[Hiatus] Touhou Soujinengi ~ Shuumatsu: The Genius of Sappheiros ~ Weekend!

[Validon98]

Well, knowing one of Momiji's Spell Cards from Double Spoiler...
Also, Stage 13 has been screenshotted. And the pain is only beginning for me... I REALLY hate Stage 14. Really. I want it to die one thousand deaths.

[homing curvy laser]

Haven't really caught up, but I wanted to say things.
- Why aren't you changing your party every dungeon?! Oh god even though you got through stage 9 with not many problems, I can't see why not do that so you can enjoy loads of experience and whatever else. Doing that is recommended anyway because otherwise your "main" party will become horribly overleveled.
- Your Eientei run kind of irks me. Nitori on the magic side and Byakuren on the physical side? Aaaaa also Nitori is REALLY good for exploiting the weaknesses of everything on the physical route. Anyway, that dungeon isn't too bad if you know what you're doing (Read: MURDER EVERYTHING IT FEELS SO GOOD).
- Beating Eirin/Kaguya without relying on mind effects is fun. Especially when you have Nitori nuking everything. I love you little kappa
- Suwako/Kanako are kinda cool if you don't want the quick way out, either. The two main things about doing that fight this way are not using a column formation (hooray, Expanded Onbashira!) and making sure Satori has Demon Shock, although Shadow Boom could work if you're really lazy, simply because Kanako isn't as sturdy against magic.
-

The Long Arms Long Legs does stuff. I think it hits it. I don't know much else because I ran and didn't encounter more.

You're adorable~
Note: that guy is a pain the first few times you fight it, because the only thing it does is use two rather strong attacks on your party member with the lowest HP. Bye bye Patchu! Alice's cover doll works REALLY nice against them.

Going to follow this thread until the end (and hopefully finish the expansion by then as well), mostly because I'm curious to see how someone with a play style different from mine does stuff. Have you grinded for anything so far?

[edit] oh wow I had actually caught up

[Nihilanth]

Validon? How often do you play GoS anyway? You seem to be going quite fast. 

[Validon98]

About the party changing thing, I'm actually changing my commander every dungeon, so my people are actually all at an okay level (except for maybe Aya). If I need someone for a specific boss fight, they're the one I put in, otherwise I just throw in someone who's behind.

In terms of my Eientei run, well, I just did it how it seemed best to do it at the time. Is it optimal? Probably not. Did I get through it? Yes. That's all there is to it.

In terms of taking the easy way out on those bosses, I'm trying to actively avoid frustration. That Eientei fight, even using Control, took a shit-ton of resets to actually work. It was not fun. Doing it the more painful way would probably just make me rage quit, because seriously.

What do you mean, "I'm adorable?" That was seriously just typos. I tend to not really fix mistakes I make while typing.

With grinding, well... not really. I haven't really needed to grind so far, although eventually I will have to. Those who've played this game probably know why. Otherwise, I'm just getting through the dungeons like I normally do: Don't get into too many encounters and pick up as many treasures as possible along the way.

In terms of how often I've been playing, I had a lot of time this weekend to do it, plus I spend time on it whether I'm on buses, which is frequently. I'm not entirely free to do this, but I find the time. Plus I've sort of been ignoring other games while doing this, so...

And finally (as well as I'm saying things regarding the LP) as for the next update, that'll be when I can, because the weekday brings homework which means less time to do stuff. And I've been loaded with crap to do. So not today, probably not tomorrow either. The odds are Thursday, if I have time. In the meanwhile, during the free time I have, I'll be doing some of Stage 14 so that I don't have to start with that after I update (I have to spend uninterrupted time in order to make an update, plus I need to be where I can access MoTK and Photobucket, which is not at school). I might even get Stage 14 done before I update, if time is being weird with me.
For those who know the boss for Stage13, let's just say I got what I came for from it.  :V

[Serela]

For those who know the boss for Stage13, let's just say I got what I came for from it.

Yessssss.

Anyway, about Eirin/Kaguya, IMO the way to go is use Rage Eight on Nitori (and have some other attacker, for example slayers marisa) and try to kill Eirin ASAP. You can remove her pretty fast, actually. From there, if you can land Byakuren's offense debuff on Kaguya, she deals pretty much no damage. Or if you're using Poison Shield, her nuke will only hit Alice anyway. Control is kinda annoying to use on her, really... although effective if you pull it off.

Or you could be dumb and try to run away while Kaguya is controlled and she'll leave the battle for you. :V Eirin might spam Hourai Elixir if you do this but you can colloseo world it away.

[Validon98]

I know about the "make Kaguya run away" trick, but I wanted the fight to be SOMEWHAT challenging. That and I don't like the strategy, because my strategy for the fight didn't really have a slot open for Sakuya to use Colosseo World (unless I replaced Marisa with her, but I like the slaying lasers better) and Kaguya doesn't award XP if I get rid of her that way...

Yessssss.

:V

[Validon98]

So, it turns out I can make this update now! That's good, I guess. It means I don't have to do it later.

Third Volume- Part 3: Beyond Nimbus

So, we're off to Bhava-agra, eh? Let's go!



So, we've got a [urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeyePDg9T-Y]Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven[/url] remix for this place. It's pretty great.



Yep, the Sea of Abstruse Clouds is sort of between here and Bhava-agra.



Indeed, I don't want to spend more time here than necessary.



Yeah, it's only been twelve stages before now. Then again, you said something similar when we got to Eientei, and look at how that turned out...



Annoying, huh? Well, I wouldn't say you wandering over ALL of Gensokyo, but close enough...



Yep, you've got the oarfish to thank for that. Like Iku. Especially Iku.



Really, Sanae? Were you like that in the outside world as well?



Maybe. Maybe not. We've gotten too many false alarms and not enough results to trust your intuition. No matter how good it's been before, it hasn't really been on the mark at all recently.



Right. Enough small talk.



Okay, the puzzle of Stage 13 is these gates. The switches will toggle some on and others off. You have to mess with them to get to the end. It's easy now, but MUCH worse later.



Okay, these UFO-looking things (has Nue been messing around again?) are Bentoras, and they come in red, blue, and green varieties, just like in Undefined Fantastic Object. They are weak to the element opposite of their color, and they each have the breath attack associated with their color (consider Electric to be green).



There's a Thunderbird and an Electric Lizard. Both are weak to Water and both use Electric attacks. Not too bad.



Whee, feet. I honestly don't know why they reused those...



Plasmas. Weak to Earth. They use Electric attacks. Use Spectrum Mystery set to Electric, and you should be fine.



These bugs are called Grey Towers for whatever reason. They're weak to Electric, surprisingly, but they use Electric attacks themselves. Okay...



Tualatins here can use Bug and are weak to Electric. For an area themed around the Electric element, there sure are a lot of things weak to it.



The Pathos in the back is weak to Fire if I recall correctly, and it uses Electric attacks. Again, not too bad.



That's a dangerous one in the back. It's a Giant Oarfish. It can use Tsunami and Electric Breath, so you can't just set Spectrum Mystery to Electric and be done with it. It's weak to Electric, strangely enough.



And a Sylph. Dangerous due to it's Electric attacks, but weak to Earth. You could actually recruit one in Devil of Decline, but I never encountered one, so I never recruited it. And it had such a useful ability...



That there is a Gelatinous Matter, or whatever it's name was that started with a "z." Weak to Fire and Water, but it uses some dangerous Electric attacks, so watch out.



This here is actually part of Stage 14. The two are connected together as one puzzle. I'll get to that later. All I'll say is that the two stages together make up one of the most unintuitive puzzles in the entire game, worse than anything else by far and probably the worst puzzle in the game. You practically NEED a guide to do it. What is this, the A ending from Valkyrie Profile?



Of course, I need to fight the boss of this stage before subjecting myself to that torture. Make sure Alice has Little Legion and Spectrum Mystery, make sure Reimu has Evil Sealing Circle/Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle, make sure Satori is in your party (just throw Earth Javelin on her if you have it, plus any support spells that could heal or buff the party if you have them), and make sure Patchy has her Earth-related spells plus Silent Selene. The other party members could be anyone, really, although I used Sanae as the fifth member and Nitori as commander for the element boosting effect.



Hey, Iku. How's it going?



But there's an incident going on. Shouldn't you be warning people?



Err, yeah. Hey, you have a job, you know. Isn't warning people a duty of the messengers of the Dragon Palace?
Great, now I'm thinking of Valkyrie Profile again...



Err, not really. She just comes here.



Nothing. Just with Tenshi.



*nods*



And yet some of us have went up there back in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.



Yup, we think Miss Celestial-who-isn't-really-a-Celestial-according-to-canon is responsible.



Wrong and wrong, Reimu. Iku was unconnected.



Don't worry, I'm with you Iku.



Exactly.



Satori, now is not the time.



Great, suspicious actions from the suspect. Now we're getting somewhere.



Have you said anything to her? Probably not...



Okay, let's move on, then. Nothing to see here.



Huh? Well, don't we just walk in?



I guess we do. Let's go, then, shall we?



Okay, fine. Let's go, then.



Reimu...



Okay, that's enough, Reimu.
Then she says that Iku can't read the atmosphere...



Yeah, messengers of the Dragon Palace have that power. I think you insulted her.



Sorry.



Reimu, you suck.



Yeah, that attack is pretty powerful in SWR.



That's not good.



Nitori, what the hell?



*head desk three times* REALLY GAME!? REALLY!?
I swear, I'm going to create a video that only contains one of the times HCBailly head desks. It sounds like he's going to break his skull whenever he does it.



Again, we've got no choice...



Oh boy...



Err, I know that's a pose you have in SWR, but it looks like you are dancing.
In terms of the point of this battle, she'll start out with Electric Static Bullets, which has a very good chance of inflicting Shock. And then...



Yeah, Elekiter Dragon Palace. It inflicts anyone who is inflicted with Shock with Instant Death. There's two ways to circumvent this. The first is to use Evil Sealing Circle set to Quick/Omnidirection Demon Binding Circle. The second is to use Little Legion. She won't use this combo on the turn after she uses it, but she has a chance of doing so again after that. Essentially use one of those on every turn after the turn after she uses this combo, and you'll be fine. She's weak to Earth and Dark, so make use of that. She also has a very good Electric ability known as...



Mad Thunder. Learn it. This was on my first attempt, but then I got screwed later on and had to reset. I had to reset any time she either learned Ultramagnetic Wave or Thunderclap instead. You can only learn one skill per battle, I'm afraid.




Not that I'll actually inflict Control, but I haven't shown her Last Word off yet, so I might as well. I eventually beat her on one of the tries I got Mad Thunder on, so that skill is all mine.



Again, sorry for the unnecessary battle.



Really, Reimu? You're the one who started it...



No shit, she's the equivalent of a Stage 5 boss, and they're always strong (unless you're playing Imperishable Night, in which case that's easy).



I don't even know how to respond to your behavior anymore, Reimu.



If you say so...



Yeah, it hasn't. Does that mean we're going to be off the mark again? If so, that's it. We're out of suspects and time then.



Finally made it to Bhava-agra.



Well, not everyone's final destination. You remember Jigoku from Highly Responsive to Prayers, right Reimu?



Hopefully.



Indeed. No wonder Suika hangs out here a lot.



I don't know if Shangri-La exists. If it did, I guess this would be it. Different folklore, though.



Yeah, it's been quite a journey, eh Satori?



Yeah, if you're good you might come here as a Celestial one day, Byakuren. Although I don't know if a youkai can become a Celestial...



There's fishing. Lots and lots of fishing. Oh wait, that's probably insulting to you...



Yep, we're on a mission.



Of course. We beat the crap out of everyone we see.



Hell yeah! But can we brave the horrors of the puzzle of this area? Can we defeat Tenshi? Will it all end here? All of that will be revealed next time for certain!

Summary:

Treasure: Electric Shard (drop x2), Water Shard (drop), Iron (x3 drop), Sky Robe (drop), Crow Feather, Steel (drop x4), Snakeskin, Youkai Mt. Rock (x1 treasure, x1 drop), Magic Mushroom, Tobikura, Fire Crystal, Autobomb (drop), Magic Shard, Water Crystal, Hydra Shield, Fire Shard (drop), Silver Tray, Pretty Mirror, Spare Parts, Shimenawa, Sewing Needle

Skills: Artful Sacrifice (absorbs Fire, Water, Earth, or Electric damage done to the party, costs one bomb(?), Alice), Illusion Laser (Medium- power piercing Mystic spell that ignores Magic Barrier, Marisa), Jellyfish Princess (High power all-targeting Water spell, costs one bomb, Patchouli), Absolute Zero (High power Water spell, Marisa), Extreme Heat (High power Fire spell, Marisa), Trilithon Shake (High power all-targeting Earth spell, costs one bomb, Patchouli), Sealing Needle (Medium+ power Light spell, Reimu)

Satori Skills: Mad Thunder (1-3 time-hitting Electric spell, really powerful)

Recipes: Raiden Blade, Qubeley, Atlas Hammer, Iceheart Shield, Midnight Robe, Reflective Pajamas, Avian Dress, Refitted Optical Camo, Hard Doll

Synthesis Done: Tablets of Fate (Patchouli), Diamond Broom (Marisa)

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: Is it just me, or does the puzzle of the next dungeon seem really confusing? I mean, there's no hint that flipping any switch does anything specifically. It's stupid and unintuitive. I don't get the reasoning behind making it that way. At all.
At least we're close to the end, right? Right?

Spoiler:

If only it were that simple...

[Serela]

Oarfish counter attacks with Thunder Breath, which can be incredibly dangerous used en masse. Spectrum Mystery really comes in handy there.

The strength of Mad Thunder should never be underestimated. It's among the strongest elec attack options you have -at the end of expansion-. It's powerful against any target this early, and fabulous for the couple of elec-weak bosses in maingame. It's also a 2~3 hit, not 1~3 hit, so you don't have to worry about luck too much.

UFOs also use the standard multitarget magic attacks for their elements, which is the easiest place to learn them for Satori if you'd like to do chaser abuse. First map of the stage has a high encounter rate on them.

[Ikari]

I have no idea myself, but seeing how you two react to it, I'm going to assume Mad Thunder is just THAT good.

It's nice how Validon does the LP and Serela kinda adds the little details here and here for potential players. I like it~

Good luck with the stage! Sounds bothersome...

[Nihilanth]

Hate to say it, but I actually missed out on Mad Thunder . . .

Is it obtainable later in the game or did I really just miss out on the only opportunity to grab it?  :ohdear:

[Validon98]

It is obtainable later, but it's much better getting it off of Iku. Thanks to Weekend, there is no skill you can miss for Satori (originally you could not refight the final boss, and that meant that you missed out on a skill if you had not learned it from an earlier boss, but you can refight it now).

EDIT: The first encounter you come across on the first map in the Sea of Clouds is ALWAYS one Bentora of each kind. Just save or reset and the first thing you encounter will be that formation when you return. So yes, it is very easy to get those skills. I just don't care too much, chasers or no chasers.
Also apparently I CAN access this site from school, just not Photobucket. Huh. Maybe it's changed its filter definitions? I don't know.

[Ikari]

Alright, I know it's really noobish to say this, but could someone please explain to me how chasers work? I do not get it at all, and I feel like not using those make Nitori completely useless.

[Hanzo K.]

First, you have Nitori set a chaser. For this example, we'll say Fire Chaser.
Now, you have someone like Patchouli use a fire-element spell like Agni Shine, and Nitori will follow it up with a fire attack of her own that hits the enemies who were damaged by the previous spell.
it also works on single-target spells, but it's best on multi-target spells like the aforementioned Agni Shine. Satori's apparently good for triggering Chasers as well.

[Validon98]

Okay, simple. Let's say she uses Fire Chaser. If someone uses a Fire attack, she will attack the same target with an attack (whether its physical or magical I don't know for sure) that is Fire elemental. If the target is dead, she obviously won't follow up, and she cannot follow up if she has been inflicted with a status that would cancel her turn. She can only follow up in this manner once per turn (the Chaser effect is a Quick effect, and we all know those only last until the end of the turn), although if you put more points into her Invention tree the amount of times she can do this per turn is increased. So, if she had her activation count boosted by one and is using Thunder Chase, for example, she could follow up Patchouli's Spring Wind and Marisa's Stardust Missile on the same turn.
The only thing about chasers I don't know is if they are physical or magical attacks and which buffs boost their damage.

EDIT: Oh man, I just spent all that time typing that...

[Serela]

They are physical, but they don't carry most effects from Nitori's equipped weapon. They ignore some def and have perfect accuracy. The ?-elemental chasers she learns later do act like empowered normal attacks, however.

Skills that hit multiple times on a single enemy will also be chased for the same amount of times, although the damage is heavily prorated for multiple hits on a single target with one move (e.g. Slash of Eternity). Using a weapon with added elemental damage or Byakuren's elemental enchants will allow it to be chased.

Chasers are pretty weak if the enemy is not weak to the element, but it's highly effective if they are. Using Satori and Patch in combination for chaser sweeping on randoms is effective in the many areas with lots of elec/wtr/fir weak enemies.

Nitori's ?-elemental chasers also get stronger if Nitori's IND is higher. fun fact.

Nitori is still good for more then chasers, though. Guns are strong and carry slayers, and her elemental attacks will get stronger if she's elementally buffed for that element, which in combo with her weakness damage bonus becomes pretty strong. Later she gets camo skills that are nifty.

[Validon98]

So, ready for super-long update time? I sure am. I've been waiting for this for a longggggggg time now.

Third Volume- Finale: The End?

So, let's finish this!



There are a lot of bridges in Bhava-agra. It's also somewhat cloudy.



The puzzle from before returns, only it's a lot more annoying. I'll admit right here and now, I used the guide on the wiki, because it would take a lot of trial-and-error otherwise.



That gate on the left is the main obstacle. By carrying out a specific order of switch flipping (detailed here), you'll unlock the gate and move on the the next portion of the stage, which is really short and has an extremely easy puzzle in it.



This wasn't my first encounter, but I lost the first picture somehow. All of these enemies are new. The Preta up top is weak to Fire and it doesn't really do much. The Shisa right in the middle is weak to Fire yet can buff the enemy party and set up Starlight Barrier, which makes the enemy immune to the next attack. Not fun. The Elite Mind Flayer still uses Mind Blast. Again, use Wind of Protection and you'll be fine.



What the hell are those things?



In the back are a Master (weak to Dark, attacks twice per turn physically) and a Mountain Man (weak to Dark, attacks with magic). Essentially they're like the enemies from the Netherworld.



And a Brontosaurus. I don't know what it's weak to. Just run.



Looping around a certain way unlocks this path back to the beginning. You need to go flip a switch in a room above and then travel back through here and through that gate that I showed off in the last update that we couldn't go through. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's basically it.
Huh, it's not as bad as I remember it. Maybe I just hate backtracking.



In the meanwhile I go here and pick up the first set of recipes you get for defeating a certain amount of enemies. There are a couple of thresholds you want to get, so check often.



We also get...



Last Moriya! Some formations can be received by doing certain things, like getting certain people to a certain level or revisiting people we defeated. I'm not really going for all of them because most of them aren't really great. There are a few I am probably going to get. Probably.



So, those are a Raijin and a Fujin. I swear they were in Chrono Trigger at the Ocean Palace. Whatever the case, they whack you with stuff. Physical attacks, mostly. I don't know what they're weak to.



After doing all that looping, we finally unlock those gates. Thankfully the hard part is over.



Oh, hey Tenshi. So, uh, you need a rock-throwing lesson? I've got the perfect tutor... although he's sort of bleeding out in Mayohiga...



Well, that's why you chased said tutor all throughout Gensokyo despite the fact he annoyed you, caused you to drink some funny potions Kaguya made (don't ask), and brought you on a merry tour of the Underground, by "merry" I mean absolutely insane.
But enough of that.



Soon. If you hadn't thrown up all those gates, we'd be here sooner.



Hmm?



We're coming. And you might not wish we did.



Yep.



Uh, you could just take it easy on us. We've been having a rough day.



Well, it's hard to chase a culprit without knowing who it is. Plus you were on the suspect list from the first minute.



We can't let that happen, can we?



Well, we were already playing it...



That midboss fairy is against some people, although I'll deal with it later. Not now.



Alright, basically have as many Electric attackers as possible. If you want Byakuren with Elemental Weapon, go ahead. If you want Patchy or Marisa or Nitori, knock yourself out. Just make sure that Alice is in the party and has the Continental Shield on (you should have gotten it within the last couple of stages, either Youkai Mountain or here) as well as good ol' Spectrum Mystery.



Yup, you're as good as cornered. Be a nice girl and give up.



Meh.



Yeah, you're the only person in Gensokyo we haven't beaten up yet.



Which she confirms. Well, good to know we're all on the same page, even if flipping it over changes what it says.



Reimu, your gohei cannot handle that much bending. Really.



Yup, we're pretty pissed, alright. Although I'm not one for malice or hatred.
Funny thing, those words. They're more important than you'd think.



Yeah. The only other people who did that were Eirin and Kaguya, and it turned out they were lying. How can we be sure about this case?
Upon mentioning Kaguya...



You knew?



So?



Oh, right. Again, you don't really belong here. You're a Celestial who isn't really a Celestial, and that is 100% canon.



Then again, when doesn't Tenshi do that? Despite being, you know, not a real Celestial.



Don't piss me off further. It's been a really bad day (gamewise).



Reimu...



I give you absolute permission to beat the everloving shit out of her.



Who doesn't? Tenshi is a bitch. I don't hate her as much as Kanako, but she's low on the list. No matter if ZUN says she was being bullied or not in SWR, she still caused that just to amuse herself, and that angers me.



Thank you, Byakuren. She notes that there are apparently different types, which is true. Tenshi came here illegally. She should have been carted off by assassins by now, but she's beaten the shit out of them all, which is why she's still here.



Hell yeah.



No one touches a youkai unfairly on Byakuren's watch!



Yeah, that's a good question. Because you were bored?



So, you're not going to tell? Fine.



Sadly, Satori can't do a thing.



Again, I'm sorry.



Exactly! She's way older than me, that's for sure!



Whoa, settle down, Satori. No need to go there.



Err, yeah. She did. That's something I expected Reimu to say, but okay...



Just get off the subject.



Hmm?



Yeah, enough talk, let's fight.



Yep, she is.



For you, yes. For me? Not so much.



We don't like keystones! Or kaname stones! Whichever!



That's Reimu for you.



Well, finish off isn't exactly the right word, but sure.



Right! Let's end this!



I'm not afraid of the Sword of Hisou! Bring out all my worst temperaments! It won't do a damn thing!



This battle uses that same song as the battle with Eirin and Kaguya. And yet this battle is much easier. Start out with Spectrum Mystery set to Earth, and...



She'll use this, which will be reduced to nothing, thanks to the Continental Shield and Spectrum Mystery. Essentially, she's weak to Electric and Dark, so spam those until she's dead. Nothing too major. If she uses Drill, then she'll use Magnum Stone Shower again. Just wham on her, heal when necessary, and you'll be fine.



She also has this (I didn't actually take a picture of the attack), but Marionette Parrar makes it pathetic as well.



That was surprisingly easy for being the culprit.



Yup, we're done! End this!



You were a pushover. Iku was more of a threat than you.



Yeah, that's masochistic. Ergh...
We ask her to end the incident.



What?



...



Neither did I. Repeat that. AGAIN.



Tenshi...



10, 9, 8...



7, 6, 5, 4...



3, 2, 1...



0



MURDER HER FACE, GODDAMNIT!



Stop moving, damn it! We WILL beat you mercilessly!



Exactly! For once, I approve of Strawberry Bose Reimu's brutality!



Wait, huh? You know the real culprits?
You know, of all of the people who knew, you were the last one I'd expect to say anything. I expected KANAKO to tell the truth before you did.



I get it, I get it. Alright, who is it?



Yeah, we know that. Just tell us.



Don't interrupt her.



Go on...



Excuse me?



Unbelievable...



Newcomers? Aquatic gods? What is this, Marine Benefit?
Well, not exactly...



So Patchy was right the first time! We must haven't looked hard enough.
Do you know why they're doing this?



So you don't even know? Hmm...



Yeah, this isn't a good day.



Yeah, gods. Gods are never fun to deal with.



You are completely right, Satori. We've got a long way to go before those gods are taken care of.



No one shall escape Reimu's wrath. It's like Asura's Wrath, except with more frills and little girls.



Hell yeah!



Yeah, but we must have missed something. The forest is a large place, after all.



Yeah, that's a bit strange. Unless...



Aha! The one place no one would suspect! By the way, Genbu's Swamp is a canon location.



Err, yeah. It was a possible location to fight in back in SWR.



Let's go!



Err, this place looks strange. And what's with the person in the turtle shell?



Err, Bio? The really good spell from Final Fantasy?



Oh, it's a... crocodile? Pretty strange aquatic gods we have here...
And by the way, the one in the turtle shell was the one in the brown robe from earlier, and the one with the tail was the one in the white robe and bunny ears back in Eientei. These were the people tailing us the whole time.



Wait, you were the one who roughed up Chen?
You're the first one I'm going to take down, then.



It was. It was terrible.



The truth hurts. The truth hurts.



Err...



I already am afraid of you.



Well, it seems like we certainly have villains here.



Yeah. You sort of destroyed the mountain a little.



Lithos? Who's this Lithos?



Err, okay...



Ran!? If Lithos is anything like this "Sis" person, things aren't going to go so well...



Err...



Biotopos, huh? Well, Bio seemed a little short for a name.



So, Biotopos, Anastasis, and Lithos, huh? Sounds vaguely Greek...



Yeah, the jig's up. We're on to you.



I don't like the term "play." It suggests pain and suffering.



Yeah.



So that's what this place is? Is it underwater or something?



Great, so we're expected. That's always fun.



Err, yeah.



You freak me out, Anastasis.



Euryale and Stheno!? Gorgon!? You mean the three sisters from Greek mythology who were turned into monsters by the gods?
So, that means Lithos is Medusa... crap. THIS'LL BE JUST FUN!



Oh great, they've got mooks. Shouldn't you just have sent them out to spy on us and not, you know, you?



That's a really interesting thing you can do with your pipe there, Biotopos.





A blowfish, shellfish, and octopus, respectively. Okay.



Some's some seriously long arms you've got there, Matsuba. She's a crab, by the way.



Genji!? Why're you working for them? Don't you live behind the Hakurei Shrine still?



A ceremony? What kind of ceremony?





So, we're going to have to o through them before we can deal with the Gorgons, eh? Not a problem. Just more things to bash.



Alright then, whatever.



We're pretty strong. We've already taken down everyone else in Gensokyo. A few newcomers aren't a problem.



And here's the location of the next area. But can we make it through the new area of the Forest of Magic to reach the Gorgons? Find out as we go through the final Volume, Volume 4!
Yep, we've still got a ways to go before this is over.

Summary:

Treasure: Sewing Needle, Magic Medal (drop), Makai Ring (drop), Iron, Bamboo, Incandescent Shield, Hinotori Feather, Gold, Donation Box, Large Cherry Blossom Petal, Steel, Rusty Blade, White Flag of the Dead (drop), Psycho Dagger (drop, Sanae), Blank Scroll, Eyeball, Electric Crystal, Midwinter Shield, Sun Ring

Skills: Star Ritual Godly Winds (increases max HP for whole party, costs one bomb, Sanae), Stardust Surge (High power Electric spell, Marisa), Dark Galaxian (High power multi-target Dark spell that inflicts Petrify, costs one bomb, Byakuren), Thunderstorm (High power multi-target Electric spell, Patchouli)

Recipes: Sun Curtain I, Moon Curtain I, Milky Way Curtain I, Zephyr Mantle I, Gale Mantle I, Ice Fairy's Wing, Dead Princess' Band

Formations: Last Moriya

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: Surprisingly low. It'll get a lot worse very quickly.
If you didn't know there were three Gorgon sisters, I must question your knowledge of Greek mythology a little bit. Then again, a lot of people only know Medusa...
I guess I can't judge too much.

[Serela]

Fun fact:iirc Biotopos is pronounced Viotopos. Oh you, words.

I think a lot of the stuff you didn't know the weakness to was weak to Earth. It's a hard to remember element, and most of the stuff weak to it isn't obviously so. Example:The Spartoids you're about to encounter.

[Validon98]

Yes, I know it's pronounced with a "v". It's kind of strange, though. I just don't really know the peculiarities of Greek language. It's what I get for knowing only English, some Latin, and a tiny bit of Japanese.

[homing curvy laser]

In terms of taking the easy way out on those bosses, I'm trying to actively avoid frustration. That Eientei fight, even using Control, took a shit-ton of resets to actually work. It was not fun. Doing it the more painful way would probably just make me rage quit, because seriously.

It's actually not that hard to do it without control (I had to anyway because I didn't want to get Byakuren ahead of time in that run, and the only other option would be berserking the NEET with Satori). If I recall correctly, I used mainly Nitori's elemental attacks for offense, boosted Fire damage all the way up with Patchouli, and used Poison Cheese Shield. I don't remember much about Kanako/Suwako other than getting brutalized in the first turn because I tried to use Sunshine Lunch.

With grinding, well... not really. I haven't really needed to grind so far, although eventually I will have to. Those who've played this game probably know why. Otherwise, I'm just getting through the dungeons like I normally do: Don't get into too many encounters and pick up as many treasures as possible along the way.

I believe this is where our ways of playing differ the most. I enjoy hunting every single enemy on the screen before moving on, unless I'm really low on resources and the healing circle isn't too far away (in that case, I rush for it then come back to murder everything else).  :derp:

Anyway, good luck with the best part of the game! I'm eagerly waiting to see how you're going to do stage 18... kekeke. And the shower of enemies in the upcoming stages as well. Also, I absolutely love the designs and personalities of all the original characters in this game, I don't find it too hard to imagine them in one of the main games, or drawn in ZUN's style. I'd also love to see Danmakufu scripts based on this game.

As for the adorable thing, well, it's just because you kind of ignored a rather annoying enemy as if it wasn't anything great. :V Then again, you got lucky enough to only find it once.

[Validon98]

Okay, thank you, then. I feel as if I need it...
In other news, you mentioned Poison Shield. I see that formation a lot. The problem is I really don't understand the condition. It's to kill an enemy with Toxin (not Poison) and then use the healing circle in Garden of the Sun with Alice as a leader, right? If so, what the hell inflicts Toxin? I didn't get that formation in my first run, and it seems to be like the formation I use constantly in DoD, which is a good formation.
I swear, out of all of the statuses, it has to be Toxin...

EDIT: Okay, so I found out. It's either a high-end Sanae weapon I can't get yet, or getting Poison Hand for Satori and having her hit something with it while her IND is at crazy-high levels. Should be easy. Maybe. Or not.

SECOND EDIT: Got it. The hardest part was just getting Poison Hand. Afterwards, it was easy. And I also encountered a Yukkuri, killed it, and got a Yukkuri Medal. On my first try. Wat.

[Serela]

You can get it with Poison Art just fine. You just have to equip poison boost gear (Venom Rune Clothes from youkai mountain, the poison resist accessory, The Green Eyes) and use Hyper Trigger, along with the obvious ind bonus gear and Trauma tree pumping. You don't need all of the poison boost gear on either, it's just that I know you should already have all of it. But, you got Poison Hand already anyway, so :V

[Validon98]

*shrugs* Whatever works works. Something's been killed dead by Toxin, and that's all that matters.
On another note, I swept through Stage 15. So I have screenshots. What I don't have is the time to do the update, because I just had a large amount of homework dumped on me, and it all has to be done. Tonight.  :colonveeplusalpha:

[Validon98]

So, I started playing Touhou Mother. Heading to Eientei for the first time. Dealing with the exploding trees. I must learn to mash the "z" key faster!

Fourth Volume- Part 1: 1-1 Reconstructed

So, we're returning to the Forest of Magic, hopefully with less battery acid.
But before that, I went to go get Poison Shield.



Poison...



is...



a...



pretty...



damn...



awesome...



...thing.
Okay, that's enough with the raocow references. Time to get serious.



It has a new theme. Selene's Light would be it. I think it's the only PC-98 song in the game.
Also, is that a Mario pipe at the bottom? What is this, Super Marisa World?



Yeah, there's weird shit everywhere.



No shit, Sherlock.



Yeah. They note the life energy here is at crazy high levels. Well, the Gorgons (or at least one of them) can manipulate life, so it makes sense.



Pretty much. Why they need to do that, I don't know, but they did it, so...



You don't. We know from that cutscene that Anastasis was the one who beat the shit out of Chen, which means she must be oni-level strong. That's not good for us.



Yep, shoot first, ask questions later.



Don't ask me. I know extremely little Japanese.



Huh?



Okay then. Sure, why not? Let's get moving.



Return of the killer 'shrooms!



Okay, here we have Alseides, which serve as the Fairy tier mages of this stage. They have multi-target spells, which are dangerous, but as always they fall to Dark.



And stronger Kedamas than before. They can sacrifice themselves to deal massive damage to the party. I don't know what their weakness is.



As for the gimmick of this place, well...



You use the pipes to travel between the surface and the underground, Mario-style.



Okay, the fairies up front are our warrior-type fairies for this area, known as Oreads (that's the singular, by the way, not the plural). They're weak to Dark but pack crazy-powerful physical attacks. The skeleton thing is a Spartoi, which is weak to Earth yet packs some good defense and attack.
I like it how now that the Gorgons have been revealed to be the culprits, they're pulling out all the stops on the Greek theme.



Yukkuri Sisters. No surprise there.



Pushing certain buttons in the underground opens up two doors, but going through either one of them closes both of them. You have to go through them in the correct way in order to make it to the end.



As you can see here.



That was the other door. I took a picture of it, because why not?



Oh crap, an Elder Basilisk. It's weak to Light (not Dark, like some other dragons are) and knows Death Breath, which can inflict Instant Death. Wind of Protection is always good.



In the back is a Dryad. It is weak to Fire and knows stuff like Enervation, which debuffs you as usual.



An Antlion Larva? What is this, Final Fantasy IV?
Never mind that. Weak to Water, as you would expect from an Antlion. It can inflict Removal, so watch out.



Deathbringers. Weak to Water. They know Blood Slash. That's about it.



That Harpy is weak to Electric and Pierce, but it can call for backup, so take it out quickly if you don't want additional trouble.



These are Punotons. I believe they are weak to Light. I don't know anything else about them, though.



Pushing the button on the bottom of this map opens this door and another one. The other one leads to areas you can access from other places, while this door is the way to opening the first shortcut.



This being said shortcut. The pipe near the top is in the first room of the dungeon.



This is an Ent. It's weak to Fire. Unlike the trees in Mother, it won't explode. At least I think so. It uses Earth attacks instead.



The Beholder in the back can cancel your magic, but physical attacks bring it down easily (or at least Pierce does, in my experience). Go Nitori, then!



Whoa, and Officer Demon. It knows Demon Collider, although if you have the Land tilted far enough towards Light it cannot use it. Weak to Light yet tough to take down, like all of the other demon tiers.



Up top is a Unicorn, which boasts crazy high magic defenses and can use Starlight Barrier. Good luck with that. The Lizardman is weak to Water and hurts you with his pointy spear. Alright then.



What the hell? It looks like this place was turned to stone.



Pretty much.
Reimu goes off on her own. What, Reimu is worried for once? This is a bit out of character...



We don't know. Maybe we'll find out?



It's hard to tell with the speech bubble in the way, but that's Ran!



You never heard of Medusa before, have you?
Well, when they said Lithos came out to see what was going on, she certainly came out.



Well, they're GODS for a reason. Something tells me fighting them won't be easy.



Yeah, you can't go insulting them like you normally do. They'd probably crush you then.



Looks like she was caught from behind. Poor Ran never knew what hit her.



At least we get a formation I'm not going to use.



At least you're showing some sort of concern, Reimu.



Alright, boss time. I'm going to skip explaining things before the boss fight, because I just restate it during my explanation of what to do during the fight anyways. So yeah, pre-boss stuff is going to go on like it did back in Devil of Decline: We just dive right in and explain things from there.



Usually Mario pipe's aren't purple. They're only that color in  a few games.



What, is it one of those games where if you look inside, the person yells at you to leave them alone? Link to the Past had something like that, I think.



Curiosity killed the tengu, Aya. Or the bakeneko/nekomata/kasha, if you want a more cat-like comparison.



Better to let sleeping dogs lie.



...I did not look at this picture before typing the previous line. I swear I didn't.



What the hell?



Whoa, Genji! You trying to be Bowser?



I don't get it, Patchy. He works for the Gorgons.



What about obedience?



We had no idea it was a trap to begin with.



Reimu, he used to be your turtle.



Yeah, you have.



Oh, he's being polite? I would assume that was originally written as Marisa-san. Even working for the enemy, he's still kindly. I think.
Reimu, however...



Way to be a bitch, Reimu.



Yeah, that's a little insulting. By a little I mean what the hell, Reimu.



Hey, Marisa remembers the good ol' PC-98 days. Yep, it's good ol' Genji, alive and in the flesh.



*nods* Not bad, Marisa. Not bad.
Reimu remembers FINALLY...



Yeah, maybe you two should catch up on matters. You know, you could rebel against the Gorgons and help us, or something.



Yeah?



Well...



Yeah.



What the hell happened to you, Reimu? Back in Story of Eastern Wonderland the worst you were was aloof. You at least treated Genji nicely back then, and you were just sort of silly. Now you're worse than Yuka in terms of sadism. Seriously...



Neglect. That's usually why pets run away.



That's right, you needed Genji to fly so you could resolve those incidents.



That's the dumbest reason ever.



Marisa simply doesn't care. If I was Genji, I'd be pissed off. And he is very pissed.



I'm sorry, Genji. Yeah, I'm with you on this one.



I guess so?



Oh yeah, the Gorgons. I guess Biotopos specifically, but again we really don't know which one of them is the most powerful. Plus we haven't even SEEN one of them yet.



Yup. The Gorgons.
So, uh, you know anything about the situation, Genji?



Of course we do.



Well, he knew how to fly before you did...



Oh great. This could be bad.



Hmm?



Any reason?
I think he says because the Gorgons have given him essentially a new life. Which I guess is a good thing.



So cruel~.



Don't kick the poor guy!



Poor Genji...



That's really bad.
Again the word malice is used... it's amazing what one can catch in a second run that isn't noted before...



Okay...



Yeah, Reimu's taken quite a few levels in badass between the PC-98 games and the present.



Maybe. Maybe not.



Say hello to OUT the GoS, our OUT remix for this game. Not nearly as badass as it was in Devil of Decline, but hey, it's OUT. It's badass regardless of the game it shows up in.
As for Genji, he really isn't that tough. He has some high-level magic like Holy, Shadow Flare, Flare, and Meteor, but using Sanae's MDEF buff helps. As for attacking him, he's weak to Light and Dark, so use Patchy and Byakuren with Star Sword or Dark Sword on a physical attacker, probably Youmu or Sakuya.
The only problem is I don't have Star Sword or Dark Sword. Time to do this the hard way: beating the shit out of him slowly.



He'll use Inhale eventually. That means he's gearing up for one attack and one attack only...



Yep, Dark Breath. Genji goes down without too much trouble. If you wanted too, you could bring along Satori to grab some enemy skills you won't get until later, but I didn't. So meh.



That ended as expected.



So?



Yeah, even though I share his sentiments, it's time to move on.



Kicking you? Maybe not...



Oh boy...



Nothing good, I'm certain.



Wow. That's pretty cruel, Reimu.



...Yeah...



Well, with that out of the way we have access to Genbu's Swamp. But can we get through the place in order to access the Lakebed Temple? How crabby can Reimu get? That's all for next time.

Summary:

Treasure: Yukkuri Medal (drop), Magic Shard, Magic Mushroom, Iron (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Spare Parts, Stopwatch (drop, Alice), Rusty Blade, Snakeskin, Rock (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Eyeball, Steel, Prop Shield (Nitori), Sewing Needle, Donation Box, Sun Tzu's Art of War (drop), Magic Medal, BD-ROM, Rod of Manannan, Tefla's Magic Sword, Pinaka, Pretty Mirror, Executioner (Alice), Crow Feather

Skills: Mystical Hermit (Devaloka buff that increases PATK and Exorcism, Youmu), Asura Strength (Asura buff that makes the next attack a critical, Youmu), Slash of Eternity (3-5 time hitting Low power Manussya attack, costs one bomb, Youmu), Monster Cucumber (chases Mystic attacks, costs one bomb, Nitori), God's Slash of Karma Wind (High+ column Devaloka attack, costs one bomb, Youmu), Active Land (field effect wherein actions affect the Land gauge more, Patchouli), Meditation Slash (High power all-targeting Asura attack, costs one bomb, Youmu), Super Healing Miracle (High power healing spell, Sanae), Xu Fu's Dimension (grants Reraise and Regen, costs one bomb, Mokou)

Satori Skills: Poison Hand (Earth attack that inflicts Poison), Energy Bolt (Mystic spell)

Recipes: Destructive God Gohei, Wizard Broom, Sidewinder, Deadly Fan, Hauteclere, Sefer Raziel, Machine Gun, Orleans Greaves, Beholder Eye, Mutsusei Ryusei, Invincible Glove, Bodhi Scroll, Diamond Shield, Spirit King's Shield, Warmaster's Shield, Senior Kindergarten Uniform, Salamander Breastplate, Undine Breastplate, Gaea Breastplate, Sylph Breastplate, Bodhisattva Robe, Dragon King Overalls

Synthesis Done: Diamond Shield (Alice)

Formations: Poison Shield, Eight Gate Golden Chain

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: Low related to the game, high related to reality. I was interrupted multiple times while making this update. I should have been done with this earlier. I didn't get it done. So I'm angry about that.

[Validon98]

Nitori in Touhou Mother makes absolutely no sense. At all.

Fourth Volume- Part 2: Fighting Cancer

Funny enough, Cancer's my zodiac sign. But enough of that. Let's go through Genbu's Swamp so we can reach the Lakebed Temple.



Oh look, we've got a Crimson in the Black Sea~Legendary Fish remix. This sounds pretty damn serious. We must be close.



Captain Obvious strikes back.



I never did Alice's story in SWR, so I don't know if she went to this stage in that game.
Marisa explains due to the fact that people and such rarely come to the Forest of Magic...



Maybe not dreamlike, but it's sure different.




You probably would have run into the Gorgons, and that would have been bad.



Yeah, it's pretty rocky.



I guess so. If you want to hide, it might as well be in an out-of-the-way place.



Huh, that is true...



Yeah, but could a temple really fit in a swamp? Swamps really aren't that deep, as far as I know.



Again, this is a SWAMP. Not a lake.



Oh yeah, Lake Suwa wasn't in Gensokyo originally, and now it is. The SDM was not in here originally either. So they might as well have brought something in.
Meanwhile...



...Somewhere in the Lakebed Temple...



We're already there. Information doesn't travel as fast as it would seem.



Actually, we sort of kicked his ass. Sorry, Bio.



Sorry.



And we'll keep on coming.



Even with your magicks, he was easy to beat. And yes, I used the Ivalice spelling. So what?



Were you informed that we were weak? Oh, hell no! You've found yourself in a world of gods and humans who can match those gods in single-handed combat. Just like Sanae, you're the norm for this place, even if you were crazy powerful in the outside world.



Oh yeah, they mentioned that before we entered the Forest of Magic.



Oh?



Nice hair you got there, Lithos. Granted, I assume it's supposed to look like snakes.



Err... I don't know whether I should comment on that or not.



*shrugs* Hey, I'm not really into having a girlfriend either, Lithos. Also, nice wings you've got there.



Oh, don't make fun of her...



It sucks being the youngest, huh? Though I wish my younger sisters were as serious as Lithos.



Yeah, Ana's got a really creepy laugh. I know technically her nickname is "Sis," but I prefer Ana.



Yeah. Honestly, if you're going to attempt to serve any form of a threat, you should cut the comedy and start with the asskicking. Not that I don't like the comedy, mind you. Strawberry Bose is good with that sort of stuff.



Oh right, you went down to the FoM.



Nine-tailed kitsune's are tough to beat, huh?
But yeah, Lithos was the one to petrify Ran, as if that wasn't obvious enough.



Apparently they're also attempting to draw out Yukari. For what reason?



Well, as long as it takes for us to get down here and start kicking ass.



Come at me, bro!



So we've got squids here. Let's turn 'em into fried calamari.



Our next Fairy tier isn't even a fairy, but Centaurs and the Centaur Mage. Their attacks are pretty brutal, but once again Dark stops 'em dead.



The Great Centipedes are weak to Earth and inflict some status on you, either Paralysis or Poison.



The Tarantulas are weak to Earth as well, but are pretty hardy and can paralyze you.



Crap, an Officer Demon. Yeah, I just ran, but you could probably guess the sort of stuff it has (such as the obvious weakness to Light).



You can barely see that chest right there. Within it is an Adamantite Shard. We can get the shards for Adamantite and Orichalcum in hidden chests, and some of those chests were in previous dungeons. This the only one I've found so far. They're hidden even more cleverly than other hidden treasures in the game.



The Persephone up top knows Dark attacks and can use World After Death, which has a chance of reraising enemies who die. Not fun. Light kills it. The Hein at the bottom is neutral to everything and uses random magic, but will occasionally change it's element affinity and follow up with an attack of that element. He's sort of dangerous.



These are Small Flayers. Just like Mind Flayers, they can inflict Instant Death with normal attacks. These guys use Blaster instead of Mind Blast, which is single-target but can inflict Paralysis. Not too bad, although throwing up a Wind of Protection is a good call.



Here we have a Siren. Weak to Electric like most birds, can use Swoop like most birds, and that's all I know. I would assume they can inflict Charm.



Behind this waterfall is actually some treasure you might want to pick up.



Ah, a Stray Yukkuri! Or a Liquid Yukkuri, if you want to go by Dragon Quest's Metal Slime naming conventions. Again, hard to kill, although Youmu does have Yukkuri Slash. Although I forgot to equip it for this fight. Whoops!



If you're an old-school Final Fantasy player, you'll know this is a Catoblepas. Weak to Electric and knows Earth stuff. I believe he can also petrify you, based on his abilities in the Final Fantasy series.



And it's time to fight a boss. Whee...



It's a lake. So we were right!



Again, thank you Captain Obvious.



I guess so. Makes it feel sort of alien or something.



Well, the lake in Marine Benefit hid Kaikeidou, although that lake did get turned into an ocean...



Yeah, it's nice and warm.



I don't get how you would hold your breath under there, but okay...



Oh great.



Oh, it's you from before.



Oh yeah, Matsuba! I heard that's a type of crab in Japan.



How do you control those big claws? Is there some sort of mechanism in the hand?



Yeah, we want answers.



Uh, okay...



You'd think considering you're a youkai, you'd be hurt by it too. Maybe the mist just doesn't reach here.



Even if she's laid back, I don't think the Gorgons would have to worry...



Yup. Laid back with no cares. Although that would partially fit Meiling too...



Yeah, as long as you don't bother us and we don't bother you, we can pass, right?



Whoa, she cut that rock in two!
Although lot's of people could do that in Gensokyo.



Youmu, I thought the amount of things your swords could cut were next to none!



She is if she's a late game boss.



If you don't really care, than why help them?



Debt? What debt?



I don't like the sound of that.



Wasn't it obvious? Oh right, no sea in Gensokyo. And Alice didn't get to go to the moon, so...



She's not food, Youmu.



Yeah, I don't know if eating a crab youkai would be good...



There goes another rock.



That's a funny way of putting it, but yeah.



Oh come on, it's just freaking rock!



But adamantite is unbreakable! I don't know so much about scarletite, but considering how high-end of a material it is in Final Fantasy XIII (if you don't count the Trapezohedrons), I assume it's pretty strong.



Yeah, why is that?



Okay. But there's no ocean here.



There's some lakes and rivers here. Granted, you wouldn't want to live in the Sanzu...



Well, that's very nice of them! Though that makes me wonder how long the Gorgons have been here...



I guess so.



Wow, now I feel a bit bad for the aquatic youkai. I hope we don't ruin their lives or something.



But still, incident resolution comes first.



Fine!



Seriously, how does she control those things?!
She's not that hard of a boss, although her attacks are pretty powerful. Alice should really use Hourai Doll to attract Matsuba's attacks and spam Marionette Parrar. Everyone else should spam Electric stuff.
Of course, I end up changing my party because Matsuba almost TPKs this one.



Go Youmu! That's almost half her health! That was a critical, plus using Slash of the Present (or was it Slash of Eternity?), having Byakuren use Elemental Weapon set to Electric, and Weapon Bless.



Worthless gatekeeper indeed.



Uh, okay.



Yeah, they have a lot of help, huh?



Yeah!



Of course, we have to go through the lake first. But can we get through the Genbu Lake in order to reach the Lakebed Temple? That will be next time!

Treasure: Magic Shard, Philosopher's Robe (drop, Patchouli), Iron (drop x1, treasure x1), Steel (x2 drop), Headshot Goggles III, Meteorite, Donation Box, Adamantite Shard, Devil's Dagger (drop, Sanae), Dragon Shield (Alice), Launch Earrings III, Rusty Blade, Sewing Needle, Eyeball, Spare Parts, Orichalcum Shard, Snakeskin, Magic Mushroom, Squall Hairpin III, Mirror Shield (drop), Hinotori Feather, Gold

Skills: Straw Doll Kamikaze (sacrifices HP to deal damage, costs two bombs, Alice), Salamander Bomb (Medium power multi-target Fire spell, Patchouli), Phantom Killer in Night Mist (Low+ power 1-3 time hitting attack that can cause Instant Death, costs one bomb, Sakuya), Arctic Wind (Medium+ power all-targeting Water spell, costs one bomb, Marisa)

Recipes: Continental Buckler, Onbashira, Rainbow Tobikura, Full Bloom Petals

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: Still low, although after the Genbu Lake... oh boy.

[Serela]

Great Centipedes are also weak to pierce.

Hein is always vulnerable to Mystic, and can be hit by junk like petrification or instant death.

Catoblepas drops the Mirror Shield at a pretty significant chance (I think it might've been 25%), which is a medium shield that can reflect magic. Since the magic reflection is always active no matter what you're doing (unlike normal shield defending), this is a pretty nice shield to have around, as it can go on people who otherwise have no use for a shield like Byakuren.

Matsuba can be taken out on the very first turn if you really feel like it. Mad Thunder+Nitori Chasers+some other elec junk... yeah.

[Validon98]

Mirror Shield

Did you look at my treasure list? >.>
Though the magic reflection thing was something I didn't know. Thanks, I guess. Would that effect still apply even if the user was wielding a weapon that makes shields unusable, like spears or staves?

[Serela]

Yes. Technically those weapons just mean that you can't use your shield while attacking, anyway. (And then most, if not all magic counts as two-handed.) Secondary shield effects (like status resist, or the physical attack boosting shields) are ALWAYS in effect.

[Validon98]

Fourth Volume- Part 3: Marine Benefit

Let's go into the Genbu Lake!



Mermaids here are weak to Electric and Fire and will use stuff like Tail Chop and even Control Land (towards Water). Not bad on their own.



Yeah, Genbu's Lake. And a squid. Yep.



We have a Giant Crab and some Otohimes. The Giant Crab knows Pincer (which inflicts some sort of debuff) and Bubble, which inflicts Poison. Weak to Electric. The Otohimes have Time Capsule, which debuffs all stats (gee, I wonder where that is from?) and are weak to Dark.



Uh, how do I breathe underwater?



Waters here are weak to Fire. That's about it.



The holes here...



...Have spikes. Don't worry about them lowering. You can find your way throughout the dungeon without them being up.



Here we have an Adamantoise and an Undine. The Adamantoise is weak to Water and knows Deva Stand. The Undine has crazy high levels of Water regen and knows some powerful Water attacks. She's weak to Fire, but good luck with that. Also, she knows Refresh. You might want to get that for Satori. I probably will... eventually. I need to do some grinding before the next dungeon anyways.



Down there is a Prototype. It's weak to Water, but it knows Evolution Breath, a Light breath attack that will KILL YOU.



OWW.



There's a secret passage here that you have to take in order to find the key. The key is in the room above this position. You get here through the door that's over in the bottom right of the map.





Konpaku Flash. Inflicts Instant Death. This I approve of.



No just no.



Alright then, now we can warp right out of here. I grinded up Byakuren a bit for the next fight.



Hey, it's Kaikeidou! Or the Lakebed Temple. Whichever.



Yeah, it's pretty impressive.



Yeah. Greek, specifically.



Yeah, because your mansion is western.



They're aquatic gods, right?



Huh?



Right. Yeah, you're unfamiliar with them.



In other words, you have absolutely no knowledge.



No kidding.



Something just pushed us back!



Who are you?



Oh, hey Matsuba. How's it going.



Really, Reimu? You forgot her name? You're just horrible, Reimu.



Uh, yeah, sorry. We will be.



Yeah, we'll just beat you again!
Matsuba notes we did settle this before...



Huh? Shouldn't that have been it?



Of course...



Yeah, we beat you already. This'll be another cakewalk.



What is this, Final Fantasy IX?



Oh, hey Genji.



*head desk three times*
I need to make a sound effect for that...



Yeah!



A whole bunch o' nothing.



Except the last time we met we kicked your ass.



Yeah, turtles represent longevity. So does Minogame (literally "old turtle with seaweed gorwing on its back"), but then again this isn't HELLSINKER.



So? We'll just beat you both again. Simple.



Yeah, it'll be fine.



Oh yeah, fighting in their natural environment would give them an advantage.



Oh yeah, Nitori's a kappa. That plus our numerical advantage should tip the odds in our favor again.



Fun!



Let's do this!



Of course, I missed taking a picture of them before hurting them. They're weak to the same things as before, and the fight comes down to basically doing the same thing as before. If you don't have Star Sword or Dark Sword, I recommend you get it for Byakuren. You can beat them in any order, though if you want stuff for Satori, you might want to beat Matsuba first. If you don't care, beat Genji first.



Of course, once you defeat one, the other heals up.



Not that tough.



Sorry. Also, don't give me that pissy face, Matsuba. You lost again. Give a break.



Yeah, Reimu sort of does that.



Yeah, they're very loyal to the Gorgons.



That is true. But if they were good, then why release this mist?



Whatever the case, we now have access to the final dungeon in the game, the Lakebed Temple! Can we brave its many dangers and defeat the Gorgons? Well, we won't find out next time persay, but within the next few updates. Just like the Sinister Castle of Chaos, the Lakebed Temple is pretty damn long. And just like the Sinister Castle of Chaos, there's four stages. So we're still not close to beating this yet.

Summary:

Treasure: Meteorite (drop), Serpent King's Mail (drop, Alice), Hades Amulet (drop), Magic Medal, Rock, Blank Scroll, Pretty Mirror (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Untouchable Goggles III, Steel, Water Shard (drop), Bamboo, Crow Feather, Silver Tray, Indefatigable Earrings III, Iron (drop)

Skills: Aether Spray (shifts Land towards Light, Reimu), Omnidirectional Dragon Slaying Circle/Omnidirectional Azure Dragon Circle (reflects breath attacks, Reimu), Encompassing Tiger Stripe Circle/Encompassing White Tiger Circle (makes you immune to Fire, Water, Earth, and Electric attacks for a turn, Reimu), Hakurei Needle (Medium+ power small AoE Light spell, Reimu), Star Sword (makes a character's attacks Light elemental, costs one bomb, Byakuren), Water Dragon (Medium power all-targeting Fire spell, Patchouli), Dark Sword (makes a character's attacks Dark elemental, costs one bomb, Byakuren)

Synthesis Done: Mutsusei Ryusei (Youmu), Hauteclere (Sakuya), Master Fencer's Clothes (Youmu), Hard Doll (Alice)

Formations: Neo Hakurei Type

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: Low for now. But holy crap, will it get high in the next area...

[Serela]

Undine drops the +20% WTR damage amulet. Notable. Also, the evil caped girl thing that is also in Stage 16 has the +20% dark amulet.

Oh jeez, upcoming stage 18.

Okay.

Group 1:Dragon slayer in some form is desired if you don't want to run from a lot of enemies (Locomo Dragon and the more common Lamias). Nitori with a sword for Dragon Fang Strike works because everything else is weak to fir/elec/wtr. Recommended Nitori/Byaku(buff)/Patch/Tank (Mokou or Alice). Chaser ignores the physical reflect enemies, veeeery nice. You WANT ELEMENTAL RESISTS. Stuff like Element Guard and Nitori's pow tree element resist is good here.

Group 2:STATUS EFFECTS. Permanent resist (paralysis especially, but permanent in general) is important. Use small armors with resists if you need to. Instant death is effective on many enemies. Pinaka spear is good for spirit slayers/flayer killing. If you make the kusanagi it murders this area. Sakuya's Hauteclaire is good too but you might want to save materials. Aya with an instant death weapon is probably good for her because she can't do good damage anyway. And then you have Youmu and Sakuya. And then you take Sanae because she can patk buff them all (and res buff/status cure/heal if needed). There's even an ideal formation for this. If you properly make your character able to resist things, this group shouldn't be hard.

In easy mode enemies seem to be able to inflict statuses on you a lot easier. Dunno.

Group 3:Petrification everywhere! Cockatrice Crest and Hakutaku Lunchbox and the petro resist robe and Reimu's natural res. Looots of stuff is weak to A.Light B.Elec. You also want a fire or water attack for slimes. Satori can cover all three of these (Mad Thunder! The generic single-targets for the others are fine if you don't have multis) and Reimu/Marisa take more of a full-time aspect on this. Alice makes this a cakewalk,  I used Mokou (Group 1 is scarier and I wanted Alice there) and it was slightly risky but fine.

There is a one-time healing circle in each area before the end and they aren't very long. You can afford to burn mp.

[Validon98]

There's one thing I want to say about that.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I haven't started yet and I don't remember what's on each path and the wiki is unspecific. I know they were different, but... yeah. So thanks. After I finish up some grinding (Satori and Mokou must get to a point where they can be useful!), I'll be doing that. I'll probably make a mini-update that covers the extent of the stuff I'll be picking up. Going along with that, I'll probably split Stage 18 into two parts, one for the stage and one for the bosses, because that's a LOT of stuff to cover.

Also, I didn't figure they would inflict status effects on you more on Easy Mode. I guess the reworked status effect formulas in that apply to you and the enemy, which makes no sense. Doesn't really matter to me because I haven't been playing on Easy at all.

EDIT: I give up on getting skills for Satori. It's not worth it. I'm just going to throw all the stuff I'm doing for grinding in with the next update, because I simply cannot take grinding for skills anymore. I'm just going to beat some shit in Genbu's Swamp and Genbu's Lake, get everyone up to at least level 40, and be done with it.

SECOND EDIT: Even better, I'll just grind in the Lakebed Temple itself! The stuff there'll give XP anyways, and I can just clear out everything so I don't HAVE to worry about splitting the party, at least for the first section of the dungeon. That was going to be my original plan anyways.