Part 120: Skull, Plant

Rock the Omni-Blue Mage - Part 9: Skull, Plant

Welcome to World 2. This is where the run starts speeding up, as there's only 6 new !Blue spells to be had and the first won't be showing up for a while yet.

Let's recap Rock's current arsenal, shall we?




For those counting, World 1 has a grand total of 21 possible !Blue spells that can be Learned. No !Blue spell can be missed, however, so for those playing at home can rest easy.

That said, it'd be worth your while to at least get Level 5 Death, Aqua Breath, Goblin Punch, Vampire, White Wind, Dark Spark and 1000 Needles. Magic Hammer is also handy, but it's also easier to get in World 2
Aqua Breath in particular is going to be a solo Blue Mages best (but MP intensive) source of group damage, outside of stocking up on Rods. 1000 Needles is also great for doing consistent damage, but its use will gradually taper off towards endgame.
If your solo run allows for the use of other job abilities, then !Lance would be a very sound choice to keep a Blue Mage running, as a good chunk of !Blue magic costs more than 20 MP.



On the way to Regole, Rock gains the !Scan command - mastering the Blue Mage job along with it.



It's basically a free Libra on demand, allowing Blue Mages to check enemy status as well as their level.



Rock makes a quick pitstop at the village magic store to check out the new stock. World 2, more specifically Regole, is the first chance that Black Mages would get their hands on Drain to improve their self-sufficiency.

For comparison's sake, Vampire is available practically as soon as the game starts, costs 2 MP, can be Learned for free and can heal any missing HP.
Drain costs 13 MP, requires Level 4 !Black to use on other jobs, and must be purchased in order to use - and even then the amount it heals varies.

If Chemists are considered the most broken job, then Blue Mages are easily the runners up. Conquest through and !



By the way, do you know what the definition of Paraclete is? Rock does - it means Zombified party members.
Fairy Orcs will spam this peculiar move if you have anyone KO'd, with a chance of inflicting Zombie or Raise on the target.



Naturally, there's no Holy Water handy when you need it, and Rock is far enough away from town that it'd be more of a hassle to go back.



Due to their equipment and levels, they don't cause much damage to Rock and even serve as meatshields. Only problem is the smell.



Imagine a zombified Lenna trying to gurgle this out loud.




He's out of Holy Water, not Phoenix Downs, game.
The original plan was to kill him with Goliath Tonic-fueled White Winds, but that doesn't work for reasons to be revealed in a later update.

BOSS DEATHS:



After unkilling the undead dino, the Moogle leads the way through the Gloceana Desert. Up until now, Rock had been able to !Flee most fights.

Oddly enough, encounters in the desert prevent you from running. Not that's an issue for an Aqua Breath equipped Blue Mage.



One looting run and some plot development later, Rock is now at Castle Bal's world renowned basement. It's famous for 2 things:



1. Living, belligerent works of art that are vulnerable to Level 5 Death
2. The amount of AP said works of art give out. Useful for job grinding during say, a Fiesta run, but pointless for Rock.



Whoops. That's not supposed to happen - he's now level 34. This will be relevant.



A decent boost for Goblin Punch.



After learning that the wind drake is dying, Rock sets out to find some dragon grass, only to be bombarded with an Abductor at the gate.

Much like the first encounter, they're not so tough. A Death Claw + Goblin Punch combo can take care of them as long as they don't use Vampire in between turns and cause a DEATH: 29. Haste is just for good measure.



Welcome to Quelb, Rock. How about a sidequest? I need something to pad this update. It'll be fun and an interesting diversion!



The name of the game is !Catch the Kornago Toad. With Death Claw, it's a snap - just watch out for the Danse Macabre the Cursed Beings love to spam on KO'd party members.
Thankfully, some money was spent on a stock of Holy Waters.




Kornago Gourd GET - though Rock had to sell off his Death Sickle to help fund it.

On to Drakenvale!



Ouch. Dick.



You didn't really help your case earlier. Besides, there's a more pressing issue at hand.



SCORE.



With the Bone Mail equipped and Fire Rod in hand, Rock shows who is the true zombie dragon man and burninates all others.



Only if you agree to actually be called Roll from here on out. Rock's still a bit sore from that earlier stony backhand.



Speaking of undead drakes, the mountain is lousy with them. A Missile + Flame Thrower combo quickly takes care of them for 12 MP.



The Dragon Pod fight would be rather unremarkable if it weren't for this line. It just seems out of place, yet appropriate at the same time.



Even though it's vulnerable to Death (and even if it wasn't), the Pod is level 33. Since Rock is now level 34, that means he can't blast away with powered up Goblin Punches.




Alternatively, Dark Spark will drop the plant down to level 16, allowing the use of Level 4 Graviga. The first casting will shave off 9000HP.



The Dragon Flowers love to delay your turn by rapidly using different status-inducing Powder attacks. Most of them don't even affect Rock thanks to the bitchin' Bone Mail, but he's still vulnerable to Paralyze, which they can inflict.
Paralyze is especially annoying in that it also resets the ATB gauge, meaning you may have to waste your already delayed turn just to heal with Vampire.

Unfortunately, their Powders are not affected by Flash.



Repeated castings of Level 4 Graviga and Flamethrower will quickly wipe out the main Pod, and the Dragon Flowers are all weak enough that a single Aqua Breath will wipe them all out.



And with them taken care off, Rock gets what he came for and heads back to the castle, resisting the temptation to make jokes about magic dragons, grass and Fire Rods, and the Chemist job.

ENDING LEVEL: 34
BOSS DEATHS: 0
TOTAL BOSS DEATHS: 5

Next Time: Everyone's getting sucked.