Part 85: A Petaloid by Any Other Name

Update 68: A Petaloid by Any Other Name



Hah...
Hm? Is something wrong, Luca?
No, it's just... I'm exhausted by this point. How many times have I been in exploration parties, and how many times have I been in parties for larger monsters?
More than anyone else.
Hrm?
Yes, I counted.
Look at it this way: there's only a little bit left, right? After we see what's at the end of the Labyrinth, we're all free to do whatever!
I guess that is consoling, yeah. I'm worried there's something bad at the top of the Labyrinth, though...

Remember how I said Frost King and Thunder Queen would be next after the last update? I lied, I felt like getting 29F out of the way. 29F can be annoying to traverse--not as bad as 28F, mind you, but still enough to get on your nerves. 30F's a cakewalk compared to either 28F or 29F, thankfully, but that's neither here nor there.




You'll notice that I already have some of the map filled in. This is because I suffered a game over to a really dangerous random encounter and accidentally forgot to not save my map data. ~whoops~


Are those...flower buds?


Did, uh... Did that flower patch just gasp?


I get the strangest feeling that we're being ambushed.


I'm surprised you predicted that, to be honest.
We've been at this for almost a year, nothing much surprises me anymore.

Hazardous Petals are stealth FOEs. They hide in one tile, and engage you if you walk within a 1-tile radius of where they're hiding. That's what the pink tiles on my map are for.



Ooh, it's been a while since I had some good greenery.
Does that...thing...truly count as a vegetable?


Hazardous Petal
HP: 28177, STR: 82, TEC: 71, VIT: 71, AGI: 51, LUC: 73
Skills:

• Sleep Pollen: Uses the head. Attempts to inflict sleep and each type of bind on every party member, with a 40% bae chance. Has no speed modifier.
  
• Dancing Petals: Uses the arms. Deals 100% melee STR-based cut damage to each party member. Has a 90% speed modifier and 80 base accuracy.

Drops:

• Normal: Hazardous Bulb. 80% chance. 1 needed to make Petal Staff (+191 ATK, +80 HP, 30% base chance for normal attacks to inflict sleep)
  "A bulb that extrudes vines in search of prey, Even when cut, it may still sprout again."
  
• Conditional: Lavish Flower (Kill while cursed). 100% chance. Sells for 9400 en. 1 needed to make Amrita II (Restores 100 TP to one target).
  "A flower of unsettling beauty, dead from its own curse. Its sweet nectar soothes the mind."

Damage resistances:
125% 100% 100% 125% 100% 100%
Disable resitances:
50% 50% 25% 25% 0% 25% 25%
10% 10% 10%
50% 25% 25%

A bewitching flower whose petals are often used in hexes.

The return of a series mainstay. Often maligned, and not without reason, Petaloids (or Hazardous Petals in EO2U, which is a direct, literal translation of their Japanese name) are all about two things: putting your party to sleep, and then murdering them while they're asleep. Except now EO2U throws two wrenches into that: the sleep now can now also inflict every type of bind, meaning you can be screwed even if you have sleep resistance, and 82 STR means that Dancing Petals can easily kill you even if your party isn't asleep.

Unfortunately, the Petaloid conditional drop makes Amrita IIs. If you don't feel like repeating one of the DLC quests over and over on Picnic, that's your only way of making Amrita IIs.



The easy solution to Sleep Pollen, as with every other disable in the postgame, is Barrier.



I'd rather almost-completely incapacitate the Hazardous Petal for now instead of just binding it. Gives me a turn or two more to work with.

By this point I'm sure you can guess what Ursa, Stardust, and Rheine did for their actions.



Opening up with Barrier and Madness Curse is a pretty safe option against Petaloids, since either Barrier'll stop Sleep Pollen (which outspeeds Sophie), or Madness Curse'll go before Dancing Petals due to how fast Sophie is.

That Speed Up Grimoire was seriously one of the best things I ever did for Sophie.



Colette'll switch to Ailing Slash until the panic wears off and/or it's replaced by curse.



Head binds'll let Colette continue to spam Ailing Slash after the panic gets replaced, and they'll also amplify Stardust's damage.



And Rheine'll just piggyback off of Inferno Formula until the flower is dead.



Not too bad, just shy of 10% of the Petaloid's HP.



Even better.



I'd rather inflict arm bind with the last turn of Creeping Curse than Corrupt Curse.



Alright, let's try using a low-level Corrupt Curse against a 25% resistance.



Shoot me.



God please I hope this doesn't take long, those binds aren't going to stick for much longer.



Cuh-raaaaaap.


Gimme a sec, I'm running out of things to bite at...


Rrrch.



MOTHERFUCKING FINALLY


Annihilated.
Was turning it into ash really necessary?
Yes.

Aside from Corrupt Curse taking 6 turns, that went about as well as you could ask for from a Petaloid fight.




I didn't want to lose that good attempt, so I went back to town.

Petal Staff (+191 ATK, +80 HP, 30% base chance to inflict sleep on normal attacks) is made from 1 Hazardous Bulb.

Amrita II (Restores 100 TP) is made from 1 Lavish Flower. For the record, no, I'm not going to be farming for these things by getting the conditionals. See my note about cheesing a DLC quest on Picnic up above.




Okay, so this is a conundrum. I can't progress further in the room without running into a Petaloid. What the hell do I do here?

Well, remember how Icy Bulbs reduced the Cursed Pumpkins' vision range to just one tile instead of a big radius? They do the same for Petaloids.




The teleporter marked with a 2 takes you to this small room that literally just has an Icy Bulb and a teleporter back.





Moth Lord
HP: 2968, STR: 79, TEC: 62, VIT: 59, AGI: 52, LUC: 63
Skills:

• Madness Dust: Uses the arms. Attempts to inflict panic and paralysis on every party member, with a 40% base chance. Has no speed modifier.
  
• Slice and Dice: Uses the arms. Deals 3-5 instances of 130% melee STR-based cut damage to random targets. Can hit the same target multiple times. Has an 80% speed modifier and 20 base accuracy.

Drops:

• Normal: Red Quill. 70% chance. Sells for 2450 en. 1 needed to make Avarice Bow (+174 ATK). 10 needed to make Moth Shield (+60 DEF). 2 Red Quills and 7 Lizard Crowns needed to make King's Spear (+187 ATK). 2 Pure White Horns and 3 Red Quills needed to make Rune Tunic (+60 DEF). 3 Pure White Horns and 5 Red Quills needed to make Angel Cry (+173 ATK). 2 Red Iron Shards and 7 Red Quills needed to make Tyrfing (+181 ATK).
  "Thin, nebula-patterned wings of a Moth Lord. some people admire its vibrant coloring."
  
• Ingredient: Sap Belly. 1 given. 1 needed to make Pumpkin Pie (Western Food 6; restores 15% of damage dealt as TP). 1 needed to make BBQ Lizard (Chinese Food 6; +80% instant death resistance). 1 needed to make Eastern Nishime (Japanese Food 6; forces all FOE and boss fights [with exceptions] to be preemptive attacks).

Damage resistances:
100% 125% 100% 100% 100% 125%
Disable resistances:
100% 50% 0% 0% 50% 50% 50%
50% 50% 50%
100% 100% 50%

The lord of the moths, many associate its vivid coloring with death.

Thought Great Moths were bad enough? Say hi to their straight-upgrade cousins. They really aren't any different aside from having beefier stats and their ailment skill now inflicts paralysis as well.


I think not.

I cannot overstate how useful, borderline mandatory even, Barrier is in the postgame.



A single Moth Lord is easily dealt with, but they can become serious nightmares with other monsters.




So, yeah, that's the gimmick of 29F. Petaloids and fog rooms.

Fun.



Behind this door lies...



Fog.



And a teleporter.



The teleporter goes to this barren room that just has an Asterius spawn point and a treasure chest.



The chest doesn't even have anything good in it.

Oh, also, I'm effectively boxed in by that Asterius. Good thing I have an Ariadne Thread.




Is there any reason we couldn't have just stepped around that teleporter?
Unspoken laws of the natural world.

That door there leads to a teleporter, which goes to here.



An effective dead end that just has stairs back down to 28F.




Oh fuck, not that thing.


Trihorn
HP: 1677, STR: 75, TEC: 56, VIT: 56, AGI: 43, LUC: 54
Skills:

• Evil Cry: Cannot be disabled. Only used when the Trihorn is in the back row. Increases all enemies' physical attack by 50% for 4 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier.
  
• Triple Death: Cannot be disabled. Deals 140% melee STR-based stab damage to one target, with line-piercing effect. Attempts to instantly kill hit targets, with a 30% base chance. Has no speed modifier and 99 base accuracy.

Drops:

• Normal: Pure White Horn. 45% chance. Sells for 1530 en. 1 needed to make Battle Boots (+33 DEF, +10 HP, +2 STR). 10 needed to make White Rhino (+179 ATK). 20 needed to make Soma Prime (Restores 160 HP to party). 30 needed to make Angelic Cap (Medic ultimate non-body armor; +52 DEF, +20 TP, +2 TEC). 2 Pure White Horns and 3 Red Quills needed to make Rune Tunic (+60 DEF). 3 Pure White Horns and 5 Red Quills needed to make Angel Cry (+173 ATK).
  "Bone-white fragment of a Trihorn. Used for equipment and medicine alike."
  
• Conditional: Cursed Horn (Kill while cursed). 80% chance. Sells for 2890 en. 1 needed to make Vigor Belt (+80 HP).
  "Pristine white horn, wrought with curses. Though ominous, it's filled with life energy."

Damage resistances:
100% 50% 100% 50% 150% 50%
Disable resistances:
50% 100% 100% 50% 50% 100% 100%
50% 50% 50%
0% 0% 0%

A mutant subspecies of rhino with three horns. It is in a constant state of rage...

Fuck these stupid goddamn rhinos. Fuck anything with instant death access, really, but these rhinos are even worse because they hit even vaguely squishy characters hard enough to kill them without it anyway, and beefier characters tend to have lower LUC, so they're more susceptible to the instant death.

Also fuck the fact that they're immune to all bind types. That can be a pretty rude awakening if you, say, have a Dark Hunter without a Hexer, like I did on my first playthrough.

Triple fuck the ridiculous requirements on the stuff that the Pure White Horn unlocks, too. Want Soma Primes or the second-best bit of armor you can get for a Medic? Have fun risking dying to instant death a bunch!



Also that conditional means you have to put a non-debilitating ailment on the Trihorn, which is dangerous as hell.



At least it being in the back row means I get a breather on the first turn. If a Trihorn's in the back row, its first action will always be to use Evil Cry.

Well, almost all of the time. I've been unhappily surprised by a Trihorn using Triple Death as its first action in the back row once, but I've never had it happen again.



A reminder that there's several good reasons why Stardust has been my most used character throughout the LP--even if you remember that almost every party in this LP was decided by voting, I still pushed for her a bunch in party descriptions.



Don't let that battle fool you, any encounter with a Trihorn has the potential to go sour very quickly.




This room is pre-fogged already. It's actually safe to kill the Icy Bulb if you want.





Carbuncle
HP: 770, STR: 52, TEC: 60, VIT: 45, AGI: 51, LUC: 48
Skills:

• Scorching Light: Used when below 100% HP. Deals 250% ranged TEC-based fire damage to all party members. Kills the Carbuncle after use. Has a 150% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy.

Drops:

• Normal: Lizard Crown. 35% chance. Sells for 1480 en. 1 needed to make Great Helm (+46 DEF, can be equipped by Beasts). 3 needed to make Royal Axe (+186 ATK). 10 needed to make Ancient Scepter (+138 ATK, +5 TEC, +6 VIT). 2 Red Quills and 7 Lizard Crowns needed to make King's Spear (+187 ATK).
  "Crown-shaped horn of a giant lizard. Hard and metallic, it works well for weapons."
  
• Conditional: Dull Crown (Kill while blinded). 50% chance. Sells for 1980 en. 1 needed to make Misanga of Trust (Beast ultimate non-body armor; +100 HP, +5 VIT).
  "The light has faded from this crown upon blinding. However, its power is magnified."

Damage resistances:
100% 100% 125% 0% 0% 0%
Disable resistances:
50% 50% 50% 100% 50% 50% 50%
50% 50% 50%
100% 100% 100%

This flame-spewing monster looks like it's wearing a crown. Blind it, and the crown dims.

Carbuncles are designed explicitly to counter Alchemists spamming all-target Formulas, as well as be incredibly dangerous assistants to monsters that hurt other enemies, which is a very small group that includes the monkey over there and a monster we'll see on 30F.

Also, those drop rates suck and grinding for a Dull Crown can be hair-pulling.



Case in point.



Their HP's low enough that even a no-ailment Ailing Slash can one-shot them, at least.



Bah. I'll get the Dull Crown later.



Marvelous, multiple teleporters.
Which one should we use?
I've got a good feeling about 8.


Apparently my good feelings aren't worth much...



JESUS FUCKING CHRIST


At the very least, this floor seems less irritating than the previous one.
How do you figure that?
You...didn't hear Realga shouting about how annoyed the last floor made her?
She did it a bunch, I'm kinda confused how you didn't hear it.


I revoke my previous comment.



Welp, time to fog up the room.



WHY ME


Uh, how did we end up here?
Mmmmmmaybe the teleporter we marked with a rock?



...There was an Icy Bulb in the room when I came in, which I killed to map out the room. OOPS.



One day later, and that mistake is rectified.



The teleporter I am looking at is the way forward--the ones on the other sides will just send you backwards.



We're nearing the end.


All things considered, that wasn't actually that bad.
I don't think I can look at flowers quite the same way after this...
Eh, at least they're better than the pumpkins.
The...pumpkins?
Don't ask.



Here we are. A month and a little more than a week short of a year from when I started the LP, we've reached the final floor of the Labyrinth.

How about we head back to town and take on some quests before I get an important chest on 29F?



My my, news does travel quickly. But, yes, we have indeed reached the 30th floor.
To think, it's been there since long before I was born... I just can't imagine what the Labyrinth's peak would be like. But I know enough to guess. The top is really dangerous, isn't it?
Probably not that much more dangerous than what we've done so far.
Well...if I'm fussing too much, just say so...but just remember this. You're all like family to me... No matter what happens, no matter where you go, this'll always be a home for you. Alright?



I hear you've almost reached the end of the forest above the castle! That's incredible! Climbing to the top of Yggdrasil should be a really impressive feat...but it's strange... You just come and go like it's the easiest thing in the world to you... It makes me feel like it really is no big deal for you to go back and forth from here to the Labyrinth like that... But I know that's not true. Not at all.
Eh. Maybe half a deal? ...Is that even a real phrase?
You climb all the way up Yggdrasil, and risk your life against deadly monsters, but somehow you always come back safe... I can't do much, but I'll do my best to make things easier for you up there! So, please...don't ever lose. I want you to come back safe, no matter what!



Correct.
I've been asking Grandpa to try opening up relations with them. They're not like us at all, but if we want to keep exploring the Labyrinth, it'd be best if we were diplomatic about it, right? Plus, I'm sure their knowledge of the Labyrinth will be of great use to High Lagaard. Their diet must be completely different from ours, too. A completely different view on food... This is all so exciting!



No more than usual.
Oh! By the way, we had a visitor yesterday all the way from Etria!
Ooh! Were they part of the guild that destroyed its Yggdrasil?!
...Why would you be excited to meet that guild?
It was really something to meet them... They weren't intimidating or anything, but... Somethin' about the way they carried themselves...ah, heck, how do I say this? It was different from us folks.
Eeeeeee! I knew it!
In all seriousness, Sophie, I doubt they were that guild.
I've been minding this bar a long time, but I've never seen anyone like that. Yeh wanna know why someone like that showed up here? Well, it was...'cause of yeh lot. Apparently they heard about yeh during their travels. Haw haw! Looks like this bar's signature guild is getting famous! I wish yeh'd been here to meet 'em!



Here they are: the final two non-DLC quests. And boy, are both of them doozies.

A dance with death:

Oh, that one? That's a request just for yeh lot. Remember the requester that gave yeh the Scholar piece? This one's from her, again, yeh see. She wants to ask yeh for somethin' to do with a rare monster. She's still hangin' around in this bar, so go ask her about the specifics, eh?

Right after we take on the next quest.

Crimson vengeance:

Ah, yeh came at the right time! Yeh remember the last quest? Yeh brought back that amazing sword... But it's disappeared!
Um, that really shiny one? The one that tore a hole in our backpack and was sharp enough to go through the floor?
How in the world does something like that disappear?
Well, I had some business at the Duke's Palace, yeh see. So I asked if they'd found out anythin' about that sword. But they said they didn't even have any record of takin' the damn thing from yeh! Didn't make sense for there t'be no record of a visit from the princess's personal attendant, so I asked the Minister. But it was the first he'd heard about any of it. Ended up leavin' as clueless as I'd went in.
...Excuse me while I go bash my head on a wall. I should've known that guard was suspicious...
But the Minister did say that if yeh go to the Explorers Guild, yeh can register it as a lost item. Sorry, but could yeh try goin' to the Explorers Guild so yeh can report it as a lost article?
I must confess, I am slightly worried that someone...unsavory might've gotten ahold of that sword.
It would not be the first time we've been deceived by a thief disguised as a guard...



Let's actually get some info on A dance with death before we go to the Guild:

Oh... H-Hello. Lumen, do you remember me? I'm the one that asked you to show me your Codex in exchange for, um, my Scholar piece.
Yeah, I remember you! We had fun talking about eating monsters.
Perhaps you did, but I doubt the "eating" part was mutual.
I wanted to see a lot of monsters at once last time, but this time, I want to see a specific monster. Do you know of a rare monster known as the Dinogator?
Can't say that we do.
I have only seen it in old documents, so I was wondering if perhaps Lumen might know of it...? So, if you find the time, could you please try to find Dinogator for me? Once you register Dinogator to the Codex, please come talk to me again. And...um...p-please...be careful.

Dinogator is a...special enemy. We might see it when I'm exploring 30F normally, we might not.

Adventurers in matching gear:

Phew, that really hits the spot...
Hi, hat guy's guild!
Lumen, are you drinkin' too!? You know, we ran into another big one...!
Y'know that Bloody Soldier thing?
Friggin' goes after...everything in sight! Friend, foe, don't even matter to 'im!
I mean, that'd be fine. Monsters killin' monsters 's okay by me. But then it cut down this Carbuncle next to it, right?
Y-yes?
It killed the bunny! Not us! Tha's good! But the Carbuncle started glowin' funny...
And boom! Blew us right up! Tha's bad.
We got hit with a real big one there! It was...*hic* Awful! Terrible! Completely crappy!
Hahaha, but we have fun livin' on the edge! And th' beer tastes even better 'cause of it!
Cheers t' crappy adventures!
Drink!
...Honestly, when this is all over, I'll actually kind of miss these drunkards. A little.



...Uh.
Is the store starting a new branch in the Explorers Guild?
Er, I'm not opening the--I mean, it's not that I'm running the shop from here, it's just--o-oh... I'm sorry!
Deep breaths, Abigail. What happened?
Y-Yes, right... Phew, hahh...phew...hahh... I think... I'm okay now... Thank you, everyone. Eheheh. Uhm... I came to drop off some weapons and gear that we promised to repair, and the guildmaster was on her way out... Something seemed different about the guildmaster... I asked where she was going, and she said she was going to the woods... Sh-She told me not to tell anyone, but I'm not sure what would be the best thing to do...
Hm... Ah. Was she carrying anything odd?
She... didn't have anything weird, but she did have a rare sword with her. It was even glowing.
I suspected that. She's one of the few people that could convincingly impersonate a guard...
I've been helping my dad, so I've seen a lot of types of weapons and other equipment... But I've never seen a sword like that before. It really stood out! I remember it clearly. And...oh, right! She said that she's going to the Red Forest, where the Red King sleeps, to put an end to things.
That...doesn't sound good.
I'm not sure...where that is... Um... I feel weird asking, since I don't know what's going on, but could you find the guildmaster? For some reason, I just feel...scared. I don't think anything like this has ever happened before...
We will take care of matters, do not worry. Everything will be fine.
Th-Thank you very much! I'll be minding the guild here, so please make sure she's safe!

For the record, yes, Abigail takes over the Explorers Guild while you have Crimson vengeance active, and she even has a full set of voices for everything you can do at the Guild.




Oh, right, I forgot to check on Dubois after Shadow of the castle.

There is no need for you to risk your lives against a foe as dreadful as the Hekatonkheires! You have done so much for us. If we were to lose you, I don't know if I could bear such a loss...!

...Hekatonkheires? Whoever translated this bit of dialogue evidently didn't check and make sure it was consistent.

We...defea--
_{Luca, shh! I wanna have some fun.} Ahem... A little late there, sadly...
Late...? What do you mean by that...? C-Could it be that the figures before me are the ghosts of Lumen!? Am I... Am I hallucinating...!?
We've come back from the grave to haauunt yooouuu~
Oh, how could this be!? Lumen has fallen victim to that monster, and it is... it is all my fault! What have I done...? I-I must take responsibility! I have no choice but to fall upon my own sword--hm?
W-wait! Please, pay attention to our forms! Do we look like ghosts?!
Wait...but you still have legs...and you appear to cast a shadow...? ...I-I am bamboozled! If you have successfully defeated the monster, then why did you not simply say so...?
Aheh, um... Sorry, got a little carried away there...
*sigh*... You gave me quite the scare, there... But I am glad that you were able to return safe and sound...truly, I am very grateful for that. Ah, but I shouldn't dampen the mood like this. The beast is slain, and the heroes returned! Now raise your heads high! Yes, that is what the Duchy of High Lagaard wishes to see! Oho ho ho ho!

Well, that just happened.

Dubois's normal dialogue:

So, explorers. What do you think? Is it not a wonderful country?
High Lagaard? It's a little frigid for my tastes, but I can see why someone would like it.
This land was built on toil, fellowship, and the spirit of adventure... Yes, I could ask for no better land to serve. I am thankful indeed that your travels guided you here, to our humble land... Our meeting was quite the good fortune for me. It's a fine thing to live long.



And to close out the update, here's the last important treasure from 29F. We actually have all of the standard recipe books now, but we're missing three special ones, which we'll get after we finish Crimson vengeance.




I cooked some things now that I got more ingredients and have all of the books.

Caterpillar Casserole does two things: on Expert, it lets you go back to just before the start of a battle in which your party is annihilated, and on Normal, it gives you one more retry before you run out and are forced back to the title. It does nothing on Picnic.

This thing comes far too late in the game for it to be of any conceivable use.



Orange-Sauce Kaiju Steak increases each party member's STR, TEC, VIT, AGI, and LUC by 5. This is an absolutely fantastic food and it's pretty much what everyone takes for any bosses from 29F on.



Bamboo Sarmale restores 5% of any damage a character deals as HP. Pass.



Shumai increases the party's petrification resistance by 80%. There is not a single fight where this is useful or preferable over another food, honestly, especially not this late in the game.



BBQ Lizard increases the party's instant death resistance by 80%. Same problem as Shumai: too situational, and far too late in the game.

That should do it for now. Next time: I either take on the Frost King and Thunder Queen, or go do Crimson vengeance.

Either way, we're coming up on the end, people. After the DLC bosses and Crimson vengeance, there's just 30F and the postgame superboss left.