Part 121: New Game+: The Lethal Elevator Attendant
So, whenever you load Clear Data it functions just like starting a regular New Game. It even offers to tell you the differences between vanilla and FES still.
Before we load this proper though, let's go back a bit to January 31st to collect something in an alternative timeline.
Not just this. This IS important but we could've gotten it anytime. The Divine Pillar is an accessory that grants a unique skill called Firm Stance. Firm Stance is only available via this item as nothing learns it and even in Portable there's no legitimate way to get a skill card for it (though the card DOES exist in the game data).
Firm Stance is a very important skill: you take half damage from every attack that hits, but in return attacks will never miss you. We'll be using this later.
This is the real reason we went back in time, though. Orpheus Telos is the Persona you can make with the Cipher Mask so he's only available at the end of January. Resists every element, naturally has 72 in all stats and has no innate skills outside of that Victory Cry he learns at level 97. He's made via a Hexagon fusion of Thanatos, Chi You, Helel, Metatron, Asura and Messiah. He's.... honestly not that great. Because he has no innate skills that means he gets a hodgepodge of 8 from the other guys which is a pain in the ass to deal with. For our purposes, High Counter, Salvation and Mind Charge are all we really need and out of those? High Counter is mandatory.
As far as I'm aware, Telos was not in Vanilla. Keep that in mind for later.
So we'll beat Nyx with these in-hand and start a NG+ in Hard again.
Just gonna skip everything that doesn't pertain to anything new and relevant. There's very little that's new and relevant though.
The Magician encounter is the first time we can see something different, and even then it's just that Makoto keeps whatever he had equipped before.
This does make the Mayas here even more of a joke since we can poke 'em for over 1000 damage a pop.
Once we can finally open the menu several in-game days later, we can see why. Our level also carried over (but we're still beholden to it for fusion if that's relevant).
What did and did not carry over is a bit arbitrary. Naturally our stock didn't, but that's fine since the compendium did.
Whatever Makoto had equipped at the Nyx (Avatar) fight he starts NG+ equipped with. Everything there carries over as-is.
Every piece of equipment we had in our inventory is also still there.
And, of course, Social Stats carry over as well. Unlike in 4 and 5 this is really super irrelevant though, since while yes we can ignore stat requirements for starting links it... only helps for like one or two. And doesn't save time on not grinding the stats since that's a night time thing anyway. And there's fuckall to do at night.
Speaking of links, of course they all reset. This sounds obvious but it's important for something.
Inventory didn't carry over, and notably neither did the level of anyone but the main character. I get it but it's still annoying.
A lot of key items carried over but not all of them. The ones pertaining to Elizabeth's requests didn't so you can't cheese them. Most Fusion unlock items, however, did.
All but one, in fact. The Cipher Mask does not carry over. You didn't fuse and register Orpheus Telos before? Too bad, you gotta max every link again. It's dumb.
Not the dumbest though. Oh no, neither is what happens to everyone else's equipment but it's up there. Everyone but Makoto's reverted back to their initial gear and whatever they had equipped during the Nyx Avatar fight is gone. They don't have it. It's not put back in your inventory. It's just gone and you have to go and obtain it again. If they had anything important and hard to get, I'd be way more pissed. As is I'm just mildly annoyed.
Since we'll be trying something special, I'm not gonna really do any links in NG+. In fact outside of the plot ranks the only optional link we'll be starting is Toriumi's. There's a reason for that.
But we'll get to that in a minute. First, Elizabeth's requests unlock again and all of them reset. All of them. We'll be redoing zero of them and only bothering with this one. This one's new and is only doable in NG+, except in Portable when it's thrown in with the Monad quests. Speaking of which, since Monad would be open now anyway its few quests are available here too.
Don't care, though. We've already done 98/99 requests previously; just gonna do this last one for the full 99.
But not yet. It's not really even possible to clear this early. I mean, like, yeah you theoretically could if you spend dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hours on fusion stuff, to give you the four Persona you outright need along with more to make the fight doable... but fuck that noise, just wait til you get the compendium.
We'll just take advantage of Golden Week to get Toriumi to level 4 and then never touch an optional social link again for almost the rest of the game. There's only one more optional link scene we'll be dealing with much, much later.
You're probably wondering why we'd bother getting Toriumi to rank 4 and then stopping, right?
I... have my reasons. Speaking of which, let's go pay Tanaka a visit right away.
Since we have enough Charm already, we can get this done before the Priestess fight for good measure. We'll just pay Tanaka once...
Come back the next day to pay him again and then we'll stop. We're not gonna do the third because that starts the link proper. Again, I have my reasons.
Then we'll just beat up the Arcana Priestess shadow and head right on in to Tartarus. Elizabeth requested we fight this ultimate opponent solo, but let's take Junpei just in case.
Gonna need to run through Monad for this one, Told you we'd be back here for something else.
Gotta go all the way to the 10th floor in fact. Something's different. Let's go say hi, shall we?
The adversary I asked you to defeat is now standing before you.
Let's be honest, if you somehow didn't know about this you saw it coming after Margaret at the latest.
I have long sought an understanding of who I am... ...Just as you and my master have done. Those who set foot in the Velvet Room are all destined to embark on this search for identity. I have come to know power in many forms... If I face one whose power exceeds my own, then I may discover an answer to my question...
You may be able to give me that answer... Will you do me the honor of fighting me?
Yes. You have my thanks. Now, shall we begin?
The Lethal Elevator Attendant (Uncut) / The Brutalizing Bellboy* (Portable)
Unavoidable Battle (Reincarnation)
So, full disclosure: I despise this fight. It is the single worst designed fight in... the entire Persona series, honestly. We'll get to that in just a tick, though.
Odd oversight but regardless of when you do this fight, the intro is always done by Fuuka. Understandable why, but since our navigator here is Mitsuru it stands out somewhat. Incidentally, her dialogue is completely unchanged if you're fighting Theo in Portable. And I do mean completely.
Ummm... Is it just me, or does it seem like she wants to fight...?
What!? Her power is unbelievable! ...Who IS she!?
First things first, remember how Elizabeth wanted us to fight solo? Well, about that...
I know several effective ways of inflicting pain. Don't worry, I'm not as fragile as I look. Try to kill me... if you can.
Since we disregarded that half of the request, Elizabeth doesn't take that too well. As you would no doubt expect she gets two turns a round and uses her first to Diarahan.
Elizabeth only has 20,000HP so it's not quite as bad as it would seem. Honestly, 20,000 is technically a lie but we'll get to that.
Her second turn is Megidolaon.
You know the drill by now, I'm sure.
Incidentally, it's not easy to see here but Elizabeth's Arcana for all her attacks is The World.
She's the only person here that has access to The World in fact. Remember, Makoto got The Universe instead and technically its the same thing but shush just go with it.
So for the real version of this fight, we're gonna dump Junpei back on the bench and give Makoto this old pair of shoes.
Since we can't dodge, the Evasion is irrelevant. I'm hoping for the reduced Stumble effect to help out some since it helps reduce the chance of being Down after missing a physical attack.
We're also gonna need a specific set of Persona just to be able to win the fight. Ananta, Vishnu, Satan and Helel are all mandatory here (you could use Odin and Valkyrie but no bad stop it).
So, what can Elizabeth do? Well, she can use physical attacks of all 3 elements. This is helpful and important. Remember it.
This normally hurts a fuckin' ton but between Firm Stance and Telos resisting everything it becomes managable.
But even then an untimely crit is still a fight-ender.
And I'm sure it goes without saying but unlike with Margaret, scanning doesn't reveal anything useful at any point in the fight.
Before we get further into it, let's just look at one of the things that makes Elizabeth awful.
Tarukaja and Mind Charge makes Morning Star (the second best non-Armageddon attack remember) do barely 250 damage.
Yes, she universally resists Almighty. I sorta get why, but it doesn't make it any better.
Elizabeth is a barrier change boss, which probably isn't much of a surprise at this point. Mercifully, she runs on a very fixed pattern. Turn 0 doesn't matter, you should be using Mind Charge.
Turn 1 her active persona is Surt. In addition to resisting Almighty, Surt grants immunity to Strike and superdrains Fire. Naturally if you yourself null/drain/repel Fire, you get 9999'd for your trouble.
Added bonus however is that technically Surt adds an Ice weakness. Not an actual weakness, but a 150% damage multiplier is always helpful. Combining Mind Charge with the right elemental boost/amp and the tier 4 spell (Niflheim, Ragnarok, Panta Rhei or Thunder Reign) makes this fight managable.
For turn 2, out comes Ice and that means...
Jack Frost! Jack nulls Pierce and superdrains Ice along with the Almighty resistance. Takes bonus damage from Fire of course.
As you probably guessed, turn 3 brings Elec damage with it.
That means Thor and Thor switches things up a little. In addition to superdraining Elec, he's immune to Strike and Pierce damage. At least he takes bonus damage from Wind.
Which, of course, is also all that's left for turn 4.
That means Cu Chulainn who, well, is Cu Chulainn in this fight. Superdrains Wind and is immune to Pierce for good measure. Takes extra damage from Elec just to round that one out too.
Turn 5 is technically a reprieve, oddly enough. Just don't be weak to Expel and pack a bunch of Homunculi just in case.
Because SMT is lacking some for big Expel boys, Elizabeth is using Metatron here. He's immune to Fire, Ice, Elec and Wind which is always fun.
Turn 6 then is Curse which could be a bit more varied but, well...
It's Alice. You're not surprised, don't lie. She's also immune to Fire, Ice, Elec and Wind.
Turn 7 is a bit of a gotcha. Elizabeth can use most ailments here. Distress, Charm, Panic and Fear are all around which makes having a source of Unyielding Will mandatory and she also has Poison just to make it so you can't no-sell everything easily.
No Rage though, which is a good thing here for obvious reasons.
Naturally then you're gonna want Salvation because being poisoned in this fight is Not Fun.
Her Ailment boy is Nebiros, which really hammers home just how odd it is that Belial is missing in this game.
Nebiros is boring and is flat resistant to everything.
Turn 8 is Elizabeth's Almighty turn.
Except, it's specifically a 9999 Megidolaon turn. She does it twice, yes.
No, this isn't a rage counter. No, this isn't a "you fucked up try again". This is part of her pattern. Every 8th turn is a double 9999 Megidolaon courtesy of Masakado.
Remember when I said that Vishnu and Ananta were mandatory for this fight? This is why.
You need to use Infinity (or Valhalla if you're feeling extra spicy) to be able to survive. Because this is a bad fight.
Oh and when Masakado is active, Elizabeth is immune to Slash, Strike, Pierce, Fire, Ice, Elec and Wind. Yep, all you can do here is Almighty which is still resisted.
And... that's it. Then she loops back to Fire/Surt and the pattern begins anew. She never deviates (unless you trigger a rage counter), she never changes, it just loops. Forever.
Incidentally, all her Persona have 99 in all stats. Just throwing that one out there for good measure.
But, the curtain has just risen... Show me your best performance!Once she loses 5000HP, you might think the fight is gonna deviate some but nope. It just keeps going exactly the same as before.
The performance is underway. I shall give you something to remember!The same however is not true when she loses 10,000:
When she gets a turn at this point, she will Diarahan. This is not the first time she drops below 10,000.
This is every time she drops below 10,000.
So, she's not allowed to get a turn when her HP gets that low. Problem: you only have 1 turn a round and she has 2. Solution?
In order to win, you gotta drop her to a little over 10,000HP and then she needs to use a physical attack on her second turn and the RNG has to let you counter it. Fuck off, this fight sucks.
The Counter skills are technically Phys repels that have a percentage chance of triggering; Counter is 15%, Counterstrike is 30% and High Counter is 50%. If these numbers seem oddly high to you, yeah, they're normally a lot lower and Persona 4 and 5 hit them hard with the nerf bat but also didn't make them mandatory for anything.
If this happens on her first turn? Diarahan. If this doesn't happen for a while because making the chance to win the fight even more random than a bullshit barrier change boss? Deal with it.
Oh and yes this is mandatory. Immune to Knock Down so you can't go critfishing to do it any other way.
And, yes, once the game finally lets you win, you have to use Armageddon. Immediately. Don't have enough SP? Too bad, that's your fault and problem. You don't have time to restore it now because as soon as your turn is up? Diarahan.
Incidentally, the Pixie she uses for that Diarahan is immune to everything much like Masakado is. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.
I hate this garbage fight. It is genuinely my least favorite fight in the entire series, never mind this one game. It's not even really all that difficult because of her pattern. It's just long and awfully designed and that's why there's a cut and uncut version of this fight.
End Silence
I believed that I would find my answer when I challenged one who was stronger than me... But, I was wrong... I have received no such revelation, not even in defeat. Wait... I am mistaken... The answer is this: Only I can decide who I am.
You have overcome the most difficult obstacle I've placed in your path. You shall receive your reward, the same as always. But... please accept this as well. It is no reward; it is a sign of my gratitude.
Despite having the regular item mark here, it's a key item. Just like the Jade Bookmark from Margaret, it doesn't do anything but be a trophy reminder that you won the fight. That's fine though, at this point nothing else matters.
Well then, good day...Not much left for us to do, so we'll just head right on back to the Velvet Room to formally close out this request.
It was the last thing I'll ask of you. This shall be the last reward you receive... It is the gift of ultimate power. No matter where you go or what you do, you are sure to persevere. Thank you so much for indulging my curiosity. Please accept your reward.
Yeah, so, there's only 2 ways to get an Omnipotent Orb. Complete this request for 1 per playthrough or get the 1% Heart Item from Messiah. It's a great item and all, but by the time you can get it you so don't need it. This holds true for both methods of course.
For the last thing we're going to do here, we'll skip far, far, faaaaaar ahead into the future. How far?
January 31st. Yep, we're skipping all the way to the final day of the game.
Before we enter Tartarus, we're still in the Evening phase of the day. Unlike for every other Full Moon Operation briefing, we've got a chance to still leave at this point and get supplies or whatever.
We're gonna spend money still, but we're gonna use it to give Tanaka his last 10,000 yen he wanted. That's the third payment and its enough to trigger...
His social link to start. On January 31st. For obvious reasons, this is only doable in FES since he's a day link in the vanilla release. He remains a night link in Portable but there he's only around on certain days and Sunday is not one of them.
And hey since we started a link that advances time and that means...
The game skips to March 3rd. You can completely skip
This only works with Tanaka, of course, since the cafe and karaoke aren't available and the arcade doesn't let you do anything in the evening on January 31st. Mutatsu sounds plausible but he's always the same so he'd be unavailable on Jan 31st to prevent this too. It working at all seems like a weird oversight that will almost never come up outside of, well, this.
Sadly, yes, this does mean now that The Journey is over. We've reached our destination and it's time to seek out The Answer.