Part 89: DS :downs:-date 31.5: Maybe This Wasn't Such a Good Idea...

DS -date 31.5: Maybe This Wasn't Such a Good Idea...


Hello viewers! Got a fun-filled update for you today. At least I hope so!


Last time, we got a new party member, Fusoya the Moon Man. He could use a Rune Armlet, but other than that, he's good to go!

Yes, he should serve my purposes quite nicely. Mm hmm. I have plans for him.


While making my way back through the Lunar Tunnel, Rosa Levelled up. And this one is significant.

Learned Holy

Holy! Hell yes!

I mean... not that I ever have Rosa attack anything anyway, but still... It's nice to have the option, and Holy is damn powerful!


Look at that. Isn't it beautiful? Rosa now has all the White Magic spells in the game!


Now, according to thread consensus, I'll be switching between Kick and Rosa's Love for Cecil's main attack ability.


You guys wanted a kung-fu Paladin?


You get a kung-fu Paladin!


I swear, that will never get old!


All right. Made it back to the Lunar Whale. Now I can finally address our objective for today.

First, though, the party has some new thought bubbles:











Oh right. There's that whole "primordial giant is going to destroy the world" thing hanging over our heads.


Eh. I'm sure it can wait.


Helmsman, set a course for...




that strange circular cave I pointed out earlier!


And get jumped by a couple of Lunar Viruses on the way there. Apparently they can drop Stardusts. Good to know!


Anyway. Welcome to the Lair of the Father. This is where we'll be spending today's update _{and the next}.




Leviathan did mention this place, as did the books in the Feymarch's Library. They mentioned a holy father of the Eidolons who watches over his children from on high. Well, what's higher than the moon, I ask you?


Oh don't even say it, Edge!


Fusoya knows who lives here too, it seems.


.... Let's just move on.

Now, this cave is technically out of my reach right now. This is an end-game area. In fact, all of the enemies here can be found in the Final Dungeon.

Why am I here? Because I like to torture myself, that's why. I figure, with Fusoya along, I'll be fine.


The game is about to make me pay dearly for my arrogance.

For, lest you forget, this game hates you. It hates you, and I'm giving it a big ol' tweak on the nose, going "Neener neener neener!" and daring it to do its worst.


Anyway, I'm neglecting my duties. These ladies will be the bane of your existence, both here and in the Final Dungeon. At least until you get some levels under your belt.

Dark Sages aren't too scary on paper, with 8,670 HP and no particular weaknesses (or resistances).


You might think that, but you'd be wrong.


So very, very wrong.


These ladies are blazing fast,


and they are very... efficient at their job.


That job being,


blast our asses into next week!


And their defenses are surprisingly beefy for magically-inclined enemies. Edge does about 3,700 damage to them with Throw, for example, and that was a Dragon I just hit them with.


Now, granted I do have a Dualcast Rosa on my side, but, as you can see,


they whacked Cecil before I queued up Rosa's spells. Frequently, you won't have enough time to react! (Still, setting up Shell isn't a bad idea at all, considering all the -aga level spells flying around!)


If you anticipate a long, drawn out battle,


it's a good idea for Fusoya to set up a Bless. Bless works like Regen for MP, recovering it slowly over time.


Of course, that doesn't address the matter at hand.


Namely getting my ass kicked.


Like I said, very slowly. So it's best to set up Bless at the very start of a long fight.


Another throw from Edge,


and one of the Dark Sages is out of the game!

Typically, if you can remove at least one of them, the battle's in the bag. The hard part is getting there!


Even if you come in swinging and keep up with your healing,


they can, and will, outpace you.




Honestly, I'm not sure which is worse. When they blast one character with an -aga spell, or spread it around the whole party.




Either way, you're on the defensive, even with Dualcasting Raise and Curaja. And that's a position you do not want to be in.


Still, this time-


This time,


I came out on top.


They drop Dry Ethers at a fairly good rate, which is nice.


Remember this for later. It'll be important.


Like with the Flamehounds in the Tower of Babil, it is absolutely vital to keep your party's HP full at all times.

You never know when you'll run into 3 Dark Sages again. 3 of those are every bit as dangerous as 3 Flamehounds were, maybe even moreso. They're like Flamehounds, if the Flamehound's only attack was Scorch.


Still, the rewards for coming here are great, and there's pretty good loot to be had!


Not so much these. Too many red numbers for my taste. The Giant's Gloves are just too damn good. (Though, looking back on it, some extra Magic Defense might have been helpful...)


Dark Sages can also appear one at a time, same with the Flamehounds, and they're not nearly so threatening when you only have to deal with one of them.


Still,


they can pretty much one-shot Cecil, or very nearly so. Keep that in mind.

Also, if you get Back attacked, don't bother swapping your rows. They only use magic attacks. Row placement doesn't make a damn bit of difference.


Like I said, one at a time, they're a piece of cake. (And they can drop Maiden's Kisses; that's their more common drop.)


Over to the east, there's a secret passage.


Just slip right through that hole in the wall, and you end up here.


More nice loot! Let's have a look.


Eh... the small defense bonus isn't worth the hit I'll take to Cecil's Magic Defense. I'll pass. On anyone else, that would be a damn nice shield!


Oh boy. Here we go!


Here's why the Dark Sages are so dangerous.


They're so fast, chances are they'll get to act before anyone else. All of them. Except for maybe Edge, if you're lucky.


And if the RNG decides it hates you today,


things will go to shit.




Very quickly.


I have already lost, by the way.


These things can one-shot Edge. No questions asked. Without Cecil around to absorb the single-targeted spells, and without Rosa to heal the damage, the rest of the party are sitting ducks.




Fusoya? Pfft. The old bastard's far too slow to make a difference.


Doesn't stop me from trying, mind you.


But the fact is,


I never stood a chance.


Welp. At least it wasn't the very first encounter of the dungeon, right guys?


Right?


Uh... I'll get back to you on that.


... Fuck.


Double fuck!


Damn it, Fusoya, not you too!


Welp.


That was fast...


Let's try that again! I am nothing if not persistent.


Oh hey, an encounter I can actually beat, this time!


The ladies with no pants are Moonmaidens. With 6,800 HP and no elemental weaknesses, they're the physical counterparts to the Dark Sages.

As such,


they're not nearly as threatening.


Especially since Cecil kicks all of them in the face every time one of them whacks him. And Cecil does more damage.




Bah.


It behooves you to take out the Dark Sage first. If your meatshield gets clobbered, the Moonmaidens are free to wreck havoc on your squishies.




That'll do nicely.


Make no mistake, the Moonmaidens are no joke. Anyone in the party not named Cecil can't take that kind of abuse for long.


But they're far, far easier to deal with than 3 Dark Sages.


They have this attack, in addition to their normal attack.




Judging from the animation, I think it's supposed to inflict gradual petrification, but I've never seen it connect.


Victory is mine!


And Cecil gets his level up again.


Heal everybody up and...


Uh oh!

Wait, it's not 3 Dark Sages, so I'm good.


It'll be an uphill battle,




But I can keep up.


Still,


I got rather tired of the bullshit. Leviathan, anyone?


Rydia pays dearly for her transgression.


Eh whatever.


I've got this.


There's that attack again.


Whatever it does, Cecil is just outright immune to it.


Revive the murderess,


Kung-fu kick!


And we're good. I heal the party up and move on.


One Dark Sage. Not remotely a threat.


In fact, I feel confident enough to use them for another purpose.


Being mage-type enemies, Dark Sages have a lot of MP to siphon off. Feel free to do so if you're just facing one or two of them, and let Leviathan have a field day with 'em!




Pray's gotten pretty decent too.


Refills more than half as much MP as an Ether now. (Or darn near as much in Rosa's case.)


That's that. Like I said, no problem!


Hey, look at that, we completed the floor! We're actually making progress now!

Obtained Golden Apple

At least the game doesn't stiff you on map completion prizes! Golden Apples are most welcome.

... I really should give those stat-boosters out, shouldn't I? I keep forgetting.


Onwards we press to the second floor!


And... this guy.


This is an Armored Fiend. They have a massive 28,000 HP, but luckily they do have an exploitable weakness: lightning.


You'll need all the help you can get when fighting these things.


They are no joke.


Honestly, it's best to treat them like a boss. Set up your buffs, and try to Slow it.


I say try,


because it's possible you won't be able to.


Save me, Rydia!


Good damage, but we have bigger problems on our hands right now!


Oh boy.


Oh goddammit you've got to be kidding me!





How many party wipes is that now? I've lost track...


Oh that's just lovely. Thanks, game! (First encounter of the dungeon, of course.)


And right off the bat, Cecil's face hits the pavement.


You know what? Fuck this. I am so sick of this bullshit.


Eat it, you harpies!


Eat it and like it! I am so done playing fair!


Now I can deal with these things in peace.


That's better. (You know I'm in dire straights when I start busting out the Curajas. Normally I make do with Curaga.)


Remember back in Eblan Castle, how I dealt with the enemies there?


Well, that's the plan now.


Break is still an instant KO on a Stopped enemy. And damn if it isn't satisfying!


In hindsight, I probably should have done this from the beginning...


I could have saved myself a lot of headache.


I'll have to remember to buy some more Bronze Hourglasses before I tackle the Final Dungeon.


Hmm. I'm not so worried about this one,


but I think I can make it go faster!


Since the Moonmaidens use physical attacks almost exclusively,


casting Blink essentially makes you invincible. (That was meant for Cecil, but he got knocked out before she could cast it on him. Can't hurt to have it on herself, anyway!)


Guess what else the Dark Sages are vulnerable to?


Yep, that's right! Now the hag is completely neutralized.




Yeah, that's right. Can't touch this.


Oh, beware, the Moonmaidens can counterattack too. Make sure whoever attacks them is at full health/under Blink first!


Edge levelled up?


Hey, that didn't happen before! I'm making progress!


Definitely making progress! First floor complete. Again.


Onwards to the second floor!


I didn't get a chance to mention this before, but the Lair of the Father does look kind of cool.


I like the clusters of sparkling crystals. They do sparkle, too. You can kind of see it in this screenshot.


Ooh, treasure! Let's-


Oh come on. Seriously?


Back attack from one of these is a death sentence, by the way.




So is two Flamethrowers.

Two of those =


Full party wipe. Before I could even move. How lovely.

I'm ashamed to say, at this point, I started abusing savestates. I don't like to do that, but at this point, I'd been at this for over forty fucking minutes and had made absolutely no progress.


Holy shit I loaded a save state. Now we're back on the second floor.

I'm actually ending this "update" right here. Next time, we'll tackle this place for real, I promise! I hope you enjoyed watching me get my ass kicked. I'll see you next time.

And fuck Dark Sages right to hell!