Part 20: All Your Base… and Items

Update 14: All Your Base… and Items



Stepping in to Myrtani's fortress, we're immediately confronted by his personal guard.



There's no messing around with weak draconians in the inner sanctum. We're dealing with the big boys here, including Auraks. And the ogres… well, they might serve as targets for the spell casters, but other than that they're not very useful.



"At least they're doing something useful."



"You're not kidding. We need to find something else to do with these guys."

"I'm getting kind of nervous with the way they're looking at me…"



"This seems to fit the bill…but what are they fighting over?"



"I've never seen this much money in one place."

"I didn't know there was this much money."

"Way too heavy. Just grab the gems, jewelry, and some of the steel."



"And the magic items. Mustn't forget those."

"I'll have the gauntlets, please. Don't care about the sword."

"I don't think anybody really does… but I'll carry it for now."

"Okay then, should we go right or left?"

"My lucky coin says left. Let's see what we find!"



"Interesting… can you do it, Gable?"

"I'll give it a try. I don't think even Uncle Trapspringer ever picked a book. Just a bit of fiddling…"



"Huh. Wonder what the Guardian is?"

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous enough that there's a special formula for getting by it. We need to find a lab."



"Easy enough. Well, that about does it for this wing."



"I think this is the Guardian we were heard about. What does the lucky coin say?"



"Doesn't really matter. This barricade says we go left."



"Wait, actual humans? No monsters? No draconians?"

"It's kind of like a short vacation."



It really is. A cluster of enemies at enough of a range that you can just drop a fireball on them? It's a cakewalk. But you want to save a couple, because in the next room...



"I'm… oh god, what am I seeing? I can't even…"

"The eyepatch... and the chain…."

"Are those… tights?"

"I have never seen something I felt a greater need to kill with fire."



The Dragon Master is a pretty unique enemy in that he not only has a unique sprite, but actually has enchanted equipment (all +1) that he uses. It makes him a fairly tough cookie, and the 5 dragons backing him up aren't anything to sneeze at. The key to this fight is killing them with fire, however, as for some reason the red dragons are susceptible to fireballs. A fireball targeted three squares behind the Dragon Master will hit all the dragons and the Dragon Master… and we have two people who can cast fireballs. Once he's done, it's a simple passage to the final sequence.



"You keep talking like an army showing up on your doorstep when most of your forces have been destroyed is somehow a victory on your part."

"Clearly delusional, I feel."



"A hostage, too? Seriously, how low… and cliche… can you go?"

"She flew in after me… foolish creature. Now she can watch as her last hope dies with you."

"No use talking anymore… I think he's completely lost it."

"I am done fencing with you through my minions. Now you face the master. Prepare for your doom."



The penultimate (yes, there is another fight) fight in the game is actually a pretty tough one to deal with. They have spell casters properly protected by a screen, and the line extends far enough that you can't easily get a mage around to lightning bolt the entire line. Fireballs can do some damage, but there's enough coverage that some enemies are going to escape unscathed. Myrtani isn't actually that much of a threat, despite having one of the highest HP totals we've seen so far and the best armor class, since he had the bad taste to position himself right in front of our fighters. Auraks, while dangerous, are not at their best as front line fighters.



"Will you just die, already?"

"I hear dragon wings in the next room. We must hurry to stop them!"

"…I'm amazed. I'd actually forgotten you were here."



"Y'know, if one of us had died while you were holding on to these, we'd be well within our rights to gut you like a fish."

"Well, yeah… but they're coming in handy now. Let's deal with these messengers!"



"Wait… 3? That's it?"

"I think you might want to take a closer look at those dragons…"



"I… can't stop my knees from shaking…"

"We can do this! We've seen dragons before!"

"Not like this… never like this… what were we thinking?"



Say hello to our first fully adult dragons, with the accompanying dragon fear aura and more HP than anything we've seen thus far. And for good measure, there's three of them. Welcome to the final fight, and potentially the most difficult fight in the game. These guys can outright kill most of our characters in a few seconds, but… it's time for Chekhov's gun.



"I've got this, guys. Just stay out of my way while I keep their attention. If they don't realize what's going on, I might even be able to finish this."




Turns out the AI isn't smart enough to realize when someone's immune to their preferred form of attack. They'll just keep attacking… and even with only a 75% chance of hitting, within a few rounds their number will come up. Not pictured - one of the dragons being brought down by a combination of spells and missile weapons from the various scattered characters. And with that.. it's over.




"They certainly know how to make a guy feel important."

"You could say we're kind of a big deal."

"I am looking forward to putting up my feet for a bit."



"Wait, what?"

You're not given a choice at this point. All strength enhancing items, the dragonlance, and the mace of disruption go away at this point. You can't use them in the post game, and can't take them int o the next game.



"We're unworthy of such an honor. Thank you."



"We are, all of us, simply glad to see you safe and well. May your recovery be swift and complete.




And with that, we get our teaser for the next chapter, Death Knights of Krynn… and a preview of our next adversary.



More to the point, however, now the real party is starting. Wouldn't be complete without a whale of a bash… and, tomorrow, the epilogue.