Celestalia's Challenge - A Maple Journal

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PART CXLVI. Coppers and Robbers

Spoiler: PART CXLVI. Coppers and Robbers

I decided to take a short amount of time earlier today and do a trial run at Copper Drake. The plan hasn't changed but I'm not very optimistic about how this is going to go. For one, I didn't feel the XP was very good. Two, no cards. Overall this isn't going to be terribly dangerous or flashy, we'll just keep punching them until something gives.

Someone else was having far better luck this week:

We can, and we did.

That's right, Aescalloss strung together several really good runs at GS2, and with a huge amount of help from Celestalia's good friend PhilMyez, he got to 3rd Job!

Oh, you're probably thinking about the Chaos Scroll. That sold earlier today for 178m. With unimaginable patience, Gachapon has come through for us. And what Celestalia is quite pleased with is, it wasn't her ticket that landed the CS.

Anyway, let's resume.


So unlike earlier, we got a card within the first pass of the map (~02:00).


It took us a half an hour to get the second one. No equips to speak of in that time either, other than the smaller things Fire Boar was dropping. Well, there's a lot more of them here than Copper Drake. The same would be true of East Rocky Mountain VII, so I'm not going to even bother to check thataway.

Card #3 appeared at 02:47. I wasn't really trying for it, but we also appear to be gaining White Potions. At this point we were back up to 500 even. The only thing going down is Watermelon...because I haven't opened any Ice Boxes recently. Is it because we're wearing the prestige outfit with its higher Weapon Defense? Who knows. Personally I'm not sure it would have made a difference.

Twenty minutes later, we're up to four cards. As expected by Celestalia, the drop table has already been exhausted. So we just went ahead and knocked these guys out of the way at 03:15.


Time for a slightly tougher challenge, and for that, we have to move underground. With Jr. Boogie dealt with, Celestalia was finally able to access the Ant Tunnel Park.


Celestalia went ahead and bought a bucket of fried chicken, an imaginary one of course, as we have such huge amounts of real potions that there is no need for more. But it'll be nice to snack on while she's fighting our next opponent.

While exploring around Ant Tunnel Park, she found another strange...thing:


It seems to be some kind of portal. We'll see if we come across any more of these. Celestalia has been in one other map that features one, but she left quickly. Can she find them all prior to 70? Okay, so the third one is right on the way to our next card set. But can she find the other two prior to 70...that is the question.

In the meantime, the Huntress decided to poke in to a small alcove to see if someone was home. Turns out it was.


I'm actually quite glad we had Eyedrops in the inventory. This is the single most Jr. Boogie-infested map in the game, and they spawn constantly during this fight. But, Celestalia did not get hit at all by the jump attack. Good fight, and a Level 70 Silver Ancient Shield is our reward!


So now we have to figure out how to get six levels so we can sell it! >.<

In the next installment, we take on the second Drake. Stay tuned!

 

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PART CXLVII. Drake the Second

Spoiler: PART CXLVII. Drake the Second

Regular Drake has five levels on its Copper cousin, hits slightly harder, has double the KB threshold, and this map's topography makes navigating somewhat tricky.


I'm probably going to forego the left portal area and the top center platform - I just don't think getting Arrow Bomb to work in these areas is possible. Elsewhere we should be okay.


Drake drops some neat things, like this vial of Drake's Blood which adds 8 Attack for 5 minutes.


The meaty bone it drops does the same thing but for +10 Weapon Defense.

So that means we can spam both of these. And failing that, we also get Warrior Potions. As a result, once Celestalia memorized the *ahem* attack patterns of Drake, it was smooth sailing. Although now our White Potions are in trouble. Again, totally fine. We're converting to Ice Cream Pops, remember.

The first card doesn't take that long at all, dropping at 04:15.


An hour since the last card, but we did fight Zombie Mushmom in the interim. And it only took twenty minutes for the second one to show up.

Even better news: Card #3 trailed by a scant four minutes.

Then this dropped, a Dark Calaf.


This is at least the third color we've picked up. Unsure on Blue or Brown, although both are available.

Barely six minutes later, we get another one...and Card #4. And boy oh boy, do I like the look of this drop table.


Remember how I said we would skip Dark Nependeath and the Blue Willow? This is why. Now we can get the top-tier version! Definitely would be a nice pickup. We have to get +4 DEX though...otherwise, the Dark Brace is superior. And I'm not really keeping around three gloves. One of the Brace or Savata will be going. Probably the Savata - one point of DEX isn't going to make much difference.

Welp, time for another Magician drop!


The Thorns is the Level 55 Staff. Aescalloss didn't actually use this one. He got a Sun Quan Staff from Gachapon instead. However, he did stop by to pick it up anyway. Definitely one of the better-looking weapons in the category in my opinion.

A surprisingly easy end to this one. The whole set took 45 minutes!


Celestalia was curious to see what lie on the far side of the Hunting Ground. Beyond, a desolate, dark, and cold territory, filled with death.

Are these geysers hot or cold? Either way, they do over 100 damage. Not an area for the low-HP-minded.

In this first map, there are more Drakes, but the main denizen is Cold Eye. That's lovely, we can now get the card set for them. However...I am going to decline for now. Cold Eye isn't going to have much useful to us, as it's only Level 40. Until 3rd Job, I need to concentrate on unlocking more equip opportunities. And...well, the only cure for complex caverns is Arrow Rain...

So, it was straight back to Sleepywood to face off against much sturdier competition. We'll deal with that in the next installment. Before signing off though, I need to mention that at least some of tomorrow's action will be occurring much earlier in the day. If not all! We'll see. Either way, we're in great shape - still 45% to go until we have to break and get the Lumati. We got the two Drake sets faster than I possibly could have anticipated. As always, here's hoping the momentum continues.

See you tomorrow!

 

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PART CXLVIII. The Golem Wakes

Spoiler: PART CXLVIII. The Golem Wakes

If my plan is successful, this should represent a huge windfall in terms of equipment - up to and including the Asiatic Bow (which means the Bow of Magical Destruction as well).

So, yes, we are going to try taking on the Henesys boss mobs. But we had a really awesome omen on the way. Celestalia was accompanied on the journey by a whole team of adventurers!


It turns out that they're trying to hunt Horny Mushroom. The quest they're doing requires a thousand of these. That would be no problem for Celestalia, but four adventurers in the 17-19 range? It's a tall order. But that's why they're a team! Since this is so rare, it was a fun sight to behold. We said goodbye to Pal, Bilbo, Xander, and Butch as we entered the Sleepy Dungeon.

The Stone Golem trio isn't quite as difficult as you'd imagine. The biggest takeaway is that they are fairly slow.

At the same time they are extremely difficult, because of all the little gubbins running around between their legs.


The plan here will be similar to Drake: Ignore the top platform, which doesn't have Dark Stone Golem. I promise you, there's plenty to go around here. The only difference is we will be hemorrhaging White Potions even more, especially when they have their attack boost active and they're hitting for ~350 a pop.

Okay, after a few passes it looks like we do need to engage the top platform. But clearing it isn't difficult at all.

Anyway, at 15:13 (told you it was going to be early!) we pick up our first drop from Dark Stone Golem. It was...disappointing.


Level 40 Purple Shadow. Better luck next time, I guess.

Well indeed, the next one was a significant improvement:


The Level 60 Blue Goldrunners.

We then split the difference, and pick up a Green Sonata, which is Level 50.


And a few minutes later, a...Brown...Pierre Shoes?


I had no idea this color existed. Okay, so this one has +3 DEX. Interesting! As it turns out, of the other mobs that drop it, three are in the Eos-Omega Sector area, one is in Shanghai, and one is in Masteria.

Only then, at 15:58, do we get the first card.


I was worried they weren't going to drop!

The second card landed 20 minutes later though. By this point, Celestalia was at 80%. We fought for a bit longer, but then our Etc. inventory just about maxed out. Before we completely filled up, Celestalia took the opportunity to go back and unload. We had a lot of equips too, so that was a good decision. Doing so put us at about 36.7 million. She went back to Nautilus for a while to ease her nerves before going back to get pelted by more banana peels.

Celestalia returned to Sleepy Dungeon around 18:00 and had roughly an hour and half to see what else she could sort out. Twenty minutes in, she was at 90%. So the goal was less get the card set, but just get to 65. We'll be right back after the Lumati and the Willow.

Anyway, our fifth unique equip from Dark Stone Golem drops, the Level 50 Steel Brist.


However, no cards were obtained along this run. Celestalia got 65 at somewhere around 18:50.


That was more than enough time to sell her wares and head for Orbis, from where she will proceed to fight at Ocean I.C. for the Lumati.

It's still up in the air whether there will be enough time tonight to start the battle. Probably yes, but that is also no guarantee that we'll make any real progress there. Still, the Huntress will try the hardest she can with what time we're granted. And in the event that we don't have time tonight, I'll extend the session to tomorrow.

In the next installment, the first proper battle in four levels gets underway. Stay tuned!

 

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PART CXLIX. The Battle of Oceanicia

Spoiler: PART CXLIX. The Battle of Oceanicia

Not every map gives me a really good name to work with. Ocean I.C. is no exception as itself it is a play on words.

So it looks like we'll have in the realm of 3-4 hours to get this done. Starting time is ~02:15. And we did start quickly too, landing a Yellow Jangoon Armor within the first 5 minutes.


However, it was almost 30 minutes before the next one, an Ivory Shouldermail at 02:46.


Three minutes later, a third Warrior equip.


Then at 03:00, we break that combo with a Red China Pants.


And that was it for some time. Celestalia managed to get all the way to near 20%, which in an hour and a half of work kind of rivals our rate at Dark Stone Golem. And it doesn't slash our White Potion inventory by a considerable fraction.

The final equip of the night was another Yellow Jangoon Armor at 03:47.

Celestalia had to take a minute to set down as an entire 90 minutes of swimming around brought her to near complete collapse. As she started pulling out her Relaxer, a stray Jr. Seal entered the platform she was on and got underneath the seat. The force of the blow shattered the chair and a large chunk of wood lodged itself deep into Celestalia's torso.

The next thing she knew, everything had faded to black.

...

You do understand this is a military campaign. Freak accidents happen. Especially when it's a long campaign, that sort of thing is quite likely to happen at some point. But a freak accident occurring in this manner at this location is something else again.

Either way...well...





It was tough seeing the endless sprawl of clouds all around her. For once, Celestalia had a moment of nigh perfect clarity. When she began...began all of this. She felt invincible. In this very moment, though she was in a realm on high, beyond the borders of the living world, she couldn't have felt lower. Was it true? Had she been careless?

Why did she even pull out the Relaxer to begin with? She struggled to remember. Alas, nothing came to her.

Within a short time, she felt tired again, and fell to the contours of her platform. When she opened her eyes again, she was at the Aquarium. She sheepishly made her way back to Orbis, stopping only to-


Yeah. That. Good job, you got him.

This weekend is over. I doubt Celestalia will be in any mood to resume the campaign for some time. There's a lot more she needs to think about. As for the Lumati...maybe we'll stick to Nependeath after all. We've taken so many detours, twists, and what-have-you along the course of this journal, what's another one?

Oh, and I suppose we need to find somewhere to repair the Relaxer.

First things first though, we need to find someway to repair Celestalia's broken spirit.

Until then.

 

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PART CL. The Unobtainable Overall

Spoiler: PART CL. The Unobtainable Overall

It occurred to me earlier in the week that it has been a while since we've had a Midweek Special. I very nearly did one this week, but honestly, there's only so many things I can write about Celestalia staring up at the ceiling of her chosen weekday domicile. And let me tell you, she stared extra hard this week.

What I didn't mention is that Celestalia actually met someone while she was up in the clouds. This young woman spoke with a very...well, Celestial tone. Almost like that was her home. Her name? Well, I don't really know if she has a family, but she goes by 'Hikaria'. Hikari of course being the Zipangese word for 'light'.

When Celestalia told her about her exploits, Hikaria was inspired and decided to pay the Maple World a visit. Here she is at the Pig Beach hunting cards.

"I feel like this thornbush is nearly old enough to be considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site" - September 16 2021

As of this entry she's Level 24 and is already incredibly powerful. Turns out going LUKless is a lot more fun when you don't have to worry about what your character looks like! The above photograph is with Level 9 Magic Claw, which is around half the attack of max level. So you can imagine the devastation that is happening around the Red tier of the Monster Book.

Okay, enough of that. So where do we actually stand game-wise? Well, we have two equips to scrounge up, one as usual being the Lumati, and the other the Dark Willow. Drake will be decent enough to hunt. But as I mentioned in the previous entry, Nependeath is basically the only option left that won't either 1. Provide a hilariously bad drop rate or 2. Get Celestalia killed. That's the reality we are apparently facing.

We jump into the action around 23:10. The rules for today? No stopping - no breaks, no pauses (except to write in the journal, naturally), and most importantly, no snacks. The hunger will continue until the Overall slot improves.

Some immediate good news: With the power of the Olympus on our side, we can now OHKO Nependeath.


That should speed things up considerably.

The highest hit I found in the first ten minutes was 2377.

At 23:24, we get our first equip, a Marine Shadow.


It was at this point that Celestalia also changed her route. Instead of going across the bottom of the map, we focused on the right half, and added in the platform above (near where she uses the Relaxer...which incidentally, was an easy fix for the mechanic she called over a few days ago). She also started using her Warrior Pills.

Strangely though, we picked up absolutely nothing of interest for the next half hour. Now Celestalia this whole time has been using a large batch of Blue Potions that she picked up from Aqua Road. Nependeath, well, they're not the greatest in terms of usable drops. The Huntress saw the bigger picture and left once that stack ran out. So, it was back to Victoria Island once again.

While selling our equips, Celestalia gives our 16 WDef Pan Lid to a Magicianess she ran into at Nautilus. We just weren't using it. Honestly, 16 isn't that big a number nowadays. We're getting five more from the Choro, first off, and the Dark Willow will give a few more points.

Either way, she figures that if Nependeath can go down in one hit, then fighting here shouldn't be that difficult:

Uhhhhhhh...theoretically?

Croco drops Elixir. That's why we're staying here from now on. If we have to work for the Lumati, we can at least get a return on it.

Our second drop of the evening is the server's namesake Shield.


The Wooden Legend Shield, to be precise.

Around quarter to 01:00, we hit 38 million mesos. 25 minutes later...well, I know I said no snacks, but Celestalia isn't nearly as strong as she claims to be. Can you blame her? After a good half an hour consuming various things, we return to action. But similar to Nependeath, at 02:00 we still only had the one equip.

Is this seriously not happening right now? Ugh, fine. I guess we'll go back to Dark Stone Golem and resume the campaign. But as Celestalia prances through the swamp, she comes across this large bird riding an alligator.


Not terribly intimidating. Dyle did try to heal a couple times though. But clearly not for enough. The best thing we got off of it was a Mithril Ore.

So all told. What did we get out of that whole ordeal? About 30 Elixirs...38% of experience...some money...and the first death of the campaign. Brilliant.

In the next installment, it's back to actual business. Stay tuned!

 

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PART CLI. The Siege of the Sleepy Dungeon

Spoiler: PART CLI. The Siege of the Sleepy Dungeon

Celestalia's options are not exactly running that short, but our straightforward options certainly are. So hopefully something comes out of this session.

Let's do it.


The page was left basically blank as we faffed around for nearly an hour trying to make something work. Experience is certainly passable, as is the equip rate. And the Ice Box rate! Cards...well, #3 took until about 02:55 to drop.

At least it dropped!

Celestalia is nothing if not brutally persistent...sometimes.

We picked up a total of 11 equips in the first hour of fighting, ranging between Levels 18 and 55. This was the 55, although it doesn't look much like it! For all I know, this helmet is old enough to have come from the friggin' Sharenian. Look at the nicks and scrapes on it! And it still manages to provide more DEX than Celestalia's unmistakably-modern headpiece.


But shortly after that we found ourselves with an even better drop:


This is the Dark Manute, the Level 60 Magician Glove. I count this as a personal victory because Aescalloss really tried to get his from Dark Stone Golem. It never panned out unfortunately, so he had to go and craft it. And it was, well, average. The normal stats on a Manute (which you get if you craft it) are INT +3, LUK +1, MP +30, 22 WDef, and 3 MDef. The Dark Manute we got here outclasses the standard in every. Single. Category. 4/2/32/23/4. That's about as good as his current Dark Lorin which is the next tier up. Which by the way he also had to craft.

Somewhere around 03:35, a fighter named Vork came to the map trying to hunt Lupin and Curse Eye for a quest. That was more than an easy fill for Celestalia, who gets to trade Fame for the Etc. donation. Another happy customer

Maybe eight minutes later, we got the fourth card! A few interesting things lie on this drop table, although none of them are terribly important:


Ah, yes, the CAPE! I forgot that was an item slot almost. The inn at El Nath requires a cape as well; the first tier (Adventurer) is Level 50. This however is not the Adventurer Cape, this is the Magic Cape...which is Level 60. Oh well, we'll come back later.

The other equip which is a bit out of reach at the moment is the Holy Cross Earrings, Level 55. One tier lies between ours and it.

Finally, the Black Maro would be a decent lateral move, as the base addition is +3 DEX.

And to my great and unbounded surprise...card #5 dropped...at 03:57.


It's still kind of...early! So what else awaits us in these parts? Celestalia wasted no time in surveying the rest of the area. Sleepy Dungeon IV is conquered already, but map V (which is also the location of our Door of Dimension, if I have that right) has a sort of 'mixed' Golem with a light and a dark half. Good news for us though: Dark Stone Golem unlocked the Forest of Golem, which is probably the best map for Mixed Golem outside the Golem Temple...you know, the area we can't get to without regular Stone Golem which appears in exactly one pit in the Overworld.

So what are we going to do about that? Here's the answer.


I normally stay away from Mini-Dungeons. It's a restriction I have on every character just because I prefer farming out in the open. It's more nostalgic for me that way. But Celestalia is actually under no such rule! The other two times we've been past maps with them, we already had their monsters' card sets. Here though, there really is no other choice. Not that I mind any! We can basically snipe on the map and there are no Dark Stone Golems to be seen. Just the other two. It's absolutely perfect.

Anyway, Celestalia had to go and empty her inventory first, so she does that. By the time we get back, it's 04:35. Along the way though, we see another young Magicianess and offer her two drops we got: the Level 18 Split set. Who dropped them? None other than Jr. Necki! How we managed to get both of them when there were so few of these guys is anyone's guess.

But believe it or not, when we got to Ellinia, both characters we met today were talking to each other!


It was a conversation about linguistics or something. The language they were discussing is not very widely spoken in the Maple World, so Celestalia didn't have much to contribute. Anyway, the three parted and we soon found ourselves back at the Mini-Dungeon. We'll take a look there in the next installment. Stay tuned!

 

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PART CLII. Minisiege

Spoiler: PART CLII. Minisiege

Basically the only difference between a Mini-Dungeon and a regular map is the Mini-Dungeon has a time limit. But, since I don't think many people use this particular dungeon, it doesn't matter. Not that we have more than two hours to fight anyway.

We'll probably use a fair bit of this time, but nevertheless I'm expecting a short entry.

Here we go!


Yeah, you can tell by the health bars that Arrow Bomb affects two levels at once. AND, you can tell by the platforms that we snipe everything. What's more, both of these guys fight rather sluggishly. Mixed Golem takes forever to get its buffs activated once it starts the animation, and Stone Golem is rather slow and hits for noticeably less, and can take noticeably less for that matter, than the other two.

After what Celestalia's been through at Sleepy Dungeon III, I reckon this has been earned.

The first card, surprisingly, belongs to Mixed Golem.


With 1:18 to go in the Mini-Dungeon, Stone Golem matches.


A few minutes later, we landed two pieces of the Level 60 Red Oriental set in very quick succession.


At the one-hour mark, Celestalia felt like she had seen enough for the evening and went to the Nautilus. Interestingly enough we were kind of on pace for 66; had we used the full two hours we might just have finished the level with mere minutes to spare, if that. Still, it was unlikely we were going to last that time without falling asleep at the bowstring.

Some unmentioned business from today: We picked up two Bow ATT 10%s from Curse Eye...they failed. However, they also gave us a Split Bullet. So now Erenell has 3. The second one, incidentally, came from Hikaria's first Gachapon batch. She's likely to get 30 tomorrow as she's already doing nice work at KPQ. Once the Green Paintbrush is in her possession, I'm not sure there will be anything holding her back. Exciting times for the mysterious figure from above!

As for Celestalia, today's combat has been very uplifting, I dare say exactly what she needed to get back on track with this campaign. Next weekend, the Golem fun continues! Let's see if we can't complete both of these card sets and see what other secrets lie within the rocky defenders of Henesys. A quick spoiler alert: You won't be disappointed.

Have a terrific week!

 

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SPECIAL XIV. A Party at Henesys

Spoiler: SPECIAL XIV. A Party at Henesys

The last day of summer on Victoria Island is always a sad affair, at least for those who crave the warmth and sunshine the season provides. Celestalia was proud to count herself among that number, and the experience she'd had the previous winter shivering away in the aft of the Henesys Weapon Store cemented her feelings thoroughly.

Thankfully, this year would be a lot different. The Nautilus has central heating! Is there nothing this naval engineering marvel can't do?

Well, there are a few things, the Huntress had to admit. For one, the local food at Nautilus Harbor left a lot of things to be desired. If you wanted good seafood in Victoria, Lith Harbor was far and away the place to go. It was such a chore to go to Henesys for groceries too. And if she didn't want to walk, the taxi expenses really add up. So, any other excuse she had to return to her hometown was good enough to be worth looking into.

On an otherwise inconspicuous Tuesday evening, she got one. Turns out that Maya (the famous one) was hosting a sort of housewarming party. As far as anyone knew, all adventurers were welcome to make themselves at home. So, many did. Not too many, though.

Celestalia soon found herself at the premises and was welcomed by many of the other partygoers. She was having a splendid time chatting with some of the other guests when, suddenly, a familiar fraternal figure appeared at the gate.

"Brother!" Celestalia called.

"I figured I'd find you here," said Erenell as he strolled up to his, again, wayward sister.

Soon Erenell found himself, too, awash with welcomes and compliments on his business attire. Celestalia, who was wearing her normal gear, didn't receive anything of the kind. Maybe that was good news - either she was finally starting to be taken seriously, or she looked like a normal adventurer for a change. Possibly both. Not that anyone really recognized her. She wasn't surprised, but simply disappointed at how rare that still was. Ever since childhood, Celestalia had a part of her that longed for shining glory and recognition. Athena's accomplishments probably had a lot to do with that. That said, after the recent debacle at Oceanicia, she knew it would be a long time before her aspirations would in any way be realized. Or so she thought.

But there was something else about that day she had on her mind. And Erenell was going to play a larger part in that saga than he had in mind. Celestalia had to pounce while he was attentive.

"Hey brother, by any chance..."

"Hmm?"

"Have you run into Hikaria at all?"

Erenell paused a moment, but not as long as if he would have recognized the name.

"Wait, who?"

"The girl from the cloud...thing...I don't want to say it." Celestalia winced.

"Sister, I've told you this already. It's not as bad as-"

"You share a storage with her, you dolt!"

"Storage?! Since when?!" Erenell marveled at this outrageous claim. "And how would you...oh. Huh."

Erenell always kept a close eye on his inventory. He didn't remember a Cape for DEX scroll being on the list before, but...

"That would explain why there was a weird scroll in my storage, huh?"

"It's not exactly yours anymore!"

Erenell sniped a resigning look at Celestalia before turning to fraternize with some of the other guests. Aescavon's guild, GangGang, was recruiting here too. Of all places! Recognizing the name, the Gunslinger seized the opportunity to sign up.

After a while, the party had ended and the two were back onboard the ship. Before Erenell climbed into bed, Celestalia asked him to take some scrolls off of her hands. Not having much room in his own pockets, Erenell only accepted those he already had a spot for. That still saved his sister some 3-4 spots, which, hopefully, would give her enough room to open the massive stacks of Ice Boxes she was holding on to. Hikaria had clearly opened hers, as the storage was packed full of Ice Cream Pops and Watermelon.

When he reached his bunk, Erenell turned downward towards Celestalia. "Do you think you'll meet her again?"

"I don't want to."

"...But why? What has she done?"

"My first impression was...well, it...wasn't on even terms." Celestalia shut her eyes in frustration. Every time she went back to that day...

"Celestalia, there have been far stupider ways - I've told you that already too! You just won't listen."

Erenell waited for a response, which was not at all forthcoming.

"Tell you something. I figure, if ever you fall in the thick of battle, you're going to forget all about this."

"...Yeah. Because then it will actually have meant something. Look, can we not talk about this right now? I'm sleepy."

"If you insist. Goodnight then."

Meant what? Erenell asked himself. He peeped over the side of the bunk to find Celestalia's eyes locked tight. Well, there was no getting through to her. Not soon, anyway. At least she was going to reach a new level that weekend. That would ease her mind a bit. Maybe she'd have to beat Athena. Though none of that was really any of his business.

Was it? Or...would the mysterious woman from above have another perspective...

Spoiler: The Party

Not pictured, another member of the LoneWolf family to the left. My item inventory was in the way for some reason. >_<

 

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PART CLIII. The Super-Duper Golem Marathon

Spoiler: PART CLIII. The Super-Duper Golem Marathon

Ah, I am excited! It's time for 4-5 hours of straight Golem action with very little risk of misfortune!

Now if you'll recall, we got the first card for both Stone and Mixed Golem in one hour of fighting. So mathematically speaking, we should be golden. The only question is, what happens when we do get both card sets? Both Golems ought to have something for us; so where do we go when both are done? My obvious answer to this is to just keep farming the Mini-Dungeon. Stone Golem Temple is a unique locale, but has a bunch of Blue Mushrooms and sometimes Lupins. Not terrific.

In the interim I've also figured out some of the next steps for us to take. Specifically, Lumati-related. I mentioned a while ago in passing that Celestalia got tipped off to another Lumati location:


It turns out that just one card set separates us and Mu Lung: Malady. While they would be a lot easier to handle with Arrow Rain, it's not...strictly necessary. So getting that out of the way early means we can go here and the Choro is basically ours. In theory.

Game plan therefore is as follows:
1. Obtain all drops from Stone Golem/Mixed Golem
2. Malady
3. Straw Target Dummy for the Lumati/Choro
4. Drake for the Dark Willow

If we haven't yet hit 70 by that point, then...well, you know by now how our RNG is. Enough talk, begin the chaos!


Celestalia strikes quickly, obtaining Stone Golem #2 just eight minutes in!


The first equip was a Level 40 Gold Cleave, which she mistook for being something a bit more substantial.

The next Thief drop was a bit better:

Ah yes, the ancient pastime of spawning right on top of Celestalia. Alive and well here in the Mini-Dungeon.

We went yet another tier forward to snag a Bronze Identity.


At 37 minutes (~00:15), Mixed Golem tied it at 2 cards a piece. Then we stopped to vote. Coming out of that, we at last got something not-Thief: A White Calas.

00:38 gets us Stone Golem #3, about halfway through the Mini-Dungeon time limit. So we're ahead of the expected pace! That's brilliant news.

This news was met with similar enthusiasm:


With this level, we reach 300 DEX for the first time. Some equips getting shuffled around might change that, but that's the tally for now.

It was another 40 minutes or so before we broke through with card #4. As confident as Celestalia was that Stone Golem would have something...it did. It had Bow ATT 60%. Equips, you mean? Oh, no, no, none of those.

Anyway...with about 2 and a half minutes left in the Mini-Dungeon, Celestalia steps out to break and grab a quick bite to eat. Of course in Celestalia terms, quick generally means about 20 minutes.

Ten minutes or so into run #2, not that this means anything coming from Stone Golem, but we get the other half of the Red Moon outfit.


You ever notice how each buff has a different animation in the middle? I didn't until maybe 10 minutes before the end of the entry.

The defense one is...some kind of animal skull. Why exactly? The mystery is uncanny...

It was a long slog, but at 02:27, Stone Golem got knocked out of the park.


To my knowledge this is the first card set photo to feature a Rare Gachapon Ticket.

So...yeah. Since Stone Golem gives us nothing, there is little reason to stick around the Mini-Dungeon. Let's go to Henesys! In the next installment, Celestalia enters the ancient Temple of the Golems...

 

​

PART CLIV. Temple of the Golems

Spoiler: PART CLIV. Temple of the Golems

Well good news, we have enough space in our inventory that we don't even need to go all the way back to Henesys.

So Celestalia briskly heads in to the enchanted structure.


Golem Temple is not too confusing to navigate. The Mixed Golem area, however, is behind a different kind of door at the very top, so it's easy to miss.


As you can tell by this photo, there are no Lupins here to annoy us! The Fierries are potentially a nuisance but they're so flimsy it's almost like they're not there.

It's really weird though. The topography itself is all over the place, so picking up everything just can't be done. BUT, the actual route through the map couldn't be simpler; it's basically a circle with a few extra steps at the left side. And because of this, Celestalia is incredibly efficient because she can use Power Knockback to push the Golems where she needs them to be, and they get very easily bunched up on 2-3 platforms vertically close to each other.

Anyway, we get the fourth card at around 03:20. I promised you wouldn't be disappointed. Well, you're not going to be...but THIS. I couldn't have expected.


Looks like we won't be going to Mu Lung after all.

Now the reason I called attention to this prior to the fact was the Level 60 White Polyfeather Hat. Aescalloss was hunting Mixed Golem for a bit trying to land one for his brother. Not that it was that sorely needed. But for Celestalia, it's a guaranteed DEX bonus over the Blue Maro - the standard is +3. So, fantastic - we can fight for both of these at once.

The only problem in any of this is that the Olympus really doesn't want to be scrolled. As of tonight we've tried 2 60s and 2 10s, none have worked. That's about a 1 in 8 chance. This sounds like a bad omen. If we don't get the Asiatic Bow somewhere, I might fear for our chances against Athena after all.

Well expectedly, the last card didn't take too long. We got it around 03:40. If that's any indication, the equip drop rate should be very, very nice for when we return tomorrow night.

At the end, we had our choice of two cards to take. I went with the one on a higher platform.


Oh, we also got a Maroon Moon Pants at one point. Looks lavender though, doesn't it? It's in the first column right below the Green Gore Boots above.

So now it's time to go sell everything, and when we do, we pass 40 million! On the way to the cab, Celestalia passes someone singing some rather...questionable poetry to staff member Fubuki. Can't forget about those philosophers...they are indeed a strange bunch.

In the next installment, the Battle of Golemfourd erupts! Who will emerge as the champion this time around? Stay tuned!

 

​

PART CLV. The Battle of Golemfourd

Spoiler: PART CLV. The Battle of Golemfourd

Sometimes it pays mightily to go back and read earlier parts of the journal.

Just due to the color of the Overall, I completely skimmed over the fact that Drake drops the Blue Lumati.


So other than the fact that we double don't have to go to Mu Lung, this means we can theoretically leave Mixed Golem early if the correct thing drops. That said, our mob throughput is so good at Golem IV. What I'm thinking about doing then is, if we get the White Polyfeather Hat before the Lumati, go to Drake, and if we get the Dark Willow first, then come back to Golem IV. That's quite a few ifs, though, so maybe it won't really even be a decision.

Anyway, we got a unique opportunity to start rather early. In fact, it was around midnight server time. There will probably be a significant break in the middle, so call this run #1 for now.

We begin the evening where we left off last time, the "Maroon" Moon Pants.


Around 15 minutes later, a Level 60 Blue Orientican.


Yeah so we're in a decent place here. Just need to carry the momentum over...

At the one-hour mark, we had to end the run. And while we didn't get any other equips, we did reach 50%! This is some of the best XP Celestalia has ever had. If we stay here long enough, we might be less than a month away from...

Huh, that is coming up faster than I expected.

Before breaking, we purchase another row of Use slots. That was prompted by a few things, but one of them was we went over four stacks of Elixir. Why do I keep feeling like we're in danger of running short on pots, and forgetting that there are...612 of these lying around. And will we get another 200 Christmas Candy in a few months? That stack remains 100% intact.

Okay, so we get back in it an hour and a half later. 20 minutes in we get the ball rolling again with a Red Orientican Pants.


A bit later we get a second Lavender Moon Pants. Not even 40 minutes in to this run, we've picked up 10%! 67 is 100% feasible...no pun intended.

But the 60s kept coming too! Here we have a Light Mantis Pants.


The matching top was to follow.


That was about it for...well a really long time. It felt like nearly two hours. Actually, it was 40 minutes. Higher than average time for equips. But I'll say this: This next drop was a bit higher than average.


WOOHOO! We actually won a battle! And that's not all - how about +4 DEX!


For the first time since...honestly I have no idea, but I'm going to guess Week 2...we have multiple equips up to date. A stunning achievement to be sure! But we can do even better than this. Drake awaits, and should we be fortunate enough, we are going to be in for a wild few levels leading up to the Fight of the Century.

My intention at this point is to keep trying mobs in the mid-to-high 50s or somewhere nearby. I've got to see if there's an Asiatic Bow somewhere in there. If not, well, the Olympus is serviceable enough to carry us through.

It better be!

*Ahem* Anyway, here's what our Use inventory looks like heading into next weekend:

Elixir: 641 (includes Christmas Candy)
Watermelon: 511
Red Bean Sundae: 523
Ice Cream Pop: 606
Maple Special Bento: 39
White Potion: 37

Celestalia has taken supreme advantage of the Summer Event. The wait was truly worth it; last time, she started her adventure only about a week after it closed. This supply if used properly will serve us for months to come. If not more!

Right, that should do it. Have an amazing week, and be ready for Friday when we turn the Dungeon upside-down. Until then!

 

​

PART CLVI. The Battle of Dracteal

Spoiler: PART CLVI. The Battle of Dracteal

I started today with a discussion on Discord of possible ways to implement the Maroon Mop into MapleLegends, and ended with making an entry of the campaign...on a Tuesday.

To put things very short, I don't want to card hunt on certain characters to avoid spoilers for Celestalia. Sirbeg is one of them. And so, here we are.


Alright, so this battle doesn't actually help us get closer to the goal of opening up new card hunting areas for the Auburn family. But Celestalia has certainly been helping in other ways. You might recall that Kaloichi has been asking us for all of our Mithril Ore. Well, two days ago, he traded in two weeks' worth of Gachapon tickets from Celestalia...among his finds, a Shield MAtt 30% (7m+) and TWO Wand MAtt 30%s (5m+ each)!

Basically, Celestalia just paid for Kaloichi's Silver Deputy Star.

In any case, these weekday entries probably won't go on forever. At the very least, it will be until we get to 70. I'm too anxious to wait any longer!

Our start time for Day 1 of this engagement is just about midnight. I had to vote, of course, but otherwise we've got about three hours to sort through things. So we've got to be a bit efficient. Celestalia is doing her part by...snacking during the combat?! Is that possible? Well, the Olympus might get cheese dust on it, but otherwise it's fine.

And our first drop of the evening is...


Yep. There it is. After all this heartbreak, it took twenty friggin' minutes at Drake to get this one.

Now for the actual Overall we're going to be using...and with one handy-dandy Overall DEX 60%...ah, there we go.


Perfect! So our net DEX between getting this and the White Polyfeather Hat is +1.

It wasn't until 01:10 that we got anything else, and it wasn't terribly exciting:


And just two minutes later, this happens.


Game, you really have to do me like this don't you.

To be fair, the stats on this Lumati were exemplary. STR +4, 59 Defense, 2 Avoid.

The third drop in this 10-minute span was on the Warrior side of the table.


Extend that to 15 minutes and you also get a Dark Calaf.


Extend it to 20 minutes and you get a second Umber Shouldermail Pants!

Extend it to...35 minutes...and you get numbers six and seven. Not equips though, I mean this:


At which point Celestalia decided to call it a session.

Alright, I think I'm satisfied with that. You know, now that I really think about it, is the Dark Willow all that necessary at the moment? The Dark Brace is already +4 DEX. I'd be less concerned, except our equip slots aren't really all that limitless. So maybe...maybe we should just go? I promise I'll come back to Drake at some point...you know, unless we find something good elsewhere.

And as tempting as Mu Lung is, I really don't think Malady is a good opponent for us right yet.

So what exactly is left? Well, I can think of a few places that might work. We'll take these last three levels before 70 and experiment a bit.

In the next installment, it's back to card hunting! Stay tuned.

 

​

PART CLVII. Lightning Fingers vs. Lightning Horns

Spoiler: PART CLVII. Lightning Fingers vs. Lightning Horns

This has got to be one of the more obscure self-references in this journal.

It's a bit of a unique language, and sorry if you haven't read the entire thing. At this point, I don't expect really anyone to if you haven't been following along from the beginning.

After a lot of thinking, this is the spot I ultimately decided to start our search:


Surprised to learn that 1. This map does not actually contain Jr. Cellion, as I originally assumed, and 2. The mob density is fairly okay, and 3. They hit for less than I thought they would (120~130 touch damage, low-200s with the energy attack).

There are also a few sniping locations. Those have been quite rare as of late, so that's a welcome sight! Something tells me Celestalia won't use them too much though.

That said this was working really well, especially when the bottom floor gets cleared:


If we stand back a bit from the edge, we can hit nearly anything on the flat area.

It took nearly 20 minutes (01:08) to grab a card, and Cellion didn't really want to just give it to us. We're going to have to fight for every single one of these. There are...fourteen more.


We get the second one about fifteen minutes later, give or take one.

Then is our first drop, a Maroon Jangoon Shoes.


Only a Level 40, so that's not a terrific sign for the rest of the inventory. Considering...what we're looking for is 60.

Card #3 arrives at the next fifteen minute interval. It took a little longer than that for card #4, but only because I spent a few minutes putting together a funny screenshot. Well, I think it's funny at least. Hope you do too

Here's the drop table:


Well that's good at least, we have access to a Level 50 Earrings. We'll be back for them probably after the advance to Rangemaiden.

The first of the three cats is sorted at 02:05.


A bit expensive pot-wise, but we have plenty to spare anyway. We also picked 21 Elixirs. Closing on 700 of these.

Moving on!


This map is a bit more difficult. By a bit more difficult, I mean we can only snipe the very tip of the left platform. Whatever will we do

Card #6 falls underneath the shadow of the entrance gate within 8 minutes.


#7 took only 5 minutes.

And Cellion isn't the only member of the trio to drop the Purple Goni Shoes. Not that you can see them under the huge mound of items.


Also, this, which I almost think is the first one of its type I've ever received:


The Red Pennance is a Level 50 Magician Glove. The Level 50 gloves in general are very difficult to get, especially the top tier, which this isn't. Dark Willow from Drake might be the easiest of any of them, so Celestalia can be quite thankful for that. I guess we'll really see when we go back to get it though.

We then get a Dark Shadow, before landing card #8 all the way up past 02:45. Like their Juniors, Lioner is being very stingy with their cards. Admirable, but with the power of summer treats on her side, Celestalia cannot lose.

As if to demonstrate that, we picked up the last two cards simultaneously at 02:58.


Lioner drops three Bowman equips, all of which we are either wearing or have surpassed.

So that's two swings and two misses for the Asiatic Bow. Will Grupin be as unfruitful? Find out in the next installment! Stay tuned.

Spoiler: Let's Try!

"Best I can do is Arrow Bomb"

 

​

PART CLVIII. Groovy Grupins

Spoiler: PART CLVIII. Groovy Grupins

This has always confused me.


So besides the fact that Grupin is the only one of the three where the Jr. and the regular version are two different colors, their home map is neither of the two colors.

If you think that's bad, wait until you see this drop table. Calling it now.

But actually, we started off quite strong!


This is the Bronze Platine, a Level 70 (!) Warrior Top. The first 70 we've received off a regular mob.

You'd think that's pretty sweet, but we've just lost an inventory slot. That said, our sunglasses are expiring in a week and we won't be needing them again for a while.

Things balanced out anyway because we then got a Red Guiltian

The next interesting find was...some icicles.


They can be thrown, apparently. I guess the question is, does Grupin also drop Snowballs? Remember those from Fire Boar?

Now, about cards. So, number eleven popped up at like 45 minutes.


But, card #12 came immediately after that.

So you thought the Red Guiltian was poor? Grupin has you one better.


YES. The Level 30 Brown Jester. It's really a thing that drops.

Then was the thirteenth card (It was a bit past 00:30 at this time).

But fifteen minutes after that, you won't believe what happens.

For the second time in three sets, a near-simultaneous drop to end it!



Unfortunately there was nothing big for us. Some slight good news though: the Crystal Flower Earrings (Level 55). So we don't have to grind away at Dark Stone Golem for their 55.

Okay cool. So at least all three of these have been sorted. In less than half a level too! It's time to move on to the next region. We'll see what it holds for us in the next installment! Stay tuned.

It'd be cooler if I had Arrow Rain

 

​

PART CLIX. Around the Lake and Back Again

Spoiler: PART CLIX. Around the Lake and Back Again

My initial choice for the next region was Korean Folk Town.

However, ten minutes or so of fighting later, I abandoned that idea. The reason?


Well, the first mob there is this here songpyeon maker. The mob density is a lot lower than what we've been handling lately. Celestalia didn't appreciate that a lot, considering we're working on limited time and this mob is too low a level to have a good chance at the Asiatic. So we'll come back later.

Logically then, Celestalia goes to a map where the target mob is even less dense:


There are three reasons: First we already have a card. Second, they are much easier to fight. Third and finally, completing them unlocks a new region where we might have a lot more success.

On the way there though, the Huntress got a new idea on who might have it. As much as she really wanted to see how fighting in the Deep Clocktower is, after another twenty minutes or so...that epiphany hung in her head. And with (obviously) no apparent cards from Master Robo, maybe she did have to go there after all. So rather than take the train to Orbis and go down the tower, Celestalia went the other way: through the Aquarium.

So what mob did she have in mind?


We have to work a bit quickly here. Both Jr. Yeti and Hector (the brown wolves of which at least one blocks the next portal >.<) hit hard, and the cold does us no favors. Although for some reason we weren't getting damaged for a while.

Oh...wait. I think I know why we're not.


Yep, that'd do it.

Anyway this was a really good sign:


As it was Level 60.

From Hector we get the Dark Arten, before promptly picking up the second Jr. Yeti card.


I can tell you that one of Hector or White Fang, its snowy cousin, drops the Golden Crow (Level 60 Crossbow). I'm pretty sure it's this guy though. That is either good news for us or very, very bad news. Probably the latter.

The third card didn't take all that long, but we were now sitting at around 02:40. Meaning, we had maybe half an hour left to find the other two cards. I don't really care about that last one though, I'm just here to see the drop table.

Following that, we snag the other half of the Umber Mantis set.


And then the fourth card in pretty timely fashion!

As for the drop table...well, they did have a bow! Do you want to know which one?

...

The Red Viper.

...

HAHAAHHHAHHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAA-

Hehheh......get out of my face.


Four green cards in two days, and all we get are a couple of earrings. Classic Celestalia's Challenge for you! Well, I don't know where else to turn except for...right back where we came from. Victoria Island. We have as many mobs to card hunt here as the rest of the world combined. The seven foes range in level from 40 to 60, and they are as follows: Cold Eye, Iron Boar, Mummydog, Tortie, Wraith, Malady, and Red Drake.

I hope you've been enjoying the daily postings so far. I'm not sure if we'll be on tomorrow...I'll say probably at this point. Either way, who will Celestalia choose to fight first? Find out in the next installment!

 

​

PART CLX. Let's Conquest! Asiatic Edition

Spoiler: PART CLX. Let's Conquest! Asiatic Edition

It's been a productive week so far. We've picked up 1. The Lumati, 2. Four card sets, 3. A level, and 4. Uhhh...a sense of purpose? No I think we already had that. Maybe.

What has become increasingly clear is that Victoria Island is the way forward. Talking about the other areas...Ossyria. The only two mobs available are Hector, which has a total of three mobs on the map we just visited last time, and Lucida...which would probably kill us in three hits. Ludus Lake, we've got Eos Tower, nothing there worth fighting and especially without Arrow Rain; Master Robo, too inefficient; and Moon Bunny, just a bit too annoying. Shanghai and Nihal Desert also have nothing worth fighting at the moment.

Celestalia has been doing a lot of studying recently to try and figure out where some of the Victoria mobs are located. She's seen Cold Eye, fought Wraith and Tortie briefly, Mummydog she has two cards off of already, and she could venture an educated guess as to where the other three are. The first of the three is Iron Boar.

The Huntress figured that Iron Boar might be in a map fairly close to...well, the other Boar map. And she remembered seeing a few doors in there. She tried all three. The far right door was bolted shut, so no good. The middle one went to Over the Wall, which she'd known about since Week 3 but had never actually been to. It's just four kinds of Stumps, very boring.

The left door however goes to:


The biggest problem with Iron Boar is they do not get knocked back. Ever. It's not as terrible as it might otherwise be just because we're 22 levels higher than them and have the Olympus. Uh, Drake's Blood helps a bit too though.

So the first card landed at 00:08.


After our latest Drake items ran out, we went to vote, and then grabbed the second card 11 minutes after the first. Only three more separated it from card #3.

Then we got...hey! It's a Brown Piettra!


At 00:34 we get the fourth card. Part of why they were being collected so quickly was this bottom left area. It's basically an Iron Boar magnet.


Celestalia was able to do kind of the same thing at Lioner. You can hit both the stairs and the straightaway simultaneously.

Well there is understandably nothing on the drop table. But still, very fast card set. We were out of there well before even 00:50.


We also got a Brown Pilfer as a bonus reward.

Okay, next please!


We should be okay here. Summer treats + Olympus + superior tactics vs. the first outing? Should be enough.

And, well, it is. We can tank every single platform, and even when the main way fills up to the brim with Wraiths, getting a lane and rolling down the pike wasn't that difficult. Just tedious.

Wraith doesn't like dropping cards though. The first one doesn't come until 01:20.


Five minutes later we found ourselves with four. Where'd these all come from all of a sudden?! Don't ask me. Wraith drops two Maros, and that's about all there is to that.

After getting a White Jangoon Pants, we finish off the card set at 01:40.


20 minutes from card #1 to card #5. That might be the second-quickest turnaround we've ever had, after Pinboom. Impressive!

Alright, let's continue.


Only three cards to get here. We get the first almost immediately.


We also get the second...almost immediately! What is going on today?!

Aha! Look at this!


Outlined in red is the Oaker Garner, which is a Level 60 Glove! We need the Willow first of course. This is the base glove though (+1 each stat), so I'll pass for now.

At 02:04, the skeletal pooches are conquered.


Absolutely fantastic! But this time, we've got some new areas to explore. In the next installment, we head deeper into the Remains. Stay tuned!

 

​

PART CLXI. Castle Mapleskull

Spoiler: PART CLXI. Castle Mapleskull

Celestalia was in overdrive. Well, landing three card sets in two hours will do that for you. And we're not really spending all that much of our ginormous summer reserves. (Not to mention we're getting more Ice Boxes. And Elixirs.)

She would be stalled somewhat upon seeing this massive temple in the next map.


What I would like to call "Castle Mapleskull" I think extends through the rest of the region. We can pass this map, and I checked a similar entrance there, and it has the same surprises inside.


Finally, actual Skeletons! Now we're talking! Their touch damage resembles that of the cats, well the Officers hit for somewhat more. I think the Golems overall still hit harder. We'll be just fine, especially considering these guys are, well, almost as slow as the aforementioned.

Quick note here, I believe we only need the Skeleton Soldier card set to advance past the Remains III map. I saw one soldier there, and no officer. Past that, we might have a better area for the Officer Skeletons.

However it was quickly noticed that 1. We were getting hit quite a bit, since the tower was narrow, and 2. Officer Skeletons must have somewhere near 10,000 HP. So Celestalia soon decided to retreat. But before she did...


This, friends, is the Beige Patriot!!! Our...next hat!!!??


Unfrigginbelieveable. We are...AHEAD ON AN EQUIP!!

I know, I know, we lose a point of DEX. But by the time we get to 70 we'll have picked up quite a few more. Also, 2 STR, and also the extra MP will add up with enough Elixirs. The Weapon Defense has no change.

Anyway, I am very confident that we can absolutely light things up in there with Arrow Rain.

Until then, let's proceed to...ah. So it's finally that time.


Well sorry to disappoint you, but Malady isn't happening yet. No, it's not because we can't. Power Knockback wasn't working that well in keeping them away, but it was dealing a ton of damage. The actual problem was that there are Zombie Lupins at the bottom of the map! And when enough of them spawn, Malady stops popping up. Not fair! But maybe it's for the best. Again, we'll come back after Arrow Rain.

Since we're testing the waters everywhere anyway, let's go ahead and try:


We also took out King Clang again. He dropped three things! But none of them were Bowman


I think he can actually drop the Asiatic Bow. He should have everything that is at or around 60. But we can't rely on a boss for that.

Anyway, as has been the pattern this evening we are far more viable now that we have more levels, a better bow, and better pots. But being viable *here* is a lot different than being viable at, say, Wraith. We *can* fight here, but the question is, how long before we lose our minds after getting knocked off platforms enough times? The answer was about half an hour, it turns out.

But we did get on the board!


Arrow Rain, Tortie. Dread it.

That sadly will do it for this session. I'm really starting to think we're running out of options! Well, let's go back to hunting for the Dark W-hang on for just a moment. Why do I get the feeling...have I been forgetting a region this whole time?

*Checks Monster Book*

...WHAAAAA-

 

​

PART CLXII. Forest of the Ancients

Spoiler: PART CLXII. Forest of the Ancients

Tucked away at the very top of Helios Tower is an unusual but powerful machine.


Celestalia had ignored this area for a very long time; the only mention she'd ever gotten of it was somewhere around a hundred posts ago. Maybe now was finally the time to check and see if there were decent monsters here. There are a few entries in the Monster Book related to...well, natural-themed mobs, and perhaps this was the place to find them.


Ellin Forest is not all that unusual, at least compared to an entire floating kingdom made of plastic bricks. But Celestalia was at first a bit unnerved upon entering the camp's conference room. This individual looked rather familiar. Ultimately, she decided it was just a coincidence. This young woman is the expedition's leader, and in the eyes of the Huntress, she was fit for the job! Why? Well, she's wearing some familiar gear - the Red Legolia set and the Red Silk Boots!


While Celestalia's outfit is superior, she could tell this adventurer was going to go far.

With the pleasantries having been dealt with, it was time to get to work. Sorry, friends, but this expedition has officially been taken over by the Celestial Empire.


The mob count here is very low, as Nimbus warned about in his Monster Book guide. But Celestalia likes that fine. Mossy Snail is slow enough that she can fight rather casually and still feel like she's accomplishing things. They don't hit for very much either.

Their HP by the way is 2400, and we have a small % chance to OHKO. We actually managed twice fairly early. Our Top Hit by the way is 2416. Forgot to mention it when it happened, it was either at Iron Boar or Wraith. I think it was the former...no promises.

Shortly enough, the first card drops.


We then crack a shell for 2445 points of damage. Not the stoutest defenses on these guys, I guess...

The second card comes about...let's call it 20 minutes? The time at this point is 01:45. We got two more cards within 10 minutes.

Oh hey! Look what decided to accompany us back in time!


Fantastic. No more Drake for us!

Well, we'll be back. But for now, let's go on to the next opponent. As the clock strikes 2, Mossy Snail is finished.


The next mob is a Stump. Noticing a pattern here...?


Also, I guess we've not quite moved on from Mossy Snail

Well this time it only took 5 minutes to see our initial cardboard.


And this place is supposed to be C-tier? Psssssssssssssh

Anyway, card #2 comes at 02:12. We haven't picked up any equips yet, which I actually like. We have to go through one time machine and two boat trips just to unload our inventory.

I mean I'll happily take a Dark Willow if you have one.

Another seven minutes pass, another card is collected. The fourth took about double that time. Got worried for a sec there

Tree Rod, believe it or not, has the Green Lumati! Well that would have been nice to know earlier >.< However our Choro with +4 DEX does the job just fine. So maybe it wouldn't have mattered either way.

And Card Set II is concluded after only a few more passes of the map!


Next up:


Stone Bug hits for more than the other two combined. However, it is hilariously slow. Stone Golem would beat it in a race, I reckon.

First off, we get the opening equip of the session...a Black Maro!


Don't be fooled, this hat has but the minimum DEX +2.

Pah! We have better ways of getting DEX than that! For instance:


Two levels. That's all we have left, folks. Can Celestalia survive?

Not too long after this, Stone Bug gets on the tally.


And another card pops up pretty much immediately. Card #3 didn't take all that long either...same for Card #4.

No drop table goodies, but we do get a Brown Royce as a parting gift. We are done here at 03:05.


Beautiful stuff! Let's continue the conquest of the Ellin Forest in the next installment. Stay tuned!

 

​

PART CLXIII. Ellin (Almost) Joins the Empire

Spoiler: PART CLXIII. Ellin (Almost) Joins the Empire

The map Celestalia was just on is a fork; you can go either west or south. The map immediately to the west carries the lumbering Primitive Boar.

This teal-colored stone is interesting, but you can't actually go up there. Wonder why...

Before coming here, she did check out the southern approach. The mob blocking the way (well, actually, it's the final mob there is) is Mossy Mushroom, of which there are maybe a maximum of four; the next map is where we should go, but being Celestalia's Challenge, we cannot.

And she was getting even slightly annoyed about Arrow Bomb being so weak against the beasts here. So she did...the unthinkable.


Honestly, we might have done this anyway. Having an underpowered Arrow Bomb against Athena might have cost us dearly. Now, we don't have to worry about that.

Celestalia had no idea if it was making a difference, but we did get a card right after that, so.


But it didn't take long before she was noticing a stark contrast. If not in damage, at least in the stun rate! That extra 15% is allowing us to pin 3+ of these guys simultaneously on the regular. I don't think that was happening all that much at Level 15.

We get...well basically the rest of the set quickly enough. It was about 03:45 before we were all set. Again, no drops worth mentioning.


So that leaves us with this very inefficient setup.


Max Arrow Bomb is at least making things tolerable. We might be here for a long time though...and with control of the region on the line, I'm willing to put in the time and resources to do it.

But something else was not in such a mood. The Etc. inventory! It filled up and by 04:00 we had to pull out.

I'm not terribly disappointed. I highly doubt Mossy Mushroom was going to have much for us. Even if it did, nothing we can't get elsewhere.

Alright, so what now? Well, Celestalia has left a region unsurveyed. That would be Shanghai! We never left the opening farm map. Good thing she's in the Ludibrium region, and can go there now.

The first thing she encounters upon heading out of the farm is...this huge bug.


Not a great platform to be on as she ends up getting smacked for 850+ damage. But one below it offered a good sniping location, and she took down the beast without much effort. Her reward is...a card.


Everything else went well until this very confusing hodgepodge of a map:


There is a new mob here, Goat, which spawns on several platforms blocking our way. But...not consistently. Because there are so many platforms, which ones are blocked depends on what is happening elsewhere on the map. I'm going to say for now that this is impassable.

Not that it mattered anyway, because while looking around the previous map, we found more,


And it turns out at least one spawns on the ground floor. So this map is also sort of impassable. I'd want to fight here anyway, just because there are less platforms.

So ultimately, Celestalia ended up back at Victoria Island. I have a feeling at least one of the areas we tried earlier might be doable now with Max Arrow Bomb. I really want to try Skeletons again; it is very possible the Beige Patriot isn't the only thing they can give us. But the sadder, real reason is, what else is there to look at? Red Drake maybe, but there are too many other mobs to make that map worthwhile.

No one should deny though that not only are they potentially very profitable, the XP rate should be quite decent. If Skeletons are the path to 70, then to Skeletons we shall go!

Well, we're not really going anywhere this time, but since it's Saturday, I'll say it as usual. Have a great week! And if you are sticking around, I'll see you on Page 11 as we go back to Castle Mapleskull. Stay tuned!