Part 159: Underground Ruins 1

I dunno, it'd be worth it if you could sell the crap you pick up back to him, at least.

Also, happy birthday, thread.

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Welcome back!



This here is, without exaggeration, the single most useful item I brought down into the dungeon.

But we'll get around to that later. For now, it's time to dungeon-delve.



: This is....

: What? This place smells like mold.

: Once you've come this far, you can't go back, right, Justin?



I'm sure that's supposed to be focused and determined, but that portrait makes him look angry and sarcastic.

Anyway, onwards!





Hope you like blue. And ugly, undead monsters. And that bleak music. We'll be stuck with them for a while.

I, uh... I'm not much a fan of this dungeon, for reasons we'll be getting into.



: I never imagined such a great shrine could float in the air!

: We Mogay have always lived together with the Shrine. Even before we came down from the sky. Same as Liete of Alent. OK Justin!



See, if you just dial back the "end random words with -a" thing and pepper actual Italian words in there, it makes the accent so much more bearable.

Anyway, let's check up on the enemies here.



Hey, this LP's been going on for a year, now. It's about damn time I started trying to get fancy with shit.

Let's start with the Warp Men. Immune to Explosion and all status effects that aren't move or magic block.

They've also got more defense than anything in this dungeon, apart from one of the parts to the boss. They also have the highest strength of the random encounters in this dungeon. This is supposedly balanced by the fact that they spawn in groups of one, instead of three.

That said, they react to water the same way the aliens from Signs do, so Crackling can usually clear the field of their ilk.

They have a small chance of dropping a pair of shoes that grant the same "warps during attacks" property of the Odd Hat. Naturally, with Guido around, you can usually force a pair or two.

Their special attack, Spin Cut, just hits an area around them for some physical damage. Nothing noteworthy.

Next!



Liches, as you may expect from palette-swaps of the Zombie enemy, are weak to fire. Technically also move block, but that's not really important.

Stat-wise, their notable trait is having zero vitality, making them even worse at taking hits than our Justin. A fire-elemental sword or, say, explosion-elemental axe, is your best bet for dispatching these guys.

Their special attacks, once again, aren't much to write home about. They're both single-target attacks that add some bonus effect. Paralyze Gas causes paralysis, and Oxy Gas debuffs defense by two levels.

Still, they tend to come in groups and have enough HP to survive a few weak AoE spells, so they're decent for boosting magic levels.



The final of three enemy types we'll be encountering before the boss is the Bird Skull. Again, weak to fire and move block, but they're the only monsters in the first part that are vulnerable to sleep.

Stat-wise, they're basically Warp Men Lite.

For skills, they've got Aim Cut, which inflicts a small amount of damage but causes Move Block, and Doze Cut. Which inflicts even less damage, but attempts to cause sleep.

Liches and Bird Skulls each drop a different value of Pretty Jewel. Bird Skulls have the 5,000 gold variant, Liches carry one that's twice as valuable.

Which, y'know, goes well with the whole "Mogay Pickpocket" thing we just got.

Speaking of our newest party member....



Mogay Bomb is probably going to be his bread and butter. Low damage, but high IP knockback, affects an area, and goes off instantly.



Did I mention that Liches have absolutely zero defense? Because they do.



Also, I was mistaken about Mogay Pickpocket. I was under the impression that a pickpocketed enemy wouldn't drop anything after combat.

Turns out, they still can. It also gives Guido a crapton of weapon EXP per use, and casts instantly, is cheap to use, and counts as a long-range skill.

Seriously. How many other characters can grind weapon levels off enemies while not interfering with the the rest of the party's ability to do the same?



Guido also naturally has a three-hit Combo attack. This, as usual, stacks with the Chain of Gems and the Ruination Knife, giving rise to his seven-hit combo here.

That said, his attack animation with the bow is much faster, so if you're looking to cheese the game, that's the best way.



Anyway, back to the dungeon. It manages to combine the worst parts of wide-open plains with narrow twisty passages.



Rapp is trying his damnedest to hit water and earth 10 by the end of this update. He hits the first part here...



... and the next here. What's so important about those two levels?



That's when Rapp gets access to Craze. Level 2, costs only 1 MP, and attempts to cause confusion in one target.

It's (slightly) more useful than it sounds. Assuming you pick it up early enough. And know where and when to use it.



Seriously, having Stram drop an enemy's strength by 4 levels makes them hilariously useless in melee.



There are quite a few stat seeds scattered around the dungeon. In the interests of not having to make a billion polls, I'm going to be distributing these as I come across them, using the same rules as the ones from the Tower of Temptation. That is, "Anything that boosts vitality to Feena, everything else gets shoved down Justin's throat".



And with his second sword level, Guido rounds out his skill list.

Power Up costs 20 SP, but boosts all of the target's stat levels by 1.

Speaking of Guido....



His role is to be the guy what uses all them items that cast spells.



The second area has two parts. That bit of the raised walkway to the south that looks suspicious is a trapdoor that drops you onto the floor. Into an area from which you can easily get to where you're going.



Gravity is a single-target Earth spell which reduces Move by seven levels.

Enough enemies wind up being immune or having ways around it that it's not nearly as fun as it sounds.



It's around here that I realized that I had overprepared for this dungeon, and didn't have enough space to hold all my loot.



Much better.



Justin's almost lapped Feena in level 3 MP.



Towards the end of the second area, we find this floating platform puzzle.



If you mess up, you will fall to the lower area and have to backtrack to the start to try again. Still, there is one detour to be had that leads to a treasure chest.



I suppose Justin could use this if he starts taking too much damage?



Anyway, after that, we reach the shrine.



Unfortunately, it's got itself a guardian.





Ruin Guard here was the fucking bane of my childhood. This was the boss I couldn't faceram my way past. And because you can't leave the dungeon once you start, I couldn't even go search out Mana Eggs or get better equipment.

Sadly, I don't have that save anymore. I'd love to take a crack at it again, with what I know about the game now.



There are three parts to this boss: The main body, the Boomerang, and the Ax. The boomerang is insanely fast, and attacks with its single-target skill, also named Boomerang.

Ax has no skills. Ax just hits a wide area.



The main body likes to cast spells. He has access to Healer, Zap!, and Vanish.

The Ruin Guard is weak to fire and earth, but resists water and wind. The boomerang has it the other way around. The ax is slightly weak to all elements.

Between Diggin', Stram, and just beating the fuck out of the main body to stop it from casting Vanish, this fight isn't really dangerous to a prepared team. Being a main target weak to fire, Burnstrike is a decent choice against this guy. Granted, the BOOM! line is probably gonna hit harder, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about spells I don't normally use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKTj4vunAqA (Polsy link)





He does give some decent rewards, though.



The Thunder Arrow that the boss dropped is a good weapon for Guido. True, the Warp Men take half damage from it, but they have high defense, and the Hail Bow can one-shot them with its free castings of Crackle.

Yeah, having Guido pretend he's a Final Fantasy 1 character and lug around a bunch of crap that casts spells for free is really the only way to give him a decent offense. But hey, this is Grandia. Between Justin and Rapp, there's no real need for extra offense.

.... But no. No, that's not good enough. That fucker caused me too much misery and anguish as a kid to let him off this easily.

Fun fact: There are only two bosses in the entire game that are vulnerable to any status effect. One is Saki, back at the Garlyle Base, who can be put to sleep.



The other is this motherfucker here, and his lack of immunity to confuse. Hitting the main body with it causes him to waste his turn punching a piece of his gear for barely any damage. Funny, but not what we're after. The Ax is even more useless to confuse; it'll swing at a random part, but since the ax's attack arc is always offset from the boss, it'll never hit anything. Except your own team, if you're unlucky with the positioning.

Hitting the boomerang with it, though....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzsdUVWcMMU (Polsy link)

There we go. Much more cathartic, wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, up the stairs past the boss is the heart of the Zil Padon Shrine.





I feel like I should be linking Mario Kart music instead. Anyway, aside from some gold scattered about, there's that big obvious thing across the Tron-bridge.



: This is the Medal of Knowledge! Justin, you know what to do.

: We DID it!



Ah, man, even the text box is excited!

: OK, everybody, next stop, ALENT!

As is usual, we'll be backtracking through the dungeon to escape.

See you next time, where the party finds love!

A deep love. A great love. A love powerful and formidable.

A love that crushes like a mace.