Part 65: Part SG-1
We have one final dungeon to clear.
The Seraphic Gate option opens up when you have a save file in the final dungeon (Jotunheim Palace or Asgard Hill).
We'll just load up an appropriate save file of our choice (I'm picking our A Ending file) and here we go!
OST: Mission to the Deep Space
The Seraphic Gate is a mainstay of the VP games, always in the form of a dungeon meant for the post-game. It tends to be slightly out there, though nothing really matches up to how nuts it was in CotP.
The rule of Seraphic Gate: Leave your canon at the door.
First things first.
Everyone's back in our party! This includes everyone you've sent up to Asgard, as well as Lucian in the A Ending. The only exception is Lyseria - if you sent her up, she's gone. And obviously, anyone you didn't recruit won't be here, either.
For simplicity's sake I'm using Janus again. He's honestly the most reliable and consistently useful Archer in the game outside of Lenneth. Lucian, Lawfer and Aelia would all also be decent choices.
Sadly, you don't keep the Glance Reviver from the A Ending. Ahh well.
Gill-Man Leaders have 30,000 DME and are weak to Lightning and-
Are completely inconsequential since Celestial Star wipes them out anyway.
Big guys, still weak to Ice/Icicle Swords. Can actually take a Celestial Star now.
The Gate is divided into four areas, each area more dangerous than the last. The first area is pretty easy all things considered, and Celestial Star/Meteor Swarm will get you through most of it. The layout can be a little confusing, so I'll post a map somewhere down the line.
There's also only one save point in the dungeon - the one at the start. So... yeah, you don't want to die here.
Expect a lot of these. There are no less than 15 Golden Eggs in the Gate, which are nice for stat boosts or if you really need some MP (each Golden Egg transmutes to 4000 MP).
Just like in the final dungeon, you can shop anywhere in the Seraphic Gate. However since Freya isn't giving out free MP chunks anymore, what you have is what you get, and you'll have to get more by transmuting stuff. You shouldn't really need much other than restocking Union Plumes anyway.
Have more things that all die to Celestial Star. The King Kraken in the back of that last screenshot is a bit hardier, but not dangerous at any rate.
Ancient Golems have a lot of health, but are otherwise pretty non-threatening.
Gem of Creation, not Creation Gem. The Gem of Creation just gives you an increased chance of knocking out experience crystals.
(The other chest contains a Mighty Check.)
There are eight areas in the Gate that are sealed off. To open one, you have to use up a Flame Jewel (there are eight of them, which you should have picked up in the Hard Mode-exclusive dungeons). For those playing on Normal Mode... no dice here, sorry.
So what's behind this first area?
The Razor Shaft is the strongest bow in the game. At 3000 ATK with three attacks, it handily beats the Berserker Bow.
It's also the only bow that gives Lenneth access to her level 3 Niebelung Valesti, which is also the second strongest PWS in the game.
The Eternal Garb is the best armour - it has 4000 RDM, cuts Lightning damage by 90%, and can be equipped by anyone.
Now back to the all-access Gate.
There ate teleports throughout the Gate. This one gets us to the next stage of the gate, which is red.
Here we have a very special Flame Gem door.
What awaits us behind Teleport no. 2?
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OST: Beast of Prey
That might be my favourite track in the OST. It's catchy and fits Lezard well.
Anyway, Lezard fight, take two. This fight is pretty similar to the first time we fought him. Lezard still crumbles like... crumble, but he's got high INT and can kill someone easily. Unlike the first fight, where he had two Dragon-Tooth Warriors and so you're suggested to kill him first, here he has two Eye enemies and so you want to kill him last to avoid Restore.
Ouch, Lezard.
His lacks are easy to take out - focus on the one in the back, pop a Great Magic, and they should both go down easily.
Lezard packs his deadly assortment of Great Magics, including Dragon Bolt, Absolute Zero, and Meteor Swarm (which he pulls out here).
Expect Guts-abusing to be a constant thing in the Seraphic Gate.
This is likely appropriate on some level.
The extra hit on the end actually adds a lot of damage.
Now, you want to get Lezard to drop an item.
Because we get the Glance Reviver back. Yes!
If she could, Lenneth would have involuntarily shuddered in the process.
Now, are we going to use Lezard in our team? Of course we're going to use Lezard in our team.
Age: 24
Class: Sorcerer/Necromancer
Race: Human
Gender: Male
He is an accomplished Alchemist as well as practitioner in the dark art of Necromancy. Behind his placid facade lies a mad genius who feels that all others are merely pawns to be played on his own handcrafted chessboard.
Lezard joins at level 30, and is generally pitted against Gandar as to 'who is the best mage'? While fairly close, I'd say Gandar - while Lezard has a high INT score, if Gandar gets a few lucky rolls, he'll have higher INT around Lezard's level (Sorcerers gain between 15-19 INT on each level up, so if Gandar gets an average of >17.24 INT per level, he'll beat Lezard). The more telling advantage Gandar has is on Hard Mode - since Lezard joins at level 30, that's 29 levels without the Bracelet of Zoe.
Both are great anyway. The one thing that might put you off from using Lezard is that he joins at level 30, while if you've been grooming a Sorcerer for a while they'll be at least ten levels above him. But it's not too bad, really, and Coins of Fortunes will help make up the difference.
And because you'll want to see (hear) them:
Lezard PWS
And finally, since he's the last character to have them, here are Lezard's traits:
Lezard and Mystina artwork.