Guides - Episode 4: Mop-Up #3



Quest: Episode 4: Mop-Up #3
Description: Sweep the enemies from the Subterranean Desert.
Client: Principal
Reward: Meseta (varies by difficulty). Also, you can win the Synthesizer by completing this quest on Ultimate.
Prerequisites: None
Overview: Episode 4: Mop-Up #3 is fairly straight-forward timed, killing quest. You start with 10 minutes on the timer and must kill all the enemies before it runs out. If the team is unable to clear the final room before time expires, they will be transported back to Pioneer 2 and be forced to exit the quest. Sixty seconds will be added to the clock each time your team clears a monster-infested room (excluding the last one). 

When  playing this quest on Ultimate, your team will have to move at a very quick pace to clear it in time. Each enemy spawn contains numerous monsters. It is advised that your team use a 4-way Photon Blast combination before loading the quest. Even with a full team of high-level players, it may take a few tries to clear this quest. To maximize your team's chances of clearing, they should ignore the boxes laying around and focus soley on the monsters.

Even though this quest does not have any hidden puzzles or warp, there is one environmental hazard that will make fighting difficult, super-heated sand (denoted as "Hot" on the map). The super-heated sand will do steady damage to your character, just like poison gas. The Force in the party should use Resta-range boosting items to keep the team's HP up in the rooms with this hazard. Also, teams should avoid using Photon Blasts in rooms with this hazard. Your HP will be drained while the Photon Blast is happening.

Helpful Hints
  • Never use a Photon Blast combination in a room that has super-heated sand. You will need over 1300 HP to surive the drain that will happen while a 4-way Photon Blast combination is taking place.
  • The Force must have a high-level Resta and range-boosting item. Otherwise, it will be hard to keep the party at full health.
  • Use freeze/confuse traps and weapons with Arrest to stop the huge enemy spawns. It is very easy for the enemy waves to overwhelm your party.
  • If you are using an android character, you can be very liberal in your usage of traps. There are three Health rings along the way that can be used to replenish your supply.
  • Whenever a Zu appears, make it your top priority. It will cause havoc if left unchecked.
  • Due to the large number of monsters, this is a great quest for leveling up and finding rares. You can earn more experience points from this quest than you can from Towards the Future.
Maps

About This Map
On the map below, the path the player should take is denoted by a red line. For the purpose of this guide, it is assumed that the player will head directly toward the exit. Doors and laser fences that are opened by pressing a button are also marked. Please note that switches are represented with circles and fences/doors with ellipsoids. Colors are used to indicate which switch opens which door/fence. Doors/fences that are opened as a result of clearing the room of enemies are not marked. Since it would be impractical to label every single box, a green box is used to denote a group of boxes in certain places. Finally, damage, confuse, slow, and shock traps are denoted using a generic Damage Trap icon. Claw and laser fence traps receive their own icons due to their unique nature. Like the box icon, a single trap icon may denote multiple traps of the same type.
Subterranean Desert 1

Walkthrough

Since this is a timed quest, you will have to fight your way through this quest as quickly as possible. Try to stay at full health and avoid using Photon Blasts in the "Hot" rooms. Heal before entering the final donut-shaped room.  If your team is running low on time, avoid opening boxes and focus on killing.
Enemy Counts
Enemy Desert 1
Goran 105
Pyro Goran 53
Goran Detonator 15
Merissa A 0
Sand Rappy 38
Satellite Lizard 73
Yowie 41
Zu 4
Girtablulu 0
Boxes 35

Guide assembled by Ryna. Credit goes to Saffran for providing the raw maps and information necessary to make this guide.