Part 16: Update Sixteen: Let The Death Reel Roll!

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Cthulhu Saves The World, we got a fucking dragon on our party. He's also our aerial transportation, which is even more kickass. Today, we're going to tackle a bonus dungeon that I don't think I should have gone into quite yet, so let's get crazy.



Part of me wishes we had gotten a traditional airship, since the image of a flying dragon and a flying dragon-man riding an airship amuses me.



We're heading north of the ranch for this dungeon.





I'm fairly confident you're supposed to tackle this after Innsmouth, but whatever, let's rock this joint.



It's another goddamned cave, and I'm out of shit to say about caves.



Hey, it's been a minute since some commentary, so why not have some more.



It's also about five times better, so you guys did good.



And while we're at it, have the commentary from before that I held off of until now.



Yeah, it's about names. And at that point, it would have spoiled not only who was coming up (October), but also our alien pal, our priest and our dragon buddy.



I'm sure at least one of you is disappointed at what that turned out to be, but I do like keeping new party members in the dark for those who don't know who's going to be coming along.





In other news, a friend and I discussed and figured out my next LP last night.



No, I'm not going to tell you what it is.



As I have a battle to discuss and we can't get off topic.



...That's a lot of HP for a normal enemy.



And that's even more!



Oh, God, they hit like bosses!





So, at this point, I realized that this dungeon would have best been tackled after a few more levels and maybe an equipment upgrade or two.



I also decided, "Fuck that." Seeing the rewards from a battle were also a big motivator in that.



We're going to not only finish off this dungeon, but we're also going to clear out all of the battles.



I didn't decide that at that same point, but only when I saw I had a couple left.



I take the single target version of this spell, since I'll probably only be boosting one person at a time; Paws has his Unstable Form to rely on, so it'll probably be either Cthulhu, Sharpe or Ember getting the boost.



Speaking of Strength, that's what Ember is all about.



He's also pretty fast for his size, being our third fastest member. Only Sharpe and Paws outspeed him, but Sharpe only has a thirty point lead in Agility. Even so, Ember is getting a boost to Strength, since he's one incredibly tough son of a bitch and he'll continue to be so.







Alright, let's see another fight where I shit myself as it begins.



Because of those motherfuckers on the end there.



These guys aren't too bad, but they do have an instant kill.



These assholes...They're just as big of pricks as they were back in Breath of Death.



Not for their regular attack, mind you. Sure, it hits hard, but no more than anything else in this dungeon.



Okay, maybe a bit harder than these guys.



But that 10% at the end of each round really adds up.



And they have this shit at their disposal, too. Remember, Ember is our toughest member, at 600 Vitality. The next closest is Cthulhu, with 500.



And I should add, Ember will never change equipment. All he has at his disposal are his natural claws. All of his Strength and Vitality is entirely natural.







A good chunk of this was me wandering around, trying to figure out where the hell I was going.





You might notice I haven't turned anything Insane just yet. You'll see why in a little bit.



Not from these guys, though. I mean, making one of them Insane is, by and far, a bad idea.



Keeping them sane keeps their damage low enough where it's manageable. But they're fast little shits.







Alright, let's get to the part where the update title is relevant.





So, yeah, that is a hysterically bad idea. I don't have what I need to start recovering from that.



Or that; this was still the first turn!



I saw this screen a lot. A couple of times I was even stupid enough to try the fight again.



But, by the end of the dungeon, I still have that One Up.



Ember, I hope you have no problems in killing your own kind.



He doesn't, eh?



Well, let's see how he feels about having this over easy.







Sweet Jesus, that's a lot of gold!



But here's five potions that I'm going to definitely use.



A lot of the fights I won here were from strategic use of panicking and having someone fast throw down some potions.



And lots of damned saving.



Because shit could go south in a hurry.



To further illustrate why Insanity is a bad idea in this dungeon, let's have a good, concrete example.



Why, yes, there are ten of them out there. And each of them will use this skill.



I tried to blitz them into oblivion. I really did. But if you check Ember's HP here and the HP of everyone else...



Yeah, it did not end very well.



Were I smarter, I would have taken this staircase now, but I wanted to keep exploring.





So far, so good.





Still pretty good.



Maybe things will be okay.



Nope, not at fucking all!



This came shortly after the previous.



But there is some good with the bad.



Such as Cthulhu gaining a round of stat boosts.





And Umi gaining some Strength and Magic.





While Sharpe gains some valuable HP and Vitality.





And October gains a skill to do a ton of damage per round.





While Paws gains some more Agility and Vitality.



But it's not always good times like that. This came after those levels, so I had to go and gain them again.



Before long, Dacre got himself a level.



Sorry, crazy magic man.



You'll be gaining more magic ability.



Okay, now let's get to the second level.





After making a save, I tentatively continue forth.



At this point, I only have about four battles left.









Ready to see more shit go wrong?



Because, in this fight,



shit



went



wrong.



Very wrong.



But let's throw some balance back into that.







Ember doesn't have the best MP pool, but his skills are pretty powerful to balance it out.



And a minute later, there's more good news.



Yahoo!



So, Cthulhu is learning how to regenerate extra MP after battle.



Now that is a panic spell if I've ever seen one.



So, Umi gains the ability to urge the others to Keep Fighting.





While Sharpe picks up some more Strength.





October learns how to regenerate all of the MP! If I can finish a fight within a round or two, she'll gain back more MP than she would have spent.



While Paws has himself a round of boosts.



And thus ends the round of goodness.



But, at this point, I no longer have to worry. And I'm not going to start a fight.



So, after this, let's get this done.



Alright, there's our treasure.



Just gotta be careful about it.



Ooh, new armor for Sharpe!



How the fuck does that fit in a treasure chest!?



Erm...



Alright, I've got a plan here.



GOIN' ON A RAMPAAAAAAGE



OH GOD IT WENT SOUTH



FOR THE LOVE OF THE SHOGGOTHS



Okay, let's approach this a little more intelligently.





Namely, we're basically out of MP, and it's stupid to go into a boss fight like that.



But don't worry, a quick nap and everything is all better.



Almost like real life, except the naps there don't last long enough.



Alright, we're set, ready to go, and let's--



--Do another take of that.



So, I have a plan here.



We're going to be dropping a ton of damage on him, as much as we can.



In addition to building the combo count sky-high.



A little bit of luck is going to go a long way in this battle.









Okay, so, Cthulhu and Ember can drop about 2,200 damage a turn by themselves. Add in Sharpe and Paws, and we can better than double that.



That's assuming we don't get horrifically murdered. Paws is going on healing duty for this fight.







This is the skill I want to see the Black Hole use. He doesn't take too much MP; it's essentially a breather turn.



It's got about 16,000 HP left right now, so this will go a long way toward putting it down for the count.





But, being a Black Hole, it has good physical defenses.



Thankfully, it stole more MP instead of outright nuking Cthulhu and Sharpe.



But, shortly after that, Paws...How do you kill a black hole? They suck things in, so would blowing it up expel a ton of shit? I know one of you reading this is going to know the answer to that.









Cthulhu picks up another round of stat boosts.





While Umi grows a touch stronger, physically and magically.



Sharpe becomes a little more well rounded.

...Maybe that's not good for a sword.





While October learns how to effectively blow enemies away.







I've not paid proper attention to Paws' Magic stat, but I have babied his Agility.





And Dacre learns to boost the hell out of someone's Magic. Just one person's Magic.



Oh, yes, that's right, he gained two levels!





While Ember cranks up his physical badassery even higher.



Alright, so, here's Sharpe's old hilt.







Alrighty, folks, keep on voting. This bonus dungeon has been cleared out and we're taking another break.

Next time, we'll head over to Innsmouth, so keep BOLDING those votes for who joins Cthulhu and Ember over there yonder!