Let's Play Atelier Rorona! Update 8, Part 3
Continued from Part 2...
Here's the Mystry Ankh I made. With +2 traits being common this wasn't really anything fancy, although I did spend some time digging through Happy Baskets for traits. (Since I seem to have thrown out nearly everything I had with Unique.)
These things have a funny assortment of effects, and at first I wasn't quite sure what to think they did. So I did some testing. It turns out that "HP Restore M" here is, like the similarly named one on the Auto Alarm, means the item gives a regen effect.
But with the traits I put on this one... wow. Unfortunately, Wider Range doesn't seem to do anything for this one either, but still, this is the next best thing to indestructibility - if an enemy can't KO a party member between one of their turns and the next, they'll never be able to do it at all. And with it being Fast Refill, 20 quality per use, you can get a lot of mileage out of just one or two.
There's several other effects that these can have, but the ones that can appear with this one (attack, defense, or speed boost) I couldn't find a way to get without messing up the traits. And I decided I like crazy strong regen more than those things.
Time for the other main goal of this update, exploring Ster Highlands. I complained about the Catacombs having a four day travel time before? Hahahaha. Seven days!
Here's an example of what I was complaining about before. Max HP isn't a thrilling trait anyway, but a +3 would still be much better.
Although an item with both Attack and Defense +2 is kind of funny, since they'll instantly combine. (And Full Ability +1 is still not a bad boost overall.)
Meet the Mountain Wolf.
They aren't really that tough, but they're still not an enemy you can take lightly. I've had times when I thought "Well, there's only one, I can take it out with two normal attacks"... and then it does this.
And sometimes it'll do that and then immediately do another attack. It's not that unusual for one to do a hundred damage between the two.
This is where I kind of started to think "We're all glass cannons". I can deal a lot of damage to enemies, but can't take all that much... and enemies are exactly the same.
Cory's weapon has the Wolf Busting effect, so she always criticals on them. So she can get a one-shot from a normal attack where the others have to use a skill.
(Not that Cory doesn't get a ton of criticals anyway, with her passive skill and all. I've almost got it maxed out now.)
These have shown up before, but I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be. Other than something you can use to make cloth. But it's cloth a couple tiers before what we can make with Some Slough.
This group at the end is kind of funny. It looks like an exit guard... but you can just walk around it if you want.
It's definitely got the "much stronger group of enemies" part though. As well as showing off some new enemies that will show up in later areas.
Primal Birds are probably the most dangerous, since they have the same whole-party attack we've seen from birds before, and just like the new wolves they hit really hard.
Mini Demons have some dangerous attacks too, but their HP is surprisingly low.
I used a Beast Statue to thin out this group. Although despite looking like it would hit both birds, it only hit the one in the middle, plus one of the wolf. It's way too hard to tell which enemies will actually get hit by attacks with mid-size AoEs.
Lionela took out the Mini Demon. Her weapon has the effect that makes her attacks always critical on them, but when their HP is so low it's not that impressive. Also, she doesn't seem to have a different critical animation. It's too bad, I wanted to get a closer look at Horoholo and Aranya beating stuff up.
I was kind of worried the game would force me to go back, which would have been annoying since I've got most of a month left. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
The next area is another one where, even though it branches, both join back up at the end. And there's a bunch of Primal Birds. The chest has an Alchemy Candy, which isn't that exciting.
It's here where I start to apprciate when groups include a lower-level enemy or two. It gives us a chance to use healing skills without something really dangerous beating up on us and undoing a lot of it.
On to the next area. This arrangement seems familiar. And yeah, these totally charge at you if you try to go past too.
The Chimera Hawk is a bigger, badder Griffon. It can dish out a lot of damage and take a lot of damage.
But Rorona can still one-shot it with an Angel Shot. I'd just like everyone to remember that for future reference.
Past that one, you can go right, fight another Chimera Hawk, and reach an exit. Or you can go left, and do the same things. I wanted left, but of course I want to fight both of them.
Esty actually had a bounty up for them before I came out here, but... *fistshake* 4! With the area containing precisely three! And I don't plan on going back to this area on this visit!
There's been a definite feel of "climbing up into the mountains" so far, and in the next area it looks like we've gotten high enough for snow all the time.
Also, it's full of demons. Thus the name, "Demon Snow".
Here's where I thought to myself "Are those things supposed to look like they have a giant porn moustache?"
Here's where we start finding those new [Ore] items, Metal Ore and Star Piece. Their great as far as tier goes, but the traits are all so bad!
And here's where someone distracted me while I was playing, and I accidentally took the wrong exit. Well, I would have wanted to do it sometime anyway, but... not really on this trip. At least I still had enough days left.
Going back in and taking the right exit brings us to the Snow Stone Area.
Guess what kind of ore only appeared once out of all the gathering points here?
There's enough strong enemies here that they actually managed to get some good hits in, plus we keep accumulating damage just from skill use. Which leads to this:
Lionela's worried face is also cute...
But it's definitely convenient to have a full restore ability at times like this.
Is that wolf actually trapped behind this rock? o.O
And here's the reason to make the trek out to Ster Highlands. Since it's not like the materials are super-useful. (Or rather, the stuff Hom picks up is better for my purposes.)
And further up the trail there's another ingot.
Back at the workshop, reading our new recipe book.
Gibate Ankh is an accessory that increases resistance to one (and only one) element... meh.
Bunny Tail is another accessory, and it's kind of interesting. It has [Plant] as one of it's ingredients. Since a lot of [Threads] items also have that category, you can get equipment traits on it that way. And one of it's possible effects is supposed to improve drop rates... or something like that. But I'm not sure how much I really care.
And Tera Bomb...
This thing is just ridiculous. Does it even count as a single item anymore? Well, let's just see what using one looks like...
Oh you've got to be kidding me. Where would she carry that? -How- would she carry that? How can this fit in our inventory, yet we can't carry hundreds of heads of cabbage?
And then she tosses in another, sized for humans to use bomb. Well, I suppose it would *work*, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of bundling the fuses together? Or having fuses at all?
What the-
!!!
Love Is Over.
So yeah. If you want to destroy the enemies, the entire party, and everything else from here to Arland, this is the bomb for you!
Okay, not really. Arland will still be there.
Probably.
Well, I'm sure there's *someone* left who can officially exile Rorona for unleashing this monstrosity on the world.
Alternatively, you can stick enough range-reducing traits on one so it doesn't blow up friend and foe alike. With a little effort, breaking 50k damage would not be surprising.
Therefore, we are never ever ever going to make one.
There's a few different reasons for that, but mostly it comes down to that being the beaten path. I'm not sure I've even seen anyone talk about doing anything else really awesome with the item creation system, and that's sad. Also I'm not interested in every fight for the rest of the game being boring.
There is one exception to this - if a situation ever comes up where the effects of this thing would be particularly amsuing, I might show it. Otherwise, I won't even be acknowledging their existence from here on.
Here's something else nice that I don't remember the game ever specifically telling you about. Hit triangle while in the container, select "Discard Item(s)"...
And now you can one-click select items to discard in bulk, just like you can from the basket at gathering points. Since I keep having to pick more stuff to throw out to make space, this is going to make life easier.
Then Iksel shows up with a strange request...
Huh...? Like, the animal pig?
No...
Why would you even ask that? o.O
Okay, then maybe you can come help me out. Whenever you have the time...
You want me instead of a pig?
What are you talking about?
Well, I heard an interesting story from one of my customers.
There's a place to the North-East, where many strange plants grow. It's called the Dark Woods.
Oh, I never knew that...
So what's the pig for?
Let me finish.
You can find the ultimate truffle there. It's called the Dreamy Crown.
Wait a minute, aren't truffles a type of mushroom? Don't you not like mushrooms?
And pigs are good at finding truffles, right?
Oh...so you want me to sniff out truffles like a pig?
If pigs can do it, you can, too. Right? I mean, look at this place.
...
Promise you'll come with me!
I'm counting on you!
Iksel leaves.
...That definitely wasn't a compliment. Too bad I didn't catch it at first...
You can now go to the Dark Woods.
In a strange way, that made no sense whatsoever.
Turning in the two "Spring Liquid" Spring Cups I got from Nabel Lake, and two "Good Spring Liquid" ones I made and wholesaled brought us to nine stars. Feh. I've tested, and four with the good effect are enough for ten stars, I was hoping this would be close enough. I feel like I've been leaving this at 9 too much lately, so I'm not satisfied with this. I tried turning in a single Bomb Ice to see if it would bring us to 10...
It did not. A second one did, but at that point I could have just bought another Spring Cup.
(Incidentally, using just Bomb Ice requires a huge number of items on this assignment, so it's really not recommended.)
Hom's back from Ster Highlands, and... Hmmm. The new ore items are all coming in with +2 traits at best. With how much stronger +3 traits often are, I'm not sure how much good these will do me.
Incidentally, if you leave Hom without anything to do for a while (like if you're on a long trip to a distant location), she'll complain. If it's a really long time...
;.;
Don't neglect our cute little Homhom!
Off to the new area, Dark Woods. The interesting thing here is that it says the required days are 4, but that area takes 6 days to get to... Looks like Hom is getting even faster. (It looks like the days required past the overhead is still the same though.)
I spent some time checking around with different people.
Normal people are appreciative of Rorona now, too... but this line makes me sad. ;.;
Nah...it looks the same.
I get the feeling this is another ongoing drama that I missed the start of.
I wonder...
No, it looks like they just went from hanging around at one bunch of barrels to another. And you can at least be glad they're staying off the tracks...
Scale Sword? That doesn't look like a sword, that looks like... Okay, I'm not even sure what it looks like.
Okay, fine. I'll resell these for random people, I can bring you one too.
And promptly start regretting it.
No, I did it just for money! Mon-ney! Aaaaaaah!
Wow, this thing's horn almost extends outside the picture box. And the bonus requirement is five turns instead of three... It must be tough.
So naturally we take the request.
I decided to fill out the end of the month with some more pie-making. Turns out I was wrong earlier. Somehow I'd gotten under the impression that we would get proper tea leaves as an ingredient, but no. When it says "Black Tea", it just means a cup of that stuff that might be made from logs for all we know.
The description doesn't sound half bad, but... I just can't trust it.
Seafood Pie looks a bit peculiar, but isn't that unreasonable.
And since we've made everything from that set...
I think I've got great potential... There's no pie that I can't make!
...I could be wrong.
That's kind of cute.
That's right. I don't appreciate your cockiness.
!
Whoa! W-were you watching me this whole time!?
I sure was. I watched you dancing around with that cocky smile on your face.
When you make that face, you totally look like you were appreciating it.
I...I wasn't dancing!
Are you completely satisfied with your alchemy pie making skills already?
Huh? What do you mean?
Hmhmhm, it's unusual to see you getting so ticked off.
Let me tell you something about this pie. It's very well made, but it's still just a normal pie.
Hey! Don't look down on normal pies!
Well of course it is.
I make normal pies.
Is that all you want? Don't you want to make a pie that no one else can make?
No.
And I'm not just being contrary here. I'm actually of the school of thought that considers sharing recipes part of the fun. (Not that I get to cook much, or have much to share, but still.)
What...?
That's all I'll say. I'm taking this as my consultation fee.
Hey! I was gonna eat that later...
Astrid leaves... although the pie actually stays in your inventory. (There's another event where you actually do lose the pie you just made, although I didn't trigger it during my "official" play.)
Aww, I can't believe she took it...
What did she mean by a pie that only I can make...? I'm not good at anything except for making pies...
Selling herself short again...
Oh, what about my alchemy skills? But, I'm already using them to make these pies... *gasp* Maybe she means...
It's more like...something that I can only do with alchemy. Alright! I think I know what it is now!
Let's get right to it!
Received Alchemy Pie.
Okay, but... what exactly is that?
Ummmm...
Okay, you know what? No. We are not doing this. I could accept the shell sitting on top of the Seafood Pie as garnish. I could accept the Snow Stones for Ice Pie as a tool more than ingredient. But this is the limit.
You might say "It's a sad thing that your adventures in alchemy pie-making have ended here!!" But come on, look at this.
This is a Meteor. It's made out of metal, more metal, cloth, and even more metal. And we're supposed to turn this into a food?!
And this thing! Have you ever watched a movie, and someone talks about looking back and wondering where it all started to go wrong?
Making this pie would be where it all started to go wrong.
...
Okay, dropping into seriousness mode for a moment. You may, depending on your familiarity with the game, be aware that the game has a Pie Ending, and it should be obvious that I am blatantly and deliberately avoiding it.
This is based on the principle of what I've called a "semi-blind playthrough" - while I haven't completely avoided spoilers (and have, in cases like the list of trait combinations, sought them out), I'm limiting what I do that I would not have done if I had not been spoiled on things, and generally trying to have the game play out as it would if I had really been going in blind, and just played according to my general inclinations. And if I had been going in blind, there would be almost no chance of my getting the Pie Ending, because I wouldn't have had any reason to make the first high-quality Plain Pie to start unlocking new recipes. So it's off limits.
And honestly... I think I'd rather have a "normal pie" than anything this is leading to.
Healing Bell's another interesting one. It's a consumable, which normally I'm not into, but it's so strong that it's probably worth having one around.
The "Pinch Recovery" ability heals the entire party, with the amount increasing the more hurt Rorona is. This one doesn't have much in the way of fancy traits...
But this is still nothing to sneeze at. This was with Rorona at 85 HP. Once when she was in critical, I saw it heal everyone for over a thousand.
One thing it won't do is revive anyone, but it's still an item that can bring you back from the brink of defeat.
I still remember Iksel trying to sell us marked-up tea in our hour of need, so I don't feel so bad about selling him pie he made himself.
And so the month came to an end...
Yeah, it's almost fall...
So, about the assignment...
I know. You don't have to say anything.
I can't believe I didn't think about this before I gave you the assignment...
I feel like it was all just a waste of time...
Yeah, well, let's just move on to the results.
Well...summer is almost over...
You're right. I'll make sure that this never happens again.
So, they gathered items to help with hot weather... just in time for the hot weather to be over?
TIMING!
Now, about your next assignment...
That's right. Just like last year, the deadline is a little sooner than usual.
Yeah, you seemed really busy last year. How is this year shaping up so far?
...Honestly, I'm a little stressed out. I think it'll all depend on your work, though.
Ugh...don't worry! I'll do my best to help you out.
I'm counting on it.
So... it's like fireworks? But I'm not sure how Barrels fit into this. Other than being a bit of a series fixation.
And then the music changes to a certain person's theme...
...Oops. I almost forgot. There's one more request that comes directly from the Minister.
The Minister?
Yeah, he's asking for a Raptorstein.
I've never heard of that before. What kind of item is it?
I have no idea. But if you don't know what it is, it must be really rare.
I suppose there's not much call for a beer stein that's shaped like a raptor.
What, that's not it?
Hmm...I'll look into it.
Master might know what it is.
When do you need it by?
He didn't specify a date, but as soon as possible I'd guess. Sorry for the short notice, but I hope you can do it.
Huh.
And our ending picture this time is Gio. That's a rather threatening looking goatee you've got there, man.
Next time on Atelier Rorona: Time to get wet...ter. Also, fights that are actually difficult...