Secret of Evermore Part #20 - Escapes And Drains And Fireballs, Oh My!

Part 20: Escapes And Drains And Fireballs, Oh My!

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Secret of Evermore, we raided the southern Pyramid, gained the Bronze Axe, and recovered the first Diamond Eye. Today, we'll be going after the second Eye, in the Halls of Collosia, so let's boogie.

Eh, not yet. We've still gotta head North, and then, we're doing pretty much all we can.

Uh...Thanks?

Remember what the Wings item does? This is the same deal, but in alchemy form.

It's not a spell I'll probably ever use, since I have a few Wings left over, and I'd prefer to walk out of most dungeons, to gain extra EXP and to try to level up some of our spells.

I'm not sure how this leads to an Escape, but I'm sure someone in the thread has some sort of an idea.

Horace is hiding out under this little...Shelter? Covering? Uh...Whatever you call it, he's under there.

: have both of them!

Thanks, Horace. You're an inspiration.

Before we go too much further, let's go put our shiny new Axe to use.

You can see a spider exploding up there; assume if you don't see me directly striking an enemy, I've cast Sting on it.

Just a little trove of alchemy ingredients.

At the southern end of this area is another breakable wall.

Water is always good; if not for Water, we couldn't use our Heal formula, and who wants to use items to heal?

One last stop before we hit the Hall.

I'm sure there are other places I can use my Axe around here, but this is one of the more important ones.

That shit? I broke it down.

I enjoyed only a little bit of it. Mostly at the end, where I smushed the guardian.

Eh...I dunno 'bout that.

It's one of a few formulas that requires Ethanol. I'm not sure how some booze and roots drains something's health and gives it back to you, but hey, whatever.

Drain isn't a very strong spell (only Hard Ball is weaker), and it only heals half the damage it deals. So, sure, I could use it, deal 30 damage and recover 15 HP. Or I could Crush something for 600 and not worry about it dealing damage ever again.

Like any good merchant, this fellow also sells ingredients.

Including Ethanol.

The other pot contains some more Ethanol, but I'm fully stocked.

Okay, let's get to the Hall. This update is going to cover the entire thing and is going to be fairly lengthy. Be sure to have a drink around, maybe a snack.

Let me say this now; I'm not a big fan of this area, either. It's just too big for its own good.

Hey, Mad Monks! Remember how we deal with them?

Yeah, pretty much how we deal with most other enemies. Crush 'em.

Alright, folks, it's dark. And has Rats running around.

They've only got 20 HP, and only give 30 EXP and ten jewels.

Lime Slimes, pictured, are only moderately more impressive, with 70 HP, and giving 50 EXP and 30 jewels.

Lime Slimes are very common around here; they also seem to be very difficult to hit with physical attacks, or maybe I just had back luck with that. If you do hit them, they don't take as much damage as other enemies, befitting their slimy status.

I recommend fisting them as hard as you can.

...I really need to consider my phrasing...

That tile there indicates a place where we can cast Reveal.

Dancin' Fools are very common around here, too.

However, they're also dicks to have on this path. That attack knocks you back, see?

Which has us thrown down into the fucking pit. Thankfully, Zach was there to annihilate the Fool, even if it was a skosh too late.

And I'd been trying to Crush him before he reached me. If only I'd thrown bees at him...

I wonder how many super villains have thought the same thing.

In the middle of the room is this elevator/box thing.

If we fall into the pit, we come back out here and to this little quip from York.

Anyways, back to where we were going.

Yeah, just a save point. Good to keep in mind, but not something I'll be using.

This path actually helps us get somewhere.

: Is that a door I hear?

Yes, it was. There was also two parts of Vinegar in the pot behind you. On the right side of the screen, you can see part of...Something. It's a switch, but one we can't reach. If only we had some range to push it with...

Ah, yes, let's throw our spear at it!

Ugh. Hey, guess what we'll be finding here!

For now, let's scoot.

Rats run around everywhere in here. If they hit you, they have a chance to inflict Plague, but I don't think I was ever hit by one when doing this dungeon.

This is the first of four areas we have to get through. We're looking for some more switches, to open more areas, to hit more switches; we rinse and repeat until we've gotten the second Diamond Eye.

Breaking down that wall led us to this Call Bead, which goes on the pile.

Oh, hey, I did beat a Lime Slime to death. Cool, I guess?

Whoops. This was the wrong way.

How're you guys enjoying the LP so far?

I'm having a good time with it; I hope you all are, too.

Is there anything you think I could do better? I know I ask this question in most LPs I do, but I'm always looking to improve.

Well, fuck. Another dead end.

Okay, back to the beginning and we go up this path.

My bees grow ever stronger!

Good Lord, I'm a MGS villain.

Which one had the bees? The Fury? Why did he have bees?

No, seriously, why the hell could a MGS boss control bees? I don't think nanomachines can do that.

Hey, a switch! Smack that shit, York.

It extends a bridge across.

As soon as we cross, it contracts back to whence it came.

Zach, the path isn't visible yet. Be careful.

Oh, balls, I walked off.

Let's get back to what we were trying to find.

This switch is important.

It extends a bridge across on that side of the room.

It's also a timed bridge.

And there are a lot of enemies around the path, but that's okay. We're not taking that bridge just yet.

Looking at the shots I've taken, I gathered far too many for what I've shown you so far. Seriously, I've been skipping two or three pictures and I think I'm still showing a cohesive picture of what's going on here.

To the left there is the switch we need to hit.

To get there, we just have to loop around.

beeeeeees

After stepping on the plate, we have to make our way back to this switch, hit it, and then run back to the bridge.

I can't say exactly how long the bridge stays up, but I do know, if you're halfway across and it begins to pull back, if you don't make it back to sturdy land, you're falling down the pit.

Okay, back to the main room.

Crossing the room, we head for the lower right room, which we just opened up.

Inside is what I hesitate to call a miniboss. It's more like an enemy with slightly higher HP than normal.

Meet the Minitaur.

He's got 500 HP, so he doesn't last long. Hell, even if I were only physically attacking, he still wouldn't last long.

His magic defense is pretty good, though, surprisingly.

beeeeeees

He has some other attacks, but he only pulled off this heavy stomp.

It's that classic ground-shake attack, only it doesn't do very much damage.

Now, here, I had queued up another Crush, when Zach decided to just finish this shit.

I honestly don't think this could have gone any better.

And, yeah, Zach could have one-shot the bastard. Our dog is the shit.

We're heading directly across the way, to the lower left room. We started in the upper left room, if you were wondering.

This is the type of puzzle where hitting one switch raises gates on the other ways; we've all seen them and know how they work.

Hitting the middle and then left lets us go through the middle way; hitting a switch again does nothing, and if you do it right, you can raise all three gates and have to restart.

The middle gate has the most

of all prizes. The left-hand gate holds a set of Wings, while the right gate has our way forward.

North of this position is a pot with some Brimstone in it, if you need it.

I skipped about fifteen other shots I had to just show you this. I'm not sure why I took screens of the switches I hit.

Well, that's an awfully rickety looking bridge.

And that's some mighty Blue Goo.

Zach, don't eat that. It'll probably make you poop blue. 70 HP here, with 150 EXP and 30 jewels.

Over here is a secret passage.

It's not a straight shot across; you have to head south, then west, then north to reach this point, but this is kind of a teaser to keep you looking for other hidden passages.

Unfortunately, this pot isn't Madronius' brother, but Honey is another healing item, one that restores 300 HP a piece.

Seriously, why can that guy control bees?

And why did I show you a path that leads to a dead end? Truly, two great mysteries of our time.

Looks like we have no choice but to cross the bridge.

OH GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE

Oh, never mind, we're okay. And Zach is some kind of wizard.

Heading north, Zach gains another level (

) and we hit a switch that activates an elevator out of here.

However, we still have to hit the switch to open the next room.

These two switches, which you can't really avoid, close this gate behind you.

I think that's the switch we needed to hit.

I say that because there's this assload of switches over here.

But I think those just open this gate. Hell, I dunno. Seiren, weigh in, and tell us what's what.

That looks like another pit, but it isn't, I swear.

It leads us back to the main room, somehow. I'm not sure the logistics of that, but I'm not going to seriously question it.

The upper right, and last room, awaits us. I'm sure some sort of Hell, involving fiery bees, does as well, considering what we've done to plenty of these poor schmucks around here.

The only shots you missed here were some of York rubbing his face against the wall, looking for secret passages.

This is another of those collapsible bridges.

Just like those are some of those collapsible enemies.

Over to the right is the switch we need to hit here.

But we're not done here just yet.

As there is this switch, too.

And up through the gate, where we throw more bees at enemies.

Dancin' Fools are around here everywhere, and they hit decently, too.

Revealer, if I remember right, isn't going to see much, if any, use after this area. Seriously, this might be its last use.

I do like how York looks when he's swinging the Axe. You can tell he's putting all he has into that swing, like he intends to slice that Fool in half and to cut as deep toward the Earth's core as he can.

Now, if I could only coat my weapon in bees...

Well, looks like we have some other miniboss to fight 'round here.

Oh, just a Mad Monk.

One with 1,000 HP, that is. It's still not threatening, though.

After a couple of Crushes and a Zach Special, we get our hands on the Bronze Spear.

Before we leave this room, we have to head over here.

As it leads to another secret passage!

You have to navigate it by feel, but all in all, it's not too bad.

Heading right doesn't lead us where we want to go, so left it is.

Until we come into this room.

Where we find some Wax and some more Brimstone.

York, you moron. Half of Nobilia looks like that. Not all white-bearded men are going to be Madronius; I'm sure that's some form of racism.

: It's a good idea to collect the Diamond Eyes now. I hear that there are others looking for them, too. I can help you on your journey with this Fireball formula.