Part 79: Heracles, Part 1

Skit: Enlightenment
Yuri, that arte you did back there was awesome!
Sure was.
I bet most enemies couldn't stay standin' after getting' hit with that.
*Woof!*
...
Yuri?
To know--in an instant--how I need to move... That was the first time I've ever felt that.
Whoa...
It was really cool, Yuri!
*Arooooo*
You've done some growin', Yuri. Heh, you sure are something...


Technically this skit triggers regardless of who you use Savage Wolf Fury on, but it kinda fits when you use it on Schwann.

Before we actually head further into Heracles, we can talk to Leblanc and company.



Leblanc and Boccos are kinda useless, but Adecor actually has a shop to stock up on usable items.



I use this opportunity to synthesize a ton of stuff:



Nice! This increases our Over Limit gauge to four bars and enables Over Limit Level 4. In addition to all the bonuses you already get from previous Over Limit levels, Level 4 makes you completely invulnerable. Yeah. Over Limit in Vesperia is overpowered as fuck.
This is the last upgrate in the 360 version. In the PS3 version there's one more, although that one just increases your gauge and doesn't unlock a new level.






Speed Charge: Increases the speed of charging up a Mighty Charge.
Safety: Occasionally earn more EXP by finishing a battle without taking any damage.

Be incredibly careful when synthesizing this! You can make this from both Karolian Hammer and Karolian Hammer +1. Karolian Hammer is a one-time-only item Karol starts with. If you synth the Sword without first making Karolian Hammer +1, you have to start a New Game+ to get the Hammer +1! This is probably an oversight, since it was fixed in the PS3 release by allowing you to synthesize new Karolian Hammers.


Aerial Artes 3: Able to perform certain altered artes in mid-air.
Defend 2: Increases physical defense by 10%. Increase due to equipment not affected.
Resist 2: Increases magic defense by 10%. Increase due to equipment not affected.


Spirits: Increases Max TP by 20.
TP Condition: Increases physical defense slightly when TP is more than 75% of the max amount.
TP Condition 3: Increases magic defense slightly when TP is more than 75% of the max amount.


Item Thrower: Able to use items on an ally.
FS Bonus: Recovers HP every time a Fatal Strike hits an enemy.
Gale: Changes an arte.


Overheat: No casting time with 1/8th TP consumption for novice spells when HP is below 120 and TP is over 60.
Strength 2: Increases physical attack by 10%. Increase due to equipment not affected.
OVL Taunt 2: Taunt during Over Limit to recover TP.


Magic Combo: No casting time required when casting an altered arte immediately following the base spell.
BA Force: Increases the effectiveness of Burst Artes.


Quick Arrow: Shortens the amount of time needed to fire an arrow for normal attacks, but decreases power.
Magic 2: Increases spell attack by 10%. Increase due to equipment not affected.


BA Force: Increases the effectiveness of Burst Artes.
Light Force: Increases the strength of spells when a light bow is equipped.


EXP Share: Earn bonus EXP without taking part in battle.
Item Thrower: Able to use items on an ally.
TP Attack: Inflicts damage on enemy TP with normal attacks.


Spirits: Increases Max TP by 20.
Taunt 2: Taunt with the right stick to fill the Over Limit gauge.
Spirit Healer: Increases TP recovered after battle.


Also:


Special: Trigger a mystic arte with Over Limit Lv. 3 or above. Hold the Attack button after an arcane arte or above.
OVL Bonus: Occasionally fully restores HP during Over Limit.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure where I got it -- I assume that Raven comes with it pre-equipped once he rejoins. Which would make sense, since his Special allows him to use Blast Heart, the mystic arte he used as Schwann.


Skit: The Royal Guard
First, Alexei lost Flynn. Now he lost you too, Raven. That's gotta hurt the strength of his precious Knights.
I don't know. He's still got his own personal Royal Guard with him, ya know.
Those guys're fiercely loyal to him. They'll never betray him.
You mean they still trust him?
What could they possibly see in that piece of crap?
Well, Alexei wasn't a piece of crap when he got his start.
Huh?
It was his responsibility ta bring peace ta the world... That's a heavy load for anyone.
...That's enough. The less I know about him, the easier I'll cut him.
Hah hah. Now that's the Yuri I know.



Alright, so let's talk about this dungeon. It sucks.

Okay, that's maybe a bit harsh, but the first time I played through this I got completely stuck for like an hour cause I missed a ladder. Which means I saw all of this dungeon's rooms as well as the enemies (and the dungeon music) here a whole fucking lot.



The enemies are split into more of Alexei's knights like in the last two dungeons, some flying dragons I can only assume are tamed by the knights, and some robots. They're a bit tougher than usual random encounters but not too bad.



The dungeon itself has these outside sections where you walk along narrow paths on Heracles' side, and some inside sections where you have a bit more space to navigate. But just a bit.








In the first couple fights here, Karol gets Destructo Booing, pronounced without the second "o". It's just like Destructo Pain Shot, except it reduces the enemy's Physical Attack stat.






Skit: Patty's Troubles
*Whine*
Hm? What is it, Repede? Are you worried about me?
Woof!
I've thought about that grave a lot now. But...
Woof!
I still can't figure out what I should do...
I don't know what you're trying to figure out, but nothing good will come of it if you rush into things.
Ah! Rita, you heard me?
Also, you're definitely not getting any help by going to the dog for advice.
I know that, but talking to him kind of makes me feel better. Why don't you tell Repede what you're worried about sometime, Rita?
Hmph! I'll pass.

Rita leaves.

There's nothing to be shy about, right?
Woof!
...Seifer... I...
*Whine?*









Skit: Titles
Geez, you could have told us sooner that you were alive!
That's right! Give back our feelings over your loss!
What's this? Did you two, perhaps, cry over little ol' me?
Absolutely not! No way!
Who would cry over someone like you? Maybe the runt did!
Hey! I didn't cry!
So no one cried for me at all? I am totally shocked.
Uh, in any case, what's important is that you're all right. Um, Mr... Ra... ven...
*Huff*
Flynn, you sound kind of weird. What's with the sudden stuttering?
Well, I know I sound awkward...
But, since I know he's Captain Schwann, I sort of feel like I can't call him Raven. I guess I'm just not used to it.
Who cares what you call him? Must be rough being a knight.
What Patty said, exactly. Besides, Schwann is buried at Baction.
The man standing in front of you is just old man Raven.
I understand. I'll do my best to get used to it as soon as possible.



Shortly after stepping inside, we get a cutscene.


Watch the PS3 version of this cutscene! (Japanese voices)



Woof!



...It appears so. Aer is flowing through this pipe.
Ain't it dangerous getting' so close to it?
This aer isn't very thick. It's safe.
But why is aer flowing through the Heracles?
It seems that aer is what's making this giant contraption work.
It's being supplied with aer, without the need for aer krene...wow...



I saw it do the same thing back in Ghasfarost.
Yeah, we were together when that happened.
Let me see that.



Aww, I've always wanted to hold hands with you, Rita.
It's being affected by the aer. The interior geometry is changing.







...It really seems a lot more powerful than it was before. Are you sure that's okay?
If it can destroy everything it shoots, that would definitely be dangerous.
That was a reaction between the aer inside the gate and the aer that the ring shot. It won't destroy anything and everything. You can relax.
Let's use the Sorcerer's Ring to destroy that gate, too.




Skit: The Manly Way
This ring just keeps getting new abilities.
It got a new one back in Ghasfarost, didn't it?
Back then, it was just you and me, Yuri.
I'd love to study it when I get a chance, but I guess now isn't the time.
Well, at least this means we can go ta new places now.
That's good, right?
Raven's right. We should go around shooting stuff and look for new places we can get into!
Yeah, it's hard to tell whether something will react to the ring or not just by looking at it.
I don't know how I feel about just going around and shooting everything we can...
I like it. It's the manly way to do things!
...You like it?

Raven rushes offscreen.

Waahaa! Maybe if I shoot here? How about here?! Yahaha! I did it! It opened! It opened!
... *Heh*




This Sorcerer's Ring upgrade allows us to use the Ring on a couple more things. In this dungeon, this includes those path-blocking gates, as well as some locked doors.



There's some neat items hidden in some of those locked doors but nothing else of note.





Going a bit further leads to this door, which continues into the dungeon, but there's one thing we should do before entering here.



A bit more to the left are another door and some terminal.



Inside the door is something that's clearly a puzzle room,



but we can't actually proceed into it cause the ladder in the back is too far up.



The terminal outside, however, can be used to turn on that freight lift above it. We'll do that right now to save ourselves some minor backtracking later.






While we're here, Rita gets Ground Dasher! Essentially an evolved version of Stalagmite. Earth elemental and a pretty big area of effect.


Anyway, inside that big door we passed is a cutscene.

Watch the PS3 version of this cutscene! (Japanese voices)



The camera pans downwards quite a bit.



That looks like the engine room to me.
That sure is some heavy security.
It doesn't look like it'll be too easy to stop it.



It'll be impossible to force our way inside with that many guards.


W-what?
Since when are you so level-headed?
We've come this far--don't you think we should be careful not to mess things up?
Well, if we can stop this thing from moving for a little while, Flynn and his men will be able to get inside. Let's go check out the control room.
Raven, do you know where the control room is?
Sorry. That's one thing I don't know.
What if the control room's even more heavily guarded?
In that case, we'll have no choice but to force our way in.
Well, that'll mean war against the imperial knights. Not always easy to be courageous.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that...



Skit: The Mobile Fortress Heracles
Raven, Flynn, even though you're both captains, it doesn't seem like either of you know much about Heracles.
That's 'cause it was built under Alexei's direct orders, in absolute secrecy. We might be captains, but that doesn't mean he told us anything about the schematics or details. Doubt he told many at all.
Due to the incident at Dahngrest, there should be a number of people who know about Heracles itself. But the construction of the vessel was limited to a small number of very skilled workers.
Hmm. Is that why there are places on the ship that look like they've just been thrown together?
But why did Alexei want to keep this thing so hush hush?
I mean, it's so threatening. It's what drove off Phaeroh in Dahngrest and all.
I fear that it was not created to serve the knights. Perhaps Alexei had planned to use it to fulfil his own goals all along.
So what you're saying is, he made it as his own little toy?
Guess we can add abuse of authority to his list of good points.
How's about we focus on what we should be doing instead of wonderin' about this hunk of metal?
Right.



Now, we could go down there, but unless you want the save point it's pointless. The game even lets you take on all those knights, but the door will still be locked if you beat them all, so don't bother. Spoilers we need to go back here later anyway.



Instead, we just proceed to the right.



Which leads back outside in what is an incredibly convoluted way to actually get anywhere in this thing.





Skit: Travelling with Flynn
What do you think of Yuri, Flynn?
We're friends.
Still?
Of course.
I see...
Hm? Is there something else you'd like to ask me?
Nope. I'm all set. Sorry for holding you up.

Flynn leaves.

He's really something. Despite his feelings on Yuri's actions, he still considers him a friend.
Aye.
Well, he's always been Yuri's friend. Birds of feather flock together, right?
Oh, I think I know what you're saying. Flynn really is Yuri's friend!





I put on a Holy Bottle (makes enemies not chase you, and prevents encounters unless you rub against them for a second or two) because I was getting kinda sick of the fights.



And back inside.





That box up here needs to be pushed to the left onto the next screen.






Because over here we can push it down onto a shield generator.





Which disables one of the barriers here. This is the puzzle room we saw a glimpse of before.




Now, while I'm breaking this generator over here by just shooting it with the Sorcerer's Ring: There's a ladder on this screenshot. Can you spot it?





This is the ladder that I couldn't find the first time. Wasted a ton of time due to that. Ah well.



Down here we can lower the other ladder we saw before to make a shortcut back to where that freight lift terminal was.

Before we can head further into this room to destory the rest of the generators, a PS3 exclusive cutscene.



Watch the cutscene!



Oh, what was it?
Yuri said that, if you turned into a bad person, he'd get rid of you.
What are you...
I'm just talking about what if.



Would he really turn his blade upon you without hesitation? Even you? Even though you're such an important friend to him?
Yuri isn't the type of person who can kill others easily. But, I'm sure if he had to, he'd kill even me.
Do you really think he could do that?
Back in Nordopolica, he had a sad look in his eyes, but he never wavered.
I knew it. But I'm sure making that choice would be really hard on him.
Even if it deeply wounded him... I believe he'd resolve to bear that cross for the rest of his life. Yuri just possesses that sort of strength.
...You think?
If Yuri continues to commit crimes like that, however...



I pray that day never comes.
You're really strong too, Flynn...
I wonder about that. I'm not all that sure of it myself, but thank you, Patty.




Am I breaking the mood here with my party hat?





The next two generators require some timing, shooting down some boxes that go by on the freight lift. This one's fairly simple.







Skit: Which is Real?
Hm hm hmm. ♪
...Whoa!
Raven!
Phew, that was close.
Thanks a lot, Karol.
That's what you get for wandering around like that. You have to be careful. The footing is pretty bad here.

Raven and Karol leave.

...Is he always like that?
That's the old man for you. What about it?
Well, I was just thinking about how he acts as Captain Schwann, and how he acts as Raven.
It just makes me wonder which is the real him.
It sounds to me like the Schwann version of him has left a bigger impression on you.
Speaking of, you never figured out that Raven was actually Schwann?
When I first met Raven, I did think there was something odd about him.
But it wasn't enough for me to believe he and Captain Schwann could possibly be the same person. Raven is just...
Such a sloppy, irresponsible old man, right?
What did ya just say? Young people these days... I can't turn around for a second without you saying something behind my back.
Whether he's Raven or Schwann, to me he's the same old man I've always known. There's no point thinking too hard about it.
You're right.





The other one is down here and a bit more annoying.



For one, if you didn't turn on the lift outside, the boxes here don't move and you can't shoot them down.



Also, it's kinda hard to judge where you actually have to shoot a box down since, if you're in the correct spot, the generator is off screen.



This is me having hit the generator.




Even further down, we can see the last generator in front.



But we can't actually do anything about it at the moment, since the lift here is locked.



We have to go back to where we first entered the room, walk down the path with 80% now defunct barriers, and turn it on at a terminal after thr fourth.



After that we can go back and move the lift up.



Then drop the box from above onto the generator.







Phew.



I think this is a good point to end it for now. Next time: The control room and whatever awaits within!


Loot:





Combo Plus: Adds 1 more hit to a regular attack combo.
Vitality 2: Increases Max HP by 400.


Guard Artes: Cancel guard motion and perform an arte. Invincible to attacks for a short period of time.
Guard Reflect: Reflects 1/5th of the damage taken during guard.