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freshfeeling[This entry is adapted from the original GameFAQs posts written around the time the gameplay took place in February of 2016. It is actually being posted in April of 2023 around the origin of this blog. There may be minor edits.]
Although the unlock list had been changing, for now it's still the same!
I made a few new macros before trying again: Wren being immune to Shadowbind, it seemed a good idea to have him going first, possibly using a Star-Dew. Chaz was going to start with all of his Rayblades, then all of his Crosscuts, then Githu. Rune uses Tandle and then Hewn. Wren uses Burstroc mostly, then Flare. Rika was the designated healer, of course, though sometimes I'd make Wren assist since Rika often ended up with lowered agility.
Rika (Level 46, 164 Def, 61 Res)
Rune (Level 39, 155 Def, 103 Res)
Chaz (Level 44, 125 Def, 59 Res, 151 Atk)
Common Itemcasts available:
I haven't done De-Vars or Sa-Lews yet. I've got all kinds of great tools available now, but it occurred to me that they're both immune to physical and fire.
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Although the unlock list had been changing, for now it's still the same!
Island Cave, etc.
I put Seth in front and just ran from everything. Unfortunately, there were a small number of ambushes against me and failed run attempts that resulted in fire newts poisoning me. Poison isn't super significant or anything, but annoying, so when I got to a chest with a Moon-Dew I used a Sol-Dew to heal the poison (Rika, first). Then when I got to the Aero-Prism, I had to discard an item anyway so I used a Sol-Dew to heal poison and HP for Chaz.
So for the boss I was in pretty good shape. It's kind of nice that you can save outside the temple before you go in.
Dark Force the Third
On my first try, I had some very bad luck with an abundance of Corrosion. It's a two-hit kill on Wren. I used Repair-Kits on him but I didn't restock after Dezolis so I only had two of 'em. I used up all of Star-Dew pretty quickly because of all of the Corrosion and lost.
I made a few new macros before trying again: Wren being immune to Shadowbind, it seemed a good idea to have him going first, possibly using a Star-Dew. Chaz was going to start with all of his Rayblades, then all of his Crosscuts, then Githu. Rune uses Tandle and then Hewn. Wren uses Burstroc mostly, then Flare. Rika was the designated healer, of course, though sometimes I'd make Wren assist since Rika often ended up with lowered agility.
The second time, I had a higher amount of physicals, Mindblast and Shadowbind compared to Corrosion. It went much better. With Deban access, Wren and Rika were taking very manageable damage from the physicals. I still used both of my Repair-Kits (and Wren still died), and a couple of Star-Dews and a Sol-Dew or two. Mindblast affected my humanoids a bunch of times, sometimes for several turns, but since the most important/critical healing was with items it wasn't such a big deal: Mindblast provided extra turns that Wren could live through, which was nice.
It ended like this:
And this was my status immediately afterward:
So then I went to Rykros, which means that the "third planet" unlocks are all now available to me! I talked to Le Roof, got Rune a Silvcirclt and gave Chaz his Swift-Helm. I considered giving Rika claws... but I didn't yet. There's reasons I might reconsider that soon though.
On Rykros I had a couple of encounters with Deathbearrs that I found interesting. I guess I never noticed before that class of enemy is resistant to wat, foi and tandle. Chaz still has the Flamesword equipped, so really the only things I have at ALL that can affect Deathbearrs signifcantly are Wren with a Stun-Shot - which is awful - Rayblade, Githu, and Flare. My first Deathbearr was a single enemy surprise attack. I thought I'd have lots of time to idly use my most basic macros but it took like four rounds while dude stood there and buffed himself like crazy.
The next time, I just used Rayblade.
Anyway, I got this:
My personal favourite item!
My personal favourite item!
Status, with some of our new options!
Wren (Level 37, 133 Def, 24 Res, 119 Atk)
Equipment: Stun-Shot, Elst-Armor
Techs: (none)
Skills: Flare [203 power, 20 uses], Spark [13 uses], Barrier [9 uses], Burstroc [219 power, 4 uses]
Rika (Level 46, 164 Def, 61 Res)
Equipment: Silv-Crown, Silvshield, Silvshield, Psy-Mail
Techs: Gires, Saner, Deban, Gisar
Skills: (none)
Rune (Level 39, 155 Def, 103 Res)
Equipment: Silvcirclt, Silvshield, Silvshield, Silv-Mantl
Techs: Foi [109 power], Wat [117 power], Hinas, Ryuka
Skills: Hewn [149 power, 13 uses], Tandle [229 power, 6 uses]
Chaz (Level 44, 125 Def, 59 Res, 151 Atk)
Equipment: Swift-Helm, Flamesword, Psy-Mail
Techs: Hinas, Ryuka, Gires, Githu [150 power], Nazan [182 power]
Skills: Crosscut [231 power, 15 uses], Rayblade [230 power, 6 uses]
Common Itemcasts available:
Flamesword (3): [112 power]
Wood-Cane (1): [32 power heal]
Guard-Rod (1): [64 power heal all]
Pow-Shield (1): [attack +48]
I haven't done De-Vars or Sa-Lews yet. I've got all kinds of great tools available now, but it occurred to me that they're both immune to physical and fire.
Something that doesn't seem to be common knowledge, based on the guides on this site, is that De-Vars and Sa-Lews both have special AI such that they use harsher attacks based on what commands you use.
De-Vars only uses physical attacks on a single target (286 power) unless you use any offensive techs or skills before it acts, in which case it uses Disruptarm against the whole party (254 power).
Sa-Lews uses Hewn (234 power), Tandle (250 power) or Flaeli (250 power) unless you use a regular attack on it before it acts, in which case it uses Legeon (274 power).
Besides Tandle never being fun, I don't think Sa-Lews will be especially tough (I have Barrier now!). But De-Vars is kind of weird.
If I want to avoid Disruptarm, I can have Chaz use a Lasr-Sword to attack. Wren's Stun-Shot will only do one damage. Rune could attack with the Guard-Rod? It might make sense to have Rika attack with Silv-Tusk and Genocyclaw. I think she would actually be my strongest attacker. Maybe for that fight I should put Wren/Rune in the front and just have them defend... I could probably reduce the damage a lot that way.
The other option is to just go all-out and take the hits from Disruptarm. The fight'll go quicker, at least.
How things are lining up for the reunion:
Hahn: Silvcirclt, Silvshield, Silvshield, Mahlaymail (could give him Tornddaggr/Plsmdagger instead?)
Gryz: Struggl-Ax (until I can get a Defeat-Ax), Psy-Mail (could give him Chaz's Swift-Helm?)
Demi: (nothing) (could swap equips with Wren, but that seems like a bad idea)
Raja: Silvcirclt, Silvshield, Silvshield, Silv-Mantl
Kyra: Silv-Crown, Silvshield, Silvshield, Silv-Mantl
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