Part 17: Part 17

Pretty sure I tried it at some point but they won't let you into the trials without them.




Dark Sol has fallen, but that doesn't mean we're done here. I still have a bunch of stuff left to show off that didn't make it into the actual playthrough one way or another, so let's get started.



There are several items that are difficult to impossible to obtain normally. You've seen the Super Flail already; it's by far the best of the lot. Others are like the Dream and Doom blades, interesting but not very useful.



The Ice Saber, which is obtained from Demonikas on the third floor, falls into the latter category. With the usual progression being Fire -> Ice -> Lightning, you'd think this would be stronger than the Firesword, but it's actually weaker, at 55 AF compared to the Firesword's 60. Pretty bad for a rare drop, I'd say! It is, however, still capable of casting ice magic when used, so if you happen to find one, you may as well keep it around.

(Multiple copies of the Firesword, by the way, can be obtained from the Dragonfyres on the fifth floor. Though, why you'd want them at that point... especially when Lancerots one floor down drop Stormswords.)

Speaking of elemental weapons, a staff with lightning magic is conspicuously missing from the game.



The Mercy Staff can be obtained from Necromancers. It's not much of a weapon, with a WF of only 35, but it casts Heal 3 when used, making it another nice item for Pyra to carry around.



The Thunder Armor is actually really good with 70 AF, just ten points below the Light Armor, which is probably why they cut it from the game - this is unobtainable by normal means. Like the Sun and Frost armours before, it protects the wearer (read: Sue, because he's the only one who can use it) from the obvious damage type.



Not all unobtainable items are that awesome, though. The Glass Armor sets your AF to zero (!) and if you're actually dumb enough to equip it despite that, well, have fun trying to get it off! One trip to the priest, coming up...



The Tamayoshi isn't much better. (But doesn't it look a little like Jogurt's hat in Shining Force...?) As hilarious as the Muddle 2 effect is, it's not something you want to hang around permanently.



The Doomstaff is a nasty-looking thing. Unlike the previous three, it can actually be obtained in the game; it's what you get if you forge a weapon for Milo with a Dark Block. It's also dropped by the Cerberus on level 4. Using it in combat-



-casts Blaze 4! Awesome, right?

Well, as you can see from the picture, not so awesome. Outside the Forbidden Box, I think this is the only thing in the game that hits both allies and enemies at the same time.



Naturally, it is also cursed, as are all Dark Block items.

Speaking of which, I glossed over most of these before, but here is the full list.

Weapons:
Dark Scimitar - 120 AF; character may fail to act. (Sue)
Doomstaff - 105 AF; also damages user when attacking. Casts Blaze 4 when used, but hits allies as well. (Milo, Pyra)
Hexwhip - 60 AF, attacks a group; may tangle user after attacking, preventing them from acting in upcoming round(s). (Pyra)

Shield:
Dark Shield - 60 AF; cuts WF in half. (All)

Armour
Dark Armor - 100 AF; wearer is paralysed. (Sue)
DarkRobe - 70 AF; 25% chance that wearer will cast Heal on enemies. (Milo, Pyra)

Headgear
Dark Helm - 50 AF; user is blinded, suffering reduced hit rate. (Sue)
Dark Hood - 35 AF; lowers magic defence. (Milo, Pyra)

Out of these, only the shield and the whip are anything worth considering. The shield may be okay if you never use Pyra to attack, but the damage output from the whip is probably going to end up saving your more HP than the shield.

The Dark Scimitar's curse takes effect before acting, unlike the Hexwhip; you can't use it as an early round one nuke.

While we're at it, the only piece of mithril equipment I haven't shown off is the weapon for Pyra:

Mithril Rod - 100 WF.

Possibly a better single-target damage than Bolt 4 if you Boost Pyra? Maybe; I haven't tested it. Apparently Milo can also equip this, but I can't think of any situation where he should.



The mass-produced Magic Mail is actually stronger than the Lightrobe. It offers 50 AF, as opposed to the Lightrobe's 44. However, it lacks the "blessed with power" factor, so it probably isn't worth it for Pyra, with her already sky-high natural AF.



It turns out the rings in this game actually have more uses than I previously thought. In fact, just carrying the Heal Ring in your inventory gives the owner's defence a 10% AF bonus! Pyra's 245 AF rises...



...to 271, which explains her tankiest tank status in the last update.

The Barrier Ring offers a 25% bonus...



...and Pyra's AF rises to 339! These effects stack, so adding a second barrier ring offers an increase of ((base AF x1.1)x1.25)x1.25, for a net ~70% boost! I never looked closely enough at the stats to realize this before.



Pyra laughs at your puny attacks. Maybe I should see what happens if I stick five barrier rings on her...



...or hell, why not more? The Magic Mail is the strongest armour Pyra can use, and at these levels, it grants more AF than a single ring. Maybe if you grind until Pyra's natural defence is high enough, eight rings will be the best protection you can get.

(Someone draw me Pyra flaunting eight barrier rings?)



I tried to see if she could beat Dark Sol without healing. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the damage output to outlast him, but she still lasts a bloody long time after Sue and Milo bite the dust.



By grinding like a lunatic, it's possible to unlock new rare deals at the Alkemist's.

Video: WEIRD SHIT


It's unlikely given how easy Dark Sol is around level 50, but if you hit level 60, she will sell you the Earth Hammer.



This is the only one of these that deals damage. The others are instant kills.



Level 70, Shock Box.



It blows all enemies clean off the battlefield.



Level 80, Ogre Flute, also one of the best damn items in the game...



...for obvious reasons.



And if you by some miracle hit level 90, you can buy the Black Box.



It looks pretty awesome, but takes more time than the shock box.



All of these are great against crystal oozes; they can't resist the Earth Hammer, and instant death to all enemies is... well, instant death to all enemies. Some foes, like Bildbloks, aren't affected by some or all of these, but pretty much everything you'd normally encounter can be squished.



The Forbidden Box is available much earlier, and has a chance of duplicating all of the above effects. However, it also has several unique ones that are chosen at random. We have seen a few already, but it may also, as seen here, Boost 2 the entire enemy group.




It may curse the entire enemy party... and your allies as well.



It can turn off the battle music.




It can grant you super-speed, though I'm not sure if that's really helpful; after this, all my characters were doing 1 point of damage to the weakling enemies... maybe they're just too fast to know what they're doing.



It can blind everybody.



It can summon a bug that fully heals the party. This is sort of the basis for the heal spell in Shining Force.



It can play two different melodies, one of which will put everybody to sleep, and one that will make the monsters dance (...they just flip back and forth).

Other effects include dealing 150 damage to a random target... and nothing at all happening.





Bonus videos!

Some madman recreated the first level of the Labyrinth... in Minecraft. It's probably more boring to watch than the actual game, but pretty impressive nevertheless. Not my youtube; may not be permanent, but fun while it lasts.

I never got around to showing off all the various spells in the game. Here's a video with all the interesting stuff in it. This does not include the buffs/heals, but they are all the same; the screen borders flash, and that's it.



And that's all!



That's the end for real this time. Thanks for watching/reading/whatever you did. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, because I had a _{Level 4} Blast.