Part 96: DS The Final Dungeon part 3

DS Update 38: The Final Dungeon part 3

Hello, everyone! Another short update today. We're going to go as far down as we dare, then get the hell out.




We're on the 5th floor already! I'd say we're making progress.


And right away we're accosted by a new enemy! We haven't had one of those in awhile.


Our new friend is a Dinozombie, the Bone Dragon's big brother. He's packing 24,000 HP and the usual undead weaknesses to fire, holy, and curative magic.

His normal attacks can also inflict the Curse status, annoyingly.


Rydia has a wide array of spells to exploit this guy's elemental weaknesses, but I want to show off her new toy first!


You can use the Stardust Rod as in item, and the charge time for it is really, really slow. Seriously, it's glacial. And it's not helped along at all by Fast Talker, sadly.


While Rydia's doing that, Rosa will do her usual.




It's never a bad idea to cast Slow.


This is one of the Dinozombie's attacks.


It engulfs the whole party in a sinister, purple miasma,


and hits them all with Curse. Annoying.


Kain drops down from the sky to remind us why I gave him that lance. (I believe the Dinozombie counts as a dragon, but even if it doesn't, that's some nice damage!)


And this will take care of that Curse status.


Thanks, Omnicasting!


Ah, and right on time, the Stardust Rod is done charging! Let's see what it does.


This affect may look familiar if you have a good memory. It's one of the Twincast spells, Comet!


Comet does major, non-elemental damage to all enemies. It's amazing!

All that for the low, low cost of no MP! The only drawback is the long charge time. (The Star Rod is the other major reason I don't give Rydia the MP +50% Augment, by the way.)


Fun fact: Cecil whiffed every single goddamn attack he made against this thing!


Except this one. Finally, Cecil!


And Edge finishes it off.


Killing undead dragons is good experience!


At this point, I remembered that Kain sacrificed himself awhile back and has no MP left. I really should fix that! You never know when I might need him to bail my ass out again.


To the west, on this little ledge, there's some treasure ripe for the taking.


Naturally, the chest is trapped, but I've come to expect that by now.


Eh... these things can be really nasty or pathetically easy, depending on their mood and how much the RNG hates you.


So, let's try this again!


Slow them, as per usual.


Get to your dragon-slaying duties, Kain!


After a few Icestorms, we're looking a little ragged.


Fortunately, Rosa has the solution!


And I know he'll just get Silenced again, but I cure it anyway.


Holy shit, Kain! Holy shit!


Yeah... that's one dragon down. Also, we haven't seen Darkness in awhile. The damage you take from using it has ramped up quite a bit in the meantime! Kain's good for it, though.


Ffff- Like I said. He just got Silenced again. Why do I bother?




I take the opportunity to get in a quick Pray and recharge some of my MP.


Then Cecil Kicks the thing to death.


Here's our prize, and it's a nice one! The Crystal Shield gives some nice defensive boosts, and it nullifies Sleep, Poison, Death, and Curse!


It looks cool, to boot.


That means Kain gets the Dragon Shield, as he was meant to all along. I didn't mention this last time, but the Dragon Shield grants immunity to Paralyze, Sleep, and Stop.

It'd be nice if the game would tell you stuff like this in the item description, wouldn't it?


Continuing on, our next destination is this doorway immediately to the east.


It contains another fixed map room, with some treasure to collect.


But first, time to get jumped by another dragon.


Cecil gets Silenced again...


And Kain impales it on his lance.


He also profits nicely from the experience.


Now, to the north is this semi-secret passage.


And more interruptions!


Hang on, let me try something...


Huh. I see Kain's not the only one who can hit the damage cap!


Anyway, where was I? Ah yes. Slip through the intervening space to this small room to the north.


It contains a very nice treasure. (And we don't even have to fight anything for it, shockingly!)


Now, you would think such a thing would best to go Rosa. While those defensive boosts are nice, her Spirit suffers a bit for it. That's not something I'm prepared to tolerate.


Instead, I'll give it to Cecil. He's our designated tank anyway! And check it out, the Protect Ring also halves the primary elements! I guess Cecil doesn't need any Dragon equipment after all.


We're done with this room, so let's slip through another "secret" passage in the east wall.


We wind our way to the south,


and pop out in the large eastern room.


And get jumped by more dragons, of course.




The Stardust Rod makes short work of them.


As does Kain. Man, that is so beautiful.


I get triple level ups out of it, too! It's like Christmas!




Cecil and Rydia are maintaining level parity,


while Edge maintains his lead on Kain.


Now, there are two ways to go from here. The stairs in the middle lead farther into the dungeon, so we'll be taking the southern door first.


We come out on the eastern half of the fifth floor.


From here, we can grab our last treasure for today.




... I'll be facing this thing at somewhat less than full strength. Let's see how I do!


First up, Kain will do his usual.


And so will Rosa.


Aww crap. This time, we trigger Maelstrom.


And it doesn't miss anyone.




That may have been a mistake...


Yep...


Definitely a mistake! This is no time for Cecil to be Silenced, so he quaffs a Remedy.


... This is an even worse time for Rosa to be out of MP!


Bah!


Kain! Get the hell out of Dodge and stay there!


A harsh blow from Bahamut will help, but there's still the whole "party being half dead" problem.


Fortunately, I have a solution!


I knew these things would come in handy! Good thing I saved them.


It's OK! She's good for it, and the thing is slowed, besides. She'll be able to get her spells off before it moves again!


Thank you, Kain. That helps.


Hmm. I wonder if Darkness can actually kill you?


Well, I'm not in the mood to find out at the moment.


Omnicasting saves the day again!


So does Dualcast. Man, I love those Augments!


Guess who else is running low on MP?


Fortunately, she can deal with that herself.


This is more to get him out of harm's way than anything else.




And finally, I can get Blink up.


Plus Haste, because why the fuck not?


That's better, much better!


Can't touch us now, buddy!


Alas, Cecil ate a second hit and Blink wears off.


Another Bahamut.


More Jumping shenanigans from Kain...


Ah. That answers that question. Darkness cannot kill you. Good to know!


This time, I'll wait a bit before I have Kain Jump again.


Edge's Blink wears off, but it's OK.


Rosa's here to make everything better.




There! Now everyone's healed and Blinked up.


All right, now, Kain, you may resume your normal routine.


Or Edge will just kill it. That works too!


That was a little closer than I would have liked, but all's well that ends well!


We'd be fucked nine ways from Sunday without Rosa. Never forget that!


Here's our newest prize! The Crystal Mail is, in a word, awesome. Pretty amazing defenses, plus complete immunity from Toad, Silence, Mini, Blind, Pig, and Berserk! And a 3-point boost to Spirit on top of that? Pinch me!


Here you go, Kain. Thanks for letting Cecil borrow it. (He keeps the Giant's Gloves, of course, because Giant's Gloves are awesome.)


And with that, I think I've had just about enough of this place. Plus, my resources are running low. I'm out!


There! That's better.




A visit to these healing tiles, and everyone's right as rain again.


And that's it for today, folks! We've made some good progress. Next time, I'd say we'll be able to grab all the rest of the treasures. After that, the endgame awaits!