Part 20: I Hate Cacti
Update 15: I Hate Cacti
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And we begin the update with finishing Labyrinth stew. Didn't take very long--just made an auto-walk pattern near the entrance to 7F and waited.
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Oh come on. You couldn't give everyone 5 more EXP, Cass? Rheine's so close to a level.
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Minor boost to Delayed Charge.
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At this point I'm going to opt for maxing out Overheal over more points in Salve.
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And Blinding Curse now has a much higher success rate at the cost of 4 more TP per cast.
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Finishing Labyrinth stew unlocked this quest.
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We do just that.
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So this is a very simple quest. We just have to go to the spot at the very top right of 8F where we got the TP-restoring strawberries, get some, and then go to the point Hanna marked.
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We can also visit the VIP's camp before we have the strawberries.
SYSTEM: Possibly alarmed by the urgency of your pace, one guard reacts quickly - lowering his weapon to bar your path.
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SYSTEM: Realizing that this must be the VIP's camp, you explain your assignment for the berries, but the guard does not relax.
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SYSTEM: The guard says no more, but bars the way, his eyes cold and wary--more suspicious than he had been before the explanation. You take your leave of the place, heading northeast to find the strawberries said to be there.
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SYSTEM: Do you remember the quest you accepted to deliver the VIP's strawberries that the Inn's landlady requested? You decide that these are the berries in question, having already tried them, and pick a fine selection for the VIP.
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The first few lines are the same as last time.
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SYSTEM: The guard pauses, considering your words, and speaks again with a more composed tone.
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SYSTEM: You express your gratitude to the guard, and take your leave of the camp. You have completed the quest! All that remains is to return to the bar to report and receive your reward.
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Point Blank is a Gunner charge skill that gives a damage boost at the expense of making all ranged attacks melee for one turn. It's the best charge skill in the game--as in it gives 200% damage boost at level 20 and 175% at level 10--but that's not saying a ton. It's most useful in combination with Burst Shot, since that has a cooldown.
None of that matters with this Grimoire though, since it's not level 10.
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Still maxing out Cocytus Formula in preparation for the stratum boss.
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And here's Hanna's 9F dialogue.
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9F is a really short floor, so let's just get it out of the way.
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Gryphon
HP: 352, STR: 21, VIT: 17
Skills:
Slashing Claws: Uses the arms. Deals heavy Bash damage to one target. Lowers the target's evasion for 3 turns.
- Normal: Steel Beak. Sells for 58 en. 1 needed to make
Broba (+74 ATK). 5 needed to make
Lorica Segmentata (+32 DEF, +5 TP). 5 Flourite and 3 Steel Beaks needed for
Katzbalger (+67 ATK).
"Sturdy, steel-like beak of a Gryphon. High heat is needed to work with it."
- Rare: White Crest. Sells for 66 en. 1 needed to make
Wing Cuirass (+27 DEF). 5 needed to make
Round Shield (+21 DEF). 6 needed to make
Heart Briar (+68 ATK).
"The brilliant white crest of a Gryphon. For its size, it's unbelievably light."
- Normal: Cut, Bash, Fire, Ice
- Weak: Stab, Volt
- Normal: Blind, Poison, Panic, Sleep, Curse, Fear, Petrification, Instant Death, Head bind, Arm bind, Leg bind
- Weak: Paralysis
- Resist: Stun
Long thought to exist only in myth, it has sharp claws and creates gusts with its wings.
Gryphons are pretty annoying. They're really, REALLY fast, and Slashing Claws hurts pretty badly--Tyler takes ~90 damage from it, for reference.
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Madness Owl
HP: 210, STR: 13, VIT: 14
Skills:
Confusing Dust: Uses the arms. Attempts to Panic one target.
- Normal: Glow Quill. Sells for 55 en. 1 needed to make
Quill Armguard (+12 DEF, +1 AGI). 3 needed for
Glaucus Spear (+64 ATK). 5 needed for
Owl Earring (Panic Immunity) (unlock finishes Smithy Thompson's request).
"Luminescent feathers of a Madness Owl. Also used in accessories due to its beauty."
- Conditional: Bound Wings (Kill while arms are bound). Sells for 105 en. 1 needed to make
Owl Eyes (+32 DEF, +25% resistance to Panic).
"Wings that can no longer be moved. Many stay away, unsure when they'll move again."
- Normal: Cut, Bash, Fire, Ice
- Weak: Stab, Volt
- Normal: Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Curse, Fear, Petrification, Instant Death, Stun, Arm bind, Leg bind
- Weak: Panic, Head bind
- Resist: Blind
If you do not bind its wings, it is likely the place you met this owl will also be your grave.
Madness Owls are similarly annoying. Panic is one of the worst ailments to get hit by--having a support get tagged by it means you can't dispel it, and having a damage dealer get tagged by it means you run a high risk of a party member getting either softened up enough for a monster to kill them, or killed if their HP is already low enough.
This particular monster formation is somewhat similar to a few of the Ladybug fights from the 1st Stratum--do you try to kill the Gryphon first and hope the Madness Owl doesn't Panic key party members, or kill the Madness Owl first and let the Gryphon wail on you in the meantime?
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Ouch. Rheine would probably have died to that.
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I...didn't know that Madness Owls could run away if you let a fight against just one of them run on for too long.
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Either tiles around treasure chests are more likely to trigger encounters, or I am just "lucky" enough to have this happen a bunch.
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It's worth in the end, though. I'll start cooking 2nd Stratum food once I get every ingredient.
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Now this is just annoying.
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Well, it would be if I didn't have Stardust.
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This, on the other hand, is a potentially deadly encounter. If both of the Gryphons gang up on anyone, they're dead. No ifs, ands, or buts.
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This is why you can generally be a little lax about upgrading your back line's armor--the back row damage reduction usually keeps them safe.
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All-target Formulas and Venom Curse are a pretty easy, if a bit TP-expensive, method of just saying "nah" to dealing with random encounters.
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SYSTEM: Eventually you discover a monster's young at the root of a tree, chirping and wheezing. A lump seems to be lodged in the down-covered chick's throat, which it is trying to dislodge. It may have swallowed something dangerous... If left alone, it will eventually die. On the other hand, you are well aware that it is a monster's young you're dealing with.
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SYSTEM: The chick heaves several times before giving a violent upheaval as the mass comes loose! Finally at peace, the chick looks at you with beady eyes. One last chirp, and it is gone.
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SYSTEM: You look at the lump caught in the chick's throat, and are surprised to find a gemstone. You take the gem as a reward for your benevolence and leave the area.
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A bit of extra money, I guess. Rubies aren't particularly rare.
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Yeah, the only interesting things about this area is the recipe book and the baby monster event. I head back to town at this point to replenish Stardust and Sophie's TP and to sell off what I've gotten so far.
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And here's what I got from selling said stuff.
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SYSTEM: All at once, you feel predatory eyes fixed upon you and turn to face them!
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SYSTEM: Its malice toward you is apparent, and it is clear that it has marked you as prey. Yet you see no way to progress into the Labyrinth without taking this path. You must find some means of handling this dilemma in order to reach the next room!
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Alright. You see those damage tiles? You know how the Fire Drakes reacted to walking on them by speeding up?
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Attack Cacti react by being damaged and de-aggroing from you. They will then limp away and become inactive for a few turns before healing and aggroing again.
The game has text for this, but it's seven dialogue boxes to tell you what I just said.
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Attack Cactus
HP: 6610, STR: 27, VIT: 23
Skills:
- Revenge Needle: Uses the arms. Prepares to counterattack at the start of the turn. When hit with physical damage, counterattacks with severe Stab damage to the source. Will counter every attack until the end of the turn.
Double Needle: Uses the arms. Deals two instances of heavy Stab damage to one target. Uses AGI for determining damage.
- Normal: Cactus Spine. Sells for 322 en. 1 needed to make
King's Gun (+70 ATK, +5 LUC).
"Light, sharp thorn on an Attack Cactus's head. The inattentive may prick their fingers."
- Conditional: Fleeting Thorn (Kill on the first turn). Sells for 1070 en. 1 needed to make
Fortune Scarab.
"A rare long needle on an Attack Cactus's head. Usually falls out immediately when hit."
- Ingredient: Dragon Fruit. 2 needed to make Persimmon Pudding (Western Food 2; Rare enemy rate slightly up). 2 needed to make Dragon Jelly (Chinese Food 2; Paralysis resistance greatly up). 2 needed to make Autumn Dango (Japanese Food 2; Curse damage tripled).
"Fruit of a violent cactus."
- Normal: Cut, Stab
- Weak: Bash, Fire
- Resist: Ice, Volt
- Normal: Blind, Poison, Paralysis, Panic, Curse, Fear, Head bind, Arm bind, Leg bind
- Weak: Sleep
- Resist: Petrification, Instant Death, Stun
A predator whose body is covered in sharp needles.
Attack Cacti are really dangerous FOEs to fight if you have any physical damage dealers. Revenge Needle basically means you need to hold off on using any physical damage sources until you can either Panic the thing or bind its arms.
Also, I'm sure you could guess it just by looking at that HP total, but even with the slight damage we already got from the damage tile, we are not going to be killing this thing on the first turn--not for a good long while.
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Rheine is my second most reliable damage dealer in this fight, behind Stardust, so buffing her Link Order damage is a good idea (Compression and Attack Order trigger the diminishing buff returns on each other, and Attack Order would lose out there).
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I don't actually know if Delayed Charge will trigger Revenge Needle, but I can probably bind the Cactus's arms before its turn counter runs out.
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Medics really don't have much to contribute at the start of a fight if Overheal isn't a high enough level to be worth using.
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Compressed Inferno Formulas are my best damage against the Cactus.
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I REALLY need to bind the Cactus's arms, so I even enable Creeping Curse to increase the odds of of Abdomen Curse landing.
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Soggy bullshit.
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This was a mistake. I should've just had Rheine cast Link Order.
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Tyler attacking could result in him getting killed, so I just have him hold off until the arm bind lands.
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Tyler's high HP means he's the most likely to get targeted if the Attack Cactus uses an attack or Double Needle, so I have Realga prep Chase Heal in case Tyler somehow doesn't die from it.
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Analysis will help make up for Inferno Formula's low level.
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You've gotta be stirring my pasta.
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And using Chase Heal paid off.
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Now THAT is what I like to see! We'll need the rest of the party to contribute if we want to kill the thing soon, though.
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I finally stop being dumb and just activate Link Order.
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THERE we go.
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Now that Tyler can finally deal damage, we'll be able to kill this thing pretty quickly.
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Alright, let's use Delayed + Cross Charge.
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If the fight goes on long enough for Stardust to get another Analysis, I'm probably screwed, so might as well use Eschaton.
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If I can Poison the Cactus, the battle will be over quite a bit more quickly.
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And the thing's wasted a turn.
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Well, it's not as much as Stardust is dishing out, but both Delayed and Cross Charge are at fairly low levels. Highlanders need a lot of levels to start dishing out big burst damage.
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One turn to Poison it. Sometimes I feel like the game's taunting me.
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Alchemists are really, really good damage dealers.
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Gotta love Poison too.
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Attack Cacti have a LOT of HP, even if you take advantage of the damage tiles.
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I could have Tyler prep another Delayed Charge, but I'd rather get as much damage out of Hero Battle as possible.
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And here I make a really goddamned moronic decision and somehow think the battle will be over soon enough to make casting Comnpression not worth it.
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Sophie's run out of things to do for now, so I might as well just boost everyone's damage a tiny bit.
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Even with the arm bind reducing its STR, the Attack Cactus still hurts. It's worth remembering that Sovereigns have sub-par VIT, though, even though they can wear heavy armor.
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And that's why not re-applying Compression was a bad idea.
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At least Spear Assist deals kind of nice damage. I should've put Tyler's Spear Assist Grimoire back on him.
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Aw crap. The thing's close to dying, but not only did the poison wear off, the arm bind did too.
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This is what we like to call both "desperate" and "really dumb".
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And I realize how much Stardust's damage output suffered from my dumb decision and re-apply Compression.
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Blinding the Cactus probably won't stop Revenge Needle, but it's still the most useful disable I have that's likely to land.
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Welp. Goodbye, Tyler.
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Oh yeah, Spear Assist does really pitiful damage if no-one used an elemental attack before it.
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Tyler died for 56 damage.
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I activate Steady Hands since the battle's going south very quickly, and I need to get Tyler back in fighting shape as soon as possible. It doesn't actually boost Revive's heal, but it does boost its action speed.
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Aaaa, the fight was going so well, too!
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Sooo cloooose.
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If there's a better time for Medical Miracle, it doesn't matter, because this is the last turn of Realga's Force Boost.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again, Medical Miracle is really powerful.
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FUCK.
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I probably would've won by now if I hadn't made all those dumb decisions.
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God, I played that fight really badly. I forgot to invest Sophie's skill point, too.
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Next room's more of the same.
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Lure the Attack Cactus to damage tiles...
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And then just walk around it while it's limping away.
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The last room of 9F (yes, it really is this short) is a bit more involved. We have several patches of damage tiles scattered across the room, and two Attack Cacti to deal with.
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The way I do this room is lure the upper Cactus into the damage tiles...
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Followed by the other one.
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When you walk to this tile, the upper one will re-aggro to you, while the lower one will still be limping.
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Avoid running into the limping Attack Cactus from a direction that's not the back (yes, I've done this before), and lure the upper one into that lone damage tile.
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And from there, you're home-free.
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I don't actually go to 10F yet, since I still need to finish Smithy Thompson's request and get Abigail's dialogue. I learned from the last time I lost dialogue by going to a new floor, don't worry.
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I head back to town since Rheine and Tyler died while grinding Glow Quills and Realga ran out of TP. I also sold off the stuff we got.
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Realga got a level from Glow Quill grinding. Overheal now gives slightly more extra heal, although the max HP boost didn't go up (that only goes up at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20).
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I also remember that Sophie got a level from the Attack Cactus fight, and at this point, I want to get Evil Eye while also boosting the rest of her disables' infliction chances, so I invest in Curse Mastery.
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Tyler then got a level from more grinding. Delayed Charge now does slightly more damage.
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I ended up in a LOT of fights trying to get Glow Quills, alright?
Cocytus Formula now does slightly more damage.
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FINALLY. Good lord.
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Abigail then starts talking when we leave.
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And here's Abigail's 9F dialogue.
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Let's turn in that quest before moving onto 10F.
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Link Order now does quite a bit more damage, but more importantly, Link Order II got unlocked. It's basically just a version of Link Order that deals damage to every enemy when the target gets hit with an element. It even does the same damage at every level as Link Order.
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We're now at the end of the Auburn Thicket. I head right back to town to check up on new dialogue and quests.
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Let's start with Dubois.
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Onto Marion.
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Next up, Regina.
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Moving onto Abigail.
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Over to Hanna.
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And, lastly, Cass.
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Only one patron besides Rozsika, again.
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The 10F quests.
Volunteer service II:
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Tree Sponges are either really easy or nightmarish, depending on your party composition. We'll see them next update.
The perfect gift:
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Does Cass really need to remind us of the inn's purpose every time he brings it up? Good lord.
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And we'll end the update on Hanna's quest details.
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Phew. Alright, next time: we take care of both of these quests, and then go through 10F.