Part 87: Victors Hollow

Music: Victors Hollow, Jewel of the Forest



Today is the last of the Chapter 2 towns, Victors Hollow. As I said before, this slowly became my favorite of the town themes, and it's a pretty cool place besides.



Most know this place for our lauded arena. Please be sure to watch a match while you're here.



As we saw in Olberic's Chapter 2, this town is most famous for its arena and its combat tournaments, though a couple NPCs also note this is a popular town for commerce, mainly because this is where Tressa's Chapter 3 takes place.



Also this guy is nuts.



He has a large mole on the back of his hand. If you see such a man, please tell him to come home.



Another side story down the line. Heck, I've still got a few from Chapter 1 to go through! I'll finish most if not all of these in Chapter 3.



I keep on hoping that someone'll recognize me one day and be able to tell me who I am... Surely someone must have known me, aye?



Honestly I can't keep track of all these amnesiacs.

He is a 7-strength character that can boost the party's PhysAtk and ElemAtk, so he's a solid Summon body.



I've heard that a frightening monster resides there. Are you certain you wish to go?



This is where we'll tackle Tressa's Chapter 3 dungeon.



We don't have much, but we get by somehow. You might not believe it, but some kind soul's been leaving us donations. It's as if the gods themselves are looking out for us.



This runs into, surprise, a side story I will show off later.





Anyway we beat up the woman caring for orphans.





Though she's no slouch in combat, that's for sure.





At least these orphans are in good hands, even if we did just beat up their mother...



...and rob their coin.

...Jeez.





So many merchants who want what's best for their customers, rather than trying to make as much profit as possible.

That's how you really know it's a fantasy game !!



But man, this merchant is a good one. In addition to an Inferno Amulet which significantly reduces fire damage, the Robe of the Flame has by far the best ElemDef in the game and a nice SP boost beyond that. It's a lot easier to deal with physical attacks than magical, and buying this is a matter of "when", not "if".

In general, it feels like the game overvalues the importance of PhysDef considering how many pieces only boost that, but between Cover, Incite, Sidestep, Mercenary Hired Help, and Olberic's Defense Boost there are many ways to handle them. Meanwhile, magical attacks really only get a single-target reflect spell, and ElemDef is used for healing skills, so between the two I value ElemDef much higher than PhysDef.

For now, though, that Robe is a bit too rich for me. I'll definitely buy it later in the game (or possibly steal it).



...Beg your pardon. I was in the midst of training. Mont d'Or, lancer extraordinaire, at your service.





That's a really great polearm, but the problem with buying weapons is you get one of six different types, and they're spread out between multiple characters, while armor you only have to worry about four slots, so it's much easier (in my mind at least) to justify spending on something that has a bigger effect than a spear which may not even get much use compared to the bow or sword (the Warrior's spear skills aren't really about using the spear's power compared to the sword's, for instance).

But then again I'm a cheap-ass and that probably explains why I feel my weapons are under-par. Still, if I'm going to blow big money on a weapon I'd do it on a sword, axe, or a weapon with huge ElemAtk since those matter most for pure damage numbers.



The Woodlands' second-tier dungeon is right inside Victors Hollow, and it's a very high-level dungeon to boot. Suffice to say we won't be exploring it any time soon.







Speaking of weapons that aren't very important, even the bow's signature attack, True Strike, deals less damage than Cross Strike or Amputation. It really feels like bows and polearms are mainly important for breaking those weaknesses due to their multi-hit attacks, and is another reason Hunter feels underwhelming next to Warrior since they don't really have much beyond wrecking bow weaknesses and Leghold Trap.

Of course, the main draw of this bow is its decent ElemAtk, but it doesn't really wow me that much.





This guy's only weak to elemental attacks, so I go with Thief Olberic to take advantage of his Fire weakness and then recover HP with HP Thief.





This guy's got a few good Concoct ingredients.



Just gonna keep breaking into homes and stealing their coin, yep.



Menfolk and womenfolk both are goin' missin' over by yonder Forest of No Return. Hence the name, ye see. 'Tis a grim business, friend, so tread warily in those parts.



There's no returning from the Forest of No Return, I guess.





I love Hilda the Clown.





I don't love Hilda the Clown's fascination with daggers.





Johnny the Potboy...



But seriously Potboy is no joke, he can inflict Confusion with his powers of pot.



Name's Estadas. I'm a local swordsman, an' I'm waitin' 'ere for my fight.





This is fine, but not quite good enough a deal for me to buy. I really am a cheap-ass...





I AM THE DECEIVER, I AM HERE TO DECEIVE YOU BY BEING UPFRONT ABOUT MY INTENTIONS



I'm complaining a lot, but there really are a lot of solid weapons available here, including this axe.







The blind proc is kinda nifty.



The trade in this town is bustling and worth a look.





That Magus Knife would be great for Primrose. That Golden Hairpiece is a nice buy with its ElemDef and SP boost.



I, uh, admire the enthusiasm in that line...







This town really is swimming in solid weaponry. That Fur Cap is really nice too with both defenses in the 90's, though not nice enough for me to blow that much money on it.





Finally, there's this guy...



...and we're done here.



We're changing things up in Chapter 3, as we'll be starting with Alfyn! But for now, I'm going to finish off Chapter 2 with a trio of side stories. Until next time!