Part 48: Horologium Clean Up
Bit of a heads up right off the bat here that this update maaaaay just be a little bit NWS. I don't know why you would be reading SMT stuff at work but, uh...ANYWAY!
Prayer
So, before we go and deal with Mem Aleph we've got a few loose ends left dangling. We should tie them all up nicely now that we've got a chance.
Please give me the data you found. This data might be very helpful in enhancing the Demonica's functions. Wait here, please.> Gekko took the data he received from you and took it to the lab.
> .........
> Gekko returned from the lab.
Copernicus is super-niche and arguably comes too late to be really useful. It guarantees that any fusion will be an Accident. This DOES have very niche uses yes - why hello there easy Zealot fusions - but it's ultimately just here to make completing the Compendium easier.
That's the last of the black boxes we needed to collect. Thanks for all your hard work out there, Crewman Hitonari.Let's see, so if we're going to do this in a sensible order, what's been waiting the longest now? Why, Thoth of course!
We need to leave the Sprite again for Horologium regardless, so let's get the harder one done first.
Encounter
Huh? What am I talking about? Don't act like you don't know! You came for this--the other half of that tough book! Here, man! Take it!
> The right and left halves of the Book of Thoth suddenly drew together!
> The two turned into one book!
Man... that was an awful lot of work, though. As you can see, I'm a fiery guy. If I hadn't been careful, I coulda ended up handing you a lump of charcoal. Though I guess in the end, I didn't need to worry about that... See, that book doesn't burn.
Man... the god of books sure does some strange things. Oh... uh, I'm done here, huh? Well, I gave you what I was supposed to. Do whatever you're going to with it.> The demon left...
Let's take this on over to Thoth now, shall we?
A Land Controlling Roads
Hurm... excellent, my boy! I knew you could do it.
Huh, so we got Monday instead of Saturn(us) for Saturday? Can't say I expected that one. Feels weird to leave Saturn and the Sun out, but weekend so I guess it makes sense. Kind of.
And with that, I'm fresh out of riddles. I could, of course, make it much more difficult than this...
Y'know, I'm pretty sure that Thoth is just trying to save face here.
You felt it, didn't you? In those riddles of moderate difficulty... The splendid sensation of searching for and finding the riddle's answer on your own. That itself is wisdom. Knowledge takes shape in this world by the agency of action.
Hurm... I think I can trust a wise man like you with this sword. Take it, my boy.
This is our "real" reward for this sidequest chain and it is very worth it!
Because of its unparalleled power, I've made sure people missing a few screws don't swing it around... But I don't think I have to worry about that with you.
Oh, so it's a Law-aligned weapon, huh? Makes sense. Hopefully we're gonna put this to great use!
Or maybe it's Neutral-specific instead? This is less clear than it should be.
If you believe you are equal to the lord of the heavens, take up this sword. ...My role ends here. From now on, I'll play the part of an old man watching the stage from his comfy seat.
Show me, my boy!> Thoth left...
So, the Divine Sword IS Neutral only and while it is weaker than the Amanomi Sword, it's only 2 points of Attack lower.
Really, the three top alignment weapons are all very good but Vajra is technically the worst and the best simultaneously.
Notably, the passages do not give us the password in the order we received them.
It's actually kind of a mini-riddle in its own right, in theory.
In practice, the solution is VERY obvious.
Moon-Tyr-Odin-Thor-Frey.
Or, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday.
The password itself is just the week as well. I guess according to this Sunday is the first day of the week. Huh.
...Well, this is pretty darn good! Set here is very special; his level is lower than his base but his stats are higher. He has a very different set of skills as well, huh? Hey, dumb Anthony sidequest: this is how you do this right!
Resistances are identical to how they look here. That base attack DOES petrify - its a base 5% rate. His source gives War Cry, Void Wind AND Void Elec! Pretty nice, indeed.
Can't actually buy him until we're level 83 though (spoilers: not happening).
A Scorched Nation
Alright, so into Horologium we go yet again. We need to find Fafnir and these stairs are one of two ideal ways to get to one. We could go right instead, but B1F here has something very important.
...So, the rest of B1F is a gigantic dark room maze and it fucking sucks. A lot. It starts off being relatively nice and generous, though. Yes, really.
Encounter
But first, here's Fafnir. Nice and quick.
...Though I could guess, from thine odd behavior... 'Tis something thou desirest.
That's right. Ah! Honesty becomest thou. And? What be thy wish? Give me part of your body.
'Tis understandable that thou couldst scarcely pass up a mechanickal dragon... ...Very well, thou mayst have it. But first, a question... Wherefore dost thou want it?For some reason, the word "wherefore" just trips people up in like every context ever? It means why. That's it.
Mere curiosity. Thy will is pure and plain... A line drawn in the depths of a shallow world.
...Then I shall tell thee the secret of the mechanickal dragon.
Thou mayst select one of these. Now... choose.Honestly, the screws are the only wrong answer. Scales are probably the best one to collect here, in my opinion, but circuit is maybe the best for general play. You'll see.
I can't have them all? The secrets of a mechanickal dragon be generally too far advanced for any human...
Give me the circuit. 'Tis thine.
Son of man, where wilt thou go with these secrets of the mechnickal dragon in hand? What doth thy will reflect 'gainst the wavering bonds of this world? ...Show me.> The demon left...
A Scorched Nation
...Y'know, that door being a one-way door makes a lot of sense but I still dislike it on principle. Back to 1F via the elevator and we'll take a brief moment...
Prayer
> You hand Fafnir's parts over to Tanaka...
Ooh...! So this is Fafnir's...! What am I doing just standing here!? I've got materials to analyze!One fade to black later...
And let me tell you... these parts are INCREDIBLE. The readings I got off these puppies surpassed my expectations in every respect.
But you won't see me moping about it. Nope! I'm happy, in fact. Now I have a challenge! Oh, that's right... I also succeeded in extracting some energy from the parts. It looks like it can be used to boost our equipment. I made a little something as a test. It's yours, as a reward for helping me.
Not to brag or anything, but that should be pretty high quality. We're coming up to the end of our mission... If this makes a difference in the last battle, well, there'd be no higher honor than that. It would be one of the proudest moments of my life... Alright, I'm going to spend some time researching this thing. You work for the present--I'll work toward the future. We can do it.We'll see what the Dragon Ring can do in a moment, but first...
You completed all the odd jobs I gave you... You're the best, man. ......> Dent's attitude suddenly changed...
You are indeed the one who will lead us. Please excuse my previous coarse behaviour.
They are all thankful, and blessed your name. We all pray... that you will stand victorious before the Mother.
So, the Dragon Ring? It gives the main character Endure. Welp, that's going on right away. Sorry, Odin Ring! Your time is up.
We'll get the rest of Fafnir's possible gear before we're done, don't worry. You'll understand then why I recommend getting the scales instead but this is Very Good as an alternative!
A Scorched Nation
...Okay, so, there's one more thing in here that is gated off by the dark room hellmaze.
Thankfully, for the Most Important Thing we just go south here.
That brings us around to these stairs... back up to 1F...?
And a Barong to talk to, huh...?
NAME RANGDA... SHE EVIL WITCH... ME FEEL RANGDA ENERGY. SOMEWHERE IN THIS WORLD... BUT ME NO KNOW WHERE. RANGDA... WHERE SHE? HOW ABOUT IT...? CAN YOU FIND RANGDA...? Yes. HMM...! ME THANK YOU...! YOU TAKE THIS.
THE SACRED MIRROR ME CARRY. GIVE TO RANGDA. SIGN OF DUEL... ...ME COUNT ON YOU.Well, we know where Rangda is at least. We'll go through that one-way door right behind Barong here.
That lets us finish the map for the area, and only leave... B1F unmapped...
Then we'll take the elevator to B4F where Rangda is most prevalent.
Encounter
Wait a moment... what is that you have in your hands...? No... you don't have to tell me... This... this wave...! Barong! It's from Barong! Here, give me that!
Hmph... the designs on this are so flashy and irritating... I hate seeing this thing thrown around carelessly. So, then... do you know the story of myself and Barong? No. Then I'll tell you. Listen with both ears open, okay, dearie?
How long, you ask? Hmm... Why don't you take a guess? Ten years? A hundred years? Maybe a thousand? From a human perspective, you might even think ten thousand years was an awfully long time. But not so for Barong and I... He is my archnemesis forever.
That's how long we've been reincarnating and fighting. Heeheehee... How interesting...! I thought the edge of the world would be a quiet place, but... Barong has come! The cycle of our karma will continue here, too! ...Then I suppose I'd best send a response to Barong. Here, take this.
...We'll be with each other for eternity. What's the use in hurrying to the showdown? Let me relax a bit and see the sights of this godforsaken land.> The demon left...
Alright, so back to Barong we go...
A Scorched Nation
Yes.> You handed Barong Rangda's Claw...
RANGDA GIVE CLAW...
ME AND RANGDA SEE WHAT HAPPEN TO THIS WORLD...> Barong left...
A single Great Chakra is nice and all, but it feels underwhelming-ish for this. At least it was a very quick quest all things considered and it's way better than getting a fucking Dauntless Ring.
So, anyway, B1F. Pay very close attention to the map here. This second half is only doable because we have Visualiser C. You could bruteforce through to Barong without it, but past here is pure, unadulterated misery.
Honestly, I'd recommend skipping it wholesale until NG+ anyway for reasons that should make sense later.
Are you beginning to spot why this area fucking sucks yet? It's going to get worse before it gets better, don't worry.
At least it's kind enough to trick you into thinking it's a way to proceed with both a terminal AND a heal spot here! The terminal is nice for giving you a way to say fuck this noise, though.
And the worst part is that all those dark rooms are just a path to these stairs down to B2F. It's a fucking miserable time just to get an alternative route to the conveyer belt maze.
Real talk here:
The dark rooms leading to Barong are annoying but managable. Everything AFTER that could be excised and nothing woukd be missing or need to be changed. What does this add exactly? Absolutely nothing.
...Let's just go beat up all 5 Enemy Search C demons now.
An Honor Befitting That Name
Mentioned it before, but in Carina-Horologium all Enemy Search demons have a 19% spawn rate. In Antlia/Bootes, it's 20% each. This isn't taking into account the 20% chance of Enemy Search C being selected, mind (A and B are 40% each).
Seth we've technically seen before though. In Bootes, Carina, Fonax and Grus he appears with a Nidhoggr friend.
...Well, this took long enough. Hello there, final Fiend!
Fiend Trumpeter
So, hello there Trumpeter. Kind of an anticlimax of the random fiends, but he IS technically more of a threat than Mother Harlot was!
This is part of why for sure. Base power 400, costs 60MP, hits everyone, very nasty. Definitely don't bring Alciel, if you're still using him for some silly reason!
He also has this. Heimdallr could do this as well, but he never gets a chance. Trumpeter does, because he has 2000HP and is a Fiend that isn't David, Matador or Mother Harlot and so he's immune to ailments.
Horn of Fate is a weird instant-kill attack. It has a 50% chance to be Expel, a 50% chance to be Curse and it also has a 10% chance to target the user's party instead. It's REALLY bad!
Trumpeter is honestly worse than Pale Rider in practice, for you at least, but at least he's way better than Mother Harlot. He resists Fire, Ice, Wind and Elec, is immune to Expel and Curse and of course is immune to every ailment except Rage.
But hey he drops Beads of Life! And he's super susceptible to being Riot Gunned down! Whoops, how unfortunate for you Trumpeter.
End
Kangiten is... really, realy uninteresting honestly. They're a Luck demon, have no ailments to use, neutral to everything except Expel and Curse which they're immune to.
Skill-wise, usable Kangiten has Samarecarm AND Invitation for some insanely stupid unfathomable reason. Their source gives both as well! Third skil is Fleeting Rain... which is not on the source, and is replaced with Mana Surge instead. So dumb. Enemy-Kangiten of course does not have Samarecarm or Invitation instead being the sole demon to have Wastrel Beam. It's Macca Beam but worse because it straight-up halves your money.
Kangiten always appears solo.
Mot! Sadly, this Mot is not a theatre student. Understandable because it's mechanically not doable here anyway.
He's weak to Elec, resists Fire, is immune to Curse and Drains Wind. He has Magarudyne and Megidolaon, oh my. He also happens to be the only demon to have Drain Wind as a passive; remove it. Remove it with no hesitation! He innately Reflects Wind. His basic attack has a 10% chance to inflict Mute but he's vulnerable to all ailments unfortunately for him.
Also his base magic is 62. His second highest stat is Luck at 56. His magic has a 17% growth rate. Mot is Pretty Good, in theory!
Mot has those two Mushussu buddies in Antlia, Delphinus, Eridanus and Horologium.
Samael is so, so bad. He's a Strength demon but his only attack skill is Megidola. He's immune to Curse, weak to Expel and has no more resistances or weaknesses.
At least his source gives both Void Expel AND Curse. That's... something, at least.
Always appears solo.
Thor is the most interesting of a bad bunch, I suppose. You can see his resistances there, though he also is 300% weak to Paralysis (uhh) and Poison. As an added bonus, those Fire and Elec drains are for 125% of the base damage.
Weird that his best skill in this setup is Ziodyne but Magic is his second lowest stat. Mortal Jihad at least does play to his Strength. Also his base attack hits 1-2 times.
Like Kangiten and Samael, he appears solo in every sector.
Prayer
Since each Enemy Search C demon has a whole 4% chance to appear (3.98% in Carina onwards!), and I want at least 6 of each of their forma, we ended up with a lot of materials. We have in fact unlocked almost everything at this point, but the only one we care about at the moment is the Meteor Dragoon. This little badboy right here is the 2nd best gun in terms of the bigger picture, but since the only one better is alignment specific...
Freischutz is a multi-target Almighty attack with a base power of 200. Moan Bullet is a random 1-3 hits of Almighty damage with a base power of 150. Freischutz costs 50MP and Moan Bullet costs 45, for reference. Moan Bullet is Hitonari's best skill by a mile and a half and its on like 3 guns which is pretty absurd if you think about it.
I highly recommend attempting to get this as soon as its realistically possible, which does take a long time. It's been sat in the shop for ages but we've only recently been able to come close to making it. It requires AT Delphite X x3, Vile Bone x2 (Set(h)) and Reaper Tablet x2 (Mot).
And now I'm gonna make a couple demons that'll help us deal with the last sidequest and then the finale. Laksmi is a demon that I just generally like; here she IS weak to Elec but she's also immune to Charm. By default she has Invitation but Invitation is bad so whatever.
Might as well use Norn! She's not amazing but we'll make her more than usable all the same.
This is most of the way there already. Just need to drop that top line of skills, honestly. Laplace Curse is not helpful any more, Eternal Rest is too niche now and Diarahan is a healing spell.
This'll do for now, I guess. Probably replace Laplace Curse with Fire Amp while you're not looking though.
Norn has no ailment resistances or weaknesses and her Charm thing has a 10% chance.
The Land Where The Seed's Memories Lie Buried
So, let's head on over to... Grus... for a moment. This is required, yes. Gotta go to the Phase Shift A Sanctum.
Law Theme
Gotta head all the way back to where we spoke to Mastema that one time. You know the one.
I'd heard you had chosen to walk with us... an wise decision. (sic) We must now make preparations for the holy battle that is to come. To begin with, I am thinking of welcoming a new messenger. Our comrades who have chosen to become the new light have already left for the ritual grounds.
It is sector Horologium where we shall carry out the ritual....Uh? Horologium is a convenient name devised to make talking about this place easier for people. It's not its actual name.
...Or is it? Hmm.
If it pleases you, come and bear witness to the birth of new light and give it your blessing. Silence
Look to your machine.
We'll head on allllll the way over back to that point in Horologium. Having the shortcut elevators helps a bunch with that, at least.
A Land Bringing About Life
This ritual is the first step toward that end.
The miracle that shall be the foundation of a beautiful world...
Let us begin the ritual.
Ahh, Tadano, you have come too? A new angel is on the verge of being born. Let us rejoice and sing! We will fill the world with the Holy Spirit! Law Theme
quote:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
The Sanctus, of course, is part of traditional Mass and has been since the first century so, uh, yeah. It's actually relevant and appropriate here. Sensible!
I am the nameless angel, born in readiness for the holy war.
I have no name. Also my name is Seraph.
...I know Seraph is a class of angels, shut up.
Tadano... I have seen thy deeds through the eyes of many an angel. Despite thy power to control demons, a power too great for the sons of man...
Our Lord must be very pleased. Now then... I have come to this land to smite the cursed Mother... But first, I would give thee greater power. The sacred flames that burn evil...
Tel Megiddo (The Tell of the Governor) is a location in Jerusalem. It's where the Book of Revelations predicts that at the end of the world Satan and Jesus will do a good ol' slobberknocker.
This 100% applies for Megido, the spell, as well of course.
But before I entrust it to theee, thou hast a task to carry out. All saints are tempted by evil and lured to the path of disgrace. Just as our Messiah bore 40 days and 40 nights of temptation... However, we have not such time. I wish that thou woulds go to the source and disperse the mists of temptation. That shall be thy trial to gain the Lord's flame.
A new demon of illusion is being born there. Thou must smite it.So much back and forth... Alright, fine, back to the end of Grus we go. At least we have a shortcut to skip 90% of it.
Silence
Gwahahaha! Chaos Theme
So you have come, human... You didn't have to, you know. I might've melted you with my charms.
...Bold indeed. How many times do I have to say that we're made of different stuff than humans!? Well, I'll repeat it as many times as it takes! As long as you see me shining, the stunted humans will fall and do themselves in!...I really don't want to think of Mara shining. Augh.
Tyrant Mara Vehement RageAlthough, since Mara is our final optional boss, I'd rather listen to something.... different
Mara Battle (JP)much better and i swear that first link IS in english!!
So, Mara! Mara is a Buddhist demon of - among other things - death and temptation (...yes, really) that attempted to tempt the Buddha (yes, really) into giving up on his path to enlightment with sex.
With Mara's daughters, not Mara himself. Kind of disappointing, really. This is a super-super oversimplification but whatever.
The in-game compendium info gets roughly 100% of its info on Mara completely wrong, upto and including using female pronouns for Mara. Yes. Because he's Mara, you see. Mother Mara. Don't think about it.
(his name is also japanese colloquial slang for a penis hence the design)
Here, he's a bit less exciting. He doesn't even have Charm Strike or Hell Thrust!
He does at least have decent Phys attacks and will use them on the full party.
And grow to deal extra damage just to be on the safe side.
Only got 2000HP, so he doesn't take long to beat at all. Inexplicably, Mara is more of a Magic demon than a Phys one. Barely, but still. He has 61 Magic and 59 Strength. Genuinely weak to Fire, resists Phys, Ice, Elec, Wind and immune to Expel and Curse. His basic attack even has a 10% chance to Paralyse.
End
Law Theme
Thy deeds are wonderful. As promised, thou shalt be honored as a saint. If the world were more full of those like thee, 'twould truly be at peace. Thou hast earned the right to hold the flames of judgment. Take this.
Megido Fire is... not very good, honestly.
The machine created with the knowledge of men, the Demonica... and the Demon Summoning Program. They represent power beyond the means of man. ...However, our Lord shall surely permit thou to wield it.
Wilt thy sign with me?
This is only a choice because we're Law aligned right now. If we weren't, he'd just leave instead.
Yes. So be it. In His name, I sign with thee.
So, we have a Seraph now and we can use him... even though we can't. Also he'd be unlocked for fusion regardless at this point.
The Megido Fire is so bad. It's weaker than the Meteor Dragoon, has gun Agidyne and gun Maragidyne (Gun Maragidyne has a base power of 100; the same as gun Agi), and Riot Gun Copy is inexplicably arguably the relatively worst gun skill. It's not THE worst but...
It costs 80MP. It deals Almighty damage to a single target. It's base power? 200. It is more expensive than Riot Gun... hell, it is more expensive than Freischutz. And it's worse. Much, much worse. The difference between RGC and Freischutz is that RGC is single target and Freischutz isn't.
Riot Gun Copy is so, so, SO bad.
Seraph comes in his base frorm and we can't do anything about that. Like, we CAN Mitama him but I'd have to grind 15 levels and fuck that noise.
Big Bang is a more powerful Megidolaon. It has a base power of 450 (Megidolaon is 400) and costs 70MP to Megidolaon's 60. Big Bang's most interesting thing is that it is unique to Seraph.
Holy Wrath is a Megido that costs 45MP but becomes a Megidolaon that costs 45MP when used on Chaos enemies. That sounds nice, but notice how it says it "all" and not "all enemies" or whatever. Yes, Holy Wrath hits you as well. It hits everyone.
Salvation is a healing spell. In a rare twist, it is the only healing spell worth using outside of very, very rare niche scenarios! It's Mediarahan and multi-target Amrita. This gets a pass to usable because there is no item that duplicates its effect. It'd be more useful if we got it earlier, but its worth could still come up in the future.
As you'd expect, Seraph is a special fusion that mimics the cutscene in which he was made.
His Source is Big Bang, Drain Fire and Void Expel. If he levels up on a full moon, he can give us any Incense. That's... something?
Prayer
And now all that remains is to go see Irving and see what he has for us. Whew boy... Unless I say otherwise, presume that the weapons are either bad or just outdated at this point.
The Daimaen is a pain to make to boot; AT Horolite x2, Reaper Knife x8 (Nergal) and Wilder Flame x8 (Fenrir).
The Laevateinn is arguably still worth using for that Fear effect. Notably the bottom screen DOES tell you what element weapons basic attacks are but this isn't Fire. I don't know why that's there because it's never not Physical for swords and Gun for uh Guns.
AT Horolite II x2, Eerie Coronet x1 (Trumpeter) and Tyrant Lignite x3 (Surt). Hey that makes sense, kind of. Well done.
We could've gotten this from the Fafnir quest as well. It's the worst reward by a mile and a half. Don't do it! It's still a pain to make though. AT Antlite X x2, Reaper Knife x8, Drake Heart x6 (Fafnir).
Like with the Laevateinn this is maybe worth using for the Charm effect rather than anything else. Its also got the highest Attack of all swords we can get from Irving, unless I'm forgetting something.
AT Bootite X x3, Sword Shard x2 (Red Rider) and Enigma Tusk x2 (Kangiten).
For the "final" sword off of Irving, the Dies Irae is an anticlimax. Muramasa is the real capstone here, I think. Dies Irae is also inexplicably really hard to make too, hence why its at the top here.
AT Forite X x3, Cold Scythe x2 (Pale Rider) and Kishin Hammer x2 (Thor).
Now for the final 3 guns we can get from Irving! The Pinaka has nothing to do with Shiva here, sadly. Grateful One is the strongest pure Gun elemental attack for Hitonari; base power of 175 and it costs 35MP. Desperado is the MT equivalent costing 45MP with a base power of 165. Storm Spray is Gun Magarudyne. See Inferno Spray above. Replace Agi with Garu.
AT Horolite II x2, Enigma Lotus x8 (Kama) and Jaki Chain x8 (Hecatoncheir).
Shock Spray is Maziodyne. You get the idea here. It'd be nicer if this thing had any single target attacks at all. It still wouldn't be good, mind you.
AT Horolite II x2, Tyrant Orb x8 (Tzitzimitl) and Yoma Ivory x8 (Ganesha).
The Ebony Tear is kind of a worse Meteor Dragoon in a way. Its minimum 3 hits means its functional attack is either 99 or 132 at least. That's pretty good for a basic gun attack; shame it doesn't help Moan Bullet. Just use the Meteor Dragoon instead, though this IS technically easier to get but only just.
AT Antlite X x3, Victor's Bow x2 (White Rider) and Vile Prehnite x2 (Samael).
Slightly more armor than we can see here, for once.
Fire, Ice and Wind Guards are, uhhh...
Well, they're not good. Go back, see what I said about Earth Mail and Thunder Guard. Same thing applies here.
Fire: DF Horolite II x2, Raptor Sun x6 (Huonaio) and Beast Flame x6 (Cerberus)
Ice: DF Horolite II x2, Vile Skeleton x2 (Pales) and Haunt Ribs x4 (Vetala)
Wind: DF Horolite II x2, Raptor Molt x2 (Hresvelgr) and Femme Claws x3 (Rangda)
The Fimbul Vest is straight up one of the best pieces of armor. It's not quite the best, but it's up there. 2 immunities, 3 if you include Expel, and no weakness? Don't mind if I do!
DF Eridite X x3, Judgment Scale x2 (Black Rider) and Kishin Hammer x2.
Mesotes Vest is not really all that great. It does have more defense than the Fimbul Vest (by 2 whole points!) but just nulling Curse is not very good at this stage.
DF Grusite X x3, Reaper Tablet x2 (Mot) and Enigma Tusk x2.
The Dragon Vest is the armor we could get from Fafnir. See what I said about the Fimbul Vest but for different elements. I'd grab this one over the Dragon Ring because making this is a fucking pain in the ass: DF Carite X x2, Drake Heart x6 and... Onogoro Stone x3.
The Absolute Vest is the best armor in the game. It sure doesn't look like it now with only nulling Gun, but it is. Highest defense, no weakness and we can do A Special Thing with this.
DF Carite X x3, Vile Prehnite x2 and Vile Bone x2 (Seth).
It gives Hitonari Laplace Curse. Really not worth it. AC Horolite x3, Tyrant Lignite x2 and Wilder Flame x5.
The Dragon Ring is pretty easy to make all things considered, which is another reason why grabbing it from Fafnir is not necessarily the best option.
AC Horolite X x2, Snake Scales x8 (Yamata-no-Orochi) and Jaki Chain x6.
Well, I needed to get enough Coronets to unlock this anyway.
And finally, the Megidola Stone. AC Horolite x2, Tyrant Orb x3 and Enigma Lotus x3.
That means we've made all swords, all guns, all armor, all items... but not all accessories...? That's pretty weird, that. Wonder what's going on there. Eh, probably nothing. I'm sure whatever's missing isn't that great anyway.
So, uh, how about that Mem Aleph?