And we're back! Seriously people, never get yourselves sociable or employed. Just sit home in your underwear all day and write LPs. The way I do.
... Seriously peeps. Fuck you for making me do LPs in my underwear! You have no heart, people. You have no soul. I wouldn't listen if you sang the blues. I swear, people. You're a sinful people. And for your sins, I present to you the worst god-damned update you've ever seen. And then it's gonna be the end, my friend.
Boom! Nobody survived.
I see you are distressed, narrator.
Hell yeah I am. It's time to kick ass and do the LARPing... and I'm all outta LARP.
I see. When a sinful audience and the almighty narrator stand apart, what is the means of reconciliation?
Yeah, what?
.......
Screw you.
Floor 3
Not pictured: our party defeating another group of Zombies, which allows Gaider to gain enough exp for a level up.
But we won't be going back to town just yet. Let's rather explore the third floor first.
Floor 3 is meant to bring less hardy players down to their knees. It has nothing but pits, spinners, messages, and secret doors, and overall looks pretty basic, but believe me, it's a huge pain to map it blindly. The main problem is, of course, spinners. In contrast to, e.g., Dark Heart of Uukrul's spinners that, if I remember correctly, only turn you around 180 degrees, the spinning plates here operate randomly, making you face a
random direction every time. Which is further complicated by the fact there's no compass and no means of figuring out the direction you're facing, what with the environments all looking exactly the same. Moreover, the stairs down to the fourth floor are well-hidden and very hard to find, being surrounded as they are by three (!) pits. The game is sadistic, and that's the way RPGs should be.
As it turns out, however, the SNES version makes it somewhat easier on the player, if only to a small extent. The
Dumapic spell, you see, functions as the game's automap:
This isn't the kind of automap you can access as many times as you want, though, since spell points are limited. Personally I believe this is a nice trade-off between having a normal automap that you can consult indefinitely and having none. Here, you actually have to manage your resources carefully, since the choice, as far as 1st level Mage spells go, is basically between Dumapic and Katino, the latter being
the most useful combat spell at this point, so you actually have to think twice whether to access the automap or not. And the game isn't ashamed of draining your resources quickly.
Anyway, here we are on the third floor.
I'm in a tank, bitches! Steer my wheel, Pete!
The messages are a bit tricky.
Assuming, for example, that you head north from the entry point, the first message you get is a fair warning: if you proceed further north, a pit will be waiting for you there. So let's assume you head west next. In that case, you get another message telling you to turn around at (10,15). This is, again, a real warning, but after that the messages will be doing nothing but deceiving you and luring you into traps.
The one at (5,15), for instance, tells you to turn right, and you're going to fall right down into a pit if you do.
I'm not!
Neither am I!
We're making money
off idiots! That's a different thing.
You think you're making lots of money? I'M gonna be making EVEN MORE money!!.. Once I get rid of you all! You
idiots! Mwuahahahaa! The ultimate RPG will be MINE! ALL MINE!
What?
Is someone there?
Proceeding further west, you're told to turn left at (0,15), and yes, there's a pit there again. If, on the other hand, you approached the same spot going east from (15,15), you'd be sent right onto a spinner, which would also complicate things for you and probably send you to your death in another pit.
... What the?
You think you're heroes? I'M the only hero! You'd all be nothing without me! You are but my shells, my avatars! Bow before your lord!
Who's there? Show yourself!
Heh heh heh mwuahahaha! I'm watching you, scum! Watching you from high above!
Who the hell are you?
It's me... Andrew!
Who?
Well, actually, my name is Richard. But everybody calls me Dick.
...
I make a guest appearance as Andrew in this game, you see.
...
What, you think I'm up to something? Man, I'm just bored.
...
That's a Japanese thing, fatso. Are you a Jap? What's this, a god-damned JRPG?
So you're this game's hero, Andrew? You sure?
Look at me, boy. I'm an evil, twisted man in a space suit, fond like a girl of most childish things!.. Of course I am a hero! I'm a spaceman, kiddos! Goddamn Batman in space!
... That's what my mom said! I thought I'd stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but...
But here you are. But you aren't really supposed to be here, right? This isn't
your kind of game.
What, you think I'm fucking up the lore? I AM the lore! How 'bout I fuck
you up instead?.. Damn, forgot I'm but a shadow (of my former self). Screw you. I'll be back.
What a weirdo.
Hey Dark Underlord, who was that?
Didn't I tell you? He's the one in charge around here. Kind of. Goddamn lunatic.
What? I thought you were in charge?
Nah, I'm just here to be your guide. I'm but an underlord. That guy?
He's the mad overlord.
The enemies in here aren't kidding around with you either. The content of the earlier Epic Fails (tm) update? It came from here.
The Ninjas are, as you know, a prestige class.
Level 3 Ninjas appear in groups of 2D4+2, i.e., in fairly large numbers, they do up to 5 attacks per round dealing 1D4 damage each, AND they can poison you or one-hit kill you (the Autokill ability which is their class ability). In other words, they are a real threat for a party of our level and abilities, since we can't even cure poison nor paralysis yet.
Were Bears and Vorpal Bunnies are a pain as well. They usually go together, and again, in fairly large numbers.
Were Bears appear in groups of 2D3+2, have 5D8 HP, hit for 3D6+1, and can poison and paralyse you.
Vorpal Bunnies come in groups of 2D3+2, have 3D6+2 HP, hit for 1D6, but most importantly, they can decapitate you, which counts as an insta-kill.
There's simply NO way we could defeat such a group at this level, so the only realistic option is to run away as soon as possible.
Eheheh... Human flesh...? Is it sooooo...?
WAHHHHHHHHHH!!
Don't come any closer, monster!
Hooheehee... You'll make for many a feast... Heeheehee..
Pete, run! I'll buy you time!
What are you talking about?! We're... We're always together! I can't leave you!
...Pete! Can't you let me look cool for once?
No! ...I'm not running!
Twins... Twiiins... Hooheehee...
...Very well... Pete!
...We're ALWAYS together... ...To the very end!
There are also some middle-of-the-road enemies on this floor, such as
Mangy Dogs aka
Coyotes. They come in packs of 4D2, attack for 4D4, and have 4D6 HP. Their AC is only 8, which makes them easy to hit and kill.
Unfortunately, they can flee from combat, which is kind of irritating. Hit and run is probably the most annoying enemy tactics.
Sometimes, 4D4 equals 16.
Also, Sawyer can now paralyse foes! Manifo is the next most useful combat spell after Katino.
The exp greatly depends on how many enemies have run away, unfortunately, and Coyotes tend to run away a whole lot.
The hell are you doing, froggy?!
What a cute little frog... FOR ME TO STOMP ON.
The
Amphibians are
Giant Toads. They are easily killed, but beware their poison. In Wizardry, poison is an
extremely nasty status effect if you can't heal it on the spot: every two steps a character takes when poisoned take away 1 HP. Which means that, when poisoned here on B3, there is no way you can make it back to the town without ending up dead midway.
Priest are now
Level 3 on this floor; still, they're scared of us and run away.
Sometimes,
Were Bears appear alone, not accompanied by Vorpal Bunnies. In this case, you can kill them if you're lucky. Katino and Manifo help a lot, naturally.
Pete even manages to one-hit kill a Bear. Good going, Pete!
Unfortunately, two Bears flee and then Pete gets paralysed.
Oh well. But the rest of the fight is easy, made even easier by the fact yet another Bear decides to flee.
Still, 528 exp is nice enough, I guess. Unfortunately, being paralysed, Pete misses out on the experience.
Let's go back to town. Next time.
Hey Andrew, we're getting closer.
Just try me, suckers. This dungeon's gonna be your GRAVE!
Much like a young inventor, I've been working on it through the nights... I've designed it with such tender loving care, you'd think it wasn't made to KILL YOU!
... The guy's giving me the creeps.
Press A to more Wizardry!