Part 52: Tower of Valni 2 and 3: Together We Ride

Tower of Valni 2 and 3: Together We Ride

Floor 2



Moving right on up to Floor 2, we discover that the floors are already getting more complicated. Not only does this floor have a significantly higher probability of having bonewalkers instead of revenants, but they're already throwing Tarvos and Baels at us. This chapter is only available after beating Chapter 9, after all, so you should have some experience under your belt at this point.



The boss of this level is a fairly simple Maelduin with a Tomahawk. Unlike the Entombed, this boss will actually move, and he can cover a decent amount of ground. Fortunately, we have some mounted units of our own.




For this floor and the one after, the Knights of Renais will ride once more. But there's one member missing, isn't there? Guess we better fix that.



Orson is the reward for beating the 6th Floor, and he not only comes with the gear he had when we fought him, but also a peace offering of a Red Gem. For that price, I'm sure we could tolerate his presence for a couple floors.

Comparatively speaking, he's about as mediocre as the rest of my mounted units, but several levels ahead of them. Hard to really say more about him. He's just kind of...blah. I wish that the guest party members could support with people, just to fill out their characters a little more. Orson's past is pretty much completely unknown until his wife dies, and then he's just "that moody kind of guy who's also completely delusional." A real wasted opportunity, if you ask me.



Moving right along from that, the theme of this chapter is, "I hope you didn't bring knights or mounted units."



It really can't be emphasized enough how many effective weapons are seeded among these guys.



If our units were a lower level, this would be a really imposing loadout. If it comes in a sword or lance form, they've got it.



Even with our promoted units, we've still got to stay on our toes, since we didn't bring any healers.



Which only makes it more aggravating when one of the little ankle-biters gets a hit in with a Poison Sword. If I haven't mentioned it already, it doesn't matter if the enemy does damage with poison weapons or not. Mere contact is enough to inflict the poison status. Poison isn't what you'd call deadly, but it is annoying.



But the person I'm most concerned for is Kyle, the only unpromoted unit in this crowd.



Especially since he appears to be intent on sabotaging his career.



On the plus side with Orson, being poisoned means that he can draw fire from these people without it being a problem.



The stuff that this crowd gets is actually kind of surprising sometimes. Randomness will do that, I guess.



Here's something you don't see on most of these floors: reinforcements. It's only this one batch, and they're not what you'd call imposing, but it can still take you unawares if you're being held back by the bonewalkers.



As it is, we're pretty well prepared for them.



More or less. Kyle makes it, of course, but if I didn't have a vulnerary and the ability to leave the dungeon at any time, that might have been a problem.



The Tarvos over by the boss is one of those enemies that seems to have the same weapons every time. It's a little tough to get the hand axe off of him, though, since he'll always move. Maybe if I lured him in with an archer...



Honestly, I'm making this look easier than it actually is. If you're an appropriate level for this stage, that Tomahawk can really hurt.



Don't think the Tarvos are exempt from that whole effective weaponry theme, by the way. Fielding a knight on this stage is just asking for it.



And sadly, just as I predicted, the Tarvos went for the hand axe, so I get an iron axe instead. Bummer.



Let's move on.

Floor 3



Floor 3 is our first instance of a treasure chest, located up there with those spiders. The loot inside it is the same every visit, but that won't be the case for later floors. You'll see when we get there.



Our boss for this floor is an Elder Bael, and they're still going easy on us. The theme for this floor is spiders, and boy, are there a lot of them.



Oh, and you'll either want someone with a Chest Key, or you'll bring a thief. There aren't any Chest Keys for the taking in this stage, so if you forgot one, you're fresh out of luck.



We don't take three steps into this map, and he gets poisoned again. Typical.



You have to be careful how you advance in this level, since a good portion of the enemy forces will advance on their own.



And their jaws are strangely accurate.



Monster selection is generally random, but Mauthe Doogs seem to show up a lot more frequently around this map. They're fast, yes, but not especially strong.





Seth gets a disproportionate amount of screentime in this stage, but that's mostly because I was annoyed about that spider.



He even pulls out Orson's Runesword for the occasion, which is just a terrible waste.



No, zombie. Franz can't do your nails.



But thanks for asking.



It's a very good idea to always grab this chest. Not only do you have to kill all monsters to advance in the first place, but...



It's also a guaranteed 3000G every time you take on the tower. It's very easy to just go to this floor, loot the chest, retreat, and repeat until you're swimming in cash like a medieval Scrooge McDuck, not even counting whatever cash you earn for the weapons you grab on the way there.



Seth's crusade against spiders continues.



And Franz emulates his mentor in that little sub-room.



But it's all worth it, since Seth gets a level.



A very Seth-like level, to be exact.



Of course they get Seth too. Why wouldn't they?



But soon, there's only the boss itself.



Not to say that he goes down quietly. Or would that be a she? In most insect societies, the female is dominant, right? So statistically speaking, it would be a she, more likely than not, correct?



Whatever the case, she, or perhaps he, doesn't last long before Seth puts him or her down.



And we're ready to move on. If we hadn't already unlocked him, we'd have gotten a notification that Caellach was now available for use. I'll see you again shortly.

Next Time: We face a separated party and a zombie apocalypse in the next two floors of the Tower of Valni.

Extras



Orson
Class: Paladin
Weapon Ranks: A in swords, A in lances
Affinity: Dark

HP: 48 (80%) Lck: 6 (25%)
Str: 18 (55%) Def: 14 (45%)
Skl: 15 (45%) Res: 11 (30%)
Spd: 14 (40%) Con: 12

Honestly, Orson isn't bad. Quite the opposite, in fact. The trouble is that he's Level 13, so his great growths don't have a lot of room to shine. If you put in the time, he could potentially be a pretty powerful dude, but so can Seth, and Seth has 12 more levels. There is one way to compensate for that level disparity, but...well...let's not get ahead of ourselves.