Part 39: The Beginning of the End

The PS:T LP has been going on for nearly four years.

I can't say I'm surprised, especially if he's showing off all of the different ways things can play out based on your words/actions/party composition/alignment/etc, but holy shit, that LP was old when I registered!

Anyways. Rather than do one big update and keep everyone waiting, I've decided to do three smaller ones. Here is the first.

39: The Beginning of the End



This is Septerra Core, so of course we don't get automatically whisked out of the Lost City - we need to hike back to civilization the hard way.




Excellent! Even now Doskias prepares for the final shell movement. The Watchers have used much of their power to destroy his fleet. The Heretic's Flagship has fallen on Shell 2. You must go there and capture the Doomsday Device, then complete the prophecy yourself!

It's kind of a bummer that Doskias's fleet is casually disposed of off-screen by a total deus ex machina. Granted, there's no-one else around who can - Gunnar's fleet was destroyed in the civil war, Ankara and Jinam tore each other apart, and sending Connor's pirate fleet against Doskias's battleships would be Field Mice vs Rotary Mower even if they were commanded by someone competent - but it still feels lazy.

How much time do we have left?
Soon the world will cease to be. You must hurry!
What segment will Doskias attempt to raise?
The Watchers will soon have that information. After you defeat Doskias, you must complete the prophecy yourself, attain the Gift of the Creator and save the world.
I'll do my best.

To think, I will have to wield a Daemon Blade of Marduk against Doskias.
You must put aside your feelings, Selina.

Marduk's Daemon Swords are a legendary source of power.
You will wield them well, along with Selina.
Selina, carry a Daemon Sword? Unthinkable!
You must forgive her for what she did, dear Corgan. We must all grow and learn..

Don't tell Corgan that she's been wielding one ever since we picked them up.



Before we bring Doskias down, there's some preparation to do. Shopping trips to Wind City, Oasis, and the World Bazaar are sufficient to get top of the line armour and weapons for everyone, but there's still some unfinished business here.



First of all, the stone circle minibosses.



The first stone summons a level 15 Thunder Lion. We've killed it before, and by now it can't even withstand a single attack.



The second stone summons a level 22 Lighting Lancer. It fares exactly as well as the Thunder Lion.



The third stone is the first one we haven't beaten. It brings in a level 46 Gemma Lion - it's of a level with the party, and is a very sharp increase in difficulty.



We probably could have taken it out a while ago, though. It drops a Quick Gem, an accessory that boosts Speed by 6.

While this isn't bad per se, we already have the Eagle Wing, which boosts Speed even more, while at the same time increasing Strike and Power.



The fourth stone calls in two L50 Vault Tigers. This is the first fight that I treat with some caution, hasting the entire party first thing.



I needn't have bothered. The first one dies instantly; the second survives just long enough to cast Berserk on Corgan.

The reward for this is an Earth Prism, which, like the other Prism accessories, confers elemental resistance.



The last fight is actually a step down in difficulty, consisting of three relatively weak enemies.



Maya's Sphere attack proves useful for the first and only time, instantly killing all three. Our reward for winning all five battles is a Spirit Guard, which confers resistance to all elements, effectively combining the four Prism items. If I ever used defensive accessories - and if elemental attacks were more common - it would be fantastic.



There's one last task to accomplish before we meet Doskias for the last time.



All of the birds we've fed over the course of the game have gathered here.



As we approach the door, the birds gather around it...



...and vanish in a cloud of light, the door swinging open before them.



The interior of the Tower of Birds is actually completely boring, consisting of a spiral staircase and three interior rooms. But it's not the decor we're here to admire.



The Heaven Plate is a bit of a disappointment; it's body armour that's almost as good as Light Plate, which can be bought from stores at this point in the game (and it's not like we could have unlocked the tower earlier).

The Tiamat Skin and Iron Man are the best Underlost and robot armour in the game respectively, though. Sadly you only get one of each, which means you have to choose which of Lobo or Runner gets the Iron Man.



The Orion Blades are the best weapons for Badu, sporting damage and accuracy nothing else can match. Glamdink ("The Foe Wrench", so says the item description) is a similar weapon for Led. Sadly, it won't see any use; it comes without a Core bonus, and since you should never be physically attacking with Led as long as you have Core left, it's better to hang on to the Core Wrench we picked up I don't even remember how long ago.



This one contains a little slice of . Gilgamesh is an excellent sword, but the Daemon Swords are better in every way, and you don't find the tenth bird until right before you get the Daemon Swords! For Gilgamesh to ever be worth equipping, you would have to:
- make your way to the Lost City
- go to the Fire Temple first and feed the bird
- make your way back out, loot the tower, and equip Gilgamesh
- return to the Lost City, with at least one sword user in your party
- kill all of the bosses, which Gilgamesh will not help with at all if you're relying mostly on magic, which you should be
- collect the Daemon Swords, obsoleting Gilgamesh
- kill yourself because now you have to go through the lense forest for the fourth time, and the sewers for the sixth.

It seriously makes me wonder why they ever bothered implementing it.

Bahamut, on the other hand, is legitimately awesome. It's a Core engine with higher Strike and Power than any other engine in the game, and at the same time has a massive +8 bonus to Core, making it better than all of the caster engines too, including the Core Seed. It's an excellent choice for anyone, the obvious options being Maya (since she's going up against the final boss) or Grubb (since, along with an accessory like the Psyche Charm or Enkidu Bell, it will upgrade him from "magical powerhouse" to "godlike").



So there you have it. Maybe it wasn't as ultimate as claimed, but it's still a neat little side area, and I think Bahamut alone makes it worth doing.

Next time: The actual final battle. Maya et al vs Doskias in a no-holds-barred fight for control of the Kingdom of Heaven.