Intermission 15 Page 16
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“So what have you got for me this time?”
“Good news, and bad news.”
“I’m in a good news mood today.”
“Good news first then.”
“I’ve got two more leads for you.”
“First off, it seems that a dungeon has opened up in a waste dump outside an Imperial production facility. It’s where they put together their golems in large numbers, once they come up with a schematic that works consistently.”
“As far as I can tell, the Guard and the engineers don’t seem to be aware of the dungeon. They just keep dumping broken parts onto the pile.”
“But, and I have to stress this, I’m not actually sure.”
“Sometimes they leave a dungeon alone for a while before they raid it. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“So if it’s a waste dump, then that means there shouldn’t be any working golems, right?”
“…”
“…Yeah, you’re right. Expect working golems.”
“What else?”
“This is a weird one.”
“So there’s this giant fire elemental wandering loose…”
“Oh no. Is it near the underground entrance to the last place we went? The arachnomancer sanctum?”
“It first appeared not far from there, yeah. I take it you saw this thing?”
“I did. I don’t think we can fight something like that.”
“I’m not talking about fighting it. See, the Empire seems to have settled on containing it in this one valley, rather than destroying it outright.”
“And wherever this thing wanders, it makes giant forest fires… and, periodically, creates new dungeons.”
“Whoa.”
“Exactly. They don’t last very long, but you can see the telltale signs of creatures wandering in and seeming to disappear. Then suddenly, a while later, the thing collapses and a bunch of creatures run back out. New creatures.”
“I’ve got a hidden way into the valley, so if you’re quick, you might be able to jump into one of these things and see if anything useful is popping up inside too.”
“I can’t even pretend that one’s not crazy dangerous.”
“Is that the bad news?”
“No.”
“This is the end of it, Ricki.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t got any more dungeons to tell you about. I’ve told you about all the ones I was holding back, and found a few extras besides.”
“This thing with the elemental is insanely lucky.”
“There are no other dungeons you can walk to from here that are going to be worth your time.”
“I know you’ve gone to a few for personal reasons before, but in terms of bringing back any worthwhile treasure…”
“What’s on the table is what’s left.”
“The golem dump, the forest fire, the sunken ship, and the one in the clouds.”
“Better make them count.”
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We have seen all our options now. Sadly no lhok dungeon in sight. I’m guessing dead gnome for dump and fire valley for ix.
Let’s get our bond chars up asap so Ricki can benefit from the unlocked skill sooner.
So, looking at the characters page now:
Looking at this page now I count four dungeons:
So, if we play our cards right, it would still be possible to max out bond on Kamau, Botania and Amadeusz with 3 more dungeons (first Kamau is maxed out, second Botania is maxed out Amadeusz – only gets to go to the third dungeon – is maxed out after the third dungeon. This is not necessarily the order we should do those dungeons in, we could max out Amadeusz first, I’m just trying to say we’d need 3 different dungeons).
Since we don’t know if we can still go on “personal quest” dungeons, that could also mean it might be prudent to use the Burning Forest as one of those dungeons, so we can still go on the personal quest dungeons before the last of the 4 abovementioned dungeons.
Theoretically we might be able to max out two of the trio Lohk, Coxxcyx and Ix if we take two of them to all 4 dungeons, Kamau gets to be the last party member for one of them, Botania for two of the others and Amadeusz can’t come to any of the dungeons, but that might turn out to be effort in vain, if bond dungeons can’t be done after the fourth dungeon from the list above, so I’m against this option.
Also the team composition would not be very optimal, with Botania not actively participating in fights, Lohk being a healer with only 4 inventory slots (her cane takes up one slot, no matter what), Coxxcyx being particularly useful only in very specific situations (ranged combat) and IX probably being at great risk in the burning forest dungeon, if they go in ice form. No tank (unless we count Ricki, but even fully beefed up with gear, she’s the one character that can’t die, or we’ll miss out even on the last of the four dungeons), no interpose, need I go on?
Those musing all are barring any “fired up dungeons” (e.g. the “graveyard” might trigger Coxxcyx, the burning forest might trigger Ix), but to be honest, I don’t want to wager on something like this.
I’d like to find out about Kamaus background the most (he has been with us the longest, and I would love to see him possibly being able to reunited with his daughter. I fear the wife is a lost cause…), and if we can find out more about Botania, too, I’m happy to try it. I am emotionally not super invested in Amadeusz, but since we already have invested so much time and effort in getting him this far, it would be kind of a waste not to get his bond maxed, too.
So I guess I vote for the burning forest (before it disappears), and either Kamau and Botania should be on the team (and one more person of our choice) or Amadeus (and 2 more of our choice, who will not be levelling up bond).
Macs personal bond dungeon is also an option i’m generally inclined to, (but we’ll most likely have Ricki be the only one who can accompany him), however, there doesn’t seem to be an expiration date on that, so I prefer the dungeon that will “disappear”.
There is no danger of the burning forest disappearing. LSN will be explicit when that’s an issue, as he has done previously (and has said he’ll do on stream and chat), so no need to worry about it being temporary. We’ll see a very clear, unambitious Out of Comic statement if we can lock ourselves out of a dungeon somehow.
Meanwhile Mac’s dungeon will likely have very strong equipment and grant Mac a power up, plus a new level up option for Ricki, going by Lara’s. We should prioritize that..
Also, I suspect the Sky GARDEN will fire up Botanya, the Ship for Coccyx, the Burning Forest for Ix, and the Golem Graveyard for our dead Golemsmith we missed out on.
Lohk and Kamau not getting fired up options is a bit puzzling though, but Kamau’s been with us longest (easiest to max), and Lohk… I guess is maybe the hardest to bond (depending on how you count Amadeus). Damn I wish we could get her bond done
Reading what we got today literally, we’re at the end of what Paws got for us, now. Not at the end of it all.
Paws mentioned situation changes and new dungeons show up from time to time. So there’s a chance for some moreless random options showing up.
But the most important ‘reading it literally’ part is, those are dungeon raid hints from Paws. We still can have the sketchy long-term plans from Amad, and there’s still option for getting raided by the Empire (as hinted by some manor upgrades). And then there are unforeseen world events to unfold.
Considering Kamau and Lohk – I think those are the two characters that were not optional actually. If there is some “main story line” to unfold near the end game, I’d expect it to be linked to those characters, especially Lohk, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two next mandatory dungeons did the trick for them, maybe even the same dungeon for both of them.
I think it really is the end. Iirc only 3 acts were planned, 6 dungeons each (excluding the bond ones). We have cleared 14 regular dungeons so far, only 4 should be left, which Paws confirmed.
There is a small possibility that maxxing out Amad will remove the ‘sketchy’ trait. After all, he’s been a good teammember for a while, right? Lara also has changed quite a lot during her story. But, it’s just an option like one of thousands possible ways to unfold.
I’d think more than a small possibility… There’s no guarantee, but It’d make sense as a consequence of the whole mutual trust-building thing that bond seems to represent. I’d favour bringing Amadeusz to our next non-bond dungeon (assuming we’re maxing him out and he’s a good choice for the dungeon itself), because it MIGHT happen, and if it does, that’s one fewer complication for decisions over who to bring in later dungeons.
Of course, it could just as well end up being something entirely different. Lara’s proven that bond dungeon changes can be pretty extensive…
lol.. ice-form IX in fire forest.. that would be the quickest dungeon for uslikeTurn 0: enter the dungeon, see Ice IXTurn 1: abadon the ship!What a nonsense. We can choose the initial form for IX like for Amad, and IX switches form to Fire when he’s Ice and takes Fire damage. I see no increased risk for IX, except for the raw HP+DEF vs ever increasing enemy’s damage output.
I suggest we do Mac’s bond dungeon now, which should be quick, then we move to the Sunken Wreck and finally see how Cix will play AND with the Halloween bonus.
Agreed and take Lohk with us. Kamau as well if we can to max that bond.
Downside to going to sunken wreck in October is that the enemy undead also get the buff…(Or at least reg skellies)
Given that there is no time limit on when to complete these dungeons,
I’m voting for Mac’s so we can unlock another cool ability for Ricki.
Second choice is whichever we can bring Kamau to safely, so either Golem graveyard or Sky garden.