Part 53: Return to the Abyss

The time has come, I can't put it off any longer. It's time to tackle the final optional bosses.


Update 53: Journey to the center of Filgaia

MUSIC: Entrance of the Beckoning Darkness

Before embarking on my journey, there were a few things to do.

Like killing thirty fucking Ariochs.



Eventually I managed to slowly grind my way to 99/100, and chose to return to the place where it all began to fight the final one.



Level 100 Arioch isn't that different from any of his previous incarnations.



The best tactic is still giving then a Dark weakness, and summoning Lucied with a level-4 Weakness PS.
It won't quite kill all of them, but it softens them up significantly for the others to mop up.

VIDEO: Level 100 Arioch

Even as I swing a hundred vengeful times, not a single blow from the sword will strike... I have awakened from the dead to carry out my vengeance. I swear by my pitiful life and my hundred defeats to see this journey of revenge to its inevitable conclusion. I am the grand duke of vengeance, Arioch.

Forget it, if I ever see your sorry face again it'll be too soon. The reward? An EX File Key. That's it.

EX File Keys found: 12/15

Overall quite an easy sidequest, but MADDENINGLY REPETITIVE. Oh God was this boring. Whoever decided this should be 100 fights should be hung, and then shot. There's what, a dozen dungeons between unlocking Arioch and the end of the game, so since you can only meet him once per dungeon you're going to be forced to hunt for him in old dungeons and... aaargh!
I'd love to give the designer of this quest a kick in the teeth, but I guess he can't take all the blame. I knowingly subjected myself to this shit. It's not like any of you were pointing a gun at my head or anything.



It's not all bad though. In the process of killing all those Ariochs, enough time passed for me to finish breeding Mega Berries, Holy Roots and Tiny Flowers up to 100% in the Secret Garden. With that, everything is maxed out and Florina has a present for us.


Thanks to all of you, the flowers are blooming beautifully. It's not enough for all that you've done for them, but please take this.

We got an EX File Key!

EX File Keys found: 13/15

Of course, you don't need to kill Arioch over and over to get enough time spent to grow everything in the garden. The action that generates the most Garden Time is sleeping in an inn, and it just happens that there is a free "inn" 20 seconds away in Baskar Colony.
Repeatedly sleeping there can quickly build up your garden. I decided not to do that because I find it very boring. Then I went and did Arioch.
OK, No More Saying Arioch. It is getting me down. On to another incredibly time-consuming sidequest!


We've already had a taste of the Abyss, all the way back in Update 35. 100 randomly generated levels, no saves. We only went as far as level 10 last time, but the time has come to head all the way down.

But first, we need a little preparation.



See all those elemental Wards? I traveled the world for a while, stealing from enemies and picking up protection against every element. It's going to be very important.
One piece of advice - sell your elemental rings to the Black Market, and rebuy them if you need more. It's so much easier than trying to pickpocket them. This goes double for the Ice Ring you got from Lolithia - this is the only easy one to get in the game, the only other source is a 5% drop from a certain Sandcraft encounter.
Status Wards... not as vital, but good to have.
The other truly important piece of equipment you want is an Eagle Eye on every character. The fact is that you want to avoid as many fights as possible on the way down, and being Ambushed or dragged into a solo Danger! fight can be utterly disastrous. Enemies who can kick you out of the dungeon and make you start over from 1 start appearing as soon as the thirtieth floor. Others can reset your XP gain or lower your Max HP by 20%. (which does not wear off after battle) Others kamikaze to inflict massive damage, or outright kill characters if they don't have a specific PS (Fire Ward) equipped.

Suffice to say, there are over 60 different enemy types in the Abyss, and you do not want to be surprised by any of them. Eagle Eye on everyone completely prevents that. Skip as many battles as possible, for time considerations if nothing else.
For that reason I regret I will not be bringing you pictures of these enemies. I tried to encounter the interesting ones, just for the sake of getting a picture, but they never showed up and there was no way I'm going to fight every battle that presents itself. The Abyss is long enough even if you skip everything.



In any case, here we go. The same setup as before.



Collect gems, which recharge both your VIT and Encounter Gauge. At this point, with my Migrant Level of 20, all battles in the Abyss as green and skippable. But that won't last.



Collecting all the gems on a floor unlocks the teleporter to the next level.
Upon finishing level 10 we encounter the teleporter that took us to Ephrem Zein. It gives us the option of continuing or bailing. We continue.
The next teleporter out will be at Level 30.



MUSIC: Don't be Pulled in by the Dark

Moving on to the second part of the abyss brings a welcome change in music.



Layouts like these lead me to believe that the Abyss was designed by human hands. But the placement of the gems appears to be randomized.



Skipping battles is starting to cost ENC now, though it's only one point so far.



Running off of platforms remains a great way to skip back to the start when you reach a dead end!



Christ not this guy again.



Layouts starting to get a little bit complex. Fortunately this is level 30, where a boss battle awaits.

BOSS BATTLE: LUNANAIRE ZEIN



It's Ephrem Zein's bigger brothers!



Remember how the Ephrem Zein fight went? He uses Prepare Intercepts, which begins a period where he'll counter all attacks with a powerful arcana aimed at everyone.
Then shortly before the end of the round intercepts will be canceled. We got around it last time by telling everyone to act after Doc - intercepts were canceled before Doc's turn to move, so everyone got to attack with no repercussions.

Well, thanks to getting more levels Doc is now fast enough to move before Intercepts are canceled. How shall we handle it now?



Well, probably by 1-shotting them because we're high level and they're weak to light damage. That'll do it!



Besides, the arcana they counter-attack with this time is Phantom Hazard...



... and four Dark Wards make that a non-issue.



The rewards screen was unexpected! I had forgotten there was a fourth booster kit, and thought the max encounter gauge was 40 points. But no, that sucker goes to 50!



MUSIC: Wide Darkness, Late Darkness

With Lunanaire Zein defeated, we're free to proceed to the next chapter, accompanied by increasingly distressing music. The next emergency exit is thirty floors down, on level 60.



That does not seem like it meets building safety standards.



Though their wheelchair access is superb, all things considered.



NO SAVES. PEARL ONLY. FINAL DESTINATION.



You bastards, trying to confuse me.
Cost of skipping battles has greatly increased. They're coming thick and fast, to the extent that you might end up pressing the cancel button three times in as many seconds, and they're starting to cost a lot more points - up to five per battle.
A steady diet of gems is all that's keeping me out of fights.
And yeah, I am two hours in despite skipping 95% of all the battles. Fortunately this is level 60, and upon hitting the teleporter at the end...

BOSS BATTLE: ZAVERGA ZEIN



Four of them now! The pattern is mostly the same - except they use Paradigm Pollution, a non-elemental arcana, to counterattack everyone. So we can't just whack them with no consequences.
... except we're overlevelled compared to them, and can easily one-shot them. Still, if you have trouble with that, there is a risky strategy you can try out.



At the end of Turn 4, all of the Zeins will merge together into one. Its damage dramatically increases, but it does not get an HP boost. Gatling it then, and you can bring it down in one shot.

There's an interesting item in the battle spoils. The Bone is a unique item that Pearl can use with Mystic. When Mysticed, it makes her use ALL the support arcana she has equipped on a single ally.
Unfortunately I've not given her mediums with really useful support arcana on them, but if you loaded her down with Terra Roar, Brave Seal and Hope Shard (for example) you could quickly get a lot of buffing done.



MUSIC: Can Light Enter the Abyss There

We've come too deep to wuss out. It's time for the longest stint - the forty levels between here and level 100.



Honestly, this is starting to get a bit much.



Is it just me or is the background depicting all this blue energy flowing into Pearl's head?



Symbolism?



Maybe Pearl herself is the king of beasts, returning to her terrible throne deep under Filgaia?
I mean, she is waving a bone around at people now. And she's fireproof.



I feel like the same thing, floor after floor, is starting to get to me. I hear that bastard Virtualdub muttering behind my back. "I've been watching you," he says. "You'll never do this. You'll never defeat the big bad! You can't rescue your Sexy Doll!"



Well, I'll show him, I'll show all of them!

RAAAAAAAAGHHHH!

BOSS BATTLE: RAGU O RAGLA



MUSIC: Have you Told Your Beloved Sayonara

I immediately regret this!

VIDEO: Ragu O Ragla

Here's a little introduction to Ragu O Ragla's power.



Giant Impact, for a reasonable amount of physical harm. His least threatening move.



He counterattacks ARM damage with Counter Sweep, which is considerably more powerful. Bear in mind they're shielded here. You do not want to use Replay in this fight, because excessively provoking Counter Sweep could easily make someone take more damage than you can handle.



Hitting him with any kind of magic makes him counter with Paradigm Pollution - significant non-elemental damage. There are no arcana powerful enough to justify being hit with this, so just completely forget about offensive magic.



100 Billion Degrees is his signature move, and it's easy to see why. Sure, that damage might not look like TOO much, but I turned down the characters' Fire Wards to get it. Fire Ward is only blocking 75% of the damage, the numbers on the screen are the remaining 25%. And he loves to use this move.
This ability pretty much makes Fire Wards mandatory, and I pity the poor guys who came all the way down here without a full set. Fortunately once you have them it can be completely nullified, leaving him with just Giant Impact to directly attack with.



In the relative security Fire Ward gives me, I spent some time buffing before prompting his counterattacks. From left to right - Permanence, Hyper, Shield, Protect, Quicken, Turbulence, Hox Pox.
Extending Shield, Protect and Permanence ASAP was the most important step, of course, to cut down his damage in a lengthy fight. Hyper to make the fight shorter. Turbulence to help us dodge his physical attacks. Quicken and Hox Pox were basically gravy.



Doc's role is simple: keep the Finest Arts coming. Ragu's got 750,000 HP so it'll take many shots and a lot of full carrots, but you wouldn't want to fight this guy without Finest Arts spam.



Billy's contribution to the damage isn't as great as Doc's (roughly 1/2 overall) but it all adds up. At full FP+ammo he gatlings, otherwise he's reloading or feeding carrots/berries to Doc.



Pearl does nothing but Mystic carrots and berries for the entire fight. Everyone else needs a constant supply of FP, and occasionally extra healing.



Since he can't safely attack Ragu O Ragla with magic, Boone's contribution to the fight is limited to spamming heals. An extended Heal arcana isn't as good as a berry, but helps keep characters topped up, meaning Pearl has to mystic berries instead of carrots less often.

Overall, there's a routine and it's not too hard to stick to, you just need to be wary and careful about balancing attacking and healing because his counterattacks will hurt you a lot more than his regular attacks.



... many, many Finest Arts activations later...







The rewards... hm. No XP and no gella make geri_khan... frown disapprovingly. On the other hand, what is that?

The Sheriff Star is a piece of gear that gives the bearer the Gun Hero PS.
This PS activates every other PS the character has available, regardless of cost. As you can imagine, that's a potent ability. The problem?
It costs 100 PS points, so you need to be level 100 to use it. I'm not level 100 and I have no intention of grinding that far just so I can equip a gear I don't even need. But if you have one and are level 100, you should probably use it.



Still, that's Ragu O Ragla defeated! Satisfaction: immense! Overall, it took too long but was more fun than Arioch at least.
The teleporter has activated. Lets get out of here.

Back at level 0...



Hold on, the hell is this?
I can't go around it. I can't reach the exit. And I STILL can't save.
... guess I'd better activate it.

BOSS BATTLE: RAGU O REMATCH



Oh you have got to be shittin' me.



He's back! He's... actually... friggin... back! Already! And this time, he has arcana for all EIGHT elements, not just fire!
They're not as powerful as One Billion Degrees, but still not something you actually want to get hit with. Hence why I brought a full suite of elemental wards for everyone. Considering how long it takes to get this done, I am leaving no chances of failure.

He no longer counters magic with Paradigm Pollution, but still... there's nothing Boone can do magic-wise, that shapes up to what Billy and Doc do with Gatling. He's better off sticking to a support role.

A big problem is that Ragu's stats have got a big boost - they're all literally at the maximum aside from evasion. That's 999,999 HP, a ton more speed and accuracy (turbulence doesn't seem to help much) and a bit more damage. (that was high already)

However, you can just follow the same tactics as before, taking a bit more care, and...







It's a meager reward for four hours of time - an EX File Key.

EX File Keys found: 14/15

Where could the last one be?

Well, that is the Abyss concluded. There was plenty of stuff I missed. Enemies down here have some great loot. I never met anything it was worth stealing from, but you can grab additional gear that provides Finest Arts, FP Save, SOS Power Boost, Resurrection, Regeneration, Def Null, Weakness, Total Ward, Elemental Ward... and much more, including really rare PS like Necronomicon (like ATT Plus but for magic) that can only be found by stealing down here. However all that stuff is pretty much the definition of unnecessary, and requires stealing with a drop chance of 5% or less (or worse, a 1% drop chance when killed) So screw that.

With all the sidequests complete, next time it's back to the story.

NEXT TIME: Beatrice gets a visitor


A DAY A DAY

Today is April 18, Filgaia Day. Some extreme people holler, 'Be kind to Filgaia!' But I prefer a more restrained approach. I'd rather be seen with a laid-back attitude than having people going out of their way to be kind.

Today is April 19, Polka-Dot Day. One year, no rain came to the village. The village chief sought help from a passing saint for a prayer for rain. Hearing the request, the saint replied with a heavy voice, 'To bring rain upon this village, all must wear polka-dot clothes and pray.' The truth was he only wanted to see the village girls wearing his favorite polka-dots, but it really brought rain. How about that!

Today is April 20, Soprano Day. On this day, the vocalist Arliene Maria, famous for cooking her eggs with her vocal chords, was kidnapped by a colony of bats. There's a rumor among her fans that she was seen singing in a cavern somewhere, but I think it's either a Gagison or an Okypete. It's similar to how we mistake dugongs for mermaids.