The Hollow known as "The Prophecy" has become the talk of the town.
Someone claiming to be an adjudicator of the Seven Urban Mysteries of New Eridu wishes to evaluate whether or not this Hollow fits the bill to be listed as one of their Urban Mysteries. Do a thorough investigation and complete the commission.
How to unlock
Conditions to unlock: HDD Chapter 2 – Inter-Knot level 40
Find Jonah and his friend
They are in the alley going to Random Play parking lot from the coffee shop, by the payphone during the morning or afternoon and talk to him. He'll be talking about going to the arcade with Jonah.
Talk to Jonah, in the alley going to Random Play parking lot from the coffee shop.
Wait until Midnight
Skip the time to midnight, use the "rest" feature if still available for the day or refer to my How to skip time when your daily "rest" is already used? guide.
Skip time till Midnight.
Find the Flustered Passerby
Once it is midnight, go back to the alley and find a "Flustered Passerby".
During the 3rd dialog, make sure to chose "Well, since you're so desperate...", and after picking up the phone, select "I can't hear you. Please talk more."
After hanging-up the phone, go back to Random Play and rest.
Check your Inter-Knot notifications
The following day, you'll get notified of a new Inter-Knot commission being available.
Open your Inter-Knot, in the Notifications tab, you will have the [Commission] Need someone skilled at exploring weird Hollows, open and accept it.
Check your DMs
After having accepted the [Commission] Need someone skilled at exploring weird Hollows, you will get a new message notification from "Work ID: 7", open and read it.
And voila! You now have access to the commission [Exploration] The Tower, Reversed, unlocking the Ch. 2 – [Investigation] The Prophecy.
The Investigation
Your Agent's Lineup for this mission does not matter, as they will not be available through the entirety of it.
As soon as you get in, a trashcan tells you to hurry over as it has something urgent to tell you.
"This place is surrounded by Ethereals! Please, help us escape!"
After some discussions with it, it will ask you to send your Agents back, as you don't have the choice, your Agents will leave you.
It will then confers powers to you, and ask you to allocate points to stats: STR / DEX / INT
It is important to allocate your first 5 points to STR, this will let you destroy a nearby vending machine to get a Cross Blast bomb.
After having allocated your points, it will share with you some more information about the mission, and then it really starts.
Good to know
Raising STR early on also lets you defeat enemies more easily, potentially reducing turns and saving HP.
Raise All Stats as You Progress
You'll encounter several stat gates, some of which are needed for Observation Data. Stats are gained from events and by grinding the Wandering Ethereals. Aim for at least 50 of every stat once you're ready for the final battle.
After a fight, you will have to choose random stat bonuses, if you get a gold stat selection, always pick it, else prioritize your acquisition, essentially at the beginning:
- STR
- INT
- DEX
Gear Coins
They are heavily used in this commission. They can be used to boost stats, open passages, and even befriend some Bangboos. You can get Gear Coins by collecting them from tiles as usual and by defeating Ethereals all over the map.
Befriend All Virtues and Sins?
To get to the True Ending, you must befriend all 7 Virtues and 7 Sins. In general, defeating Sins is enough to befriend them but you'll need to assist Virtues to get them to join you. The background will change once you've befriended all 14 Bangboos.
To get to the hidden ending and the hidden achievement, do not befriend anybody. This means you must not talk to the Virtues and not defeat any of the Sins, however, you can steal from them.
Mission Walkthrough
The Holy Armor
Acquisition requirement: Befriend Modesty
Effect: Attacks deal additional damage equal to 5% of your HP – HP +500.
The armor is in the room to the left of your starting point. To break it, you will need [Cross Blast] x3.
Get three bombs
From the trashcan tile, go down to the Vending Machine and get your Bangboo Cross Blast bomb.
You need STR: 5 to get the first bomb.
Continue your progress until you meet Wrath and Prudence, you will be asked to help either Wrath or Prudence, choose to help Prudence that will become your friend after the fight. (If you don't help Prudence now, you wont be able to befriend it later)
Continue your exploration and get the Gear Coins along your way, then go to the Shop; buy INT (until 7 if you already can) you will need INT: 7 then if you still have Gear Coins, you can purchase STR.
Then continue your exploration and grind, you will need at least 5000 Gear Coins.
Once you have the 5000 Gear Coin and still have at least INT: 7, go meet Absolution.
Select "Talk", then "Haggle" in order to drop the price to 5000 and purchase it. Absolution will also become your friend.
Go grab your armor
Get back to grinding Gear Coins and the go back to the previous shop, this time you can buy STR until you get the bomb.
Once you get your third bomb, go back to the starting room, to its bottom left corner. Use 2 bombs to break the walls.
Use your last bomb to kill the 3 Ethereals, then talk to Modesty. Modesty's task was to kill the 3 already killed Ethereals.
Modesty will become your friend, you can now pick the Holy Armor, and your first Hollow Obrservation Data.
From this point, try to avoid loosing hp when choosing your stat rewards after fights.
Increase All Your Stats to 30
Go to bottom middle of the map, the big room right before the final boss with a lot of Wandering Ethereals, go through it to the next room to the left – Do not fight the Golden Bangboo yet!
You can also roam around and clean-up a bit the map accordingly to your current strength and capabilities.
The Holy Sword
Acquisition requirement: Unlock Gates of Trials (requires 30 STR, DEX, and INT)
Effect: ATK +25, CRIT DMG +25%
Once all your stats are at at least 30, go back to the room where you helped Prudence. You can now get your second Hollow Obrservation Data.
The Holy Shield
Acquisition requirement: Unlock Gates of Trials (requires 30 STR, DEX, and INT)
Effect: ATK +25, CRIT DMG +25%
Get the Buckler
Proceed the the last bottom right room.
Open a valve and get the bomb from the vending machine, with that bomb, go to the right side and break the wall and access the broken building tile to get the Buckler.
Get the Hardest Iron
Go fight the dog in the room "full" of Wandering Ethereals.
Meet Vulcan
From there, go to a room to the right and meet Vulcan. He will craft the shield for you, become your friend, and you'll get your third Hollow Observation data in the process.
Increase All Your Stats to 50
Same method as previously, go grind Wandering Ethereals and/or purchase stats from the two different shops you already discovered – Do not fight the Golden Bangboo yet!
If you have 2 bomb in your in your Bangboo Plug-in, break into the jail, from the bottom left corner of the Wandering Ethereals room. You will find there some more stat boosters.
Preparations for the Final Boss
Get your stats as high as possible, honestly, just fully cleaning-up the map should be sufficient.
Get around 20000 HP, then go get the special buffs from the Enhancement Devices – AT +50% and HP +100%
Break into the Last Room
At the top right of your starting point, you will need 2 bombs.
Get the Pendant
Go meet Pride, talk to him, then accept the challenge. You'll get the Pendant by defeating him, and he will become your friend.
Get the Bent Iron Pipe
Go meet Wrath and steal from him first to get the Bent Iron Pipe, you can then fight him for him to become your friend.
Get the Blast Shield
Steal from Temperance to get the Blast Shield.
If you already killed 40 Ethereals, you'll have completed his mission, talk to him for him to become your friend.
Get the Iron Sword
In a crumbling building, locked by 3 Gear Coin gates
Get the Good Shoes
You can try to steal them from Buridon. Currently, defeating him will be faster and he will become your friend.
The Golden Bangboo
Benignity has 300 hp, will escape in 1 turn, and drops Gear Coins based on your damage dealt.
So make sure to be able to one-shot it.
True Ending & Final Boss
If you befriended every Bangboo, the exploration background changed from dark blue to dark red.
Get the True Holy Sword
Acquisition requirement: Steal from Corrupted Human (40 DEX) and pull it out (requires STR and INT).
Effect: Attacks never miss. ATK is doubled.
Steal the True Holy Sword from the final boss.
Once successfully stolen, it will drop on the ground, leave the encounter and pick it up.
You can now fight the boss.
True Ending
Once you defeated the Corrupted Human, and after some dialogs, don't spam your buttons as you will get a call for support.
Select to get support from All, insist on choosing both sides, call for help once more, then no more choice, fight....
Select to get support from All.
After the Fight
Talk to everyone, collect all the chests, and voila!
Hidden Ending & Achievement
In order to reach the hidden ending and get the hidden achievement, you have to complete this exploration WITHOUT the help of any Bangboo.
The starting phase
Allocate your first 5 points to STR, this will let you destroy a nearby vending machine to get a Cross Blast bomb.
This time, use the bomb to break the wall right before reaching the tile where Wrath and Prudence are fighting each other.
HPs Management
Since you won't have the support of any Bangboo, ALWAYS make sure you are in capacity of killing an Ethereal, being defeat will cost you 1000 Gear Coins and potential purchases from the shops.
Whenever your HPs drop bellow 40, you can go "Restore HP to 40 for free" at the second Inn, to the left of the Wandering Ethereal's room.
Build up your STR and Attack
Build up your attack, the goal is to be able to at least 2 shots the Wandering Ethereals in the "grinding room" before running out of normal Ethereals and easy to reach Supply Boxes on the map
or you won't be able to build up your strength, hence you won't be able to kill the final boss.
Break into Jail
Clean up the map of easily accessible normal Ethereals and Gear Coins, go back to the first Shop in order to purchase more STR and get a bomb from it – make sure to SAVE 3000 Gear Coins.
This will enable you to steal some items from the Sins Bangboo.
Go get your second bomb from the bottom-right room vending machine.
Go break into the jail, from the bottom left corner of the Wandering Ethereals room. You will find there some more stat boosters.
Get the Holy Sword
Acquisition requirement: Unlock Gates of Trials (requires 30 STR, DEX, and INT)
Effect: ATK +25, CRIT DMG +25%
Once all your stats are at at least 30, go back to the room where Wrath and Prudence are fighting each other and get the Holy Sword.
Get The True Holy Sword
Once you attain DEX 40, go steal the True Holy Sword from the final boss.
Note that each attempt to pick it up will cost you HPs, so consider this as a "late game" thing to do.
Other items you can acquire
The Buckler
If you have a bomb, proceed the the last bottom right room, go to the right side and break the wall and access the broken building tile to get the Buckler.
The Blast Shield
Steal from Temperance.
The Good Shoes
Steal them from Buridon.
The Iron Sword
In a crumbling building, locked by 3 Gear Coin gates
The Pendant
Steal from Pride.
Preparations for the Final Boss
Get your stats as high as possible, honestly, just fully cleaning-up the map should be sufficient.
Once you reach ~700 AT and ~2500 HP, go get the special buffs from the Enhancement Devices – AT +50% and HP +100%
Final boss and hidden ending
Once you killed the Corrupted Human, you will have a sequence of lore, then be teleported to the center room where you will fight the Hero.
Win the fight to get the hidden achievement "Hero's Journey".
Failing the last fight?
Might you fail the last fight, you can just go back to it directly once you restart the mission, from the [Warp] tile located at the top-left of the starting room.
Don't miss out
After you completed the [Investigation] The Prophecy, at midnight, go back to the Payphone to get the follow up commission – [Combat] The Prophecy, unlocking the Ch. 2 – [Combat] Responder to Prophecy.
