Part 30: Mini Update: Game is Broken

Mini Update: Game is Broken

PC-88 Version



You think back on the details of the job you promised Cass you'd do... This roar can only be the beast that began to attack people after being wounded! This is your chance to defeat the beast and finish your task, but may also keep walking.

: So, Pauline.

: I said I was sorry. Anyways, the thing Bellamy and I wanted to talk to you about. How about letting the rest of us join in on the explorations sometime?

: Huh?

: It's a waste of our talents if we do nothing but fetch branches for you while you all get to explore the unknown.

: And wouldn't it be better for some of you guys to take a break sometimes?

: Yeah, Ken is looking pretty tired. How about switching us around from time to time?

: Well. Hmm. What can you guys do? Give me a good reason why I should let you join the main team.

PC-88 Version



: Would roasted mole be enough?



: Eh, I can do better.

:

Alchemists are pretty decent earlygame, but their spells are get very costly later, and the damage drops off hard late and postgame. It might be best to use one for the earlygame, and then retire them into a class that scales much better late.



: Come on everyone! Hustle!



Airwalk is a buff that increases your speed and evasion. Not really a fan of this one. It's kind of meh compared to the other force skills you have access to. Like Bellamy's.

: Hmm, is anything else you can do? Something that can really help us out in explorations and deal with tough monsters?

: Why yes.



: This.



:

:

: S-should we mark that crater on the map?

: Uh, I don't think people usually walk by this spot.

: I'll consider your proposal.

: Excellent.

For the record, Bellamy is level 1. Eschaton NUKES the enemy with an untyped magical spell for a massive amount of damage. The name of the skill, Eschaton, is derived from the word eschatology, which means the study of end times. So essentially Bellamy just unleashed Armageddon on those poor monsters. And yes, this spell can one-shot the Gashtor and Furyhorns, but it does less damage there. You can also unleash it as an opener on Chimaera to make the fight a bit easier.

PC-88 Version



I snag this item from the mining point while I'm here.



: And this is why we needed you guys.

It seems that the path continues beyond the wall... While you consider different ways to get past the wall, the survivalist points upward. Above the wall, a high branch juts out invitingly.

: Alright then, watch this!

The survivalist nimbly jumps between the trees, landing directly on the branch! With your survivalist's help, you fasten a rope to the branch so the entire party can cross.

: Come on!









a: On one hand, I feel kind of bad getting rid of this bow Abigail gave to me. On the other hand, new weapon!

This is why the Wood Bow reward is redundant if you have a Survivalist. Because by the time you can complete that quest, you should have this bow instead.



There is writing engraved here, but it seems ancient and utterly unlike anything you recognize.

: Bellamy?

: Very well.

As you take turns examining the writing, you can hear your alchemist mutter something. The strange language begins to ring, as the gem in the center shines brightly. It appears that your alchemist can read whatever is written here! You can now use the activated monument to teleport to the other side of the wall.





: What? What do you mean I don't get a new weapon? Everyone else got one!

: Jealous?

The Flame Jar is a pretty powerful consumable, that unleases Flame (an Alchemist's tier 2 spell) on all enemies. It scales off TEC so have someone like a Hexer or another class with high TEC use it.



That Garnet unlocked the Apt Piece and a Power Ring. Those increase TEC and STR by 5, respectively.



Switching back to the main party here to finish up some quests.



We need to get some Bug Shells for that quest, so I try to farm for some.













Unfortunately, random drops are generally a pain to grind for in most RPGs. EO3 introduced an item called Formaldehyde. When used on the same turn you kill an enemy, you get all the enemy's drops, conditionals included. Sounds pretty sweet, but the Formaldehyde was actually how they nerfed how easy it is to farm for random drops in this game. We can't grind for random drops easily at this point. The random drop system can actually be broken over our knees here. But we can't do that at the moment.



Unfortunately, I spent so much time grinding for all the Bug Shells I needed, that I accidentally leveled up. Better not get overleveled for Chimaera.



Taking a 5th level in Overhead unlocked Orochi, which is a single target Fire/Slashing skill. We'll want to take this eventually.



Climax's HP threshold increases from 11% to 13%.



Warmight now gives a 25% boost in damage.



Medishot now cures everything but petrification. All the 5th level does is decrease the TP cost and increases the speed modifier. Gunner's have really low TP pools, so you may want to go for a 5th level so they can get more use out of it.



Aliara's poison is now almost reliable damage. Now it has a 71% base chance to hit, while ticking for 193 base damage. Level 10 poison is going to be something all right.

PC-88 Version



Sold all those Bug Shells to unlock this.



: My father an I are both so grateful! I've already put it on the show floor, so please take a look. I left the reward with Cass, so you can claim it from him. Thank you sooo much. If I have another request, I hope you'll be the ones to help!

: Oh man, that should stop me from getting taken out all the time!

: I would hope so. You're racking up a ton of hospital bills here.

Spoilers: It doesn't. Evil Eyes are the worst.



: Welcome back. How was the armor they worked up? Well, I s'pose you'll find out soon enough. Here you go! Thanks again!







Of course part of the reason Nick's been dying so much is because I haven't upgraded his armor since the very beginning. Or so I thought. Turns out Evil Eyes do not care about armor at all and will still kill you if they get a lucky Tackle in. I also buy one for Ken since that should help against everything else. Our party is strong enough to take down the Gashtor now, so let's go do that.



Now instead of staying still, the Gashtor moves around. And it's aggressive, so it'll chase after you now.

Video: Gashtor

PC-88 Version




Gashtor
Type: Normal
Behavior: Patrol
Aggressive: Yes
HP: 300
AT: 17
DF: 17
Skills: Fangs
Item Drops: N/A
Description: After this wounded beast was found and healed on 1F of the Labyrinth, it began lashing out.
Weakness: Ice (125%)
Resistance: N/A

Fangs is a physical attack that can paralyze whoever it hits. It's probably best to take it out quickly. The Gashtor is a quest FOE, so once you kill it, it won't respawn. Not much to it other than killing it before it kills you. Normally when an FOE dies, it takes 7 days for it to respawn.











I have Ken attack since he doesn't have any damage moves. While Cuffs won't stop the Gashtor from using Fangs, the arm bind will make the fight a lot more managable if it lands. Warmight is used on Ken since he'll dish out the most damage. Fedot uses Iceshot since that's its weakness. Aliara's poison does have a chance of sticking to it, but the chances of it working on FOEs are lower than it affecting regular enemies.





Got lucky with the arm bind here, now it won't one shot our front line.







Ken and Fedot get some good hits in.







: I though cuffing his arms would stop him from biting me!

: I'm seriously considering Bellamy's proposal now.

Paralysis is annoying. All it does it does it make it so that any affected character have a 50% chance to not attack. Later games made it so it lowered evasion or nullified it as well.



: Screw this.





: Why!?



: I can't feel my everything.



It's getting pretty low. Time to finish it.





: Wait, guys! Don't kill it just yet, I wanna show you my new move!

: Uh, okay.



:

: Uh, Nick?



:

: Nick if you don't do it, I'm finishing it off myself!

: Wait wait wait! Here it goes!



: What the hell, Nick!?

: Warn us next time if you're gonna do something like that!

: I'm going to make it my life's mission, what's left of of it at least, to ensure that no one else has to witness THAT!

: COOL! Do it again!

: How about no?

: What did I do wrong?

And this is why Dark Hunters are broken. At max level, Climax will instantly kill the enemy if their health is below 55%. This means that all FOEs essentially have 45% of their max health when fighting them, and that FOE encounters now take half as long. The best part? No FOE in the game is immune to instant death. They're resistant to it, but that's not the same thing as being immune. This is much better than the poison cheese from the first game since this is relevant all game, even in the postgame. As a kicker, it takes the amount of health the enemy had left, and heals the Dark Hunter for that amount. It also has a chance to restore a small amount of TP as well. That sound you heard was the game snapping in half. By the time this LP is over, it will be a pile of dust. Of course to even cheese FOEs with this skill, your party has to be able to go toe to toe with them first. Climax can't help if your party can't even survive an FOE's attacks, or if they can barely scratch the thing.



Remember that FOEs don't give exp in this game. That's made up for with in other ways.

PC-88 Version



The danger to travelers is no more, and all may pass this point without fear. Your quest is complete. When you have the time, go to the bar and report your work!

PC-88 Version



: Ahh, that were a nice bit of work. The client tells me yeh took it down pretty handily. The guards were chuffed to see how strong yeh were! The Explorers Guild isn't just here to explore the Labyrinth, yeh know. Sometimes yeh'll have to pitch in and help around town, so come see me now and again, eh?

: What about our reward?

: Ahh, yes, the reward. Here yeh go, and I'll be counting on yer help again soon!



A third Nectar. These will come in handy for later. Our main updates will resume with a healthy dosage of



DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH!