Breath of Fire II Part #50 - Chapter Thirty Seven: Shadow of the Colossus

Part 50: Chapter Thirty Seven: Shadow of the Colossus

So we get the usual thing of switching around party members to make room for any newcomers.

We’ll be saying goodbye to Bosch for a bit. He’s up to speed with everyone else, and before we go any further with the plot we’ll have to haul Aspara’s level 12 ass up to scratch.

But that’s okay. Because a wonderful new grinding spot has recently opened up.

Music: 27 – Breath of Fire

To the north of Gate, just above the main continent, lies this small island. This is a very special island for a number of reasons. First, the enemies on it.

They are pretty huge. This enemy in particular is called a Tyorkin. The Tyorkin has a tremendous amount of defence, taking only 1 damage from any physical attack, and on top of that can use an ability called Foul Breath to turn everyone in the party into Zombies. Oh, and they are functionally immune to magic and take zero damage from any spells cast at them. They can also use Poison Breath to poison the entire party, just for kicks. However, if you win…

You receive a colossal amount of experience and zenny. The other enemies here are as follows:

Gattlingheads are big badass Gunheads. They can use Iceblast, a high-level ice magic attack that can easily take off 100+ HP, but they tend not to cast it very often. They can also cast Recover to replenish hundreds of hit points, and their basic physical attacks take off around 80 damage. A Dragon attack will take off half their HP, and you’ll have to slug it from there and hope they don’t spam Recover too much.

Atomic Goos are probably the toughest of the bunch. They can cast Quake to deal 70+ damage to the entire party, and they can also attack physically for around 100 damage even after being debuffed. They also have enough HP to eat a Dragon attack and keep on trucking, although thankfully they can’t heal themselves like the Gattlingheads can.

In general the enemies here are enormously tough, so the best strategy is to load up on Wisdom Seeds and spam dragon attacks. For the Tyorkins it’s also recommended to use Slice in order to bypass their high defence. I grind the entire party up until everyone’s at least level twenty, then switch out a few characters.

The party now consists of Ryu, Sten, Aspara and Nina. Now that the grinding is out of the way we can take a look at Aspara himself.

Hmm. Aspara is a spellcaster with high Wisdom, but he also has high Defence, high HP and high AP as well.

He also boasts a number of spells, mostly status and buffs / debuffs. He knows Warp and Exit, giving him good out of battle utility. Overall Aspara is a combat caster, able to take a decent amount of punishment on the front lines whilst also having a magical arsenal should the situation call for it.

Aspara’s in-battle Unique Ability is Nature. Using this ability will cause Aspara to call out to the forest for aid. Doing so can cause a number of things to happen depending on the terrain the party is fighting on. It works on all open fields but not underground or in certain dungeons. The effects are as follows:

The forest answers the call – heals the entire party for 32 HP each.
The flowers bloom – cuts enemy defence in half. This is extremely useful since it stacks with other spells that lower defence.
A tree attacks! – a tree comes to life and smashes the entire enemy group for extremely high damage.
The cactus explodes – in desert terrain, a cactus will explode and deal medium damage to the entire enemy group.

Overall Nature is a mixed bag. Tree attack and blooming flowers are the best ones to get, but since the effects are somewhat randomised it can be a bit of a gamble.

Before we continue on with the plot it’s time to check out come more things. I’m sure it hasn’t escaped notice that there’s a small hut on the island with the giant monsters. What’s inside, you ask? Let’s find out…

Music: 02 – My Home Sweet Home

Seems fairly innocuous on the outside…

…Hey…wait a minute…these guys look familiar…

That’s right – it’s Bo and Karn from the first Breath of Fire. Why are they here? How come they’re not dead of old age? Eh, it’s not important. It’s a nice cameo. They have a bit to say, so let’s talk to them for a second.

Sounds pretty creepy. If there’s one thing Science Fiction has taught me it’s not to mess with mysterious glowing rocks that may or may not have come from outer space. It never ends well.

Dohohoho…

Anyway, that’s it for Giant Island. I may come back here to grind from time to time, but for now it’s time to visit another semi-optional place.

Directly down from Melodia lies a fairly large island. On the island is a small town.

The town is called Guntz and it’s a very special place.

That’s right – Ox’s clan from the first game are still alive and kicking. Gant’s name may have changed in the intervening years, but the quality of the mechanist’s metalsmithing certainly has not.

All of these are very good, but also very expensive. I could only buy a single piece of Alloy armour for Aspara to help him survive Giant Island.

In a house at the top of the town lives Kalashnikov. He’s one of the new tier of tenants for Township and as his name suggests is an arms dealer. Since his wares are crap we won’t be recruiting him, but remember this house for later on. It will be veeeery important in the distant future.

On with the main plot, then. The Sea of Green lies just to the west of Malliol’s hovel. Before now it was impossible to cross the forest, but now…

Like Bo in the first game, with Aspara in the lead the party can simply walk through any forests as if they weren’t there.

Unfortunately the forest happens to be infested with monsters. Striker Bears have the ‘critical or nothing’ gimmick and can also cast Might to buff their own attack. Luckily they’re the only new monster in the area, the others being the hopelessly outclassed Bomb Seeds from before Fort Nageur.

This big tree is our next destination.

Music: 04 – Dungeon

Nothing happens…

: They wish to know what happened to the forests around the town of Gate…

: Um…is the Elder Tree alright? He’s not responding to anything…

: What is happening to this world? What is the nature of this shadow which has begun to fall on all things?

: He forgot? Please don’t tell me this was all a waste of time.

: But I thought Elder Trees were supposed to have perfect memories…

: My most sincere apologies, Elder Tree. How may I help you recover your wits?

:…Huh. Sounds fairly simple, buuuut…I thought the same thing about proving Bosch’s innocence.

: I am sure the people there will understand our plight and hand over what we need swiftly…is what I would say if I were an optimist, but from what I have seen of the world I agree with you – I doubt it will be so easy.