Part 72: DS Who the Hell is Zot, Anyway? part 1

DS Update 16: Who the Hell is Zot, Anyway? part 1

I'm not dead!

Today I have an action-packed episode of Let's Play Final Fantasy IV DS! Who's ready for a dungeon? Treasure? Bosses? This update has them all! Let's just jump right in.


When last we left our merry band of heroes, they had just beaten up a dark elf with the power of and "borrowed" the Earth Crystal from a bunch of holy ladies with dumb names.

Now it's finally time, time to save Rosa! All we have to do is give up this little sacred artifact that's the only thing keeping Troia from becoming a desert wasteland. A bargain! Arable land is way overrated anyway!


We just hop in our airship and...


Right on time!




We're treated to a couple of dramatic camera pans and then,


we get down to business.



She is at the Tower of Zot. Follow our ship. We will lead you there.

Sounds perfectly legit to me! Lead on.


We have liftoff!


The party runs forward as soon as we land. They're eager to get this dungeon started!




The boys look around continuously during this little exchange. I think it's rather cute.

You need not concern yourselves with that. Golbez would like to extend his personal gratitude for your cooperation in obtaining the Crystal.

Golbez!

You have fulfilled your end of the bargain, and for that I am most grateful.


Of course, Tellah only cares about one thing, as usual.

I understand your desire to hasten our meeting. But first, there is the matter of your reward.

Reward?

Your dear Rosa waits with me on this tower's highest floor. Should you succeed in reaching us, I will exchange her for the Crystal as promised.

There was nothing said of this before!

Nonetheless, you would do well to hurry. I cannot guarantee her life if you should choose to do otherwise. We will be waiting.

Oh yeah. Totally legit, right guys?




Anyway, yeah. Dungeon. Welcome to the Tower of Zot!

Who is Zot? Who knows! Who cares? Certainly not me!

There's a lot of really sweet loot to pick up here, and that's good enough for me! Let's get climbing.


If you step on this square, you can warp out of this place. But that's for wimps and quitters. We are neither of these things.


It should go without saying, but this place is crawling with monsters. All of them are new!

Oh, and important pro tip: this is a one-off area. You can never come back here. Make sure you grab all the goodies and add all the baddies to your bestiary!


Another pro tip: the enemies here do not fuck around! This was a full-party Fire spell. Yes, Fire, not Fira. Keep a close eye on your party's HP!


These guys are, predictably, a Marionetteer (804 HP) and his posse of Marionettes (654 HP). Neither of them have any particular elemental weakness.


So, let's mess around a bit!


Cecil gets to work on softening up the enemy. Man, I love that sword.

He kills it on a Counter. (I love that Augment. )


Meanwhile, Yang does his usual thing.


These things can also cast Berserk.


On... themselves. Ooookaaaaay?


Anyway, whatever! Tellah's ready to let 'er rip!




Nice! I like it.

Sadly, it costs 50 MP to cast, more than half of Tellah's total MP pool.


I won't be using it anymore. Tellah will mostly be doing his usual healbot thing for this dungeon.

While I'm at it, let's hear the party's first impressions:






Good job, you three! Way to keep your eyes on the prize.


One. Track. Mind.


Aw well. Have another new enemy!


These things are yet another flan-type enemy, and they bring absolutely nothing new to the table.

Baravois is French for Bavarian, as in Bavarian cream (a type of pudding).


For best results, cook thoroughly before eating.


They only have 519 HP. Tellah will tear through them effortlessly.

Like all flan enemies, Purple Bavarois can drop Rainbow Pudding at the usual 0.4% rate, if you still need one.


Cooking dessert is good experience, apparently!


A lot of enemies are weak to fire, but I decide to retire Yang's Fire Claws. The Cat Claws give some really nice stat boosts, and we have fire weaknesses covered pretty handily (even moreso in a bit).


In the far northwest corner, we find our first prize, and it's a good one!


Not only does the Flame Mail provide a hefty defensive boost, it also halves ice. This will come in immensely handy here!

Poor Cecil never got his Mythril Armor, did he? Eh, I guess he doesn't need it now!


And with that, we've completed the first floor of the Tower!

Obtained 5 Zeus' Wraths

Ah, continuing the trend of giving us better prizes for map completion, I see! Good.


Figures, right before the door, I get ambushed, and by a new enemy, no less!




Both of them attack Cecil. Works for me!


Let's give Tellah's newfound singing skills a try! He... has a few songs that Eddie didn't!

Toadsong and Hog Call cast Toad and Pig on all enemies, as you would probably figure.




But, Tellah's mostly doing the healbot thing today, and healbot he shall!

I do wonder what his singing voice sounds like...


Anyway, Centaur Knights boast 1,292 HP and no particular weaknesses.


Just kick/stab/pound them in the face as you see fit.


They can drop Cottages, apparently. I always appreciate freebies, especially freebies of expensive things! That's more money I can spend on sweet, sweet Mythril gear!


Oh, and I appreciate level ups too, of course!


The doors here look pretty cool, I think. One thing to note, they don't open automatically. You must push "A" while standing in front of them to open them. It's a bit annoying, especially considering you can get jumped while you're running into the door like a fool!


Like so...


These guys are your major concern in this dungeon. They are mean, they are nasty, and they hurt, oh they hurt so very, very badly!

They also have a fair amount of HP to burn through, second most of any regular enemy in the dungeon, in fact! And you should literally burn through it; exploit their crippling weakness to fire!


Their physical attack hurts enough by itself, and that's not even what makes them really threatening!


Just look how much damage they can do to Cecil!




Of course, doing so allows Cecil to hit them both on his turn! He even puts one to sleep! I freakin' love that sword!


Observe, said crippling fire weakness, courtesy of Tellah's Fire Rod.

I don't know why I didn't just fling a Firaga at them, in retrospect. It's not like I don't have enough Ethers...


One drawback to Cid, his accuracy is kind of for shit. He whiffed two attacks on these things. Not helping! It's best to kill these things quickly!


Eh, whatever. Cecil handled it.


One thing I will say about those Frostbeasts: they drop a pretty nice amount of EXP.




Team Asskicker is getting better at kicking asses all the time!


All right. And now we can move on to the next floor. Whew!


This dungeon is pretty massive. There aren't many floors, but they're all huge. And if you're like me, it's very easy to get turned around.

And that's with the map on the lower screen. Imagine how much more lost I'd be without it?

(I really like the DS version, is what I'm saying. It may hate you, but it does give you nice things.)


And right away, we find another new enemy!


I always get these guys confused with the Centaur Knights. I'm sure I'm not the only one. They have almost the same amount of HP (1,224 to the Centaur Knight's 1,292), but these guys have a crippling weakness to fire.


The only other notable thing about them is they can do this as a counterattack.


Despite what it sounds like, it does not drain HP from anybody. It just heals them.


But it doesn't heal them nearly enough!


Now, this chest. This chest is important. A word of advice: make sure your party is fully healed before you open this chest. You have been warned!


Here we go!


This guy is guarding the chest. This guy is a right dirty motherfucker.

He's a Flamehound, an upgraded fire-flavored version of the Frostbeasts. He's way more dangerous than Frostbeasts, and they're dangerous enough on their own!


You'll want to apply your usual protections right away, assuming you can even do anything before he does this.


This is what makes the Flamehound so dangerous. The Frostbeasts have an icy version of this attack, which we'll be seeing later.

For now, we attend to the matter at hand.


Being getting our shit absolutely wrecked!


Cecil manages to throw up a Protect. I'm not sure how much it'll help. The main threat is that thrice-damned Scorch attack, not his physicals!


Fortunately, we have a way of dealing with that, too!


Cid helpfully provides us with some vital information about our friend here. Predictably, he's weak to ice. Not so predictable is his terrifying 4,151 HP! This guy is pretty much a mini-boss in his own right. Act accordingly!


Yang helps out a bit. His Faerie Claws can inflict Confusion.


Time to put my Brilliant Plan into motion!




I don't know why Berserk looks like a bolt from the blue, but it certainly gets the job done!


Now the Flamehound is limited to his physical attacks, which still hurt, mind you, especially with his attack boosted by Berserk. But 1) Scorch hurts a lot worse, 2)the damage is mitigated by Protect, and 3) he can only attack one person at a time.


It's still enough to drop poor Cecil, sadly.


It's ok, though. Tellah has this shit handled!


All Cecil needs is a feather of Phoenix Down!


There. Now we just have to heal him, and hope our friend doesn't decide to-


Ah, good. He went for Yang instead.




Cecil decides to get proactive about his health. Definitely a good idea!




Meanwhile, Yang and Cecil continue to whale on him.


Tellah's on healbot duty for this fight. You can have him fling a Blizzara or Blizzaga if you're feeling confident. I wasn't, so I didn't.


After enough blunt force trauma, the fucker goes down.


And we are free to claim our prize! The Flame Sword is a totally sweet weapon! It grants Cecil a hefty attack boost, even more than the Sleep Blade (which is overpowered for this stage in the game). Plus, it's fire elemental! Cecil is going to rip enemies to pieces!




To whit, I sic him on some Purple Bavarois. The damage might not look that impressive, but here's a comparison shot.


This is how much damage he was doing to them with the Sleep Blade. Yeah. Impressed yet?


Well, Tellah isn't, I guess.


Oh, they can drop Tents, I guess? Eh, I'm not going to complain!


Ah, some more new enemies!




The Ice Lizards waste no time in attempting to ruin Yang's day. They have 1,224 HP and you can probably guess what they're weak to.


Now, see that green guy at the top? That's a Gremlin. I never got a chance to scan him, because well...




Yeah.

They only have 697 HP, Cecil. That's just mean.

I only ran into one of those the whole dungeon, so the Gremlin will have to remain forever unscanned. Oh well!


The Ice Lizards aren't that much of a threat, really. They don't hit that hard.


And our party can tear through them pretty easily. The added Confusion is just icing on the cake!


They can do this, just like the Helldivers in the very beginning of the game. (It inflicts gradual petrification, as you may recall). However,


they shouldn't last nearly long enough for that to become a problem. Damn, Cecil!


The Gremlins can drop Silent Bells. Eh.


Oh, look at that. Another floor complete!

Obtained 3 Heavenly Wraths.

Ah? I don't think we've found any of those yet. They cast Thundara. You can also use them on Cid's hammer to make it lightning elemental.


On to the next fl-


Damn it.


That's better! On to the next floor!


I'd say we're making good progress. Let's keep it up!


Friendly reminder, the enemies can, and will, wreck you if you get complacent!


Of course, Cecil can wreck them even worse with his shiny new sword!




Beautiful, just beautiful! Cecil is the main asskicker in this place, no question! It's about time. He's kind of been just... there for awhile now.


Now, Tellah, that's just shameful! I think he already knows it, though...


Ooh, some new enemies!


The ladies in the front are Soldieresses. They have 1,085 HP, no elemental weaknesses, they're quite fast, and they hit pretty hard.


Of course, Cecil hits harder.


That thing in the back is a Fell Turtle. They also hit pretty hard and they're packing 3,570 HP, the highest of any monster here, save the Flamehound (which doesn't really count).






The Solideresses are pretty easily handled.


However, Fell Turtles are a much tougher nut to crack.


And they have one nasty curve ball to throw at you if you're not paying attention.


They're weak to ice, and they absorb fire. Keep Cecil away from them if he's rocking the Flame Sword!


Yang makes up for my lapse in judgement, but still...

He and Cid tag-team it for a couple rounds and it finally goes down.


On the plus side, they drop a lot of EXP! (And Cottages, too!)






Nice, nice. I always like to see numbers going up! Incidentally, Cecil's HP is getting quite beastly! He'll be hitting 2,000 before too long!


A bit more rampant murder by Flame Sword later, and we complete the floor!

Obtained Blue Fang

Blue Fangs are a counterpart to the Red Fang we had at the very beginning of the game. However, they're lightning elemental, not ice, as their name might imply. (The ice elemental version of them is the White Fang, if you're wondering.)


Weird color associations aside, we move on to the next floor.


I get jumped by another Fell Turtle, and I get tired of dealing with their fire-absorbing bullshit.


Yep, that'll do.






And Cecil keeps on being useful without having to do anything! I tell you, that Cover/Counter combo is damn nice!


Of course,


there are times when Counter is not so nice...


Cid takes a good chunk of that damage back. Good job, buddy.




Motherfucker not again!


Am I behind, or ahead, in damage? I've lost track...


OK that's better. Fuck those things!


I've been playing a bit fast and loose with Tellah's MP, so he needs a refill. Eh, I have plenty of these things, so it's ok.


And now, the part of a dungeon I always dread.


Branching paths. Multiple branching paths. I never know which way to go first, and I end up feeling anxious about it until I've explored all paths.


Fortunately, this time I know where I'm going, unlike the first time I played this game. I was a wreck the whole time, and I got so lost...

West door first.


Ah, and our last new enemy has come out to play!


These things are nothing special. They only have 893 HP, no elemental weaknesses, and piss-poor defense.


Observe.

Now, that can actually work to your disadvantage. Remember that Tellah has the Osmose spell, and that spell works best on magic-using enemies, like the Tiny Mages from the Underground Waterway. Sorceresses are similar. However, unlike the Tiny Mages, the Sorceresses don't show up in groups, and their paper-thin defense ensures they never last long. I tried my best, but I was never able to keep one alive long enough to siphon MP from it.

Frustrating.


Oh, and the Soldieresses can also borrow a page from Cecil's book and counterattck you.


However, it's not nearly as effective.


Here's our prize for taking the western path.


It goes straight to Cid. The Gaia Hammer is a nice piece of equipment. It boosts two of Cid's key stats, as well as adding 10 points to his attack power!


Backtracking to that three-way split, we take the middle door next.


This path actually has two prizes!


The first is a new weapon for Yang. Eh, more stamina is good, I guess? These things can also inflict Poison on attack, meaning Yang can kill things even when he's not attacking!

So, that's something!


So, I've a couple things to show off now.


Both the Gaia Hammer and the Flame Sword can be used as an item.

Let's see what they do!


While I was dinking around with that, a Sorceress managed to get off an actual attack! She cast Slow on Cecil.


First, here's the Flame Sword.


It deals thoroughly underwhelming fire damage to a single target. Now, if someone like Rydia or Palom were to use this, that'd be another story, but if Cecil's Spirit stat is nothing to write home about, his Intellect is sad. Strong, our boy Cecil certainly is, but he ain't so good with the book learnin'.


Now, the Gaia Hammer certainly looks more impressive, and it targets all enemies on the field!


And the damage is quite a bit better. Not fantastic, but not terrible either!


We got a couple more levels ups out of the deal, as well.




Our boys are getting even more ass-kicky. See what I mean about Cecil's Intellect, though? His Spirit stat is boosted quite a bit by his equipment, but nothing helps his Intellect. Cecil ain't a spellcaster, what can I say?

Learned Shell

Ooh, but he doesn't mean he doesn't learn useful spells! Like Protect, Shell is just as effective no matter who casts it! Now Cecil can protect the party from magical threats as well as physical. What a guy!


Here's our second prize for taking this path.


Like the Flame Mail, it halves ice attacks. Thus, Cid gets this one. Now two of my party members resist ice!


Just in time to get jumped by another Frostbeast, in fact!


And Cecil is not fucking around with this thing!


Unfortunately, he's not fucking around with us, either! This is the attack that makes the Frostbeasts such a threat. Brace yourselves!


Owie! Keep in mind, both Cid and Cecil took half damage from that attack. It could have been a lot worse!


And Tellah got knocked out right afterwards. Boys, we need this shit dealt with like, yesterday!




They dealt with it.


So, what lesson can we take away from all this? Do not fuck around with Frostbeasts!


Fortunately, I have some Phoenix Downs on hand. Looking at it, though, I don't have that many...


Well, a quick Cura from Tellah later, and the party is back in fighting shape.


After murdering our way through another encounter,




our boys gain some valuable experience.


And finally, it's time to see what the eastern door has to offer.


You can see the other three chests we've grabbed, over yonder.


This is the last one.

Now, if you forgot to take Rosa's equipment before she left the party (or didn't realize she was leaving, like me), this will be a welcome boon. Remember, it grants a 5 point boost to Spirit, perfect for you designated healbot! You may also recall, this is your first opportunity to get one of these in the GBA version. However, Tellah's been rocking one of these things since Mount Ordeals.

Want to see some damage comparisons, just for fun?


Tellah's Fire Rod.


And Cecil's Flame Sword. Yeah, Cecil's kind of a big deal.


And for good measure,


the Gaia Hammer on multiple targets. Not bad, all things considered!


Still doesn't compare too favorably with Yang's Kicking prowess, but few things do!


Now that we've finished the side paths, it's time to move on.

Obtained Elixir

See, normally I'd complain about only getting one thing, but considering how rare these things are, I'll take it!


Onwards to the 5th floor! Notice we've already explored most of it, because that's where the side path led to.


Only one thing of import on this floor, well two, really...


First, a welcome sight!


The party takes some much-needed rest, and I save my game.


And just like that, we complete another floor!

Obtained 3 Bronze Hourglasses

Ah! I believe I've already demonstrated how useful these things are.

Now, we can-


Jesus where'd you come from?!


Ack, there are more of them!


I don't like where this is going...


Looks like the party doesn't either. They go into their fighting stances.








Cindy: We'll be taking that Crystal.

Oh, like hell you are!


Oh, they have a battle pose too!


You fools! You can't stand up to the power of love! We're getting Rosa back. If we have to climb over your corpses to get to her, then so be it!


Oh yes. Say hello to the boss. The Magus Sisters are a Final Fantasy IV icon. They're so iconic, in fact, that they made a return as a summon in FFX! Incidentally. since I didn't play this game until way later, FFX was my first exposure to them. Boy was I surprised when I got to this part!


First order of business, Cecil is going to use his newfound Shell powers to help protect us from the Magus Sisters' magical onslaught.


This frees up Tellah. I have Other Plans for Tellah.


For, you see, the Magus Sisters have a gimmick. You should remember this from Leave's update, but I'll reiterate it here.


This is the Sisters' special move: the Delta Attack. First, Sandy casts Reflect on Cindy.


Then, Mindy will bounce powerful spells off her sister.

I'm sure it's all very special and interesting. I'm not going to let them get away with it.


Yang gears up to do his usual thing while Tellah is charging up my trump card.


And it's ready.


For, you see, the Magus Sisters' whole strategy hinges on them being able to cast spells.


They'll find that a little tough with two of them Silenced.

Looking at it another way, Tellah serenaded them so hard that they're dumbstruck! Now I really wonder what his singing voice sounds like. And you know what? I need to see art of this! I'll draw it myself if I have to, but this needs to be put to paper!






And nothing happens. The Delta Attack is shut the fuck down.




I whale in Mindy for a bit, just because.


They just don't understand what happened. They're dumbfounded!


Now, your primary target should be Cindy (the fat one).


She can heal herself, and she has the strongest physical attacks. Leaving her alive will just drag this fight out unnecessarily.


Sandy starts the whole rigamarole again, and ends up hitting Cecil with Reflect. I don't like this, since it'll prevent me from dropping full party healing spells when I want to!


Fortunately, Tellah has the handy Dispel spell. Dispel, in case I haven't mentioned it before, will remove buffing spells from the target, such as Shell, Protect, and Reflect. It's very handy to have around!


That takes care of Cindy's Reflect. Cecil's is next.




Meanwhile, the boys start whaling on Cindy. (_{Pun intended})


Tellah, being fed up with the Reflect nonsense, completes the Silence trifecta.


That's better!

Yang gets his third Focus in, so it's time for him to go to town!


And he sure as hell does! Damn.

He poisons her too, just for that added "fuck you!"


Like Cecil, Cindy has Counter, but,


Yang is good at dodging things.

Cecil and Cid continue to pound on Cindy.


She suffers from Poison. Every little bit helps!


Tellah finally gets rid of that pesky Reflect on Cecil.


Of course, that means his Shell is gone too, so he puts it back.

Not that I really needed to bother, frankly. The Magus Sisters can't cast any more magic, after all, but it's the principle of the thing!


The Sisters continue to live in denial.


A couple more heavy blows later,


Cindy is down for the count!


Tellah tops off the party's HP, and then it's his turn to go to town!


In a big way!


Yessssss!


That's two Sisters down!


We have the them on the ropes now. Just to rub it in,


Tellah tops off his MP.


One last triple-Focused attack from Yang later and!


It's all over!


Yes, I believe that was what we call "a whoopin'."




Good job, boys. You did me proud!


Yes.


Well, when your whole strategy hinges on one easily exploitable thing...


Yes, yes you are.


Goodbye, ladies!

Let's see what the party thinks of that.


Don't worry, Cecil. It can't be much farther!


You have a funny definition of "well," Yang.







Well, that'll do for today! Next time, we're rescuing Rosa, for real this time!

Oh, and in other news, I'll be moving to weekly updates. I'm working longer hours now and the twice a week thing is just killing me. So, expect updates from me on Fridays from now on! See you next time.