Part 65: Lagdou Ruins 10: I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Lagdou Ruins 10: I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Well, it's been a fun trip. Had its ups and downs, to be sure. But unfortunately, it's time to say adieu. Before we do that, though:



We've got one last obstacle to deal with. Ten obstacles, to be precise. Dracozombies are a blessing and a curse, all due to their ability to hit you for guaranteed damage.



They're really slow and rather unlucky, but their Wretched Air gives them natural stat boosts everywhere else. They're like mini-Myrrhs, who we're not bringing today.






Instead, our team is these guys, who you may recognize as our primary tail-kickers, plus Lyon. In a spontaneous act of kindness, the thread decided that I should have all the advantages. Might as well have given me the Demon King, though I suspect these dragons would kill him, but good.



Couple of nice goodies to worry about. The first one is fixed on the boss, and it's another unique gem that never saw the light of day outside of this game. It sells for 20,000G, and considering that you can't save at all in your trip through the Ruins, it makes sense why they'd think you needed an incentive to get this far. More on that later.



The other treasure is this Blue Gem, which has a 0.15% chance of appearing. Fancy.



Let's finish this.



This is the final battle, so all the big guns are coming out, unless another weapon would do better.



And before you can say, "All that defense really helped you here, Lute," we've almost evened the playing field.



Eirika starts on the next one, and doesn't do much. Even capped, her strength and weapons just aren't cutting it...

Get it?



Oh look, Knoll's using worthless magic!



Okay, not entirely worthless, but when you consider how little speed they have, that's just a cruddy hit chance.



With Lyon and Knoll onboard, you knew that our Phantom buddies would show up.



Lyon's the only one in this group not at 20/20, but there's not much point in leveling him. His caps are 30 magic, 25 skill, 25 speed, 30 defense, and 30 resistance, but he'll never see those. Not with the limited opportunities for leveling the game gives him. More's the pity, I guess.



Enough of that. Let's kill another dragon. What's funny about the effectiveness formula of Vidofnir is that a Dragonspear uses the x3 formula and has 10 might, while Vidofnir uses the x2 formula and has 15 might. And since there's no point in having extra defense...



Matter of fact, Vidofnir has 3 more weight than the Dragonspear, so it's actually worse for killing these particular monsters. Go figure.



There's a reason why Innes is standing here. He's going to need that +5 luck.



And L'Arachel tops everyone off. You follow all that? That was the end of turn one.



Oh wait, did I say the end? The boss Dracozombie doesn't move, but the other ones do, assuming you get within their range. Rather a shame, really.



That's the way, Innes.



The Brave Bow is invaluable in this battle, since dragons fly. It's true!



Once again, the boss is just a pale imitation of its underlings. How poignant.



Oh, Ephraim, is there nothing you can't kill in an excessive manner?



It's worth it, though, because we're rich.



Rich in enemies to maim, that is!



To think that if Lute hadn't gained two of her points in HP, she'd have had to sit out this fight. What an injustice that would have been.



Dodging like family. I can dig it.



More enemies to the slaughter!



But first, treasure.



This one's a bit unique, since its contents vary depending on your inventory. Specifically, whether you have the Member's Card or not. If you don't, whether by selling it like an idiot or simply letting Rennac get away, then you have a 10% chance of getting it instead of a White Gem. Once again, no save points in between floors, so if you were going to the trouble of clearing this dungeon in the vain hopes of nabbing that elusive lump of...metal? Glass? Wood? Whatever. Point is, if you came all the way up here and got a White Gem instead, that was a nice multiple hour long romp you just wasted.

What? You thought they'd completely hung up their sociopath's hat?



Anyway, Knoll's demonstrating here my ideal strategy for dealing with this insidious monstrosities. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Knoll could solo this floor, and he could do it with style. So long as he never struck first, that is.



The point of all this, of course, is to give Lyon the pretensions of having actually killed something, because he's sure as heck not trying to lift anything with any decent power behind it. They'd end up doubling HIM.



We're Rich...er!



Yes, that is a little sudden, but an extra boost never hurt anyone.



Knoll's not the only one with a semi-worthless tome. Here's L'Arachel with a Purge tome.



I wouldn't call it useless under normal circumstances, but considering what we're trying to wear down, it's kind of a drop in the bucket.



Eirika, the life-stealing thing just isn't working for you. Leave that to the professionals.



Alternatively, Lute can just blow them all away, because she's a cannon in a dress.



Okay, it's time to wear another one down.



Apparently, Innes wanted in on that one-round-kill action. I'm not complaining.



While L'Arachel's picking away at the second to last enemy, Lyon's taking staffbot duties. Fine by me.



This is one area where light magic has the distinct advantage of actually being able to hit reliably.



Innes isn't letting a lick of flame onto his stylish hair.



That's the servants' job, after all.



For a change, let's see how this girl does in direct combat.



She critted twice. If the thing had a point less of health, she'd have killed it in one turn.



Oh well, I guess you can have it, Lyon.



Way to go, lad! In a couple more levels, we might be able to set you up with Nosferatu or Luna-



Oh wait, we're done.

I've gotta say, you guys have made this a joy to work through. This project wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining without all of you. I'd especially like to thank Adnor, yokaiy, Can of Worms, vilkacis, Miacis, and Daigerus for all of their amazing contributions. Seeing that stuff made me feel like what I was doing was worth carrying on.



Your choice to challenge me with the character selection resulted in over 15,000 points of experience. That's more than 150 levels since we started this thing, each with its own dry comment. That's amazing to think about.



But it doesn't stop there. Now that we're wealthy from our dungeon crawling, it's time to make like good adventurers and buy ourselves into power. And I think I've got just the perfect guys in mind.





Good night, everybody.