Part 37: Airport (Part One)

The Gospel's pretty good on paper, and it is way better than every other bullet we have. At least its not like Expel elemental or anything, which you might have thought from its name.

At The Airport



Nothing else to do right now other than farm Golden Boxes but that can wait until later.





What? Why!?









I love nonchalant Cielo here.

There is one other thing.























End



Before we step inside the airport proper, we can take this opportunity to talk with everyone again.



In one case, it's our last chance to do so.

So... I'll see you guys around.



So Sera created us before de Junkyard was made, ja?



How would you explain dat!?



Have you forgotten what Karma means?



It always sounded sad...

One-Way Stairs



The Airport is both a really quite short dungeon, and yet a lot longer than you would think.



It also starts us off with a small terminal and a golden container just past a tiny barrier.



Obviously, going further east here is progress so we'll go south first.



That lets us loop around back to the entrance and get the Jasmine right there.



Back on the main path...


Tell the others, immediately! Alright, let's move! We'll capture her.



Serph, listen to me. They mustn't have Sera. Kill anyone who gets in our way. Them, us -- we're all Asuras. There isn't time to take chances now.
I understand.
Of course. You're the leader, after all.



Let's go.



From this point onwards, we actually can get into fights and we'll start off by going east.

Battle for Survival



Well, we'll actually start things off by kicking the shit out of Gurr. He's become a fair bit more of a threat since we last saw him. Setting the bar pretty low, I realise, but he could maybe kill us now.

...If he ambushes us and spends the first turn spamming buffs at least.



No, if we want a threat, we look to Rangda. Mostly. She's as predictable as ever; seen one Rangda, seen 'em all to be honest. Still, her inclusion here means we can't just casually auto if/shen she gets in critical HP and not scared enough to be eatable.



Nyx turning up at all is always an oddity, because she's actually been in a lot less games than you would expect. But the personification of the night has at some point become equatable with the cold. So we burn her and she dies.



And last we have Nandi. He's kind of annoying, but mostly because of that Mediarahan more than anything else. Good thing we grabbed the Al Azif in order to snag store points earlier, since it makes this guy a joke.

One-Way Stairs



Anyway, there's these two clowns.



They don't get to jump us immediately, so we electrocute them and they die.



If we go down these stairs, we'll be at the spot where the soldiers were a little while ago. So that's progress, and we won't be doing that right now.



First, we'll run all the way to the eastern corridor and grab this Pink Crystal I should've grabbed first. Nothing else over here, so back downstairs now we go.



Man, it's a good thing there's that giant gap in the fence that couldn't be more blatant if it tried. We'd be buggered otherwise.



There's absolutely nothing further east (unless a dead-end really counts) so we'll go through the door to the south. From there, we'll turn to the right and pick up a Great Chakra.

Ever since we unlocked Golden Boxes, these become a mite underwhelming in comparison to normal but it still saves us a ton of money so I find it hard to complain.



From there, we just turn back and carry on further east instead of heading north. There, we'll take this turn and head on to the terminal and further onwards.

There's nothing past that door to the north on the map, by the way.



I think the only one of the +3 hidden stat boosts we're missing now is the Luck one, but I could be misremembering. They kinda blur together, and you can't recheck which one gives what after you unlock them.



You may have noticed another turn past the terminal, and the right branch leads to a door that is blatantly for making backtracking easier later.

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



So, we'll go the otherway instead and fight some more of Angel's goons.

Roger. It will be done.
What the hell do you think you can do, huh? You're nothing but AI! Angel is going to save us!

Mini-Boss: Yaksa Kali; Yaksa Dakini

Heroic Battle



So, Kali has a silly gimmick that ultimately does not matter. See, she repels Fire, Ice, Force, Elec and Earth.



The Dakini will sometimes cast Phys Repel, but mostly waste turns with shit like Makakaja.

Aside from buffs/shields, Dakini has no spells. Kali has all of one spell. And it's an ailment.

Also Dakini is weak to Ice. Oops.



So, we can destroy the Dakini before she ever gets a turn. Naturally, Kali can only really be hit with physical skills.



Or Almighty ones, I guess. Only reason we have Megido as a single person skill right now though, is because I wanted Mind Charge and this was a mandatory component.



So, Kali's skills? Pretty much entirely physical.



She repels all normal spell elements but is completely neutral to physicals.

I'll give you a second to stop laughing at how stupid this is.



Okay, but seriously, you could easily beat Kali without ever actually attacking her if you had Phys Repel which is, uh, very possible without doing any grinding!



We don't though, so the only thing we can do is buff, debuff her and then auto for Gale and Sera's turns while Serph contributes effectively.



At about half health, she summons a second Dakini. This is the only time she summons in a new one by the way.

It, uh, lasts as long as the first one.



Kali's only other skill is Blood Curse. Only matters if it hits Serph, and he has the Skull Ring equipped just because.



So, uh, would you believe me if I said that Kali somehow isn't even the easiest of the three mini-bosses we get to fight in this place?

Because she isn't. It's a pretty damn close race to the bottom, though!

End

One-Way Stairs



So, there's the obvious staircases that lead to a higher floor, but we'll ignore them for the moment.

The obvious chest to the left just contains some Dis-Curses...



But there's also a Medical Gear hidden off to the rightside of the area.



Going up now, and there's the sole large terminal in this place right there.

Kinda been a surprisingly small number of these this time around, now that I think about it. And they're all pretty shittily placed in one way or another.



We'll go off to the west side, first. There's an entrance over there what'll take us back to where we just sort of came from.



More importantly, it lets us grab the Dual Ring. In a rare moment, this ring is Pretty Good. I know, I'm shocked too.



After all, it lets you attack twi-

...Why is there two gaps above this? There should be only one. Did I miss something? I know its not That because that doesn't take up a slot...

oh son of a bitch



Good thing there's the large terminal very nearby, since its gonna make skipping back here easier. And lets us see that we have access to a new meh Esoteric mantra. There are good ones other than the Mutual Karma one, honest.

And I say this is meh, but getting more drops is kinda nice. Especially since it does stack if you have it on the full active party. Problem is there's always something more worth using that slot on.



Anyway, we missed an important room in the EGG Facility.



Its on B11 directly south of the terminal. Don't know how I missed it.



Probably because I'm an idiot.

The other gold box is a fight against a single Hresvelgr. Whatever.



The Follow-Up Ring isn't even that good in practice. But we still can't just ignore it. I mean, we can now but we need to have it.



After that stupid detour is over, we can head back to the Airport, take the eastern path from the terminal and continue on.

South of this entranceway is a box with some Wind Walls in it by the way.



Well, that door looks suspicious so we'll ignore it for the moment.



The giant entryway that's more obvious and eyecatching lets us snag some free Luck Data.

Still probably not gonna use any of this but we'll see.



The actual door lets us go back downstairs to the ground floor again.



Man, I hate choices. Let's see... south it is.



Hello, new bullet. The Charm Shot does exactly what it says on the tin.



It's also a very nice upgrade for anyone who didn't get the Gospel.

Y'know, unless you spent money on bullets for some reason. Don't do that. It's unnecessary!



Another decision, but this one is easier at least. North leads us to an empty room, so we'll go south.



More of these guys? Alright, fine. Let's get our devour on.

Heroic Battle
just to highlight how pathetic kali was, she gets the same music as these guys. i'd even say they're technically harder.



Fortunately, for us and unfortunately for them, the last DDS1 ring does not change resistances around.

that we will retrieve the Cyber Shaman... even if we become fiends ourselves!



I'd say with just this, Flauros has already proven to be more of a threat than Kali.



They also have no elemental weaknesses. Inexplicably they don't resist fire either.

They do HAVE weaknesses, but its to low-tier ailments like Poison. So they might as well have none.



Also they can do this. Y'know how we whave Dark Mirage which does 2 Sukundas or Enervate which does 2 Tarundas? Yeah, you guessed it. This is 2 Makandas.

One-Way Stairs



So, the Amala Ring. This is the reward for beating the Demi-Fiend in DDS1.



It gives +10 to everything which sounds very impressive on paper.

It's also going to be very nice for cutting through randoms quite fast but, wouldn't you know it? It's not even worth a fraction of the fucking effort. The other DDS1 rings at least have unique effects.



Anyway, that done, we can continue further onwards. The door here lets us backtrack to the terminal just before Kali and the like. Again, it's good for backtracking but not really right now.



Right up the stairs to the side, there's a small terminal. Immediately. Good to open the door just in case though.



Just past that door is even more generic goons. Sure, why not. This isn't even a mini-boss like Kali. Not really.



This is just precious. We hit them and they die.



A minor inconvenience. Nidhoggr this time around has less than half the health of his random encounter incarnation from DDS1 and is now weak to Expel and Panic.



I don't even know why they'd bother. It doesn't even have threatening moves or anything.

Anyway, we kill it and take the stairs back down.



Much like before, there's an obvious door that's probably progress.



We'll go right first, and enter a giant entranceway picking up two Attack Mirrors in the process.

Battle for Survival



Hey look, it's Flauros. Told ya he didn't resist Fire which is bloody weird for the guy who kills people via immolation.

Having all 3 counters is kind of redundant, but also kind of not. They have different proc rates and deal different damage. It's still silly though.



Hey, Mot. Kinda didn't expect to run into you here. No Rage, huh? That's probably a good thing. Heh.

Still, does make it kinda underwhelming when you run into 3 of 'em, hit a Ziodyne and one drops instantly. Can't really do much to stop you clearing them out effortlessly afterwards. Oh well.

One-Way Stairs



Obvious progress right here, but we'll ignore it for the time being and instead keep going south.



That brings us to a room with our monster-in-a-box fight.



...It's just even more Flauros though. Kinda hoped for something a bit more imaginative.



Continuing on the main path again, we get another detour.



Taking the turn just before the terminal is nice for the Data, I guess.



Are you ready?
Yes.

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



I'll watch as you're torn to shreds by your own shadows! Now, die!!

Mini-Boss: Yaksa Chernobog

Heroic Battle



So, Chernobog is the hardest of the trio of mini-bosses we have to contend with. Setting the bar very damn low but it's... something.



It's also mostly because of his gimmick. He gets the first move (probably for the best), and opens with Rage.



He then follows up with a pretty cool idea. It's not as nice in practice though.



See, on his first turn he uses this skill twice.



He stabs himself through the chest and summons shadow clones of 2 random party members.



In the name of the dark god, I call forth forbidden power... I shall become a sword and rend your corpse asunder!



He then uses Dark Slumber for the first and last time. This turns him into a sword which has no effect on his press turns but prevents him from attacking. Somehow.



It also prevents him from being hit by anything. And when I say anything, I mean anything. Attacks, spells, debuffs... nope.



One thing you may hvae noticed is that the clones, uh, are that in every sense of the word except HP/MP. They have the exact same weaknesses, resistances, skills etc. of their original.



Now if your character has attack skills/spells, the shadow clones will mercilessly exploit that and try to ruin you. In such a case, they will never use their regular attack because it sucks and is bad.

...However, if they only have buffs/debuffs/healing spells etc. they will not be used. Ever.

We could also abuse their AI in ways like just giving them Maragion and casting Fire Drain or something but nah.



We kill the clones and then Chernobog is kind enough to leave his sword on his next turn. This does take one of his actions, at least.



Now that he's left it, he won't summon new clones or anything. How boring.



Also he's weak to Fire. Makes sense, but its still disappointing.



His actual attacks kinda leave something to be desired.



Now, this might sound very familiar but... he only uses physical skills.



It's like they're not even trying to stop us or anything.



So we burn him and he dies. If he didn't have that opening shadow gimmick, all 3 fights would be contenders for most underwhelming. As is, Chernobog is the biggest threat which is hilariously depressing.

End

One-Way Stairs



Before we continue onward, we can finally run into Johnny. In, uh, the same room that soldier was in. Johnny is a brave, brave merchant.

That's how serious business works; I've been watching you -- this is definitely serious business. Now, you might have gotten me a little mixed up with it... but if there's one thing I know how to handle, it's serious business.



That applies to... both business and relationships. Remember that. ...Huh? Am I... okay? Heh... Don't be silly... The customer... doesn't worry about the shop... Now go, fly... Fly high...

That's a lot of ellipses...



I hope the only thing we can do for Johnny will help that. And the only thing we can do is throw money at him. Really should have about 4 or 5 Light Balls but I'm sure 3 will be enough.



He's talking brave, but... He'll be okay, ja? I mean... He owns de shop. Dere's plenty of medicine, if he really needs it... right?

Cielo, once again, being the only one to talk sense. Johnny's gonna be just fine. He has all the healing items. Even has a Graven Shard if he really needs it.



...Meanwhile, we have to dive back into the dark. Swell.