Part 118: Needle

Rock the Omni-Blue Mage - Part 7: Needle

After blowing up the love child of Battle Ship Yamato and Macross, Rock checks his notes and realizes that it's time to level grind.



He pinky swears that it's not for a boss or anything, really!



Thankfully, he can borrow a neat ability that increases earned EXP by x1.5

Rock1812



Of course, not everyone is content with having a Blue Mage run around in their neck of the woods.

Ramuh is level 21 - just high enough to avoid a Level 5 Death. So time for a new !Blue spell!

Dark Spark posted:

Divide target's level by 2, truncating any decimals. Effect ignores Heavy.

Translation: Ramuh is now level 10. Death by mathematics!



Shh, dead deities don't speak.



Back on track, the best EXP to be had at this point in the game is Mini Dragons. 900 EXP per juvenile wyrm and they show up in groups of 5.

They're also a rare encounter, meaning...

.dd posted:

CarbyBot: I suggest using ENCOUNTER MANIPULATION!

.dd posted:

CarbyBot: Good thing I have Red Mage so I can hashtag grind Mini Dragons for TWO HOURS while my sycophants in chat defend it!

The Run stream for Fiesta 2015 sure had some swell moments, huh?
Before anyone asks, no, I did not spend two hours. I am a sensible person with access to a fast forward function



Some time later after having to grind again for suffering a DEATH: 26 and forgetting to save Rock hits level 31, placing him above the 1000 HP mark.



Meaning it's time to explore the Ronkan Ruins and Learn new !Blue spells!



However, not all monsters are willing to cooperate. Rock applies the Ganpp method of negotiation.



Enchanted Fans have a unique healing technique known as White Wind. They will never use it on you unless you use !Control or hit 'em up with Confuse.
It's best to try and get it with a single Fan like this, as groups of fans can easily gang up by healing themselves and blasting you with Aero/ra spells for a DEATH: 27




The amount it heals is equal to the user's current HP and can target party-wide. It's incredibly useful, to the point of being one of the signature moves of the Blue Mage.

Though it seems the picture is intact? Must be because it's a solo run. Give it time.



Next up is the move 1000 Needles, a.k.a Blowfish.



It can be learned from !Controlled Lamias in this dungeon. On earlier floors they'll rarely show up solo, but are much easier to find grouped with other enemies on higher floors.



It's also the main reason Rock had to grind in order to Learn it, as it always deals 1000 damage regardless of defenses or status conditions.



Fun bit of trivia: Both 1000 Needles and Blowfish are acceptable translations of this move. That's because Japanese term harisenbon refers to the actual blowfish (or "porcupinefish"), and the kanji for it is 針千本 - "1000 Needles."

It's also used in Japanese pinky swears, wherein one is threatened with the prospect of having to swallow 1000 needles if they're lying.



With most monsters having 1000 HP or less in this dungeon, Rock finds plenty of use for it. The main draw back is that most of his damaging !Blue spells tend to eat up quite a bit of MP, and Goblin Punch isn't much use here due to the previous level grinding.



Luckily, with 1000 Needles learned, Rock can finally ditch !Control for another ability.



!Lance is extremely helpful for clearing out the rest of the dungeon, as it tends to recover ~400 HP and, more importantly, ~40 MP. To put it in perspective, Aqua Breath, 1000 Needles and the like use around 20 MP.




While Rock is taking advantage of the save point, a quick look at his stats reveals he's gone up to level 32. This is a relevant detail.



The rest of the Ronkan Ruins is fairly straight forward - continue moving forward, detouring for loot as needed.



Rock is too clever for the fiendish Dr. Clapperclaw!



Although he is (un)fortunate enough to run into a Ghidora. These guys are tough customers, able to wipe entire unprepared parties in short order while being rare enough to ensure most parties are unprepared.

They're also Undead, so a Phoenix Down will instantly "kill" them.



Oh wait, what?




If I may break the character of the narration for a bit - I honestly did not plan this. I didn't even know they had a React: Death script, much less one that used a !Blue spell!

If I didn't have Rock grind for 1000 Needles, we would have seen this much later. Serendipity at its finest!

In either case, it's time to head for the bedamned clapperclaw after suffering a DEATH: 28 from not paying attention to current HP levels. Don't worry Rock still has Level 4 Graviga.



Each of Archeoaevis' forms have 1600 HP, which is basically an invitation for Rock to do his best DIO impersonation with 1000 Needles and WRRRYYYYY with !Lance when low on MP.



His 4th form is vulnerable to Death Claw. Rock taps him with the Ancient Sword for the finishing blow.



Of course, the 'Aevis just comes back more pissed off than ever, using Maelstrom as an opener.



The Dark Spark isn't necessary, as Archeoaevis' final revived form is already level 20. Rock's just toying with him.



Interestingly enough, his final form isn't considered Undead. Rock naturally exploits this fact in a way only a Blue Mage can.

DEATHS: 0



And with that, the final crystal shatters, Exdeath returns, and the sweet sound of laughter fills the air.



Also, the priceless, historical, floating artifact of a city crashes and explodes. Whoops!

ENDING LEVEL: 32
DEATHS: 0
TOTAL BOSS DEATHS: 3

Next Time: World 2 - Of Trees and Mirrors.