Part 61: Mantras and Rings.

Update 07:


Hooray and such! Thanks to the wonders of modern HackDisk technology, Serph, Argilla and Gale are able to illegally access the Karma Society's Mantra repository, though, not for free.
Damn.


NOTICE: The mantra grid is vastly different from what it was on DDS1. It is much, much better.



"Each hexagon on the grid represents a Mantra."





"By accumulating AP from battles, yoy master a Mantra and learn its associated skills."




"Pruple Mantra, however, cannot be unlocked by simply mastering an adjacent Mantra.
Purple Mantra can only be accessed when all 6 adjacent Mantras are mastered.
Note that the adjacent Mantras do not need to be mastered by the same character."





"You can see which Mantras are mastered by the selected character and which are mastered by others. You can switch between characters by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons.
Master Mantras to learn powerful skills and unlock new Mantras."


So, let's see which ones are mastered, and which ones aren't.
BUT FIRST: HANDY DANDY MANTRA GRID IMAGE THING.

Click here for the full 1696x1463 image.


Serph has mastered almost the entire grid. It may be possible to fully master the entire grid, except for a single space, on this playthrough.

Argilla has significantly less Mantras developed.



Gale has a better Mantra developement, though.



Now RINGS. Let's see what variety of rings is in the possession of the party.


Hee-Ho Ring, nullifies Ice attacks. Moderately useful, DDS1 bonus due to beating King Frost.
Power Ring, increases strength by 3 points.
Vital Ring, same, but with vitality.
Magic Ring, same.
Quick Ring, guess?
Luck Ring, clearly, it does not increase power.
Trick Ring: Auto-Sukukaja/Tarunda when battle starts, quite useful.
Phantom Ring: Increases Agility in Human form. Eeeeh, even if human form IS more useful in this one.
Demon Ring: Attack command does more damage when cursed. Double edged sword, since that also means you damage yourself more.
Rage Ring: Auto-Tarukaja/Rakunda when battle starts. Again, useful!
Hi-Power Ring, same as the Power Ring, but with 6.
Hi-Vital Ring
Hi-Magic Ring
Hi-Quick Ring
Hi-Luck Ring
Skull Ring: Repels Death attacks. Bonus from DDS1 for beating Beelzebub. Incredibly useful.
Speedy Ring: 1st person does 2x damag, damage down gradually thereafter. Could be good to dispatch random encounters.
Change Ring: Revert/Transform command willn ot expend a turn icon. Very useful in certain fights.
Calamity Ring: Draws the enemy's attention in battle. If you have a very tank-like character, or a rather frail one, it could be useful.
Follow-Up Ring: Reduces turn icon loss from missed attacks.
Block Ring: Reduces turn icon loss from voided attacks.
Dual Ring: Enables two consecutive actions, DOES NOT reduce press turn usage, however. Best used in conjuction with other rings.
Pass Ring: Pass command will not expend a turn icon, like this one, for example.
Synchro Ring: Reduces turn icons required for combos. INCREDIBLY useful when very, very good combos are found, like Charge, for instance.



And now the Mad Mart is open.



Nifty icon, eh?



"Hey, what's with the ring?
Oh, I see... Alright, I gotcha. You don't have to say anything.
I'll buy that ring from you, so go ahead and pick something out."




Not a bad deal, I'll say.



"Every time you purchase or sell items, you'll earn points according to the amount of money exchanged.
And, once you accumulate enough points, your rank will increase.
There are items that I can only sell to high-ranking customers, so keep spending and selling!
(High-ranking customers also get sweet discounts on our best merchandise.)
You can check your current points and rank anytime by selecting Check Points from the menu."





"You'll need 1 more points to get to the next rank.
I have a little surprise waiting for you..."




Well, let's buy a little bit more to see what that surprise is.


"Hey, your points exceeded 100.
Congratulations, you're now Rank 2!
Give me a second, alright? I'll update the inventory.
This is your first time going up a rank, isn't it? Take some time to check out our expanded inventory.
I suggest you try your luck with the mystery boxes. They're color-coded by quality.
But, just so you know, purchasing these don't count toward your point total."




Eeeh, don't need one of these.



Now, Bullets, those can be useful.


Those rings are already on the inventory.




And this is rather nice.



"You'll need 136 more points to get to the next rank.
You'll get an item that lets you analyze itmes, and MP recovery items will become available."




"Demons and disease must be punishments from Heaven... The sun became furious."




"That's what we were doing... When they got Timmy.
He stayed back so I could escape."




"I'm counting on you to help Timmy.
The Karma Society got him... He must be in prison somewhere.
It'd be great if you could stop 'em, but we shouldn't expect others to fix our problems.
Nobody believes us right now, but one day, Fred and I are gonna crush those Karma jerks!"



"Just once before I die, I'd like to walk through a green park at sunset again..."




"That makes this 2025... See? I'm not senile yet."




"I'm tired of living in fear. I wish I'd died five years ago."
Two of them have hope, and this guy is all emo. Hooray.




"We should do what we can."




"And, what about us? What are we supposed to do if it's true?"




"But, I don't feel like I'd lose to you guys."




"Not only do you have demon power, but you also have a 'weakness.'
I know you're scared of something. So what is it? Electricity? Fire?
If I can figure out your weakness, then you won't stand a chance."




"Ha! Are you scared?"
And that is why you should have a balanced party. Or rings. Lots and lots of rings.






"If Greg was still alive, we might stand a chance."




"The entrance to the tunnel is over there. Now go!"



"I'm going on ahead."

Let's see what is happening in Roland's room.



"Just because there seems to be some truth to that story doesn't mean we should accept it all.
There is one large contradiction."




"Yes, they would seem to imply that he was created after his own death.
One of these Becks cannot exist, unless there is some truth we have yet to uncover."




"Do you remember the words of Varin Omega, who claimed to be Colonel Beck?
He told us that he died once.
However, if he had ceased to exist, then our interaction with him was a contradiction.
One of these Becks did not exist, unless there is some truth we have yet to uncover."
Cielo thinks he is in a Phoenix Wright game.




"We all shook hands, remember!?
And now... You just give up!?"





"I see... That's fine."




"Everyone else here is just a weak human.
We'd be stupid not to ask for your help."



Well, that was fruitful. Let's see what is down there.


But that is not the Embryon way!





"Of course they'd hate us!"



Gale is taking it better than Argilla.





This will be the next area of importance.



"We dug it out of an old passageway that had collapsed.
You can take it all the way through to Karma Ciry--the Society doesn't have any idea it's down there.
Some sections have collapsed because of car accidents and things... So you'll need to travel along maintenance and cable pathways to bypass certain areas."





"Are you making fun of me because I went to community college?
You aren't just automativally accepted because you went to high school, you know!"



"Those meatheads around the corner are the ones who should be doing work like this...
Let's say there's one demon strong to fire and another that's weak to it... Which one would you choose to learn a fire ability?
See? I'm smart...
Now I just need to find a four-year to transfer to."




"You guys have the demon virus too, don't you?
I know it's not contagious through human contact or anything, but... Don't get too close."





"Help her before something terrible happens!"
That's the idea.


And that is probably the last update for a couple of weeks or more. Going out of the country this week.