- Partners
-
A little belated... Welcome to round 10! A LOT has happened during and after this boss fight. To recap: Seven player characters have been killed and are now trapped in the Voidlands with no immediate means to return. The goal of round 10 is, clearly, to see if there is a way to return them, and what costs and achievements may be required to achieve that. There are, additionally, other story events happening in conjunction with this that are open for exploration.
To go along with that, we have a few housekeeping things to go over.
Signups will close at the end of this round! If you know anybody who is hesitant to join or is otherwise waiting on something, you may want to tell them that the window is closing fast.
Nerf. Flinch is getting nerfed, and I'm surprised you guys haven't taken advantage of it until now! But the nerf is pretty simple. It now cuts actions in half, rounding up, rather than rounding down.
Crippling/Cursed Strike and Ultra Stone as an item cannot be done. It only applies to Iron Thorns, Blast Seeds, and their derivatives.
Buff. Great Shot is the same, but also makes fixed-damage projectiles like Blast Seeds Deal 5x damage!
And now, for some fun stuff...
Second Ascent (20 points!) has been unlocked! Similar to First Ascent, you are now able to reset your stats, Support abilities, talents, Leg Days, and, yes, your Blacklight Boost. Note, however, that you will not be able to adjust anything like this again for a very long time. Think very carefully, because I will not be letting you change it until near the very end of the game.
Seeing Joule's final attack toward the sky has irradiated the team... Brilliant moves have been unlocked! This will be your first high-tier Blacklight attack. The parameters are as follows...
All Brilliant move...
Starts with "Brilliant" in its title
Costs 40 stamina, and therefore adds 80 corruption
Be ANY SINGLE CHOICE from...
-200 power
-800 to a debuff
-400 to a non-powerful status effect
-200 to a powerful status effect
-MAX a single stat
-buff two stats by +6
-buff three stats by +4
-Some mixture of the above, or other weird or related effects. These are your most powerful, expensive, and unwieldy techniques. They can be quite powerful. Recoil and negative effects, therefore, may also be similarly hard to use.
And to those who are dead... you do not gain access to Brilliant moves just yet. Instead, you gain access to your high-tier Shadows--Void moves. Aside from beginning with "Void" and adding Shadow corruption, the parameters are the same.
(For Support folks, you can add another +1 to a stat, raising the cap to +3!)
If you guys are unsure about how much you can do with these moves, wait a bit for Owen's to get finalized and you'll have a reference.
But wait, there's more!
Joule's radiation has resonated with the team in a big way... They may start realizing that aspects of their bodies might change when under stress or need.
The Brilliant Stance has been unlocked for all living party members!
A Stance, similar to Guardian Stance, is something that can be taken as a free action at any point during the battle. Note, however, that there are some caveats that come with this unstable new form...
Upon enabling Brilliant Stance, the user will gain 40 Radiant corruption. This cannot be reduced by Spirit perks. For every turn with Brilliant Stance enabled, they will gain another 40 Radiance. However, in exchange, they will gain the following perks:
+1 innate Attack
+1 innate Magic
And if they started the turn at half stamina or less, their stamina consumption is reduced by 25%!
In order to exit Brilliant Stance, you must sacrifice one action to Focus, and you can then optionally end Brilliant Stance.
For the dead...
Prolonged exposure to the Voidlands has corrupted your spirits. You have gained the Void Stance. It works similarly to Brilliant Stance, but adds to Shadow corruption, and instead adds the following benefits:
+1 innate Defense
+1 innate Resistance
And if you start the turn at half HP, all damage you take is reduced by 25%!
For both of these forms, entering this Stance will result in your body changing either subtly or dramatically in appearance. It can be as subtle as a golden or black aura around your body, or as dramatic as an entire form change. Mechanically, it makes no difference.
Perhaps, in a later round, these Stances will change into something you can harness in another way...
B u t w a i t t h e r e ' s m o r e
One last thing.
The attack you managed to get Joule to perform at the very end of the battle, with the efforts of Team Spectrum and several others... The team was inspired! And perhaps, if Joule is feeling better, he will be able to teach you this special, purifying technique, known as Blacklight Z-Burst.
This is a special move that everyone can use, but there are some hefty conditions attached to it. Here is the move description:
Blacklight Z-Burst. Power: Variable. Target: Single. Physical or Special.
Type is determined by if the user's relevant corruptions are above 20 or not. Fails if the user does not have 20 or more corruption in either type. Blacklight Z-Burst can only be used once per battle, and only as the final action of someone's turn. Its power is equal to the corruption that the user has added up. For example, if someone has 90 Shadow and 40 Radiance, it will be power 130. Additionally, prior to attacking, it will give the user +2 Valor and fully heal the user's HP and Stamina. However... it will also, for the rest of the battle, cut the user's max HP and Stamina in half. This is incurable. It will also disable Reviver Seeds, makes the user Staggered, and sets your corruption to 0 and 0. This is a powerful tool, but use it wisely.
--
WHEW! Sorry for all that, but you guys unlocked a lot due to your performance against Joule. Very good work, everyone. And finally... some plot scenes.
Ongoing: Cola in Destiny Tower; Diyem, Joule, and Arceus at the infirmary.
Key scenes later:
(circumstances pending) Visiting the Tree of Life
A scene with Shield some time during a night
Searching for Giovanni
High priority NPCs for plot and personal reasons, in no particular order:
Shield & Karat
Diyem
Maple & Joule
Soda
Truffle & Leg
Arceus
Cola
S'more
Balm & Cepa
Silver
That's all for now. Thanks again, and welcome to the second half of the campaign! Let's get serious.
To go along with that, we have a few housekeeping things to go over.
Signups will close at the end of this round! If you know anybody who is hesitant to join or is otherwise waiting on something, you may want to tell them that the window is closing fast.
Nerf. Flinch is getting nerfed, and I'm surprised you guys haven't taken advantage of it until now! But the nerf is pretty simple. It now cuts actions in half, rounding up, rather than rounding down.
Crippling/Cursed Strike and Ultra Stone as an item cannot be done. It only applies to Iron Thorns, Blast Seeds, and their derivatives.
Buff. Great Shot is the same, but also makes fixed-damage projectiles like Blast Seeds Deal 5x damage!
And now, for some fun stuff...
Second Ascent (20 points!) has been unlocked! Similar to First Ascent, you are now able to reset your stats, Support abilities, talents, Leg Days, and, yes, your Blacklight Boost. Note, however, that you will not be able to adjust anything like this again for a very long time. Think very carefully, because I will not be letting you change it until near the very end of the game.
Seeing Joule's final attack toward the sky has irradiated the team... Brilliant moves have been unlocked! This will be your first high-tier Blacklight attack. The parameters are as follows...
All Brilliant move...
Starts with "Brilliant" in its title
Costs 40 stamina, and therefore adds 80 corruption
Be ANY SINGLE CHOICE from...
-200 power
-800 to a debuff
-400 to a non-powerful status effect
-200 to a powerful status effect
-MAX a single stat
-buff two stats by +6
-buff three stats by +4
-Some mixture of the above, or other weird or related effects. These are your most powerful, expensive, and unwieldy techniques. They can be quite powerful. Recoil and negative effects, therefore, may also be similarly hard to use.
And to those who are dead... you do not gain access to Brilliant moves just yet. Instead, you gain access to your high-tier Shadows--Void moves. Aside from beginning with "Void" and adding Shadow corruption, the parameters are the same.
(For Support folks, you can add another +1 to a stat, raising the cap to +3!)
If you guys are unsure about how much you can do with these moves, wait a bit for Owen's to get finalized and you'll have a reference.
But wait, there's more!
Joule's radiation has resonated with the team in a big way... They may start realizing that aspects of their bodies might change when under stress or need.
The Brilliant Stance has been unlocked for all living party members!
A Stance, similar to Guardian Stance, is something that can be taken as a free action at any point during the battle. Note, however, that there are some caveats that come with this unstable new form...
Upon enabling Brilliant Stance, the user will gain 40 Radiant corruption. This cannot be reduced by Spirit perks. For every turn with Brilliant Stance enabled, they will gain another 40 Radiance. However, in exchange, they will gain the following perks:
+1 innate Attack
+1 innate Magic
And if they started the turn at half stamina or less, their stamina consumption is reduced by 25%!
In order to exit Brilliant Stance, you must sacrifice one action to Focus, and you can then optionally end Brilliant Stance.
For the dead...
Prolonged exposure to the Voidlands has corrupted your spirits. You have gained the Void Stance. It works similarly to Brilliant Stance, but adds to Shadow corruption, and instead adds the following benefits:
+1 innate Defense
+1 innate Resistance
And if you start the turn at half HP, all damage you take is reduced by 25%!
For both of these forms, entering this Stance will result in your body changing either subtly or dramatically in appearance. It can be as subtle as a golden or black aura around your body, or as dramatic as an entire form change. Mechanically, it makes no difference.
Perhaps, in a later round, these Stances will change into something you can harness in another way...
B u t w a i t t h e r e ' s m o r e
One last thing.
The attack you managed to get Joule to perform at the very end of the battle, with the efforts of Team Spectrum and several others... The team was inspired! And perhaps, if Joule is feeling better, he will be able to teach you this special, purifying technique, known as Blacklight Z-Burst.
This is a special move that everyone can use, but there are some hefty conditions attached to it. Here is the move description:
Blacklight Z-Burst. Power: Variable. Target: Single. Physical or Special.
Type is determined by if the user's relevant corruptions are above 20 or not. Fails if the user does not have 20 or more corruption in either type. Blacklight Z-Burst can only be used once per battle, and only as the final action of someone's turn. Its power is equal to the corruption that the user has added up. For example, if someone has 90 Shadow and 40 Radiance, it will be power 130. Additionally, prior to attacking, it will give the user +2 Valor and fully heal the user's HP and Stamina. However... it will also, for the rest of the battle, cut the user's max HP and Stamina in half. This is incurable. It will also disable Reviver Seeds, makes the user Staggered, and sets your corruption to 0 and 0. This is a powerful tool, but use it wisely.
--
WHEW! Sorry for all that, but you guys unlocked a lot due to your performance against Joule. Very good work, everyone. And finally... some plot scenes.
Ongoing: Cola in Destiny Tower; Diyem, Joule, and Arceus at the infirmary.
Key scenes later:
(circumstances pending) Visiting the Tree of Life
A scene with Shield some time during a night
Searching for Giovanni
High priority NPCs for plot and personal reasons, in no particular order:
Shield & Karat
Diyem
Maple & Joule
Soda
Truffle & Leg
Arceus
Cola
S'more
Balm & Cepa
Silver
That's all for now. Thanks again, and welcome to the second half of the campaign! Let's get serious.
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