Part 3: "Oh! No......!"

This is roughly how we're going to approach things. The thread also suggested equipping shields in the early game, as it's the only half-decent way to raise Agility in the early game, and Agility is important because it affects evade, or the chance of evading hits from the nastier enemies later in the game.

I'll warn you now, nothing of substance happens this update. Just enemy murder and a couple of nondescript towns.



Also, we have MingWu.





MingWu is a White Mage. He has a ton of white magic, including the valuable Life spell, and also a few other useful spells. Don't ask me what they all do.



That armor is actually a bracelet, apparently. It has little penalty to spellcasting (much like that Wooden Staff) and gives good defense. I give it to Nathan Fillion later.



I also buy a Cure spell and give it to Guy so he can start casting it.





I buy a Javelin so Luna can start her Dragoon career, and shields to begin boosting agility.



I also sent MingWu in the back so the other characters can build their stats.



One neat detail is that sometimes you'll see an airship flying around as you walk in the overworld. You can't interact with it, but it's a nice detail considering it's a dead, soulless world full of death and dread.





Meanwhile, here's Luna stabbing a bug with a spear.



I spam Ruse every battle because I thought it would help increase the chances of scoring Agility gains. Based from what I've read, though, I don't think it really works for that purpose. It does boost evasion, though.



Here's Dude casting Cure. Hard to tell how much he cures since it takes him to full and the game doesn't tell us how much it did.

Dude: +1 Magic, +5 MP!



Here's the canoe in action. I do a quick jaunt from Altea to Gathea and back until I can afford my next purchase.



Nathan's a battle mage, so let's start him off with Fire!





Only the first two rows of monsters can perform physical attacks. Any in the back row can't do them, even if they get into attack range mid-turn. Likewise, we can't target behind the front two rows without using magic.

Speaking of which!



Before you think Fire sucks, keep in mind this:

1. This was multi-target, which took a big bite out of the damage output.
2. Nathan Fillion is wearing equipment that lowers his spellcasting capability. All shields hurt spell effectiveness, and most swords other than the end game ones hurt as well.

Still, even single-target it's not exciting, about slightly higher than Nathan Fillion's regular attack. The big advantage here is that spells won't miss half the time. Also, it's pretty cheap since magic costs are the spell's level, so the L1 Fire spell only costs 1MP.

Nathan: Magic +1, MP +5!

A few more battles...

Luna: HP +6!

Nathan: Magic +1!
Luna: HP +6!



Then I decide to go north of Fin and try out some of the monsters there. They're much beefier than what I should be fighting, but not so much that I can't kill them.





Here's a battle against three Were Rats.

This battle took me twelve minutes.



First off, they hit hard. Enough to take down Luna in two shots.



Second, they can poison with their hits. This poison will stick around and slowly deplete HP each round, though only 2 or 3 points.





Spam Ruse, and watch Dude whiff a ton before I finally remove his shield since his accuracy with a shield is god-awful, and he doesn't even level his fists that way!



I spend a lot of MP reviving Nathan Fillion, since his Fire magic is the only reliable damage I have. At least monsters can't target him until the round after he comes back to life.

Also, poison will stick even if the person dies and comes back to life.



Eventually I get rid of the Shield and have Dude focus more on punching. The damage is crap against these guys.



Then Dude dies, and MingWu is forced up to the front row.



Good thing he's handy with that staff! It's pretty telling that the game gives you a beefy White Mage once they're ready to send you into real battles (of which this is still a good bit higher than what we should be fighting right now).





I run so low on MP, that I drink MingWu's Ether to recover MP. Not that I need help curing, but I want to revive everyone because this crazy-ass battle is sure to score some nice stat gains.



Finally! Let's see...



A nice chunk of money! Too bad I end up spending all of that at the inn to recover everybody.

Dude: Magic +1, VIT +1, Will +1, HP +15, MP +6!
MingWu: Magic +1, VIT +1, Will +1, HP +20, MP +40! That's right, +40MP!





Oh, did you know inns won't cure Poison either? Good thing we have MingWu!

After that stunt, I decide to just proceed with the plot instead.

Luna: STR +1!



This is Parm.



Parm
Population: 14



We can take a ship to Poft, but it's a very short walk so I don't bother.





Vocal bunch, these guys.



Of course, they're still pirates.





Why is the town greeter in the most remote corner of the town? Why are there people telling us about the ship to Poft when the guy who can take us to Poft is right at the entrance?

I don't think they placed the NPCs very well.



There's a few upgrades, though the Hand Axe and Short Bow are what Dude and Luna started the game with.



This is the only woman in the town.





New armor and spells too. Right now my eye is on Ruse, though I can't afford it yet. I want to have it on hand since it may be my primary source of evasion if I don't get some damn Agility gains.







Poft is a quick jaunt to the northeast, with a few new enemies that are still easy.



Green Goblins are almost as weak as their normal brethren.

Nathan: VIT -1, INT +1!



This guy's not too scary, though he was kind of a pain to hit until I burned him.



First point of Agility! It helps that Luna starts with 15 agility and will be using a shield while definitely being a front-liner. Of course, my entire party's kinda equipped for the front lines, so I'd rather they gain agility.



A QueenBee who gets burned to death before she can act.

Nathan: Magic +1!



All three enemies we could fight in the beginning area have palatte swaps here. These guys are just as weak and only inflict weak poison.



Finally, Poft.





Poft, the port town!!
Population: 22



You can also take a ship back to...here?



Meet Cid! This guy will charge you to fly you places on an airship. I want more stats, so I'll walk. You can also learn the Airship password if you didn't get it from Hilda, since you have to talk to her again after getting MingWu to learn Warship and Airship.

Let's ask him about his Airship.

Want to take the [Airship]? Pay the boy behind me.

How about the Warship?

Ha! That bulky thing! My Airship is much better!



Just a flash to cities far away! Only if you have enough money though ....!

It's a neat shortcut if you can afford to buy a ticket rather than some magic or equipment. I need cash, though.



There are also eight pirates here.



All eight say the exact same thing, as do a couple of pirates outside the pub.



The shops are the same as in Parm. However, I have a bit more money now, so



Time to get Ruse! Haven't decided who to give it yet, probably Guy since he's the white mage and since his bare fists don't give him magic penalties. No reason to give it to Nathan Fillion, who's all Black Magic, or Luna, whose magic is going to suck with her heavy armor, even if it would be thematically appropriate for a Dragoon to boost evasion.

Next time, we'll probably do something relevant to the plot! That or I grind some more. Who knows at this point.