Part 35: Five Years Before

Return to the EGG
Okay, so this update will have a lot of videos. If possible, watch them.





So, there's something in here now. Whatever it is, it is clearly moving and pretty damn big too.
















Um, er, hi Heat?



Yeah, so the camera pulls back now and we can see Heat's full size.

Epic Battle ~ Prelude



Also, his head now is actually that tiny thing poking out of the middle large head.

Heat...





Devour me, if that's what you really want.







You don't understand--



Be careful. We wanna talk with you, bro...



Let's go.

Boss: Asura Yaksa Vritra

Hunting ~ Betrayal



Vritra is, uh, an actual Asura in Hindu mythology and the personification of drought (so Heat makes sense here). Also he was another of Indra's enemies, so the game really has it out for that guy. On the other hand, unlike Indrajit, Vritra got his ass kicked by Indra. Keep this in mind. Also sometimes, depending on who you ask, Varuna and Agni sided with Vritra... until Indra persuaded them to help him out instead.

Here, Vritra is a fun as hell fight but changing his race to Yaksa was a giant misstep.

So, what can he do here? All four normal -ndas but not Dekunda or Dekaja. He also gets 2 press turns on his own and his tentacles with the Agni heads get a 1 each.



The only damage+ailment skill he has is Silent Howl. It's not really a big issue all told.



Of course, he has Agidyne. No other Fire spells though, and no Mind Charge nor any other buffs.



Whenever you actually try and attack, whether it be with single or multi-target things, the tentacles jump in the way to tank it first. This just means Vritra can't be hit until they're both dead.



Speaking of the tentacles, they just do physical attacks. A normal one and this one.



It deals less damage than a regular attack, but hits everyone. Meh.



Of course, Vritra does have a multi-target Phys skill of his own. He uses Power Wave sometimes but not very often.



Vritra does have one big trick he can deploy. Doesn't spam it overly much but that may be for the best.



Gelid is an actual word that basically means "very fucking cold."



So of course it hits everyone for mid-level Ice damage. As you would expect it also has a very high chance to Freeze someone, if not multiple people.

The thing that makes this a Big Deal though is that it cannot miss. Ever. It will always hit, so all you can do is mitigate it.



Ice Repel/Drain is the best way to deal with that of course.



Doesn't really matter which, but Repel is easier to get so I'd use that. Vritra repels Ice himself so it won't hurt him or anything. Drain is a bit more ideal what with the whole "getting healed by it" thing but it really doesn't matter.



The tentacles are the first thing in any boss fight thus far that have no weaknesses. They do only have 500HP a piece though.



...This does not carry on over to Vritra himself. In a move that is hella clever, he's weak to Elec spells.



You'd better survive!

Without his tentacles, Vritra does pick up a couple new moves. He also loses Gelid Torrent at this point.



Despite its name, Inferno Roar is not actually Fire elemental.



Instead, it's just a hard-hitting Almighty attack. Much like Gelid Torrent, it cannot miss.



He usually, but not always, follows it up with Sonic Wave. This is just the usual MT panic spell.



I killed your leader! Aren't you angry? Where's your hatred!? Bring it on!!



But now that he's alone, I think Sera can bust out her new spell as well.



...Whenever she's not throwing away over $54,000 at least.



But, it's not over yet.



The easiest thing to do, then, is just cast Void Panic before Vritra gets a turn. Just as a precaution more than anything else.



So, that's Vritra. He can regrow his tentacles after a while, but how long it takes depends on when they get killed. If its simultaneous, then it takes a fairly long time.



All in all, not overly difficult but a pretty fun fight. As you'd expect, no AP this time but enough money to restore what Sera threw away and still be in the black.

But I reset anyway when that happened so whatever.

End

Although this is all one long segment, I've split it into several videos just for the sake of being more watchable.

Five Years Before

Silence



So, while the other 3 are fighting Vritra...



Inside the EGG, Serph's just floating there with... the cat...?



You should be able to wake up.



Hey, so Serph is alive.

Also, yes, the cat talks and is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.





Schroedinger









and now the cat is a glowing giant okay sure



Beyond this knowledge lies enlightenment--





You may not be able to understand it yet...





Memory





















You did great, Sera!











Oh, I wouldn't worry about Heat.



He's just a bit of a hot-head is all.

Silence





So, the beachball is nice and labelled. Albeit backwards.





Argilla and Serph's hair are their Embryon colours now, huh? Hmm.











Number 19 created it outside of our knowledge.





...It's sickening.









Is this true?











She should last a bit longer. Inject the stimulant.













Doofy random scientist stumbles at this and just happens to palm this red button.



And now Sera can see what's happening. Hear it too.











I think we're both better than that.
You're really something, you know that?







And because Serph is a giant jerklord shitmaster, Heat gets shot.



By Argilla???? And she can't really believe that she did that either.













Sera starts crying, because she is a child and all, Serph hears this and then notices the flashing red button.



I think the Colonel picked a bad time to come back...









The EGG lights up and starts to go more than a little haywire...



Contaminated by the rush of data,









As Serph is having a little breakdown at all this new knowledge, someone steps up to join Schroedinger...



Her paradise became hell;







Of course, since this Heat is already dead he can just walk right through Serph.

However...





What did you do to me!?



The dude on the left is clearly jerkface scientist Serph; the right one is the first data version from the beach scene.

Where is Sera?
You and I are dead.



You're lying! I cant be dead!





Both Serphs can tune, huh? Makes sense.

Now,





Heat being able to tune into Agni also makes sense. Shame that its the same model as our Heat had though.



At least it means Serph doesn't have to solo 2 Serphs.

Boss: Yaksa Real Varna; Yaksa Fake Varna

Epic Battle



Despite being billed as a boss fight, the 2 Varnas aren't realy that big of an issue. Serph is exactly as he was when we last saw him; same skills, same stats, same level, same everything.



Not really much you can do with this to exploit that fact, though. Neither Real nor Fake have weaknesses, which makes them the first bosses to do so.



It hardly matter though; True Heat is strong enough to compensate for Serph's deficiencies and then some. He could solo this fight if you really needed it.



The Varnas are also really talky at spots, which is the big reason why this fight could take a while.



Attack wise, they both only have one beyond a normal physical.



Black Impulse is an unusual skill in that it hits a single target for Death elemental damage.



But it cannot inflict instant death, curse or stone. It's just a raw Death elemental attack.



Where... are you... Sera!?
Get out of my way, you imposter! I'm not dead! I can't be dead!



Appropriately enough then, Fake Varna has White Impulse.



As you no doubt deduced, this is single target Expel damage.



Very easy fight, albeit for good reason. It can't really be too difficult otherwise it'd be incredibly annoying very fast.



Gives a gigantic ton of Karma for what it was, too. Meant to push Serph back up on par with the others. It's not quite enough though.



Although, 33 stat points to throw around is always great. Note that none of them went into Magic though. Unless he gets a random point or two from level up bonuses, it won't be going up at all now.

End

So if this is all happening sorta before, and during, the Vritra fight... what about after it?

The End of Vritra

Silence





So... Vritra gets sliced open from the inside?!



At least he geyser's appropriately.





So, it turns out that Vritra's a combination of Heat/Agni and the EGG, huh? I guess that explains that then.









Needless to say, Vritra doesn't take being sliced apart from within very well!



It is you!







I do...









Let Him Go













Let him go.

End

Silence



So now we have to run off a bit as Serph alone. No fights at this point, so it's easy enough to get to... wait hang on. There was a warp here; it's gone now.



That lets us take a new elevator to B27 and enter the main control room.

Later, Buddy













Heat, I--

Choice here doesn't matter and I forgot that, thought it did for a while and panicked that I picked the wrong one. Nope!



I did it...



I don't... regret--





No Regret













Silence



I'm sorry, Fred.
So, then...





If it's still functional...











How will you return?





It's my responsibility...



Why?





You can't be reasonin' with God, bro.





Oh yah, baby. Dig it?
I'm sure you would only anger him.
Really?



Agreed.







End



With Serph back, we can now head on over to the Airport and prepare to go speak with God himself...

But first, don't you think it's strange? We've gotten through an awful lot of DDS2 and haven't really touched any sidequests. I'm thinking we should go and change that. What convenient timing that there are now four optional bosses that are only available at this point.