Part 45: NG+ Update 17: The Main Shaft
NG+ Update 17: The Main Shaft
Enough time has passed to completely unlock all Nina’s gear in the Fairy Colony.
The main prize for doing this is the Demonscythe. Like Kyrie it has a unique skill that can’t be learned normally, in this case the Death spell.
Music: Lifeline
In the initial playthrough I explained how turning around after beating Rebuilt Bosch would reveal a door leading down to a small side area called Lifeline Endsector.
At the end of this area is a door that only opens if you have a D-Ratio of 1/256.
That door leads to the Main Shaft, an optional bonus area full of powerful monsters and valuable treasure.
The first part of the Main Shaft consists of a winding corridor full of item crates and
The corridor leads to a large chamber filled with catwalks and huge metal pylons rising out of a cavernous abyss.
The catwalks are patrolled by Duke Knights, the armoured Dukes who appear in the latter half of Centre.
I thought I’d be a clever-cloggs and use Nina’s new Death spell to cut things short, but of course they’re immune to it.
Further along the catwalk is a swarm of Crushedhearts, the suicide-bombing arseholes from Power One.
Usual tactics apply. Draw them in, freeze them and kill them all at once.
One thing I like about the Main Shaft is how different it looks. Even the doors and elevators look unique compared to the rest of Sheldar.
Further on up we begin to see Ebonfires fluttering around. These guys are annoying because there isn’t much room to manoeuvre on the catwalks and the camera angles mean you often won’t see them coming.
Thankfully they at least are not immune to Death.
A Mahadevan also lurks in the shadows. Because of its positioning it’s unlikely you’ll be able to draw any Ebonfires into the battle with it, so there’s nothing to stop it from nuking your party with Blizzard.
If you haven’t threaded Lightning you might be in trouble here, since the Mahadevan is another Centre enemy and regenerates a large amount of HP every turn.
Defeating the Mahadevan is necessary because it drops the Treasure Key.
The chest is in the next area. But you’ll want to be careful going in because there’s an invisible Goo Prism waiting to ambush you on a ledge to the right.
The chest is guarded by a cluster of Crushedhearts and a pair of Duke Knights.
The chest itself contains a Backpack, meaning you can only max out your inventory space on New Game+.
Main Shaft Sector C takes the form of a single very large chamber with a walkway around the edge.
Enemies here include Kanaphages, WormMen and Buzz Militants. Most of the treasure here consists of status boosters won from enemy drops.
The exit is actually halfway along the catwalk, but going right to the end reveals a treasure chest.
It’s guarded by a single giant NerveMan, which gave me a genuine fright thanks to the dark lighting concealing its translucent body. I honestly had no idea it was there!
Reversal is a typical RPG skill that deals more damage the less health Ryu has.
Sector D gives the player a choice of three different walkways. The bottom one leads to an immediate dead end, while the middle is guarded by another Mahadevan.
Taking the middle route leads to a platform with no less than three Duke Knights and five Crushedhearts.
Their defeat spawns the Treasure Key. I had a brief recording error here, but the chest is on the same platform and contains ‘Kidding!’, a skill for Lin.
The description of the skill is poorly translated. ‘Kidding!’ is a skill that’s only used in Lin’s special combos. If you try to use it on its own it will miss and do no damage.
Taking the uppermost path leads to the elevator to the fifth and final area.
Sector E consists of a single long walkway full of NerveMen.
There’s a short branching corridor at the end of it, which quickly leads us to the elevator that will bring us up to TopSector Junction.
So, that’s the Main Shaft. It’s actually a pretty tough area; I went in with 30 Aid Kits and 20 Med Kits and wound up using nearly all of them. The level design is pretty unique and makes me think that perhaps it was originally part of the main game that was cut and then added back in as a New Game+ bonus area. There’s some neat loot in there, but that’s not the only reason to go there…
Music: Centre Ministry Sector
: I failed to stop the first Dragon.
:…to test the Dragon, then I must go.
: He’ll never make it to the sky.
: But you would still…?
As far as I can tell you only get this scene if you go through the Main Shaft. Taking the elevator up from Lifeline doesn’t seem to trigger it. It’s a shame because it gives Deamoned some much-needed character development.