Part 38: Part 7-2
Age: 24
Class: Samurai/Warrior
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Homeland: Wakoku
A young warrior of the warrior troupe, "100 Demons". Once he was only a cruel and merciless slayer, wielding his massive No-Dachi for his own justice. But he has found a deeper sense of justice in the group.
Suo is our second and last Samurai. In comparison to Jun, Suo's attacks have slightly better range and hitboxes, with the trade-off of having a worse PWS. Realistically, in a sad recurring trend of the later Einherjar, Jun is better all-around, but Suo is perfectly usable and he's got some great voice clips.
Suo joins with no equipment, so I grab a Masamune from the shop for him. The Murasama is more powerful, but has only one attack in comparison to the Masamune's three.
We have a single new dungeon today. Chapter 7 is a pretty short one.
OST: Reflections of Trickery
We have a job to do for Freya - find the elves to repair the Accursed Flame Gem.
As one might expect in a forest, most of the enemies here are weak to Fire.
Our first enemies are Corrosive Vines. They are thankfully the easiest of the lot, having low health and will easily die to a menu spell or two. They're also weak to Fire.
Suo's got a pretty good victory animation.
First, we're going to head all the way to the west, to find this elf.
It is easy to become lost in the forest beyond here. Even one such as you, may become lost here. Come, I will be your guide.---
I have a command from Odin. I wish for you to repair a broken Artifact. A broken Artifact? That's correct. I want you to repair this "Accursed Flame Gem". Repair... this, yes? Hmmm. It appears that its gem has been cracked. ... Can you repair it? No. ...Or perhaps, I should say not right now. What do you mean? I don't have the tools I need to fix it. Eh?
At the moment, the crystal merely has a crack in it. It would be impossible to recreate this gem. But if you want it repaired, the gem's power must first be released, and then once again recrystallized. However, I do not have the tools necessary to perform the recrystallization ritual. What are they? A "Golden Candlestick" is needed for the recrystallization ceremony. A "Silver Thread" is needed to rebuild the magic matrix. "Polar Drops" are needed to purify the space. Finally a "Charm Feather" is needed to fix the magic in space. Those four tools. Where can I find them? The "Polar Drops" are in a forest fountain to the south. You can get the "Silver Thread" if you defeat the Great Spider that inhabits the cliffs to the northeast. The "Golden Candlestick" was stolen away by the giant ape that lives deep in the forest.
What is it? Is there a problem? Cockatrice... A beast with the power of petrification? That is correct. The most important item, the "Charm Feather" is a feather from the Cockatrice. In order to retrieve one, naturally you must first defeat one... So if I gather those items, you'll do it, eh. Are you leaving? Yes.
Hooray, fetch quests! At least it's all contained in one dungeon. We'll start with the Charm Feather.
To get there, we'll exit the Elf Village to the right, then head north and west, picking up a Golden Egg and Sap Power spells along the way.
Here's the next enemy on the list, Crustacean Monsters. Not sure why they're in a Forest, but accordingly they're weak to Fire.
Annoyingly, like the Crab Giants, they have ridiculous RDM, so they'll take little to none damage from physical attacks. They have 14,300 health, so they'll take quite a few shots of magic to take down. Consider bringing a second mage in this area.
I eventually get fed up and start chucking Flare Crystals at them.
Still not enough, though.
Calamity Blast is the ideal way to get rid of them, when it comes down to it.
Corsair Beetles are another pest, not because they're tough by any means...
...But because they swoop in on you from nowhere and are relentlessly fast, often getting the pre-emptive strike on you.
Luckily, they have very low health and also weak to Fire.
And physical attacks work well enough on them.
Suo PWS
Trivia: In the Japanese version, almost PWS and Soul Crushes aside from those used by divine creatures (like Lenneth) are referred to as 'ougi'. Hyoso-Hojin is the only one that survived the transition.
Suo's PWS isn't the strongest or the best, but it's better than Round-Rip Saber or Sphere Strike. Suo can also use katanas to drop its CT from 3 to 2.
Our first boss fight of the day is against the Cockatrice.
Like most of the Forest, the Cockatrice is weak to Fire. I actually like its design, with its crest looking like a pseudohead.
It doesn't hit very hard, though it can Petrify on hit.
With 50,000 health, it has the most health of any enemy in the Forest, but in the end it's nothing more than a glorified punching bag.
Good experience at least.
Next on the list is the Silver Thread, which we'll get to by heading southeast.
Oh, hell no. Crustacean Giants are such a slog.
Some of the chests can be really hard to spot among the foliage. Since we just picked it up, Dampen Magic attempts to Silence enemies. It costs a hefty 6 CT though and you can get easier results with an Archer and Noise Arrow.
Elf NPCs are scattered throughout the Forest to point you in the right direction.
Unfortunately, the right direction also means some of the worst enemies in the game.
Meet the Mandragora. They're weak to Fire. That's the only positive thing about fighting them.
They love to ravage your party with Hellish Invitation. If you're not coming into battles with them with Guts and/or Auto Item, you'd better be seriously lucky to survive a battle with them.
They're never alone, always coming in twos or threes. They have 32,500 health, so they're no walk in the park to take out. Your best bet is really to pray for a Freeze and then whittle them down while making sure you don't give them a chance to act.
Or you can do what I do when fighting a trio of these deadly ladies.
Not regretting it in the least.
And again...
Calamity Blast just manages to take out one.
Their normal attacks can also inflict Poison, if you were lucky enough to avoid a Hellish Invitiation.
I finally remember to show this off. If Lenneth dies, you have three turns to revive her or end the battle, or it's considered a Game Over - she's the one responsible for materializing the Einherjar's physical forms at the start of each battle, after all.
You know what? Eat this.
Tomes of Alchemy transmute all enemies into crystals. Of course bosses (and some enemies) are immune to them, but they're handy for encounters like these.
Not worth it.
Shield Critical is a spell that prevents enemies from using special attacks. I guess it might come in handy for locking out Hellish Invitations but I've never tried it - Sorcerers can have a maximum of ten spells as it is and Shield Critical costs 6 CT.
If Lenneth is dead at the end of battle, she's revived with 1 DME. Yumei and Shiho are not so lucky.
Anyway, onto the Venomous Spider.
The Venomous Spider is weak to Holy, and-
-uh, dies really, really quickly, with 30,000 health (less than the Mandragoras).
I think they just carried its stats from the Venomous Spiders in the Dragoncastle Caverns (remember they were back in Chapter 2) and just gave it a health boost, because otherwise that experience is just a mocking joke.
Now for the Golden Candlestick, to the southwest.
I'm determined to get at least one group of Mandragoras down legitimately.
Step one, pray for a double Freeze with Icicle Edge.
Oh thank goodness for double Guts.
It's a moral victory. (And I should really start using Auto Item.)
The Sivapithecus is in this area, and this Elf is a complete liar.
Hi.
It has 42,000 health and is weak to Ice. It's also one of the only bosses not immune to status effects.
Better than the Venomous Spider at least.
Last thing on the list are the Polar Drops, just a few screens to the south and west.
Basically, we just need to exit the screen and come back for the fountain to refill.
Now to head back to the Elf Village.
I don't show them off very often, but the backgrounds for some of the dungeons are really gorgeous.
Viscous Clods are a nice breather from Mandragoras, with only 8,000 health and nothing too special of note.
The Timer Ring slows down the movement speed of enemies in dungeons. I guess it could be handy for Corsair Beetles.
Also pointing out this chest because it's so well hidden most people wouldn't even know it's there without the Treasure Search.
The other notable treasure here is the Sylphan Robe.
It's pretty amazing. Sorcerers really do get a lot of good stuff.
...It seems that you have. Please wait a moment.
It is repaired? Yes, the Artifact has been repaired. It is within that chest. Please take it. I am in your debt, elf. No, after all, you rid the forest of those troublesome beasts. If you brought the Accursed Flame Gem here, then Asgard itself must be in grave danger. ...
We're actually going to offer this one up - the Gem is completely useless.
I don't think I've shown it before, so here's what an area map of a dungeon looks like. E is Entrance/Exit, and S is a Save Point.
Also just taking a moment to bring up Yumei's stat screen. The time of the
We have one last thing to do in the Forest, but we'll have to leave then return to it.
Heading back into the foggy area, we're going down, left, down, left.
Fire-weak Harpies appear here, too.
And at the end of the path is... another Cockatrice. 0/10 for originality, guys.
Not going to say no to the experience though.
And here are our artifacts. The Arectaris is a greatsword with two attacks and a Holy+50% modifier. The two attacks is nice, but the Violet Forget does have a much stronger PWS because of its greater raw power and its +30% to DME strength. On the other hand, the Elven Bow is the best main-game bow with 700 ATK. This is staying on Lenneth for a very long time.
With that, we're done here (screw Mandragoras).
Sacred Phase
Freya's request:
Hero Value 110, Undead Int, a High Level Sorcerer, Avoid, Resist Magic.
For the first time in a few chapters, an easy request. We have three Sorceresses. Yumei is our highest levelled one and will fulfill everything solidly.
Nanami and Shiho will also qualify, but they're not as high levelled. Let's sweeten the deal by tossing in another Einherjar with them. Let's take... Nanami and Lawfer or Shiho and Suo.
You know what to do.