Part 8: Pazuzu's Tower

There's a couple new battlefields, but first I restock in Windia, just in case there's another party member.

Nope, this entire section is still just Benjamin and Kaeli.



That just look awkward when you're using an actual chocobo sprite instead of an obvious weathervane.





This NPC later calls this a Regen Ring, and that's pretty much what this is. I give it to Benjamin since he has a boatload of HP, and it certainly does its job!



Nothing exciting in the dialogue this update. Our next destination is Mt. Gale.



Inn prices are up a bit, but still a drop in the bucket. "Guaranteed" still misspelled.



I'm kinda assuming a lot more opens up once we get the Mobius Crest, since there's a ton of those spots all over the world.



oh my god Benjamin what have you done



There's minor backstory to Pazuzu's Tower now. Sure, why not.



Kaeli's still in Foresta. Did you really not set a simple fucking flag to remove this, you were going to charge money for this...

We've got the game's final two battlefields. Still no damn rewards.



Mountain Hags are a pain. They amusingly cast Blizzara both on the party and on the enemy side to heal, though it can hurt other enemies. Otherwise, it has a strong physical special attack (and a pathetically weak regular physical) and can cast Haste. The worst part though is that it's immune to the instant death proc of the Dragon Claw, and in fact the only status that affects it is silence. And on top of that they have good defenses and a ton of HP, so they take forever to kill.



80MP, casts Life on the entire party. Alright.



Vampires are huge pains. Immune to instant death and the claw's status effects, and they have a ton of HP, and they have some nasty spells like Tornado and can inflict confusion.



My strategy for these battles is to have Benjamin use Wizard Bless as Kaeli throws out Mega Flares left and right.





This is expensive, but luckily Kaeli learns Osmose at this time, and it's very effective.





Next.



This is pretty much the same layout as the original. None of the enemies are really new, either.





Only new item is the Apollo Helm, and even that is boring.



Kaeli even learns a new spell that isn't really new.



Dullahan's got Thundaja and the usual physicals under his command.



This is nasty.



This can inflict instant death, though it doesn't work here.



Otherwise, buff and kill.



One trip to Windia later...



Guys I think Otto has lost his mind.





Seriously why does Pazuzu's Tower have random backstory now.

Anyway, you know the deal. Gotta rescue Norma and then do our usual explore and slaughter until we smash the boss into paste.





Now for today's dungeon!



Garuda is simple. Thunder and Silence spells and a weak Dive physical. Nothing threatening.





In a fun twist, Beholders absorb bomb damage (though at this point even Mega Grenades are hilariously underpowered). They're also rather nasty, casting Cura on themselves while using Blinder, Flare, and even Fatal Eye on you. The latter only worked on Kaeli like twice out of a good number of attempts, so it's not too scary.



This area is significantly less tedious though because the Dragon Claw's instant death proc works on most of the enemies in this dungeon, including both types here. Though of course sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to land...





Norma's safe. Now we can use the sword to flick switches and stuff.



Meet Pazuzu.





The gimmick's the same. Flick switches to seal off the elevator to trap and fight Pazuzu, though in this version he'll simply appear on every floor.



Giga-White is the next tier of White, and is insanely expensive at a whopping 120MP.



Centaurs are pretty much the same as earlier versions. Arrow attacks and confuse, except now they can also buff Attack.



Also here's yet another weird glitch. Sure, why not.



Chimeras can cast Blizzaga and Quakega. They're one of two regular enemies immune to instant death, but they're vulnerable to most statuses including confuse and sleep, and they go down quickly enough that they aren't much threat.



Thundaga and Cura. The other enemy immune to instant death, and also all other status effects. Still not threatening enough to survive a few rounds of physical attacks.





Nagas are obnoxious with Confusion and Sleep. Sorcerers are the worst though, as they can buff magic, cast -ga spells and Flare, inflict Slow, and even steal your MP. Just gotta hope that death proc lands quickly.



This would be nice if it weren't so expensive and just as unreliable as the Dragon Claw. Hard pass.



Last new enemy, Gargoyles have Flare and a nasty two-hit physical attack, along with lesser stuff.





Excalibur has a ton of neat features, enough so that Kaeli gets Dragon Claw duty now.



Kaeli also gets her own Giga spell, in this case Giga Flare.





The first shield that Benjamin can't equip! A nice find for Kaeli, though.



Also, an invisible chest that I was lucky to find because I noticed I stopped walking in this space and have been condition to check everything.



Same as other games, blocks all status effects. Considering how god damn annoying sleep and paralysis and confusion are, this is a godsend.





That just leaves Pazuzu.



Rather than reflect spells, PsychShield just reduces damage for three or so turns.



Otherwise, the usual damage spells that aren't as threatening when overleveled and buffed to hell and back. I saw Mega White, Tornado, and Thundaja.





Though he can restore HP, obnoxiouslly enough.





Giga Flare in action.



Pazuzu's damaged sprite.



He got wrecked.







One elevator ride later, and we reach the crystal. That's it for the dungeon!

Next time, what normally should be the penultimate dungeon and update, though I'm getting the feeling there might be some new stuff to stretch things out.