Part 134: Bonus: Treasures Untold Part 2

Bonus: Treasures Untold Part 2





The stained glass surface before you still displays the same words: “Continuing battle program.”

Ugh, fine! C'mon, bring it!





Iwaoropenelep
Level: 97
HP: 31000
STR: 97
TEC: 90
VIT: 68
AGI: 80
LUC: 62
Exp: 260000
Attack Type: Cut
Skills:

• Thunderwing: Uses the Arms. Deals 500% ranged TEC-based Volt damage to each party member. Attempts to inflict paralysis on hit targets, with a 50% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier and 65 base accuracy.
  
• Pinion Spear: Uses the Arms. Deals 6-8 instances of 190% melee STR-based Stab damage to random targets. Can hit the same target multiple times. Has an 80% speed modifier and 65 base accuracy.
  
• Deathbringer: Uses the Head. Deals 200% melee STR-based Bash damage to one party member, with splash damage. Attempts to inflict petrification on hit targets, with a 40% base chance. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Grip: Uses the Legs. Deals 280% melee STR-based Cut damage to one party member. Attempts to bind the target's arms, with a 50% base chance. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Wind Breath: Uses the Arms. Deals 120% ranged TEC-based Almighty damage to each party member. Attempts to stun hit targets, with a 50% base chance. Has a 200% speed modifier and 200 base accuracy.

Damage resistances:
100% 100% 100% 50% 125% 50%
Disable resistances:
25% 0% 0% 0% 25% 0% 25%
0% 0% 10%
50% 0% 25%
Description: A guardian bird of the forest folk, its name means "one who cracks boulders".

FUCK THIS BOSS! The first few times I attempted this DLC, he put an end to most of those runs because it was nearly impossible to anticipate what was coming next. Anyways, Iwaoropenelep (known as Iwaopeln in EO1) was the boss of the 4th Stratum. Once the party got into the 4th Stratum, a race of people known as the Forest Folk, were discovered, and they were obstructing all explorers from going any further for reasons unknown. Because of that, the guild who was making the most headway into exploring the Labyrinth was assigned a mission. The mission? Annihilate the Forest Folk. The town of Etria's economy was extremely dependent on explorers going through the Labyrinth, and these Forest Folk were getting in the way of that. So the guild essentially performed genocide in the name of tourism. Well that was the stated reason behind their mission. In reality, the person who assigned the mission was trying to get the guild killed by the Forest Folk. This did not go according to plan. The party killed all the Forest Folk who got in their way until they got to the 20th floor. There, Kupala (who had been trying to convince them to back off throughout the 4th Stratum) and the last of the Forest Folk decided to make one last stand. Kupala summoned Iwaoropenlep to deal with the guild once and for all. Okay, the details of this got changed in EOU's Story mode, but explaining that mess would take much longer than the explanation I gave here.

Iwaopeln was a special boss. In fact, he wasn't just a boss fight, he was an endurance test. If you tried to kill Iwaopeln, he would just respawn instantly. There were a total of 14 FOEs you had to kill all at once on the 20th floor. Leaving the Labyrinth at any point caused them all to respawn. Only by annihilating the last of the Forest Folk, could Iwaopeln be slain for good. In the remake, this was changed to a puzzle room and a stealth segment. You had to sneak up Iwaoropenelep before he noticed you, as that would cause every Forest Folk FOE to get aggressive and attempt to join in on the fight.

In EO1, Iwaopeln hits pretty hard and had a bunch of ailments at his disposal. He also had the ability to increase his AGI, making him faster and harder to hit. In the remake, the ability to make himself faster was replaced with an Almighty attack that had a chance to stun everyone. Thunderwing was a fairly accurate attack in EO1, but it got an accuracy nerf in EOU, and part of the fight revolves around that. Iwaoropenelep always uses Thunderwing on the first turn, but when he used it afterward was random. It had a cooldown of 1 turn, but Iwaoropenelep could choose to use it 2 turns later. But as the fight went on, Iwaoropenelep was more likely to use it every other turn. He was a fairly tough fight in that game.

He had a chance to drop the Sky Grimoire, which came with the ability Phoenix Wings. It gave the entire party priority for the current turn.

Now in this game, Iwaoropenelep is pure bullshit. The damage he can deal through his attacks is just too high. You have to worry about both Thunderwing and his physicals. If you make a wrong prediction and have your Protector use the wrong mitigation move, you lose. If your Volt Wall user happens to get disabled through an ailment, hope you don't mind redoing this entire boss rush all over again if Iwaoropenelep decides to use Thunderwing on the next turn! Yeah, I'm sorry, but I really don't have much to say about this guy other than, hope you don't get screwed over.



The only thing predictable about Iwaoropenelep is that he uses Thunderwing on the first turn, and a different move after that. After that, I'm on my own.

I can't Paralyze him, but I can still Blind him, so that should make things a bit easier.



And things just got a bit easier.



Not happening.





Tired of the Transform theme yet?





Too bad, there are a few more fights to go. I didn't realize it at the time, but using a level 1 Ice Wave would have dealt much more damage than using a level 20 Fire or Thunder Wave. Oh well.



I know a physical move will come out on this turn. But on the next one, Iwaoropenelep could either use Thunderwing or another physical. Guessing wrong will be a major setback/instant game over. What a great boss fight.





Yikes. Not having Ice Wave at a high level is really biting me in the butt here.





Delayed Chase and Link Order don't do much when hitting resistances either.



Fortunately, Ailing Slash is a more reliable form of damage in my case. Unfortunately, the Blind wore off.



And now Flavio has nothing better to do aside from dealing damage.







This is really pathetic compared to Knight's normal damage output.



If Iwaoropenelep hasn't used Thunderwing for 2 turns in a row, it's generally a safe bet to use Volt Wall on the next turn. Keyword: Generally.



I really don't like taking risks when they don't have a lot of reward, so I'm setting up a safety net here.



Thunderwing is negated.



Iwaoropenelep's physicals have a decent chance of inflicting ailments, and I don't feel like playing dangerously, so I'm using Barrier here.



Pinion Spear ended up killing a few of my party members, but Dauntless Order saved them, thankfully.









Instead of using Fire or Thunder Wave, I'm using Meteor Smash instead, because I really don't have any better options.



I really have no choice but to have Bertrand use Volt Wall on this turn, even if Thunderwing will come out on the next turn or something. It's just a risk I can't take.







Okay, that's some really nice damage.





Oh, Wind Breath came out instead. There's nothing I can do about that, aside from using Sentinel Guard. But considering the damage from Wind Breath isn't much, and that using Sentinel Guard would leave me wide open on the next turn, using it would be a very stupid move.





Eventually Iwaoropenelep goes down.



I really wish I could say that fight is the worst this DLC has to offer. It isn't.





The stained glass surface before you still displays the same words: “Continuing battle program.”

...I'm starting to get tired. And bored.





Manticore
Level: 95
HP: 24000
STR: 95
TEC: 72
VIT: 65
AGI: 55
LUC: 64
Exp: 280000
Attack Type: Bash
Skills:

• Demon's Croon: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict sleep and fear on each party member, with a 35% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier.
  
• Dark Claw: Uses the Arms. Deals 140% melee STR-based Cut damage to each party member. Attempts to inflict blind and curse on hit targets, with a 25% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Poison Tail: Uses the Legs. Deals 90% melee STR-based Stab damage to each party member. Attempts to inflict poison on hit targets, with a 50% chance and 100 base Poison damage (around 230 adjusted for level). Has an 80% speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Petra Voice: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict petrification and panic on each party member, with a 30% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier.

Damage resistances:
100% 100% 100% 50% 50% 50%
Disable resistances:
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
0% 0% 0%
0% 0% 0%
Description: A grotesque creation, known equally for its vast intelligence and its deadly poisons.

Were you hoping to get through this boss rush by making heavy use of ailments? Too bad, Manticore is here to tell you to go fuck yourself, because it's immune to everything! And for the record, this was absolutely not the case in EOU. It had a 30% resistance to everything aside from Stuns, which he had a 20% resistance to.

Manticore (Manticor in EO1) was an optional boss that resided in the 4th Stratum. In EO1, you have to search a specific spot on the 18th floor to unlock a passage to his domain earlier in the Stratum. In EOU, you had to complete a couple of quests to get the opportunity to fight him instead. He didn't really change much between EO1 and EOU. In both EO1 and EOU, Manticore had a passive that had a chance to halve all incoming damage. Although this was not communicated to the player in EO1 because who knows. EOU had Manticore visibly shield himself with his wings if it activated.

He had a chance to drop the Poison Grimoire, which came with the ability Yggdra Vaccine. It blocked the effects of all ailments headed toward the party's way on the current turn. But it had no effects on binds, instant death, or stuns.

In this game, Manticore no longer has the damage block passive. Instead, the devs just made him immune to all ailments. I'll be honest, I would have preferred the damage block passive over that instead.



My main strategy for this fight is for Chloe to spam Barrier. Because that's all she can really do at this point. Ailing Slash can't do much without an ailment. All of Manticore's attacks have an ailment attached to them.





I'm actually a little hesitant to use Transform here, since Knight's elementals won't do too much to Manticore.





I went through with it anyway, because I don't have that many options for dealing damage.





Ech.



Fortunately, Manticore himself doesn't do much outside of his ailments. His attacks don't hit that hard.



I'm setting up a bit of a buffer with Prevent Order, in case Chloe needs to do anything else.









Such as using Ailing Slash.



Now that's more like it!











And then I decided to use Chloe's Force Break because everyone is really low on HP, and I don't want Knight to get incapacitated by ailments after his Accelerate ramapge.







Ouch. Yeah, if your elementals won't do much to a boss, use Meteor Smash instead. That's more than 20% of Manticore's HP right there.







After a few more turns of beating up Manticore, he finally goes down.



Manticore can either be a minor nuisance, or a complete nightmare to deal with depending on your party setup. Barrier really makes him a lot less threatening, but if you didn't have that, he becomes a lot more scary. Especially since he can't be locked down in any way. Actually if you don't have any way to prevent ailments, you're fucked, plain and simple.





But we have come this far, have we not? Let us face its challenges until the very end!





Alraune
Level: 99
HP: 47000
STR: 97
TEC: 95
VIT: 70
AGI: 59
LUC: 75
Exp: 300000
Attack Type: Bash
Skills:

• Flame Sigh: Uses the Arms. Deals 600% melee TEC-based Fire damage to one party member, with splash damage. Has no speed modifier and 150 base accuracy.
  
• Frost Smile: Uses the Head. Deals 420% ranged TEC-based Ice damage to one party member, with line-piercing effect. Attempts to stun hit targets, with a 40% base chance. Has a 130% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy.
  
• Lightning: Uses the Head. Deals 320% ranged TEC-based Volt damage to each party member. Attempts to bind hit targets' heads, with a 25% base chance. Has a 70% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy.
  
• Tendril Thrash: Uses the Legs. Deals 4-5 instances of 150% melee STR-based Bash damage to random targets. Can hit the same target multiple times. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Vampiric Kiss: Uses the Head. Deals 200% melee STR-based Cut damage to one party member. Heals Alraune for 400% of the damage dealt. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.
  
• Ancient Pollen: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict blind, paralysis, panic, sleep, curse, fear, and petrification on each party member, with a 20% base chance. Has an 80% speed modifier.
  
• Spider Lily: Uses the Head. Attempts to instantly kill one party member, with a 60% base chance. Has a 130% speed modifier.

Damage resistances:
100% 100% 100% 125% 0% 0%
Disable resistances:
0% 50% 25% 25% 0% 25% 0%
0% 0% 10%
0% 25% 50%
Description: Likely a mutation of forest folk and native flora, they can ensnare the mind into oblivion.

Alraune didn't really change much from the transition from EO1 to EOU, aside from some of the target types on her attacks being changed. She was an optional boss that resided in the 2nd Stratum. To get to her, you had to take a quest, which would cause her to spawn in a specific room.

She had a chance of dropping the Tree Grimoire, which came with the ability Offering Robe. Which prevented the user from dying by any means on the current turn. It even blocks the effects of Instant Death.

I'll cut to the chase. Her AI in EOU is as follows:

• Can use Tendril Thrash at any time.
  
• Ancient Pollen is always used every 6th turn.
  
• Only has access to the above moves and Flame Sigh from 100% to 76%.
  
• From 75% to 51%, she gains access to Frost Smile.
  
• From 50% to 26%, she gains access to Lightning.
  
• From 26% to 0%, she uses all of her skills randomly.

And she behaves in the exact same way in EO2U. Unfortunately, like with Iwaoropenelep, Alraune is basically a dice roll. Guess wrong and use the wrong mitigation skill, and you'll be looking at the game over screen in no time, because her damage got ramped up to unreasonable levels in EO2U. I'm sorry, but there really isn't much I can tell you how to deal with this boss aside from what I've already told you.



Unfortunately, I forgot just how Alraune's AI worked in EOU when I was going through this fight, so I ended up giving her a free opening by trying to block a move she can't even use yet!



The main reason I made use of the Paralysis food instead of the Blind food was because Paralysis is the only ailment Alraune can be hit by. And she was the other main roadblock in my attempts at this DLC. I really don't feel like losing on the home stretch.



This fight is so incredibly luck based that I'm setting up a safety net first instead of using Attack Order. That's how bad Alraune is.



Bah. With that high a LUC stat and her 25% resistance to Paralysis, I'm not surprised it didn't land.



Oh, this is going to be ugly.



I'm off to a great start!







Thankfully, unlike with Iwaoropenelep and Manticore, Knight can output some heavy damage here.



As much as I would love to boost Knight's damage, reviving Chloe takes priority here.



HOLY COW YES! That will make this fight so much easier to deal with.





Not much damage now, but that's mainly because Knight doesn't have Attack Order on him.







It is time for pain.







Oh, that's much better.



I'm turning on Flavio's Force Boost now to get some extra damage out of him.





Eh, well every little bit helps.





I can't believe Alraune is still Paralyzed. Oh well, not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.







Aw, the Paralysis wore off. Not that it matters, because this is the 6th turn, meaning that she'll use Ancient Powder, which I can block with Barrier.







I'm not gonna use Akashic Nova just yet, because Alraune still has a bunch of HP left.



I'll use up Flavio's Force Break though, since Illusion Step is much less useful than Transform.



Let the carnage begin.







Over like 9600 damage. Beautiful.





And an extra 3800 on top of that!





Denied.







I don't want anyone incapacitated by any ailments, so I'm using Barrier.



As insurance, I'll use a Shield Protected Sentinel Guard and use Perfect Defense on the next turn.



I want Knight to Transform immediately after using Force Reset, so I'll have Flavio and Arianna toss an Axcela his way.







Uh oh. Alraune decided to use Lightning here.



Bah. A minor setback. Though yeah, keep in mind both Sentinel Guard and Shield Protect were reducing how much damage Lightning did to the party. If I didn't mitigate that at all, game over. Period.



Alraune isn't super low on HP, but she is below 50%. So you know what I'm gonna do?





GO BIG OR GO HOME!



Burning Perfect Defense now means that I won't have any guaranteed way to deal with Alraune's attacks if Knight's Accelerate rampage fails to kill her.













This is it! GOGOGOGOGO!



HERE WE GO!











AHAHHAHA YEEEEESSSSS! EAT IT YOU POORLY DESIGNED PIECE OF SHIT DLC!





Hoo boy! I cannot believe I actually made it through that! And that's it for Treasures Untold.





Uhh... let's see. Battle test complete. Shutting down the program...?
Shutting down?
N-No idea what the heck that means... but 'complete' means that we're done, right!? It's over, right!?

You remain cautious for a while longer... but it seems nothing more is happening.

*sigh* That was quite nerve-wracking.
We were taken to all manner of places, and fought all sorts of monsters... but how did such a thing happen?
Don't know.
But what I do know... is that this is very dangerous.



The choice you pick here has a slight effect on the ending of the quest. Don't worry, it's just flavor text. For now, let's go with the less satisfying option.

We should report that in detail.
Indeed. We should encourage extra caution when investigating this, or even simply approaching it.
Will that really be enough?
...It is dangerous, so we can try to scare 'em off. Tell them not to go in unless they want to fight for their lives, that kinda thing.
I gotta say, though, Chloe. Worried over people you haven't even met? Maybe you really are getting more considerate.
Yeah, really. Used to be she wouldn't even think of something like that. I'm not complaining, of course.
Do you believe so? I thought that Dame Chloe has always been quite kind.



I could use some dinner.
Mm, I'm hungry too. We should hurry back to town and get something to eat. Lots of food.
Aaand she's back to normal.
Hmhmhm... Well then, let's quickly finish our report and go enjoy a meal together, yes?

You nod at her suggestion, and start back toward town.

And let's see what happens when we choose the fun option.

Then let's destroy it.
Huh!? D-Destroy it!? But this was just an investigation request!
But if we just leave it here, it'll be dangerous.
True, it would be dangerous if someone were to touch it without being prepared for such vicious trials...
You know, if this thing calls monsters up, it's going to be a problem for the Grand Duchy's investigation team, too.
Hm... I guess I see your points, and why it might be good to destroy it... but still--
Hoomph!

Sounds of stuff breaking.

While Flavio is fretting to himself, Chloe ambles up to a box, and abruptly slams her weapon down, breaking it!

G-Gah! Whoa, Chloe!? We weren't done discussing yet!
But Knight was the one that said to destroy it first.
Well, I mean... that's true, but...
Then again... if you've already broken a part of it, I guess it's too late for second-guessing...
Pretty much. Well, c'mon. Let's hurry up and break the rest apart.
Very well!

Your minds made up, you set about destroying the curious network of boxes...

...There. I believe we've destroyed all of them.
Phew. Took a lot out of me!
Now it'll be safe.
Is it really okay for us to just... you know, break all this stuff?
They didn't tell us not to destroy it.
What are you, five!?
It'll be all right, Sir Flavio. It wasn't intended as a spiteful act, so I'm certain they will understand.
Mm. It'll be okay if we're honest.
Well, that's about all we can do, then. Should we head back to report in?

You have fulfilled your duty! All that remains is to report your success to the bar.







Cass' dialogue here differs depending on the choice you made. If you didn't destroy the boxes:

Hey, yeh lot still in one piece? Hmm? Boxes that made monsters attack yeh outta nowhere, and took yeh to random places...? Sounds like a real doozy. Guess it really was meant for yeh lot. Good thing m'little slip-up didn't get anyone killed! Haw haw haw! Welp, that's that. I'll just tell the Grand Duchy to be careful about investigatin' any more. Huh? No, I get it, I know yeh're not kiddin'... awright, I get it, it's real scary! I'll make sure I tell 'em. Anyhow, good work! Here's yer reward. Take it home!

If you did destroy them:

Hey, yeh lot still in one piece? Hmm? Boxes that made monsters attack yeh outta nowhere, and took yeh to random places...? Sounds like a real doozy. And yeh... Wait, yeh did what now? ...Maybe my ears ain't workin' properly. Just... say that one more time. ...Yeh... yeh crushed it. Yeh crushed the very box yeh were supposed to be investigatin'. ...Pff... Haw haw haw haw!!! I can't believe this! Yeh know what “investigate" means, don't yeh? Yeh were just supposed to examine the box! The decision was s'posed to be for the higher-ups only! Haw haw haw! A-haw, haw heh... phew, okay, I think I've had my share of laughs for a year! Yeh lot are... interestin', yeh know that? Hmm? Neh, don't worry about it. If yeh say it's dangerous, then it's probably even more danger to normal explorers. I'll go butter up the Grand Duchy. When yeh tried to activate it, it up and broke on yeh. So sad, can't be helped, yadda yadda. Here, take the reward, and be proud yeh did a job well done! And... Haw haw haw! Be proud of givin' me a damn hilarious story!



Not worth it. Formaldehydes aren't even as great in this game as they are in the other EO games. Mainly because the conditional drops in this game are fairly reasonable to get, for the most part.



Though I guess you could use this quest to grind up a party retired from level 99.

Alright, let's see what's left.



...No. Fuck this. I'm done.