Part 14: Found Yet Another Job
Update 14: Found Yet Another JobIn This Update:
- Unlocking jobs
- Saving animals
- Barely making a dent in the quest count
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Welcome back! Last time, we recruited the bard Hurdy and a couple other friends, settled Samuel's nightmares by slaying the Oversoul, and found out that Vaan and Penelo are wanted for attempted murder.
Today, we're going to tackle a bunch of side quests. There's a frankly overwhelming number of them available right now, and a number of updates will have to be devoted to just those.
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We're running into the last handful of job unlock quests. There's about eight left, and we're going to handle five of them today.
First up:
"Lord Grayrl!" unlocks the seeq's Viking job, an axe-wielding maniac that can shoot lightning.
This particular quest is unlocked by reading a notice about a clan of brigands that are selling fake gems. It's also gated by your story quest progression.
Every quest has a bit of flavor text when you select it on the map. This is probably my favorite.
This law looks worse than it is. Just bring lots of ranged units and you'll be fine.
I'm still trying to raise levels, so only half this team is good at ranged combat.
Lord Grayrl is a being of pure bluff and moxie. I kind of love how audacious he is. You get so much of his character from one short conversation.
Leed sighed as he drew his katanas.
This battlefield has you wedged between two groups of enemies. But since it's a headhunt, you should ignore or disable the mooks in front of you, ignore the ones to your right, and focus on Lord Grayrl.
Being forced to move 3 squares every turn makes for some funky movement, but even our melee characters can put some work in.
I did mention Vikings can shoot lightning, right? Thundaga is the third-tier Lightning spell, and it looks totally awesome.
With their average weapon attack and magick power growths, Vikings don't make the best mages. Unfortunately, they're the best job for raising magick power for seeqs.
Anyway, we just focus on Earl Gray. Lenolia already took out the Animist that was over here, and we're still ignoring the two other Vikings that are harassing our back line.
It's not a hard mission, as long as you don't let the law scare you. Ranged damage is king.
Grayrl continues to bluff us about the price. Can't say he gives up easily!
What exactly are "pirate spices"? Either way, we have a new job!
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We've had this mission waiting for us forever, but we've never had the necessary loot on hand.
This violates so many lab safety rules.
A cute little mission.
Onward!
Now that we have a Viking, we can take on this dispatch mission.
And boy is it worth it! Lightwing Crystals and Wyrmtwigs are really high-tier loot. The crystals are used to unlock things like three of the Ultima weapons.
But then we hit a snag. The clan recruitment (that's the white bubble) is just a minor annoyance, but there's a random battle between us and the quest.
We could walk around a bit and hope the enemies disappear from the map, but we're on kind of a tight schedule -- I have 6 quests queued up right now. No choice but to vanquish them!
There is one upside to this: we can learn three new Blue Mage abilities here!
The Baknamy knows Magick Hammer, and more importantly the two Sprites know Angel Whisper and Healing Wish. We really want those two spells, since they're really quite excellent heals.
Samuel re-equipped Learn, and Talf has switched to Beastmaster. He has the Faerie Harp equipped, which we picked up at the Fluorgis auction. That weapon lets him control Sprites.
There's six enemies here: the Baknamy, the two Sprites, a Banshee (the red Sprite), a Dreamhare and a Chocobo.
First, kill the Dreamhare and the Chocobo. They don't have any useful abilities and will get in our way. We should also kill the Banshee, but she ends up being a non-issue.
One issue: these are not cheap abilities, and the Sprites are more than happy to spend their MP on Meteorite instead.
So we use an Ether to restore their MP. Another option would be the Ether Shell ability, I believe, but I didn't think to bring that with me.
Now, Talf can make the Sprite use Angel Whisper on Samuel.
Angel Whisper both heals (about as much as Cure) and grants Reraise.
We finish of the Banshee and the Sprite that we just learned from.
We do the same thing with the other Sprite. Notice how we have the Sprite (mostly) surrounded. This is the easiest setup for learning Blue Mage abilities.
White Wind cures the target an amount equal to the caster's current HP, which is monstrously useful.
I had hoped the Baknamy would target Samuel with Magick Hammer, but no such luck. I don't have the ability to control it, so we slay it and move on.
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Now we can move on to Wanted: Woodcutter!
This poor carpenter's coworkers are envious of his appointment. Fortunately, Clan Sawyer is here to save the day!
Tsing will be back in a couple days.
Note that Vikings are one of only two jobs that can equip axes, and we don't have the other one unlocked yet.
Tsing catches up to us on our way to the next quest. These dispatch missions are some of my favorites; they add a lot of flavor without dragging things out.
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Our next quest takes us to the Aldanna Range, where we need to rescue some chocobos.
Note that this is a multi-location mission that cannot be dispatched. (None of the job quests can be.)
We also picked up "It's a Trap!" which also takes place in the Aldanna Range. It's currently covered by Popocho's Chocobos, so we'll tackle it later.
On to the first battle!
You may be thinking to yourself, "this doesn't look too bad! A handful of enemies, some of them close to the chocobo, but we'll spawn nearby and be able to protect it!"
And you'd be wrong.
First of all, we spawn over here. Yeah, the battlefield isn't terribly large, but you better have brought some fast units. (Notice both of our ninjas and our only flyer are here.)
Oh, and we only have 4 units here.
This is the real twist. This is my least favorite law ever. Last time we saw it, we were able to cheese it by eliminating the bounty target in one hit. This time, we have to abide by it to take out four enemies.
This is so patently stupid that we're just going to break that law.
Zoe flies over and grabs this Grimoire Stone, a consumable item that boosts everyone's magick stats when used in battle.
Worth it. Otherwise we'd be here all day, and we'd probably accidentally break the law with a critical hit or something anyway.
The monsters are faster than us, and they lead off with this bullshit.
Our best bet is to charge down with our fastest characters and take down the two monsters threatening the chocobo. On the way over, we'll try to take out this other Werewolf. This will make it take longer to reach the chocobo, but Adelle and Leed are fast enough that it won't make a huge difference.
Fortunately, chocobos are not defenseless -- just *mostly* defenseless.
First Werewolf is down. I love Raptor for Whirlwind alone.
Crosscounter is one of the best abilities in the game. The attack does about 10% more than the regular attack, on top the bonus damage for hitting an enemy with Counter.
Finally, the chocobo can escape, where it will be safe for approximately 0.2 seconds. Also, Chocobos have their own cure spell, which is pretty nice.
The Chocobo is no longer in imminent danger. Even though the Werewolf is right there, we can easily take it out in a couple turns.
We also somehow got two opportunity commands.
Zoe takes out the last two monsters.
That's the first chocobo saved!
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The next battle is slightly better.
First of all, the law is less awful.
There's two chocobos this time, but still only four monsters.
The team is split in two, and each group will save one chocobo.
The green chocobos are faster than the enemy, and the northern one is able to regroup with us before the enemies can stop it.
Lenolia has mastered Maduin. She can doublecast it with Ifrit to hit the enemies' weaknesses while still healing herself.
If she could carry shields, she'd be able to absorb multiple elements. No such luck yet.
The green chocobo even makes itself useful and gets a kill!
And Lenolia cleans up the other two with double Maduins.
One more battle to go!
Back on the map, "It's a Trap!" has reappeared. It was covered by the battle we just finished. We'll tackle it after finishing with Popocho and his Chocobos.
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The last battle isn't much harder than the second one. It has a couple really beefy enemies, but nothing we (or Lenolia) can't handle.
Leed doesn't have any abilities, so it's perfectly safe to bring him. All he needs is dual-wielded katanas, anyway.
Anyway, we finally meet Popocho! He's a Chocobo Knight, which means he rides chocobos and uses their powers as his own.
Unfortunately, all that time huffing chocobo feathers has left his brain addled.
We have to keep Popocho and his two Chocobos safe this time.
This is difficult because the black chocobo is nearly suicidal, and the white chocobo keeps trying to heal it.
There's a Wraith, but doublecasted Cures wounds it enough that Popocho can kill it. This is the only useful thing you'll ever see him do.
And even then, Henri still needs to clean up after him.
Lenolia takes care of the first drake. I hope the past few updates have proved to you why Blood Price Double Cast Summoner is a terrifying powerhouse.
Lian keeps the chocobos alive while Leed kills off the second drake.
And the dragon falls. It made the mistake of being weak to holy damage while being in the same county as Lenolia.
Popocho is suitably grateful, though still tongue-tied.
We've unlocked one of the worst jobs in the game.
I actually did this quest because Blood-darkened Bones are really useful loot. They unlock the Zwillblade, which teaches Sten Needle to Rangers. That's the blue trap that cuts the victim's health in half. Very useful, as traps go.
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"It's a Trap!" is between us and the map's exits, so we have no real choice but to do it next.
The conceit is that someone accidentally dropped a bunch of traps, and we need to remove them before someone runs afoul of them.
You know what? This quest looks pretty boring. I'm going to dispatch it.
I originally thought the traps were hidden, but I notice now that they're already revealed. It would have been really frustrating to try to find traps, especially without being able to use Awareness.
After a quick restart, I threw together this dispatch party that should be able to handle it.
You can dispatch a quest after you've taken it by looking at the Quest List in the Clan Menu. It's occasionally useful.
By dispatching the quest, the marker disappears from the map and we can move on to the next quest.
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We aren't going to rescue a cat, unfortunately. Instead, we'll find a man wearing a hood with cat ears on it, otherwise known as a Seer.
The objective is to defeat all the monsters and keep Roye the Seer alive.
All our ranged characters have been dispatched, so we can't really run afoul of this law.
Much like the chocobo missions we just did, we're trying to protect someone who is on the other side of the map and surrounded by monsters.
And two more monsters spawned in. It's a 7 v 5, so the numbers are still in our favor. Even better, two of the monsters will aggro on us instead of the Seer.
Also this happens.
I guess they're Werewolves, so being able to speak English isn't that weird?
Anyway, this is a mad dash to Roye to stop the monsters from killing him.
One of the Headless tried to stop us, but he was merely a speedbump on our way out.
Here's Hurdy's Magick Ballad, by the way. (I cast it before killing the Headless. Giving it MP was harmless, it didn't have time to use it.) 10 MP isn't a lot, but supporting multiple casters at once makes up for it.
That's not zapping, Roye.
Fortunately, the Seer's AI is smart enough to tuck him into this corner. He's protected on all three sides, and only one monster can reach him at a time.
The other Headless tried to interfere with us, but was turned to stone. The rest of the team is free to run to Roye.
Not that Roye really needs help. The Werewolf already retreated -- which the AI will almost always do instead of sticking around to keep attacking.
Magick Frenzy lets a Seer cast a spell, then teleport in and attack every enemy that was hit by it. It's a really neat ability that I've never used before!
This is what Leed is working towards.
Meanwhile, Lian is stealing from
We haven't seen much stealing in this LP. Thieves are the best at it, but Bishops can steal a random piece of loot using their "Pilfer" spell.
Because the target is incapacitated, Pilfer is guaranteed to succeed. We can keep using Pilfer and steal more loot.
Roye is able to handle a wolf by himself, and we catch up to the monsters in time to take out the other wolf.
Since the battle is almost over, Samuel dismantles Roye's defenses and finds a Eureka Stone. This is a physical version of the Grimoire Stone we saw earlier, and it will restore everyone's HP to full and boost their physical stats.
Adelle quickly dispatches the last enemy before it can take advantage of Roye's exposed flank.
Cat ears for everyone!
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Our next jobs are in Ordallia. On our way to Fluorgis, the dispatched party returns.
And a special event pops up in Fluorgis. I have no memory of this.
: Watch where yer goin', hume-boy.
Samuel steps aside to let the two bangaas through.
: Hold there, hume-boy!
: Huh? What? ...I'm on my way to meet someone
: What I took...? You mean steal? I didn't steal anything!: Perhaps ye'd like to tell me just where my magick medallion is?: How should I know? You probably just dropped it somewhere.: Think I'm clumsy, do ya, hume-boy? Yer a thief an' a liar!: Look, I'm not lying and I didn't take anything, you big fat liz-
: Hrah? A moogle? This boy with you, moogle?
: Oh yes. Did he run into you? I'm sorry, kupo! He's always dashing here and there. Must've been taken for a thief a hundred times, kupo!: I said I'm not a thief!: What if I say y'are, an' that this moogle there's yer accomplice!?: Kupo-po! Why don't you look down there first?
: Err? My medallion!: You must've dropped it when he ran into you, kupo! You see? He's no thief!: Hrrah... Yer lucky yer friend showed up when he did, hume-boy.Mollified, the two bangaas leave.
: Um... thanks for helping me out there.: I had to, kupo! If you'd said "lizard" like you were going to, we'd have had a fight on our hands! No matter what they might call you, -never- call a bangaa a lizard, kupo! Got it?: Yeah, okay.: Well, I'm off, kupo. Bye for now!
Just as the moogle leaves, Hurdy shows up.
: Sorry I'm late, kupo!: You're sorry? I almost had two bangaas beat my head in! Who knows what would have happened if that moogle hadn't come along...: A moogle broke up a fight with some bangaa? That took nerve, kupo! Sounds like something my brother would do, kupo. He could never stand by and watch a bully. He's a nice guy, my brother. You should meet him sometime.: I'd like that.: Anyway, enough about him. Sorry I'm so late! I'll treat you to some roasted zignuts, kupo. Consider it my apology!: All right! I know just the place! There's a guy who sells great zignuts in the square over that-a-way.: Kupo!OK, let's talk about this scene a bit.
Veterans of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance will notice similarities between this scene and the beginning of FFTA. In that game, the protagonist Marche antagonizes a White Monk and a Warrior by calling them lizards. He's helped by Montblanc, a moogle.
And here we are in FFTA2, where Montblanc is once again helping out a poor hume, though the battle is avoided this time around. Yes, the beloved (er, maybe) moogle makes a cameo in this game. And we're dragging around his little brother, Hurdy!
It's a nice reference, though a little forced in my opinion. Samuel has been here in Ivalice for months now, and it's a little hard for me to believe that he hasn't picked up on any social cues like which words are slurs for each race.
I hope the eagle-eyed reader who noticed Montblanc way back in the first update feels vindicated!One other detail: When we first landed in Fluorgis, Adelle mentioned the roasted zignuts are great in Fluorgis. I like to think Adelle and Samuel explored the city together and found the best roasted zignuts in the city.
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Sleight of hand:
This mission unlocks the final job for bangaa.
A mission in the mines that doesn't involve undead, for once!
Ugh. Here's the rub: Tricksters, which are the enemies we're facing today, are entirely focused around conditions and debuffs. Unless your entire team is stocked to the gills in condition-blocking equipment like Ribbons, there's no way to uphold the law. It's possible to do that, but it takes a lot of work.
I think this is a good way to use laws: You can either restrict yourself for extra rewards, or go for the most expedient route. I don't think the game really does that well though! The rewards for following the law aren't as great as they were a dozen updates ago.
Most of our clan is in the low 20s by now. I think the average is around level 22.
Like other job unlock quests, everyone in this clan is a Trickster and they're looking for challengers. Clan Sawyer is more than happy to oblige.
Tricksters are pretty annoying enemies.
Their basic attack's range is approximately half the universe -- no seriously it's the longest in the game at 8 tiles, beating all ranged weapons except guns.
Not only do they deal decent damage, but they do it with panache.
Their abilities inflict conditions, such as Berserk and Poison.
And yeah, that broke the law. We haven't even moved yet!
However, their HP and defenses are pretty low. If you can land a few hits on them, you can easily take out a Trickster. The problem is actually getting close enough to hit!
Shadow of Doubt immobilizes while Hypochondria inflicts poison. Trickster debuffs are all about disabling the opponent.
Their signature ability is Traumatize, which deals exponentially more damage for every condition on the enemy. I believe the formula is 5 * 2n, where n is the number of conditions on the target.
Trickster would have been absolutely killer in FFTA. With conditions as they are in this game, they take a lot of work to get rolling.
It's not long before we've killed the last one. Tricksters are really squishy and benefit greatly from teammates taking fire for them. A team of six of them is going to overrun quickly if their conditions don't land.
Trickster is one of the cooler new jobs, and one I've never used. Henri will be showing it off sooner or later.
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Just a couple quests left. Wanted: Marksman is another unit drop-off quest.
Obviously, another Fusilier is the best unit for the job.
Why does the consortium outsource this? It doesn't really make sense. Don't they want to keep their new products under wraps? Did Clan Sawyer have to sign an NDA?
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Thanks to the Lady's Tresses we earned from the Cilawa the Gluttonous quest, we could buy the two books required for this quest.
This nu mou Scholar eats books.
Wait no, he just speed-reads them as smugly as possible.
Is smugness infectious?
We've unlocked one of the worst jobs in the game.
It's sad that I said that twice in one update, isn't it.
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"I've a reputation to uphold!" he says, as he pawns off seducing women to hapless clanners.
Oh boy
Oh my god Samuel.
I send these two off to handle the other two women. They don't succeed.
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Let's wrap up this update with one last small, non-battle quest.
: What do you think we'll find out here, Samuel?: You're really enjoying this, aren't you, Adelle. Me, I can't stand waiting around for something to happen. I'm ready for some action!
: Keep prattling on like this and you're sure to keep the monsters in-
Oh.
: Huh? That zombie reminds me of-
: Yeee... It's you! Haaa... How long has it been? Hooo... Who would have thought we would chance to meet like this? It is a small world indeed!: Buuu... But what brings you to such a place in the small hours of the night?: We're on a quest to take care of some monsters causing trouble around here.: Muuu... Monsters, you say? Luuu... Let me think... No, I've seen nothing.There's an awkward pause, and Lotice flinches when she realizes the truth.
: Thuuu... Then again... Perhaps I am the monster you seek.
: Thuuu... This place is so pleasant and cool when the sun has fallen. Buuu... But perhaps I have sojourned overlong. Fuuu... Forgive me. I will soon take my leave.: Buuu... But there is one thing. Naaa... Not even a favor, in truth. I only wish for you to sit and listen to me.: That's it? Sure!: Yeee... I find myself forgetting a great many things. Buuu... But I cannot forget the one thing I wish I could... A man there was, whom I loved. A great knight named Luc Sardarc. If you should... should meet him on your travels... tell him I tried to find him.: Okay. If we seem him, we'll let him know.Lotice bows her thanks and walks away.
: Luc Sardarc... I'm surprised to hear that name. The zombie Lotice must be the famed blademaster Frimelda Lotice. Blademaster Lotice and Sir Sardarc were an incomparable team on the battlefield. They were famed throughout Jylland for defending the weak and challenging the tyranny of the strong.: They've not been seen in a year or more. They were said to have left on a pilgrimage of some sort...---
Thanks for reading! That was a solid block of quests, wasn't it? Don't worry, we still have plenty left to do! We've completed 74 out of 300 quests -- yeah, we have a while to go yet.