Part 12: .hack Infection - //Update 10 - Θ Chosen Hopeless Nothingness
//Update 10Greetings everyone. Today's update is special. Why is it special, you may ask? It is special because today we finally beat the first game in the series. Yes, after today, .hack//Infection's story will be finished. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves.
Last time, Kite received an e-mail from Helba about the area keywords that were deleted from Meg's post. Before we jump back into the swing of things, there is something I forgot to show off in the last update: a minor news story.
The law was passed in 2003 to conform with the international laws regulated by the leadership of the World Network Council (WNC).
The death sentence, the maximum penalty under that law, has been handed down to the culprit responsible for the December 2003 outbreak "Deadly Flash." This was the worst computer virus outbreak in the previous network era. The sentence has not yet been carried out.
The main focus of the debate has been whether or not to remove this death penalty from the law.
The significance and existence of the law itself is being hotly debated as no major cyber-crime has occurred since the distribution of ALTIMIT, and many believe that there is no danger in the foreseeable future.
Deadly Flash was the first virus to affect the network in the dotHack-verse. It basically triggered epileptic seizures in everyone that saw it, causing a lot of people to die. The merits of the debate are far beyond the scope of this thread, so please don't comment on the actual sentence the guy received.
Anyway, let's rejoin Kite as he logs into Θ server.
Video:
: Where are you going without me?
: IT might be there. The bastard that go Or - I mean Yasuhiko.: So you're gonna defeat it?: I don't know if I'm strong enough to do it.: You have to. I'm going with you.: ......: Don't even try to stop me.
As you can see, Θ Chosen Hopeless Nothingness is a very high level field. Kite and crew are roughly level 23, so we've got some work to do!
The Raitei blades are decently strong. The important thing about them is that they have Staccatto. That move will be our saving grace in the upcoming final boss fight.
The Goil Menhirs are the return of everyone's favorite enemy. These guys are special, though. If you're really lucky, when you data drain them, you can find the strongest sword for BlackRose in the game. We're not lucky.
Mu Guardians, on the other hand, are just annoying. They're a spell-casting enemy, and a large group of them will wreck you big time. There's a little quirk in both game series where you can't control any characters if a spell is being directed at them. They also have high level equipment when they're data drained - I believe it is an extremely strong set of blades for Kite. Again, we're not lucky.
Finally, this little phallic monster makes me laugh. I think it's what happens to the Menhirs when they get data drained. He just looks so happy.
Here we are. We're all stocked up, the last save has been created, let's kick some ass!
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: The bracelet... it's shining...I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm sure we'll find out.
Five floors later, we're finally at the boss gate. The dungeon was designed to drain you of supplies beforehand, without giving you a chance to restore your stocks. Take it easy, let Mistral use La Repth to heal, and supplement by using your own Repth spell. SP regenerates, HP does not. We got lucky and only needed to use a small handful of Health Drinks.
Video:
: Aura?
: I see you received the mail I sent to you... yet... However, it's too late.: Wait! There's something I have to ask you.
: !?
: Nooooooo!!
Shit. Guess we're next.
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It's highly recommended you watch the above video linked through the picture. The introduction sequence to the bossfights is pretty awesome. It's difficult to capture it properly through screenshots.
The screenshots may not adequately convey it, but the fight is extremely long. If you know what you're doing, and can avoid unnecessary damage, it might only take you 12-15 minutes.
The damage he dealt there was the first attack he landed on Kite. This is not a battle you can win by acting rashly: you need to turtle him down. (Turtling is a term that means to shore up your defenses and outlast your opponent through attrition.)
The fight has a soft enrage timer as well: once your healing items are gone, you're fucked. Mistral simply can't heal enough to keep up with the damage, so, paradoxically, most of Kite's actions should be throwing around Health Drinks like they were being given away at a parade.
Skeith has three major attacks: he uses his scythe/wand thing to knock off most of your HP with one swipe, he can rise into the air and create a shockwave, and he uses a move called Judgement. The wand swipe can be avoided by simply being out of range, and letting BlackRose take the hit. The shockwaves can be avoided entirely by, again, not being near him.
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Judgement deals light elemental damage: "only" about 250 or so. You can see, in the video above, that the damage can't be avoided. If you bring some items that reduce your Water-Element, you can mitigate part of the damage, but not everything.
Lastly, he also uses the dreaded Data Drain.
Luckily, the power of the Bracelet protects Kite from its nastier effects. Instead, it temporarily corrupts his data, inflicting every debuff in the game on him. This goes for his party as well. As long as Kite has that bracelet, they can't be put into comas because of the data bugs. Handy, huh?
Eventually, you'll wear down Skeith's health enough that he protect breaks. You all know what that means!
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The Ryu Book was completely unintentional on my part. That makes Skeith the 50th Data Drain since we got the ability. The second phase of the fight is considerably easier: he no longer swipes with the wand, and he doesn't cast Judgement anymore. Instead, he hops around more often, and occasionally heals himself for 150 HP.
The best way to approach the fight is to buff your party up and use as many magic scrolls as you can on him. He's not particularly weak or strong against any type of magic, and the damage quickly adds up. He only has 4500 HP after being data drained, so just keep at it.
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These roots start appearing once Skeith finishes turning into quicksilver. They just start bursting up from the ground.
The roots actually rushed at Kite from two directions at once.
The dark field makes it kind of difficult to see, but there's a rock that drops onto Kite's head from above. If you squint, you can sort of see it off to the side.
That's the monster opening it's mouth. It simply roars and completely ruins Kite's shit. Also, despite how it may look, Helba didn't summon the monster. She's merely watching.
Like when Skeith nearly data drained Kite at the beginning of the game, Helba saves him again here. She sends him off, probably back to the root town. Notably, she was able to completely shield herself from the monster's blast. Just how strong is she?
: Cubia...
...but we knew so little.
And now...
The true battle was about to begin...
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Twelve save files for ten updates. One at the start of the update, and one to start the next update.
There have been many sightings of Bigfoot recently, and city officials hoped it will revive tourism in the area. Although they have been unable to capture the creature, the BBQ party featuring local mountain recipes was a great success. City officials are pleased with the result.
Items and experience obtained after clearing can be imported to the next volume so you can strengthen your character before you continue with the story.
Use this Keyword to solve the mystery of the cursed fleet wandering in the heavens!
PS: I forgot to tell you, but I added a Virus Core T in your items.
With that completely out-of-character mail, that brings the main story for Infection to a close. Next time, we wrap up the game in its entirety by visiting some bonus areas. We may even solve the mystery of the cursed fleet! Stay tuned.