Generation 11 Tips (Part 3) - Snakes. Why did it have to be Snakes?

Good news, if you're reading this you have already gotten past the "hard" part of the main arc and the end is nearly within reach. There is another extra mission though for those that love the babysitting castle run... extra annoying that is. :P

Showdown at the Castle (solo only)
You'll need to take care of some idiot python dudes first (beefed up but same AI is same AI), and I think you can call for dragon support to speed things up. You also have a big area to work with so archery skills are a bonus. Pick off those shamans first. Eventually the boss and his enterouge will spawn, deal with his minions first via range or lure the main guy away for one on one time. He should be easy enough to read to fend off until he uses his death shadow attack, which you strangely -want- to be hit by three times. you quickly use your shadow stone as soon as that happens though or you will really be dead. After that you will have perma-demi for the remainder of the mission and a new found (and very useful) power which you should use to slay the fool. Back it up with spears of light to speed things up but don't let him hit you with his shadow attack again.

Caliburn Pass (bring team)
With their leader dead, you should bring a team to chase down the remnants of the Python army. One NPC idiot will be with you and he needs to live against the huge number of baddies but this won't be so hard if you have a big group. This force is led by a python wizard (behaves like a shaman) has advanced heavy stander and cannot be knocked down/stunned so be careful when you final hit him as he can and will fight back. Use demi and trans as you see fit, and if you manage it you can also eliminate one wave using a dragon strike - just look out for friendly fire.

At least they're not on a Plane! (solo or with royal alchemist)
Now you have the finale - no not against those 4 shaman guys, against the 4 giant snake heads that appear after you kill them! I hope that by now you've got Rank 1 smash because that will come in really handy (and timely, you're on the clock) - in fact it is the only skill you need here. That's right, you just need to be the Hulk. Bring enough stam pots to let you keep using it along with the rest of your regular finale gear and try prioritize "downed" heads to deal real damage to them. The key to surviving is not getting hit! DUH. :P Fortunately the snakes follow a set pattern which should keep you ahead of their quite lethal breath attacks which come in two main variations:

Fireball - they launch projectiles exactly where you are standing. How to ever evade this? Oh yeah, just MOVE. Easy. May as well load up a smash while doing so, and if you feel like - sneak a smash in before the next attack begins.

Rivers of Fire - this is the one you really want to avoid as it is almost insta death to get hit. There are always safe spots to stand when they do this, it is just knowing where to be. They fire three of these in sequence (and I'm not kidding, it always follows the same sequence - after sequence III it goes back to the first one) so you can predict what's next. Generally it's not wise to attack them while they do this as you need to be thinking of the next safe spot to stand in.

General Behaviour:
Fireball (x2) . Resting (smash em) . Flame Throwing Pattern (see below) . Resting (smash em) . Fireball (x2)

Attack Sequence I: Circle, Cross, Circle
On Circle: Stand in the middle of the circle to evade.
On Cross: They are breathing at the head across them, so stand to edges of the screen not occupied by giant snake heads.

Attack Sequence II: Up or Down, Cross, Up or Down (opposite of 1st)
On Up or Down:  Stand on the left or right edges (remember the screen is at a slight angle) not occupied by giant snake heads.
On Cross: They are breathing at the head across them, so stand to edges of the screen not occupied by giant snake heads.
Recover: This is the only sequence where if you are standing on the left or right edges at the start, that you can get a breather to demi/trans or bandage as you don't need to move for the duration.

Attack Sequence III: Left or Right, Circle, Right or Left (opposite of 1st)
On Left or Right: Stand on the top or bottom edges (remember the screen is at a slight angle) not occupied by giant snake heads.
On Circle: Stand in the middle of the circle to evade.

Going for a Party Dress
After those giant snakes you may underestimate the little castle rats in this mission. They will be levelled to match you, so expect them to survive your first combo. Other than that, they're just rats. :P

Suspicious Rumor (solo or with royal alchemist)
Oh good, now you get to meet the 2nd most horrible "normal" spawn in the shadow castle (blinkers still worse)... sulphur spiders. These multi-aggro bastards are tough, do high damage, can take a beating, and enjoy spamming their deadly windmill. The non-colored ones are weaker, but tend to explode upon death. Be ready to heal/trans/and demi as needed, and use a shield if you are planning to use turtle defense. AoE summoned pets are also useful especially if they pin you to a wall.

Getting some Support (solo)
Just a really long castle mission here with nothing you haven't beaten before (no spiders, yay!). Bring gear to recover and look out for those wandering blinkers (damnit!).

Another Secret Experiment - Weapon X (solo with one NPC)
Oh man, you are really going to hate your stupid, suicidal friend here as he will probably die a bit to the many sulphur spiders in this mission. Just kill them as fast as you can and heal the fool when you are able. Say out loud the phrase in the secret note you found in the final chamber to access the second part. If you make it here then at least your pal will be fully healed and he actually does better against the enemies here (no spiders) but you should still help him out. Have the Brionac ready in your secondary slot once you reach the boss room because Deadpool (he's back!) can aggro you from very far away. Fastest way to beat him is to demi-god and spear of light him twice (with Brionac in your hands to increase damage). A drawn out battle is not good for the health of your allied NPC.

Generation 11 Tips (Part 1) - We eat Demigods for Breakfast

You would think now you are a "demi-god" that things would be easier for you, but this story arc just ramps up the difficulty so much that it's almost like you need your new powers just to survive. There's a long list of trouble spots for this one so let's get right into it.

The not-so Hidden Page (fastest with some friends)
You'll be given a monacle to find a hidden page somewhere in the shadow castle. Fortunately these pages were written on sparkly paper and they emit a very visible shine when you are nearby, indicating when you should put on your eyepiece to pick it up. There are a few missions where these pages appear but for ease and speed I recommend running "The Other Alchemists" on basic and bring some friends to speed it up. You will meet a few new baddies here:

Blinker
The bane of castle missions, these multi aggro floating eye balls have a dendancy to hover around and using a spot-light, drain peoples HP. Prioritize them and open with a smash to hopefully take them out before they notice you. Supposedly sand-burst and frozen blast is good against them too but I'm no alchemist. For a change, windmill is not so good as if they survive it they usually do their hover attack. Also they can summon extra help if wounded too badly. If they cause you too much strife, use your new-found powers to wipe them out fast.

Python Soldier/Shaman
The extra help I was just talking about, though their AI is familiar enough. The soldiers are basically re-skinned shadow fighters while the shamans behave just like the hobgoblin shamans you would have already fought in G7 while looking for those artifacts. You didn't skip it like an idiot right?

Leprechaun (small and giant)
These jolly little fellows are very timid, weak, easy to read, and if you knock them down (without killing them) you can "harvest" their pants of loot. Yes, it is as wrong as it sounds. They've got pretty strong magic though so don't foo around too much. The "giant" version is a guardian of a mini treasure room where you need to shrink and go through a mousehole to reach. No point fighting him, just get a pet to distract him while you loot and escape!

Cerberus
Though you may not run into this in this particular mission I thought I'd add it now. It is an indestructable trap that appears in the middle of a room and will fire bolt magic or poison fumes every so often. You can duck into the corners to avoid the poison (it's eyes will glow purple as a warning) and use evasion for the bolts but the only real way past it is to clear the monster spawn quick. Poison spitters will never use bolt attacks and vice versa.

White Orb and Warp Rooms
Again you won't run into these right now, but you will eventually. In the "white orb" rooms one orb will glow white for a few seconds then move to another orb while you are fighting baddies - if you hit the white orb the door will open allowing you to cut short the combat. The opposite of this are the warp rooms, where you hit an orb (during combat) which opens a warp portal providing the only way out or face an unending spawn of monsters.

Basilisk
This large and heavy lizard has very high passive defense and will not be knocked down by anything, so just use the highest damage attacks you have available while you've got mana shield and pots keeping you alive. There are "gaming" ways to beat it in a less dangerous fashion but if you brought help and are running this on basic as I suggested, you should be fine especially with trans.

Royal Library (solo or with royal alchemist)
A short mission but the main problem is you will be facing a Blinker on "your level". Be prepared to use trans and demi-god powers to take it down. If it causes problems you can ask a Royal Alchemist for help.

Into the Frying Pan (solo with Gwelyas)
Now you will start getting killed by food. I kid you not. The main objective here is to "kill" 5 ~ 9 Fruit, 5 ~ 13 Flour, and 7 Eggs within the red circle and to hit the big spoon to exit after 7 minutes (important). These things have incredibly high protection so it helps to go after the things your NPC buddy has "tenderized". When the silverware starts spawning (behaves like flying swords) you can kill them to get a cooking knife for yourself which can help lower the defenses of the food. Expect to have to demi-god and pally or be prepared to be defeated by eggs and berries. I don't need to say that killing anything that shouldn't be in the dish within the red circle will stuff you up royally. :P

You probably need to trans/demi to beat these!

Strange Books (fastest solo)
An easy mission with a new enemy type. Strange books can launch explosive paper airplanes in random directions. They shouldn't cause too much problems to defeat however as they are just an upgrade of the mimic types. Windmill to open.

Getting the gang back together
Need to find some NPCs you've met before, and the first one is within the shadow castle again. You'll be fighting familiar spawn, just lots of them and by yourself (unless you have a royal alchemist buddy). Just trans and demi as needed, there's no time limit so you shouldn't be in a rush. Incase you've forgotten your priority should be wizard/archer -> lancer -> fighter. The next dude is in the shadow city, don't you miss this place? There are a few baddies that you can avoid, but for more fun I recommend dragon striking since you won't be able to use it for majority of this story arc.

Revenge (solo as Jenna)
To make it go a lot faster than the TV series of the same name, just stand far away from the multi-aggroing enemy alchemists and magnum shot all of them to death. Should be a piece of cake.

Caliburn Investigation (fastest solo with 2 NPCs)
The first of unfortunately many missions where you need to keep your stupid suicidal buddies alive. Expect to do most of the fighting and try kill things quick. It's the same baddies you've fought before but you may need to be more reckless this time since you're baby-sitting morons.