Part 200: Coyote and the Machine
Welcome back to Coyote's Tales! This is a Mime run, with a few catches:
Coyote must always be alone. (This is a solo Mime run.)
Coyote is of the land, and needs nothing besides what he can get for himself. (This is a "living off the land" run.)
Coyote is restless, and a bit of a coward. (This is a low-level run.)
Coyote is his own worst enemy. (I will eliminate one ability that I use in reach boss battle, after each boss battle. I'll be able to use those abilities between bosses, but not in boss battles. Abilities unusable against bosses or in solo runs will not be party of my list in the first place, so I won't have things like !Revive to lose.)So far, Coyote has lost the following abilities:
!Calm (Lost at Wing Raptor)
!Attack (Lost at Karlabos)
!Chakra (Lost at Siren)
Undead (Lost at Magissa and Forza)
!Check (Lost at Garula)
HP +10% (Lost at Liquid Flame)
Magic Shell (Lost at Ifrit)
MP +10% (Lost at Byblos)
Solo Mime, Episode Three:
Coyote and the Machine
Coyote has a ship now, so he has a lot of looting and backtracking to do. Mainly, I want to go back and get Shiva, and see if Coyote has enough HP to survive getting Ramuh. But first:
Coyote picks up the Toad spell and Romeo's Ballad in Istory. There's nothing else of value here. There isn't even a piano here. !Black has become usable!
Ramuh is also nearby, but we'll get back to that.
Next, Coyote goes to Jachol and Jachol Cave. He plays the piano at the town and gets a tent and a shiruken from the cave. (Coyote helped out his fellow canine rogue, Lone Wolf, who ripped off the Blitz Whip. Coyote shouldn't need it.)
Coyote could try to get Exploder from the bombs in this area, but why bother? It's more XP and less cowardice for Coyote for a !Blue ability he literally can never use. I could also grind for Death Sickles from Harvesters, but that hardly seems worth it. I'd have to fight at least six battles or so before I got one, and that would probably be two levels for Coyote. I'll have to do without it. Stealing and running is more Coyote's style.
Next up is Shiva. Here's what I'm using for that:
I'm specializing a bit for agility and magic defense because I expect Ifrit to waste them in one volley. But I'll need to get that off before they act, hence the Agility. !Blue is there of Vampire if Ifrit can't kill Shiva before I need to heal. Theoretically, that should be all I need for this one, so !Flirt is there as a throwaway ability.
Coyote does get the initiative on Shiva and her minions, just barely:
Whew. Coyote then eats a Blizzaga for about 170. At that rate, he can survive two and Vampire afterward. I had thought about subbing HP +10% in instead of !Flirt, in case it might buy me one more Blizzaga hit. It wouldn't have, so I just need to stay ahead of two of them.
I know she only spams Blizzaga, so I wait for the second one before I use Vampire:
After Coyote is topped-off, he beats her to the punch again, so I go to !Flirt just for kicks and giggles.
"Hey, bebe."
"Fuck off, creep." "Harsh. Chasing skirt is just in my nature." "What did you expect? I'm a literal ice queen." "Fair enough."
Shiva
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Summon, !Blue, !Flirt
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 11
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 0
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 6
And with that, !Summon gets just a little bit more usable.
I'm going to lose !Flirt:
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Gaia
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Shields
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Berserk
Equip Rods
Long Reach
This is no loss at all. It's functionally useless against most or all bosses. It's a freebie.
Next up is Ramuh in the forest east of Istory. Here's what I'm using for that:
!Blue is, for once, not for Vampire. If this fight gets to Coyote needing to heal, I've already lost. First Strike will hopefully give me a preemptive strike and thus a better chance to do what I'm going to do with !Blue. Artful Dodger further increases that chance. Basically, I need Coyote to go at least two times, if not three, before Ramuh gets a second action. This ought to do it.
So far, so good.
I open with my ace:
But it fails. Ramuh is not a level divisible by 5. That wastes my preemptive strike, but that's ok. I'm half-assing a lot of this, so I'm taking some in-game measures to compensate for my ignorance and/or laziness about research. I have a plan (which may or may no be ripped off from Jueg01's Blue Mage run). But I'll count the false start as a Coyote-esque mistake, more for my laziness and lack of research than anything else.
That ought to do it. I just need Coyote to survive Ramuh's first attack. After an Electrocute for 45 damage, Coyote drops the bomb a second time:
Blue Magic: Best Magic.
"Didn't I just kill you, old man? Why are you still talking?"Ramuh
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Blue, First Strike, Artful Dodger
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 11
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 1
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 7
The weird thing about the way I'm doing this run is that I'm counting summons as boss battles, so I am essentially trading an entire ability for one spell in one ability. Still, it's worth it to build up my options for mid- and late-game. I'm only going to lose First Strike, which isn't going to help much in most boss battles anyway. I needed it here because I'm pretty sure Ramuh can one-shot Coyote with a Thundaga or Thundara with Coyote at such a low level. If I had to lose a more useful ability, it wouldn't be worth it. But, here we go:
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Gaia
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Shields
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Berserk
Equip Rods
Long Reach
(I just realized I didn't put First Strike on the list before, because I filed it under "useless for boss battles" like Read Ahead and Find Passages. It isn't, so that's my bookkeeping error. Preemptive strikes on bosses: god this game is fucked up.)
Coyote has gained a lot since Karnak: three elemental summons, a crucial !Blue spell, a song, a !Black spell he'll probably never use, and a few good pieces of gear. But now he's out of options except to follow the plot and go to Crescent Island.
Thus, Coyote's life is blessed by serendipity, and cursed by it.
There isn't much for me here besides another piano and another song. Mighty March gives Coyote his second song and almost starts to make !Sing usable.
With the Black Chocobo, Lix is available to
Coyote's dad is apparently an abusive drunk, if the Streetcar Named Desire reference here is taken too seriously.
Anyway, now it's time for the Sandworm. Here's what I'm using for that:
My plan is to !Mug it, and then cover it with Aqua Rake a few times. Aqua Rake has that nutty x8 multiplier for desert creatures, so this should be a joke. Equip Rods is a freebie, since I don't need a third slot for this one and Coyote can already use rods as a Mime. I thought about using the third slot to plug in a magic skill to amp up Coyote's magic power, but hopefully I won't need it.
I open with a !Mug, but the sandworm has nothing. No spice, no Crysknife, nothing. Lame.
Now I'm just waiting for another action to go to Aqua Rake. The sandworm hits me with one Quicksand that hits for 60 and begins sapping Coyote's HP. No big deal.
Then I unleash Aqua Rake:
What the fuck. I expected it to do some serious damage. I didn't expect it to one-shot the thing. Wow. This explains why the Dorme Chimera is designed to be such a pain in the ass at this stage of the game, even with a party.
Again -- Blue Magic: Best Magic.
Sandworm
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Mug, !Blue, Equip Rods
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 11
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 0
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 7
I'll lose my freebie, Equip Rods:
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Gaia
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Shields
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Berserk
Long Reach
It seems like I've been lucky lately with using freebies to absorb Coyote's losses, but looking at that list now, I'm running out of freebies. I have just a handful of abilities left that are bad enough that I won't regret losing them for later. In a few more bosses, I'm going to have to start making some tough decisions.
The trip through the desert is uneventful except for the one random encounter I don't immediately run from. I try stealing from the first few enemies to replenish some of Coyote's expendables, and I discover that half of them have nothing to steal, and some of them poison Coyote. I run and go into my stock to cure the poison, and discover that Coyote has only 2 Antidotes to his name. I run promptly form the rest of the battles. I get a little worried because I remember this place being quite big form Walker's run. Walker found a way to get all the way to the Pyramid in here, and his route took him all the way around it before finding the exit. Coyote, luckily, finds a more direct route and passes through the desert after only three random battles.
The bed in the Ronka Ruins is a welcome treat for Coyote's aching feet. He's out of tents (although I haven't dipped into the Cottages yet). I pick up Mini for my first !White spell and two shiruken.
Next up it's Karlabos MK II: Cray Claw. I remember that Cray Claw mostly alternates between physical attacks and Tail Screw. Coyote can all but neutralize the physical attacks with the Main Gauche, Elf Mantle, and Shirahadori. As long as Cray Claw doesn't have anything else up its sleeve and as long as its physical attack doesn't land, then it can't kill Coyote. So it doesn't matter much what I do, but I want to make this a fast battle. The more cycles I let Cray Claw go through, the more chances it gets to hit with that physical attack.
So here's what I'll use:
No attack command? NO PROBLEM. It's time for Coyote to join the Zerky! Club. I've equipped Coyote to specialize in evasion and agility, so hopefully I can bury Cray Claw under double-attacks so fast he won't get many chances to hit Coyote.
Cray Claw opens with a physical attack, which misses:
So far, so good. Now It's time to let out the MAD DAWG:
This is twice the damage Coyote normally deals with the Main Gauche and the Moonring Blade.
Meanwhile, Cray Claw's second action is Tail screw, which lands. It was inevitable. This is all part of the plan.
Coyote continues pummeling Cray Claw for about 370 per action. Cray Claw, meanwhile, misses a bunch of times amidst a few useless Tail Screws:
I count five misses before anything different happens. The Elf Mantle catches a couple of them, the main gauche catches one, and Shirahadori catches the other two. Since each evasion item Coyote has functions separately, the odds of Cray Claw hitting him with a physical attack are ludicrously low. Here's the math:
Elf Mantle: 33% evasion
Main Gauche: 25% evasion
Shirahadori: 25% evasion
Now, it's been a while since I've taken a statistics class, but I think his chance to hit Coyote is:
0.67 x 0.75 x 0.75 = 0.37
That's a 31% chance to hit Coyote. That's higher than I would have guessed without punching it into a calculator, but still ridiculous. The five consecutive misses aren't at all surprising. (And all of that is without a shield!)
After the first five, though, Cray Claw shows its ace: Slimer. That will slow Coyote, but worse yet sap him of HP. That would be certain death.
But it fails, and Coyote takes one more swing to finish the job right afterward:
And that is what a Mime run is all about.
Cray Claw
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: Berserk, Dual Wield, Shirahadori
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 11
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 0
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 7
But now I have to lose one of the abilities I just used. As fun as Berserk is, it just isn't as useful in the future as Shirahadori and Dual Wield. So I'm going to inoculate Coyote against rabies:
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Gaia
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Shields
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Long Reach
Next is Adamantoise. Here's the plan:
Adamantoise relies a lot on physical attacks, so I'm going to use Shirahadori again. At the same time, it has a crazy defense, so I'm going to use magic damage options available to Coyote. I'm going to experiment with !Gaia to see if it can see me through this battle. It's good but expendable in comparison to other options.
Adamantoise opens with a one-two punch that misses and hits Coyote, leaving him with about 40 HP. So much for trying out Gaia early. I go to !Blue for Vampire, but it fails. Adamantoise misses Coyote again, so I get another chance. But Vampire fails again, and Coyote is killed by the next attack:
Hmm. There might be a magic miss chance built into Adamantoise's stat block, but knowing that doesn't really help. Coyote isn't strong enough to physically beat up Adamantoise (unless I use something extra-cheesy like !Rapid Fire, which ignores defense). I'm going to try this load-out again and hope for better luck with evasions and Vampire.
This time around, Adamantoise's opening one-two misses entirely, so I'm able to open with something besides Vampire. I try !Gaia:
Not a ton of damage, and HP leak, maybe? Eh. After Adamantoise's next attack also misses, I do what I should have done first:
It works, and should apply a nice 50% miss chance on top of all the other crap Coyote has to evade.
Despite all that, though, Adamantoise manages to sneak a hit in:
Same as before. I need to heal this. I try Vampire, which fails yet again. I'm starting to worry that Adamantoise is flagged in some weird way to be immune to it. But he misses again, and my next Vampire succeeds:
Whew. I try Dark Spark, thinking it can only help me if it works.
It does. I don't know what Adamantoise's level is, by the way. Level 5 Death may or may not work, but I have time. I try !Gaia again:
Not too shabby. That's way more than Coyote could manage with a physical attack, although it's still not a ton. I try Aera, which only does 135.
Then I notice that Coyote is down to 30 MP. I use 22 of it to try Level 5 Death:
Welp.
Adamantoise
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Blue, !Gaia, Shirahadori
Deaths: 1
Total Boss Deaths: 12
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 0
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 7
I'm going to lose !Blue. HAHAHA. Just kidding. I'm going to lose !Gaia. It worked alright, but with so many options available to Coyote, it's probably never going to be a necessity.
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Shields
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Long Reach
Before I get to Soul Cannon, let me just describe how Coyote dealt with the point defense guns on the Ronka Ruins:
1) Equipped !Summon, !Blue, and Artful Dodger.
2) Equipped the Healing Staff, so as to not kill himself when confused.
3) Encountered Rocket Launchers.
4) Summoned Ramuh for 750-800 apiece.
5) Got hit in the face with Rocket Punches and Missiles.
6) Healed himself, snapping himself out of his confusion.
7) REPEAT STEPS 5 AND 6 ABOUT SIX FUCKING TIMES.
8) Got hit with two Missiles instead of Rocket Punches.
9) Summoned Ramuh.
10) REPEAT STEPS 5 THROUGH 9.
It took four summons of Ramuh to kill two Rocket Launchers. By the time I was done, I had to retreat. (I checked to see that you can, which is true, and that the point defense guns don't respawn if you retreat, which they don't.) I went to the Library of the Ancients for free healing.
Then I realize there's a better way. A Zerkier Way:
Berserk is basically Coyote's only proof against confusion at this stage of the game. Unfortunately, Coyote is still a lover and not a fighter, so his damage output, even with Dual Wield, is not great. It takes forever and a day to take out just two Rocket Launchers, but he gets it done. (Mainly because the Rocket Launchers literally can't kill him.)
Coyote goes back to the library to heal, saves, and goes back up to hope the next encounter is not two Flame Throwers.
This is all still better than encountering two Flame Throwers, which kills Coyote in the opening volley unless I use HP + 30%. The first three encounters are Missile Launchers, so that's good. The fourth and final one, though, I can't get away from giving me Flame Throwers. I dink around with the RNG a bunch to try to dislodge it, but I can't change the encounter. I use save states and try about a hundred times and the outcome is always the same, with or without RNG tricks. If I have to figure out a way to beat the Flame Throwers, Coyote is going to have a rough time. Berserk worked wonders for the Missile Launchers, but the Flame Throwers will kill Coyote easily way before he can put a dent in them. If he could buy stuff, a Flame Ring would solve this problem in an instant.
Then, Coyote grinned as he had a crazy idea.
"In an instant," he said. "Yeah..."
Aww yiss. Mime Life.
So now it's finally time for Soul Cannon. Here's what Coyote is up to for this one:
I'm hoping !Zeninage will be enough to bury Soul Cannon and its satellites. Coyote has plenty of money to spend on it since he hasn't spent a dime yet. !Blue is a good insurance policy, as usual, and Equip Shields is a freebie. It may be one of my last. If !Zeninage works the way I expect it, I won't need anything else.
Coyote opens with !Zeninage, to take out the satellites before they can inflict Old on Coyote:
Noice.
Soul Cannon keeps charging, so there's nothing for Coyote to do but make it rain:
Soul Cannon goes off once, but I don't waste any time healing. Coyote continues stuffing two dollar bills into Soul Cannon like it's a g-string at a strip club:
After five !Zeninages, Soul Cannon breaks down:
Soul Cannon
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Zeninage, !Blue, Equip Shields
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 12
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 0
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 7
I'm losing Equip Shields, obviously:
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Lance
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Long Reach
The Ronka Ruins have two awesome !Blue spells for Coyote: White Wind, and 1,000 Needles. Unfortunately, White Wind isn't all its cracked up to be because it heals as much HP as the caster currently has. That's better for parties than hapless loners like Coyote. 1,000 Needles does an unmodified 1,000 damage... but Coyote is only level 15 and can't come close to surviving it. I have access to !Control and Learning and everything else I need to pick these up. Everything but HP.
Speaking of which, the ruins are the first time I'm feeling real pressure form Coyote's low level. Two Aeras can kill him, which can easily happen if I can't run before two of those big fans act. Finding the Golden Shield and Golden Armor is a big defense boost against physical attacks, but magic is Coyote's Achilles Heel at this point. There's a cottage, and elixir, an ether, and a hi potion here, and some of the enemies have hi potions to steal. As soon as I abandon getting the !Blue magic here, the whole dungeon is a lot of purse-snatching on Coyote's part: steal either HP (with Vampire) or an item, and run like a coward. He's still level 15 when I get to the boss.
Here's the plan:
!Blue is the star of show again, rather than the support. One of Archeoavis' forms is level 20, so Level 5 Death is going to be A Thing. I may even use Dark Spark to skip a step and kill it before it changes forms. My biggest concern is that Coyote doesn't do a ton of damage, so if the Dark Spark/Level 5 Death combo doesn't work, it'll be hard to wear Archeoavis down. That, and it may be able to one-shot Coyote with some of its magic attacks. HP +20% will give Coyote a bit of a buffer, and !Drink is... well, we'll get to that.
Archeoavis opens with a swing and a miss.
Coyote opens with a !Drink of a tall, frosty Speed Shake:
I'm paranoid about Archeoavis' magic damage, so I want to make sure I can always beat it to the punch. !Drink can also double Coyote's HP and protect him if I need it, but I'll stick with just the Haste for now.
Due to the Haste, Coyote gets the next action as well, and set up his first line of defense:
It works, and Archeoavis will spend the whole battle missing Coyote over 90% of the time.
Archeoavis misses again, and then I waste 22 of Coyote's 110 MP on a Level 5 Death that doesn't work. That means I have to use Dark Spark with my next action:
Good, good. Archeoavis misses yet again with a physical attack, and Coyote unloads another Level 5 Death:
FUCK. I forgot the boss' gimmick. I knew it changed forms, but I forgot that it technically "dies" before taking each new form. The problem now is that Archeoavis is the the second of five (?) forms, and Coyote is down to under 30 HP. I don't have enough for both Dark Spark (27) and Level 5 Death (22) again. Worse yet, using even one of them threatens Coyote's ability to use Vampire (2 MP).
But Coyote is a Mime, so he's all set. If he casts Vampire once, he can spam it for free by using !Mimic. So this is a summary of the next ten minutes for me:
UGH.
I end up looking up Archeoavis' HP and giving up. I could see it through and win like this, but Jesus Christ my time is worth more than that.
I'll count that fiasco as a Coyote-esque Mistake. I'm not counting it as a death, though, because there was no way that was going to happen.
If I restart as-is, I could make better use of Coyote's MP. It Archeoavis' level was always 20, I could just drop a Level 5 Death and spam it with Mimic for every form until it finally stops screaming. But it starts at level 19. Doing the Dark Spark / Level 5 Death thing is more expensive than it's worth (unless I had a way to keep it form triggering it's second form).
I'm going to take a safer, more conventional approach to things this time around.
My plan is to use !Lance to support the obscene MP usage, and use !Blue and !Summon to beat Archeoavis the old-fashioned way: by exploiting his weaknesses. I'll have to experiment with each form to figure out its weakness, but once I find it I can spam an appropriate !Summon or Aero with !Mimic in order to save MP. Well, at least until I have to heal with !Lance or Vampire.
This one starts like the other one: it opens with a missed physical attack, and Coyote opens with Flash. Then Coyote goes to work with the first form's weakness:
Aera pays dividends. With Archeoavis routinely using fruitless physical attacks, I'm able to use !Mimic twice to get two more Aeras without paying any MP. When I finally have to use !Lance, it turns out pretty well:
(HP)
(MP)
Soon thereafter, I notice the clue that Archeoavis has changed forms. There is a short hiccup in the ATB charge. it's like everything seizes up for a second or two. So I go to Coyote's summons to see if I can find the new weakness:
Booooo. Between !Blue and !Summon, Coyote is capable of four elements: wind, ice, fire, and lightning. But apparently this second form is weak against none of those. I slog through this one, which uses Frost and can almost kill Coyote in one strike with it. I use Vampire and !Lance a lot more in order to keep Coyote's HP topped-off. Eventually, the form switches again.
I try all the summons again, and still I find no weakness. This time, Archeoavis is using Blaze, which does 25% max HP damage. That's way easier to deal with that Frost. Physical attacks still aren't hitting Coyote for the most part, and when they do the damage is negligible. Even the one that can paralyze Coyote isn't a threat because there's nothing Archeoavis can do to deal enough damage fast enough to kill Coyote before he snaps out of the paralysis. So, I slog through this one too, this time busting out the pricey but quicker Aqua Breath:
Eh. For 38 MP, it's not really worth it. I use it a few times, but it isn't a big part of my strategy.
The next form uses Electrocute, which is the same as Blaze. I try all the summons again, and I still find no new weakness. I either misinterpreted the boss' gimmick, or its weaknesses are completely stupid and inaccessible. I'm kind of disappointed because I thought this was a smart strategy, but I'm left just mashing through each form. I'll count this as another Coyote-esque Mistake, although I'm also calling shenanigans a bit on this one.
Finally, Archeoavis enters its final form:
I'm sick of this bullshit, and the final form is stronger and has all sorts of crap it can do. So I'm not wasting any more time:
Fuck off, clown.
Archeoavis
Coyote's Level: 15
Abilities Used: !Blue, !Summon, !Lance
Deaths: 0
Total Boss Deaths: 12
Coyote-esque Mistakes: 2
Total Coyote-esque Mistakes: 9
It's time to lose !Lance, unfortunately. !Summon is just too powerful later in the game (starting with Golem, which is coming right up), and !Blue is Coyote's bread and butter. !Lance is damn good, but I have no other option here. (I could do the battle over again without !Summon, but there aren't a lot more freebies, so whatever).
!Items
!Guard
!Focus
!Steal
!Mug
!Jump
!Image
!Throw
!Mineuchi
!Zeninage
!Ianuki
!Animals
!Aim
!Rapid Fire
!Call
!Scan
!Control
!Catch
!Mix
!Drink
!Recover
!Hide
!Sing
!Dance
!Spellblade
!White
!Black
!Time
!Summon
!Red
!Dualcast
!Blue
!Oath
!Condemn
!Predict
!Open Fire
!Blade Blitz
!Finisher
Equip Swords
Equip Armor
Equip Ribbon
Equip Lances
Equip Katanas
Equip Axes
Equip Bows
Equip Whips
Equip Harps
Artful Dodger
HP +20%
HP +30%
MP +30%
Barehanded
Two-Handed
Dual-Wield
Pharmacology
Counter
Shirahadori
Learning
Long Reach
Cripes, this has been a long update. I'll leave things there. The meteor bosses and world 2 are up next for Coyote, and his lost abilities are mounting...