The Last Remnant Part #16 - Chapter XIII - Soldiers of Athlum do not bow to threats!

Part 16: Chapter XIII - Soldiers of Athlum do not bow to threats!

Soldiers of Athlum do not bow to threats! _-OR- I wasn’t expecting such a large party

Music: City of Heroes

To reach the holy city of Elysion, we must cross the Ivory Peaks, a mountain range to the southeast of here. It won’t be an easy journey, so make sure you’re ready, Rush.

Actually it IS a really easy journey if you only travel on a world map.

So we’re going to Elysion, huh? Awesome!

Elysion is considered the capital of the continent. A mass of rock floats above the city, called the Sacred Lands. It’s quite an impressive sight. Still, before all that, there’s a long road ahead. Don’t slack on your preparations.

Going to Elysion for the Congress, huh… I can’t help but feel nervous. You understand, I bet! Not like either of us would be taking part, though!

As you probably know, Elysion is a city at the center of the continent. Along the way, I’m sure we’ll face unknown monsters and new groups of bandits…

Doesn’t sound like anything we can’t handle.

Well, we’ll know once we see them!

Many Lords will assemble for the Congress session – all rulers of important and influential countries. Please refrain from any rash actions.

Huh? What are you staring at me for?

…

If you’ll pardon me, my Lord, there’s something I would like to do before we leave.
By all means.

Okay, well, let’s leave the castle and get this show-

Rush, my boy, I’ve found myself in need of Gaslin Copper. Have we the time to obtain one?

Rush, I have need of a Vulture Rawhide. Have we the time to obtain one?

IT BEGINS.

Oh boy, Item Requests! These are perhaps the worst part of the game. Now that the tutorial phase is officially over, and the game has let us go free, party members will now start complaining to us that their stuff sucks, and can we go get some stuff for them? Thaaaanks. It doesn’t matter how you reply, it only changes their response.

This is probably the most exasperating mechanic in Last Remnant, and that’s saying something.

From time to time, your party members will request that you find certain items so they can upgrade their weapons. Since Rush kinda needs their help in battle, it’s not something that’s wise to completely ignore.

The game will give you a break, and there is a mechanism for units to automatically upgrade their own stuff once the party reaches certain BR, but there’s no clear information on when that happens in the PC version, and on the XBOX version, it is supposed to happen like once every 11 BR. Until then, every time you enter the world map after spending a little bit of time doing something else, there’s a chance for a party member to complain about something. (There seems to be a timer so it only triggers every so often.) Every 11 BR is a substantial chunk of gameplay, and waiting that long will have them using underpowered weapons a lot of the time.

You can equip them yourself by changing a value inside a config file, with the drawback of having to manage all their upgrades yourself, which doesn’t save enough work (if any at all) to be worth it in my view.

The problem is that the game only tells you what a party member wants, not how many, or the chain of things you need to do to get it. Each party member has an inventory screen, which shows you what items they want, how many they currently have, and how much G they have personally. I have no idea how they get G, it seems to appear from the ether, but I’m not complaining (about that part). They can use that to buy components and upgrade their weapons.

Right NOW, the request is fairly simple. Gaslin Copper is found in dig sites around Athlum. Grand Spider Horn drops from Giant Spiders, which are in Blackdale. Horns drop from Hypnos in Blackdale, or can be split from Raptors if you capture one and divide it for components. Things get more complicated.

Here’s an actual example from the late-game:

One of my party members wants an Oculus Tooth, which is in green text. All that the game tells you (or that you know) is that those drop from Oculus-type enemies, and the green text means it requires a specific Magazine before those drops will appear. Other colors mean different things.

Each enemy type has two magazines, a Weekly and a Daily. Magazines are only obtained from doing a task for a guild… but since you don’t know what the reward for a task is until you complete it, you have no idea what you need to do to get the thing.

So the only real way to figure out how to get party members their stuff is to go to the Last Remnant Wiki and look up the component, and wiki-walk to figure out how to get it.

Oculus Tooth drops from Oculus-type enemies, but ONLY if you have obtained the magazine “The Daily Oculus”. That magazine is only obtained if you complete a specific quest from a specific guild. In this case, Ring of the Labyrinth quest #39), which requires you to obtain an Inverted Terrapest Barb.

Okay! Now you look up what the hell that is and where to get it. Inverted Terrapest Barb is a drop from Terrapest-type enemies. But while Terrapests appear in all kinds of places, only Terrapests appearing in the Sixth Path and Seventh Path dungeons can drop Inverted Terrapest Barbs. The game does not tell you this, so if you hunt in the wrong spot, you can kill Terrapests for hours and not see a single barb.

That’s not all, though: Even in those dungeons, there are two types of Terrapests which appear. One type has a 15% chance to drop an Inverted Terrapest Barb, the other type has a completely different drop list, and has only a 3% chance to drop one.

That’s the kind of bullshit that I’ll be dealing with basically offscreen.

Sorry for all the words.

You must be Rush Sykes. I’ve heard a lot about you from Lord David.

But I’ll try to overlook all that.

Everyone’s quite the oddball, but they’re all good men. If you’re ever in need of help, you know where to find it. These are all the soldiers currently on standby.

Soldier recruitment is just like guild recruitment, with one important difference: these guys cost nothing to recruit. The problem is that you get what you pay for, and these soldiers know one thing and one thing only, and won’t ever improve. So forget them, they’re crap. Stick with unique leaders instead. It sucks to be the Xbox version which has a leader limit so you have to use generics and soldiers.

That’s why I always buy little trinkets with my wages… They’re presents for her. I always keep my eye out for things she might fancy.

You can become closer friends with your non-mandatory Unique Leaders by talking to them if they have a red outline around their bubble. That’s triggered after you have entered town a certain number of times. Sometimes there are additional things you need to do as well to get them to trigger.

Second, let’s head for the guild.

Sykes, huh? I've heard about you. You the kid who's trying to help his little sister?
Sure am!
If you want, you can count me in. Don't take it the wrong way - I ain't gonna work for free or nothin', but I can respect what you're doin'.

Loki is available for hire once David and the Generals join.

Loki

An infamously savage bandit. Of late has avoided mindless violence, seeking redemption.

Class: Fighter
Initial BR: BR 11
HP: (362)
Str / Int: (26 / 25)

Current Arts

Power Grip: (Smash)
Invocations: (Spark)

Future Arts

Hexes @ BR 24
Herbs @ BR 33
Arcana: Blackout, Crimson Flare

Comments
Loki starts as a Fighter, but easily converts into another Mysticknight like David – mediocre in both spellcasting and fighting, but he learns Hexes early, and his starting STR and INT are basically equal, so I favour him becoming a caster. He’s well suited to join the Mystics club when you recruit him, but eventually his lack of focus will probably end up benching him in favour of a more dedicated mystic. You’ll need to recruit him, and talk to him in town to unlock a late-game sidequest.

Tags: Mystic, Combat, Outclassed, Arcana

One thing I plan to do, though, is to have the character whose quest it is lead a party, so I will at least try keep up the levels of some of the less-spectacular characters.

Okay, the winner of the vote was this party configuration. Rush, Torgal, and C. (but Oakes for now) together in one union that will focus mostly on Combat. David, Pagus, and Loki will be in a mystic-focused union, and Emma and the two Yama, Blocter and Baluson will be in the third. Each union has a herb and remedies user in it, which is good. These are thumbnailed because they have too much info to cut up, but aren’t quite interesting enough to hog that much screen real estate.

I put Rush’s Troop into a Blizzard formation, which slows them all down, but boosts Mystic slightly. I turned off Dual Power Grip on Torgal, leaving him to focus on Quad Wield, but I didn’t turn off his Mystic Arts, though. When C joins, I can actually have all three of the users as Invocations users as well. Oakes is the Herb user in Rush’s union, but I MAY let Rush learn Herbs, at least until Vivication Herb. It’s not the greatest idea though, as he is also the main Remedies user, and that would make reviving and healing with the same union harder.

I shall strive to do my best.

David’s Division is in Catapult III, which improves the mystic attack of the back ranks. I disabled One-Handed on David. Herbs is staying on for him. There is no chance of him becoming a Scout with such a high mystic focus, and even if there was, Herbs MUST be used, there is no alternative. I need the healing. I already disabled Two-Handed on Pagus, and I disabled One-Handed for Loki.

It will be an honour.

Emma’s Squad is the third group, highly combat focused. I turned off One-Handed on Emma, and forgot to turn off Herbs on Blocter. That actually made me have to restart a dungeon because he changed into the Monk class. That one is Item-focused, but most of the other combat classes are Mystic/Item balanced, so that would block him from getting into any other Combat class until he learned Hexes and practiced with those. Baulson’s Herbs stay on. He can learn Remedies, but there’s not much point in worrying about Baulson’s class.

Oh hey!

The hell do you want?

You wanna grab a drink in the tavern?

Don’t you know who I am? If we don’t got business then you’d better leave me the hell alone.

Now that Loki is in the party, we can find him hanging outside the Union of the Golden Chalice in Athlum. He’s not feeling very chatty right now, though.

Music: Into the Depths

Time to hunt down some components for my whiny companions, so they’ll be happy when I go do the sidequests.

learned

Refresh!

learned

Double Strike II!

class changed to Magus!

Refresh clears status debuffs. It’s very useful. The Magus class is the second-tier mystic generalist.

This is how units in the party can request certain loot. Units try to collect items to strengthen their equipment. A unit’s request for an item can be removed from the list by selecting them.

Generally a unit will give a clear-ish indication if they get enough items and don’t need any more. You can seize items if you need them yourself, but generally you don’t want to take them from party members.

Vulture Rawhides are a pretty big pain to find. They only have a 3% chance to drop, so it takes a little while to find the TWO that David needs. I reloaded a few times and lost track of who learned what and when, so the summary at the end will have to do.

- Video: Rare Monster – Jade Golem

Oh, it’s our very first Rare monster! Rare monsters spawn under certain conditions. You can get a sense if a rare has spawned by a break in the normal pattern of monsters – some monsters are missing from their usual spots and there’s nothing in their place.

Music: City of Heroes

If a party member upgrades their stuff, you’ll get dialogue like this to let you know that they’re done and want to take their new toy for a spin. It doesn’t matter how you reply.

Sounds like a plan.

Oho? You surprised me. I didn’t think you’d be up for any fun.

Pleasant Young Man: You know Baron Nielsen of Celapaleis? Seems his wife’s disappeared. … ‘Course, those two are famous for not getting along, so it’s nothing new. …That’s the story, anyway.
Bartender: What a shameful excuse for a wife! You know, I’D know how to properly take care of a man…

Hey, it’s Emma – for real, this time! What’s she doing here?

Rush… do you have a moment?

Yeah, sure!

… Sorry, let’s not talk here.

Who?

Rush. I wanted to ask you if-

What is it?

S-sir! In the Robelia Ruins – A huge monster – A-a giant! A giant appeared!

A giant?!

It seemed like it was under somebody’s control…. It went straight to attack the Athlum soldiers!

Understood. I’ll leave at once.

Uh…

I’m sure you heard that. We can continue our previous talk after I take care of this. … Actually, Rush, will you help me check this out?

As if you could stop me!

Good. I appreciate it. Let’s hurry to the Robelia Ruins.

Accepted quest: Bravery and Loyalty

I suspect that the Athlum soldiers were there because of the earlier incident with the Anti-Remnant activists.

Music: Creeping Shadows

I don’t think that ladder was here last time…

Lady Emma! Over here! The giant is in a hall further into the ruins. To get there, you have to take a secret passage on the second floor. You can take this ladder up to the second floor.

If you go through this door, you’ll eventually make it to the hall the giant is hiding out in.

Understood. Stay here.

Lady Emma – Before you go, one more thing… The giant was way too much for us, so we scattered… But one of the men didn’t make it.

And you just left him behind?

We tried to go find him – we heard yelling, and sounds of a struggle, but never saw him at all. I hope he’s alright…

The Last Remnant doesn’t just introduce new dungeons, it also continues to add new sections onto existing dungeons for new sidequests, so you’re not always retreading the exact same ground for the fifth time. That is appreciated given how much dungeon delving you’ll do in this game.

The guard told us to go right, but looking at the map, we can go to the left and reach the same place. So it is.

Emma wants help destroying a giant in Robelia Ruins. Seems like someone’s set it up especially so that it’ll take out Athlumian soldiers…

I recorded, but am going to omit the dungeon video. I’m not particularly interested in fighting, there’s no components urgently needed, and the enemies here we’ve all seen from our previous visit, so I avoid most fights. Vile Lizards are the exception as they agro on sight and often block our way forward.

class changed to Freelancer!

I guess the sun shining through the dirty windows is nice, I guess? There’s not much to see – this place has been in ruins for years, and all the good stuff’s been looted already.

Calvary Call is an annoying ability some enemies have. If they call it, reinforcements show up, so Loki’s first art contribution to the party was timely.

This is the fight where on a previous run, I realized I screwed up and forgot to turn off Blocter’s Herbs. He used them too much, becoming a Monk. I had to start the dungeon over. Not a biggie.

Some of the rubble can be mined for components. A few party members want Iron Ore. The nice thing about components retrieved by Mr. Diggs is that anyone who has it on their list gets an equal share. So everyone who needed Gaslin Copper got 7 of them here, and so did Rush. The game does have some mercy in it. This dig site also has a chance to restore Mr. Diggs dig count to full.

We’re now almost all the way back to where we started, but now there’s a chest.

Reward: Fortune Wristlet (HP + 5%, Jhana Bonus)

This is one of the many accessories. I put it on Rush, swapping out his plain +5% HP bracelet. It gives a 20% damage boost to Jhana type enemies. There are a lot of accessories. Some of them grant defense boosts to certain damage types, but that means swapping them in and out, and you’re not likely to notice the difference anyway. Others increase damage you deal of a certain type, but again, you probably won’t notice.

Slowdown, as someone asked about in the thread, is a chance to move the victim to the end of the action queue. It’s probably okay, but there are so many accessories that picking what you want is up to preference, mostly.

This is why we had to come the long way around, it’s locked from this side. The stairs down are just inside, so let’s move on…

Back on the first floor. We can’t actually get to the other part of the first floor on the left…

Because this door is seriously barricaded.

Mr. Diggs’s harvesting annoyed these Wild Raptors, so I decided to fight them.

… it didn’t go very well.

Luckily I had saved earlier (and yes I did turn autosaves on, but I’m not fighting much in this dungeon). This time I didn’t dig at that spot. Moving on to the end:

Return to Athlum, and open the front gate. That will make it a lot easier for us to walk right in and take over. Just a tip: instead of wasting your lives and my time trying to resist us, it would be most prudent if you left the ruins right now.

What are you hiding?

Hiding? Oh no, my dear lady… I believe I have something that belongs to you…

Now you understand, don’t you? Go home, General.

…No.

Oho? Are you sure you want to do that? If you don’t do as I say, I’m afraid I cannot guarantee the… shall we say, physical integrity of this poor boy. I hope my meaning is clear.

Crystal. You’re under the illusion that I’d allow scum like you to do as you please. I am a soldier of Athlum. No matter the cost, I’ll never do anything to endanger her. Protecting Athlum is my sworn duty.

Oh! What a revoltingly loyal statement. But I fear your words are only worth the paper they’re written on. I wonder if your tune will change once this boy is dead. Do you really want his blood on your hands?

- BOSS Video: Bravery and Loyalty

Emma. Still the best.

Music: Struggle Eternal

Mission: Defeat the Third Committee forces!

We’re up against three unions: The Third Committee Combat Squad, consisting of one soldier and this giant, and these two huge bird-things, called Blackwings – Spiritlord type enemies. Many a player LOATHES Spiritlords for one big reason:

Spiritlords are large enemies and can multi-deadlock. On their first turn – but ONLY their first turn, they ALWAYS cast Curse on each union foolish enough to deadlock them. What does Curse do?

Each action a unit takes has the chance to cause Instant Death. That’s bad enough, but worse is if the leader falls to it.

When the leader of a union is down, the union has the Botched status effect. Formation bonuses are negated, and you can’t give orders to a botched union. Unions may use random actions, but they have a high chance of them failing to execute them because of the botched status. We currently have no way to revive the fallen, so this is especially bad.

So remember: Do not fight Spiritlords on the first turn. Even if you send a sacrificial union to trigger them, that’s risky, because if a second union is intercepted by a Spiritlord, and your sacrificial one attacks, they’ll both get cursed. There’s not a lot of great ways to avoid this, either, but formations that don’t reduce your mobility can help.

That’s what CAN happen. What actually happened, though…

Hammerspin is a nasty attack. It can hit several unions for significant damage, and seems to me, it has a high chance to crit.

This one only hit Rush’s union, but it hurt a lot.

I decided to break Deadlock, because even though I’ll get Raidlocked, at least I’m guaranteed to go first and heal up. If I maintain Deadlock, the enemy could go first before I get a chance to heal.

That didn’t help much, but I guess I’m still alive.

Curse? More like… like… worst.

The Spiritlords can make this fight potentially nasty, but again, the game designers threw the players a bone: They are not actually required to defeat the battle – it automatically ends once the Third Committee squad dies. The birds don’t matter. So if you want to get through this battle quickly, focus all your unions on them and ignore the Blackwings. The Third Committee squad is pretty fragile despite the giant and will crumble fast if focused on (but again, high mobility will help you avoid getting Intercepted by the birds).

And Pagus gets the final component he needs for an upgrade, excellent.

…

You alright?

Yes, ma’am! I’m sorry for causing this trouble…

It’s nothing. Let’s just be happy you’re alright.

Emma brings up a good point, and I have to wonder… is it a coincidence that this man is here in the same ruins as the Anti-Remnant activists? Or was he the one who stirred them up? If you go back, the head Activist mentioned allies. Did he mean the Third Committee?

We’re finished here. Make certain everyone’s received the first aid they need, then let’s get out of here.

Yes ma’am!

I’m okay, but man did that big thing hit hard!

Good. However, this sort of incident is increasingly common of late. Any time that you can lend us an extra blade is appreciated.

No problem!

Then. If you’d allow me to go back to what we were talking about before we left… I had a favour to ask of you.

What is it?

Ahh, where to begin… Here – this plaza, in front of the Valeria Heart – is a very… dear place for me. Quite a long time ago, I saw off a traveler from this very spot. We promised to meet here when her travels were done. I don’t know when she’ll return, but I can’t help but wait. I know that if I wait long enough, someday, she’ll return… However, with the increase in incidents outside of Athlum that need my attention, I can’t very well spend all my time here. That brings me to what I wish to ask. If she returns and I cannot, could you be here to meet her?

Err… I guess?

You’ll know who I’m talking about at first sight. You may as well look forward to it.

If you say so…

Here… payment in advance. Sorry for the trouble… I’m depending on you.

Reward: 1500 G

Obtained Mano Salia

Completed quest: Bravery and Loyalty

Salia Count: 1 (We'll need these later for something.)

We totally took out the giant. Too easy! Afterwards, Emma headed to the Valeria Heart. It looks like she’s waiting for someone.

Combat arts, for sure!

Ahh… For what is a knight without a skill for combat?

At certain BR, certain party members will ask you if they should focus on mystics, combat, or balance. This generally affects the weapon progression they go for and the type of accessories they ask for (except mystic accessories, which are bugged). There’s a second chance to change this later on. I generally go for what I want to build the character as, based on what they’re good at inherently.

Ah, there you are. I heard about the incident. Are you all right?
I’m fine. We should head for Elysion now.
No problem. Let me lead the way! It’s east, right?

Huh… I coulda sworn…
…
Uh… anyway, is anyone else hungry? I know this… tavern with...
…
… food.

Gossipy Girl: That’s the latest scoop, anyway!
Bartendress: Ah, poor Baron. He’s one of our regulars, you know.
Gossipy Girl: Ooh, that priggish old guy with the mustache, huh? He always fusses at me…

My wife has been gone for ages. She’s most likely gone to see the Liafort again. She does this to me all the time.

(Geez, with a mustache like that, no wonder his wife doesn’t want to be seen with him.)
(Hush.)

Young man, might I ask a favour? My wife has wandered off to the Ivory Peaks. Bring her back and I will reward you.

Sure, why not?

Thank you, young man. Off you go.

Accepted quest: The Dreaming Rose

- Video: Ivory Peaks Flyover

The Ivory Peaks – An old trade route that collects Elysion and Celapaleis. It runs along a luminescent limestone cliff.

Music: Rolling Hills, Sprawling Plains

Baron Nielsen of Celapaleis asked me to find his wife, Violet. Something tells me they’re not the most loving couple in the world…

The Ivory Peaks are a relatively tranquil place as far as dungeons go. It’s bright, it’s sunny, it’s short, and monsters are easy to avoid if you want.

We have to follow the road to that opening on the left to get back to the world map and reveal Elysion. But not yet.

We have to go this way.

Leraje Princeps. This is a weapon on Torgal’s upgrade path. There’s sometimes a bug with it, though, in that he’ll sometimes take it and glitch out, refusing to upgrade it. That didn’t happen to me on my last playthrough though, so let’s hope it doesn’t happen here either.

The Wayfarer’s Ward increases your max AP by 10%, and your initial AP by 15%, and also boosts your Herbs effectiveness by 2.

The treasure chest only contains the Ballista formation formula. Lame, and I have it.

- BOSS Video: Meet Violet and Gabriel

Violet, let’s return to Celapaleis. Your husband is sure to have sent some goons after you.

Calm down, Violet. The Liafort’s grandeur is still as apparent as before.

Hello?

Who’s there?

He sent you, didn’t he?

Your husband? Yeah, kinda…

I didn’t expect such a large party.

Yeah, there’s me and Dave, and Emma, and Blocter, and all the…
Uhhh…

…monsters? … Okay, just stay behind me lady!

I don’t think so.

A guest union has joined the party.

Mission: Defeat the enemy!

Music: Struggle Eternal

So, Gabriel and Violet are fighting with us in this “battle”. It’s really not hard at all. There aren’t even enough unions to go around for everybody!

This is all that’s worthy of screenshotting in this one-turn fight. Even their guest union can potentially one-shot a union. They didn’t here, but they could have.

Many moved to Celapaleis. The Duke of Qubine forced me to wed Nielsen in hopes of destroying my family name. I will not let anyone sully the Gilles-Barre name! And I will not remain married to that pompous fool!

(Awkward…)

Violet, I know why you do this. But you have to take action a different way.

I know you understand me. But why do you always stop me from doing what I think is right?

I’m just worried about you. Let’s return to Celapaleis for now.

…

You’re right. Let’s go back.

The guest union has left the party.

I understand her frustration regarding her family’s situation, but she must understand that no dynasty lasts forever.

Err…

Enough of my ramblings. Here is your promised reward.

Reward: Gaslin Copper x 2, Natural Oil x 3, 1000 G.

Till we meet again.

Completed quest: The Dreaming Rose

Found Violet in the Ivory Peaks, and brought her back to the Baron. They don't talk much. Is this what marriage is about?

Unfortunately, Gabriel and Violet won’t be joining us just yet. Let’s go back to the Ivory Peaks. We need to pass through the far exit to unlock Elysion on the world map.

- Video: Rare Monster - Nanotyrannus

Music: Sliver of Hope

Another rare monster! This is Nanotyrannus, a Were-Dragon type enemy. Weredragons have a particularly nasty ability.

Surefire has a chance of Instant Death. Oh well, no experience for Emma from this fight. Since it likes to spam that attack, I should be glad Emma is the only one out cold. Anyway, moving on to the exit.