Recommended Level: 14
The second chapter of Agnea's story takes her far from home, to the Brightlands city of New Delsta. To reach New Delsta from Cropdale you'll need to head east from the countryside village until you reach Crackridge Harbor: Anchorage. Sail to the eastern continent and you'll be in the Brightlands. Head south from New Delsta Flats to the Eastern New Delsta Highroad and you'll be on the front door of your destination.
Upon arrival, assuming Agnea is in the party, you'll be prompted to start the story immediately. If she's not in the party, or if you'd rather not start right away, you can trigger the chapter by heading to the local Tavern, north of the entrance to New Delsta. Speak to the bartender and ask to Hear a Tale with Agnea in the party.
On the search for stardom, Agnea has come to New Delsta looking to hit it big right away. The first thing she sees upon arrival, aside from a big stagecoach, is a poster for a 'superstar' dancer named Dolcinaea. People gossiping about her clue Agnea in to the fact that Dolcinaea performs somewhere in the city.
Head to the northwest of New Delsta's nicer area, where you start. Agnea will find the city's theater waiting, though when she approaches the front gate... no ticket. Better find one. Swap to night so Agnea can use Entreat, then head to the Tavern. A Woman out front will give Agnea a Theater Ticket so long as she's at least level 8. On with the show!
Dolcinaea wows the crowd, Agnea included. As she leaves she runs into a fellow named Gil, who runs the Tavern in the Backstreets section of New Delsta. He invites Agnea to visit his establishment for a coffee. Take the stairs near the theater to the west and you'll find the Backstreets. Then check the northwest corner of the Backstreets to find Gil's Tavern, which is... not that great.
After an extended conversation about dreams, Agnea will offer to dance at the Tavern. First, though, they need a proper audience. Agnea will need to use Allure during the day to snag people:
- There's a Jack-of-All-Trades at the bottom of the stairs near Gil's Tavern that will do nicely.
- A Woman on the stairs leading back to the main section of New Delsta, east of the Tavern, can be Allured back to Gil's.
- A Woman out front of the Inn, along the main street of New Delsta, is a good candidate.
- A Wife by the theater can be pulled to the Tavern.
- A Townsperson near New Delsta's other Tavern is willing to make the trip to Gil's.
- A Merchant standing near the exit to the eastern New Delsta Highroad can be persuaded to follow you to the Backstreets.
- Light Guardian - Weak to Sword, Spear, Dagger, Dark - Drop / Steal Light Soulstone
- Flame Curator - Weak to Spear, Dagger, Staff, Ice - Drop / Steal Fire Soulstone
- Light Wisp - Weak to Ice, Wind, Dark - Drop / Steal Light Soulstone
- Thunder Sentinel - Weak to Sword, Spear, Dagger, Wind - Drop / Steal Thunder Soulstone
- Troupe Member I - Weak to Dagger, Axe, Staff, Wind - Drop / Steal Herb of Clarity
- Troupe Member II - Weak to Spear, Ice, Wind - Drop / Steal Herb of Clarity
Well, where else was the combat supposed to take place? Head east into the Backstage and you'll start running into enemies. There's a staircase ahead. Before you go up, check the room behind it, in the far west. There's a chest inside containing a Refreshing Jam.
Keep climbing stairs until you reach the top floor. To the west is a room with a chest containing a Lightning Amulet. To the east is a Passageway that will take the party to the eastern half of the Backstage. Agnea will yell at the theater manager from above, but... he doesn't seem interested. (Maybe her voice doesn't carry? Bad thing for a singer / dancer.)
Check the eastern room in the next area to find a chest containing a Simple Costume, then start climbing stairs back down a floor. The first room on your last has a chest containing a Falcon Knife. Next to this room is a hallway leading north, and at the end you'll find a save point. Next to the save point is a ladder, and if you climb it you'll find your way up to a chest containing a Healing Grape (M). Heal up, then head onto the stage.
La'mani
Weaknesses:
- Spear, Dagger, Fire, Ice, Dark (La'mani)
- Dagger, Axe (Troupe Dancer)
- Fire, Wind, Light (Troupe Musician)
Steal: Refreshing Jam
That... is quite the battle sprite. La'mani is a flamboyant boss, and brings the full might of his theater to bear against your party. Agnea will have a rough time of things without a diverse group of party members backing her up. La'mani uses the following attacks in combat:
- A normal melee attack
- First Movement, which summons in Troupe Dancers to fight for La'mani
- Second Movement, which summons in Troupe Musicians to fight for La'mani
- Final Movement, which summons a Troupe Dancer and a Troupe Musician to fight for La'mani
- Double Slap, a melee attack that strikes one character twice
- Wave Baton, which hits the whole party for physical damage
- Perplexing Prelude, which can Confuse one character
- Enraged Scream, which also hits the whole party for physical damage
- Thunder Refrain, which blasts one character with Lightning damage
- Windy Minuet, which hits your whole party with Wind damage
- Vocal Tuning, which restores some of La'mani's health
- Recital A La'mani, which hits the entire party for moderately-heavy magic damage
La'mani will start the battle by using First Movement to bring in help. The Troupe Dancers can then buff his magic to make his attacks more powerful. Their presence also locks away La'mani's elemental weaknesses, forcing you to use weapons. Break La'mani and get rid of his Dancers and he'll use Second Movement to bring in Troupe Musicians instead, who will lock away La'mani's physical weaknesses instead. They, too, will buff La'mani while he does his thing. Break him enough times and La'mani will use Final Movement to completely lock away his weaknesses - though if you get rid of even one of them, it will unlock half of his weaknesses.
La'mani will spend the battle peppering your team with spells, and after a while he'll start to charge up. If you don't stop him he'll use Recital A La'mani, which, unsurprisingly, can hurt your party quite a bit. The only way to stop this is to Break him, and the only way to do that is to get at his weaknesses. It should always, therefore, be your priority to take out La'mani's helpers, even if you can target his weaknesses already. Getting rid of even one of them after Final Movement goes off makes the battle much easier.
This fight isn't anything crazy. You need to target weaknesses, the same as usual - you'll just need to aim for elemental weaknesses a little more often than usual, given the competition. Agnea herself is okay with most of the enemies, though having a Scholar like Osvald along will make the battle quite a bit easier. His Elemental Barrage Skill is great at quickly Breaking the enemies in this fight. Castti is also great here, as she can use Concoction to hit La'mani's weakness to Dark twice with Darkdelions.
One last fun note: If you're really in a pinch near the end of the battle, have Agnea use Ruinous Kick on La'mani. It will remove a shield from him whether his weaknesses are exposed or not. Only one shield, mind you, but that could make all the difference.
After the battle La'mani is put in his place by none other than Dolcinaea, who orders him to stop his nonsense. Things end well for Gil's Tavern, and Gil ushers Agnea out of town to greater heights elsewhere. (Really seems like he fired her, but... whatever.) Unsurprisingly, as the story ends there are hints of something sinister happening in the background... though that's a matter for another time. Chapter complete!