Part 17: Chapter Fourteen: The Well
Music: 04 – Dungeon000.png)
: Alright then, priest – lead the way.001.png)
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: Look out!: Damnit, there’s more of them?!004.png)
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Ray will proceed to indefinitely fight the Godiv, conveniently obstructing the way in and railroading us into exploring this particular section of the well. Mercifully there are no random encounters down here, so there’s little danger of running out of healing supplies.
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: I can hear water dripping down somewhere up ahead…
: That’s not surprising – this used to be a well after all.007.png)
This part of the cave involves using the turtles to ferry the party over a series of platforms.
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There’s also NPC’s scattered here and there throughout this dungeon.
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The northern platform leads to another battle with a Godiv. It can be taken down using the same strategy as the previous one.
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Defeating him lets us access the island with the treasure chest, which contains a Vitalizer, an item that restores 120 HP to the entire party. And boy, will we need it soon.
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: There’s the man’s son!: Don’t be frightened, child! We’re here to help you. Just wait and we’ll get you home safe and sound.012.png)
We could save the child now by hopping over to the other turtle…or we could wait and let it take us further north to a chest guarded by a third Godiv. The party fights and defeats the beast, causing Lin to gain another level and learn Blizzard, her second unusable spell. As for the chest?
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It contains an Amulet, an accessory that prevents the Curse status effect.
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: Of course not. Don’t worry, child. You’re safe now.Suddenly the ground begins to shake!
: Whoa! Earthquake!!016.png)
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Music: 10 – I’ll Do It!
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This aquatic monstrosity is Goncharo. Goncharo is equivalent to Gremlin from the first Breath of Fire in that he will utterly wreck your shit. To compare – Argus could mess you up if you went in unprepared. Goncharo will mess you up even if you are prepared. He has three special attacks that make him an absolute pain. The first is Fire Breath, an attack that hits everyone in the party for 20 – 30 damage. The second is Spirit Wave, a special move that lets him take control of a party member and have them attack themselves or another party member. Finally, once he gets low on HP he occasionally unleashes an Earthquake-type attack that deals around 40 damage to every party member.
Goncharo also has a physical attack that deals damage in the mid 20’s, but that’s just an annoyance. Spirit Wave in particular is incredibly dangerous, and God help you if he targets Ryu, who can oneshot any party member aside from himself if he crits. Oh, and naturally he loves to spam it incessantly throughout the battle.
The best strategy is to have Ryu and Lin attack, with the latter also providing speedy heals via items whenever necessary. Sten should cast Simoon until his meagre AP is depleted and then attack or heal. Nina’s spells are all equally effective, but Cyclone costs the least AP so it’s best to stick with that. If a party member goes down they need to be revived ASAP via an Ammonia, and it’s a sure bet the Vitalizer will have fulfilled its intended purpose by the end of the fight.
I use this fight to show off some of Nina and Sten's spells. Goncharo really begins to ruin my shit after the two minute mark, busting out Fire Breath and then forcing Ryu to kill Lin with a crit before quaking everyone down to critical health.
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: What the hell was that thing?!:…Whatever it was, it’s dead now.
: The ground is still shaking. I, uh…I think we should leave this place as soon as possible.: Right. Back to the exit, everyone!019.png)
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Ray has finally dealt with the same monster he managed to casually oneshot in the previous update.
: Hey, there’s that priest guy!022.png)
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: Get behind me, everyone!025.png)
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Like a badass, Ray proceeds to erect a barrier and stop the whole flood by himself.
: Urgh…this is the best I can do, but it’s holding. Quickly, rescue the villagers imprisoned in the cave! This won’t hold forever!: Alright! Let’s go go go!027.png)
: Is the priest really going to be alright?: His magic is very strong. I’m sure he will be able to hold back the water for long enough.Now it’s time to explore the caves we passed by previously. Despite Ray’s words there’s no actual time limit to this section – he’ll keep holding back the water for however long it takes.
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: Look, there’s someone in here! Excuse me sir, are you-029.png)
: Heh, he -is- ugly and slimy though.: Heeeey…030.png)
: Look, there’s another guy! Excuse me sir, I think you should-031.png)
: OH GOD!!032.png)
Unfortunately, the villager turns out to have a dreaded notFacehugger clamped over his head. The ‘Tyrol’, as it is called, is actually a separate entity from the villager. This means the player must be very careful not to attack the villager instead of the monster. Thankfully their attacks are weak, doing in the region of 15 – 20 damage, plus their HP is fairly low. Once the Tyrol dies the fight ends automatically, meaning you don’t have to worry about queued-up attacks hitting the villager.
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: First mutant insects, then monstrous firebreathing terrapin things, and now mindwarping parasites? Just what the hell is going on down here?034.png)
Entering the eastern cave immediately throws the party into a battle with another Godiv. The villager also has a Tyrol stuck to his face.
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: All in a days work for ace detectives like us!: We’re detectives now?: Looks like Lin’s still living the dream…036.png)
The western cave leads to a dead end, so it’s time to head back to the first room we found ourselves in.
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The villager in here has another Tyrol on his face, so we kick the crap out of it pronto.
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: There is no cause for worry. We will not let a single one of those creatures harm any of you.The northern cave leads to a small area with nothing but another Godiv inside, so there’s no point in going there unless you want the exp.
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: Just how many of these damn things are there anyway? Argh!: Who cares? Let’s just beat the crap out of all of them and be done with it.041.png)
You guessed it – another Tyrol. We smash it into paste with no difficulties.
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: No need to worry there, pal! The kid’s safe and sound!043.png)
This is the last villager in need of rescuing. Unlike the others, he isn’t troubled by notFacehuggers. There are a total of six villagers, and it’s actually possible to screw up and have some of them die if you either accidentally hit them during battle or return to Ray prematurely. The number of villagers the player saves will have consequences further down the line.
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: It’s alright. Everyone else has been rescued – you can return to the surface now.: Guess we better tell that priest we’ve rescued all the villagers.045.png)
: Did you find everyone?: We sure did, now let’s get out of here!: Praise God. My strength is nearly exhausted…046.png)
: Hey, priest, are you sure you’re going to be okay? You look pretty tire-047.png)
: Alright, let’s move!048.png)
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: Aaaah!: Oh noooeeee!!050.png)
…Welp.