Thread: Revelations from Patch 5.1

Character requirement, blah blah blah.

I am reluctant to say "Ardbert" in the end is Elidibus simply because he has already used the body-hijack trick once and it backfired spectacularly with Zenos. Of course, there is the possibility, but using twice the same plotline feels... weird. That would be two stingers for Elidibus in a row... then again, he got them too in Stormblood, so whatever.

There is something that bothered me as well: the conspicuous absence of talk about Emet-Selch. Aye, I know we got the EX trial and whatnot, but in previous patches we got at least mentions of our foes. You know, for having asked us to remember the Ancients, it would seem it has been quickly forgotten. That is what makes me think they are reserving it for bigger things in later patches.

One thought on the MSQ I have not seen brought up:

I know this is a very small personal peeve in light of the cliffhanger ending, but in regards to the Eulmore arc -- are we ever going to be permitted to set the record straight about Vauthry's father, and what was done to Vauthry and his mother? It's so frustrating smiling and nodding and agreeing with everyone about Vauthry now, knowing the truth, and it was especially off-putting listening to what a good Eulmore his father ran, which is contrary to his deal with Emet-Selch. He had at least twenty years to continue ruling Eulmore before Vauthry took the reins. The writers dropped such a bomb on us in the Immaculate cutscene, it's so weird they just ignore it entirely everywhere else and simplify to "Vauthry evil", although the guy never stood a chance. It doesn't feel heroic, I guess?

But then again the creep who sold Yotsuyu got off scot-free too, so welp

MSQ

Well... that confirmed a lot of headcanons about the link between bodies and souls.

The one thing I find weird about the whole "untempering" thing is what do you do with a Primal that has no obvious aether element? Like oh... Lakshmi? As much as the process for "fixing" people with too much light is about decreasing souls that have too much of a certain aether-type, we've seen primals that don't have obvious aether elements to go on, and instead are more about the concept. Thordan comes to mind... as does Tuskiyomi... or Moggle Mog... or Bahamut, who is infamous for being the only example of a Primal that has "reversed" someone's tempering...

The part with Eulmore was predictable, but good. Tying up all the loose ends there is important.

Garlemald is where things get dicey. Black Rose has been taken care of, but apparently someone has been playing around with Ultima Weapon type stuff, which isn't good. As a side note, we've seen an entire line of Ultima Weapon-like machines come out of Allag that didn't make use of the Heart of Sabik for an aether source. I can easily see Garlemald adapting some of those ideas. I think the main issue is if there's more then one of those things or if they can be mass-produced. Since that would be a big problem for Eorzea.

Given what happened with Solus died, I'm not surprised we're seeing Legions fighting over Garlemald. Or rather... it's probably more their Legati who are fighting over Garlemald. And to make matters worse, they probably know the provinces would have a field day going against the Legions themselves if they thought it could work. Garlemald is a powder keg ready to blow and anyone who might be interested in saving it has better things to do.

Zenos... he's a loose canon. I fully expect him to go drag the plot off in a random direction just because he's incapable of being entertained. Still hate him. Really want him gone from the story. I view him more as a walking Diablos Ex Machina for the story team more then a character at this point. He's just so boring when it comes to character development. Wondering about who he's dealing with is just like... why bother? The story will tell us when it wants to and he'll try to break the world again and we'll try to mitigate what he's doing again. Yawn.

I am very curious what the item was that Gaius thought was in Garlemald and turned out not to be. If he's going after it, it's probably important for his vendetta against the Ascians. I smell a McGuffin on the horizon...

Ardbert showing up again... I don't think him trying to be the "Warrior of Light" will work quite like he (whoever it is) will. Light almost destroyed the 1st Shard. Even we go by the title of Warrior of Darkness there. I don't see people thinking he's a good guy if he goes by that title. If this was the Source, I think it would work. On the 1st Shard... not so much.

NieR Raid
Spoilers for NieR: Automana in this

First up... everything in this looks and sounds right. Remembering how certain bosses' attacks worked in Automana works just fine here. I keep getting hit by stuff because I think I have my dodge key, and I miss it terribly. A huge round of applause for SE for nailing the aesthetic of everything, whether that is the new machine designs or all the hacking effects.

The first three bosses were about what I expected. The last one... oh boy. Seeing what feels like 9S from the end of Route C meet up with a version of 2B that doesn't seem to have any emotional attachment towards him is a punch in the gut. And it makes how the story will go a lot more unpredictable which... it's Yoko Taro... seeing him play around with AUs of his own characters is fun. I am very interested why 2P is what looks like a reskin of 2B in this while 9S is not. And even more interesting... there's more androids out there...

The section after the 24-man raid of exploring the raid itself was a great idea. There's often been times where I've wanted to go back to dungeon/raid maps to leisurely explore them and having it built into the quest itself was a nice change of pace. And of course, it couldn't be a Yoko Taro story without a bunch of left-over data to find that fills in some gaps in what is going on while creating even more questions.

Finding out where the story goes from here is going to be fun. Also... which route did people take? And do you take 9S with you at the end of both routes? I went with Anogg and we did take 9S with us at the end. Thank goodness this will probably be on New Game+ eventually...

Pixie Beast Tribe

Seems like we'll be going into what Titania was like before they became a Lightwarden in this one (and maybe after?). Seeing how the pixies fun loving nature effects people outside of Il Mheg is neat. Especially since they seem to have a nice "everyone wins" approach to it. At least for now.

Kai-Sheer

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like there's something lost in translation with this quest over all. Maybe because with the bonded, you've got the issue of people all but being forced to work at jobs they don't necessarily want to do... and then have what's pretty much a nightclub staffed by those people, but run by someone who doesn't have those restrictions. Like... I get the idea of what they're trying to do with this quest I think, but it feels like the issue of "do the people working here really want to work here" is being danced around. And that makes me... apprehensive...

I kinda hope it gets addressed at some point, since it's a little too obvious what tropes they are invoking with the Beehive without going too far over the line... And that kind of setting gets really messy in real life.

Originally Posted by Remedi

about the final stinger

that's elidubus right? I mean it would fit

We don't see him in this patch, so he certainly would be able to pull off something like that.

The only question is why Ardbert's body wasn't turned into a Cardinal Virtue by Vauthry.

Originally Posted by Rocl

MSQ

Halric mumbers "Nect... Al..." now... I wonder what that could be?

Nectarine (the food Tesleen was getting for him) + Alisaie.

Probably no deeper significance than that.

Originally Posted by YianKutku

Speaking of which.

Anyone know who "Lord Nerva" is supposed to be? The Third Legion were fighting on his behalf. I don't know if it's a reference, or an original name.

The third Legatus would be the most reasonable assumption.

A number of characters greater than or equal to ten


MSQ

I think Rocl's right (and I'd already suggested the same myself prior to 5.0) that at least one of the Scions is not coming back, and Thancred is probably the prime candidate. If the Shadowbringers story is wrapping up in 5.3, that's a patch too soon for the end of Eden, so either all of the Scions stick around in the First until 5.4 (and probably 5.5), or Thancred accepts he can never go home.


On a lighter note, I don't think I've laughed as much during a set of quests as in 5.1.

I was yelling at Urianger that white auracite was bad from the moment he suggested it, so I'm glad they seem to have shelved that plan.



The Garlean grafted into the Ultima protoype was pretty grim. There is some strange stuff going on there.

Post-MSQ Quest

I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING