Part 8: Manipura's Welcome.

Update 08:

Update today!


This is Serph's grid.
Notice how the upper and lower parts are mostly filled up?
The upper part of the grid is the Physical Mantra section. To master a mantra, you must first master all the mantras on that path previous to it. It is much better in DDS2, as it will be seen in... A long time. Yes. Serph does not have much in the Elemental Magic trees, in the middle. That will have to be rectified eventually.
Here is a (shamelessly stolen from Gamefaqs) Mantra Grid. Notice how insane the prices get. This is the main problem with DDS. Grinding for macca to acquire mantras. Like Vprisoner said, you need to have absolutely no life to get the characters to master all of them.







This is Heat's.
Almost fully mastered physical tree? Oh yes.
Very yes.
Been slacking in the elemental magic trees, though, but it is Heat, he is all about physical.


Argilla. Fully mastered assist. Should get more elemental, since she has high magic. Will rectify that on the course of this thread. Yes, I will.




Manipura. The Third Chakra.


Greetings from Manipura (Viddler)
The Maribel is kind of colorful. Even if their color is RED(Youtube)





They sure do like their make up, eh?



These are the two high-ups of the Maribel.
Jinana, the leader, on the left, and Bat, her second in command, on the right.






"So, then... You're the same as us."

"Not just me. Nearly all of us have changed."





Everyone will have to follow the law of Devour or be Devoured. Everyone with Atma will have to gain Karma.

"What's 'cursed'?
Who is this 'god'?"




"Are you sad?"

"What is 'sad'?"


"I am not sure... You just... seem that way."







"If my reaction is 'sad', then yes, I am sad."





Then the Embryon members quickly propose the Alliance to Jinana.



"But first of all, you must prove that you are worthy of fighting alongside the Maribel."
Jesus fuck that is not something you say to 3 hungry Asuras. That alone makes them more powerful than most of the other tribes. Asuras are far more, more important than sheer numbers. The Maribel also has TWO Asuras. That is more than the others.
Together, the Tribes would have SEVEN very powerful Asuras. That would be quite enough, but you'll see...







"I'll be waiting for you, if you can survive."





And now that was very stupid. VERY stupid. She is putting a great part of her Tribe in the way of three very hungry, very powerful Asuras. Asuras with skills they SHOULD NOT HAVE. Not yet.







Heat is clearly not bothered by the proposal. He is Heat, you see.




Argilla is considerably less thrilled.



HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAH.




These are always useful. When a member is killed, using one of these will restore them to life, with full HP.
Also, when a member dies, when the fight ends (either by winning or by getting away), they'll regain consciousness, but with 1 HP.



Changed skills.
This is overkill. Later I switched Bufudyne for Mabufula, because otherwise, the enemies that were weak against ice would die in ONE hit. That is bad.




Same with Heat. Revelation ain't bad.
Chakra walk and Mana Walk are skills that regain MP automatically when travelling. Very useful.


Time to go in!



Damn, they are hungry.


How convenient, a Vendor. Right next to the entrance.



And a Large Karma Terminal. The door on the left is not useful yet. It is locked.



"Use Hunt skills when enemies are frightened. More AP will be gained when a frightened enemy is devoured.
Like other skills, Hunt skills can be learned from Mantras gained at Karma Terminals."




Scaring them? Why? It is not needed when Heat can be a goddamn beast and just CONSUME them.



A Cell! These are valuable. And they are to be sold to the Temple.
Time to go back to the Vendor!


Solar Noise is important when selling Cells.

Let's see what happens if one tries to sell the Cell with minimum Solar Noise.




Three thousand and two hundred!
Now let's go and check it on Maximum.




Argilla leveled up while waiting.



And so did Heat.


It clearly is more worthy at Maximum Solar Noise.

Except for one exceptional case.





The use for these should be obvious.




This is a gate. It is closed. It is annoying because it prevents advancement.
An alternate route must be found, or a way to open it.
Or both.



Serph likes to level up.



"At last... Our food is here."
Hahahahahahaahhaha




Gates are opened with these switches.



This one opens Gate number one.





There was someone there. It is gone now.


Sometimes when levelling up, the character's body will be full of Power. That can mean either that they will randomly increase a stat, or regain life or magic.
They can also find things.




AAAAND meet our FIRST Omoikane. These guys are awesome in a way.
They are very hard to kill, as nothing will hurt them. Nothing except BULLETS.
And even with that you need very good bullets.





They Debilitate you.



And you can't see their stats or abilities. The reward for killing one of these guys is very well worth it.
But this one? Not to be.








Aww




Second Gate, Unlocked.





Oh no! Ambushed!


Another damn hungry demon. This one weak against Ice.


Sometimes, after eating, one will get this status.
It is very annoying.





Gained Atma is frozen. Since he has a stomachache.
And then the characgter will randomly not respond to commands, or randomly get damage, as if poisoned.
It is cured by using a Dis-Ache, Achedi or by going back to a Large Karma Terminal or Life Terminal.





"They're so fresh... It only makes me hungrier."




Goddamn stomachache.


Fixing it.




Nozuchis are annoying.


Nozuchi!





Yet another one.


Oooh.

Know what that means?
That Stomachaches got fixed. Forever.



These two skills are awesome.
Iron Stomach prevents all stomachaches, and as such, is never leaving the skill list. Except for bosses, you know.
AP Divide is A MUST if you are going to do Field Hunts.


ANOTHER Cell.




No more stomach problems for Argilla either.



Changed colors here. Now it looks blue.



Sometimes, one will get ambushed. That makes things bad.




Heat will not have a picky stomach anymore either.





Another gate open.



Harhar.



Been focusing a bit into luck. Luck is important, you see.






Oh no! Ambushed by enemies that are WEAK AGAINST BULLETS.
Duh.

Macha!








No shit. They are ASURAS.




Oh my! It's Field hunt time! (viddler)
FIIIIIIELD HUNTING!(youtube)



"During a Field Hunt, Serph, in his Varna form, can see enemy presences. He can hunt these presences by pressing the square button near them. When all enemy presences have been eliminated, the Mitama will appear.
And if you can defeat the Mitama, you will be rewarded with a large amount of AP."




Saved in case something went wrong with the hunt. Hheat leveled up.



It is Varna!




Snicker-Snack.


And then, the Mitama. Each Mitama is weak against a different Element. That is the key to GETTING THEM.





DELICIOUS.


And now Heat has RAGNAROK.



See?


"When you win a battle, you devour your enemies and gain Atma Points.
By accumulating Atma Points, different skills are learned. Skills cannot be used until they have been set."



Because they all were EATEN.


Oh hell yes.
As you will notice, that skill is used by Ahriman in Nocturne, if I recall correctly.

It is awesome.



Field Hunts are marked by a different color in the map.


BONUS: Video of Ragnarok and items.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Luisfius/videos/42/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ti0pK5kS2g