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Back for another chapter, and I've done a bit more work. Generated two new nine-point characters - Master Shake the Mystic (name courtesy of Rattar) and Belchosneech the Archer (name courtesy of Shittle). With this, we now have a team of seven fighting Phantoms. We'll even still have enough capacity left over to summon 1-2 extras, just in case we need to snap up some extra items with Kyle the Bottlemail or level up Lithium some more so we can buy better items from her.

In the course of getting them somewhat up to speed in levels, I also got another recruitable class:



Cerberuses (Cerberii?) are powerful mages, and their attack power isn't too shabby either; however, the latter is offset by their cruddy physical skill proficiencies. They look cool to boot.

Ah yes, one other thing I forgot to mention before:



If your character is killed, their body remains on the field, and can still take damage from enemy attacks. If their HP falls to the negative value of their maximum positive HP, they will vanish from the field and become "Spiritless"; in this case you need to sacrifice an item to revive that character.

You can also use this to your advantage on fields where enemies like to revive each other.



Fortunately, any item will do the trick. So just buy a cheap sword or something and then offer it, and presto, we've got Naomi back.

As an added note, you can also use an Egg or a Changebook when reviving a Spiritless character for an extra effect - that character's level will reset to 1, but they will get extra stat points to distribute, so that they will become much stronger when leveled back up. Both types of items are very difficult to find, though (only spawning in high-level random dungeons), so spend them wisely.



They're asking for our help AND advertising to us in the same letter? No shame!



Looks like we're going back there again.



Well, they've got style at least.



I'm sensing a name theme with these dog-looking guys.



Well, that's a relief.



Alrighty then.



One blast of Berserker or Cleave apiece should do the trick.



There sure are a lot of title cards lately.



Soon they won't be around either!



$$$ Cha-ching! $$$



No more getting stiffed? Sounds good to me.



Sounds good, but first things first!

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Another one of these levels. Big bonus protections, but the enemies also get powered up by them. Fortunately there are only a few of them on this map.



This loot system sucks!



This next map has a couple interesting twists. First is the fact that there are four objects projecting a chain of Defense x2 Protections to one another, which you can use to your advantage; just keep in mind that if someone dies or vanishes from the field and takes the item with them, he'll rob someone else of their protection as well.



Similarly, the enemies on this board alternate between projecting Protections that benefit them and Protections that benefit you defeating them. So the strategy here is to take out the ones that benefit you first; that way you'll stop them from broadcasting Protections that benefit the enemies.

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Putties!



Turning into Manticores! Holy shit!



Putties and their sneaksie ways.



Looks like we're going to have to fight them anyway.



Well, right near our starting point we've got a handful of items that give our Defenses a major boost. Which is good, because we're surrounded by two Behemoths, two Manticores and two Fenrirs right at the start.



Meanwhile, across the bridge we've got a couple Werewolfs and our main foe, a Dragon. The dragon's actually not too much higher in level, but his HP is much higher than it would normally be due to his "Minibos" Title. he's also getting some mild buffer Protections from two nearby objects.



Nearby the werewolf are two rocks broadcasting Strengthen Protections to one another. As with the second level in this set, keep in mind that if one vanishes for whatever reason, the other will lose their Protection too. Best to save these for one or two of your better characters when you go to tackle the Werewolves and the Dragon.



Healing ahoy.

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Oh boy.



Well, just one, and it was technically a Putty, but still!



Hammed it up a little too much there.



I have two comments here.

A) It's pretty funny that Marona's terrible at lying, but he still buys it.
B) I can't shake the feeling that the first line is a subtle Indiana Jones reference.



A trooper to the end.

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I care when there's that much!



Marona doesn't, though.



Guilt trip time?



Not sure I follow that logic.



Aww.



Unfortunately the screen fades out at this point, so we don't get to witness a random act of violence against a barrel.



Swag!



Hey, we get the best of both worlds.



Ash's "surprised" animation almost makes him look like he's about to punch Marona in the face.



Yay.

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One more thing before we're done here:



Another new class to play with. Unfortuantely they're pretty much just improved Scrabbits.

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Next time: Chapter 7, where things get colorful.

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- Spoony Spoonicus <- 12:23:51 am, thursday, april 3rd, 2008 pdt <- (updated 10:36:30 am, thu, apr 3rd, 2008 pdt)