Part 93: Volcano

Welcome back!

Last time....





Everyone takes a few seconds to watch them sail off into the distance.

: Just a minute! Isn't this a bit much, Mr. Chief! Hush about become a sacrifice!


Having him get lectured by the eight-year-old helps with that, too.

: What? You can't say defeating a dragon is impossible. Still, it's fine if they are eaten for us.

Nevermind, he's just a cockbag.

: That's not a problem, I suppose!



She doesn't look too concerned.



: Stupid! That's why I said I had a bad feeling about this! Whatever will we do now?



Yes, the game specifically flips Justin's portraits here because he's upside-down.

: Really? They were acting too nice, didn't you think it strange?

: Well, Feena. I was enjoying the banquet! I guess we're opposites!





Wow. The people of Gumbo are celebrating so loudly, you can hear the party from the fucking volcano.



For as often as Justin falls from high places, Feena sure seems better at sticking the landing.

: Yeoooouch!



Ahh, that explains it.

: Feena. Feeeeeeena! Are you all right?



She stands up, walks over to the lake, then turns back around so she can lecture Justin from a distance.

: Justin, don't you feel a little bit responsible for this?

: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, it's all my fault.



Justin.jpg.

: Oh, sure. Change the subject.

: But, I guess you're right. Let's go, Justin. I'm sure the fire dragon is at the summit.

: That's the Feena I know! Right on, let's go!



So, here we are at the volcano. There's a Save Point, Stashing Place, and a Healthweed right here. Down past the save point is some more money.







All of the enemies here share a few common themes: weak to water/ice, immune to fire, and most of their attacks do fire damage.



Much like the Lama Mountains, there are two treasures in particular that you'll want to grab. Unlike the Lama Mountains, there are other treasures that are still nice.

This is one of the latter.



Hot Dogs are ridiculously weak to water. For once, we find ourselves in the awkward position of Feena being our physical powerhouse, while Justin can't scratch the enemies outside of magic.



Here's the first of the must-get treasures: the final Mana Egg of Disc 1.

A fitting place for Justin to pick up the egg that gives him fire magic.



Without armor, Justin's taking a beating each fight, helping Feena creep closer to her next important level of Water magic, 12.



Crackle absolutely annihilates the enemies here.



That floor bread is tempting me to make a Volcano Bakemeat joke.

(It's a Seed of Defense, the +1 item for vitality.)



Eventually, I remember that Feena has an "I win" button in Random Hurl.



All of that, by the way? Was just in the first area.



Fucking finally!

Rainstaffs have +1 attack over the Fire Mace. They can be used to cast Snooze, and they're water elemental.

Yeah, all of the enemies here can drop what is literally the best weapon you could possibly be using against them. Fairly commonly, too.

In addition to that, there's a Snooze scroll lying around.



And just like that, Justin goes back to being a glass cannon.

This same fight drops a second Rainstaff.



Good thing we wound up on the same side as the boulder we need to push to access the rest of the dungeon.



Oh, there they are.

: Yes they are! We finally found them. Hello! Justi-in! Feena-a!



: You came here for us!

: It's only fitting! We can't let you two be sacrificed, can we Gadwin?

: Yes. At any rate, if we defeat the fire dragon at the summit, everything should be resolved.

: Great. Then let's do it! Let's go, everyone!

Sue immediately picks up the second rainstaff, but we have another problem.



Gadwin got healed. While I could cheat him dead again, that was meant as a timesaver for instances where I could go sit in a trap until he ran out of health. Not really as a "let's take the easy way out" sort of thing.



Why do I bring this up? No reason. The jets of steam here count as traps, so I can wear down Gadwin's HP normally.

The next two fights after killing off Gadwin both drop Rainstaves.

This is going to be a Thing.



Speaking of, Sue has a unique animation for when equipped with a Rainstaff, and probably an Oracle Staff from Luc, as well.

Also, the thing she finishes off here drops yet another Rainstaff.



Justin hits three-digit strength here.





Eventually, I remember to show off BOOM-POW!. You'd think that attacking Magma Men with magma would be a bad idea, but they don't resist Earth, so it still hurts them.



Feena knows how to do a good level up.

Also, looks like she can finally cast Burnflare!



This rock is interesting. I'll have more to say about this particular rock later. But keep it in mind until then.



At the Volcano Base map, we find the second of two Really Important Treasures. The Chain of Gems here makes your basic Combo attack do three hits instead of two. Which not only boosts basic damage by 50%, but also lengthens the IP stun effect, and allows the bonus damage to overflow onto other enemies in case one dies in the first or second hit.

This is, bar none, one of the absolute best accessories in the whole goddamn game, eclipsed only by the upgraded versions you can get from bonus dungeons.

Since Feena with a 50% bonus would be doing the same amount of damage as Justin or Sue normally, I let her hold it for a bit.



Back on Slope 2, heading up to the summit, we find an item up on the edge of a cliff. How do we get up there to it?



Back along the wall a ways, there's a very sneaky Action Point that opens a passage in the wall.

The treasure is another Fire Charm, which, like the Rainstaff, can also be dropped by enemies here. Guess what never shows up for me?



Sue picks up a +3 in the stat she needs most.



This one Hot Dog is the only thing I don't kill, as it fell into the lava and can't seem to get at me.



Here we are at the one fork in the road at the Crater.

Anyone else reminded of Hailfire Peaks here? The lava half, at least?



Down the path that doesn't lead to the boss, there's this. Since Sue is usually taking 5-7 points of damage each time an enemy hits her, this would very truly make her into Sue the Invincible. But I hold off for now. The boss is coming up, so I'd rather give her a Fire Charm to prevent the fire dragon from doing fire damage to her.



If you walk past the path that leads into the caldera, you can examine the lavafall. The Dragon Scales were on the ledge on the other side.

: Really! It's a ball of lava. That's it!

Speaking of the boss....



: Justin, that looks like the fire dragon that causes Gumbo to suffer.

: Hey! Look. I am not so easily sacrificed!

: Justin! Don't be caught off guard! Look. It's coming this way!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB9E81qBh2Q (Polsy link)

For those not watching the video, allow me to summarize:

He has a weakness to water. Everyone deals water damage.

He deals fire damage. Everyone resists fire.

Dragon says "rawr". Then dragon is dead.

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!

^{_{Once I can put down Dragon Quest 8. Forgot how engrossing that game is.}}