Part 9: Serpent's Coils

Update 9: The Best Character

First order of business is to upgrade my ARMs. In order of priority...

Doc will get two bullets, bringing his total to four. The rest of his upgrades will be split between Shot and Crit, probably 8 shot and 5 crit.
Billy will get a point of Hit, and the rest similarly split - 8 Shot and 6 Crit.

The other two will wait until Doc and Billy are sorted out. As for now, I can afford to buy one BLT for Doc and one HIT for Billy.


Right now, what we need is information about the other shields. Time to ask around town.

<<Janus Cascade>>... A handsome, capable man, but he puts it all to waste. Not all Drifters are do-gooders.
<<Janus Cascade>>
A Drifter who only listens to himself might sound cool and all, but that man is just a ravenous bully. I'm not the most streetwise person, but I think you should steer clear of that scum.

Know the difference between the birds that stay put and the ones that migrate? It's how they use their wings. They may be hunting for treasure or out searching for themselves, but the wings of a Drifter never go to waste. They're always out finding a new way.

Or, in Janus's case, new prey. Does anyone here have anything useful to say?

The dune creatures aren't happy. They lend no ear to the plight of ships. These days, land routes are more practical than sea ones. It's safer to take a <<train>>. I really want to take my ship out for a sail, but my wallet's clean empty.
<<Train>>
Midland Station is to the northwest. Ever since monsters started showing up, they can't repair the trains quickly enough, so right now they just go west. But long ago, that place was the central junction for railways all over Filgaia.

It's natural to guess that there are really three shields, each with a spell that sealed the Eternal Sparkle. I hear there's another place just like the Ruins of Memory out west. Heading west from here will take you to the region of <<Westwood>>, and I suggest going by rail.
<<Westwood>>
I heard that it used to be covered in green there. They still make a living by raising horses.

If there's another ruin out West, it must be where the shield is. Lets find that station and get over there!



Heading back over the bridge takes us back to the plains near Baskar Colony. Finding the station is as easy as searching along the railway line to the west.



Here it is, right by the tunnel.



Midland Station is pretty tiny, not much more than a slab of stone and a couple of huts.

To board a train, first you need to purchase a ticket from the station attendant. He's a little hard to find, but the attendant can be found right next to the entrance.

I think I see him...

Thank you for riding with Filgaia Railways. Where are you headed today?



Naturally, ticket prices vary depending on distance travelled. The only place we can head to right now is Westwood Station.

I was born and raised in Midland, so I think Jolly Roger is a nice place. Of course, most folks who were born in Jolly Roger stay and live in Midland their whole lives.

The train arrives shortly after we buy a ticket.



Thanks for travelling with us! Don't hesitate to ask any of our courteous staff for assistance. We proudly hire locals, so that each employee is knowledgeable about the area they work in. We can provide you with the latest directions and travel tips custom-tailored for each and every region.

Very good Tony, A- on sticking to the script, you forgot to mention our ridiculously overpriced shop car.

Westwood is a bit of a nicer station. It has a clock and a roof and everything.

Lots of passengers today... I'm glad that group decided to use our station. I suppose the <<village>> nearby has been having some kind of fair.
<<Village>>
Oh, you hadn't heard? East of here is the village of <<Claiborne>>. It's a nice place to visit if you don't mind the long walk.
<<Claiborne>>
It's right where the tracks start to curve. They're famous for their horses. I hear they train them to be both obedient and strong. It would be a perfect place if it wasn't for one thing: the saloon mistress's scowl.

Nice to know there's some lodging nearby, though I'm a little worried about this other group.
Also, did he say horsies?

No time to waste, horses are waiting. We immediately set off for Claiborne.



This place is... pretty green. Practically verdant. You have to wonder why more people aren't living around here, though if they were it probably wouldn't stay this nice for long.

There are enough monsters to make up for the lack of humans, though, and they all have their annoying tricks.



Dryads are pretty slow and weak against fire. Their physical attack is not too bad, but...



Sweet Sigh, their special attack, is pretty annoying. It doesn't do any damage but inflicts the Amnesia status, which prevents the character from gaining any XP for the battle.



Easily cured with a Toy Hammer, but since they spam it so much there's a good chance someone won't get XP for the encounter.



Pordarge tends to waste its turn Bantering, though it does have a weak normal attack. I never gave it a chance to do so, but it can also steal your items and try to escape. Kill it quickly.
Unusually for RPGs, flying enemies frequently have weaknesses to earth damage instead of being immune to it, as Wind and Earth are opposed elements. I guess turning into stone in mid-air and falling to the ground hurts.



A bonus of fighting enemies with status ailments is that they tend to drop the cures for their effects, and even have rare drops that can prevent the status completely - we got 2 Toy Hammers from those Dryads.
Note that Boone's EXP rate is 0.0%... I failed to cure an Amnesia effect before the end of battle.

There is another approach we can take to Amnesia. We picked up a Memo Pen in the Ruins of Memory. If we go to the Invoke menu and equip it on a Guardian...



We can add an Amnesia status ward to the guardian. I gave it to Doc. With four points invested in it, he will resist Amnesia 100% of the time.
There is only room for 5 pieces of gear on a Guardian, and they're semi-permanent - attempting to remove or replace an item of gear will destroy it. This means it can be a good idea to plan your guardian setups ahead - there are rare and powerful gears that you might not want to put on the wrong guardian. It's a rather unforgiving element for such a forgiving game.



Claiborne's not much further away. I don't get why they didn't build the station closer to the town.

MUSIC - A Person's Warmth



A small, rustic place. Not so much a village as a little farm. Tired, so lets find the saloon.

The madam of the saloon is named Myra, and she is some character. She's always irritated and edgy, and doesn't treat her little <<niece>> very nicely, either. Ah guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do in order to age well.
<<Niece>>
Her name's Martina. It's just so disheartin' to see her put in an unjust situation... It ain't her fault, you know? Ah had a word with Myra 'bout the way she treats her niece, and she snapped at Martina, thinkin' she ratted on her. It's terrible, Ah tell ya.

I'm sure Myra's not that bad.



Can I help ya?

I immediately take it back, this women is clearly worse than Hitler and Stalin combined. That said, I'm sure you might get a little cranky if you had to look at Martina's freakish eyes every day.

Welcome! We appreciate your patronage. My <<mom>> is usually in charge of cooking, but she isn't here right now. Auntie and I will cater to all your culinary needs!
<<Mom>>
My mom is working elsewhere right now. Therefore, I must do my best to help run this saloon until she comes back. However, I haven't received any letters from her recently. I am starting to get a little worried...

Yes? I'm <<Martina>>'s aunt. Can I help ya?
<<Martina>>
Don't look at me like that! The saloon used to belong to her parents, but her father fell into debt from all of his gamblin'. I've put up the collateral to save this business, so now they owe me.

My mom and dad used to own this saloon, but now it belongs to my auntie. My dad tried to expand the business, but failed and... Anyway, once my mom and I are able to pay Auntie back our debts, Auntie said this saloon will belong to the three of us.

Sounds like a complicated situation. Probably best if we don't butt in. We stay the night, reading a few books we found to pass the time.




Sounds like the locals do know a bit about the Eternal Sparkle. Time to ask around.

Fancy seein' Drifters in this village. So, what treasure are y'all after? This village has some legendary stories 'bout the <<Eternal Sparkle>>. No one has been able to find any truth to this. Does that stir your curiosity as Drifters?
<<Eternal Sparkle>>
No one knows what it is, but I hear it got sealed away somewhere at the end of the great war. Rumor has it that clues to the whereabouts of this Eternal Sparkle can be found at the <<ruins by the foothills>>.
<<Ruins by the foothills>>
You'll see mountains east of this village. Search around the foothills and you'll find the ruins. No one has been able to confirm any truth to this rumor, but I'd prepare before settin' foot in there.

Looks like we have our destination. Now to find out about sleek and adorable transport.



Even though you may be Drifters, there's no way you can take to the sky. I highly recommend y'all ride horsies to get around the wasteland. I have four horsies that just turned two years old this year, so give me a holler if you're interested. It'll cost 2,000 Gella for four of my top-notch horsies. Whaddaya say?

It's a deal
We don't need horses now.

But I don't have 2000 gella...

It took a lot of time and tender loving care to raise these horsies. They're well worth the price. Come back when you have the money.

Dreams... crushed... feeling... low... must find quick and easy source of cash... Hey, is that who I think it is?



Hey, Billy! How's it going!? I didn't think we'd meet up so soon! Did you grow a little taller? You should keep a record of how tall you grow. Speaking of records... That's it, memories!! What do you say I keep a record of all your memories on paper? Once you see a notebook full of all your memories, I'm sure you'll appreciate them like I do. You don't care to, huh? But you do know I can be pretty stubborn.

Thanks, but I've already got the illegal alien robots keeping track of my memories. There is one function only Pike can perform though.



He can change our names for us. Not something I'm interested in for the moment, but I can at least return the favour.



There, much better.

All that's left to do before moving on is a little bit of scrounging. I manage to find the following -

- A Mini Carrot in some barrels under the stairs
- A Duplicator in a hopper of chicken feed

Leaving Claiborne behind, we head further east.



The ruins, Serpent's Coils, are hidden in this little dead end.




MUSIC - Losing One's Way in Darkness, Losing Something in Darkness

Be on your guard, everyone. If the shield that seals the Eternal Sparkle is located here, there's a good chance Janus might be here, too.

This dungeon is similar to the Ruins of Memory, in that it's a circle of rooms around a central hub. It's absolutely infested with only one enemy type though.



Jelly Blobs appear in groups of between three and six. Their only attack is a physical which isn't too hard hitting, but if they swamped a single character they could probably take them down. Good thing they're not smart enough to do that.



The notable thing about them is that they're completely immune to ALL physical damage, and weak to all elements. They're weak enough in general that even Billy can 1-shot them with Cremate. And since arcana is the only way to bring them down, you get a gem for every one killed.

These bastards will make you rich. Oh so very, very rich.



While exploring, we find rooms full of treasure chests, but they've already been ransacked.

Dammit, looks like someone beat us to it.

A few other rooms were still locked, and their contents still intact. (until we stole them) We found...

2 Gella Cards
2000 Gella (horsies!)


We also activated the ruins' navigation system. The golden dot signifies that this door leads to the last room we were in. A blue dot means that we've been to that room before, and a blue outline shows that we've not visited that room yet.



This is the upper level of the central room. The switch on the next level down opens the door, but we won't be able to climb back up, so we'll have to loop all the way around again.
Better jump off and get it over with.

Why, thank you. I never imagined a rival Drifter would be so cooperative.

MUSIC - The Stage is Full of Miscast People



Another group of drifters shows up on the upper level, and walk over to the door we just opened.

It's not Janus...But still thugs, nonetheless.

"Hello" would have been more polite I think. Whatever happened to the nicer Pearl who trusted people for no good reason?

Was she referring to me?
This lassie needs to get out more.
Madam, we must press on...
I know, I know. Is it still responding on the radar?

The boy nods



What are you doing here, anyway?
Huh?
Did I stutter? I'm sure you're just looking for the shield, anyway. Okay, then. Here's another question.



What is it that supports you, that makes you think you can make it?
What are you talking about? I'm just, me! Stop talking such nonsense!
Sounds like you're just another one of those people, who roam the wasteland unprepared and clueless. It's posers like you that give female Drifters such a poor rep. I can't stand it! One of these days you're really gonna hurt yourself by pretending to be a Drifter. I suggest you turn back now.
Pretending?



I'm sorry. My sister always speaks her mind. That often makes her come off as harsh.

He runs off after his sister.

I know I'm just starting to take flight, but still... The nerve of her!

Looping back around we follow the other drifters through this door. A bridge lets us cross over one of the other halls and brings us to a pair of raised paths and a switch.



Stepping in the middle and flicking the switch lowers the path ahead of us so we can walk over it, while raising the one behind us.



The chests in the background contain a Gimel Coin and three Lucky Cards. Taking a side path also leads us to a Migrant Seal, a Clear Chime and a Nectar, though I need to use a duplicator to get to that.

The Migrant Seal brings our Migrant Level up to 3, enough to make skipping smaller groups of Jelly in this dungeon free.
The Clear Chime is gear for our Guardians which gives us an anti-Confusion status ward.
Nectar restores a character's Maximum HP. I've not demonstrated this yet because I'm not completely terrible at the game, but if a character is dead at the end of a battle they become Wounded, lowering their max HP by 20%. Nectar (or staying at an inn) restores this lost HP.

Proceeding through the dungeon brings us back to the room with the switch.



We can cross over it on this raised path.

Only...



Great. Thanks for that.

Impeding others just because you are lost is not a very admirable thing to do.

Okay... hitting the switch again and looping back around again we get back to where we were, and this time the blonde doesn't get in our way.



In one corridor we meet a locked door, but there's a frozen switch nearby.



Melting the ice with a tindercrest lets us flick it and open the door ahead. Nicely done, lets go...



She just kicked the switch back and ran away!

Hey!? So that's how it's gonna be, huh!?

OK fine, lets try that again. Flick the switch back and...



KNOCK IT OFF

I know the wasteland is all about competition...But...
How low can she go?

OK, once again...



Hey, come back here! What are we, in kindergarten!?

OK FINE.
You want to fuck about? Right, flick the switch back and...


FREEZE!


How do you like that, bitch?



She just charges past us and through the door. Inside...



You are such an eyesore! Who do you think you are, anyway!
I may be inexperienced...But I'm doing the best I can! I'm not pretending, okay!? I'm not gonna have you laugh at me when I'm trying my best!
You really crack me up! Then why don't you prove just how far your best will take you!


BOSS BATTLE - RIVAL DRIFTERS

MUSIC - Blood, Tears, and the Dried-Up Wasteland



A reasonably straightforward brawl with one new wrinkle, the main tactical choice you'll have to make is what order to attack them in. Focus fire on one until its down and you should come out OK.

I like to go in this order -

Cat (?)


This is no ordinary cat. With two kinds of breath attack (Fire and Ice, though I didn't get a shot of ice) this is the only magic attacker they have. I prefer to get him out of the way first so I don't have to use Barrier to raise magic defence. He's also got a weakness to Water that makes that easier.

Afro


That rod contains a concealed weapon, a blade that can split the heavens! Also he looks very stylin' with his afro and purple shades.


Black Fenrir is his regular attack. It's one of the meaner attacks in this battle.


Psycho Crack is worse, as it inflicts a ton of damage and an as-yet-unseen status ailment. Confusion.


Every bit as nasty as you'd expect. This kind of thing tends not to end well. Fortunately Pearl still had a Shield on her and survived this.
You can still issue commands to the character but they will ignore them until you cure it. Fortunately I had a Pinwheel available.

Afro can also heal his comrades, but he never bothered to in this battle. I believe he'll only do so if you attack the girl or boy.

There is a non-obvious trick you can use to help you bring him down. Just cast Cremate on him.



Is... is that afro aflame? That's gotta hurt...

Smoke will keep pouring from his afro for the rest of the battle, and deal about 40 damage per turn.

Boy



The boy is no real threat. He only has one attack, which does decent damage, but he can't do anything more dangerous.

Blonde


And the blonde?



Most of the time she'll try to gun you down with her little pistol.



But piss her off enough and she might just shake her skirts and...



WHAT



GATLING GUN? FROM SKIRT?



WHAT





I think, after that, we should defeat her as soon as possible before she can do it again.

As usual so far, shielding your weaker characters and focusing fire on one enemy at a time will get you through them with no real problems. Confusion is the biggest potential problem, but Afroman doesn't exactly spam that move.

VIDEO - Youtube
Several turns cut because nothing special happened. (including the first turn)
If you just want to see the blonde's big gun in action, it's shortly after 6:30.



Our rewards. I mysticed a Lucky Card during the battle, hence the double XP for all. This was enough to take everyone to level 10, a most auspicious number.
It means that we now start the battle with 10FP, and can use most of our arcana straight away without needing to build FP at all.

You are tenacious...and stubborn!



But let's see if you can handle this!
Uh... Sis? Sis!
How dare you interrupt me... Since when have you gotten so bold? Anyway, what is it?
Sis, the radar's reacting. I think the team that went in ahead of us is making its move.
Sorry to spoil the party, but we don't have time to play with you anymore. Ta-ta... Don't hurt yourself.

They exit stage right.

Wait!



My name's Maya Schroedinger. And we are the renowned Schroedinger family. Don't you forget it. It's a name you'll be chasing for a long time.
I'm... Pearl Maxwell!
I'll remember it for the time being. But listen... Once I turn my head, you better be right behind me. Or else, I'll forget real quick.
With that she runs on ahead. and we give chase. The next room has a spare Gimel Coin and a Duplicator.

In the room after that, we finally find ourselves face to face with the shield.



The shield! I think we're the first ones here! ...? Wait...Where's Maya and her team? Well, better make the most of this opportunity!



Pearl tries and fails to climb the wall.

You won't be able to reach it like that. Would you like some help?
Yeah, can you... Huh!?



Uh oh.


All I have time for today, but here's a short feature I call

Why Boone's Attack sucks so horribly

As noted before, Boone has a pretty good ATT rating, so why is his ARM damage so bad? And if his accuracy is so terrible, why does he seem to hit more often than not?

The answer lies in how the game computes damage.

When characters fire ARMs they're actually firing a number of shells - only one for Doc obviously, while Billy fires six and Boone fire eight. The game checks to see if each individual shell hits, and calculates the damage accordingly. If only 4 of Boone's shells hit, he'll only do 50% damage.
This is the purpose of the Hits counter at the top right when characters fire ARMs.

This is fine for the others, because their HIT is decent and most of their shells will hit.
For Boone, it means that while he might usually hit and do SOME damage, (he's got EIGHT chances to hit, after all,) his damage will be severely gimped because a lot of shells will miss. This will become more important later in the game as his accuracy stagnates and enemy evasion rises.

Notably, all shells automatically hit when a character gets a critical hit.


EDIT: Poll removed


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