Part 51: Chapter 20B Hard Mode

Chapter 20B: A Love Letter from IntSys, Part 1


Tate is sitting this one out, mostly because I actually need Astol, but also because she'd be dead in a minute here.






I'm not fucking around anymore, and so my heavy hitters come swinging right out of the gate.


Niime gets an Angelic Robe right away. Niime is one of the reasons I stocked up so much earlier: whether or not I end up using her, Niime is meat if she doesn't get this extra boost.


Astol also gets one, because unlike Artix who's Astol was getting two-shotted, mine got one-shotted.






Here's a shot of the bolting assholes. Just look at that fucking magic: LOOK AT IT. These fuckers are dishing out 37 Base Damage, and there are two of them.


Fucking Astol.


Some good news: Zeiss and Miledy finally grab their C support.


Oh, and Roy has forsaken leading the glorious siege in favor of standing far, FAR out of bolting range. If you think Astol is in danger, you ain't seen shit.


Not great, but Zeiss is already so overpowered for his level that he can afford a few bad levels.





Dayan shows up and charges screaming into bolting range before I can even recruit him. Lovely.


Get over here, you idiot.


Dayan is pretty bad, but we'll talk about him later. Suffice to say that Shin is kicking his ass across the board, so Dayan's going to get to know the bench real well.


This is more or less the distribution we're going with. Also Rutger can see through walls, so he throws some light brand hits through the door.


Have I mentioned yet that Percival is the fucking Man?


Still awesome.


I think that since promotion, I've seen more Rutger crits than actual, regular attacks. I love it.


FINALLY.


Er... that's an awkward shot. But yeah, Left corridor clear.


I swear to god, Ellen.


Meanwhile, Astol starts up the looting machine.


Oh, hello there Wo Dao guy.


Goodbye, Wo Dao guy.


So yeah, before the spree continues, that 25 turn limit weights in, and I decide to let the rest of the team move up.


I SWEAR TO GOD CLARINE.


Read: Ray's main method of survival.


Alan is pretty much caught up with Percival now except for HP, which says a lot. If he picks up a bit more in his weaknesses, he'll be A-Team material come endgame.


Lou's Magic > Your Magic


Right, time for Roartz.


Roartz hits like a truck and is about as sturdy, but on the other hand he has no resistance, and no speed. Overall he's fairly underwhelming, and far less of a hassle than motherfucking Gel.


"Sorry, those bolting and bastilla assholes are trapped in rooms without doors. Forever


Protip: I will never use this. Probably.


Ellen's doubling this guy?


Huh, I guess she is. Also wow, that 30 Luck. 26 Resistance ain't to shabby either.


Oh hey, I got Roartz down to 1 HP! Who'll deliver the finishing blow?


Don't ask stupid questions.








Awesome!


Are you fucking kidding me, IS?


Oh hi there!





Roy ends his illustrious career with... well, I guess this would be a bang by Roy's standards.


Let's blow this popsicle stand.


Next Time: A Love Letter from IntSys, Part II

Niime: Niime loses a lot of her utility in Hard Mode, due to her lack of bonuses that let her keep up with the enemies we'll be facing. Her 25 HP pretty much requires a robe in order to raise up to respectable levels, and in all honesty if you're going to seriously use her, she should probably get two robes. And a body ring or two. And a few speedwings...

So yeah, she'll never be the best front line fighter. But she's a great heal-bot, and she probably has more magic than your healers with a similar staff rank do, so she's great for status staves too. Overall Niime is nowhere near the worst of the prepromotes, but I feel she's very overhyped. She's got some utility, but not much.

Dayan: Dayan's only notable virtue is that he's still better than Ilia's prepromote. That's not saying much though, and on his own merits Dayan is pretty shit. Again he suffers from having no HM Bonuses. His speed is actually pretty good, but his strength is bananas for a bow/sword user, his growths are too shit for him to get better, and his level is too high even if his growths were good. He's actually kind of flawed on a fundamental level, since even coming to Sacae requires having leveled Shin and/or Sue, and unless they got straight up murdered by the RNG, they will always be better than Dayan.