This makes me think he'll prioritize taking down the perceived head of our group to let Pito get her duel. M must then be fighting at long ranges. A safe bet most of time, but we got Zatoichi to get him. Mithras for info gathering and more close-range burst, Alice and Blodeuwedd for widespread, Helena for healing Pito and Magdalene for her special traits
He has 100% hired people to kill us for the bounty as a way to eliminate us, so I'd expect there to be other enemies around besides Erlkonig and M. Maybe crowd mechanics like Crowd Brain?
I also would be reluctant to assume that LLENN is safe here. This isn't quite SJ2 but if we use that as a guide - Pito and M hired high-skill players to fill out their team of 6 and while they ended up dead before LLENN got to her, I don't particularly know if Pito would see M/hired help attacking LLENN as a problem. From her perspective she might see it more of a "if LLENN really went down to that kinda thing I was wrong about her all along" and also "If they can drive her into a corner it'll help the 'real' LLENN shine through."
So I think we should probably treat this battle as a double escort where we need to ensure that both Pito and LLENN survive until Erlkonig is defeated - with the threat to Pito being Erlkonig and the threat to LLENN being the entire enemy team (just like it is for us.)
Like if Hama was selected from the start, DG Aimo would not have been dispelled and the whole fight would've been trying to reach Aimo to Hama it. Probably the biggest breakpoint was whether you went for Sinon or Aimopotis to start.
I want to bring this up. In a past post, Pete dropped the implication that DG Persona are weak to Hama spells so it might be prudent to bring Mary into this battle for once.
[X] Plan Gimmick Crusher
-[X] Party:
--[X] Sinon
--[X] Gwen
-[X] Last-Minute Purchases
--[X] XeXeeD's Combat Data
--[X] Sinon's Combat Data
--[X] Anti-AT Rifle
--[X] MAGDALENE 16
--[X] Queen Esmeraldas Finish
-[X] Roster
--[X] Urvashi
--[X] Urmetazoan
--[X] Magdelene
--[X] Helena
--[X] Blodeuwedd
--[X] Ash Nazg
--[X] Heliose de Villefort
Okay, here's the rundown for my plan.
For Lierve's upgrades I think VIT is paramount. Everyone's after us so best to shore up our ability to take a hit and the ArsFa base build is based around being a Mighty Glacier anyways. Sinon is obvious given all our physical attacker Persona.
Villefort and it's upgrade is the oddball choice in my plan so I'll explain it first. When we saw a glimpse of M's Death Gun Persona in real life it was described as having a star metal shield which says he most likely has a VIT build. More importantly, upgrading Villefort's weapon gives us the corrosive effect which can melt through star metal making it perfect for piercing through defenses.
For Ash Nazg, we're up against an army so we should bring an army of our own, and even better, its an invisible army meaning we can get around M's sniping, stall the Erlking's wild Hunt and have a stealth squad to grab Pitohui away from the Erlking.
Helena and Mary for Bless, Hama, and Healing spells. More importantly, Helena's Archetype now gives us bonuses when we act like attention seekers, and hey, lots of people are after us right now, combined with increased VIT it all synergizes very well, doesn't it.
For Blodeuwedd it gives us a LONG range option, Urmetezoan for recharging SP if things go bad, and Zatoichi since it lets us be a Jedi and throw GGO's rulebook out the window.
I considered Magnum Opus but all its spells say they only affect our party but I'm willing to bring it in if @afreaknamedpete says it can heal Pito.
And wow, with the new Real Deal trait my plan makes us the perfect anti-M build, doesn't it?
EDIT: Replaced Zatoichi with Urvashi. I realized that since he's such a Pito simp he'll be immune to CHARM which means we can just endlessly cast the Spurning on him.
[X] Plan Gimmick Crusher
-[X] Party:
--[X] Sinon
--[X] Gwen
-[X] Last-Minute Purchases
--[X] XeXeeD's Combat Data
--[X] Sinon's Combat Data
--[X] Anti-AT Rifle
--[X] Queen Esmeraldas Finish
-[X] Roster
--[X] Zatoichi
--[X] Urmetazoan
--[X] Magnum Opus
--[X] Helena
--[X] Blodeuwedd
--[X] Ash Nazg
--[X] Heliose de Villefort
Okay, here's the rundown for my plan.
For Lierve's upgrades I think VIT is paramount. Everyone's after us so best to shore up our ability to take a hit and the ArsFa base build is based around being a Mighty Glacier anyways. Sinon is obvious given all our physical attacker Persona.
Villefort and it's upgrade is the oddball choice in my plan so I'll explain it first. When we saw a glimpse of M's Death Gun Persona in real life it was described as having a star metal shield which says he most likely has a VIT build. More importantly, upgrading Villefort's weapon gives us the corrosive effect which can melt through star metal making it perfect for piercing through defenses.
For Ash Nazg, we're up against an army so we should bring an army of our own, and even better, its an invisible army meaning we can get around M's sniping, stall the Erlking's wild Hunt and have a stealth squad to grab Pitohui away from the Erlking.
Helena for Bless and Healing spells. More importantly, Helena's Archetype now gives us bonuses when we act like attention seekers, and hey, lots of people are after us right now, combined with increased VIT it all synergizes very well, doesn't it.
For Blodeuwedd it gives us a LONG range option, Urmetezoan for recharging SP if things go bad, and Zatoichi since it lets us be a Jedi and throw GGO's rulebook out the window.
I considered Magnum Opus but all its spells say they only affect our party but I'm willing to bring it in if @afreaknamedpete says it can heal Pito.
And wow, with the new Real Deal trait my plan makes us the perfect anti-M build, doesn't it?
EDIT: I replaced Mary and removed buying her weapon in place of just equipping Magnum Opus.
The main problem I have with using Magnum Opus is that without the drone that we can buy for it, its range is limited to our hands, which means we have to get into melee range to heal Pito's body. While Erlkonig is also within melee range of Pito's body. Also, Magnum Opus itself is redundant, since Helena can already use Diarama, and I can't imagine QM won't allow us to use that on her. Another thing is that we're limited to two uses of Magnum Opus max, 1 if we have to burn 2 doses on one of its dampeners.
We also don't want to tip our hand to BLANK too much this combat. If we let them see a glimpse of Zataoichi, they'll find a way to work around him. Best to save him in our back pocket for the BLANK fight.
Also forgot to ask, @afreaknamedpete can Gwen throw healing items, or did it work like that only in ALO?
Okay, so canon M is primarily a sniper. And he's probably one of the best in the game - honestly, in terms of pure skill I'd probably say he's better than Sinon but that may simply be a result of AGGO expanding a lot on the details of GGO and the different author bringing more firearms focus to it. Sinon is probably intended to be superior.
Basically, per AGGO, placing your finger on the trigger of your gun is what generates the bullet line (what the opponent can see as where you're aiming) and the bullet circle (on the user end which shows the area your shot will land in and varies in size based on breathing rate and other conditions.) Pito gives LLENN a bit of a primer on the implications of this in early GGO when they're partying up - if you've generated the bullet circle then no matter how wild or irresponsible you are with your shot, the bullet must land somewhere in that circle even if logically speaking the recoil "should" cause it to careen way off course. It's pure system assist/aid meant to make playing the game fun for the players since if it kept true to real-world physics, firing accuracy would be much harder.
By contrast, if you keep your finger off the trigger and only touch it in the instant to actually fire, you never generate the bullet circle or bullet line. So the enemy will never get a bullet line indicating where you're firing (or your location) but the catch is that since there's also no bullet circle real-world physics applies and you have to account for things like drop from gravity, wind, and if sniping from a long enough distance - the Coriolis effect. M has enough real-world firing experience that he can do this. In SJ1 where he and LLENN were a two man team, he basically solos one of the top Squad Jam teams by exploiting this since the lack of a bullet line means they don't know where/when he's aiming and can't take precautions to dodge even though they're all in vehicles and know where he is (he's using the shield I describe just below) because they're all too confused that the familiar game mechanics aren't present in his sniping.
M also is in possession of a semi-circular shield thing. It's something like 6 starship metal plates linked together that he can put up in front of him to deflect head-on fire while he lays behind it and snipes through the minute gaps connecting the plates. It's strong enough to deflect most gunfire but is not invincible. However, it probably takes anti-materiel caliber weaponry to break. Actually, in SJ2 - the team that was runner-up to LLENN in SJ1 actually consults Sinon on where to get an anti-materiel sniper rifle specifically to counter this shield since Sinon was one of like three people known to possess such a sniper rifle on the server - and it works. So Sinon's Hecate should be good here - and so should any of our weapons with the anti-starship metal passive.
I would speculate he is a STR + VIT build, yes. Pretty sure that is his canon build as well. How much of this translates to the quest, especially if he goes Death Gun on us? Not sure, but that's a primer I guess. Pito should be STR+VIT as well - she literally tanks a sniper rifle headshot in SJ2 if only barely (like reduced to 1% HP from full barely) though again that relies on canon holding here which idk.
Health items exist in GGO but only in the form of slow healing syringes. Nothing that would be relevant in combat. If you narratively, I dunno, kidnap the skeleton and run away I'll figure out mechanics for ggo healing syringes.
The main problem I have with using Magnum Opus is that without the drone that we can buy for it, its range is limited to our hands, which means we have to get into melee range to heal Pito's body. While Erlkonig is also within melee range of Pito's body. Also, Magnum Opus itself is redundant, since Helena can already use Diarama, and I can't imagine QM won't allow us to use that on her. Another thing is that we're limited to two uses of Magnum Opus max, 1 if we have to burn 2 doses on one of its dampeners.
We also don't want to tip our hand to BLANK too much this combat. If we let them see a glimpse of Zataoichi, they'll find a way to work around him. Best to save him in our back pocket for the BLANK fight.
Also forgot to ask, @afreaknamedpete can Gwen throw healing items, or did it work like that only in ALO?
Okay, then. Mary's and her gun is back, Zatoichi is being kept in reserve and I'm replacing it with Urvashi since M's loyalty to Pito might make it very effective if I'm right and Urvashi really isn't that big a deal I'm willing to show to BLANK.
You know, I just realized that if Zog's plan wins, this is going to be the first combat in this quest where we don't take Undine. Wonder what it's going to feel like for her to not take her 'true' Persona into this.
Okay, then. Mary's and her gun is back, Zatoichi is being kept in reserve and I'm replacing it with Urvashi since M's loyalty to Pito might make it very effective if I'm right and Urvashi really isn't that big a deal I'm willing to show to BLANK.
With BLANK as our clear next target, we need to get ready for the reformatted «SBC Flügel». Given the mother computer's reformat... I'd expect Jibril to be a problem.
[X] Plan Gimmick Crusher
-[X] Party:
--[X] Sinon
--[X] Gwen
-[X] Last-Minute Purchases
--[X] XeXeeD's Combat Data
--[X] Sinon's Combat Data
--[X] Anti-AT Rifle
--[X] MAGDALENE 16
--[X] Queen Esmeraldas Finish
-[X] Roster
--[X] Urvashi
--[X] Urmetazoan
--[X] Magdelene
--[X] Helena
--[X] Blodeuwedd
--[X] Ash Nazg
--[X] Heliose de Villefort
"What did you do!?"
LLENN, eyes full of innocence, turns between your livid demeanor and the rapidly expanding cloud of ghosts and weapons building up a short distance behind her. She opens her mouth, no doubt preparing her excuses, before turning to her hideous monochromatic pink gun. She seems to whisper something to the thing, then turns back towards you with a radiant smile on her face.
"Oops! Teehee!"
A coherent beam of pure energy slices through the air, cutting a hole in a shipping container a mere 50 meters to your left. The steel melts under the heat, and the container begins to collapse inward, the sides falling away until the entire thing disintegrates into a molten mess.
"LLENN-chan!? Where are yooouuuu?"
"You were supposed to convince her to quit, not make her more bloodthirsty!" You scream, your desire to punt LLENN rising with every second.
"Well, sometimes things just turn out— AH, WE SHOULD RUN!"
Before you can protest, LLENN rockets forward, the tiny pink blob zipping down the alleyways, a cloud of dust and dirt in her wake. As soon as she blurs past the corner, a barrage of shots rips through the wall behind her, a storm of bullets perforating the crates. You dive out of the way, but there's no response from the target— all she's interested in is fighting LLENN.
You catch just a tiny glimpse of Pitohui as she runs past. She's clad in jet-black armor looking like some futuristic commando, nothing exposed except her face, now pale and gaunt. She likely has the highest quality armor on the server, the sort you could only dream of equipping— a full-body suit with built-in plates, capable of deflecting glancing hits. You see a black, angular machine in her hands— a circular drum magazine, and a profile that reminds you of every military-themed show you've ever seen your dad watch. Holstered on her belt is a massive pistol, silver plated with a pearlescent sheen, the barrel long and narrow.
It's a gun you recognize. A Cosmo Dragoon.
...You don't think LLENN would be too mad if you took that as the spoils of war would she...?
No, don't get distracted by the shinies!
You take a second to breathe— to focus. LLENN gave you the quick summary, somewhere inside the warehouse was Pitohui's main avatar, transformed into a skeleton. While Sinon fought alongside her Death Gun avatar, Pitohui took a different route. The 'corpse' lying in the warehouse was the true Pitohui, her soul in a dormant state, a reflection of her death wish.
All the while her battle lust has seized control of her own Death Gun avatar, going on a complete rampage.
This absurd paradoxical desire, to have the ultimate battle while at the edge of death. A special euphoria, a high unlike any other, a perverse dream of death. The best option you have is to crush that delusion, as LLENN says there's little sense talking with the true Pitohui right now, not when she can't even hear you.
You glance up at your party list, activating your earpiece. "Everyone in position?"
<Gwen: Alright, crazy girl with a gun and a ghost army. A hundred times better than the last one, urgh, I still remember the stink.>
<Sinon: I'm ready— should I take the shot?>
<LLENN: WHATEVER YOUR PLAN IS HURRY UP!>
Your eyes shift up to the ridge on the opposite side of the warehouse, searching for the glint of Sinon's scope. The sniper's best weapon is their first bullet, something M no doubt understands just as well as Sinon. LLENN gave you a general breakdown of his abilities— an expert sharpshooter, accurate enough to snipe even without a bullet line armed with a high-power rifle. If that wasn't enough he possessed an angulated Starship metal barrier that lets him turn his sniper's nest into a siege tower— unassailable to counterattacks and indestructible to boot.
"Anyone have M in view?"
<Gwen: Nothing but trees and dirt. Don't worry, I'll hunt down that weirdo, he literally can't see me coming!>
<Sinon: You don't even know where he is, not until he fires his first shot.>
Is that his plan? Snipe you the moment you enter the fray, then take potshots at you from above? It sounds solid, and yet strangely... simple? Was that the type of plan a schemer like M would cook up? This wasn't some surprise ambush, he's had time to consider the terrain, and the skills of his opponents. It should be a devious trap— but all you see is a standard seize the high-ground strategy.
<Gwen: Ugggh. Can't you like, fly or something? Just find him in mid-air and bomb his ass!>
<Sinon: Are you stupid!? How the hell am I supposed to dodge his sniper rifle from mid-air!?>
<Gwen: This would be a lot easier if you were, I dunno, permanently invisible...>
<Sinon: Can you shut up about that? Kuro, can't you just... turn into a cat and find him?>
"It's not that simple!" you growl out, quickly searching the hill line. The sun reflects off the ridge in the distance, and you imagine the glint of a hundred sniper rifles aimed at your neck. M could be in any position on the ridge, or he might even be amongst the crates, laughing at you.
<Sinon: So you can't turn into a cat anymore?>
"I can— look, that's not the point! Without a satellite scan turning into a cat won't solve anything except help me hide!"
<LLENN: IF YOU'RE A CAT AND SINON'S HIDING IN THE WOODS AND GWEN'S INVISIBLE I'M THE ONLY ONE THEY CAN SHOOT!>
The sounds of combat are circling back around to you. LLENN's dashing and weaving, trying to confuse her attacker. You have your own sniper rifle, but with M on the high ground, he could much more easily duck in and out of cover than you. The Anti-AT Rifle lets you shoot using its attached headset and controller, but the 2 meter long gun was so absurdly large that you'd lose your chance of surprise the moment you started setting it up. If you make a mad dash you could rush straight up the cliffside and count on your speed to tank any incoming bullets.
Turning into a cat to sneak into the ridge wouldn't be a bad idea, but LLENN would have to bear the burden of serving as bait. It's frustrating but just by threatening that first shot M is casting his shadow onto the entire battlefield.
<Gwen: Hey... this M jackass is supposed to be smart right? The only smart thing to do in this game is to become permanently invis—>
<Sinon: Impossible. M may be high-level level but unless he plans on fighting with starter weapons there's no way he has the equipment load to use both armor plating and an invisibility cloak.>
You tune out the chatter. The first move is key. Of all the hidden opponents, the first to fire loses. M won't fire until he's in the perfect position to screw you over, or you put him in a situation where he's forced to fire. Of course, the same applies to your allies—
Pito lands on a nearby crate with a thud. She just leaped across a huge span of space, traveling the distance like a wisp of wind. You saw a brief flash of its true form, the skeletal lord upon its phantom steed, a party of wraiths traveling at its flank.
"Let's keep going LLENN-chan! Over and over again, until our souls burn out! Now, I see you brought your little squad here to this little hunt of ours? GOOD! The more the merrier!"
The words echo and resound in the air, and you realize with a start that it's not just Pito's voice, but the cackles and screeches of a thousand specters. They echo and resonate, the chorus of the damned rising and falling with the cadence of her voice, all caught in the ecstasy of the hunt. Pitohui casually tosses the assault rifle into the air, where a passing wraith picks it up and dissolves it back into the fog— and in an instant, it's replaced with something... new?
No, it's replaced with something old.
"All you rats keep scurrying around! Let's flush you out of your little hidey holes! Now eeny, meeny, miny..."
The Tanegashima Matchlock brims with emerald winds, buffeting Pitohui in a haunted storm. The wraiths screech and cheer, mixing and dyeing the gathering wind with their curse, a thick black cloudy mass building up at the tip of the antique gun. Pitohui laughs in the eye of the storm, spinning around randomly atop her crate, picking a direction at whim...
She can't see you, not when you're still hidden. Yet somehow...
Available Personas:
Urvashi
Urmetazoan
Magdelene
Helena
Blodeuwedd
Ash Nazg
Heliose de Villefort
LLENN:
8/8 HP
1 SPD
[+1 SPD per scene, +1 SPD per 4HP lost]
Gwen:
14/14 HP
10/10 SP
Memory Release Art Unutilized
Sinon:
10/10 HP
7/7 SP
Mode: Chrysandalos
Pitohui (True):
3/10 HP
VIT 2
AGI 0
CHT X
Pitohui (Erlkonig):
???
M:
???
TACTICAL INFORMATION
Environment
A Warehouse sits in the middle of a District filled with shipping crates providing light cover. A fully exposed Slope leads up to a Cliffside with light plant cover; the Cliffside has a clear view of the entire battlefield below. Beyond lies a heavily covered Forest that has a poor view of the battlefield, unless one climbs a tree.
>LLENN, Kuro and Erlkonig are in the District.
>Pitohui (True) is immobile and in the large Warehouse.
>Sinon is hidden in the Cliffside.
>Gwen is hidden wherever you want her to be! [Gwen's starting location can be anywhere]
>Kuro is currently CLOSE to Erlkonig and can generally move one RANGE freely per SCENE
>Kuro is CLOSE to the Warehouse and Cliff. The Cliffside is FAR. The FOREST is EXTREMELY FAR.
>Kuro can reach the Slope in one Scene unless you have a Plan that justifies moving very quickly.
Enemy Tactics
>Pitohui will start attacking your general area with GARUDYNE.
>Pitohui will attack multiple times per turn with multiple weapons.
>M is... planning something.
>Erlkonig is a Death Gun entity currently stealing the life of Pitohui. It appears identical to Pitohui, only pale and lifeless as a corpse, fading into a fog. She is currently walking out of the warehouse, chasing down LLENN.
>There is a thick transparent fog around Erlkonig that doesn't affect visibility. You can see countless weapons swirling within and strange specters holding them.
>Pitohui has 3/10 HP and has been transformed into a withered corpse. She is immobile and situated inside a warehouse with decent cover against small arms. Pitohui's 'real body' will not move or act. It has VIT 2, AGI 0 and CHT X (cannot be affected by CHT skills).
>Pitohui, despite being immobile, is still an object and can be picked up and repositioned. She can also be targeted by attacks and healing spells. >If Pitohui's real body dies, she dies in real life.
>Erlkonig can heal itself by siphoning life from Pitohui, provided Erlkonig is in MELEE or CLOSE range to Pitohui. >Eliminate Death Gun Erlkonig to complete the battle, and grant LLENN the opportunity to purge Death from Pitohui.
>You and your party are in a Warehouse environment. There is frequent low cover in the form of shipping crates. There is a single demolished warehouse, and an overlooking cliffside about 4 stories high with a gentle slope leading up to it.
>There are numerous Buggies and poorly exposed vehicles in the warehouse. Of your party members Lugh knows how to drive, and Gwen thinks she knows how to drive.
>M is on the field but you cannot see him. LLENN suspects he is waiting on the cliffside with a sniper rifle.
>You are in an open area, and theoretically can be attacked by other players wandering in.
>Pitohui's Black Star is lying unattended next to Pitohui's immobile body.
>M is in possession of a Black Star. You do not know if he brought it to the fight.
>You have an active bounty on multiple party members, and M is aware of this fact.
>You know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that M is planning something.
>M possesses the mentality of a criminal.
DO YOU ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY? [Free Combat Banter]
[ ] Try to talk to either M or Pitohui. WRITE-IN speech and who you are targeting, or if you're just shouting into the air (will expose your location!)
LLENN and Kuro can both give speeches this combat.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
[ ] Water and Wait [Bloudewedd] ...Hmm... all this running around... does not tire her out? Let the rabbit prance in the meadow while we wait in the rain.
-Luster Whisper to LLENN.
-Javelin Rain onto the CLIFFSIDE, hoping to hit M.
[ ] Gwdihŵ [Urmetazoan/Bloudewedd] The creature shifts and writhes in your soul. You are a lion, a cat, and primordial life itself. It shows you a vision of a possibility now known to you.
She is a flower cursed to become the bride of a man. A betrayal— no, a rebellion— and the bride is cursed once more. From flower to bride to gwdihŵ— hated amongst all.
-Synergy Discovered! When Bloudewedd and Urmetazoan are used together, unlock an OWL form! The OWL form automatically uses Witness Me! skill, as part of its curse the OWL is the most hated of all creatures.
-Fly towards the FOREST.
[ ] Dinner and a Show [Villefort] Oh dear, I do recall one lovely evening when my Lord Husband was still courting me. The circus had come to town, and there was this most wonderful magician— tricks all, I'm sure, but it is always pleasant to see a master of misdirection in action. So I wonder, what does this clown wish for you to focus on?
-Cast PSIO to create a crystalline clone and seek to draw out M's first shot.
-Advance up the SLOPE while minding your defense.
[ ] Lights and Action [Helena] Wait, she's an idol too!? Wooooaaaahhhh! No way we're letting her upstage us!
-Counter Erlkonig's Garudyne head on with Kougaon.
-Attack Erlkonig with Faux-Megidola
OR
[ ] Write what you want Kuro to do (your GOAL) and with which Persona. Specific plans will typically be rewarded with more bonuses than general plans. Your capabilities depend on your equipped Persona.
WHAT DO YOUR ALLIES DO?
[ ] Full Assault >They can't hit all of us! Sinon takes to the skies, Gwen dramatically decloaks in the CLIFFSIDE, and LLENN runs up the cliff. You'll make M show himself, one way or another.
>Attack M if they can.
[ ] Heal/Support >Sinon will build up Hawkeye Stacks and wait to fire until she has a clear shot on M.
>Gwen will spawn in the FOREST and start setting fires to try to smoke out M.
>LLENN will run away and build up SPD.
[ ] Act Freely >Sinon will build up Hawkeye Stacks and wait to fire until she has a clear shot on M.
>Gwen will spawn in the WAREHOUSE and attempt to kidnap Pitohui (True) by putting her in a buggy.
>LLENN will start firing on Erlkonig with P-chan.
OR
[ ] Write in what you want your party to do. It helps to tell me what their short term goal is.
You can vote on COMBAT BANTER
(separate from PLAN)
And you can vote on a combat PLAN!
Tell me what KURO does and with what Persona.
Tell me what your PARTY is doing.
LLENN, eyes full of innocence, turns between your livid demeanor and the rapidly expanding cloud of ghosts and weapons building up a short distance behind her. She opens her mouth, no doubt preparing her excuses, before turning to her hideous monochromatic pink gun. She seems to whisper something to the thing, then turns back towards you with a radiant smile on her face.
Okay, I have three plans, all but one somewhat risky.
First is simple, go with Villefort's plan. M has the mentality of a criminal and Villefort is also a criminal so she most likely knows best.
Second, is to turn into an owl to taunt everyone then fly into the forest. Once there, use Concealment with Urvashi to turn into a vine to hide ourselves and prepare a sneak attack.
Third is to go all out with Helena, use the full power of Kougagon, attract everyone's attention, enshroud ourselves in light, create other light clones to confuse and wow our opponents, use our archetype buff so no one can ignore us. At the same time, I'm not sure if Helena has taunting abilities or if her Archetype will give us that buff or the limits of Kouhagon, and it ruins Sinon's aim.
For Gwen, I think we should have her nab real Pito I highly doubt M would allow her to be hurt, while Sinon will attack whoever is revealed from our taunt, while LENN plays tag with Pito.
Oh, fucking hell, I was right, Pito bought out every weapon in the RMT shop. That means we're going to have to deal with ALL OF THEM at some point, including the SOL Rangefinder. You know, the ALMIGHTY DAMAGE satellite cannon?!
Shit. At least the SOL Rangefinder is single use only and has shit range. We're going to have to be on guard if Erlkonig uses the Muramasa Photon Staff.
As for a plan of action...
[X] Plan: Raise the Curtain
-[X] Kuro: Showtime!
--[X] Create a trio of low-quality facsimiles of Kuro's avatar using Villefort and Psio, then switch to Helena to both tank the incoming Garudyne and create a blinding lightshow using Kougaon to obfuscate the crystal copies, in the hopes that M will panic and shoot one of the copies while partially blind.
-[X] Party: Places, everyone!
--[X] LLEN: [Distract] Erlkonig and attempt to throw off its aim with Garudyne. Try to coordinate with Gwen to lead it out of melee range from Pito's true body.
--[X] Sinon: Monitor the surroundings for any sign of M once Kuro starts her 'show'. If she has a shot, take it.
--[X] Gwen: Spawn in the Warehouse and kidnap Pito's true body after Kuro starts the 'show'. Use a buggy to gain distance if necessary.
And as for speech:
[X] LLEN: But why though?
-[X] "Kuro told me about how your entire life, you've been on the brink of death! Is that why you're doing this? Because it's the only thing you know? Please, just listen to me! Your entire existence doesn't have to center around something so twisted! Let me show you something new!"
Essentially, the conceit of my plan is to try to trick M into revealing himself, while also dividing Erlkonig's attention so we can abscond with Pito's real body and enable us to go on the offensive next turn.
[X] Plan Exit, Stage Left
-[X] Stylish Exit
--[X] Use Kougagon at full power to turn yourself into a rocket to dodge the Garudyne and fly straight to the forest to hide switch to Blodeuwedd on impact to blunt the damage. Once in the forest switch to Urvashi and use concealment to turn into a vine and hide in the forest.
-[X] Quiet Exit
--[X] Using her camo Gwen grabs real Pito and hides her under her cloak. Don't use a car and sneakily make your way to the forest to meet up with Kuro while she attracts all the attention.
-[X] Shoo the Fans
--[X] If Kuro's stylish exit attracts snipers have Sinon fire on them to take them out and protect Kuro. Focus on M though.
-[X] Invite the Star
--[X] Have LLENN follow after Kuro and lure her to the cliffside, taunting her all the while while launching suppressive fire.
[X] LLENN: Get a hobby
-[X] "A city of the dead is boring! Let's try some guerilla warfare!"
I had a new idea, what do you guys think? Will my Kougagon rocket work?
Kougaon: Generate a LUMINOUS element and increase its «Main Visualizer» render priority. Calls forth a laser beam, purifying force, or other disastrous manifestation of light. [MAG/BLESS]
As mentioned before, higher tiers of magic skills in this quest give higher power at the loss of fine control. Trying to combine ourselves with the Luminous element we manifest will only end badly.
