Thousand Arms Part #17 - Punk'd by the Dark Master

Part 17: Punk'd by the Dark Master

Sorry it's taken so long, but getting all the programs I need back after a system format tends to take some time.

Part 17: Punk'd by the Dark Master

Switching back to Meis and Sodina, it seems that some time has passed since the dinner ended.

This may be the first time that Muza has posed at an appropriate moment.

But before Meis can get to accidentally shredding memories...

The NPC by the observation glasses speaks up.

Sure enough, while the characters were playing around on the ship, it was moving across the world map to the island just to the southeast of Hatoba.

Just as the party is leaving the ship, Wyna runs up.

And so, without even a response, Wyna has joined the party.

Wyna is, essentially, an alternative to Muza. She has comparable Offense and slightly better HP and EP, better Defense, Elemental Power, and Speed, but her Evade Rate is lousy, and so are her Critical and Multi-attack chances. Still, it's not long before I switch her into the main party backline.

Wyna's Attribute is Fire, and she has a decent couple of spells to start us out with, as you can see from this mid-dungeon boost I did.

Sleep is part of the "status effects" group, which is on a separate sheet from combat, support, and healing. Status effects can be cast from the backline, but like with most JRPG's, good luck getting them to work on your enemies.

I should add at this point that this seems to be one of the nice JRPG's that provides experience to non-active party members. Even though Muza wasn't in the party most of the time, he still gained five levels.

As for the island itself, there's not much to look at beyond the volcano dungeon itself.

The only creature I found outside was the Pirate Orc, who as you can see follows the old 1st edition D&D design of being pig-like.

Unfortunately, even with the War Glove on, the orcs are faster than Meis, and I suffered my first fall thanks to not paying enough attention to HP.

The orcs also have this nose-blowing attack which has a moderate chance to poison. Luckily it doesn't deal real damage as well, and since I stocked up pretty heavily on antidotes before going in, seeing them do this was actually a welcome relief from getting pounded time and again. The orcs also carry thief rings, which add 20% to the gold count when worn. A pretty nice item, that.

Today's dungeon is the always classic lava theme. There's even an optional caldera you can reach with a rare item, the silver angel, which auto-boosts a girl's intimacy level. Later levels can get expensive since you need more dates and gifts to boost the level, so it's good to save these things for the 9-10 increase.

Monsters include the orcs from outside along with Bomber Ghosts. They throw bombs and are also bombs themselves. They're also just as fast as the orcs, but at least they're weak to Fire.

While an imposing figure, Lava Giants are actually the weakest enemy in this dungeon, mainly thanks to being the only one that's slower than Meis. As such, I'm not really aware of any special abilities.

Oh yeah, there was also this little Indiana Jones moment where Meis had to run away from a rolling boulder.

It also slammed into the lava river, causing it to redirect itself. Because lava works exactly like water. It also caused the way back to get flooded, but that's okay, since another way back was opened instead.

Also, on the new way back, there's a chest. A very special chest. I don't want to transcribe what happens when you open the chest. Besides, I don't think you'd believe me. So instead, here it is in its entirety:

I just don't know what to say. Looks like YouTube picked the right screen to sum it all up, though.

At last, in the middle of the volcano, we find the altar.

Like last time, it turns the party into light and teleports them to Xen.

Who wants to bet we get a fire-themed summon this time?

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Wait, that's not fire.

That's not fire at all!

We already know who he is, stop doing the question marks!

But that's not actually a name.
Shut up and call me Dark Master!

Because behind every great blacksmith is a great floozy.

I have learned many secrets since our last meeting. See this? This is just one of them. Behold!

Oh goddamn it, he's siphoning out the flame. Now I'll never get Ifrit.

Sodina, I'm not the man you knew...My power has exceeded that of Jyabil.

Wyna may not know who this asshole is, but she knows he's pissing her off.

Shut up, punk! You're getting on my nerves!

Hahaha! Fools! Don't any of you understand your limitations?

Apparently not.

And as a result, Wyna is easily batted aside.

This pisses of Muza in turn.

Let's see what you can do, Meis.

Thousand Arms is courteous enough to let you pick out your party before every major boss battle, just in case you didn't see it coming.

Remember when I said Wyna was a sudden increase in difficulty? Well, Schmidt and his chick Jeala is another big leap forward from Wyna. I wound up using all my attack items, both summon uses, and then almost ran out of EP trying to find a spell that would do anything to him. My only real advice for this battle is to make sure that you concentrate on Schmidt himself. Taking out Jeala may feel good since she keeps casting annoying supports spells on Schmidt and Meis, but any damage directed at her is damage that isn't going to ending the battle, since only Schmidt needs to be taken out.

I should add that having Sleep hit the backline is a son of a bitch, since Wyna can't do anything to help out while Sodina's heal spell is frozen in place, and I really needed Meis to finish off Dark Asshole.