to Padal, however, after that... They'll want to go here to Polasu, a necessary evil if they don't want to die too often on their next grinding spot. And speaking of dieing, here is the event we've all been waiting for... This guy. This is a Mutant, and while his magic is 10 points lower, his specialty is in the more powerful ice-type spells, and, like the Sages, he has a multi-hit spell as well. However, UNLIKE the Sages, he ALSO happens to be packing 300 HP and 127 Defense on top of all of that, so he can also take as much as he can dish out. And, to add another problem on top of that, my Esuna got screwed on magic, so if I got really unlucky, he could potentially ONE-SHOT Esuna until she gets to Level 20. Oh yeah, and it turns out, he can use the Force! So, if you want to consistently beat him without anyone dieing, look at the video, and pay very close attention to the following instructions... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhB7xyayT8A Got it? Good. Of course, in the Elnard version things were a bit simpler... So yeah, he also got a bit of a boost in this version, though thankfully the boost to his Magic was "only" 20 this time. So let's be serious, how do we deal with this guy? Well, the answer is surprisingly simple. Have Valsu cast Agility on Esuna immediately... And RUUUUUUUN! RUN LIKE MAD! RUN, RUN, RUN, OR YOU'LL BE WELL DONE! And should that fail (which that attempt unfortunately did, though Esuna managed to dodge), boost Esuna's defense so that we can at least survive his physicals. This attempt was successful, about the typical amount of turns an Agility buffed Esuna needs to escape (60%). And yes, we are flat out running away from these guys after having just spent 45 minutes grinding >_<... And to put it bluntly, this is what the majority of the update will consist of. Me traveling across the continent, desperately trying to gather items and getting to our next grinding spot, all while running away from blatantly overpowered monsters who WILL murder us the first chance they get. Whether you're Valsu, Esuna, Lux, or otherwise, there is not so much as a pixel on this continent that won't potentially mean your complete and total evisceration. It is for this reason, therefore, that I've given a special name to this barren wasteland, soaked soft with the blood of the fallen... Welcome my friends...to the "Dunes of Despair". Where the brave...do not fear the grave. Anyways, second battle, and already Valsu is pounded into hamburger. Fortunately, most of the other monsters pale in comparison to the Mutant, so I have a fairly easy 3rd fight... Only to learn a valuable lesson in the 4th fight. ALWAYS be sure Valsu is revived before you're made to fight anything on this forsaken wasteland! Because, yes, these things come with Coccoons as well, and will even revive them at full health if you try to kill them first! And due to my carelesness... I also have to spend another M. Water reviving Esuna, a resource that I'm not exactly swimming in right now. Fortunately, through what I can only describe as a miracle, I actually manage to survive with both party members alive, despite me failing one of my run attempts! But the Mutants aren't stopping there, oh no! It may seem strange to not bring Valsu to full health, but his chances of surviving a single attack are basically nil, so I can't be wasting valuable resources on him. And here, I actually made a mistake in not reviving Valsu before running. Since Esuna hadn't moved before Valsu got crushed, I essentially had a free turn to move, an opportunity I could have taken advantage of to revive Valsu, but didn't. Fortunately, it worked out, though it meant jumping out of the frying pan... And into the fire since, AGAIN, I didn't revive Valsu in time for this fight! So, through yet another complicated series of moves... By now, I think you can see the general strategy in how I deal with these guys. One of the two saving graces you have against Mutants here is that they happen to be unlucky enough to have Petrify in addition to a high magic stat, so if you happen to have some Mirrors, they have a good chance of Petrifying themselves. The second of these saving graces is that, thanks to them only having 71 Speed, most Agility boosted apprentices also have a 50% of dodging their attacks (Kamil and Olvan get around 30-40%), which obviously makes things easier. Now then, here's the last fight we have before entering the next town. Pictured on the left is the rather funnily named "Defeat", a fairly non-threatening monster who only has Defense2, Petrify, and Fire, so long as you use the Star Rune and don't let your HP drop too low, he's a non-issue. Really, the worst thing about him... ...is how tanky he is to magic, generally needing several ICE2's to the face before he'll finally go down. You CAN try to use Vacuum to kill him immediately (he has 70 Magic and only 40% Vacuum resistance), but considering how expensive it is, you shouldn't try it unless you've almost reached your destination... Also, I may or may not have purposely gotten Valsu killed (can't remember, though I'm guessing I did) in order to get this! Tada! I could've used more Speed, but on the bright side, I don't have to actually fight anymore encounters this update! Why is that? Well, Brains start running away a lot at Level 20, these monsters usually take a good bit to kill, and thanks to Valsu usually being alive, they don't even send much experience to the person it needs to go to, Esuna. So, we finally make it to Padal! In which we take this path here... To find THIS baby! Once again, we're still not using those A. Seeds quite yet, tempting though it may be. But more importantly, visiting this, and this town specifically allows us to access a nifty little reward in Guntz. What would that be you ask? Well drop by and talk to the elder for... He dug out pure water and we've been making a fortune. This is just to show our appreciation so please take it. MORE MONEY ! Surprised? Would you have ever expected this to be in the game? Heck, the only reason I even found out about it was because I had the text dump open while transcribing the Guntz dialogue that one time. Unfortunately, I only recorded the footage for this update BEFORE I had finished that previous one, so I had to go through this whole thing without that extra money, which almost caused problems for me actually. But oh well... And no, you can't visit ANY other town on this continent to unlock this reward. Not Brush, not Polasu, not Padal, not even Bilthem. I haven't tried any of the towns on the last continent in the Present, but why would you go there first? Anyways though, we've some business at Pang, so go around the town searching all the places marked "P2" in order to get some more Potion 2's. Then, once you've used the Church to revive Valsu, visit their shops... And marvel at their wonderful selections ! Yes my friends, we finally have access to the fabled B. Agility AND Vacuum items, which, in case you've forgotten, cast Agility and Vacuum respectively when used in battle. The Vacuum items are a nice help even for non-magic users, and almost a necessity for casters such as Valsu and Esuna, for it becomes basically the only viable offense they have after a while. And as for B. Agilities...need I even explain? But that's not all! It has Potion 1's, Potion 2's, Mirrors, M. Waters, all the rest of the B. Items...basically, if it weren't for it's lack of MHerb1's, you'd have everything you could ever need in one convenient place! I salute you...Pang shopkeepers ! So at any rate, sell whatever useless junk you possibly can to get what you need. Me personally, I would make sure you are fully stocked on MHerbs, Potion 2's, B. Agilities, Mirrors, and M. Waters if you can, then spend the rest on Vacuums. Melee characters will, of course, want B. Powers as well, at the expense of Vacuums if they have to. Now then, before you head out, be sure to save at the Inn, and get that 3-4+ bonus from the Pr. Seed you got last update! So, normally I wouldn't do this, but I've been away for over a month, and well, what you guys really want to see, more than anything else, is some good Saga being played, right? NPC text is nice, but seeing as how I've been away for so long, I thought it would be cruel of me to fill this update with flavor text, and make it so that I'd cliff-hang you by leaving our trip to our next grinding spot unfinished, you know what I mean? So on with the bestiary! Defeat? YAAAWWN...make my update interesting, won't you? Better, but you're still not covering new ground here. Aaah, there we go! Behold as I finally do it right, and revive Valsu before attempting to run! Not that I needed it ! Anyways, once you get to around this point, be sure to take the upper path around. Such will be shorter, and in my case, get me to the next town without any further trouble! So then, here's another break from tradition for me... Edited October 24, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionordeQuester Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 (edited) The 7th Saga Episode 6: Doom and Defeat on the Dunes of Despair (Part 2) As you can see, this is one of few towns large enough to warrant more than one map to cover the whole darned thing. And since the sheer size of the Castle map might make your eyes glaze over, I should mention than there's one Apprentice location on the inside of the castle, the Jail, and not just on the outside, as is normally the case with the Apprentices. Apparently that apprentice has come upon hard times, and needs some extra cash? And speaking of extra cash, be sure to raid the treasure rooms here while avoiding all the chests marked "K.Trick". Otherwise... Yes. Even the fricken treasure chests in the castles aren't safe! Oh sure, the K.Trick doesn't seem so bad at first, with only slightly higher stats than the R.Trick and no Vacuum spell, but he makes up for it with... Blizzard2, the upgraded form of Blizzard and the 2nd strongest multi-hit spell in the game. Oh yes, and he also has high enough magic to do this to Esuna... Why yes, he did just hit Esuna for exactly her maximum HP in damage! Thanks for asking ! So avoid that guy, and sell off the rest of the treasure for some more M. Waters, if you're not already full. Whatever the case, let us go southwards, to Dowaine, and a new set of enemies! So, here's another recolor of the Demon, and with one fatal weakness I might add... BOOOM! LOOK AT THAT DAMAGE! This guy's has absolute no resistance to Ice magic, so Esuna, even as Magic screwed as she is (she's about 10 points behind where she's supposed to be), can usually oneshot this guy in one Ice2, making him basically a non-issue. For anyone else though, he's somewhere between the Defeat and Coccoon in danger value, posessing 20 more Power than the Defeat and much more deadly spells (including Blizzard2), but still lacking in the sheer Speed and Magic that the Coccoon has. Taking into consideration his Heal2 and Defense1 spells, and his relatively high Defense (on average, he takes about 15 less damage per physical hit than the Coccoon), he's not exactly a pushover, but he shouldn't be too difficult either. Nevertheless, he could still easily kill Valsu with that Blizzard2, so rather than running away, I generally opt to just smash him in an attempt to keep Valsu alive. So if nothing else, it's a nice breather! THIS on the other hand... ...well, this is another thing I only discovered recently, but in this game are at least two "Peninsula of Power"-esque spots that allow you to fight enemies you wouldn't normally fight until later on in the game. This, my friends, is one of them, with this new enemy being one that we're not supposed to fight until a teensy bit later. But whatever... This guy is actually going to be a very important enemy later on for what I plan to do, but for now, all you need to know is that he has even more HP, Attack, and Defense than the Mutant, and while he doesn't have any direct attack spells, he makes up for it with everyone's favorite attack... Yeah... So screw that noise! Screw that, and... ...Well son of a gun...Welp, here goes... Fortunately, one of the Coccoons as well as the Sage opens up the round by stealing all of our MP and buffing themselves rather than attacking us. Rather good start, all things considered, but can we run? No we cannot...Welp, time for a beating ! One of the scariest things about fights like these is the dread that builds as you're going through the rounds. Sure, the Sage looks like a putz right now, but remember, just ONE casting of Firebird could potentially end a run since Valsu is underleveled, and Esuna got screwed on Magic. The Sage only uses it about 25% of the time, but when he does, it's no small feat trying to recover from it. So there goes Valsu. Can I successfully escape this time? Yes I can! Still should've revived Valsu first, but oh well. That said, you should ALWAYS keep Valsu's MP up as well, since his magic is basically the reason we even recruited him in the first place. Anyways, we are now coming up to one of the more infuriating parts of "The Road to Hell". See this? See those colors? That white dot would be us, that yellow one would be Pandam (just as a reference to how ridiculously far we've walked), and that red there is what we'll be traveling through now. Look at how cramped that is compared to everything else! How're going to dodge enemies there?! Well...you can't really, so unfortunately, if you get unlucky, you could easily end up fighting at least three different encounters just in this place alone...nice eh? Let's hope that... OH C,MON! SAAAGE! WHY MUST YOU VEX ME SO ?!? Okay, but actually, that went about as well as it possibly could have. Not even a scratch of damage. And yeah...I got bum-rushed by all the enemies on this narrow strip of land, but as it turned out... They were all fairly non-descript encounters. So, catastrophe averted there I guess! But can we keep our streak of luck running the rest of the way? ...no, I guess not. Fortunately, not much happens to us before we manage to get away, so that's good... AAAACK, ALMOST...THEEERE! Okay guys, keep it together, we're almost... Welp, there's my last M. Water ... N...Never...stop...fighting... NEVEEEEEEEEER!!! Alright, just one more, one more you stupid piece of garbage!! YES! YEEES!! YEEEEEEESS!!! Well congratulations, we made it! Go down to that spot marked "Fire Cloak"... And there you have it! The reason we came here! While this thing doesn't have any Vacuum or Debuff resistance like our last robe did, it more than makes up for with by providing 40% resistance to all Fire based attacks, meaning that stuff like Sages and R. Demons will be dealing, on average, 40 less damage than they've been doing thus far. And that's on top of the bonus of +20 you get to your Defense! Best of all though, this robe is also equippable to Olvan and Kamil, and NOT to just the mage characters! So overall, even though the trip is rather harrowing no matter who your character, I still think it's worth it for anyone not named Lux or Wilme, just because of how much easier fights at our next grinding spot become with the Ring and Fire Cloak! And despite how difficult the journey seemed, you have to remember that I didn't know of the 5000G Guntz reward, and also foolishly passed up the Belaine treasure, so the trip probably won't be as hard as it seemed...so long as you don't get this... Yep, that's right...what, you're not telling me you're surprised are you? In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, this is probably the very first time in this LP where I not only died, but died without having any idea of what I could've done differently. So far, I've been omitting every other death just because I could always figure out some way I could've done better, like buying a new piece of equipment, or managing resources better, or using some different spells on different enemies, but this time...there was absolutely nothing I could've done. At this stage in the game, when the game wants you dead...it wants you dead, no two ways about it... And the worst part is? This encounter isn't even supposed to be here! That's right, what you're looking at here is the first, and as far as I know, ONLY time in the game where the localizers actually adjusted the enemy formations as well as their stats. How did they adjust it, and what was originally supposed to be there? I'll give you three guesses... Nope, not that. Uh, uh, uh, that's not it either. One more chance, alright? And...no, that's not it either. The original enemies to be fought? Well, basically, just imagine all Sages in this area being replaced...with this... Yes, that's right. This is no prank...I am not making this up. In fact, I couldn't even make it up if I tried. And...to be fair, the localizers at least had the sense to NOT have a three Sage encounter, but for every other encounter here that involves Sages, just imagine all those Sages being replaced with Orcs, and that's what you had for Elnard... So, you still wondering whether or not the Localization team hates us or not ? At any rate, next time, a short Mini-update for what strategy is like for the other fighters, and then, either the NPC text we missed, or our next grinding spot! Whatever you wish for, have a nice night, and Godspeed! MONSTER WE FOUGHT TODAY (S.Brain is a secret!) **************************************************************** *Defeat Exp: 400 Gold: 200 Class: 0 * **************************************************************** Stats Resists Spells Drops --------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 200 Thunder 20 Petrify Opal 1/8 MaxMP 70 Fire 0 Defense2 Power 80 Ice 30 Poison Guard 100 Vacuum 40 Fire1 Magic 70 Debuff 40 Speed 68 **************************************************************** *R.Demon Exp: 462 Gold: 210 Class: 0 * **************************************************************** Stats Resists Spells Drops --------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 120 Thunder 30 Heal2 (None) MaxMP 70 Fire 60 Defense1 Power 85>100 Ice 0 Fire2 Guard 100>150 Vacuum 50 Firebird Magic 60 Debuff 40 Blizzard2 Speed 74 **************************************************************** *Mutant Exp: 506 Gold: 230 Class: 0 * **************************************************************** Stats Resists Spells Drops --------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ MaxHP 120>300 Thunder 40 Heal2 (None) MaxMP 130 Fire 40 Blizzard1 Power 90>120 Ice 40 Revive1 Guard 127 Vacuum 70 Ice1 Magic 80>100 Debuff 90 Petrify Speed 70 Edited October 24, 2013 by FionordeQuester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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