EP4: New Quest: Pioneer Spirits

[Saffran]

Today a new quest has been released for Solo Mode on jp BB.
You start with Rupika and Ash and are sent on yet another mop up operation. First things first, check Pioneer: Bernie is there, as well as Karen. It hints at another mission going asided this one...

You start in Crater interior, the first ennemies spawn... and before you're done with these the next ones spawn... and so on and so forth. It feels like all 3 rooms (you will first do) are all like the endless series.

The interesting part comes after Crater Interior. Just as you're about to teleport to Subterrannean Desert 3, Ash the haxxor listens on the security channel of the government and hears that armed troops have ambushed the hunters in Crater East. He goes there to save Bernie and asks you to go on with the mop up mission.

I dunno what to do at this point. I have tried going to desert 3 - Rupika told me there that "maybe there's something we could do?" - but she died in the first room (after saving my butt countless times).

Maybe we can hijack the WORKS troops by nfiltering their area in Crater Interior? Time will tell. I'll be making more runs later.

[Saffran]

Hmm, second run through. Many cool things storywise, the Epilogue for example is rather cool.

A little surprise during myt first run:
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits057hn.jpg

Yet another "no trespassing" area:
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits06s8ke.jpg

Fear this fellow who will coldheartedly ambush you!!!
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits144wb.jpg

Spoiler free brainstorming:
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits13s7oj.jpg

All the following aren't spoilers free. Otoh, who knows when you guys are going to see these?

How about dinner and a movie?
http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits17s9sw.jpg

Or maybe a walk in Desert, OK...
http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits200ew.jpg

Nice...
http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits21s6uq.jpg

o0 wait a second... (you automatically exit the room after this cutscene, so these will be lost forever)
http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits242lt.jpg

Place yourself here and Zonde/long range weapon, Gaijin Punch http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif
http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits30s2qj.jpg

Likewise. Use Grants if you have a FOrce.
http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pioneerspirits31s2ru.jpg


I will compile the text of the Epilogue later.

All in all, a very nice quest, with lots of ennemies and nice touch of story. I will try to do the "bad ending" later tonight.

[Ryna]

I have a few questions about this quest:

1. What is the plotline? Does it tie into previous quests?

2. When did Karen join the group and what weapon does she use?

3. Were you able to figure out the "secret"?

4. Did those Del Rappies drop anything?

5. Any idea if there is a reward for this quest?

[Hrith]

Karen is using Ophelie Seize.

I assume the reward is the Pioneer Parts o_O

[AxelgearVII]

We probably wont get any of that until like March 2006. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_disapprove.gif

[Saffran]

For now, I'm guessing I've done the "good ending" so no Pioneer Parts as a reward.

I could try the Sue Subplot and the bad ending, but I really doubt the Sue Subplot will change anything.

Storyline wise: (in order)
9-1 to 9-8
Soldiers Pride
Despicable Lion
Pioneer Spirits

The Epilogue of the present quest more or less kicks Leo Graheart out.

As far as secrets are concerned, the Epilogue gives insight into one special character and gives away the name of someone I don't know. Maybe he/she is part of Episode 3?

Ryna, I don't know what secret you are hinting at.
The first Del Rappy left a common shield. The second left another common shield. You don't get to fight the ennemies on the pic of the 3rd del rappy (maybe if you don't go to Karen...)

[Ryna]

On 2005-11-15 09:18, Saffran wrote:
The Epilogue of the present quest more or less kicks Leo Graheart out.

As far as secrets are concerned, the Epilogue gives insight into one special character and gives away the name of someone I don't know. Maybe he/she is part of Episode 3?

Ryna, I don't know what secret you are hinting at.
The first Del Rappy left a common shield. The second left another common shield. You don't get to fight the ennemies on the pic of the 3rd del rappy (maybe if you don't go to Karen...)


So this is the quest that gives Pioneer Parts?

Can you say anything about what happens to Leo (put if it in a spoiler block if you want to)?

Can you say who the name of the "secret" person is?

As for the secret I was hinting at, I was talking about the personnel problems you were talking about in your first post. The one where Ash leaves to help Bernie.

[Tycho]

On 2005-11-15 08:51, Kef wrote:
I assume the reward is the Pioneer Parts o_ONext week on PSO:BB JP, a new quest called 'Geung-Si Spirits'!



On 2005-11-15 09:18, Saffran wrote:
As far as secrets are concerned, the Epilogue gives insight into one special character and gives away the name of someone I don't know. Maybe he/she is part of Episode 3?
Ah? Name? Did they show the character too?

[Saffran]

When you try the bad ending, Sue and Kireek help you in the cutscene room instead of Ash, Bernie, and the soldiers. Howerver, you lose Rupika and have to do the remaining rooms alone! I overused the Healing ring and then 30 trimates and 1 scape doll in the last room. I was left with nothing at the end...
http://img290.imageshack.us/my.php?image=successs2ua.jpg

The reward is still 20k meseta, but man, it's really much, much harder alone.

Btw:
http://img290.imageshack.us/my.php?image=damns2yy.jpg


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Saffran on 2005-11-15 13:11 ]</font>

[Saffran]

OK, SPOILER TIME!!! Written in small letters because I couldn't find a spoiler tag...







(Leo and Karen, together, watching Ragol)

-To think my own daughter would take my troops away... I must have underestimated you.
-...you just failed your duties, commandant Leo Grahart. I only did something about the loose discipline and the lost pride of these soldiers.
-Such harsh words... During Operation Heaven Striker, you couldn't take any decisions. What made you change so much?
-Let's say I got a little help... or maybe just a gentle push in the right direction.
-Ha... And so I was sold out to the government by my daughter because she grew some self confidence?
-Who said I did such a petty thing? Commandant Leo... I mean, my father is not meant to take orders from anyone. And it would be just wrong to have to beg for the help of complete strangers. Just go, Father, and when you have found a new place, far and unrelated to Ragol, I could use your help to plot out a far bigger operation... I only came here to tell you this, as your daughter.
-Pff...HAHAHAHAHAHA!! My daughter needs me for some secret plot!
-*snicker* he, hey! Is that really that funny?
-That's my girl... Always ready to crack a joke...
-... don't get me wrong, I'm not going to help you. I will walk my own path. And if our paths cross again... then we might end up fighting each others.
-That's rather funny to hear too... a daughter declaring war to her father.
-I have told all members of WORKS to choose who they want to follow, you or me. As for the activation code for the Heaven Striker Operation, I got it and made it available through the usual procedure, so you are free to use it if you want.

(Camera shows Momoka's computer terminal)

-And here I believed that the girl had abandonned her mission...
-Let's just say she's naturally inclined to forget things, and forgot that she had a mission?
-Hmmm, well, maybe so, indeed. The Government has to face an ennemy far more dangerous than that girl anyway. (Pause) Doll... Grissen... (pause)

(Back to Karen and Leo)
-Well, I'll get going, I guess. It might be better for me to put some distance between me and Ragol for the time being. We probably won't meet for a while... actually, we might never meet again. Farewell, Karen.
-Father...
-As your father, I am gald I had you. You decided to protect Pioneer... so now carry this duty on. This is goodbye, Daughter.
-Farewell, Father...

[PJ]

Dol Grissen is the Episode 3 principal of Pioneer 2, I believe. It's been awhile since I've played though.

[Tomoki]

What a twist! http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[Tycho]

I think some people like the Arkz RAmarl in ep3 disliked Dol Grisen... but the character was never shown in the game; and I think they didn't give too much information on him, because the plot didn't revolve around him anyway.
But it seems pointless to 'fight' this new 'danger' in future quests knowing that in the future (ep3) he'll still be principal anyway... >_<;

[Ben]

Hi,Saffran, how exactly you did to have Karen join the party? I've talked to all NPCs and she wouldn't join. You were right about doing solo in the later part of the quest.

[Saffran]

Well, Karen doesn't go anywhere. Just talk to her at the appropriate time during the quest.
You don't understand Japanese I guess?

[Saffran]

Ah, something that might be the cause of Karen not joining:

Did you clear Soldiers' Pride with the good ending since last maintenance? It might be related, since they kinda asked you to "try it out before the next solo quest is released".

If that doesn't work, try clearing Despicable Lion too.

[Ben]

I just checked your posts, thank you for the informations, I'm sure I have cleared Soldier's pride quite a few times, but I haven't done the other quest you mentioned, I'm going to do that right after this, I'll keep you posted if it still doesn't work.

[Saffran]

I have looked into this as well.

Whenever I do the quest with my FOnewearl, Karen joins. When I do the quest with my Hucaseal, she chickens out.
As far as I could look into it on other sites and through other players, the flag you must activate is unknown. Sometimes she does, and sometimes not? That can't be it.
Maybe you have to use up a certain amount of time? No idea. I'm rather fast with both chars, so I don't think it's a simple time flag.
Maybe it depends on your level? My Fonewearl is "only" lv136.

Oh, and the Del Rappy in the cutscene room is not random. It's ALWAYS there. And you ALWAYS miss it http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[Saffran]

OK, I think I have it worked out. You need to have seen the true end for both of the other solo quests to get Karen to join you.

If you have a bot, Despicable Lion is a nigtmare...
Freeze traps are supopsed to work, but they don't. Try Confuse (those work) then Megid/Hell. Be sure to kill the Fonewmn ASAP.
Seeing the true end requires killing all NPCs without death and without going back to Pioneer 2 in between.

Seeing the true end of Soldiers Pride requires you to go East in Crater Interior and activate both pillars, than clear the last room within 5 minutes AND clearing the whole quest within 35 minutes (in Ult anyway).

[Ben]

you are right that we have to clear the previous two quests before Karen will join, I've done 6 or 7 runs already and Karen joins everytime. The only problem is I only saw the good ending once because the NPCs keep getting killed. ><
I've seen 4 del rappies and a pazuzu, but neither drop anything.
Thanks again for the informations though.

[Para]

What's the true end to Despicable Lion anyways?

I ALWAYS get the true end for Soldier's pride but I haven't noticed a different ending for Despicable Lion..

[Saffran]

Suposedly the true end flag is only activated if you don't get killed and never use Ryuker/escapipe. (because the NPCs you already got ridden of disappear if you do) I have never attempted to clear the quest under other conditions, so I'm not really sure about the requirements.

I also meet a crapload of rare ennemies since Tuesday. I think I have met as many Del Rappies in 3 days as I have in 10 months. Of course, the quest having like 50 rappies might be the reason http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif
I haven't tried any precise count, but this quest is really an overall good hunting quest. Weaker ennemies in great numbers for each (except Detonators, but that's just as well) mean only bots might have troubles clearing it... And even then. How many Star Atomizers does Rupika have anyway? 50? (and no, that's not enough for the quest...)

[Ben]

I did 10+ runs in very hard, and I only beat the quest once, all the other times the NPCs were killed. The strange thing is that I have no problem beating the quest(the last room is still tough doing solo), I guess the NPC can withstand more damage and have more hps.
During the 10+ runs, I've seen another Pazuzu and a Melissa AA, again, nothing was dropped. However, I did get 3 pds and the unit that raises 30 ATA when uses with Kusanagi. So its not a total waste of times.

[Sharkyland]

(interested in the storyplot... -whine- blah I don't want to back on PSOBB, fricking lag)

Well from what I learned from Episode IV (PSOBB) and III(CARD):

Pioneer II has two factions: principal and the council (council is mentioned in either GQ 1-1 or 1-2, but I can't remember anymore)

Loose Ends:
- Kinda weird for Leo Grahart to just not get caught by some kind of police monitoring system unless they figured out that he was actually being controlled(?)... the "huh? what's going on" thing at the end of GQ 9-8

Now to tie it with Episode III (CARD):
- Principal Tyrell is demoted from principal to some other "low" profile job due to (if it has been found, searching for his daughter who was the principal of Pioneer I) and the misjudgements of his actions to face this crisis.
- Apparently, I'm guessing Dol Grissen rose to power through the council and then demolished the council (this is just a guess)
- Sometime soon the OPSS incident should occur
- Sometime soon there should be a seperation of power for different ideals
- Sometime soon the method of "extracting" this so-called photon flow (hmm... now that I've given it some thought on this, we 'Coral' ALREADY discovered this 'photon') I'm just getting a lot of FF7 reference here.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sharkyland on 2005-11-19 12:25 ]</font>

[Oni140]

I'm just curious; has this Karen appeared in the GC versions?

I remember seeing a template RAmarl on Seat of Heart, and I'm guessing this is the Rupika from Gran Squall.

I apologize if this is a 'stupid' question >.<

[Sharkyland]

On 2005-11-19 10:39, Oni140 wrote:
I'm just curious; has this Karen appeared in the GC versions?

I remember seeing a template RAmarl on Seat of Heart, and I'm guessing this is the Rupika from Gran Squall.

I apologize if this is a 'stupid' question >.<



You are correct on both.

[Tycho]

On 2005-11-18 21:05, Sharkyland wrote:

Pioneer II has two factions: principal and the council (council is mentioned in either GQ 1-1 or 1-2, but I can't remember anymore)

Loose Ends:
- Kinda weird for Leo Grahart to just not get caught by some kind of police monitoring system unless they figured out that he was actually being controlled(?)... the "huh? what's going on" thing at the end of GQ 9-8


Waitasec, who's in this council, and by who do you think Leo is controlled? x_X

[Sharkyland]

On 2005-11-20 00:59, Tycho wrote:


On 2005-11-18 21:05, Sharkyland wrote:

Pioneer II has two factions: principal and the council (council is mentioned in either GQ 1-1 or 1-2, but I can't remember anymore)

Loose Ends:
- Kinda weird for Leo Grahart to just not get caught by some kind of police monitoring system unless they figured out that he was actually being controlled(?)... the "huh? what's going on" thing at the end of GQ 9-8


Waitasec, who's in this council, and by who do you think Leo is controlled? x_X

From what I remember, Tyrell or someone else where you find Tyrell talks about the council on GQ 1-1 or 1-2... he tells that 'they' sent an army down to Ragol already. (Contradictions now that I'm thinking: 1) Rico's messages tell two things: What the heck is this advanaced weaponry in forest... and 2) In Ruins, she talks about someone trying to get into here forcefully.)

I only got the suspicious that Leo might've been in controlled when the Rupika (or whatever that green light was) at the end of GQ9-8 says some strange stuff which I don't quite understand (like a riddle almost), but Leo then starts saying 'what have I been doing, where am I?' (???) I don't have the exact words or anything like that of that matter. Though he could have the notion that this power is too overwhelming more than he can control.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sharkyland on 2005-11-20 08:41 ]</font>

[Tycho]

On 2005-11-20 08:38, Sharkyland wrote:
Though he could have the notion that this power is too overwhelming more than he can control.
Yeah, I always interpreted it that way. I think he himself wanted Rupika for the Heaven Striker project, but was questioning himself at the end because he did not see it coming that Rupika would be too powerful to control.

[Sharkyland]

On 2005-11-21 02:02, Tycho wrote:

On 2005-11-20 08:38, Sharkyland wrote:
Though he could have the notion that this power is too overwhelming more than he can control.
Yeah, I always interpreted it that way. I think he himself wanted Rupika for the Heaven Striker project, but was questioning himself at the end because he did not see it coming that Rupika would be too powerful to control.

Ever since the Neo-Newman project, I'm pretty sure he's been really interested in it (but hasn't really gotten the chances and it hasn't occured until now), but for the fact the council & the Alliance of the Ten Planets KNEW he was a great threat Leo was due to his army (they HAD to split his army so he wouldn't have too much control). I'm pretty sure Tyrell was informed about this situation and the organization known as Black Paper was to keep an eye on them.

I'm pretty sure that the army that Rico was talking about had to be the subjunct (am I using the right word) to be doing Leo's bidding in the Forest, Mines, and Ruins.

---

Though as far as concerning about having him little or no control over Rupika can be coherent. Though for a man for his calibur wouldn't be asking questions to himself like what am I doing, where am I type thing though I might have to get on PSOBB AGAIN (bleah) to figure out what's the deal with this type of thing.

[Para]

Argh I still can't get Karen to join me in Pioneer Spirits

I've gotten the true ending for Soldier's Pride where you get Rupika and complete the quest with Rupika.

I've gotten the true ending for Despicable Lion by following Saffran's instructions.

But yet no Karen >_<

[Saffran]

Can you brief me up on what she tells you or when/how you try to get her to join?

[Para]

At the beginning of the quest before going down to crater, I talk to karen twice.

After ASH leaves and going down to desert and letting rupika speak, I talk to Karen twice again.

[Saffran]

This doesn't add up...
I have (to my knowledge) done nothing else than clearing both quests with the true ending. Karen will join me after Ash leaves and Rupika spoke to me. I don't talk to her at the beginning of the quest though.

Try clearing Soldier's Pride with Rupika AND killing all existing monsters in the quest. The Governor does mention something like "kill a max of monsters while you're at it" during your briefing.

[Para]

I think I've killed all monsters altogether many times before... Usually I get Rupika asap and then bring her along with ASH and BERNIE and smash all the remaining monsters away .............. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ok I think I know what's wrong... I don't think I've gotten the true ending for my RAmarl but I get it all the time for the HUnewearl because I keep beating Soldier's Pride in search for a Pazuzu and vivienne (which I still haven't found due to my shoddy luck... I haven't even seen a pazuzu at all)

edit:

Alright i finally got it... Karen came along and got the true ending. The quest was A LOT easier with Karen and Rupika thank god.

Silly bastards ASH and BERNIE stole my Del Rappy =X
Overall the quest is pretty damn good for experience since there's a quite a lot of monsters that come out at you, including 3 Girtublulu.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nites on 2005-11-27 18:30 ]</font>