It seems SECT11 got here way ahead of us, and they're pushing further on! Let's hurry out there after them!
'Little girl'. I'll show that shitty little brat what for.
I mean, the cheek! I didn't see them winning the last war!
Easy for them to just assume they could've done it fine if they were here.
Fuckers. If I weren't still getting back in the swing of things I would've lit them to cinders right there!
FUCK!
Eager Student: Eeek!
Oh, sorry, that's not at you! We just met some really rude people and she's angry about that.
Eager Student: Oh, o-okay!
We're on the other side of the pre-Station room now. There was a chest worth 100 Az in there I didn't make note of because I grabbed it after the Tiamat fight.
Isn't this breed a bit out of place?
Guess they had to go somewhere, with Daiba unfrozen.
The humble Enshentas is our Bloom wall Dragon for the dungeon. If you will recall from Chapter 7 of the original, Enshentas there was a clown species of enemy who spent its first two actions always using two non-damaging effects, and thus crumpled into dust against the brutal power of Chisa's elemental attacks. It's adapted some to serve as a proper midboss this time.
Owwww
Is everyone alright?!
Ow.
Piss off!
Die!
Sumie!
I'm helping!
Damn! Where's this aggression coming from?
Yeah I remember these ones being really easy
You can see here the debuff of Mosquito Pitch. It doesn't really help here, but there it is.
Steely Glint can inflict Paralysis, which is never fun.
Begone, parasite!
And that's all there is to it.
Ow. Owww.
The dragons for the rest of this dungeon are going to be giving a lot of EXP. Like, a lot of it. Enough so that I wind up resetting and fighting this guy again so Chisa doesn't miss it. I also pick up some extra accessories from the shop while I do, you know, for points.
(Technically I didn't NEED to do that because I was perfectly capable of just catching her up through other means but you know, like, playing fair.)
Bobby: Hey, hey, hey! Leave the rest to us—SECT11! Bit off more than you could chew, huh, you Japanese weaklings?
For your own sake, I recommend you be quiet.
Bobby: And why's that? Too awed by our superior prowess?
...Your guns have RFID tags.
Bobby: What's that got to do with anything?
...Nothing. Nothing at all.
I admire your patience.
It would be poor for our own stamina to get into fights with their grunts.
Natalie: You're lucky girls to have SECT11 show up to your party!
I'm a man.
Natalie: Oh, for real? Ah, right, you're like, French or something.
...
I'm German.
Natalie: Eh, same difference, right?
No. It's really not. At all.
I will be the bigger man. I am capable of being reasonable and collected about this.
Why? It's not like they deserve it.
It's a waste of time to rise to that kind of jibe. If I got angry every time someone mocked me, I would have a much less pleasant life.
Besides. If they're mocking me, they aren't mocking one of you in particular. I find that better.
You're way too nice for these yahoos.
I know, but it's in my nature.
Yup.
Mandala Fans can deal all-target Ice damage, but they aren't very sturdy to physicals.
I did say 'the dragons', after all. Salamanders and Twinhorns have gone Furious. They have a skill in their roster that states it's Tiamat's roaring that's made them go huge and buffs their damage by 10%, but otherwise they're the same, just buffer.
Freeze!
Man, it feels nice being able to do that again.
Rush Groove's around ~60 damage with this team on these guys, by the way. Anyway, this guy goes down on turn 2.
You think they're even gonna notice how much work we're doing in clearing out everything else here?
Of course not. They're SECT11, haven't you heard?
Ah, of course. They're far too busy being SECT11 to do that.
I hear they're SECT11!
Wow, really? The SECT11?
I heard all their members are shredded. They've all got 8-packs. And like really big dicks.
All of them?
Yeah! They're really egalitarian that way!
Wow! What an amazing organization!
LOOT
These are awfully well-preserved. Do you suppose SECT11 left them here?
I hope so. I'd love to steal from them.
Speaking of loot they won't get!
i'm so glad you understand, mio
Wow! The SECT11?!
The US special forces unit, SECT11?
Ah. Shouji's guns don't have RFID tags.
The only guy with a brain in the entire unit...
Shame he wastes it.
Izumi!
Yeah, yeah!
She managed to slice through the Dragon they were facing down.
This is the best America has? Takehaya could manage that move and he was terminally ill.
What a joke.
Yeah, wow. Am I meant to be impressed?
Chipper Soldier: Roger that, Shouji!
And I hear you're SECT11.
The! The SECT11!
Chipper Soldier: Pssh. A buncha little girls, an old bag, and a dropout. How about that, Fred? These are the best Japan's got.
Severe Soldier: Nothing to do with us. Leave them be.
Chipper Soldier: You too, pretty boy.
I've been having trouble finding the words for this, but gosh! Just... gosh!
Hey, assholes! You missed this one!
Sorry, better luck next time!
Fry!
I mean... Youka is only forty-six! She isn't even all that old!
Aww, thanks, Jeanne.
...We're getting close. I can feel it.
This was an Exhausted Sunset Kata, so it's worth mentioning that Sunset Kata is set to go off at the end of the round no matter what. This may have some utility at some point maybe?
heef heef
niiiiiiiiice.
Wild Apes are the last variety of random dude for this dungeon. Aside from a curious resistance to Ice, they're nothing special, just bunguses what hit good.
It'll likely be Shouji and Izumi alone!
Ah, good. They can rough it up a bit before we get there.
...Y-you really should help them, though. It's the right thing to do.
We've gained three whole levels just since the start of this update, so not only is Koron outspeeding these guys now, she's blowing off like a third of their health per turn.
Jake: Shouji and Izumi are fighting up there! Stay out of their way!
No.
Godwin: You're pretty late, huh?
Godwin: Shouldn't you just leave this to us and go home for the day?
You missed at least three dragons on the way here. Your work is hideously sloppy. Why should we trust you to do anything?
And for your collective information, Youka is middle-aged, not old, every one of us is over twenty, and Richter Esslinger is a stronger man than any of you could ever hope to be.
Fucking pricks.
They can wait, right?
Oh, absolutely.
------------------
The Diet is bursting with refugees! Fix up the Res Wards, onegai please!
Mrs. Nagare wanted to say thanks to you, so please visit if you have a moment!
You may have forgotten this tidbit, so I'll inform you. Each Guard accessory is worth 50% protection, so a pair protects you 100%. So I give Satsuki two.
Cozy Girl: Thanks to these Dragon attacks, we've been directed to stay here. Nice to meet you!
ahhhh. that's such a pleasant thing to hear after dealing with those guys.
Ageha: Back to the refugee life, eh, Naga-chan? Glad I got used to it a year ago...
Don't worry. For better or worse, this one shouldn't last nearly as long.
Ageha: Huh. Well, whatever you say, pal. For now I'll just focus on necessities!
That'll be hard for you.
Ageha: Hey now, self-care is important! Don't you bully me!
At least these are bigger than the last ones.
FLEA MARKETS!!!! YES!!!!
Novice Nun: The miraculous prophecylactic, the All Guard! It will rescue you from 15% of those ill statuses. You must have faith... and additionally a trifling donation of 500 Az, to make it yours.
Uh... sure.
Novice Nun: Thank you for your devoted patronage—er, I mean... may the Lord protect you, and watch over you wherever you go, our heroes...
Where'd we pick up this one?
As promised, the All Guard is a status accessory that protects you from any status ailment, 15% of the time. Is it worth it?
lmao fuck no
It's good to see you're okay, at the very least.
Forlorn Girl: Oh, um, thank you. I'll need 200 for this pack, if that's alright?
Always.
It's 5 Medicine 1s, 5 Medicine 2s, and 5 Nano Aids.
Forlorn Girl: T-thank you so much. Please come again.
You really are great, you know that.
Forlorn Girl: Oh, g-gosh.
Listen here—
The guy running this invasion's a real dick. Most of the time you wouldn't, but we got stuck with some asshole vulture.
Yuri: Ms. Nagare and Kouta are with me, so I'm not afraid... because they're my family.
I'm glad you gave those kids a home.
Mrs. Nagare: So am I.
Hey do you remember that thing you taught us last time
Mrs. Nagare: It's a memento from my husband. Of course I do. Good luck out there on your mission, okay? The children and I will be cheering you on.
Lazy Bloke: So everything is back to the way it was, huh? You really can't go home again... It's like I'm losing my grip on reality.
W H A T
YOU'RE MOMO-CHAN????
Should I be familiar?
Only the greatest idol of the 21st century! Oh my gosh, it's such an honor!
Momo-chan: Well, I'm pretty washed up these days. I can't be much help to you.
No, no, just having you here is incredible!
She's a big fan.
Rough Fellow: You oughta be ashamed of yourselves, showing your faces around here after a defeat like that.
It was a True Dragon, you gutless ingrate!
--------------------
I actually dead-ass forget about a side path here and somehow don't notice until a bit later, so we're heading to Tiamat now.
There they are!
And there he is, too.
-------------------
I'll give the Sakurabas this—they did manage to wear Tiamat down a fair ways.
Izumi! Jump!
Direct hit!
Izumi, finish it!
Okay!
—! Here it comes!
-------------------
Well, this is a problem. I'm outta the heavy stuff.
So what do we do?
Pull out for now! That's all we can do.
If you're done showing off?
Unit 13?! You can't handle this! Get back down there!
Piss off, hotshot! You were just the opening act.
You seriously expect them to leave after you've cornered it for us and injured it? That's laughable.
Richter, Koron, Youka, backline support! Mio, Sumie! Let's do this!
We'll show them what Murakumo can do!
A pure killing machine, eh? This might even be a fair fight!
You've got this! We're behind you all the way!
We've faced down worse than you, you big jerk!
I'm not scared. I'm not scared!
I'm Japan's top idol, Mio Akaneno! And by the unholy powers vested in me, you'll wish you'd never set foot in my city!
We are Murakumo Unit 13!
So first off, we've got The Menacing 7, a remix of the DS game's boss theme, for the new Imperial Dragons this game has to offer. I don't like it quite as much as Seven Deadly Struggles, but frankly part of that is because if anything deserves that song's dramatic leadup, it's Tiamat.
Saying Tiamat is a killing machine is no joke—this boss fight is brutal. Until now, enemies have been roughly on par in terms of raw bulk with enemies in Inverted City Hall in the first game, with the biggest being the Enshentas at 596 HP. Tiamat, even in its wounded state, clocks in at a frankly absurd 2730 HP, over twice that of Warcry, and it's a big cut above anything we've fought in terms of both raw offensive stats and the power of its skills. You're in for the long haul when you battle Tiamat, no matter your team composition. It's weak to Ice, but only 20%.
Tiamat is a really big sign that 2020-II's difficulty is balanced around the idea that the majority of players are coming from 2020.
While its normal attacks can't outright 100-to-0 someone like they did in the cutscene fight, I think destroyers are the only characters that won't consistently lose over half of their LF on a normal attack. If Tiamat hits someone twice, they're almost certainly going to die, and there's really not much you can do about it other than get them back up.
This is on top of the absolutely ridiculous bulk that Kinu mentioned. Tiamat takes a long time to kill. A long time. Between its huge amount of LF, and the fact that you're going to have to constantly be either patching up damage or, worse, getting someone up from being killed, all three of the times I've fought Tiamat took around 20 turns. This was with wildly different party compositions each time, mind!
Alright, I'm gonna get in there!
Whoompf!
I'll just be over here trying to stay out of the way.
Good plan.
Owww
Tch!
The second move there is Dragon Fang, which has an identical animation to Tiamat's bite attack and just does more damage.
...Yes, it does more damage. Mio has a lot less defense than Chisa.
I recommend an All-Out Attack!
The Exhaust applies to all the actions caused by Rush Groove, so Chisa does 64, Mio does 57, and Satsuki does 51, for a total of 172. Nice shot!
You kids okay?
For now. Thanks!
Yeesh, this guy can lift!
You did a good job poisoning it, at least.
Alright, here we are!
Myeh.
Watch out!
How did you dodge that?!
By being cool.
Typhoon Howl does low damage, but it has a 40% chance to inflict a 30% negation Paralysis. Bad! That's bad.
And yet I would much rather take Typhoon Howl over Tiamat hitting someone. I explicitly called it a "breather action" in my notes.
Hurk
Love it when enemies can deal crits, resulting in unpredictable damage output.
Another hit like that and we might have trouble keeping up.
49, 26, 34. 109 total.
Damn it! He's hardly even flagging yet!
Here's a bento from Jeanne! Do your thing, 119!
46, 27, 35.
Shit! That's bad.
Don't think I like that very much!
I have Chisa and Mio guard, but Satsuki has to use the turn to heal.
The beast reared up and let loose a hail of its shining crystals, spiking up around us and tearing our flesh.
Everyone! Are you alright?!
Please recall I had thrown up a defensive buff item before this attack came out. Crystal Breath is simple. It's a 1.2x MAT attack to your entire party. Tiamat has 71 MAT, so that's roughly 85, if I don't miss my mark. With stats being as low as they are now, an attack that powerful is... well. I had a defensive buff up on the party and you can see Satsuki's health.
Having your party be at anything besides 100% HP for Crystal Breath is...suboptimal. Which makes it just great that there's basically no way to avoid Tiamat damaging you on the turn before it.
T-thanks.
Just keep standing!
43, 26, 37.
Hah... hah...
Drink!
Okay, I can keep going!
50, 25...
And a nice crit, thanks Satsuki.
As I mentioned before, part of the reason Tiamat takes so goddamned long to kill is because one of your characters is, a pretty good amount of the time, going to have to burn their turn on throwing out Heal Aeros. As much as it is stating the obvious, I feel the need to point out that when you're healing, you're not dealing damage.
Later fights have enough leeway that you can usually hold off on constantly healing up damage. With Tiamat, that is not an option, since leaving anyone below full LF is just asking for that character to get killed.
Nice, got him poisoned again!
Great job!
We can get through this!
Shit! B-bastard...!
My only Flag Bento has now worn off, and Chisa is paralyzed for good measure.
I called Typhoon Howl a "breather action," but do bear in mind that statement is relative to literally anything else Tiamat can do. Since we're still early in the game, options for both defending against and healing from ailments are limited.
Giving the first boss paralysis is just incredibly mean, really. I mean, sure, Warcry had it too, but that was its equivalent of Crystal Breath, i.e. it telegraphs it by burning an action on doing nothing.
You okay?
I'm fine. Thanks.
AW CRAP
Gggh!
Mio!!
Since I had to take a turn to heal Chisa, Mio wasn't able to guard, and so Tiamat decided it was time for her to die.
Yeah, that...that'll happen. It can happen a lot more if you're not constantly healing everyone. Even then, as Mio just demonstrated, sometimes someone is going to die and there really isn't anything you can do about it. Assuming that if Mio had defended, Tiamat would've still followed up Crystal Breath with an attack, all that would change is that Chisa would die instead of Mio.
Damn you!!
Alright, up and at 'em!
Help me
Oh what, you thought the fact that he hit two different characters the other times he used melee attacks meant he was kind like that? Nahhh I was just getting lucky. Satsuki's dead now.
Cool boss.
Even with EX, Sunset Kata still goes at the end of the turn. Thanks, game.
The poison wears off here. I'm actually seriously running on fumes here—as far as revival items go, I have only 2 Nano Fixes left before I have to trade down to Nano Aids, which only revive with 30 and thus put someone in guaranteed one-shot range, and I have one MP restorative left, period.
Bear in mind that, because this is the first fucking boss, money and the item shop's limited offerings are heavy limiting factors on how much you can prepare for Tiamat.
I had the exact same situation happen in my recent playthrough, where I was almost out of items by the time I actually killed Tiamat.
We'll have to work with less effective measures soon!
Every hair on my body stood at attention.
Watch out!
Tiamat summoned a spatial distortion into its claw, and struck Sumie with enough force to send her reeling onto the ground in one hit.
WHEEZE
When Tiamat's at low HP, he decides that it would be funny if he got another move, so here's Dimensional Tear. It's a 1.8x physical attack that, in case this somehow doesn't McFucking Obliterate you from full health, is also basically guaranteed to inflict a 50% action negation Paralysis for 5 whole turns.
As if this fight wasn't difficult enough. The cruelest thing about Dimensional Tear is that, because it starts being used so late in the fight, you're probably starting to run out of items, which makes recovering from a skill that is tantamount to instant death sting just that much more.
I could be wrong, but I think destroyers can survive Dimensional Tear if they are at full HP. Everyone else, though, will just get immediately pasted by it. Again, cool boss.
Oh my god, Sumie.
YEAH THAT REALLY HURT
Not having much fun here either!
Sumie! Chisa!
Defend yourself!
He's not gonna die if we don't keep swinging!
48, 27, 34.
Okay now I'd like some help please!!
I only made one Home Bento beforehand, a mistake I assure you I will never make again.
Already?!
Shit!
He can only take one of us down with this! Go, my minions!
You've gotta be kidding me!
At least I'm still standingggggg
Yeah, he can do that too.
And yet, this is still a pretty optimal outcome for a Crystal Breath turn, because no-one's dead.
Alright, fine! I was saving this one for a rainy day!
I got a Miracle Aero at the start from carrying over save data at the start, if you'll recall. There really isn't a better time to use it than on this fight.
Are you okay?! I can't do that again!
Thanks!
Come on, team, let's keep rolling in!
Man I'm really glad you can let us do this.
Happy, isn't it?
Auhauhauhauuuugh
THINK HE MIGHTA FIGURED THAT OUT
Just get Mio up! I got him poisoned again!
CUT IT OUT!
Sumie, defend yourself!
Why won't this big jerk just hurry up and die?!
Damn... it!
I am now out of Nano Fixes and Heal Aero 2s!
Hah. Hah.
COME ON YOU BIG IDIOT, THAT ALL YOU GOT
Sumie!
Just hurry upppp
I kept a Hypnos Crystal for just this situation!
I also burned both the Miracle Aero and Hypno Crystal you get from having 2020 save data on Tiamat. Funny how that works.
Just die already! Why won't you just die?!
Get—
OUTTA HEEEEEERE
And with Mio's last shout, the battle against Fomalhaut's killing machine, which felt like it lasted an eternity...
...finally came to an end, the colossal beast crashing to the earth, its killing instinct finally fading away.
Defeating Tiamat on my most recent playthrough spread an intense sensation of relief throughout my entire body. I think I might've been unconsciously tensing up from how many times I had to attempt the fight.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Oh my god you weren't kidding about the killing machine part
Yeah I wasn't
I'm going to collapse once we get home and I wasn't even on the front lines.
YES! We're incredible!!!
23 turns is the longest fight in the recording for either of the two games. This boss took me twelve real-time minutes.
I did this fight once with, in my opinion, the most nightmarish party for it: Samurai/Destroyer/Hacker. Trust me, it was not fun.
-----------------
Such a severe distortion wouldn't go away overnight, but we had finally ended Tiamat's reign over Marunouchi. We could rest easy, knowing that for now, the Diet Building was safe.
Incredible. Well done, you all. Small change of plan, admittedly, but Marunouchi's ours. Recover a sample from it, would you?
And that's that. We've done it, guys!
And with Tiamat's reign ended, the Bloom began again to recede from Tokyo.
"Arms Fabrication" is available at HQ! "Skill Lab" is available at HQ! "Baths Lv. 1" is available at HQ! "SDF Barracks" is available at HQ! "Research Ward Lv. 1" is available at HQ!
...which left the issue of the Sakurabas and SECT11.
That's a pretty creative way to use a megaphone—can't say I'm not a bit impressed. And you're sturdy, too.
Now you're just gonna sit back and let them carry the sample off all nonchalant?!
You two seem to be under the incorrect assumption that this was a competition.
That's what a fight is, idiot.
...Izumi Sakuraba. Since you've stepped into a world you know nothing about, waltzed with your darling older brother into a country you don't care to think one whit of, let me tell you something.
You and I are not rivals, in some manner of competition. I've only ever had one rival, and he's no longer here. You're just an upstart, picking fights you can't win.
The fuck did you say to me?! Shut your damn mouth—!
If those eyes worked properly, you'd see that Tiamat could do plenty of 'fighting back'. We stepped in because you and Shouji weren't capable of finishing the job—because at the end of the day, your SECT11 couldn't hack it. We ended the first war. We're the ones who can follow it through to the end. If you get yourselves killed out there, we will not cry for you.
Not one of us is a 'dropout'. Not now, and not ever. Insult me or my friends again, and I'll take that sword of yours and jam it down your throat.
I'll kick your ass, you damn Japanese—!
Izumi!
But, Sho!
They're the ones who won the fight. So, this time, they're the ones who deserve to mouth off. That's the way it goes.
Hahahaha! Damn right, they have! That's our Dragon-Elimination Strike Team!
Miss Emille, are you okay? You keep cackling.
I'm just in a good mood.
Now the counterattack's begun in earnest. They're back, yes, but more's the pity for them. We'll hunt them until they're extinct!
----------------------
We were hardly back to the Diet Building for a second before the illustrious SECT11 decided to mouth off again.
Wait! Where the hell do you think you're going?!
We're United States armed forces. Did you think we were gonna stay for tea? We don't want your charity.
Our base is near here. When the next Imperial shows, so will we.
Maybe you'll manage to hurt it a bit more next time! Pack an extra grenade or two?
Maybe I will. Everyone, back to base!
They... really do what they want, huh.
'Relief effort' my ass! I'm gonna give Dave a piece of my mind!
It's been an awfully long day. I think it's time you all took a long rest! Look forward to more tomorrow! ...Uh, I believe that's all. Miss Emille, are you alright?
Emille stormed off, muttering angrily under her breath.
I mean yeah I get that tbh
I imagine it's not a good feeling to have your former comrades treat you like that.
Playing Girl: Did you beat up the emperor dragon? Wow, really?! Good job! Really good job!
Thanks, sweetie. I appreciate it.
Taichi tackled me the moment we got back to the dorm.
Taichi: I knew you guys were still the best!
Hahaha, don't give me too big of a head, now.
Shichiro: It's just as the instructor said. Unit 13 really is the greatest.
Taichi: Now seriously, get to bed. You guys look like you got flattened like an accordion.
yeah pretty much
Asumu: Hmph. I've aspirations beyond your feet, so don't come looking to me for inane flattery.
Sure, sure. I'll try not to notice how obviously excited you are.
Alright time to crash
Yes.
And that was the end of September 7th, and our battle with Fomalhaut's first Imperial.
...Hm? Yes. This was all one day. Oh, trust me, I know. It was horribly exhausting.
Next time, yeah... intermission...
Just looking at someone else do that fight was exhausting.
You know I originally pitched having Comedy Runs of each boss where I pick the opposite party from Kinu? I would've had to do that fight with Psychic/Destroyer/Hacker. No fucking thanks. It's not the nightmare scenario I mentioned earlier, but it's not much better.
On another note, I held off from commenting this earlier, but regarding Izumi bragging about weakening Tiamat... Man, that sure is some fucking work they did, if they threw every bit of materiel they had at Tiamat, and it still utterly brutalized us. I'd like to see those two upstarts take it on themselves...
