Part 12: The Valiant Side of the Great Heroes (DX)
Part XXIII: The Valiant Side of the Great Heroes (DX)Original Update
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ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S NOTE FROM DECEMBER 25, 2020: The last thing I’ll be saying about the Dusk Trilogy on Something Awful. At least for now, that is.
As promised, there are a few endgame (after Solle tells you to go stop the Controller) changes I feel appropriate to go over. The first and most important is ultimate trait grinding. In the original game, as I mentioned, the Silver Dragon at Geofront in its unevolved form was by far the best method. The Silver Dragon dropped near every ultimate trait in the game and was fairly easy to kill, making Shallie one of the easiest Ateliers to grind ultimate traits in, especially compared to the Mysterious Trilogy. Well, it seems Gust knew about this, and it was either an exploit they didn’t realize or wanted to make it harder in Shallie+, because the unevolved Silver Dragon now drops very non-endgame traits, making fighting it virtually a waste of time. Instead, three new bosses will drop what you want: Phoenix of the Sea in the Altar of the Sea, the giant robot in the final area of the Crystal Valley, and the Servant of the Beast King in the Herb Garden Depths. Difficulty also seems to be much more important in grinding ultimate traits, since you need to be on Despair or NO HOPE to get the best traits. Unfortunately these fights only rarely drop these endgame traits (making save scumming crucial), so get used to fighting them if you want ultimate builds. I also found out that what makes these bosses respawn is fighting a certain number of enemies and winning (5 enemy groups, I think) and leaving and coming back to the area. I think it also counts if you insta-kill an enemy group with an enhanced swing.
Ultimate item traits are a bit different, in that they’ll *mostly* show up in the three robo-dragon fight in the Ruins of Frozen Time in the endgame. This isn’t a particularly reliable method, but ultimate traits do drop here, and the other good news is that, infinite-use Elixir with all the best effects + auto-activate / timed traits is basically the only item you actually need. Attack items are not super important in this game. In the endgame, at least.
Well, what to do once you’ve gotten all the traits you want? Try and beat the ultimate bosses, of course. In the original game, the Beast King you fought before entering the final dungeon was by far the hardest boss in the game, made worse by the fact you only had one chance to beat him in a given playthrough. You wouldn’t lose anything but pride if you did lose, but it is good for a PSN trophy. Well, par for the course in the enhanced versions of the Arland / Dusk games, more bosses have been added. Two, specifically. There is an optional boss in the base game, Fran Pfiel, that can be fought by traveling the sea route from the Altar of the Sea toward Geofront, that can be fought in Shallie+, of course. However, there is a new dragon enemy that shows up in the same place once Fran is defeated. This enemy is much, much harder than Fran is. The other optional boss is a palette swap of the Beast King that shows up in the DLC dungeon. If you’re not interested in fighting him, you can squirm around the side of the area he’s in and go deeper into the dungeon, but that’s not entertaining, is it? No, I think you want to see all the ultimate bosses getting their asses handed to them with an ultimate build, and I can provide just that. For your consideration. Seriously, ultimate builds just completely destroy these bosses. Be grateful these aren’t the new bosses added in Meruru or Ayesha+, since the addition of new bosses made those games’ Platinums *enormously* more difficult than the original game. But, I do have ultimate boss rush compilations from Ayesha+ to Lydie and Suelle available on my channel if you’re so interested. I really should have started with Totori+, though. Maybe in the future. Meruru+ in particular is fun because, through a certain bizarre combination of traits all interacting with each other at the same time, you can make Meruru almost completely invincible no matter how powerful the enemy and let Gio do infinite combos, among other overpowered craziness. There’s a game that’s fun to break.
Well, unless and until I decide to do more Atelier LPs on Something Awful, and there’s a very good chance I will ride again, this is Sylphid signing off again. Good night and good fight.
The last job
Everyone. We've received a message from Central.
We've been waiting!
What does it say? They say it's both the jurisdiction and responsibility of Stellard to correct the ancient water device.
Vague words, as usual from Central.
Agreed, but, you're not one to talk. Pireit, are you on Stellard or Central's side? Of course I'm with Stellard. I have to look out for the people in this town. Hah… That's my line…
Right… Anyway, Shallistera. Yes? I know you're not from around here, and I'm really sorry for involving you in our problems. But I want to ask for your help one more time. We need your strength. No, don't worry about it. I'll save both my village and Stellard. Haha, we're all counting on you! What, nothing to say to me?!
Yeah? Wait… What's that supposed to mean? Haha, I'm kidding. You've really changed! I'm sure you'll be someone who changes the entire town. …I'm counting on you, too. Thanks! But before we go… (I wanna see if I can make the Flying Board!)
Here goes!
Alriiight! It's finally complete! I should go tell master right away!
What? That's the item you made to fly!? So you really did make it! That's great! I talked to lots of people and got some help. But I should be able to fly with this! I'll try riding it now! B-be careful, okay…!?
Owwwww… T-that was bad. Are you alright? …It was just a moment. Huh? It was just a moment, but I flew! I really flew!! Shallie... Y-yeah, you did. Good work. Although it looks like you still have plenty of room for improvement. Yeah! Alright, time to start improving it!
(I did it, I'm one stop closer to reaching my dream!)
Fine-tuning
Huh? That’s strange… What could be wrong?
Hey, are you okay?
Well, yeah… Oh no… You saw something really embarrassing. I don’t think you’re going about it the wrong way. You modeled the output device after an airship engine, right? That’s right, but… W-wait, how do you know about that!? I dabbled in such things before. I think I could help you make some adjustments. What!? You’re already amazing at alchemy, but you’re also good at cleaning, and paperwork… And on top of that, you can also work on machines… Logy, who exactly are you!? …I’m not a big deal. Anyway, just let me take a look. O-okay! Here you go!
…Just hold on a minute. It’ll be fixed with just a little work. Hm, I see… I just need to tune it down this much… and, done!
Oh, really? I just enjoy doing things like this. Ah, Master Wilbell! Logy’s really amazing, isn’t he!? This is nothing for him. He designed an airship himself, after all. What!? Are you serious!? That’s even more amazing! …By the way, you also go to Miruca’s place to clean up. Logy, exactly how much do you enjoy taking care of others? I don’t know if it’s about taking care of people, but… I think it would be faster for me to do a job like this. …Sheesh, no wonder Escha is always complaining. Put yourself in her shoes. …Escha was complaining to you, Wilbell? Why? A-ahaha… Now that you mention it… I don’t understand what the problem would be.
Uh… …Just a friendly suggestion! Anyway, should we get going? Y-yeah! About that, before we go back to Geofront, I’ve heard some rumors that lately, an extremely dangerous dragon has been sinking ships in the northern Dusk Sea.
It’s more or less along the way anyway, so let’s bear east for a bit before coming back to deal with the purification device.
Eek! Something big’s coming!
Raging Wave
Music: Raging Wave
I’ll use the power of Earth!
This sure is convenient…
FJ: Double Draw End (Logy)
Escha, let’s go!
Yeeah, Logy!!
This’ll decide everything!
DOUBLE DRAW END!
For the sake of those we want to protect, we can’t be defeated here!
Wow! That was something… now, let’s go! Back into the depths of the earth!
The Truth Seeker
Yes…! That’s about… The proper way of using alchemy, right?
Yeah… In the past, my little sister was taken by an ancient ruin called “Yggdrasil”, and nearly absorbed. Yggdrasil was part of a protective system of the former civilization, called the Two Cradles. One was a library to protect knowledge, while Yggdrasil was a system to protect life, to carry over to the next era... Why did it take Nio…? “He”, like the guardian of knowledge, was still functioning. He likely decided to protect Nio. …Nio had an accident, so he took her in to save her life. But he no longer had anyone to provide new orders. Continuing to follow his now meaningless orders, he refused to release Nio… That’s why I had to stop him.
You had no choice if you wanted to save Nio, right? I… Kind of understand. Ancient alchemy has left some things that were originally created with good motives. But I don’t think people like Flameu or Linca were happy… That’s… I think so, too. But I’m sure the people of the past wanted to leave something for the future… Hehe. Stera, Lotte, neither of your feelings are wrong. That’s why I keep looking for the answer… I want to know if we aren’t following the wrong path again. I might end up hesitating, or going astray, when I try to decide what needs to be done from here on out. But it’ll be the best answer I can come up with right now. I feel the same as Lotte. I think we’ll be carrying the results for a long time, no matter what they are. If all alchemists were like you two, I don’t think any more sad mistakes would happen. That’s why we need to push forward, towards the future.
Disillusioned
Central gathers knowledge of ancient alchemy in one place, and only tries to follow the old ways. Oh? …I never expected such a young alchemist to think that way.
Hm… This is the first time I’ve ever been criticized from that point of view. Hey Miruca, stop encouraging him to destroy things. …I know I don’t have the talent to use ancient-style alchemy. But I can still think for myself. There are still things I want to do in Stellard. Studying the knowledge of new-style alchemy, and researching the past civilization is still possible for me. It’s pretty obvious that it isn’t necessary to go to Central to do that… …For what purpose would you perform research? Do you seek wisdom? No. I want to apply knowledge from the past civilization to current techniques… I want to find a way. Miruca, that’s an awesome dream! That makes you no different from Central in the end. You’ll only repeat the mistakes of the past. No, I think there are things to be learned from mistakes… That’s the point of view missing in Central. Seeking immediate gain, and ignoring the results… That’s evidence of stupidity. I want to evaluate the past properly. …A harsh path awaits you. Make no mistake, you will grow to hate the existence of humans. I’ve never liked humans to begin with, so that’s not a problem.
…I see. By the time your preparations are complete, we could probably exchange knowledge. I’ll do my best, to make sure these aren’t empty words. That’s really admirable, Miruca! Yeah! I’m sure you can do it, Miruca! …I’m suddenly feeling uneasy about it. Anyway, now that the Union has cleared the way for us, let’s get going.
(Why have you entered our world and disturbed our lives? I am the "King of Ancient Beasts." We were born here in this city, in ancient times… After the humans who lived here died, we took over. You appear to be the descendants of humans… Who drown in their own knowledge. Only we can use these ruins. Our time has passed long ago, but we haven't disappeared, either. Do you… Choose to live along side us?)
This voice… Is that the beast talking…? It's not a voice… I can hear it inside my head!? It's telepathy. It's to the point where it can't speak anymore… What do we do? Is this a challenge?! Looks like we have no choice...!
Vortex (DX)
We won? The "King of Ancient Beasts"... What WAS it? Our people call them "Beastmen". There're ruins of underground cities all around the world, and it's confirmed that Beastmen lived in them. But thanks to having a certain alchemic item, my theory has developed in an unexpected direction… It's common knowledge that here are several gaps in the history of current human civilizations. Something should bridge the gap between civilizations, but it was a mystery until now… Apparently Beastmen fill the gap. This talisman made it so we could understand them…? Unfortunately, there aren't many Beastmen left… Logy… Yeah, I remember. We fought one of them near Colseit… Who knew they’d be connected to this underground city?
I see two travel gates here… I wonder which one will take us where we need to?
Another ancient city? The ancient civilization built the other underground city on top of this one… Maybe they were trying to keep something out. I don’t like the sound of that… But maybe that means we’re heading in the right direction!
Well, we’re already in pretty deep!
Another beastman! This one looks even stronger than the King of Ancient Beasts… And we’ve no choice but to fight it if we want to proceed!
King among Kings
Music: Mighty Beast
I’ll never run… No matter what!
I’ll show you the true power of alchemy…
This should work… come on!
Now, shall we proceed?
Typhoon (DX)
Eek! Is this… It’s a Controller! But…
It was definitely a Controller, but… this isn’t the one responsible for the Water Device. Oh… But it was still valuable in and of itself to destroy this one. Let’s go.
Hm? Did you forget something? It’s just that… We may have defeated a Controller there, but I feel that wasn’t the only thing lurking in the depths of that other ancient city. I want to go back and check. Aha!
Almighty
Music: Sleeping Star
Careful! It’ll be hard to tell who’s who under these conditions… Stand aside.
FJ: Hand of Dusk
This time, I’ll have you accept me as the one who controls you!
The Twilight cannot be stopped. That… is the truth.
Well, that’s that… and I don’t think this was the Controller either. It wasn’t. Come to think of it, we didn’t hear Linca’s voice at all for either of the Controllers we just fought. Do you think that we will, once the time comes…? Well, we’ve only got that other travel gate left to take now. We’ll find out, sooner rather than later. By the way, Keith… Yes? You said that “the Twilight cannot be stopped”… How do you mean? And does that mean everything we’re doing right now is meaningless? That’s merely the conclusion I’ve come up with after all this time. However, what you two are about to do may very well change the calculus and force me to reevaluate my prior assumptions. … So… the hour is upon us. Show me the strength of your resolve.