Part 55: West Misty Forest

In case anyone was wondering: No, more coffee does not very well counteract the sedative effects of NyQuil.

Early update because poll.

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Welcome back!



Welp. Guess we're stranded in the Misty Forest now.





Considering they're heading full speed toward the "we stopped putting tracks here because of the wilderness" end of the line, you really can't blame them.





And finally, everyone disembarks the train.

: Hmm... from here, it's not far at all to Luc village! Let's go there! Whatcha say? Now that we've come this far, Luc Village is not far at all! Ah, I'm finally back home! Thank you, all of you!

"Home" being "the middle of the goddamn forest" in this case. And not just any forest.





: I can't see what's in front of me. What should we do, Justin? Should we wait till the mist clears?

: I guess we should. We'll get lost in the mist if we keep going.

: Heh heh. Hey, it's OK! Us Luc Mountain folk, we never get lost in the mist! Watch this!





Yep, just watch him play the flute.



Huh. Apparently mist isn't a fan of the arts. Who knew?



: Aaaawwwesome! You cleared away all of that mist!

: Heh heh. Pretty cool, huh? I play this flute to let everyone in the village know that I've returned. Also, in Luc Village, there are odd nuts called "mist-clearing nuts". I just used one to clear the mist!

... Look, I know you're all waiting for me to make a joke about Rem's nuts, but it ain't happening.

: So, let's go, everybody! My village is this way! Come on, hurry!



: Aaah! Just a minute, Rem!

: He's gone.... I guess he just couldn't wait to get back to his village....

: OK, so let's get going, too! We'll lose him if we don't hurry up!



So welcome to our next dungeon, the West Misty Forest. It's a forest, it's misty, and we're in the western part of it.

The save point hint is that magic levels boost MP and weapon levels boost SP.

The enemies here... well, you remember the ents from the Dom Ruins, right? Them tree motherfuckers what with that pesky metric shit-ton of defense?



They're just a little bit outclassed by this point. And they still refuse to drop any Cholla herbs for me.



Hmm. I might have a use for this one eventually.



We've also got Blue Ents. They have more HP, the same crippling vulnerability to most techs and magic, and a move that confuses someone and lowers their defense by three levels.

Erm... not that that almost fucked me over or anything.

Anyway, three resurrection potions, two blue pills, and a golden potion later...



Not entirely useless.



That's not what they looked like on the map.



These guys get a fancy entrance animation where they break out of their bottles once the battle starts.

And yes, Justin deals around double their HP with each hit of his normal combo.

Anyway, these guys come in a densely-packed group of six, and there's about seven of them that spawn at once on the map, so if you're looking to level up some AoE magics, they're a good bet.



Birdrakes are not rainbow-colored, and therefore pose no real threat.



They can inflict Move Block, though, which prevents the use of special moves. Needless to say, it would be a Bad Thing to allow that to go off.



Eventually, I find the river that marks the way to the next area.



And the winner of the Lopsided Stats Award is....



Eventually, we find the village.

No, I don't know how Rem got past all those monsters.





: This is Luc Village! I already told everyone here about you. And the Village Chief says that he would like to meet you. He says he wants to thank you! I'll be waiting at my house. So go on and see the Village Chief. OK? See you later!

Before we go see the chief, though, there is one other thing we need to do. Something very important.



The name's a bit of a misnomer, as, like every other shop, it's a combination weapon/armor/item/magic store.



Everything here is an upgrade. The flint stuff is actually obsidian, according to the descriptions. The Oracle Staff there cures confusion when used as an item, which is pretty handy. The only weapon types its missing are swords, which we already have, and whips, which we'll be finding in the next dungeon.



The shield and hat just give defense boosts, but the robe here protects against confusion and sleep. The shoes....



They make you teleport when you get hit. Mostly just a gimmick, but it can help out against monsters with multiple attacks.

The interesting stuff, though, is over in the item section.



Remember back when I said I was saving up gold for something in particular? This is it. Cuts SP usage by 20% In a normal game, this goes on Justin and never leaves until you get something that does the same thing but better.

In this case, replace "Justin" with "Everyone".

Most of the other stuff we've seen, smelling salts cure confusion, paralysis ointment cures paralysis, Baobab fruits still restore 10 SP. Smarna weeds, the -1 def to all enemies item, are buyable now, as are resurrection potions.

The Move and Spell Break tomes cure Move Block and Spell Block, respectively, so it's helpful to have a few. Bandages are just wound salves that cure slightly more.



Firewood is effective on plants, and the Snooze scroll casts Snooze, as you'd expect. The Zap! Book, though....



Zap! is easily the most powerful (damage-wise) level 1 spell in the game. It costs a whopping 13 MP and requires enough levels in Fire and Wind that unless you've been gunning for it since you landed in New Parm, you're gonna have access to the scroll before you learn the spell.

To put things in perspective, that 180 damage there? Hits the same radius as Burnflame. And does nearly twice the damage.

Anyway, this seems to be a good place to stop this update, seeing as we have new weapons and such available.

: Swords +1, Wind +1

: Maces +1, Fire +1, Earth +1

: Daggers +1, Fire +1, Wind +1, Water +1

(This includes the train segment, as I forgot to record those)