Toggle Background Color

Update 16: Armanos

Wait, so all that demon nonsense you were spouting was true!?
Technically, it was other me saying all that stuff. But yeah.
And you want to let this demon keep possessing you!?
Trust me when I say that would be the best thing for us right now. As for why I’m saying that...
While you were all wasting 3 years of your lives in a coma, we took the time to... come to an understanding of a sort.
Mainly that giving me back control of my body would kiiiinda be a bad idea, considering what we just went through beforehand and all. I mean I barely know how to fight the local wildlife, let alone a dragon, so I’m just gonna let other me do her thing.
Oh uhh, that’s a good point.
Not that I can accomplish anything of the sort in my current state, mind you.
Right, so if the other Dia is the only one who knows how to fight, then what are we gonna do? We’re essentially a 3 man group at this point. You just HAD to touch something called an Oblivion Pearl, didn’t you?
Eh, we’ll probably figure something out. It’s not like we have to leave town right away. Why not enjoy the moment and relax for a bit?





For example, once a man washed up. We helped him out. I wonder where he is now.



But it's never snowed here, not even once. I want to see some snow!



Can’t do this quest now. And it won’t be able to be done for a while.





That's a good one!













Quite a selection of equipment here, but we can’t afford some of it because we came here too early.



And protecting it is Setis, our greatest singer, and thus, by right, the Queen.



The queen is a singer and her sacred song protects the island from intruders.
I wonder if that includes the dragons...
If it does, I wonder how long they can keep them away.



Not everyone raised in the tropics is a great swimmer, you know!! That's it! I'll swim if it takes me my whole life... but... I'm not ready to swim without something floaty to grab onto!



Another quest we can’t do yet.



Don’t mind if I do!



This gives out infinite Paro Fruits. Yes, infinite. Though at this point, their usefulness is pretty much long gone.



I broke up with my husband after a fight. So I could finally move here... some good came out of it, after all.
Somebody get me out of here...!
Oh relax, Edie! I don’t think anyone noticed you’re not one of them! ...Yet! Wait, I mean-
Look, Edward! I believe that woman over there has discovered your secret!
AAAAAAHHHH!
...Really, other me? Really?
You try finding ways to amuse yourself when you’re nothing more than a mere disembodied voice.



If you're wondering what's up with this particular NPC, the fan translator chimed in on that.

Pokeytax posted:

In Japanese, the lil' lookout isn't quite so informal:

みはぁりへぇぃし:
しごとなろぉでしゅぅ
みはぁりへぇぃし:
うみをみはぁってましゅぅ

You can see her name is spelled oddly. The real lookouts have their name mostly in kanji: 見張り兵士, and the hiragana for that (which is itself a less formal and more childish way of writing it) would be みはりへいし. So the kid's name is just lookout, but with extra vowels in there to make it peppier and cutesier. Her dialogue is the same, very simple but cute.





Oh? What do you need?
You see... We don't get outsiders here often, so I was wondering... What's the difference between women and men? Can you say?
Um... Uhhh... They have more pointy and less fluffy ears?
Was that really the best you could come up with?
...Oh... Just the explanation doesn't help much, huh.





...Okay, then!



I know the power of our queen's barrier is weakening. If I thought it would be safer to leave with my children, I might... But this country has helped us, and we can't abandon it now.







Ili mariella mall mirlla a limeei arlimmieia lam. Arile eelii ma rarlmarl laa ri miemeemie ♪
Hey, no fair!
Ooh, sneaky!



Ili mariella mall mirlla a limeei arlimmieia lam. Arile eelii ma rarlmarl laa ri miemeemie ♪



Hee hee, that’s us! You need anything done or...?
You've come at just the right time. Please, accept my request!



We can do this quest right away. In fact, it is in your best interest to do this quest as soon as possible!



I submitted my request to the Quest Office... I hope you can take it.





Iireiama, ril aler riela a aierielaa llamm. Lillirellaieam, iiriel. Maerli aa irelam a ral lari, riilae arimilliea mallara aeil!



Arlamarlei il arel la, almarrie milla milla llami a rillmarillee?
We’ll... get back to you on that.



The sound of Ronam can open up doors. But where there's no wind, they can't play.







If Dragons attack, hold your breath underwater for 5 minutes to hide!
Ah, that feeling I experience when I hear something so utterly idiotic. How I didn’t miss you.
And I think some of the dragons I ran into in that grotto know how to swim anyways.





The girl runs off.









I thought about taking air underwater with me, but instead... I'll buy a snorkel with my allowance! Take that, Dragons!



The girl runs off.

Oh, that's BRILLIANT. Hahahaha...

And now back to our characters.











Sn, sn, sn... One snorkel please!
Ah. I'm sorry. We just sold out a short while ago.
Wh, what????!!!!
Hahaha!





Fade to black.



The girl just walks along slowly.









(But we spent all our money already...)
...
Did they just-?
Yes. I think they did.
Why don’t we just move right along?
The farther we get away from this idiocy, the better.

Yeah, this isn’t really part of a sidequest or sub-event. It’s just a minor skit, really. This never really becomes relevant later.



...I was tormented by them long ago... I'm angry thinking of it.
I-I see...
Hey. Don’t let what she says get to you. We know you, and the other guys aren’t like that.
...Ah, thanks, Stella.



I wonder if the Imperial Dragon would relax if we got it in the bath somehow?
Ooh, that’s a great idea!
...What?
Once it’s in the bath, we can turn up the heat, and then boil it alive while it’s busy relaxing!
I... don’t think that’s what they were going for...
Remind me to never share a hot bath with Nila.
Either interpretation of that plan is stupid anyway.









It's not fair! She can't just stop singing!



This quest can be done immediately, but I’ll wait until we’re actually supposed to be here to complete it.





Time to check out the castle.





You could try. But I don’t think it would work out all too well.
Since Marlleaire is so shut off, rumors spread inside very quickly. Who on earth would fabricate that, though?
Someone with a mouth that isn’t connected to their brain.



North of Marlleaire is Lovely Heimel. It is a mysterious and beautiful sanctuary for Marlleaire's people. ...That's what it says.





Mmmm, I can’t think of a way we could use something like this to kill a dragon with. Better put it back.







That’s all for the left side of the castle.



O-oh! Sorry!

We’re not allowed to go past here for the time being.





Let’s meet up with this queen before looking around some more.





Talk about a big welcome! Hee hee!



Shandora, explain the current situation.



Normally, this island is free of monsters and other demons. Once a month, the Queen's song sustains the barrier against them. The magic of our ancestral songs drives them off. However... The Imperial Dragon has broken our barrier. This beast, Dreadnought, at the Tower of the Gods, is threatening us... We cannot merely keep praying. The monsters are coming....
Without the Tower, we don't have the power to expel them. Eventually, we will fall to the monsters.



That second sentence is supposed to be “Save the people of Marlleaire.”



Unlike every single mission assigned to us, aside from the very first one, this one isn’t automatically assigned to us. More on that later.

Lend us your power and take the mission. The Tower of the Gods is northeast of here. Take this map.



Please, be safe.



The Tower of the Gods to the northeast... You must head there.





Yeesh, what’s with the silent treatment?



Oh.



Hmm. I wonder just how strong you’ll be once your arms are nothing more than little black nubs.
H-hey! No violence!



Husbands or boyfriends cannot join you here. Choose carefully. ...That's what it says.

...Well there go any plans of settling down here once this is all over.
Hmm, I wonder if wives and girlfriends are exempt from this? Hee hee!





Eating food is better than using medicine.



Food version of a Cold Regulator.



Food version of a Freeze Scroll. There’s not really any difference between a food version and a normal version of an item, contrary to what the shopkeeper says.





Here’s the quest I’ll be taking on now.

Wait, I thought only women were allowed on this island.



Gah! Sorry!
Tsk tsk, princess. I thought you would have had better manners than that.
Oh, shut it! I know you had the exact same thought I had!



The truth is, I plan on leaving this country soon. I'm marrying someone I met outside Marlleaire. But since he's a man, we can't live together here in Marlleaire... It's always hard to leave home, but I'm making the right choice. ...But before I go, I want something to remind me of home.Starflower Shell would do it. It's a beautiful shell on the national flag. It'd be a perfect reminder of my memories here... Starflower Shell is everywhere, buried in the sand. As a memento, find a Starflower Shell for me, please!
We’ll get you one in no time! Come on, everyone!
Are... are we really just going to dig around the entire beach until we find one?
Not like we have any other options...





Looking for Starflower Shells? I know of a pretty good place. But! I'll need you to give me something.
Such as...?
Is this really a good idea?
Think of all the time you'd spend searching! This is cheap!
Yeah... About 3000 G should do the trick!



...3000. You want us to give you 3000- THAT’S PREPOSTEROUS! THERE IS NO WAY-
Here you go! Don’t spend it all in one place!
DIA!
What? It’s not like money is that hard to come by for us.
She’s got a point. We can just work harder to make all that money back later! So, where can we find one?



Congratulations on falling for the most obvious of scams, Dia.







The two girls scamper off.

Well that works! I guess. No need to get all worried... other Dia? Uhh...
You can just call her Dia! I don’t mind.
I may as well stick with the name you’ve all known me by this entire time.





You don’t have to pay them for this quest, but doing so makes things a lot easier. As you’ve seen, those sparkling spots with shadows are where we have to look. There are a bunch of them all over the island, but only one has the Starflower Shell. If you know where the sparkling spots are, you don’t have to pay them, and can just investigate those spots to try to find one.







Well that’s not a shell.

The location of the Starflower Shell is random, so you may have to investigate every spot. I’ll be sure to show off every possible location.





It appears that someone’s attempt to fish in the sand here failed miserably.









Ugh. Can’t even be used as equipment.











Lotta shiny pebbles around here, huh?





Ha ha! I found one! Score one for Stella!



And there we go.





I'll always remember this, this warm island and the sound of the waves... When I have children, I'll tell them my hometown was a wonderful place. Yeah... In return for your help, I'll teach you this.







And this was the main reason I wanted to tackle this quest. This gets us the second language skill for the party.

...Now I can leave without regrets. Rather, my body will leave, but a part of my soul will always remain here. Thank you so much for helping me out. I hope friendly folks like you will visit me in the future...
Of course! We would be glad to do that!







Wait a minute, she didn’t tell us where she was going!
So much for our plans of visiting a stranger we’re barely acquainted with in the future.







The Thorn Whip is a huge upgrade for Dia in terms of raw attack power. In fact, at this point, she can turn into an okay damage dealer with this whip.

Now that we understand the language of this island, let’s talk to the NPCs we couldn’t understand before.




If I find a pretty shell, will it keep me safe?
No.
You don’t have to be so blunt, you know!



It can deal such awful blows at a distance... But the queen will protect us somehow!



Here the singing diva sweeps the wicked from the islands ♪



Here in paradise, our island is wrapped in the song of the Ronam ♪

That was information totally worth hiding behind a language barrier.

Anyways, since we’ve met with Queen Setis, one more quest is available now.




It's hard to find stuff for your shop at all.





This quest can be done right away, and I’ll be showing this off since this is also has a really good reward.





I thought you said you could read Marero!
Hey, I only learned how to do it a few minutes ago! And the handwriting here is pretty sloppy!

And since our party Marero language, we can take on this quest properly as well. Funnily enough, despite the fact that our party knows the Marero language, the notice here remains completely untranslated.



Um, sure?
Oh, good ♪ I have an idea. Even when I have a great idea, with no materials, it's a dud.
So what exactly are these materials you need?
...Eh? Yeah, I know. I tend to leap before I look most of the time. Can you get Snakeskin?
Shouldn’t be a problem for us! How many do you need?
Oh, really? About five should do. Yeah, 5 Snakeskins is good ♪

Snakeskins drop from Deminagas. I get the 5 Snakeskins she wants.





Absolutely no seams. This scarf uses 100% of the snakeskin. You're going to want one too! Oh, how nice. See how well it fits together ♪ Just pull it like this, and it's perfect! See the cute lil' snake? Oh, I can't wait. Ladies in Marlleaire, no, the world, will love it! You want a scarf?
Ooh, those look adorable! I’ll take several!
Oh... I'm sorry... but I don't have enough. I need to save them for my grand opening, I've waited so long... But, wait, maybe I can find you something else as payment? OH! WONDERFUL! You guys are real pros, you know that! I'll give you my most prized possession!





Very much worth taking this quest to get access to this party skill!

After the opening, let me sell you something!





If I set a higher price, will it seem luxurious? If I set an average price, will average people feel they can afford one? Or do I need a low price? Or to put them on sale? I wonder... what's the best plan? I value your opinion, you know?



What you pick here doesn’t actually matter. In fact, this shop never actually opens up during the course of the game.

This quality! This material! Am I right? These are the kind of goods worth a premium!



Did you get the reward? I haven't decided what to sell yet ♪ Still time before I open!





Yeah... it's difficult. There's so much you have to decide. Color of the walls, the clerk's outfit, where the plants go...

And now we’re done with Marlleaire. There’s nothing else we can do here for now.



...And that’s how Dia got stuck in this situation. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Quite the predicament indeed!
I’m afraid I’m not exactly an expert on such matters like that.
Hmm... Ooh! Hey, if touching that pearl thingy switched ya two around, maybe touching it again will swap ya back?
...You cannot be serious. Listen, I’ve just experienced a massive string of idiocy today. Such as hearing that going underwater is a good way to hide from dragons, to witnessing an attempt at building a snorkel monopoly. So I would appreciate it if you all refrained from saying anymore nonsense-
Touchy touchy! -ARE YOU INSANE!? You have no idea what touching that again will... You. Cannot. Be. Serious.
Hey whaddya know? It actually worked! Thanks, Ark!
No probs!
I... Oh forget it. Allow me to just pretend that this long string of events never happened.
Yeah, I uhh... Guess that’s that. I guess other Dia will just... Quiet down now. Like before. I wonder if we’ll ever get to hear from her again.
I-I-I mean I g-guess I could pipe up every now and then if... if you want me to.
...Hmph, I’ll allow it.
Woo hoo! Aw man, it was getting so lonely only having other me for company! We’ve got a lot to catch up on! Like, killing our first Imperial Dragon! What a thrill, am I right!? And...
...Heh. Someone is certainly enjoying themselves.



Awww...
He really is appreciated, huh?
He’s certainly doing a good job of running things in Doris’ place now.

The game mentioned that this graffiti was in the Aizo language, and now that the party can understand Aizo, it’s translated for us. It’s a nice touch.





So the mission we got from Setis isn’t automatically assigned to us, and it’s one we can choose to take on. We’re actually meant to take this mission on later, but there is absolutely nothing stopping us from completing it now. The game will let us do so with absolutely no repercussions.

However, the enemies, dragons, and boss in the dungeon this mission takes place in are significantly stronger than our party right now, so what would likely happen is that everyone would just get horribly mauled. And there’s not really any benefit for tackling this mission early other than getting the most broken skill in the entire game for Dia! So I’ll just leave it for now. As for why the game lets us do something like this? Just wait a few updates, and you’ll see.

There was one more quest we accepted, so let’s handle that one real quick.








This quest is really easy. Just answer a series of questions. But if you don’t know the Marero language, you won’t be able to understand her. Though you can brute force this quest if you really wanted to, as you can just try again if you answer her questions wrong.

Really?



We’re having a conversation with you right now, sooo...
Oh, I'm so glad! ...You're not evil, right?



Of course not. What could possibly make you think such a thing?
Well, you don't seem that bad to me... Can I really trust you?



We’re pretty trustworthy... To an extent. Though I have no idea who would even answer no to a question like that...
Thank you. I'm a strong swimmer, but I got overconfident and pushed my luck. I didn't notice the tide was carrying me out. I grabbed onto a piece of driftwood and passed out... Next thing I know, I'm in this village's inn. I survived, but no one understands me, and I'm so bewildered. I want to go to Marlleaire, but I don't know how. Hey, have you ever been to Marlleaire?



Oh! We were there pretty recently!
That's the whole story! I need to go to Marlleaire. Of course, if you have nothing else to do... Are you busy?



It’s not like we have anything better to do at the moment.
Other than meeting up with the Rushe in Nevanplace...
Terrific! Then, bring me back to Marlleaire!



Sure! Our boat is over here!
Thank you so much!



Fade to black.







I'm right here!
Darling, I was so worried!
I'm sorry. I wanted to come home earlier, but until this person helped me
...Is that true? You helped my wife get home safely? Thank you!
"Thankyou"... "Thankyou", right?
Yes, that's right!
Okay... "Thankyou"! See you around!



If you didn’t know the Marero language, the entire conversation there would have been in Marero. Though "Thankyou" would have still come across in English.

The mention of those 2 being married was something the fan translation added in, and wasn’t actually in the original Japanese version, as neat as that would have been.




Anyways, that’s enough dillydallying for now. Now let’s actually proceed with the main plot.





After several updates of not doing so, it’s time to tackle the next dungeon!







Is... is that sand moving!?
Huh, what do you know? It really is! They’re like currents in the ocean!
Ooh, think we could take a ride on them or something like that?
I’m sure we could. The real question is, when would we be allowed to stop?
Yeah, those sand currents look pretty strong. We better careful about which ones we ride.

Here’s the gimmick of Yoba Sand Flats. It’s a conveyor belt dungeon. Once you get on a sand current, you can’t get off until it puts you in a place where you can stop.



Here’s the map of where the sand currents will take you.



Oh, and you have to deal with dragons moving in real time, on top of the Bloom while you’re riding them as well.



Woohoohoo!
Surf’s up!
Please don’t let any dragons run into us...
Exclamation of excitement.



Fortunately, the map shows up early in this dungeon.



Two of the dragons here are moving around in big circles. Let’s take one of them on.






Stony Dragon
Level: 28
LIFE: 1200
ATK: 91
DEF: 65
INT: 48
SPD: 43
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Dragon
Exp: 2304
Gold: 84
Item Drops:
-Normal: Stiff Tail - 30% Drop Rate.
--Tail of a Stony Dragon.
-Rare: Dragon Filet - 15% Drop Rate.
--Medium dragon meat. For carnivores. Increases intelligence for the day.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 50% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 25% Stun: 100%

Skills:

Stone Gaze: 50% chance of inflicting Petrification on one party member. Has a speed modifier of 85%.
Neck Bite: Randomly attacks the party with Blunt damage 2 times, dealing 120% melee ATK-based damage per hit. Party members that are hit have an 80% multiplier applied to their DEF for 5 turns. Has a speed modifier of 90%.

These things are assholes. Rock Scorpions were rather pathetic because their petrification skill only had a 10% chance of working. The Stony Dragon’s petrification skill has a 50% chance of working. It’s also extremely likely to cast Stone Gaze on the first turn, so the start of the battle is basically a coinflip on if you’re stuck with a 3 or 4 man party. These things are the main reason you want to stock up on Stonols.

Oh not only that, they hit really hard with Neck Bite, which lowers the defenses of anyone that got hit with it! It’s also possible for both hits to land on the same person. In that case, the second hit will deal more damage since it got a damage boost from the lowered defenses the first hit caused!




Gonna open up with Defense Down. Hopefully Stella can get it off before Stone Gaze comes out.



Edward has nothing better to do, so I just have him attack.

Though what I really should have done is have him defend, since that raises his defense against ailments, and he’s the only one that has a skill that can cure petrification.




Nila will Concentrate, but Stone Gaze is very capable of disrupting this combo easily.



And I’ll have Dia set up Heated Words. Maybe I’ll have her attack afterwards, since she doesn’t really have much to do.



All shall perish.





I’ll be back! You cannot seal a demon forever...
Riiight, and your last breakout attempt worked out soooo well for you...

That was probably the best possible outcome. Other than you know, no one getting petrified. Stella or Nila getting petrified would have halted the momentum of the battle for me. Edward getting petrified means that I’m forced to break out a Stonol. On the other hand, Dia doesn’t really have much to do after setting up Heated Words. So this is a really minor setback.



You’ll pay for- oh what’s the point?



Avenging smash!





This one’s gonna be a scorcher!



Time for Stella to let out the big guns.



Edward will heal Dia.



And Nila will cast Fre- fetus no, what are you doing?









This is going to be happening a lot, isn’t it?



Phew! Thanks, Edward!
Hmph. My appreciation.



Wait, I didn’t mean to-



Augh! What a frozen waste!

Oops. I accidentally had Nila cast the far weaker Blizzard instead of Freeze.



Don’t worry Nila, I’ll make up for your mistake!



...Maybe not.
Hey, you tried.



I made sure to make this next batch of medicine extra potent!



The party isn’t looking too good, so I’m having Edward toss out an EX-boosted Cure All.



Might as well have Dia dispel the defense debuff.





You’re all safe now... Hopefully, anyway.







Oof. There’s that possibility I mentioned of both hits from Neck Bite landing on the same person.





Quite careless to leave such an opening in your defenses, don’t you think?



Okay, let’s do things right this time.







That was too close!
No need to thank me.

Yeesh, good thing I had Dia dispel that defense debuff, or Stella would have been a goner!





Unlike last time, this ice ain’t nice!

Much better damage!





Your days of staring at people and biting their necks are over!





Stony Dragons are definitely the roughest dragons to deal with in this dungeon due to how dangerous their skillset is.





Now let’s take one one of the dragons that’s going around in smaller circles.






Stegosaurus
Level: 29
LIFE: 1500
ATK: 92
DEF: 70
INT: 20
SPD: 36
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Dragon
Exp: 2808
Gold: 88
Item Drops:
-Normal: Bloom Seed - 5% Drop Rate.
--A seed with the power of the Bloom. Restores the Bloom to an area.
-Rare: Jagged Slate - 50% Drop Rate. Don’t cast any spells in the entire battle.
--Plate of a Stegosaurus.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 50% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 25% Stun: 100%

Skills:

Do Nothing: Wastes a turn.
Bumble: Deals 35% melee ATK-based Blunt damage to one party member. Has a speed modifier of 90%.
Tail Swing: Deals 140% melee ATK-based Slash damage to party members in the front row. Has a speed modifier of 80%.

Stegosauruses are... considerably less threatening than Stony Dragons. First off, they’ve very prone to wasting their turns doing nothing. And on the turns they do something, they’ll never use a regular attack. Instead, they’ll use Bumble. Which is considerably weaker than a regular attack. Yeah, so much for that high ATK stat they have. Now they do have access to Tail Swing, which does deal quite a bit of damage. Except they’ll rarely ever break out that attack when their LIFE is high enough. Now they’ll pretty much do nothing but spam it once their LIFE is below half, except at that point, you’re probably about to win the fight.

Yeah, this thing is pretty much the trash mob of dragons. The only notable aspect is that they kind of take a while to kill. Oh and their drops. No, I didn’t actually flip them by mistake, that’s actually how it’s coded in the game. Namely because they wanted to attach a condition to their “normal drop.” And I should note that this conditional works considerably different than most other conditional drops in the game, and in the entire Etrian Odyssey series. Now in the Etrian Odyssey series, conditional drops just really cared about how you killed an enemy, or how fast or slow you were at killing them period. The condition that’s attached to the Jagged Plate isn’t like that. It’s flat out banning the usage of Mage spells in the battle. Use even one, and you’re disqualified from the drop. (And yes, Veils do count against this.) It’s not really a difficult drop to grab, going for it will just make the battle take longer. But the Jagged Plates aren’t really required to unlock any equipment or are needed for any quests, so you’re free to just ignore that drop entirely if you wanted to.




Aww, look at that thing just stumbling around!

Since this thing is really nothing more than a sack of inflated HP, I’m just going to skip through this battle real quick instead of going into detail.





Considering just how much Mages speed up any battles with these things, I’m really not interested in going for the conditional drop if I don’t really have to.





It’s almost adorable when it does that!
Ahem! It’s still a dragon that want to kill us!
And failing miserably at that.

Yeah. That’s how little damage Bumble does. And just to reiterate, they never ever use a normal attack during battle.



Uh oh. It looks like it finally decided to break out the big guns. Let’s see just what it does.



...Oh.







For a dragon, that thing was sure pathetic!
I feel kind of sorry for it. Did we really have to kill it?
Need I remind you that these accursed flowers are tied to their very existence!?
Oh. Right. Good point.





These things could have been bigger threats if they actually made use of Tail Swing more often and not burn up their turns doing nothing or using Bumble. As a result of that, they’re nothing more than time wasters. Which is a bad thing because it makes clearing out all the dragons in the area take a lot longer than it should. Oh well, at least 3 of my party members got a level up.





Don’t do anything too stupid. Just because I can get you back up and running right away doesn’t mean that you can be as reckless as you want.

Edward finally picks up Resurrection, giving us access to revivals outside of town. It has a speed modifier of 50% at all levels, and at level 1, it has a base heal of 1. (For those of you that have played Etrian Odyssey, revivals don’t heal a fixed amount of HP in 7th Dragon. They function just like the rest of the Healer’s healing skills.)



Boltstorm now has a spell power of 280% and a damage multiplier of 170%.

Dia doesn’t have enough skill points to level up Moonlit Song right now, so she’ll just hang onto that skill point.




Now for the last type of dragon in this dungeon. The ones that have been staying still on the map will look in various directions, and chase you down if they see you.






Worm Dragon
Level: 29
LIFE: 1200
ATK: 96
DEF: 65
INT: 52
SPD: 44
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Dragon
Exp: 2736
Gold: 88
Item Drops:
-Normal: Wormy Sinew - 100% Drop Rate. 2 needed to unlock the Composite Bow (Bow, +58 ATK +6 POW.)
--Tendon of a Worm Dragon.
-Rare: Bloom Seed - 5% Drop Rate.
--A seed with the power of the Bloom. Restores the Bloom to an area.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 100%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 50% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 25% Stun: 100%

Skills:

Cursed Howl: Has a 35% chance to inflict level 5 Curse (50% damage reflection) on the entire party. Has a speed modifier of 75%.
Bind Slash: Deals 120% melee ATK-based Slash damage to one party member. Has a speed modifier of 90%. Bug: Applies a debuff that does absolutely nothing for 5 turns. (Was supposed to lower SPD.)

Worm Dragons are an introduction to the Curse ailment. Which can be a fairly nasty ailment to be hit by, but I’ll go over that in more detail in a bit.

They’re more threatening than Stegosauruses, but definitely not more threatening than Stony Dragons. It only tries to use Bind Slash on the back row if you have one. It won’t ever use it on the front row unless you have no back row. Also, speaking of Bind Slash, it’s bugged! The skill is flagged to give a SPD debuff for 5 turns. Except they completely forgot to put in the debuff data for it! As a result, the debuff does absolutely nothing other than taking up one of your 5 buff slots.






I don’t feel so good...



...Really?

Those were the worst targets that Cursed Howl could have hit. For the Worm Dragon, I mean. Curse doesn’t really do much if it hits supports.





Nice bit of damage from Nila, so this battle should be done soon. Oh, and allow me to demonstrate just exactly what Curse does. So I’ll have Edward attack.







Yow! Felt like I was hitting myself there!

So as for what Curse does, when a cursed unit attacks something, a portion of the damage they deal (rounded down) is reflected back at them. If you’ve played Etrian Odyssey, this should sound really familiar. However unlike in Etrian Odyssey, the portion of the damage reflected back isn’t always 50%. It depends on the skill trying to inflict Curse. There’s a level associated with Curse, and that influences how much damage is reflected. There are 5 levels of Curses:
If a party member that’s a dedicated damage dealer gets hit by it, they essentially can’t do anything until it wears off, since the amount of damage they can dish out will most likely kill them. I mean look at how much damage Nila did. If she was Cursed, she would have died. And that’s why I said it doesn’t really do much on supporting party members since they don’t need to attack. However, if a cursed unit manages to kill their target, no damage will be reflected. So don’t let that stop you from attacking if you think you can kill the enemy with that party member.

However, even though Curse is a threatening ailment to be hit by, it’s not that useful to inflict. Namely because enemies deal far less raw damage in comparison, and have much higher HP pools in comparison to our party, so they don’t take much reflection damage in that case.








Except not really, due to the bug!

...Was that supposed to do anything? Aside from hurting me, I mean.







Nothing much to this dragon, other than that you might have to stop your assault so your party members don’t get killed due to Curse.





Ore Node:
-Sapphire - 1 needed to unlock the Freeze Guard. (Accessory. -30% Ice Damage.)
--A deep blue mineral. Widely used as a gemstone.
-Kathrocite
--Can be found almost anywhere. Easy to work with, but a bit frail.
-Mana Water
--Dew left to soak up mana. Recovers 15 MANA.

And that’s about it for anything of interest on the first screen.



Stella got a level up while I was doing some more dragon slaying.



Axecraft now applies a 126% multiplier to an Axe’s ATK.



Let’s move onto the next area.



For the record, just where you exit on the previous screen does matter, due to these sand currents that are in the way, so you do have to take that into account when planning your routes.



Here’s a map of the sand currents on this screen.



As well the dragon movements for this screen as well. The dragons that are staying still are Worm Dragons. The ones that are moving back and forth are Stegosauruses. And the ones moving in circles are Stony Dragons.

Oh, and due to this dungeon’s nature, it’s unlikely that you’ll get into many random encounters during it, since riding on sand currents only counts as taking one step. That being said, there’s only one new enemy to even encounter. Still, let’s check it out anyway.







Rockman
Level: 35
LIFE: 120
ATK: 96
DEF: 70
INT: 5
SPD: 35
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Large Animal
Exp: 292
Gold: 35
Item Drops:
-Normal: Rugged Rock - 30% Drop Rate.
--Part of a Rockman.
-Rare: N/A
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 100% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 0% Ice: 0% Lightning: 0%

Skills:

Muttered Curse: Has a 50% chance to inflict level 4 Curse (42% damage reflection) on one party member. Has a speed modifier of 85%.

These things are basically just screw yous to Mages that don’t have access to Mana magic, since they’re immune to every element. Oh and they can also curse your party members.





I guess we can’t rely on your spells for everything, huh?
Oh, no need to worry!





We have a Stella.





Not much to them, really.





As you might have noticed, there’s a path to the right here. It’s in your best interest to go there first.





The dragon that’s constantly moving in a circle is a Stony Dragon. The dragon that’s moving in a circle, but stopping every now and then is a Worm Dragon. As for the dragon that’s staying still, that’s actually the optional boss for this dungeon. Taking it out will clear out the Bloom in Yoba Sand Flats.



Those two dragons are guarding a healing spring. You’ll definitely want to make use of it.



Got level ups for sniping the Worm Dragon.



Resurrection now has a base heal of 5.



Boltstorm has a spell power of 300% and a damage multiplier of 180%.



Moonlit Song doesn’t do anything new at 8, but we’re getting close to maxing it out.



No way to get a preemptive on this thing, so we’ll have to take it head on.









Here’s how our team is doing.



Time to fight!

Video: Armanos






Armanos
Level: 35
LIFE: 2000
ATK: 140
DEF: 90
INT: 50
SPD: 32
Attack Type: Blunt
Enemy Type: Dragon
Exp: 4608
Gold: 106
Item Drops:
-Normal: Rocky Crust - 100% Drop Rate. 3 needed to unlock the Rock Masher (Axe, +100 ATK, -4 SPD, +10 POW.)
--Crust of an Armanos.
-Rare: Bloom Seed - 5% Drop Rate.
--A seed with the power of the Bloom. Restores the Bloom to an area.
Damage Multipliers:
Slash: 50% Blunt: 100% Thrust: 100%
Fire: 100% Ice: 100% Lightning: 0%
Ailment Susceptibility:
Death: 20% Masked Pain: 100% Skill Seal: 25%
Fear: 25% Curse: 50% Bleed: 25%
Poison: 50% Sleep: 25% Confuse: 25%
Paralysis: 50% Blind: 25% Stun: 100%

Skills:

Rock Cannon: Deals 120% ranged ATK-based Blunt damage to one party member. Party members adjacent to the initial target take 60% damage instead. Has a speed modifier of 90%.
Magnum Head: Deals 120% melee ATK-based Blunt damage to one party member and has a 50% chance to inflict Stun. Has a speed modifier of 90%.

Armanos doesn’t have much to it, other than hitting really really hard! I mean just look at that massive attack stat!



Stella will use her standard opener.



Edward has nothing better to do, so I might as well go for that Poison chance.





Standard stuff from these two.



KICK ITS BUTT, STELLA!
...What, no boost for the rest of us?
It’s not like this song really benefits anyone but her.





That worked!? That worked!

Oh hey, that’ll make this fight easier.



Besides Edward, you don’t really attack all that much.
I know, but being left out just kind of leaves me with a bad feeling.





Anchor smash!





My spleen...!
Edward, I think you better give her a checkup real quick! She doesn’t look too good!
On it!

I was not kidding about it hitting hard! If you can’t stand up to its attacks, forget about clearing the Bloom now!



There’s the Poison damage kicking in. Been a while since we’ve made us of that and uhhh, yeah the damage didn’t age well. Oh well, it’s better than nothing.



Time for Stella to go all out.



Gonna have Edward heal up Stella.



Rampage all you want! You won’t be doing it for much longer.



Time to break out the artillery cannon.



Might as well reduce this thing’s damage output.





I’ll weather your rocky skin away until it’s nothing but dust!



Perhaps this will provide enough protection for you lot.





There you go, Stella. Should be all better now!
Heh heh, thanks, Edward!







If you think that will keep me down, you got another thing coming!

Well, Hard Words reduced the damage a bit at least. Though not enough to stop Magnum Head from 2-shotting Stella.

Also hooray for a completely pointless Stun!






Ahoy there, matey!

Since Stella was already set to go last in the turn, anyway!



When I’m through with you, you’ll be walking the plank!
Where would we even set one of those up, though?
Ooh, there are some lakes nearby! And we could cut down one of those trees to make a plank with!
Do you people even realize what utter drivel is coming out of your mouths right now!?

Dunno why I didn’t already have her doing this, but whatever.



Yeah, that’s much better damage!





Rock Cannon can hit multiple people at once, but fortunately, only one party member takes a lot of damage in that case.











Dragon overboard!
Uhh Stella? I don’t think we can make it walk the plank with its body in pieces like that.
Yeah, that thing is nothing but rubble now.
Awww. I knew I was being too rough on it. Maybe next time.





A rather simplistic fight, but one that can turn out to be very rough if you aren’t strong enough.





Now this desert should be less of a pain to go through.





Well that was a lucky find!

Ore Node:
-Topaz - 1 needed to unlock the Bolt Guard. (Accessory. -30% Lightning Damage.)
--A pale yellow mineral. Widely used as a gemstone.
-Hypno Crystal
--Crystal with a strange lifeforce. Recovers from death with 100 LIFE.
-Mana Water
--Dew left to soak up mana. Recovers 15 MANA.
-Little Stone
--Just a stone.
-Kathrocite
--Can be found almost anywhere. Easy to work with, but a bit frail.





Certainly a nice upgrade for a Dagger Rogue. As for the effect, it has a 15% chance to inflict Poison, and the Poison has a power of 50%, meaning that the Poison ticks for 13 damage. Yeah, the effect is trash, but it does provide a nice boost in attack power for a Dagger Rogue, at least.

Now let’s go back to the previous screen.




Blech.



There’s something I want to point out while we’re in this dungeon.



If you ride a sand current, and then get into a battle with a dragon...



But run away from the dragon instead of killing it...



You get teleported back to the beginning of the sand current, you started on, instead of just moving onwards. So be aware of that.



Stella gets a level up, but she has nothing to spend that skill point on.





Provides a nice boost to defense and offense.



And here’s the final screen in this dungeon.



The sand current map for this part of the dungeon.



And the movement of the dragons here. The dragons moving in circles are Stony Dragons. The ones staying still are Worm Dragons. And the ones moving back and forth are Stegosauruses.



Hey, that’s better than a fruit!



More level ups for the rest of the party.



Resurrection has a base heal of 15.



Boltstorm is finally maxed out, so it has a spell power of 320% and a damage multiplier of 200%.



Moonlit Song is close to doing something more.



Now all the dragons in the 2nd screen are dead.



Stella gets yet another level up in my quest to exterminate every single dragon.



Axecraft is now maxed out, and applies a 130% multiplier to an Axe’s ATK.



Ore Node:
-Ruby - 1 needed to unlock the Flame Guard. (Accessory. -30% Fire Damage.)
--A deep red mineral. Widely used as a gemstone.
-Nagmetite - 4 needed to unlock the Megaton Hammer. (Staff. +85 ATT, -3 SPD.)
--Very common ore. Strong, but easy to work with.
-Mana Water
--Dew left to soak up mana. Recovers 15 MANA.



Dragon killing just gives your party so much exp.



Resurrection is at level 5, so Miracle Cure is finally unlocked! As for Resurrection itself, it has a base heal of 25 now.



Might as well start pumping up Blizzard.

As for Dia, she needs one more skill point to max out Moonlit Song.




After 1 hour, I have killed every single dragon in this dungeon. And with that, we are done with the Yoba Sand Flats.





And now we no longer have to go through the dungeon, and can just pass over it on the world map.

Next time, we’ll make our way to Nevanplace.