Octopath Traveler: Session 16

After gathering all the equipment and consumables data into a Google Sheet where I can filter it and sort it and encounter annoying issues with Google Sheets and make workarounds for their stupidity, I put together a shopping list.  Naturally, purchasing everything on said shopping list almost completely drained my money, but selling the old stuff recouped a fair portion of it.  Side note, I really wish there was a series of shields that was a straight upgrade to the Kite Shield.  It's the best shield I've found so far that doesn't have some crappy penalty to evasion.  Also, in buying all the good armor, I had to forgo elemental defense, so we'll see how that comes back to bite me.  Anyway, now that I'm kitted out, it's officially time to start Chapter 3.

H'aanit arrives in Stillsnow, seeking the sage Susanna.  Susanna reveals that she's no oracle and that everything she does is power of deduction and getting others to reveal things, which is how those fake "psychics" work in real life.  Anywho, the good news is that the petrification is one of those spell effects that disappears when its caster dies, so all H'aanit has to do to save her master is kill Redeye.  In order to do that, though, she needs a specific herb called "Herb-of-grace" that has the power to prevent the petrification.  It happens to grow in the nearby woods, by sheer coincidence, so off H'aanit goes.

At the end of the forest, near the patch of Herb-of-grace, there's a dragon.  H'aanit has a flashback about her master's stories and how they get longer with each retelling, and decides this will make for a most excellent story before jumping into battle with it.  This fight uses the whole "can't use some weaknesses yet" thing, but instead of the dragon having two minions like in the other cases, the battle simply plays out like you're slowly weakening its defenses over time, meaning as it recovers from you having broken it, more of its weaknesses become available to use for the next time you break it.  It also strengthens its guard, this time by three instead of two.  Interestingly, it has an ability that sweeps a party member out of battle for a few turns, and it used it on Ophilia, so I had to have Tressa do a bit of healing with Healing Grape Bunches until she came back.  Owing to the equipment I just purchased, no doubt, the battle wasn't so bad.

H'aanit returns to Susanna's place with the Herb-of-grace and tells her the story of the fight while it brews into a potion.  Once that's done, I received ten "Herb-of-grace Potion" consumable items, so it looks like I'll actually have to use them in battle myself.  As H'aanit is leaving Stillsnow, one of the Knights Ardante shows up and informs H'aanit that Eliza has located Redeye, near Marsalim.  That'll be the setting for H'aanit's Chapter 4.

Hopped over to Goldshore to do Ophilia's Chapter 3.  Right off the bat, she has another encounter with the merchant that showed up in her Chapter 1.  I thought there was something suspicious about him then, and nothing about this meeting has changed that feeling.  Anyway, she heads up to the cathedral to do the Kindling, but the bishop there is very clearly hiding something and acting rather suspiciously himself.  Ophilia follows a small child who she sees running out of the cathedral and begins to find out what's going on: some random guy asked the kid to give a letter to the bishop, and upon reading that letter, he was clearly shaken.  Getting straight to the point, Ophilia gets him to dump the goods: it was a ransom note.  His daughter has been kidnapped, and he'll get her back in exchange for the Flame that Ophilia carries.  Standard "tell anyone and she dies" threat as well.  Never being the one to avoid helping people, Ophilia runs off to the cave where the bad guys are hiding.

The fight was kind of interesting.  Some weaknesses couldn't be hit, as per usual.  The two guys were both mages, however one was a healer that kept popping off 800 heals for the both of them every couple of turns.  Naturally, after revealing weaknesses, I focused the healer and took him down, at which point all weaknesses became available to hit.  Shortly thereafter, the other one bit the dust.  I make it sound easy, but my lack of elemental defense at the moment left me in fairly constant need of healing, and Ophilia's lack of elemental attack meant that her heals weren't as potent as usual.  I definitely need to rethink the equipment I bought, but regardless, through the use of BP, I was able to keep everyone alive and take them down.

Bishop's daughter safe and sound, Ophilia performs the Kindling, and speaks of returning to Flamesgrace.  Just then, who should enter the cathedral but Lianna.  Back at the inn, Lianna reveals that her father (Ophilia's adoptive father), the archbishop, has died.  She also drugs Ophilia's drink, and then she and some mysterious hooded figure steal the Flame and head off to Wispermill.  The mysterious hooded guy is promising to be able to bring Lianna's father back to life, and Lianna is clearly in the bargaining stage of grief.  Ophilia somehow heard them openly discussing their plans after having passed out from the drugged drink, so after she comes to, she vows to go to Wispermill and reclaim the Flame, and Lianna as well.

Up next: Chapter 3 for Tressa and Primrose.  I'll re-evaluate equipment after that, since I'll also be shuffling party members around for the rest of Chapter 3.

Edit: Actually, effective immediately, Ophilia's now wearing a Platinum Vest instead of Platinum Armor.  I did a quick test, and found that healing amounts are linked to Elem. Def., which the Platinum Armor doesn't boost.  My healing should be a lot better now.