Part 15: Northern Sights

Last update, Euchre defeated Commissioner Snap in a very close battle, accidentally acting as an accomplice to theft in the process. This update he'll be continuing on with his quest to help Wildcard and collect darkonium.

Music: Appearance of the Town



First off, though, some more things have opened up on Domus Isle. Let's take a look.

You'll really see a different side to this town. There's an entrance down by the west gate, if you're interested.

This information is, indeed, correct. Before this point the entrances to the sewer were blocked off by crates or, in one case, a thug. Now that they're open Euchre is free to rummage around in dirty water to his heart's content.

Incidentally, the reason for this is apparently that the MSO wants to search the sewers for the culprit of the theft. Why it wasn't open for any of the sewer residents beforehand is beyond me.



A lot of my success was down to the fact that I wasn't afraid to experiment. You should try it. Why not mix a monster of the undead family with a green dragon? You might be surprised?

We've already covered this synthesis recipe, but as a reminder it creates a Skelegon. It's absolutely not worth it because Green Dragons aren't available in the wild any more and Skelegons are.



I bet he's a great, big brute of a scout!

Euchre's actually met everyone on the current leaderboards apart from Rummy and one other scout. We probably won't be learning who either of them are until the finals, although I think the other scout can randomly show up in scoutposts like Slimon did early on.



Over at the department store, a new service has opened up.

We offer an introduction service for monsters that belong to differents scouts. Remember that you will lose the monster you offer for matchmaking. If you're having problems synthesising powerful monsters, we can help.

Basically what the monster matchmakers can do is provide one half of a synthesis pair. The problems and benefits to this will be seen shortly.



We're here to help scouts find the perfect synthesis partner for their monstrous companions. We're the cupids that make monster romance a reality! ❤ We understand that every monster has his or her own likes and dislikes. It's our job to find the ideal monster match, so let us take the confusion out of monster fusion! ❤

If that symbol isn't showing up for you, it's a Unicode love heart. I can't think of a single other character who uses those in this game, which is a little surprising, and also convenient for me because I probably won't need to transcribe any more in later dialogue.



Here's the menu for the monster matchmakers. There are a couple of big problems with this: firstly, there's no way to check the other person's monster's stats in detail. Secondly, the requirements for Euchre's contribution are sometimes fairly strict, and it's often not worth doing because it'll only make a very low-rank monster.

There are some monsters that show up here that are incredibly useful, though - for example, sometimes a Metal Slime will show up that requests another Metal Slime, and that will always result in a Liquid Metal Slime. Most of the monsters here are part of special synthesis recipes, in fact, although sometimes there are traps which don't. It's all trial and error unless you have a guide.

Also, the monsters that appear here often have fairly different Skills to their wild counterparts. It might be worth taking a look at the results just for that. Note that not all of them unlock immediately, and the list of available monsters shuffles every time you enter and leave the menu.



Back outside, it's time to catch up on the news with our good friend Canasta Croupier.

Crisis in the MSO! Commissioner swears: "The challenge will go on!" Scouts make dash for the islands in desperate bid to find final pieces of darkonium!

Sadly there's nothing here that we don't already know. Euchre won't be rushing anywhere much today, though - there are sidequests to be done.



Make sure you read the advisories in the scouts' dens.

The noticeboards in every scouts' den have now been updated with information about pirates. They've actually been displaying a very vague notice about them up until now, but it's only now that they mention exactly where the pirates have been sighted. We'll get to that later.



While Euchre's in the area, how about checking on Igor Folds? Surely he's invented something by now.

My great invention is ready at last! It vill make ze vorld forget bout ze stupid scout ring! Do you vant to know vat it is? Ja, ja, of course you do! Very vell. I vill share zis magnificent invention vith you, my friend.



Oh dear. I think he's a bit senile.

You eat zis grass and it cures ze poison, see? Ah, you are speechless with amazement, ja?

No, that's just Euchre being a silent protagonist.

Music: Scoutpost



Over at the scoutpost, checking the leaderboards reveals that they've changed yet again. This time, Euchre's dropped down to fourth place. Also, Bob A. Job has been forced off and Slimon is back on. Good for him!



Here's the notice about pirates, by the way. At the very least it confirms that there's a seaway between Celeste Isle and Fert Isle.

Music: Appearance of the Town



Going over to the piers leading to Xeroph Isle and Infern Isle, it's time to head into the sewers. That thug was blocking the way in before, but now he's moved out of the way.

Music: CELL Headquarters



The inside of the sewer is mainly made up of wooden planks and bridges, with a few tents around the place.



The MSO don't make us leave, but they don't offer no 'elp neither.

Pretty much everyone down here is in a sorry state. They'd have to be if they had to resort to living in the sewers. At least the place appears to be relatively clean for a sewer.



In any case, how about going inside one of the tents? This one is accessible by heading right from the entrance, or the one that Euchre went in, anyway; there are actually three entrances to the sewers.



I know! Yer the spittin' image o' that researcher! Trump, I think 'is name was. 'E was researchin' 'ow to communicate with monsters...but there was an accident. 'E was 'urt summin' awful, 'e was. No one knows if 'e survived.

So Trump was a researcher before founding CELL? Perhaps he knew Commissioner Snap back then - after all, he's a monster researcher too.



Going left from the sewer's entrance results in the discovery of a shop down here. This is, I believe, the only source of the top three items in the game. We've already seen Positive Puller, and Think Negative has the opposite effect - any monsters scouted in the next battle will automatically have a negative charge. I can think of maybe one or two situations where that would be at all useful, and those are a while off.



The rest of this merchant's items are weapons. They're pretty much the best available at the moment, besides those available through monster drops. Euchre gets a Zombiesbane for Brickman, which does more damage to undead monsters on top of its high power.



Inside a nearby tent is this monster, who's hopping around the place.



Its companion seems to be rather sick of its company.



This means that Euchre gets to take it with him. Of course he's accepting this.



As it turns out the monster is a Dancing Devil. These are actually available to scout right now on the northern part of Celeste Isle, but it's nice to get a free one.



Heading over the bridge to the other side of the sewer results in the discovery of this treasure chest, which unsurprisingly contains a pittance. This is where all the poor people of Domus Isle live, after all.



That's basically it for this section of the sewers. Heading through this hole in the wall leads to the other part.



Surprisingly there's solid ground here instead of the planks of the first section. Heading right immediately, though, puts Euchre straight back onto those.



Poor little thing, probably lost 'is scout master.

Well, now we know that there's a reason to come back here at night. Euchre will definitely be revisiting this place after giving it a once-over.



That treasure chest that can be seen in the background contains a Seed of Defence...



...and there's another one right next to it that has a Gold Nugget, which can be sold for lots of money. It makes you wonder why it's here in the sewer. Suffice to say that I completely forget about it for a while.



The final thing of note in the sewers is this door, which won't be openable for a very long time - in fact, it won't be until the postgame. There's something very special behind it, though.



Returning at night, there's a monster here that wasn't there before.



Er...yes?

Somehow, Euchre has managed to scout a satyr. Now he must give the satyr a name...



Well, that was certainly something. Unsurprisingly Satyrs aren't all that good, but Euchre doesn't have one yet so it's worth picking up. Besides, it's a free monster! What's not to like?

Music: Scoutpost



Speaking of monsters, I remember to spend Dragoon's skill points. This lets him master Frizz & Bang by putting 50 points into it.



The logical thing to do at this point is to synthesise him with something. I choose a Wrecktor because it's a reasonably-ranked monster and I don't really want another King Cureslime. Besides, the result of this is going to be important in a few bosses' time.



Said result is a Dark Slime, which is a decent spellcaster. He gets an appropriate name for his appearance.



Because Dragoon mastered Frizz & Bang, Frizz & Bang II is one of the Skills that can be passed down through synthesis. It's pretty much a straight upgrade, so much so that it overwrites everything learned through Frizz & Bang.

Music: Island



The reason for this synthesis is that Euchre's going to enter Rank C of the Xeroph Isle arena challenge.

Music: Monster Battle



We've seen the first two battles already, so let's skip straight to the third. This fight used to be too much for Team Euchre, but not any more.



The Fencing Fox likes to use Lightning Slash to increase its damage a bit as well as putting the hurt on monsters weak to Zap.



It also has Mercurial Thrust, which is actively detrimental to it because it always goes first anyway. Remember, Mercurial Thrust does less damage than a normal attack as its trade-off for going first.



The Chainine has Blinding Blow, which is kind of annoying if it hits. Be careful of that one.

Incidentally, I don't know what the Phantom Fencer can do in this fight. It died too quickly to find out, which tends to happen in the arena.

Music: None



Speaking of the enemy dying, that's exactly what happens to the rest of the team. This is easy compared to the fights against Commissioner Snap.

Here's ya prize then. A piece of highly sought-afta darkonium. You've qualified for Rank B now. Have a burl at it, why dontcha? Come back soon. We're lookin' forward to seein' ya fight again... Hooroo!

Euchre won't be challenging Rank B just yet. It's probably a good idea to wait for a bit before that, and he's got things to do anyway.



Whatever he chooses to do now, that's almost all the darkonium crystals collected now. This is also all the darkonium it's possible to collect before the fights with Snap, so Euchre can't qualify for the finals before that point.

Music: Ambiance of the Night



Since Euchre's doing sidequests right now, why not pay Scoutmaster Shuffles a visit to show him Brickman? He's on the way to Euchre's next destination anyway.

...



A Rank A Golem? You've done well, young scout. Here is your reward - a rather dangerous-looking pair of metal talons.

Euchre recives a pair of metal talons!

Metal talons are a great weapon right now, being a straight upgrade from the metal claws. They're the strongest weapon available at this point that doesn't require a random drop and they also do extra damage to metal monsters, so they go on Brickman.

Well then, young Euchre. You've solved all ten problems.



I'll need to prepare a new test. Come back later, young man.

You didn't think that was the end of Scoutmaster Shuffles' questions, did you? There are more available later on, but they won't be available for a long time. Some of them are pretty nasty, too.



Right next to Shuffles' tent is a bridge that was blocked off until now.



Approaching it starts a cutscene.



It seems that your father is a man of his word. Now we can reach the north side of Celeste Isle from this island. Why do you hesitate? We can go there now, if that is your wish. You're not afraid of heights, are you?

Well, that was pointless. I suppose it's there to remind the player that this is the way onward if they stop playing, forget where to go and start wandering aimlessly.



There's not all that much to note across the bridge, but the most obvious thing is that blue treasure chest sitting there. Much like all blue chests...

Music: None



...it contains a darkonium crystal.



All Euchre needs to do now is go to MSO Headquarters and he'll be in the finals! Of course, he should first make sure he's fulfilled his promise to help the Incarnus.

Having all ten darkonium crystals gives Euchre the right to enter the Monster Scout Challenge finals...but if he tries to, Wildcard will force him not to. It's impossible to proceed without taking him to all the shrines. Let's get to that, then, shall we?

Music: Island



Alternatively, Euchre can continue amassing a collection of monsters. This one is a bit tricky to fight - it swoops down from the sky to attack, but that means that it's only possible to get into an encounter with it when it does so. It ended up becoming daytime before Euchre could fight it.

Music: Monster Battle



When they're actually in battle, though, Hades Condors are decidedly terrible. They only have one ability that I could see...



...and it's Heal. At least get Midheal or something!

Music: Island



They're the other source of Cure-All outside of King Cureslimes, though, so it might be useful to synthesise that onto something if you haven't already got it.



At the back of this part of Infant Isle is a ladder that leads downwards.



In fact, it leads straight to a treasure chest! The contents aren't anything to write home about, sadly.



The real thing of importance down the ladder is, er, another ladder.



This one leads down to the beach, as well as a jetty.



"The northern half of the island, divided from the south by towering ruins."

Unsurprisingly it leads to Celeste Isle.

Music: None



The map of seaways is really filling in now, isn't it? There's only one more to go, in fact, that being the route between Celeste Isle and Fert Isle.

Music: Island



Upon Euchre's arrival to the northern part of Celeste Isle, he's greeted by a lack of a scoutpost. In fact, compared to the southern part, this place is pretty barren.



If your monsters get hurt, you can use that medical console over there to heal them. I only just made it out of the ruins. The monsters in there... Well, just be careful, okay?

We've already seen one of these medical consoles on Infern Isle, but it's nice to get a reminder just in case. The lack of a scoutpost means there's no convenient Zoom point right at the start of this section. Euchre would have to walk all the way across Infant Isle to get to this point after Zooming.



Or would he? There are actually two jetties here, and the other one leads to an island with a scoutpost.



"A jungle island thick with trees and vines. Powerful monsters lurk here."

More specifically, it leads to Fert Isle. It's worth it to go there and briefly go into the scoutpost to set it as Euchre's Zoom point. So that's what I do.

No, you don't get to see any of Fert Isle yet.

Music: None



You do get to see what happens on the way back, though - an uncharted island shows up!

Music: Island



This one is a little different. See how all those Drackies are out during the day? That's because this is a Dracky island, and no other monsters appear here. Sort of.



After looting the chest (a Seed of Life, if anyone's interested), Euchre spots a Dracky that's somewhat bigger than the others.

Music: Monster Battle



This is a Great Dracky, and it's a very important monster to scout. Why? Because it's not able to be synthesised for some reason. Not even grandparent synthesis with Drackies results in one, unlike in this game's sequel. They're also only available on uncharted islands which only contain Drackies, making it one of the two monsters that have this property.



As for its abilities, they aren't all that impressive. Bang doesn't do all that much damage any more.



And, of course, Crack is even worse in that regard since it only hits one monster.

Music: Island



Appropriately, they have Bang & Crack as a Skill. Interestingly, Vlad's level is fairly overblown for monsters at this point, but that just means that he doesn't need any training. Into storage he goes!



Back on Celeste Isle, there's some exploring to be done. The whole northern part of the island can essentially be boiled down to a series of plateaus connected by ramps. This is the first plateau, and while it appears to be free of monsters that's not actually the case.



Just like on Infant Isle, monsters swoop down to attack. They're just as annoying to get into a battle with as the Hades Condor.

Music: Monster Battle



Gargoyles have a surprising number of abilities at their disposal.



Mercurial Thrust can be an annoyance, but it's probably the nicest thing Gargoyles can do besides their normal attack.



Multislash is pretty annoying, as are all multi-target attacks, purely because healing the damage tends to be more MP-intensive. Random encounters are designed to wear you down, after all.



Gust Slash is simple enough - it's the basic Woosh-elemental slash, so it does exactly what you'd expect.



Finally, Kasap can be painful if it's used at the start of a battle and it actually hits anyone.

Music: Island



Overall, Gargoyles aren't all that bad...unless they come with a certain other monster that'll come up later. That one only appears at night, though.



Heading up the next ramp, Headhunters start appearing on the field. We've seen these before on the south of the island, so there's no point in giving them another write-up.



The second plateau has a few grass huts scattered around, but they're just for decoration.



The Jumbo Insulade in this chest is essentially Insulatle in item form - it lowers damage taken from breath attacks for the entire party.



There are some other monsters mixed in with the Headhunters around here: Dancing Devils! This is where to get them from if you want more than the one in the Domus Isle sewers.

Music: Monster Battle



Even though Euchre already has one, we're still looking at what wild ones can do in battle.



Unsurprisingly they specialise in dance moves. Sultry Dance is basically just a delaying tactic.



Weird Dance, though, is incredibly annoying. It drops its target's current MP by around 20 if it hits, which is obviously a bad thing. In, say, Brickman's case, that's about 1/3 of his maximum.

Music: Island



That's enough dancing for now. Instead, Euchre heads up to the final plateau. This one has fires burning everywhere which, like the grass huts, have no mechanical effect. They're just there to make the place look less barren.



Straight ahead is a door leading to the Temple of the Moon...



...and to the right of that is a door leading to to the room where the Great Looking Glass resides. Unfortunately Euchre still can't open it, or indeed the one on the other side.

Since the sun is setting, though, why not go over the monsters that can appear at night?

Music: Ambiance of the Night



First, and last, is this monster. It crops up on a decent amount of northern Celeste Isle.

Music: Monster Battle



Night Emperors are the hardest monsters that appear in the outside areas of Celeste Isle, and that's because they're support-focused. Thankfully they sometimes enter battle asleep.



Their moveset starts with Kasap, which is obviously a bad thing to be hit by. It makes physical attacks hit Euchre's monsters harder, after all.



Then there's Oomphle, which has more of an effect than Kasap since it always hits and attack buffs tend to have more of an effect than defence debuffs.



The final spell that they can cast is Kasnooze, which has a pretty good chance of sending all of Euchre's team to sleep. It also cancels all of a monster's tension if it hits, for reasons that should be obvious, making scouting a pain.

Music: Ambiance of the Night



Thankfully that's all they have. If they're paired with a physical attacker, like a Gargoyle or a Headhunter, they can really pile on the hurt. Otherwise they stall but not much else.

And that's it for Celeste Isle! The north side is surprisingly small. Next time, Euchre will be heading back into the Temple of the Moon to help the Great Looking Glass and find the next shrine for Wildcard.

Extra: The Monster Library

Dark Slime





Dark Slimes have the Skill Muspell and cannot be scouted. They have the Traits Artful Dodger and Zammeister, are weak to Zap, and are healed by Zam.

Muspell is a Skill that is mostly given over to Frizz and Zam spells and abilities, so much so that it teaches the exact same abilities as Frizz & Zam for the first 42 skill points - Frizz, Flame Slash, Frizzle, Zam, Shade Slash and Zammle. On top of those it teaches Whack, Uncarnate and Magic Burst. Magic Burst is particularly notable because Muspell is the only Skill that isn't named after a monster and teaches it. What Magic Burst does is simple - it drains all the user's MP and does damage proportional to the amount of MP that it used. Unfortunately this Skill isn't very good for a few reasons - the offensive spells only go up to tier 2 out of 4, the elemental slashes are only tier 1 out of 2, Uncarnate is basically useless outside of multiplayer, and Magic Burst is just bad considering its cost. Muspell might do better in high-level multiplayer, but by that time Skills are available that are just better.

Hades Condor





Hades Condors have the Skills Cure-all and Defence Boost when scouted, and just Cure-all when synthesised. They have the Trait Artful Dodger and are immune to ice breath.

Cure-all was on King Cureslimes back in Part 11.

Satyr





Satyrs have the Skills Dancer and Attack Boost when obtained in the Domus Isle sewers, and just Dancer when synthesised. They have no Traits and are immune to Sleep.

Dancer was on Mud Mannequins back in Part 10.

Night Emperor





Night Emperors have the Skills Bad Breath and Wisdom Boost when scouted, and just Bad Breath when synthesised. They have the Trait Artful Dodger and are immune to Sleep.

Bad Breath was on Walking Corpses back in Part 11.

Gargoyle





Gargoyles have the Skills Bird Brain and Attack Boost when scouted, and just Bird Brain when synthesised. They have the Trait Artful Dodger and are immune to Inaction (skipping turns due to shock, dancing etc).

Bird Brain was on Mecha-mynahs back in Part 12.

Dancing Devil





Dancing Devils have the Skills Dancer and Ban Dance Ward when scouted, and just Dancer when synthesised. They have no Traits and are immune to both Drain Magic and Fizzle.

Dancer was on Mud Mannequins back in Part 10.

Ban Dance Ward is good for monsters who have mainly dance abilities, and not much else. It conveys four Ban Dance Guard passive abilities, giving the recipient full immunity to the ailment as long as they aren't naturally weak to it, as well as Agility +20 and Able Ambusher. The latter is pretty awful, increasing the chance of gaining a preemptive strike on wild monsters, and doesn't fit with the rest of the Skill - I've never seen a wild monster use Ban Dance, so it's really a Skill for multiplayer use. Get this Skill for a dedicated Dancer, but only if you plan to do multiplayer.

Great Dracky





There's no official art for Great Drackies that I could find, so this Dracky art will have to do. The only aesthetic difference is their size, anyway.

Great Drackies have the Skills Bang & Crack when scouted, and cannot be synthesised. They have the Trait Artful Dodger, are immune to Bang and healed by Zam.

Bang & Crack is yet another dual-element Skill. This time, the elements are both multi-target. Basically, see what I've said for every other dual-element Skill and apply it to this one.

Zam Ward is another Ward Skill. This one grants two Zam Guards, Magic Miser, and Magic Scrooge. As for the stat boosts, there's Wisdom +20, Maximum MP +20, and Maximum HP +10. Again, Magic Scrooge is a very nice ability to have. Regardless of that, this is a good ability for monsters weak to Zam.


Extra 2: Synthesis Recipes

From now on, I'll be noting whether a recipe can be made using the Monster Matchmakers. Sometimes this can save a lot of time.


Dancing Devil + Imp = Dessert Demon (Rank D, scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

Dessert Demons have technically been available since Xeroph Isle, but they're harder to scout than both Dancing Devils and Imps. If you have any spare, this might be a good recipe.

This recipe is available through Monster Matchmaking. A positive Dancing Devil is offered, and a negative Imp is required.


Goodybag + Goodybag = Cannibox

This synthesis recipe has been described before in Part 8, but it's now available through Monster Matchmaking. A positive Goodybag is offered, and a negative Goodybag is required.


Demonrider + Restless Armour = Grim Rider

This synthesis recipe has been described before in Part 12, but it's now available through Monster Matchmaking. A negative Demonrider is offered, and a positive Restless Armour is required.


Dragonthorn + Undead Family = Snapdragon

This synthesis has been described before in Part 9, but it's now available through Monster Matchmaking. A negative Dragonthorn is offered, and a positive Rank E Undead Family monster is required.


Puppeteer + Wrecktor = Fallen Priest (Rank B, scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

Currently this synthesis is only available through Monster Matchmaking, though Puppeteers are available through generic synthesis - their ID is 110, making them a Rank C monster. Fallen Priests won't be available to scout until the final dungeon, so this might be a good synthesis to do, especially through Monster Matchmaking.

If using Monster Matchmaking to make a Fallen Priest, a negative Puppeteer is offered, and a positive Wrecktor is required.