Let's Play Atelier Rorona! Update 12
Welcome back to Atelier Rorona!
As you might have guessed, I don't have a lot to do during this update. But don't get the idea that these three months are just filler!
...
...Well, for me, it really is a lot like filler. Someone going for certain endings would have a lot more things to juggle, so this time would come in handy. But, well, I'm not doing that, so. I made some interesting items, explored a few more odd corners of Arland...
And farmed. A lot. I still haven't seen the request for Dunkelheit come up again, but I've made a lot of money just by selling it to shops, and some has come in handy for other things too. Even so, this will be a fairly short update.
First, it's time for another scene with Esty.
Yes?
Is it another job?
That's correct. So I don't even have to say anything for you to know anymore, huh?
Haha...I'm used to it by now.
So, what do you need this time?
Well...
I think this is gonna be the last request from me. I know you're busy but...
Don't worry. I'll get it done as soon as I can.
Rorona leaves.
...Well, she's gotten so much better.
I guess her master's way of training is working.
Yet somehow, I still feel like I ought to complain about it.
Let's take a moment to talk about the assignment, because a moment is all it really takes. There's a lot of different items in the [Sundry] category, but the cheapest thing I had registered was Polish Powder, so I mostly used that.
Failing that, it only takes a couple weaks to craft enough sundries to get as many stars as you want, if you make the right stuff.
Or, if you want to engage with as few of the game's systems as possible, you can just buy Sundries from the stuff Tiffani and Pamela regularly stock. About six thousand cole will buy enough to get you to 8 stars - on the first day.
If you're getting the idea that this assignment is pretty easy, that means you've been paying attention. Has Meredith just given up on trying to get rid of us?
Lately accessories have become some of the best money-making requests. These wholesale for around 2k, and I've seen them requested two or three at a time.
Requests for Dragon Scales and Tusks are pretty lucrative too. I'm saving some of what Hom brings in for equipment, but that still leaves a lot that I don't have any other pressing need for.
(The tusk screenshot is from much later in the update, which is why the amount of money I got jumps up so suddenly.)
Velvitis is the top-end cloth, and incredibly valuable. If all you wanted was money, and you had good enough Duneklheit lying around, doing requests for it wouldn't be a bad way to make money. Farming makes more money, but it's also more work.
One of the issues I've been dealing with is that while Rorona has a lot of powerful items to use, she can only use one at a time, and we can get hurt a lot while we're getting buffed up. This is at least a partial answer to that.
"HP Recovery L" doesn't actually provide as much regen as the Mystery Ankhs we've got do, even with all those boosting traits I put on. But it's close, and with the "Pepped Up" trait, it'll apply itself when Rorona takes almost any attack - it triggers at 99% HP. Of course, this means I don't want to carry it in my basket until I need it.
It might have been hard to make if I hadn't gotten lucky on materials though. If I craft a Nectar, it's likely to be high enough quality that the Elixir will have the revive trait instead of the regen one. So I had to use one from Pamela, and bring in the traits I wanted from a Healing Aroma. But that won't work for any of the auto-activation traits, since they'll only transfer to items that they actually work on. (Something which usually makes me very happy.) Luckily, I had an Isle Amber with Pepped Up to use for the [Elixir] item. There's other ways that would have worked, but they might have taken more days - and this was time consuming enough as it is.
It looks like these two are getting along.
Mew, meow!
^-^
Sigh.
Oh? Is that a note?
"Rorona, we're going on another trip. We'll be gone for awhile."
"I've left a souvenir for you from our last trip. Please take good care of it." Signed, "Your Mother."
They left me again...
*sigh* I'm used to it by now...
Received Globe Sphere x1,
Uni x3, and
Dunkelheit x1.
The other stuff is kind of random, but the Dunkelheit (60 quality with no traits) actually came in handy.
I'm still not happy about the ever-absent parents though.
There was some good news though.
Yay!
Uh... are you sure you're helping?
Meow?
And the cat doesn't seem to be quite sure what's going on.
Trying to give us advice, Noms?
Of course. Sorry about that. Forget that I said anything.
It's okay, you meant well.
Here's another trick item, for people using a lot of refilling items. I may have mentioned before that with "Filler", it increases the refill speed, but deteriorates quickly itself. But with either the Advanced or Amateurs Fave traits, it won't ever deteriorate. I almost didn't have any way to do this though - I've been tossing most stuff that has +1 traits, and it takes one to make either of those.
I haven't done any tests to see how it stacks with Perishable on refilling items, but any increase is a good increase.
I like to imagine that Astrid was originally going to ask for a fancy frying pan or something, and Esty was like "You know what, after all this, I should at least get a nice dress out of it."
And I fully support that wish. So we're making her the most beautiful Gorgeous Dress we can. Rorona's alchemy level is high enough that cloth or ingots will get a huge quality bonus too. (Which actually works to our disadvantage at one point...)
Mind you, the encyclopedia describes this as "A dress made from fabric that is lighter than paper. It won't feel like you're wearing anything"... so the fetishistic aspect of these requests hasn't really changed.
Thanks... Sorry for making you do all this work all the time.
Received 5,000 cole.
Oh, no, I'm sorry for misunderstanding some things and being rude...
Ah, I remember that... You never told me what Ms. Zexis told you.
I-I can't tell you!
Aww, don't be shy.
I won't get mad.
Um, ugh...I'm so sorry!
o.O
Rorona flees.
She got away...
I shouldn't have teased her so much...
You're doing it all wrong. Besides, who told you that you can tease my dear pupil?
Why do you care? I helped you for free. Rorona's shy face will make everything even.
Also, shouldn't she get to know what rumors you're spreading about her?
That's pretty pricey...
I shouldn't have asked you...
*sigh* So she won't be coming back here like that anymore, huh?
I'll miss her...
...
You look a hundred times sadder than me.
I won't deny it.
Have you decided what you wanna do?
Who knows? Even if I had, I would tell Rorona before anyone else.
I don't know how well some front desk lady can keep a secret.
You don't trust me much, huh? Whatever. I'll stay out of it.
Good. This is something that I have to decide on my own.
And time is running out...
Well, aren't you suddenly serious.
The new ticket items turn out to not be too interesting as far as I'm concerned, though if someone got this far without having access to some of the rare ingredients, this could be a source.
But seriously, Tea with Range Booster? Can the whole party really join Rorona in a cup of tea?
Well, I tested it, and apparently they can. But I really have no idea how they're all supposed to fit.
(More seriously, range boosting traits usually *dont'* seem to affect restorative items, so I was a bit surprised that this one did.)
Also, this Gold is a dirty trick. Skill Expertise and Skill Mastery both increase skill levels, and from my testing, they don't stack.
After a couple weeks or so spent farming Grow Plantze plus Hom's contributions, I was ready to make the ultimate armor... or at least my idea of it. Once I'm done I wont' have any of the "attach element" abilities on any of my equipment. Those probably do boost regular attacks more than all the attack boosts I'm stacking on, but I'm pretty sure this is better for skills.
Incidentally, the descriptions on those traits seem to be wrong. Attack +3 gives 20 attack instead of 30, Full Ability +2 and +3 are 15 and 20 points to everything rather than 20 and 30, and I assume the other traits are similar.
There's a couple different items we could make with this cloth, but for my money the best option is the ?King's Cape?.
And it happens to be a great deal of my money. I've never seen a non-ultimate weapon or armor get close to 1000 cole to make, and I've never seen an ultimate one cost less than 8000.
The Heroic Cape can be equipped by anyone, and gives even more stat bonuses. Just my style! But I'm surprised, Hagel. You had so much to say when we made that black cape, doesn't this white one inspire you?
(There's actually several more armors that he has scenes for, but I never had any reason to make them.)
I made some new accessories too. I didn't have a lot of respect for Rune Stones when they just protected against status effects. But "Magic Charm" is a damage reduction effect that seems to be reasonably effective. Victory Charms are too good for farming to give up, but these will help keep us going against stronger foes.
You might also notice that I've got Hidden Secret 1 and 2 on here. I finally figured out what they do, but I'll talk about that later.
Lately, Those Three Guys are hanging around at Pamela's. Huey earns a screenshot role today because he's not being a damn hypocrite like the others.
I-I was just running errands! I'm serious!
Says the man who said coming here was unacceptable last month.
Pamela is so beautiful...She's my one and only!
You said that word-for-word about Tiffani before. So neither of them are your one and only. Or yours in any other way.
Seriously, you guys. There's still time for you to find non-creepy things to do with your lives.
One of my side projects for this update was making items I hadn't before, and experimenting with different combat items. (Where "experimenting" mostly means "seeing if any of them look cool when you use them".)
...I have no idea what this thing is supposed to be.
Attack+ is "Super non-elemental damage to target. Damage depends on the defense level of the target." I'm not really clear on what that last part means, but it seems to show up on quite a few of the high-end combat items. Dead Effect means it's always going to critical against ghosts. These can also have an effect that has a chance to KO enemies regardless of damage, but I'm betting that it wouldn't work on most enemies that wouldn't already be KOed by the damage part.
I came out to Nabel Lake for a test run as well as to look for more strong enemies. Surprisingly, this area has two. Maybe the one in Old Capital Way should count as Lost City's though, since it doesn't have one.
I'd forgotten how much I like the music in Nabel Lake.
It looks a bit like a fountain...
But when I saw this, my first thought was "Oh god, Rorona's made an 'Ar tonelico?'."
Uh...
We're going to TPK ourselves again, aren't we?
Nope. Looks like Rorona's better at Satellite Strike than some people I could name.
(I actually tried it, and even if you add range boosting traits to this, it still won't hit the party. Since it already seems to hit the entire enemy field with no traits, doing that would be pointless anyway.)
But here's what we really came to fight. The Basalt Dragon is apparently not a real dragon. It is, however, fairly durable, as befits an enemy named for a rock. Hits fairly hard, but not enough to be a threat at this point.
I'm not sure I even realized you could jump up here the first time I visited this area. It seems to confuse the other enemies here too. They can't get up here, and when you jump down it takes them a while to realize it before they start chasing again.
On to the next one. An Isle Fish doesn't seem out of place down here, but is it just me or does something look odd about it's coloration?
Okay, good, it's not just me.
Vatoshun is one of the few enemies that I've run into lately that have been a serious threat. And this is why.
I don't really get the way these things keep flipping over to use attacks.
But the results speak for themselves. AoE damage and sleep is a nasty combination.
AoE damage and stun isn't as dangerous, but at this point we're already hurting. If it used the sleep one more often we could have really been in trouble. As it was I had to pay some serious attention to healing, which hasn't happened too often lately.
Our next stop is Traveler's Way. I hadn't been through Shady Way before, but it was pretty much like other parts of the area we've seen - though it's got another fake exit too. Once again, the real path was the one with guards.
My first thought when I saw that guy off to the right was "What's a Naruto character doing here?"
I'm... not sure where that came from.
Boss may not have any unique abilities or AoE moves, and he certainly hasn't got style like Big Boss, but he's the only one of the strong enemies we've seen that comes with an entourage. They could do some damage...
...to a less equipped party. The fight doesn't last very long after this.
The treasure is more interesting than average though. This Gold Bracelet is an example of Lionela's ultimate weapon... though not really a good one by my standards.
It still sells for a good chunk of change though, and it's possible to get even more out of it if you're a little patient. The Sun Cloak there also goes for a thousand or so, which isn't bad either.
Time to make our real ultimate weapons. I have to admit I've become a convert as far as Convert Damage goes... And I swear that pun wasn't intentional. o.O
It was a bit trickier making this than the armor. There's no [Ore] I can easily farm the way I can Dunkelheit, and I didn't get quite as lucky on the Dragon Tusks Hom brought back as I could have hoped. I had Marinelite with every trait I needed, but it's just not as good, so I had to make an extra ingot and throw in some Gold to pull it up. Of course, on some of my tests I ended up having to make five ingots to get everything, so compared to that this is actually pretty good.
Weapons don't seem to cost quite as much to make as armor in general, but it's still expensive compared to non-ultimate anything.
The best way I can describe the Seven Star Staff is... really impractical looking.
One interesting thing about Rorona's weapons is that her strongest weapons can give bonuses to defense (and for this one, speed too), while the basic weapon only boosts attack for most characters. Since it's desirable for Rorona to go first, this is a good thing.
That staff is nowhere near a ridiculous looking as this thing. CSP is short for "Cordelia Special". I suppose the ability is good, but it looks more like a Faberge Bullet than something intended for combat.
I suppose it's better than the White Bullet though. The description for that says "It's slightly bigger than the muzzle of a gun, but you can still squeeze it inside." That sounds like the kind of story that ends with the gun exploding in the users hand.
And we've already seen what Lionela's looks like.
Observe how the one Boss dropped would actually reduce her stats significantly compared to a weapon we made much earlier in the game. Have I emphasized the importance of traits enough yet?
Actually, there's something that I'd like to point out now that I've got my final equipment made. At level 50, with all this stuff, Rorona has 419 attack and 420 defense.
At level 8 with basic equipment, Rorona has 29 attack and 31 defense. Quite a jump. But how much is the levels and how much is the equipment?
Well, it turns out that 219 of the attack and 198 of the defense is from the weapon, armor, and accessory - over half of both stats. And you can make it all out of stuff Hom picks up. (Though not quite as good if you haven't at least opened up Orthogalaxen, which requires getting to level 25.)
My point is that you really don't need to grind as much as I have to have powerful characters, as long as you craft good stuff to equip them with. And even characters you haven't used much can be effective if you give them good gear. Between that and the way experience scales, you don't really suffer for mixing up your team in this game. It's a lesson a lot of other games could stand to learn.
As I've mentioned before, with her ultimate weapon, Lionela gets access to Healing Dance, which restores HP for the whole party. It's not really a huge amount, but if you haven't got super-duper healing items it could be a big deal.
This is probably where I should talk about Hidden Secret. If you look back to the image when I made the Gold Bracelet, it gives Horoholo Blizzard and Healing Dance. (Demon Busting isn't relevant for this, since it's a passive ability.) So why are Aranya Cure and Aranya Recovery still in the advanced skill list?
Well, turns out that's due to Hidden Secret. If I put on the Victory Charm that has HS1 only, Aranya Recovery disappears. And with neither of them, both those skills will be gone. But not having access to status cures or Lionela's best healing skill (which also revives) sounds like a bad idea, which is why both those traits are on my final equipment.
All this is pretty much what TheGrog said in the RPG.net thread, but I didn't quite get it. I was looking at the skills that were available at the start of combat and not looking in the status screen where I should have been, because I was fooled by people other places saying that Hidden Secret affected what was available at different elemental levels. I only really got to looking when I found in a test run that Lionela didn't have Aranya Recovery anymore. This is another "Why isn't this in a FAQ?" thing - some characters really benefit from having certain advanced skills unlocked.
If I'm understanding this correctly, a lower quality Halmolium ingot would make a Gold Bracelet that started out with Aranya Recovery, but it's pretty much impossible for me to do that.
Incidentally, the Atelier Wikia has the skills listed in the order that these apply for some characters... but not for Iksel and Lionela, who probably benefit the most from it. (Tantris doesn't have this information either, but screw that guy.)
Since I had an extra Halmolium ingot, I turned it in for some cash. It wouldn't be worth making just for requests though, at least not compared to Velvetis.
I hadn't noticed it before, but you can actually see Rorona's equipment change during battles. That really doesn't look like a good thing to bash enemies with. Also, see those things hanging from it?
Now look at the workshop sign. With that sun and moon design, you can tell it's custom-made for her, can't you?
... Well, on the staff, it looks more like "full moon and crescent moon". But it's the thought that counts!
(There's another sun-and-moon thing I just noticed while doing the commentary. Rorona's got that "Sun Cloak" armor that I was never interested in making (and none of the others can wear). And everyone but Rorona can wear the "Night Cloak" that has a big silver crescent on the front. Huh.)
Alas, Cory and Lionela's new weapons don't change their appearances any. I'm not sure about any of the others except Iksel. His ultimate weapon is a star-shaped frying pan, which even the encyclopedia describes as not very functional, so you might feel embarassed to have him haul it out in battle.
Spirit Necklaces are another thing I made both to fill in the item list and to do requests for. The game says Spirit Power "Strengthens the effect of elements". The Atelier Wikia says "ailments". I'm not sure which one's more useless.
Well, maybe that's not fair. If you could regularly sleep bosses, boosting ailments would be pretty strong, but I'm not sure you can. As for the "elements" one... I have no idea what it would do.
The "Unbroken Spirit" effect comes from using a high-quality Komet, which is pretty easy if you make it yourself. It may seem a bit familiar - Rorona's new weapon has it too. On either item, it gives you a chance to not die when you are killed. It doesn't seem worth using an accessory on to me.
I was hoping that there'd be some kind of special event for Tiffan or Pamela if you did enough requests for them, but I've got both up to 100 friendship and nothing.
I hope it's not because of Tiffani's 'admirers' that she needs a dress with spikes on it... o.O
The effect on a crafted Mercurius Eye increases the chance of getting critical hits. That's actually pretty good, and I would have seriously considered using these if I'd known it earlier.
I tried, but I couldn't find a way to make the accuracy increase effect that the one we won had. Not that I really want one that does that.
Back to messing around with combat items. I got curious when I saw this effect name in a FAQ.
Love Sign!
Master Spaaaaark!!!
Okay, okay, she actually says "Cannon! Shoot!"
But seriously, that's totally a Master Spark.
Barrels can have a variety of effects depending on the [Liquid] used. Waste Barrel comes from using Dark Dew.
Despite how dangerous it looks, it just inflicts poison. Bah.
Here I've got a Globe and a Lightning Bomb.
Globes make no sense whatsoever. Rorona plops this thing down and starts spinning it...
It starts to look like it'll explode in her face...
Then out of nowhere a giant one falls down and smashes the enemy. It's hard to beleive this one as a single-target item. But then it's hard to believe anything it does in the first place.
Uh, if we start spinning the one that's been sitting on Rorona's desk since the start of the game, is it going to destroy the workshop?
Lightning Bombs are a bit less exotic. Rorona just throws it at an enemy...
Which is then struck by lightning. By comparison this is pretty sensible.
(The novel Empire of the East had an item that could do something similar play a key role in the plot.)
You may have noticed this Heroic Cape in the ticket item list. Ours are better than it. But lacking anything better to do with the tickets, I bought one, disassembled it at Hagel's (which, unlike everything else to do with ultimate equipment, isn't more expensive), and turned it in for a request.
...It's really kind of sad that I don't have anything better to do with them than turn them into more money.
Now, how about a Blitz Symbol that does earth damage?
Huge spikes from below, apparently. This is another one that's hard to accept when it's single-target, since the animation covers the whole enemy side of the field.
Fire element ones produce a fireball that falls from the sky and explodes.
And I forgot that I'd shown a wind one when I first got the recipe, and made another one. The thing that stood out to me here is that the wind one is the only one that does it's damage in multiple ticks instead of all at once. Don't know if that affects anything.
Also, is there anything we can do in this game that does wind element damage that actually looks like *wind*, and not lightning? Because I sure haven't found it. Enemies can beat us up with wind gusts and tornados, why can't we return the favor?
"Giant falling Uni's will strike enemy." ... That sounds like another terror weapon.
Good god. o.O
This one has a chance to poison the enemy, so using it against humans is forbidden by the Geneva Convention.
The one we made for sale before makes a giant star fall in from above and slice up the enemy. It also makes the player feel like a ninja, perhaps?
With the right kind of ingot you can also get a shower of Punis ( o.O ), or what the game calls "Falling Boulder", but actually looks to me like a shower of meteors - like the name would suggest you get in the first place. It doesn't seem to change the damage, but Punis can put enemies to sleep and BoulderMeteors have a chance to critical hit.
For a consumable damage item, I'm starting to feel like these are actually pretty nice. They get four uses and hit all enemies without any traits. But to get a lot of boost traits on them, you'd probably have to make cloth out of paper specifically for the job, which I don't really like doing.
And with that, our vacation comes to a close.
You're right...
I think I'll miss it.
You look so relaxed now. You used to get so nervous that you couldn't even speak right.
Oh, is that right?
It's still too early to be sentimental. We'll do this after the last assignment.
Now, let's see your results...
I really don't know how you could fail this one.
...There's nothing to be said. There's no need for me to lecture you on anything.
Th-thank you.
o.O
Blushing like that... Rorona, aren't two girlfriends enough for you?
I'm sure you'll do great on your last assignment, too. Here it is.
...Huh. Well, that's not vague or anything.
Alchemy's innermost secret...?
When you phrase it like that, it sounds even more uncertain.
That's right. Show us what you've been working so hard on for the last three years as an alchemist.
If you fail at this one, your past three years will have been a total waste...
...which is really stupid...
I mean, sorry, I'm not trying to put any pressure on you...but...
Don't worry. I know what you're trying to say. I'll do my best.
...Alright. Sorry about that.
Good luck.
Thank you!
And the last assignment starts with a picture of Astrid, looking pretty cute.
I like this smile a lot more than her usual ones.
Now, Sterk set a question before Rorona...
Hmm...innermost secrets...
What is an innermost secret anyway?
But can you really find the answer to this one in a book?
What's the matter?
I can hear you mumbling from outside.
Huh!? Was I really that loud!?
Yeah, but it was a cute mumble. I wish I could've set up an intercom all around town so that everybody could hear you.
And the sweet Astrid we saw is already gone. Sigh.
N-no, don't!
I'd be so mad at you if you did that!
Oh yeah! Master...what's the innermost secret of alchemy?
That's a random question...
Explain what you want to know first.
My last assignment from the castle calls for alchemy's innermost secret.
But I don't know what kind of item I should make...
I see. Those people at the castle should be ashamed of themselves for asking something so ridiculous.
o.O
What?
Nothing. You can't describe the innermost secret of alchemy with one word. It really depends...
I don't know the exact answer to that, either.
I see...
That's surprisingly philosophical.
However, it shouldn't be all that challenging to deceive those alchemy amateurs.
Just make something that looks like alchemy and has an alchemy effect.
I don't like the word deceive...
How else do you wanna phrase it? Trick? Cheat? Fool?
I'm leaning towards "appease" myself.
...Anyway, why are you coming to me about alchemy?
Well, you're my master. Remember?
*facepalm*
Your master, huh...?
I wish you would start calling me
Big Sister already.
I haven't heard you complain about that for a while now.
And it doesn't even faze Rorona to hear it anymore.
Well, you're the owner of this workshop. Just be confident and make whatever you think is right.
Astrid leaves.
Hmm...she really has been acting weird lately...
Oops, I should think about my assignment first. Hmmm...
So. Alchemy's innermost secret. And we need to make a single item to represent that.
This seems like a good time for some audience participation. Anyone reading this who hasn't already played the game, what do you think is the right item for this job?
I'll give you a hint now - all the stuff that makes sense for me conceptually was actually not very good.
Next time on Atelier Rorona: Every new end is some other end's beginning.