Part 50: The Lord of Gunner's Heaven
Last time, we opened the way to the final boss. Today, and for a while now, we're going to completely ignore her and get some sidequest stuff done.Update 50: Lord Blazer gets all the good hosts
MUSIC: Bad Guys & Bad Land
We're back at Gunner's Heaven for the remaining battles here - two whole leagues to conquer.
Cough up a little blood but still keep fighting. That's the very thing crowds really crave for.Does it have to be my blood?
And don't worry about the janitor when your organs start hanging out. That carpet's red for a reason!You are very cavalier about this sort of thing.
Well, what would life be without a little risk?
Gunners Heaven Journeyman League
The Journeyman League requires that we win five battles in 20 turns to pass. We're a bit overlevelled for it, so that shouldn't be too big a problem.
ROUND 1: FOUR MERCURIUS
A quartet of thunder-aligned beasties. They'll use Thunder Zone to increase the damage of that element, which can be trouble because they have an incredibly powerful thunder-based ability called Supercharged Gimlet, which hits one target for an excessive amount of damage. Somehow I got really lucky and they never used it though.
I tried a tactic where I force a Thunder weakness on them, to try and abuse their Thunder Zone, but it didn't do quite as much damage as I anticipated. You're probably better off summoning something nasty.
ROUND 2: THREE GASHER SKELETONS
Their offense is nothing to worry about, and they're really easy to defeat. Since they're undead they're vulnerable to Requiem, and you can Replay that to kill two in one turn.
ROUND 3: BAMULVRIS
He's weak to both Fire and Ice, but if you attack him with one he will counter with the other. It's weak damage though, so don't worry about that. I attach Ice to Billy and Doc's ARMs and blast away.
ROUND 4: AUDHUMLA AND SLEIPNIR
Audhumla (the short one, weak to ice) buffs damage with Hyper and attacks. Sleipnir (the horse, weak to fire) uses Instant Death and casts Fragile on you.
Sliepnir might seem like the bigger threat, but you really should have resistance to Fallen by this point, and he seems to prefer using Fragile anyway. So in the end you can take them out in whichever order you prefer.
The one problem for me was that after Bamulvris, Doc and Billy had Ice damage on their ARM which Sleipnir resisted. You can cure this by casting either Hyper or Valiant on them - it will overwrite the attachment.
ROUND 5: SIX ERIGORIS
Oh come on, after all that time hunting Ariochs, the last thing I wanna do is fight six yellow Ariochs!
Well, these guys are far more dangerous than regular Ariochs. They're not grouped, so you can't group nuke them for a start. Worse, they can inflict a huge range of status effects.
Go back to sleep! - Sleep
You won't feel a thing! - Fallen
I will pretty you up! - Glass
Kick back and relax! - Paralysis
This should keep you quiet! - Bronze
I'll make you see stars! - Confusion
He also has physical attacks called
Looks like I'm up!
Don't Move!
Here I go!
Let this be a lesson!
Leave it to me!
Repent!
If you don't have adequate status protection, this can quickly become overwhelming. Make sure you load up on as many wards as possible, cast an Extended Status Lock and summon - each one only has 5000 HP, and they won't stand up to a couple of 100FP summons.
If you want to see the video of the battles, it's here...
VIDEO: Journeyman League
The rewards for the league are pretty good. There's...
Three Peppy Acorns (cure misery)
A Grab Bag (small amount of XP)
Three Gimel Coins (save game/continue after defeat)
A Gella Card
10000 Gella
and the Sonar Kit - the mean reason why you could call that junk pretty good. The Sonar Kit makes items and some locations we can find on the world map appear on the minimap.
See the yellow dots on the map? Each of them is an item, a sign, or a telepath tower/millennium puzzle. The Sonar Kit makes item searching easy!
A comprehensive search of the world got me the following...
Three Big Grab Bags (large amount of free XP)
Four Migrant Seals (increase Migrant level by one)
A Booster Kit (increase encounter gauge by 10)
Three Name Tags (rename NPCs)
Five Duplicators (open sealed doors and items)
Three Gella Cards (double Gella gains from one enemy)
21500 Gella
Three Gimel Coins (save game/continue)
A Full Carrot (gain 100 FP)
A Tiny Flower (improve Luck)
An Ambrosia (full heal and status fix)
It's a decent haul, but the really valuable stuff is the Migrant Seals and the Booster Kit. Collecting them all brings the Encounter Gauge to its highest level.
At level 20 pretty much every battle that's not in the Abyss is skippable, and 40 ECN points gives us a big pool to draw from for skipping the rest.
Anyway, with that handled, we may as well head straight on to the Expert League.
Gunners Heaven Expert League
The requirements this time are 5 battles in 15 turns. We're slightly underlevelled for it, but should be fine.
ROUND 1: THREE DAREDEVILS
These guys like to cast Quicken on their entire group, and then start spamming Paralysis attacks and Storm Blade, a wind arcana that hits everyone. However they're weak to Earth, and don't take too long to die even if you don't exploit that.
ROUND 2: SIX SPHERES
Our old friend is back, this time in Light Element form. He deals some Light damage and has a decent physical attack, but is very weak to Dark: having Boone summon Luceid will outright kill several of them.
ROUND 3: DEATH MASK
This guy hands out Fallen with his Asphyxiation move, and debuffs DEF with his regular and counter-attacks. He already has a Light weakness, which helps a lot, so you can Attach that and just gatling him for an easy and quick kill.
ROUND 4: DANTALION
Easy once you spot his pattern and what it means. Every turn he alternates between open and closed forms - starts in closed. When closed, his arcana defense is 0 but his ARM defense is max, and vice-versa when open. So use the right attacks depending on whether he's open or closed, and you can quickly bring him down.
ROUND 5: DOLL DRONE
The finale of the Gunner's Heaven leagues. A few things complicate the Doll Drone battle...
1) He is completely invulnerable to all kinds of ARM damage. Absolutely invulnerable.
2) His magic resistance is extremely high - high enough that even with a weakness added regular Arcana will do 0 damage.
3) His only attack causes Instant Death. Since it's his only attack, he will use it constantly.
Number 3 is not an issue - we have Fallen Ward, but the purpose of this guy is to turtle up and make you run out of turns. You need some powerful magic to break through his defense.
Giving him a Dark weakness and summoning Luceid twice with 4 slots in the Weakness PS works well.
More battle videos!
VIDEO: Expert League
The rewards are not quite as nice for the Expert League, (nothing beats the Sonar Kit) though the increased gella reward makes up for it.
Three Seed Powders (cure Glass status)
Thre Nectars (recover MAX HP lost for being dead at end of battle)
A Holy Root (cure all statuses)
A Lucky Card (double XP gained for one character)
30000 Gella
The Relic Coin - the special reward for this challenge. Effectively an infinite amount of Gimel Coins. Considering that I have 70 Gimel Coins clogging up my inventory, this is not so great a reward, but I guess it's nice enough.
Now, with all the leagues defeated, you might think that's it for Gunners' Heaven.
Not quite!
Upstairs in Lord Begucci's quarters...
Uh?
I was growing impatient with every fight. I am the lord of the universe. I am the leveler, the presence who controls creation. I have witnessed your deeds, heroes. Here is the ultimate reward. The right to challenge me! All life yearns for power. And those who have power are tempted to use it. Silently, the match has already begun. Pour yourself into the fight. I assume you are ready?Uh, this sounds tough. Let me think on it...
Yes
Yes, yes! I knew you'd bite! I sense the urgent lust for blood within you. I possessed the body of a Filgaian to walk among mortals, but this one is frail, ugly, and twisted. I seek a vessel more fitting for the lord of the universe. You, there. You seem like suitably strong candidates. And a woman! Yes, my next vessel shall be female! What a fateful encounter! Come, fighters. Let me share my destiny with you!OK, first things first, despite appearances Billy is not a girl. Also...
OPTIONAL BOSS BATTLE: EMPEROR MARDUK
MUSIC: Blood, Tears, and the Dried-Up Wasteland
... damn, you're ugly. One of the old King of Angolmois's drinking buddies?
This guy is tough. For a start, he's level 85 and I am 30 levels below that.
He shares many things with the King of Angolmois. The same Dark elemental attacks, the same enormous amount of HP. What he doesn't share is a Gravity weakness, so you can't exploit that like you did with the King.
He's got access to Screaming Mad and Agony Effect, just like the King of Angolmois. They can do quite a bit of damage, but are not the primary threat here.
That would be this.
That damage! Pearl just barely survived. Extending a Protect and a Permanence onto everyone is a superb idea for this fight. Also bring a lot of healing items.
He can also heal himself, though considering his immense HP, that doesn't really have much of an impact.
With an elemental weakness and a critical hit, Billy and Doc can do decent damage against him... but he has 240,000 HP. Under these circumstances, Finest Arts is not overpowered... it is recommended that you exploit it to the hilt if you have any brains at all. Just go ahead and spam it at every opportunity.
VIDEO: I have no brains at all
Eventually he is defeated, and the rewards are nice: the Dist Dims is OK I guess.
It gives the MTC Recovery PS, which makes your MTC (limit on how often you can summon) regen as you walk about. The problem is that it's four levels at 10 points per level, and once you spend 40 points they still only regen every 45 steps. Not too great a deal I think.
The good stuff is the almost half a million gella, and a huge amount of XP which is enough to gain six levels on Pearl, four on Boone and Billy, and seven levels on Doc.
I am defeated! Defeat is freedom. Knowing freedom is knowing the joy of being released. All life years for power, and those with power are tempted to use it. But beyond that power lies more than just victory. Freedom from the hands of defeat. I shall return this vessel to its rightful owner. He will lose the memories we shared, but I would not wish them upon him. Heroes, I bestow victory upon you. Make good use of it, for one day... I shall return to bestow defeat.Looks like Begucci immediately goes back to normal.
The moment the games commence, excitement rules the day. I can't <<stay standing>>. It would behoove you to learn to appreciate decadence. You are a grown-up, after all.
<<Stay standing>> When I cheer for the fighters below, sometimes I just collapse. Hmm... I suppose that's not healthy.Don't worry, it's all behind you now. Now if only we could help someone who deserves it...
So we're done with Gunner's Heaven, right?
On our way out, we stop at the front desk to take a rest in the inn.
Who would have guessed that the duke was possessed by the lord of the universe!Not me. Took me by surprise.
I knew there was something odd about him. Kinda like you. Yeah, I saw the battle between you and him. And what a fight! Thanks to you, I feel like a warrior again. How about you and me in the ring? Not as any division fighter, but my old ring name, Bad News! Would you fight me to teach me which is stronger: an old legend or the possibilities of the future?Well, can't hurt, right?
Yes
I'll show you what it was like back in the old days. Of course, I won't hold back, so I'll take all four of you at once. To the ring!OPTIONAL BOSS BATTLE: BAD NEWS
This guy doesn't look so tough. He's just some innkeeper...
Urk!
He's actually level 95, making him the third-highest leveled boss in the game. We're still only in the 60s. His damage is all single-target but there's a lot of it, and he's faster than everyone, even Pearl.
You definitely want to make sure you're protected against Confusion, since Hatchet Blow inflicts it and he'll use that often.
He'll counter all attacks with Counter Tomahawk, so you need to be careful about that, especially when using Replay.
Power Mountain Load is the most damaging of all his attacks, though it doesn't carry any secondary effects.
Rocket Bazooka does about the same damage as Hatchet Blow. It also inflicts Amnesia, which could be quite the "fuck you" if you manage to end the fight with it on a character since he drops a ton of XP.
This is his heal. It only heals about 4000 HP, so it's not a huge problem.
He also does a neat flip when he would get knocked down!
On top of all that, his evasion is high enough that Doc can't reliably hit him, and he has 325000 HP - 85000 more than Marduk had.
Considering all of that, Finest Arts really is the way to go. It takes at least six uses at this kind of power to defeat him. Set things up so that Billy moves after Doc and tosses him a Full Carrot every round, and you can keep the damage coming.
Watch your HP and avoid situations like this, and you'll be fine.
VIDEO: Bad News for Bad News
Oh hey, an Ex File Key!
EX File Keys: 7/15
Also 5 levels for Pearl (63), Three for Boone and Billy (56), and four for Doc (66)
Looks like the power of youth that blazes trails to the future is greater than the power of the past.I hear that's the entire plot of Wild ARMs 4?
Congratulations. You are the greatest fighters in the history of Gunner's Heaven!
Your power is that of the chosen. Don't forget that it is their will that decides how to manifest power.And now we're done with Gunners Heaven.
Next Time: More optional bosses.
Oh, and Arioch Count: 50/100
A Day A Day
Today is April 12, Bread Day. There was a baker who dreamed of baking a bread that popped. Using thin crusts, he created a bread in the shape of a six shooter that actually popped. While popping his bread in the kitchen, his wife, who was an ARM user, thought it was a hold-up and fired some rounds inside to scare the robbers. Well, anyway, there's a 30% off sale on all bread today. Today is April 13, Nemesis Day. Having a worthy opponent helps you rapidly improve in your studies and work performance. In the old days, the word opponent also meant companion or associate.