Right, so starting off this final section, we have this. Considering how much of Gondolia I forgot to do the first few times, no wonder this slipped through the cracks.
The final bargain item from these two is the divine bustier, for Jade, and you get it cheapest at 20000.
The description speaks to me of an armour that gives enemies a chance of not moving for a turn for being too smitten with Jade: this was a class benefit of Luminaries in DQs 6-7 (no relation to Erdward's title of Luminary, I don't know where the name came from) and a personal benefit of Jessica's in DQ8. DQ9 made it a Charm thing, and I think it's still in this game, I just haven't seen it much, if it all. The Divine Bustier doesn't actually do that, though, it's good for 5% evasion. Yes, it is inferior to Xenlon's Gown- Xenlon gives more Evasion than that.
I think the people of Phnom Nonh have been waiting long enough.
Veronica: Hmm... The monsters inside the mural seem to really like dancing. You don't think they're the ones who are forcing the villagers to dance, do you?
Erik: Do you remember the first time we went inside that painting? I remember thinking that was pretty crazy at the time. Thinking back, though, we've done plenty of even weirder things since then...
Jade: Someone's making an awful lot of noise, Erdward... We should go and see what's happening. It might explain why the villagers are being made to dance.
Hendrik: Surely not... Surely we have not actually entered the picture...? I have found myself in some unexpected places since joining you, Erdward, but none as odd as this.
Serena: I remember being in here before we found Dora-in-Grey. There was something in the air, something really sinister... Well, that's exactly what it feels like now. I have a horrible feeling there's something nasty waiting for us up ahead.
Sylvando: Hustle! Hustle! One, two, three! Hmm? Oh, don't worry about me, honey. I'm having the time of my life!
Rab: Aye, I'd say this was the perfect place for any monsters that want to lie low... Which means there's a good chance that the horrible beasties which put that curse on the village are hiding out here. Well, we won't let them get away with it, will we laddie?
This thing is back, for some reason. Its treasure is not, however- all you get for the second killing is an empty chest.
This is where you can find your badonises.
Enormous mimics that are far too large to pass for treasure chests. That doesn't stop some greedy travelers from trying their luck, though.
This guy is, though. Mega mimic is new to DQ11, and he has Drain Magic, Kafuddle, and crits, along with three hits a turn.
Don't let the fact I got killed fool you: This is mostly a beastiary monster.
Also a freebie Elfin Charm. Awkward to forge our own.
The party for this upcoming boss fight. A bit light on offensive power, but Veronica is going to be making use of Kaboom.
...I also think I give her something other than the Uniforme.
Here's the guy that's causing all this trouble. A regular old grey gordon.
His voice is also incredibly not threatening- even if it is very loud and boisterous.
Grey gordons possessed by incredible evil. They curse those they meet to dance for all eternity as a twisted tribute to the Dark One.
Humanoid family
5400 HP
999 MP
The malicious grey gordon is the last owner of the goofy song Booga uses, and much like Booga, he is much more annoying than the song indicates. Two actions, Kaswoosh, Kafrizzle, Sultry Dance (makes you dance, thankfully not mesmerise), calling for backup, and one wicked trick. Thought it did have more, though- maybe it's not on this list?
Now there's an old standby.
Veronica's really taking point.
Not that Erdward is far behind.
...We've come a long way, and got a lot of elemental resist armour.
The grey gordon can summon, in total, an electric needler, a hooper duper, a calasmonaut and an abyssal octopot. With the exception of the hooper duper, I can't help but notice all these enemies are a bit out of the way to find elsewhere.
Well, Sylvando's about out of a job here.
KABOOMLE! Man, that needler is skewing the numbers.
Good thing it's not the Gordon.
The helpers add to the gordon's plethora of attacks, but we're swallowing it all.
There's the other friends...
Why doesn't my Hustle Dance do that? I feel like there's a Pep Power incoming, but I don't see what. Perhaps this boss fight might just be oversold in the end.
...I wish my Hustle Dance did a little more.
Veronica got bored of this fight.
Freebie kaleidocloth!
These guys are the only recurrence of the Soldiers of Smile in Act 3. In the vanilla game, their reappearance here makes a little more sense- it's implied these people were in the Phnom Nonh area- but the Side Story expanding on them paradoxically weakens this moment. Then again, these may not necessarily be the same heads. Nor does the game expect you to recall what happened to the old ones.
Veronica: So Dora-in-Grey wasn't behind this after all- the culprit was that grey gordon! Look, I know he's a monster, and that means he's icky and horrible...but he was in pretty good shape for his age, wasn't he?
Erik: The folks in Phnom Nonh got kind of a raw deal, huh? I wouldn't want to be forced to dance like that. First it was a cursed painting, then the dancing. Some people just can't get a break, I guess.
Jade: That grey gordon may have been rather eccentric, but he was still a formidable opponent. Could he have been inspired by the dark star? I fear that its baneful influence has spread across the whole world...
Hendrik: I understand that this grey gordon creature was imprisoning people and forcing them to dance for him... Alas, I still fail to see what the purpose of it all might have been. Could anyone enlighten me?
Serena: Now the villagers are freed from that horrible curse, they can get on with their lives. But you never know what's going to happen next as long as that horrible star remains in the sky...
Sylvando: Take it from me, honey. Dancing like that really takes a lot out of you. If we'd let it go on for much longer, the villagers would have started collapsing. I bet they'll be glad to get a bit of rest now...I just hope this little episode hasn't put them off dancing for life!
Rab: I've got to hand it to that grey gordon, he knew how to move! He's not the only one, though! I like to think I've still got it. Just point me towards the nearest dance floor- I willnae let any mangy monster show me up!
Too bloody right.
...First thing we see right past the staircase.
Son is the one to give us the reward for defeating the malicious grey gordon.
At this point, you've probably already got the Medal King stuff, but this is still plenty of purchases at the mini medal store.
This is indeed a secondary reward, but far secondary.
Jade: It wasn't all combat training when Rab and I were travelling the world together. No, we did plenty of dancing too. In fact, travelling in the guise of a dancer can be really good when you're trying to keep a low profile. And it was a lot of fun too! Ah, I miss those days...
Sylvando: Oh, I know it was a monster's curse, honey, but it's still a shame that people aren't dancing any more. Well, I just hope the curse made some people realise how much fun dancing can be. Every cloud should have a silver lining, after all!
As long as it's willing this time. Although the tourist attractions only multiply in this timeline. Avarith didn't leave much in this department back in Act 2.
Why do I feel the opposite of pride?
...Your maid does not set a good example of your approach to "willing".
Sounds adorable.
...Still talking about that chest, are we?
...I love it.
I wonder if she got a flash of her Act 2 self to help give her a boost. I don't feel like you set a good example if this happened twice.
You may want to consider skipping town before the next weird thing happens.
Those two and the dragon stealing everyone's gold. Phnom Nonh attracts all the weird phenomenons.
...Good luck.
Now, see, this is a woman who I feel like really benefitted from the curse in all.
Now to talk to Mony about the other thing beating the malicious grey gordon gets you.
It... well, it puts Sylvando's parade float back in Phnom Nonh for you to run around with.
I'll let this opportunity pass me by.
Nothing happened worth screenshotting, apparently, but one downside for coming here in Act 2 is that you have to come back here for some (presumably Malicious) monsters to add to the beastiary.
Speaking of the beastiary, time for a bunch of crawling for night enemies in the Trials.
Proof of concept: the night doesn't look any different.
Snowgres reincarnated as even more atrocious foes. Their eyes glow red with animosity toward the masters who abandoned them.
Remember snowgres? Outer ocean in close proximity to Sniflheim in Act 2, and Vicious ones here in Trial Isle at night. They have a Rarefied monster in Leviathing, a fairly standard bossy enemy with a dazzling light, pillars of water, and one more unique attack...
Krystalinda's snowman attack.
Proud creatures that perfectly embody the moon at midnight, and boast a masterful command of black magic, allowing them to cast Kazam at will.
Rarefied cosmic chimaeras, free to appear as early as Act 2 Dundrasil, lunar chimaeras were in DQ10 and have Scorch, Kaswoosh and Kazam. They also have common slot Yggdrasil Leaves.
Right, fourth Trial time.
The Luminary's deepest fears made flesh. Appears alongside Darkest Despair in order to drag those who have lost faith in life down into the depths of hell.
Dragon family
7800 HP
999 MP
The Luminary's fear of failure made flesh. Appears alongside Abject Terror in order to drag those who have lost faith in life down into the depths of hell.
Dragon family
4200 HP
999 MP
HP that comically mismatched? Abject Terror and Darkest Despair have a Zing trap! Both only have Zing, thankfully, although apparently it's Kazing for Despair in 2D mode. They can block attacks, and have Falcon Slash, Inferno Slash, Gigathrow, Devil Finesse, the damaging War Cry, and Blazing Blue Blast. Terror knows Kacrackle, and Despair knows Kazammle.
I find it cute that it's Despair that has the lower HP. Erdward's already risen above the despair horizon by undoing his pain.
Erik has one aim.
And Erdward... oh. Darkest Despair is resistant to the Light element. This is an annoying conundrum that, ironically, kinda makes the fight easier in some ways- if your main double-damage output is Veronica's Kaboomle, the fact the less healthy of the two has the resistances slows you up enough to work well.
Annoyingly, Abject Terror also has Bounce sometimes.
...What the hell did Serena just use? Kaswooshle, I imagine.
Aw yeah!
Serena shuffles back to healing.
See what I mean about the Light resistance helping? This isn't an equal outcome, but it's in our favour that Terror takes more damage than Despair from the same attack, since Terror has more HP.
The Brilliant Blade may be the ultimate greatsword, but this is a good excuse to bring the Berserker's Blade back for some non-elemental damage output. I also seem to have gotten the Dazzle effect.
...I don't think I dazzled you, though.
...Oh hey. Veronica and Serena are pepped up at the same time.
...
Yeah, this is not only a good time to show this, this might be the perfect use case for it: Magic Burst, as a fixed-damage, high-damage attack, is an excellent counter strategy to Zing bosses, since even people who have only a rough idea of the amount of HP the bosses have left can have a reasonable chance of knocking out every single one in a single blow. This isn't a plug and play strat, though- you do need to know how much HP the bosses have and have done some decent tracking of how much HP you think is left.
It's a little annoying how Veronica is stuck with the usual red outfit, but I think it paired pretty well with Serena's Serenica surplice.
Yup. That is a killshot.
I'll take it.
I decided to go for the Serena haircut first. Drustan somehow manages to come up with a method of not making the wish sound stupid- we're not wishing for Serena to get a haircut, we're wishing for the ability to jump between long and short hair on a whim. I'd love to have that.
Still a bit of a weird wish, but at least it sold itself well.
As previously mentioned, you must have the Ring of Changes equipped for short-haired Serena, and, well, it's a very terrible accessory.
Here's that shortcut I mentioned earlier.
Final trial time. Erdward's the healer- he can do the job, although where he should is another question.
No new actions, but to be fair, the game probably expected you to fight the Indignus twins more than once. I guess that's where the extra time squeezes in.
The Luminary's secret self-regard made flesh. Only those who can conquer the darkness within their own hearts can defeat this powerful foe.
??? family
12000 HP
999 MP
I dunno, I feel like an Envy boss might've been cool for DQ11's theming. Overweening Pride is the ultimate rematch with Jasper, and the final superboss the Trials can throw at you. He gets two attacks a turn, his Javelin of Judgement and Dire Pyre dark attacks, Disruptive Wave, a breakneck blitz of attacks, crashing down for knockdown damage, Silver Spark, and he can call for backup, just in case you though this would be easy because there's only one of him.
Not sure how you figure that, but I think Jade got hit twice.
Crimson Killing Machine and A3G15. Spooky. You can also get a Pandora's Box. I'm not sure which one scares me more.
Well, I know what scares him more.
Also this.
Hendrik is now a sword user, and here he is performing Gyrfalcon Slash. The ~150 damage hits kinda sting, but Hendrik doesn't have Sword Dance, so he can't do this with a Greatsword.
Some people were more prepared for Dark elements than others.
KAFRIZZLE!
Silver Spark, ouch.
Oh, same to you.
Erdward proving he's the healer.
And Veronica's going to keep up this plan.
Jade had fun hitting Jasper this time.
...Enough of that.
And more robots.
Veronica goes right back for the Kaboomle this time.
Jade's doing just fine on the damage on Jasper.
Re-Vamp is my only buff! I guess this means no attack.
...Wow, that's a huge Kafrizzle.
This can only get scary, even though he has no Pep Power.
He seems to love the robots this run. I'll take no Kathwacks.
Hendrik landed the killing blow on Pride.
...I did need to finish off the robot to finish the fight, though.
Yay, dracolyte! That was a drop from one of the machines.
Really going through those action allotments this time. Those are serious restrictions if you're not keeping up your damage output.
Even Drustan can't put a positive spin on the Ogler's Digest wish. Guns 'n' Buns, this thing is not.
Rab shared his with you on the Tor just fine.
This is what I mean when I say I thought the Ogler's Digest was a very old publication: Drustan saying this leads to the thought that this particular copy happens to be his own personal copy, or perhaps Erdwin or Morcant shared theirs. If it were, though, I doubt Rab could've found what Hendrik describes as a mint condition Issue #1, though.
With Drustan's trials completed, Drustan can name us the equal of Erdwin. I dunno, considering the guy died, I'd like to think I'm his successor by this point. Granted, I haven't downed Calasmos yet...
For making every single wish (and specifically that, this is annoyingly not tied to beating Overweening Pride and thus not available without making the damn Ogler's Digest wish), Drustan hands over the Ultimate Weapon recipe book. There's very little to use the ultimate weapons on after beating Overweening Pride, to be honest, but it's not like the backup ultimate weapon book was any more punctual for being right outside the door of the Third Trial.
He says this no matter what you've done. In our case, he's actually pretty accurate. I think I've done just about all there is to do in Erdrea by now.
...That was our 700th monster? How fortuitous! This is kinda circumstantial, though- in the original release, there were 662 enemies, and the way I've handled Tickington means I've got some surprising holes, even if my Erdrean beastiary is pretty full.
Now those are some achievements.
Veronica: So the Watcher we met was Eegoltap the Elder's brother. I knew he looked familiar...
Erik: This seems like a good spot to use as a base when we're exploring Drustan's labyrinth. It's got a shop and everything. Let's take a minute to catch our breath before pushing on.
Jade: So the Watchers must have been here from the beginning. I can't imagine staying put in this tiny village for however many years it's been, but then maybe they don't think like me.
Hendrik: It seems it is no coincidence that I fight alongside the Luminary. That is what Drustan implied. It is curious. I feel a bond with him. Meeting him was not like meeting a stranger. We both have roots in Zwaardsrust, of course, but perhaps there is more to the bond that ties us together...
Serena: The Watchers continued to live here and protect this place long after Drustan died. They must have really respected him.
Sylvando: I really thought this was the end of the labyrinth, but it turns out it's just the beginning! It looks like old Drustan was really keen to put us through our paces. Well, we're ready to rise to the challenge!
Rab: Ye know, I feel a certain kinship with the Watchers. I think it's because they're short, round... and canny as anything!
The Hypernova Sword: 182-196 Might (yes, these things can go to +3), with a 24% chance of reducing enemy defence on hit. The only weakness? You only get one of these. There are worse deals than giving this to Erik and letting Erdward, Hendrik and Sylv make do with other weapons.
176 Might, 1% Evasion, and a 5% chance of opening a fight with a free turn. I still say El Stupendo and the Timeshear are the way to go, but if you're going for damage, this isn't a terrible option.
141 Might and the Lightning element. Whether or not this is superior to a Hunter's Moon is a bit hard to pin down, but I think you might get the best out of it in the left hand.
100 MaMight, 80 MaMend, 16% Magic Absorption, and if you hit the enemy with it, 100% odds of removing all their buffs. The Staff of Eternity is probably the better option for Veronica, especially since she's got Wyrm Whip for buffs.
266 Might, 3% parry chance, and nullifies any attempt for the enemy to block you back. Jade will be seizing this.
196 Attack and every enemy in the group gets the full damage from the Whip. Really, the bigger question is "what are you fighting that's in a group?" Whips fall off bad when groups kinda get phased out.
118 Might, 5% Crit, and 20% extra damage to Dragons. The lack of strong Dragon bosses is why it's the Frostfire Fingers that win out in the end.
196 Might, 20 MP, and a 24% chance of reducing the enemy's attack on hit. This thing makes a solid case for Hendrik's weapon of choice, especially if you prefer the axe or weapon-neutral attacks to the sword ones. I think Gyrfalcon Slash might be the best one, though.
Damage comparison for Galaxy Axe and Drustan's Sword.
Can't forget this while I'm forging ultimate weapons. 70 MaMend, 19 MaMight, 8% Mag Absorption, 100% Alma Mater spawn, and 10 MP recovery.
...Man, Serena, plot relevance isn't the only thing the devs were stingy with.
Wonder if Serenica's ultimate wand was this nice.
Oh, that's annoying.
Next time... it's time to get back to Tickington.
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