Fort Magrad/Faust

Man, do I wish I could have snuck these in last night. They’re both short and straight forward. ...sorta.

First up was Fort Magrad. As we enter, Meru becomes oddly excited. She runs ahead and slips on some snow when Rose tells us some backstory on the place. This was where Emperor Diaz declared his liberation war and, thus, where the end of the Wingly domination started. Meru then throws a snowball at Dart, hitting him square in the face. He lacks emotion as the group joins back together. The next scene has Rose remembering the speech Diaz gave when we declared war. It’s the typical, “Freedom or death! For humans. For Gloriana!” type of stuff we see in movies. The next scene is in front of a dilapidated statue. Rose recalls her engagement to Zieg and how Diaz congratulated them and was glad they looked forward to the future. Suddenly, the blood-red sword stuck in the statue begins to move on its own. Rose says this is the resentment of everyone who died in the war.

Must not be a lot of resentment. Pohler Armor is an easy fight. Psyche Bomb does 2000 damage to all three targets, and physical attacks dwindle the rest of its HP with ease. When the sword dies, it takes a character with it, so have a revive handy. The head can stop a character from doing a random command, but decapitation cures it. When all is said and done, it drops Dart’s beat sword. It’s a great sword but kills the user, acting as a poison effect. It’s niche, and I don’t plan to use it, but will be making it worth the effort soon.

After the boss's defeat, we learn it was a statue of Diaz. And that’s all. There’s treasure about, but no more story. Why was Meru so excited? Also, fun fact, this was the first boss no one leveled up on.

Carrying on, turning in all 50 Stardust to Martel fully cures her daughter that suddenly re-became ill while we were away. We fix her up, for real this time, and Martel gives us the Anti-Apparition Agate, or the Vanishing Stone. AThis stone destroys the illusion that The Magician Faust created to defend his Land of Taboo. Getting rid of the fake, we go deeper into the Tower of Flanvel/Flambell and meet the game’s superboss. Faust was the commander of Flanvell before humans shot the place down. He was so powerful that Melbu Fruama created the Vanishing Stone to weaken him, likely meaning Faust is stronger than his boss. Regardless of the past, Faust is planning to become king of the world, so we need to defeat him. We're given an option to run, but he initiates combat regardless.

And boy, is it not easy. He’s got the best magic in the game, as well as 23000 HP, the second highest in the game. He double/triple counters every attack, with at least one being teamwide. He can even hit for 5500 damage with his HP threshold super spells! He seems to counter with the same element as hit by, so return to Zenebatos and buy a few Dragon Armors from the vendor, which negates that particular element. The Dragoons we saved dropped an item that halves element damage of another element. The key to victory is to only have Dart attack, using that super sword we won from Pohler just now. Somehow, his normal attacks did more damage than his Dragoon attacks, but Dragoon form has some much needed magic defense buffs. Faust may have over 2000 magic defense, but his physical protection is terrible. I had Miranda healing the whole time, with Meru doing the same. I had hoped she’d do some damage but was pretty much just another healer. To be honest, I made liberal usage of savestates for this fight, too. I blame the deadlines for you people (who don’t exist). When Faust dies, he gives 10K gold and experience, enough for a third Ultimate Wargod. I’ll probably buy it just to make my life easier.

With all side quests finished, we have no other options but to go to the moon! Only two more updates, for real this time.

I’m remembering why I liked Meru ten years ago: it's her versatility. She’s fast, has high magic, heals, and even can do a lot of damage if you get her master Addition maxed at 600% damage. She’s fragile, but a Knights Helm doubles HP, and a Stamina Ring restores HP every turn before you reach it. There’s also something I wish the game would go into more, namely how Rose feels traveling around with her lover's son. In another timeline, she’s Dart’s mother and not that random, nameless woman she killed 18 years ago. I also want to know why Meru was so excited to be at the Fort.