@Jargon

Alright, you've caught up to me. I'm still working in there myself. VERY HARD.

I was reading an old Nintendo Power (REALLY!!), and apparently there is a strong strong thing hidden in the basement. I'll give that another whirl soon.

@Mr_Mustache

Keep me apprised. I hope it's not a case of having to Search every square, because that is annoying.

@Jargon

Have you been in the "basement?" I fell down a hole walking in. On your way out of the hole, you come to an area that is to the right of the dark stone walkway. The picture shows a guy searching the middle of that square area, and some stairs appeared. So yeah..search around there..

@Mr_Mustache

Yea I fell down there too. Crazy. I've been annoyed with all the empty chests in there (and deadly Chest Monsters or whatever).

@Jargon

Oh man, Spoilers. Haven't dealt with those guys. Empty Chests though, yes, someone said that Thieves have already been through there..but how can you just leave a chest? What if it ISN'T empty?

@Mr_Mustache It's a trap!

Put in some work before bed and finished off the Pyramid. Got the Magic Key and also the Golden Claw. For more on the Golden Claw, see below

So I searched in the area where you suggested and I found the staircase. I needed the Magic Key so I did that first and came back. Then it was a pretty short walk to the Golden Claw, I picked it up and was feeling good. HOWEVER, on the way out, I was just getting absolutely barraged with random battles, it seemed completely unfair. And you cant cast spells down there so I eventually met my end after using all my Medical Herbs (sooo close to escaping too, sigh).

I realized no one in my party could use the damn thing so I googled to see who could and I stumbled upon something I had suspected. Having the Golden Claw increases the rate of random attacks by a huge amount. That's the opposite of what I want in an old school RPG and only a fighter can use it anyway which I don't have, so I sold the thing off. Over 11,000 gold. Woo hoo!

I've recently gotten a very useful spell by the way: RobMagic. Now my wizard can pretty much cast with impunity since its pretty easy to steal back in most battles.

How's things going, Stache? I'm making steady progress on my end. I won't fill in the details in case you haven't had a chance to play much.

By the way, I never got the staff you mentioned in chat and I haven't seen it for sale. A hint on where I should be looking or how to get started if its a side quest would be appreciated.

@Jargon

I haven't been back yet, buddy. This week is bonkers. I don't know if I told you, but Nikki and I are in the process of moving into an apartment, one day at a time.

Oh, that Staff of Force deal? It was for sale in one of those towns. It was the belly dancing place, haha. I haven't used it myself, or bought it either, so I don't know how good it really is. Annnd..oh, that town, you gotta work with the guys to bring the price down, but you're still gonna pay a bunch. Might I suggest the Monster Pit?, haha!

I don't know when I can get going again on this. Hopefully soon. Sunday is usually my NES/NFL day, but I got backed the heck up on Fire Emblem, and devoted AN ENTIRE NIGHT to one stage yesterday. Hard as heck.


My DWIII itinerary:
1. Return to Belly Dancing Town to purchase Iron Helmets, Staff of Force
2. Finish the Pyramid


Thats all I've got planned. Did you get the deal in the basement?

@Mr_Mustache

No problem, man. Good luck with the move.

I was actually thinking of the Staff of Thunder, which I think you mentioned having. I bought the Staff of Force, it's handy but it eats up Questo's MP so I end up just parrying with him a lot in the less important battles.

I did get the thing in the basement (I wrote about it in spoiler text above). All I'll say spoiler free is that it is worth getting.

@Jargon

Oh, the Staff of Thunder. Yeah, I got that a while ago. I can't remember where I got it. Did I buy it? I'm not sure.

And the basement thing; isn't that for someone not like us? Or did you get a new party member?

@Mr_Mustache

It's for fighters but you can sell it for pretty big bucks

@Jargon

I figured the first part. I probably wouldn't do the second part in the event of the first part.

@Jargon Well, it does have one use. It's good for grinding to cut down on the time spent moving on the map, and it's also useful in spots with Metal Slimes. They have a low encounter rate, so they're easier to find when you have an increased encounter rate.

You can get gold from any enemy, but you'll never come across another rare item.

@Mop it up

I already sold it. Oh well, I think I'll be fine without it.

Alright,
I told you in Chat, but I'll offiically inscribe it here:

I've beaten the Pyramid, though I have to keep going back. I forgot the Claw, and I didn't even know about the 4th floor, ugh. Other things I've heard about but never found (until tonight); Wizard's Ring and Meteorite Armband. Did you find those?

If you kept forging forward, you're beyond them now, but cand be found quickly upon return.

EDIT- Looking for Portoga. Are we supposed to know where this is?? I'm using NP #27 when I get stuck, but geez.

Yup, I got all that jazz.

I think someone told me where Portoga is but if you want to know it's west of Romaly.

You have to go north, then west, through a little shrine thing that connects to the other side of the water, then south

You may have noticed already, but here is a tip about the Meteorite Armband.

The Meteorite Armband is an accessory that doubles a character's agility stat. This provides a less obvious bonus: a character's natural defence stat is half of their agility, and so this accessory also doubles a character's natural defence. You may be considering giving this item to your soldier with hopes of no longer moving last in battle, but it's better served by your Wizard, as this class will greatly benefit from that increased defence. A Wizard has pretty high agility to begin with, so the increase will be significant, and casting spells first is usually a good thing as well.

@Mop it up

I've been using it for my Pilgrim so that I know that she will be able to heal anyone who's in danger before the monsters attack.

@Jargon

Hmm.. I used it on my Hero.

--And the board might be fixed now?