As you'll remember, Rico Thick McRunfast asked us to go check out the sewers and see what's killing all his people. Unfortunately, said sewers aren't going to go away if I ignore them, so I might as well just get this over with.
Of course, I've also got a new character to discuss:
Character Analysis: Ricardo Banderas
- HP: Highest
- EP: Lowest
- Attack: Very High
- Defense: Very High
- Ether: Lowest
- EthDef: Lowest
- Agility: 7
- Weapon of choice: Fists
As you can plainly see, Rico Blast Hardcheese is pretty much entirely focused on physical attacks. As a result, he's rather divisive. Some players swear by him, some never use him when they don't have to, and others (like me) don't have any opinion one way or the other.
He comes with two Spirit abilities, both of which cost 2 EP. Steel Fist increases his Attack by 20%. Steel Body, meanwhile, is affected by the same bug that makes Hard Stars useless, so there's no reason to use it.
There's nothing I haven't already eaten in the cafeteria, so I don't bother.
When I enter the sewers, I see a green-tinted first-person view of something moving through them. Fortunately for us, it doesn't seem to care for my team at the moment.
Unfortunately for us, I still have to go through the worst dungeon in the entire game. The sewers look the same no matter where you are, so it's very easy to get lost if you don't have a map
.
The enemies here are annoying in many ways. Armor Wasps take very little damage from physical attacks, so only Fei can fight them effectively. Acid Frogs can poison you, which isn't very threatening. Batrats can confuse you, which is. Rotten Sods are basically giant punching bags that can put you to sleep. Mullets are fish that spend the first turn in the water, where Fei's the only person on this team who can hit them. Lucre Bugs are hard to kill before they turn into Nolucre Bugs, which I think have worse rewards or something.
I can also fight some stronger Hobgobs, but they're still wimps.
The loot is all listed on the map I just linked, so I'll just note what the weird stuff does. The map is an actual ingame map of this place (without any of the treasure marked on it, of course). The Cool Shades prevent confusion, and the Gallant Belt raises the wearer's maximum HP by 10%. The Zetasol DX, of course, is an upgraded Zetasol, which revives you with all your HP.
Now, I'm supposed to be examining murder sites (the map I linked has them marked), all of which consist of bloodstains with green slime mixed in with them.
The first murder site I find has "Red monster" written on the wall, possibly in the victim's own blood ("In his blood? Way to go, kid!"). Rico Buff Drinklots also notes some slime on a nearby pipe.
After climbing down the ladder on the west side, I see another first-person view. I then hear a bell, which Rico Crunch Slamchest notes a rumour about.
At the second murder site, Citan makes the connection between the slime and the murders, realizing that the slime is from the monster. Rico Fist Rockbone also notes that something smells burnt.
Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to mention: Rico Stump Beefknob starts with just his first two Deathblows, making my job that much harder.
After a bit of searching, we find a mechanical rat remover with the keys to the sewer stuck in its engine. These particular keys belonged to the now-late Vargas, and will get us into the sewage treatment plant.
The green mark on the map, by the way, is a little alligator-thing called Gramps.
Once we reach the last murder site, Rico Smash Lampjaw mentions that the pipes we've been seeing connect to the sewage treatment plant. We also see another shot from the monster's POV.
For a quick laugh, do note that Citan is presently wearing Iron Mail, a Knight Helm, and the Cool Shades.
Eventually, we reach the door to the sewage treatment plant, where Fei fumbles with the lock for a bit. This takes long enough that the monster on the other side of the door leaves. After Rico Punch Rockgroin complains that we "should of" found it, I take the Bell Amulet. Rico Buck Plankchest suggests using it to lure the monster out of hiding, which is certainly an idea.
As we leave, Fei suggests using the bell at a drain with slime in it. However, it'll need to be one the monster hasn't actually used yet.
Please take note of the distance between the boss and the nearest save point.
When I examine the pipe I need to, I'm attacked by a random encounter due to poor programming. The party then walks through the stream of water from it, taking damage during the cutscene. Now you can probably tell why so many players have debated shooting themselves during this sequence.
So, we use the bell to lure the monster out, and I have to fight it. Redrum (for that is the name of this particular foe) can confuse or poison your characters, do a fire attack on everyone (which heals him because he absorbs fire), and is generally a pain. The most dangerous thing he can do, though, is his Murder attack, which steals all of the target's HP.
Yes, they gave the boss an attack that instantly kills you and does so through HP damage so even if you could protect yourself against instant death it wouldn't work.
Citan's on full-time heal duty for this fight, while Fei and Rico Stump Junkman smash the guy. Once he starts Murdering people, just keep hitting him, reviving as necessary.
Eventually, after being pummelled enough, Redrum goes down. During the subsequent levelling, Citan learns Fuuseii, which costs 4 EP and grants the target wind resistance and earth weakness for 10 turns. He'd also learn its counterparts for the other three elements, but you can only learn one Ether per battle so he'll have to wait a bit.
After the fight is done, Citan makes note of the monster's human-like intelligence. Fei and Rico Dirk Hardpec figure out the rest for themselves, and I'm fortunately taken back to the entrance without having to walk.
We then get to Citan, speaking with the Emperor again. Emperor Skullface asks if "he" has awoken, and Citan confirms it.
Citan then asks if "the elders" had "him" moved here (wherever "here" is), and the Emperor states otherwise. They fear him, you see, and are planning a more...direct...disposal.
After they discuss a few more cryptic things, we cut to a Gebler battleship. Elly and her troops are being briefed about their mission to escort something called the Hecht. Elly asks what it's supposed to do, and gets a generic "that's classified" response. Not even the Hecht's crew will know until the last minute.
Elly's team complains about not knowing what they're supposed to do. Elly also notes that any normal purge would involve only one of the flying bombs they're using, but this one uses eight. Elly also refuses to take part in the actual purge, claiming that she'll only escort the Hecht as her orders claim.
Anyway, back to Fei. Rico Rip Steakface complains that we took too long, which Fei says was due to Citan burying the monster. He then says some generic stuff about how we'll be enemies when next we meet and such before leaving.
Well, I can save now, so that's it for this update. Next time, we'll hopefully see about getting those finals won.
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