Part 29: Update -XXV- Stairway to Boredom

Before we start, I forgot to show off Dingldoink's new regal form.



Alright, let's back to this. We've still got a ways to go.

To the right of the rest area we stopped at is a switch. Wind Resistance is a new one, but thankfully the save point is right over there, so it shouldn't be too hard to find something in the Prism Case to fill the requirements.



I use Dualizard for the Wind Resistance and then just add Litten and Pingu for weight.

The switch activates the inactive crystal to the left which leads us across the gap.



There's two paths from here. The spiral staircase is where we want to go, but that amber crystal just ahead will lead to a chest with Mega Phoenix, so grab that first.



.....

Sis?

Hweh? Reynn, is something the-wrong?

No trivia... So I guess that means she isn't upset at me. Hellooo? Reynn?

Uh, what's up?

That's what I wanna know. What's the deal?

Uh, it's hard to explain. I guess I sort of get the feeling... I've been here before.



The Day of Javoo? Is that, like, doomsday? "Bow before the mighty Javoo, humans!"

We'll just pretend he's not the-here. Reynn, do you the-want to take a break? I don't the-mind.

We are taking a break. I stop every time you guys start having a chat because I don't want to hear the first few words of your sentence repeated multiple times as it gets interrupted by battles and menu prompts.

Oh, no. I'll be fine. Thanks, Tama. Let's keep moving!

Roger the-dodger!

But what about the mighty Javoo?!



There's another new Mirage on the way. Unicorns are a rarely appearing enemy in the series. They show up in the original Final Fantasy (although they are called "MadPony" or "Crazy Horse" in the NES versions) and few places else. It's a summon in V, VI, and Tactics, and is also available as a mount in XIV. There are enemies in XI as well as a summon in X (Ixion) that look similar to them, but I don't think they are specifically Unicorns.

After getting to the top of the spiral staircase, there is a flutter point straight ahead that leads to another spiral staircase. Keep on going up.

At the top of that staircase is a chest with 3 wobblestoppers in it. Head left from there to get back to the main staircase and head to the next floor.



Okay, then I'm just tired.

You're gonna have to stick it out, Lann.

Okay, then I'm just sticky.

If you're sticky, then would you glue your mouth shut? Permanently?

I'm on your side Lann. I want to get out of this place. Anyway, to the right of this place is a chest with 3 remedies.



Up from that is a crystal that transports us a short distance. We're met by a split path after that, as well as a red crystal further ahead.

The amber crystal is actually a bit of a shortcut. It just transports you to the left side of that crystal bridge up ahead. From there, you can head north a bit and find a green crystal that will lead to another optional Kuza Beast. From that point you can then run back down to find the red crystal. This place is basically just a big loop.

The red crystal is the one that takes us towards progress. Take it and then head left to get back to the central staircase. Heading up that triggers another non-loading transition, after which we can run up to another roadblock. Go right, through the broken portion of wall, then run along the outer ring.



Why are you talking in the third the-person?

There's only one way to go, so follow it until we reach the next section.



The Mirages are getting stronger as we go, too.

Yeah. Stay on your toes.

Use a Teleport Stone if you need to turn the-back. And you can the-access the Prism Case via the Seraphone.

Don't do this. Or at least, don't use the Teleport Stone. We're close to the top and using a Teleport Stone would mean having to redo this entire portion from the section we started at. Screw that.

Keep following the only route until reaching a split. Head down to a flutter point to get to two chests with a lightning spellstone in one and an ice spellstone in the other. Then head back across the flutter point and continue north.



At the top of the next spiral staircase, we get another switch. Earth Resistance is another one we see little of.



I use Flammantoise for the Earth Resistance and Dingldoink/Unicorn for the weight. This activates an amber crystal which let's us move forward. Head north and left from there to get back to the central staircase.



The path is blocked by a Kuza Kit this time. They have the same capture condition as the Beasts, which is that you have to land a counterattack. We get another clearcryst for this battle as well, which means we can get to the secret area as soon as we reach the top.

The top which is thankfully right up the staircase beyond the Kuza Kit.



I also picked up the Kuza Beast at this point. Although the Kuza Beast is a color-swapped version of Behemoth in this game, it is a specific enemy in FFV. You find it in the Phoenix Tower and have to choose the right switch or else you have to fight it. It has an attack which deals damage based on the difference between Max HP and current HP, so it is potentially very dangerous.

Anyway, on to the top of the tower.



I can feel it too. Let's be careful.

This place is... new. I don't know if this is a call out to a specific location, but it reminds me a lot of FFX. Something about the floating rock platforms combined with the big floaty glyphs.

Anyway, before we figure out what's going on there, let's go check out that secret area. Take the red crystal to get back to the first floor, then head down the super long staircase while getting the Gimme Golems out of the way. At the bottom is an amber crystal.



And look who we find chilling out down here. Good old Titan.



Titan is pretty easy to capture, unless you have a crippling Earth weakness. Landing a critical hit might take a while, but he has the HP to survive your basic attacks and his strength isn't anything spectacular.







His special attack is fairly strong, but as with all single enemy battles, you just need a healer to keep everyone topped up. Just keep swinging away until someone gets a lucky critical.



Titan can transfig into Maduin should we want that, although we need the Memento first. No change in size from it though.

Titan started as a summon in FFIII (and later is a boss in the Earth Temple). He appears in most of the games in the series as the resident Earth summon creature. He serves a minor story role in FFXV and is also a pretty badass looking summon to call forth.

That's it for the secret area. Back to the big spooky glyph door.

Update 25 Highlights - Big Spooky Glyph Door




Cut me some slack, door!

Do you really think talking to it is gonna help?

Maybe all this time, it wanted the-someone to "open up" to!

Oh, c'mon. I mean, anything is possible. After all the weird stuff we've seen happen--

Not the-possible.

And also dumb?

Dude, what?

But, I can always just add this one to the pile.

Another "Lann moment"? So how many am I up to now?

Focus, please.



That's the-right! You the-know your stuff.

Our mom taught us about them when we were--

Reynn, you remember?

Huh? No, I just... Where did that come from?

Maybe you've been the-here, or it could be your mother is somewhere close the-by.

Really?

Hey. I said the-maybe.

O-oh... Well, yeah. Of course. Uh... So what's up with the four symbols?

They're probably the-tied to what we call a quadrelemence barrier. Each element is defended by its own the-separate Mirage.

You can see where this is about to lead.

In other words, we're dealing with at least four different Mirages.

You the-got it.

All right, then. Let's track 'em down and-- Hey, Reynn, what's wrong?

Huh? Yeah, we need to find the Mirages guarding the four elemental locks.

She wasn't even paying attention and still summarized it better than me.

Yeah, way to knock off like 5 words.

You do kind of have a habit of branching the-off on tangents.

Yup. Those Lann moments are really piling up. Shall we?



Yeah, yeah. Lann moments. Whatever. Let's just get rolling on this scavenger hunt.

Oh, don't even the-bother! It's so the-deep, you'd the-never be able to see it all.

(This place. I know I remember it. But, when could I have possibly come here?)

Think about it on the way, Reynn. I want to get out of here.

When the scene ends, another one will begin the moment you move towards the left or right.



Wha? Oh, yeah, you're right.

Maybe the keys keep them from falling into the wrong the-hands?

Oh dude! I've got the right hands. I'm so worthy to use them!

Hell yeah! Let's get some sweet elemental weapons!



Nnnnnnngh! Cut me some slack, sword!

Weird... Are these weapons even meant to be used?

Given their size, it does seem kind of the-strange.

Eh. I mean, they are pretty big, but you guys are teenagers. I'm sure a full-grown adult could swing them around.



And look. They have the same light as the quadrelemence barrier. It's possible that they're locked down by the same forces.

Then I guess first we'll have to the-deal with those four elemental locks.

All right, let's get this show on the road!



There's a green crystal on the left and a blue on the right, but it doesn't really matter which one you start with. Unless you rely on elemental exploitation, then you'll want to prepare based on which one you plan to tackle first. The green crystal is Wind and Earth. Blue is Water and Fire.



Taking the green crystal, we're transported to another section of the tower. The path is straightforward and lacking in items, but there are a different set of Mirages.



One of which is the sandworm that I haven't gone back to the desert to acquire. Sandworms have been around since FFI. They weren't a huge threat in that game, but they quickly grew to be more dangerous as the series went on (they are made stronger in the 3D remakes of the old titles, like FFIII and IV). Curiously, they don't appear in FFVI, but they are referenced as existing.

There's nothing of interest beyond that. You can find Wind Toads and Moogles as well, but there are no treasure chests and no alternate paths to explore. Just a long walk through multiple levels.



At the bottom, the game is nice enough to put a save point in. They are also merciful enough to pair up the Wind and Earth enemies into one fight.





So this must be the wind lock's keeper...

Okay, but why does it have so many heads?!



We've got Tiamat and Asterius, neither of which can be imprismed right now. They both share a weakness to Water, so that's a good route to take if you have the means.

This is a slightly more difficult fight than usual. Tiamat has an attack called Acid Mist which drops defence, while Asterius has a move called Bulldozer which hits for about 1100. Tiamat also has Whirlwind, which is multi-target. Asterius may sometimes cast Focus to try and boost the damage of Quake, which it'll cast on the following turn.

They aren't incredibly fast, so you shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with healing. Multi-target healing is a great thing to have for this fight, though. Curaga or a properly levelled Moogle are good options.



Unfortunately, they give pitiful experience. On the plus side, they do cough up their mementos and 8 Arma Gems.



Oh, nice!

The game will automatically transport you back to the final floor after the fight, which is nice of it.

Since we beat two Mirages, we just need one more pair.

Top off at the save point before hitting up the blue crystal.



This area is basically identical to the previous one. No items, one path, multiple floors to run through in order to reach the boss.



We can pick up Ghidra, which is the transfig of the Dualizard type enemies. From Ghidra, we can get a Tiamat of our very own.



There's also a variant in the Coliseum called Nidhogg.

Tiamat/Nidhogg are regular enemies in the series, starting with FFI. Tiamat is the strongest of the Four Fiends in FFI and usually one of the strongest monsters in other appearances. The multi-headed appearance is actually fairly uncommon. Roughly half of the games where it appears depict it with a single head.



Skipping over the entirety of the trip because it's completely uninteresting, we arrive at the bottom to find these two guys hanging out by a save point.

They look the-really strong!

But you know who's stronger? Us! Maybe!



"Heh heh heh! You fools! These dark depths shall be your tomb!"

Tama, you okay?

Oh, he just looked like he the-wanted to say as much, that's all.

What?!





These two work a little bit better as a pair than the others. Kraken likes to cast Reflect, Waterga, and Evil Mist (which can inflict statuses like Poison). Buer likes to hit with Fira magic and Accursed Gaze (which can inflict slow).

The same strategy works, though. Focus on one of them at a time and try to stay healed. If you lack Esuna, status heal items, or multi-target healing, then Shelke is a good Champion to have equipped since she can clear the field and heal you up.



Woo-hoo!

Uh, right...

I think this could be the-it: the final showdown!

Not likely, Tama. There's still a ton of loose threads dangling around and we haven't even awakened all the Champions.

Update 25 Highlights - Big Spooky Glyph Door Round 2










*And the weapons go flying right into the glyph*

Wow!

Aaah! What was that?!

The weapons, they all went the-"stab" into the door!









I guess that means they were the keys that open it. (But what could a barrier this strong be trying to keep out? Or in...)

I don't know, The Hulk maybe? The fuck does it matter, Reynn? We already busted it open. Way too late for second-thoughts now.

Guys, let's check it out. Okay? Okay?

And that's where the chapter ends. With Crystal Tower behind us, we can now look forward to big important story stuff in the next update. The top of the Crystal Tower is supposed to be where God grants the Jiants from the Hills eternity... or brings ruin to the world, we're still kind of unclear on which one.

There's a bit of space left in the update (and there was very little happening during it), so let's take a moment to go through the Champion Jewels we unlocked and see what their special attacks are. It's pretty much the only chance we'll ever see them in use.

Update 25 Highlights - Champion Jewel Ability Showcase


We'll start off with Warrior of Light and Refia. Refia doesn't actually get any flashy skills. Her special Champion Jewel skills are Enhanced Cure and Refia's Support (which sometimes gives a full restore after battle). Some of the Champions are like that.







Warrior of Light gets Shining Wave as well as a passive boost to Light element attacks. Warrior of Light had Shining Wave as an attack in Dissidia.

Next is Shelke and Snow. Shelke's special ability is passive. It sometimes causes a regular attack to inflict Confusion or Oblivion. She also has an Accuracy+ boost.







Snow gets Froststrike and Enhanced Ice. Froststrike is an ability of the Ravager class in FFXIII. It isn't exclusive to Snow, as both Lightning and Fang can also use it.







Lightning gets Flourish of Steel as well as Enhanced Thunder. Flourish of Steel is Odin's move in FFXIII, but Lightning later appropriates it.







And Squall gets Rough Divide and Critical AP Hike (restores AP when taking a critical hit). Rough Divide is Squall's starting Limit in FFVIII.

Bartz gets Mimic (where he will sometimes use the same attack he was hit by as a counter) and Elemental Absorber (which sometimes absorbs elemental damage). Bartz' fighting style in Dissidia is centered around Mimicking the other FF heroes.







Celes gets Spinning Edge, which deals more damage the less HP she has (which is why this one did 0). Spinning Edge is Celes' Desperation Attack in FFVI. She also has Cornered Beast, which raises evasion chance/accuracy/critical chance when HP is low.







Cloud gets Slayer Cross-slash. WoFF calls it Slayer but I've never seen it called that except in FFXIII. He also gets Strength++. Cross-slash is Cloud's second Limit Break in FFVII.







And Tidus gets Spiral Cut as well as Enhanced Water. Spiral Cut is Tidus' starting Overdrive in FFX.

Shantotto only gets passives: Manafont (abilities sometimes have 0 AP cost) and Strategic AP Hike (restores AP by hitting enemies with their elemental weakness).

That takes care of that. Next time, we find out what's at the top of the Crystal Prophecy Tower of Possible Doom or Salvation.