Note: This is admittedly less of an LP and more of a Boss Battle compendium of a Lloyd solo. I will be assuming any readers have played this game before or just won't mind not understanding some of the things mentioned.
After a bout of training (and reaching level 42) I enter the Balacruf Mausoleum proper and generally just slip past the enemies to stay in peak condition. I snagged most of the treasure and then solve the puzzle to open the gate to the main point of this Liveblog... The Boss Battles!
In this Temple the boss is the Iapyx, who has access to multiple kicking attacks, the Feather Shot and React Feather (used near the end of the battle) techs, and the Air Thrust spell. He isn't too strong but with 28'000 or so HP he isn't going to die quickly. At first I rushed him and and unleashed a Unison Attack on him, letting Colettes' Angel Feathers, Genis' and Kratos' Lightning and My Tiger Blade rip into him and finishing with Lightning Tiger Blade. After he got up I backed off a bit, let him start casting and rushed in with a full normal hit -> Sword Rain -> Tempest -> Beast combo, and then backing off again. After his health reached about 19,000, he started to attack directly and I had to wait for his attacks to end before resuming the offensive. The fight carried on with little change until he killed my last party member (when he was at about 8,500 hp) and turned his full attention on me, causing me to switch to the defensive. I backstepped away from his combos and then rushed in and comboed him, rinse and repeat (with an orange gel or apple gel tossed in to restore whatever needed healing while he was down) 'til he falls.
After that boss battle my companions and I are fully healed and I prepare to leave the Mausoleum, only to be attacked by The Resolute Assassin (9,000 hp) and her Lightning Guardian (10,000 hp)! The Assassin isn't too powerful, but she's fast and has a normal combo and the Pyre Seal tech, which has the same effect as my Beast tech. The Guardian is slower, but has more punch, and his only attack is a basic combo that can knock you down if unblocked. Facing two bosses at once (rather than a boss and lackeys) can be quite tough, but if one of the bosses goes for your partners, then you're good. I opened up on the Guardian with a Unison Attack (same as before) and finished with Lightning Tiger Blade (which may not have been the best idea, in retrospect). While he was down I switched my attention to The Assassin, pushing her away from my allies and comboing her until she entered Overlimit (which she does a lot) and then attacked the Guardian until she returned to normal. I continued alternating until The Assassin died, then turned my blade on the Guardian, Finishing it off right after it killed Kratos.
I then headed to Asgard to heal and restock on the items used in both boss battles and headed onwards to the Thoda Geyser. I saved at the house of salvation at the entry place and then sailed to Thoda Geyser in a Washtub, of all things! I entered the seal of water that was there and Reached the Boss, Adulocia (20,000 hp) and the two Amphitras (4600 hp each). First I focused on the Amphitras, whose attacks involve either a few sweeps with their tail, or musical notes launched from their harps. They went down quickly, while the Adulocia, whose attacks include a couple of punches with her shark-fists, a large tail sweep combo, or the Spread and Aqua Laser spells, casted Spread on my teammates, nearly killing Kratos before I could use a Unison Attack. This one only involved three attacks because I swapped Genis for Raine, since she had more health, and I forgot to swap on her Photon spell. I still lightning Tiger Blade'd her and then just rushed her while she drowned the rest of my allies with spells. She wouldn't stagger no matter how hard I hit her during her casting so I just dodged or Guardian'd what ever spells she threw at me. The fight was pretty straightforward and she died soon afterwards. I finished the battle at level 45, saved then stopped.
That concludes my first true installment of "The Titan Goes"! In the next Chapter I'll be heading to the Luin region Human Ranch, and possibly to the Tower of Mana!
