Part 42: Update 40 – Yeligar

Ryu-kan beat out Ilchymis by a narrow margin, so we finally have a complete forum-voted crew listing! Don't worry if your favourite crewmember didn't make it in, I'll be putting up Blue Rogues videos for both sets of crewmembers before this LP draws to a close.

Let's go see how our new Artisans are settling in, shall we?



Ryu-kan runs the weapon and armour store for the island, and makes the best buyable equipment in the game. That's neat, but more interesting is his Talk subject.

Captain, I am a little tired right now. My... youth is escaping me. If you return later, when my strength has returned, I will forge you a blade worthy of legends.

Interesting. Sadly, there's nothing we can do with it right now, but it's worth the wait. For now, let's go check on Ilchymis.



Ilcyhmis, as you might expect, stocks every type of buyable consumable in the game. This is incredibly handy because it means I don't have to fly to Maramba every time I run low on glyphs. But oh boy, that is nothing compared to his true power.

Hmm, this shop is adequate, but it's lacking some of the more sophisticated equipment. If I could purchase some, it would be possible to make better medicines, but it will cost 1,000 gold to upgrade everything.



This. This right here. If you're trying to break the game, this is the single greatest investment you will ever make.

Really, are you sure? Thank you very much! I'll get started on renovating the lab, right away.

And now all that remains is to leave and reenter the island to make every trace of difficulty in the game vanish in a puff of money.



I'm glad you like it. Ilchymis, I've been wanting to ask you... Why did you decide to devote your entire life to medicine? Before you joined my crew, you lived on that little island all by yourself, mixing ingredients and making potions.

Hahaha... You've been wondering why I decided to become a hermit? Well, I will tell you. Perhaps you will understand why I chose this life. My parents were both nobles from Upper City. So, during my childhood, I was well taken care of. Because of my family's wealth, I was able to buy all of the books I wanted. I read all the time, you see. One day, on my way to the bookstore, I saw a very sick man from Lower City. He crawled into Upper City on his hands and knees. He was begging for money, so he could buy medicine. But no one would help him. I ran to the shop to try and help the man... When I returned, he was already... dead. I felt so helpless. From that day on, I decided that I would devote my life to helping others. I spent days alone I my room reading all about the different types of medicines and potions. In time, I became one of Valua's best researchers. I wanted to make medicines that the people in Lower City could afford. I wanted to help people, but Valua had other plans for me. They wanted me to make weapons for their military... Shortly after, I fled Valua and found an island where I could continue my studies. Sorry, if my story seemed a bit long... I believe in you, Vyse. Although you are a warrior, you are fighting for the right cause. And that is why I want to aid you in your fight. I will do everything in my power to assist you and your crew.

So, someone in the thread was asking why Ilchymis lives by himself on an island where he can't really heal anyone? Well know you know. As for what upgrading his shop does, let's take a look.



Yes, those are the permanent stat boost seeds. You can buy unlimited numbers of them, so the only real limitation on how stupidly powerful you can make the party is how much cash you have on hand. You may also notice that after handing in every discovery in the game I am now disgustingly rich, and with nothing else left to spend money on it's only going to get worse.

But you know what? I'm not going to use them. I'm all for breaking a game open with the cunning abuse of enemy AI or sneaky tricks with items, but when the game hands you unlimited power on a silver platter it's just too easy. Besides, breaking the game just through raw numbers seems so crude, somehow. Anyway, I'm not doing it.

That's not to say I can't take advantage of another little bonus from upgrading his shop, of course.

That reminds me... I've come up with a new little concoction that I'm rather proud of. It will heal your entire party and regenerate all of your magic power at once. Heh... I've named it the “Ilchymix”. Like the name? Heh... Well, it takes a few moments for it to take effect, so it won't be of any use to you while you are in battle. It's a little expensive to make, but I've gotten the whole process... pardon the expression... down to a science. It will cost 4,000 gold for 10.



Just as Ilchymis says, these little beauties can only be used out of combat but are effectively an instant night's sleep, so blowing all your resources before the boss is no longer an issue. Not that it ever was, really, but that's beside the point. The point being that Ilchymis is the single most overpowered crewmember in the game.

As promised, we will be heading off in search of the Yellow Moon Crystal this update, but there's a few little things to take care of first. First, a quick look around the island.





With Izmael no longer tied up by Plot, we now have both options to upgrade the base, which means the voting is once again open! Izmael will upgrade the buildings along Western designs, while Kirala tends towards tradition Yafutoman designs. You can mix and match them as you like, but for the purposes of the LP and to keep the voting from getting too complicated I'd like to keep them all looking the same. Just vote in the thread as always for either Kirala's designs or Izmael's.



Since Belle won the vote against Khazim, I suppose I'll grudgingly use a subcannon instead of a third torpedo. Subcannons aren't bad at all, I just don't find them generally as useful as torpedoes or main cannons. But hey, maybe they'll surprise me.

When we go to Valua, I'll shoot down their entire fleet! Bring 'em on! I hope I don't miss too much!

Well, actually, we're going to sneak into Valuan airspace by flying under the islands.



I seriously can't stop posting that expression every time it happens. I have to admit that I was secretly rooting for Belle to win the vote even if it meant having to use subcannons.

I thought we were going to attack them, so I loaded more than enough cannonballs! I even threw in some extra in case I miss.

By the way, remember Belle's two flunkies, Nara and Lilly? They're here too, and mostly stand around chatting in the shop.



Nara: She started firing at his ship to get his attention. Gilder fired back. How romantic. I really look up to Captain Clara. She's so passionate.



These two missed their calling with the Demons, I feel, but on the whole I'd rather have them firing away from my ship than at it.



Oh yes, and Enrique and Moegi now spend all their time standing together looking out over the island's pond .

As a Prince of Valua, I knew that someday I would eventually return to Valua, but I never thought I'd have to return from underneath it.

This is a very beautiful island that you've found, Vyse. This pond reminds me of home. It's relaxing. I wish that I could just sit here like this forever...

I really like the relationship between these two. A relationship in a JRPG that operates entirely independantly of the protagonist is so refreshing.

Just one last thing before we set sail for Valua: collecting all the Discoveries netted us a Swashbuckler boost to the title of Vyse the Fearless!













And with that, we're off! To pry open the Grand Fortress with our bare hands!


Click for video!

Okay, okay, so here's what we're really doing. The Lower Sky entrance to the Maw of Tartas can be really tricky to find, but it's at least easy to know when you've found it.





As you probably guessed, it's another ship dungeon, but of a completely different sort to the Dark Rift. It's a labyrinth of winding passages and vicious spiked outcroppings.



The creatures living here are weird, prehistoric looking things. The Shrilp there is a dead ringer for Anomalocaris, the gigantic predator that terrorised the seas 500 million years ago, in fact. The fish in Lower Sky also have a distinctly primitive, unevolved look to them.



These yellow gel coatings to a few of the stalagmites are the chests of the Maw. They're also a lot bigger than they look. I thought I was practically touching this one, but by the time I was close enough to collect it it filled the entire screen. There's only two of them in the dungeon, but one of them holds a precious Dexus seed, the only seed that Ilchymis doesn't sell. It boosts Agile, the stat that doesn't increase with level ups and directly determines evasion and crit rates.



It's extremely easy to get turned around in the Maw, but you'll know it when you finally reach the end. It's a gigantic pentagonal shaft with elaborate gold carvings coating the walls, and the only way forwards is straight up.



Into that.





That is Yeligar, the Yellow Gigas.

Hrmph...

Silvite Mages managed to put him to sleep. Then they sealed him in here. Yeligar is extremely powerful, so it's best that we don't wake him. The Crystal is in Yeligar's possession. We have to find a way to remove it without waking him.





!





Remember how the other Gigas just obeyed the commands of the crystal holder? Well, guess what happens when you put the crystal in the hands of its own Gigas.

If we stay here, we won't be able to dodge the lightning! We have to get away from him! Engines, full reverse!









Fortunately, blowing the seal apart means we get to follow Yeligar out into the open skies, and out there we at least stand a fighting chance.



He made breaking the seal look easy. This isn't a good sign...

It looks like we're going to have to fight him to get the Crystal. Battlestations! Let's take that thing down!





Whoa... It doesn't sound like a very friendly Gigas... Vyse, we should be extra careful!!



Yeligar, the Yellow Gigas. In theory, the strongest of the Gigas, with command over the lightning itself. The Yellow Moon is the fifth moon, which I'm assuming are represented by Yeligar's four limbs and head, with the four spines on his back and his tail forming another five. It's a bit of a stretch, but fortunately it's more obvious one of his three attacks, Photon Charge,





Five circle thingies above Yeligar, five thunder torpedoes, and if you look closely at the second picture, a five-pointed thunderbolt around the ship. It's a hell of a lot more obvious than Plergoth's number, at least.





Yeligar's second main attack, Voltigar, doesn't have any hidden fives that I can see, but it's the stronger of his two attacks, and the one he uses more frequently.



That...isn't saying much, though. This kind of damage is frankly pitiful at this stage of the game – the Delphinus has around 50,000hp and effectively unlimited healing by this point. I love this game, I really do, but I wish the Gigas weren't such complete pansies when you fight them.



Excpect to see a serious disconnect between what the characters think is happening and what is actually happening, by the way.

Um... more importantly... is it just me or does that thing look a little more... active? Is the seal weakening on it or something?

Perhaps... But whatever the reason, it appears to be building up for some sort of attack.

I wish there was some way we could knock it off balance like we've done with all the other Gigas, but it's just too big! Anything short of the Moon Stone Cannon probably won't even make that thing budge!



Hint, hint. There's a couple of things of note in this picture. The first is the obvious Moonstone Cannon opportunity, which will knock Yeligar off balance and open it up for another Moonstone blast rather than us having to take the brunt of its fiercest attacks. The other is that torpedoes and subcannons can be set to launch into the next round, which lets that party member effectively do two things at once on the next turn. It's pretty neat.



Subcannon attacks that spill over into the next round will also be taken from the SP count for that round instead of the round the attack was started on. But enough pouring out ludicrous amounts of damage: What happens if you decide not to knock Yeligar out of his attack?



Most people probably don't know this attack exists, because the only way to see is to actively avoid hitting Yeligar on the Moonstone Cannon opportunity. If you do, Yeligar starts weaving drunkenly around the sky instead of using his strongest attack.





And then Yeligar transformed into a jet fighter.



I will rule the universe even if I am the only one left in the universe!



Sadly, Even the mighty Thunder Crash is pretty wimpy. I mean, Grendel was hitting the Little Jack harder than this.

Th... that attack! Its power is unbelievable...

Be careful, everyone! Yeligar looks ready to attack again! It's not going to let up...

Great... We didn't knock it off balance and now we're stuck in its attack pattern. Alright everyone... brace for impact...



Nah, I think I'll just tank the fuck out of the followup combo and keep shooting. Guess who won that exchange? Hint: It wasn't Yeligar.



Bang.



That wasn't easy...



It's amazing that we were able to get it before the Armada.









Fina...





Even with the Gigas destroyed, the Moon Crystals themselves are still incredibly powerful in their own right. We have to take them somewhere far, far out of the reach of the Armada, but just how we can do that will have to wait until next time. See you then!

Video List
Maw of Tartas
Yeligar