Tales of Graces f Part #78 - CH73: The Last Arcane Bottle

Part 78: CH73: The Last Arcane Bottle

CH73: The Last Arcane Bottle

: You must understand, I am far more powerful now than I was when we last fought. Absorbing the eleth I did from the core of Fodra has completely recharged me. I am at full power. This is the "danger" Solomus detects.

: I suppose simply releasing the eleth isn't possible?

: Can you release the eleth from your body?

: No, not particularly.

: Yet.

: In any case, I believe the overall plan is sound. Three of you will remain nearby, "guarding the teleporter," in case I manage to defeat you all. They'll grab the bodies and haul them back out for medical care.

: And you're sure you can restrain yourself?

: Of course. But I shouldn't need to if you can fight as well as I think you can.

: Well, there's still time for a little practice.

: I hate to admit it, but this shuttle manual is going to take me a few days to understand.

: What's so hard about it, you just kajoob the whoober and then make sure there's not too much gyre in the wabe!

: Please, leave me alone.

: So they went back to Warrior's Roost for some practice.

The Master Class Arena if you want to see it, it's basically the same as the regular arena with party member switching. Also it's trivially easy at this level.

: At the top, not really a surprise, but...

: Sorry for the wait!

: Many thanks to you all.

: It appears to have arrived safely. And I see other familiar faces as well. You must be the Trio of Titans.

: This Soma is very precious. It connects me to those who are most important to me.

Each of these guys has an inn request for an item. Veigue gets a sword (I think the Dark Wings forge it), Amber gets an anklet (you get it for talking to the old man near Zhavert with enough Carta Cards) and Reala gets a stick with Kyle's head on it (from the Sandshroud Ruins).

: Someone discovered it at the bottom of the ocean.

: I see! Perhaps my brother hid it there. No wonder I was unable to find it.

: Too bad it doesn't shout things like "I'm going to be a hero!" Hee hee.

: Hee hee. You guys remind me of... Well, us, actually.

: Whatcha mean?

: I don't know. They just...do.

: I think so, too.

: It's because they wish to test their own strength.

: That might be it.
Now... Prepare yourselves!

: I'll fight to the end!

: Behold the Holy Maiden!

: Everyone ready?

Both of the girls get their stats dropped a bit from being Zhonecage bosses, but that's understandable. You're doing a team vs team fight with absolutely no items.

So my focus was 100% on killing Reala because fuck Reala.

I have a slight tendency to get dogpiled by them - all 3 of them like to melee. Death #1.

Veigue died here, but I didn't notice at all.

It wasn't TOO hard to get Reala low, but that meant I now had to face AIR PRESSURE again.

Oh, and all 3 can do Mystic Artes.

But they just kind of tickle.

There goes Amber. I was so focused on Reala I didn't even notice.

So when she popped, I was just getting ready to switch target to the other two (which had been killed by the AI).

All in all this was a good fight, if a bit easy. The problem with a fight like this from a designer's point of view is that it's too easy to make it too hard or too easy. The fact that you have three mobile enemies and no life bottles makes it very possible for you to get clobbered by it. If you're still being challenged by the preceding tower stuff, then hoo boy. Anyway I wish they'd had a bit more HP, that's one stat that could have made it a bit more interesting. As it is it feels like the fight is way way easier than fighting Reala alone was. Sure I'm 15 levels higher but I fought Reala on the difficulty below this. If I'd set Malik to "cancel spells" or "leader's target" this might have been a lot easier and maybe my opinion would have been worse.

Oh and if you come back here again you fight them 3 on one with no items so FUCK THAT.

: We've been utterly defeated.

: Thank you for the fight.

: I thought the legendary guardians would be a bit...stronger.

: Strength is more than feats of arms. Despite our loss, we know that real strength comes from cultivating a strong Spiria.

: A strong Spiria... A strong heart. I cannot argue with that.

: Tee hee! You remind me of an artist friend of mine!

: It has been long since I fought this hard in battle, and I have missed it greatly.
Thank you, Asbel. Work hard, and keep aspiring to new heights.

: I will do my best.

: Thank you for the lesson, guardians.

: Yes, thank you very much.

: Thank you.

: So long, funky guardians!

: So long!

: Hee hee!

: Hmm...

Skit: The Party Spokesman
OK I was wrong, THIS is the last skit.

: The way those three protected each other, I thought their defense was impregnable. But I guess you can always find a way.
The hell fight were you watching?

: The guys back home are never gonna believe this!

: I wonder if anyone will believe us? Those who defeat the guardians usually assume the position, so it might be a hard story to sell.

: That's right, I'd forgotten about that rule. I hope they don't expect us to-

: Oh, I turned them down already.

: When did that happen?

:On the way out. I said we're busy.

: Pity. Part of me wishes you hadn't.

: Yeah, come on!

: If I'd said yes, we'd never be able to leave this island!
Captain, we have a mission to finish!

: Yes, I suppose.

: Wow, Captain, that's so rare for you to back down!

: It's hard to face anger from one who is often calm.

: Ha ha ha...

Refight Video with Solomus. I swapped everybody onto the next body over, and also I used AI only (other than an all-divide) on the second-highest setting.

: Come thee to test your strength against me after failing to defeat the newly empowered Lambda? Such impudence. Though I am as I once was, do not think me to be an easy opponent. I pray the afterlife welcome thee with open arms.

: Thou art young, yet perhaps can still save the world...
He's a terrible conversationalist.

: Anyway they finally got around to putting the plan into action.
Click here to see Asbel vs Richard solo (kind of a sad performance but it worked).

: The stage was set. Solomus was watching. Pascal made sure of it.

Oddly enough, despite being the highest level boss in the game he only has 900,000 HP.

For some reason his Mystic Arte didn't kill me there. Note Richard-Pascal at 1 HP having taking 16k.

I don't recall regular Lambda having Holy Lance.

No. No fuck no.

STOP THAT.

Indignation too. I guess he stole those when he absorbed the Zhonecage's eleth or whatever Solomus was getting at? He doesn't steal Shooting Stars though.

So uh remember how his Mystic Arte just took us to 1hp earlier in the fight?

Not sure why the two different behaviors.

Anyway. Next attempt had a few more Arcane Bottles thrown at it. And Elixers, since this really is the Last Battle.

I don't remember him doing that before, but it's not really a big deal.

Unfortunately I botch finishing him with a Mystic Arte Sorry guys.

: Lambda's power dropped rather precipitously as a result of the defeat, and a little lying low convinced Solomus he'd been vanquished long enough for Pascal to flip open his diagnostic panel.

: And then what? I guess he was too unreliable and powerful to leave lying around.

: Nah, Pascal reprogrammed him to serve as a replacement for the Riot Peak Guardians when they were sent back to their own worlds.

: That sounds amazing.

: Here, we did an exhibition match to open the arena. I've still got the recording.

So in addition to Normal and Lineages and Legacies, there's one other "game mode". Trials of Graces. I remembered this one (the highest-level trial) as being level 200, so I felt a bit chagrinned here.

Not like that's going to stop me from absolutely kicking ass.

So we've got only these items. Also they don't give me any chance to refill the Eleth Mixer from my save, the assholes.

I can't possibly miss.

The big danger in this fight, aside from getting ganged up on, is the dragons' "at low health" abilities, which become especially obnoxious when in bunches. You can see two of them (I think 50% hp abilities) going off there.