Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Part #18

Part 18: Entomology for Fun and Profit

Update 18: Entomology for Fun and Profit

In This Update:
- Bug collecting!
- Bounty hunting!
- Leveling up!

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Oops.

We have a lot of quests to do, so let's get cracking.

The only reason I'm doing this quest now is I want those Fire Sigils. They're an ingredient for unlocking the rod that teaches Hastega to Time Mages.

Annoyingly, it's actually three battles.

They aren't too bad, just four monsters plus the bug we're trying to capture.

Even better, we don't have to actually do anything to capture the bug. Just don't kill it.
You can do that, right?

Since AP is rewarded for each quest, we can't use Bonus AP 3 here.

Like last time, I'm still trying to level up Leed and Lian. They're about 3 levels under everyone else now.

We ended up getting three Opportunity Commands during the battle. The Luck 1 boost did a lot more than I thought it would!

The Lamias have some nasty condition spells, there Werewolf can hit hard and strip your buffs, and the Sprite really likes giving everyone Reflect.

Fortunately, Leed can counter that Lamias with Esuna. We have plenty of physical attacks so Reflect isn't a problem, and the Werewolf is easy to focus down.

Luck 1 also improves our critical hit rate, but we didn't see as many of those.

Here's something I didn't realize: tiles can count as multiple types, enabling multiple Geomancer spells.

It doesn't take too long to wrap this up.

Again, we don't have to actually *do* anything to capture the antlion.

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One down, two to go.

The only tricky part of these battles is making sure the antlion doesn't kill itself on you.

That's what Hurdy is for. Inflicting Stop will take it out of the battle without actually killing it.

If we had Life's Embrace, we could use that here too. I really love the range of these spells!

We're pretty much at the same level as the enemies. If they were smart and focused their attacks on one character at a time, we'd probably be in trouble.

A nice furball like this is really fun though! Enemies are grouped up nicely, making AoE attacks more effective. Just watch out for your own units.

Nice. Now we can focus on everything else.

This was the kind of battle that's fun to play but boring for an LP. We're at the right level where attacking enemies feels good, we're powerful but not too powerful.

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Last one!

I think we technically did this quest backwards? Like they expected you to do this battle first.

I say that because Fire is usually listed first in the elemental trio, and the enemy units are much less interesting than in the other battles.

I'm really enjoying Geomancer so far. The long range on its spells set it apart from other mages.

These antlions are a little annoying, they really like throwing conditions like Slow around.

Again, freezing the special antlion helps immensely.

And there's traps. Great!

This one's even easier than the other battles.

Talf and Leed are still behind on levels. I'm not sure what happened with Talf, actually -- maybe he missed out on too many story quests.

Finally!

As you might guess from the name, Hastega is the upgraded version of the Haste spell. It grants Haste to units in a small, 2x2 area. It's a fantastic way to start a battle.

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For the next part of the update, we're going bounty hunting!

Seems that bunny was really busy. A footpad is like a highwayman, except they're on foot instead of attacking from horseback.

Since it's a bounty hunt, we just need to take down the Mirage Bunny.

Normally I wouldn't mind hacking my way through the minions.

But that's a bit Sisyphean this time. More minions will spawn to replace any you knock out. I guess you could farm for loot and bonus XP?

Also, traps. This is why you should bring a Ranger.

The other option is to take the Libra Clan Privilege, which acts like an always-on Awareness.

Can you see the dreamhare here? It's in the middle of that Cura. I almost knocked it out, but the RNG reduced the damage by just enough to activate Critical: Vanish.

Mind you, that just delays the inevitable.

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I'm pretty sure Cheap Trick wrote a song about this quest.

You know, I don't think I've shown a single knockback attack so far.
Let's hope we don't get any unlucky crits though.

You don't say.

It should be noted that all the enemies on this map are around level 18, almost 10 levels lower than us.

What an auspicious treasure chest, just sitting here in the middle of the battlefield--

It's a mimic! Some treasure chests give no treasure but instead spawn these begloved fellows.
They're actually just kind of annoying.

Their attacks don't do much, and they don't have much HP.

They're also weak to every element.

Samuel finally has his best Parivir ability, Hoarfrost Blade.

And you may have noticed we finally have a Trickster! Lian learned his second Master Monk ability, and he'll be spending quite a bit of time in this job.

Also, check out that weapon range. It's huge! And the damage isn't terrible, either. He doesn't have many fun abilities yet.

I still don't really get the Confusion/Charm AI. (Tsing is Confused, which is why he attacks himself.) It seems a little too purposeful to be truly random.

Alchemist and Illusionist is a nice combo. With Half MP, you can toss out an illusion every other turn and still have enough MP to use the cheaper alchemy spells -- such as Protometeor.

We don't have too much trouble here and clean up quickly.

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A giant plant? How bad can it be?

Oh.

The nice thing about having a large clan is never being restricted by laws like this.

Surprisingly, Samuel is a required character for this battle. Usually only main story quests have restrictions like that.

The poor plant is looking for Florah, the Geomancer we captured back in Update 11. Unfortunately, we have to put a stop to its rampage.

Seems straightforward. There's two Malboros, which can throw around some annoying conditions. The boss itself has a couple hard-hitting attacks and over 1,000 HP.

Here's one complication. Those pink traps around Floraxion are all Charm traps. Get too close and you'll start swinging at your friends.

This battle's law is subtle. The easiest way to prevent conditions is to equip accessories that provide immunity. The two most common items are the Cachusha and the Barette, which most clans will have multiples of by now. There's also the Ribbon, which blocks all status effects but is much more rare.
However, all three of those items can only be equipped by women -- which means only viera and gria. Most players will see the law and let it stop them from bringing any viera to the battle. (It doesn't help that most viera jobs are used for their abilities, not their weapons.)

On the other hand, gria are perfectly capable of wearing those accessories, and several jobs can learn the Ribbon Bearer P-Ability that lets them equip Ribbons.

We'll be doing most of our attacking from afar though.

Floraxion isn't defenseless, of course. It mostly attacks with Nectar Volley.

It fires a massive glob of green goo that inflicts Silence and Poison.

Fortunately, Leed has Esuna from his time as a White Mage.

More ranged damage.

The additional Malboros are more annoying than dangerous, but I'd still rather not give them the opportunity to mess things up.

You may have noticed Leed had a 0% chance to be hit by Nectar Volley. Not all debuff-protecting accessories are female only! Cid also has a shield that will protect him.

You know, this game gives you plenty of opportunities to tune your clan's gear before battle. I should really remember to do that more often.

Thanks to those items, we can send Leed and Cid into the traps without worrying about them getting Charmed.
This opens up valuable opportunities for Samuel, who is better at melee than ranged damage but can't go near the traps unharmed.

I don't want to trivialize this fight with Mirror X-Potion, so I try Mirror Remedy instead. Remedy is basically Esuna but as an item.

Mirror Remedy can inflict multiple conditions, but we only get Confuse.

It then walks onto one of the traps. Charm overrides Confusion, apparently!

We keep wearing down Floraxion.

It finally uses its other attack. As the name suggests, Soporific Cloud puts enemies to sleep in an area around the boss.

But we still have Esuna. I wish that spell worked on "mental" conditions like Charmed though.

I eventually put the Charmed Malboro out of its misery.

But Floraxion is having none of it and summons another one.

And by "summons" I mean "spits." It's a Malboro Factory. That's really gross.

It's a really cool way to handle reinforcements though. I wish more battles used this instead of the "suddenly appearing on the battlefield" method.

Not too long after, Samuel deals the final blow.

Sorry, big guy.

We've made some good progress so far. Talf and Leed have both gained two levels, and Lian is up to 29. I think we'll be ready to handle that story quest soon.

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One more quest to round it out.

: Huh? Looks like someone beat me here.

: Do you know who it is you face, hrmm!?

: He who has mastered the way of the sword! He who has never once been bested!

: Luoredd zom Gamexias, the Swordking!!!

: What's the matter, lost your nerve!?

: Ahem. I came here because I heard you were a master of the sword... I see I may have been mistaken. But I'll ask anyway: Do you know of the woman Frimelda, once called the "Blademaster"?

: Muah ha ha ha ha! Indeed, it is I - the Swordking - to whom you speak! And you were wise to think that I, a master of the blade, would know another such blademaster!

: Wise... but also wrong! For I, legendary Swordking, have never heard of her!

: Alura! The great master, the Swordking himself, does not know this woman! I submit she is no blademaster, but a simple country lass! And this man nothing more than a love-struck peasant boy, chasing a dream.

: I should mention that I seek this blademaster not for love... but for combat. As a blademaster myself...

: You claim to have never lost, is this so? Them come, allow me to serve you your first taste of defeat!

: Muah ha ha ha ha! Elura! Alura! Did you hear that? This bold fellow wishes to ride upon the flapping coattails of our legendary undefeated record!

: There are many who would take your title for themselves, Swordking! And all who try leave with a better appreciation of their powerlessness and recklessness!

: I'll even let you draw first. Hurry it up!

: Then, shall we? Great earth, supported of life, grant us your boon... Immobilize him!

: Lost soul, betrayer of the heavens... show us your unwavering will! Disable him!

: Muah ha ha ha ha! Can't move, can you? Can't do anything, can you!? I am undefeated! Now to finish you off with my stonesword!

: Oh, so that's how he's gone undefeated... Time to help!

An annoying law, but not insurmountable. It cuts down on our healing abilities, but with only 3 enemies, we'll be fine.

: Muah ha ha ha ha! Elura! Alura! A child come to play!

: Boy! You'll stay out of this until my stonesword has time to work its magick... or else!

: None there are who can stop the Swordking's stonesword!!!

: The Swordking's stonesword never fails to turn immobilized foes to stone!

: You cowards!

: Urrk!? I-I don't believe it!

The battle begins with Luoredd immediately getting two turns in a row, giving him enough time to reach Ghi and attack him.

Ghi's dispell kicks in at the beginning of his turn. He's apparently much stronger than Luoredd. I don't think he needs our help.

We immediately run up and cut off Alura and Elura from aiding Luoredd. They'll focus on us instead, basically guaranteeing Ghi will win.

Also, Henri is a Cannoneer now, because I like that job.