Part 81

Chapter 67





Meet our new team, which includes characters we haven't really used yet. The bad part about using everybody is that you aren't accumulating EXP for a select few characters, so the four we used in The Gathering and the ones that have been chosen several times have an edge here. For instance, Luca's HP is almost double the next highest character. Likewise, Rosa's more adaptable than Porom, but Porom's level advantage means she learns valuable spells like Haste, Reflect, and Curaja more quickly. Not to mention her crazy-huge MP pool.

Anyway, Luca gets the Minerva Bustier while Ursula dons the Brave Suit, as both give the same bonuses, but only Ursula can equip the latter. Ceodore actually gets to use his dad's Excalibur, though his low levels and lack of equips mean he can't match up to the girls in damage. Porom is suited to max her Spirit, as she's the better white mage at this point. I dabble using Rosa as an archer, but quickly swap to a staff and keep her as a secondary white mage.




We've seen the awesome numbers a Black Mage can deliver. Porom hasn't had a chance to develop the way Rydia and Palom have, but even a Cura heals a solid amount. Of course, an X-Potion heals a reliable 2000 HP with no charge time, but Porom can also heal the entire party for around 1000HP or so with a Curaga, something only Edward can outdo. And then Porom has awesome buffs like Haste and Blink, the always-fantastic Slow, and even stuff like Confuse to help with random battles.



Losing Stop hurts, but Confusing enemies and having them stab each other kind of makes things better.







The next floor is business as usual. There's a room that leads to a Hypnocrown, a rather unimpressive helmet that protects against form-changing spells and gives a minor boost to Intellect.




There's Great Malboros here. The name's misleading, they're unimpressive.



Porom picks up Haste, which is fantastic. I think Rosa learns it sometime later, or maybe she already knew it at this point.



Sahagin Princes like to use Thundaga.

I end up giving Luca the Protect Ring because it ensures she survives any spell, no matter how devastating it is.



Built like a fucking dwarf.



Chaos Knights are huge dicks. They love to spam Tornado and Death, and may counter with Doom, the countdown spell. They're not that difficult, though.



I think the Lamia paralyzes in her counters or something. She wasn't that annoying.



Pick up another set of Crystal equipment. Too bad gauntlets are outclassed by accessories in general.



Blue Dragons will still ruin your day with an Icestorm.




The Red Jacket boosts Strength and Speed by 10, boosts Evasion a decent amount, and grants Fire Resistance. It's just too bad I couldn't find anyone else to make good use of it. Ceodore really does get shafted out of equipment choices, even though he gets the same high-end equips that characters like Cecil, Kain, and Golbez get.



Now we've made it to our next boss room. Following the theme, today we're fighting four bosses from the final dungeon of FF2. Believe it or not, I had more trouble with this batch of bosses than the last one.



But first, a cutscene.





Never in a million years did I expect you to come back.
It has been a while, hasn't it, Kain?
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this reunion...but I must admit, you have been a strong ally for all of us.



It took a very long time...but I have regained control of myself. Just as Cecil did...and just as you did as well, I suppose.



I owe it all to the power of the Lunarians... In particular, the power of you and your brother's father.

Kind of awkward wording there.




Oh, so we are on the other moon. This is the second time I've played it, and now I finally know which moon we're on.

...
What has happened to your moon in the ensuing years?
I do not know.
Ah...

Jesus Christ, Golbez is horrible at small talk. Sure, you brainwashed the guy, but if anything Kain should be the one feeling awkward right now. Surely the two of you had some good memories kidnapping love interests and dodging meteors summoned by rage-driven geezers.



They were, were they?
Whoever controls this moon...I am going to exact my revenge upon them.



That was a weird one.



Bomb Kings like to cast Firaga and Blaze. Dust Mousses are a pain without a Black Mage, though Ceodore's Excalibur cuts through them rather easily.



Coeurl Leginas like to cast Thundaga as well.







Our first foe is the King Behemoth.



He hits hard. And that's all he does.



The obvious tactic is to spam the shit out of Blink.



Most of his attacks are counters, but you still want to Slow him to slow down his own attacks.



It's also a good idea to cast Shell. You'll see why later.




...That one was unintentional.





I decide to try out Twin Rush, which does more damage than both their attacks. As a bonus, it's just one attack instead of two seperate ones, so it just triggers one counter. I do have to burn a few Ethers to keep Ursula's MP up, but I can buy 99 of them at this point, so it's all good.



Oh yeah, King Behemoth has a final attack upon death.




This is why this battle took two tries.



I'm impressed Porom survived that one. At any rate, the king has been dethroned.



How much more formidable could our enemies possibly be?
If there are any more monsters like these, then... Oh, dear!
(We beat him!? Perhaps my martial arts skills are closer to my father's than I thought...)
We dwarves may be a stout race...but that was a rough one, even for me!



Our reward is the Tiger Fang, a claw that can paralyze enemies. Might as well throw it on Ursula.





Next up is the Iron Giant. Like the King Behemoth, he pretty much sticks to physical attacks. However, he doesn't have a final attack.





What he does have, however, is the ability to counter all magic with Meteor. Ouch.




He also sometimes uses Crush, which instantly kills a character. How fun.



Other than that, it's the same strategy, except with more time spent reviving characters who fall to Crush.




And Ceodore finally learns Blink, thus making his White Magic useful.



We...we beat him?
We...we're saved!
(My fists...triumphant over solid steel?)
If that wasn't a machine, then what was it? A living suit of armor?

I don't know if it's a good or bad idea to have the characters comment on the feasibility of the other games' bosses.




HOLY SHIT





Beelzebul is a much different beast from the first two.





He would rather cast spells than attack.



Seriously, look at that sweet, sweet damage Luca is dealing out.



I didn't realize Porom knew Reflect until this battle. Rosa doesn't have it, unfortunately.



Beelzebul uses spells like the -aga's, Tornado, and Flare. Reflect bounces all those off.





Bouncing off one character is weak. Bouncing off all of them makes life much, much easier.

I couldn't really juggle keeping all the characters alive because Beelzebul loves casting spells on everyone and Porom can only Reflect so many people. Thus, I keep the sturdy and powerful Luca around to help out. The two really make a great duo.





From there, the fight becomes a breeze.



Eventually, it's Luca's axe and not his own magic that brings Beelzebul down.



What a hideous creature! Do the Crystals' conjurations know no bounds!?
Wait a minute... I think the Elder once told me about something like this.

...Really?

What can I expect to achieve against such a vile thing with just my fists?
I like insects more than most people, but even I can't say too many nice things about this one...



A harp, huh. Neat, I guess.



On the way back, I run into a Behemoth. Even with their counter-attacks, they're pretty simple to take down.



The main thing is that it dropped a Power Sash, which gives +15 Strength. What's also awesome is that everyone, even fucking Ceodore, can wear it.



Seriously, what's with Malboros and inaccurate names? The Worst are actually pretty easy. The Count Malboros are much bigger pains.



Oh hell yes.




Our final battle is Astaroth.




Like Beelzebul, she's a magic-oriented boss.



However, she also uses physical attacks, and hers are unique in that they drain HP. They are rather weak, and you can easily outpace her healing, so it's nothing worth worrying about.





So yeah, similar strategy as last time except I manage to keep everyone alive by the end.



...What the fuck, Ceodore.

She looked like the demons I heard about in legends.
This place...is a living nightmare.
Monsters are one thing...but demons are quite another!
I thought we were on the moon... We seem to have set foot in a demon world instead.



Sweet, a new staff. +15 Spirit, too.



Look at that Spirit stat. Look at how insane that is.




Fun Fact: Teleporting in this dungeon brings you to the entrance, which has no battles and has that room where you can buy from Namingway and get free healing without changing the moon phase, all before teleporting back to the last boss floor. Pretty damn useful.

Next time, FF3 bosses and whatever stupid cutscene we have next.