Part 12: Chapter XI: Beyd the Dragon Slayer

Chapter XI: Beyd the Dragon Slayer

Welcome back. Last time, Nina decided to do something annoying. So let's ignore her and get Peco trained up. HIGHLIGHTS!



These are Trickers, a new enemy. Very quick, but not too strong. Watch out for Flying Kick, a learnable Skill that does damage based on your agility. Great to have, but not worth it yet. They also have Blind and have a tendency to run away if you don't finish them off.



FUCK LIZARD MEN. FUCK THEM ALL TO HELL. Weak to electric attacks, these guys like to cast Shield at the start of battle and let their high strength and insane reprisal rate do the work. When they're weak, they can cast Rejuvenate. Nina makes short work of these with her Lightning spell if you choose to use her. Also, try to learn Wind Strike, a wind elemental physical attack.





Around here, it also ocurred to me we hadn't seen much of Momo, so here's what she brings to the table. As you can see, she's mainly a support mage (in addition to that insane attack power). She eventually learns Speed (ups agility) and Might (ups power), making her indispensable in longer fights. Sadly, she'll never learn Shield, short of learning it from Yggdrasil. She also learns all the healing spells Ken does, save for two, and a couple earth attack spells. I gave her Typhoon from Mygas (pictured) to round her out since her earth spells won't hit flying enemies.



And here's Peco being fucking cute and ready to punch the shit out of anyone who says otherwise.



This is a straight level gain from 3 to 5. Originally thought it was 4 to 5, but it's still impressive.



Also, these are Blood Bats, the last new enemy around Rhapala. They always cast Syphon in the first round and escape the second. They also have high agility and high evasion. A quick Typhoon spell will nail them all though.




And this is the Trygon, our first special dragon form. Combine the Flame, Frost, and Thunder genes to get it. It has access to all three of those breath attacks, and takes no damage from those elements. The lack of the Claw attacks are what makes this from being truly awesome.





Pictured: Frost Breath, Thunder Breath, and Dragon Breath.






Yep that's right. 7 levels lower then Ken, and Peco is already as strong.




Peco is also notable for not starting with ANY abilities. Dream Breath is his first, and it's functionally identical to Momo's Sleep spell.

And that oughta be enough to get Peco through. Let's do this.



: I'm going to go talk to Beyd and tell him what he needs to do...



Momo doesn't think this is a good idea. She's got a good head on her shoulders.



Nina wonders where Momo and Ken went, and they quickly catch up.



: Say, Beyd... You're in love with Shadis, aren't you?

Beyd: Wh-wh-wh-what, what What are you talking about!?

: Don't be so embarrassed-- I'm sure Shadis likes you too!

Beyd: Wait... wait just a minute... Why don't we talk about this somewhere else...




Beyd: What're you talking about? Of course I like Shadis...she's my friend, but... What!? P-p-p-p-p -propose!? I c-c-can't do that! I mean, I'm nothing! She needs someone strong and, and... reliable to help her run the Guild!

: So then all you need to do is get strong!

Beyd: I don't know... I think that's easier said than done--look at me...

: No problem! We'll help train you! (editor's note: FUCK OFF NINA)

Beyd: T-train!?

: That's right. It looks like we won't be going anywhere until the boat comes, so we'll help you get stronger! (editor's note: THE HELL WE WILL!)

Beyd: No... I don't think it'll work...

: You won't know unless you try!

Beyd: I'm going... back to work



Yes. Yes you did.

: No... It may take him some time to face the truth...

Zig: Bwah ha ha ha ha!

: What's all that noise about?



Geez, Zig. quit being creepy.



: Beyd...What's the matter?

Beyd: Zig's going to go fix the lighthouse



Beyd: If Zig manages to defeat the monsters and repair the lighthouse, there'll be no denying he's the strongest man around and the best choice for Guildmaster.

: And that means... Zig will marry Shadis, right?

Beyd: Please... I want you to train me. I can't just give up... Not without trying! Please train me... Make me strong so I can go fix the lighthouse before Zig! I've never used a sword before... You'll have to get me some equipment. I'll give you 1000 zenny, so please get me some armor and a sword...And please get some that aren't too heavy.

Fortunately, I already took care of it off screen. I got him a Claymore and a Scale Mail (despite what Beyd just said, weight absolutely doesn't matter).



Music



We can give him anything that Ken can equip, but he can only equip a sword and body armor.




Our options are fairly self-explanatory, but I'll explain the process.



We are now doing my absolute least favorite part of the game, training Beyd. Yaaaaaaaaay.

It's pretty basic. We can build up his HP, strength, and defense. His health is built up by hurting him (~20 HP of damage = 1 HP gained), his strength is built by the damage he does by attacking you (which means take your armor off to build it up faster), and his defense is built by the number of attack he gets hit with while defending. Normally, what I do is get him to critical health to get him to defend and turn him into a complete tank, but I'm going further because I love you guys.



Here's Beyd's defensive stance. It doesn't look particularly effective.




You know what sucks? Defense can go as high as hell as you want it to. Strength and HP can only go up 6 points a night.



By the way, here's Identify in action. It shows nothing useful.



Anyway, after a few nights of training Beyd, this screen becomes a common sight.




As does this.




Yep. Beyd took no damage from a bazooka and proceeded to do about 900 damage to Momo.



You don't wanna know how long this took. Thank god for the turbo feature, and a special shout-out to Leavemywife for chatting with me while I was doing this last night. This is for you guys, because most people will never see a maxed out stat in this game. With a few healing items, Beyd could take on the final boss on his own right now.



After many, MANY nights, we tell Beyd TO THE LIGHTHOUSE!



Aw, raspberries.

Zig: What!? What do you mean you're going to the lighthouse, Beyd?

Iggy: It's Zig here who's going, see? So just butt out, Beyd!



Zig may be the biggest douchenozzle in all the land, but seriously any woman or gay guy who says they wouldn't go for someone who looks like that is lying.

Zig: That's right! I'm the strongest, so it's me who's going to the lighthouse! You got a problem with that, you'll have to fight me!

Iggy: If you want to go, you'll have to beat Zig, see?

And so everyone heads to the town square that night.



Iggy: We're here to decide who goes to the lighthouse to fix it: Beyd, or the boss? Listen up! This is a duel, see? Don't you be trying nothing, OK? Just stay there and watch!




That's the gimmick if, like me, you just wanna blow off the training thing. This is a unique thing in that this is a battle between two enemies, and we have to sit and watch. Each round, you can only defend or examine, of else we have the quit because of cheating. But, when Zig is waving at Shadis like that (normally when Beyd is in critical), you can heal Beyd up.




But as it is, Zig doesn't even get a single attack off before Beyd slaughters him.




Beyd collapses. BEYD YOU DIDN'T EVEN GET HIT.

Music: Beyd's Victory

Beyd: I... I won...

Iggy: Oh no! Boss! I don't believe it! How could big old Zig here lose to Beyd?

Shadis: Beyd... Are you all right? Look at you...you're all beat up...

Beyd: If it hadn't been for... all your help, I wouldn't have been able to beat Zig If you hadn't convinced me to fight Zig, Peco, then... I guess... I would have stayed the same old Beyd... a 98-pound weakling... Shadis... I want to help you. Let's take care of the guild...together

Iggy: Boss! Boss! Did you hear that!? Boss!...Boss! Wake up, Boss!

Beyd: Thank you...Thank you so very much... I don't know what'll happen next, but... Shadis and I will work everything out somehow...together!

That was...not at all worth it. Even though it is a happy ending.



The next morning, Zig bemoans his fate, but quickly says he can take it. Glad to see him growing up a bit.



Waht? How are you that hurt? You big faker. HEY GUYS THIS GUY'S A BIG FAKER!

Beyd: These injuries? Well, I'm not used to fighting, see, so... ouch! So, I won't be going to the lighthouse for a while, I suppose. But if you're really in a hurry... I really shouldn't do this--you're not Guild members, but... I was wondering... would you help us fix the lighthouse? Here, take this...

And we receive the Guild Badge. And anyone who didn't see this coming should have their head examined.

Beyd also gives us our equipment back, but he's upgraded it. No matter what you gave him (even if you Gamesharked in an endgame weapon), he'll give you the next one up on the list in the game's code. Same with the armor. This is why you still wanna get him the best stuff, even if you train him the way I did. The Flare Sword is handy for the next boss, and this is the first Crepe Cape if you haven't been fishing.



So apparently Beyd gave us a cat that will stay in our bag forever. Also, those eggs and the wallet are from McNeil Manor.



And this is the lighthouse, our next dungeon. It's fairly short, fortunately. Make sure you get the party inoculated against Flame in Rhapala before going in.



The outside isn't anything too special, but there's still some new enemies here. The Ghost has access to both Jolt and Sleep, but other than that isn't an issue at all.



Fortunately, you guys voted Momo in. She can blast these barrels away (and somewhere, Ashton Anchors is crying and doesn't know why). Without her, we'd have to take the long way around.



But this is on the long way, so it may be worth your while to take it anyway.



These guys are back, and they're even less of a threat. For now.



Down that aisle is a Mirthil Shield (yes, they spell it that way, not me).



Thunders are the next step up from Volts. They cans Jolt on their whole group the first round to power up Volts, which in turn cast it on you (and give boosted experience). These also show up around Genmel, but there the group tends to be a Thunder and 3 Volts, which leads to a world of pain, if not a straight up game over.




And now we're inside. Apparently the Lighthouse was built by the same people who built Fou-lu's Tomb in Breath of Fire IV. Seriously, it doesn't get much cooler than being inside a void.



FUCK THESE GUYS.



This is Depress, their signature move. It attacks your whole parties AP. I encountered these in every single fight in here, and had to resort to items to heal.



All paths lead to here, the heart of the Lighthouse. But we're not ready to do what we need to do.



To the right, under the stairs, is a chest with a Dream Ring, which offers 100% defense against Sleep. Very handy. To the left takes us back out.



Each of these chests contain Flame Chrysm (yep, the weapon Momo has been toting around), for the reactor. Generator. Whatever. We only need one, but there are 3 in case you screw up. If you keep screwing up, you can buy more in town.



Also, I got this after a battle. Psionic are stat-reducing attacks, such as Depress.




After putting the Flame Chrysm in the thingie, examine the switch to get this screen. You can barely see it, but there's a wave (there's a proper term for it, but I haven't thought about it since high school so feel free to mention the correct term if you like) that keeps going. You want to flip the switch just before it hit's that horizontal yellow line in the picture.



If done correctly, you'll get this message.



You'll notice the chrysm is going through the pipes (?), flip this witch to send it the other way. There's another switch that way you need to hit to get it to the bulb though.



: What is that? It's so cuuuute!!



: Well, whatever it is... It doesn't look harmful, does it?

Well, let's keep climbing and-- BY THE GIGANTIC BALLS OF ZEUS WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!





: Now that I think about it... it's not cute at all...

This is Gazer, a damn cool looking boss. I guess Umbrella's love for putting random eyes on shit spilled over into other Capcom games. Gazer is pretty easy. First of all, he's weak to Flame. I should have put Ken in front to go to town with the Flare Sword, but this worked out.



Also, this is Quake. It doesn't look great in a picture, but it's a neat effect in-game. Basically the entire terrain does the wave.



Gazer is notable for having the only normal attack that hits everybody. Fortunately, being a bunch of eyes, he can be blinded so it's not a huge issue.



And this is Eye Beam, his signature attack. It's dual elemental, Flame and another element I've never been able to identify. It does around 50 damage if you're not inoculated. Since this hit Peco, and inoculating Peco against Flame just puts him to normal Flame resistance, he still takes 52 damage.

All in all, not a hard battle. Gazer can also confuse a party member, but he didn't do it this time.



And Peco is starting to become scary.



And here's the top of the Lighthouse.



The Eldritch Gene makes your dragon form focus on magic. Situational. There's usually a better option, but I'll show it off next battle.







She smashes and breaks the switch, but the light stays on.



Faerie: After we went to all the trouble to get Gazer to guard it... Now we can't turn it off!! I hate you! Dummies! It's all your fault! You'd better make up for it! Here--take this!



Faerie: If you use this in the flower rings out in the country, you can come to our world... You'll be in big trouble if you don't, understand?

Sure...I guess. Making our way back out, we make camp to rest up. Everyone's AP is at 0 before I get out.



Garr is pretty pissed off.




From now on, whenever we examine the flower fields, we come here.




: Hmmm... So this is the other side of the lighthouse, then?

Cadis: That's right, dummy! That's why I told you not to turn it on!

Mayfly: What are we going to do now that the light's on, El?

Elkhair: 'What're we going to do'? You know what's going to happen, May? That monster's going to come after us again.

Mayfly: I know that! That's why I'm asking what are we going to do, you dummy!

Elkhair: I'm not a dummy! Only dummies call people dummies!

Mayfly: Are you calling me a dummy, El?



Cadis: STOP IT! So, that's our problem. What are you gonna do about it?

: Well...I suppose we could kill that monster for you...?

Cadis: Good idea! It comes out of the sea at night, so you should wait down at the beach...

: I'm not really sure what's going on... But why don't we help them? It doesn't look like the boat's coming anytime soon...

Sounds reasonable. Even if it wasn't on purpose, we did kinda screw them over.



Also, one of the few times you'll see me use the Defense formation. And yes, Nina and Momo are forced into your party for this segment. It's actually a good thing, this next guy has insane defense.



I heart the beach. It's my favorite of all the geography.





Yes. This actually plays here

: Here it comes... Let's get it when it sticks its head out of the water, OK?




The screen goes black, and we here the sounds of the party beating the absolute shit out of something followed by a...dolphin?



A pretty pink dolphin.

: This... is the monster?

: It's a dolphin...

Dolphin: Ouch.... What was that for?

: Sorry... It's just that we were told there was a monster coming, and we thought that you were...well...

Dolphin: Everyone makes a mistake now and then-- no worries... Why don't you tell me about this monster?

: He's a nice dolphin, isn't he? I wonder if he's what the faeries are afraid of?

: Let's go ask them.

Momo and Nina leave.



Those eyes don't look happy.

Dolphin: Oi! What's got your goat, laying into me like that? No worries, mate, but it's your lookout... I was just minding the
sheilas, but if you want to take it outside...



Dolphin: What's with the lighthouse, anyway? Bloody nuisance, can't get a wink wit' it shining away all night. Get rid o' it, apples it ain't. Else we might have a bit o' a barney happening...



Capcom now gives you the option of seeing the scene with an American translation, even though it comes off as more of a gangster from Looney Tunes.

Dolphin: Hey! What do you think you're doing, hitting me like that! All right... I was just being nice 'cause the chicks were here... If
it's just you, I won't hold back, see? What's up with the lighthouse, anyway? When it's on, the light gets in my eyes and I can't sleep. Turn it off already, would ya? If you don't, I might have to get rough with ya, see?

By the way, any Australian Goons reading this? How accurate is his wording?

The girls return, faeries in tow.



: This...is the monster?

Mayfly: He told us that if we didn't turn off the lighthouse... That he would eat us! Can you believe it!?

Dolphin: Hey, the light's too bright, you know? I can't sleep, yeah? So, you think you could, like, turn it off for me, huh?

Elkhair: If you want it turned off, do it yourself, dummy!



Mayfly: That's right, you dummy! Why do you have to bully us about it anyway!



Cadis: Leave us alone, you big dumb dolphin!




BY THE HAMMER OF THOR! _{Where'd the horn come from?}



The Dolphin. Notable for being one of two bosses fought with you facing towards the screen. The Dolphin has crazy defense. Ken can't even break 30 damage on it. He's weak as hell to electricity though so let's take care of that. But first, some business.



The animation is incredibly quick and I wasn't expecting it, but Dolphin has Intimidate, which cancels the targets action if it hits. D'lonzo teaches it. Handy, if I didn't already have Air Raid.




He can also summon some pretty cool looking Tsunamis. And now Momo can too. It's also one of my favorite animations in the game.



It may look cool, but I've never actually used it. But it IS missable (you have two more chances to learn it after this battle) so I always grab it. Maybe I'll experiment with it this time around. Fortunately, this is the ONLY missable Skill.



I combine the Thunder and Eldritch Genes to get this Thunder Dragon (for those curious, the Frost Dragon is simply a lighter blue)



The element combined with Eldritch determines what spell it has. In this case, it's Myollnir, which does 200 is damage to the Dolphin. With Nina doing a double Meditation/Lightning combo, she's doing about the same.



Here's Myollnir in action by the way. It's not too difficult a fight.



And after winning, the faeries offer to let us crash for the night.



Mayfly kisses Ken in gratitude, causing him to faint.

Cadis: Thank you for getting rid of that nasty dolphin for us

Momo: It's OK to leave the lighthouse on now, right?

Cadis: Right! We weren't able to make any new friends with him around...

Mayfly: But now that he's gone, we can have all sorts of friends over!



The cocoon hatches another fairy, foreshadowing a bright future for them

POLL TIME!!!!

Next update will bring the first half of the game to a close. We will be going through two dungeons, each with a boss at the end. Garr is required for the second dungeon. Which two out of Nina, Momo, and Peco will be going through the first first dungeon? Keep in mind that whoever isn't going through that first dungeon will be accompanying Ken and Garr in the next.

What Masters should I switch to if any?

What's my new gameplay challenge?