Part 54: Bounty Hunting, Part 2: Ultimate Bounty
Update 54: Bounty Hunting, Part 2: Ultimate BountyIn This Update:
- We pursue the ultimate bounty!
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Welcome back! There's only one more bounty hunting mission, but it's a long one.
Jylland Defenders of the Peace
Bureau of Defense
Wanted: Magick Weapon is our first end-game quest. End-game quests are those that are unlocked after completing the final story quest and are rank 90 or higher. There's a handful of them, and honestly they're really fun.
"Duly rewarded" indeed!
Our opponent is Upsilon, another giant magick weapon like the one we fought outside Goug. In fact, this mission is also locked behind Adelle learning the Hilo ability, which requires beating the weapon at Goug.
The law is somewhat forgiving. However, Items can be really useful for quickly reviving and curing allies.
The boss itself is terrifying. I outfitted Samuel with the highest damage weapons I could, and his Attack was still 60 points lower. (The next highest was well over 100 points lower.) No one comes anywhere close to its other three stats, and Leed himself is only a mere 3 points faster.
The final kicker: Upsilon is immune to all elemental damage.
Samuel is dressed to the nines: Two of the strongest non-elemental katanas, plus the Fortune Ring and Orb of Minwu to protect against status effects. He's coming as a Parivir, though Ninja would also have worked. The important thing is the two swords.
Cid is joining with more melee damage. His Evasion is somewhere around 60!
Leed is carrying the rest of the clan's katanas. The Jujitsu Gi protects against Doom, making it extremely effective for this battle.
Penelo is our main support. Her White Mage heals are pretty strong, though I hope to use her Dancer abilities too.
Zoe combines great power with the status effect-blocking Ribbon, making her a great pick for this fight.
Joining Penelo on support is Imino. Smile Toss is the only thing he really needs. He's using the Ribbon Bearer P-Ability to equip a Ribbon.
Maybe Regenga or even Non-Elemental Attacks would be better choices here. But I'm going with Bonus AP 3!
I think this is supposed to be a hint to use ranged attacks. I don't care, the best ranged attacks are elemental and we don't get to use those this fight.
: Let's take the thing apart before it can do any more damage!
The very first turn is the end of the first round. On each odd round, the boss absorbs Mist. This happens independent of the boss's turns.
The boss has three attacks. The one it uses most is Beguile, which inflicts Charm and Doom. You must protect against these conditions, or you will fail!
Orb of Minwu protects against Charm, and there a few Doom-resisting items like the Fortune Ring and the Jujitsu Gi. Female units or males with Ribbon Bearer (like Imino) can wear Ribbons instead.
???/??? HP is a bit alarming. We're looking at close to 2000 HP, I believe. Plus it has MP Shield, giving it 10 temporary HP every turn.
For the sake of space, I won't show Upsilon's turns unless something interesting happens. Seriously, all it does is Beguile, and we're well protected against that.
Leed's Attack is somewhere in the low 200s. His Ninja Veil spells are too low damage to penetrate the weapon's defenses, and his Seer spells are all elemental. At least he does ~70 damage with the melee parts of Magick Frenzy.
Some arbitrary number of turns pass and the next round ends. After charging, Upsilon attacks.
It hits hard, taking about 40% - 60% of everyone's HP. It can miss, which makes Cid and Leed potentially the tankiest characters on the team.
This is where Imino comes in handy. Thanks to Smile Toss, he can help Penelo cast all the heals she needs to help us survive this onslaught.
Zoe's melee attacks are acceptable. She's doing the best she can!
Samuel still has his Blue Magick abilities, which include the instant death Roulette spell. Maybe we'll get lucky...
First try!!
But of course Upsilon is immune. What a shame!
Leed and Cid attack, then the round ends. It's back to absorbing Mist.
So this is probably a good time to get more healing in!
Zoe, Leed and Cid are doing most of our damage, as Penelo, Samuel and Imino try to patch us back up.
Cid's damage is alright, though it would help if he was back at full health. I made the mistake of giving him Holy-resisting armor, which for some reason means Curaga heals him for half as much.
Blue Magick will help with a nice attack boost.
That's the end of the round, and another blast comes. Scroll back up and look at how much total HP Leed has. Yeah.
That's much better damage! Buffs are our best friends here -- I wish I had brought a Time Mage.
Apparently Cid isn't fully protected. I believe he's still vulnerable to Doom, though his high Evasion really helps here.
But you can see how bad healing spells are working on him.
Leed also has a nice healing spell in the form of Cura. He needs it, badly.
Samuel is finally able to attack. Thanks to his powerful katanas and the Attack UP buff, he lands a solid 150 damage.
Zoe attacks again, and another charge round ends.
Imino grants Samuel another turn. More healing probably would have been helpful, but...
Upsilon is finally below 1000 HP! We're really getting somewhere!
I was really hoping Scions would be helpful here. The boss is immune to Meteor, which is not cool.
Leed has the non-elemental Tainted Cufflinks, which would barely do anything. Most Scions deal elemental damage, so they're useless here.
Still, we're doing pretty well without them.
But we've finally woken up the boss, who apparently is very displeased that we're attacking him.
It hurts. A lot. Leed dies outright.
Immediately after that, the Mist explodes again.
Around 300+ damage in two turns. I wonder if this was by design, and you're supposed to defeat the enemy in 6 rounds? Like a kind of DPS check.
But I can salvage this! Penelo and Samuel throw out some emergency heals.
Imino gives Penelo another turn, and she revives Leed.
But Upsilon is not yet done.
Maybe I should not have stood in front of the boss.
Another charging round. These things come fast.
Leed manages to hit the boss one more time before it wipes out him and Samuel with a single attack.
We went from 6 to 3 units in a handful of turns.
But I can salvage this!!
First, Imino smiles at Penelo, who revives Leed.
Cid pops Ultima for the free healing.
Thanks, Ultima!
It helps.
Upsilon settles back into Beguiling us instead of attacking, which gives us a breather.
Leed could Raise someone (the Seer spell pool is pretty wide!) but the round ends right after him, so it would be a waste of MP: the freshly-revived unit would be at critical HP and the explosion would kill them.
Another double whammy. We're back down to three.
Cid doesn't really have many options besides attacking. Though I think White Monks can revive people, which could have been useful.
Leed revives Penelo. We have to move fast, it's almost the boss's turn again.
At least we're safe from explosions!
Oh, hell.
Bless you, Imino. I thought for sure we'd get unlucky on the 44% chance to hit.
Penelo revives Samuel. Thanks to Arise, he comes back at full HP.
He immediately heals her with White Wind, bringing her back to full.
Cid and Leed attack the boss again. We're so close, I have to choose between healing the team and killing the boss.
Samuel's attack brings it down to Critical HP!
Imino immediately gives another turn.
It's below 200 HP now.
Luck is definitely in our favor!
I was fully expecting the situation to go catastrophically wrong again, so Penelo casts Reraise on herself. She should have had an Angel Ring!
Another explosion, and both Samuel and Cid dodge it. Imino is almost dead, however.
Cid soldiers through and brings us even closer to the end.
It tries to Beguile him, but it misses again.
That's another solid 60 damage.
Looking back as I write the update, I realize I could have ended this if I had Imino give Samuel a smile. Oh well.
Even Penelo gets in on the action.
Focusing on damage means sacrificing Imino, but it's a worthy sacrifice.
Finally, Cid destroys Magick Weapon Upsilon.
I cannot express how extremely underwhelming this response is.
But hey, we won!
Thus ends our first end-game quest.
Back at the pub, there's a notice from (I presume) the Bureau of Defense about the magick weapon we just destroyed.
Research Notes (1) posted:
A portion of a document apparently pertaining to the development of an unmanned magick weapon has been discovered, and here printed for the edification of all.
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-Plumfrost-
Plans for the Design of the XII Obtained. I shall Assay to, with these Plans as a Base, Create a Weapon far more Powerful than the XII.
-Skyfrost-
Developmen proceeds smoothly, thanks in no Small Part to my possession of the XII plans.
The groundwork for the XII is almost Complete. Intrigued by its Mist Absorption Function, I have Contrived means to convert this Mist, typically used for Growth, into a Weapon. This shall then serve as the Main Cannon.
-Greenfire-
Considering other Options for the Mist Absorption Growth Mechanism, so that it need not rely solely upon Mist for its Working. If other Materials could be used for Growth, said Growth would proceed at a phenomenal Rate.
After testing many Substances, I found those occurring in Nature to be most promising: Molten Rock, Snow, Sea Water, &c.
-Bloodfire-
The Growth feature has been significantly Expanded! I have succeeded in drawing sufficient Energies for Growth from Molten Rock.
Tests have been highly encouraging, showing no less than a tenfold Improvement over the performance data of the original XII.
I must admit, not even I expected Progress on such a superlative Scale!
In giving Consideration to future use in the Field, I have taken Steps to camouflage the Weapon by painting it Red in its entirety.
That sounds like Upsilon that we fought outside Goug!
Leaving and re-entering the pub makes the next set of notes appear.
Research Notes (2) posted:
-Rosefire-
Of late, my "Superiors" (so are They called, though not by Me in my Privacy) have seen fit to Sniff and Scrabble at my Laboratory Door like so many Bloodhounds.
I fear what would become of my Research should these Hounds espy the Fox.
In Anticipation of such a misfortunate Event, I have wisely created a Duplicate Model. Since I used as a Base an unmanned Magickal Weapon which I had fashioned prior to coming into possession of the XII Plans, it was by Comparison swift to complete.
In designing this second Unit, I sought to further expand its Potential for growth fueled not by Mist or Magma, but by common Snow.
I have since painted it White to provide Camouflage in what could rightly be considered its Natural Habitat.
-Coppersun-
It has come Time to Cease and Desist calling my Creation this "Thing" and give it a proper Name.
The XII, for its Part, was called the Omega Mark XII during Development, though many such as Myself abbreviate this to a simple XII.
According to the Records of the Researcher who originally named it, "Omega" was the final Letter in an Alphabet used in ancient Times.
Therefore, I, too, borrowed from the Ancients in naming my Creation the "Upsilon."
Because I know find Myself with two of these Devices, I shall call the first Upsilon, and the second Upsilon-A2.
-Goldsun-
As part of my continuing Efforts to power my Devices with as much Efficiency as is Possible, I have created yet another Upsilon, this one deriving its energies from common Sea Water.
I have painted it a stunning Marine Blue, and named it somewhat unimaginatively, I confess, Upsilon-A3.
Leaving and entering once more and the final notes appear.
Research Notes (3) posted:
-Silversun-
I have now attached Devices for the remote Operation of all three Upsilons, and set them to Locations chosen for a plentiful Supply of the Materials used by my Upsilons for their Growth. Now begin the Tests.
An Incident befalls my Project.
A3 was sent to the Sea, whereupon it proceeded to Run Wild and Explode in a rather exaggerated Manner. I have narrowed down the Cause to an over-Intake of Material, exceeding the Capacity of the Growth Function.
-Ashleaf-
My "Superiors" have begun work on a Mage Cannon using for its Source of Power nothing other than Mist. It is yet another Affront to my Work. Upsilon will remind Them of their proper Place.
-Mistleaf-
I have attached a Sensor to the A1 able to detect the Mage Cannon in Operation. As soon as they have found Success, A1 will destroy their Facility. Only then will all be Well.
Anticipating the eventual Destruction of A1, I have Installed a Self-Activation System in A2. Should A1 fail, A2 will automatically wake from its Watching and destroy the Target in its Brother's stead.
-Emberleaf-
I have placed A1 and A2 in the Location where they last tested their Mage Cannon. Now I only need wait for the Destruction to come.
(The remainder of the document is charred beyond legibility.)
It sounds like Clan Sawyer inadvertently activated the Upsilons by using the Mage Cannon against the Neukhia! At least we managed to clean up our mess, right?
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Thanks for reading! The poll for the next update will be closed once this update is live. Looks like we'll be going to Brightmoon Tor next!