Part 57: Lagdou Ruins 1 and 2: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

Okay, got that done, and it only took me two resets to do it in. I may have underestimated the Lagdou Ruins a little.

Lagdou Ruins 1 and 2: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This



One last dungeon to go. The Lagdou Ruins are technically available right before the end of the game, but like most bonus dungeons only accessible right before the final boss, it's worlds above what we were facing in the basic story.



This is Map 1, for reference. It's a lot bigger than Valni 1, and has a heck of a lot more enemies, almost all of which are promoted. Can't say I'm fond of the color palette, but we'll have to get used to it.






And who better to challenge the first part of this level than our guests, plus Knoll and Myrrh for security's sake. They're a little weaker than their counterparts, but they'll be fine.



And of course, the Lagdou Ruins has guest characters too. We start with Glen, a Wyvern Lord, accessible after beating Floor 5. He's not as good as his brother, but I'm repeating myself here. With the possible exception of Riev and Ismaire, the guest characters are generally not as good as their counterparts.



Before we get started, we've got a little trick we can do with RNG manipulation. As anyone who uses save states to go through this game can attest, the outcomes of things that are presented as random chance are actually determined in advance using a string of preset rolls.



When you do that circular motion with the arrow and then move the cursor to the middle, you drop one of those random numbers, moving to the next one in line. Do that enough times (13 times for normal, 3 times for hard) and then retreat and reenter the first floor enough times, and...



Boom! A guaranteed wight with a pair of Swiftsoles. Naturally, this doesn't work if you've played the game a bit before entering the Lagdou Ruins, so every time you want to get the shoes, you need to save, restart, and repeat the process. I could do that an infinite number of times for an infinite number of shoes, really, but I'm not that cheap.



I only grabbed eight. But enough about that, let's play the game.



Word of warning about this first map: don't break this wall. It triggers practically every enemy in the local vicinity to come charging in, and...



Let's just say that this crowd's monster-killing abilities are a little weak right now.



That's a step in the right direction, at least.



I won't deny that I'm cheating a little in regards to Myrrh, but she's mostly just an emergency measure. A grand majority of the kills will be attributed to the guest team.



Besides, we've got Riev. He's as good at monster hunting as Myrrh is.



Though his levels could use work.



Orson is one of the anchors in this team, even more so than Selena, since he's slow and not really that strong. Plus his luck is terrible.



Since there's a bunch of archers about, Glen's rocking the Fili Shield. He's one of the tankiest members of the team right now, which he'll use to the fullest.



Knoll's here too.



I'm thankful for that extra Wind Sword, since that means that Ismaire can get with the magic.



I daresay she's actually better than her son.



More speed is good. Speed is a weak point for this group in general.



This map has only two reinforcements per turn, and they taper off pretty quickly. Nothing to worry about there.



The bigger problem is the surge of enemies. Our main solution is just to set up a wall and let them come to us.



Oddly, Knoll makes a good tank at the moment, since he can just drain back all the damage he takes.





This monster horde lasts a very long time.





But I think we come out the better for it.



At this point, the crowd's thinned enough that we can make some headway.



But I am still not taking my chances with these things. Getting doubled for around 30 damage is not pleasant.



That is a remarkable amount of defense for a magic user. I love this guy.



His performance more than makes up for the other one.



But as I said, more speed is never bad.



The boss of this stage and the two wights flanking him do not move. Kind of an odd decision.



Can't object too hard though. Makes my job easier.



Well done, Orson! Just don't get critted, and we'll be fine.



And on that disappointing note, we hop over to...



Floor 2, or as I like to call it: Axe City. Lots of Maelduin, lots of Cyclops. So we just unleash our swords and go wild, right?



Yes and no. Sprinkled among the regular, harmless axes are these decidedly not-so-harmless ones, just waiting to trip us up. I lost Ismaire in my first attempt because she took a hit from a Cyclops with a Swordslayer. Not pleasant.



My general strategy to begin is to park Ismaire on a pillar and let her tank the opening wave.



It works out pretty well.



Though there's always the threat of killer weapons. We dodge, but that could have been unpleasant.



Caellach just got Caellach-er. He is well suited to axes.





And our two secondary magicians are actually getting some underdeveloped stats.



But who needs them when we have Riev?



Heh heh heh...



Levels as bland as your character, Glen.



Not today.



I feel kind of bad about missing out on this Runesword, but they're not my favorite blades anyway.



Keep getting that strength, Ismaire, though with the cap of 22, that can't last too long.



Honestly, these first two levels are fairly simple, so long as you don't rush out too far.



We've got a load of Maelduin coming from the top and right. It's not a good idea to get caught between the two.



Instead, we fortify in this corner and wait them out.



Not quite as awesome, my man.



And then this enemy randomly started hitting this wall. I don't know either.



Son of a...



Faster, Ismaire! Don't ever let that happen to you again.



Good job breaking that wall...I guess?



Tankiness is good. More of that.



Now that the rush is over, we can make our offensive.





Outstanding!







Not so much.



Those people clamoring to see a Level 20 Phantom may have their wish.



Not that it'd make much of a difference.



You remember how I'd knocked Riev back to Level 9? He's been getting a lot of action.



Could be worse.



Especially when compared to this.



Why is it that bosses are a lot weaker than other enemies? It's a little strange.



I don't mind though. We've taken a crowd of adequate warriors and turned them into respectable champions. How okay of us.

Next Time: More monster killing, but there's treasure too in Floor 3 of the Lagdou Ruins.

Extras:



Glen
Class: Wyvern Lord
Weapon Ranks: A in swords, A in lances
Affinity: Wind

HP: 46 (85%) Lck: 7 (20%)
Str: 20 (45%) Def: 18 (35%)
Skl: 17 (50%) Res: 5 (40%)
Spd: 13 (45%) Con: 12

Glen's a lot like his brother, focusing on strength and defense to the exclusion of everything else. He's quite good, but his speed and resistance are going to make him problematic versus Mogalls and Gorgons at first. However, his growths are such that if he gets even slightly lucky, those won't be issues after a while. His luck's also not great, but once again, two Hoplon Guards. Not really a problem. I'd use Cormag over him, personally, but he's not a bad unit, especially if you can get some levels into him. He might even be better than Cormag in some areas.