Part 103: Unfinished Business... Finished

Unfinished Business... Finished

: Um. Hmm. Aha! This way!



That was way too close. I got very lucky there. Normally if you have a close call like that, it's generally a sign to go back to town immediately. I won't do that just yet, there's something in this part of the map I need to get.



I can never have enough of these.



:

: Put the gun down.

: You'll be fine. We can make it through this. Quit being a crybaby. Hee hee.

: All right, all right. Heh.

Yep, teleporters are back.



Although this floor isn't a teleporter maze. The way this floor is actually laid out is that there's a big central area with a couple of side areas that you can reach from floor 28. These have teleporters to send you to the central area immediately so you don't have to go all the way through floor 28 just to reach the main area. Now at this point I ran out of supplies and inventory space, so I went back and sold all my stuff. Although I didn't unlock anything new at this point.



By the way, Hexgourds have a respawn time of one day, so you can't really get a break from these things if you manage to kill them.

PC-88 Version



Let's take a different route this time.



It lies in the shade, and it seems to bear a mark that other explorers have camped here. You consider following their exampled and resting your own party on the fallen log.



: Huh, there's other people exploring this place?

: Well we did open up the Geomagnetic Field and the Forbidden Door. Although I'm not sure if that was a good idea.

: One thing's for sure. Those guys took a break here. Why don't we do the same thing and relax for a while?

: Really? You want to take breaks all the time.

s: Besides, there may be monsters lurking about.

: I dunno, I mean this place doesn't look like there were monsters here.

: Hmm. I don't see any signs of monsters here. We should be good. Let's have a short break, and then get back to navigating this maze.

You decide to sit on the felled tree and rest for some time. The cool breeze wafting through the area is relaxing... You feel your energy returning to you as you rest atop the makeshift bench.



: Aahhh! That was a good break!

: See? What'd I tell you?

: Okay, pack it up everyone. We need to get going.

: Roger!

Yeah, even in the postgame, Atlus still shows some generosity. Although considering the nature of the postgame, it can be easy to be on edge and decline out of paranoia.





This bottom passage leads onwards and to a Mine Point.

Mine:
Common: Cat's Eye - 1 needed for Curse Ring and Rhino Horn. 5 needed for Vorpal (Sword.) 3 needed for the quest Bonds of promotion.
-Looks like a cat's eye in the right lighting.
Uncommon: Jade Thews - 1 needed for Brawn Ring and Divine Orb. 5 needed for Blood Nail (Claw.) 25 needed for Pain Aspis.
-High quality quartz colored yellowish-green.
Rare: Star Rock - 1 needed for Raise Ring and Phys Wall. 2 needed for the quest Bonds of promotion.
-A mineral that glistens like stars in the night.



Still not done with the floor yet as you can see.



But that staircase sends us to the main area of floor 27.

PC-88 Version




Sickwood
HP: 1152
AT: 65
DF: 57
Exp: 8970
Skills: Venom, Branch
Item Drops:
-Drop 1: Throb Vine - 1 needed for Octal Whip and Soma II. 10 needed for Unjoudou (Bow.) 20 needed for Earth Axe.
--Tendril-like branch that moves after being cut.
-Drop 2: Venom Twig - 5 needed for Flash Bow. 25 needed for King's Arm.
--Branch that's turned purple with poison.
-Drop 3: Life Honey - See 5th Stratum Take Point.
Description: A tree in the depths of the forest that uses its poison-tipped branches to attack passersby.
Weakness: Fire (150%)
Resistance: Ice (50%), Volt (50%)

Sickwoods used to be FOEs in the first game. Very non-threatening FOEs that you could kill very easily when you first run into them. That was mainly because they had a support skillset instead of an offensive one, so they were only threatening if they joined in on a fight. Unfortunately, demoting them to a random encounter in this game made them far more threatening because that means they can support other enemies from the start of the battle.



: No! No! Stoooo- Mmph! Mmph!







Branch is a single target move that randomly binds someone's body parts, up to all three at once.







:

Venom is an AOE that has a decent chance to Poison and ticks for around 215 damage. Not much on its own, but when you've been walking over several damage tiles, that skill can end up causing a wipe. Neither Branch or Venom is something you want to see, so take these things out quick.





Oh by the way, there's also FOEs patrolling this part of the floor. Fun. I didn't make too much progress here, so I just went back once I started filling up my inventory.



Yeah, expect this to happen a lot if you decide to play through the postgame yourself. This is all I unlocked on this trip, even with a bag full of monster drops. The Gear Registry is gonna take a while to complete.



Back on the 28th floor, instead of heading back to the 27th floor, I decide to go down on the area I never fully explored. Oh, and there's a Hexgourd spawn here.



An exit out of this part of the floor.



But here's another route forward.




Trihorn
HP: 810
AT: 72
DF: 57
Exp: 7485
Skills: Trideath
Item Drops:
-Common: Pure Horn - 1 needed for Rhino Horn. 10 needed for Stardust (Staff.) 20 needed for Land Saker (Gun.)
--Bone-white fragment of a triple horn.
-Rare: Moonstone - See 5th Stratum Mine info.
-Conditional: Whole Horn - Don't kill with physical. 1 needed for Therica BX. Limited Stock. 10 needed for Holy Band.
--Undamaged giant horn from a Trihorn.
Description: A mutant subspecies of the Redhorn that has developed 3 horns and a taste for flesh.
Weakness: Fire (150%), Volt (150%), Ice (150%)
Resistance: Physical (50%)

Trihorns don't act like Redhorns in that they'll charge up an attack, and then attack a party member. No, they'll just try to kill you immediately. Though there's not really much to these guys aside from the fact that physicals aren't that effective.



Now Trideath is a skill that-



: Olé!

Um. Okay, Trideath is a skill that deals a heavy amount of Stab damage to a single target, but more importantly, has a decent chance to inflict instant death. Honestly, these guys aren't a threat. You have easy access to revivals at this point, not to mention their elemental weaknesses makes them easy to take down.



There's very little situations where I would consider these things an actual threat.

PC-88 Version



This leads back to the stairs in the bottom left, but I'm not going back there just yet.



Instead, let's explore the rest of the floor.



By the way, getting into a battle on this very spot is the last thing you want to do.





:

: _Mommy.

If you thought having to deal with one Hexgourd was bad, you don't want to deal with two!



Not the way I want to go, although this does lead to floor 27.



This is the way I want to go to show off some things.









:



: Fuck. Off.





Yep, the devil squirrel shows up in the 6th Stratum and will steal a Warp Wire if you pet it. That's the flavor text you would normally get if you refused the squirrel in any of the Strata except for the 5th one.



If you're trying to get out, you can exit through here.



But this is the way I want to go.



: Those accursed dinosaurs are back!

: Yeah, but we've gotten a lot stronger since then. I don't think it stands a chance. Heh, let's do this!



By the way, getting into a fight around this place also leads to a Hexgourd sandwich.

PC-88 Version




Riptor
Type: Normal
Behavior: Patrol
Aggressive: Yes
HP: 3200
AT: 80
DF: 80
Skills: Fangs
Item Drops:
-Common: Dew Bone - 5 needed for Beam Whip.
--Artificial dragon tail spewing light and fire.
-Rare: N/A
-Conditional: Call Horn - Kill while head is bound. 3 needed for Dragon Axe.
--Triple horn from the nose of a Riptor.
Description: One of the most powerful creatures in the forest, its fangs and claws can shred any armor.
Weakness: Ice (125%)
Resistance: N/A

The first time you can encounter these things is on the 21st floor, if you let battles with a Woodbat run for too long. At that point, these things will rip you apart. Now? Well that will only happen if you have a bad party, or if you let them attack you. Fangs is a heavy hitting Stab attack that deals splash damage and has a chance to inflict Paralysis. That's all there is too them. When you're evenly matched with them, they're not too scary.



: Kill it! Kill it now!









: Yes. Make it pay for what it has done!

: Gramps, I don't think this is the same dinosaur that chomped on you.

: I don't care! I will settle for no less than seeing it lie in a pool of blood.







: You and I are gonna have a lot of fun together.





: ...However, I would have also settled for never ever witnessing that.

: Nick. Please put your shirt back on.

: Why? Ken gets to walk around without one all the time!

: If you're gonna say things like that, I might actually start wearing one.



PC-88 Version



Here's another exit to an earlier point.



Here's the Riptor's patrol path.



Not taking this path just yet.



I'll take this path though.



I'm not taking this path, since it leads to the same place as the passage right below me. This may all seem like a confusing mess, and that's because it is. If you haven't it out already, floor 28 is a giant maze that you will waste a lot of time on if you don't know the proper paths to take.



Like this one.



You can see nothing out of the ordinary, but you sense some imminent danger...

: Anyone have like this really funny feeling?

: Yes. An impending sense of doom falls upon me.

: Wait. Hey, let me see the map for a second. I think I understand what's going on.

You think back to the words on the sphere in the large room on the 25th floor...



: That's what those words meant!

: Wha? How does that make sense?

: Warp and weft are sewing terms. Warps are vertical threads that a single weft, or a horizontal thread, goes through. So yeah, if you go right 33 squares, and then down 17, you're here! Um, if you ignore the outer edge of the map.

: Why did the Overlord use those words for coordinates? Did he sew in his spare time with those giant wings or something?

: Hmm. If they're directions to this spot, there must be something here. Mm. No good.

The brush is too thick to enter, but there must be something ahead. At any rate, you have discovered the cause of the noises on the 25th floor! Be sure to report back to the bar once you return to Lagaard.



Slowly but surely, we're filling in the map of the 28th floor. Remember that spot for later. It'll come up again.





Oh crap.









:



Crap.



Just in case I'm unable to run on this turn, I put up a heal as insurance. It's a tactic you can use in the other games in order to (hoepfully) ensure a safe escape.







:

Well at least the heal bought me more time.



Really that was probably the best move I made in this fight.







: Guys! Over here!



That was too close. Anyways, this is the floor's Take Point, and the most important Take Point in the entire game.

Take:
Common: Deep Bloom - 1 needed for Unihorn and Antivenin. 3 needed for Curse Gas.
-A medicinal flower that recovers some TP.
Uncommon: Ambrosia - 1 needed for Medica IV. 3 needed for Soma II and Hamao II. 5 needed for Amrita II.
-Glowing analeptic flower that restores some HP.
Rare: Pop Leaves - 1 needed for All Mist, Therica BX, Nectar III, Axcela II, Nectall II, Hamao III, Soma III, and Amrita III. Limited stock.
-A highly combustible leaf.

As you can see, these unlock the most powerful consumables in the game. Unfortunately, everything the Pop Leaves unlock are limited in stock, so you have to hunt down a ton of them if you want to stock up on these, not to mention that most of the consumables need boss drops in order to unlock them. So you have to farm the bosses as well.



This is the only other thing of note in this area.





And an exit back into the central area. At this point I just opted to go back since once again, the pack got full. Gotta fill out that Gear Registry!

PC-88 Version



In terms of combat, the King's staff is the actual ultimate staff. If you're using a Combat Medic, you'll want to give this to them since it actually deals out more damage than the Ygg Staff. I buy one for Aliara since it provides a bigger HP boost than her current staff.









This accessory provides a 10% resistance to every physical attack. Which is useless because armor is insanely useful in this game. A few points of armor will reduce every type of damage by a lot. (As opposed to the later EO games where armor isn't that great.)



This is basically a better version of the Town Crown. I don't find it that useful at this point in the game.



Now this is a nice way to increase your physical attackers' damage. I buy some for Ken, Nick, and Fedot.





























As you can see, most of these consumables are really expensive. Although that barely matters at this point.



: Oi, welcome back! I heard that nasty noise on the 25th floor is a thing of the past!

: Yeah, we figured out what caused it.

: Yeh solved the mystery, eh? I'm impressed... there seems to be nothing yeh can't do. So what was making all that racket, anyway?

: It was something on the 28th floor. But we haven't found out what.

: Hmmm...? The 28th floor? Interesting... I think the Grand Duchy might want to hear about this. Thanks again for completing the job, yeh lot. Here's the reward! Good work!



Now let's complete the Bonds of promotion quest.





: Welcome back! Did yeh get all the ore he wanted? Let's see... Ahhh, a fine job yeh did. Say, just how many golden pieces have yeh got so far?

: Have a look.

: Holy--Four already!? So all yeh need is one piece to trade for the Queen... It's coming along nicely! I'll find someone who'll trade for the Queen as soon as I can, so don't worry! Thanks a lot!







And once you complete that quest, this one unlocks.

: Wow that was fast! We'll be taking this one now.

: But we don't have-

: Listen up! I've finally got a line on that Queen piece! A guy I know in the high-class part of town has it. Yeh don't know how much it took to get some time with him! I'm doing yeh lot a favor here! Okay, let's see the pieces yeh've got so far. 1, 2, 3, 4... Where's the fifth one?

: Uhhh.

: Please... Please don't tell me yeh haven't got the fifth piece...

: Um. We didn't have time to get a fifth piece.

: Dammit! I thought yeh had all five! I already told him we'd be bringing the full set! All right... we've got one shot at this. Yeh have three hours to get that last piece!

: Three hours!? How are we supposed to find the fifth piece within that time!?

: Bloody fools! My bar's rep is at stake, and it's a chance yeh won't get again, either! Run for it!

: Uh, boss? What are we gonna do?

: Grrr. Move! Ask around town! Someone's got to know something.

In fact, someone does.

PC-88 Version



: We received a mysterious letter last night. It reads:



: It's clearly addressed to you, but I haven't the first idea who sent it... But so long as it does not endanger High Lagaard, you may do whatever it directs you to. I hope that you shall profit in some way as a result. May luck be with you.

: Uh, thanks. I guess. _{Any idea who sent that?}

: I've got a hunch.

PC-88 Version



He sees you and waves before approaching.

: Firefly... Did you receive the letter I left? I apologize for my crude writing.

: You said you had a golden piece for us?

You ask the letter's meaning, and the chief calls on a subordinate to bring something.

: We found another of the pieces in the forest after you left. You seemed to desire them.

The chief of the winged ones hands you a golden chess piece!

: Thanks!

You accept it gratefully, say your goodbyes, and hurry back to Lagaard with the piece!



You have obtained all the pieces necessary for the quest!

: Okay, we got them all. Now move!

PC-88 Version



: I've been waiting for yeh lot! Hurry and let's see those pieces!

: Huff... Huff... Here...

: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Perfect! I've got the run and give these to our contact. Watch the bar, and I'll be right back.

Cass leaves and comes back.

: Thanks for waiting! I barely made my appointment with that noble fella! But here it is... yer Queen. Say, yeh've had all the pieces at one time or another, eh? Excellent work, yeh lot! Thanks a million!







We finally got the Queen. Which means...



Yes.

PC-88 Version



We are finally, FINALLY done with this quest that we got back on the 11th floor!

: Sorry about the wait. But we finally got a Queen.

: Ahhh, welcome back! Well, now... I didn't think yeh'd be able to scare up a Queen! I've never in my life seen one of these... Great work! I knew Firefly could do it! Wish I could keep it... I'd never have let my Pawn go if I knew this'd happen... * sniff*

: Hey! What about our reward?

: Eh? The reward? Oh, I was trying to pretend I forgot! Haw haw! Just kidding... It's a pretty hefty reward... The client was a knight who saved High Lagaard many times. He always said he'd offer one of his treasures if it would be of use to the explorers. I s'pose the Labyrinth is part of High Lagaard, too... Well, I'm glad yeh lot were the ones to do the quest! I couldn't just hand out one of our national treasures to some random joes, could I?



: Whoa!

: Emilia should be happy to see that.

: I'll be counting on yeh lot even more now!





The Ygg Axe was the actual reward for the quest since it can only be completed in the postgame. It's the Landsknect's "ultimate" weapon.



Like the other "ultimate" weapons, it sucks. But I don't have Emilia's actual ultimate weapon unlocked yet, so I'll put this on her when I get the chance.

Next time, we'll take down Dragon for good.