Part 17: Update XVII - I'm superior to him in every respect, the speed, the power and the body...
Update XVII - I'm superior to him in every respect, the speed, the power and the body...Video: Zero Goes it Alone
Music: The Rebellion's Fate
They’re the dregs of Giga City!Okay, kinda rude there, Zero. Our party only consists of a bounty hunter (who tried to kill us), a copycat hero, a thief/kidnapper, and a literal child, after all!
Shadow betrayed us, remember?!
I'm sure you have your reasons, but... I’m going to work alone.Zero has a bit of a bad track record with trusting people.
He was friends with Sigma! Who then went Mav and betrayed him. He was friends with Iris and Colonel! Who then went Mav* and betrayed him. And now he was friends with Shadow, who went Mav and betrayed him. You can't really blame him for getting defensive.
*The stupidest form of Mav, at that.
He'll come around.Music: Grief - Sympathy - Pity - Pain I
Maybe we can find some way to change his mind. Oh! Incoming transmission! Colonel Redips!
Were you able to make contact with Zero?
Zero is alive! But he... He says he’ll work alone. I see. I’m sure he’s got some kind of plan. Try not to dwell on it. In the meantime, we've received intelligence regarding a crucial Rebellion Army facility.
The static starts to pick up again.
It appears to be a secret Rebellion research lab. There must be some important testing going on there.
Nana, are you able to determine its location? Yes. but it will take some time. Get started.Music: Hunter Base
Thought we finally had a full party? Ha ha, psych! We get him for Jentra and then he leaves again!
He left his Heat Hazes, at least. Time will tell if he gets another set of them when he comes crawling back.
We can understand why one would have a hard time trusting the Reploids of Giga City. But we are fighting for the same goals. Surely we will be able to reach a common ground eventually. 
While Nana is analyzing, we can't check deployments or go to the Sky Room, so we have to leave the room to progress.
Video: A Strange Light
Music: Mystery of the Force Metal
There's a
After it fades, Spider walks out!
Yeah... Got a transmission from the Colonel...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Music: Hunter Base
I'm sure it means nothing. Nana's probably done by now!
The Aires Valley in south-west Giga City!
it would seem likely that there's some major research going on there.
A secret lab, huh? Sounds like fun. Let's check it out!
And with that, we're back to our usual pre-chapter tasks.
We get a new scarf color, the only one available from deployments!
And another key! I wonder if this will become a trend?
Whoa! That’s nothing against you, mind you! Zero's the type that you just have to leave alone and let roam free. He'll come around eventually. Heck, even I came around!
I see... It’s too bad you couldn't see eye-to—eye. But you can't let it bother you! These things happen.
We share the same goal, so we should be working together... Well, his loss! You know, Marino's staring at me... Has she fallen in love? Oh, boy! I can’t have that! We have a mission to worry about! What? She's a thief? And she’s after my chameleon chip?! You've gotta be kidding me!!
It's probably what’s making him feel like he can’t trust anybody. But "the dregs”? That is just an awful thing to say. But what does a fake like me know, right? Oh, I know... Why doesn’t Axl use his shape-shifting ability to change into Zero? That would kinda be like gaining a new ally, right? I would not want to begin to think about how difficult it would be to copy Albert Wily's greatest creation.
I don't see anything wrong with being a loner, but... He's supposed to be your friend, right, X? I'd hate to think I couldn't even trust my own friends. Call it a thief’s intuition, but I have a feeling Zero is coming back... Besides, he doesn’t come across as the type that would abandon his friends. But more importantly, I'm interested in Axl's chameleon ability. I've searched high and low for some leads on it, but I've had no luck. Maybe I’ll just steal it from him? Music: Recapture Hope
But the conditions are making it one tough fight... You should be able to handle it, but be careful nonetheless. 
I hope it doesn't affect the success of your mission. If you experience equipment problems, it could really affect your mission. If you had contact with a local Reploid, there might be a way to take care of it, of course. 
I don't think the Rebellion would harm them, of course... In any case, I hope they’re okay.
The stronger your main force is, the fewer injured soldiers we see. That’s one reason I was hoping Zero would lend us his strength, I do hope he comes back someday.
Probably the work of Psyche... But no matter, nothing that I can’t take care of! I see... So if I try this line of code here, then... Mumble mumble mumble...
He smashes through encryption like there ain't no tomorrow! I've got to learn from Professor Gaudile while I can...
I warned you that there are enemies with all types of attributes in the Gimialla Mine! It's your own fault for not having a plan and equipping the right Force Metal to make it work! X, you're heading out on deployment, too, right? If you don't want to end up like this guy... You’d better equip plenty of the right stuff.At this point, the game will start mixing up enemy elements so you can't just gear for one and call it a day.
But I still got sent home with my tail between my legs... Yeah, I get the message... It was my fault. It just shows that no matter how much you strengthen your defense, you still have to use your head when you fight.
There should be Mechaniloids with lots of different attributes there to work the mines. That might make a catch—all defense hard to find. Be careful! You need to equip Force Metal to handle attributes. Thankfully, you have Cinnamon on your side. It would be prudent to have Cinnamon refine some anti-attribute Force Metal, wouldn't you think?Honestly, in situations like these I tend to just ignore defense and go all in on offense. I'd rather use a loadout that lets me kill things 100% of the time instead of a defense that works a third of the time.
I wonder what's going on with the Reploids who work the mines at Gimialla? I believe that the Rebellion is in charge of that area... A lot of materials still arrive from there... I bet there are still some Reploids in there.
Compared to when it first started out, it's really become quite a squad, wouldn’t you say? Thanks to all your help, the burden on the Resistance has really lightened. It feels like peace in Giga City is that much closer to becoming a reality.
Come out, come out, wherever you are!
If I find him I’m gonna... Well, I'm gonna do a lot of things!
Quick stop at the Sky Room to change up my bling.
Then, I'm sure you'll all make up soon enough! Zero is kind of intimidating, but he’s a good person... He's just scared, that's all. I'll try talking to Zero the next time I see him. I'll tell him we fight for the same cause — one for all and all for one! 
Music: Central Tower
Think about it! They're so big, and they can fly! It's so neat! I wonder what I have to do to become an Air Bus driver?
If that's true, the rumors in town make sense, because Zero is a mighty Class S Hunter. Of course he'd be strong! If Zero were on our side, the Rebellion would be a cinch. 
That red Reploid everybody’s talking about is named Zero. But it seems he’d hardly arrived before he lost his temper and rushed off! I wonder what Zero intends to do all by himself? 
The other chapters have vanished, so I ended up buying out this one.
The game doesn't even pretend that Zero will be gone for long, he already has a set of elemental weapons in the shop. On top of the usual upgrades, we have a Drill Arm for Cinnamon that has an added Armor debuff, a four shot Revolver Barrel for Axl, as well as the Mettaur Crash, which is the first type of weapon for Axl that deals bonus damage against a specified enemy type.
I honestly don't bother using them. With no way to swap weapons mid-fight (like, say, FFX's system), it being useful is entirely dependant on what fights show up for you.
The FM shop now has LE +300 for sale, as well as the full trio of elemental guards.
Oh, my... The future is grim indeed! Do you think there's a chance Zero will come back?
He probably wouldn't listen to me, though. But I can’t just leave him all alone... Oh, what should I do? I'm so very worried about Zero. He never should have left all alone.
Who? Where did he go? Won't he come back? Shoot! I really wanted to talk to Zero.
Well, don't brood about it. He’ll return eventually You are friends, after all. Think of it as an old man's intuition. l'm rarely wrong about these things.
The old series of figures got moved over here. My guess is that they split them to keep the menu from going off the top of the screen.
It’s truly amazing. Apparently they look exactly like the real things. But I wonder why the Resistance created figures in the first place? Maybe they use figures to simulate battles?
It’s almost like an addiction. Once I get into my collector’s mindset, I find myself tossing in token after token! I've been searching all over for tokens. You'd be surprised where you can find them. Why don’t you try searching, too?
It can deliver supplies to as high as the 1000th floor. It rises up from far below Central Tower. It's fully automatic, so you can just leave it alone and let it work. Pretty convenient, wouldn't you say?
How could I, when they have bounty hunters and thieves as members? I can kind of understand why Zero left them.
Let me help you look for it. I just hope it wasn't stolen! You just lost it? Don't worry, it can't be far! And you've got me to help you! Hah hah hah.
But it isn’t... There's no way I could have lost it.
It'll take more than the Rebellion Army to beat them! To be perfectly honest, they were a lot stronger than I expected. I figured Government Reploids wouldn't be worth their salt, but those Class 5 Hunters are something else. 
They've gone from fighting a defensive war to launching scattered counter-attacks against the Rebellion Army. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before the Resistance turns the tide!
I make a trip to the Secret Shops to buy this.
Before.
After!
That's over a 50% increase in Power in one go, on top of nearly doubling his Speed!
On our return, we get our first Hall of Fame 'loid! The game keeps track of how many you have at max level, but it doesn't ever unlock anything. The Hall of Fame is purely for show.
I then stand around for a bit to get this Generator. The Generator is a Sub Weapon with a simple, yet elegant, purpose:
It gives you 20 WE! It isn't affected by any form of WE Gain boosters, granted, but an extra 20% per turn is still a godsend. Between his two Gain WE +5s, Glint Armor, Iron Maiden, Energy Field, and now the Generator, Massimo has shot past 80% WE gain, letting him use Power Charged ATs every turn!
It also holds the sole difference between Trickstar and Stealth Mode. Generator fails to work on Trickstar and works just fine on Stealth Mode. That's it. What a baffling design choice.
Suffice to say, what you're seeing here is Massimo's loadout for pretty much the rest of the game, with a few Shock Lance-related exceptions.
Music: World of the Abyss
Since we got the Key, we might as well hit up Tianna.
Those security drones from way back when have vanished, letting me grab this Treasure Token in an alcove with no trouble.
On the way, we run into this little fellow. The Zennydropper is a bit of a Metal Slime. High evasion, high run chance. Every round, it'll double the zenny it drops, going from 200z to 6,400z. After 8 rounds, it has a 100% chance of fleeing. It would have been nice to run into one of these on our original trip here, but 6,400z is pocket change at this point.
Another token in one of the prison cells.
As a reminder, this door is just after those two rooms of prison cells, where we started figuring out that something was up with Massimo.
Off the bat, we have a token.
Plus a Radar Killer and Tank Parts.
Someone is in this locked area too! I wonder what they're selling?
Eek! Just who are you?! You caught a glance of my secret lesson, didn't you?! Why, I can't believe this! You dirty little eensy weensy...Arrgggh! Unforgivable! It's time for your punishment! Behold, the myriad magical moves of the wondrous Super Idol, Rafflesian!
Music: Cheerful Thief Marino
Who are you strangers!?
Okay, this surprise boss fight isn't so bad.
Well that doesn't sound good!
And that hurt! She even has regen!
On the plus side, we'll get two Tank Parts from this side trip!
We also have a bunch of new stuff to see. The Force Missiles and Force Tomahawks are upgraded versions of the Micro Missiles and Tomahawks, costing 25 WE each. The Turbo Clock is a Sub Weapon that speeds up the user's next turn for 20 WE, and Resist is a Force Metal that gives partial resistance to stat debuffs.
Massimo can at least match her damage with his new Interceptor.
I really don't like that turn preview.
Okay, Rafflesian has regen, so I should take down the adds and then focus her down, right?
Wait, what?
Ow.
Owwww.
Rafflesian why is your dress a micro-missle launcher?
Alright, I'm not winning this.
Just make it quick.
Okay, that went incredibly poorly.
Rafflesian here is a bonus boss. One you're clearly not supposed to fight just yet.
Rafflesian herself has 31K LE (compared to Jentra's 28K), but regens 25% every turn, meaning you can't just slowly wear her down like I've been doing to bosses until now. On top of that, every turn she gets until the seventh boosts her Power and Speed, which means she'll have more chances to regen on top of dealing that much more damage.
For moves, she'll always use a normal attack, Tera Thunder, or Riot (inflicts Berserk on party) on her first turn. If she's alone, she'll swap Tera Thunder for Ultra Giga Blizzard and add in Deep Impact to ignore Armor and Shield.
All of that is trivial, however, compared to her ace in the hole, Sunburst. Sunburst deals 10 nonelemental hits of 250 damage to the entire party. Even if someone gets lucky and blocks a hit or two, they're still taking 2000+ damage, which at this stage will kill anyone not named Massimo if I don't instantly go into Hyper Mode. The damage can be mitigated by Defending, which would drop it down to a much more managable 1,250. Except sitting around doing nothing means giving Rafflesian more turns to ramp up, which is the worst possible option in this fight.
The Belladonnas are a much smaller threat, but still a factor. Each has 20K LE to go through, but they still have the same 25% regen. And unlike Rafflesian, they get a boost every time they take damage, getting an increase in Power, Armor, and Shield. Also unlike Rafflesian, they have no limit on the number of boosts they can get.
Their moves consist of a normal attack, Electromagnetic Field (party Bind), Giga Blizzard, Ultra Giga Blizzard, Energy Capture, Fatal Attack, and their own unique attack, Bold Beam, which gets stronger the less LE they have. Bold Beam is used for every three hits they take.
All in all, to beat Rafflesian you have to do a combined 70,000 damage across all targets, not including any regen they get, while also dealing with status effects that play into their own strengths (Bind and Berserk both give Rafflesian more time to ramp up while you deal with it, plus Berserked party members can take a swing at a Belladonna to give them a boost), as well as their own sky high damage.
You can tell at a glance that the developers intended you to get the Tianna Key, get stomped by Rafflesian, then periodically throw yourself at her as you get stronger until you've gained enough bulk and gear to go toe to toe with her. The official Bradygames guide even recommends fighting her a bit before Epsilon himself.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm listing all this off right now. After all, I clearly can't beat her yet, so why not just add her to the to-do list and come back later?
Because, as the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Next time:
