Part 14: Update XIV - You found a rare Metal! With it, you can make a new Chip!

Update XIV - You found a rare Metal! With it, you can make a new Chip!

Video: Chapter 5 Objective
Music: Hunter Base


The reception should be improved.

Patch me through, Nana.

You've got it. You're connected. Go ahead. X.

Colonel! Colonel Redips! Do you read?



This is the first time we've seen Redips since early Chapter 2!

Yes. sir. And I’m not alone. We’re building an anti-Rebellion force.

Perfect. We have good news on this side, as well. We've picked up a signal at Point A6 on Giga City.

Zero! Zero's alive!?

...momentary... contact... Zero... A6...

The subtitles start to cut out, but you can clearly hear him say, 'We've made momentary contact with Zero at Point A6'.

Point A6?! Colonel? Colonel! Nana, get us some info on Point A6.

Corning right up.

What is it?

Spider, where have you been?!

I've been... around. What's up?

Listen, everyone! Zero might...



Another Maverick Hunter? Excellent. We need all the help we can get.

Okay, so where is he?

Displaying Point A6 on the monitor now.



Let’s move out!



As always, I check on my deployments first thing.



Oh hello.



I follow the trend and send groups to Central and Tianna to see if keys turn up there as well.



In my bounty-hunting days he would've been prime game, but now I'd prefer he join up with us.

Since that key gives us places to be, time to rush through this chapter's NPC chat.



bed, for example. If you can overlook the bad attitude, it does a great job of repairing LE and Sub Tanks! With facilities like these, we can really show our stuff! Ah... The facilities are all very well, but I'm still opposed to war. But Cinnamon made a brave decision, and I must support her.



I'll try my very best! Please let me accompany you! If you get damaged, leave it to me!



Trust me Cinnamon, you don't have to convince me.

Cinnamon, as you might expect from her design, is firmly locked into a support role. Right off the bat, she starts at level 1 just like Massimo. Unlike Massimo, however, she has three FM slots and an initial 20 Immunity, which will skyrocket once she catches up to the rest of the party. She's also the only party member with default resistances, halving all elemental damage without needing any FMs to boost it, which helps balance out her own incredibly low LE count (X had about double Cinnamon's LE at level 1, for comparison). She also has the worst initial WE of anyone with a piddly 10 WE, making her need a decent chunk of Force Metal if she wants to use her AT turn 1. Offense-wise, she'll never be a powerhouse, and most of her weapons double down on that by having secondary effects.

She also comes with the exclusive Sub Weapon Energy Field, which costs 20 WE and boosts the other two party member's WE gain by 10 until her next turn. This is exactly as powerful as it sounds.



Obtaining Cinnamon also unlocks the FMG menu, Command Mission's version of crafting. In battle, we now gain Force Metal Energy (FME) alongside zenny and EXP, and we can spend that alongside other items to make a new FM. Stronger FMs also have a higher level requirement for Cinnamon before she can make it.

Grayed out items either need a requirement to unlock the recipe (Gain WE +5 needs 10 hours of playtime to unlock the recipe, for example) or just lack the items/level needed to make it. Blue question marks indicate a recipe we have unlocked, but cannot make plus we haven't seen the FM it makes yet. Not seen are red question marks, which show an unknown FM that we are able to make.



Cinnamon being level 1, our choices are heavily limited, so I make a simple Shield +1 to show it off.



Here!



We're lucky to have found so many friends. I hope we can find Zero, too.

Anyways, back to words.



But I do owe you one, and you saved Cinnamon... I'll agree to help you out. At least until I can repay you. Well, the Rebellion can add the thief Marino to their list of enemies... Let's just hurry up and get this show on the road so we can whoop some Rebellion booty. That way I can get back to the good life of a laid-back thief!

Music: Recapture Hope


If we don't get it fixed, we can't heal people, you know?



Keeping these things operable at all times is a very, very important job! X, you please use the one in the Hunter Base, okay? This one is being customized for Resistance troops, so you can't use it.



And he is incredibly powerful! If our squad had engaged him, we would’ve been wiped out for sure. But he didn't show interest in us, and just waltzed off. That red Reploid is only interested in the Rebellion... I wonder if he'd be interested in cooperating with us?

As always, the obligatory foreshadowing of who we'll find next.



But it's not clear whether he threatens the safety of the city or not. We're still observing the situation.



It's really helped to speed up my work. I was almost ready to give up, but now I think I can do it!



I owe Cinnamon so much for all her help. Nothing I could say would express my appreciation. I'll have to think of some way to show her my appreciation sometime soon. Oh, by the way! You should prepare for Fire-attribute attacks in the Ulfat Factory.



The other day, I had Cinnamon make me some Force Metal! She heals Reploids. She makes Force Metal. Is there anything Cinnamon can't do? There’s a device called a Force Metal Generator built into Cinnamon. You can use the generator to refine Force Metal. There's lots of magma in the Ulfat Factory, and many of the Mechaniloids are designed for it. Maybe you should think about having Cinnamon refine you some Fire-attribute Force Metal?



I've gotta fix my wound and get back out there!



I'm not as skilled as Cinnamon, but I'll heal him just as well as I can! Leave the healing of the Resistance fighters to us Nurse Reploids!

Hmm, I get the feeling I should make some Fire-attribute Force Metal to deal with Fire-attribute attacks. No idea why though.



fallen. Do you think everybody's learning to use weapons more efficiently? If you ask me, we have you and your friends to thank for this.





There's no way outta this one... They're gonna realize what I was up to for sure! Hey, you! Lend me a hand, will ya?!



Now I must be enough of a man for you, right? Not to brag, but I've never heard of a guy getting promoted this fast.



The other day I became Leader of the Ambush Squad... Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.





Music: Central Tower


That huge body, packed with Reploids, soaring through the air. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is! Thanks to Air Buses, New Hope has become very convenient. And then there's me... The Air Bus engineer! Pretty cool, or what?



A red Reploid mowing down Rebellion troops! And let me tell you, it was amazing! The red Reploid makes a move... And before I knew what had happened, troops were dropping like flies! It was just about the coolest thing I've ever seen... I wish you could’ve seen it. That performance by the red Reploid!



We all know that no such Reploid could possibly exist. Don't you agree? I can spot a lie when I see one. He’s just making up stories to make me interested in him. But if there's one thing I can’t stand, it's being lied to.



He was super-strong, and really nice! What? What kind of Reploid was it? He was red with long hair!



Tokens sorta explode at this point, which makes it easier to keep up with figure series.



A new set of gear is in the shop. On top of the usual straight upgrades for X and Spider, we also have a Crash Hammer for Massimo that deals more damage on a critical hit but reduces accuracy by a bit, a Metal Boxer for Cinnamon that boosts her crit rate and evasion, and a Beam Chakram for Marino that hits three times over her Beam Knife's two.

Marino's weapons run a wide range of attack types. She's the only character in the game that has both C and S-type weapons!

In total, I get a King of Clubs, a Crash Hammer, a Beam Chakram, and the X Buster Mk II. Cinnamon is going to be sitting out for the next dungeon until she can gain some levels, so she can stick to her default weapon.



Backups have been added to the item shop. This is pretty much the last major update they'll get for the rest of the game.



The FM shop has added Fire Guards to their stock. I grab 5 of them plus even more Gain WE +5.



And you wanna know what else? I wanna be a strong, brave Reploid like you! I'll never give up on my dream of becoming a Maverick Hunter! Never!



When will the legendary hero show up to topple the Rebellion?



Could you please get his autograph for me? It would be very special to me! Someday I hope that I can meet Zero in person. But perhaps I'd faint from the excitement.



X, do you need something? I'm in the middle of a secret transmission, so could you leave me alone, please? Yeah. I don't want him to overhear this conversation. Let’s discuss it later. Yeah. That's right. Got it?



But I heard she has a Force Metal Generator inside of her. And so I was kind of wondering... Just what is a Force Metal Generator?



They say he promised to cooperate with the Resistance. Speaking of Professor Gaudile, did you know he was a famous researcher? If he teams up with the Resistance, there’ll be no stopping them!



All you need is FME and materials and you don't have buy Force Metal. Old Force Metal can be used as material, so you should keep it handy rather than selling it. To use the Force Metal Generator, you need an energy called FME. Although they still haven't discovered why, you can gain FME during battle.



Well, you’re absolutely right! It can refine any Force Metal found in Giga City. However... You’ll need materials to refine Force Metal. Professor Gaudile calls the list of materials needed to refine a Force Metal a ”recipe". Recipes are revealed one by one as you satisfy certain conditions. Some of the conditions are very tough, but these unlock the recipes for top quality Force Metals.



It’s all so I can be nursed by Cinnamon! This much is nothing!! For Cinnamon! For Cinnamon! Take it to the limit!!



I can tell that you're one of those chicks who looks harsh on the outside, but has a real soft center. So, how about showing us your nice side and lighten our training regimen a bit? What? 200 push-ups, for me only?! Noooo! Please. nooo!!



At this rate, my body'll break before I become strong! Whoa! There's more? For crying out loud!



It ain't gonna be no picnic, because you'll be training to become the backbone of our forces! I’m gonna squeeze some fighting spirit out of you, so get ready!

Normally, I'd end the update around here with the usual teleporter gif.



But we did get that key, so that'll be our next stop.



Music: Place of Oblivion


Right off the bat, there's a Treasure Token next to the teleporter.



If you don't recall, the locked door was right here, by the save point before Hippopressor's boss room.

Before we head there, I want to grab the tokens in this place.



There's one in Epsilon's room.



Another near the other pod room.



And one more in the very first hallway.



While I'm here, I might as well cover Cinnamon, since she'll be on the bench for the next dungeon.



Bit hard to tell, but you can see everyone's WE previews have increased thanks to Energy Field. It lasts until Cinnamon's next turn.



Her basic attack animation is just her slapping the shit out of an enemy.





Transform!



Her Hyper Mode, Iron Maiden, has a base duration of 4 turns, gives her +50% LE, +25% Power, and, doubling down on her nature as a supporter, gives everyone +25% WE Gain.

This is, to be quite honest, kinda insane. As I said before, WE is the god stat here, and being able to give other people even more WE on top of their own boosters makes it even easier to bulldoze enemies. It even affects Energy Field's own 10%, rounding up to 13%!



Please...

Cinnamon's Action Trigger, Angelic Aide, requires you to spin the C stick (or right analog stick on PS2) to fill up hearts.



At this point, she's capped at 4 hearts. What do these hearts do?



Heal the party by 10% LE per heart, that's what! Much like Massimo, Angelic Aide is an upgradable AT. I've seen conflicting reports on what it needs, it either upgrades based on Cinnamon's level, how many fights she's been in, or just general playtime. Either way, you can clearly see 10 spaces for hearts, meaning this will eventually become a full heal.

Cinnamon is, quite simply, broken as all fuck.

Think of all the limiting factors we've seen so far. Cinnamon can't deal damage, but she lets you easily ignore all them.

Increasing WE Gain eats up precious FM slots and costs a ton of Erosion to fit. Right now, the best we can do is +10 WE Gain by using two slots and 20 Erosion. Cinnamon can use Energy Field, Iron Maiden, and Iron Maiden boosting Energy Field to give everyone at least an extra 20% WE per turn! And all this gets boosted even further with their own Gain WEs and Hyper Modes!

All healing up to this point needed Sub Tanks, which forced you to ration out heals to make your Tank Energy last through a dungeon. Cinnamon can bust out close to a 50% heal every two turns for free. ATs delaying turns also benefits her, as it gives her more time in Iron Maiden and everyone else more turns under Energy Field!

Cinnamon doesn't need to deal damage, she makes everyone unkillable and makes the others deal damage for her.



Back to our original goal.



The key is already paying off.





Tank Parts, a Figure Token, a Treasure Token, and a Deerball just lying around.



Plus one last Figure Token at the top of the stairs.



In the next room, we find the three shopkeeper girls we saw way back in Chapter 2.



These are the Secret Shops, and they have the good shit.



The Secret Force Metal Shop packs a bunch of new FMs. We've already seen Eagle Eye, but we haven't seen Assassin Mind, which boosts crit rate, and Light as a Feather, which is a generic version of Marino's Fat Slicer that increases evasion by 7%.

This shop also introduces the Neutralizer series, which trades off an FM slot for a 10%/20%/30% Erosion decrease. They aren't that useful right now, as the heaviest FM we have is Gain WE +5 and its 10 Erosion, but they'll become more useful as time goes on and we get FMs with higher Erosion.





The Secret Weapon Shop is filled with a bunch of extremely powerful, extremely expensive gear, all with a bonus effect on top.

X's Turbo Buster costs the most of the bunch, but that added effect lets him choose between holding on to his WE for single target damage or using it on Charge Shot to deal with a group.

Zero's Soul Saber is the cheapest option, but has an added effect that boosts damage if his LE is under 25%. Considering we just got a permanent party heal fountain in Cinnamon, this bonus will almost never come into play.

Massimo's Interceptor is something I'll be beelining for. It has a small chance to cancel the targeted enemy's next turn on hit, but that isn't the important thing. The important thing is the Interceptor's whopping 93 Power, making it the strongest weapon Massimo can buy, and his second strongest weapon in the game! While it can't boost itself off a weakness like the Shock Lance, the sheer power it has makes it a better overall choice.

Marino's Vengeful Needles has 0 Power, but takes a page from Battle Network's Muramasa and has it deal damage equal to what she's already taken. It has a bit more use than Zero's Soul Saber, as she can use Quicksilver at low HP to safely tear through an enemy before a heal can be used.

Cinnamon's Kitty Gloves deals 5 hits and has a chance of debuffing all stats, which can give you a good edge if it lands. Interestingly, the Kitty Gloves have one of the only balance changes between the English and Japanese releases. In the original Japanese version the Kitty Gloves had 66 Power, which, when combined with aforementioned five hits, makes her a damage goddess on top of everything else! This version drops it down to a much more reasonable 16 Power.

The Auto Bullets are for someone we have yet to meet, how mysterious. Who on Earth could use this gun sounding weapon name?

...Axl. Axl is the last party member we'll be meeting. I can't even be coy about it, the kid's on the front of the box and everything.

Anyways, the Auto Bullets works as his version of X's Gatling Buster. 8 shots, -30% accuracy, 30 Power over the Gatling Buster's 15. I guess you could pair it with Hawkeye to completely invalidate the accuracy penalty, but they're sorta an weapon considering it has the second highest cost here.



For Sub Weapons, we have counterparts to Get Zenny + in Get EXP + and Get FME +, copies of Energy Field, the Super Absorber, which costs 25% WE and acts as a combined Shot Absorber and Combat Absorber, and the Vitality Missiles, which costs 30% WE and launches two missiles that deal 10% of the user's LE in damage.



I wonder if these three have any relation to Cinnamon? They all have the same basic design with a headdress looking bit and a heart with a round piece on one side on the chest, plus they're all named after spices.



The Secret Item Shop has nothing we haven't seen before (the one item below the list are Backups), but finally having an easy source of Ultra and Boost items is a god send. I buy several Ultra Blizzards, Boost Powers, and Boost Speeds.



Suffice to say, I'll be coming back here often.



The main problem with hitting up the Secret Shops is that the save points here don't have the ability to directly return to base for some reason, forcing me to trek back and forth from the rooftop every time.



Dealing with effortless random encounters on the way.







This actually took so long that our deployments returned! Good Luck has 7 Erosion and boosts all drop rates by 3%. This doesn't seem like much, but when Build items have single digit drop rates it makes a noticable difference.



The Infinite Resist, meanwhile, gives the user complete immunity to stat debuffs. This might sound good, but enemies that use debuffs are few and far between, and the FM itself has a whopping 25 Erosion, the highest we've seen to date.









Time to go catch up with an old friend.



Next time: