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A bit late on this, butquote:something much later down the line. 
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Nov 8, 2014 15:44
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Hivac posted:A bit late on this, but It's probably what you're thinking of, yes. Finished recording the next update. Wow, I'm surprised you guys actually voted for a pretty decent party here. Didn't have too much of a rough time. Probably could've made it through unscathed if it weren't for one specific enemy on that floor.  Little tip if anyone's playing along, bring Nectars. Lots of them. And Therica Bs if you don't have a Medic.
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Nov 8, 2014 17:47
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Well, at least three days is less time out in the wild than you had to do before.
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Nov 9, 2014 23:50
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Read the entire LP, and I'd really like to thank you for doing this! It's great how you neatly talk about the game mechanics, the popular cheesing strategies, etc. and how they're different from each other between the games. It's rare to see a upfront description of that sort of details.
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Nov 10, 2014 00:43
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Update had to be split into two parts because it was getting a bit long. A slight bit of story happens in the 2nd part. First part will be up shortly. Second part will be put up sometime later.
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Nov 10, 2014 04:40
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Statues are Dicks: Part 1 PC-88 Version  First things first, I buy a bunch of Nectars and Therica Bs. We'll need them for the next floor.  : Maverick, are you sure we need all this? : Can't be too careful! I mean, what if you get hurt? Die? Turn into a statue? Stub your toe?: Uhhh... : As long as we have enough room left in our bag for monster parts, I'm fine with it. So starting from a new Stratum is a little different from the first game. There was an option to use a Geomagnetic Field on the menu screen here in the first game. That's gone now.  Instead you access the list of Strata from the Labyrinth option, which all future games kept. Let's get going.  PC-88 Version Here's the nighttime splash screen, which you can't see if you're coming from a Geomagnetic Field. Something that should be noted. This Stratum has an effect that makes it so that you can see falling leaves in front of you as you explore. It's kind of a nice effect, but it causes a few framerate and lag issues, which are kind of annoying. And it's not just the emulator, this happens on my DS too. EO2 was not a well programmed game. The devs mentioned on their blog that they fixed that issue for the remake, so that's nice.  Noticing your presence, it prepares to flee. You suddenly remember the quest you undertook at the bar. : Oh right. See that thing? We need to hunt it down for a request.There was a similar cowardly monster whose hide Lord Gascoyne desired. Perhaps the monster in front of you now is none other! You may choose to pursue the monster and complete your task, or resume your explorations.  It's an FOE we need to chase down, but we're not doing that just yet.  Another secret passage here.  PC-88 Version : Okay, let's see what you all got. Take down that Moa. Moa HP: 144 AT: 16 DF: 17 Exp: 774 Skills: Rush Item Drops: -Common: Tail Quill - 1 needed for Bird Whip (Whip.) 2 needed for Madfa (Gun) and Quill Arm. 3 needed for Shell Boot. --A Moa's tail feathers, spread to scare enemies. -Rare: N/A -Conditional: N/A Description: A large, birdlike denizen of the forest. Though flightless, its legs are extremely powerful. Weakness: Stab (150%) Resistance: N/A Moas were second Stratum FOEs in the first game, but they got downgraded to random encounters here. They became FOEs again in the 4th game. They're not too tough. Rush is something to watch out for since it's a physical AOE.   :      Loyalty kicking in here. Ling took all the damage Fedot would've taken. It can come in handy occasionally, but it being a passive skill makes it really unreliable, and it kicks in when you don't want it to. : Oh uh, thanks Ling. : Mm.  : I can see that we have a lot of work to do here. : Now, if you all can do that, we'll be fine. Hopefully. Exp bars are all over the place now.  : Well, I didn't expect to be kicked around by a flightless bird.: Ugh, that was rough. I got lots of cuts all over.: Oh don't worry! I got lots of medicine for that! Lots!PC-88 Version Sadly I don't have Salve or Salve 2 on Maverick yet, so he can't do any AOE healing. Also he's our only source of good healing right now. Medicas are starting to fall off hard here. PC-88 Version  Bigcap HP: 132 AT: 16 DF: 16 Exp: 599 Skills: Mold, Spores Item Drops: -Common: Open Cap - 1 needed for Stud Coat and Fungus Jet. 2 needed for Milk Staff (Staff.) 20 needed for Milk Maul staff. 1 needed for the quest Smithy Thompson's request I. --Bigcap's head with a hardened interior. -Rare: Tiny Bloom - See the first stratum Take Point info. -Conditional: N/A Description: A mushroom monster that has begun to attack humans with its poison spores. Weakness: Fire (150%) Resistance: N/A Bigcaps are a bit annoying. They like to use their two skills a lot instead of attacking. Mold poisons a party member for 65 damage per turn, while Spores just paralyzes them. Depending on the encounter formation, they can be really deadly. It should be noted that running into a solo Bigcap will be a guaranteed blindside.    Eugh. Emilia is doing some nice damage, but Aegis has some pretty terrible offenses. And unlike Maverick, he's in the front row, so he has no excuse.     : I feel like I'm about to-  : Grr...   Ling's Hellclaw has a fire attribute attached to it, which is why it's doing so much damage right now.    And Fedot's Fireshot for comparison. Ling's decent enough at dealing damage at this point. PC-88 Version : Get ready!: Wait. Look.However... it doesn't seem to notice you. It is focused on licking something before it. Straining your eyes, you can tell that it's a nest of giant ants. The monster seems to have destroyed the ant's nest, gleaning the honey inside.  You remain silent, hoping the monster will leave before you sneak to the ant's nest. You briefly worry that the monster may return or the ants may swarm, but nothing happens. Unable to resist the sweet scent any longer, Ling takes a taste of the flowing honey. It melts on Ling's tongue, permeating their tired body and relieving all tension!  :  : Huh, must've been some good honey.A few of these events choose a random party member to get a positive or negative effect, which can be kind of annoying, since a party member at full HP could be the one chosen to get healed. EO4 and Untold lets you choose the party member to be on the receiving end of these events.  :  : Huh. Trees don't usually look like that.: Whoa! Are these the trees that the explorers keep reporting about?: Yep. I better mark this down.The rest of the flavor text is the same as the other times. And we've technically completed this quest, but there's a few more spots on the 7th and 8th floors that have these as well. PC-88 Version Another new monster.  Frilzard HP: 138 AT: 16 DF: 17 Exp: 580 Skills: Clawing Item Drops: -Common: Soft Horn - 1 needed for Broadaxe (Axe.) 3 needed for Tachi (Katana.) 30 needed for Sting Whip (Whip.) --Horn formed from the hardened skin on a frill. -Rare: Collar Fur - 1 needed for Muffler. 2 needed for Petal Coat. --Hide surrounding a lizard's neck area. -Conditional: N/A Description: It puffs up its collar to appear larger than it is. If that fails, it will use its claws. Weakness: Ice (150%) Resistance: N/A They're weak to Ice and sometimes uses Clawing to hit harder. Nothing remarkable here.   Oh hey, I got two of their rare drops. That's lucky. PC-88 Version: Hey, I found something!    Huge boost in damage for Emilia. She should be hitting as hard as Ling now. : Awesome!: Why don't you give that sword to me?: You're a Protector. Your job is to protect things. My job is to slay evil! So I think I need this more than you.: Besides, she uses her sword a lot better than you use yours.: Grr... Aegis' stats for comparison. Seriously, he's not gonna be killing things at this point with that piddly 11 strength. Protectors took a bit of a hit in the transition from 1 to 2. PC-88 Version  Great! We're off to a fantastic start, with the worst enemy on this floor!    : Ha, our panda's got our backs!:   Crap. Don't use it on Maverick don't use it on Maverick don't use it on Maverick.  Phew! :  What was that supposed to do?Right, the Mystues. They are dicks.  Mystue HP: 180 AT: 23 DF: 17 Exp: 764 Skills: Breath Item Drops: -Common: Rock Shard - 1 needed for Kora (Sword) and Stud Coat. --Strange-looking rock, crushed to fine pieces. -Rare: Amazonite - See first Stratum Mine info. -Conditional: Holed Rock - Kill with Stab. 1 needed for Shard Mace (Staff.) --This pierced rock has a large hole in it. Description: A mysterious statue that achieved sentience. Its soulless breath hardens skin to stone. Weakness: Volt (150%) Resistance: Physical (75%), Fire (0%), Ice (0%). Immune to Instant Death and Poison. Mystues are the first of the gargoyle type monsters. Those are all immune to Poison and Instant Death. The Mystue itself resists physical damage slightly, but it takes 0% damage from Fire and Ice, so those won't do much. Breath has a low chance to petrify someone. The only way to cure Petrification is through a Medic's Refresh if it's at least level 8 (their multitarget refresh doesn't cure it.), or by using a Therica B. They also hit hard, but here's what really makes them a deadly enemy.   : What the!? Agh, it went straight for me!Their enemy AI is different than most enemies. They target the back row most of the time. You know, the place where you put all your squishy healers, attackers, and casters. They rarely target the front row. Yeah, expect to use up a few Nectars thanks to these things.  You need to be a bit careful when dealing with those. Emilia's getting close to a level up at least. PC-88 Version : Shh! Something's behind us. : What the hell is that thing?: I think it's a blue pumpkin? It's not showing up on the map at all!You wonder how it could have come so close without you sensing it at all...   : Huh. This is new. Guess we'll just have to be extra careful around these things.The game introduces a new type of FOE here. Purple FOEs are invisible FOEs. They don't show up on the map at all, so you have to be more careful with your movements. Using the Survivalist's FOE skill will not reveal invisible FOEs on the map, so you can't cheat that mechanic. Thankfully they still set off the FOE radar, so you can use that to help watch your step. Unlike the flying FOEs, these never got used again, aside from a cave in 4. But those FOEs doesn't work the same way.  Just don't walk counterclockwise and you'll be fine. PC-88 Version What's with all the blindsides today? : You know, one of the important parts of being an explorer is being aware of your surroundings. So we don't get ambushed all the time. You all really need to keep a better lookout.: Don't blame me. I'm just keeping a lookout from the front. Nothing much happened in that battle, but Emilia did get a level up. PC-88 Version She levels up Swords. Aside from Tornado, there's not much else she wants since most of her skills are really terrible. I might go for the Chasers later and some of her passives.  The FOE we were chasing earlier rests in this spot. Be prepared for it, because this is a really tough fight.  PC-88 Version Or not. :  : THIS is the beast we were supposed to hunt down?: I've got a bunch of medicine ready in case ya'll get hurt by it!: I don't think we'll need it, thanks. Fleehog HP: 414 AT: 16 DF: 17 Exp: 0 Skills: Claws Item Drops: N/A Description: A timid creature that vanishes soon after appearing. Lord Gascoyne had asked after its fur. Weakness: Physical (150%) Resistance: N/A It's just a stronger version of a Hedgehog. Just kill it and turn in the quest. It counts as an FOE, so it doesn't give out any exp.     Emilia racking up some pretty respectable damage here. She even outdoes Fedot at the moment.  If you're somehow having trouble with this thing, Climax does work on it. : Oh, I'm really glad Nick isn't here.: Why's that?: You don't want to know. PC-88 Version It was rough work catching the monster, but you've succeeded in defeating the beast! Judging by the way it moved, there can be no doubt it is the monster from your quest. You efficiently strip it of its fur and take your leave.  The first Take point is right behind the Fleehog. Take: Common: Mint Leaf (1 needed for Medica II and Charm Gas. 1 needed for the quest Medicinal research. 5 needed for the quest Volunteer service II.) Uncommon: Mugwort (1 needed for Metapon. 3 Needed for Blind Gas. 3 needed for the quest Labyrinth stew) Rare: Tri-Fruit (1 needed for Fire Jar, Ice Jar, and Volt Jar. 3 needed for the quest Quid pro quo.) Yeah, this Take point is really important. And try to unlock the Medica II as soon as possible. It will make your trips through this Stratum much easier. PC-88 Version  : I should've brought more medicine...And this is why I hate Mystues. Oh well, Maverick was running low on TP and I was running out of supplies. : Yeah, off to a great start. Hey. Wake up.  : See? I told ya bringing those would be handy. : Whatever, we're running low on supplies now.PC-88 Version  Sold off a bunch of our stuff to unlock these, and I upgrade everyone's equipment. Normally you shouldn't upgrade equipment every time you unlock something in the EO series, because that will cause you to go bankrupt fast. But as you already know we have absolutely no money problems in EO2, so upgrade as much as you like.  I want to finish up that one quest and unlock Medica IIs as soon as possible, so I'm bringing Pauline with us temporarily.   They're not too much of a threat on their own, so Atlus gave them guaranteed blindsides to help even the odds. Still not really a threat unless you're really low on supplies and health.  So over here at the Take point...   : Oops.Oh great. You also get nothing if you get ambushed so that's a wasted attempt at gathering. PC-88 Version This is the strongest monster of this Stratum. Now normally an encounter with something like this would probably be scary, except for one thing.   It always spends its first turn charging up. On its second turn it uses Scurry, which is a physical AOE. But that gives your party plenty of time to run away, making this nothing more than an annoyance. It's only dangerous if you brought a low level farmbot team who might move last and die to it horribly. One rest later to replenish my gathering attempts.   Oh come on! I'm not a fan of this “feature” at all. No matter which way you look at it, it's just a minor annoyance. Your farmbot team gets wiped out here? Just restart and try again. Your main team gets ambushed? They can run away and just lose an attempt at gathering. It should be noted that you won't always get ambushed by the same monster. Like in the first stratum, you can get ambushed by three Hypnowls instead of a Rafflesia, and sometime we can run into five Bigcaps here.   Finally. PC-88 Version  Now we have some healing items that don't suck and we can have Maverick save some TP. I make sure to buy a bunch of these.  : Oh, before I forget, I got a letter from the doctors. Here, I'll read it to you... It starts, “We have all the ingredients now, and we can start sending it to Sitoth. We're in your debt, as are all the people whose lives will be saved by your kindness. There's a lot we don't know about the Labyrinth. Beware of diseases as well as monsters. When in battle, pay attention to the diseases inflicted...” Um, I'm going to skip ahead. “Watch yourselves out there. If you're feeling ill or injured, stop by at any time. I won't let anyone die from an incurable disease! Not ever again!” I wish I could understand what he was talking about... But whatever it is, I'm glad the medicine they made will help all those people! If you need anything else, just ask! Don't overdo it out there, okay? Not gonna turn in The Dying Forest just yet, but I turn in the other two.  : Ah, yeh lot made it back safe. How's the medicine look? Think it'll come in handy?: Oh definitely! I can't wait to try this out on the others!: Wouldn't it be better if you don't have to use it at-:  : I'll be quiet now.: I know yeh make a tidy profit selling the things yeh find, but others benefit from it too. Even the information yeh gather could save a man's life someday. Every scrap of food and drop of drink on the table, we owe to some brave explorer! Don't forget to appreciate all yeh've got in life, yeh know? And we get a free Medica II off that quest.  Now it says that the reward is a Pole Stone. : Did yeh catch the bugger? How'd yeh do it!?: Uh well...: Don't tell me yeh just chased the thing all over creation! Haw haw haw! Let's have a look at this hide, shall we?: Sure, it's... Oh no.: Hmm? This... this looks like a dirty old rag. Why would he...?: Oh my. It looks like the Panda was too rough with the creature.:  : What!? Don't try to shift the blame onto Ling! It was your fault too!: And yours.  : Rrr...: Technically it was all our fault.: W-Well, whatever, eh!? No one told yeh how to kill it, did they? Then no harm, no foul! Job done, then! Great work, and don't forget yer reward! But we get a Warp Stone instead. What's up with that? Probably another typo. Anyways, it acts like a weaker Warp Wire. Instead of taking you back to town, it takes you back to the last Geomagnetic field you used. Could be handy if you want to conserve your Force for something, since it resets if you go back to town. EO3 nerfed the item by making it take you to the last field or stairs you took. EO4 made both versions of these effects into separate items. Next time, the rest of the floor. Araxxor fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 6, 2015 |
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Nov 10, 2014 05:17
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Dr. Fetus posted:Statues are Dicks This should probably be the tagline of the series. I'm also not too surprised Moas were downgraded to random enemies. I don't recall them being tough in EOU or EOIV aside from the occasional paralysis. Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Nov 10, 2014 |
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Nov 10, 2014 05:18
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:This should probably be the tagline of the series.
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Nov 10, 2014 05:45
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If the doctor is Derek Stiles then that letter might be talking about the minister of health from TC. Basically the dude caught a Pempti GUILT (a giant blue mass with a regenerating core) and the team did not know how to treat it at the time. After opening him up twice, your lab tech finally got a laser which can stops its regenerative properties, but by that point the minister was too far gone. He lets you operate on him anyway because he wants his sacrifice to save lives. AFAIR he was the only person to die from GUILT in the series.
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Nov 10, 2014 09:36
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SSNeoman posted:If the doctor is Derek Stiles then that letter might be talking about the minister of health from TC. Basically the dude caught a Pempti GUILT (a giant blue mass with a regenerating core) and the team did not know how to treat it at the time. After opening him up twice, your lab tech finally got a laser which can stops its regenerative properties, but by that point the minister was too far gone. He lets you operate on him anyway because he wants his sacrifice to save lives. AFAIR he was the only person to die from GUILT in the series. What series? What the hell are you talking about?? Hobgoblin2099 posted:Apparently, the doctors in Etrian Odyssey come from Trauma Center. Huh. Didn't know that. And according to wikipedia, the name of the medic's damage skill (Caduceus) is practically the original Japanese name of "Trauma Center". That's kind of neat. Libluini fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Nov 10, 2014 |
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Nov 10, 2014 12:43
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Apparently, the doctors in Etrian Odyssey come from Trauma Center.
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Nov 10, 2014 13:45
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quote:Also Dr. Stiles continues the trend of Trauma Center cameos in the EO games.
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Nov 10, 2014 13:49
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mycot posted:Read the entire LP, and I'd really like to thank you for doing this! It's great how you neatly talk about the game mechanics, the popular cheesing strategies, etc. and how they're different from each other between the games. It's rare to see a upfront description of that sort of details. Ah thanks. I really like the series so I want to show off everything about this game. Even if this game isn't my favorite. That would be EO3. SSNeoman posted:If the doctor is Derek Stiles then that letter might be talking about the minister of health from TC. Basically the dude caught a Pempti GUILT (a giant blue mass with a regenerating core) and the team did not know how to treat it at the time. After opening him up twice, your lab tech finally got a laser which can stops its regenerative properties, but by that point the minister was too far gone. He lets you operate on him anyway because he wants his sacrifice to save lives. AFAIR he was the only person to die from GUILT in the series. Ah, interesting. I haven't played the any of the Trauma Center games, so aside from the cameos, most of those references are probably gonna be lost on me.
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Nov 10, 2014 17:52
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Libluini posted:What series? What the hell are you talking about?? Trauma Center, a surgery simulator with boss fights.
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Nov 10, 2014 17:55
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Libluini posted:Huh. Didn't know that. And according to wikipedia, the name of the medic's damage skill (Caduceus) is practically the original Japanese name of "Trauma Center". That's kind of neat. Caduceus is the name of the group of medical experts in the Trauma Center games, so the reference was still kept. Maverick's Healing touch is also from that series, where it could stop time.
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Nov 10, 2014 23:43
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BlazeEmblem posted:Maverick's Healing touch is also from that series, where it could stop time. This game sounds awesome.
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Nov 10, 2014 23:57
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:
They're pretty good games. They're also pretty fuckin' hard. Though that's kinda to be expected from an Atlus game.
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Nov 11, 2014 00:13
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The funny thing is that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dB8wBr76Jg is basically the series, full stop, virtually no exaggeration.
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Nov 11, 2014 00:18
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theshim posted:The funny thing is that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dB8wBr76Jg is basically the series, full stop, virtually no exaggeration. I need this game. 
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Nov 11, 2014 00:28
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Also this LP by World because Jesus Christ is it a thing of pure skill. http://lparchive.org/Trauma-Center-Under-the-Knife/ She S-Ranks everything. It's like watching one of those car assembly robots try to play the game, or a TAS. (And she did it on a touchpad, of all things.)
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Nov 11, 2014 00:42
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:I need this game. Just be sure to play Second Opinion (which is a remake of Under the Knife) as it is a hell lot kinder than the original, along with a bunch of quality-of-life improvements. Don't worry, there is still hard mode and the  X missions if you like your balls crushed. Under the Knife 2 is a direct sequel to SC/UtK and is also very rad.Trauma Center: New Blood takes place years in the future with an all-new cast only a few call-backs to the previous games. It's also balanced for two players and has some really bad design. You can do it solo, but I wasn't as big of a fan. It's a good game, but a mediocre TC game. Trauma Team has pretty much nothing to do with the rest of the series (except for Naomi Kimishima and a call-back at the end) and is a more grounded look at the world of doctorin'. Gone is time slow down and virus parasite boss fights mostly. So now you have to diagnose patients as Spike Speagal in the role of Greg House, do Endoscopy as the daughter of a ninja clan, perform orthopedics with RAWK SAWLID precision and do autopsies with the help of your phone that picks up people's last words (These missions are a real downer, fair warning. People die horribly  ). There's an over-arching plot which I will not spoil as it is really loving good.It's way easier than the rest of the games, but it's really good.
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Nov 11, 2014 01:23
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Statues are Dicks: Part 2PC-88 Version I'm about to show you why taking on these FOEs right away is a bad idea, even if you do have a Dark Hunter on the team. If you have an Alchemist with a specific skillset though, go right ahead. PC-88 Version : Hmph, should be easy to take down a pumpkin.  : Well crap.Trigourds are very tanky and resist nearly everything.   : I get the oddest feeling that something bad just happened to me.They can also curse your entire party, which makes it so that a party member takes half of the damage they deal in an attack. This is more deadly to party members than enemies, since Etrian Odyssey follows the JRPG rules of party members dealing more damage than what enemies can do to them.   : Hmm, I think I'm the only here that actually made some sort of dent in it. Still, it doesn't look like it's going down anytime soon. Trigourd Type: Invisible Behavior: Patrol Aggressive: No HP: 780 AT: 27 DF: 27 Skills: Pain, Whisper Weakness: N/A Resistance: Physical (0%), Fire (0%) This game was their debut, and they've appeared in every game since. Aside from Untold, which was a remake of EO1. They are the first of the gourd-type FOEs you'll encounter in the game. They lost their FOE status in 3 for being a deadly postgame random encounter, but regained it in 4 as a deadly postgame FOE. They resist everything aside from Ice and Volt, so if you don't have the right elementals or non elementals you'll have a tough time whittling them down. They take 0% damage from what they resist, so all using those attacks will do is deal single digit damage. They can curse your entire party with Whisper, and have a very strong AOE fire attack with Pain. They're a very painful reminder that Climax can't help you if you can't get them into killing range. However, they do have a weakness. An Alchemist with their Force Skill ready to go, or has a level 5 Megido can nuke them in one shot. Aside from that, there's not much you can do to these things until your party gets stronger. Unlike the later games which paired it with the rest of its family, the Trigourd is alone here. The rest of the gourd FOEs only appear in every other stratum. And yes, they are also invisible. : Well none of us are doing anything meaningful. I might as well just go on ahead.PC-88 Version : Wow, lame. I guess they can't all be winners.Hidden treasures tend to be a lot more useful than ones out in the open.  Past the door are two Trigourds.  The one on the top goes clockwise, and the one on the bottom goes counterclockwise. Don't get yourself trapped. One thing you have to be careful about invisible FOEs is getting into a random battle around them. You can't see them on the map, so you can't keep track of how much longer you have until they join in on the fight. So try to finish up fights quickly, or better yet, don't get into random battles in the area at all.  The deliberate way that they've been placed makes you suspect that a human did this. As you mull over the path of berries, one tactic occurs to you... You can always follow the trail if you want to learn why they may have been placed here.  Thinking it may be a sign of some sort, your curiosity leads you to follow them. The trail ends at the wall. You walk towards it to investigate it more closely... : Ooh! There has to be a reason they're placed like this! Let's follow them!: Wait! Trails of berries is a technique used to set up traaAAAAAHHHHHH!Suddenly, Fedot screams out! You spin to see what happened. : FEDOT! Are you alright!?: He tells us to wait, and yet he's the one who gets injured. Pfft.:  Two saplings hidden in the grass spring up to catch Fedot's leg, locking it in place. The row of berries was a trap all along to catch wild game! It was most likely set by other explorers, and now it has snared one of their colleagues. You carefully break the trap, setting poor Fedot free. But the saplings sprung up with such force, Fedot's foot was injured in the process. : And this should do it! Oh, but that's gonna leave a nasty cut on that leg. Good thing I brought medicine! : Sorry!: Next time, wait and listen to me!: But you're the one who got injured. Doesn't that mean you should've been careful?: I- you've got a point. After another battle, both Aegis and Ling get a level up.  I level up Provoke up on Aegis just so he can get the Mystues to stop attacking the back row.  As for Ling, I'm just making him as tanky as possible.  : How do we get these open?: Uh, we haven't found that out yet. Just ignore those for now. And put the sword down.   A minor upgrade in defense for Aegis. PC-88 Version  : Crap, I'm a goner!: GRRR! : Whoa! Thanks Ling!: : Ha! He does a better job of protecting us than our Protector. : Aegis, would it kill you to cover the back lines sometime?: I'm sorry. I can't protect the front lines from all the way back there. Besides, it's almost funny to watch you get hit.: Oh for the love of. Lousy Protector.When Loyalty does kick in on the times you want it to, it's a pretty good passive. It's just that leveling it up too much will make it kick in when you don't want it to all the time. Even though it may seem like a good idea to take Back Guard on a Protector, this is only one of the few times it would come in handy. Compared to Front Guard which is relevant more often. Just bear through it and use Nectars if you have to.  Maverick leveled up here, and Fedot's getting close to a level up.  Maverick masters Patrol. Now our party's feet are completely safe from damage tiles. : Ha ha! They're done!: What's done?: Just something Pauline and I have been working on. Maybe we'll get to use them soon!PC-88 Version Incidentally, Ling's Force has been building up fast because of all the hits it kept tanking with Loyalty. :   Devour's also handy for keeping a Beast alive. Decent physical damage and the heal rate isn't bad. : Huh, you taught Ling how to do that?: Yep! But it was a pretty painful teaching session.: I kept healing her wounds!: Oh, so that would explain the bite marks on your head.  : Fedot? FEDOT!?: : Oh dear, our leader is dead. Let us have a moment of silence for hi-  : All better! Told ya we needed that! : Don't even try it! Got the Holed Rock off it. Something to take into account is that the Gunner's elemental shots are purely elemental attacks. They don't have the Stab attribute, so they don't work if you're trying to get conditional drops that way, or are trying to damage an enemy that resists elemental attacks but not physical attacks.  Got Fedot to level up. PC-88 Version Fedot has now mastered how to use Guns. Which unlocked 2-hit, a passive that gives his normal attacks a low chance to hit twice. But more importantly, it unlocked this move.  Ricochet is a Gunner's best damage skill, and one that doesn't put them in any danger, like the Risk shots. It's like the EO1 Survivalist's Multishot, but better. At max level anyway. It's also pretty expensive, but worth it.  : Ugh, can't clear out these trees.: It'll probably be easier to open up from the other side: How does that make sense?: I have no clue. I stopped questioning a bunch of the weird stuff in here a long time ago.We're not gonna be able to open this one up for a long time. PC-88 Version :  : What are you- oh that's just disgusting!   Ling's Force Skill works exactly the same way as the Medic's Force Skill. Salivall revives all dead party members and heals them to full health, as well as getting rid of status effects. Can be pretty handy and it charges up really fast thanks to Loyalty. PC-88 Version: Hey! Look up there! Is it another explorer's? It looks like a hemp sack and doesn't appear to be empty. You can try climbing a nearby tree to reach it or give up and leave it be.  : I got this!: Hey! Careful up there!Maverick finds a strong branch and uses it to shimmy up the tree. The sack is farther from the tree than it looks. Maverick nearly slips trying to reach it. No one in your party had any way of knowing, but this is no normal tree... : Agh, I'm getting all itchy... Aw crap. Still, at least you caught the sack that Maverick dropped, so its contents are yours to keep. : Got it. Agh, ooh. I should not have done that. Gonna need a lot of medicine for this.: There wasn't even much in there. Just this.  The Red Pine is a rare item from a Chop point, so I'd say losing 50 HP to get one is a good trade. That said, they don't unlock any pieces of equipment, and you only need one for a quest. So you might want to keep this instead of selling it.  Now we have a shortcut to the 7th floor. The stairs are nearby.  The stairs are over here, but there's still more to explore.  You can't see it right now, but there's another Trigourd in this area.  : : Aw man, I was so close to curing him too.: That has to be one of the worst ways to get taken down. Come on Fedot, get up!  : Oh, thanks Emilia. :  : Maybe we should've waited until after the battle to use that.Unfortunately, enemies can target anyone who just got revived, so be careful about that. Also dead characters do not get exp after battle.  And here's me being an idiot and sidestepping where I shouldn't. PC-88 Version Fortunately it likes to curse your party most of the time instead of using Pain and killing your party. : RUN! PC-88 Version Just don't walk clockwise and you'll be fine.  : Ha ha! Another one! : How do these things keep slipping past the front lines!?: : Our leader, everyone.: Don't worry! Something you can do to deal with the Mystues, is switch your front row and back row with the Switch command so the Mystues target them instead of your original back row, but that leaves the problem of your front line being in the back, and your squishy back line in the front. Who are guaranteed to die if a Mystue or some other enemy decides to target them.  The other Take point of the floor.  The Fire Wall is an accessory that reduces fire damage slightly. We won't need that just yet.    If you're wondering why I didn't heal up, I ran out of Medica IIs and Maverick's out of TP. I'm out of Nectars as well. : Goddammit Nick. Wait. I mean, goddammit me.: I'm wondering how the old team put up with Fedot being taken out all the time.: We should probably ask them about that.  : Should have healed myself...Our back row is probably gonna rack up the highest body count for the next few floors and it's because of those things.  There's still more to explore on the floor, but that's for much later. : At least they got taken out near the stairs.  : We should go back. We're out of supplies and I'm not carrying around a body for this whole floor.: Yeah, Maverick's pretty heavy. PC-88 Verison  : Hmm... You don't look so good. Are you tired? Exploring while tired can be risky. Take frequent breaks to maintain your stamina.: Statues are dicks.: Now I know how Nick feels. Ugh.Going to the Duke's Palace when we've reached the 7th floor advances the plot, so let's do that.  PC-88 Version  : You've grown stronger... And so I have a favor to ask. Very few explorers know of what I am about to say. Please keep it a secret. Our chief goal in exploring the Labyrinth is, of course to find the floating castle. But there is a more pressing concern... It's the Duke.: Huh!?: What's wrong!? Tell us!: He's a very wise, very good man, but he is grievously ill. I've asked many priests and shrine maidens, but none could ease his pain. Though his suffering is slight compared to his daughter's... She lost her mother when she was young. Her father, the Duke, is the only family she has left. So she went out into the forest to find a cure for her father's disease. The Duchess, you see, was very skilled in the medicinal arts and saved many patients. She left behind many documents on the subject, and the Duke's daughter has read them all. The documents are old, and they may contain no information on the Duke's illness, but... She will stop at nothing to heal her father. To watch her efforts makes my heart ache. All I can do for her now is ask explorers to go into the Labyrinth in her place. But this old man has rambled on long enough... Here is the hard information you need. The Duchess's documents say that ingredients for a miracle cure are in the second Stratum. I would ask that you help us obtain those ingredients.   : Ooh, this sounds pretty heroic! I'm in!: I'd love to help heal the Duke! Count me in!: Then you will help? Thank you... I'll explain further. We know that the Salamox resides on the 8th floor. Its feathers are used to make the Panacea. Panacea, I should explain, is the term used for the miracle cure in the Duchess's papers. Guild Firefly... Will you help the Duke's daughter and myself?: Uh, sure. I'll be happy to help.: I must warn you, the rumors say that this Salamox is an incredibly strong beast. I've spoken to an explorer who tells me Salamox wiped out his entire guild at a stroke.: Okay, so don't fight the beast. It's Wyvern all over again.: I have the map he made. Watch for enemy movements, and avoid battle as much as possible. We won't actually see it until we actually get to the 8th floor. Anyways, this is pretty much a reprise of the Wyvern mission in the first game. You had to sneak into a Wyvern's nest on the 8th floor, and steal its egg. This is pretty much the same thing, only difference is we have a map this time. The first game didn't have that courtesy and it made running around the Wyvern's nest, or trying to get into it dangerous. More on that later. As much as I like this game (Even if some of my comments implied otherwise), I hear some people say that this is just an expansion pack sequel to the first game. And with moments like these, it's hard to disagree. Some of the plot points from the first game got reused in this game, just remixed a bit. The later Etrian Odyssey games were much better about differentiating themselves. Anyways, let's talk to Dubois.  : You just talked at us. And rambled for ages.: Shush. There's a legend regarding this nation I'd like to share with you all... They say our Duke is descended from men who came to earth from the floating castle. No one knows for certain, but I thought you might be interested to hear the legend. Well, then. I expect great things from you. PC-88 Version  : I'm no longer sure you need my advice, but... All the same, a word of warning. It takes insight, analysis, judgement, and action to make it further into the Labyrinth. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth.PC-88 Version : Hey, why don't yeh ever bring me back something from the Labyrinth?: Uh, like what?: Oh, yeh know... Like a fruit that looks like a diamond, or a golden egg... Something rare!: That sounds expensive.: Eh? Sounds expensive? Of course it does! Who wants something that's not worth anything!? Are yeh lot fresh from the crib? Money is power! Haw haw haw! : Hey, you're staying at the Flaus Inn, right?: Yep!: I talk to the owner all the time! We usually shop together. Have you met her daughter? She's so small and cute... She looks almost like a doll! She's usually out doing errands, so you won't run into her often, but try to meet her if you can! Some new quests opened up. This one needs a Medic, but a level 20 Medic will give the maximum reward, so I put off that one for now.  : This one? Are you serious?: Honestly, I'm just taking everything I see posted on there.: Oh, yeh're gonna go after that one? It actually has something to do with yeh lot... Yeh've stayed at the Flaus Inn, right? This request is from the lady of the house. I wasn't sure what to do, since she wasn't offering much of a reward... But yeh can consider all the great times yeh've had at the inn yer reward! Haw! I don't have the details. Yeh'll have to ask the Flaus lass for all that. G'luck!Atlus, if you're gonna tell the player that the reward is bad (It is), then you should make the reward good, not poke fun at it. Really glad that EO3 made it so that quests gave out exp.  This quest kind of throws a lot of people off. : That quest comes straight from the Grand Duchy. Getting pretty cozy with them, aren't yeh? Haw! Yeh know the Grand Duchy does their share of Labyrinth exploration, right? Well they want yeh to make a map of floors they haven't gotten around to yet. Personally, I think they should do it themselves, but I s'pose the corps can't hack it. Say... how far have yeh lot made it up by now? Don't tell me yeh've gone that far already!: Nope. We had to drag two of our guild members up there before going back.: Oh, so that's why there was dirt in my mouth.: Well, if yeh want more details, ask at the Duke's Palace. G'luck!PC-88 Verison  : Hear me out, because we have some real problems right now. Have you ever eaten our chef's meals before? He calls it the Labyrinth Lunch. It's made of ingredients from the Labyrinth. People say it's good, but I wouldn't know. My husband usually fetches the ingredients, but he's been injured, the poor dear. Now we have a full house and there isn't anything left for the chef to prepare! Could you go to the Labyrinth for me and bring back 3 Mugworts and 1 Moving Eye? We need them at once!: Right, and where can we find these?: Where do you get them...? How should I know!? This is my husband's job! But I think he spends most of his time in there on the 7th or 8th floor... When you find the ingredients, just give them to Cass at the Stickleback Bar. Hurry! Time's a wasting!The Mugwort is an uncommon Take item, so we can get those right away. But the Moving Eye is a drop from an enemy we haven't seen yet. Anyways, we didn't actually get her regular dialogue, so let's do that.  : : Huh, not bad.: Oh wow! Who made these?: It's good, isn't it? My daughter made them. She's cute as a button and a good cook to boot. Just like me when I was young!: I highly doubt that.: What? Don't you believe me? Can't you tell by how beautiful I am now? Bahaha!PC-88 Version : We in the Grand Duchy take this task very seriously. There aren't many we'd entrust it to. But if it's you... Well, I daresay there'll be no problem. Now, to business. Our own maps of the Labyrinth are only complete up to the 6th floor. We've reached the next floor, but the corps are having unexpected difficulties.: Are their guards always incompetent?: I wouldn't say incompetent, but yeah, they're not really the best.: So we'd like to enlist your help in mapping the 7th and 8th floors of the Labyrinth. Once you finish the map, you are to check in with Cass, the bartender at the Stickleback. It's a great responsibility that we place on your shoulders.: I'll make sure to make some good maps.Okay, so the reason this quest throws people off is how the game checks for map completion. The first game had an actual mission (not quest) that involved mapping the 11th and 12th floors. How it checked for map completion was checking to see if you stepped on a few select tiles, the corners of the floors, which was done to make sure you can't just complete it by looking up the map. And checking to see if your map was accurate enough. (12th floor also had you kill a boss but that's not related to this) The way this game checks for map completion is by checking if your map is accurate enough, and if you've stepped on most of the tiles of the floors. You can't just paint in the tiles even if you see them. No, you have to step on them. Oh, and the 7th and 8th floors are riddled with damage tiles. You know, the places people will deliberately try to avoid? Yeah, it's dumb. : Well, let's hope that the 7th floor won't be a disaster like the 6th floor.: It was only a disaster for you and the Medic.: I don't need this right now Aegis.
Araxxor fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Sep 6, 2015 |
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Nov 11, 2014 05:36
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quote:The way this game checks for map completion is by checking if your map is accurate enough, and if you've stepped on most of the tiles of the floors. You can't just paint in the tiles even if you see them. No, you have to step on them. Oh, and the 7th and 8th floors are riddled with damage tiles. You know, the places people will deliberately try to avoid? Yeah, it's dumb. Does anyone like damage tiles? I mean be honest. They don't seem like a challenge they seem like a "gently caress you for exploring". Especially in something like Strange Journey.
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Nov 11, 2014 06:10
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SSNeoman posted:Does anyone like damage tiles? I mean be honest. They don't seem like a challenge they seem like a "gently caress you for exploring". Especially in something like Strange Journey. No no one likes these, nor do they add anything. On a similar note gently caress teleporting tiles too.
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Nov 11, 2014 06:33
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Shwqa posted:No no one likes these, nor do they add anything. On a similar note gently caress teleporting tiles too. At least teleporting tiles can kinda be used for clever puzzles if the designer is smart enough (and it's not just trial and error like the Pokemon gyms) - think 'Maze of twisty little passages'. But seriously, gently caress damage tiles. They're like the designer's way of saying "I hate you, but I'm too lazy to show it in a creative way."
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Nov 11, 2014 06:44
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SSNeoman posted:Does anyone like damage tiles? I mean be honest. They don't seem like a challenge they seem like a "gently caress you for exploring". Especially in something like Strange Journey. Strange Journey was just a loving mess that tried too hard to be old-school and not give people enough resources to actually DEAL with it without hours of extensive grinding.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:17
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Those pumpkins were assholes in EO4. Especially if they all attacked you at once.  And yeah, damage tiles are just lame. And really, seeing as most of the game seem to have a passive "heal as you walk" ability on at least one class, they're not even all that menacing.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:24
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:Those pumpkins were assholes in EO4. Especially if they all attacked you at once. Do you want that medica II? Then take 15 damage! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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Nov 11, 2014 07:30
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I feel like damage tiles wouldn't be quite so obnoxious if Atlus wasn't weirdly insistent on forcing you to step on them (Such as by tying physical steps to the map in Strange Journey, or the quest mentioned in this update), rather than allowing you to maneuver around them like you're supposed to in other dungeon crawlers. Or at the very least, tie some great reward in to venturing out on the damage tiles, so that the player has to weigh their options and plan a course of action.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:41
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I think the 7th floor uses them in a clever way, which I'll explain later if Dr. Fetus doesn't cover it himself. Then there are times when they exist purely to gently caress with you, such as this request. On a vaguely-worded related note, the increased draw distance on the 3DS was one of the best things that ever happened to this series. The ability to judge a FOE's presence and facing at a reasonable distance would make so much of the bullshit in this game, well, less bullshit.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:45
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Dr. Fetus posted:Just bear through it and use Nectars if you have to.  :
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Nov 11, 2014 09:19
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what really baffled me about damage floors in untold (maybe 1 too?) and 4 was that they were only used in a single stratum in untold and a single floor in 4. like, why even bother?
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Nov 11, 2014 19:58
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Inflammatory posted:what really baffled me about damage floors in untold (maybe 1 too?) and 4 was that they were only used in a single stratum in untold and a single floor in 4. like, why even bother? Psychological horror. Piss off and scare the newbies while evoking dread in the vets.
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Nov 11, 2014 20:49
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Inflammatory posted:what really baffled me about damage floors in untold (maybe 1 too?) and 4 was that they were only used in a single stratum in untold and a single floor in 4. like, why even bother? They were used in two Stratums in Untold: 2 and 6. Technically, EO4 used them in three areas if you count the Toxic Cave and the Golden Lair.
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Nov 11, 2014 23:45
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On the subject of the curse status, let me just say that EO4 is kind of a dick for making the second stratum boss' conditional drop being death by curse damage. Not just while cursed, from the damage -dealt- by the status. At a point where you're actually wanting it, you're high enough level that you either take very little damage, or just get missed outright...Inflammatory posted:what really baffled me about damage floors in untold (maybe 1 too?) and 4 was that they were only used in a single stratum in untold and a single floor in 4. like, why even bother? Actually, there's two floors in the postgame labyrinth that have damage tiles. Along with the aforementioned cave and stratum Hobgoblin mentioned. thefailtrain fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Nov 12, 2014 |
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Nov 12, 2014 03:01
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The Thread posted:Damage tile hate Wow, I didn't think that many people hated them. I found them annoying but didn't think too much of them. I did find them annoying in 4's third maze because some of them pushed you back and they were associated with a really terrible gimmick. thefailtrain posted:On the subject of the curse status, let me just say that EO4 is kind of a dick for making the second stratum boss' conditional drop being death by curse damage. Not just while cursed, from the damage -dealt- by the status. At a point where you're actually wanting it, you're high enough level that you either take very little damage, or just get missed outright... I just broke out the Formaldehyde for that one. It's a pretty easy boss, but so many things can go wrong if you're trying to get that drop as soon as possible. You don't land the status and end up killing it. You take too long and the boss ends up killing you. Or the boss decides to heal up the status and its health immediately. And going for that drop pretty late in the game has those issues you brought up. At least 3's boss has a good window of opportunity to set it up and go for it. Fortunately, none of the condtional drops in 2 are hard to get or have any nonsense like that. Update's coming soonish? Maybe in a day or so. Still writing it up at the moment. Not sure if I want to post it since this page is starting to get bloated with images, and we are getting close to the next page.
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Nov 13, 2014 01:17
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Dr. Fetus posted:Wow, I didn't think that many people hated them. I found them annoying but didn't think too much of them. I did find them annoying in 4's third maze because some of them pushed you back and they were associated with a really terrible gimmick. This only reminds me how much I absolutely HATED that Stratum. It more than overstayed its welcome, especially when you have to travel through the second floor, like, three times just to get to the third.
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Nov 13, 2014 01:19
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4's third stratum drat near broke me in how long it took. Goodness gracious.
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Nov 13, 2014 01:48
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Even the caves are annoying, as well as the tornado covered land itself. Really the only good thing about the third land is that it's really easy to farm gadgets there early on.
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Nov 13, 2014 01:51
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It's a pretty strong contender for my least favorite Stratum in the series. The only ones that I like less are probably 1-2 for being dull, 3-2 for being incredibly dull and 3-3 for annoying gimmicks and damage floors everywhere. Actually when I think about it I really don't like most of the strata in 3.
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Nov 13, 2014 01:53
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