Part 52: The Invasion
There are three major sidequests left, and two minor ones. Lets pick up on two of them today.Update 52: The Creep Who Fell To Earth
First of all, I went and killed some more Ariochs. God this shit is tedious.
Ariochs Defeated: 70/100
At this point Arioch can still be pretty quickly defeated with this pattern...
Round 1: Boone Extends a Dark Weaken, Pearl Mystics a Dark Gem, Billy uses a Mini Carrot on Boone. Doc does nothing.
Round 2: Boone summons Luceid. They all die.
Rinse, repeat, another thirty times to go.
In the interest of doing something different, I headed to the first floor of the Abyss after that to busk for spare change.
The optional bosses were very, very good for my wallet. Now that I have 3.7 million Gella...
Calupdis tries to steal a rather large amount of cash...
Which leads to some rather obscene rewards, once my Gella Boosts multiply the returned gella. It only takes two or three battles with Calupdis before I have enough gella.
Say hello to the Black Market's key!
EX File Keys found: 10/15
I also finished upgrading Boone's ARM. He's still not going to use it much, but why not?
Finally, I've finished breeding Mega Berries to 100% in the garden. Just Holy Roots and Tiny Flowers to go. I make a start on Holy Roots.
Anyway, that wasn't going to be the focus of this update. Remember the Telepath Towers sidequest we began back in Chapter 3?
Ventura, Ventura... The encroaching <<forces of chaos>> are a menace to all forms of life.
<<Forces of chaos>> We have confirmed sighting of them and their interplanetary vessels all over the world! That's right. Chaos is much, much closer than you think.We took out three towers back then, but I decided to leave the rest for later. Now it's time.
Most of the time, all the towers can be tackled in exactly the same way. The statuses they inflict get worse and and their HP grows, but their main attack never really gets threatening and a Zephyr summon, backed up by ARM damage from Billy and Doc, can take them out reasonably quickly.
That said, much of this sidequest is intended for chapter 3, not for a party that's killed a bunch of optional bosses, but still. It's very very doable from the moment you unlock it. The main reason I didn't do it back then was because it would level me up too quickly.
As for defending against their status attacks, you can either go find wards or just Extend a Status Lock onto your characters - it'll work perfectly for the towers that don't use Fallen.
Telepath Tower #4, located east of the Sand Canal. Uses Tranquilizer to inflict Sleep status - could be a problem if they sleep a bunch of your people at once.
Tower #5. Northwest of Yggdrasil. Inflicts Misery, which isn't a problem since that doesn't stop ARM attacks and they are enough to defeat it before it can defeat you.
However, as we finish it off, something happens...
The Telepath Tower releases a sound as it it were about to collapse. Guided by that sound, a chaos-bringing presence silently encroaches.
They speak directly into your minds in an inaudible voice that is unlike any other. It seems to express the futility of all communication.
In other words, welcome to Asskick. Population: 4 drifters.
If you are not prepared for this guy, he is going to utterly slaughter you.
Human Experimentation inflicts minor damage on a single target, plus Disease, Poison and Paralysis. Poison and Paralysis is a death trap, and Disease just makes it worse.
Direct Voice confuses its target, which can be nasty.
But not as nasty as this.
Arc-en-Ciel poisons, confuses, paralyzes, sleeps, and gives misery, disease and amnesia to all four characters. It is a status apocalypse - four sleeping paralyzed sad team killers, losing unhealable damage every turn... and even if they win, they won't get any XP.
There are two ways to tackle this.
1) Protect against all seven statuses with wards. Very time consuming to find and steal all the gear required to obtain these wards. The Total Ward Doc currently has is a massive help here - he is already immune to all of Creeping Chaos' effects.
2) Extend a Status Lock on the first turn. His RFX isn't great so Boone should be able to go before him, and by doing this you immediately protect against all his effects.
2 might seem like the best idea - it's certainly much faster to set up, requiring no preparation beyond putting the right Medium on Boone. However, there is a compelling reason to do number 1.
You see, if you do something like this...
Then Arc-en-Ciel will be negated, and produce skill activations like this...
If you remember, each skill activation adds a 0.1 multiplier to your end of battle XP. So let him use Arc en Ciel several times and you'll get this...
Which directly translates into levels for everyone!
I didn't exploit Creeping Chaos too much, but I do need to take the Abyss seriously so I did farm about ten levels out of him. That ought to be enough.
The silent presence departs, but its silence seems just like a declaration of war.
This was a mandatory battle, but from now on Creeping Chaos will appear in random battles anywhere on the overworld.
Ventura, Ventura... I received an electrifying message from my associates in the sea of stars. It says that the beings who saw you destroy the Telepath Towers have loaded a new weapon onto an interplanetary vessel! They believe that an alien will undergo abnormal transformations in order to defeat you... But, be not afraid! This development can only mean that the aliens have learned to fear us! Listen, my devoted associate... Let us cleanse Filgaia of the foul enemies that would harm it!Onward and upward! To the next tower!
Tower #6 is on a small island northwest of Ka Dingel, and deals exclusively in Paralysis attacks.
Tower #7: near where you land to ride the path to Demondor Pillar: Rear. Uses Malice Grace to turn characters to Glass.
Tower #8 is northeast of Ballack Rise. It inflicts confusion - one of the harder ones if you're unprepared.
Number 9 is on a small island east of Humphrey's Peak, and uses the Bronze status. Since that kills you four turns after it's applied, in this context it's about as non-threatening as Disease.
Tower 10 is a toughie, and could easily be the hardest of the lot, as it inflicts Fallen Status. By now you should have a number of Fallen Wards/Focus/Total Ward, but if not you may be in for a tough time as Status Lock does not protect against Fallen.
The Telepath Tower releases a hideous scream. An ominous presence that felt the sound with its alien organs makes its way into this dimension.
It's not a mandatory battle, but this is a warning that the Silent Chaos has joined the Creeping Chaos in random battles. Despite actively seeking them out I never encountered any, so no pictures, but in summary they have much more HP than Creeping Chaos and drop much more XP, making them better for further powerlevelling. Beyond that, their skills are identical so you don't need to modify your approach one jot.
Tower #11 is northwest from Boot Hill, hidden underneath a rock Lombardia needs to destroy with missiles.
From now on towers use more than one status. This one has Disease and Amnesia, which is so pathetic I think I might cry.
Tower #12 is under the arch. Need to land nearby and jump the crevasse with horses.
It has sleep and poison, a more potent combination, but a limitation of the towers is that sleep and poison are still two separate attacks. This limits their ability to stack the two on one character.
Number 13 is a little east of one of the entrances to Nidhogg Pass. It has Misery and Paralysis, so it's about as bad as the original Paralysis tower.
Tower #14: There was a rock here, but Lombardia blew it up. Then we take the Sandcraft to reach the tower.
If you don't have a lot of wards you'll want to start using Status Lock - these guys can use poison, disease, misery and amnesia. Still, the towers still get distracted casting useless diseases and amnesias about when they could use the more potent poison or misery. It's strange how adding more abilities makes these guys easier.
We have a strange encounter after the battle...
The floating disc finishes its observation. It then sinks beneath the dunes, as if beckoning you.
Ventura, Ventura... I just received the <<latest word>> from my associates in the sea of stars. <<Latest word>> It seems the evil hand of the enemy is reaching for not only our land, but the dunes as well! They say the discs released by the mothership stand in your way and try to protect the Telepath Towers... But we cannot fail! To fail our duty now would be tantamount to joining the ranks of the enemy!Sod off. I don't do sandcraft battles anymore. Moving on...
Tower #15 is in the Sunset Peak area, so we need to teleport there and take a horse to it.
Sleep, paralysis, confusion, bronze, fallen... this guy has all the meanest statuses. That said, if you don't have fallen wards he's probably easier then #10 - you can status lock to protect you from the rest of the statuses, and they will act as a distraction to keep him from using fallen most of the time.
Now... I guess I'd better do those sandcraft battles. I guess.
UFOs will now turn up in Sandcraft battles. They're as weak as everything else in sandcraft battles, and easily dispatched with a single shot from the Ark Smasher.
Fighting five of them is enough.
Ventura, Ventura... The fifteen Telepath Towers are no more, thanks to you! However... The forces of chaos are fighting back with <<all their might>>! <<All their might>> Reports are flooding in from all over! And I felt a greater menace myself! Interplanetary communications confirm the enemy has constructed an advanced Telepath Tower, and is ready to use it!
There's a little inland sea next to Boot Hill, and if you use the Teleport Orb to get there sometimes the sandcraft will move to that inland sea. (somehow)
Use it to cross the inland sea, and you can reach Tower #0. You can see it marked on my minimap with a blue dot - the Sonar Kit at work.
Just for fun, before doing this one I disabled ALL my status wards and promised myself I wouldn't use Status Lock.
Telepath Tower #0 is at an unknown level of battle readiness. Will you help protect Filgaia by blocking communication with outer space?
Yes
In theory this should be the toughest tower, since he can use every status, but two things prevent that from being true.
1) He can use every status, including the useless ones. Any turn where he uses Disease or Amnesia is a turn wasted for him.
2) There's only one tower, so he can only use one status on one character per turn.
In other words, he's something of a joke compared to #15 or even #10
Even without wards I didn't have too much trouble as I could easily cure statuses as they were applied.
The disc that lords over the skies above you has grown incomparably huge. It floats there, silently. The ones inside had predicted a coming showdown with the invaders from beyond.
Ventura, Ventura... We're getting a clear signal thanks to you smashing all the Telepath Towers! But the situation remains grave. When the enemy forces lost their eyes, they withdrew to their mothership! Either they seek to abduct Filgaians to conduct experiments on them, or they're out to develop the king of beasts. Either way, the fact remains that they are up to no good! Now, my friend, defender of the galaxy... Our next mission is the destruction of the mothership! I am confident in your ability to crush the sinister mothership!Can you guess what time it is now?
Lombardia time!
Unfortunately Lombardia time sucks much more than sandcraft time. Honestly, Lombardia would be a nice little battle system if this part of the sidequest wasn't determined to make you hate it.
At least sandcraft time only asks you to kill 5 UFOs. Lombardia needs to destroy 20, and they are all identical and die just as easily.
Like this.
As the Chaos falls defeated, it wheezes a high-pitched breath. The sound spreads like a splash of water, and silently shakes Filgaia's atmosphere. Soon the trembles mix with a distant beat, and herald the arrival of the mothership of chaos.
Ventura, Ventura... I received a <<message>> from my associates last night. <<Message>> It said that the mothership of encroaching chaos materialized above our planet! And that the chaos is lying in the shadows, changing itself into new forms to neutralize you! We believe the enemy is getting desperate. Now is our chance! You must locate the enemy mothership, and help us extinguish them for good!Can do!
A bit more flying around in Lombardia starts the Mothership battle. It's functionally identical to the regular UFO, except it's bigger and has more health.
You know, I do actually like doing this sidequest. I just can't nail down the reason why. There's some pretty lazy design going on here and not a lot to recommend it by... but I still kinda like it.
Anyway, unlike the normal UFOs, the Mothership takes two Draconic Gun Blasters before it dies.
The encroaching force of chaos was struck by Lombardia's attack and disperses into the skies of Filgaia. But the menace still remains. Chaos has already infiltrated the planet, and may be biding its time.
And that's it. The Creeping/Silent Chaos attacks disappear from the overworld, the UFOs disappear from the sand and sky. However, if you head to the Sunset Peak area you can still encounter Creeping and Silent Chaos, though now they are mixed in with a number of other tough enemies who will annoy you. But they're still there if you want to powerlevel.
Our reward is naturally an EX File Key.
EX File Keys found: 11/15
Ventura, Ventura... Last night, there was <<great news>> from our network of agents. A true victory. <<Great news>> It seems interplanetary vessels were spotted departing from this planet. The forces of chaos have abandoned their plan to make this world their base, and are fleeing to outer space. But if we ever forget their menace, they will slowly creep back to haunt us yet again. We must instruct our children to be ever mindful of the king of beasts and his encroaching forces of chaos!Oh believe me, he is firmly on my mind.
NEXT TIME: The King of Beasts
A DAY A DAY
Today is April 16, Sack Day. Covering the inside of a sack with wax makes it water-tight. In this case, the wax is much more useful than the sack. In my opinion, we should change the holiday to Wax Sack Day. What do you think? Today is April 17, Barrel Day. On a certain pirate ship, there was a man who had a body like a barrel. He was able to hide various objects inside his body. Angered by other pirates abusing his talent, he invented the wooden barrel. From then on, the pirates used barrels to hide their weapons and loot, but it saddened the barrel-like man, for he lost his sense of purpose.