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mycelia posted:Ohhh, that's how you get Dark Decline. I got its counterpart completely by accident and assumed they were both drop-only. to be fair I don't think I've ever seen any of the intermediate of merged special traits--Feeble Prosperity, Dark Decline, Yellow Rhythm (and its Cyan and Purple equivalents), Benevolent Ruler, Tyrant/Scholar King, All-Stat Power, Evolve the Body, etc. actually dropped by an enemy, and I certainly haven't seen them in the greenhouse. The game probably (and not unfairly!) assumes that if you have the wherewithal and know how for greenhouse abuse, you know what building block traits to look for and how to merge them up. and totally with Catalysts and Dual Triggers; in every Atelier game there comes an inflection point where the crafting and battle systems give you freedom to just completely break them over your knee, but I don't think any of the others I've played ever just dropped endgame-quality materials in my lap at the midpoint the way Sophie 2 just did. Even L&S made me wait a while to realize the full potential of Firis bombing. Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Oct 7, 2022 |
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Oct 7, 2022 17:30
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Jerry Manderbilt posted:to be fair I don't think I've ever seen any of the intermediate of merged special traits--Feeble Prosperity, Dark Decline, Yellow Rhythm (and its Cyan and Purple equivalents), Benevolent Ruler, Tyrant/Scholar King, All-Stat Power, Evolve the Body, etc. actually dropped by an enemy, and I certainly haven't seen them in the greenhouse. The game probably (and not unfairly!) assumes that if you have the wherewithal and know how for greenhouse abuse, you know what building block traits to look for and how to merge them up. That probably is fair; I reckon I got Feeble Prosperity during some Neutraliser loop and just didn't notice, then spotted it in my Trait list and went "huh, that's weird". It also took me way too long to figure out the RGB/CYM/white thing (I tried to fuse all three CYM together for White, since that's how you do it in Virtue's Last Reward...). I do like that about Atelier games, to be fair; trying to figure out what the game wants from you is part of the fun. eta: but even I, a dunkass, managed to figure out some cool poo poo by the end. AS2 has a lot of those build-up traits, and it's really satisfying to figure them out. mycelia fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Oct 7, 2022 |
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Oct 7, 2022 18:24
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You really can go nuts with the alchemy in this one 
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Oct 7, 2022 18:39
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yeah really, the game gave me such a dopamine rush from the combination of all that broken stuff, number go up, and also the gratification of having it all this early on
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Oct 7, 2022 19:26
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Part 10: Nightmares and Resentment Briefing    And it would be too convenient if Doll Plachta remembered and relayed everything that would happen for the rest of the game, right? Whatever the issue here…  Going south means heading through town and triggering a cutscene on the way:   Well, there’s a bunch of little stuff, but nothin’ all that urgent. You’ve already managed to resolve the major issues that needed taking care of. Agreed. You’ve been so quick to sort things out. It’s a relief to have such a dependable mayor. Haha! You’re a real serious ‘un, aren’t ya? Ramizel took care of many issues herself, but there’s just too much for one person to do … Having someone whose focus is solely on the town has really made all the difference. You’re a mighty fine mayor, Miss Plachta. We’re counting on you!  To get to the Almare Grasslands, we’ll have to go uphill in the Residential District–up a different path than the one to the Dream Tree.   Here’s the other grassland right outside town!  Music: Sudden Rain Monsters here are as weak as in the Windswept Plains, and are thus not worth our time. Besides, these aren’t our targets. New Threat This ugly, ominous-looking mofo is.     ??? with ??? Aura? Not a problem! Remember, each debuff/status effect that lands shaves off 2 Aura. Let’s try our luck with the Ennui Mirror…  Alas, luck was not with me on this one. Still, it was easy to break through the 2 Aura it has left and then kill it and its buddies.    And that’s that. The small fries dropped these, which have nice Light components.               IRL, it means “resentment” in German!       Indeed; you can pull up the very first update and see what the Dream Tree looked like at the start of the game.           Here’s another import from Ryza! At this point in the game, you should have gathered at least 7 different types of Stone items.                Even if the stars disappear after dawn really sets the mood for these heart to heart moments, and the dawn coming and the stars fading very literally happens as this scene draws to a close.   so went the first hour or so of Sophie 1, indeed.   The goal Sophie has (and eventually, Firis and Lydie and Sue) is to bring happiness to all with alchemy. For Ramizel, who is a less powerful alchemist, it’s slightly different by necessity.   Rounds     You know how these scammers work; they’ll be cagey about letting you see the goods before purchasing, at which point you should probably just cut them off.        No kidding, looking at it makes me wonder if something in there is gonna jump everyone.    Thankfully for me, the Ennui Mirror is very cheap to duplicate. One for everyone! As for the Breezy Aroma…well, let’s just say I didn’t have enough cash on hand to duplicate it for both Plachta and Ramizel.                 in WFH times, Kati would be in working group meetings on Teams from 8AM til 8PM.   Remember those abnormal monsters Gnome and Mayor Plachta were talking about after the encounter with the Groll and Zmei? Kati’s issued a quest to take one out, so let’s do it. Star Jumper The monsters in these special quests all have Groll Aura, a lot of HP, and can hit pretty hard if you let them. But what if we didn’t let them?  Now THAT’s more like it with my Ennui Mirror! Stunned and with that many debuffs and status effects active, it’s a trivial task to burn through its HP.    Here are the rewards I can get for hunting the Groll Aura bosses. There’s plenty of rare materials that are otherwise very hard to find. I don’t need any of them for now, but I’ll want to purchase an Abgrund Schüler sometime during the final stretch of the game.  for reference, Sophie is 19 during this game and Olias is 25.   Now, time to synthesize!   Greenhouse abuse from the last update means I don’t have to care about getting good traits when gathering anymore. I easily hit Rank 3 gathering for the upgraded sickle and pickaxe, but sadly I lacked the Wind components/links needed for more shots at the Major Gathering games.  Same for the Bomb Hammer.   The Goddess and Dreams   Yes, exactly! There are so many delicious delicacies from far and wide. Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone could make every single dish perfectly, no matter the cuisine? Then you must come by my restaurant sometime! I’ll treat you to the tastiest food ever. Miss Elvira, I want to become the best singer in the world. Eh? You will listen to me sing?! No, no! It would be an honor! I'll sing from my heart for you!  from what we’ve seen of their relationship so far, we’d have every reason to think Rami effectively is Mom to Ellie!    Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Oct 24, 2022 |
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Oct 13, 2022 01:25
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the next update will be a bonus update, but I've got a sneak peek for the next full one:
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Oct 13, 2022 01:28
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Bonus Update 2 Concept Art Caves Snowy Corridor Dream Tree (healthy and withered) CGs Item Duplication Complete Introducing Mayor Plachta! Concert Hall Title screen theme: Spooling Dreams (Achiwa) Mayor Plachta inauguration theme: Nemo (Achiwa, with Haruka Shimotsuki on vocal) And that's it for vocal tracks until the ending! I do miss the days when these games had enough vocal tracks to fill out an album. Character themes Doll Plachta: Giving Dreams Shape (From "Dreams of a Book") (Achiwa) Map themes Caves: Rime Flower (Yanagawa) Snowy Corridor: Snow Melting in Your Palm (Yanagawa, with Haruka Shimotsuki on chorus) Battle themes Midgame battles: Sudden Rain (Yanagawa) Story recaps Chapter 4 Where the Soul Goes Battle of the Alchemists Capture the Soul The Second Dream Core Increase pickaxe gathering rank to 2. Giant Boulder vs Plachta Finding the Entrance Freezing World The Depths and … Chapter 5 The Induction Ceremony Time for a Rematch!! Purchase the "Happy Living" Reference Text from a store. The Mysterious Monsters The Volcano to the East Bestiary notes      
Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Dec 1, 2022 |
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Oct 15, 2022 22:24
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Interested to see where this new main plot thread goes, for a while there it was starting to look like a pretty short game.
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Oct 15, 2022 23:10
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Part 11: Nightmares and Regrets The problem crystal is by the portal to the Snowy Corridor; it blocked us from going further south earlier.  The Bomb Hammer  Ahem. Faith very well placed    Out of the ice caves and into the crystal caves!  The Bomb Hammer’s yield has a lot of overlap with that of the pickaxe, but given what you bonk with it, you’ll be getting more jewels generally.  If there’s anything you can say about Sophie 2, it’s that it goes all in on the themes with its fields. Once we emerge on the other side…  Music: Far Ridges We barely even make it up this mountain trail when…  Zmei        Whatever Diebold’s history with Zmei is, it’s his demon to face. And the rest of the party has his back.  Music: Donning the Blue Sky    Boss stunned, rear guard buffed, let’s go!    I shaved off a third of his HP before he got a move in. And while all the debuffs from the first Ennui Mirror use are still active, that also means each successive use will have declining ROI when it comes to destroying the next Aura he puts up.   And he very nearly KO’d Sophie, in which case I’d have been up a creek without a paddle. Still, she survives to heal and buff herself. Next time Zmei gets stunned…  Time for a Dual Trigger! Normally, Zmei wouldn’t be weak to Whiteout. That he is now is because Curse was among the debuffs he got hit with from the last few Ennui Mirror uses. Now…    Alette tosses a giant snowman into the air for Olias to chop up. She kicks the pieces at Zmei one by one…     Gotta save the best for last.     As flashy as that was, Olias and Alette missed the kill by inches, so I had to have Ramizel deliver the coup de grace.   The last duo to unleash a Duo Trigger will strike a pose after the battle’s over.   Alas, Olias gets bonked by one of his stray icicles from Whiteout, much to Alette’s amusement. As for the loot…  Believe me, I’ll be making very good use of Dragon God Blessing this update.                We don’t make it far before…    Zmei dropped a green stone and there’s a green Dreamspace Stone right here where the path ends. Ergo…       Before going back to the atelier…   One step closer to the next round of weapon upgrades!  Dream Vessel    I don’t know how one wouldn’t have collected 5 different Gas items by this point in the game. As for the Snowy Bridge…   Done! Now let’s go home before Sophie catches a cold.     I don’t know how good Gnome’s sketches were or what specific input Plachta gave him, because I didn’t get to see it and the cutscene abruptly ends here!  We’ll be waiting on that for a bit. First, let’s make some new stuff.   There’s no way we won’t be facing Zmei again in the near future, right? And Zmei has an innate Fire weakness. So let’s make use of the increased breathing room and higher effect thresholds of our Limitia for some bigger and better I’ll note here that when it comes to   for the Super Synthesis! This is a massive upgrade from my current Draco Bomb in every way possible–quality, traits, and effects! Now on to the Dragon God Blessing that Zmei so kindly provided me. Like Awakening, it upgrades other top-end traits.  I’ll start by putting Dragon God Blessing into a neutralizer, being very careful so it doesn’t prematurely merge with another trait. Now that I have several White Neutralizers with the trait, I want to merge it with two others: Speed of Light and All Stats Supercharge.  The stat boosts for Dragon God Wrath are second-best to those for All Stat Power, but the second effect is what really makes it indispensable for accessories and talismans. “makes it 25% easier to deal higher damage when attacking” is an incorrect description. True, every attack, skill, medicine and bomb takes off or restores HP from a range of values; what this effect actually does is increase the damage of any given regular attack, skill or bomb by 25% per hit in succession, up to 100%. Since this effect stacks if you put Dragon God Wrath on both an accessory and talisman, you can up that to +50% per hit. Let’s take Olias’ Avant-Garde skill, for instance. It hits four times. The first hit will get a 50% boost to its damage output and the second, third and fourth hits will each have twice the power. That sounds way more busted than simply upping the odds of hitting damage values on the upper end of a range, right? Now for merging Dragon God Blessing and Speed of Light:  Even though the speed boost from Dragon God Limb is worse than that of its Awakening counterpart, its second effect is enough of a perk that I’ll pick it over said counterpart for my accessories. The goal is to get these two traits plus All-Stat Power on these two. Even aside from the massive stat boosts, having two Dragon God Wraths active will give a much bigger boost to everyone’s damage output than the ATK boosts alone indicate. Now let’s go do some character events, starting in Sophie and Plachta’s backyard.  Crafting Dreams   Indeed, Erde Wiege is a wonderful place. Everyone Elvira’s invited here can pursue their dream with no downsides. No one here ages, so everyone has all the time in the world to hone their skills and chase their dreams. Resources are limitless and to be used to that end. Maybe it’s TOO wonderful, and recent and coming events are the game’s way of communicating that to us.  Well, yeah, he crashed at the atelier just the other night to draw.  Kati is the last boss in the world who’d begrudge an employee showing up late to work. And for Gnome, there’s more:       Same one that suddenly came up at the end of last update. Wistfully, from a guy who’s been noted to be especially evasive about how long he’s spent in Erde Wiege.    Fun fact: the Artisan Paintbrushes use the same artifact as Dream Paintbrushes from L&S. The ones used to create worlds within paintings, though the ones Sophie just made aren’t imbued with that sort of power.         Sounds like a plan, but how well is it gonna work in practice? IRL, one can see the steady of depopulation of places like Pirka’s village.          Between Zmei and his old title, Diebold is a man with regrets abound.    her special someone is already traveling with her    I will say up front that Ramizel’s otome novel won’t be yielding us any new recipes  Though it does yield her a new passive!    No, don’t jinx it!       A Dual Trigger for Sophie and Ramizel? Who didn’t see this one coming?    Now, let’s make the Dream Vessel.  Adventures to Come       Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Dec 14, 2022 |
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Oct 19, 2022 20:27
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Jerry Manderbilt posted:
... no. It couldn't be. Could it?
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Oct 19, 2022 23:12
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Part 12: Dreams of Scorching Lava Requests     Well uh, let’s give Pirka something to do before she snoozes again.            Um, Ramizel? Could I ask you to make some more flowerpots for me? I like your flowerpots, though. I’m quite taken with their avant-garde shapes.    Well, I think we’ve racked up quite a bit of work for Sophie just by walking around town. Let’s get to i-            We’ll help him  later. For now, requests!          The two Plachtas had better like a stew of this quality        For Olias’ Sedative Ointment, all that matters is hitting 12 Ice for the HP Regen M effect threshold.  Have we got the cure for you!            The Lilac Jewel Necklace is strictly worse than the Gnade Ring or any accessory I’d want to replace my Gnade Rings with; still, we’re making this for Pirka, not for our own use.     Alright, with all that out of the way, let’s visit Elvira!  Defying Gravity             In this update alone, we’ve gotten extra ingredient Assist Skills for gas ingredients (Alette with Wind links), fuel ingredients (Ramizel with Fire links), and magical ingredients (Plachta/Sophie with Light links). You’ll be seeing how busted these can be for crafting next update.  If you’re watching the videos, you can tell I hit the fast forward button by accident here; apologies!       Now we’re ready to go!  Disturbance            Floating Gibeon   Music: Misty Ridges  That’s how it’s done. The Gibeon creates temporary platforms to get you from point A to point B.  Once I cross this line, the platforms will vanish. What would have happened had I hosed up the platforming?   I’ll have to climb all the way back up. But while I’m down here…  Dragonaire   The traits on everyone’s new accessories and talismans is already paying off!  And the dragon’s treasure was…a new catalyst! Now let’s climb this mountain for real.   On the mountain path, there’s a dead end…   Closing the floodgate lowers the water level just enough to allow passage. There sure is some infrastructure for a town where even Ramizel hasn’t been and whose natural resources aren’t connected to Roytale, but I ain’t gonna complain if it lets me progress.   Into the Inferno Music: Crimson Rift    Music: Dark Rift    Wasn’t expecting an elevator in the caldera of an active volcano, right? Still, since it’s here, we can keep moving.   Spelunking and platforming has life or death stakes when you’re walking on lava. Sophie can jump like 20 feet in the air when the Gibeon’s effect is active, but I can fall between the gaps if I get too greedy with her jumps. Once we reach the next zone…  Earthquake       Dead End     A new exit appeared in the east of the first zone. Once we go there…  Door to Somewhere  
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Oct 25, 2022 20:28
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Part 13: Dreams of Raging Thunder Before we start with making the thunder tool, let’s get a 101 on the Resolia.   That should get across that this catalyst is very unwieldy and situational, so I won’t be using it much.  Storm Vessel   The former is easily accessible and the latter is…who even knows, right? Kati’ll have answers.        The way Kati’s putting it, Pirka sounds guilty of stealing valor!   Before I go, I had this quest outstanding. More cash           One down! Now for the Windswept Plains…   All this time, there’s been a part of this earlygame zone inaccessible to us. It’s been gatekept behind the very tool we have to visit it to unlock.   Well, we have all the materials already. Just chuck em all in and…  Crackling Dravite     This ability is one the other Mysterious series protagonists will also turn out to have. iirc from Sophie 1, Sophie first heard The Voice™ in a fairly whatever scene. It was a much bigger deal for Firis, Lydie and Sue. And now it’s a BFD for Sophie in this game.  Plachta’s got a god-tier  face                   I resynthesized the Dravite because I figured I’ll need way more uses for what’s to come.   Just as advertised, the thunder opened the door! And we’ll still need to do some Gibeon platforming to make it through.     In the next zone, I took a detour to get this recipe book for Rainbow Neutralizer, the best neutralizer in the game and a prereq for the next tier of cloths.   And the elevator drops us off at… a hot spring?  An Onsen and a Palace  Well hey, I dunno that taking a bath in mineral water atop a tall mountain while there’s a thunderstorm popping off all around us is the soundest of ideas. Still, we have to pass by the hot spring to get to our destination. …Wait, that sure is a lot of Groll in the background.         Music: Distant Lightning Even among a soundtrack full of bangers, I want to call attention to this track; it’s in my top three for this game. Between the instrumentation and the chorus of a singer of Shimotsuki’s caliber, it reminds me of a Hymnos track from the Ar Tonelico/EXA_PICO games, another Gust property.           The next tier of weapons is coming online! In addition to collecting particular materials, you know how Sophie makes weapons for herself, Ramizel and Diebold? And how Plachta makes weapons for herself, Alette and Olias? Doing Twin Actions between permutations of those trios will unlock the next tier of weapons.    Now that we’re here, we need the Dravite to light up the Thunderbolt Palace’s infrastructure. Opening doors, turning on elevators, and activating lifts. We’ll also need to turn all this off on occasion. …With this dungeon gimmick, we’d have had to make the Dravite anyway, even if there wasn’t that door in the volcano.  There are other kinds of Groll here too, all named after various ill sentiments and negative emotions.        That should get across the gimmick for most of the dungeon well enough.   Now, for this pale Groll, a Paranoia…   I went out of my way to beat it up because it drops the last material needed for the next round of weapon upgrades. Now let’s go do just that!  The next batch of weapons uses Harmonium, the best ingot in the first three Arland games as well as the OG Mysterious trilogy. For this synthesis, I have a ton of Light links to play around with. After triggering Element Switch and Link Morph…   This happens! I’ve been doing very well hitting Light thresholds (for All Stats+10 and an L-shaped Light component on the product), but I’m lacking in components to do nearly as well for Lightning thresholds.   Adding that extra ingredient and its Lightning links/components gave me the critical mass to max out Lightning for ATK-SPD+10. Needless to say, it’s got the endgame weapons trait trio I assembled earlier. Moreover, since each of the next batch of weapons requires two Harmonium and the Harmonium produced here will have an ample number of Light components and links, I’ll have no trouble getting enough Light links to add an extra Magical ingredient when synthesizing them.  This is the best trait loadout for armors. Evolve the Body in particular is a trait that I’d have had to beat up postgame bosses several times in L&S on max difficulty to get my hands on; through  Like with Harmonium and ingots, Velvetis has historically been the best cloth in many previous titles. Now I can upgrade my armor too! But first, weapons.  Even with the ability to add an extra Fuel, Gas and Magical ingredient, I have to make hard compromises when I have three or more separate thresholds to target. Even with a 7x7 grid and restricted panels! You can tell from this screen that it’s mathematically impossible to max out all the effects for Sophie’s next staff with just 41 tiles to play with. Alette also gets screwed a bit for the same reason.  But it works out well for everyone else. Plachta’s next weapon being Exhibit A. Once the weapons are all done…       All Stat Power and Tyrant King going live yields colossal stat boosts for most of the party–Ramizel took a slight hit to her DEF because I’d resynthesized her Avalanche Naginata and put the trait combo on it offscreen, and the Avalanche Naginata has a +DEF effect while the Gloria Wing doesn’t. (This is also why her stat gains from the Gloria Wing are relatively muted compared to the rest of the party’s.) I should explain what the top-row effects do: Rigorous Nature: reduces Sophie's wait time by 20% and increases her stats by 30% in inclement weather. Imperial Blood: Plachta recoups 20% of her damage output as HP and recovers 40% of her HP when defeating an enemy. Proof of Honor: Ramizel's attacks do extra Aura damage and she gets a 20% boost to her stats against strong enemies. Rusty Rivet: Alette's critical hits do 40% more damage and have an 80% chance of debuffing enemy defense. Violent Rumbling: Olias' attacks do extra Lightning damage during thunderstorms and have small odds of inflicting paralysis. Disaster of Lore: Diebold’s attacks do extra Magic damage and have small odds of poisoning opponents. Now, armors!   I couldn’t get enough links to add any extra ingredients for the alchemists’ new armor, sadly. Still, this is a solid upgrade over what they all currently have.   I had better luck for all the rest’s armors, though. Now, befores and afters:       In this update alone, our party members have seen certain stats go up by more than 50% and we’re already seeing Olias push 1000 ATK and Alette push 1000 SPD–all off the back of Harmonium-tier weapons, Velvetis-tier armors, and the best traits I can get for both. Develop the Body and Evolve the Body stack and scale off of units’ base stats, hence why the stat boosts from the new armors are so much higher than they are on paper. As for the armors’ more opaque effects: Handy Pockets reduces wait time after using items by 30% and heals 15% of HP when using an item that issues time cards (e.g., the Breezy Aroma). Brimming Magic restores 10% of damage incurred as MP. Phantom Camo reduces chances of being targeted by 30% and increases Critical rate by 30% during sunshine. With all THAT done, let’s finish exploring the Thunderbolt Palace.  Starting from the Thunderstorm Chapel, there are electric beams blocking our way that need to be defused; making the weather sunny will do that.  Once we’re at this final zone, there’s a big locked door leading to the Dream Core; we have to flip some switches to unlock it.    As such! The second one will need some more work to reach.   Some more work as in platforming and weather changing. But once we’re up there…     We can now proceed to the Dream Core!  Crisis  It’s the sound of a dragon fighting with some other beast. Wait…a dragon…what especially dangerous dragon is still at large somewhere out there in Erde Wiege and how did it beat us here                A Groll Aura? Now THAT’S different from before.   First things first for the rematch: Zmei gets buffed by thunder, so let’s change the weather and strip him of those buffs.  This time I got unlucky with my Pure White Corrosion status effects landing and nuking Zmei’s aura in a timely manner, but the Ennui Mirror successfully put him to sleep, making him miss his turn. Once his aura went down…       The Ennui Mirrors inflicted an extreme weakness to magic damage and a physical weakness on Zmei, so he rolled over and died to two Twin Actions without even getting to attack the party. I wanted to finish this with a Dual Trigger, but he just died too fast for it.               Remember that from Part 7? When Elvira’s guardian in the Snowy Corridor attacked Sophie and co., and then looked like it’d been exorcised of something nasty after it was defeated?      
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Oct 30, 2022 17:21
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The expressions in this game, especially for Plachta, are really top-tier I don't remember them being this good in the last couple games. Also, I'm absolutely taking notes on your loadouts.
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Oct 31, 2022 18:52
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mycelia posted:The expressions in this game, especially for Plachta, are really top-tier I definitely get that feeling game after game from Lulua onward, but they really do keep getting better! It's a big contrast from L&S where Gust, bless their souls, did their best with the very limited budget they had. and deffo do, I'm not done crafting yet by any means and even now I'm still debating which final accessories I want to give to each party member. Though it'll be some time before the next update since I only recorded up to the first three or so scenes after the end of the last update and I'm on vacation next week.
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Oct 31, 2022 19:58
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Got a little bit behind on these, but I'm caught up now You really can just snap this game's crafting in half, it's amazing. Jerry Manderbilt posted:
She really does Gust always has a way of making things look good with their art styles, but it's rather fun to see how much it's continued to improve over the last few years.
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Oct 31, 2022 21:32
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Odd Wilson posted:Got a little bit behind on these, but I'm caught up now there are things I miss about the older days' art direction--the Arland, Dusk and OG Mysterious games all had dozens of CGs, while Sophie 2 has very few, the next ones you'll see will probably be during the final two story updates I do, and there are no CGs featuring Alette, Olias or Diebold--the 3D modeling is leaps and bounds above what it was four to five years ago and Gust makes use of it in very appealing and memorable ways.
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Nov 2, 2022 15:48
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Jerry Manderbilt posted:
I took this exact screenshot on my switch when playing through.
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Nov 2, 2022 22:55
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There's a couple re-used animations that are really odd, for example virtually all the characters from the 3D games have that same really, really odd way of holding books when reading. Also that thunder palace theme rocks.
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Nov 5, 2022 02:47
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You know, for a game with this much Time BullshitTM in it, I'm enjoying it more than I thought. I suppose that it makes sense that in the world of the Atelier games, things just seem to work out, and that includes TBTM.
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Nov 15, 2022 03:45
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theamazingchris posted:You know, for a game with this much Time BullshitTM in it, I'm enjoying it more than I thought. I suppose that it makes sense that in the world of the Atelier games, things just seem to work out, and that includes TBTM. Jerry Manderbilt posted:
Jerry Manderbilt posted:
Jerry Manderbilt posted:
hell, some of the game's funniest and/or most memorable moments couldn't have happened if it wasn't for the time shenanigans anyway I'm back from vacation and work obligations are going to be a, thing, for another week; optimistically, I can get the next update out the door on Thanksgiving weekend.
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Nov 15, 2022 17:34
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Jerry Manderbilt posted:
True! Also, I do like how the English translation added in the wordplay there. If you're gonna be silly, might as well commit.
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Nov 15, 2022 23:55
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Part 14: Dreams in Crisis Aftermath     … *Sigh* … Why did I ever have that dream …? So tired … I don’t care anymore … about anything …     Doll Plachta is, after all, a party member in Sophie 1 and Firis!       You could tell from the vibe, but day-to-day life in Roytale has come to a standstill. All character subplots are on hold in the aftermath of the Groll attack.    Kati won’t be issuing any quests, Gnome won’t have any rare materials for sale, and Alette and the other merchants in the Commercial District have halted operations.  Safety   At least Pirka’s safe and still doing business Anyway, let’s do what we can for now: figure out how to fix the Dream Core.      Sophie is above Alchemy level 80 at this point, let alone 70. As for the Alchemic Clay req, Synth Quantity +4 has a threshold of 22 Fire.  Since hitting that threshold and unlocking the Reverie Powder is all I have to care about for this synthesis, I just have to monomaniacally focus on maxing out Fire. With the materials available to me at this stage of the game, it’s a piece of cake to get enough links and hit enough Fire panels to do so.    Repairs    Well yeah, this synthesis literally can’t be failed.                Groll Biology                        The Rustproof Heart can be found at Mt. Surva, as can Large Groll. So it’s time for some hardcore ANTI-GROLL AKTION.  Music: Ride on Moonlight I didn’t get to show off this Dual Trigger with Zmei, so now’s a good time!   He has no idea what’s about to hit him: a giant barrel crashing on his head like a grand piano.     Now to cut the     And that’s a wrap.    That was a flashy way to finish off these two Large Groll, but ANTI-GROLL AKTION means ANTI-GROLL AKTION! That means we’ve got 8 more to go!  And while I'm at it, I finally have enough AP to unlock this: a fifth item slot for Sophie. Needless to say, being able to have five items in battle represents utility I can't quite put in words.  A Rank 3 Pickaxe lets me get a Rustproof Heart. After getting this and beating up 8 more Large Groll, let’s do the actual synthesis!  Warding    The Groll-warding Stone CAN be used as an ingredient for something else, but for now, we just want to make one. And to duplicate it since there are four known Dream Cores. To this end, the particulars of the synthesis don’t matter, though traits that reduce value would make it cheaper to duplicate.            This is why you’d duplicate it if you’re smart!  Aside from the Thunderbolt Palace, the other two isekais-within-this-isekai have the other Dream Cores. Let’s start with the first.                   Crisis Averted   Thank you ever so much, Miss Elvira. Because of you, I’ve got my dream back! There simply aren’t enough words to convey my gratitude. Thank you for restoring my dream! Ramizel! Miss Elvira has saved all of us! Miss Elvira was able to get rid of those monsters who were possessing us!           Doll Plachta might not be borderline dying of fremdschämen whenever she hears “mightily” anymore, but she still doesn’t like being in earshot of it.  We’ll see soon enough! And as for how, exactly, Elvira exorcised the Groll from their victims? …Let’s put that question on the burner for now.    Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Nov 24, 2022 |
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Nov 24, 2022 02:10
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Part 15: Dreams of a Golden Land We’ll take our sweet time to go to the northeast at Plachta’s behest, since we finally have some room to breathe and some character subplots to get through now that those are live again.  Wake-Up Flower           Even aside from Plachta not being Alchemy level 78 yet, her final weapon requires intermediate ingredients whose recipes I cannot yet access. On the backburner this goes. For now, let’s do what we can do: make the flower.  Easy peasy. The Solar and Lunar Face flowers can be found in Royum with a Rank 3 Sickle and I had gotten plenty of them from my first climb up the mountain.   While I’m here, this is a job I need to take and a boss I need to kill for multiple reasons.     Abyss Tyrant  That’s a fuckload of HP on Legendary, and it gets a massive defense buff in this weather!  Good thing the Ennui Mirrors make short work of its aura even on this difficulty.       At the end of all that, Ramizel spikes the golem like a volleyball…     Still, that only shaved off about 10% of its HP.      I’ve been doing you all a disservice by not showing the (imo very good) Twin Action transitions much until now. Let me rectify that.   And the upgraded Draco Fire Bomb does an order of magnitude more damage than my last one did! Better crafting and hitting an enemy multiple times with Certain Grudge, thereby inflicting an extreme weakness to Magic damage, will do that. Still, the Abyss Tyrant finally got a turn in when it had like 3000 HP left.   Instead of attacking, it chose to buff itself. More importantly, multiple stacks of Curse didn’t just inflict an extreme Magic weakness: it meant that the Abyss Tyrant’s 2% auto-heal knocked off 8% of its HP, reducing it to 1HP instead. One gentle poke later…    Synergy Talisman is the best talisman in the game and the Seele Pilós the Abyss Tyrant dropped is a rare ingredient that, in addition to being an ingredient for said talisman, by default has the best revival trait in the game. Increasingly, the game expects you to beat up Groll Aura mini-bosses to unlock recipes and get certain rare materials that you can’t buy even from Gnome nor find by gathering. Anyway, I think our team’s earned some R&R after all this.  Onsen              A New Land The game wants us to go to the former entry point to the Thunderbolt Palace–the one rendered a dead end by the earthquakes.        When put this way, what’s a little teleporting from the depths of the volcano to another region on the world map?  We’ll circle back to Zelgador Summit later; we’ve got more character events to get through.     After collecting the bounty for the Abyss Tyrant, buying one Abgrund Schüler unlocked this: Ramizel’s signature bomb.   As expected, it has a very demanding recipe that calls for my best materials. It helps that the Typhon Keim starts me off with 3 Wind before I even put a single component on the grid.  I think this is the first time I’ve maxed out three separate elemental thresholds AND filled out the entire 7x7 grid all game long. As for the effects: Tempest Blade: Wind Physical Damage (660 power), issues 3 time cards. Extreme Wind: Knocks enemy back massively, 90% chance of inflicting Restraints. Recycle: 50% chance of not expending a use. Whirlwind Sensation: Does even more Wind damage (200 power) against enemies weak to Wind. L&S was my first Atelier game and of all the Atelier games I’ve played, this is the closest thing I’ve had to its Lightning Crystal in terms of utterly broken bombs that can delay the enemy’s turn significantly and repeatedly. Difference being that the Primal Storm is single-range and Sophie 2’s combat has a different feedback loop because of Aura breaks, but hey, good enough for boss battles.   Desires       This CAN be used as an ingredient, but for now, we just want one to deliver to Olias.    Sophie knows exactly how this story goes up through the events of her first game, and it ain’t pretty.   Well, even if Sophie didn’t think that part through, this is still a drat impressive creation for Olias. Let’s go deliver it to him.    Diebold is right there too, so let’s check in on him.     Our target is… actually pretty close to town. It was a big deal when Zmei attacked a merchant convoy here early during the game.       Stunned and with these many debuffs, it’s easy pickings with all the sources of physical damage I have available.    Olias’ Avant-Garde skill is much better now than when he first joined for several reasons: Avant-Garde gets stronger the more debuffs the enemy is slapped with (and there will be a lot with Ennui Mirror abuse), and having two Dragon God Wraths active means that its four strikes hit much, much harder. Inflicting Frostbite and making the enemy weak to physical attacks like Avant-Garde is icing on the cake.  Still, nothing like a classic: Ramizel decimating a stunned enemy with Burning Rod. This all reads much differently after the Groll attack, but bear with me for holding this event off until after the Thunderbolt Palace!    Among all the Extra Ingredient assists, this one has special implications because Ingots also count as metal ingredients: getting 10 Lightning links when synthesizing gear lets me add an(other) Ingot to up the stat boosts even more. Sophie and Plachta’s Add Magical skill will too with a later key intermediate ingredient, but we’ll still be waiting on that a bit. Such will be true of Sophie too by the end of the Mysterious series, even if she doesn’t know it yet in this game! For someone who’s utterly terrified of ghosts, Sophie’s reaction to learning Pamela’s deal was surprisingly muted, especially compared to the other Mysterious quadrilogy protagonist who’s really scared of ghosts. Case in point.   I am, but … just thinking back on it is terrifying. In an instance, I felt I couldn’t care less about the dream I’ve worked long and hard to achieve. Or about anything else, really. I was drifting along, haunted by this strange feeling of loss. Just hearing about it is horrifying enough. So, those monsters really are capable of that … Knowing such creatures exist … It makes this place a little scary. Oh, I wouldn’t feel that way. We have a goddess on our side. It’s thanks to Miss Elvira that I’ve regained my dream, make no mistake about that. Yeah. As long as she’s here, we’ve got nothin’ to fear! … That’s right. Everything will be just fine with Miss Elvira around, won’t it?      The Eaglescope is an endgame accessory I want for certain party members while the Asterisíma is a key intermediate ingredient for a certain endgame synthesis. I’ll pick both books up.   And this field accessory will let me win more money when beating up mooks!    This isn’t the only business we have here:   Much appreciated, since the traits, quality and base value of my endgame bombs and medicines would otherwise make restocking unaffordable.         But wait, that’s not all!    And that’s the last of the Dual Triggers. It wouldn’t be an Atelier game without finding some way to work in a super special move called Einzelkampf, would it? It’s also going to be Revy’s special move in Firis and Mathias and Alt’s Combination Art in L&S. With all that out of the way, time to head back to the field.   First things first, now that the Illusion Vale’s depths are accessible to me with the Gibeon, I’ll take a quick detour there to pick a treasure chest.    This is an insanely useful catalyst; all I have to do is press X to activate Element Switch and Link Morph at will instead of them auto-triggering at 5 and 7 links respectively. Hitting the Components Inverted threshold also lets me press ZL/ZR to flip a component horizontally, giving me even more flexibility when crafting.  Heading back to the new land: I have to bring the thunder to open this door. Although the objective is to the northwest, I want to go southeast first.   Atop the peak is the recipe book for Ōkeagyrn, Sophie 2’s Tier 5 ingot. Needless to say, it’s one of the aforementioned intermediate ingredients needed for Plachta’s final weapon. That was well worth the detour and the climb!  Silverius Back on track: near our destination is a dragon area boss. He only shows up when it’s raining.  Even with his Aura broken and a rainbow of debuffs/negative status effects active, he’s still one beefy motherfucker.     Yes, this is like centimeters away from being friendly fire. And then Olias draws his bayonet for…    Bromance of the year 2022  But since this was on Legendary, I was in for a world of hurt the moment Silverius got a turn and multiple moves in. This is the first time all LP long someone got KO’d.   I owe this victory to Ramizel’s signature bomb. Even after using it and knocking him back once…      Its three timecards kept knocking Silverius back long enough for me to kill him before he could get another move in.  I’m more aggressive about triggering Dual Triggers now because I need to unlock this recipe; it’s a key intermediate ingredient for endgame. Now, let’s continue to the objective…  The Promised Land    Music: Laughing Sand The promised land this is not! Still, this desert bears treasure that will make coming here worth it–much deeper in.   Making it rain dispels that sandstorm, letting us pass.   I wasn’t kidding when I said Sophie can jump 50 feet in the air with the Gibeon! After scaling the cliff…  Making it sunny lets me access the chest containing this recipe book for Geranóvirgen, the game’s Tier 5 cloth. Going back and heading northwest…   This is the last catalyst and the best in the game. Needless to say, the next few updates will feature a goddamn ton of crafting. Now, back to the objective…  Bringing the thunder opens the door, and…  Edge of the Earth   It’s the Groll I beat up to get Plachta’s current weapon! And there’s three of them, and we’re on Legendary!     What if Sophie and Plachta summoned the Sword of Damocles and used Plachta’s giant robot arm to bring it down on the enemy?      No, Ramizel is not playing pantomimes. It’s an honest to god…      … … We’ll get back to this in the next full update! Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Feb 5, 2023 |
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Nov 27, 2022 17:18
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Bonus Update 3 Concept Art Ancient City Royum Mt. Surva Thunderbolt Palace Eternal Sand Dunes CGs Gnome's Dream And that’s it for CGs until the ending. Yes, there’s CGs for all our named NPCs while there isn’t a single CG in this game with Alette, Olias or Diebold in it, which is quite the departure from just about any modern Atelier game and something I hope isn’t indicative of a long-term trend. Still, the 3D modeling for the party and the choreographing Gust does with it goes some way to compensate, I GUESS. Concert Hall Map themes Mountains (Day): Far Ridges (Achiwa) Mountains (Night): Misty Ridges (Achiwa) Volcano (Day): Crimson Rift (Achiwa) Volcano (Night): Dark Rift (Achiwa) Thunderbolt Palace: Distant Lightning (Yanagawa, with Haruka Shimotsuki on chorus) Desert (Day): Laughing Sand (Yanagawa) Desert (Night): Weeping Sand (Yanagawa) Battle themes Zmei: Donning the Blue Sky (Ryudai Abe) Lategame battles: Ride on Moonlight (Achiwa) Story recaps Chapter 6 Zmei Attacks Dream Vessel need to work hard to keep up! Anyway, we should take the Dream Vessel over to Elvira. Chapter 7 The Volcano Seeking Lightning The Power of Lightning The Threat Ahead Something’s Wrong Chapter 8 Repairing a Dream Core The Groll Anti-Groll Measures 1 Increase staff or pickaxe gathering rank to 3. Anti-Groll Measures 2 Elvira’s Powers The Desert Bestiary notes       
Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Dec 1, 2022 |
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Nov 27, 2022 17:21
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That's a sudden plot twist
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Nov 27, 2022 19:20
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You can probably already figure out what's happened with Elvira, but it'll be confirmed outright in Part 16. Speaking of, I think that one will be out the door pretty quickly since it's overwhelmingly me explaining the method behind my madness with the (hours of footage of) crafting therein, and with relatively little transcribing.
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Nov 28, 2022 01:23
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Jerry Manderbilt posted:You can probably already figure out what's happened with Elvira, but it'll be confirmed outright in Part 16. Speaking of, I think that one will be out the door pretty quickly since it's overwhelmingly me explaining the method behind my madness with the (hours of footage of) crafting therein, and with relatively little transcribing. Yessss
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Nov 28, 2022 13:50
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Part 16: A Dream Distorted A New Crisis      Well, we’ll be doing that anything BUT quickly this update. First things first: since we got the Absorpta back in the Eternal Sand Dunes, we’ll be immediately treated to a 101.  You can see from the above screencap that there are 2 Light links on the grid. You need 3 to activate the first assist skill.  By making linked tiles disappear while preserving effect levels, you can hit a number of effect thresholds that are otherwise impossible to do in one synthesis. It’s invaluable, it makes you think that you can have your cake and eat it too, but it’s also incredibly painstaking to do so. You’ll feel it when you’re using the Absorpta and gunning for 7 or 10 links to activate Link Morph to raise the max effect threshold or Extra Ingredient to add the ingredient that will let you hit your targets.   And this is the Resolia in action. Strategic use of Link Morph let me trigger Element Switch, allowing me to add a metal ingredient to pad my numbers for Wind and Lightning components.    Same with a Gas ingredient, and at that point I just needed a little push to get everything I need out of a catalyst: a 7x7 grid, the ability to horizontally flip components, and the ability to allow component overlap.      Of course, I can still hit multiple thresholds of 20+ if I play my cards right with Add Ingredient skills, even without the Absorpta. Now, here’s one thing the Black Agujero is an ingredient in–and I’m duplicating it because it’s pennies on the dollar to do so compared to what I’m about to make:   Tier 5 ingots and cloths and weapons and armors were not in the OG Mysterious trilogy, though they were present in the three Atelier games between L&S and Sophie 2. I have multiple very high thresholds to hit for this, so I have to whip out the Absorpta.       Linked components being removed from the grid means that if you keep stacking links on a matching tile until all your assist skills are exhausted, you can keep getting boosts from said tile.  Still, removing linked components from the grid can make it really goddamn frustrating when you’re gunning to activate Link Morph or Extra Ingredient assist skills. Whereas I can just use Link Morph to convert a regular component to a starred component and have it link up with 2-3 pre-existing links and activate Extra Ingredient with the Resolia, I have no such luxury with the Absorpta. So it was that for this first batch of Ōkeagyrn, I had to settle for missing the max Light threshold.   Here is the most successful Major Gathering take out of god knows how many to get Einquartz for my new accessories.  You’ve seen how Gnade Rings give rather sizeable boosts to ATK, DEF and SPD in addition to what comes with your traits and your Ingot. Replacing them means everyone’s going to take a hit to those stats. What could I want that would compensate for the stat boosts the Gnade Ring provides? This is one of the two, an Eaglescope. I’ll use the Resolia since I only really care about hitting the Light and Wind thresholds on this one.  I’ll start with getting 10 Lightning links for no other reason than to add one of my fresh new Ōkeagyrn to the mix; the recipe doesn’t call for any Ingot or Metal items, and thus the Ōkeagyrn can’t be a part of this synthesis otherwise. It helps that I can just write over these afterwards, since there are no Lightning effect thresholds to hit for this synthesis and the game won’t revoke my extra Ōkeagyrn from the mix if the Lightning links get blanked after the fact.  With that, we already have some solid stat boosts to kick this off. After being very careful with the Magical and Gas ingredients I add afterward…    Multiplier 8x increases crit rate and crit damage output by 40%. You’ll see in the next two updates, but the Eaglescope and its effects will complement Ramizel and Diebold’s final weapons splendidly. The Fire effect would have given an accuracy boost, which was zero priority compared to maxing out Wind and Light and thus boosting crit rate and crit damage output.   The slight hit to Ramizel’s stats will be well worth what she’ll get in exchange.   Everyone else gets a Time Control Hourglass. The Dawn Tree Branch is something I could gather by upgrading my Bomb Hammer to Rank 3 and smashing logs in the Thunderbolt Palace. In addition, one of my intermediate syntheses was that Topaz; for that one, I hit the threshold of 12 Light to make it count as Sand as well, making it usable as an ingredient for this.   Again, my first priority was getting 10 Lightning links to add an Ōkeagyrn in; in doing so, I also hit my first target by maxing out Lightning. My next big priorities were Light and Wind.   “Maybe I can add an extra Gas or Magical ingredient to get some Fire components on the board if I get enough links”, or so I thought, but things just didn’t work out that way. Settling for that three-tile Light component on the Ōkeagyrn is really coming back to bite me in the rear end. As for effects: Accelerate Time shortens wait time by 30%. Otherworldly Speed adds 30% of the wielder’s SPD to their ATK. Control the Future has Dragon God Wrath’s effect, but with a +35% boost instead of +25%. So with two Dragon God Wraths and a Control the Future!Time Control Hourglass, that’s a total of +85% damage on the first hit and double the damage on all the rest. The Fire effect would have been additional KO resistance–nice to have, but Control the Future and the two maxed-out Wind effects were the ones of utmost priority to get. Otherworldly Speed alone makes the Time Control Hourglass a shoo-in for Alette, the resident speed demon of the party, but I deemed it to be the accessory for everyone else too.   The slight hit to Alette’s speed will be well worth these effects going live; same to a lesser extent for Sophie, Plachta and Olias.   At this point, you shouldn’t have to ask how the Ōkeagyrn got in there. Transition Crest gives TP whenever Support Guard is used, but it was low-priority for me to upgrade compared to maxing the other effects.  Not shown is me running around doing quests and beating up the occasional Groll Aura mini-boss to finance all this duplication. Here’s one, the Countless Feelers in the Quartz Lapis.   Of note, Sophie can now drop meteors on an enemy!    Vorpal Strike was a bounty from my greenhouse abuse in Part 8 and it combines with Certain Critical to make One-Hit Kill. And I took One-Hit Kill and put it on a… Craft? The most basic bomb in the game? And I’m making this before a major boss battle? You’ll see why once we get back in the Dream Tree’s dimension.    Langwolke is an intermediate ingredient for the Tier 5 cloth and woof that’s a rude set of thresholds to hit for the latter.  I have lots of Ice components and this effect threshold will be the one I can do without if I had to start overwriting Ice tiles, so I gunned for it first so I could add an additional Water ingredient to the mix.      But it did not, in fact, come to that. Being very, VERY exacting with where I triggered my assist skills and which tiles I picked for Link Morph let me add a metal ingredient with good Light components/links and max out all four effect thresholds on the Geranóvirgen. Still, the armors I’d be using it in aren’t available yet!   This is the best medicine in the game, but first…   Here’s another important item the Black Agujero is needed for. And Philosopher’s Stones also count as Elixirs, and thus can be an ingredient in the Mystery Elixir. The Priarco is my vector to get all my healing/revival/buff traits in there.   Switching back to the Resolia for this one because I’m focused mainly on the Wind and Ice effects.   I got two Mystery Elixirs out of this synthesis, so I’ll be duplicating this once so all my alchemists can have it. Even though Diebold CAN equip it, in practice his low Equip Cost won’t allow for him to. Effects: Miracle Cure applies 2 stacks of max HP increase in addition to its massive healing. Auto Activate 50% means the Mystery Elixir gets used automatically when the wielder’s HP drops below 50%. Activate Scatter activates two time cards, so in this context it’ll massively heal and buff the target twice down the line.  Revisiting the Breezy Aroma so I can upgrade my AoE healing/buffing item, I can hit Activate Scatter for it too with better Ice components/links than I had during the alchemy contest way back when, in addition to now having access to Extra Ingredient assist skills. This time, I want to target Lightning for my secondary effect threshold so the product can actually appreciably heal targets who haven’t been KO’d.  I dicked around to unlock this Talisman I won’t be using…  …and synthesized it to unlock this node on Sophie’s recipe tree. The Calm Blue Flame is an ingredient in and prerequisite to unlock the Flame of the End, Sophie’s most powerful signature bomb.   After smashing a crystal in the desert with a Rank 3 Bomb Hammer for some Uro Hielo, I can now synthesize the Calm Blue Flame. I’d already gathered Uro Hielo before this, but it only counts for unlocking the recipe for Calm Blue Flame AFTER I’ve reached its node on the recipe tree.  It’s a pretty easy synthesis with only two effect thresholds to care about. The output will have fantastic Fire and Ice components, even if it will only raise the maximum, pre-link Fire value of the Flame of the End by 2 instead of 3.  Now that I’m able to make Flame of the End, let’s go make that right now.   This is a really hard synthesis to hit my target thresholds on (and I had to settle with not maxing out all four of them at the end), but that last effect is what I needed the most out of this synthesis. Aura Damage XL shaves off 10 aura, and Pure White Corrosion and All Stats Down M both do their part in depleting enemy aura as well. For the second debuff trait, I chose Certain Grudge to make enemies weak to Magic damage and to turn their auto-heals against them. The top-level effect does a ton of Magic damage by default and does even more depending on the quality of the traits attached–so a lot in this case, even if I didn’t come close to maxing out Light. Finally, maxing out Ice got me Consume MP M, which means Sophie will only expend 30% of her max MP whenever she uses the Flame of the End instead of like 80%. For the ingredients aside from the Calm Blue Flame: Innocent Adamas is the first ingredient, and it serves as my main source of Light components/links as well as my vector to get my debuff traits in the mix. The next ingredient is an Old Master, a fish which also counts as a Puni. (Don’t ask questions as to how or why.) I tried getting some with my desired mix of components through Major Gathering with a Rank 3 fishing rod. The last ingredient is a Poison ingredient. (You’re still allowed to use Flame of the End even when Sophie doesn’t have the requisite percentage of her max MP, it’s just going to do markedly less damage than it should.)    Since the Flame of the End is going to be Sophie’s primary aura buster for major bosses from now on, I went through the trouble of having Plachta make a Great Gift as an intermediate Poison ingredient so Sophie could take a second one to battle. Why didn’t I just duplicate it, you ask? Because it costs like 20k Cole to do so.   I then synthesized these very particular Philosopher’s Stones; by hitting 13 Fire and not 17+ Fire, I got one unit with All Stats+10. Philosopher’s Stones count as Magical items, Elixirs, Jewels and Stones; still, in practice, the rest of the gear I’ll be making might only ever require an ingredient from the first two categories. Since Philosopher’s Stones count as Magical items, that means that if I get 10 Light links when synthesizing gear, I can add one of these Philosopher’s Stones and get a further +10 boost to all stats. The -cost traits are there to make it cheaper to duplicate given the sheer volume of these I’ll need for the next round of weapon/armor upgrades; all the traits I want for said weapons and armors are already going to be on my Ōkeagyrn and Geranóvirgen anyway. …I realized belatedly that I could have also put these in the Synergy Talisman, the Time Control Hourglass and the Eaglescope and tried to trigger Extra (Magical) Ingredient during those syntheses for even more stat boosts. I should have done so for the Synergy Talisman, while for the Time Control Hourglass and the Eaglescope I found that I wasn’t able to do so without fatally compromising my ability to hit the key effect thresholds I needed to hit.  Even with multiple -cost traits stacked, Philosopher’s Stones are still Philosopher’s Stones and aren’t exactly gonna be cheap to duplicate. Now that we’re finally done with our syntheses for the time being, let’s figure out what’s going on with Elvira and the Dream Tree.  The Cradle Disturbed      So yeah, you can tell this is a hell of a remodeling.     The materials that can be found here are rare and of fittingly high quality, and being able to find items like *checks notes* Evil Cores, Fatal Nebulas, and Fallen Star Pieces really reinforces the very off vibe the Dream Tree’s dimension now gives off.  Eventually we make it back to the Dream Cradle and… oh dear.  Possessed                  For round 2, Elvira now resists all elements.     Elvira has quite a bit more resistance to debuffs and status effects than the mini-bosses I’ve been beating up, so in addition to my new Flame of the End, it took an Ennui Mirror use from both Plachta and Alette to break her aura.      Fantastic Bargain does something different each time you use it, and in this case, Alette kicks a dinosaur plush at Elvira like she’s scoring a field goal.    Alas, Elvira doesn’t miss a turn from being stunned, and I couldn’t knock off her 100k HP in the short timeframe I had before she was up again. My usual model of “debuff enemy with Flame of the End/Ennui Mirror until their aura breaks, then rev up the DPS until they go down” won’t work with her, and she didn’t put her aura back up for quite some time. Here’s how that all ended:    And that’s what happens when the boss charges up the super-attack gauge fully and unleashes one! Still, even though the frontline got wiped, I can swap them all out for the rear guard and pick right back up from there. Hell, if I HAD to have the entire frontline go down, I’d rather none of the alchemists get caught in it.   After all, they’re the ones with the revival items; just like that, the three non-alchemists are up and ready to go again, and with a fresh layer of buffs to boot. I’ll say that Sophie 2 having a frontline and a rear guard makes these super-attacks far less devastating than they are in the Ryza games, which have a party of three in battle. An attack like that would have resulted in a straight up wipeout in the Ryza games.  For emphasis: I have like no opportunity to take advantage of her being stunned!    Still, as you can see, Elvira gets like three moves in whenever she has a turn. And since her 3% auto-heal activates whenever she moves, it means that with all those stacks of Curse active, instead of recovering 3% of her HP when she moves, she’ll lose 12% instead. So by moving multiple times in one turn, she’s hemorrhaging a tremendous amount of HP each time she’s up. Everyone’s bombs and skills plus Sophie and Plachta’s Dual Trigger only did 36623 damage to Elvira out of her 100k HP; this status effect did most of my dirty work for me for this battle!  You may wonder why I put One-Hit Kill on a Craft and brought it to this fight, since it’s a weak bomb and Elvira, as a boss, is expressly immune to insta-death.   Elvira herself may be immune to insta-death, but the mooks she summons to take the hit for her sure aren’t! And since the Craft is a weak bomb with a low base value, this won’t cost me much to use even with a trait as strong as One-Hit Kill on it. It also meant that the particulars of crafting the Craft didn’t matter; all I needed was one with this single trait on it.   And that’s the Auto Activate!Mystery Elixir in action! Note how Sophie didn’t just get fully healed, but also that two stacks of max HP increase raised her max HP by 20%.  After taking a few more really nasty blows from Elvira (and reviving fallen frontliners with a Breezy Aroma for the frontline in between), her auto-heal finally brought her down to 1HP.              Debrief      I’m paying a premium for everything I crafted this update!! Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Nov 29, 2022 |
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Nov 29, 2022 02:32
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Part 17: Dreams United (I)  Rallying the Town  itt Pirka teaches her roommate about yin and yang           Everyone’s Wishes   We’ve done it twice already and we know we’ll have to do it again, whether the party wants to or not.     I mean hey, transferring one’s own soul into a book is already kiiiinda, sorta, dabbling in territory ordinary humans have no place in, right? And same with transferring that soul from a book into a doll and then making that doll body human again?        So who’s to say the power of alchemy can’t make an item to save a goddess? We’re obliged to make the impossible possible.          The one Alette picked up after the Aura 101 mini-boss fight all the way back in Part 4.         Well, I think Plachta’s finally had that epiphany she’s been waiting on ever since the midgame point.   I’ve went above and beyond the first condition already. As for the second:  I just need to max out Fire for this Philosopher’s Stones synthesis–that’s a threshold of 22 Fire. Nothing else–not traits nor the other effects–matters for this synthesis as the product will be going straight into the Wiegentraum. Last up is a rematch with the Silverius at the Pockmarked Cliff.  Silverius round 2  That’s the Flame of the End working as intended and just utterly eviscerating the boss’ aura.   The Ennui Mirror wasn’t even needed to shave off any aura this time around, but more debuffs can’t hurt when the boss has 91k HP to burn through.    This time around, everyone’s new accessories and Synergy Talismans are really helping lay the hurt on the lizard.  So, this here skill of Alette’s does Wind physical damage, it scales off her very high speed stat, and last update she got an accessory that adds 30% of her speed to her attack. Furthermore, Silverius has an innate Wind weakness and two stacks of Frostbite have given him a significant weakness to physical attacks.  She rolls into him in a great green blur…  …before giving him a nice, hard kick and falling back.   Even without her final weapon, the Eaglescope is scaling Ramizel’s DPS to terrifying levels. It certainly helps for this fight that after another round of Pure White Corrosion debuffs, Silverius is weak as can be to physical attacks and has two stacks of Fire weakness.  And that’s how this match ended, without Silverius even getting a single attack in. Now, back to town.  Everyone’s Dreams (II)   very good timing for Anytime, Anywhere to start playing  Before we can get to the Wiegentraum synthesis…      It sounds so mundane, and at the same time, it’s a real come to jesus (or to Elvira?) moment for this prodigal son.   Alright, Olias is the first of our party members whose subplot has been completed. What this means is that the Dual Trigger gauge now goes up to 120%, and will go up to 140%, 160%, 180% and 200% as the rest of the party’s subplots wrap up too over the course of the following update. Even if the gauge can now go over 100%, only values up to 100% are carried over to the next battle. So if your gauge is way up there, use it or lose it.         “Never meet your heroes” my rear end. And since this is Diebold’s final weapon and the swords of Pirka’s fairytale hero, I most certainly will be synthesizing it to the best of my ability. …Next update.   A 7x7 grid with component overlap does plenty of work for me and it helps that the Dragon Bloodstone needed for that unit of Philosopher’s Stones has like three Fire components that are pretty close to being 3x3!          Just chuck everything in, and…    Who could resist faces like that?        Alright, of note–Plachta synthesizing the Wiegentraum unlocked the node for Alles Welt on Sophie’s recipe tree and counts as the first of four “synthesize something, ANYTHING”’s needed to unlock the recipe itself. And with that synthesis, four more nodes opened up on both Sophie and Plachta’s recipe trees: I can now start working towards getting the recipes for Sophie, Ramizel, Alette and Olias’ final weapons. For those, the general conditions are using Sophie and Ramizel’s Dual Trigger (and having the pair use Twin Actions five times); same with Ramizel and Diebold, and Plachta and Olias, and Olias and Alette. There’s more conditions specific to each of the four weapon recipes to meet as well.   Well, you can’t say the game didn’t warn you. If you have any outstanding character subplots, you will no longer be able to progress them the moment you enter the path to the final dungeon. For the record, we still have all this to knock off in the next update:
Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Dec 3, 2022 02:19
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Part 18: Dreams United (II) Let’s kick this one off with some crafting. The last thing I went on about in the previous update was the Alles Welt, whose node unlocked after Plachta crafted the Wiegentraum.  Since the Asterisíma is needed in the Alles Welt, it’s a good place to start. Good thing I have the first two materials from beating up dragons and the Abyss Tyrant.   The second effect affixes a different category to the output depending on which threshold you hit.  This is a recipe whose node became available after Plachta synthesized the Groll-warding Stone. I could start synthesizing it after collecting Einquartz.   Olias’ final weapon has Lightning and Light thresholds to hit, so I should have focused on those over Wind. Still, as you’ll see, it ended up not actually costing me the highest Lightning threshold’s effect on the Demon Slayer.  Now when gearing up to synthesize an additional Ennui Mirror for the party: Inflict Glacier x Transcendent Mastery gives me Final Glacier, which inflicts two stacks of Frostbite on the enemy. In addition to lengthening their wait times, it also means the enemy’s resistance to physical attacks is lowered by 2–so Ramizel, Diebold and Alette’s skills and Olias’ Avant-Garde will hit that much harder.  Again, what matters here is maxing out Wind for Tri-Suffer.   Final Grudge and Pure White Corrosion are, of course, mandatory on the finished product.  After duplicating them and going back to the atelier…  Promise with Alette       I’m not going to make this talisman, but it requires an ingredient from a Groll Aura mini-boss. I’ll show off the fight later in this update. By the skit here, it means that the Gunfighter Talisman increases the number of times you attack when you select the regular Attack command after using Support Guard. Still, this still will have inferior damage output to using Twin Actions and you’d really have to build to make it so that using it and the Attack command to bust Aura would be more effective than the other options you have available.  Now for Plachta’s final weapon: it requires an ingredient whose recipe is on the upper right of this screen, the locked node to the right of the talisman. One of the conditions for unlocking said talisman is to get an Evening Star Piece, which I can’t gather outside the final dungeon. I can’t buy one from Gnome either.   Going east of the point of no return, jumping up a cliff with the Gibeon, and squeezing through a crevice, I’ll find a Groll Aura boss–the target of a quest I’d accepted from Kati. If you’re looking for a particular Groll Aura mini-boss and its quest hasn’t shown up yet, just go to sleep until Kati puts it up for you.  The Devil and the Blossom   Demon enemies are usually immune to magic attacks and weak to physical attacks, and after getting smacked with Final Glacier this Covetous Devil is super weak to physical attacks.  Oh yeah, I need to use this Dual Trigger to get the recipe for Ramizel’s last weapon.          And there’s the Adventurer level cap at 50.  This is what we came here for. We’re halfway there to getting the recipe for the talisman!  The second condition is to beat the Chaos Blossom, a regular area boss in the Illusion Vale.       The only reason I’m synthesizing the Gunfighter Talisman is to unlock its neighboring node; the particulars of the product do not matter at all. Situations like this are where the auto-add function comes in handy!   The Fatal Nebula can be found by beating up any variety of the Large Groll we’ve seen or by gathering in the corrupted Dream Cradle.       The Divine Punisher has Ice and Lightning thresholds to mind, so those are the ones I’m prioritizing. And those are pretty great Ice and Lightning components on the output that’ll go into it. Taking a break from synthesizing:  The Mood in Town     Goodness, how horrible. The Dream Tree looks even more withered than it did before … Miss Elvira isn’t coming to town no more neither. Did something happen? Something must’ve! There’s no other explanation! But what are we meant to do about it? We don’t even know where Miss Elvira might be. There’s nothing we can do … No way, no how … … I hate this. Not being able to help is so frustrating …  Yeah … You’re right, Miss Ramizel! It won’t do any good if we’re all acting gloomy! I’ll keep chipping away at making my dream come true until Miss Elvira comes back! Then when she does, I’ll have a ton of stuff to tell her about! She’ll be thrilled! Ramizel … Please do whatever you can to aid our goddess. We believe in you! You gave us hope, and you can give some to our goddess, too!         Sweet Fragrance This is another Groll Aura boss I have to beat–in this case, it’s the third condition to unlock Sophie’s final weapon.       I am most certainly taking advantage of whoever broke the enemy’s aura getting to move again immediately, as Ramizel using Twin Actions with both Sophie and Diebold is progressing toward unlocking Sophie’s and her own final weapons respectively.  drat game that’s rude    Just two more Twin Actions for Ramizel’s final weapon!!   Now that feels good to have finally hit all thresholds on this one. Because I’ll need plenty of these for everyone’s final weapons.  It’s a given that the Ōkeagyrn will go in the second Ingot slot, and as a reminder, the Philosopher’s Stones I made with All Stats+10 count as Elixirs.  That’s already a solid statline to start with. And since there are no Light thresholds to care about…   I’ll just do that immediately to tack on another 10 to all stats.      It took me like four takes to get my Lightning links in order just right to get 10 and add that last Ōkeagyrn in and it also meant I had to sacrifice on the (expendable) Fire effect. What you’re seeing in this update is a good four to five hours of footage compressed into a bunch of screencaps and under 50000 characters. Output:  Their Shared Future       I want to call attention to the shield part of the Divine Punisher having gotten behind Sophie now   The top level effect, Judgment XXL, means Plachta recovers 15% of her MP after inflicting any debuffs and her skills are 50% stronger during thunderstorms. …The first half of that effect makes something else viable for her to use: her signature bomb, which has been available for synthesis since the Thunderbolt Palace!       I wasn’t able to get enough Fire links to add in a Gas ingredient with Wind components, but what matters is that by maxing out Fire, using the Twilight Prism will not put Plachta on death’s door. The one Wind component I had was just the right shape to let me hit the minimum Wind effect threshold to remove a buff from the enemy. As for the ones maxed out: Wild Rainbow does Magical damage (200 base power), consumes all of Plachta’s MP, with power increasing by 1% for every single point of MP expended. Rainbow Trial has Tri-Suffer’s effect, but with 7 stacks of a debuff instead of 3.  Goldnaire Now, for the Crimson Dragon Fangs, one of its ingredients is dropped by the Groll Aura mini-boss at Heaven’s Sword Peak. That’ll be my opportunity to test the Twilight Prism.   And while I’m at it, I need to do this Dual Trigger again to unlock Alette’s final weapon.     That “get ‘em!” flick of the finger is gold, and each point of Plachta’s colossal MP stat went into making her signature bomb hit like a truck. And you can see why Judgment XXL made the Twilight Prism just viable instead of unusable with these specs: Plachta only recouped 147MP for it. Still, that’s better than being left with no MP at all, and even if the Twilight Prism would be markedly less powerful if used a second time in this battle, Plachta still has something left to fire off her higher-power, more MP-intensive skills once she’s up again. (She wasn’t up again, because the Goldnaire went down very shortly thereafter.) It's possible to really make good use of the Twilight Prism for boss kill strategies, but you have to really go out of your way to build not just Plachta, but the whole team for it.  This here is why we took the trouble of fighting the Goldnaire. We now have everything we need for the Crimson Dragon Fangs, but before we can synthesize it…  Ramizel’s Goal       Is this a goal Ramizel would have ever come to, and would she have become the alchemist Sophie looked up to, had she not met her future granddaughter here in Erde Wiege? It’s an open question! quote:  The 2 Gunpowder requirement quite complicates this synthesis. Heck, this ended up not being my best; there’s a point I added and then took out a Philosopher’s Stones because it doesn’t add to any of the effect thresholds I’d missed for this, and I’d hit 10 Lightning and 10 Ice anyway to add three extra ingredients in.   Still, an additional Ōkeagyrn was very easily doable. And the added critical boost pairs well with the Eaglescope.  The Knight of Legend        Sturdy Blade XL increases physical damage by 30% (and thus applies to all but one of Diebold’s offensive skills) and decreases enemy’s aura gauge by an additional 1 when attacking.    And this is armor for Diebold too. Guard Dog’s Howl increases his chances of being targeted, Beast Hide increases his resistance to status effects and Sturdy Iron Plate reduces damage received from critical hits. That’s all fitting for the tanky member of the party.  Demonic Wing Fighting this Groll Aura mini-boss in the Verdigris Paradise is how you get an otherwise-unobtainable ingredient for the Gunfighter Talisman. And while I’m here…    What more can I say, it’s an AoE heal.   There’s our bounty: the Feurige Feather can only be found by beating up the Demonic Wing. Now to grind up DG for the last Dual Trigger needed…      Yep, an AoE debuff.   Now to craft the weapons for Ramizel, Sophie, Alette and Olias!   The Ōkeagyrn already comes with stacked Ice components, and having Light and Thunder thresholds to hit means that hitting 10 Lightning and Light links for adding in an extra Ōkeagyrn and Philosopher’s Stones will come very naturally.    Einsamkeit, das meint “loneliness.” As for the top-level effect, Selflessness XXL increases Ramizel’s critical hit rate by 50% and when she crits, she does additional physical damage that bypasses enemy defense; think Luna from Fire Emblem. So with the threshold for increasing crit damage by 30% and in tandem with the Eaglescope, Ramizel is guaranteed to crit the enemy and her crits will really, REALLY hurt.   As it turns out, I can make it so that I use literally nothing BUT Ōkeagyrn and Philosopher’s Stones for the Enlightenment Staff. And with only two relevant elements in play, it’s the easiest to synthesize of all the final weapons.  Getting rid of all my Lightning links just to add another Ōkeagyrn, and the extra Philosopher’s Stones can come with 10 Light links en route to maxing out the Light effects.    Spring of Wisdom XXL reduces Sophie’s MP consumption by 40% and increases her TP gain by 40%. The latter effect is always useful to keep up Twin Action momentum and the former helps mitigate Flame of the End’s MP consumption if I’m in a long boss fight and I need to blank its aura repeatedly.  Getting a Licht Kalpasmós was the third condition for the Hollow Walker and it can be found by Rank 3 gathering at the corrupted Dream Cradle. Now, this synthesis calls for Misc items.  Cloths also all count as Misc, so I can add two of my Geranóvirgen for this–unique among all the final weapons.     Adding in another Philosopher’s Stones was a foregone conclusion with all those Light components floating around, but I cut it drat close with the additional Ōkeagyrn. Gunning for 10 Lightning links cost me the SPD +50 threshold; still, in this case, I’d choose the boosts from the extra Ōkeagyrn over another 20 points of speed.    Sky Dasher XXL cuts Alette’s wait time by 40% and increases her evasion by 20%.   Last but not least, the Millio Quartz I made for this synthesis is finally going to fulfill its purpose. 2 Magical means two more Philosopher’s Stones go in too, and this is also a very easy synthesis to hit all my effect thresholds for and to add in an additional Ōkeagyrn and Philosopher’s Stones while I’m at it.     Banishing Bullet XXL increases Olias’ skill damage by 30% and gives an additional 20% chance of debuffing enemy defense. And with that, that’s all the weapons!   This will be the final armor for Olias and Alette; for the alchemists, I just resynthesized their Alchemy Mantles with a Geranóvirgen in the Cloth slot and got to add in another Philosopher’s Stones for them.   In practice, I was consistently unable to hit 10 Lightning links when synthesizing the last round of armor. After this, I had to go and make another Alles Welt for another Resurrection Wear because Alles Welt costs like 20k to duplicate and the Resurrection Wear, even more so.  After all my syntheses have been completed, I’m now investing my AP reserves in stat boosts. And these boosts stack–maxing out MP here means Plachta has 300 more MP than she would had I not invested a single point of AP toward increasing her MP. So here’s how everything looked before entering the final dungeon:       I wasn’t kidding when I said party members would be breaking 1000 in certain stats by endgame! Everyone in the party’s got at least one stat up there–sometimes, even WAY up there!  One last errand: making sure all my weather tools were completely topped off. …Maybe I went overboard, because 50+ uses is literally “never run out of juice again” territory. But each and every one of these tools will be needed once we pass the point of no return. Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Dec 30, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 02:21
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Part 19: The Goddess’s Dream Memories        Music: Scooping Up Dreams I did not anticipate something that would top the Thunderbolt Palace’s theme going in, but the final dungeon track had me by the balls the moment it opened with the piano solo. In addition to just being an objectively very beautiful track between the arrangement and Shimotsuki’s chorus, it perfectly complements the mood of this last mission and the visuals of the Nightmare Muster.  Throughout the Nightmare Muster, you’ll find landmarks from previous locations and gimmicks from previous dungeons.  There are two bosses at each of the objectives outlined in the mini-map. Going to the one to the east first:  It’s one of the elevators from the Thunderbolt Palace. And there’s more where that came from.  We’ll be revisiting this platform in the north of the Wicked Dream later.     Just like in the Snowy Corridor, you have to freeze the water to freeze this mill in place.  Finally, at the top of the hill…  Wild Hail (II)   Shameful admission: I dialed down the difficulty because I got pasted on Legendary. It has a knockback skill that’s really devastating on that difficulty, and I just couldn’t recover momentum after 5 of the party went down.  Still, it’s the same Wild Hail you fought back in the Snowy Corridor, just with more HP and higher attack power and higher resistance to debuffs and status effects. Heck, Elvira and her guardians in this dungeon seem to have rather high resistance to debuffs and status effects, even on lower difficulties. Still, the Wild Hail is the same deal as it was all the way back when. Not much more to show for this fight.      After beating the Wild Hail and activating that switch, half the crystals on the platform back in the Wicked Dream lit up.  And then there’s a door that drops us back off at the Wicked Dream. Now to go west to activate the other switch.  Up ahead is a carbon copy of the altar at the entrance to the Flower Bank Ruins, and you can guess what the gimmick for this zone will be. The landmarks and gimmicks from the old dungeons as displayed in the desolate, corrupted zone of the Nightmare Muster really reinforces what a warped hellscape the dungeon is.  Anyway, you remember how to make the sea level rise and fall and progress through the seabed and the ruins, right? And how to use lightning to open the occasional door? Once you’re at the end of the zone:  Hollow Dragon  Third time’s the charm, right?   Zmei is exactly the same as it was back in the Thunderbolt Palace. With everyone being higher-leveled and better-equipped, this was a cakewalk.   Now let’s fast travel back to the platform where this door just popped up. And turn the difficulty back up a notch.  Elvira’s Memories      Alright, after great effort, its aura is broken with an additional stack of Wind weakness. So let’s give Alette and Ramizel the spotlight.     That’s a home run hit, alright.       Gotta finish it with style.      After passing through the door…      Let’s bear southeast.    So what you’re supposed to do here is hit the rain Dreamspace Stone to fill this area with water, then freeze it.    That’ll give you clearance to jump up these stairs.  Pressing this switch will make the pathway in the center rotate clockwise until you can proceed to the next area.   Like that.   Eventually, you gotta make it sunny to make this walkway thaw enough to be passable.  Elvira’s Regrets            At the end of that gauntlet with all the weather tools…  Let’s turn the difficulty back up to Legendary! Wait, Legendary?  Restoration                    Music: Petrichor    That was a very lucky Pure White Corrosion proc, since 19 Aura damage left Elvira in range for Alette and Ramizel to do this:    Since their weapons were synthesized to enable multiple hits with the regular Attack command and each single hit does 1 Aura damage, the two of them hit just enough times to shave off Elvira’s remaining Aura.  All that was to lead up to this: having Plachta use the Twilight Prism in a Twin Action. Now let’s see just how much damage it can do when the party is specifically built for the sole purpose of having her use this thing:      With an overkill like that, that’s gotta be a wrap, right?          Music: Aria  That’s right, our last fight in the LP is the second half of a twofer boss battle with Elvira! And since it’s back to back, your buffs and debuffs will be reset, but hope you aren’t too low on HP and item uses! And she starts by giving herself a resistance to status effects in addition to 25 Fire Aura, so I’m not going to get much more mileage out of my Flame of the End other than its base 10 Aura damage. But after using it and having Alette use the Block command…    Plachta only recouped 262 MP from the debuffs Rainbow Trial slapped Elvira with at the end of round 1; after having Sophie fire off the opening salvo, it’s imperative I use Sophie and Ramizel’s Dual Trigger on the rear guard to fully restore her MP so she can fire the Twilight Prism off again.    For this final battle, I equipped everyone but Plachta with Destructive Talismans with Destructive Crest XL, which increases guard damage reduction by 25%, and when someone successfully blocks an attack, applies Aura Inhibition and reduces the aura gauge by 3. (See the after-script in the LP’s home page for more details.)    After Elvira fired off her super attack and hit the entire front line, her Aura dropped by 9 and broke. Now to finish this:     I’m so glad the Twilight Prism hits all enemies, because the first action Elvira took this round was to summon two Groll, one immune to physical damage and the other immune to magic damage. If the Twilight Prism was single-target, I’d have had to watch helplessly as the Living Nightmare, which is immune to magic damage, blocked it for Elvira. Anyway, NOW it’s over. The most  -astic way to finish our last battle. Now to have Ramizel do the honors:           At last, she’s back to normal!    Indeed; one look at Sophie 1’s final boss reminds the player of the road Plachta might have walked, and very well could have walked otherwise.     Now, let’s go back to town.  Elvira’s Dream   And that’s all … really true? There’s no need to apologize! But, uh … You were kidding about that last part, right? About Erde Wiege disappearing … That can’t possibly be true, can it? … And that’s why you’re going to make this world disappear? But, Miss Elvira, you spent so long turning Erde Wiege into the place it is today … Um … Without Erde Wiege, what will happen to you? Does that mean you’ll be all on your own? That’s not it! Miss Elvira, you don’t understand at all! We knew this perfect world wouldn’t last forever. We knew the end would come someday. That’s why we’ve all been working our hardest to make our dreams come true! What’s upsetting us is watching you sacrifice YOUR dream, Miss Elvira! Didn’t you tell us that your dream is to talk with us about our dreams? We cannot accept you sacrificing your dream just to save us! Please, Miss Elvira! You must reconsider!  And there’s the thing with Erde Wiege. Pursuing a dream isn’t all sunshine and rainbows; struggle and despair go part and parcel with it. What Elvira tried to do was create a world where everyone could pursue their dreams with no downsides. Here, time is frozen so its inhabitants can have all the time they need to pursue their dreams. Resources are boundless. For a long time, it really did feel like a utopia where its inhabitants could have their cake and eat it too. But one cannot have light without dark. Struggle and doubt cannot be completely excised from the path to optimism and success. And so the dark side of Erde Wiege materialized as the Groll, an antagonistic force and a corrective of sorts to what everyone had been enjoying. And Elvira is committed to getting rid of the Groll conclusively, even if it means the end of Erde Wiege. Still, even though this world where everyone chasing their dreams could have their cake and eat it too can no longer be, the game emphatically rejects the notion that Elvira should have to suffer in solitude for an eternity thereafter. …And Sophie, who knows a thing or two about being left all alone in the world, will step up to the plate.  Saving Elvira        Ouch, but also, it’s not like this matters anymore.    Well, Alchemy level 85 is the absolute minimum Sophie has to hit for you to finish the game; given the sheer volume of crafting I’ve done, I went way over. But first things first: gotta make another Alles Welt. Since the Dream Vision Pendulum has no effect thresholds to care about and just demands that I have an Alles Welt, this is the perfect occasion for auto-synthesis!     The zones of the corrupted Dream Cradle’s dimension are still there. At least fast travel just lets me go straight back to Elvira!            Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Feb 3, 2023 |
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Dec 7, 2022 02:25
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Tentative update schedule to close out the LP: Friday evening: will post the ending Saturday: will post the last bonus update including concept art for Boss Elvira and all the voice actors' comments Sunday: will post the post-credits scene Everything's been transcribed and is just waiting for posting.
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Dec 7, 2022 02:27
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Part 20: A Dream Everlasting Beginning of the End     At this point, the most comical banging and thud sound effects play as Sophie’s trying to get her stuff together at the very last minute.     Fast travel has been revoked for the ending, so I have to take the scenic route to the Commercial District so Sophie and Plachta can say their final goodbyes to Kati and Gnome, and then Pirka.  Farewells: Kati and Gnome, Pirka           Let’s take in one last look of the completely empty Crystal Sparkle Pavilion before moving on.      that’s a hell of a line, amplified by knowing that since everyone’s going home to their separate time periods, that these goodbyes are almost certainly going to be final. And “Like When We Were Kids” playing really helps accentuate the emotion delivered in this line and for most of the farewells.          Farewells: Team Erde Wiege      I know I’ve commented on their dynamic many times, but drat if Rami doesn’t look like Ellie’s mom in this shot.                  Farewell forever though this may be for Olias and Diebold, the bromance shall live on in our hearts and theirs.           Well, there we have it: it’s not that Doll Plachta didn’t completely recoup her memory from 500 years ago, it’s that her memory of Erde Wiege was erased upon her return to the real world.       Believe me, transcribing this last stretch of Young Plachta’s goodbye was really difficult; there were times I had to pay very close attention to catch the nuances between how Yuka Iguchi voices Doll Plachta and how she voices Young Plachta.         Well hey, if Rami could handle Ellie all this time, what kind of brat could she possibly be unable to handle once she becomes an actual mom?    You knew this was coming the moment you started following this LP, didn’t you?       Even if I saw this coming from before I even began the game–Ramizel’s line up there, “I won’t have a single regret, even if I don’t get to finish watching you grow up”, stood out when it was first featured in a promotional video–I still found myself struggling to bite back tears as Sophie finally said everything that had been left unsaid to her grandmother. And the way they switched to “Even if the stars disappear after dawn” for this scene? That track has been inextricably linked with Sophie’s second parting with Ramizel in my mind ever since I first finished this game. I’ll link the track again, just because it did a phenomenal job setting the mood. Locate her as in locate the reference book Young Plachta is fated to become, and which Sophie’s late grandmother happened to have lying around her atelier at the start of Sophie 1.      And then there was just Ellie and Rami, the two original habitants of this world.           Reverie Music: Planisphere - Yuka Kondo   
Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Dec 11, 2022 |
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Dec 10, 2022 02:10
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Also, seems a bit late to be joining this LP
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Dec 10, 2022 06:19
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drat, of the dozens of times someone else logged on while I was recording footage, that had to happen during the ending...
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Dec 10, 2022 16:23
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Bonus Update 4 Concept Art Elvira in battle (regular and frenzied) Nightmare Muster CGs Builder of Worlds 1 Builder of Worlds 2 Elvira's Wish 1 Elvira's Wish 2 You Are Me 1 You Are Me 2 Dream Encounter 1 Dream Encounter 2 Dream Encounter 3 We March Forward Concert Hall Map themes Nightmare Muster: Scooping Up Dreams (Yanagawa, with Shimotsuki on chorus) Battle themes Elvira final boss (1/2): Petrichor (Yanagawa) Elvira final boss (2/2): Aria (Achiwa) End credits theme: Planisphere (Yanagawa, with Yuka Kondo on vocal) I don’t know anything about Yuka Kondo other than “is an indie singer from Hokkaido”, but she sang what became my favorite Atelier ending theme. From the lyrics, I get the impression that the song is sung from Ramizel’s perspective, addressed to Elvira. It’s also the vocal track that “Even if the stars disappear after dawn” and “Anytime, Anywhere” riff off of. Story recaps Chapter 9 Abnormality Elvira Rampages Everyone’s Wishes Trade for the remaining materials in the Crystal Sparkle Pavilion. Finishing the Nightmare Dream of Hollow Dragon Dream of Mysterious Beasts Finishing the Nightmare (cont.) Elvira’s Past The Final Battle Chapter 10 One for All Goodbye, Erde Wiege Farewell, Kati and Gnome Farewell, Pirka Goodbye, Erde Wiege (cont.) Bestiary notes          VA Comments I promised these back in the first bonus update, and now here they are–all ten of them. Sophie - Yuuka Aisaka Hi, I'm Yuuka Aisaka, and I'm the voice of Sophie Neuenmuller. Let me first congratulate you on finishing the game! "Atelier Sophie 2"! Can you believe it? I don't know how about you, but I definitely didn't see it coming. Even though I remember wishing and wishing that I could just keep playing Sophie forever, I never expected this. It almost feels too good to be true. I was seriously so in shock, I had to keep making sure that it truly was happening. But it really is, thanks to all of your support. I mean, you even voted Sophie as the most popular character in the polls, which gave me such an incredible sense of just how many there are of you out there cheering me and Sophie on. I truly feel that we've made it to this point because of all the blood, sweat, and tears everyone has poured into this series. So here it is, "Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream"! Though, you've already finished it, so I suppose you already know that. Come on, tell me! What did you think?! Super-duper emotional, right? I bet you didn't expect Grandma Ramizel to show up! In terms of the timeline, the game is set sometime between "Atelier Sophie" and "Atelier Firis." It's a bit closer to "Atelier Firis," since I think Sophie is around 19 in this game. Who would've guessed that Sophie would meet Ramizel again at this point in her life? But, guys, this is a direct sequel to the first game! It's a "2"! It's crazy! I'm just so excited, I can't help it. I didn't expect they'd travel to a different world, meet with someone from the past … Everything is so amazingly well done. Like, what a clever way to make it possible for Sophie to meet her grandma again! I haven't had the chance to ask the team behind the game yet, but I really want to know if they had been planning this setting since they were working on the first "Atelier Sophie." I mean, it's pretty hard to believe something this incredibly perfect could just come together by accident, right? The teams at Koei Tecmo and Gust are seriously amazing. They've done an exceptional job. I was really moved. I also never could have imagined there would be two Plachtas. I wonder what it'd be like to be surrounded by Plachtas like Sophie? Could things get any more perfect? And even characters who didn't make an appearance like Monika, Oskar, and Cory still come up a little in conversations, which was just so touching and brought back such good memories. I hope we get to meet them all again if there's an "Atelier Sophie 3." Who knows, it could happen! A girl can only hope! But, I guess I should try not to get ahead of myself. I'm so thankful to have been able to be a part of the spectacular achievement that is "Atelier Sophie 2." So, I get it, but also, I seriously can't help thinking about how great it would be to do this all again, you know? I love all the new characters this game introduces us to, too. All the girls and boys are so colorful, and all have their own unique personalities and styles. But that's totally the case for every Atelier game, right? There's never a bad character. Though I'm sure that you all already know that. In any case, I want to thank all of you so, so much, as I'm sure Sophie would too. I just feel a huge sense of gratitude from the bottom of my heart. At the time of recording this, I still don't really have a full idea of how all of the recipes and ingredients that pop up in "Atelier Sophie 2" will look like. Like, for example, Sotea and Puni Jelly. Do they appear in the game? I know they always end up so cute, so I can't wait! I really can't wait any longer to play the game myself. Oh, but you've already finished it, haven't you? I'm so jealous! Well, with that… It feels amazing to be back here. Sophie has become such an important character to me. To see something that I had played such a big part in, to be able to get a sequel, is just so incredible. I feel that Sophie will always be the character who stands out the most in my entire career, so how lucky am I that I got another chance to play her? But how about a "3" then? Will there be a third game? Hehe, I guess that depends on you all. I’ll just have to keep a close eye on the character popularity polls, huh? Of course, there are tons of other great characters in the Atelier universe, but I would love it if you could vote for Sophie if you have the chance. I just want to say again, thank you all so much. It's all because of the incredible fans like you that "Atelier Sophie 2" exists. Thank you so much. So please play "Atelier Sophie 2" again! And again and again! Oh, and don't forget to play "Atelier Sophie", the first one, again to get even more into the Atelier world! Anyway, sorry for rambling, but thank you for listening! This is Yuuka Aisaka, the voice of Sophie Neuenmuller. Thank you, everyone! For completely understandable reasons, Yuuka Aisaka had a lot to say. You can tell the role of Sophie from 2015 onward really does have a big place in her heart. As for the prospects of Sophie 3, Junzo Hosoi, Gust’s producer, has stated that they’ll be going back to doing trilogies with three separate protagonists after Ryza 3 and will be doing so for the foreseeable future, but if we got Ryza 3, who’s to tell Aisaka she can’t have her Sophie 3 someday? Plachta - Yuka Iguchi I hope you enjoyed "Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream." Hello, I'm Yuka Iguchi, the voice of Plachta. I was so happy to be able to play Plachta again after such a long time. How was it, everyone? Plachta's a little different this time, or should I say, we get to see her when she was young. I spoke extensively with the staff about how we wanted to portray the young Plachta. We talked about how young she would look and how different she would act from the older Plachta. And so you all got to see what we imagined Plachta would have been like in her youth … Isn't she cute? She's so cute! I hope they turn her into a figurine! I may be biased since I play Plachta, but she's definitely the cutest! Well, in fact, all of the characters are adorable, and cool, and amazing, right? Okay, enough about what I think. I hope you liked the story. Atelier has always been about growing and improving, and it was so exciting to be a part of it again. I hope you all enjoy the game and continue to enjoy the Atelier series! This was Yuka Iguchi, the voice of Plachta. Congratulations to Yuka Iguchi, she's getting her smol Plachta figurine! And if you’ve followed Sylphid’s Lulua LP, you’ll also recognize her as Japanese Mimi in the latter three Arland games in addition to her work as Plachta in the first three Mysterious games. Ramizel - Rie Takahashi My name is Rie Takahashi, and I play Ramizel. Congratulations on completing the game. I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts about Ramizel. I really love how Ramizel recognizes the things she can't do and her limitations as an alchemist and is willing to ask other people for help. I think her dream to work together with everyone to bring happiness to everyone is so inspiring. You know, she might come across as a bit aloof, but she's actually very grounded and capable of tackling her own limitations head-on. In that way, she serves as a kind of mentor or older sister type with this great attitude towards life. Playing Ramizel, there were two characters I had a lot of interaction with. The first is, of course, Sophie, since Ramizel's her grandma! Sophie's grandma was discussed in the previous game, but this was my first time actually voicing the character. I'm thankful I got to play her when she was 22 years old, although I wonder how I would do if there was a sequel with Ramizel in it. But you know, I'm the voice of Ramizel now, so … Oh dear, I have to start working on my elderly lady voice. Speaking of, we got to see that Ramizel doesn't have any of the restraint of an elderly lady and is really just a girl at heart. But, you can also tell how much she cares for Sophie and for all the people around her, and I think through that you kind of do feel some of her "grandmotherly-ness". There were actually lines where she says something like "You're my … " to Sophie, weren't there? There are many scenes where Ramizel and Sophie feel a bit nervous being together, but in the end, not only are they good friends, but Ramizel can express how proud she feels to call Sophie her granddaughter. What's more, Ramizel is herself inspired by Sophie to chase after a kind of new dream, or goal. They really have a special relationship that can't be described in a single word. I love the two of them, and I was so happy to get to play my part in bringing their relationship to life. And there's one more person Ramizel really loves: Ellie. The two share a lot of scenes throughout the game. As for Ellie, I guess one way to describe her is that she's kind of the odd one out in the group. When I was in elementary school, there was this girl who couldn't talk much with the others, but I could talk with her, and I sort of acted as her interpreter. But I always thought maybe that's not the best thing because I really hoped she'd eventually become able to communicate with everyone. And you get a real sense of that kind of human relationship playing out in the fantasy setting in this game. So it was effortless for me to imagine, and I was also so lucky because I got to act alongside Reina Ueda, who I’ve already worked with in the past. In fact, it was so exciting to learn that I was working alongside so many actors I've worked with before, and I knew that we would be able to make something really great. This game is filled with so many different kinds of relationships, so I hope you'll be able to enjoy them all. We're also left wondering about what will happen to Ramizel after the game … But I'm sure she kept everything she had learned in her heart and became a wonderful grandmother to Sophie. I'm so happy I was able to be a part of "Atelier Sophie 2." I'll keep on wishing that Grandma Ramizel will be able to make another appearance. Thank you for playing. This was Takahashi Rie, the voice of Ramizel. Bye-bye! Rie Takahashi and Reina Ueda are also BFFLs irl–the two started out in the industry together and have had a long-running radio show and have been in plenty of things together over a decade plus. Truly the best duo to bring Rami and Ellie’s relationship to life. For other Gust engagements, Takahashi was also in 2014's Ar Nosurge long before she struck it big. Alette - Aoi Yuki Hi, everyone. My name is Aoi Yuki, and I'm the voice of Alette. Playing Alette was so much fun. She's so full of energy and happiness and a bit of a troublemaker, but honestly, just a really good person. It's hard not to feel positive when you get to play a character like that, though sometimes I found myself out of breath just trying to keep up with her incredible speed and ingenuity. But, strangely enough, I always walked away with a feeling of exhilaration, like I'd just been playing some kind of sport. I'm so glad I was able to play Alette and take part in such a wonderful, heartfelt story. I hope "Atelier Sophie 2" will always hold a special place in your heart. Bye-bye! Where do we even begin with Aoi Yuki’s resume? Good on Gust for managing to land her for this game! Olias - Tomoaki Maeno Hello, everyone. Congratulations on completing the game. This is Tomoaki Maeno, and I play Olias. What did you think of him? He's lovable, isn't he? He's arrogant, but there's a lot more to him than you might initially think, with his background and story with his family. He was a ton of fun to play. As a huge fan of RPGs, and having played the Atelier series before, I was able to imagine what the story would be like and how the character would move in battle and everything, which made the recording process so much fun. I think the story features a strong message spun by characters with rich personalities. That said, I'm sure that just like the other games in the Atelier series, it's pretty much impossible to enjoy every aspect of this game in just one playthrough. So I hope you'll continue to enjoy the game and all it has to offer. This game is worth it, I promise. I hope you'll feel like playing it two, three, even four more times. As for me, I hope I'll be able to appear again as Olias in one form or another in the future, so please continue to show your support for the Atelier series. Thank you all again. This is Tomoaki Maeno, the voice of Olias, signing out. I did not have Tomoaki Maeno pegged as a longtime fan of the Atelier series, but he really did do a good job with Olias. Diebold - Kengo Kawanishi Hello, everyone. My name is Kengo Kawanishi, and I play the part of Diebold. Congratulations on completing the game. I'm a fan of the Atelier series myself, but from what I hear, the game this time is somewhat different, and the way of playing has been changed up a bit. It's been a great experience to appear in a series that I have played a good amount of, and I'm looking forward to playing "Atelier Sophie 2" once it's finished. I'm sure you still have plenty more to check out in the game, so I'd be thrilled if we could enjoy it together. I look forward to meeting you all again. Bye-bye! Well hey, the way Atelier plays changes from entry to entry, and Sophie 2 is like an interregnum in a sense compared to the Ryza games it’s sandwiched between. Elvira - Reina Ueda Congratulations on finishing the game, everyone. I'm Reina Ueda, and I play Elvira. What did you think? She's quite the piece of work, don't you think? Ehehe. She's gorgeous and divine looking but still just a girl at heart. Were you surprised? I know I was. As I read through the script, I realized just how much of a little girl she is, but I saw that as she spends time with Sophie and Rami and everyone, she grows little by little and learns how to communicate with others. I'm so thankful that you all played this game, gathered lots of ingredients, made lots of items, fought, protected Erde Wiege, and helped Elvira grow. Thank you very much. I love how the Dream Tree grew and bloomed along with the story, and that ending! How can you not cry? You got to see the actual visuals, right? I'm so jealous! Since we're at the recording stage of things, we still don't know anything about what it'll look like, but you've already seen it! I bet it was amazing. But anyway, thank you for playing through the game and witnessing the end of Elvira's and everyone's journeys. I hope you'll continue to support the Atelier series. Thank you again. This was Reina Ueda. Reina Ueda is also a veritable Gust veteran–in addition to Elvira, she was Lucia, the twin protagonists’ cousin and a DLC party member in L&S. More recently, she was Mio, the protagonist’s older sister in 2021’s Blue Reflection: Ray anime and a supporting character in 2021’s Blue Reflection: Second Light. I have not yet played Second Light myself, but everyone I know who has swears up and down that it’s one of Gust’s all-time masterpieces. Pirka - Yukimi Hayase Hi, everyone. My name is Yukimi Hayase, and I play Pirka. If you're listening to this now, that means that you've completed the game. Hooray! While I was looking through the script, I really got the image that Pirka's a character who is loved by a lot of people in the town, and I just couldn't help but think that I'd love to have a girl like her in my neighborhood too. Pirka spends a lot of time with Alette, and I was really struck by the words Pirka spoke at the end about how she's been saying goodbye to Alette every day since they met, since they don't know how long they'll be together. I very much enjoyed playing out their relationship. I really did my best to put the exact right emotion into that scene, so I hope you enjoyed it. Before this opportunity, I was familiar with the Atelier series, but I never expected to actually get to be a part of it. I'm so glad I got this chance. Thank you very much. I hope we'll be able to meet again someday. That's all from me, Yukimi Hayase. Bye-bye! Gnome - Yuko Ono Hello, my name is Yuko Ono, and I'm the voice of Gnome. How did you enjoy the game? I've always been on the other side of the screen enjoying the Atelier series as a player, and it's one of my favorite series of all time. It's an absolute honor that I was picked to be part of it! Gnome is an earnest, kind boy, so I wanted to portray him as a character that can really make you feel relaxed and comfortable. And it's actually my first male role. He's such a likable character, and I tried my best to convey his particular charm so that the players could understand how great he is. I'd be delighted if you found it entertaining. I often think about what could happen back in the real world after the events of the game. I even daydreamed about Gnome meeting Kati again. How nice that would be! What do you think happens? That’s all from me, thank you and goodbye! The last thing I’d heard Yuko Ono as was Flayn in Three Houses, so Gnome is definitely a contrast. She also voiced Kirara in Blue Reflection: Second Light and is the current voice of Gust-chan, well, whenever Gust deigns to have their anthro mascot talk. Good on her for knocking her first male role out of the park. Kati - Manami Numakura Hi, I'm Manami Numakura and I play Kati. I decided to be a little laid-back with the role, just like Kati would. She's an "elder sister" sort of character, not the kind that throws her weight around, but rather someone who's friendly and easy to get along with. She does slack off and is a slob sometimes, but she also has an intelligent and mature side which isn't too obvious on the surface. That was part of her charm, and I played the role while keeping those aspects of her character in mind. I'm honored to take part in a long-running series like this, and I hope you all will continue to enjoy the Atelier series. Thank you! Numakura’s biggest role is as Pieck from Attack on Titan; at the time of this writing, the FINAL FINAL FINAL Season has yet to air. Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Dec 10, 2022 17:30
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Epilogue: To A Mysterious Journey To A Mysterious Journey          Those of you who’ve played the OG Mysterious trilogy will recognize Ertona as Firis’ hometown and the starting point of her game. Right off the heels of this game, Sophie will give the next Mysterious series protagonist the tools she needs to embark on her eponymous Mysterious Journey.               As the ending song said, they shall meet again under the stars.  And maybe we, too, shall meet Sophie again someday.
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Dec 11, 2022 16:14
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Endgame: Guide to Twilight Prism-ing Because I’m a crazy person, I decided to try another strategy for beating up the final boss on a higher difficulty. The strategy is adapted from this guide for Very Hard, and I can confirm it holds up perfectly fine on Charismatic difficulty. As for Legendary, well… I had to play it by ear and be a lot more aggressive than what the guide writer suggested (read: have Sophie use the Flame of the End with Aura Damage XL for its default 10 Aura damage), but the basic equipment and specs outlined in this guide will still work on that difficulty. Anyway, Plachta’s signature bomb, the Twilight Prism, scales off of her massive MP stat. When you hit its maximum Light threshold, you get Wild Rainbow, which in addition to its massive base magic damage, uses up all her MP and increases her damage output by 1% for each point of MP expended. So if you min-max Plachta's MP, you can up the Twilight Prism's damage output to the point it can even OHKO bosses, which is rather preferred given she may very well be left without any MP to fire it off again afterward! And because the final boss is very resistant to debuffs even on Hard difficulty, Ennui Mirrors and Pure White Corrosion are no longer reliable for getting rid of her Aura. This requires a change in tactics to lay the groundwork for her to use the Twilight Prism. Since Plachta’s the centerpiece of this strategy, she gets all the special gear.   What’s most important for effect levels on her armor is the last Light threshold, 14 for Item Boost +15%. I kept Evolve the Body and swapped out Develop the Body and All-Stat Power for Awakened Spirit (MP+100, Awakening x Sage’s Wisdom) and Dragon God Soul (MP+100 and restores 15MP per turn, Dragon God Blessing x Sage’s Wisdom).  I didn’t have many adjustments to make with the Divine Punisher; I just swapped out Persistent Attack for Dragon God Wrath, which in addition to its very good secondary effect, raises Plachta’s MP by another 30 by dint of its boosting all stats by 30. Speaking of said secondary effect, it's only going to be the weapon that has Dragon God Wrath this time around. The Twilight Prism does three separate hits, so Dragon God Wrath will boost the first, second and third hits by 25%, 50% and 75% respectively. (as an aside: the key threshold to hit here is 19 Ice for Item Boost +15%. Given the components of the ingredients involved, it really shouldn't be hard to hit that threshold and then some as well as hitting 10 Light and 10 Lightning links to add in another Philosopher's Stones and Ōkeagyrn to juice up the stats even further.)   Now, I have to revisit the Gunfighter Talisman in earnest. For this build, I want to boost Plachta's item power by as much as possible, so its Item Boost +15% at the 15 Ice threshold beats out the Synergy Talisman giving +10% to both skill and item power. In addition, Plachta's new talisman and accessory will serve as additional vectors for +MP traits.  In addition to Dragon God Soul and Awakened Spirit, I added Awakened Endurance (HPMP Supercharge x Awakening, HP/MP+80). For reference, HPMP Supercharge itself is the merger of Life Force and Sage’s Wisdom.    Here’s her accessory. The key threshold here is 13 Ice for Empathetic Heart, which boosts Twin Action damage by 30%. The 15 Lightning threshold for Trembling Yarn doesn’t hurt either–that increases TP gain by 30%, even if this strategy requires that Plachta not take part in any Twin Actions and staying put in the rear guard until the boss' aura goes down. Now, that was a lot of crafting to min-max Plachta's MP. Time for the Twilight Prism, which I'll want to stack item power-increasing traits on.  Evil Cores have the trait Devil’s Brand by default. Like Awakening, Transcendent Mastery, and Dragon God Blessing, it combines with other traits to upgrade them; its gimmick is that it massively increases power in exchange for adding a negative side effect. Two of the final product’s traits will have something involving it.  It really helps that literally all the Twilight Prism’s ingredients are intermediary, which affords me ample opportunity to merge Devil’s Brand and Dragon God’s Blessing with their respective target traits. And here’s the loadout:  You can see on the screenshot what Dragon God Roar does and where it comes from; with the other traits on the output, its secondary effect will scale up the bomb’s damage by a lot. The other two are Demon Flare (doubles item’s power in exchange for consuming 20% of max HP, Extremely Devastating x Devil’s Brand) and Demon Throw (increases item’s power by 80% but extends wait time after use by 150%, Strong Throw x Devil’s Brand). For reference, Demon Flare is actually stronger than the Awakened version of Extremely Devastating.  Item power also scales off of quality, so I appreciate the Super Synthesis proc very nearly maxing out the Twilight Prism’s quality.  Next up is the means for everyone else to deplete the boss’ aura. It’ll also double as a way to increase the rest of the party's HP and survivability, since this strategy hinges on everyone not named Plachta hitting the Block and Support Guard buttons to tank the boss’ hits. That’s where the Destructive Talisman comes in.  For once when synthesizing talismans, the top level effect threshold actually matters. 20 Wind yields Destructive Crest XL, which increases guard damage reduction by 25%, and when someone successfully blocks an attack, does an additional 3 Aura damage and applies aura inhibition (well, depending on the boss' resistance to status effects). You can see from Part 19 that this shaves off between 3 to 7 Aura each time the boss hits someone who's guarding, and so if the boss hits the entire front line and they've all hit the block/support guard button, her Aura goes down by 9. Needless to say, everyone not named Plachta has to be able to survive enough of those hits for this strategy to work.  So the Destructive Talisman is accordingly the vector for +HP traits: Awakened Vitality (HP+200, Life Force x Awakening) and Dragon God Spirit (HP+175 and restores 30HP per turn; Life Force x Dragon God Blessing, but I also found this trait innately on Dragon Bloodstones). No changes to everyone else’s weapons and armors and accessories were needed. As you can see, building around this strategy mostly involved changing traits, and the traits on everyone else’s weapons and armors sufficed to increase durability and survive just long enough on Legendary difficulty.  And this is Plachta, min-maxed for her MP just for this, her signature bomb. As for how much damage that signature bomb does when the boss' aura goes down? As seen in the last fight of Part 19…something to the order of multiple hundreds of thousands. Even more if you get lucky with your debuff procs and slap the boss with Curse stacks. Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Dec 28, 2022 |
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Dec 25, 2022 03:59
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1700 MP 
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Dec 25, 2022 05:18
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Odd Wilson posted:1700 MP all the other big numbers dropped like rocks but that 1751 MP was the only one that mattered for this build
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Dec 26, 2022 18:33
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