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blizzardvizard posted:The weapon upgrade mechanic, from what I've gathered, strikes me as kinda strange and redundant, but I guess that's a topic for later after you've delved into the mechanics more. Redundant how? While there are a couple of mechanics that Ragnar hasn't gotten to yet, I don't think they'd change the discussion all that much.
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# ? Jan 18, 2021 15:21 |
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Clarste posted:Redundant how? While there are a couple of mechanics that Ragnar hasn't gotten to yet, I don't think they'd change the discussion all that much. Redundant isn't exactly the right word, I guess, but there is a part of the mechanic I find strange. I'm mostly referring to the unlocked weapon skills; they seem to be meant to give the classes some versatility, like healing skills on coffins or elemental attacks on knuckles or guns, but since they're locked to the weapons you'll have the discard them eventually as you unlock better weapons, after you spend all the resources to unlock them to begin with. Unless you're 4-sword Masurao, it doesn't seem like you'll be able to take advantage of the weapon skills all that much. So I thought the implementation is a bit weird there. blizzardvizard fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Oct 19, 2016 |
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blizzardvizard posted:Redundant isn't exactly the right word, I guess, but there is a part of the mechanic I find strange. I'm mostly referring to the unlocked weapon skills; they seem to be meant to give the classes some versatility, like healing skills on coffins or elemental attacks on knuckles or guns, but since they're locked to the weapons you'll have the discard them eventually as you unlock better weapons, after you spend all the resources to unlock them to begin with. Unless you're 4-sword Masurao, it doesn't seem like you'll be able to take advantage of the weapon skills all that much. So I thought the implementation is a bit weird there. Well, first of all you should always be getting +5 on any weapon you ever use, ever. There's very little reason not to. It's not a matter of making a calculated decision to invest more in a particular weapon, it's just an additional weapon tax that you'll always have to pay. Which has its own "redundancies", but at least you have to choose between collecting more monster drops or just using up relatively rare Ingots. As for weapon skills, it feels kind of bad having to replace a weapon with a good skill, but a good enough skill can frankly be worth keeping a weaker weapon around. That's actually a choice you will have to make sometimes. I also never really felt like they were making my characters more versatile either: in practice they don't feel at all like cross-class abilities or Grimoires. They're just additional skills that certain classes have access to at certain points in the game.
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Ah, alright then, doesn't sound like it's as much a hassle as I thought. And I guess if I see the weapon skills as a nice extra option rather than part of a character build it doesn't bother me as much. I was just making assumptions of how it would play out, haha.
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I am going to have Lunarian Dragoons and you can't loving stop me
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It's a pet peeve of mine when the party stops so short from leveling up, but being stopped at two experience points away almost feels personally insulting. Also Greg and Falz are objectively the best names for a dog and a bird and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
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I like how they made the Hound's summons persistent. Needing to call them again every single battle would make them feel a lot less useful for random encounters. I'll be curious how the Necromancer's summon mechanics differ, since it sounds like you end up chewing through them semi-regularly to get additional effects.
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e: nvm
Araxxor fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Oct 20, 2016 |
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...is it wrong that when I saw "Labyrinth Chicken" I immediately marked out for Master Bird?
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I'd like to think that Necromancer's TP cost for summoning is lower than a Hound or Dragoon. It would make mechanical sense.
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Update 2: Creepy Crawliesquote:
Meet Magda, our Smoke-focused Herbalist. She won't be joining the active party just now, but given my personal playstyle, I'll probably be pushing for her very hard later on. (Floor subtitle: "Cooking around the campfire") Our only option right now is to cook any Labyricanths we have. Which gives us an equivalent amount of Roast Labyricanths. Cooking food basically consumes one type of food to make a better type of food. Ambushes are back, yep. And hey, our first death! Had to happen sooner or later. Ice Bat HP: 123 STR: 17 INT: 24 VIT: 16 WIS: 16 AGI: 19 LUC: 12 Skills:
Disable Resistances: As Gram just so aptly demonstrated, Ice Bats are annoying because Cold Wave can one-shot drat near everyone in our party this early on. With the Ropers in play, as well, good luck killing the Ice Bat before it hits someone. The other somewhat interesting thing about Ice Bats is that Cold Wave is one of, if not maybe the only, INT-based attack skills that uses the arms instead of the head. Meet Material Guard, the replacement for Fire/Ice/Volt Wall (known as Antifire/Anticold/Antivolt in the DS EO games). It doesn't fully nullify attacks like those skills did, but it does protect against fire, ice, and volt all at once. ...It didn't do much on this turn. There we go. Material Guard cuts Cold Wave from one-shot level down to "manageable." (Received: 2 Thorny Vines.) The Ropers died without much incident. (Received: 1 Ripe Lotus Fruit.) 1F, F4 Take Point
Buncha important consumables here. Thericas are gonna be pretty important all game, Nectars are extremely important until we can get Nectar IIs (which isn't until the 6th Stratum), and Medica IIs are satisfactory, as far as healing consumables go, for at least the first two strata. There's a food gathering point here (a new type), which gives Labyrinth Wheats, but we need someone with Woodland Gathering Skills to actually use it. Charging Boar HP: 370 STR: 30 INT: 19 VIT: 23 WIS: 22 AGI: 22 LUC: 18 Skills:
Disable Resistances: Charging Boars and Ice Bats both mark the point where not having a defensive support (either a dodge-tank Fencer or a Dragoon) will seriously start to bite you. Reckless Charge can seriously damage one party member and leave anyone adjacent to them hurt as well, although not nearly as much. A Dragoon doesn't wholly negate damage, but they make it very, very manageable. Even a Reckless Charge wouldn't do much with Line Guard active. Charging Boars aren't too big a problem, so long as you can kill them before Reckless Charge and its splash damage build up. ("Obtained 5 Animal Meats!") "Power of the wild You splendidly fended off an attack by a monster big enough to break a trap. To the victor go the spoils." At levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, characters gain access to one new Union skill, and a few more racial passives. Everyone in our party had two skill points to invest (because I forgot to use the level 4 skill points), so the Earthrun characters (Sasha, Cecil, Raven) put a point in Woodland Gathering Skills. Sasha levels up Material Guard to 2, which increases its fire/ice/volt reduction to 33%. I just need to level up Healing Guard to level 2, and then I'll get access to Gun Mount. Cecil puts a point in Flicker. Raven levels up Miasma Weapon. Firstly, that reduces the current HP cost to 35%, and increases the speed modifier to 140%. Secondly, it unlocks three passives: Preemptive Weapon, which gives a chance to use Miasma Weapon at the start of a battle; Endless Shroud, which gives a chance to use Miasma Weapon when using a debuff skill; and Death's Judgement, which gives a chance to inflict sleep on one enemy whenever the user loses HP (either through damage or self-inflicted HP loss). Gram puts one point into Target Arrow (bottom), which deals 118% damage to one enemy, and attaches a debuff that both reduces that enemy's physical defense by 10% for 4 turns, as well as forces summoned dogs/hawks to target that enemy. She also puts a point into Flash of Both Wings, which deals 80% damage to one enemy, and makes the hawk attack the target's row, dealing 200% damage. Dosen puts a point into the Animal Husbandry, so we can get the chickens, and Resurrection Herb, which revives a dead party member at 10 HP. ("Obtained Remember how I mentioned how guilds and characters from Guild Cards you have registered will sometimes show up in the Labyrinth? This is the first example of that. Most of the time this happens, you run into the other guild, and they give you some food items. Nothing really fancy happens, but it's still kinda neat. It also makes the Labyrinth feel less...empty, I suppose? Yes, let's go with that. "Explorers' advice You ran into another group of explorers and listened to their advice." Mandatory Adventure Episodes, like this one, don't give much EXP. ("Obtained 3 Even when I'm being ambushed, three Ghost Acorns are nothing. This one isn't even an ambush. ("Obtained 3 Going any further with this not only results in a 35 HP and 10 TP loss, it also throws you into a fight with 3 Mad Dogs. That is not a fight I can win, no matter how hard I try. "Berry gathering and acorns You found a berry field in the Labyrinth and, after dealing with an acorn attack, gathered berries." ("Obtained Pretty much every EO game has at least one of these "once-per-day HP and TP restoration" spots. (Received: 1 Brown Tuber naturally, 1 Brown Tuber from Raven.) 1F, E5 Take Point
![]() Myconid HP: 193 STR: 26 INT: 18 VIT: 21 WIS: 17 AGI: 14 LUC: 21 Skills:
Disable Resistances: Myconids can be pretty serious issues even with a well-constructed party. Remember that petrification is a complete disable, and doesn't reduce damage from physical sources this time around. Combine that with the fact that shield skills stop working if Sasha gets petrified, and one unlucky cast of Petrify Spores can put me in a really bad situation. (Received: 1 Fluffy Fur, 1 Massive Mushroom Cap.) ("Obtained ("Obtained
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Update 2 Part 2 Those of you with keen memories and ears might recognize the "crisis" music in EO5 as a remix of Unknown Threats from EO3. It wouldn't be an EO game without FOEs, would it? In battle, FOEs are pseudo-mini bosses. They're pretty much always way too strong for you to take on as soon as you see them (early and midgame, anyway), since they have far higher HP than normal enemies, deal way more damage than normal enemies, and usually can do really dangerous things that normal enemies can't. I'm showing this graphic from the FOE tutorial because the fact that the visible party members in it are dead is funny to me. Oh, and the weird orange sun icon in the title bar is a reference to how FOEs looked in the field in the DS EO games--floating orange balls of lint, rendered as sprites. Crawlers have a pretty simple movement pattern--they just patrol a line of tiles back and forth, turning around once they hit a solid obstacle, like a wall. Here, all we have to do is just wait for this one to turn around after its first patrol down. After that, we can take this side path to get around it. There's another Crawler not too far from the first one. Here, we have to wait for it to pass us here, and then move down that small corridor before it can catch up. If I could read this on the fly, or if I'd just cross-referenced what was on-screen with my translation files, I would've chosen to give the monkey a Labyricanth, because I like it when you can be nice to monsters. Unfortunately, my mind blanked a little, and I just chose the second option coming up--attack it from behind. For the record, if you give the monkey a Labyricanth, it runs away with the fish, and you don't get into a fight. It also unlocks an event on the next floor that results in you getting an item. Welp! Forest Monkey HP: 160 STR: 24 INT: 24 VIT: 22 WIS: 23 AGI: 26 LUC: 25 Skills:
Disable Resistances: Forest Monkeys on their own are almost pathetic. Forest Monkeys with other enemies, however, can be really drat dangerous, since now every enemy essentially deals double damage to you. This can be a really serious problem when doing up against, say, an Ice Bat and a Forest Monkey, and the Ice Bat uses Cold Wave. I almost feel bad for the monkey, honestly. The battle only took one turn! "The little fisher You got the first strike on a careless monster and easily dispatched it." One last Crawler. Just start crossing that corridor once you're behind it. If we had a Lunarian in tow that knows the Detect Magic racial passive, we'd get a considerably different bit of dialogue. quote:...However, [Character] can tell that these characters are hiding something with magic! Using their ability to detect magic, they see through the illusion and examine the true characters written underneath... The writing discovered through Detect Magic states the following: "These magic walls shall be as a barrier sealing off the Labyrinth. Upon touching the golem, the illusion shall be dispelled and the path opened." Apparently, this is some sort of device to prevent entry. If you wish to pass, you'll have to find these golem it mentioned. You head out to look for it. "The labyrinth that surpasses human knowledge You've shed light on the bizarre mechanism and take a step into a new world." Cecil levels up Flicker to level 2. Raven puts a point into Miasma Weapon, which now only eats 30% of his current HP, and now has a 160% speed modifier. Flash of Both Wings now has Gram deal 82% damage, and the hawk 207% damage. Cure Herb now has 115% healing power, compared to level 1's 100%. Incidentally, note that the "items you need to turn in a quest are marked with an exclamation point" feature returns from EO2U. I always wondered what reason there was for Thericas in the English versions of EO just being referred to as A and B. Turns out it's because the English versions apparently can't do alpha and beta characters! 3F bar patrons. #1: Therian hunter: Hunter: Hello, nice to meet you...right? Based on your appearance, I'm guessing you're explorers? I make my living in the Labyrinth too, as a hunter. The name's Jamie. I'm renting a room from the proprieter here to sell the Animal Meats I've collected. If you're adventurers too, maybe you'd like some? Just let me know if you ever feel like buying any. Talking to Jamie again results in this: Jamie: Hello, Nameless. I'm selling Animal Meat now. It's 2 for 100 en, interested? Jamie: Well, thank you! Here you go. ("Obtained 2 Jamie: That's all I've got on me for today. I'd better go resupply. Until we meet again. #2: Dark-skinned male Dragoon: Dragoon: *scoff* What's with you? You're telling me the third floor is a piece of cake? Dragoon: Well, have you ever seen a Charging Boar eat a Ghost Acorn?! They get even stronger! If you ever seen 'em together, for the love of the gods, kill the Ghost Acorn first! #3: Black-clothed man hiding his face: Man: Hey, you from that new guild, Nameless? I'm an information broker. Call me Hansuke. I specialize in info about conditional monster drops. Hansuke: For example, did you know that Ice Bats drops something rare when killed with a stab attack, like a bow? I'll let you have that one for free: go test it out for yourself. Nothing's more important in this business than trust. And the more business I get, the more things I hear, so be sure to stop by now and then. I'll be waiting... Too bad I have the game data formatted and at my fingertips! #4: Female shaman lying over a table: Shaman: So I took one of those requests to gather rare materials, but no matter how times I go back there I just can't find any... It's, like, impossible... So I'm thinking, maybe I could find them if I had someone with a gathering skill? *sigh* I'll bet... Basically a hint that you can't find rare materials unless you have someone that knows a gathering skill for that gather point type. #5: Purple-haired lady Fencer: Fencer: Oh, I believe you were from Nameless, correct? I wonder, have you encountered this curious beast? It was like a bear, but with the head of an owl... And it seemed quite insistent on chasing out anyone who enters its territory. We managed to get past it by paying close attention to the map...but I must admit, my heart skipped a beat while it was chasing us. It was like something out of a horror novel. Anyway, yes, quests. #1: Your first gathering: #2: Angler's understanding: We've done this plenty of times. #3: Sunlight, moonlight: #4: Rare breed hunter!: Thaddeus the Lunarian: Thaddeus: Would you be the guild who so kindly accepted my request? Thaddeus: My sincerest thanks. Regarding the request, I'd like you all to acquire two stones; a Sunstone and a Moonstone. My understanding is that both may be found on the 3rd floor of the Labyrinth, and that they both emit a strange energy; the Sunstone in daylight, and the Moonstone at night. You have my thanks, and I'll be counting on you. And, before we go, Melina's 3F dialogue. And we're immediately back here because I had already finished Angler's understanding. ("Obtained 5 Our reward for catching a fish? Five more fish. Good lord even standard trips to the shop unlock tons of junk early in EO games. Here's Ceric's 3F dialogue: I don't actually need to use the inn yet, I'm just here for Genetta's dialogue. After that, on a whim, I decided to upgrade Sasha and Cecil's weapons, since we had spare materials left over. Gotta check in with Edgar, too. I mentioned that Remus gives rewards for Monstrous Codex and Item Compendium completion, and here's one of them. We have 10 things logged in the Item Compendium now, which he gave us a Bronze Ingot for. And before we go take care of the chickens because I drat near forgot to do that again, Remus's 3F dialogue: It was at this point that, after having shut off my recording 3DS for a bit, that I remembered I still had to find the chickens. Now that Dosen knows Animal Husbandry, we can catch them. I already showed off each of the chicken spots, so let's just report in to the guard. ("Obtained Genetta starts talking as soon as we enter the inn. Well, that just happened. Next time: 3F. Rea fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Oct 25, 2016 |
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Also, two floors means it's time to swap out the party! I have no strong opinions on who I want for the next party since we're still early enough it doesn't a matter a ton, so vote Vote for a maximum of three characters, once per character. I'm knocking down the max amount of votes for now since our guild is pretty small, and will be until specializations.
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Mio, Alexis, Kaelin
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Kaelin, Mio, Alexis
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Alexis, Mio, Jana
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...Huh, really neat that you can find the Guildmaster in the labyrinth. Without, y'know, a giant fire-breathing wyrm or a tutorial. Magda, Kaelin, Jana
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Nice to see NPCs outside of story segments or quest events. Voting for Kaelin, Alexis and Cecil.
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Alexis, Lanzon, Mio
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Magda, Jana, Lanzon
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Mio, Magda, Kaelin.
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Current results:quote:Alexis: 5 ...Inconclusive at best.
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Alexis, Magda, Lanzon Don't be so judgmental, chickens actually make great pets ![]()
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Arcade Rabbit posted:Don't be so judgmental, chickens actually make great pets Chickens are horrible monsters that I relish in devouring every chance I get. Also, voting for Gram, Magda and Cecil
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Alexis, Magda, Mio
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Ragnar Homsar posted:This is actually the only way to get eggs in the entire game. So if you miss this one quest, say, because you can't read Japanese, you'll miss out on everything that uses eggs, which isn't insignificant.[/i] Hope this does not veer too much into spoiler territory. More importantly than food (which I never really bothered with), the one early quest where you need eggs seems to be required in order to get an important quest in the 6th stratum.. I am on the 2nd to last floor in the game and I never did the chicken thing in this update or knew about it, but will have to go back and do it pretty soon I guess. So thanks for showing how it's done
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Mio, Jana and Magda. We need to make sure the other members experience the Labyrinth face-first, even if it means being mauled to death by a giant caterpillar.
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Kemix posted:Chickens are horrible monsters To be fair, so are cats, yet humanity find the latter adorable. Magda, Kaelin, Jana
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Lanzon, Jana, Gram
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Mio, Jana, Lanzon
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Omobono posted:To be fair, so are cats, yet humanity find the latter adorable. B-B-But muh cat pictures!
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Lanzon, Alexis, Jana.
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Kaelin, Lanzon and Jana are my picks. We had pet chickens. Some were great, some were horrible, some were demon hell-beasts in disguise. One thought it was human and would come inside to watch Days of Our Lives. No matter how bad chickens can be, though, they do not compare with Roosters. Roosters are THE ABSOLUTE WORST. silversatyr fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Oct 25, 2016 |
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Alexis, Lanzon, Mio
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Alexis,Mio,Magda
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I'll throw in a vote for Magda 'cuz I am selfish like that, but I'd also like to see more of the classes you haven't used yet in general, so let's go with Lanzon & Jana
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Give one fish, get five. Give three chickens, get one. This feels like bartering with Rolf. Anyway, my votes go to Jana, Lanzon, and Magda.
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Magda, Jana, and Mio
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Magda, Alexis and Jana.
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# ? Jan 18, 2021 15:21 |
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Final voting results are:quote:Jana: 12 I guess smugboy will have to wait until the boss to make his debut.
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