Part 74: Monster Time Part 4

I typed this up before the most recent update, so I didn't think to include Luck on the stat blocks. Future updates will have that information added.

Monsters of Dusty Dunes Desert

Dusty Dunes is a dangerous place. Knowing who to attack first, and when to use status effects, is key to surviving your trip. Don't ever use PSI Bacon; Nass needs all his PP for Healing and Lifeup.


Skelpion
One of the more common enemies in the desert, Skelpions are glass cannons with high Guts, poison, and PSI Thunder to hurt you with.
Strategy: Kill it quickly. Regular attacks will suffice, though if you're already in trouble you could try Freeze Beta for a one-shot kill.

HP 137, PP 21, Offense 41, Defense 23, Speed 37. (Guts 80.)
Special abilities: Thunder α, "Sting with its poison stinger."
Weak against Fire, Freeze and Hypnosis.
Worth 1,823 XP and $140, with a 1/32 chance to drop a Vial of serum.



Crested Booka
The opposite of the Skelpion - tough, but no special tricks. Its war cry reduces Offense and Defense by a few points, which isn't really worth worrying about.
Strategy: Use Freeze and physical attacks. Leave it for last unless there's a Smilin' Sphere around. You can use Hypnosis to disable it while you deal with other enemies.

HP 265, Offense 53, Defense 73, Speed 17.
Special abilities: "Shriek a war cry."
Weak against Hypnosis. Resistant to Paralysis. Immune to Fire.
Worth 3,011 XP and $130, with a 1/32 chance to drop a Picnic lunch.



Desert Wolf
A dangerous enemy - fast and strong. Its weakness to elemental PSI is its downfall.
Strategy: A priority target due to its poisonous bite. If there's other enemies around, use Freeze Beta to get rid of it quickly.

HP 247, Offense 57, Defense 67, Speed 33.
Special abilities: "Bite with its poisonous fangs."
Weak against Fire and Freeze.
Worth 3,740 XP and $114, with a 1/64 chance to drop a Sudden guts pill.



Cute Li'l UFO
A "support" enemy, though its Lifeup isn't a big problem if you focus your attacks on one enemy at a time. It always drops a random, low-level food item.
Strategy: It's resistant to PSI, but vulnerable to physical attacks. Deal with it after you've handled any poisonous enemies.

HP 162, PP 25, Offense 49, Defense 32, Speed 58.
Special abilities: Lifeup α.
Resistant to Fire, Freeze and Flash. Immune to Hypnosis.
Worth 1,519 XP and $110, with a special drop.



Bad Buffalo
He wanders the land in search of Good Buffalo. _{Wait, that doesn't work.} A real behemoth with sky-high stats and strong attacks.
Strategy: Paralyze him, pronto. 8 PP is nothing compared to the Lifeups you'll need once he gets going. Once properly numbed, he's harmless.

HP 341, Offense 64, Defense 104, Speed 11.
Special abilities: Strong attack.
Weak against Fire and Paralysis. Resistant to Hypnosis.
Worth 4,108 XP and $172, with a 1/32 chance to drop a Wet towel.



Smilin' Sphere
A real pain in the neck, the Sphere can use Fire Alpha, which is seriously painful at this point in the game. It also explodes when killed, so you can't take it out first like you can with Skelpions. Avoid them if at all possible.
Strategy: Disable them with Hypnosis, kill everything else, then try to take it out in one round. Remember to have Kim use Fire, as Freeze doesn't work.

HP 233, PP 60, Offense 50, Defense 63, Speed 17.
Special abilities: Fire α. Explodes when killed.
Weak to Fire and Hypnosis. Immune to Freeze and Flash.
Worth 2,218 XP and $191, with a 1/128 chance to drop a Meteornium.



Mole Playing Rough
Well. This guy's... kind of lost, isn't he?
Strategy:

HP 103, Offense 22, Defense 28, Speed 9.
Special abilities: "Size up the situation."
Weak against Flash and Paralysis. Resistant to Hypnosis.
Worth 456 XP and $36, with a 1/32 chance to drop a Croissant.



Criminal Caterpillar
A rare spawn that always runs away at top speed. If you corner him, he'll spray you with PSI Fire but goes down quick. The reward is worth it.
Strategy: Forget physical attacks, his Speed is ridiculous. Freeze Beta should one-shot him.

HP 250, PP 168, Offense 37, Defense 16, Speed 134.
Special abilities: Fire α.
Weak against Fire, Freeze, Flash, Paralysis and Hypnosis.
Worth 30,384 XP




Fourside

There's nothing too dangerous in the Big Banana (after all, there's a hotel and hospital right there), but the enemies here are at least more interesting than those in Twoson.


Annoying Reveler
The Reveler's high Guts means you need to look out for the occasional SMAAAASH!, but he's otherwise pretty harmless. Both his special abilities reduce your Guts, which: whatever.
Strategy: Physical attacks will suffice.

HP 288, Offense 58, Defense 77, Speed 17.
Special abilities: "Start lecturing you," "Grumble about today's youth."
Worth 2,373 XP and $268, with a 1/16 chance to drop a Protein drink.



Extra Cranky Lady
Deceptively powerful; she has no regular attacks, only strong and continuous, so her attack power is much higher than her Offense would suggest. Her special abilities solidify you and reduce your Offense.
Strategy: Physical attacks and PSI Freeze to put her down quickly.

HP 277, Offense 48, Defense 70, Speed 17.
Special abilities: Strong attack, Continuous attack, "Say something really scary," "Scowl sharply."
Worth 3,651 XP and $134, with a 1/8 chance to drop a Handbag strap.



Crazed Sign
I think this is the first enemy in the game that can paralyze you. As long as you've all got Great Charms this isn't a major problem, but if not you should probably avoid them.
Strategy: Freeze and physical attacks, nothing special. Use Hypnosis if you're worried about getting paralyzed.

HP 295, PP 98, Offense 64, Defense 96, Speed 17.
Special abilities: Paralysis α, Hypnosis α.
Weak against Hypnosis. Resistant to Fire. Immune to Flash.
Worth 3,618 XP and $244, with a 1/64 chance to drop a Big bottle rocket.



Mad Taxi
The Taxi only has strong attacks, and its special ability makes you cry. In combination with a Crazed Sign it can cause you some problems if you give it a chance.
Strategy: Hit it with Paralysis and then laugh at its helplessness.

HP 253, Offense 53, Defense 68, Speed 38.
Special abilities: Strong attack, "Spew exhaust fumes."
Weak against Paralysis. Resistant to Fire, Freeze, Flash and Hypnosis.
Worth 2,336 XP and $216, with a 1/128 chance to drop a Xterminator spray.




Desert Gold Mine

This place is a massive pain in the ass if you try to do it all in one run. Which I usually do because I hate having to fight my way out and back in again. Conserve your PP and don't hesitate to use those PSI caramels you've found if necessary - this is probably the best place for doing so. You might want to buy some Vials of serum before heading in, too - poison is a big PP drain here.


Thirsty Coil Snake
More poison. Otherwise not a major threat.
Strategy: Physical attacks and PSI Freeze. Stick to Freeze Alpha; anything stronger and Kim will run out of PP before long.

HP 270, Offense 52, Defense 80, Speed 18.
Special abilities: "Bite with its poisonous fangs," "Coil around you and attack."
Vulnerable to Freeze and Paralysis.
Worth 2,786 XP and $276, with a 1/16 chance to drop a Chick.



Noose Man
A minor enemy, dangerous only because they come in swarms.
Strategy: Physical attacks. If there's a lot of them, use Fire Alpha to soften them up.

HP 231, Offense 47, Defense 52, Speed 18.
Special abilities: "Employ a binding attack."
Vulnerable to Fire. Resistant to Freeze. Immune to Hypnosis.
Worth 1,990 XP and $220, with a 1/8 chance to drop a Carton of cream.



Mad Duck
Jeez, and I thought that one mole was lost... The only danger the Ducks pose is their ability to sap your PP.
Strategy: If they're lined up with the Noose Men, use Fire Alpha to get rid of them all at once. Otherwise, just pound them first to get them out of the way, then deal with the rest of the encounter.

HP 51, Offense 12, Defense 24, Speed 30.
Special abilities: "Disrupt your senses," "Make something spin around."
Vulnerable to Fire and Freeze. Resistant to Hypnosis.
Worth 41 XP and $12, with a 1/16 chance to drop a Fresh egg.



Gigantic Ant
Oh fuck, we're recycling bosses as enemies now? Far more dangerous than their Titanic cousin, these Ants can poison you, drain your PP, paralyze you, and summon more of their kind. Also they have super Defense and lots of HP.
Strategy: Alpha strike with Freeze Beta, it's the only way to be sure.

HP 308, PP 81, Offense 54, Defense 112, Speed 17.
Special abilities: Call for help, PSI Magnet α, Paralysis α, "Sting you with its poison stinger."
Vulnerable to Fire and Freeze.
Worth 3,980 XP and $304, with a 1/32 chance to drop a Double burger.



Guardian Digger
Such a hassle... The Diggers have super-shields of light, which not only halve the damage of your Bash attacks, but also reflect half the damage from any physical attack back at the attacker. Add in high Defense, PSI Lifeup and wickedly strong attacks, and it's clear that these guys require special tactics.
Strategy: *deep breath*
Generally, physical attacks aren't a good idea - even if you can get the shield down, it'll take quite a while to run his HP down to zero. Fortunately, the low damage means that the reflected hits won't hurt much.
Big bottle rockets are an almost guaranteed one-hit kill. (Lethal attacks don't get reflected, thankfully.) Unfortunately, you can't buy them yet, and unless you got really lucky fighting Crazed Signs you won't have one for each mole. Go ahead and use what you've got, though.
Freeze Gamma is the other one-shot attack. It's PP cost is high, though, and there are no magic butterflies in the maze. (Also if you're underleveled you might not even have it yet.) Use it only on the last mole, or if you're confident you have enough PP to finish the dungeon.
Barring the above, Freeze Beta and regular bottle rockets are your best options; one of each will usually finish a Guardian Digger off, or at least drop him low enough that he can be finished off with physical attacks. A reflected bottle rocket will hit Susan for about 60 damage, so you might want Nass standing by with a Lifeup queued.
Oh, and keep in mind that Kim can recharge her batteries with PSI Magnet. If you're completely out of PP, one or two Magnets should be enough for her to get a Freeze Beta off.

HP 386, PP 110, Offense 59, Defense 129, Speed 17. Protected by Shield Beta.
Special abilities: Strong attack, Lifeup α, Shield β.
Vulnerable to Flash. Resistant to Paralysis and Hypnosis.
Worth 17,301 XP and $1,467.