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ROAD TO TRYNTON
Vampire Bat Wing
My next agenda, since I'm at about the right level for it, is to acquire a Vampire Bat Wing. This item is an ingredient for the Vampire Chain that my Rothgar will use.
First, I rest up until its dark and night out, and before I leave Arnika. Vampire Bats are more likely to spawn at night. I then put up my buffs and enter the Arnika-Trynton Road area and look about. If something other than Vampire Bats have pawned, I simply reload and try again.
Once I do get a pack Vampire Bats and Twilight Bats, I run so as to back myself into a cranny. The point of this of course is so that the Bats cannot surround my party, and can only approach my front 3 characters 1 at a time.
Once this is in place, I give them a steady barrage of Fireballs and Piercing Pipes while my warriors wail on the foremost Bats. Each Vampire Bat individually has a 5% chance of dropping a Wing. I got on on my first try, but if none of them had droped a Wing I would have reloaded my Autosave.
I fortunately did not have any party members have their hit points drained. I had a batch of Potions of Renewal on hand in case I needed to undo that.
Rattus Rattus
As I near Trynton, I run into a Rattkin thug named Rattus Rattus. By the way, you're going to have to get used to the overdone Guido accents, cause all Rattkin in the game talk like this. He has a job for me, to rob the bank in Arnika. But it's a broken quest, cause he'll disappear after this conversation.
Shrieking Heads
I go east and notice that there are some Shrieking Heads up ahead. They can cast spells, and I don't yet have spells like Elemental Shield and Spirit Shield. So I hide behind a mound in order to minimize the distance from them when the fight starts. It's actually beneficial, as three of them end up coming to me. It's a matter of plugging away at them, and hoping that their castings of Insanity happens less often, casting Heal Wounds and Stamina when I need to, until I can pull ove the finish line.
Zarax and Errol advance to their 11th levels. Zarax maxes out his Strength and obtains the Power Strike skill. He now adds to Piety to increase his Stamina, and his Speed until it reaches 55. Errol continues to add to his Strength and Vitality.
I continue eastward, and avoid Picuses led by a pair of Greater Picuses along the way. I'm not ready for that fight yet. I reach the east end of the road and enter Trynton itself.
Hogars on the Bridge
I start off in the northwest corner of Trynton. I go east across the bridge and get close enough to four Hogars so that they attack me. I retreat to the bridge. The bridge ensures only two of them can attack me at a time. Rothgar did get knocked unconscious at one point. But Errol used a Smelling Salt on him. Zarax's Stun Rod does a great job of rending the Hogars vulnerable to highly damaging follow-up attacks.
Vi Domina takes Charm when she advances to her 8th level so that she can begin accumulating Mental Mana.
Picuses
I continue east and get surrounded by numerous Cassowary-like birds called Picuses. An Insanity spell from Chun-Li renders them unable to fight back. I have little trouble killing them off after that.
Acid Vines and Iron Weeds
I next fight several Acidvines along with a pair of Iron Weeds. All of them can shoot projetiles. The Acidvines can emit burning spores that cause the irritated condition.
One of the Iron Weeds leaves behind Iron Weed Thorns, which is an ingredient needed for the Steelhide Breastplate if you're interested.
Battering Hogar
I continue east and run into a Battering Hogar. It actually has less Hit Points than a standard Hogar. But its attacks do even more damage and are more likely to render their targets unconscious. I manage to wear it down.
I continue east and defeat another Hogar.
Swallower
I continue east and run into a Swallower. A Swallower can as the name implies swallow a party member whole with its bite attacks. A swallowed party member cannot act and will take damage each round. Killing the Swallower will free the party member and end any continuous damage, assuming the party member is still alive. I cut down the Swallower before it can do anything.
I continue to the entrance to the Swamp. I rest up, put my buffs back up, and then enter the swamp.
Mosquitoes
I go east along the road in the swamp. I run into six Mosquitoes. They can drain Stamina with their attacks, but I still have little trouble with them.
Swarming Wasps
I continue east and run into several Swarming Wasps. Their chief danger is their ability to sing their victims with their stingers. An Insanity spell from Chun-Li keeps them from making sustained attacks against the party. Using Heal Wounds and Cure Paralysis when needed sees me through.
Poison Seekers and Shrieker Bats
I continue east along the road and defeat monsters that I've before, Poison Seekers and Shrieker Bats. They're much less difficult now that I've gone up a few levels.
BloodDrinkers
Now I cut a little northeast, and cross the bridge that leads to the north side of the Swamp.
I soon encounter four BloodDrinkers. Their projectiles can cause blindness, nausea or paralysis. Their stinger attacks can drain Hit Points if you get close enough to them. On the plus side they don't have that many Hit Points themselves. So I rush them and manage to cut them down without much trouble.
Emerald Slime and Greater Seekers
I continue north and an Emerald Slime shows up. I race forward and hack it down. Two Greater Seekers and four Stalker Seekers soon show up. All of them can cause poison with their spit attacks. The Greater Stalkers can cause blindness as well. I go after the two Greater Stalkers, with the four Seeker Stalkers to my left side. Zarax uses his breath on the Seekers, while Errol uses his Piercing Pipes on them to wear them down. The rest of the party cuts down the Greater Stalkers.
Rynjin Overseer and Scavengers
I encounter a Rynjin Overseer and three Rynjin Scavengers a little further along the road. Rynjin are basically the equivalent of Monks, except they can use their martial arts abilities at extended range, and they can use spells from the Psionics spellbook like Monks.
I'm doing this fight a little earlier than I'd like to, as I don't yet have access to the Soul Shield spell. But it's a matter of rushing them down one by one, hoping that party members becoming insane because of their spells happens to a minimum, using healing spells when needed, and some luck. I do eventually manage to get topsides of them, but I'm pretty battered afterwards.
Mauligators and Ironskin Crocodiles
I continue east along the road when I spot some Mauligators. But I am in no shape to fight them, at least not yet.
I find a couple of huts by the roadside. I loot them, rest up, and put up my buffs again.
The Mauligators are close by. I approach them just close enough to get their attention. I spend the first round retreating and positioning myself at the door to set up a bottleneck. They can only attack me one at a time.
But the fight is still not free of danger. They can bite multiple times, and each individual bite can score 30+ damage. I use Heal Wounds on anyone who's been injured, even if they seem at 50% or more of their Hit Points. It is best not to take chances. In fact, Terra luckily avoided getting killed by dodging two of the bites against her while she was on death's door. I managed to heal her after that.
Chun-Li also casts Insanity on them when they're bunched together. Tearing each other apart only helps my cause. I eventually manage to prevail.
Vi Domina takes Web on her 9th level-up, in order to begin accumulating Earth Mana.
Several Ironskin Crocodiles come in my direction, and I use the same procedure on them.
I head east along the road. I reach a fork with one road going southeast and the other going northeast. I take the northeast road to its end, until I enter the Old Mine Tunnels.
Tanto Wasps
I arrive at the north entrance to the Old Mine Tunnels. A likely occurrence is that I'll get beset by a LOT of Tanto Wasps, and no surprise in this playthrough. Tanto Wasps can cause sleep, blindness, or stamina drain with their attacks. The first group is also helped out by some Savant Troopers and a Savant Gunner.
My party is going to get surrounded completely in the wide open space. An Insanity spell from Chun-Li sows just enough division among the Wasps that can pull through, although I still need to make frequent use of Heal Wounds.
A second group approaches me, along with a few more Wasps. I retreat and dig myself into a cranny. They can only attack me three at a time, and only my front-line warriors.
A few of them dropped Tanto Wasp Wings. I now have one of the ingredients I need for the Featherweight Armor.
RFS-81
Now the party heads up the knoll and finds a series of huts. It is now that I complete the objective for coming here. There is a dormant Savant cyborg who's unresponsive. Look around BEHIND the hut that doesn't have a roof. 'Search' or cast Detect Secrets to find a hidden NAS-81 Potion. I already had one when I defeated the Savant Troopers near the Savant Tower in Arnika though. Use the Potion on the cyborg. RFS-81 now awakens, and I recruit him into my party. He has the martial arts abilities of Monks, but cannot cast Psionic spells. Also, he is willing to go anywhere with you, including the underwater and Rapax areas, which is more than the other NPCs can say for themselves.
But then I get attacked by a few more waves of Tanto Wasps. The first wave I take the opportunity to have Rothgar switch out his Zizka Star for a Bullwhip I had found earler, and then have him change over to a flank guard. I can do this now that RFS-81 can take on the front-line position. Ryu now gives his Hayai Bo over to RFS-81. I also dig myself into the hut so that the Wasps can only attack me two or three at a time.
The second wave I tried maybe Zarax on the front line and RFS-81 from the flank with his Bo. But I realize that for now it's better to have RFS-81 using many attacks from his Martial Attacks, and Zarax hitting from the back with his Stun Rod.
Rothgar takes Rest All on his 11th level-up, which provides an option for when multiple party members need to have their Stamina restored. Ryu takes Freeze Flesh as an offensive option on his 11th level-up.
A third wave arrives that includes a pair of Emerald Slimes. I'm also getting beat up and low on Mana. So I have Chun-Li use a Magic Nectar to recover some Mana. She also uses Insanity on the Tanto Wasps, which helps to minimize their attacks against myself. I gradually take them out one by one, and then take out the Emerald Slimes as well.
I finally make my way back to where I first entered the Old Mine Tunnels. I rest up, put my buffs back up, and return to the Swamp.
Queen Ants and Soldier Ants
Now I go west on the road from the northeast corner of the swamp. Twice I run into a colony of Soldier Ants led by a Queen Ant. The Soldier Ants are easily killed. The Queen's spit attacks can cause either blindness or insanity. But I manage to defeat both groups with physical attacks.
I continue west and come across two Rynjin Overseers and four Rynjin Scavengers, possibly a tougher fight than last time. But now I use one of the huts to my advantage. I stay close to the door to a hut and wait for them to come to me. I stay inside the hut but just a little to its side. The result is that only one Scavenger can get a line of sight on me for spells, which makes things a lot easier. Their weakness is fire. So Chun-Li bombards them with Fireball spells once they bunch up around the door. I cut down an Overseer each time one comes in through the door.
Flesheater Slimes
I continue west and run into a pair of Flesheater Slimes. Their spit attacks can cause either disease or nausea, while their melee attacks can drain either Hit Points or Stamina. Disease and Hit Point drains are what I am anxious to avoid. The Missile Shield goes a long way to minimize the danger, and I manage to take them down one at a time without getting the nasty afflictions I don't want.
I continue west and south, and kill off another Queen Ant and her Soldier Ants.
I head towards the bridge. Another four Flesheater Slimes are nearby. This time I use the bridge to my advantage. I wait on it so that they can only come at me one at a time, allowing me to cut them down one at a time.
Terra takes Cure Poison on her 11th level-up.
Chun-Li takes Summon Elemental on her 11th level-up. Elementals can both distract enemies, soak up a lot of damage, and dish out hefty damage themselves. Note also that Chun-Li only added 1 point to Intelligence and stopped at 95 points Intelligence, and then began adding points to Speed instead. The reason is that she will soon get a one time only +5 boost to Intelligence. Adding any past 95 would become a waste.
I continue to take the road towards Trynton. I defeat another group of Ironskin Crocodiles with the help of a Water Elemental and an Insanity spell. I take out a pair of Greater Seekers after that.
I reach the west exit, rest up, buff up, and then enter Trynton.