LAST TIME: We rescued the THUNDER GOD himself, and witnessed the fall of two different Dukes. Delita also set his plans into motion, and we found out some disturbing news about pappy's death. In this update we do some treasure hunting, complete another sidequest, and set another one into motion.
We once again are required to go back to Goug in order to start up a new quest. Mustadio's dad must've found something for us.
So you built it yourself from other pieces, like some kind of prehistoric Lego set? That seems dangerous, if not incredibly dumb.
YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU PUT TOGETHER. WHY DO WE KEEP YOU AROUND!?
Looks like this thing reacts to the Zodiac Stones as well. Which one do we have to hunt down this time?
I'm bad with signs, but I think that's Sagittarius? I don't know. Either way, it's next on our list. On the way to hunt it down, we have to take care of a couple of things. Our objective is Nelveska Temple, shown here:
In order to unlock the pathway there, you have to read the rumors in the tavern that Beef is currently standing on. You'll find one called "Cursed Island of Nelveska," and as soon as you read it and go back to the World Map, the path will open. You can't go in quite yet, because you need to talk to a certain someone in another city called "Sal Ghidos" (shown on the map as the blue dot to Beef's east on the above pic). Go there, and a short scene will trigger.
Well now, where have we seen this before?
Sarcastic, ain't she? I like her already!
The choice here is of vital importance. If you refuse, then she leaves, and you lose your chance at obtaining a new character. It's only a gil, so there's literally no reason to NOT buy the daffydil.
See how happy we made her? Feels good to do a good deed.
Ok, ok, we get it. I bought a flower, not your autobiography. :|
Once that scene is done, it's time to head back to Nelveska Temple and procure ourselves three of the best items in the game!
Oh look, it's another Chacranabot! Hi there buddy, how ya--
...What in the world??
WAAAAAIIIIIT A MINUTE. No need for the countdown, we'll just turn right around and--
WHAT WHAT WHAT!? LEARN TO COUNT, YOU BAG OF BOLTS.
"Annihilation Mode?" Oh, that never sounds good.
Welp, we're in for it now. Nelveska Temple, as we can obviously tell, is not a very welcoming place. While the objective may SEEM simple, it is anything but. The robot here is just like the one in our party, but many levels higher. There are also several monsters in the area that can attack multiple party members at once, as well as Petrify them one by one. It's not an easy fight even if you're fully prepared for it. There are two ways to look at this fight as well: Very Hard, and "I want to tear my hair out." Because we want the treasure here, we're going with the second option.
The treasures here are some of the very best in the game, and can only be obtained here in this single battle. If we don't get them here, they're gone forever with no chance of obtaining them again. There are four treasures to get here, but only two are of utmost importance: Javelin II, and Escutcheon II. These are upgrades of similar items, but with AMAZING statistical upgrades that make it worth the time and effort in getting them. They're found on top of the two pillars that the Hydras are sitting on, which means that you've got to kill them first. Also, your party member with the Treasure Hunter ability has to have a Jump stat of at least 4 so they can jump on top of our own robot in order to reach. Then you have to pray for a bit of luck that you found the upgraded version of the Javelin and Escutcheon. It took me a few resets before I managed to get up there without wiping out completely, and I thankfully got them without having to reset further.
The enemies themselves are tough, but not as hard as anything we've already faced. Once the items have been collected, we focus our strength on the robot.
Reserve circuits? What a cheater! OUR robot doesn't even have those! When you KO him the first time, he revives with 1 HP left. He doesn't get a turn immediately afterwards though, so all it takes is another solid hit to take him out for good.
Self-destruct mode? Countdowns? And we're standing right next to him!? RUN YOU FOOLS.
WHY IS THERE ANOTHER SYSTEM ERROR? DOES THIS THING RUN ON LINUX?
...That's it?
Where's the kaboom? In either case, it drops what appears to be another Zodiac Stone! Is it the one we need? We'll find out in a bit. Right now, Beowulf is bugging us about something.
What in the world are you talking about? And why do you need this stone? And where did your dragon come from?
I don't really know what Beowulf is going on about, but I guess we'll trust him.
AUGH, WHY DIDN'T I TAKE A BETTER SCREENSHOT!?
...Well now.
Awwww~
I'M KIDDING! I didn't actually refuse to let her join.
HIT THE MUSIC!
Reis the human is a complete upgrade from Reis the dragon. She has an extremely high growth rate in HP and Magic Attack, and her default class "Dragonkin" comes with the following abilities naturally: Beast Tongue, Beastmaster, Dual Wield, and Tame. But with every upside comes a downside. She can only equip female-exclusive armor, and very few weapons. You can switch classes to get around this, but then you don't get all the neat bonuses that come with Dragonkin.
Besides that, Dragonkin is a boon if you have any dragons or hydras on your roster. Not only does she have all three dragonbreath attacks (plus a 4th Holy-element one), but she has a bunch of status moves that work only on dragons with a 100% success rate and no charge times. These range from healing dragons' HP and status effects, raising their stats, and giving them the Quick status (which you should be familiar with if you've played FF5). Put in work with Reis, and you won't be disappointed in the slightest.
And for those wondering what the Javelin II and Escutcheon II look like:
I decided to put the shield on Dark Schala, since Dark Knights need all the HP protection...
...and I gave the spear to Nocturnowl, since he's the only one who can use it. Also for his years of service.
NEXT TIME: We finish that other sidequest I mentioned...once I finish uploading the rest of the pics.