FFR: Solo Lancer Part II
Sep. 17th, 2024 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sirsystemerrorSo now for the big one. I gamed the encounter table once. Can I do it again in the Ice Cave? Not really. B1 has a COCTRICE/MUMMY mix in slots 3 and 4, and undead in slots 6 and 7. Doable. But B2 is laughably impossible to game: slots 1, 2, 4, and 6 are some combination of IMAGEs and WRAITHs. 3 is SORCERERs, 5 is MAGEs. Only slots 7 and 8 are safe, being a FrGIANT/FrWOLF mix and Frost Ds respectively. As you might expect, there's no string of those in the encounter table, let alone any convenient for two rooms. As for B3, MAGEs are in slot 2, WRAITHs are in slot 3, and SORCERERs are in slot 4. The best you can do is be aware of what's coming, and get as high MDef (grinding) as possible.
So nothing to do but go ahead.
Attempt 1: First encounter is WIZARDs. Zeus them down. Second verse, same as the first. Down the stairs. Next is six IMAGEs. I think I'm on encounter 29 here? Of course the first attack stunned. They could barely hurt Mario, so it was a question of whether he would be able to break out and run. He got two run attempts which failed. He eventually did after like five minutes, being down to 170 health. Very lucky there. Next was WRAITHs - yup, encounter 30. He got right out of there on the first turn. So now that I know where I am, I can potentially avoid some of the bigger nasties. Didn't matter because the next undead encounter right before the hole killed him.
Attempt 2: WRAITHs which I ran from. COCTRICE/MUMMY group which got fried. Then a FrGIANT below! Nice! Thanked it with a JUMP. Then a nine mix of IMAGE/WRAITHs. Which I somehow escaped from. I ran into MAGEs in the tiny room and somehow survived that too. Next is a slot 7: safe to make it through the hole room since that's, again, a FrGIANT/FrWOLF. Gained a level from it and onto the undead spike. Eight enemies. Mario ran after the first swing. Slot 1: R.BONES. I made it upstairs before the next encounter, WRAITHs. It's a COCTRICE/MUMMY mix upstairs and I got a chance to strike first. The EYE used XXXX then died. Undead spike part 2: a nine mix.
This time, Mario was not so lucky. Broke out twice, but re-stunned once and failed to run the second time.
You get the idea from here on how encounter counting works. So from here on out, it's just what killed me and anything interesting.
Attempt 3: Dead to COCTRICE turn order.
Attempt 4: MAGEs on the floor below.
Attempt 5: COCTRICE turn order. It even got a crit. Rude.
Attempt 6: WRAITHs right away.
Attempt 7: Again.
Attempt 8: COCTRICE turn order.
Attempt 9: WRAITHs. Can't even make it through the first room anymore!
Attempt 10: A SORCERER mix was coming up on B2. I was right at the entrance, so I had a choice: risk it, or risk a COCTRICE/MUMMY group above. I went ahead because there were a chance of less, pulled the full three and died right away.
Attempt 11: Chance to strike first against WRAITHs, eat it! SORCERERs were coming up again. This time, Mario ran right away. Then died to the WRAITHs in the next encounter.
Attempt 12: No I am not sitting through a nine undead encounter that stunned right away, go to hell.
Attempt 13: Two IMAGEs on B2! I went for the throat here, feeling it was the better play. They indeed died. Still, got killed by WRAITHs in the hole room.
Mario has 55 MDef. That means every undead attack is a slightly rigged coinflip in his favor as to whether or not he resists the paralyze, bird stone, or brain suck. He gains 2 per level, so it would be a lot of grinding I hadn't really needed to do yet to try to stack the odds in any appreciable fashion. And as I said, sometimes it was better to fight and kill rather than to try the run. Especially solo SORCERERs: a close to 100% chance of escape (over its corpse) if Mario gets to move vs a less than 100% chance.
Attempt 14: WRAITHs room 1.
Attempt 15: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 16: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 17: WRAITHs room 2.
Attempt 18: Two COCTRICEs survived Zeus room 1 and of course they'd yet to move.
Attempt 19: WRAITHs room 2.
Attempt 20: Undead spike rolled eight. Very dead.
Mmm. I'll cave in and grind some levels after the hundredth attempt. That seems the breaking point of "okay I tried but even I have limits".
Attempt 21: MAGE ambush room 2. Blanked on the encounter table for a second, could've had R.BONEs upstairs instead.
Attempt 22: SORCERERs in the hole room. It isn't exactly safer to dodge them: the small room in-between is 2-6 WRAITHs. They by contrast come in packs of 1-3; you can sometimes survive a paralyze versus a KO, but neither's pleasant.
Attempt 23: I did something creative on 2 WRAITHs/2 IMAGEs in room 2: kill the WRAITHs because the IMAGEs couldn't deal damage. Then may as well kill them too. Then same situation as above ended it.
Attempt 24: COCTRICE ambush room 1.
Attempt 25: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 26: Two WRAITHs room 1.
Attempt 27: Too many COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 28: Eight undead room 2.
Attempt 29: Seven undead room 2.
Attempt 30: A lone SORCERER in the hole room landed a TRANCE and kill.
Attempt 31: Nine undead room 2.
Attempt 32: Dead in room 2 to undead again.
Attempt 33: Undead in hole room.
Time to change strategy: I recalled the Berserkers challenge that T-Hawk and Sullla both did (aka armorless). The former at least first tried it. So what if I tried to go for evasion? Mario would have +23% with just a Gold Bracelet on. It was worth a try to give me a little more odds.
Attempt 34: Didn't work.
Attempt 35: COCTRICEs.
Attempt 36: But the evasions never came.
Attempt 37: Undead in the hole room.
Attempt 38: Nice Frost D in room 1. Then undead room 2.
Attempt 39: COCTRICE ambush.
Attempt 40: Nine undead room 1.
Attempt 41: Too many COCTRICEs.
Attempt 42: I made it to the undead spike again finally. Nine damned undead. I flipped the game off in disgust. Then Mario moved first and ran. GrPEDE and R.BONE encounters followed.
Then this happened. That was six failed run attempts. Technically a misplay on my behalf, but screw it, executive decision: grinding from the first time I reach the undead spike after 50. Don't like having to do it, but this is even worse.
Attempt 43: Undead in room 2.
Attempt 44: Undead in room 2.
Attempt 45: SORCERERs hole room.
Attempt 46: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 47: Undead in room 2. After two instant escapes.
Attempt 48: Nine undead in the spike.
Attempt 49: Two SORCERERs landed TRANCE. Then they didn't kill and got killed. Then the undead happened, again.
Attempt 50: Want to know what spite is? One COCTRICE survives Zeus, it's one that doesn't move, and it lands petrify.
Attempt 51: On the clock now. This one ended to undead in the hole room.
Attempt 52: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 53: SORCERERs room 2.
Attempt 54: See attempt 50.
Attempt 55: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 56: The rare nonlethal MAGE ambush after losing track of encounters in room 2 again! Was this a good omen, or did that burn a bunch of luck? I reached the undead spike, and this would not be an instant reset and off to grind because I got chance to strike first. Okay, stop and think. Next is encounter 184: slot 1, R.BONEs. I swapped the heavy armor back in and this time, Zeused their boney asses into the ground. Encounter 185: slot 4, SORCERERs. Strip, not even the Gold Bracelet. There's three: TRANCE, miss, TRANCE, miss, successful escape! Encounter 186: slot 1 again. That'll be WIZARDs up above, which I made it to. Armor goes back on and Zeus. Slot 187, slot 2: that's undead in the EYE room, MAGEs down below, and WIZARDs up on B1. The answer was obvious: pull the encounter before dropping down, hitting level 22 in the process.
HOWEVER, the encounter order from here goes 1-2-7-2-7-2-1-2. This is very dangerous. If I can survive the EYE and undead spike, I'll almost certainly have to fight one set of MAGES. So do I stall? No. Slot 7 on B1 is the same big undead mix from the spike. For that matter, slot 2 on B2, if I want to run around that tiny 1x2 strip, is an IMAGE/WRAITH mix. I have to risk it.
The EYE used XXXX and died. Okay. Switch in Gold Bracelet for the spike.
A six-pack. Paralyzed...recovered with 294! And ESCAPED!
Okay, okay, okay!! Encounter 188: R.BONEs. Chance to strike first and I'm out. Right here. And I make it upstairs before the MAGE encounter!!!
Nice glitch. But slot 2: WIZARDs. Heavy armor is already on and Zeus.
I don't like where this popped up. Encounter 189 is slot 7: the big undead mix here, the same as the spike. Did I have to risk it?
No! I could go back down to B3 and pull an encounter: slot 7 down here is 1-2 Frost Ds! With the Flame Armor, I wasn't afraid of these things! It was even a chance to strike first, so there was zero issue! With this I ran for the stairs, fighting one last set of WIZARDs on B1 before encounter 191, which would've been another slot 7.
And Mario survives the Ice Cave without having to grind after all! Let this serve as how useful encounter watching can be: twice in that winning run I stopped or even backtracked to avoid a deadly encounter. There were still a lot of luck factors involved in this clear, but I was able to eliminate at least some of it with this. It may not be the easiest or quickest thing to do, but sometimes, it can save your run.
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So nothing to do but go ahead.
Attempt 1: First encounter is WIZARDs. Zeus them down. Second verse, same as the first. Down the stairs. Next is six IMAGEs. I think I'm on encounter 29 here? Of course the first attack stunned. They could barely hurt Mario, so it was a question of whether he would be able to break out and run. He got two run attempts which failed. He eventually did after like five minutes, being down to 170 health. Very lucky there. Next was WRAITHs - yup, encounter 30. He got right out of there on the first turn. So now that I know where I am, I can potentially avoid some of the bigger nasties. Didn't matter because the next undead encounter right before the hole killed him.
Attempt 2: WRAITHs which I ran from. COCTRICE/MUMMY group which got fried. Then a FrGIANT below! Nice! Thanked it with a JUMP. Then a nine mix of IMAGE/WRAITHs. Which I somehow escaped from. I ran into MAGEs in the tiny room and somehow survived that too. Next is a slot 7: safe to make it through the hole room since that's, again, a FrGIANT/FrWOLF. Gained a level from it and onto the undead spike. Eight enemies. Mario ran after the first swing. Slot 1: R.BONES. I made it upstairs before the next encounter, WRAITHs. It's a COCTRICE/MUMMY mix upstairs and I got a chance to strike first. The EYE used XXXX then died. Undead spike part 2: a nine mix.
This time, Mario was not so lucky. Broke out twice, but re-stunned once and failed to run the second time.
You get the idea from here on how encounter counting works. So from here on out, it's just what killed me and anything interesting.
Attempt 3: Dead to COCTRICE turn order.
Attempt 4: MAGEs on the floor below.
Attempt 5: COCTRICE turn order. It even got a crit. Rude.
Attempt 6: WRAITHs right away.
Attempt 7: Again.
Attempt 8: COCTRICE turn order.
Attempt 9: WRAITHs. Can't even make it through the first room anymore!
Attempt 10: A SORCERER mix was coming up on B2. I was right at the entrance, so I had a choice: risk it, or risk a COCTRICE/MUMMY group above. I went ahead because there were a chance of less, pulled the full three and died right away.
Attempt 11: Chance to strike first against WRAITHs, eat it! SORCERERs were coming up again. This time, Mario ran right away. Then died to the WRAITHs in the next encounter.
Attempt 12: No I am not sitting through a nine undead encounter that stunned right away, go to hell.
Attempt 13: Two IMAGEs on B2! I went for the throat here, feeling it was the better play. They indeed died. Still, got killed by WRAITHs in the hole room.
Mario has 55 MDef. That means every undead attack is a slightly rigged coinflip in his favor as to whether or not he resists the paralyze, bird stone, or brain suck. He gains 2 per level, so it would be a lot of grinding I hadn't really needed to do yet to try to stack the odds in any appreciable fashion. And as I said, sometimes it was better to fight and kill rather than to try the run. Especially solo SORCERERs: a close to 100% chance of escape (over its corpse) if Mario gets to move vs a less than 100% chance.
Attempt 14: WRAITHs room 1.
Attempt 15: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 16: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 17: WRAITHs room 2.
Attempt 18: Two COCTRICEs survived Zeus room 1 and of course they'd yet to move.
Attempt 19: WRAITHs room 2.
Attempt 20: Undead spike rolled eight. Very dead.
Mmm. I'll cave in and grind some levels after the hundredth attempt. That seems the breaking point of "okay I tried but even I have limits".
Attempt 21: MAGE ambush room 2. Blanked on the encounter table for a second, could've had R.BONEs upstairs instead.
Attempt 22: SORCERERs in the hole room. It isn't exactly safer to dodge them: the small room in-between is 2-6 WRAITHs. They by contrast come in packs of 1-3; you can sometimes survive a paralyze versus a KO, but neither's pleasant.
Attempt 23: I did something creative on 2 WRAITHs/2 IMAGEs in room 2: kill the WRAITHs because the IMAGEs couldn't deal damage. Then may as well kill them too. Then same situation as above ended it.
Attempt 24: COCTRICE ambush room 1.
Attempt 25: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 26: Two WRAITHs room 1.
Attempt 27: Too many COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 28: Eight undead room 2.
Attempt 29: Seven undead room 2.
Attempt 30: A lone SORCERER in the hole room landed a TRANCE and kill.
Attempt 31: Nine undead room 2.
Attempt 32: Dead in room 2 to undead again.
Attempt 33: Undead in hole room.
Time to change strategy: I recalled the Berserkers challenge that T-Hawk and Sullla both did (aka armorless). The former at least first tried it. So what if I tried to go for evasion? Mario would have +23% with just a Gold Bracelet on. It was worth a try to give me a little more odds.
Attempt 34: Didn't work.
Attempt 35: COCTRICEs.
Attempt 36: But the evasions never came.
Attempt 37: Undead in the hole room.
Attempt 38: Nice Frost D in room 1. Then undead room 2.
Attempt 39: COCTRICE ambush.
Attempt 40: Nine undead room 1.
Attempt 41: Too many COCTRICEs.
Attempt 42: I made it to the undead spike again finally. Nine damned undead. I flipped the game off in disgust. Then Mario moved first and ran. GrPEDE and R.BONE encounters followed.
Then this happened. That was six failed run attempts. Technically a misplay on my behalf, but screw it, executive decision: grinding from the first time I reach the undead spike after 50. Don't like having to do it, but this is even worse.
Attempt 43: Undead in room 2.
Attempt 44: Undead in room 2.
Attempt 45: SORCERERs hole room.
Attempt 46: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 47: Undead in room 2. After two instant escapes.
Attempt 48: Nine undead in the spike.
Attempt 49: Two SORCERERs landed TRANCE. Then they didn't kill and got killed. Then the undead happened, again.
Attempt 50: Want to know what spite is? One COCTRICE survives Zeus, it's one that doesn't move, and it lands petrify.
Attempt 51: On the clock now. This one ended to undead in the hole room.
Attempt 52: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 53: SORCERERs room 2.
Attempt 54: See attempt 50.
Attempt 55: COCTRICEs room 1.
Attempt 56: The rare nonlethal MAGE ambush after losing track of encounters in room 2 again! Was this a good omen, or did that burn a bunch of luck? I reached the undead spike, and this would not be an instant reset and off to grind because I got chance to strike first. Okay, stop and think. Next is encounter 184: slot 1, R.BONEs. I swapped the heavy armor back in and this time, Zeused their boney asses into the ground. Encounter 185: slot 4, SORCERERs. Strip, not even the Gold Bracelet. There's three: TRANCE, miss, TRANCE, miss, successful escape! Encounter 186: slot 1 again. That'll be WIZARDs up above, which I made it to. Armor goes back on and Zeus. Slot 187, slot 2: that's undead in the EYE room, MAGEs down below, and WIZARDs up on B1. The answer was obvious: pull the encounter before dropping down, hitting level 22 in the process.
HOWEVER, the encounter order from here goes 1-2-7-2-7-2-1-2. This is very dangerous. If I can survive the EYE and undead spike, I'll almost certainly have to fight one set of MAGES. So do I stall? No. Slot 7 on B1 is the same big undead mix from the spike. For that matter, slot 2 on B2, if I want to run around that tiny 1x2 strip, is an IMAGE/WRAITH mix. I have to risk it.
The EYE used XXXX and died. Okay. Switch in Gold Bracelet for the spike.
A six-pack. Paralyzed...recovered with 294! And ESCAPED!
Okay, okay, okay!! Encounter 188: R.BONEs. Chance to strike first and I'm out. Right here. And I make it upstairs before the MAGE encounter!!!
Nice glitch. But slot 2: WIZARDs. Heavy armor is already on and Zeus.
I don't like where this popped up. Encounter 189 is slot 7: the big undead mix here, the same as the spike. Did I have to risk it?
No! I could go back down to B3 and pull an encounter: slot 7 down here is 1-2 Frost Ds! With the Flame Armor, I wasn't afraid of these things! It was even a chance to strike first, so there was zero issue! With this I ran for the stairs, fighting one last set of WIZARDs on B1 before encounter 191, which would've been another slot 7.
And Mario survives the Ice Cave without having to grind after all! Let this serve as how useful encounter watching can be: twice in that winning run I stopped or even backtracked to avoid a deadly encounter. There were still a lot of luck factors involved in this clear, but I was able to eliminate at least some of it with this. It may not be the easiest or quickest thing to do, but sometimes, it can save your run.
Next | Index
