Part 183: 12/8: A River In A Dry Land

Part 173: 12/8: A River In A Dry Land

Boss: Beast of Human Sacrifice

Music: Rivers in the Desert (Instrumental Version) (Maybe listen to this, but also know that the in-game version doesn’t have the slow part and loops after about 3:40 instead of at the end)

Some notes before we begin: This boss is rather difficult, but I’m pretty good at this game by now and this was also my fourth take. Therefore, I unequipped all my SP Adhesive 3s to even the odds a bit. We’ll go more in to the reasoning behind those takes as we go.

Also, I have made two critical errors when preparing for this fight! The first is that I forgot to buy more Takemedic-All-Zs to supplement my healing, so we’re stuck with the nine we have left over from the Palace. The other, probably worse error is that I accidentally fused away all my Personas that know any form of healing whatsoever. Oops! Better rely on Makoto, who only knows single-target healing!



I will crush any who stand in my way!




Only myself and the ones who revere me are needed.



So, the Beast of Human Sacrifice. First thing to know about this guy is...



He’s a fucking cheater who can reflect Physical.




Ryuji realizes his usefulness here is thus negligible and helpfully switches himself out for Ann. We won’t get a ton out of her damage skills due to all the outgoing damage here, but another friendly face with Diarahan is nice.



He can also reflect Gun! How bullshit! We won’t switch out Haru for Morgana, though. Psiodyne is still plenty useful, and we can get some serious mileage out of Tetrakarn.



This is the Beast’s basic attack. It hits like a truck, and a buffed attack might do double that!

Suffice it to say, keeping Marakukaja/Masukukaja up at all times can be a rather wise strategy, and not just for the buffs themselves. It can force Shido to spend a turn on Dekaja to dispel them. This is also why Tetrakarn is so good; he’ll have to use Tetra Break to get rid of it. Unfortunately, none of those really get us closer to our goal of “getting out of this as fast as possible.”



He also gets two turns, which he uses here on Tarukaja.



However, we witness this good omen every time we heal Haru to full. Nice, we got this.



Sometimes, he’ll debuff the party’s Agility. I don’t think this affects their hit rate, because I’ve never actually seen anyone miss this boss before, but it does affect their dodge rate. Which is important, because...






He uses a super attack the next turn.



Okay, this part is actually really fucked up and is responsible for the only death I’ve ever suffered to any part of this boss, totally unavoidably.



See, he can inflict party-wide Rage, the status effect that makes you… attack mindlessly… and reduces your defense. Also, Maaku automatically attacks before anyone else gets a turn during boss fights. See the problem here?




Whoopsidoodle! (So yeah, he attacked himself and died, RIP)

Thankfully, Makoto still knows Energy Shower and Haru Amrita Shower, so we have multiple options for dealing with this.



He can, infuriatingly, use Makarakarn to put up a Magic wall and make himself immune to everything until you manually break the shield.



The Beast charges up…



...Yeah, we might wanna guard for this one.





Ouch.




It’s about here that I come to the conclusion that Ann’s single-target healing ain’t cutting it, so we switch her out for Morgana.



Finally, we deplete about a third of the Beast’s HP.



I hope you understand what it means to turn your back on me!
I don’t wanna understand!
...Then you shall perish! You shall regret these foolish actions against me… in the afterlife!







I will destroy you!



And now, the Wings of Human Sacrifice.



This time, the boss resists all Magic types and is instead vulnerable to Physical and Gun.



So let’s switch Ryuji back in.




The boss will now spend its turns casting single-target -dyne magic spells in order. That order would be: Agidyne, Bufudyne, Ziodyne, Garudyne, Psiodyne, Freidyne, Kougaon, Eigaon. He will then repeat. Any extra turns he gets will be used to cast the next in the sequence, probably on whoever is weak to it. I also believe he has increased chance of inflicting Burn/Freeze/Shock, because of course he does.




I believe I mentioned fucking forever ago that the only way to get appreciable damage out of a gun is to literally unload the entire clip. Well, that’s still true. But it’s a lot of fucking damage.



What happens when the Wings get to the end of the sequence? Well...





Another super attack. Of course. As you can see, this one can inflict Dizzy. I’m still not sure if you can actually miss this boss, so it might just be to set up Technical attacks.



I’m also realizing that Haru’s grenade launcher, even with only one shot, is a fucking beast. Imagine what damage we’d be doing with Matarukaja (In fact, one of the reasons I had to rerecord this fight is because on one of my takes I skipped through this phase too quickly due to Matarukaja’d gun volleys).



Why won’t you stop resisting…!? The nation I strive for… is the ultimate realization of the public’s happiness!





Uhhhhhh





And now, the Tomb of Human Sacrifice. This phase is honestly dirt-simple. It has no resistances whatsoever, only gets one turn, and while it still hits hard you can breeze through it comparatively.




Honestly, it might do the most pure damage in this form. Still, nothing worth crying home about.




Be careful!

This is a standard charge-up maneuver, the enemy even gives you two turns to prepare.












And the Beast, the Wings, and the Tomb are all down for the count. Eat that, society.



Music: Desire



Once you’re losin’, you’re puttin’ all the blame on the masses, huh!?
(to Joker) So, you’re the one unifying them…
A touching reunion, isn’t it?
The next time you crush a foe, I suggest you do it in a more certain manner.

Uhh, we’re really just gonna tell him who I am? I mean, okay. I guess.

Not that there’ll be a next time for you!
Hm?



...You’re more than just a member of the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you?





You took him to court and yet you don’t remember…? You truly don’t care about the fate of others.









Haha… What an interesting turn of fate.



What!?
Small sacrifices are inescapable for those wishing to be powerful, competent leaders. How would you ever reach your destination if you stopped to count every ant you crushed on the road?
Are you saying that the people you killed deserved to die!?

Not quite, Haru. He’s just saying he doesn’t give a shit that they’re dead. A subtle, but crucial difference.

He’s totally insane…
I wouldn’t expect the ignorant masses of this country to understand.




Music: Rivers in the Desert (Holy fucking shit, listen to this)



Boss: Masayoshi Samael Shido (I’d also recommend you watch this, as good as the song is it’s even better in context)



I will crush any who stand in my way!



What is this power!? Careful! Those muscles aren’t just for show!

Hmm, I seem to have gotten the music wrong. Try this.

(I swear that’s the only MGR joke I’m going to make, and you’re welcome)



Anyway, Masayoshi “Samael” Shido. The actual demon of the sin of pride is Lucifer, but let’s not waste Lucifer on Shido of all people. Samael is an archangel in Talmudic lore. This Wikipedia page I’m reading says he’s regarded as both good and evil, which, lol. He’s the angel of death in Judaism, and is given the title of “Satan.” What does this have to do with Shido?



Pretty much nothing, except for his ability to fuck you up.



Oh, also, his main attack Tyrant’s Fist can inflict Fear! We’re gonna want to bring more than a few Relax Gels, even with Makoto and Haru here. Like the Tomb, he only gets one turn though.




He can use Heat Riser to increase all three of his parameters, which we’re going to want to Dekaja away pretty much immediately.




He’s got Megidola for that Almighty damage.



He can use Evil Touch to directly inflict Fear.



Like most bosses, he can Dekaja away your buffs.






His big new attack is just Deathbound. Big whoop. Anyway, we reduce the rest of his health pretty easily from there.



How are these lowlife brats beating me…?
Now’s our chance! Let’s take his Treasure!




The power held by the most elite is what rules over our society… It’s vexing that I have to use this on some foolish brats…





Did you hear that, Shido!?




Oh boy



That FACE





Now we’re fighting True Masayoshi Samael Shido. Quite the mouthful.



This one also has… quite a bit more health than his last form!



He can still use Tyrant’s Fist, naturally.



But also he gets two turns now! He’ll cycle through the Ma-variants of the -dyne skills he used as the Wings of Human Sacrifice, in the same order. It’s pretty rough.



He can also increase his crit rate with Rebellion!



We are, once again, going to be switching Ryuji in and out to take advantage of Morgana’s multi-target healing.




Ha, his name’s so long the text can’t fit in the damn box.



This misses, but it’s still bullshit. Bosses shouldn’t be able to instantly kill you unless you really fucked up.



You will regret your actions. ...You’ve angered me for the last time.



What’s this?



Oh, nothing important. He just gave himself two more turns.




He really wants this next attack to hit. And you know what? I can’t blame him.






Yikes.



At this point, he’ll switch to using the strongest single-target magic attacks in the game: Inferno (Severe Fire), Diamond Dust (Severe Ice), Thunder Reign (Severe Electricity), Panta Rhei (Severe Wind), Psycho Force (Severe Psy), and Atomic Flare (Severe Nuke). These can, of course, inflict ailments, so watch out. He can also use Hamaon and Mudoon to try to instant-kill a party member.




...I will destroy you with my own two hands.



This time, he buffs his Attack. He still debuffs the party’s Agility, though.



Fuckin ouch.



Now that True Samael is critical, he assumes this pose, which is very silly and really just reminds me of that scene from Community where Abed pretends to be a vampire.

So, uh… funny story about what happens here. I switched to Byakko to take advantage of its Dekunda to get rid of the Agility debuff on the party, since I needed Makoto’s turn to heal Haru. Byakko, as it turns out, knows Counterstrike, an old skill Yusuke had that gives a 15% chance of reflecting Physical attacks. This was also my fourth take of this fight, and as mentioned previously, the prior attempt had ended when an enraged Maaku attacked the Beast of Human Sacrifice and killed himself due to the repel effect.





So all things considered, it was pretty goddamn hilarious when this happened.





Oh god, don’t get back up





Oh, well that ends that. Take that, Keith Silverstein (for the purposes of this joke it may behoove you to know that Shido is voiced by Keith Silverstein) (also I like Keith Silverstein as a VA a lot, don’t hate me Keith)!