Part 38: Tetsu

Update 38: Tetsu



Before I progress with the plot, I'd like to take a moment to face off against one of the game's optional bosses. I actually tried to do this back before I entered the Absolute Fortress, but it seems the fight isn't available until now.





This is my current accessory setup. The Lost Grail buys me a little time (or, rather, allows me to slip up and not immediately lose). The Warrior Icon lets me cancel my opponent's attack at random and counter with my own. And the Guardian Chain is supposed to be hot shit so I figured I'd give it a try, too. I don't actually know if Tetsu is particularly bad about blocking yet, but we'll see.









Music: Battle Theme


Remember Tetsu the tutorial guy? Yeah, I didn't either, or at least I wouldn't have if this fight didn't exist. He's not going to hold back at all in this battle. Oh, and of course you don't get to use Seru, but I don't think that actually ends up being much of a problem since he WILL outdamage your heals with Seru (except maybe Horn, in which case your MP wouldn't last but two or three turns anyway).







Case in point, I simply can't survive two rounds of his attacks with my current stats. Tetsu has no special attacks (except Somersault, which is treated like a more powerful normal hit – that is, he just uses it as a part of his attack string). He hits eight or nine times per combo and is decidedly brutal.





I used my first turn to pop a Wonder Elixir to boost my stats (I don't know if I need the offense but I need the defense). His second attack still killed me, but that's what the Lost Grail is for.





I got a lucky counterattack, which was nice...





Tetsu has about 10000 HP, so I can kill him pretty consistently with four attacks, and he does so much damage that between that and how rarely I actually get to attack I don't need to worry about AP.









Unfortunately, even with the Wonder Elixir's help, Vahn just don't have enough HP to survive two attacks without blocking anything, which the Guardian Chain prevents him from doing. It looks like we'll have to try something else.





This time I ditched the Warrior Icon for the Life Armband, in hopes that the higher HP would offset the loss of random counterattack interruptions – basically, in hopes that I could get a “slow but safe” strategy going.







The Wonder Elixir combined with the HP boost allowed Vahn to survive the first two attacks...





Then I made a mistake and decided to abandon my slow but safe strategy by trying to Spirit and attack in between heals.





So much for that.







Then I overhauled my setup and went for HP. I ditched the Guardian Chain to see how much Vahn would block versus how much Tetsu would, and added back the Warrior Icon to try out more counterattacks. I also ditched the Lost Grail, hoping that with enough HP I wouldn't need it.





The fight actually went smoothly for the first few turns, and I decided this tactic might work out for me. Unfortunately, I once again slipped up and accidentally Spirited when I meant to heal. Whoops.







I may have mentioned this before, but when you equip HPMAX boosting accessories, your current HP stays put. I forgot that and went into battle with Vahn's base HP. Double whoops.







All right, let's see what happens when I don't play like an idiot. Vahn enters at full HP. Tetsu attacks, and Vahn uses a Wonder Elixir.





Tetsu attacks again, and I heal up with a Berry.





And from there, it's a matter of making my own pattern; Attack, Heal, Spirit, Heal. If Vahn does a good job of blocking and/or Tetsu doesn't Somersault too much, I can skip one of the Heals, though I've demonstrated already that that isn't necessarily a good idea.





Unfortunately, Tetsu decided to block my final attack, the one that would have knocked him out. That's the only time he blocked me in all of the fights, though, so I'm thinking the Guardian Chain isn't worth it for this particular battle.





At any rate, I had enough health to survive his next attack and heal and just went back into the pattern.









Final results:

1 Wonder Elixir spent (3 to 2)
7 Healing Berries spent (10 to 3)
0 Lost Grails spent (1 to 1)

I think I'm okay with that trade. Mettle Gems are pretty fantastic after all (they cut AP costs in half, if you've forgotten). Vahn could definitely stand to have this.

All right! Join me next time as we return to our regularly scheduled plot.