Part 36: What do you do after you saved the world?

Well, now that Rudy's saved the world already, it looks like there's a lot of things he wants to do. After all, they have a flying machine now, so for a Drifter, this is paradise! Go all over the world and do whatever you want now!
Anyway, this update's musical selection. Two of the main song from Wild ARMs 2. You'll Never Be Alone is the Feeling Wind version played by a lively piano. What Kind of Time But One Man Does Not is the same song ( how did the title change that much?) but is the full version of the song from the Alone the World Vocal Collection. The Feeling Wind album used quite a few songs from the vocal collection, so if they are the same, I'll show both. I mostly just want to get through all of the songs on all the Albums throughout the LP. At the end, I'll just post whatever I missed as well, so you'll get to hear all of them.


First things first, Mariel's garden. Before I stormed Malduke, I replaced the Force Carrots with Small Flowers, now that Force Carrots have a 100% chance of growing. I'm not going to go too deep into the mechanics, but Small Flowers start with the lowest chance of growth, at 5%. This means I need to sacrifice a total of 95 Flowers to make it perfect. I need to have all seven plants reach 100% to get an EX File Key from Mariel. I can get a rough estimate on how close a plant is to reaching 100% by the message Mariel says every time you sacrifice an item.


: I don't know what's going on. One of my neighbors thought it was me making all that noise.
Emma? What the hell have you been doing? Anyway, I stopped by Tom to see if he was done with the ship yet. He was.


Drake is now gone. He's actually migrated to the Inn. Talking to some of the NPCs gives us scary stories about the nurse here.
: Are you really OK now?
: I'm afraid I'm not healing very fast staying here in the hospital... I don't do well, staying on land for too long. Come see me at the shore later. I need to show you the new and improved Sweet Candy. I have upgraded a few things on the ship while I was repairing it.


Sweet Candy II is sitting there, raring to go. However, I'm not leaving yet. While in the Inner Sea, you have a chance of encountering Leviathan, and you can't escape from that battle...and Leviathan is fucking tough at Lv. 90. Well, either way, we got Bartholomew a new ship, so now that's another item of Rudy's list.


Our next stop is to return to Vassim, Mariel's brother. I take the long way through and enter as many encounters as I can so Emma can learn some new Downloads. Slumber Fog here is incredible to have because enemies don't wake up from Sleep by being hit. At all. You'd be surprised who is susceptible to Sleep in this game.


: 'Green Head'?! Who're you calling 'Green Head'? You're one to talk, Weird Ears! Anyway, as a popular celebrity, it is my duty to attend to anyone who wishes to see me. And I forgive you, Weird Ears, for calling me such a disrespectful name. Is that not noble of me? Now, then... Would you like my autograph?
: ... ... ... I'm not sure what you are talking about. Anyway, my interest is not in you, but your sword.
: Oh, you must be kidding! You would do battle with one such as I? For my beloved sword, the 'Doom Bringer'?
: I don't wish to fight you. You may not know this, but there is a strong curse on this sword. If he who holds this sword shows any sign of hope or a light within, the accursed blade will hurt him at once. As a swordsmith I might be able to remove the curse. But that would require an enormous amount of pure 'Silver'. It would be quite a challenge...
: Now I feel foolish for even listening to your nonsense... You're just looking for some gella, aren't you?
: You're the biggest fool I've met in 1,000 years. I get exhausted just listening to you... Let me know when you're ready to stop wasting my time and have me remove the curse.
Never change Zed. Vassim and Zed make a surprisingly good pair, but then again the Comedian + Straight Man pairing is just tradition by this point. Anyway, to get Zed's extra Piled Shots, we need to sacrifice Gella to Vassim.

: I need 25,000 in silver to remove the first curse. Is that OK?
Obtained Piled Shot [Heaven's Wrath]!

Hope you remember your Calculus for this one! Heaven's Wrath is a move that often works against flying enemies, and has a bonus effect of halving their status resistance. Now, I don't know if it doubles the chance of success or halves the chance of failure, which is a big deal. Twice of 0% is still 0%, but half of 100% is 50%. Now, for the actual damage, it will gradually do more damage based on the number of enemies I have used Voyeur on, and are in the Monster Library (so I don't need to use it on bosses). There are 331 enemies in the game, so Heaven's Wrath's TC can become 5.31 at highest. Also, when combined with Full Power, it hits an entire group. It costs 4 Alter Parts to get another use, starting with four.
Note: Magdalen had a Weapon named Heaven's Wrath. These aren't the same, oddly enough. Actually, looking up Heaven's Wrath, Google Translate says it was originally called "Reversal of rotation direction opposition." Anyway, having two attacks with the same names (yet different Japanese names) counts as Fuck Up: 32

: I need 50,000 in silver to remove the second curse. Is that OK?
Obtained Piled Shot [Ruin Blade]!

Another Piled Shot with a Sum in it. This one is simpler, I think. First, the tech constant increases by 1 with every attack that Zed receives that round before he uses Ruin Blade. Group attacks increases this too, as long as Zed is a target. Second, any status effects Zed has will get applied to the attack as well. (Don't know if you can transfer status effects the enemy is immune to.) And third, with Full Power, not only will he move last (as per usual) but he will also attack a group of enemies. It costs 6 Alter Parts to get another use, starting with three.

: I need 100,000 in silver to remove the third curse. Is that OK?
Obtained Piled Shot [Dancing Heaven]!

Dancing Heaven is probably the simplest of Zed's Piled Shots. He makes six strikes, each one aimed at a random enemy (or the same enemy six times, it's random). Each strike has a chance of instantly killing the enemy at the conclusion of the attack, so he might strike the same enemy several times even if the first hit would "kill" the enemy. I'm pretty sure this is a special Instant Kill effect, not inflicting Fallen, which is the instant-kill "status." However, it won't work on bosses, obviously. Combined with Full Power, this move will deal damage when you miss an instant-kill chance, at a tech constant of 1. It costs 8 Alter Parts to get another use, starting with two.

: I need 200,00 in silver to remove the fourth curse. Is that OK?
Obtained Piled Shot [Star Blast]!

First things first, the Full Power TC is incorrect, because I've played with it and the formula I have didn't match the result; all Full Power does is change the TC. Star Blast gets slightly more powerful as Zed participates in more battles. Now, I don't know what defines participate, whether if he makes an action in the battle, or if he actually just appeared for a split second between rounds as I switch out characters. So naturally, my plan is to include Zed in as many random encounters to increase Star Blast's power. With a Tech Constant that is theoretically infinite, the possibilities are endless. However, it takes a whopping 10 Alter Parts to use it more than once.
Oh, and if you don't kill the enemy with this, Zed takes just as much damage as he inflicted. Don't fuck up!

: That sword is already free of it's curse, use it as you wish.
Zed only has five Piled Shots, but each one is very powerful, but has drawbacks that could easily hurt himself, and makes the skills much more difficult to use. Not to mention getting more uses out of his Piled Shots takes a lot of Alter Parts, Alter Parts I could more cheaply invest in Gatling Raid or Arc Nova.
Oh, and by the way, Secret Sword starts with 5 uses, and costs 2 Alter Parts to upgrade.




Right, so nearby Baskar Village is this Puzzle Box. I normally don't worry about showing them, but anyone playing the game at home should get this one ASAP. Actually, I probably should have gotten it sooner, in hindsight.
The song from the Alone the World Vocal Collection again, apparently from Wild ARMs 2, but I can't figure out where. Wild ARMs 2 is the one in the series I've played the least of, something I need to remedy ASAP. I feel this song will make sense later on. And then there is the Feeling Wind version after it...still not sure how the titles are not consistent but okay?


This is Puzzle Box 7, a four star puzzle. It's actually pretty easy, and I think it may have been a typo because this feels a lot more like a two-star one.


The reward is Formula Cut, a very unique item that adds a new option to the Options menu. With it, you can automatically skip all Guardian cutscenes. I put off getting this because I actually like the cutscenes, but this is the only way you can skip this. A bit annoying that they didn't have it to begin with, but none of the cutscenes are that long (except for Shining Stars, which is too long for how often I have to use it) so I just leave it off unless I'm grinding.


There's this fellow in the Inn at Adlehyde we need to visit.
Kimble: Or you can say that I found a wife, and I'm thinking of starting a family here. So now I'm trying to sell the things I no longer need... And because I hear you helped my wife with rebuilding the house, I'm giving you this item free of charge. Here, take it. It will come in handy.
Received Event Item [Dispellado]!
Examining it says "This item solves the secret of time," and it's what we need to solve Perpetual Engine.


Jeremy: OK, I'm a man of my word. Let me open up the secret door...
Second stop is to the Item Shop, and we show Jeremy our Black Pass, and the stairs going upstairs move so that they lead to a secret basement. He mentioned the "right time" all the way early in the game, and this is what it's for. Time for some black market illegal trading!


Right. Let's see what we can get.


Okay...all this stuff is expensive. To put it in perspective, the Lv 2 stuff here is worth half a MP Repair, and the Ex. File Key is worth 10 MP Repairs. Fuck! I'll do this later. _{I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?}
Most importantly, there is a key book we need to investigate.
A bunch of gibberish that will make sense eventually.


Our next stop for this update is Perpetual Engine, where the 11 o'clock puzzle was solved with a Grenade for a PS Defend 2 and the crystal here at 12 o'clock is the last puzzle to solve. And what a puzzle this is.



Meet the Reckless Ent, the first Bonus Boss (besides Zed) that we'll be tackling. It's technically on par with Zed, both being at Lv. 55. The Ent has more HP (45k), and uses Renovation to recover about 1k as a counter attack. To make things worse, the Reckless Ent has Great Booster, but it only uses it on the first turn, so use it fast.
Now look at the screen. If you notice, Cecilia's MP is horrifically low, because I forgot to recover at an Inn since Zed's fight, and I used Fuck You RNG!! a few times between then and now. To make it worse, in this turn I also use Newton's Wrath on Rudy, effectively reducing Cecilia's MP to...nothing.
Oh, and I may have been rearranging my Personal Skills and have no one with any equipped. Regardless, the music choice here is probably my favorite song from Wild ARMs 4...although saying where it plays would be a spoiler.


So, after spending a Force Carrot on Cecilia so she can use Brave Seal on the Great Boosted Rudy, she goes down before she can use Brave Seal. This is Reckless Ent's stronger of two attacks, which causes Sickness as well as a decent amount of damage. Keep in mind, I haven't Canceled Reckless Ent's buffs from Great Booster yet.


With the Ent's high DEF and Rudy's not as potentially high ATT, Gatling Raid isn't enough. Not to mention Rudy's at Bad luck, so Great Booster only boosts him for the round after it's applied. A little preparation would have made this fight go a lot easier...but I will prevail.


First by being smart enough to revive Cecilia. Really, this whole fight I was thinking "Oh, it's no big deal, I'll just curb stomp this boss like I did Zed." Oh, the irony.


Reckless Ent's buffs have worn off on their own by this point, and Cecilia can survive a hit from it's basic attack which doesn't cause Sickness. Cecilia uses a Force Carrot on herself, because she needs MP, and Love Charm is just the trick to give her that.


Remember Slumber Fog, that move Emma got this update? Reckless Ent has a 30% to fall victim to sleep, which prevents ALL action for the next five turns or so. No, really. I can attack it and it won't do shit, not even use Renovation. Speaking of which, the guide also says it's 100% vulnerable to Sickness at well, which can counter Renovation, but I didn't notice this until I started writing this update.


With Brave Weapon and Great Booster together, the damage ins't that much better. I also realize it could because I was thinking about upgrading Rudy's ARM all the way to 18 Bullets before this point, but just took off the ATT Bonus and didn't add more Bullets. Really, this battle is just a lot of me being stupid and not doing things right.


About the time that Sleep wears off, Rudy's all set to go on a roaring rampage of destruction thanks to Infinity. I switch out Emma for Jane in hopes of an awesome Finest Arts, but I'm not so lucky.


I recall this boss was supposed to be really easy compared to all the other bonus bosses. Also, Jane's Mystic on a Force Carrot is totally awesome. Reckless Ent drops 30k EXP and 20k Gella, along with a PS Life Charger (restores 10% HP by Guarding, don't think it stacks with PS Defend or PS SOS Auto Guard) and for some reason a Gimel Coin. Everyone levels up, even Jack.


Oh, and this too. You already know what PS Floral Arts does.


And now that all twelve pillars are active, time to start using the Dispellado. First one is at 7 o'clock, then 2 and then 9. That's all the book says, and hopefully you noticed the pattern by now. If you start at 12 and go clockwise, activating every seventh pillar, you'll go 7-2-9-4-11-6-1-8-3-10-5-12.


The last pillar creates the Ark Scepter to teleport you further.



Along with the correct time flow, if you lead the world to the future, I will give my power to the medium... However... ...stuck between the dimensions, there is a lost, floating spirit...


Indeed, a soul you've longed for... The spirit's name is Elmina Niet. Even though the degraded body rotted, the spirit retains her human mind, and has no place to go... The only thing truly dead, is the evil body. Elmina's human spirit is still alive. What do you wish... By my power it is possible to rescue her and give her life again. By the grace of the Guardian of Life.
: Jack!
: Yes, right. ...Elmina's spirit...
: Elmina... Please revive Elmina. ... ... ... But, I have one favor to ask of you... Guardian... If you can control time please set her mind back...


...It can be done... ...But... It also erases her memory of your existence. Do you know what that means? How cruel that result is?
: ...I know... ...I think... ... ... ... I just don't want to leave that feeling in her mind... That memory of evil... Even if she forgets me, or finds someone else, I am ready for that...
It seems you are prepared. I will erase most of her memories, and return Elmina Niet's spirit and body to Filgaia. If you and Elmina are destined to meet each other again, you will find each other.




: Is this really OK with you?


This is why I love Jack.
: You may not understand, Princess.
: ...You...
: Honestly, Jack... Don't you know anything about women?
: I'm not like you, mouse. I don't fail with the ladies. Hey, Rudy... How 'bout I teach you a special skill? Could come in handy someday...
:
: Jack, you jerk! Don't mess around with me! Our trip is not over yet!
Hmm, what's got Cecilia so upset about that? Well, now I feel like actually using an Inn. Milama is closest so...


Montague: Well, then you need to come here more often. Don't let her pretty face tempt you. She's turned down so many men who've come by to see her. But if you think you have a chance, go right ahead.
Well, it's go talk to her then.
: No, it can't be...



: What is it? Is it my work uniform? Let me tell you, I'm not fond of it either...


Got it right in one.
: Let me give you some advice... That's a crappy pick up line. ... ... ... What's going on? Did I scare you that bad? Or, did I say something wrong?
: No, never mind. I was just thinking. Please excuse me.
You know, for someone who enjoys flirting with Elmina so much, Jack seems unusually awkward right now.
: OK... Do I have anything to do with this? See, it's just that I've had amnesia for the last few years, and I have no recollection of who I am, or was...
Amnesia does not work that way! It prevents you from forming memories, not forgetting memories, which is why after battle when a character has Amnesia...I have no idea what happens!
: All I know is while I don't like this uniform, I do like the free food that comes with working here... ... ... … I wish I could remember my real name... I picked a new one, of course, but I'm not sure if I like it... Oh right! I have no heard your name. What's your name?
: I'm...


There was a decent pause here, like Jack wasn't sure if he should introduce himself as Garret.
: OK, Jack... I promise to remember it, if you promise to come by more often.


: What is this? Why are you giving me a gift? ... ... ...I cannot accept this. I can tell that you cherish it. This must have a lot of sentimental value. You need to keep it. You should not just give away your memories to some strange girl you've only just met.
: Ok, thank God... You have not changed one bit. You still like to lecture...
: What?! What did you just say? I couldn't hear you.
: Never mind. I think we better get going now.


: Yeah, when I feel like it... See you around.
That's the end of this scene, and we can talk to the Waitress if we want. Although...


You're not fooling anyone.
: You all look to be... Wanderers, or knights? You guys are pretty cool. Let me see if I can use your sword. Ha, just kidding!
: I don't feel so bad about my amnesia. We all have something in our history that we would like to forget. Perhaps, I am happier this way.
: I am surprisingly much stronger than I thought. I have no problem carrying all the heavy pitchers and plates full of food. Maybe I was a waitress before I lost my memories.
Welp, I guess that's all. Nice to have Elmina back and all...



: I have a gift for you, wanderer.


Wait, she has a sword? Considering how the bartender was describing her...I'm afraid of Waitress-Elmina now.
: This is from when you were a knight... ... ... ... ...No. I cannot accept it. You should not give away your memories either...
: ...You're right. But... ... ... ... ...Even though my memories are gone, I know one thing for sure... ...I don't need this sword anymore. Please Jack... Take this sword for your journey.
: ...You don't need a sword?
: A waitress only needs dinner knives and hot coffee.


Obtained Fast Draw [Laser Silhouette]!
I think this is the closest any anime or video game character from Japan has gotten to saying "Hey, I like you." It's almost always a vow of protection.


And that's it, that ties up all loose ends with Elmina, well at least in this game. There's also a Doujin (self-published stuff, in this case a fanfic) that extends the Jack and Waitress-Elmina relationship a little bit. It's been translated, and you can download it for yourself. There's also a bit with Jack and Hanpan, and then Rudy and Old Man Jack, although that last one is done by a different artist. Mostly just linking to it because it's not that bad. Although I haven't seen any of the other non-Wild ARMs stuff on that site, so you have been warned.

Now, we have a new Fast Draw, what shall we do with it?


Abuse it, of course. Laser Silhouette is Jacks most powerful Fast Draw, except for maybe when he's at 1 HP for Maximum Risk, and even then that's unlikely. Laser Silhouette starts off costing 30(!!) MP, but will reduce to 6 MP after you use it enough.

I guess maybe this could be a lot more powerful that Gatling Raid, with just Great Booster. The only issue with it is that it is not only dependent on Jack having a much higher ATT than the enemy's DEF, but also having a significantly higher REA, and there is nothing in the game that I can use to modify the enemy's REA---wait a second. There is. There's a downloadable skill, Captured Web that can cut the enemy's Reaction by half for one turn...that might be worth it.
Alright. A lot of people say that Jack becomes useless in the post-game. I have to disagree with this. With a Great Booster, his Laser Silhouette is pretty damn impressive. And Accelerator is still a semi-decent utility if you just NEED that extra umph before everyone else.

By this point, I'm really planning things out hardcore. I'm trying to maximize the amount of damage I can do to an enemy. Figuring out the formulas, trying to figure out if they are even accurate at all, and just playing with Great Booster and Brave Seal and seeing which character will be the deadliest at full power, Rudy, Jack or Zed. It's just a matter of pure damage, it's also of consistency and how that character will stack up against Ragu O Ragula.

But before I do any of that, I have something more important to take care of.



End of update status:
: Level 47 ? Level 48
--ATK Bonus: 1?? (Lv. 8)
--Bullets: 14 (Lv. 11)
: Level 49 → Level 50
--Learned and mastered Laser Silhouette.
: Level 48 → Level 49
: Level 48 → Level 49
--Couple of new Downloads, including Slumber Fog.
: Level 48 → Level 49
--Bullets: 20 (Lv. 15)
: Level 48 → Level 49
--Learned all Piled Shots.
Gella: Considering I can farm PS MP Repairs to my full desire now, I'm going to stop listing Gella.
Migrant Seals: 14
Ex. File Keys: 5/25
Fuck-Ups: 32

Version Differences:
Reviving Elmina gives you Jack's final Fast Draw, when she didn't give one before.
Vassim serves a second purpose, as Zed's "Doom Bringer" Meister.

Guardian Roll Call

Dan Dairam is the Guardian of Time, and he is quite the aristocat. He's also appeared in Wild ARMs 2 and 3, and also had a plot point in the main storyline in the latter, before he became a Medium.



Dan Dairam's Medium is Cosmic Cog, and his Material is System Kronos. Screenshots here don't do it justice, because it causes Cecilia to move at Accelerator speed (I don't know who would go first, her or Jack) and instantly cancels the actions of all enemies...although it only lasts for one turn, and because it costs 75% FP, you can't use it twice in a row, unless you sacrifice a second character's turn to give Cecilia a Force Carrot. That said, if you have the Force Carrots, you can just lock an enemy in place.

A Saying A Day
: (September 21st) Today's saying is that resolution tastes like a shrimp. If you eat the soft meat of Rigidbright, you will live as long as 800 years. But, normal people don't want to live that long, and ask to give up and die. The problem is that once you eat that shrimp, you can never just give up.
: (September 22nd) Today's saying is, 'life is sweet.' Life may be sweet but I like more spicy stuff like kimchee, spicy tuna roll, and others. But it'd be too spicy if every day life was a taste of kimchee or spicy tuna roll. I just wanted to say that we don't wanna spice up our lives every single day.
: (September 23th) Today's saying is, 'don't dance on Ancestor's Day.' When this and another world touch, on the equinox, if you dance hot, and ancestor comes on an eggplant. So, you can't dance at this time, the saying says. But, I wanna see the ancestor on the eggplant, actually. Can this saying really stop people from doing that?

Next Time:

Lots and lots of grinding. Also, Jane pulling off a Finest Arts. This is without Great Booster and Brave Seal. Imagine what it will be with it..