Part 19: Shrine Time

Last time, Euchre explored the entirety of Fert Isle, finding the entrance to the island's shrine.

Music: Island



This time he'll be entering the shrine and discovering Wildcard's final form. Let's get to it!

Music: Seeking Treasure



Immediately upon entering, a cutscene starts. Technically Euchre has been able to start this scene in any shrine ever since the battle with Commissioner Snap, and it can be triggered in the first room of any shrine.



The camera pans over to the left, revealing Solitaire. Hopefully she won't be awful again.

Music: Solitaire



Don't forget he's going to be mine soon. I won't accept damaged goods.

We probably shouldn't get our hopes up too much.

You presume too much, foolish girl. The game is not over yet.



You want to know how much darkonium I have? Well, do you?



Wow! That's four fewer than Euchre!





Not that Solitaire will let Wildcard tell her that. In fact the game kind of assumes that Euchre doesn't have ten darkonium crystals every time the topic comes up, at least until the finals. It's kind of weird given how easy it is to find the things.

I don't want you to feel embarrassed or anything. Oh, by the way...



Hmph. Are you so sure YOU will be one of the final five?



You don't have to worry about ME! Anyway, I'm off to pick up the last crystal. CIAO!

And then Solitaire leaves. Wait a second, though - isn't it strange that she hasn't shown up on the rankings yet? With nine crystals she should be all but guaranteed a spot there.



We must hurry, Euchre. I want to see the look on her face when we finally defeat her!

Music: Seeking Treasure



I'll say one thing about Solitaire: all this abuse really makes the player want to defeat her. Hopefully we'll be able to see that soon.

Anyway, Euchre's back in the starting room of the shrine. Through the door is...

Music: Sanctuary



...the hallway to the Nexus chamber. Yeah, that's it. This shrine doesn't even have a dungeon attached to it.



Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't a boss fight.



The time has come at last. Destroy the final obstacle!



And again, the monster attacks Euchre.

Music: Boss Battle



The Demon-at-Arms is a bit different from most bosses so far.



The first thing to note is that its Attack isn't actually that good. Hitting for less damage than the previous boss fight isn't exactly the most exemplary performance.





And then there's Multislash, which is decent but still not dangerous on its own. The secret to this fight is that the Demon-at-Arms has a new Trait: Double Trouble. This lets it act twice in a turn instead of the one action afforded to most other monsters.



With the help of Weakening Wallop, its damage output is completely destroyed. To be fair, this damage is with Buff cast on everyone, but it's still doing single-digit damage to everyone but Li'l Green without that. It's notable that the boss is actually weak to having its Attack lowered, so this is arguably the intended strategy.



With absolutely no threat from the boss, it's time to set Wildcard up to do as much damage as possible. Helm Splitter works first time, which is nice.



And just to add insult to injury, Brickman uses Blinding Blow to make the Demon-at-Arms even less effective. It'll be helpful if the Attack debuff wears off.



It never does before Wildcard gets fully set up, thank goodness. Thunderbolt Slash is the second-tier version of Lightning Slash, giving it an increase to damage and MP cost. At only 4 MP it's still really cheap, though, so it's very nice to have.



It does far too much damage...



...killing the Demon-at-Arms outright.

Music: None



And it wouldn't be a boss fight without a valuable item drop, would it? This one is the last Euchre-only ability, and we'll be getting to it shortly.

Music: Sanctuary



Before that, though, we've got Wildcard's final transformation to go through.



As always, he gets up on the raised platform in the middle of the room.



Give me now the power...





This time is no different from all the others, of course. The light envelops Wildcard...

Music: Sanctuary (Variation)



...and when it clears, he has assumed his new form. This one, though, should be somewhat familiar. It's Wulfspade again, but more specifically, it's Wulfspade's Ace variant. All four of the Incarnus forms we've seen so far have one of these, but only Wulfspade Ace is available right now.



Now we must obtain the ancient Mark, and my mission will be complete. But you still do not know the nature of my mission, do you? I am charged with averting the Great Catastrophe.



...the gate that stands between this world and the dark world swings open. And the catastrophe begins... My mission is to close that gate before the destruction spreads throughout the world.

...



A being greater than I has given me this sacred duty, and carry it out I must. If you wish to help me, you must win the Monster Scout Challenge!



Lest countless lives be snuffed out like candles in a storm. Just as in the past...

Music: Sanctuary



Well, that was kind of heavy. Wildcard had better get the Scout's Mark quickly, otherwise the world is pretty much doomed! Then again, it shouldn't be too hard to get. All Euchre has to do is win the Monster Scout Tournament, right? No problem.



Before heading back to Domus Isle, though, Euchre is going to be learning Vanish. This is a very useful ability for avoiding encounters, since it stops all monsters from noticing Euchre until the next battle or area transition. Between this and Whistle it's incredibly easy to manipulate what battles Euchre gets into.

Music: Scoutpost



The other thing to do before leaving Fert Isle is, of course, to look at the noticeboard in the scoutpost. The rankings are completely gone, replaced by this message. I'd hurry, but there's no actual urgency right now - there won't be another finalist until Euchre comes along.



As such, some synthesising can be done without any problems. Brickman's getting switched to the Beast family by Euchre's Gargoyle, Gregory.



The result is a Buffalogre, the highest-ID monster in the Beast family that can be obtained through generic synthesis. It's got Psycho, and it just so happens to be part of a synthesis chain that eventually leads to some incredibly strong monsters.



Brickman already had all the Skills I wanted from this synthesis, so they're being passed on to Red Horn. That's enough synthesis for now.

Music: Appearance of the Town



Euchre finally heads back to Domus Isle where he's greeted, as always, by the friendly neighbourhood town crier/news reporter.

Newsflash! Contestants reach the goal with ten darkonium crystals! Only a few finals spots remain! Tension levels hit new high!

Pretty much everyone in town is talking about the finals and how the available spots to compete are rapidly dwindling. There really isn't much point in seeing what everyone has to say, because there isn't much variation.

Music: CELL Headquarters



Euchre receives a headsman's axe.

It's no biggie. Just summin' I found lyin' around.

There is one person who will actually give Euchre something, though, even if it's not the best weapon in the world. It's weaker than everything Euchre's monsters have right now, although not by all that much, and it increases critical hit rate. It might be useful on a monster with Critical Massacre and/or for fighting metal monsters.

Music: Appearance of the Town



After that little diversion, it's time to enter MSO headquarters.

Music: Contest Castle



They're relaxing upstairs in the finalists' lounge.

The finalists are all here? It's time to give Solitaire a piece of Euchre's mind.



Or not, apparently. Since it's specifically the finalists' lounge, non-finalists like Euchre aren't allowed in. Let's change that, shall we?



There's only one door out accessible from the upper floor, and funnily enough it leads to Euchre's destination: Baden's Belfry.

Music: Appearance of the Town



All he has to do is examine the door, and it opens. Convenient!

Music: Colosseum (IV)



We get a nice view of the tower containing the belfry as the camera slowly zooms out. It never goes far enough to see the entirety of MSO headquarters, which is a shame since it's quite a unique building. Oh well.



It's Euchre! The mystery wild card takes fifth place!



Now the final stage of the challenge, the battle for the championship, begins!



Now let's meet the five finalists who made it through the gruelling qualifiers!



Hey, it's Solitaire! During the introductions of the finalists, the camera spins around them. It's kind of a nice effect that unfortunately makes it difficult to get a good angle for screenshots.



She's the biggest princess in Green Bays, but will she be the biggest scout?

Yep, Solitaire is the Rummy who's been at the top of the leaderboards this entire time. I believe she's the daughter of Madame Rummy over on Palaish Isle, which explains the similar hair colour.



She also really doesn't like anyone using her real name, which raises the question of why she didn't just enter the Monster Scout Challenge under her alias.





Red in tooth and claw, this striped feline is looking to sink his fangs into his rivals!



Tryger, who Euchre met in one of the houses on this very island, is here too. I like him.





There are no age limits! Let's see what kind of punch this tiny dynamo can deliver!



Missy is new. I think she can randomly show up in the various scouts' dens, but I've never actually seen her there.





Don't underestimate him, fans! This slimy star has gristle in his backbone!



Euchre met Slimon in a scouts' den early on in his adventure. I think it might be a scripted encounter, but I'm not entirely sure.





WHERE did he come from!? HOW did he get here!? WHAT'S with that hairstyle!? WHO CARES!? Best of luck to you, whoever you are!



And, of course, Euchre says nothing.



The first fight of the finals will kick off shortly. But before that, the contestants need a little time to get ready for their bouts. Remember - a scout always has to be prepared!

Music: Contest Castle



All finalists are allowed as much time as they need to prepare. Feel free to synthesise, train, scout or just relax! Being prepared is what separates the winners and losers!



And so Euchre is left to his own devices once again. Next time, he'll be preparing for, and entering, the Monster Scout Challenge finals.

Extra: The Monster Library

Buffalogre





Buffalogres have the Skill Berserker when synthesised and cannot be scouted. They have the Trait Psycho and are immune to both Whack and Confusion.

Berserker was first found on Headhunters back in Part 12.

Wulfspade Ace





Wulfspade Ace has the Skill Wulfspade III when synthesised and cannot be scouted. It has the Traits Psycho and Desperado, is healed by Lightning, is weak to Earth, and is immune to Whack, Poison and Paralysis.

Wulfspade III is almost nothing like Wulfspades I and II, because it's all support with barely any offensive abilities. The only damaging abilities in there are Counter and Kamikazee, although Counter seems that it may actually block attacks as well as attacking back based on its ridiculous MP cost (64!). Critical Miss and Kafuddle are there for inflicting ailments, though the latter is far better than the former, and Kasag and Oomphle are for Attack debuffs and buffs respectively. Finally there are a couple of gimmicky abilities here in Follow Suit and Kerplunk. Overall Wulfspade III seems kind of useful for general support, but I'd personally not use it.


Extra 2: Synthesis Recipes

Buffalogre + Great Sabrecat = Mohawker (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

Mohawkers aren't particularly worth getting, since they're not that different from Buffalogres and aren't as versatile in terms of recipes - the only non-generic synthesis recipe is to make Bone Barons, and they're not exactly hard to get in other ways. Give this one a miss except for filling the monster library.


Buffalogre + Satyr = Moosifer (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

This is a pretty good synthesis recipe that's part of a synthesis chain to make some of the better monsters. Moosifer definitely isn't the only way to get the monsters in question, but it's still a good options.


Gigantes + Buffalogre = Boss Troll (Rank B, scoutable once, not available through generic synthesis)

This one's currently only available to Euchre through Monster Matchmaking, but Gigantes is scoutable on Infant Isle so it's not unreasonable to do this with your own monsters. This is a pretty good recipe to use with Monster Matchmaking, too, since it alleviates the need for the relatively rare Gigantes. In Monster Matchmaking, a positive Gigantes is offered and a negative Rank A monster is required.


Bone Baron + Buffalogre = Mohawker (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

This is probably the best option for Mohawkers, but only through Monster Matchmaking - Bone Barons are far too valuable otherwise. Speaking of which, in Monster Matchmaking, a negative Bone Baron is offered and a positive Rank A monster is required.


Incarnus Family + Nature Family (Rank A or above) = Wulfspade Ace (Rank ???, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

It's yet another Incarnus recipe, but this one's a little different. It's not too hard to do with the tools Euchre has now, thankfully, and Wulfspade Ace's stats are better than the other Incarnus forms so far. It's also notable that the game overrides all recipes involving the Incarnus so that they result in Wulfspade Ace until starting the finals, so it's probably better to use something else and ignore this recipe for now.