Part 7: Railway Wreckage.
Update 06: Railway Wreckage.The voting public made it pretty clear; you always go sidequesting before tackling the plot. Its the only right way to play.
I bet it was that Flute Warrior guy Im scared, boss!
What with Slival and this fella, those slimes are gettin a bit too big for their slurps!
Why yes, we could have come here and heard Slival mentioned before even meeting Spine Les. We would have had some serious trouble dealing with the rest of the area though.
I reckon we should keep goin an make sure that slime aint got to em.
Now youre talkin, Babbo!
And yes, Wiseguy and Babbo are back. Well be seeing them a few times today.
The next spot is where Baron Blubba used to be imprisoned, back by that rope I pointed out in Update 02.
Hey! How comes youre the only one sunnin yourself up there, Babbo!?
Im pretty sure we left some slime chests at the top o this rope before. I need to get up there fast an check em out. Get to it, Babbo! I aint got all day.
Hmm, that line seems like it should have come before the rope was lowered. Odd.
I guess well just have to hope that Flute Warrior slimeball dont come our way
Id say the chance of that is pretty slim(e).
There are more of us up ahead. Have you managed to rescue Startist yet?
Indeed we have! Ill just go ahead and take Speckles back to the Trans-Slimenian real quick.
You like painting, right, Rocket? Id love to see one of your pictures one day.
Perhaps well play around with it at some point. Ill make sure to check for new pictures at least. (The spot slime gives us some more fire water.)
The latter half of the Forewood Forest is full of wooden arrows to pick up, if you feel like you havent got enough of those already.
Oh, and all the vegetables that are apparently around have attracted Bunicorns, which only appear in this area. They have 4 HP and drop 14 Gold, and their lucky bag has a 50/50 chance of being a wooden arrow or an oaken club. As such, theyre not a bad choice for farming drops if you really want some new ammo.
Their method of attack is fairly self-explanatory. And yes, they will get their horn stuck if they ram into something solid.
There are three ways to go from this screen, but that rectangular dead-end room on the right is a bit of a giveaway. Remember what I said could be identified by its shape?
Yep, its a tank battle room!
I aint gonna let no schmo like you ruin the place. Well settle this with a tank battle!
Cant we both just enjoy the peaceful woods? No? Okay, time for you to die.
You have no idea how much I wish any of these animations in this shot actually were the same length, so I could have made a clean loop of everyones animations. Oh well, time to show off what our crew can do!
Time to take on the Purrsecutor once more! The enemies arent so invasion-happy this time, though that may have had something to do with
...Hooly being set to go over there and wreck all their stuff. This tactics screen actually pauses the action while you change stuff around, fortunately.
Oh, and your allies have a lot of stuff to say, including lines for changing to each tactic. As a sidenote, I noticed Mother Glooperiors movement speed drops while she carries something, which Blubbas doesnt do. I guess nuns arent big on weightlifting.
The thing about infiltration is that the enemy tanks door takes a surprising amount of punishment before it relents and lets you in. Of course, its a matter of taking extra time in exchange for being the safer option, as opposed to shooting over there via cannon.
So while Hooly goes and tentacle-bashes some cats, lets smash up all the consoles and set their ammo on fire. Also, thats Hoolys line for finishing off an enemy.
Forty seconds later, the whole enemy crew is dead and Rocket gets to take some ammo to fire at them.
Getting a quick top-up just to show off Mother Glooperiors healing.
Hoolys survivability without support is alright, but hes not going to last the entire fight on his own. Most of it, but not all. Still, hes one of the better choices for an infiltrator.
The Purrsecutors engine room is the same as it was before, so its nice and easy once the door opens. (On the way over, Hooly revives. Looks like it took about forty seconds.)
You were superfab defeating that tank. Oh! You were in the Schleiman Tank? Wow!
Sheala likes her portmanteaus, it seems. Also, Rocket is pretty awesome.
Oh, youll be back when I want a rematch. Quit being so dramatic.
Im so luckful that you rescued me! Its slimetastic to be back in town!
What a strange lady. Yet another arrow gets added to our quiver.
Back at the intersection, lets head north in the hopes itll bring us around to that lovely oaken club up there.
Ropes waiting to be dropped form a whole lot of shortcuts in this area. The one thats already dropped is progress, which leads to
Hurry up an give it a push, ya big baboon! I wanna see this cart movin pronto!
Ya should be able to get it rollin from up there, Wiseguy. It wouldnt hurt ya to do somethin for yourself once in a while.
So enough of the mumblin already, and get pushin!
Okay, boss. Sorry, boss. You holdin on?
Are you tryin ta kill me, ya birdbrain!? That was a pretty rough ride, I tell ya! Now hurry up an get your one-tail butt over here!
Im fairly sure that was the last time well see Wiseguy and Babbo, sadly enough. Ill miss this pair of goofballs.
After our own runaway railcart ride (which makes a hell of a racket), we can put that rope down and save more slimes.
You should......lower that rope......before you go. Itll make things......a lot easier......next time youre......here!
Thank you for explaining how shortcuts work, Jumpy. Oh, and now the railcarts will start to run on this screen.
I was......jumping for joy......and I ended up......all the way......at the top of a......tree! I found this......up there, and I thought......it might be......useful. You can......keep it.
So, you know that thing some people do where they imagine ellipses signify flatulence?
Another recipe! Surprisingly enough, this is the only one that calls for girders. Pity we cant use them yet.
Back under the ramp we sped up and over, theres a chest with an arrow inside. The game has a love affair with wooden arrows for some reason.
Moving onward, theres a lovely free club we can bash tank with. Exploring the Forewood Forest should give us a nice boost when alls said and done.
This rope leads down to where we would have entered this screen from the three-way junction, though we wouldnt have been able to do anything here coming from that way.
We need the momentum of going down the first ramp to get up over the second, though the trip doesnt end well for the cart.
Luckily, the solution is nearby.
Theres also another cart we can use, so lets try that quickly. (Yes, theres another arrow in that chest.)
I really hope we dont have to pay for these; although Slimenian taxes might have to go up to compensate.
Starthur needs rescuing just up there, too. Dont forget him!
Hey, guess what we need to free Starthur?
Yep, yet another railway accident. Incident, rather. Accidents imply someone was hurt.
Gee, what do you think? Still, nice to see these two looking out for each other, and the railways running again now that potential obstructions have been removed.
Aw yeah, another freebie.
I was starting to worry Id go from star-shaped to square-shaped in that box!
Pffft. Like Id want to give up my oaken clubs for these slow things.
You will save my friends as well, wont you?
The plop sensation gives us a girder, which will probably become a sword at some later date.
The path onward is tucked away in the top left of this area.
A path to the left and two ropes. Decisions, decisions Lets try the ropes first.
Dont forget you can use it to change the order of the things youre carrying.
Its been quite handy in shuffling ammo into the correct firing order, thank you.
And down the other side, we find
Yesss! Its perfect!
I still say its far too easy. Even a slime could figure it out.
Itsss perfect, I tell you! No one will ever know.
Anyone would know if they looked hard enough!
You worry too much, bunnikinsss! It aint gonna happen.
Actually, since Rockets busy carrying someone on his head, well let these two go for now.
Weve got to send George back, and explore that other path.
Im very grateful to you for what youve done to save my family line, Rocket. Im sending you a small token of my appreciation. I hope it comes in handy.
You could perhaps try a bit harder than giving us a measly wooden arrow, buddy. Now, lets check out that other path.
Ah, another tank battle! Time to free another trapped slime.
Bring it, Harry.
Sooo, when people were offering suggestions to rename Rocket, I said that the suggestion OOZEie by pichupal would be good for one joke. This is it.
Also, I honestly just noticed that Chrono Twigger actually uses the right font and wavy second word. Anyway, lets get to the fight!
Chrono Twigger actually has a gimmick where it will drop medicinal herbs just outside itself from time to time; these items restore 20 HP to your tank if you load them into the cannons.
They actually use two of them in quick succession near the end of the fight, but its not enough to save them from being blasted to bits. Oh, and using a herb when your tanks at 0 HP does nothing, just in case you were wondering.
This tank shares the same engine room set up as the last one, but at least it has nice wood flooring.
Well, anyway. Thank you for saving me. Much obliged.
Pictured: A joke meant for Americans. Thered be another i in there for the rest of us.
At least hes a polite fellow, though. And we got our very own medicinal herb!
Really? Because thats certainly not what Ive been seeing.
I found this while I was cooped up in that box. I thought you might find it useful.
Theyre just throwing these recipes at us today. Iron arrows would be a nice thing to have, but most of these recipes have asked for at least one thing we havent seen yet.
Alright, back to solving this puzzle.
What a fiendish puzzle lock that Dracky devised.
And our prize? More bunicorns and a slime chest!
Oh, you dont know the half of it. Were gonna need sooo much stuff to properly outfit the Schleiman for late- and postgame.
Were finally able to open up this shortcut, which demonstrates something very interesting. You see, going through this particular warp will respawn the enemies on both ends. Which means that there are three Bunicorns on the north end I can snag super easily, then deposit them on the Trans-Slimenian on the south side. This also makes this a great place to farm Bunicorns for Oaken Clubs, if youre so inclined.
You should so come explore around town sometimes, too. Its fun!
Weve been poking around plenty! The west side of town still doesnt have anyone in it, though. (Another wooden arrow joins the collection.)
Theres another puzzle lock on the first screen, and only one more slime we need to save before the Forewood Forest is complete. Therefore
Its time for another tank battle! Lets see what this lady has in store for us.
Im not sure why, but I think this tank is pretty cute. Lets give Patty a proper pasting.
Wouldnt dream of it, hun.
As the fight goes, Patty Puss starts saying cryptic things like this to suggest she has a secret weapon. Also, iron balls hurt.
Hooly gets his butt kicked pretty quickly in this one, because Bunicorns dont mix well with the way his AI works. Perhaps I should have lent him some support.
So, the Carrot Top can fire that massive metal horn at us like a missile. If the Death Carrot connects, youre in for a world of hurt. It deals damage constantly and blocks the cannons from use until destroyed, dealing about 40 damage every minute. The fact that you cant block all the missiles, clubs and iron balls coming your way, however Thats much more devastating.
The Death Carrot isnt easy to knock down, either. It takes about eight hits, I believe.
We can still charge. We aint beaten yet!
The bunicorn crew will charge the Schleiman after the horn breaks, but you should be able to get over there and bust up the engine before they manage to break in.
The Carrot Top shares the Golemators curved engine room, so heres a picture of their carroty carpet and Death Carrot activation button.
And with that, weve saved all the forest slimes!
Im sending you a little thank you present. I hope you like it. Tee hee hee!
...Im not entirely sure what youre trying to tell us here, Tickled Pink.
Throwing stars once used by warriors who practiced the mystical art of ninjutsu.
Also, look what Patty Puss coughs up for a rematch! I had no idea you could get so much cool stuff for repeating tank battles.
Speaking of cool stuff
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Alright, time for the usual NPC chatter round-up. Everyone we rescued today is inside the palace.
And Splodgy Dave runs the shop. Tee hee hee. I know lots of good stuff, dont you think?
Sure do, Pink. We havent saved the shopkeeper yet though. Hes not found until two and a half areas after this.
Please stop talking.
I just love sensitive men. You know, the kind that help out with the housework and stuff.
Ah, trying to be all formal and fancy as befits a slime of your station, hey?
I should......be able to reach......it. I can......jump......really high!
Well, that was short and sweet.
Ill see you all next time, when we head off to scale Mt. Krakatroda!