Act 1: Through the Water and the Flames we carry on
Compression Tactics
Hubris.
Hubris sometimes really is the end of things.
Sometimes, overconfidence sends you against the wall, and…
even if odds, and odds, and odds pile up, the smallest of mistakes…
…return the highest of punishments.
And sometimes the game just hates you lmao imagine failing the prologue what a lo-
Now hello everybody, this is Lesk with your Server 72 flawless run in a phone that is slowly deevaluating in the face of the inflationist market and my deep desire for more Monster energy drinks.
After some misfortunate crashes and resets, both borne from literal skill issue, I have returned to the playing field.
No, I’m serious, the skill issue is very real.
Eitherway, Floor 7 was a mobile escort mission, where we had to push a thief onwards while taking down both the enemy barricades and facing against a capped Str armor.
And while the everlooming threat of a oneshot ending the entire run is real, so is the ability to stunlock enemies with Philophrosine.
Maybe I judged her too rashly. But afterwards comes Floor 8, which shouldn’t be a problem eith-
Uh, Zelg? I really hate it when you say shit like that.
Welcome to Floor 8, also known as Floor 10 Alter, also known as the ender of runs, them culling grounds.
Floor 8 - for which I have to mention that there are Line of Vision gimmicks for this game (so enemies with ranged weapons must have a clear line of sight to attack) features an early boss appearance which works as a sentinel for you to run away from in order to reach a room all across the map to seize.
Or you can sell out Zelg for a quick dub. For the life of me I have no idea on how you are actually meant to outrun him so I have to admit, I am a scrub.
If it can be killed, it will be killed, no matter how hard I will be gimping myself right after.
So true, Philophorsine, so true.
Outside of the large obstacle formerly known as Floor 8, there isn’t much to highlight about Floor 9:
Take down the hammer user and then wait out the five turns in a local pillar knowing 1x2 is the name of the game.
Oh, brother. He ventures forth to chunt, indeed.
At least there won’t be any 30 Str/Skl/Def armor knights as an anti-turtling reinforceme-
Yes, you aren’t seeing things. I did spend 28 turns in doing this chapter. Will very likely do that again if the same scenario comes up, and it will be how it has to be.
Somehow, 1RN being revealed starts to feel like a nightmare. Starts.
And thus, Morii is dead, and Floor 10 is done.
At some point when trying to make runs back to the top, I’ve made gross mistakes trying to speed things up, managing to even trigger the second phase of Ahein, that boss you just nuke down first come first serve by absolute lack of skill.
But something I can say is that after every mistake, I come with more information of what is ahead, of each coming floor and challenge and how to push onwards - or how I can disregard everything I’ve said about foreknowledge now as you can access the Market and the Stats increase tab from the preparation menu.
Yeah, that was a real smart moment from me.
Will probably still not use the Preparation menu either way.
Now, for some extra content (as my run made it much farther), here comes the Third Stratum, the true PvP Experience, where we must take down five starter fights before unlocking multiplayer (and then forget about it because going to the danger zones in any MMOs is a huge no. Let me fish instead. In fact, what are MMOs if not massive lumberjacking simulators? I’m going to do all and any content that isn’t PVP because for the life of me, the world is full of exploits and I have mone of them. I need to clip inside a Monster can.), and most importantly, reach Level 5.
Now Level 5 is important as it unlocks a new class skill on each of our characters - which is quite a factor to take into account, and is of what I will be talking about on this section (not because I forgot to make screenshots for the whole of the Third Stratum, trust me).
One thing to note is that weapon ranks are static - no WEXP, and the only way to increase them is through 10G scrolls, but - the key factor here if you will, is that we get a Custom Armament.
Now what is a Custom Armament?
Car Keys. If people can key cars, I can key armor knights. Just saying.
But the car keys are pretty much a malleable physical weapon (which will often be better than most standard weapons) that I can alter to suit my current needs best - which is why we will now be ramming Toyota Corolla’s upon the general populace.
Yeppers.
Now I admit, I used to call Philophorsine a fraud, and I was wrong, I should’ve let her cook because holy. By one side, sure, a free Psychic use every two kills isn’t that bad and is a nice way to take off a weight off from Loonie’s back, but something else came up - something pretty bonkers if you will.
A 1-Mana cost Primal Tome. (This is awesome for tempo). Honestly, I was wrong to doubt her, and the game pretty much rubs on that fact by calling her the defacto MVP of my party on my records.
Hunter’s Mark is a kinda nice damage add effect for a relatively low Mana cost, and considering how cheap increasing Skill is, it kinda feels okay to increase it in tandem with Strength and Speed, if only to reduce strain from our budget.
And this is peak. Like, pretty much peak. Why do they keep making Loonie better and better?
Lmao lol mine. Hue.
But with this, we close the current post after taking down the second boss of Server 72, and now only 40 (actually 32) floors remain.
I’ve reached into the 4th Stratum, but against my better judgement, I ended self-destructing, binning a run that was pretty much set to make it even further.
So, until I make it back, this has been Lesk. Miss your 94% when able, and I’ll be here next time.
On the Next Chapter…
Transatlantical E-Shagging baby, that’s what I’m talking about!
