Part 8: Antlia Clean Up
Prayer
Now that we're in Bootes (the game doesn't include the diaeresis so I won't either!), we'll take a breather to talk to the crew again. It's been a while since we last did that after all.
But it's also a little creepy... They're trying to show us something... I can feel their hostile intent...
We've learned a few things about Demon Fusion by analyzing the data we receive. You might have heard from another crewman already, but you can ask me anytime if you want to know.So from now on, Williams gives us a Fusion tutorial because getting that after the first boss is sensible.
But is this a step forward or just starting the battle all over again? Either way... good luck. As long as you're alive, I'll be here to treat your wounds.
They say I can walk around the ship now too, but as big as it looks, this ship is just too small!
I dunno where ya found that, but you better give it here before ya lose it!
It's probably not super obvious, and you have no reason to ever check the relevant menu, but that Brass Horn we got? That's a Rare Forma. Unlike the Feather Flock from before, this one does something a bit different:
We'll take a look at what we got outta this soon, but first we're here to talk to people. So we're gonna talk to people!
I can't raise too much of a fuss about it, but between you and me, I'm 'bout beside myself.
But it follows that if someone is seeking the truth, they have to go deep to find it. So from any angle, I think we're on the right track.
Alright, while we're here I'm going to pick this up before we leave. It's going to be useful later.
The Brass Horn gave us four new Sub Apps. Two of them are Negotiation upgrades; whenever we get an item, or macca, the Extra [x] app means you get it twice. You don't get the same item, or amount of macca, mind you. But you get two sets of it.
Light in Hell procs pretty often in my experience. Very, very rarely if there's a single enemy demon left, they'll start begging for mercy. Tell 'em no, and they'll give you an item and run away. Tell 'em yes and they'll run away. This makes it happen more often. Pretty simple, pretty nice.
Presenter is kind of nice I guess? Those random item gains at level up become more likely. I can't say I've used it much personally though. I don't know exactly what the modifier on it is either. But it's cheap.
Really, these 4 are all pretty good in their own way and pay for themselves quickly enough at least. I'll mainly be using Extra Item for a little while, despite it being stupidly large (5/10 capacity immediately gone...).
Nothing else in the Lab right now, so we'll head on over to the Deck.
I just like raising them. When one of mine gains a level, I get a certain sense of satisfaction. Now that you've got me going, I wouldn't mind teaching you the ins and outs of raising demons.So, Blair's tutorials have been expanded to include item gifts, skill changes and sources. Still feels a bit late and thoroughly unnecessary.
Oh yeah... You wouldn't happen to have any spare time, would you? Well, I hear stories about other crewmen's troubles and anxieties when we're betting on stuff. Think you could lend a sympathetic ear too? Only when you have time, I mean.
I'll introduce you to some of the crew. Talk to me when you feel up to it.
Dent gives us a further menu when we talk to him now. One of these is a "hey do you have sidequests?" option, so...
Anything I can help with? Wow! Getting your help is quite a welcome surprise. Bad timing, though... The crewmen who had requests for you are all gone right now. Come see me again later.
I heard they're providing backup for the supply team... but man, they were out in force. Whatever they're up against must be pretty tough.Well, that's a super-obvious quest hook anyway. We'll be seeing what the deal here is later on.
For now, we'll just talk to Dent and then choose the Talk option.
Rest is good, but exercising your body and mind is important, too... Right? Hmm... Can yoou help stave off the boredom? Let's stretch our brains! Okay. Great! Then let's begin.
Need me to explain the rules? Yes. In this game, you and I advance a count, back and forth. You can add up to three to the tally, but you always have to add at least one.
You first, then.
This is a pretty simple mini-game, but it can still trip people up. It's not complicated or anything and it comes up in all sorts of weird situations.
Of course, going first means we cannot lose. We just advance once number first, then whatever comes next is irrelevant. Because Dent advances it 3 numbers here, we advance it to 5.
Because here he advances from 9 to 11, we advance from 11 to 13.
If we advances to 14 from there, we advance to 17. In summary, so long as the first player ensures an advance of 4 numbers from their last, they will never lose. We end turn 1 on 1, so we end turn 2 on 5. Then we end turn 3 on 9, turn 4 on 13, turn 5 on 17 etc. etc.
You can count it out with every valid combination and it will never end above 28 for the second player. This makes it impossible for them to win.
You win. You know... you're pretty good at this, Hitonari.
We don't get much of a reward for this one, but it was intended as a bit of a break. It's pretty understandable and not much of a problem here.
Well, that was a nice way to kill time. Thanks a bunch. A Scorched Nation
Oh right, before we deal with the remaining EX Quests we completed the map for Antlia B2F before as well. So that's 2/3rds of Antlia fully mapped out already. 1F isn't doable for a long, looooong time unfortunately.
We only need to go to B1F for now, though.
Humans aren't all bad, huh? Oh, this is for you, as thanks!
Well, this is very good. Very, very good...
Although, is anywhere safe around here? It's kind of a free-for-all...
Oh well. I'll see you later!
Okay, so the Pixie Knife isn't quite the best Sword but it's honestly up there. That's mostly because it's a minimum of 2 hits and sometimes inflicts Charm, yes. Charm is really, really good (things attack themselves, their allies and/or heal their enemies as applicable). The 2-4 hits is important because each hit has a chance of proccing the Charm effect. You could tell me you used this for some seemingly absurdly long length of time and I would probably believe you.
Mostly because Charm is very good and it's not like you make basic attacks often anyway, so the low power isn't a big liability.
Anyway, we've got another sidequest to deal with here. We just need to find a random Sandman and then Talk to him.
> Hitonari told Sandman about the spare bag...
A spare Sandman bag...? I borrowed it from a friend, y'say...? Hm... hang on a moment... I'm tryin' to recollect... Ohh! Sure, I remember now! I tore a hole in my bag, so I borrowed an extra. 'Course, I fixed the original tear, so now it's good as new... 
Sure, take the bag, and give it to him with my regards. Huah huah huah...!
This whole "find a random demon and talk to them once" thing is just a glorified fetch quest, sure, but it's also semi-common...ish? It's not the kinda thing we get all the time but it crops up a decent number of times.
Good job there, sonny. I wish more humans were friendly like you... It's a dadgum shame.
There's not many of these available for a while. It's a full MP restore to one target. Very handy!
And for our final little event, we're going to go check out those guys that Dent told us about. Normally you wouldn't do this for a while but I prefer to do things as soon as I can. I can do this now, so...
You came at a good time. Got a minute to talk? I'm on a mission to escort some of the supply team to the Blue Jet to salvage parts. There's no telling what we'll find, but the more parts, the better. We've hit a snag, though... There's a demon hiding in the Blue Jet. Or living there, I should say. The team's regrouping right now to get ready to take on that demon.
I've already got authorization from Arthur. Join the elimination team? Yes. Glad to hear it. It's good to have you on the team. It's just on an ad hoc basis, but you'll be under my command. Now go take your positions at the Blue Jet.
Okay, so this is not something we're prepared for as-is. We're going to make a lot of demons and then ultimately ignore the most on-paper useful one. That's Apsaras here (Goblin+Angel); hi Apsaras! Giving her Kaso's source so she can do semi-useful things in general. More of a long-term investment.
Now we're going to make the real things we're going to us! First we're going to take a Pixie and Gremlin to make Preta. Preta has a horrible slew of weaknesses (and he's weak to Mute as well though you don't get to see that) and is up-there with Poltergeist for sheer awfulness.
We only want him for his Tarunda though. Fusing him with Hua Po gives us an Ippon-Datara who is very useful and very important. His weaknesses are kind of bad but manageable and his innate skills are insanely good for a level 10 demon! You'll see. If I had an Itsumade source, I'd add that as well because it's the only way to get a powerful Physical skill until level 22.
Angel+Koppa Tengu is going to give us Harpy who isn't all that great. We're not going to add a Source here because it'd be a waste; her damage output is awful, she opts for Sukukaja over something useful and she's weak to her own normal attack.
We're more interested in using her to heal and stay alive.
Now for our final demon we're going to take a needlessly long route. I could use a Poltergeist for this but I want to make an Erthys first.
We're making a Dybbuk here. We could fish for getting one via Lunatic but that's a giant stretch and this is easier. Spirits are all ranked down via Element fusion.
...Okay, so Elements change the way fusion works. Combine one with another demon and you get a demon of the same race as the other demon. Simply put, Element+Spirit=Spirit. Depending on the combination, it will give you either the next demon up/down in terms of level or the one after that.
Poltergeist is the second lowest Spirit, and all Spirits are ranked down 1 stage so it will always give Dybbuk who is the lowest level. Unlike older games, there is no wrap-around so you cannot rank down Dybbuk into the highest level Spirit; instead, it's an invalid combination.
Incidentally, if you want to fuse demons like Dybbuk or Slime or even Okiku-Mushi then the only way to do so is to take the 2nd lowest of their race and then rank them down.
We want Dybbuk to fuse with an Onmoraki to make Jueyuan. We could also use Poltergeist for this but Dybbuk is the only easy way to pass Rakukaja along right now.
I'm also going to add an Oni source to this (for Tarukaja) but I don't have one here yet so I'll grind that off-screen.
In The Master's Name
> A large crowd of demons has gathered...
When we're ready, we're going to head over to where we fought Orias before.
Hmhmhm... You needn't worry about them getting lonely. They're here with me, after all. Now... Today, we shall sing a song...> The demon is playing with the corpses around the Blue Jet...
> The crew moved into position.
Men, prepare to engage... Ready... aim... Fire! Tadano! There's a big one headed your way!
You're the most experienced one on the team! Can you handle it? Leave it to me. Copy that! We'll hold back the rest of the demons to give you some space!
I assure you, my dear, you won't be lonely with me at your side. Come and join your human brethren for eternity...!
Fairy Lorelei Vehement Rage
Alright, so our first optional boss... is level 31... sure, whatever. Lorelei are siren-like water spirits which comes up in roughly zero ways here, for once. She also happens to be one of my personal favourite demons in the series because I'm weird like that.
I considered bringing Apsaras to capitalise on her Fire weakness, but the damage output is reduced most because Lorelei is level 31.
Tarukaja helps a decent chunk with pushing that up to something more sensible, but at this stage it'll still take a little while to best Lorelei. She "only" has 455HP for reference.
Well, that would be the case if we didn't bring Ippon-Datara. He's crucial here because he has Charge. Charge boosts the next Physical/Gun attack/skill to 2.5x normal damage.
Combining that and Tarukaja, leads to his Explosive Fist obliterating Lorelei very quickly.
And because of the sheer level difference between Lorelei and everything we can throw at her at this stage, you might think it's a good idea to debuff her attack and buff our defense right?
Well, yes and no. This is her damage output as-is on neutral resistance while guarding. This is all she can do to deal damage. But that's the least dangerous thing about her!
Her actual moveset includes four key spells. Marin Karin is insanely dangerous because it's single target Charm (5MP; 80% chance to hit). If she targets a Pixie Knife wielding Hitonari, which I removed because of this fight, or something like Harpy which can Charm with their attack... then it can spread really quickly.
Fortunately, I brought Harpy almost exclusively for Charmdi which mitigates this risk but does not make it a non-issue.
Her only other normal spell is Dormina. Single target Sleep, seen it before, doubles damage received... but that's not what makes this very dangerous! If she casts Dormina and it hits the MC, you've already lost. If she casts Dormina and it hits anyone else, cure it with a Patra Stone immediately!
If anyone is asleep at the start of the turn, she will cast Eternal Rest. Eternal Rest targets every single unit and it's an instant kill to anyone asleep. Lorelei is more than fast enough to always go first (at this stage) so you want item priority to cure sleep. That's why if Hitonari gets hit by Dormina we've lost and can't do anything about it.
Later on that's not an issue at all but we're doing this now so I'm tempering my advice for that.
When low on health, she begins to cast Media as well. I don't know why it's Media and not something that would be more useful like Diarama. I'm guessing this is flavor over substance.
It always heals 45HP to her and people have big problems outpacing this for some reason? If she starts spamming it, that's a good thing! It means you can go on the offensive and will easily be able to deal much more damage than she can heal even if she casts it every turn.
The End
Being an (optional) boss fight, now that we've beaten Lorelei we can fuse her once we get to a high enough level. That'll take quite a while though...
Thanks to the level difference, combined with some degree of EXP scaling, you might think that we're going to get relatively overlevelled from this right? Well, no. Lorelei only gives enough EXP to push Hitonari from level 10 to 12.
End A Scorched Nation
You won't be lonely here... Why...?> The demon disappeared...
> It seems the squad has eliminated all of the demons.
We kept the casualties to a minimum. It was a well-executed operation. Regroup at the starting point.> After he signed off, your personal channel switched on.
Thanks to you, this operation was a cakewalk. I want to thank you on the rest of the team's behalf.Just gonna take a quick walk over to where we officially started the EX Quest.
Mission accomplished, men. There shouldn't be any trouble salvaging those parts now. You did good work out there today. Supplies prepared a little reward for us. It's all yours, men.
This is our primary reward for this quest, and we can use it immediately rather than in about 20 levels. It's a Rare Forma, so...
We'll immediately head back to the Red Sprite and hand it to Irving and Chen.
This only gives us the one Sub App but MP Recover II is very good. It's also only 12500 Macca so we'll be able to grab this pretty quick. It recovers 5 MP to Hitonari, and only Hitonari, every 10-15 steps. We're not even gonna get MP Recover I until quite a ways later.
Oh, and finally before we carry on, let's take a look at everything (that we haven't really seen yet) Irving and Chen can make in the lab right now. Remember that almost all of this requires Forma as well as Macca at all times! The only thing that doesn't is common ol' Medicine.
Neither of the currently available weapons are particularly stellar but I do quite like the Cursed Lance. It's not as objectively amazing as the Pixie Knife but it's a flat 2 hits on a single target at semi-decent power so it's a good alternative. At least to me; feel free to disagree if you want. I'm still gonna use it though.
Requires 1 AT Antlite II, 3 Raptor Tissue (Onmoraki and Itsumade both drop/give this) and 3 Jirae Dress (Hua Po).
The Heat Knife is a generic alternative that I have never used and probably never will. It's got the highest base power but it's a single hit on one target with no added benefits. It's the boring "safe" option, really.
Requires 2 AT Antlite, 1 Fairy Wings (Pixie) and 1 Spirit Cuffs (Dybbuk).
The Caloric is the only Gun we haven't used yet and probably won't at all to be honest. It's the worst for raw power, discounting the starting gun, and it's free hit attacks every enemy once which is cool. It's only ability is a single target Sukunda with some Light tier damage. If it was any other debuff I'd probably grab it as an alternative for some fights, but Sukunda is the least useful so the Caloric just kind of falls by the wayside.
Requires 1 AT Antlite, 1 Fairy Wings and 1 Vermin Rope (Okiku-Mushi; the least common Forma of the sector in my personal experience).
I sort of glossed over the Survivor Vest before, but it's what we used for Lorelei (even if it doesn't look it here). It's not as good for raw defense as the Ancient Vest but it's defenses are better in general. The Fire weakness would've been a problem before but now not-so-much. That it resists Physicals is amazing and great since, y'know, physical damage is very common and Resist is flatout amazing.
Requires 1 DF Antlite and 1 Jirae Rags (Knocker). Absolute steal, and a good example of how Strange Journey does not understand how to balance things.
Briefly mentioned the Body and Mind Rings before. They add a whole 10 points to HP and MP respectively. That's it. Don't use them. They suck. We can get better versions for basically free really easily.
Body Ring requires 2 AC Antlite, 1 Fallen Purse (Melchom) and 2 Beast Fire Fur (Kaso).
Mind Ring requires 2 AC Antlite, 1 Divine Wings (Angel and Archangel) and 1 Night Sand (Sandman).
Patra Stone and Dis-Poison are things we've seen before but completely ignored from Irving. They're just status cures but that makes them kind of important unless you want to waste demon skill slots on their respective spells (you don't).
They both need only 1 Detox Core, which you'll have lots of just by playing casually so there's no real excuse to not keep stocked on them really.
Poison Gas is the only attack item available right now. That's kind of misleading as it doesn't deal damage; it's just a single target attempt to inflict Poison. There are some really good ailment items later, and while Poison is decent we'll get better ones fairly quickly. Grab it if you want, but don't worry too much about it.
Requires 1 AC Antlite and 1 Foul Mucous (Slime).
But, for now we've done all we can in Antlia. So next time, we'll be stepping into Bootes for the first time.