Just before you complete Sea of Stars - that is to say, just before you visit the Fleshmancer's Castle - you'll unlock several side quests, each involving one of the characters in your party. Speak to Seraï in camp or on the Vespertine and she'll ask for your help with The Queen That Was, another villain who plagued her world.
Seraï will give you Joce's Belt Buckle, an artifact. Turn it over to Teaks and you'll unlock a new story, The Cerulean Expedition. Listen to the story - which turns out to be an adventurer's log - and Teaks will advise you to take some notes. Here's the important stuff:
- The first team is led by Brochu. His team went northeast, southeast, south, and southwest. Brochu felt good about the first two days, but not the third or fourth.
- The second team is led by Elbi. His team went southwest, south, southwest, and east. Elbi's team only felt confident on the fourth day.
- The third team is led by Joce. His team went north, east, northeast, and south. Only the third day felt right.
Add these directions together and you get northeast, southeast, northeast, and east. As you may have guessed, each of these directions corresponds to one of the areas in the Cerulean Expanse, the desert you explored near Repine. Follow that route and you'll arrive at a Speedball Station. Climb aboard, minding the word of caution.
Throne of The Queen That Was
Ominous. Head north of the Speedball Station, checking on your right for a chest containing the Artful Gambit Relic, and to the northwest for a chest containing a Rainbow Conch. In the north is a campsite, and next to the campsite are stairs. Make sure you save before you start climbing, becaaaaause...
Gun Goddess
Resists: Arcane, Moon, Poison, Sun (Bullets)
That is a lot of guns. Accompanied by six Bullets, the Gun Goddess is a throwback to an earlier, more violent age, and she brings all the violence along with her. The Gun Goddess uses the following attacks:
- A single-target bash
- An AOE strafe
- Fan the Hammer, a four-Lock move that uses the Gun Goddess's Bullets to hit the party at random, one hit per Bullet
- Or Fan the Hammer, which restores the Gun Goddess's Bullets if she is out
- The Shot, a nine-Lock, single-target attack which instantly KOs a character
The Gun Goddess has two 'normal' attacks that she doesn't use all that often, and two 'special' attacks, The Shot, which she unfortunately uses all the time, and Fan the Hammer, which goes off occasionally. Summoning six Bullets, she'll count down to The Shot, and when it goes off one of your characters will get knocked out. Fan the Hammer usually comes next, and can prove quite lethal if you don't also target the Gun Goddess's Bullets.
Despite the warning, this fight isn't that bad so long as you have a few items to bring your characters back to life, or even just keep B'st alive. By now you'll have tons of Skills and Combos for taking out Locks, and the moves allotted for trouncing The Shot's nine Locks is usually plenty. Remember to Boost normal moves to add elements, and take attack types into consideration when choosing Combos. AOE attacks will wipe out the Bullets, rendering Fan the Hammer largely useless.
If you have trouble surviving you can use Resh'an's Ultimate to revive and restore the whole party, which has the added effect of delaying the Gun Goddess's turn. Seraï's Disorient Skill and the Arcane Barrage Combo can also delay Gun Goddess a bit, if needed. The fight might take a while, but it is surprisingly straightforward.
You'll receive the Better Off Dead Achievement for defeating the Gun Goddess. You'll also receive the Star Shards, Seraï's best weapons. Well done!