Part 89: Lesson Learned

Lesson Learned



This is the team that was decided on. A return to the old team for the last leg of the game.













I went out and unlocked all the equipment you could get from mining. I upgrade accordingly.

PC-88 Version



: Huh, there's not a lot of FOEs this time.

: Did you seriously take them all out?

: Not really, they all just disappeared once we took down the Colossus.

: Hmm, and the shortcut to the stairs is really this way?

: Yeah, I'll show you.

There's not many FOEs to sneak past on future trips, so it's really easy to navigate floor 23 now. A Guardian will spawn in the center room at the bottom if you enter it, but you only have to deal with one of those instead of five.



The exhausted man is looking around: once he spies you, he rushes to your side.

: You must be explorers! Can you tell me what floor this is?

: You're on the 24th floor. What are you doing up here?

The news that he is currently on the 24th floor shocks him sufficiently to turn him white.

: I... I'm that high up!? Ohhhh, I'll never make it back alive!

: Don't worry, it's easy to get back. After all, we've made maps of the place. Now where did I put those?

: Not that we've finished mapping out the 22nd floor. Funnily enough, that's part of why we're here. We're missing the sides, see?

After you explain to him why you're here, he looks at you in sympathy.

: Me too! I'm supposed to be doing the same thing. But my buddies were all killed... I was in charge of the dog, so I had to follow it wherever it went. Now I'm stuck here!

The guard looks half-crazed with panic and confusion.

: I'll never see home again! Unless... you don't have a Warp Wire to spare, do you?

You would normally hesitate to hand over such a crucial item, but he seems desperate...



: Yeah, you can have one. We have a few spares.

You give the guard a Warp Wire from your bag.

: Th-Thank you so much! Now I can go back home... This isn't much in return, but... here.

He rummages through his pockets before pulling out a leather pouch and handing it to you.

: Oh, and about the map of the 22nd floor... I have good news about that, at least! My bloodhound ran to the northwest as soon as he set foot on this floor. I can't guarantee there's anything there, but it's possible.

: Thanks for the info.

You thank the guard for his invaluable information and take your leave.





PC-88 Version




Steelgun
HP: 495
AT: 58
DF: 46
Exp: 3360
Skills: Snipe, Bright
Item Drops:
-Common: Gold Shell - 1 needed for Spangen and State Wall.
--Armor fragment from a mechanized soldier.
-Rare: Metal Chip - See Guardian bio.
-Conditional: Gold Arm - Kill while arms are bound. 1 needed for Gold Gun.
--Steelgun arm, made of indestructable material.
Description: A humanoid mecha with a devastating firearm that rains down bullets upon its targets.
Weakness: Volt (150%)
Resistance: Fire (75%), Ice (75%), Physical (50%)

Steelguns hit fairly hard, but they're nothing special on their own.







: Easy breezy.





They're nothing special if left at full health, but take a bit off, and they'll go crazy.







: That's... ugh, quite the gun.

Bright is a random target move which you do not want to be on the receiving end of.





: My veins run empty...

Snipe also hits really hard. You basically want to kill these things in one turn, but their resistances can make that tricky to accomplish.



There's 6 doors in the area, but only one is the way forward. Oh, and pay attention to the gif below.



I got into a random battle while turning. That is not supposed to happen, you're only supposed get into battles while walking. As for why this happened?



This quest is why. It's bugged. It only affects the 24th floor, but what it does is check to see if you step over the right tile and that you have a Beast in the party. But somewhere along the line, someone messed up the code and the game lags like crazy when you turn or take a step. And it actually causes time to pass while turning, so taking this quest effectively raises the encounter rate. The FOE radar in the corner flickers a lot when you take a step or turn because the game has to process so much. At least sidstepping is in this game so you can avoid turning as much as possible.

Long story short, the people who did the QA for this game did a very bad job.



: Oh god, not these things again!



: Destroy those plants now!





: Um, okay? What's the big deal?

: Long story.









: Owww... Oh hey, I'm not dead. That's... that's great.



Mandrakes still show up here, but Ken can burn them to ashes without much trouble.

PC-88 Version



This room contains nothing.

: Lame!



: Ah crap! Those eye things from the first Stratum are back!

: Uh, they don't look exactly the same. They're a lot more metal.

PC-88 Version




Stir Eye
Type: Normal
Behavior: Proximity
Aggressive: Yes
HP: 3500
AT: 85
DF: 62
Skills: Glare
Item Drops:
-Common: Devil Wing - 1 needed for Arc Drawer (Bow.)
--Wing bone that's more elastic than pine wood.
-Rare: True Shard - 1 needed for Nectar II. 2 needed for Dragoon (Gun.) 1 needed for the quest Healing innovations
--Fragments of a bodiless suit of armor.
-Conditional: N/A
Description: Any man who gazes into this wicked floating eye will be cursed to a terrible fate.
Weakness: N/A
Resistance: N/A

I don't suggest taking this thing on unless you have fast classes that can dish out a lot of damage and can kill it fast. It's fairly simple to take down, but it has a lot of HP, so getting it into Climax range can be tricky.





: Man, does this thing ever work?



: Let the rage flow through you!



: HAAAAA!







: It's still not down after all that?

Ronin are monsters lategame, just look at those huge numbers! Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to get it into Climax range.







And that's why you want to kill it quickly. Glare has a near guaranteed chance of Cursing your entire party, meaning that your damage dealers will kill themselves trying to kill it.



Oh, this is gonna suck.





: Damn!





: Fuck!





: Shit!

: Language! There's a little girl here!

: ...A little late for that gramps.

: You're calling me out on that now?

Fortunately Ricochet didn't proc more than 3 times, so Fedot didn't kill himself.



And all that put it into Climax range.



: Ahh...

: I don't know whether to be horrified or amazed at the fact that you can do that to machines as well.

: It's just not the same.



PC-88 Version




Gigantue
HP: 528
AT: 60
DF: 55
Exp: 3575
Skills: Clawlash
Item Drops:
-Common: Comet Chip - 1 needed for Poleaxe, Brave Gage, and Stone Ring. 3 needed for Rune Tunic. 10 needed for Comet Nail.
--Unmalleable metal also called a "star shard."
-Rare: N/A
-Conditional: N/A
Description: A large monster that has grown sharp nails which can turn its victim to stone.
Weakness: Volt (150%)
Resistance: Fire (0%), Ice (0%), Physical (75%), Immune to Poison and Instant Death.

The last member of the Gargoyle family. It lost Breath, but Clawlash is a strong physical attack that has a decent chance to petrify whoever it hits.





: Enjoy your last bedtime!







It never got the chance to do anything.







The Rune Tunic offers more defense than Fedot's current armor, so I have him put it on. And that's all for this room.



: Come at me!







: Okay, that kind of hurt.









: I take it back!

: Grmph...

: Should I say it for you?

: No. No need.





The bottom middle door leads to an empty room. Yippee. But the door at the top leads further into the Stratum, so we'll hold off on going there. At this point I went back and restocked, since the turning bug made me run into a lot more random encounters than usual.

PC-88 Version













Nectar IIs are very handy consumables, and I go for those instead of Nectars from this point on. I also buy a few Axcelas.



I also completed a quest in the process.

: I'll make sure to send these to the hospital right away! Hee hee... That doctor at the hospital is really funny. He gets so excited every time he talks about you. You're amazing, you know that? Everyone who meets you ends up with a big smile! I'd much rather spend time with you than inside of that old Labyrinth! Thank you so much. If we need anything else, I hope we can count on you!



: Welcome back. How are things?

: Fine so far.

: Haw! This request is pretty old, now that I think about it. It must've got lost in the pile... Sorry about that! Well, what's done is done. No hard feelings, right? Yeh've still got yer reward! He's one serious fella, that man. He came over personally to make sure the reward was ready. What, did he think I was going to steal it!? Come on now! Anyways, fine work. Here's the reward--it's all there! Come back whenever it strikes yer fancy!



PC-88 Version



Now I'll demonstrate on how absurdly good Axcelas are.



I'm giving them to Nick since I want to get the Steelgun's conditional drop.



I already had him ingest one beforehand in preparation for this.







The downside to Axcelas is that if you want to use Force Skills every turn, 4 of your allies have to use them on the specified class. So essentially only one class can really do anything useful.



: I feel so... energized. Like I need to... HA!



: Let's get intimate!



Eh, that might've been overkill.



But both Nick and Aliara got level ups, and I got the conditional drop.



And one for Fedot.







Stats for everyone except Fedot.

PC-88 Version



Here's a Take point.



Satisfied, you examine the wall before you and find more of the hieroglyphs drawn there. It is nothing like the written language you know, and will be quite difficult to decipher. You could try to decipher it with the knowledge you've gained in your adventures...



You use every vague scrap of information you can recall, but it's no use...

: Ugh. Maybe if Bellamy was here, he could read this.

: Hmm, he might have trouble deciphering this himself.

Downhearted by your failure to decipher the glyphs, you leave the area.

Okay, what that event was about was avoiding a bad thing. Saying yes has nothing happen. Saying no results in you being ambushed by 3 Steelguns.

PC-88 Version




Gemzard
HP: 360
AT: 40
DF: 44
Exp: 2880
Skills: Headbutt
Item Drops:
-Common: Plum Hide - 1 needed for Dead Whip. 10 needed for Duergar (Sword.)
--A Gemzard's light purple skin.
-Rare: N/A
-Conditional: Head Gem - Kill with Ice. 1 needed for Fairy Robe.
--Highly prized Gemzard jewel, still intact.
Description: Its main method of attacking prey is to ram it with the diamond-hard jewel in its head.
Weakness: N/A
Resistance: Elemental (0%)

These enemies are absolutely pathetic. They can't really do much to your team, and Headbutt does a pitiful amount of damage. The only notable thing about them is that elemental attacks barely do anything to them.









Of course, Dampen makes getting their conditional drop a non-issue.



More evasion for Ken.

PC-88 Version



Satisfied, you examine the wall before you and find more of the hieroglyphs drawn there. It is nothing like the written language you know, and will be quite difficult to decipher. You could try to decipher it with the knowledge you've gained in your adventures...



: Okay, I think I can read this one...



A flash of white.

: Whoa!

: Where are we?



Your lips move as you begin to understand, involuntarily reading the message out loud...



: Ha! Finally understood what that meant! Uh... why are we back at the entrance?

As you read the last line, you notice that your surroundings have completely changed. It seems the message was there to teleport those who read it to another location. You are left with no choice but to continue your journey from where you stand now.

: I think you just teleported us here.

: Seriously?

A minor setback in normal circumstances, a real pain on this glitchfest of a floor.



And here's another Stir Eye.



It spawns in this spot.



: Hey, the stairs!

: But-

: Yeah, yeah I know boss. There's a bit more to explore.



: Wonder what this one's gonna say.

: Maybe we'll be able to understand what it says this time?

PC-88 Version



It seems to have been neglected for years, but it somehow manages to catch your interest. Though pressing it seems to accomplish nothing, before long a disembodied voice sounds.











The mysterious voice abruptly ends there. You cock your head, marveling at the strange pheonomenon, before returning to your quest.

: I guess that was too much to ask for.

That's the last of the recordings. Can you figure out what they mean?



We're obviously not done with the floor yet, but this is all we can explore for now.



: Oh, so this is how we get down to those missing parts of the 22nd floor.

Yep, we're back on floor 23. But unlike the main central area, this area does have random encounters. Though there's nothing new in that department.



There was something I didn't get to cover with the Stir Eyes.



Once everyone is cursed, it'll start attacking. If one single person manages to stay uncursed, it will keep casting Glare until everyone has the Curse status.



And it hits really hard.

: Hee hee! I missed that!

: I didn't...

: Goddammit Nick! Can you actually avoid getting taken out for once!? I'm really getting sick of having to drag your body around!



Said Stir Eye spawns right over here.



And down to the 22nd floor!



PC-88 Version




King Gel
HP: 651
AT: 58
DF: 46
Exp: 3465
Skills: Acid, King Hit
Item Drops:
-Common: Black Core - 1 needed for War Flail, Soma, and Spangan. 10 needed for Onimaru (Katana.) 2 needed for the quest Easing the pain. 6 needed for the quest Chasing the dream.
--Ebon nucleus, needing two hands to lift.
-Rare: N/A
-Conditional: N/A
Description: This protean lifeform has grown to an abnormal size, and controls many smaller gelatins.
Weakness: Volt (200%)
Resistance: Fire (0%), Ice (0%), Physical (75%)

The final member of the Gel family, and this is a special one. Acid is the same drain attack that all the gels have, but King Hit is a bit special.









: Yes. Yes! Destroy those vile bats! Make them pay for what they've done!

: Uh, what's he going on about?

: Long story. Again.

: It involves dinosaurs.





King Gels also hit really hard.





If there are no allies on the field, King Gels will call in Gold Gels. Which can make things a bit tricky since they're nearly immune to Volt, and that's the King Gel's weakness.



They're nothing too special, but every encounter on this part of the floor contains a King Gel, which is handy if you're trying to farm their drops.

PC-88 Version



: Huh? What's this?



A flash of white.

: Whoa! That's bright!

: Ahh... I don't know what happened, but my body feels completely refreshed.



Once you decipher the glyphs, you hear a noise somewhere on the wall. Your fingers brush its surface. Suddenly, light floods the room and your body stiffens! The light disappears with no ill effect, and indeed your body feels lighter... It seems the light was meant to heal rather than to harm!



However, the wall of light begins to fade, as if its duty has been fulfilled. You silently thank the castle's mysterious power and hurry onward with your exploration.

Did somebody mess up on the scripting there? The light flash happens before any of the text pops up. Anyways, you can check the wall again, but nothing will happen.



They seem to be lined up at precise intervals. Could it be a deliberate pattern...?

: What was that, anyway?

: Hmm, let me see the map. Aha! It's right on the other side of those hieroglyphs Bellamy read.

: So if we can read those again, this wall can heal us again?

: Ooh! That sounds neat if it's true!

This is a repeatable event, but you have to check that other event on floor 22 to activate it again.





By the way, King Hit is a super special move that the King Gel uses when there's a Gold Gel in battle.













:

It deals an absolutely pathetic amount of AOE Volt damage. Their regular attacks are far more threatening.



There's a conveyor belt leading back into the center part of the 22nd floor. Don't take it, because it's a one way trip. There's no way back to the side area other than getting back there from the 24th floor.





I'm having Frederik lower the cost of Cure 3, because a level 4 Cure 2 isn't cutting it anymore, and I'm not wasting any more points in that skill.



Here's one side of floor 22 done.



And back up to floor 23.



This portion is just a straight path. All the side areas of the 23rd floor have random encounters. The big central area does not.



And we're back on this buggy floor.



There used to be a Stir Eye here. It's dead now.



: Ahhh, now we're getting to the good stuff!

: I suppose if you're rich enough to decorate the walls with an excessive amount of gold, you can leave some treasures lying around.

: Speaking of that, what's up with the decor? It looks like someone pissed all over the walls!

: Seriously, my eyes hurt from looking at this place.

: You people have no sense of taste!



: Isn't that the squirrel from those other times?







: ...Just walk away.





For the record, that was another trick. Saying yes results in having your Warp Wire stolen again.



:

:

: At least it's not me this time!



The Stir Eye lies in wait there.



: Uh, boss? Our pack's getting kind of full.

: Well in that case, throw out some supplies to make more room. Just don't throw out the Warp Wires.

: But there's no more supplies left. It's all monster parts in there.

: Oh. Then, I guess we're done for today. Get plenty of rest, because we're going to try to get to the 25th floor tomorrow.

And here's the floor's Mine point. I went back at this point because my inventory was full, which is a very valid reason to leave the Labyrinth.

Equipment: