Part 19: Daryl has the most elaborate burial site I've ever seen

Chapter 18 - Daryl has the most elaborate burial site I've ever seen





These guys are pretty simple. Just physicals, easy to kill, dull overall.





Our next stop is Kohlingen, where we get more stuff and more plot.



I must say, this guy's really good at preserving corpses.



Coliseum's up and kicking now, but I'll save that for later.



At any rate, it's time to recruit Setzer.



I didn't expect that many of us to survive such a high fall.
I'm used to it by now.



And we need the overwhelming power only a man who attacks enemies with slot machines can hold.



Besides, I throw cards and dice at massive monsters. I play slots and usually summon a rabbit who just sits there and boosts our morale. Meanwhile, you guys can use powerful magic and have devastating blades. Hell, that guy can lift a freaking train.



So I'm stuck here in this backwater village while the unkept little shits mock my wonderful fashion sense.



That was before the fucking world was destroyed.
Hey, Celes, I've got an idea...
...Ah!



You know what they say, you gotta go big or go home!
Uh, yeah! You gotta up the ante and know when to fold 'em! Deuces are high, and we need to hit on seventeen to go fish! Jackpot!
Just stop with the damn gambling metaphors and I'll fucking join you.







Uhhh...
Nothing sexual.
Then sure.





Setzer's back on our side, and we're up to a solid four.



Awww.



Equipment's pretty sparse here. Man Eater's a nice upgrade if I actually attacked with Setzer, though we get one for free in the next dungeon anyway. It also boosts Vigor, of course.



The Dark Hood's great because, other than the Sabin/Gau-exclusive Tiger Mask, it's the only helmet that gives 20 evade. The five-point speed boost is a nice bonus.



Tofu are annoying with their high defenses and immunity to most elements. They're not immune to blitzes, though.







So our next dungeon is a large, monster-filled tomb dedicated for a friend Setzer lost a few years ago. We're going here because her airship is buried with her. I'll let you parse that one out.



Devils are pretty beefy, with nasty attacks like Giga Volt, which does a ton of damage to those with crap magic defense (Sabin). Marlboros are pretty beefy with 4000HP and innate Regen, plus their breath is as bad as ever.



Lagomorph's still fantastic at healing, of course, so Setzer makes the slower battles much more tolerable.



Orogs can attack two or three times if they feel like jerks, though their physical attacks are laughable against my mostly-back-row crew.



They also like to use Zombite on Edgar whenever he chainsaws them. Not that he cares.



The Genji Helm is the ultimate physical defensive helm. 40 Defense and 25 Magic Defense, same as the buyable Crystal Helm, but it also gives 10 evasion, and instead of a speed penalty, boosts Vigor and Stamina. Nice find that Setzer appreciates.



Belladonnas can inflict poison to the two or so people actually vulnerable to it.



Random insta-kill. Alright weapon for Setzer, I guess, but considering it gives no stats and Setzer never really attacks physically, not a big deal.





Well, it wouldn't be if Setzer weren't the sole (har) holder of the remade Offering, well, besides Gogo. This was actually nerfed from four attacks in the last hack update because it was too strong with Fixed Dice, as anyone familiar with the original would know. It also boosts defense, Vigor, and Stamina. I'll put it to better use once we get some better weaponry for Setzer, but right now I'm sticking him at healing because he's really good at that.





The puzzle's not that useful since we already got the treasure it leads to.



It died too quickly to do anything.





Chesticle's a neat little gimmick fight.





The head counters all attacks with Mega Volt, which isn't too bad. The shell counters all attacks with Giga Volt, which freaking hurts if you're Sabin or Setzer. Both cause Seizure, so I spend a lot of the fight casting Regen to heal/nullify Seizure.





Edgar, however, can take a Giga Volt pretty easily despite his lower HP because he has solid magic defenses, so his job is to use Flash to inflict Seizure on the head.



Of course, the head will retreat into the shell at times, giving you a nice opportunity to heal up.



The tricky part to this fight is the shell casting Regen on the head. Thus Edgar needs to spam Flash to nullify it. Sabin attacks, Setzer heals, Celes serves as utility.



After a rather lengthy battle, I get a new claw for Sabin. Boosts Vigor/Stamina, ice-elemental, and can cast Mute. It'd be nice except, once again, the upcoming boss is weak against the Fire claws Sabin has equipped. Rather amusing theme where each new claw Sabin gets ends up being less useful than his current ones because of the boss/dungeon's elemental weaknesses.



Also, free Man Eater.









Then for some reason we're attacked by this guy. No clue what this move does, but it looks scary.



Fortunately, Dullahan doesn't have any Regen shenanigans going on, so Seizure makes this fight go swimmingly.



Plus Sabin tears him apart with Fire Claws.





Dullahan's worst moves are Absolute 0 and Giga Volt, and even then neither are that bad.





Slots are awesome.



Overall, pretty simple fight that went much more smoothly than the Chesticle one.





You mean slaying that undead creature?
Not that, but wandering down the spacious basement of this tomb.





Hah, look at you, talking like you're going to get in an unfortunate accident. Random chance always works in your favor, that's why it's random!















To be honest, I should've seen that coming. She did get a bit crazy toward the end, not that I cared due to all the crazy wild-
Setzer!



At least you didn't preserve her corpse, too.
Oh, that's in the engine room. Wanna go see?
Oh come on!
Hah! It was a joke. You should really stop take everything so seriously. It's the end of the world and all.









This has always been one of my favorite parts of the game. Watching the new music swell up for the first time as you lift your new airship out from the sea... It's a huge turning point for the WoR. Now things are actually looking up.





Really? I think the four of us can handle it. Hell, I don't think we'd even need Sabin.
Though I still want to crack that maniac's skull with my bare fists.
Yeah, why deprive everyone else of the fun of beating up the stupid clown?









Bird!











...Someone take her to the lounge, please. Her craziness is distracting me.

Before we tackle the open world of ruin, let's pick up a couple of easy things.





First, Fenrir, a much-needed second esper for Gau and Shadow.

Name: Fenrir
Characters: Gau, Shadow
Stat Boosts: Speed +2
Spells: Regen (5), Warp (4), HasteX (2)

Should be nice once we get those characters. Unfortunately, we can't get Gau yet because we actually need to be able to switch our party first to open a slot for him.



The other thing we can do is go ahead and get Sabin Bum Rush.















So, Bum Rush.



It's the only Blitz whose input was changed. I, for one, like this new input.



Still as wonderful as ever, though it doesn't have the status effects Pummel and Suplex give. The extra damage is worth it, though.



Finally, there's a new option on the airship which looks promising. Not sure how the Doom Gaze mechanics work now, but I'll give it a try later on once we get more stuff.

Anyway, next time we'll start getting back our party! But who first? Well, that's up to you!

Next update will involve two side-quests. Won't do any of the non-character ones quite yet, nor am I going to try to get Locke until I have a party of eight. So basically, you guys get to vote on which characters we go for first. Top two will be in the next update, and we'll go from there.

Instead of posting your votes here, Vote here instead. I'll let voting go on for a day or so.