Good question. The sky has gotten dark, but I don't think there's any ominous shaking like you'd normally get from that happening. Probably just a solar eclipse.
Serena seems to think it might be something serious, though.
Clearly, somebody is doing something.
Welp. Remember that Town Story that doesn't seem to have been Mordegon's fault- if anything, Mordegon helped us more than he hurt.
Because apparently Erdward didn't.
Carnelian books it to go take a look at this weird new development.
Veronica: This isn't the time for idle chit-chat, Erdward! We need to get to the balcony at the top of the castle and see what's going on with Erdwin's Lantern!
Erik: ...‘Do not think you are the only one who has defied the flow of time...’ Any idea what Mordegon meant by that, Erdward?
Jade: This is serious. If something's wrong with Erdwin's Lantern, it doesn't bode well for us- or for anyone.
Serena: Erdwin's Lantern is the symbol of the Luminary. We must find out what's going on...
Sylvando: I can't believe this! After beating Mordegon, I was all set for wild applause, accolades, general adulation...and then this has to go and happen! Come on, let's follow the King to the top of the castle!
Rab: Ach, I'd been hoping to go and tell Irwin and Eleanor that we've finally beaten Mordegon, but it seems I'll have to put that plan on hold.
What am I going to do with this?
Oh, right.
Something's telling me this won't be a problem that gets solved easily after checking things out.
Sandy is still keyed up, although this time there's no one to bark at.
I have no idea how Erik does his "keeps his cool" trick, but I want to learn it.
Probably a good idea at this juncture.
Oh hey, the Drasilian Sovereign fell down again.
That's a very bad news sort of sky.
That's a perfectly valid way to arrange those words, although it's oddly charming in a "no one's ever going to say that" sort of way.
And here we are on the other side of the Inner Ocean.
We're back to this position.
And the dark tockle is on his own.
One thing that I ultimately don't really get in-universe is why this guy had to come time-travelling with us. Ultimately, the thing that gets him what he wants is just us undoing Mordegon's rise to power- and while he certainly helped out by keeping Mordegon's grubby paws off the Super Sword of Light, the black tockle of this time period could certainly do everything he needs to do on his own.
I suspect the main reason he comes with us is for the symbolic value of our time travel inviting direct negative consequences as well as positive ones, and also so it can deliver this dramatic speech about him getting the upper hand on fate.
Oops.
I'm sure whoever split this guy into pieces is very annoyed with me right now. I apologise for nothing.
Gallopolis is perfectly fine. As are the Celestial Sands, surprisingly. You'd think a giant star crashing into it would have more of an impact.
We have a new big baddie to fight.
Meep.
Everyone has regathered in the throne room. Jade has gone back with Carnelian again.
...Well, I guess it's technically my fault...?
Carnelian's recommendation is, rather than going all the way to the Celestial Sands (a trivial task with Zoom), that we ride over to the Emerald Coast and inspect the situation from across the ocean. Without Zoom, a fairly reasonable suggestion (the Emerald Coast would even be where we board our boat), but still somewhat strange.
Hendrik is quick to ask to be allowed to come with. Carnelian accepts his request with a nod.
And that is the story of how we get our Act 2 companion back! For the first time, we have a full set of eight characters- not that there's a strict material advantage compared to seven, but eight has been the standard set by the Zenithian trilogy, with all other DQ games having some kind of party setup with less participants.
Hendrik joins with no inventory other than a copy of his armour to use for cosmetics (since, in the original, there was no cosmetic armour option), although the stuff he used to have back in Act 2 is probably still lying unused in your inventory. Hendrik will default to the tunic we saw him in Act 2 as per usual, and despite how abrupt his joining is for the Act 3 characters, he'll basically make himself feel as at home in the party as he was in Act 2.
Don't bother fiddling with his Skills yet.
Veronica: Did Mordegon come to Yggdrasil in search of the Sword of Light? If that's the case, just what in the world was he planning on doing with it?
Erik: ...‘Do not think you are the only one who has defied the flow of time...’ Any idea what Mordegon meant by that, Erdward?
Jade: Hendrik was known far and wide as the pride of Heliodor. He was a nightmare to have as an enemy, but as an ally, he's hard to beat. Now let's get to the Emerald Coast and see what's going on with Erdwin's Lantern.
Hendrik: The days when I called you Darkspawn are long gone, Erdward. You have let me join you, and for that I am grateful. Now I will do all I can to protect you. I will be your sword, and your shield.
Serena: Erdwin's Lantern is the symbol of the Luminary, Erdward... So come on! We need to find out what's going on! It seems our adventure isn't over yet...
Sylvando: I can't believe this! After beating Mordegon, I was all set for wild applause, accolades, general adulation...and then this has to go and happen! Well, there's no point complaining. Come on, honey, we need to saddle up and head to the Emerald Coast! The show must go on!
Rab: Ach, I'd been hoping to go and tell Irwin and Eleanor that we've finally beaten Mordegon, but it seems I'll have to put that plan on hold. Come on, laddie. We've got falling stars to deal with!
After all the hell he put us through in Act 1, it's nice that as soon as he gets his throne back, he's business as usual for a King.
Although considering how useful Frysabel and the Sultan are, that's not necessarily a compliment.
We finally have free access to Jade's room! This guard really doesn't notice Jade standing behind Erdward's shoulder, does he?
The King also has treasures in his room, so I suspect you have free access to that room too (so there's no permanent missables in there), but it's not as funny.
As nice as it'd be to hang around the ruins of Cobblestone, I think I'd better make sure it doesn't get knocked down again.
Incidentally, Gemma and everyone are planning on heading back to Cobblestone. It'll take some doing to fix it back up, though.
Some of the Cobblestonians will be staying here until there are actual houses to go back to.
That's why everyone climbs a mountain at 16.
The Heliodorian shop inventory has expanded too. There's some decent armours to find, too, but this sword is more interesting. There aren't many Dragon family bosses in Act 3, but there are some, and this beauty will let Erik walk all over them.
As we walk out into the overworld to start on Act 3, we hear a new song.
Prepare yourselves for the DQ3 Overworld theme, Adventure! The game uses the opening for a dramatic moment here, but there's an additional purpose to it, too- the overworld theme has changed from the DQ11 song to this one permanently. There's a few corner areas that still have the old one here and there, but if there's anything to really sell we've got a new foe to face...
(Incidentally, this is the only point in the game in which the dramatic building intro plays. Entering the overworld normally starts off in the main loop.)
Right off the bat, we cross the bridge and whoa the black dragon got out! That's actually not the black dragon we saw in Act 2, and it has new drops, too- Serpent Skin in the common slot and Serpent Soul in the rare slot. Both are incredible alchemy ingredients you should nab as often as possible, but don't do it now.
Hammerhoods who have morphed into a truly malevolent form under the malign influence of infinite evil.
Act 3 pulls no punches, and now the overworld is infested with Malicious enemies. Recognisable by their bright-green eyes, these agents of calamity are even stronger than Vicious ones, and the same rules apply- the attacks are largely the same, with maybe some upgrades for power, drops should be roughly the same, and if you're missing any lower-stage beastiary entries, you can pick them all up from fighting a Malicious monster.
To make things explicit, the Black Dragon we saw earlier is a Malicious Black Dragon. Funnily enough, so is the one in the Heliodor Sewers, if you go back to fight it now. (That's what I did on my first run.)
There's also some regular recolours around here too. I'd recommend not fighting anything. Remember, our party members are still their Act 1 selves: although if the overworld is this treacherous, I'm certainly hoping we can fix that sooner rather than later.
After his dramatic drop on the Celestial Sands, our new opponent is content to form a new Lantern-alike and just wait for our arrival.
It's evil, it's fuelling the Malicious monsters, but it's not throwing thunderbolts down on Gallopolis or anything.
...Remember, these characters haven't flown on Cetacea yet.
A somewhat familiar voice mentions this, and a new figure appears behind us.
...Now that's the last thing we need.
Rest assured, Mordegon is Very Definitely Dead. This man is someone else.
The Seer can appear in any shape he or she pleases, although usually it'll be a shape of the beholder's choosing rather than their own personal preference.
As far as the Seer is concerned, there is no limit to the number of shapes they can appear in. They never do wind up taking the form of a named character other than Mordegon, though.
Don't worry, we won't have to grin and bear this peculiar circumstnace, we can get back to the Seer that... Erdward knows and trusts from Act 2. Erik met the Seer in a male form and no one else in the party had ever met the Seer even counting Act 2.
The Seer has come to give us what might normally be a very cryptic prophecy to point us in the right direction, but for once, we actually know a lot more than the prophecy-giver, and this advice is very direct and immediately useful!
The Seer adds a clarification for the party's benefit- even if Erdward would explain this, it would probably take too long to explain how Erdward knows this. However, someone in this group does have enough information to make most of the logical leaps.
"You don't have much time", she says, but Erdwin's Lantern is rather explicitly not presenting a hard deadline on our progress. I think, as far as the game is concerned, it wants you to solve the main "plot" of Act 3 (a relatively minimal process, we'll be done in one or two updates) before you truly get set loose on the world, and there's a soft timer in the background of that plot that the Seer and only the Seer knows about.
We'll be just fine no matter how long we wait. It's an RPG, of course we will.
Veronica, owner of the Calamus Flute (remember, even in Act 2, she gave it to Benedictus as a magical present post-mortem), suspects that maybe it's the one the Seer was talking about. Even if she doesn't know exactly how useful it'll be for Erdward, she understands the Seer well enough that there's no harm in trying. And no one needs to think too hard about it when it works.
It doesn't turn into a fishing line this time. Veronica would probably have a heart attack.
Oh, her? That's just our wings, what of it?
Well, you see-
Despite when I caught the frame, she's actually got a pretty cute smile for this line. She probably just hasn't fully transitioned from the last line.
Trust me, you guys are going to love Cetacea. For about five mintutes.
This isn't a significant problem for navigating the world, but yeah, we're not allowed to waltz right up to the final boss yet.
This is our destination.
Looks a lot more... prosperous now. Remember the ruins outside Octagonia? That's the remnants of Haven's Above after Indignus destroyed the place... back in Act 2. He hasn't done that yet, and considering Mordegon is dead, he never will.
Which means the Watchers are all OK!
...Downside means there's a lot more dialogue in all caps and short, barely functional sentences.
I'm surprised there's no reaction from Erdward. He knows what a Watcher is, yes, but seeing another one fully fine is probably still a shock.
No more beating around the bush: Our big baddie is named Calasmos.
Going to be a lot more to talk about why he's scary.
Perhaps. Yeah, it's definitely him back.
Calasmos, the "hater of life".
OK, I'm not sure why these guys are telling us there's no time.
Well, we have someone to shake down for information.
Veronica: How can the Watchers know our language, if they're a completely different species to us...? Well, whoever they are, the main thing is that they're friendly. Let's talk to everyone we can and find out what they know!
Erik: The Seer told me that if I found the Orb, I'd meet the Luminary somewhere deep underground... And that if I helped him, I'd finally be forgiven... There's no mistaking it, man. The Seer who said all that stuff was the same one we met on the Emerald Coast. Except he was a guy when I saw him... I owe him- or her- a lot. I needed a bit of guidance in life back then.
Jade: I'd never have thought that anyone lived up here in the sky... But then if they've always been above the clouds, that explains why no one on the surface knows anything about them.
Hendrik: It sounds as though the Watchers may know something about this dark star. Let us do as our new friend says, and speak with their Elder.
Serena: The Seer had a vision of us riding on Cetacea to see the Watchers- and now it looks like it's come true. With any luck, they'll be able to tell us something about the black star...
Sylvando: Oh, honey! These Watchers are the cutest! One look at these little guys and you'd forget all your troubles in a flash! Do you think anyone would mind if we kept one?
Rab: From what our new pal told us, this dark star may have something to do with the return of Calasmos... Ach, but I don't have the first clue who or what that is, or what we're supposed to do about it. Come on, laddie, let's start by talking to the Elder.
To access rocks other than the main one we land on, we use these floating platforms. I'm not sure how the Watchers get around, but the player can always leave from all platforms connected to an island- if you're about to visit an island and other connecting platform are in the "wrong" position, they'll move over to your island too. The camera likes to hide this movement, but you can catch it if you take the right paths.
This won't become a problem in any way, but it does go some way to explaining why all the Watchers sound like they've consumed a lot of helium.
The Elder is guarded by two monsters. No one doubts a Slime Knight, but I'm not sure why they picked a Hammerhood other than "because they could".
Here's the Elder.
He's a very old man- he was actually alive when Erdwin did battle with Calasmos. Not just alive, but pretty old, too- he lent a significant hand to the man.
It's no wonder he doesn't do much anymore.
He does wake up and lend a hand, but he's making sure he'll do as much as possible and nothing more.
All right, time for more exposition.
Hi, Calasmos. That is certainly an artist's rendition of Calasmos. It's not bad, but man if he doesn't look the slightest bit goofy in this artstyle. Not that Calasmos is completely free of goofy appearance.
Yggdrasil chose Erdwin, years ago, to do battle with Calasmos, just as She picked us to do battle with Mordegon.
Erdwin, to all accounts, appears to have basically played a traditional Dragon Quest game. DQ is pretty light on "the Hero that came before you" to compare it to, surprisingly. The biggest precursor hero I can think of is V... and it's implied the guy they're talking about there is the DQIV Hero.
He means this in the DQ3 way. In DQ3, your party members were defined by their jobs, and while Drustan, Serenica and Morcant all have their own individual personalities (well, to an extent), they are, in some regards, defined by their jobs. Their designs, while not cribbed from DQ3 outright, are definitely "strongly inspired" by the designs they would have if you made this party in DQ3.
We saw this in Act 2, as a clue as to how to repeat the feat to take on Mordegon. Although now it seems the specifics might come up again.
I find it interesting the Watchers do not know the answer to this question. What good is a race of creatures called "the Watchers" if they weren't watching what happened when ultimate evil was incompletely vanquished?
The Watchers seem convinced that we'll be able to do what Erdwin could not and defeat Calasmos. Or at the very least put the lid back on for another thousand or so years.
Well, if that wasn't the most productive conversation ever.
The Elder has woken from his slumber to mention one word to us.
Considering how old he is and how miserly he is about his energy consumption, the Watchers know to shut up when he wakes up, because you can bet whatever he's about to say will a) be important and b) not be repeated.
That's all we're getting from him this time.
Presumably, he's talking about the Seedlings of Yggdrasil we used to find out how to reforge the Sword of Light, then.
Veronica: The pictures on the Elder's wall were good for giving us an idea of what Calasmos looks like. But there were lots of other images too... The Watchers' art is completely different from ours- I just wish I had more time to study it properly.
Erik: It sounded like that Watcher had something to give you, Erdward. I guess we'd better head to the Temple of Dawn like he told us to! With a name like that, it's got to be the biggest building in town. It shouldn't be hard to find.
Jade: Eegoltap the Elder has been around since the time of the original Luminary, it seems... I wonder what it feels like to live that long. It's not something we could ever imagine, I suppose.
Hendrik: If our Watcher friend is right, then the Dark One defeated by the first Luminary has returned. It is clear that there is far more to this tale than one could ever hope to guess at. We must not rest until we know the truth.
Serena: The seedlings of Yggdrasil know everything... Well, the Elder has been around for a long time. He must know what he's talking about.
Sylvando: Does old Eegoltap really spend most of his life asleep? Sounds like a pretty easy gig to me! Still, it was nice of him to wake up for us, even if he didn't have too much to say. We should be grateful for what we get- we wouldn't want him to overdo it...
Rab: It seems ye're the light the world needs to banish the darkness, laddie. By my reckoning, that means ye were born to defeat Calasmos. And there was me thinking ye'd fulfilled yer destiny when we beat Mordegon. It seems ye've still got some work to do, eh!?
The Watcher says "Give gift", and as soon as we turn around, we spot three treasure chests. These are presumably not the gift he's talking about (I think he intended that to mean the Guiding Light), but we are invited to take these freely.
First chest, the Ultimate Key. If we're going to be running around Erdrea looking for "stuff", this will be a more than suitable way to get some ultimate gear to shore up the odds versus Act 3 enemies.
These two treasures are new to the Definitive edition, and are largely costume pieces for the Twins as well as actual equipment.
Little Angel Veronica gets some Dark resistance and a chance of Grace of the Goddess on spawn- an ability we haven't quite seen yet, it makes it so she can revive herself if she gets killed. Helpful for Veronica in particular for both mechanical and narrative reasons, but don't keep this dress on once the fight starts.
Light resist isn't quite as valuable as Dark resist is, but that does drop your Kaboom damage. Increased chance of critical spells, though, that's not really something Serena should really be worried about. In an emergency, Serena has Omniheal, don't fish for crit Multiheal. Crit Kaswoosh might be nice, but I wouldn't really count on her Swoosh spells.
I quite like the inherent humour of Serena in a sexy devil's outfit, though, considering I think she's too innocent to even pretend to fit the outfit.
The Temple of Dawn is where it was back in Act 2.
The Seedlings can be used for Yggdrasil's Guidance, that'll-
...
Can we at least try?
Fortunately, there's a better idea in this thought- there are three Seedlings scattered throughout Erdrea that'll point us in the right direction.
Well, while we're here...
We're going to need this back.
...Hm. I never really thought about the implications of this line. The Guiding Light represents Yggdragon's power, so presumably it's connected to the Heart of Yggdrasil. And some fraction of this power- or an additional flame- is what is necessary for Yggdrasil to Choose a Luminary and give them the necessary powers.
You know, maybe we got our Luminary powers back in Dundrasil because there's a severed connection to the afterlife there, thanks to Irwin and Eleanor. Or maybe I'm overthinking mechanics.
The Guiding Light is mostly good for its roles in Part 2- opening the Battleground and Crucible.
The Elder has more information to give us, and has insisted the Watchers ferry him over so he can impart it.
He has noticed that the party is a little underlevelled right now, and he knows how to fix that.
This might just be the first time since Erdwin that he's so much as left that platform he usually sleeps on.
Thank you, Eegoltap!
Notice how, although Erdwin's not glowing as brightly, he's still glowing.
Everyone has something to learn from this. There are some Brand New abilities lumped in here, but for the most part, most of the "new spells and abilities" being mentioned here are the ones we learned in Act 2- Rab's Pearly Gates, Jade's Re-Vamp, Serena's Kaswoosh. The new panels for the Character Builder, likewise, are for Rab, Jade, Erik and the twins.
And yes, they get the level discrepancy. I'm not entirely sure how this is calculated, but not only is everyone caught up (including Veronica), but everyone still has the benefits from the Seeds they ate in Act 2- thankfully.
It says this, but since Campsites aren't included, I almost feel like this is just Angri-La.
Glad it's appreciated.
Eegoltap also takes the time out of his busy schedule sleeping to reassure Erdward, and to some extent the audience, that the game, Yggdrasil, and everyone who matters in the world of Erdrea is of the stance that the Darkspawn rumour is Wrong and there is no truth to it whatsoever. Whatever the relevance of the poem Gustaf cited from the Book of Erdwin, it is not that.
Eegoltap signs off, and promptly drops to the ground.
He's not dead- he just doesn't intend to do anything else today.
Eegoltap is probably never going to go back to his pedestal under his own power, so the Watchers will take him back. He probably doesn't want to sleep in the Temple of Dawn.
Well, we have an objective now.
Veronica: Can the Guiding Light really have come from the creator of Erdrea? The Elder said something about the flame of Yggdragon, didn't he? Do you think that's who we saw in the picture on the wall behind him?
Erik: It sounds like there are another three seedlings down on the surface somewhere. The only problem is, we don't have the first clue where to find them. Let's see if the Watchers can point us in the right direction.
Jade: This is amazing... I can feel this incredible new power welling up from within me! It's like the Elder has awakened something that's always been in there, waiting. We're finally ready to take on the Dark One, I can feel it!
Hendrik: I must confess that I feared the worst when the Elder collapsed. Fortunately, it seems he only needed some sleep. At his age, it is no surprise.
Serena: I can sense the power emanating from the Guiding Light. Just being close to it makes you feel ever so safe. Could this flame really come from Yggdragon? Could it really contain the power of the world's creator?
Sylvando: If there's one thing we've learned from all our globetrotting, it's that sacred seedlings aren't easy to find... But you know what this means, don't you, honey? We just need to visit some spots we weren't able to get to before! Who knows where we might strike it lucky!
Rab: It seems the Guiding Light has given ye the power to awaken the visions of the past that are concealed within the seedlings. With any luck, they'll show us a way to take on the Dark One. Now, let's see if we can find any more, eh?
If you're curious, these are the levels I got when the Elder awakened their potential. We want any more levels, though, we'll have to earn them the old-fashioned way.
Oh yeah, I mentioned "the twins" got Skill Tree expansions, didn't I? Well, we can't have Serena stealing all Veronica's skills now, can we? Veronica and Serena have proper expansions to go over.
Heavy Wands:
- Maximum MP +20 (1 panel)- +30 total
- Magical Might +50 (2 panels, 1 hidden)- +60 total
- MP Absorption +4% (1 panel)- +6% total
- Moderate MP Recovery After Battle
- Pep Chance +10%
- Zing Stick: a cheap, perfect resurrection on a character with no natural way of performing resurrections is far more worth it- especially since Rab now has Kazing.
Whips:
- Attack +20 (1 panel)- +65 total
- MP Absorption +2% (1 panel)- +2% total
- Maximum MP +20- I think this is a raw bonus, and not Whips only.
- Pep-Up Power-Up
- Starstrike: A light-elemental damaging attack to a group with 50% chance of landing Dazzle. Helpful if it lands.
- Wyrm Whip: Three hits of 0.6x power to a single target, removing positive buffs. It was good with Serena and it's good with Veronica, if even more hamstrung by how out of the way it is.
- Whipcrackle: 3.2x lightning damage to an enemy group, high crit chance. Damn, maybe Veronica's actually not half bad in Whips after all...
Vim:
- Maximum MP +30 (1 panel)- +40 total
- Magical Might +50 (2 panels)- +60 total
- Light and Lightning Resistance +20%: Finally. Those are some solid resistances, none of this "the Fire's good but pass on the Earth".
- Kaboomle: 360-720 Light damage on everything. Yes please.
- Kafrizzle: 382-794 Fire damage to a single target. Also yes please. Kafrizzle is probably better than Kaboomle, since bosses want these and regular enemies can take Kaboom moreso.
- Enchanting Echo: No more Echoing Multiheal or Kabuff, but a lot of the really good spells were still Veronica's.
Vim is the way to go more than ever. That's a lot of extra power to build up. Heavy Wands come shortly behind for similar reasons. Whips might also be somewhat decent, if you can afford to build in that direction.
Serena's Tree is a mirror image of Veronica's now.
Wands:
- Maximum MP +30 (1 panel)- +30 total
- MP Absorption +4% (1 panel)- +6% total
- Moderate MP Recovery after battle
- Pep-Up Power-Up
- Divine Restitution: Deals 220-400 light damage to a group, and leaves Serena with a buff that heals her for 52-100 HP for five turns. Scales on MaMend. This is Serena's actual attack.
- Grace of the Goddess: Applies a buff for five turns that revives Serena if she ever gets killed. Cannot be applied to others.
- Divine Intervention: Applies a buff to an ally that allows them to survive a lethal attack with 1 HP so long as they have more than 1 HP, lasts four turns.
Spears:
- Attack +20 (1 panel)- +45 total
- Parry Chance +5% (1 panel)- +9% total
- Critical Hit Chance +2% (1 panel)- 4% total
- Crushed Ice: Deals four hits of 0.9x ice damage to a single target. It's better on Jade.
- Be Like Water: Increases parry chance by 20%, evasion chance by 50%, and Serena counter attacks at normal damage. The buff only lasts two turns, though. Not entirely sure what you're countering, though.
- Counter Wait: Increases evasion to 100% and enables counters for one turn. If you're going to use one of the stances, go for Be Like Water.
- Kaswooshle: 386-624 Wind damage to a group. Scales on MaMight, so Divine Restitution is probably better.
Harpistry:
- Maximum MP +20 (1 panel)- +30 total
- Magical Mending +50 (2 panels)- +60 total
- Minor MP Recovery After Battle
- Holier Hymns (2 panels, 2 hidden): Now, see, is her Holier Hymn panel in Act 2 worth one or both of these? I'm still not clear.
- Doleful Dirge: Applies a debuff to the enemy to increase elemental damage dealt by 40%. Good if you're using elemental damage (like, say, the Sword of Light) and want to push past a weakness. 67% accuracy.
There's a lot of good stuff in Wands to nab immediately, although Harpistry is now finally pulling its weight too with its own bonuses. Shame about Spears.
If you try to Guidance these Seedlings, you get told not to bother.
Checking the map shows that we have three pink dots here in Havens Above. These Watchers will tell you where to find the Seedlings.
We saw all three.
The Quest in the south-west is for Hendrik. The Watcher Quests are universally about giving things other than tangible items.
This Side Quest is the only one that upgrades a Skill on a Skill Tree, and apparently, the Watcher won't even let you start the quest unless you know that particular Skill. Well, same to you.
WE ARE WATCHERS. THIS IS LEGEND OF WATCHERS. LEGEND OF LAW OF TIME.
SPIRITS WEAVE TIME. SPIRITS BORN FROM ERDREA. SPIRITS OF LOST TIME.
LIGHT GOVERNS TIME. HOLY LIGHT. SPIRITS OF LOST TIME GUARD HOLY LIGHT.
LIGHT GLOWS BRIGHT. BURNS. EXPLODES. WHEN IT DOES, LOST THINGS RETURN. ETERNITY IS UNDONE.
I think this is the book that appears in the ruins of Havens Above in Act 2? Now, we know they're talking about the Sphere of Lost Time over in the Tower- that exploded and undid eternity, all right.
Now then, my next destination, with the Quest rejection in mind, is to head to the Church and do all my recerts.
Veronica and Serena have matching Surprise Panels, both hiding in the MP bonus in their special trees.
Jade and Rab have to get their Surprise Panels all over in Act 3. Which is annoying, because I'm not building Rab that way this time. Jade wants to be going that way still, though.
Veronica beelined to Enchanting Echo- the chance to fire off more spells for free is just way too good. She also picked up more passive MP recovery, and has designs on learning the two ultimate spells next.
Erik went upstairs this time, picking up Critical Claim and Double Down. The Dually Deadly bonus just didn't seem as important this time. There's still lots to steal lying around.
Jade finally dropped Party Pooper and Multithrust, and look at that- Multifeet and Pink Typhoon came handily. With the Belle's Bows, she might even consider these in normal encounters! I'd still rather she didn't have to, but the game's throwing more powerful stuff our way, it's always good to know we can respond in kind.
Hendrik picks up a lot of the basics from Axes, Shields and Heroism again. Over 80 SP left over? I'm saving it for his expansion. He'll get one of those, don't you worry, and considering where we are, we'll need it soon. Later than I expected, though. And yes, he has Blind Man's Biff.
Serena went for Divine Restitution and is running around looking for general statups. It's weird, but I'm still not entirely sold on what I want to grab her, even though she does have more stuff to want than I have SP.
Sylvando found a lot of stuff to use SP on. He's going into Swords for one specific purpose, and once that purpose is met, he's moving on. Still, though, that's a lot of his Litheness section learned.
Rab is going back into Heavy Wands- he's got Kacracke at the ready, even if he's used up most of his SP doing that. He'll be throwing hands in the Wheel of Harma in due time, and in an emergency, he might throw it at whatever is killing me, too.
Was there any doubt? Veronica's getting the first batch of 12 Seeds of Skill. All four characters who have yet to receive them need 12.
SKY FISH. NO LEGS. HAS SPINE. SEVERAL SPECIES.
FOUND IN SKY. NOT LIKE ANIMALS OF LAND. BREATHES THROUGH GILLS. SKIN RUBBERY. SKIN DAMP.
TEMPERATURE CHANGE HURTS THEM. WARM: SOFT. HOT: EVAPORATE. HARD TO STORE. HARD TO BREED.
BUT DELICIOUS. SWEET AND SURPRISING. GOOD FOR PUDDINGS. GOOD RAW.
I'm... not entirely sure what this is talking about? I suspect it's an enemy and not Cetacea (for one thing, Cetacea is a Sky Mammal), but which one? Maybe the Alizarin family?
Right, side quest.
The Watcher wants us to find four tomes written by Drustan out in the world.
In order to upgrade Blind Man's Biff. Of all things.
Where are the Drustan books? "Somewhere in the world."
Fortunately, he does at least know where. These are accurate locations of each book, thankfully- although the Phnom Nonh and Sniflheim books stretch things slightly.
Over here, we have a farmer. Wonder how well that works out up here in the clouds.
I'm just imagining a horse race with a Watcher.
Song Two: The Little People
Lo, from the World Tree’s shoots did fall,
The little folk who witnessed all,
And down did rain Yggdrasil’s seeds,
And plants, then beasts, then humans breed,
When all was wrought, wyrm’s light in hand,
They upward went, and left the land,
Since then, from heav’n, the Watchers gazed,
Looked o’er us all, their name be praised.
The Watchers are creations of Yggdrasil, in some manner, and connected to Yggdrasil they shall remain. As one might expect, given they are the guardians of the light of Yggdrasil that is the Guiding Light.
This Watcher takes an interest in Serena's harp.
Apparently, he can make Serena's harp "work better" as a healing instrument. He just needs something to help out.
Wow, that's presumptive.
I'll be doing it, of course. That is an awesome reward.
The Watchers may be many things, but they are definitely direct. I was not expecting the mechanical clues as to the location of the harmonicrystal to be so clear-cut: He even tells you where to find the Ultimate Key!
Glad it appeals to you. I smash pots for a living.
The Haven's Above shop has a few somewhat nice things for sale, but the Angel's Robe is probably the most tempting of the bunch- 18% elemental resistance and 50% instant death resistance in one armour is more than a lot of stuff you have around now can claim. As a matter of fact, there's an argument to be made you won't get anything better until the ultimate armour for some of these characters. Armour is so non-linear in endgame that you always feel like you're missing out on something.
Somewhat awkwardly, it wasn't until I got to the Battleground that I remembered to show off these: These are new Skills to Act 3 (I think, I feel like I've seen one of the latter two in Act 2.)
- Erdward's new set of Splitter spells deal 90-230 elemental damage to all enemies for 16 MP. Brightsplitter is better than Boom, yes, but in general, these abilities are highly situational, dependent on whether you know which Splitter the enemies you're fighting are weak to. As one final caveat on their abilities, you must be using a Sword of Light for them to work. Not that this is hugely limiting, but you know.
- Saint's Song is a powerful Ability that revives, heals and cures status ailments of the whole party, including benchwarmers, at no MP cost. The catch? Before you use it in a battle, you have to prepare it by using the Saint's Ascension Pep Power (Erdward/Serena/Rab). I'm not sure what emergencies you're dealing with here, but this is something you wish you had earlier but can't justify using because of the difficulty timing Pep Powers.
- Knight Watch is a matching powerful Ability that applies the Forbearance effect to Hendrik for a few turns while also making him invincible. It is prepared through the Knight's Mandate Pep Power (Erdward/Serena/Hendrik), and while it's more apparent why one would use this, I think it's strictly speaking inferior to another option of doing the same thing. I was never really one for invincibility anyway.
Why are we at the Battleground? Very little. Most of the enemies here are on the tougher end, and I'd rather get some more tools before plunging deep into this place. It's not that hard to get here, though, and here has something valuable.
Well, first of all, that's the guy who has the harmonicrystal for the Watcher's Quest. He is way too tough for us now- he's technically a normal enemy, but you should treat him like a boss.
Around the circumference of his room are two treasures, one of which is this recipe book for a Jade costume.
And over here is a sparkly spot that gives Densinium/Orichalcum/Dracolyte. This is the only halfway convenient place to grab some regular Orichalcum, and you're going to need plenty of it. Every second piece of orichalcum the Golden Pickaxe nabs is precious. You need 15 pieces of Orichalcum to Forge everything once, by my count, although I highly doubt you'll find all of it is worth Forging.
Funnily enough, one of those armours is right here, with the Minerva gear. Annoyingly, the headdress doesn't have a point in crit that the Warrior Princess does, although the rainment makes up the difference.
Look at that. It's so hard to recommend this, but it's clear that was the intention...
The Minerva outfit is the first instance of the vanilla game adding some weirdness to the Definitive release. In the vanilla game, there was no cosmetic armour option, so if you wanted to dress up, you had to be wearing the correct armour pieces. In the post-game, they gave you a bunch of scaled-up armours that let you use the early-game costumes (not that Warrior Princess is early game) with post-game stats. Since Definitive does have a cosmetic slot, each of these post-game armours is now a palette swap armour. I think I prefer Warrior Princess's colours, honestly.
So. Calasmos. Calasmos is the Dark One Erdwin did battle with, and one thing you may or may not have noticed, but any time someone has been delivering exposition concerning "the Dark One", they've meant Calasmos. The Lord of Shadows, Mordegon, is and always was a separate individual. What we haven't known is what happened to Calasmos after Erdwin won- apparently no one happened to be aware Calasmos was sealed inside Erdwin's Lantern and had an agent on the outside ready to free him at the right time. I'll accept the second bit as Calasmos being clever, but it sounds like somebody on the side of Light bungled the ball to let the first one happen.
The Watchers' main plot role here is to get the ball rolling- give you all the key stuff you need to complete Act 3, fix up the "level gap" issues, and then just duck out of the way. In terms of actually contributing to the story, however, they are surprisingly mum, even though, by all accounts, they should know some relevant details about Erdwin's battle or Yggdrasil's power or something that'll be relevant for Calasmos. Considering the one we found in Act 2 was a youth and Eegoltap is supposed to be special since he's old enough to remember Erdwin, it may just be all these Watchers are too young to be helpful, but now we've got a cosmically significant ancient race... that doesn't do anything. Add on the annoying vocal trait (in both text and voice) and it's little wonder I prefer to just move on from here.
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