Part 57: Legendary Hammer
Today, we wrap up the Rage Chamber.
But first, welcome to level five... again.
We've seen it before, but this time, we actually get a golem! I'd have been a bit miffed if I had run into the same setup as the last time here, too. The asshole bat reinforcements up on the previous level are annoying, but the golems feel like the entire point of this floor. You can fight skeletons on every other fucking level if you're into that.
There aren't that many enemies here,
...but there are enough to set up formation and get our unite on before Lazlo kills them all. (Also available in youtube flavour)
Roget profits...
...as does Coop, although I neither know nor care precisely how much.
And as for the golem...?
This is what I think of your golems.
(It would have been kind of sad if we had ended this LP without a shot of this. My only regret is that it remained at three digits.)
With the only thing that was actually a threat here gone, it's cleanup time. Although Kika could get empty levels for the rest of the game and still be awesome, it still kind of hurts to see this...
...but these things could hurt more. As with the third floor, reinforcements will spawn once you get far enough on the map, and it's a nasty ambush this time, with three archer skeletons on each platform flanking the exit - you could very easily lose a character or two here.
This time, Andarc happened instead.
Also Lazlo. He misses one of the skeletons but gets two of the chests, and obtains a Champion's Orb and a Diamond. One of these days I might equip the former and see how strong the enemies actually get. Preferably some time before I max out at level 50.
The skeleton may have survived, but it's still up against goddamn Lazlo and well, no.
Rene hasn't found shit.
I don't care, so I have Andarc nuke the last chest,
...and that's the end of that. (The mermaid bracelet is arm gear for women, and doesn't do anything special.)
The Rage Chamber looks great, and the intro is worth watching.
Unfortunately, I have to choose between the plugin that produces the good graphics and the one that makes the game playable, so the rest of these shots are going to be a bit lacking.
That aside, the layout is tricky, and so are the enemies. There are no beetles around here, just skeletons and spirits, but we're up against no less than three Rage Dragons, which are, of course, quite powerful.
The bridge is annoying to cross and there are several platforms that you can only get to by flying (and of course the buried treasure is on one of these things - the main reason I was saving this until after obtaining owls.)
Sadly you can only swap in Rene once, so there's no way to search a platform, swap back to a flier and continue on to the next - if you don't find anything, you'll have to restart the level or miss out on the stuff. The game actually provides a retry option on the main menu for exactly that kind of situation, but I have savestates instead, and you better believe I'm going to abuse them.
...okay, so they aren't tougher than Fishskas and Lazlo has several levels on this one, but trust me, the dragons are strong. They just have to get a turn to show it.
As before, the dragons have four different drops. I think I got three from this one.
Now for the other two. The dragons fly, so they aren't bothered by the bridge (but on the flip side, they are not strengthened by the fire terrain either.) I'll just sit here and let them get within range.
Lino pokes one. Poke!
And Andarc finishes it for another nice level.
A little bit down the bridge, this happens. I don't think Lazlo has actually taken any damage on this entire run.
Flare is off doing important things. First, the chests. The Hand of God was present in IV as well, but it has undergone some significant changes since then. In Tactics, it increases STR by 40 with no drawbacks. This is just as ridiculously good as it looks, but not everyone can equip it, and some of the characters who can are too bad to consider even with the boost. Notably, Tal and Axel are the only sword users who can use it, and, well.
More amusingly however, it can be used by all the mages. But, as amusing as it might be to make Corselia a front line fighter, most of them aren't very suited to it in terms of mobility and physical defence.
Frederica, the male claw users (but not the girls because... fucked if I know), Dario and Nalleo, Lino and Reinhold, Sigurd, and Karl can also equip it.
The rage dragons can breathe fire in a wide fan-shaped area and cast Explosion. The former is more threatening as the latter has charge time you can use to either get the hell out of the way or murder the dragon, depending; they may also have other attacks but if so I've never seen them. This one went for the spell. I don't appreciate that very much. Someone is going to have to teach it a lesson.
But not Flare. Flare is busy looting.
This is another special chamber-specific item, and the main reason we're here now and not in one of the other elemental chambers. It's also the reason we couldn't accept the Rage Dragon Egg quest back in Middleport - that forces you into a special version of the Rage Chamber where this chest isn't present.
And this is why I kept the dragon alive for so long. All dragons can be pickpocketed (as always, probably best not to ask) for a mirror of the appropriate element, which works as an infinite use elemental bead. Kind of nice, I guess, but at the point where you can get it, it shouldn't be necessary.
I have no further use for the dragon, so Andarc blows it away.
And finally gets a less than great level.
All that's left now is an elemental, so we can build supports and hunt for buried treasure in peace.
Leave it to me!
I'm ready, too!
That's a nice AoE and the setup isn't too bad, but I don't have any enemies left to show it off on. Next time, maybe.
...wait, fuck. There's nothing here!
...
No, what we want on this map is actually right here and doesn't require flying at all. Again, note that there is no way to get both of these digs - you have to choose. But at least in this case, it's a simple choice. The Ogre Mail buffs the wearer's ATK and provides decent defence as well.
Then, it's just the matter of dealing with the elemental.
I could say something about how I'm amazed that I got an S with this mixture of under- and overlevelled characters, but this is just as useless as all the other S-rank rewards from the ruins, so I can't muster any amazement at this point.
Just like last time, there's only one way to go from here.
Now that we're back in Obel, there's one place I haven't shown off yet. Adrienne isn't just a client for quests - she's actually hanging out at the smithy from the moment we first reach Obel, but she has nothing of interest to say at that point and only upgrades to level three (apparently having somehow misplaced that golden hammer I went through so much trouble to get for her in the previous game...)
The Legendary Hammer... I wonder where it could be...Once we have looted the Rage Chamber, however, there is actually a point to visiting her!
Oh, hey there! Welcome!...it seems they didn't anticipate me coming here after getting the hammer, without first hearing her talk about it, so this looks a little funny, with her greeting us twice. But anyway.
Did you say "Legendary Hammer"? Kyril has seen things. After all he's been through, this sounds positively normal.
You heard me?! Well, just forget about it, okay? It's supposed to be a secret... Huh? Wait... Lemme see that hammer.So he hands it over.
Ya think this could be... the Legendary...?Yes. It said as much when we picked it up.
Wow! This hammer's amazing! It must be the Legendary Hammer! Who'd have thought the hammer would come to me?! Wow!Hey, how about giving the hammer to me?
...I still say the golden one I got you last time was better.
Sure, no problem. We don't need it, anyway.But as annoying as it may be, we get something very nice out of all this.
Really?! Thanks!! I gotta pay you back somehow... Oh, I know! I'll hone your weapons for free! Yeah, 3... no, make that 5 times!She's not just saying that - we will indeed get five upgrades for free, but more importantly...
...with the... legendary hammer... Adrienne becomes the only smith in the game who can hone our weapons to level 8, the maximum possible in Tactics. The normal cost of upgrading from level 7 to 8 is is 15000 Potch, so the offer is worth a cool 75000 bucks if we just let her do the finishing touches - definitely one of the better rewards in the game!
And speaking of rewards, with three dragons to kill, this isn't very difficult to obtain. We get a Rage Bun (heals HP and changes terrain to
), 5000 Potch and 1000 Skill Points for our efforts.
Then there's Adrienne's final request.
In addition to the armour she makes for us, we get 3000p, 500sp, but...
...of course this is what we're interested in. It's the strongest armour we have right now, and the support bonus isn't bad either, so it's well worth the trouble. Still, we may prefer gear with other effects, such as the Master's Vest for anyone using claws or spears.
And with that, this update draws to a close.
Yes?
Who would have thought we'd end up with our former foes? What a strange turn of events. Indeed... We could still take Corselia and flee somewhere...I think Corselia might object to that. But it'd be entertaining watching you try.
Fleeing would serve little purpose right now. Better to have your enemies up close, where they can be watched. We should journey with them for the moment. Still, I have no idea what lies ahead. You could be right, but then again-- In any case, strange though it is, I don't dislike our present situation. What do you mean? These people... How should I put it...? I feel that we can trust them. Well, even I won't deny that, but still...If Busk had anything else to say...
...it is not for out ears, and thus we draw the curtain on another chapter.
I'm still taking suggestions on supports you'd like to see. (Remember, everything