Final Fantasy IV: Ultima #5 - Antlion's Den
5Final Fantasy IV: Ultima is a hack by 8-bit fan that aims to present a more expansive version of the classic. New weapons, spells, bosses, and a modified overworld are just a few of the changes on tap.
The latest version of the patch can always be found here:
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4134/
One octopus given a vicious beating by Cecil later, he & Rydia arrive at Damcyan and...get to watch the Red Wings carpet bomb the hell out of the castle? Not exactly good so they rush in to check things out. Make sure Tellah has been unequipped of his belongings if you haven't done so yet. He's going to be leaving very soon.
Upon hitting the throne room, there's a bard by the name of Edward and a dying girl on the floor. Not just any girl though...Anna, Tellah's daughter. Cue the old man flying into a rage and taking it out on Edward. Unfortunately he only gets a 3/10 on the Maverick Hunter X rage meter.
Soon enough, Anna manages to stop the brawl, stating Edward is the prince of Damcyan and he disguised himself as a bard to visit Anna in Kaipo. They were about to leave to ask for Tellah's blessing in marriage and...well, you can see the results. Turns out this Golbez fellow took over Cecil's position in the Red Wings with smashing results, including an arrow storm that Anna facetanked to protect Edward. It costs her life sadly.
Tellah, still in a mild rage of sorts, shifts said rage from Edward to Golbez as he storms out. Edward, still very down seeing his love die in front him, requires a bitchslap from Cecil to knock some sense into him. He does know where a SandRuby to cure Rosa is and by god he is not going to see someone else's love interest kick the bucket, thusly a hovercraft is granted to reach the Antlion's Cave. Also, Edward joins the party.
At first glance, Edward seems rather pathetic. Low hp, barely any offensive might. However, his strengths lie in his unique skills. Hide makes him unable to be targeted by anything, be it friend or foe. This allows him to evade powerful attacks, then pop back in and heal everybody else.
Speaking of healing, his Salve command is insanely good. Costs a single Potion to apply its effects to the entire party with no reduction in its usefulness like you'd see multi targeting a Cure spell. This means Edward is going to act as the team healer for the next few areas.
Finally, his harp weapons can sometimes inflict ailments. In this case, his Dreamer Harp can inflict sleep. If that triggers, congrats, the enemy is probably going to die before waking up.
With that all out of the way, it's time to go invade the Antlion's Cave. You can enter Damcyan once more though and traverse the outer edge of the castle to find a hidden storage area with several consumables.
Oh, and the fact I randomly started walking? I STILL didn't 100% know how to trigger dashing at this point. This is why you read the manual folks!
In any case, the Antlion's Cave can be reached by taking the hovercraft over some rocks northeast of Damcyan. Once you reach the land on the other side, the cave should be near some desert to your south.
A few new enemies populate the Antlion's Cave, but the only annoyance is the Cream. Not for its weak offensive power, but because it has insane physical defense and total immunity to Cecil's Dark command. Rydia is going to be the only way you can easily take them down so be sure to come in to the dungeon at full mp...unlike me.
The only significant treasure in this area is an ExitDoor in the save room (warps you out of the dungeon you're in if it's possible) and a Lamia Harp for Edward in another room. This harp can randomly inflict the charm status. Not a bad way to trip up enemies.
Eventually, you'll find yourself in the den where the Antlion resides. Upon Edward trying to retrieve the SandRuby, the Antlion attacks suddenly. Time for Cecil to shame ANOTHER boss because of his Blood Sword.
The Antlion doesn't hit too particularly hard with its normal strikes. Certainly not enough to outpace Cecil's healing from his Blood Sword. It can counter any physical strikes with needles that can target any character, even ones that didn't trigger said counter. This means Edward is best suited to waiting around until someone falls low on hp, then uses Salve to heal that unit and everyone else.
Rydia, if she has mp to spare, can spam her Choco summon. The Antlion will not counter this so feel free to go nuts with it.
More next time!
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