The nameless nun seems to have been run off. There's still a ledger if you want to Save the game.
Hendrik: I understand that when you and that blue-haired thief were fleeing the dungeons, you leapt from a cliff in order to make good your escape. How you survived, I do not know. Now it is time for us to retrace your footsteps and gain access to the sewers from that cliff. Come, we must search for a path up to the cliff- and let us hope that the dragon that dwells in the caves is asleep...
Hendrik suggests retracing our steps, except we weren't exactly conscious when we went from the cliff to the church.
There's also a shopkeep out here, if you really need something.
Well, if there aren't a ton of new enemies to run around saying hi to before we go up. Most of these are Vicious enemies, but I'll fetch them all just the same.
Hendrik shows off another of his tricks: Kabuff. He certainly seems the type to not know magic, but he does actually know some spells. A very limited selection, however.
Ghostly knights with no heads who have hideous faces on their shields instead- a testament to their twisted mentalities.
As seen in DQs 8 and 10, the dullahan has added itself to the monsters we can encounter. It can flail around its morning star and block your attacks with its... shield? Face? Whatever it is, it's annoying. They also know Oomphle, in case you thought it would just be annoying on the way down.
Trying to go to Downtown Heliodor through this entrance just leads to disappointment and a hitherto not present Ore spot.
Hendrik shows off his other spell, Midheal. Hendrik does know one more spell, but it's a situational spell I don't think he'll ever have reason to use, even if his AI will let him.
(It's Magic Barrier.)
...The Flamethrower and the Dullahan are the only two new monsters we found. At least there's less work for me digging up bios when there's a lot of Vicious monsters to shore up the ranks.
The vine we climbed was there on the first go- you climbed it to get some weeds as a harvest spot (it's where the cottontop came from). These ledges up here, though, this is the new pathway.
...Deep breaths.
You're right. Let's go.
Although here's a quick aside to show off the cliff. You may also notice I've switched to the Falcon Blade. The Zombieslayer hasn't completed its usefulness quite yet, but the dullahan is the only Undead enemy around to worry about.
When we first enter the sewers, we see a very quick pathway to the main "dungeon" area. If we were to turn right, though, there's something at the end of a long passage...
Hendrik: Though I grew up in the castle, I rarely ventured into these tunnels. As such, I am afraid I do not know where the gate His Majesty spoke of is located. All I know is that it will likely be marked with the royal crest. Come, let us search every corner of the sewers.
I believe there's a school with a saying that fits this situation: "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus".
I don't take orders in Latin.
Great black lizards with breath so hot they sometimes even burn themselves. They love nothing more than chasing their prey about the place, although it's far from fun for the one being chased.
Dragon family
1050 HP
40 MP
The black dragon hails from DQs 5 and 10, and it is... not quite as scary as it has been built up. This is, without question, a fight you want to take seriously, but the black dragon becomes a regular enemy later, and perhaps sooner than you'd expect. For what it's worth now, it has several chunky attacks, including a tail swipe that hits everyone and a war cry that doesn't actually damage as well as stun. It can also call upon a raging inferno.
Sword Stance is just budget Greatsword Guard, really. You don't even get the auto-counter, even though that's technically a Swordmastery Skill and there's no reason Swords shouldn't have access to it.
Hendrik understands the correct time to Kabuff. Considering he has infinite MP, every time is a good time, but this especially.
Pow! Wow, I took so much less damage than Hendrik did.
And I also have Dragon Slash. Kinda makes the "Falcon" in the Falcon Blade pretty worthless, though.
Defeating that specific black dragon nets you an accolade, the pride of revenge, and the question of what the hell this dragon is even doing.
It's also guarding an ore mining nodule of moderate quality, but you could walk around the dragon and get that.
This is the main dungeon. The map is exactly as it appeared when we first came down here with Erik. Although now we have free reign of the place... monsters permitting.
This is the bridge that broke when Erdward, Erik, and the Heliodorians were all standing on it.
Those who don the fabled hate mail are doomed to become these soulless soldiers, and roam restlessly until put out of their misery.
The infernal armour is a stage above the restless armour that only appears in most of its games- 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10. This guy can try and lower your defence when he swings his sword, and also seems to have a fanciful attack involving lightning I don't remember ever seeing myself. If he tries calling for help, he'll get sprite bulbs to answer. "Hate mail" is a cursed armour item appearing in some earlier DQ games- although it wasn't always necessarily called that.
The thing on the left is a Vicious bubble slime, not a Metal of any kind. In this lighting, it kinda feels like it's a metal sometimes.
Some Sage's Elixir in this room. Plenty of treasure in the side doors to keep in mind.
Metal slimes driven to dangerous extremes by the dark power of the Lord of Shadows.
These guys, though, are metals. You can find Vicious Metals all over the Heliodor region, lower case- that's Heliodor, the Foothills, the Emerald Coast, the Kingsbarrow, and here. They drop six times the experience of their calmer cousins, if you can catch one. Right now, without Thunder Thrust, that's a bit more of an if.
The rantingen raven isn't helping.
That did, though.
More treasures up in the north end of the sewers.
Although it seems we've overshot the exit. I wonder if the hole Erdward and Erik crawled out of is still there.
...We're not actually close to a boss, although this is what I'd expect to find if we were.
We've made it up out of the Heliodor Sewers and entered the Heliodor dungeons... and found plenty more treasure to loot all the same.
Oh, and these guys too, I guess.
Sorcerers who sought to augment their already impressive abilites and, having grown drunk on their new-found power, became terrible tyrants.
Hocus-pokers are relatives only of the DQ3 prestidigitators, only having been in that game before this one. They know the spells Boom and Zing, and it might be worth picking up their beastiary entry now- they surprisingly don't appear anywhere else, and the monsters here are semi-missable.
There's a "dungeons, upper level" and a "dungeons, lower level". We come out on the upper level, and there's no reason to go down to the lower levels but treasure.
Treasure is good enough for me. You might notice from the lighting that this is the place where Erdward and Erik were locked up. Funny to have free reign now... ish.
Oh hey, the hole is still there. And apparently it still works. Not gonna go down, though.
...Rats. Although I'm not sure what the treasure has done to warrant being locked up.
There's another ledger to Save in down here, too. Just in case.
Now for the castle itself...
Hendrik: The darkness which blotted out the sun appeared to emanate from the castle. I sense that the foul beast responsible for it is close at hand. We must head to the upper floors. Ah, but it pains me to see my beloved castle in such a state of disrepair. The foul beasts who did this will pay!
There's a few places that we can't reach because of general destuction, although of all things, Jasper's room made out pretty OK.
We even get to steal one of his swords!
...Jasper owns one of these books?
Our tale begins with the first king of Zwaardsrust and his retinue resting at a Heliodorian inn after many days’ hard travel.
A great black dragon heard the news and, deciding that this would be the perfect opportunity to slay the king of Zwaardsrust, launched a blazing assault on the city.
As the citizens of Heliodor flew into a panic, a lone knight stood before them with his arms outstretched, doing all that he could to protect them from the foul lizard’s wrath.
So greatly moved was the king of Zwaardsrust by the knight’s selfless bravery that he presented him with a fine shield in the shape of a great black dragon scale.
To this day, that fabulous treasure can be found in Heliodor. The King may choose to present it to any knight he deems worthy of the honour and responsibility of the role it represents: first knight of the realm.
I think this is the only mention of the black dragon in the basement in any of the books. Apparently Heliodor kept it after that knight used Forbearance on its scorching breath. That shield is going to be a bit of a plot thing, though.
This gives four pretty solid recipes:
- The Demonsbane, a Greatsword with +20% damage on demons. This is good for Erdward in a similar way the Zombieslayer is good for him, although only for one fight.
- The Demon Whip beguiles demons at a 6% rate. The worst of the bunch, don't even bother. Not even for an Atk up.
- The Demon Spear has an instant kill chance on 4%. Not just on demons, on everything. Jade and Serena have limited use for that bonus effect for opposite reasons, but it's a pretty good choice when it counts.
- The Devil's Tail is good for Dark and Curse resists on the moderately cheap. Skull Rings outclass them, but the supply of Skull Rings is pretty poor for now.
Standing directly opposite Jasper's room is a blocked off room here. You would be correct in assuming this is Hendrik's room.
...You gotta admit, it kept us out.
Well, you have any ideas?
Hendrik: Come, let us find another way to enter the throne room. The usurper will be there, if he is anywhere. He will pay for defiling the noble crown of Heliodor!
...Apparently we do. This is, in fact, what you are intended to do, and the solution you uncover won't open unless you've seen it in the Guidance. But what about those Luminary powers we lost? Well... I did mention they seemed to make it sound like the Luminary's powers and Yggdrasil's Guidance were separate abilities. They comunicated this very poorly- many found themselves confused why Erdward can use this root.
And the worst part is, this is the first time we've used Yggdrasil's Guidance since before Veronica joined the party for real. Even players who either caught that this isn't part of the Luminary deal or don't care might have just forgotten this is a thing, especially since this courtyard is tucked out of the way.
Our vision from the Guidance of Yggdrasil is going to come from a little earlier than usual- we're going to be seeing a window into Hendrik's childhood.
I'm sure Hendrik is ecstatic.
In the battle of wooden swords, Hendrik is ever the winner.
Carnelian comes over to check on them.
And to show off his newly born daughter.
From a loading screen tip, we know that Jasper (and Hendrik) are 36 years old now (...well, now as in "not during a flashback"). Jade is older than Erdward by a considerable margin- she's in the 4-6 range when he's a baby, old enough to carry him around herself- which would probably put Jasper and Hendrik around 13-15ish here? Just giving you an idea on the general age difference between Hendrik and Jade once we get the latter to start talking to the former again.
Carnelian also chooses this moment to give to Hendrik and Jasper their tokens of fealty.
And we jump to Hendrik daydreaming. In a bed. At night.
...OK, so maybe "daydreaming" isn't the right word.
Jasper's been hard at work doing something completely different.
This is the Shield made from the Black Dragon that is so prized by Heliodor.
Jasper's excited to see the shield that one day one of the two would wear. Possibly because both of them know it'll be Hendrik wearing it, since, you know, Hendrik is the guy who gets into fights.
Hendrik gives him a slap and asks what Jasper's cunning plan is.
Cheeky little bastard.
...And Jasper's certainly rather sneaky too.
If the King sneaks away often enough that he has a secret passage installed to make it easier, I reckon you could probably win quite a lot of favour just for telling his wife about it. That is, if she doesn't already know. Either his wife knows or he's going to regret letting her find out from Jasper.
And so the kids plot to use the passage themselves to sneak into the King's bedroom.
And a panning shot of adult Jasper looking moody to ponder.
Hendrik took note of the clue in that vision- the stairs might be gone, but we have a secret passage from the ground floor to the upper levels to check out.
Hendrik actually sounds less than pleased with the idea of us just getting a front-row seat to his memories of Jasper. Which, I mean, fair, not really my business, but I was barely sure that was going to work anyway.
Hendrik: The kitchen is on the north side of the castle. Once there, we must access a staircase concealed behind a cupboard. That will allow us to reach the throne room. Come, Erdward, let us not tarry any further.
Cursed dolls inhabited by the souls of sweet little girls who died unfortunately early, and now wander aimlessly in search of playmates.
Iron maidens are new to 11, but got backported to 10 eventually. Much like Dora-in-Grey, they are capable of mesmirising you, as well has having an ice breath attack and the ability to trap a party member in that cage that comprises their skirt. I'm not sure what happens if you have no party members outside the cage, but I'm sure it's nothing good.
Here's the passage in question.
Hendrik breaks the tension somewhat, and finishes the story that we saw in the vision. The way he phrases this, I wonder if Jasper managed to make it. And what consequences happened as a result.
Hendrik reflects on his time with Jasper. The two disagreed often, but Hendrik had never suspected that the two would go their separate ways on the subject of Heliodor.
Which prompts him to make amends with Erdward.
Hendrik's situation has been difficult for himself, but Erdward did nothing to aggravate it. Jasper, on the other hand... there are questions about the man that we must answer.
Hendrik: You have a curious power, Erdward. Whenever I am with you, hope seems to dawn upon us, like sunlight breaking through the clouds. I do not know who or what awaits us in the throne room, but I know what we have to do. We must strike down the foul usurper and bring the light back to this realm. I will allow nothing to stand in our way.
The secret passage worked as intended.
This is good for a King Axe, a King's Coat and a Queen's Robe, all very good recipes to have at hand. The latter two might make some solid armour in the near future, but I'd focus on the Coats.
Erdward: "Why is a book like this the red one on the shelves?"
...Carnelian, we need to stage an intervention.
We also have access to Jade's bedroom, formerly the Queen's.
There's a lot of Rings in this recipe book, giving 30-50% status resistance to Spell/Ability Seal, Curse, Poison, Bedazzle, Paralysis, Sleep and Confusion, respectively, and tucked at the end, the Sorcerer's Ring and Stone. The Stone gives bonuses to MaMight and MaMend, while the Sorcerer's Ring gives +4 to +10 MP after every battle. Making a Sorcerer's Ring or two is the way to give anyone the same sort of edge the Belle's Bow gives- of course, the latter lets Jade fire off attacks every turn, but the endurance on Veronica or someone is huge.
Oh great, looking in Jade's diary, this can only end in-
...Right, she hasn't lived here since she was four.
I'd tape this to the fridge, but this is pre-refridgeration.
When we first visited Heliodor Castle, we were told we weren't allowed to open this chest by the guest that was staying here.
...I don't see him around here any more, do you?
The sparkly spot on this chandelier also fell down. It's a Drasilian sovereign.
Wow, I'm really getting up in levels. This is kinda really overlevelled, considering, and I'm not entirely sure where it came from.
This is the boss.
And this is what Erdward will be bringing into it. The Skull Ring is going to start making its mark.
It's time we met the new master of Heliodor Castle...
Jasper. Jasper?
(Also, there's nothing but ambient music going on here)
Still calling us the Darkspawn when you've turned purple, got a tacky robe, and have possibly had your nails turned into talons?
Hendrik is quick to charge at his former friend.
...Seems like somebody's got a petty grudge.
And the ability to teleport.
Good questions.
And a frustrating response.
Hopefully, because I'm not amused either.
Certainly.
...Why what?
...Why indeed.
Jasper...
Jasper uses his teleporting to get the upper hand on Hendrik, and then we get a jump cut to adult Jasper and Hendrik.
Hendrik has come to get an accolade from the King- I think this is for saving him back in Dundrasil.
And he goes right past Jasper.
...And all of a sudden Jasper is behind the crowds of people fawning over Hendrik.
I'm starting to think this flashback might be a little self-serving.
Yep. Jasper was driven to evil... because of his jealousy. Resentment.
Grudges.
Have you not seen my Gigaslash?
He's talking about Mordegon. It's kinda obvious, but no, there's no intermediary party here.
He throws that purple fireball at Erdward, and...
Hendrik takes the hit.
Hendrik is a citizen of Zwaardsrust. And he was lucky to survive when it was destroyed.
The thing about Hendrik is, he knows he's not the Chosen One. He's not Erdward, he's not the Luminary. And to stand in his shoes, to do what must be done while he is incapacitated... he always felt he could do more to live up to the legend.
Don't worry, Hendrik. We'll take down Mordegon. But it'll be because we're working together.
...Now you do?
I was about to say pretty much exactly that.
...Jasper?
Oh. He's that kind of villain.
Listen, man, you've gotta let it go. You're a thirty-six year old man.
And he... flies away?
Oh.
He's one of those villains.
Say hello to the real first fight of the Spectral Sentinels. Tyriant is... well, after Indignus got a little more to him with Erik's Side Story, he takes the title of the least developed Sentinel.
Partially because he just appeared right before his boss fight, partially because he spends his screentime saying the usual.
The most interesting thing about him is that I don't think this design is used for any other monsters in the game, an honour shared with only two other Sentinels, one of them being Jasper himself.
A king among undead soldiers, and one of the Lord of Shadows' Spectral Sentinels. His soul has been blackened by his countless cruelties that he shuns the light with a limitless passion.
Undead family
2040 HP
50 MP
Tyriant stands strong, and has a pretty competent assortment of spells at hand. He can passive block attacks, and has Sword Stance to emphasise that problem. There's also an assortment of special sword strikes on his list, but annoyingly, little detail on why each one is scary. Party Pooper, I know, and I think one of his cleaves can knock you down. He also knows the Zammle spell, which is why I have the Skull Ring.
This works as both an inspiring statement and an expression of the party strategy.
Erdward jumps in with Falcon Slash on a super-effective hit while Hendrik takes all our hits.
Sword Stance, of course, because there's no way he'd not go for that.
...I know I've got Kabuff up, but seriously, Tyriant?
Zammle is a little scarier, but the Skull Ring does plenty for it.
Undead family
280 HP
25 MP
The Spectral Sentinels all have access to one of the Orbs, and have one "ultimate" attack making use of it. Tyriant uses his to creat Tyriant's Shadow, which has the same guarding ability (without Sword Stance), the same set of sword strikes, and knows the spells Kasap and Oomphle in addition to Zammle.
Gigaslash time? Gigaslash time.
Oh, you stop that.
That's another thing to watch out for- Tyriant and Tyriant's Shadow have a Pep Power, Co-Zammle. The Skull Ring should lend us a hand dealing with that.
This'll help too.
So long, King of the Undead.
With him gone, I want to take a moment to speculate wildly. Tyriant doesn't have any palette swap monsters, a trait shared with Jasper and an additional Sentinel that also started life as a human. There's almost nothing in the text to suggest this, but there's just enough I want to posit it anyway: What if Tyriant was also a human character before becoming a monster? And what if, and this is the real out there part, what if he was King Arnaut? We never see him at all, but if there's one enemy that I could see Jasper drop on us and laugh about as we kill it, it would be the man that should've been Hendrik's liege.
Besides, there was that Quest earlier that said Deadnauts used to be Zwaardsrustian soldiers.
Another bit of evidence I'm thinking of is that he drops the Purple Orb of Zwaardsrust after the fact. The colour co-ordination between the Sentinels that drop Orbs and the origins of those Orbs are tenuous at best, but I wouldn't be surprised if it played a factor.
The Orbs don't do anything, by the way. We're recovering them, but there isn't really a result of that.
That cleared up the eternal darkness problem.
Now Erdrea is only mostly in ruins.
Obsidian rides up to the entrance of Heliodor, alongside our own horse, too.
Although it's not the greatest sign that they decided not to stick around their own home.
Hendrik: Come, let us return to the Last Bastion without delay. We must inform the King of Jasper's treachery.
We get automatically mounted and tasked with heading to the Last Bastion. From the map, I can see we're probably not allowed back into Heliodor that way, either.
I did a lot of running around, picking up sparkly spots, adding new Vicious entries to the beastiary, but eventually I finished with a Zoom. I was looking for a Vicious bunicorn, and was having trouble finding it.
...Hopefully that didn't cost me.
Hendrik: Where is everyone? Where is His Majesty? Surely they cannot have fled the encampment? Come, we must search for them. I fear something may be amiss...
Head around the back of the camp, and we find less answers.
Sandy! Where are the girls, girl?
Why, celebrating our return, of course!
Did you have to scare the daylights out of us? We only got them back for five minutes!
...
Coughs meaningfully.
Poor Hendrik. I'm not sure what's going through his head, but it's clearly overwhelming him.
Carnelian and Hendrik are shoved aside so Amber can get to her son. Honestly, I admire and appreciate the power move.
We did it, Mum.
That's in the job description! Although you're not quite back in my good books yet. Although to be fair, I have forgiven you for the stuff Mordegon did...
Carnelian has words of a different sort for Hendrik.
It's about time we made this little arrangement of ours official.
There's a lot of promotional artwork and similar that highlights the main seven party members we've been working with thus far: Erdward, Erik, Veronica, Serena, Sylvando, Jade and Rab. But Hendrik is a party member all the same- his appearance as such being a spoiler, since he spent Act 1 acting as an antagonistic presence in the story. DQ fans like to call him "Eight" when discussing his mechanical advantages in situations where spoiling his narrative identity is undesirable.
And for that, it's best we have him not bowing and scraping before us. He's a friend first and a retainer second.
This does have the downside of meaning Forbearance no longer makes us invincible (in fact, he'll have to relearn Forbearance at all), but he'll more than make up for that by being playable.
Now if you'll excuse me, Hendrik, I have a girlfriend to meet.
Hendrik: That was a most raucous celebration. I have not seen our people smile and laugh like that for a long time. But then it is not everyday that light returns to our world. Now, I must bid farewell to His Majesty before we depart. Perhaps you should speak to your mother and all those who are dear to you, Erdward. Who knows when you might see them again?
Thanks very much. Now then...
Hendrik comes wielding his Greatsword, and carries Swords and Axes as backup. We'll have to source some armour for him, but there's plenty we can find. The Token of Fealty increases HP and Charm, and is not really worth equipping for any mechanical reason. I'll probably leave it on for narrative reasons, though.
Hendrik has plenty of familiar skills for Erdward, but plenty of new ones too.
Swords:
- Attack +9 (2 panels)
- Crit Chance +2% (1 panel)
- Flame Slash
- Sword Stance
- Dragon Slash
- Metal Slash
- Miracle Slash
- Dual-Wielding
Greatswords:
- Attack +25 (2 panels)
- Parry Chance +4% (1 panel)
- Greatsword Guard
- Cutting Edge
- Helichopter
- Frost Fangs
- Unbridled Blade
Axes:
- Attack +35 (3 panels)
- Helm Splitter: Deals 1.2x damage, attempts to lower the enemy's defence by 1 stage on 50% odds. Until we get a dedicated Sapper again, and even when we do, this will be a good way to get that bonus ready.
- Parallax: Deals 3x damage and has a 25% chance of inflicting paralysis. On my first run, I didn't know about that first part, and ignored this skill entirely, eventually writing Hendrik off. This is Hendrik's boss killer- don't make the same mistake.
- Hatchet Man: Attempts to land a critical hit on 50% odds, missing on failure. Both axes and lances having the ability is DQ tradition- although before weapon skills were a thing, Hatchet Man was the only such skill. I think giving Thunder Thrust to spears was to make it more accessible?
- Scrap Mettle: Deals 1.5x damage, attempts to lower the enemy's defence by 2 stages on 50% odds. Don't bother with Helm Splitter once you get this, although it is triple MP...
- Axes of Evil: Deals 2.2x damage to a group of enemies. Hendrik has a general dearth of AoE options, lacking "All" targeting entirely, so he'll take what he can get.
Shields:
- Defence +40 (2 panels)
- Block Chance +6% (2 panels)
- Immense Defence: Increases his shield block rate by 50% for two turns. This is an additive bonus- a 14% block rate increases to 64%, not 21%. The problem being the "two turns" bit.
- Blockenspiel: Deals half damage to an enemy, but gives Hendrik the same defensive bonuses as if he used Defend. Remember this costs MP.
- Holy Impregnable: Greatly resists Hendrik's resistance to status ailments. You'd think I'd remember he has this, but honestly, all the Shield skills have similar names, this one escapes my notice.
- Desperate Measures: All critical attacks are blocked for four turns. For 10 MP, though, this isn't really something you can make that much use of.
- Back Atcha: Attacks that can be "countered" (I presume this means Erdward's counterattack) will be deflected to a random enemy, lasting one turn. This will never be relevant.
Heroism:
- Strength +20 (1 panel)
- Resilience +20 (1 panel)
- Pep-Up Power-Up
- Blind Man's Biff: Deals half damage to a random enemy, but if Hendrik happens to be blind, that damage goes up to 2.8x. Good if you're blind... not good basically any other time.
- Double Up: Raises Hendrik's Atk by 2 stages in exchange for lowering his defence by one. Hendrik's defence is usually so high anyway he can afford the debuff, and if you're layering Kabuffs, no real need not to give one up.
- Double-Edged Slash: Deals 3.2x damage to an enemy, but Hendrik takes 32% of the damage he dealt. Just use Parallax, Unbridled Blade, or Gyrfalcon Slash.
- Falcon Slash
- A Cut Above: Deals four hits at 0.4x damage and one hit at 0.5x damage to a single enemy. Again, I'd consider using Parallax or Unbridled Blade instead.
- Gyrfalcon Slash: Deals four hits at 1x damage. Only good for Swords. This is Hendrik's boss killer in the really late game.
Hendrik's going to be an axeman. His Shield game is strong and I don't really have much use for another Swordsman until I find the right blade.
This is the build I'm going with for him right now. Me not thinking about Holy Impregnable as a Good Skill means it's going to sit there unlearned for... basically ever. Right now, I think Hendrik wants to get some of those Axe skills as well as the last Shield bonus.
I would not advise using Seeds of Skill on Hendrik as high priority. You have no real good reason to invest in two of his Trees at all- consider how many of the really good Skills Hendrik already knows, and that's just with his base SP! With that said, however, if you did go for 37 Seeds with with duping trick, I would suggest using 12 Seeds on Hendrik now. The choice is between Hendrik and Sylvando, if that influences your decision.
Despite having saved the Last Bastion, this girl is as despondent as ever. In fact, her dialogue hasn't changed. Narratively, this is an expression of how, despite the fact the world is better now, the fact remains she doesn't have the means to actually do anything in it, and no idea from where to start.
Mechanically, this is a clue that we'll need to do something else to help her out.
The Heliodorians will be able to go back to Heliodor and leave Cobblestone to pick up the pieces... someday. For now, though, they're a long way from Heliodor being sufficiently habitable.
...Don't worry about it. I'll have him right as rain.
...They were definitely well made, I can tell you that much. Perhaps keep up your dancing, but maybe try getting into sewing and see what you specialise in?
...Perhaps they've also forgotten it's a bad idea to look at the sun? Never look directly at it.
...That's... that's certainly a choice in name. No kid's going to want to grow up with the name Erdward for a long time.
...
Yeah, I'm sorry, I think you might've just set this baby up for a difficult childhood. Ignoring the teasing entirely, that's a high bar to clear.
"Her Ladyship" has found a bubble blower. I didn't know they had those. It's certainly entertaining her.
Glad to hear it.
Maybe you could retire and move back? I'd definitely wait until you retired, though. Don't stick around with your Heliodorian colours.
...Dunstan, NO! We've done this once already!
Bad Dunstan!
Hopefully he hasn't forgot you like to land on your feet.
Crackshot Bash is our next Flourish, and it's... it's all right. It's an increased crit rate, not a guarantee- the correct time to use it is when you're close enough to getting a Good that a Bash will fill you up, and also have the spare Focus to afford the Flourish.
We've got a lot of new recipes to Mark As Read.
The King Axe comes first. Hendrik does start with an axe, the Cavalier Cleaver, but this one is better.
I also pick up a King's Coat, for Erdward at least. All men can use it, and all men appreciate it.
And I also get one of these. I could give it to Erdward, but I probably wouldn't use the MP anyway.
Hendrik and Erdward with their new equips. Erdward is actually going to stay on Swords for the time being- this wasn't what I had planned, but the next boss is actually designed in a way where Erdward's offensive capabilites don't matter, so the defensive benefits of a shield are worth it. Rest assured he'll be back on Greatswords after that.
Our next stop is... the Tor?
Hendrik: I heard the Mayor of Cobblestone speak of the significance the Tor has for the villagers. As I understand it, it is where your prayers reach the Spirit of the Land. Would that my own prayers could also be answered...
Many Act 1 dungeons have no relevance to the plot of Act 2, and if you visit them at all, you do so for one sidequest or secret treasure. You can tell you're not expected to show up in such a place for plot when all the enemies are Act 1 enemies, with no Vicious enemies in sight. With that said, these weren't the Act 1 enemies that were here back when it was Act 1...
Remember this staircase into the water? It has inexplicably stopped being such, and now we can progress.
There's a Recipe book down here that's incredibly worth your while.
And that is the Archangel's Boots. 30-50% passive resistance to being made to skip one's turn. Sainted Soma is a bit of a rare ingredient, but you're going to want a nice set of these for those bosses that have the ability to make you pass a turn.
Lambswool is cheap enough that I swallow the cost. You can acquire this from Haystack Needlers and Pine Needlers in Act 1, and both enemies are still around in Act 2... although it'll be a while before we get Erik's Half Inch back, let alone start encountering them in numbers. Suffice it to say I didn't think ahead.
Like father like daughter.
That's what everyone thought the first time.
I'm told I slept well.
I dunno, I think I'd prefer the naptime. They can be as spirited as they want.
After the whole exchange about stealing the Shield of Heliodor as children, and the jealousy that resulted from their friendship, Hendrik has finally claimed the shield for himself.
I think Hendrik appreciates the approval of Carnelian because he lost his own parents so young, but at the same time, this does kinda chafe a little about what Jasper was talking about.
...Also, I think that expression is a weird frame, but that is also a perfect expression for this scene.
The Shield is an actual piece of armour Hendrik can wear. So can Erdward!
...He brings up a good point. Now that we no longer have to get to Yggdrasil, we don't have an overarching goal. Sure, we've got to get the party back together, but we still need an idea of what to do after that.
Of course Irwin would know about Pang Lai. This is a place that is in close affinity with Dundrasil.
"Better than nothing". Besides, it's relatively easy to get to Pang Lai and check.
...That is a short journey. There's a few extra shortcuts lying around the world now, and Manglegrove-Costa Valor is one of them. This allows the game to shuffle the areas we visit to make the second traversal of Erdrea more interesting.
Mordegon barricaded Pang Lai itself, but Carnelian (and honestly, the peril of Yggdrasil's fall) have probably reversed that by now.
Hendrik: Know that I am your sword, your shield, your unswerving companion. I will stand by you until peace is restored to our world. You are the Luminary, the bringer of hope. You have a long road ahead of you, but it is one you shall not walk alone. Now, let us heed His Majesty's words and journey to the holy mountain of Pang Lai.
Here's the Shield of Heliodor. The Magic Shield is better because of the resists, but it's good to keep this in mind for later.
...I'm sorry, Gemma.
One last time, hug Gemma button.
Excellent idea! If only it looked like you were doing that.
...Hopefully soon enough you can actually benefit from it. And hopefully no failed harvests because of the sun thing.
The Heliodorians are still sticking around, and that means this girl's going to keep hanging around Cole. I think it's too young to be a crush, but it's close.
Honestly, same. That's all you really need.
Well, that and the 'being old enough' thing.
Don't worry, I can't disappoint you both. I'll settle down here even if I have to drag Erik and Veronica behind me.
Thanks, Mum.
Hendrik: Let us head west through the Manglegrove to the Costa Valor. According to His Majesty, we must pass through the checkpoint beyond it in order to reach Mount Pang Lai. I do not know what relation those who dwell there have to the destiny of the Luminary, but we must find out.
Also, I got the Vicious bunicorns in the end. Ironically, they were in the place the normal ones are in Act 1.
Hendrik's spell list. Yes, it's as shallow as it was as an AI. He only ever learns three more spells.
That was the Last Bastion opening. The game opens Act 2 with the desperate struggles of Nautica, the world, and of Cobblestone, culminating in the siege teaming up with Hendrik- a siege where the player gets their confidence up by running right through the "horde" of monsters. With that said, this can get fairly nasty if you don't pre-prepare using the tricks I showed off, although with Hendrik's Forbearance, you shouldn't find yourself in too much trouble.
The hopelessness is followed up on with the dive into Heliodor Castle, which to moderate surprise, is a place about... characterising Jasper and Hendrik. We've known these two for a while, yeah, but with the recontextualisation of Hendrik as a good guy and Jasper as a monster, the two are almost different characters entirely to us. What we see here is a character foundation for Hendrik to build upon as a party member, while also telling us a lot about what makes Jasper tick and how Mordegon's trickery has affected the lives of the two knights he used as lackeys.
The game's overall themes of "don't waste your time bearing grudges" is on full display with Jasper. As a villain, Jasper's fatal flaw is, without question, his resentment of Hendrik's successes and his desire for further recognition. The game never challenges the idea that Hendrik bears responsibility for fostering this element of Jasper's character- with Hendrik outright admitting fault later on- but it also presents plenty of evidence that some of the issue lies with Jasper himself magnifying slight injustices of Hendrik's to greater degrees than they actually had been. Even in our first moments witnessing Jasper's resentment start to lash out, we get that impression. It'll be a while before we get to see more of Jasper, but he's not the only character we'll meet in Act 2 that's allowed a grudge to fester for too long...
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