Part 111: 01/24/10 - 01/26/10: Monad The Absolute One
Well, this is it. Our last week before Nyx makes her appearance at long last. Sunday's a pretty simple day all told. Fortunately, Persona 3 being weird means we got to make it a little more interesting at least.
Memories of the City
Why is it that even though we're not doing anything exciting. I don't feel bored...?> Mitsuru seems fidgety.
......> Mitsuru seems agitated.
Makoto...
Did you say my first name? Yes... I wanted to hear how it would sound.
> You decided to go back to the dorm.
As small and otherwise filler-y as that scene is, it's still more than we'd get otherwise.
No one in the dorm has anything new to say, regardless of the time of day. Even Phoenix Ranger Featherman R is truly ending next week now! And we missed the entire season, goddammit.
Anyway, before we go to bed, at level 72 we can make the Judgement Persona Michael. Michael's pretty decent overall, but he's best used as Weapon Fusion fodder. He makes the penultimate one-handed sword, even! 450 attack ties the Deus Xiphos (a Xiphos is a type of Greek shortsword that was used as a seconday weapon after stuff like javelins) with every single ultimate weapon so that's a good start. +10 Magic is phenomenal too! The only reason this isn't Mitsuru's best weapon is the accuracy and added effect.
Yes, her best weapon has an effect that is better than +10 Magic. We'll cover ultimate weapons later on, don't worry.
But that's it for today. Now we have Monday which pays off something that kept getting mentioned last time.
Memories of the School
Gossiping Student: If the Apathy Syndrome is becoming widespread, maybe that's a good thing...
Listening Student: Yeah, I'm always hearing people talk about it on TV. I thought it was a cult at first, but maybe it isn't...
Gossiping Student: I mean, if the whole world believes in it, I'd feel pretty stupid to be the only one denying it.
> The first bell has rung.
Silence
That this scene happens After School really made me worry that today's entire afternoon slot would be eaten by it. I spent this scene rescheduling stuff for if it came to that...
I don't have much to say, though. In the end, it's your decision. Alright, first question... Are you planning on going to college after you graduate, or entering the workforce?
Go to college. ...I see. Well, if you've given serious thought to your decision, then I believe that is what you should do.
"I chooseth this fate of mine own free will" applies to more than just magical contracts with a being that resides within the Collective Unconscious of mankind, apparently.
If someone else makes it for you, you'll regret it later. And then you'll have to live with the consequences, whatever they may be. But, to be honest, I'm quite confident in you. You've really matured over this last year. Knowing what we know about Toriumi, this comes off as more creepy than it was undoubtedly intended.
I'm sure you're aware of it as well. ...What do you think has helped to bring about this change the most? Meeting people. ...I see. Well, whatever the reason, you should be proud of the young man you've become. 
Let's see, uh... who's next? ...Ah, Aigis-san. Would you mind letting her know? Mistic
Something on your mind?
...? I'm sorry I went off on my own... It's nothing, really. I just needed some time to think...> ...She seems to have something important to talk about.
When I fought Ryoji... 
I got really scared when my consciousness began to fade. But, that wasn't all... 
But, I couldn't defeat him ten years ago either, and I didn't have those feelings then... I... I really have changed... Yes, you have. Don't worry about it. I've been thinking a lot about this change that's occurred in me. You know, in the past if I didn't understand something, I would just ask someone to explain it to me. 
However, there is one thing I've come to understand. The reason why I wanted to be close to you was so I could monitor "Death"... But... What is it? Even though "Death" is gone now, I... 
I still don't know what it means to "live" yet. 
But, I want to learn the answer. And I think I can, if I'm with you... So, please! Please take me with you! I may not be strong enough... but I'll fight with you to the end! Please... Alright. ......! 
> ...You suddenly remembered that Ms. Toriumi is waiting to meet with Aigis.
> You leave the rooftop with Aigis.
Memories of the School
oh thank God
Okay, so, Monday is a bit of a dud day. See, normally Aigis would be unavailable anyway but her schedule changes during this last week so she's available every school day.
Except today. Because she's talking to Toriumi. Well, shit. To compound that, Mitsuru is unavailable because she's never available on Mondays.
...and she totally rejected me! She said she didn't like me! Dammit! I can't believe this... SHE was the one following ME around! Ugh... I feel like I got my heart torn out of my chest...stop being creepy no really stop it
They say love is blind, but... There's no way I could ever date a guy like THAT.So what CAN we do today? Fortunately, I took today being a deadspot into account with my brilliant planning foresight! As you might recall, Aigis needs 1 point to rank up but her scene gave 0...
So today we can use the shrine to fix this issue rather than waste a day doing a non-scene. It's just as efficient but works best on days like today!
Living With Determination -Iwatodai Dorm-
If we don't win, there won't be another. We'll be fine.
Aigis...? We'll win. ...We have no other choice.
You're right, Aigis... We have to win.Well, unless somehow Nyx isn't the end, today IS our last Monday. Kinda hard to believe, really.
Even though our tracks are set to fighting Nyx, we'll have to choose which tracks to take after that.
If there's something you want to do in the future, then you have a reason to defeat Nyx, right? That's right. I haven't really thought about my future because I'm so young... But, I think this is a good opportunity for me to do so right now.
How can he make jokes at this time? 
I mean, the least he could do is make them funny...
Anything can seem like a big deal if you think it's the last time you'll be doing it... Isn't that a dreary thought? Yes, it is. When I think about it like that, I really want to save this world.
This will be the last battle. There won't be any second chances. You won't be able to obtain any additional items or equipment, once it begins. So spend your time wisely until then.That's not strictly true. There's plenty of stuff within Tartarus we can get for free anytime once we're inside...
...the mission my creator gave me, to destroy all Shadows. But another mission has just begun. My mission to live in this world... I know I can do it, with help from all of you.
> Koromaru seems confused.
I'm going to live, too. I want to be with everyone. That's what he's saying. Don't worry, Koromaru-san. We'll be together forever. Well, maybe not forever, but it's too early for our lives to end now.
Arf!
If I thought that this might be the last one, I'd get all emotional about it. What about you? Pfff! No way! You're a jerk! We won't be able to defeat Nyx if you keep acting like that.Man, Junpei is boring and being unfun today. I see what Yukari meant now.
What a sour end to the day. Tuesday on the other hand... Tuesday's gonna be a long one. For me moreso than you, don't worry.
First, we're gonna pick up the Deus Xiphos while we can. We did make it to give a much needed extra oomph after all.
Then we'll spend the afternoon with Mitsuru. Not super important, but there's only 3 days left to do this so...
Joy
Our maid staff helped me move here... so that's why it looks like this. It reminds you of a lounge, doesn't it? *laugh* That's what Yukari always says...> Mitsuru is smiling.
> ...The hours flew by as you talked with Mitsuru.
Here...> You received something from Mitsuru.
It's the key to my motorcycle... I'm not going to run from the future anymore. ...There's no need for me to. I don't have to think of my motorcycle as a means to escape from my feelings. I feel bad that I haven't ridden it in a such a long time, though...
But, you'll have to sit on the back until you get your license. When we're done fighting, I'll teach you how to operate it... ...I can't wait until then. I'll sit on the back. Y-You will? ......
> Mitsuru said something in a quiet voice.
...... Makoto... It still sounds a little awkward... But, when we're alone, no one else can hear me. ...Your name is special to me.
...... ...... Um... Makoto...
...... C-Can you stay with me...?> Mitsuru cares for you.
The Path is Open
> A mysterious voice rings in your head...
Joy
Alilat is... she's level 84. She's pretty important, not-so-much for her being good in a vacuum (she kinda sucks mostly), but she does learn all 3 Phys repel skills. Yes. She naturally resists all 3 naturally, but will repel Slash and Strike after fusion. Pierce requires getting to level 90, so good luck with that. That's also when she gives up a Heart Item for good measure.
Living With Determination -Iwatodai Dorm-
Newscaster: According to the village legend, eggs like these are signs of extreme misfortune. The villagers are becoming terrified that a catastrophe is about to happen.
Not much in the dorm today, so we'll be going and doing the needful here.
By which I mean we're going to clear out the entire rest of Tartarus.
Gonna be taking these three during the climb, just to make random encounters go by quicker.
Persona
There's... there's two new Shadows now. That's it. Okay, and there's one other that was pretty rare before but more common here so we'll include that too. 2 and a half.
Before any of 'em turn up, let's grab some new armor for Koromaru why not? It's moon themed, even!
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
So, the Emperor Beetle is the one that could have turned up before but just... didn't. That's fine. It's weird that it's weak to Strike but the only skills it uses are Ziodyne and Akasha Arts.
Minotaur I is the first of the two new boys around here. He's not that complicated, really. Weak to Fire but has the Evade to be annoying as all get out... except whoops he's also weak to Curse. Never mind, then! 1230HP sounds like a lot, but whe he dies instantly it doesn't matter.
Lastly, we have the Noble Seeker returning after its demotion to random encounter. Repelling three elements is annoying, but they're now weak to Wind so it's almost irrelevant.
Persona
That's it for new Shadows. There's nothing new at all to see in Adamah as far as fights go. So, on floor 248, Fuuka manages to find the next boss. At least she's consistent about being four floors away? This one doesn't trigger a rank up, by the way.
This spear... this spear is important. Not because its super-good or anything. No, the Yanyue Dao is mostly a downgrade from the one we made by shoving Uriel into an empty one.
But it's what we're gonna be using in the boss fight. Makoto was using the Deus Xiphos to benefit from its +10 Magic but the Xiphos is completely and utterly useless in the next fight.
The Yanyue Dao has a very important additional effect. See, it's not common but there is a subset of added effects that exist that have two tiers. They can do roughly double or, in this case, triple damage to every enemy of a specific Arcana. Only applies to basic attacks, but that's good enough here.
Hanged Man Jotun of Grief (Portable)
So, this fight. This fight is a gigantic gimmick that either you know and you can win pretty easily or you don't know about it and you get dragged into an almost unwinnable fight that goes on forever.
The Jotun of Grief is a big meaty boy with 4000HP and 500SP. His offense is very, very limited. For most of the fight the only attack he does is Primal Force.
We're gonna be using Seiten Teisei for this fight. We've had him a while and I keep forgetting that we have Son Wukong here. Goku is my choice for this one because he's immune to Pierce.
So Primal Force continues to not threaten us. That's fine.
His basic attack is Strike elemental, and he uses it sometimes, but not often.
When the Jotun gets to sub-1000 HP, he drops most of the stuff that makes this fight potentially interesting. Instead, he just spams Megidolaon until either you heal him, he dies, you die or he casts it 6 times. Then he can't any more. Oops.
If/when it does hit, it sorta hurts but it's very survivable and tankable. Not that big a deal, really.
He can also cast all 3 MT debuffs, which is something I guess.
that 823 is the damage we do with a power charged basic attack yes really
The Jotun's gimmick comes in two parts. He'll sometimes cast Stagnant Air which I can best descibe as mildly inconvenient. It just ups the proc rate of ailments across the board.
If you come into this fight with someone using a non-Pierce weapon, like say... a bat with nails in it...
Then he remembers to capitalise on Stagnant Air and cast Infuriate. The reasons for this is pretty simple, really.
See, the Jotun drains every element except Pierce. Yes.
Well, no, not Almighty obviously, but that's Almighty. That's kinda the point of Almighty. Anyway, yeah, the Jotun's sort of a rude jerk like that.
So, that's the final Tartarus boss. The Jotun of Grief, with its simple 4000HP, 500SP, draining every element bar Pierce, and 57 Strength, 68 Magic, 48 Endurance, 39 Agility and.... 16 Luck.
End Persona
Pretty sure that should be a plural there, Fuuka. Just sayin'.
Anyway, yeah, all bosses beaten brings us nicely up to rank 9.
Before we do anything else, we gotta grab our requisite Soma. Like with the Balance, the second case is in a different hallway and this one has...
A second Soma. Neat! Still haven't used a single one of these, but that's to be expected really.
Anyway, we'll just quickly run up to floor 254 where there's... a barrier...? Huh.
...I sense an area with no outer walls. That's probably what Ryoji-kun was talking about... The way to the promised place... That's where we're supposed to go on January 31st. We've made it this far... I have faith in you! Considering how strong you are, I know you can succeed. Let's win this battle! The Path is Open
Persona
Getting to floor 254 maxes the Judgement link, and brings with it Makoto's ultimate Persona: Messiah. He's the highest levelled Persona at level 90, so don't expect to see him much. Messiah is very simple and straight forward; pretty okay and decent on his own which he sorta needs to be. He's a unique normal fusion that is made with Orpheus and Thanatos. Yikes.
So, yeah, we're done with Tartarus now.
WELL NEARLY. Just gonna beat up the Reaper right quick. Can't be arsed to do it normally, so I'll just have Odin lock him down.
Not for any particular reason; it's just quicker. See, now that we've made it to the 254th floor, we've hit one of two requirements to unlock something special. Getting the Bloody Button is required for the other.
Blues of the Soul
So, you've defeated The Reaper, have you? Most impressive. You are approaching the level of strength I hoped you'd achieve. I have waited so very long, in this room where time has no meaning. You may be the one to help me answer the question that has confounded me... Please accept your reward.
5 million yen is a very straight forward reward. It's not too bad, since it's half of the max you can carry on its own.
But back in the entrance hall, something seems a bit different.
tartarus_0d01
Beyond the door lies a minor palette swapped version of Thebel. Monad here breaks from the Kabbalistic naming scheme of the rest of Tartarus' blocks. Monad could be referring to a lot of things, but it's most likely the Gnosticism version as the most primal and absolute version of God.
Here? Here it's a post-game block.
Yes, post-game. Out of the two ways to unlock Monad, getting to floor 254F and completing the Bloody Button request is what we've gone for. The alternative is to be in New Game+, wherein it's just unlocked automatically.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
So, Monad has 12 new Shadows. The Grand Magus here is the lowest-levelled Shadow and he's still level 88.
...Needless to say, that means this area is really good for levelling up quickly if you want to.
Anyway, the Grand Magus itself seems pretty potently lethal on its own merits. Repels 3 elements, Nulls Strike but is weak to Fire and uses Fire spells.
Also Mind Charge and Megidolaon. Entering Monad at a level like we are?
Mind Charge is superfluous; Megidolaon will wipe out everyone instantly if it gets cast. And, no, we can't one-shot these guys.
For fun reference, the Grand Magus has 42 Strength, 85 Magic, 51 Endurance, 52 Agility and 41 Luck.
This is going to be a pretty recurring trend. Vehement Idol is unfortunate enough to be weak to Expel, so we can take advantage of that to beat them on the spot.
They have 52 Strength, 83 Magic, 45 Endurance, 44 Agility, 50 Luck.
Divine Mother is also susceptible to instant death, unfortunately for her. She's one of the least dangerous Shadows here anyway, so that really defangs her wholesale.
To really drive home how weak she is, she has 61 Strength, 67 Magic, 53 Endurance, 46 Agility and 50 Luck.
King Castle turns up next being plenty powerful and having a straightforward elemental weakness. Since it's not instant death, they'll likely get a turn or two. That's definitely not ideal. Could always just chain Knock Downs to prevent them from getting turns they can use at least.
71 Strength, 69 Magic, 81 Endurance, 27 Agility and 32 Luck for the King.
White Sigil is a bit of a middle-ground to most of the above. Since he's neutral to Curse, attempting Die For Me! isn't quite as foolish. That they're weak to Fire gives us something to use to lock them down with.
56 Strength, 88 Magic, 59 Endurance, 31 Agility and 49 Luck.
Amorous Snake is... it's a good thing it's weak to Curse. Re Patra is a weird choice for a skill, but between Sexy Dance and Mediarahan, trying a direct fight seems very foolish.
60 Strength, 71 Magic, 49 Endurance, 47 Agility and 59 Luck
Hallowed Turret comes up next and it's very simple and straight forward. And it is really good at it. If you're not immune to Pierce, you're pretty fucked because...
95 Strength, 26 Magic, 94 Endurance, 30 Agility and 44 Luck. Yikes.
Tenjin Musha's a pain in the arse. It Evades all Phys elements and it's already pretty dodgy without that. Vorpal Blade and Myriad Arrows are already pretty potent and strong, but hey lookit that they have Matarukaja AND Power Charge. Stealing our tactics.
98 Strength, 37 Magic, 62 Endurance, 63 Agility and 32 Luck here.
Ninth we have the Acheron Seekers, which are annoying bastards. Draining all four primary elements, throwing out Ma-dynes with reckless abandon and having both Infuriate and Tetrakarn makes for a deadly, deadly combination. We should know; we chumped a boss with that exact same idea!
47 Strength, 73 Magic, 49 Endurance, 90 Agility and 36 Luck. That absurd jump for Agility just exists to make them extra annoying.
Eternal Sand is a weird one. It almost wants you to beat it, honestly. Weak to two Phys elements and having Tentarafoo makes for a bizarre pairing that feels like an accident. If you're using, say, the Sabazios then it makes more sense at least.
54 Strength, 78 Magic, 62 Endurance, 53 Agility and 51 Luck.
Finally, we have the Void Giant which is just a giant, rude jerk. He's really simple, but in such a way that he becomes legitimately annoying to fight. We can't cover all this stuff at once without being level 90 and absurdly, ridiculously lucky.
90 Strength, 76 Magic, 72 Endurance, 28 Agility and 35 Luck. He even min-maxes just to rub it in.
I know I said 12 shadows and that's just 11. The Hanged Man one refused to ever show up, sorry.
So, anyway, yes. These are very much post-game Shadows and they will fuck you up if you don't treat them at least a little bit seriously. And all of them can appear anywhere in Monad. From the start to the end, all the Shadows are in play. Keeps
Persona
The good news here is that they're worth absurd EXP. So absurd in fact, this Frozen Stone is one of the scant few things I'm keeping from this foray into Monad. It nulls Ice; it's going on Akihiko.
Everything after this point is basically just for the sake of this update and a few other small stuff in the future.
Masakado's Hair isn't super great, but it's alright I guess. Dodge Slash, Strike and Pierce all rolled into one. I'd never use it, but you could find a use for it somewhere I guess.
Null Dark. Give it to Ken to make him immune to Instant Death, if you want. It requires using Ken, though, which seems a bit much to ask.
Immunity to all ailments except Poison. By the time I remembered to grab this, Makoto was nearly level 80 so sadly we're not keeping it.
Next one required a trip to the Velvet Room to make Shiva. You might recall that he's a unique fusion between Barong and Rangda like normal. He's the second source for Victory Cry but the easier one to make, by far. He learns it at level 88; he's level 82 by default so fusion pushes him to 87. Not too much of a struggle with Monad's absurd EXP gains.
Victory Cry is, well, Victory Cry. Fully restores all of Makoto's HP and SP at the end of a fight.
Shiva's also kind enough to give us his ring. It gives Arms Master, which is pretty dang nice indeed. Could give it to Junpei if you want to risk his Fire weakness, or save it for Shinji on NG+ for that one month you can use him...
There's also some neat new weapons in Monad, but they're rare as sin so don't count on getting too many without running up a lot. We can make better stuff, but there's some special things in here anyway. Liz is meant to ask for a rare weapon from here, but she didn't have the request when I checked. Might be later.
Most important thing is that Makoto hit level 88, without trying, thanks to Monad's absurd EXP gain. This is how you know this is going into a second, special save slot. Level 88 means he can do any and every Fusion skill so we can clear those out once we can finally do Last Judge. Gotta finish Aigis' link first!
Also we can make Helel. Putting Spell Master and Victory Cry on him for a very important reason. You probably already know what it is, really. It seems redundant, but Spell Master is useful for Morning Star which is an 800 base power, 100% accurate MT Almighty spell. It normally costs 80SP (halving that to 40 makes it's usable by sensible people), which makes it straight up better and marginally cheaper than Megidolaon. Morning Star is pretty good.
Spell Master also helps with The Other Thing. We'll get to that later.
Anyway, Monad is only 9 very large floors of dungeon before you reach the top. There's not much here, huh?
The only thing here is a briefcase containing 1 million yen. That's it. There's nothing else here at all, so we have no reason to step beyond the first floor of Monad on any hypothetical return trips.
For now.