2 chemists and a samurai?
Thanks for grabbing the pistol, DR-kun - that makes Mustadio useless. Well, let's make him an archer so he can at least disable someone from a distance...
15. Balias Tor
We face some guys and gals hired to capture Mustadio:
Gayness detected...
Enemies:
Very strong and interesting team. Two knights:
Two geomancers
And two summoners
The battle was (unnecessarily) long, due to lack of strong tank (DR) and both Mustadio and Agrias being totally useless (once again, it's all DR's fault, of course)...
: x
We wait till all enemies crystallize, and end the battle
a) Things that went well
1) Enemy summoners died casting only two weak summons
2) Enemies were able to revive KOed allies
But that only made their tanks busy, and helped shit in the long run.
b) Problems
1) Enemy gaymancers were damn strong - fuckers kept their distance and used their filthy gaymancy
2)
DR said:
Guns + Arts of War is something you gotta try out at least once.
And what's the point of using AoW anyway, except sapping MP from mages?
Why should we brake enemy equipment, when we can simply kill them and count on grabbing their stuff?
c) 
See point e)
d) 
1) Sov survives critical hit of enemy axe
But gets Decapitated
2) Enemy corpses gave us mostly items: Diamond Bracelet, Mage's Staff & Golden Helm
Sov devoured an enemy spirit, but:
Bee was close to 2nd devouring, but stupid cocksucker Mustadio was faster
Fuck, I hate guests!
e) Performance:
1) Ramza
Our main ass-kicker due to DR's decline
Survived the duel with the dual-wielding knight thanks to his high evade
2) DR
Was useful ONLY as a ranged attacker
Massive
3) Bee
Had problems with attacking a sturdy geomancer (using 'Defense Boost' looks like a good idea, BTW)
But Bee can pull a sharp ace up her 'sleeve' now
Only problem with using katanas:
But we're filthy reach so whatever. It uses katana from the inventory, not the one you're holding, BTW. But if you have only one katana of certain type, using 'Iaido' is risky...
Anyway, Bee was able to deal with the cheating geomancer in two draws
4) Sov
At the start he had serious problems with using his Mysticism
Was successful eventually
But enemies are prepared for status-changing attacks now
On the other hand, Sov's Invigoration is very strong ATM
5) Mustadio
Was able to disable an enemy once
But he spent most of the time KOed. Useful at sniping too:
6) Agrias
Was using items and doing some attacking
After completing the battle, we got a scene
Video 28. Dycedarg's Scheming
Dycedarg is a truBRO!
Ramza learns Dragonheart & Aurablast, Bee learns Maiden's Kiss
, Gold Needle, Holy Water and Ashura, Sov learns Eye Drops, Echo Herbs, Maiden's Kiss
, Gold Needle, Holy Water and switches to blackie:
Mustadio goes back to Machinist and grabs our only pistol. Let's hope DR will switch to something useful now...
It's time to reach Lionel Castle:
Video 29. The Cardinal and the Stone
Reaching Lionel gives us another scene that we can check in our Codex:
Video 30. Seekers of the Stone
There's also new Personal profile:
High Confessor Marcel
Agrias and Ovelia are indeed missing from the party:
Our target is the City of Goug
But we have more interesting things to do before that.
First - we visit the Tavern. Three new Rumors to learn:
The Legend of the Zodiac Braves
Zodiac Stones
The Baert Trading Company
Second - we pay the Shopkeeper a visit. New items available:
Giant's Axe: Attack 16, Block 40, +Decapitate
Crossbow: Attack 7, Block 5, +Doublestrike
We can also buy full set of golden stuff now: shields, helms and armors
There are some new accessories on the display:
Rubber Boots: immune - Immobilize, negates - lightning
Protect Ring: immune - Sleep, Doom
Guardian Bracelet: immune - Immobilize, Disable
In the Items department, we can (fucking finally!) buy Ethers and Remedies
It's time to do some equalizing - Bee, WC, Steve and Guzu are below Lv 23. Bee switches to geomancer - I think it's time to put those dancing shoes on, people!
Steve and Guzu aim for Sage/Bard, BTW.
We go back to Zaland and visit a shop. New items:
Battle Bamboo: Attack 7, Block 30
Wizard Clothing: HP +42, MP +15
We can also buy Wizard's Robes from now on, which is very nice.
Since I think about an extensive use of ninjas, I buy some bombs as well
We continue to Araguay Woods and bump into some bad dudes there...
Interesting battle - two allied ents
And enemy team consists of 2 red dragons
And 4 bombs
I wasn't sure if we will able to deal with them, but decided to try. Thanks to the ents (and our 2 summoners), it went smooth as fuck actually!
Ents can cast Shell and Protect with huge AoE
They can do the same with HP/MP, which allowed our summoners to kick some real ass by spamming Bahamut
Guzu is a fucking goddess of doom thanks to her staff
Steve
Well... Will be soon - when we switch him to a job that allows staffs' usage
WC realizes that Dragonheart > Critical: Recover HP
Ents do their magical stuff - shit recovers both HP & MP + has huge AoE
2nd turn of bahamuts isn't as deadly as the 1st one due to worse enemy layout
WC keeps dying, being revived by Bee, kicking some ass and dying again
Ents do their job again
And that how it goes. Due to many summonings (f.e. Steve owning two bombs at once):
Our casters level up without problems
We reach Dorter and find new items in the shop
Ninja Blade: Attack 8, Block 20
Lamia's Harp: Attack 10, Block 10, +Confuse (Bard only)
Battle Folio: Attack 9, Block 15, +Invigoration
Ramza learns Maiden's Kiss and Gold Needle (we're going to need it soon) and switches to monk
Bee reached Geo Lv. 4, so an incline is inevitable:
Dancer
A warrior who uses Dance to hinder the enemy.
Innate abilities: none
Requires: Geomancer Lv 4, Dragoon Lv 4
a) Action abilities (Dance):
These skills target ALL enemies on a map, so they look insanely powerful. But we should check their accuracy first...
1) Witch Hunt (100): damages MP
2) Mincing Minuet (100): damages HP
3) Polka (100): reduces physical power
4) Heathen Frolic (100): reduces magickal power
5) Forbidden Dance (100): + Blind, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep
6) Last Waltz (100): drops CT to 0
b) Reaction abilities:
1) Fury (350): increase physical attack power @ HP loss
2) Mana Shield (350): damage is dealt to MP instead of HP
c) Support abilities: none
d) Movement abilities:
1) Fly (500)
2) Move+3 (600)
3) Jump+3 (250)
Flying samurais, anyone?
Bee learns Mincing Minuet and goes back to samuraihood - there's no hurry with learning all remaining stuff. She should go Samurai-Dancer-Ninja in the future.
WC grabs his new toys and switches to Dragonheart
Steve learns Dragonheart & Defense Boost (I'm thinking about using this instead of 'Equip Heavy Armor - moar MP? Too bad that it only works against physical attacks)
Guzu reached Black Lv 5 & Time Lv 4 - further incline
Meet modified Calculator job!
Sage
A learned warrior who uses reality altering Planar Magicks to hurt enemies
Innate abilities: none
Requires: White Lv 5, Black Lv 5, Mystic Lv 4, Time Lv 4
a) Action abilities (Planar Magicks):
Weird abilities, mostly status-changing. They cost MP but have huge AoE. This has to be tested.
1) Zombija (100): +Undead (radius 3h2v)
2) Sleepja (300): +Sleep (radius 3h2v)
3) Confuseja (300): +Confuse (radius 3h2v)
4) Toadja (300): +Toad (radius 3h2v)
5) Gravija (400): Dark damage = 3/4 of victim's max HP (radius 3h2v)
6) Flareja (400): non-elemental attack (radius 3h2v)
7) Dispelja (100): - Float, Reraise, Invisible, Regen, Protect, Shell, Haste, Faith, Atheist, Reflect (radius 3h3v)
8) Return (300): resets CT to 0 (radius 3h3v)
9) Dispelna (200): - Undead, Stone, Blind, Confuse, Silence, Vampire, Oil, Berserk, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Charm, Sleep, Immobilize, Disable, Doom (single target)
b) Reaction abilities:
1) Cup of Life (100): When HP is restored, distribute any excess among allies
2) Soulbind (300): Split any damage taken with the attacker
c) Support abilities:
1) EXP Boost (150): Earn more EXP
d) Movement ability:
1) Accrue EXP (150): gain EXP by moving
2) Accure JP (150): gain JP by moving
Another interesting thing about sage - he/she can use a wide array of weapons, from swords to staffs.
Guzu learns Zombija & Defense Boost and switches to Sage right away - no point in learning more White/Black/Time magick when all we need is summons + this new planar stuff
DR is ready to kick more ass
DR said:
Set me back up as a dragoon with equip axe and martial arts. Learn the best jump abilities then the reaction skill when you can.
(This still applies or you want something else?)
Sov learns Defense Boost and continues his path to Bard-hood
One location between us and the City of Goug:
Thanks to the decrease of guests, we need 4 units for the upcoming battle:
Who wants to go?
