|
 Dare you brave the second Yggdrasil Labyrinth? The second of the old school RPG series of Etrian Odyssey, first released in 2008, a year after the first game, is a tough as nails, minimalist dungeon crawler where you pick a party of five crazy classes and map the many floors of a labyrinth. The first game was a pretty mean experience that made sure you knew what you were doing, and was very rough around the edges. It was still a very satisfying, but basic experience, to see where the series began. EO2 has a lot of improvements, features an entirely new labyrinth and three more classes, it's a wilder, but improved sequel. Or at least, that's what I would've said back during the last LP of this game. It's been nearly SEVEN years since then and we've torn this game apart to see how it ticks. And folks, this game is a barely held together mess of hilariously bad class balancing, strange AI, various glitches, and overall poor coding constructs. You're unlikely to really notice much of it in a casual playthrough, and most of the worst bugs were fixed in the localization, but there's still so much to go over and it's a loving trip, lemme tell you. This will be a narrative SSLP with viewer submissions, and is very much intended to be a sequel to my SSLP of the first game, which I'll refer back to quite a lot, ESPECIALLY because the original guild will be joining us for this ride, to show off a few things here and there. This isn't exactly how it works in the game, you can link your guild through a password system, but it changes very little, so I'll be spicing it up a bit. Joining me for this second journey into madness will be Ragnar Homsar and Araxxor, big thanks to them both for helping me with a variety of things, these LPs take a lot of time to prep! We've seen these games already so spoilers are perfectly fine!  Part 1: Welcome to the Town of High Lagaard! Part 2: Finding Our Feet II Part 3: The Second And... Last? II Part 4: Dodging for Deer Life Part 5: Stalking Stalkers II Part 6: The Eyes Have Blindsides Part 7: Running From Raptors Part 8: Cheesing the First II   Part 9: Everything tastes like burning II Part 10: Foul Thorns Underfoot II Part 11: Three Day Fun Part 12: Revenge is a dish best served bullshit II Part 13: Down and Up Nine and Eight Part 14: Tenth Floor, Ten Doors Part 15: Hellion of an End   Part 16: cronch cronch cronch cronch cronch II Part 17: Slippery When Wet But Not In That Way II Part 18: A Small Loop Part 19: Talkative Lot  Common Passives Landsknecht Overview Survivalist Overview Protector Overview Dark Hunter Overview Medic Overview Alchemist Overview Troubadour Overview Ronin Overview Hexer Overview Gunner Overview War Magus Overview Beast Overview Araxxor's Jank Odyssey AI Oddities Loyalty EO1 Mechanic Corrections  BONUS Edda's Arrival Holly and Lavin: Sword or Axe?  By Huckebein on Discord, already the guild is resonating with peeps. Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Jun 5, 2023 |
#
¿
Mar 9, 2021 03:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:25 |
|
|
Part 1: Welcome to the Town of High Lagaard! Now Begin Your Adventure!   Welcome one and all to my new LP. Yes, I can't believe it either, it's time for the only game Atlus ever made, Persona 5! Weird that they called the first Persona "Persona 5."  Eventually, the waves overtook even the last five islands... and the castle was all that remained.  Ah of course I'm only joking, if this really was Persona 5 this opening crawl would be an hour long and every character would comment on it seven times over. Etrian Odyssey II is... one hell of a loving game let me tell you. Developed pretty quickly after the modest success of the first game, this one also has a special place in my heart. It's not as hard as the last game but it's not as, shall we say, stable. It's unbalanced, ambitious and just a little bit buggy, and I love it so. Joining me again are the two cool peeps from the last game! Hi, I'm that lady, Ragnar Homsar (Rea), that needs to finish her EOU LP and paused an EON LP to do an LP of Fire Emblem: Midare Setsugekka. I haven't actually played much of EO2 itself, but I got into all of this nonsense because of the old EO2 LP, and my first LP was of the remake of this game, so this'll be interesting. We're back on this bullshit again, huh? Hi I'm Araxxor, I did an LP of this game previously. Can be checked out here. Also did some other EO related stuff, but eh, who cares about that? You're all here for EO2! Though we'll be calling back to EO1 a lot so you may want to read Cross's LP of it. Or not, up to you. Anyways, right off the bat there's already a big improvement from EO1. The font is now just using the default system font instead of the really hard to read EO1 custom font. Yeah that font wasn't received too well, so Atlus USA just opted to use the default system font from here on out. This game is certainly a ride, as it was basically very undercooked due to being rushed out the door. This resulted in issues. Several issues. Still the game is a pretty solid product despite being extremely rough around the edges. And any game text will be represented by the gallant Sir Narrate, they're very dedicated. If you were wondering, yes, if you wait long enough, Jack Frost Gunner, the closest we get to a mascot for this series, will walk into the town and the opening credits will start again. I'm sad that the title screens got less dynamic as the DS games went on (even if EO3's one is really pretty), and eventually just stopped with the 3DS games. Technically there's also the blonde Protector. Her design even got reused for a one of the portraits in EO4 and one of the few designs to get their own DLC portrait in one of the later entries. Legends say that the central city of Lagaard is home to Yggdrasil, gateway to the floating castle. The residents of that metropolis have discovered a labyrinthine dungeon within the legendary tree. High Lagaard's Duke is currently researching the Labyrinth to find the truth behind the floating castle. The castle and the Labyrinth drew adventurers to High Lagaard from far and wide... But none among them were able to master the Labyrinth and find the truth of the ancient legends. You are among the legions of explorers eager to penetrate the Labyrinth's mysteries. Your quest is to find the floating castle and make your fortune. The city of Laagard [sic] awaits! Hum de hum, come along you two, we'll be late for breakfast! And don't drop any of the food! Ah, hello there, please excuse us. Huff, huff, yes dear... Freakin slave driver... sigh... but so pretty... Land Spread Up North Wait is this the city of Lagaard in High Lagaard, or is this Central City, the capital of High Lagaard? We know in the remake the town is way larger than you really see due to the restaurant but- oh whatever. All around you as you step into the city of Lagaard is the bustle and chatter of the square. It seems that the city is full to bursting with explorers. Since you yourself came to make a name as an explorer, you should register at the Explorers Guild. 1,210... 1,211... hmm, I think I see Karin at the entrance, though she is upside down... and looks completely different. That's a new explorer, dear, and you're upside down. Better get some more hanging crunches in if you want to break your record! Ah~ Crabapple for the porridge~ the only food~ that Ro guy finds~ Have you, perchance, led another guild in some other town? If so, surely you have a password from those days as a memento of your adventures. Now is the time to speak up! If not, pay it no mind and head for the Guild. God, was one destroyed town and a native genocide not enough? Now the guild from EO1 can canonically erase another city off the map??? So for clearing the main game of EO1, you can get a password that you can then put into this game to give a few small benefits. And I mean small, the time it takes to input the drat password takes longer than the content of a password game. We'll be skipping this for now but I only needed to go like two minutes in to show off the differences, so everything past this update will be in a password game, unless I mention otherwise. But what are the benefits? What does the password bring over? Well don't get excited, what's actually used in this is the name of your guild and whether or not you got the Town Medal, story completion, or Town Crown, 100% completion, since we'll receive those at the start. It does bring over the names of your party, their level and their weapon, but those are completely unused, and also completely ignores their class, portrait or other equips, which would seem as important. If you think that's a little weird and underbaked... folks, this is only the loving beginning. This kinda thing would've worked better on the 3DS, where you can save extra data to system memory. Or if the DS had Stop n' Swop capability. EO4 did allow you to save extra data containing similar things to the EO1 password, I believe, but none of the later games actually used it. EOU also lets you save extra data for later games to import, and EO2U does actually use it! Your EOU characters and the skills they had on grimoire stones (the ones that had equivalents in EO2U) show up occasionally as NPCs you can trade grimoire stones with. Riveting. Even if you haven't played EO1, you can still opt to do a password game if you so wish. There are plenty of usable passwords floating online somewhere. Since passwords are only given out after beating the main game, the only real difference in passwords is "did they 100% the game or not?" and that's pretty much it. And if you're a European who imported the American version of the game, you'll be forced to do that since EU passwords are incompatible with NA copies of the game. (While EO1 did get released in Europe, EO2 and 3 did not.) The Ones Engraved in Legends  Nothing else to do but head for the Explorers Guild. Ah! Excuse me, I didn't see you there, new explorers are just too small these days, gahahaha! Try not to scare the newbies you lumbering oaf. They looked like they were starting a new guild, ah the memories. Yeah, I remember hating every second of it, sis. And yet here you are, ready for another round. Enough gawking at the weak, non-muscular people, Lavin and Ro should be back with breakfast. I hope it's not Crabapple porridge again...  I see... If you want to work as an explorer, you must first establish a guild. The Guild is a support network for explorers to help one another in the Labyrinth. Let's see... Today is the 1st of Emperor. Would you like to establish a guild? Earlier EO games apparently stated the possibility of you as a self-insert or whatnot being something you could do. Either that or you're the guild manager and whether you personally got your hands dirty or not was up to you.  Enter the desired name of your guild on this line. Since this Etrian Odyssey SSLP will have viewer submissions and votes, wow, shocker, we're gonna need a name for our guild. You have the option of keeping the guild name from before in a password game, but as you've seen, we'll be using those nine crazy crackers for a few interesting demonstrations, ehehehehehe. Oh yeah, the guild name from the password also carries over but it doesn't really matter as you can change it if you so wish. Well, that aside, it's time for you to induct explorers into your guild. There is nothing preventing you from registering yourself as a guild member, of course. But there is one rule you should know. Guilds in Lagaard are not allowed to exceed 30 members. 30 is a big step up from the 16 last game, it's like I can put two whole guilds in this. We'll register in a moment, as well as put the first party into a formation once submissions are done, but let's chat. I wonder if the increase from 16 to 30 was down to the dev team being able to justify the cost of getting larger SRAM on the cartridge, or just more efficient use of the space available. All registered explorers must be legitimate Lagaardian citizens. Only confirmed citizens have the Grand Duchy's permission to enter the Labyrinth. Don't worry... we don't inquire into your past. If you prefer, you can even use a fake name. Whether you're a foreign king in disguise or a wanted man on the lam... it makes no difference here, so long as you're willing to challenge the Labyrinth.  Landsknecht Overview There's 12 classes, up from 9, and we'll unlock the last one pretty early at least, so please submit for all of them! Ah poo poo we start with the Landy. So this was a pretty good class last game, dependable damage, switched between swords or axes depending on the situation and could take a few hits. Great all rounder. Unfortunately any class that was pretty good last game got hit many, many times with the nerf bat, while the mediocre to bad classes got buffed to gently caress, really making this game unbalanced to gently caress. This is an extremely unfortunate trend with EO2's class balance. It's super reactive and most classes from EO1 are now in the opposite extreme power wise. This also means that player experiences with this game can be very very uneven and differ vastly from player to player in the bad way. So forget most things you know about EO1's classes, cause several things about them no longer apply in this game. And that's the main issue with the Landy, they're much worse than before, don't do a lot of damage, their axe skills are mostly terrible and Ronin got super buffed, so if you want a frontline attacker, just use them instead. Now Landy does have some Chaser utility which takes a bit of party composition, but in the right circumstances they can return to their full glory. What a shame this class is so bad, I loved using them last game. Also Force Skills are a new mechanic, build up a meter, use the cool move. They're pretty slow to charge and they usually humiliate bosses if you grind them beforehand so it's not a great system. But the Landy's skill is... fine. Landsknecht occupies a weird design space for a series that is as focused on classes that specialize in useful things as EO. I've been working on and very off on an EO2U redesign hack for about 2 years now, and I just don't really know what to do with Landsknecht. Landsknects are your jack of all trades, master of none unit whose main upside is that they're easily slotted into most parties. At least, that's what they were in EO1. In EO2, they've been nerfed into the ground so hard that the Ronin basically takes up this role instead. I really wish I was joking, I try to be nice to classes and skills but the DS era of EO was really rough in terms of design. Just read the class overview for more details. If you really insist on using one, well listen to the game, stick em in the front line and hope they work out nicely. They can fit very nicely into elemental parties due to their unique Chaser mechanic, but that's about it. Their Force Skill is an alright nuke. Throw it out if you have it. Force skills are basically your new meter mechanic in this game. Instead of your skills getting a power boost every now and then, you get access to an innate super move you can break out. Very rarely. As the meter builds up super slowly. The general trend is that damage Force skills tend to be the weaker ones, while more supportive effects are either the stronger ones or outright broken. I'll go into more details later, but overall I'm not a fan of this mechanic.  Survivalist Overview Here comes the nerf bat! Survivalists were also fantastic last game, they could deal heavy damage and tank in the front, supported in the back and were just wonderful. Their STR got nearly HALVED in this game so they're now mostly support and mediocre ones at that. They can do pitiful damage, can barely inflict ailments and still have the amazing utility of letting an ally go first. Their Force Skill lies to you, it boosts evasion, not speed, which is actually much better. But that's all it does, so it's pretty bad in comparison. This is probably the worst class in the game but there's competition! Atlus evidently really struggled with finding a unique Thing for survivalists beyond "fast," since it took them until EO2U to design the class in a way that was fun to use beyond just dealing damage. Oh, Survivalists. This game was where they were at their peak and... let's not speak of what happened to them in EO2. Oh wait, this is that game. Sigh. Survivalists were your dedicated ranged attackers in 1. However due to poor balancing, they were even greater. They were basically a master of all, best damage, extremely good support capabilities, you name it. So while they deserved to be nerfed, Atlus took it too far and nerfed them into complete and utter uselessness. Their damage is poo poo. Their support... well they can manipulate turn order which is conceptually powerful but that's the only redeeming feature they have, otherwise the rest of their support kit is poo poo. And their defenses are also poo poo! Do not listen to the game. While you could have front line Survivalists in 1 due to their defenses being really good, that's no longer the case in this game! A front liner Survivalist will get pasted in seconds due to their nerfed defensive stats. Their Force Skill is probably the worst one in the entire game. It gives a sizeable evasion boost, but compared to all the other effects, it's really weak in comparison.  Protector Overview Thankfully this class is still good. Protectors got hit in their STR, but otherwise are amazing tanks with F. Guard, an actual Provoke, and the all important anti-elemental skills. They require a lot of investment that doesn't really show until late in the game, but you'll be glad you have one. They're not as necessary due to burst strategies and the like, and they're a bit useless outside of defending, but they're still very nice to have. Also Painless is one of the best Force Skills, guaranteed invulnerability and it can be done every other turn with Axcela IIs? Hell yes my dude. The return of the necessary evil. Oh finally, a class that didn't get nerfed to uselessness. Their defensive capabilities were rather questionable in 1, but they were pretty decent damage dealers for a support. But in this game, Protectors got some sizeable buffs in their defensive kits, at the cost of no longer really being able to contribute meaningful damage to a fight. However while they're good defensive supports, they're not a mandatory pick for a party, due to the game being much faster paced and placing more emphasis on offense rather than defense. So if you want to skimp out on a Protector, you can! Yes, even in the post-game. They have one of the best Force Skills in the game due to it granting invincibility for the current turn.  Dark Hunter Overview Now we get to one of the classes that was ridiculously buffed. Dark Hunters were pretty okay last game, mainly stuck to swords since binds weren't all that great and had some interesting skills to work with. In this game pretty much everything they did got massively buffed. Whips can be dependably used due to Dominate, they can remove pretty much every FOE from the field when they're below half health, they can counter any kind of damage even if the attack is nullified and oh yeah Dominate is the second best Force Skill in the game because NO enemy resists its effect, they will get fully bound, no question. It's kinda loving insane how good this class is now, but the fact it's only the second best class in the game says a lot about how busted some of these classes are. I'm of the opinion that EO2 Dark Hunter is incredibly badly designed, mostly because Dominate and Hexer are busted enough that the standard DH infliction skills almost feel like afterthoughts, but that's just me. AHAHAHAHA, now we get to the real power! Dark Hunters were okay offensive units in 1, but they are far stronger here! To the point where they are one of the best offensive units in their game thanks to their amazing counter skills. Several mechanics changes also skyrocketed Dark Hunters to the top. Ailment resistances aren't one stat anymore, so they can actually use a variety of disables now instead of only the best ones. Whips and Swords now share similar skills, which ended up making Whips the clear winner of the two since it inherited some skills that were previously locked off to it. Oh and they can completely shut down any enemy in the game with their Force Skill by completely binding them. Yeah they're really good.  Medic Overview Understandably Medics got the nerf bat, they were ridiculous last game, able to heal, defend the party, cure status and revive, and even smack some heads in. Their STR took a hit, so no more whacking, while Immunize got snapped, haha pop culture. Now they heal super loving well, and it's not that necessary to bring them, War Magus heals less but has more utility and burst strats and broken classes means turtling and surviving isn't that useful. Full on full heals, emergency Nectalls and their OH poo poo panic button of a Force Skill still make them a great class. But now they only do one thing. It's a really good one thing though! Hang on, don't worry, guys, I'll get my turn eventually with the incredibly dense steel my staves are apparently made out of. It's not a problem! In EO1, it was basically suicidal to go without a Medic since they had an amazing defensive buffs, along with being one of the strongest offensive units in the game. Yes, really. However they're not so much necessary in this game due to some rather severe (but deserved nerfs.) Unfortunately the nerfs also made them less flexible, which is a rather annoying trend with class design in the Komori directed games. The class is a healbot? Yeah they're staying a healbot, and any attempts to deviate will be slapped down. And same goes for classes that fall into other roles. They can heal and uh, basically do nothing else. They're really good at that job though, and their Force Skill is a great panic button for when things go wrong.  Alchemist Overview Alchemists haven't changed much, which is a small problem since they weren't that amazing last game, main draw being the only class that used the TEC stat, while that's definitely not the case in this game. What did change was the magic formula, as explained in the overview, meaning this class hits the ground loving running, nuking anything in its path, until the formula catches up to them and they then do mediocre damage in the postgame. Also they require A LOT of TP for their skills and get pretty outclassed by the Gunner in utility, as well as having useless physical elementals. Their Force Skill is a big ol' nuke, which is nice, but have some problems holding them back. Sadly, it takes Atlus until EO4 to learn how to balance a spellcaster in a way that doesn't have their damage drop off by endgame. And then they somehow unlearnt that lesson for EON. Which frustrates me, I always like using spellcaster classes. Your standard mage class. Not much to say about their incarnation in 1 but there were some rather big changes in 2. The magic formula got changed in an absolutely bizarre way which causes bizarre scaling issues. And prepare to be packing a ton of TP restoratives as their skills eat up far more TP in this game! While this class is powerful, they're also incredibly clunky to use since they have to stop to recharge several times during Labyrinth explorations. They can annihilate most big fights, but this game isn't just about those, there's still the Labyrinth to consider. Their Force Skill is a powerful nuke that can cheese earlygame bosses and FOEs. Unfortunately no matter which way you cut it, they become utter poo poo in the post-game due to some baffling internal math.  Troubadour Overview Another class that's pretty static is Troubadours, they mainly just laid down Bravery and could do whatever after that, maybe Relaxing for TP. In this game, well, they lay down Bravery and due to their nerfed STR they can't even contribute with chip damage. They lost Relaxing, which is the biggest difference, and some of their skills like Shelter and Health got buffed for the better, but uh yeah they're very similar. Their Force Skill would be pretty great, except the DEF aspect is bugged and doesn't do anything, while the ATK buff is the first to get wiped so can't be stacked with Bravery. A pretty lame one for a pretty lame, but still perfectly fine class. It's Foe Requiem, not Foe's Requiem, gently caress!!! That skill has been gone for almost two years now and that still irritates me! FOE Requiem. Your buffing class. In EO1 they were one of the most important classes in the game. They're far less so here. In fact in some cases they can be outright detrimental. They ate some nerfs from EO1 like losing their TP recovery skill, Relaxing, which is a huge nerf. And the loss of the Boost mechanic was a huge hit to Troubadour buffs since their buffs in this game were scaled around their level 10 skills from 1. Imbues also losing their damage boost was a huge nerf to that mechanic as well. Otherwise they mostly play the same way, lay down some buffs and uh... twiddle their thumbs since their chip damage is no longer meaningful since they are locked to buffing only. Like I said, a very annoying trend with the Komori directed EO games. Their Force Skill is a huge set of big buffs, which sounds great in theory. But they eat up all your buff slots, and bosses in this game get angry if you have too many buffs. Also 1/3rd of it is bugged. Fun. And once again, don't listen to the game. The Troubadour ate some nerfs to their defenses so like the Survivalist, they'll be vaporized on the front lines.  Ronin Overview God this class is ridiculous. Ronin were unlocked midway through last game and had to setup before doing much, only excelling in single target damage and usually didn't replace the Landy you'd used for most of the game. Also only Overhead was worth bothering with. In this game, every negative about the class is basically gone, except for Overhead being the best and most oppressive stance. Those stance skills became passives, they have great elemental crowd control, deal terrifying damage with Midareba ATK buff stacks, and the Landy got nerfed into irrelevance, so Ronin have no competition. It's insane how tweaked this class become, their main negative is, again, only the Overhead stance is worth using, and their Force Skill is mainly for big damage, the ID chance is pretty bleh. Ronin were still pretty busted in EOU—even if you throw Highlander and Gunner into consideration—and then just kinda went limp in EO2U, where Atlus seemingly forgot to adjust the damage their skills did as everyone else's went up. The EON incarnation's pretty interesting, at least! I won't deny that big numbers are always fun, but a class dominating the entire damage dealer space like Ronin does always eats at me, because I have brainworms. You wanted your jack of all trades front liner class you could fit into any party? Say no more, Ronin is here to fill that need! They were overly specialized in single target damage in 1, and had to waste a turn setting up. Along with being unlocked super late to the point they weren't an appealing class to use for most casual players. Here they come out swinging from the get-go since they no longer need to waste a turn setting up and can shred enemies with ease. They're also pretty beefy too thanks to certain passives. In short, they have completely obsoleted the Landsknecht with their mere presence. Their Force Skill is alright, an AOE attack with a chance of instant death. Throw it out whenever you have it I suppose.  Hexer Overview Here it is, the best class in the entire series. That might be a big statement considering all the other busted classes in this series, as well as how godawful the Hexer was last game. They were unlocked way too late, didn't do much against FOEs/Bosses and had their best utility be ATK reduction in the early game, where they couldn't be used. But yeah, all their skills got big buffs and they get the three best skills in the game, Torpor, Revenge and Dampen. Add in Poison, Scavenge, Frailty, maybe a bit of FEAR TREE, maybe some binds, all of this combined make an absolutely bullshit class that can deal ridiculous damage, neutralize crowds of enemies, and remove and replace resistances. Why they decided on all this, who knows, but even with its issues, their useless mastery skill, their low stats and their mediocre Force Skill, due to its randomness, it doesn't matter. If you want to crush the game's difficulty, this is the class for you. I really wish I could, like, do an interview with EO2's class designers, because the degree to which hexers are broken in this game is almost a legendary failure of balancing, in my opinion. I mean, the interview would mostly consist of "why did you feel Hexer needed this tool," but getting specific answers for each would be enlightening. I'd especially like to probe the reasoning behind Dampen, because there's hints in certain boss AI patterns that Atlus knew Dampen was way too good. This class is billed as a debuffer and inflicter but they are so so much more in this game! In 1 they were alright, but were massively held back by being unlocked way too late. So they ended up bad by virtue of being expired milk. Here they get their revenge on the concept of game design by having amazing debuffs, very strong forms of crowd control, and having the most powerful guaranteed damage skill in the entire game. No class in the series comes close to the sheer bullshit the Hexer sends out to every bit of game design in this product. Oh and their Force Skill is about as unreliable as it sounds.  Gunner Overview After all this nerfing and buffing we've reached our first new class. Gunners are great! They're slow as poo poo and pretty squishy, but they deal great elemental damage and fire off crazy crowd control, they're Survivalist 2! They can get risky and die in a single hit for the chance of beeeeeg damage and then can even bind, poorly, or heal ailments, potently, and are overall a pretty wonky class that somehow works pretty well. Their Force Skill can be a bit slow but guarantees a safe turn no matter what, incredibly potent with others like Painless and Dominate. drat this game is busted... Gunners' design has a lot of good ideas in it, just kind of let down by a failure to balance the numbers appropriately. Still a good and pretty fun class to use. Gunners are the first of the newbies boy do they make a good first impression! Not satisfied with Survivalists or Alchemists? Go with these bad shooters. They completely obsolete Survivalist as a ranged attacker due to their sheer offensive power, and come with elemental coverage to boot if you don't feel like inducing an addiction to Amritas in an Alchemist. They're pretty squishy, slow, and inaccurate, but a worthwhile party member all the same. They've also got the best offensive Force Skill in the game as Riot Gun induces a guaranteed stun, which can buy you a free turn. This class is great, it's my new favorite class amongst this cast after Atlus bored a Survivalist-shaped hole in my heart.  War Magus Overview Next new class is another wonky one that still works out great despite all the weirdness. War Magus have worse, but faster healing than a Medic, which isn't a massive downside, and can combo really well with ailments and binds to do some funky sword fun. They're a weird mix of skills that don't really do much together, but they are absolutely bigger than the sum of their parts, from great buffs to kicking enemies while they're down, to acceptable healing for most of the game, War Magus are a good class that does separate things well. Their Force Skill is pretty naff, it's not as good as the Medic's, and offers turtling strategies not used very much if you're able to use Force skills. I like War Magus, it's an interesting concept and implementation of a support with damage capabilities. I do think EO2U and EON both did the idea way better, though. War Magi are a jack of all trades master of none- wait what do you mean all the specialized versions of the roles got nerfed into the ground!? Um... Yeah. They end up being a master of all by default, but they sure don't feel like it with how weak their skills are. EO2's game balance, everyone! Their strength lies in their flexibility and that they do their roles better than the specialized classes because those classes got nerf hammered way too hard. Though you'll namely use them for buffing and healing. Not a super noteworthy class but it's hard to suggest better options because there aren't any. Such is the game that is EO2. Their Force Skill is an alright panic button coming with some defensive potential to boot. Fortunately unlike the other 2 "either-liners", this class can genuinely work on the front or back lines due to having actual defense stats.  Beast Overview Beasts are... bad? Like they're kind of a meme class that can actually work as an alright physical tank, but like I mention seven billion times in the overview, Loyalty is such a dangerous skill that it forces two paths, one with and one without. And it's not good in either role, being outclassed by the Protector or the myriad of crazy physical attackers. If Loyalty worked properly this class would've been a nice, anti-elemental lacking wall to the Protector, but it can either be a fine enough tank or the glassiest of cannons that dies a bit too easily due to various bugs. This class can work, you'll have the entire 2nd stratum to show your stuff, but drat it's a hard class to figure out. Their Force Skill is a nice heal, but not as much of an OH poo poo button as H. Touch. It's overall weird, this class is weird, please stop. Much like I wish we could do with Hexer, I wish we could probe the minds of the EO2 designers to find out why Beast is like this. The decisions behind it are as perplexing as whatever the reasoning could possibly be for why Dampen and Revenge are the way they are. EO2 Beast was so bad that everything beyond the absolute most basic idea of "damage-redirecting tank with some attack skills" was thrown out, and the class redesigned from scratch in EO2U. It's much better there! Beasts are the only unlockable class this game, but don't worry. They're unlocked pretty early on. Unfortunately what's behind the lock is very lacking. Due to some very hack job programming, then ended up being a bizarre auto tanker who is terrible at that jobs unless you specifically craft your party to accommodate for it. They're supposed to serve as an alternative to the Protector but they're not really great at it either due to lacking defensive abilities, or they die all the time because you took Loyalty. Unlike Protector they do have some decent offenses, but you can't use that to its full potential because it's locked behind Loyalty. At least the Force Skill is pretty useful, even if it's a weaker version of the Medic's. This class could have been good or even overpowered, but alas bad programming practices got in the way of that big time. And that's all 12, it's time to get our guild and start our brand new adventure in High Lagaard, I'm suuuuuuuper stoked!
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Nov 3, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Mar 9, 2021 03:54
|
|
|
Introducing Guild Nidhogg: Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face. Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money.  Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance) Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close) Description: While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home. Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right? ...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it.  Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted. Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent. As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time.  Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money Dislikes: Bats, Candles Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless!  name: kathy by kyasarintsu discord likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye) dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea.  Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach Class: Alchemist Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to. He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference.  Name: Juthro, by Prexot LP Beach Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances Description: It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times. He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else. But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time. He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?)  Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?”   Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles Dislikes: Not kicking people For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however. Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again.  Name: Aleksandra (Aleks) by Blaziken386 SA Forum Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets. Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets. Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially.  Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it.  Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned, Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing. But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization! Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really!  as our Loyalty Beast demonstrator, Fs in chat.Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship. Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Mar 12, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Mar 9, 2021 03:55
|
|
|
Guild votes so far! Nidhogg: 6 Everything else: 1 I'll, uh, just call this here, thanks for playing! Submissions so far! Landy: 2 submissions Portrait: Landsknecht 4 Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face. Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money. Class: Landsknecht Portrait: 4 Name: T.J. by ajkalan SA Forum Likes: Sharing tips and little secrets, being appreciated, eavesdropping Dislikes: Lies, littering, cellars Description: T.J. is a local, and knows the streets of Lagaard in and out (and over - there are not many rooftops she has not explored). Giving tours to all the new explorers has earned her a little gold, but watching all these adventurers seeking fame has awoken feelings of local pride in her. She's taught herself some swordplay by watching practicing adventurers, and what she lacks in formal training she makes up for in keen observation. Furthermore, she's picked up some useful knowledge about the Labyrinth from listening to explorers at the inn, so even if she's not entered it yet she'd be useful as a guide to a novice guild. Seeing a promising group of adventurers at the Explorers Guild, T.J. takes the opportunity to join their ranks and show that she, and the city as a whole, can discover the secrets of the Labyrinth as well as any out-of-towner. Protector: 2 submissions Protector 4 (Pink-haired one) Name: Cecily Rindel by Alfa/Polaris LP Beach Likes: Meeting new friends and poking them into improving themselves, taunting and clowning on enemies, intense dedication to work and rest (though she has hobbies like playing games and journaling, she also just loves sleep), surprising people, gossiping Dislikes: Pedantry, self-righteousness or putting oneself down, blind dedication to honesty or law, confrontational people (especially publically and/or needling into other people's business), glorification of sacrifice Description: Cecily's a wanderer who's seen way more death than anyone as young as she should, having left her home in the outskirts of unrestored badlands as a late teen after woefully inadequate training and service for her country (such as it was). She's certainly not the gentle and timid person she once was, but she refuses to decide whether the change was "good" or "bad" — it simply is, and she likes herself (and the possibilities of new countries) just fine, thank you very much. Unfulfilling odd jobs and friendships that went sour (admittedly not helped by her rough conduct) led her to High Lagaard, where she's very eager for a second chance at keeping others safe, making and keeping new friends, and having a drat fine time of it all. Cecily doesn't open up too quickly, but she's still usually warm and perhaps too familiar and jokey. She can tone it down when people seem legitimately upset or uncomfortable and she gets quite severe (sometimes with a white-hot wit) in situations or subjects she dislikes. Feel free to throw in ~s aplenty, but not constantly, yeah~? Class: Protector Portrait: 4 Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forums Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted. Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent. As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time. Survivalist: 3 submissions Class:Survivalist Portrait: 3 Name: Alexander by GiantRockFromSpace SA Forums Likes: Beautiful vistas, fame, woodcarving. Dislikes: Danger, effort, squirrels. Description: Claiming to be a renowed explorer and brilliant adventurer, Alexander's reputation amongst the people of High Lagaard quickly took a nose dive after multiple guilds kicked him out on grounds such as "unable to shoot things in front of his nose", "having the sense of direction of a blind sloth" and "running away at the slightest sign of danger". That said, despite never even reaching further than the first floor of the labyrinth, his uncanny ability to sniff out danger and the fact no team he's travelled with has ever been slaughtered by the horrors of Yggdrasil has made him an inside joke amongst explorers as the perfect member for new, inexperienced guilds to discover first hand the hardships of the dungeon; at Alexander's lament. Portrait: Survivalist 3 Name: Stitch by Toyotasomi no Miko SA Forums Likes: Exploration, archaeology, pranks, drawing (and similar activities, such as painting) Dislikes: Scary things Description: Stitch was always that problematic child who refused to follow directions, but he's kind of gotten over that in more recent years. What's in the hand behind his back? Shhhhhh, that's just how he greets people. There's no buzzer button or anything on it, why would there be? But besides that, he's gotten curious about some places, such as this place called 'Etria' with a whole bunch of ruins at the bottom. Score! Time to head there and see what's there to learn about the past. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up in some town with a big ol' tree that's probably got a ton of dangerous monsters in it .Unknown to him, Etria's tree also had monsters in it. Darn Albuquerque ruins everyone's directions. Hopefully the archery classes he took a few years ago for self defense don't fail him... Maybe he'll get some help from some other folks nearby? Portrait: Survivalist 3 Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance) Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close) Description: While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home. Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right? ...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it. Dark Hunter: 3 submissions Port: Dark Hunter 3rd portrait (white hair one) Name: Alexander (or just Alex) by blitz Discord Likes: Insects, high-energy/spicy food, and the stars. Dislikes: Thunderstorms, the indescribable fear of being watched when you're alone, deep waters, falling flat on his rear end as he slips. Description: Alexander, the poor boy, likes rushing headlong into most things due to slight stubbornness. As they say, "The end justifies the means", and their means is being unafraid to try new things. (Alex goes by he/they pronouns as well, if you're willing to include it.) Class: Dark Hunter Portrait: 2 Name: Sonia by Verant Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money Dislikes: Bats, Candles Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless! Class: Dark Hunter, portrait 2 Name: Gillian by theshim SA Thread Likes: Solitude, fishing, philosophical debate on choice and sapience with a few close friends, cooking Dislikes: Expectations, romantic relationships, her father, spicy food, this god drat whip Description: Gillian was a fairly normal girl growing up - a little bit of a shut-in, but not terribly so. Then her god drat father gave her this god drat whip and everything went to hell. Insisting it was a family heirloom, her father presented her with a whip he claimed to be magical and told her it was her duty and destiny to battle the forces of evil with it. Of course, he presented it to her in an arcane ritual coinciding with a full lunar eclipse, so of course she ended up absorbing the power of that god drat whip and now any whip she touches becomes imbued with deadly power, cutting and restraining targets with ease - something she was quick to discover when her god drat father kept forcing her to train with whips. Now she's been kicked out of the house to go on "a brave and perilous journey to vanquish the evil in this world!" and is not to be welcomed back until she's proven herself a capable and righteous adventurer. Without the money or skills to travel far from High Lagaard, it seems the labyrinth is the only path forward for her. Is definitively and absolutely not a Belmont. Medic: 2 submissions Class: Medic Portrait: 4 Name: Suika by BraveLittleToaster SA Forum Likes: Drinks of all kinds, always non-alcoholic. Also patching up her group. Dislikes: Any kind of flying creature, no matter what species or context or genus. Description: There are a surprising number of cynical Medics out there, something Suika never quite got the memo on being. Explorers would often need the help of her talents, and so healed they would be. And not merely explorers, but everyone that had ails, no matter how small or large. An en pinched was a life wasted, as far as she was concerned. The only luxury she allowed herself was a wide range of experiences with non-alcoholic drinks, especially her favored and frequently used drinking canteen filled with something nobody else ever got a taste of and was never explained, but whatever it was, she sure enjoyed it. Turned out healing and treating indiscriminately and burning through your supplies at the expense of not only yourself, but other fellow Medics, can leave you looking a bit mad in their eyes. So she decided to give the prevention side of her job a try, and went off to join a newly founded guild and take on the Labyrinth with them. Conquering it would surely prevent explorer-related injuries from the Labyrinth when they were done there, after all. name: kathy by kyasarintsu Discord medic 4 likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye) dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea. Alchemist: 1 submission Name: Mona by Slaan SA Forums Class: Alchemist Portrait: 4 Likes: Medics, campfire food, merchants and traders, comfortable clothes Dislikes: Cats, reptiles, hexers, taking orders Story: Mona is a Medic! No, really. Wait, why are you putting on a gas mask? Mona as a kid wanted nothing more than to be a Medic. She excelled in school. She helped out at the local healer. She even carried around bandages to sell to the other kids. The problem? She just doesn't have the talent for chemistry. Every time she follows a recipe or spell for a healing potion or antidote or unguent it ends up exploding, becoming poisonous or otherwise dangerous. She's hoping some on the ground experience in the labyrinth will help her overcome her issues. And if not, at least she can find some new ingredients for her famous rice dishes! Troubadour: 1 submission Class/Portrait: Troubadour 1 Name: Adrian by Jade Rider SA Forums Likes: Innovation, unconventional solutions Dislikes: Hecklers Description: A talented young musician. Having mastered more traditional instruments, lyres, lutes, flutes, pipes, and whatnot, he quickly set about finding new and exciting ways to practice his art. Exotic instruments, however, tend to be quite expensive, and well, let's be blunt, his insistence on experimental music doesn't get him a lot of gigs. So when he overheard a group of adventurers bragging about the vast riches of the labyrinth, he set out to join a guild. His... uh, eclectic array of cobbled-together hybrid instruments and offbeat genres of music may not be "conventional" or "good", but there's no denying it gets results. Ronin: 2 submissions Portrait: Ronin 4 Name: Jeff by Like Clockwork SA Forum Likes: Fancy sword moves, posing dramatically Dislikes: Public speaking, squirrels, practicing the basics Description: Jeff (or rather, "near-inaudible muttering that sounds vaguely like Jeff") is a tiny, reedy nerd with a pot-metal sword who listened to too many heavily embellished stories from extremely drunk adventurers in pubs and got some weird ideas about what it meant to be an adventurer in the process. They're terribly shy normally, struggling to keep an audible volume for longer sentences, but their tendency towards loud, dramatic gestures helps make up for it. Telling them they have to learn how to do things like "properly hold a sword" to do the cool flashy stuff without nearly removing their foot in the process will make them very sad, but will probably prevent impromptu amputations. A Jeff that is desperately trying to not become Generic Town Guard #385 by being chuuni af. Class: Ronin, portrait 4 Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?” Hexer: 2 submissions Portrait: Hexer 3 Name: Harold by RandomKesaranPasaran LP Beach Likes: Tea (most flavors at any rate), soft music, cleanliness, solitude, reading (primarily horror and mystery novels) Dislikes: Vulgarity, pettiness, heavy manual labor, mud, intimacy in general Description: A down-on-his-luck insignificant son of a rather large noble family who was thrown out for being a general disappointment after one too many attempts at arranged marriage fell apart. He's actually not that bad a person once you get to know him; his manners are impeccable and he treats everyone fairly, he's just antisocial to a fault and only really got into this adventuring thing because it seemed better than starving at the time. Plus the hexer arts had a certain appeal to someone like him, even if the customary outfit is a little odd. Hexer 4 Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles Dislikes: Not kicking people For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however. Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again. Gunner: 2 submissions Portrait: Gunner 4 Name: Ava, Female by Erisin LP Beach Likes: Cleanliness, Science, Seafood, Cats Dislikes: Blood, Loud Noises, Being Touched Description: Ava's a doctor looking towards innovative new ways to heal allies from long range - surgery and being up there with all the blood and guys just doesn't sit right with her. She's meticulous in her studies and However, this squeamishness comes secondary to her intellectual curiosity, and she seeks to enter the labyrinth in order to collect more monster materials that could lead to new medical inventions. Her research into ballistic medicine delivery also led to some new experimental types of weaponry, and while she'd never release those to the public, she's not exactly averse to using it to meet her own goals either. Class: Gunner is new, so we've gotta have one of those, yeah? Portrait: 2 Name: Aleksandra by Blaziken386 SA Forum Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets. Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets. Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially. War Magus: 3 submissions Portrait: War Magus, 2 Name: Rosaria by Angel LP Beach Likes: Rose-petal tea, the scent of mud after it rains, sewing dolls and clothes, big words, people who get upset about big words, and dolls. Dislikes: Scrubbing mud off her boots after the rain, running out of materials, people who get upset about big words, and fire. Description: A humble witch from what can charitably be considered a village just a few hills and valleys off High Lagaard's edge, Rosaria's witchcraft is her *hobby*. Her craft is sewing cloth dolls, as well as any sort of other items made of felt, silk, wool, or any other such material she may have on hand. Most of her creations end up enchanted in one way or another for fun, typically animated and given rudimentary life, and in fact High Lagaard has a few hidden cloth dolls in every place, as they tend to run off. She considers this them moving out, though there are a few that always stick around, waiting in her pockets or her large bag of sewing materials and implements. Rosaria is a very humble person, not really one for amassing wealth or attention; aside from sewing, reading big books and learning magic, the only thing that she'll really chase is a new, esoteric tea to try. Class: War Magus Portrait: 3 Name: Alastor by marhsmallow creep SA Forum Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it. Portrait: war magus 4 Name: Marina by clockwork chaos SA Forums Likes: umami flavors, bright colors, mom, swearing, explosions, girls Dislikes: fancy stuff, privileged rich people, alcohol, toxic masculinity, getting misgendered Description: freshly graduated from war magus college, and god was it boring. She just wants to use her skills and see how strong she can get, explosions and magic and stuff yeah!! Overshadowed by a rich, loving, stifling family and doting older sister, she wants to make a name for herself and she can do it on her own mom! (Marina is trans but if you don't feel comfortable writing her that way, i'll understand) Beast: 5 submissions Class - Beast Portrait - 1 Name - "Patch" by SilDre LP Beach Likes - Mushrooms, lounging, chin-scratches Dislikes - hard work, solitude, bells Description - When the elders of lagaard were children, there was an explorer so rude and lazy that they could never find a guild to keep them. They once enraged a hexer of great renown, amd were abandoned in the labyrinth. Shortly thereafter, they stumbles across a patch of the juiciest-looking mushrooms they haf ever seen. They ate their fill, but soon found themselves dizzy. They stopped for a nap in a moonlit clearing, and awoke in a savage, inhuman form. For years they wandered the labyrinth, trying to find a way to fix their condition; but they have long since decided that it is probably a lost cause. All the time alone has made them rethink their ways, but their vices are hard to give up even after all these years. Class - Beast Portrait - 3 Name - worms (no caps) by ant Discord Likes - eating good, killing monsters Hates - everyone else in the guild, acting defensively Description - A dumb wolf that can talk that's overly critical of others. Text is stylistically written without caps or punctuation. Is only on a guild because they're bored and they have nothing better to do. Only contributes to fights with Rampage and refuses to do anything else, even if it means constantly dying due to Loyalty. Will never learn. Portrait: Beast 3 Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship. Class: Beast Portrait: 1, the White Tiger Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forums Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned, Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing. But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization! Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really! Portrait: 1 Name: Hecate the Beast by Kemix SA Forum Likes: Belly rubs, catnip, affection, eating forest squirrels to keep the population down Dislikes: Forest Squirrels duping adventurers, hateful people, animal abusers Description: Hecate, being a saber toothed tiger of all things, one would expect a monstrous beast that enjoys ripping and tearing adventurers apart at speeds that would make even the local Ronin blush. Not so true with her. She was originally raised from a small kitten by a guild of adventurers as a sort of mascot for their group, fully domesticated by the time she could adventure with them and very affectionate and friendly with the local townies...even if she had a habit of using the local tavern as a sorta-kinda scratching post once she got bigger. Unfortunately those happy days ended when her group, having slowly adventuring through the first stratum, had a run in with one of the local forest squirrels...and one can expect with them, their only lifeline was taken from them right before their time of need of it. She had escaped from the FOE that tore through the rest of her guild, leaving her to fend for herself in the upper parts of the first strata...and fend she did, growing to full size before long and hunting down any squirrels she could find, less for sustenance and more for a deep ingrained hatred of the creatures that helped to kill her owners, she would hunt them down almost exclusively (though she did give the other monsters of the first strata a good deal of trouble if only to get a little variety in her diet) and do everything she could, if nothing else, to keep other guilds from sharing her guild's fate.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2021 22:34
|
|
|
Pretty sure I have everyone, you have around 24 hours to submit something, make sure Alchemist and Troubadour don't get a free pass! Feel free to edit your submissions, I'll be copying from the posts at the end to ensure I have everyone still. Congrats to everyone who really wants to submit for Beast, I've decided one of you might show up along with the winning Beast to show off Loyalty on occasion. Was probably gonna do this anyway...
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2021 22:36
|
|
|
Submissions are closed! 33 total submissions what the heck! Landy: 2 submissions Portrait: Landsknecht 4 Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face. Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money. Class: Landsknecht Portrait: 4 Name: T.J. by ajkalan SA Forum Likes: Sharing tips and little secrets, being appreciated, eavesdropping Dislikes: Lies, littering, cellars Description: T.J. is a local, and knows the streets of Lagaard in and out (and over - there are not many rooftops she has not explored). Giving tours to all the new explorers has earned her a little gold, but watching all these adventurers seeking fame has awoken feelings of local pride in her. She's taught herself some swordplay by watching practicing adventurers, and what she lacks in formal training she makes up for in keen observation. Furthermore, she's picked up some useful knowledge about the Labyrinth from listening to explorers at the inn, so even if she's not entered it yet she'd be useful as a guide to a novice guild. Seeing a promising group of adventurers at the Explorers Guild, T.J. takes the opportunity to join their ranks and show that she, and the city as a whole, can discover the secrets of the Labyrinth as well as any out-of-towner. Protector: 2 submissions Protector 4 (Pink-haired one) Name: Cecily Rindel by Alfa/Polaris LP Beach Likes: Meeting new friends and poking them into improving themselves, taunting and clowning on enemies, intense dedication to work and rest (though she has hobbies like playing games and journaling, she also just loves sleep), surprising people, gossiping Dislikes: Pedantry, self-righteousness or putting oneself down, blind dedication to honesty or law, confrontational people (especially publically and/or needling into other people's business), glorification of sacrifice Description: Cecily's a wanderer who's seen way more death than anyone as young as she should, having left her home in the outskirts of unrestored badlands as a late teen after woefully inadequate training and service for her country (such as it was). She's certainly not the gentle and timid person she once was, but she refuses to decide whether the change was "good" or "bad" — it simply is, and she likes herself (and the possibilities of new countries) just fine, thank you very much. Unfulfilling odd jobs and friendships that went sour (admittedly not helped by her rough conduct) led her to High Lagaard, where she's very eager for a second chance at keeping others safe, making and keeping new friends, and having a drat fine time of it all. Cecily doesn't open up too quickly, but she's still usually warm and perhaps too familiar and jokey. She can tone it down when people seem legitimately upset or uncomfortable and she gets quite severe (sometimes with a white-hot wit) in situations or subjects she dislikes. Feel free to throw in ~s aplenty, but not constantly, yeah~? Class: Protector Portrait: 4 Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted. Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent. As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time. Survivalist: 3 submissions Class:Survivalist Portrait: 3 Name: Theodore by GiantRockFromSpace SA Forum Likes: Beautiful vistas, fame, woodcarving. Dislikes: Danger, effort, squirrels. Description: Claiming to be a renowed explorer and brilliant adventurer, Theodore's reputation amongst the people of High Lagaard quickly took a nose dive after multiple guilds kicked him out on grounds such as "unable to shoot things in front of his nose", "having the sense of direction of a blind sloth" and "running away at the slightest sign of danger". That said, despite never even reaching further than the first floor of the labyrinth, his uncanny ability to sniff out danger and the fact no team he's travelled with has ever been slaughtered by the horrors of Yggdrasil has made him an inside joke amongst explorers as the perfect member for new, inexperienced guilds to discover first hand the hardships of the dungeon; at Theodore's lament. Portrait: Survivalist 3 Name: Stitch by Toyotasomi no Miko SA Forum Likes: Exploration, archaeology, pranks, drawing (and similar activities, such as painting) Dislikes: Scary things Description: Stitch was always that problematic child who refused to follow directions, but he's kind of gotten over that in more recent years. What's in the hand behind his back? Shhhhhh, that's just how he greets people. There's no buzzer button or anything on it, why would there be? But besides that, he's gotten curious about some places, such as this place called 'Etria' with a whole bunch of ruins at the bottom. Score! Time to head there and see what's there to learn about the past. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up in some town with a big ol' tree that's probably got a ton of dangerous monsters in it .Unknown to him, Etria's tree also had monsters in it. Darn Albuquerque ruins everyone's directions. Hopefully the archery classes he took a few years ago for self defense don't fail him... Maybe he'll get some help from some other folks nearby? Portrait: Survivalist 3 Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance) Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close) Description: While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home. Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right? ...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it. Dark Hunter: 3 submissions Port: Dark Hunter 3rd portrait (white hair one) Name: Alexander (or just Alex) by blitz Discord Likes: Insects, high-energy/spicy food, and the stars. Dislikes: Thunderstorms, the indescribable fear of being watched when you're alone, deep waters, falling flat on his rear end as he slips. Description: The inexplicable need to visit a new area brought Alexander to High Laggard, and he's pretty open about it. The poor boy likes rushing headlong into most things due to slight stubbornness; As they say, "The end justifies the means", and their means is being unafraid to try new things. (Alex goes by he/they pronouns as well, if you're willing to include it.) Class: Dark Hunter Portrait: 2 Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money Dislikes: Bats, Candles Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless! Class: Dark Hunter, portrait 2 Name: Gillian by theshim SA Forum Likes: Solitude, fishing, philosophical debate on choice and sapience with a few close friends, cooking Dislikes: Expectations, romantic relationships, her father, spicy food, this god drat whip Description: Gillian was a fairly normal girl growing up - a little bit of a shut-in, but not terribly so. Then her god drat father gave her this god drat whip and everything went to hell. Insisting it was a family heirloom, her father presented her with a whip he claimed to be magical and told her it was her duty and destiny to battle the forces of evil with it. Of course, he presented it to her in an arcane ritual coinciding with a full lunar eclipse, so of course she ended up absorbing the power of that god drat whip and now any whip she touches becomes imbued with deadly power, cutting and restraining targets with ease - something she was quick to discover when her god drat father kept forcing her to train with whips. Now she's been kicked out of the house to go on "a brave and perilous journey to vanquish the evil in this world!" and is not to be welcomed back until she's proven herself a capable and righteous adventurer. Without the money or skills to travel far from High Lagaard, it seems the labyrinth is the only path forward for her. Is definitively and absolutely not a Belmont. Medic: 2 submissions Class: Medic Portrait: 4 Name: Suika by BraveLittleToaster SA Forum Likes: Drinks of all kinds, always non-alcoholic. Also patching up her group. Dislikes: Any kind of flying creature, no matter what species or context or genus. Description: There are a surprising number of cynical Medics out there, something Suika never quite got the memo on being. Explorers would often need the help of her talents, and so healed they would be. And not merely explorers, but everyone that had ails, no matter how small or large. An en pinched was a life wasted, as far as she was concerned. The only luxury she allowed herself was a wide range of experiences with non-alcoholic drinks, especially her favored and frequently used drinking canteen filled with something nobody else ever got a taste of and was never explained, but whatever it was, she sure enjoyed it. Turned out healing and treating indiscriminately and burning through your supplies at the expense of not only yourself, but other fellow Medics, can leave you looking a bit mad in their eyes. So she decided to give the prevention side of her job a try, and went off to join a newly founded guild and take on the Labyrinth with them. Conquering it would surely prevent explorer-related injuries from the Labyrinth when they were done there, after all. name: kathy by kyasarintsu Discord medic 4 likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye) dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea. Alchemist: 3 submissions Name: Mona Class: Alchemist by Slaan SA Forum Portrait: 4 Likes: Medics, campfire food, merchants and traders, comfortable clothes Dislikes: Cats, reptiles, hexers, taking orders Story: Mona is a Medic! No, really. Wait, why are you putting on a gas mask? Mona as a kid wanted nothing more than to be a Medic. She excelled in school. She helped out at the local healer. She even carried around bandages to sell to the other kids. The problem? She just doesn't have the talent for chemistry. Every time she follows a recipe or spell for a healing potion or antidote or unguent it ends up exploding, becoming poisonous or otherwise dangerous. She's hoping some on the ground experience in the labyrinth will help her overcome her issues. Mona is pretty sure that her issues come from a Hexer hexing her when she annoyed one as a child, so she hates all Hexers. On the other hand, she greatly respects merchants and traders for their hustle and ability to make a buck. And if not, at least she can find some new ingredients for her famous rice dishes! Name: Trishula by Level Seven SA Forum Portrait: Alchemist 4 Likes: Coffee with extra cream, her pet cat Dew, Triangles Dislikes: Coffee with extra sugar, BIRDS , Circles Description: Raised in a family of scholars, the discovery of knowledge came as naturally as breathing to her. Many myths were proven or debunked, many mysteries solved in due time. Yet years of research into the tales of the floating castle could not answer this question that haunted her. To solve the mystery, Trishula vowed to find the castle no matter what it took. She just had to know the truth. Did the ancients have their tea with sandwiches or biscuits? Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach Class: Alchemist Portrait: 1 Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to. He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference. Troubadour: 4 submissions Class/Portrait: Troubadour 1 Name: Adrian by Jade Rider SA Forum Likes: Innovation, unconventional solutions Dislikes: Hecklers Description: A talented young musician. Having mastered more traditional instruments, lyres, lutes, flutes, pipes, and whatnot, he quickly set about finding new and exciting ways to practice his art. Exotic instruments, however, tend to be quite expensive, and well, let's be blunt, his insistence on experimental music doesn't get him a lot of gigs. So when he overheard a group of adventurers bragging about the vast riches of the labyrinth, he set out to join a guild. His... uh, eclectic array of cobbled-together hybrid instruments and offbeat genres of music may not be "conventional" or "good", but there's no denying it gets results. Class/Portrait: Troubador 1 Name: Kristina by Jadecore SA Forum Likes: (Most) performing arts, instruments you can play while dancing, junk food, novels, knickknacks and antiques Dislikes: The opera, catacombs, simps Description: Back when she was a teenager, Kristina used to actually be something of a big name in her homeland's high art scene, the ballerina urchin with incredible elegance. As she got older, however, the strictness of the lifestyle and the constant eyes on her gave her a certain pressure to evolve and break out, working on combining performing music with her dance. That ended... well, she got quite a lot of positive press, but the specifics of The Opera Incident and the constant badgering of suitors for the young star resulted in Kristina robbing the opera house and fleeing the country. Finally having money of her own and no expectations hanging over her head, Kristina adopted a new name and decided to dedicate herself to trying new things and experiences. She can engage with the arts on her own terms, collect things that interest her, eat all the sweets she wants... and if she explores this labyrinth, an interesting new challenge in and of itself, then she can probably avoid anyone who might have tried to follow her. Portrait: Troubador 1 Name: Juthro, Male by Prexot LP Beach Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances Description: It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times. He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else. But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time. He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?) Class: Troubadour Portrait: 2 Name: Fiara by NyoroEevee SA Forum Likes: most animals, when plans "follow the script", the thrill of the stage Dislikes: disorganization, her own innate talent for improv, Furyhorns Description: Fiara was an actor and playwright for an up-and-coming Lagaardian acting troupe, that saw moderate success until the day the troupe's leader decided to set their next stage in the early layers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, "To spice things up and add an edge of danger for thrill!" Surprisingly, the troupe adapted better than they had any right to, owing to the athletics required for their performances. However, the opening day of this new performance would be met with tragedy, when the climax act, a heroic battle against some Hedgehogs, was interrupted by a sudden appearance of a Furyhorn, the FOE's Step attack sowing confusing across the actors. Fiara only vaguely remembers the events, only coming to lucidity right at the end as the sole survivor of the fight with the small audience miraculously unharmed. Cobbling together a swift ending for the play before hastening the crowd back to town, Fiara was left with shattered hopes and the corpses of her fellows. After burying her comrades, Fiara ended up drifting aimlessly for a while before deciding that joining a Guild and exploring the Labyrinth would be the sole path she could pursue in an attempt to find a modicum of closure, a grimmer part of her believing that the worst that could happen would be following her troupe's fate in the place they fell. Two goals she seeks to fulfill are to use the experiences from exploration to pen a final magnum opus play as a memoir to her troupe, and to discover what sort of curse seems to have replaced all of her armor props for her famed "Crusade Climax Scenes™" with tissue paper... Fiara usually maintains a bright, peppy stage persona fitting her outward appearance, but lurking just below surface level is a sarcastic, jaded perfectionist who is usually dealing with her latest case of writer's block. Ronin: 2 submissions Portrait: Ronin 4 Name: Jeff by Like Clockwork SA Forum Likes: Fancy sword moves, posing dramatically Dislikes: Public speaking, squirrels, practicing the basics Description: Jeff (or rather, "near-inaudible muttering that sounds vaguely like Jeff") is a tiny, reedy nerd with a pot-metal sword who listened to too many heavily embellished stories from extremely drunk adventurers in pubs and got some weird ideas about what it meant to be an adventurer in the process. They're terribly shy normally, struggling to keep an audible volume for longer sentences, but their tendency towards loud, dramatic gestures helps make up for it. Telling them they have to learn how to do things like "properly hold a sword" to do the cool flashy stuff without nearly removing their foot in the process will make them very sad, but will probably prevent impromptu amputations. A Jeff that is desperately trying to not become Generic Town Guard #385 by being chuuni af. Class: Ronin, portrait 4 Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?” Hexer: 2 submissions Portrait: Hexer 3 Name: Harold by RandomKesaranPasaran LP Beach Likes: Tea (most flavors at any rate), soft music, cleanliness, solitude, reading (primarily horror and mystery novels) Dislikes: Vulgarity, pettiness, heavy manual labor, mud, intimacy in general Description: A down-on-his-luck insignificant son of a rather large noble family who was thrown out for being a general disappointment after one too many attempts at arranged marriage fell apart. He's actually not that bad a person once you get to know him; his manners are impeccable and he treats everyone fairly, he's just antisocial to a fault and only really got into this adventuring thing because it seemed better than starving at the time. Plus the hexer arts had a certain appeal to someone like him, even if the customary outfit is a little odd. Hexer 4 Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles Dislikes: Not kicking people For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however. Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again. Gunner: 3 submissions Portrait: Gunner 4 Name: Ava, Female by Erisin LP Beach Likes: Cleanliness, Science, Seafood, Cats, Money Dislikes: Blood, Loud Noises, Being Touched, Sweets Description: Ava's a doctor looking towards innovative new ways to heal allies from long range - surgery and being up there with all the blood and guys just doesn't sit right with her. However, this squeamishness comes secondary to her intellectual curiosity, and she seeks to enter the labyrinth in order to collect more monster materials that could lead to new medical inventions. Her research into ballistic medicine delivery also led to some new experimental types of weaponry, and while she'd never release those to the public, she's not exactly averse to using it to meet her own goals either. Ava's defined by her meticulous nature and single track mind, and this can often lead to her being misunderstood, something she doesn't really bother to correct. She's not antisocial per se, she's just her and that's how she be. Class: Gunner is new, so we've gotta have one of those, yeah? Portrait: 2 Name: Aleksandra by Blaziken386 SA Forum Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets. Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets. Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially. Portrait: Gunner 1 Name: Luis Cortez Almira (though he goes by Cortez, ftr.) by Kinu Nishimura SA Forum Likes: Fishing, good vibes (whatever that means,) the solitude of a nice sunset, collecting bar stories from drunkards Dislikes: Overly pushy bureaucrats, heat waves, invasive species, chocolate before 4 pm (there's a deep meaning behind it). Description: A few years back, in a territory somewhere to the west of High Lagaard, three siblings had an equal claim to the throne when their father, the king, mysteriously died. The nobles supported one—the merchantry, another—and a dedicated group of peasants, the third. A bloody civil war broke out, sending this nameless territory into chaos. However, though the nobles and merchantry were far richer than the peasantry, they had one advantage—the lay of the land. People began to tell tales of one sniper in particular, a simple fisherman who took up his rifle and disappeared into the wilderness, picking off invading forces to the nearby village. Such a terror was this Hero of Almira that the peasantry as a whole began to fall behind the third sibling, and an uprising against the upper-class in the name of true egalitarianism began. Through this overwhelming force, this bloody civil war ended mere months after it began, and the dispute ended. However, when the new king—the one remaining noble, who would soon get to work improving the territory such that something of this nature would never occur again—called for the hero on whose back the war had been resolved, they found his previous home abandoned with a simple note that stated that he was going to go find somewhere to fish. Of course, you'd never hear any of this from Cortez, who's a man of few words who's been wandering about the countryside for some time now, stopping in fishing holes across the landscape and then packing back up. He has a good memory, and his quiet demeanor means he serves as a sounding board for many a wayward soul's bar stories, which he seems to have a head like a steel trap for. He's also rather concerned about whether a situation 'vibes', whatever that means—it's some sort of intricate scale for how much a situation lets him think that pretty much only makes sense to him, considering that he's been in the midst of a warzone and casually continued thinking to himself about a formation of birds he'd seen the other day, but fishing over at a lake a bit to the south with no sound at all really got to him. If you asked him why he was trying to climb the tree, he'd probably just say 'might be a nice lake up there' or something. He's not a huntsman by trade, exactly, but those scant few who've seen him at work with his gun know he's more than capable of handling himself in the wilderness, so all of the monsters up there probably don't even register as an occupational hazard. People oftentimes take all of this to mean that he's an antisocial weirdo, but this isn't quite true. He's perfectly fine with socializing. He's a perfectly harmless, benign weirdo who happens to be a crack shot and unsettlingly good at blending into places. Bohemian, if you will. Really living la vie boheme. War Magus: 3 submissions Portrait: War Magus, 2 Name: Rosaria by Angel LP Beach Likes: Rose-petal tea, the scent of mud after it rains, sewing dolls and clothes, big words, people who get upset about big words, and dolls. Dislikes: Scrubbing mud off her boots after the rain, running out of materials, people who get upset about big words, and fire. Description: A humble witch from what can charitably be considered a village just a few hills and valleys off High Lagaard's edge, Rosaria's witchcraft is her *hobby*. Her craft is sewing cloth dolls, as well as any sort of other items made of felt, silk, wool, or any other such material she may have on hand. Most of her creations end up enchanted in one way or another for fun, typically animated and given rudimentary life, and in fact High Lagaard has a few hidden cloth dolls in every place, as they tend to run off. She considers this them moving out, though there are a few that always stick around, waiting in her pockets or her large bag of sewing materials and implements. Rosaria is a very humble person, not really one for amassing wealth or attention; aside from sewing, reading big books and learning magic, the only thing that she'll really chase is a new, esoteric tea to try. Class: War Magus Portrait: 3 Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it. Portrait: war magus 4 Name: Marina by clockwork chaos SA Forum Likes: umami flavors, bright colors, mom, shinies, swords explosions, girls Dislikes: fancy stuff, privileged rich people, alcohol, toxic masculinity, getting misgendered Description: freshly graduated from war magus college, and god was it boring. Always referred to by her last name or things like 'her father's child' or '-big sis-'s shadow', never just Marina, and she's sick of it! No more last name, no more family ties - just Marina! She wants to use her skills and see how far she can go and how strong she can get with just herself and friends she makes, swords and magic and explosions and stuff yeah!! Living life constantly overshadowed by a rich, loving, stifling family and an especially doting older sister, she wants to escape her noble heritage and make a name for herself and she can do it on her own mom! Imagine, when everything's done everyone will be talking about Marina! Yes!! Marina!! (Marina is trans but if you don't feel comfortable writing her that way, i'll understand) Beast: 5 submissions Class - Beast Portrait - 1 Name - "Patch" by SilDre LP Beach Likes - Mushrooms, lounging, chin-scratches Dislikes - hard work, solitude, bells Description - When the elders of lagaard were children, there was an explorer so rude and lazy that they could never find a guild to keep them. They once enraged a hexer of great renown, amd were abandoned in the labyrinth. Shortly thereafter, they stumbles across a patch of the juiciest-looking mushrooms they haf ever seen. They ate their fill, but soon found themselves dizzy. They stopped for a nap in a moonlit clearing, and awoke in a savage, inhuman form. For years they wandered the labyrinth, trying to find a way to fix their condition; but they have long since decided that it is probably a lost cause. All the time alone has made them rethink their ways, but their vices are hard to give up even after all these years. Class - Beast Portrait - 3 Name - worms (no caps) by ant Discord Likes - eating good, killing monsters Hates - everyone else in the guild, acting defensively Description - A dumb wolf that can talk that's overly critical of others. Text is stylistically written without caps or punctuation. Is only on a guild because they're bored and they have nothing better to do. Only contributes to fights with Rampage and refuses to do anything else, even if it means constantly dying due to Loyalty. Will never learn. Portrait: Beast 3 Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship. Class: Beast Portrait: 1, the White Tiger Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned, Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing. But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization! Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really! Portrait: 1 Name: Hecate the Beast by Kemix SA Forum Likes: Belly rubs, catnip, affection, eating forest squirrels to keep the population down Dislikes: Forest Squirrels duping adventurers, hateful people, animal abusers Description: Hecate, being a saber toothed tiger of all things, one would expect a monstrous beast that enjoys ripping and tearing adventurers apart at speeds that would make even the local Ronin blush. Not so true with her. She was originally raised from a small kitten by a guild of adventurers as a sort of mascot for their group, fully domesticated by the time she could adventure with them and very affectionate and friendly with the local townies...even if she had a habit of using the local tavern as a sorta-kinda scratching post once she got bigger. Unfortunately those happy days ended when her group, having slowly adventuring through the first stratum, had a run in with one of the local forest squirrels...and one can expect with them, their only lifeline was taken from them right before their time of need of it. She had escaped from the FOE that tore through the rest of her guild, leaving her to fend for herself in the upper parts of the first strata...and fend she did, growing to full size before long and hunting down any squirrels she could find, less for sustenance and more for a deep ingrained hatred of the creatures that helped to kill her owners, she would hunt them down almost exclusively (though she did give the other monsters of the first strata a good deal of trouble if only to get a little variety in her diet) and do everything she could, if nothing else, to keep other guilds from sharing her guild's fate.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2021 01:05
|
|
|
Thank you everyone for submitting, drat 33 is a lot! This was really hard!!! I wanted to accept everyone so I didn't let anyone down, which is incredibly terrifying to me, but I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this guild! Introducing Guild Nidhogg: Name: Holly by Mihoshi LP Beach Likes: Drinking, Fighting, Heavy Lifting Dislikes: Nobles, Liars, Slackers Description: Holly arrived in High Lagaard from a neighbouring highland country and is challenging the labarynth in exchange for amnesty from her crimes which if rumors are to be believed are long and varied, the only people who know for certain are the minister who accepted her application and Holly herself and attempts to ask her about it usually end with her angrilly yelling in a thick highlander accent followed by a punch in the face. Naturally these rumors are making it difficult to find a guild who will take her, despite her previous career as a Lumberjack giving her a great deal of raw power and her surprisingly high level of swordmanship which was revealed during an aptitude test and caused a great deal of confusion since Holly claims to have never used a sword before, which is a big issue since she is required to venture into the labarynth as part of her amnesty agreement... also she needs beer money. Name: Logan by BlackPersona SA Forum Likes: Nature, new discoveries, FOEs (from a distance) Dislikes: His low pain tolerance, losing his glasses, FOEs (up close) Description: While Logan was born in a line of local hunters, he himself was never quite adept at the whole hunting thing. He was pretty great at anything that involved gathering, foraging, trap-making, you name it!... except for the part where he had to fire arrows at animals. He was never good at the whole "killing" part, all told, but he was very good at studying the habits of the local fauna. Before long, Logan's talent would become his sole interest; managing to make a small name for himself in Lagaard thanks to his numerous additions to the city's library on botany and zoology. Logan eventually decided his life goal would be to organize all his notes together and publish his very own codex full of the information of his home. Well, needless to say, once the grand duchy discovered the Labyrinth and opened it up to the public, Logan knew he had to go in there and finish his work. After all, there was bound to be more flora and fauna to record! Besides, adventurers only ever took one part of a monster back to the shop to sell; Logan could always salvage the rest for his own research! And his years of being a Survivalist would be more than helpful for any Guild, right? ...Unfortunately, all that time in the library with his nose between a piece of parchment and a pen meant his eyesight was pretty bad, meaning his poor combat skills from his youth didn't improve any. He's hoping that all the info he could provide will make up for it. Name: Lily by TeeQueue SA Forum Likes: Fantasy stories, doing anything that feels like it could be in such a story Dislikes: Doors. They cannot be trusted. Description: There really isn't much that unusual about Lily. She was the third child of five in a loving family native to High Lagaard, and stories of the dungeon within the great tree were a regular event come bedtime. Eager to prove herself and not interested in taking up the family business of farming, she decided to become an adventurer in hopes of someday entering the dungeon and becoming the subject of a story herself. She's largely self-taught and lacking in real experience, but her dry enthusiasm gives her the air of someone far more competent. As for her issues with doors, her other siblings decided to help with her "adventurer training" by frequently deciding to hide just on the other side of them and sneak attack her, most commonly with a bucket full of water from overhead, a handful of flour, or both. A door represents the unknown, the possibility that anything could be on the other side, waiting to attack at any time. Name: Sonia by Verant SA Forum Likes: Garlic, Stakes, Steaks, Inexplicable Bags of Money Dislikes: Bats, Candles Description: Sonia's come to Lagaard for business and pleasure - and her pleasure is the business of monster slaying. Coming from a long line of noble hunters and/or thieving sociopaths (depending on who you're asking), she's taking a break from getting hired by villages to slay whatever fearsome beast is lurking in the nearby woods/caves/dilapidated abandoned manor to try her hand at dungeoneering. The possibility of getting her hands on undiscovered treasures that she could use to retire early most certainly didn't play a factor, nor did the opportunity to show off her own take on her family's mastery of the whip. Although, knowing how this sort of thing tends to go, she's halfway expecting having to face some sort of dark lord before this adventure is completed - but she'll rise to the occasion nonetheless! name: kathy by kyasarintsu discord likes: sleeping, sweets (adds chocolate to everything), "ugly cute" animals and monsters (like evil eye) dislikes: immodesty, uncleanliness, aggressive behavior description: constantly finds herself cleaning up other people's messes. typically complains quietly to herself but has the occasional angry outburst. always speaks in a mellow voice (always speaks in lowercase, even her name). is not afraid to bust skulls with a rod if she has to, even if it's a bad idea. Name: Corinth by AweStriker LP Beach Class: Alchemist Likes: Logic, amulets, pasta, the ocean, quiet and supporting people Dislikes: Explosions, needless violence, misunderstandings Story: A tense, nervous old soldier that fought in a long-over war between his home country of Apen and Freibund to its north. As wars tend to be, it was a messy, traumatic affair that left Corinth rather shocked both over what he had done and what others had done to him. A passing stranger gave him advice that one of the most effective ways to get over your fear is to master whatever it is you are afraid of (in this case, explosions, being that Freibund had used no small number of bombs in various engagements), turned to combat alchemy and departed for the far North. While he's still a novice, he's slowly getting over his past, which he shares little of unless asked to. He is frequently on edge even without cause, and can be difficult to talk to since he is often on the defensive. However, knowing that an abundance of caution is often more of an asset than a detriment in a hostile environment can make half the difference. Name: Juthro, by Prexot LP Beach Likes: knowing things, solving problems, explaining things, music, deepest lore, big words, learning new things (sometimes), happy endings Dislikes: standing still, explaining himself, hatred, death, finances Description: It can be hard talking to Juthro. You ask him a question and he'll answer you cryptically and go off on a tangent about something interesting but only marginally related, then you ask him another question and he'll reply with a blunt "Yes". He might take an immediate liking to you or he might openly regard you with suspicion. He can understand some abstract concepts perfectly without a second thought, and he can fail to grasp even a simple statement after you try to tell him several times. He isn't crazy. He just has his own way of thinking, and his own way of evaluating situations and responding to them accordingly that makes perfect sense to him, but he rarely feels like explaining it to anyone else. But he means no real harm to anyone, even his enemies, and he's usually an enthusiastic team player. Between his impressive skill for music with a plethora of different instruments and genres, and his interminable supply of scattered knowledge on nearly any topic, he's an asset to any group that he joins, as long as he can reined in from time to time. He never likes to talk about his own background. Perhaps he harbors some dark secrets that he will reveal only to the most trusted of comrades? (Spoiler alert: In actuality, he comes from a moderately well-off merchant family, but his complete inability to understand finance and trade drove him to search for his life's calling, which he found in music and adventuring. But where's the mystique in that?) Name: Eleanore by yoshicookiezeus LP Beach Likes: Fighting, cheering people up, swimming, adventure novels Dislikes: Training, getting held back by voices of reason Description: While Eleanore would describe herself as a “self-taught prodigy with the blade”, the truth is that she has a vastly overinflated view of her own abilities. Her tendency to want to pick a fight with any Labyrinth denizens in sight no matter the circumstances got her old guild into trouble more than a few times, and she fairly quickly got thrown out of it after one incident where she woke up in the middle of the night, decided she absolutely had to go get revenge on that caterpillar the group had fled from earlier right now, and ran into the Labyrinth on her own, leading to the rest of the group finding her half dead a few steps into the first floor the next morning. Despite this, she stays relentlessly positive, and remains perfectly assured that she can defeat anything in her path. “I’m sure that last loss was just a fluke. Best out of three?” Hart (and Sophia) by kvx687 SA Forum Likes: Kicking, stalking adventurers, walking around in small circles Dislikes: Not kicking people For most Ragelopes life is pretty simple: stake out a territory, patrol for intruders, and kick the tar out of any they find. Hart was no exception until an unfortunate run-in with a novice Hexer with a book full of ancient spells and not quite enough understanding to use them. One magical accident later and Hart found himself inside said hexer's body, haunted by a rather irritated ghost who quite wants her life back- something easier said than done, however. Some time later, having picked up a rudimentary understanding of hexing, the local language, and basic social niceties like pants and not kicking everyone they meet, the duo found themselves in Lagaard, chasing rumors of a mysterious grail said to cure all ills and stories of explorers transformed beyond recognition. It's the best shot Hart has of getting his old life back, and if nothing else joining a rookie guild will give him the chance to kick things again. Name: Aleksandra (Aleks) by Blaziken386 SA Forum Likes: Almost anything that could be described as "fancy", "luxurious", or "elegant" (ie: champagne, tea sets, bespoke clothing, etc.), and has a secret guilty pleasure for sweets. Dislikes: Animals, the smell of cabbage, food that's gone cold, and hotel/inn blankets. Description: Something about the portraits for the Gunner class screams "russian" to me. I don't know why, I think it's the fuzzy hats. Which is why I'm doubling down on that and saying that she's from (the fantasy equivalent of) Russia. Feel free to embellish the accent as much as you'd like. In the past, her family was (purportedly) Nobility™, but that was several generations ago. Because of that, she idolizes that sort of lifestyle, even if she's not entirely familiar with what that lifestyle is supposed to be like. A wannabe ojou-sama, essentially. Name: Alastor by marshmallow creep SA Forum Likes: Fine wine, genteel conversation, long necks Dislikes: Mirrors, garlic, spoil-sports Description: Alastor isn't actually a vampire, but that doesn't stop him; it's important to him that other people think he might be. He powders his face to affect a deathly pallor; he dyes his hair grey and speaks with an accent that no one can quite place but sounds menacing and upper class; never mind that he started his career as a clerk with too much time on his hands. He is quick to identify those who are easily gulled by his displays, and charms them either with his act or with his actual talents as a war magus in the field. Nothing would make him happier than to find that the dungeon has access to actual vampirism so he could stop pretending and become a real dark lord like he's only read in stories, but until then, he will play the part and be damned good at it. Name: Rajah by SimplyUnknown1 SA Forum Likes: Good food, belly rubs, being told he's a pretty kitty, never ever being alone, snuggles, getting his fur brushed, big rubber balls Dislikes: Being alone, leafy vegetables, being told he's bad, getting his teeth cleaned, Description: People like baby animals, especially the exotic ones. So a baby white tiger with huge fangs made a perfect addition to Claymont's Traveling Petting Zoo. Rajah spent his first year of life being coddled and cuddled by various people who visited the petting zoo, as well as being lavishly spoiled with all the balls he could play with and long sessions of fur brushing. But time stops for no one, and Rajah eventually grew from a tiny and adorable tiger cub into a huge and scary tiger that people were scared to approach, let alone pet. Despite his sweet nature, Claymont viewed Rajah as a money-sink and so, like with other grown animals, dumped him in the Labyrinth the second he got the chance. He figured the enormous housecat would end up easy prey for the nearest deer or something. But surprisingly, Rajah managed to stay alive mostly by scavenging and reluctantly eating some of the edible plants found in the labyrinth. Eventually, he managed to reach the first floor and stumble into High Lagaard. Civilization! Of course, still being a large and deadly white tiger (though now a very dirty one), Rajah's presence tended to scare the majority of the citizens. The only ones who appeared to tolerate him were adventurers, who took to tossing the tiger scraps of food when he begged. Desperate for someone who wouldn't leave him, Rajah took to randomly following adventurer parties until they eventually left the region or perished in the labyrinth. Recently, he's been attached at the hip to the Guildmaster, who is desperate for someone, anyone to take him from her. He doesn't seem to realize how much she hates him, please, just give him pets. Rajah is a good kitty, really! as our Loyalty Beast demonstrator, Fs in chat.Name: Loopy by MightyPretenders SA Forum Likes: Cuddles, exercise, eating whatever antagonizes her Dislikes: Scaring people away, jerks, thorny paths Description: A strangely friendly and goofy wild animal who appears to have self-domesticated - making exceptions when her overtures of friendship are met with extended hostility. It's unclear what her motives are, unless... there aren't very many wolves in the High Lagaard Yggdrasil, are there? In that case, it's probably because of loneliness, and seeing the labyrinth monsters as poor prospects for friendship. And there we have it, guess I actually need to start playing the game now huh. Again this was really hard to choose and I loved every submission, really truly!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2021 01:55
|
|
|
Well from my first little bit or recording, I immediately got exp desynced because 3 enemies went after the same person. Ahh, it's good to be back!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2021 03:54
|
|
|
Part 2: Finding Our Feet The Ones Engraved in Legends  It's time to properly get started with Guild Nidhogg! This will be in a password game, but for the new guild, they'll have the fresh save dialogue to keep consistency. We'll get re-introduced to the Edda guild after this with the password dialogue. Wriggling maggots! I shall grind you to paste in my jaws! Whoops, entirely different Nidhogg. I recommend the Flaus Inn as a base of operations. You can rest or store things there. But your first stop should be the Duke's Palace. That's all I have to say. Farewell. Hmm... seems everything is in order. Very well, little ones, I am Alastor, and you will do well to remember it. I'll keep you alive and perhaps slice an enemy or two. State your name and proposition. You talk a lot fer such a wee lad! I'm Holly a... lumberjack, so you best be relyin' on me! Whatever you might've heard from o'er guilds is not true! I wouldn't know how to use a killer penguin anyway... Killer penguins is something I've gotta see! Name's Logan, I'm an expert hunter and gatherer, though I prefer keeping my distance. The Grand Duchy's tasking us with cataloguing the Labyrinth, so I expect everyone's full co-operation! Heh, sounds easy, I could do that in my sleep! I'm Lily, the great knight, paragon and protector of all! Heh, sounds like the textbook example, right? Well that's all me, baby, I know everything there is about shields, but, uh, don't count on me leading the pack, get it? Well someone's confident, but we all have to be here, I'm Sonia, and slaying's my game. You've probably heard of my family, the Slicer's, so you should expect the same expertise from yours truly. Also, uh, if you happen to find some treasure, I can tell its worth, so you can trust me! mmmmmm... Pah, sleeping so peacefully. If only we could all be so lucky. Mayhaps I could give her a little kick? oh, it was my turn? i was just resting my eyes. kathy. like being clean, busting skulls and sleeping. i'm not so uncouth as to nod off at the drop of a hat. i could use a hat. got any sweets? Sweets are the last thing on my mind. Corinth, pleased to meet you. I'm no stranger to fighting, but would prefer to keep it to a minimum. I'm pretty adept with my gauntlets, but I'm not using them unless I have to. And stop looking at me so much! Well I can see in your eyes you've been through a lot, but then again so have I. I remember this one time, far beyond this simple hamlet, when I had such an innocuous encounter with a- Please keep it brief. Says here your name is Juthro. -but of course we only had seven sparrows. Hmm? Yes? Just introduce yerself ya daft oval office! That's what I was doing! You see, there was a tortoise that could only speak this dead language called "français" and- Oh c'mon, c'mon, we don't have all day. It's my turn! I'm Eleanore! If you want something sliced, I'm your gurl! I can defeat anything in my path and have come from the brink of death more times then you can say "prodigy"! You lot better not hold me back!!! Shout any louder and I'll kick you! Hart is the label in which I am named, I'll be right behind you. One square exactly. Until you get out of my circle. Also keep that drat mutt away from me! Grrrrrrrr... don't be mean to the guildmaster's pet. very fluffy boy. You have two names on your form, is the strange presence I see within you Sophia? Yeah... hi. Long story short, an awry spell trapped a Ragelope in my body. I can control the eyes and mouth when I want, but this moron decides where to go. Sorry in advance for the kicks, he can't help it. She's quite the nag too. Still don't agree with these things called "clothes". YOU TAKE THOSE OFF AND YOU'LL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN! It would be appearing that this is quite the energetical guild. I am Aleksandra Herkoff Gorbalena... uh... the 7th! Aleks, got it. I'm from more over the field from here so the culture is rather differential. I am hopping we can be good friends. Hoopling? Uh, hoping! Yes. Excellent, glad we can all get acclimated like this. I believe if we start in this formation we can work well, so we shall head out shortly. This creature is following me out... The Guildmaster said our guild isn't ready to handle these Beasts yet. Shame, I've worked with tigers many times. Stay here, boy. Hrrrrmph! Land Spread Up North Larger guild means longer introductions, let's start the show!   Well, welcome to Lagaard! There are lots of inns here, but my place is the best! You're explorers, right? Great! You'll fit right in. Try to get along with the other guilds! Ah... hotel blankets. How... quaint. The inn is where you sleep and recover your HP and TP, but not death or petrification. Sleep for 5am, Nap for 6pm, this game has a lot more time sensitive events compared to the last game, so it's important. We can also store items for 100en apiece and is great for powerful items we'll get early but won't use. Can't use it to store useless event items though. Takes the EO team until 2016 to realize that maybe it'd be a good idea to have the inn cure everything with one function, instead of curing incapacitation being its own button. They also fixed the hosed up inn fees to actually account for everyone in the party this time instead of only the first 4 party members. Time of day was a barely used mechanic in 1, but it's more important here. Annoyingly so unfortunately. On the plus side, storable items makes things much more convenient from this game onwards. Especially since key items no longer eat up your inventory slots. Huh? What's wrong? Aren't you going into the Labyrinth today? Hmph! Lazy children... are you sure you can handle the Labyrinth? I wouldn't want guests of mine to be eaten by monsters, so don't let it happen!  A subdued, cold place for the healing arts. Paradise.  This is Lagaard Hospital, where we treat wounded explorers. We also deal with Sitoth Trading to provide medicine and other supplies. I'm looking forward to working with you. Since you now buy healing items from the shop, this place is nearly useless, no wonder they rolled this feature into the inn next game and dropped it entirely. Still, if you don't want to fork out a Nectar or Refresh/Theriaca BX, you'll be coming here if an exploration goes south. This is where you bought consumable healing items in the last game, but they moved that feature to the shop so uh, it's just... there. To revive or de-petrify people. Yeah that got dropped in the next game, and here's it's basically just a glorified screen for certain quests outside of that. Also say hi to our next resident Trauma Center cameo, Derek Stiles! Insert standard observation of Dr. Stiles being, well, Dr. Stiles from Trauma Center. Can I help you? If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. The Labyrinth...? Have you even entered it yet? Well, if you're looking for tips, I recommend taking at least one healer with you. You have a choice between Medic and War Magus which is definitely helpful, but unlike in EO1 it's no longer outright suicidal to not bring a healer along.  Katana, katana, katana!!!  This is my father's shop. He makes equipment in the back, and I sell them up front. I'm just an assistant here, but I'm always on the job! Don't forget about me! You can sell items obtained in the Labyrinth and buy the goods created from them. When buying items, you can press the Y button to jump to the next type of item. When selling items, you can use the Y button to sell multiplies of the same item. You may switch between party members on the bottom screen with the L or R buttons. God I really missed these QOL stuff last LP. Selling multiple items at once, equipping straight onto your party, jumping to the next type of item, so good. You don't really miss it until all of those are gone. Selling multiple items is still kinda jank and won't hit parity with basically every RPG since the late 90s until EO4. Oh, you must be about to enter the Labyrinth, huh? Just wait until you see it! I've only been to the entrance, but I was still amazed! The lush greenery... those beautiful flowers... oh, but be careful! There are also a lot of dangerous monsters in the forest! You could be eaten! You look strong, so I'm sure you can handle them, but be careful anyway! That's two town NPCs that have specifically referenced being eaten now. There are far worse fates to be had inside the Labyrinth than being eaten.  First order of business is getting weapons to replace the godawful Daggers that every class except Medic and Hexer come with, they have Wands, which are also awful. Since we can divulge into every aspect of this game, that is what I shall! In other posts. The main thing you need to know is that weapon speed modifiers are very important, and explains a lot of some of the jank with weapons that probably puzzled you. Why do I bring this up immediately? Well, the Dagger and Wand are a -3 speed modifier, whereas a general sword is a +20 speed modifier. There are some weapons that have a unique speed modifier, and even a unique accuracy, we'll get into those when they come up, but otherwise weapons are as so: Swords give 98% accuracy, +20 speed; Staves give 98% accuracy, +0 speed; Axes give 95% accuracy, -5 speed; Katanas give 99% accuracy, +3 speed; Bows give 99% accuracy, +10 speed; Whips give 99% accuracy, +30 speed; Guns give 96% accuracy, -5 speed and Claws give 96% accuracy, +0 speed. So here's why I'm detailing this now, the speed modifier formula is multiplicative, and there's only one factor in the formula that can be negative. You can see where I'm going with this. Or actually, you can't, because the developers did notice such a thing and made so if the final result was <1, it would just be 1. Firstly it means you're not gonna be as slow as you think you are, but the main problem is that if you have a negative speed modifier of any kind your final result will be 1, making all other factors like AGI and skill speed completely pointless. Now, early on you are able to claw your way back to a positive, so those factors become a, well, factor, but as AGI and skill speeds get higher and it puts you further into the negatives, you're getting that +1 speed modifier for most of the game. It's pretty annoying for weapons like guns and axes which will have a negative most of the time. And half of the staves, because gently caress you. The EO games design equipment speed modifiers in a less bad way starting with EO3, and then they continue to get tweaked bit by bit with every game after, with the same core system from EO3. Unfortunately, speed is still an incredibly hosed up mechanic in this game. Where last game you were prone to having random results, this game instead basically boosts fast characters and makes sure that slower characters stay slow. Also fun fact, speed is literally an unfinished mechanic on top of being really hosed up. I'll detail more about this in a Jank Odyssey update. EO2 is the game that seems to least understand how powerful equipment boosting every stats at once is, it kinda owns. Eagerly looking forward to rediscovering the power of this game's ultimate sword. And while we're equipping stuff, the Town Medal/Crown is your reward for clearing the main game/100% the game in EO1. It's a nice early boost, I'll put this on Alastor since I want more healing and it doesn't really matter this early on. The Town Medal is a little worse at HP+5, TP+5, All Stats+1, but considering how much of a pain it is to 100% EO1, it's perfectly fine. We'll be shoving this in storage soon enough. Anyway, here's all the weapons we can get right now:Kukri - Sword, ATK+18 - A short blade that's curved like a sickle. Staff - Stave, ATK+15, TP+5 - Two-handed staff used by forest explorers. Francisca - Axe, ATK+18 - An easy-to-use small axe. Sasuga - Katana, ATK+20 - Has a sharp edge despite its small size. Sling - Bow, ATK+16 - Swung around one's head to let loose stones. Plain Whip - Whip, ATK+17 - A slender weapon used to stop enemies. Fire Gun - Gun, ATK+21 - A simple firearm that holds a single shell. If you're coming from the later games, you're gonna want to discard some of that knowledge on gear prioritization as they don't really apply here. While weapons are important in this game, weapon ATK isn't really a super important part of the damage formula so you only want to upgrade weapons once in a while instead of whenever you can. Buying weapons for all 5 took pretty much all of our money, but was worth it. While Hart doesn't benefit much, only getting +3 to speed, he also gets TP+5 and it's a stave that doesn't have a negative speed modifer, so it's good enough for me! We can't afford anything else except for a couple Medicas, but we'll be fiiiiiine, probably. +5 TP is, like, an extra use of a skill earlygame. That's pretty decent. If you're playing a password game, you definitely want to stock up on these. Probably around 5 or so, though you can get away with less if you have a healer in the party. If you aren't playing a password game, don't bother buying any medicinal supplies right now and save those for equipment! And no I didn't mix up my statements, I meant what I said. You'll see why shortly. Buckler - Shield, DEF+5 - A small shield, designed to deflect attacks. Hairpin - Helmet, DEF+3, TP+3 - Hair clip made of shaved wood splinters. Thick Gage - Gloves, DEF+2, STR+1 - Gloves worn by starting adventurers. Leaf Boot - Footwear, DEF+2, AGI+1 - Basic sandals made from forest leaves. Armour isn't anything special still, but the various helmets/gloves/shoes are more appealing this time due to having better stat boosts than last game. You can end fights very quickly due to all the many ways to cheese this game, but due to how the damage formula works, it's very worth getting armour later on, when the big enemies do the big damage. It's not something you'd know to do without knowing the numbers, but it is important, everything was rebalanced from EO1, but like usual, got balanced a bit too far in the other direction. Armor on the other hand, is far far more important! The amount of damage armor cuts down on is huge due to this game's absolutely bizarre damage formula. You definitely want to upgrade armor whenever you can as the amount of survivability it grants is exponential! To the point it got nerfed super hard in EO3, and wouldn't get good again until EO5. Ugh. Then EO3 just broke armor with bizarro moon math that no sensible designer should've ever conceived. Then EO4 used the same bad math. And then EOU somehow designed even worse math, which EO2U also used.  To add to this there's also Accessories. Last game they were pretty pathetic and didn't really help you much, but they got a needed boost this time, there are some real good accessories in this game and some are even better than advertised! EO2 doesn't have the "complete nullification of an entire damage type" accessory cheese that EO3 is infamous for, but it's got some real ridiculous poo poo of its own. Unlike the later titles, you can stack accessories in this game. Enjoy it while you can. The Wind Shall Summon Heroes  What is this strange, tangy smell? ...the thought of a drunk Ragelope seems terrifying and hilarious all at once. Haven't seen yeh before... s'pose yeh're an explorer, come to see the Labyrinth. Then yeh're in the wrong place! Go talk to the bigwigs at the Duke's Palace first. That's the rules for yer type! Whaddaya doing, just standing there? Hurry up and get to the Duke's Palace! Ah quests... they were bad in EO1 and they're bad here. Thankfully they've dropped some of the more extreme item drop quests, but there's also a lot of quests in long chains that stretch all throughout the game, including one quest that will sit in the list for a very, very long time. It sucks and I don't want to do them, but here we are. Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the one questing this time. EO2's quests are still really awful, that much did not change from EO1 sadly. And in some respects they're even worse! You'll see why when we take some quests later. At least we've got Cass, who owns. His accent got toned down to the point of nonexistence in EO2U, sadly. Fun fact, Cass's Japanese name is Antonio. What? Aren't yeh done with yer first mission yet? Don't lie to me! I see through yeh! They'll let me know one yeh're done. So get to it already, and come back then! The Beautifully Noble Land  We've had enough pleasure for now, onto the main event.  I am Minister Dubois, faithful servant. My duties range from managing the citizens to overseeing exploration of the Labyrinth. You are, I see, another band of hopeful explorers come to make your mark in the forest. However, only official citizens of Lagaard are allowed past the Labyrinth's 1st floor. You must pass a test of our devising in order to register as a citizen. I believe we are all in agreement. You bet! This is gonna be the challenge of a lifetime! We must be in great standing to be alieving our dreamings. Anything that let's me kick something! Anything that gets me my body back!!! This whip won't slay by itself you know. You see, it is the Duke who wishes that the Labyrinth be explored. Our ultimate goal is to find the legendary floating castle. Perhaps it's only a myth. But chasing a myth should be the very fabric of life for an explorer, shouldn't it? If you find the floating castle, you will be greatly rewarded. Possibly even ennobled. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you must accomplish this mission and prove yourself. At the Grand Duchy, you can undertake tasks called Missions. By accepting and completing these missions, you will receive various rewards. To take a mission, select "Accept missions" and read the description beneath. Always so much talking, but we're nearly done. This is where plot is, hopefully with less native murder and centrist attendant. This is also where you'll report the various monsters, items and gear from the labyrinth, but you shouldn't do that and we'll go over it later. If you thought 100%ing EO1 was awful, 100%ing EO2 is probably just as bad! If not worse in some respects! ] You have undertaken a mission to create a basic map of the Labyrinth's first floor. It is essential that you master mapmaking skills before going too far into the Labyrinth. Go forth to the 1st floor and speak to the guard on duty for more details. When you have proven your worth in this challenge, report back to me... I will confirm you as citizens of the Grand Duchy and approve your travel through the forest. Take this parchment. It is blank now... but someday you will fill it with the forest's secrets. Like I said before, key items no longer eat up your inventory slots, so that's nice. 60 items means 60 normal items this time. Oh yes... it may be wise to visit the inn and Sitoth Trading before venturing into the Labyrinth. If you are not properly prepared for exploring, your journey will be all the more difficult. Our touch screen has been unlocked, now it's time for the actual game! Wow!    It's night time, can't interact with the pole, story of my life, and can only go to the first stratum. Let's begin. Ancient Forest   Ahhhh, it's so nice to be back. I've missed this flora, maybe just a quick snack... You better not, I hate the taste of grass! You are always focussing on the ground, when the labyrinth is so pretty up there. I appreciate your acceptance in starting late, my complexion and light do not mix. I've done plenty of work in the night, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a great shadow watching us even now. A shadowy figure?! I'll kick your rear end! This forest maze exists within Yggdrasil, the tree that looms over the town of Lagaard. As you marvel at its beauty, a guard appears before you.   I'm in the Grand Duchy's guard corps. We help explorers like yourself on missions. The guard takes a hard look at you before speaking again. I'll get right to the point. Shall we begin your first trial to become an official citizen? It's a simple task. I'll lead you to a certain area of the Labyrinth. All you have to do then... is find your back here. The guard turns and takes a few steps before beckoning you to follow. Come. Your adventures in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth are about to begin. Keep up, Hart. I am attempting... but that drat bell he's using to ward off monsters... ugh, such a racket. Working with what is usually my prey is... gonna be interesting.   The guard scans your anxious faces and softens in an attempt to encourage you. It's not so bad. Just draw a map and you'll find your way back to town with no trouble. The guard points to the brand-new parchment clutched tightly in your fists. Why don't I give you a quick lesson on how to orient yourselves? Simple tutorial, no need, we'll go in depth in a moment. Enough chitchat, then. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance to Lagaard. I look forward to seeing you return safely, map in hand. And with those words, the guard leaves you alone in the forest. But just before we begin, because it's never that easy, this was the password version, here's the clean start: Oh, yes... I almost forgot. Something for novice explorers, just in case. The guard rummages through his pack and doles out a supply of medication to the party. x5 The forest can be more dangerous than it looks. Always be on your guard while inside it. The guard's cheery warning echoes ominously alongside the clanging of his armor as he leaves. Yeah. In a non-password game, you get a big amount of help at the start. That's why I told you not to buy any Medicas on a non-password save. If you're using a password save? You're veterans, get hosed. Did you think importing your EO1 save was going to be all sunshine and rainbows? Ohoho no! This is Atlus we're talking about here! Finally, the game begins. Compared to the first game, we've like tripled the amount of mapping tools, such as different map colours, being able to draw at the borders of the screen, and mother loving ARROWS! Of course there's still plenty missing from future games, but this is so nice. God last game was kinda terrible, huh? God there are already so many improvements in the mapping tools. You were stuck with 1 color in EO1, no arrows so shortcuts had to be marked weirdly. And drawing on the edges of the screen was impossible and you have to scroll the zoomed in map screen in one direction to do so. They definitely improved on a lot from EO1 at the very least. It's really hard to convey this in screenshots, obviously, but EO2 still has the really finicky line drawing "hit detection," for lack of a better term, from EO1. I've tried revisiting EO1 and EO2 and just get frustrated at the games not registering that I've drawn a line on the map. EO3's a little better about it, and then EO4 and on seem to have completely rewritten the mapping code with line drawing hit detection I've never had an issue with.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2021 02:11
|
|
|
  Hold up, bitch, the tutorials aren't over until I say so. How you spend your inital 3SP will help your first foray a fair bit. I've gone for the pretty bog standard team for this game in R/D/W/G/H, though I've put Alastor up front to help spread damage around a bit better. Please refer to the class writeups to see how each skill works, but to begin with, Eleanore will head for Orochi and Kienzan, I'm not looking at anything else until then. Sonia has a lot of very powerful, but pretty late skills, so I'll get Viper and work towards Climax. Alastor will be healing for a while, since it's very important, but will pick up Warmight pretty quickly, before Salve. Aleks will get all 3 elemental shots and then head for Richochet and Medishot. Finally Hart has many illegal things, but we'll go for Torpor and Revenge for randoms. I'll hold off on Poison and Dampen until later. Quick and dirty, but it's not too important to start with. Torpor's a good option for early hexer contribution until you can max out Poison, yeah. Maybe just a quick nibble while she's not looking- hmm? Hey guys, check this out! As you stroll through the forest, you spot brightly hued flowers at the base of a tree. Their vibrant color stands out against the forest green, as if luring you to them. You wonder what the harm could be in bending over to take a closer look. You are torn between examining the flowers and proceeding with your journey. Meh. I should be getting these for my candeleers, uh, right? You can look so long as you don't bend at the hip, Hart, use your goddamn knees! I'll pick this one! You lean in close to the flowers, noting carefully their structure and color. Suddenly, the blossoms begin to twitch, as if reacting to your presence! At so close a distance, you receive a faceful of pollen. You back away quickly. However, Eleanore inhaled the pollen and begins to sneeze uncontrollably! This *achoo* will NOT *achoo* DEFEAT *ACHOO* *ACHOO* After some time, Eleanore's sneezing fit finally stops. You take this as a warning not to be so careless as you progress through the forest. Aside from a red nose, you're perfectly fine. An insurmountable challenge five steps in, but I have surpassed it! Whatever let's you sleep. A big interruption so soon, but this is why I started at night, this is the event during the day: But they seem to be weakened from the harsh sun, and have not emerged from their buds. You sigh, sure that they would have been beautiful blossoms, and continue your journey. As an aside, this is as far as I bothered with the non-password game, so anything from this point on is the actual save we'll be using. But yeah, a weird first event you could encounter. Either you come back here later after first seeing this, and get a reward of a HP loss, thanks game, or you somehow know to start the game at night and get penalized for your efforts. Weird.  It's a flying box!!! With some of the usefulls. Maybe the next one will be jewels... Treasure chests still don't actually open when you take their contents. Gotta wait until EO3 for that. The First Campaign  The circle in the corner went from blue to green to orange to red, so it's time to battle. Come at me, fools!!! I'm glad to be on the opposite side of miss wide mouth there. Hedgehog HP: 45 STR: 7 VIT: 7 TEC: 6 AGI: 14 LUC: 12 Level: 2 Exp: 79 Skills Needle: Uses the Head. Deals 120% Stab damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities  100%  100%  150% 150%  100%  100%Disable Vulnerabilities  100%  100%  100%  100%  100%  100%  100%  100% 100%  100%Drops Rat Needle: 50% chance, sells for 5en. 1 required for Falcatta - Sword, ATK+20 - sells for 150en 2 required for Green Leaf - Clothing, DEF+9, AGI+1 - sells for 110en FIFTEEN required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en Conditional: Kill before turn 2 Long Pin: 50% chance, sells for 15en 7 required for Hindi - Bow, ATK+36, AGI+3, LUC+3 - sells for 560en 3 required for The leathersmith's request The enemy approaches! We don't really have any skills to use, but the regular attack will be fine to dispatch these. There's no more level correction so that early stratum enemies kick your rear end and are then pathetic later on, the code is in the game, it just doesn't do much of anything. Instead it's a more even playing field, since enemy stats are also scaled way the heck back from before. No more 400+ ATK enemies later, cap is 99. Also, just to give me even more work, enemies now have individual resistances to the various ailments, though as you start to notice when poring over the data, it doesn't make that much of a difference. Oh well, it's the first enemy you'll likely encounter, so let's kick its rear end. Like Cross said, level correction as a mechanic is completely gone, so just use the level stat here as a benchmark of where your party should be level-wise when fighting enemies instead. The code is still in the game, but all it's used for is to reduce monster damage by 20%. Also separate ailment resistances, hooray! Not sure why that was all stuffed into one stat before. Hedgehogs are going to be one of the 2 trash mobs you'll run into at this point in the game to help ease you into the battle system. Not much really to them. Curiously enough, they're one of 2 enemies in the entire game that are weak to Bashing attacks. The groundwork for how enemies function in the rest of the series is laid in EO2, but not actually used all that well.  Hmph, I'm more than just a pale face! Of course since I decided not to buy armour, the enemies will hurt quite a bit, but as you saw from the damage, it'll only be an issue if 3 enemies gang up on one person. What are the chances of that? I still think I should draw the map... We were having you the option, but Alastor said he'll do it since you put the pencil between your teeths. Ugh, I can still taste the rubber... Here's the craziest addition to the series, using L or R let's you walk like a crab! I'll use it every now and then so we don't have the top screen constantly looking at a wall, nor try and explain how the guild is walking like that, but it's so niiiiiiice. Can you see even with its flaws how much I love this game after playing the first one? The lack of sidestepping in EO1 is so bizarre. Surely between all of the Wizardry, Might & Magic, etc. games, Kazuya Niinou played at least one of them that had sidestepping? The lack of sidestepping and the lack of a quick save function were bizarrely touted as features in EO1. This was instantly dropped in the 2nd game probably because missing those QOL features was really stupid.  You need glasses old man, hiyah! While flattering, I'm only 310, hardly that old. Oh yeah, get used to whiffs in this game. Everyone has an eyesight issue in EO2 due to how accuracy works in this game. Everyone's doing around the same damage, so 3 attacks takes out a Hedgehog, easily netting us the conditional. Like before I'll be using AR codes to get drops when I fancy because you might have noticed we need 15 of one and 10 of the other to get all the drops. That is distressingly common and it's a right pain. The experience curve got a complete rework in this game, which is why you're seeing different numbers there compared to EO1. This would be the standard that would be followed for the rest of the franchise until Etrian Odyssey Nexus reworked the level curve to accommodate its game pacing. Good news, items have higher drop rates than in EO1. Bad news, you have to grind a lot more to unlock poo poo! EOU for some reason saw fit to keep some of the dumbass drop requirements from EO1, but EO2U mercifully reworked all of the bad ones from EO2. I think the only remnant is...it was either the sky metal helm or the angelic cap requiring 30 of something. Okay, I went back and checked, it was the sky metal helm. Gods, ronin do not fare well in EO2U. Lily looked around nervously when she told us about the labyrinth's doors. It can't be that bad, right? Their petals sway in the breeze as the aroma grows stronger. You wonder if it would be so bad to take a brief rest here amidst the fragrant blossoms. I sense something afoot, shallhaps we- Too late for that. Aaaaahhhhhhh~ A small break couldn't hurt. You decide to stretch out and rest amongs [sic] the sweet-smelling blossoms. Hey, watch out behind you! Who are you?! And what are those... purple... butterflies... oh poo poo. But your experiences as members of Edda gives you an uneasy feeling about this. And indeed, it isn't long until other forest denizens are drawn to the sweet pollen! As you turn around, you spot a pack of butterflies that were drawn to the flower's pollen. Worse, these are no ordinary butterflies--it's a swarm of dangerous Venomflies! They're almost upon you! Draw your weapons and fight!  Oh... this is gonna be painful... drat flyingbutters, I haven't finished researching medicinal bullets yet. Venomfly HP: 57 STR: 8 VIT: 8 TEC: 12 AGI: 9 LUC: 9 Level: 5 Exp: 204 Skills Poison: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Poison on the entire party. Has a 35% base infliction chance, deals 20-30 damage and has a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 150% 100% 100% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Bug Wing: 35% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I 1 required for Hard Vest - Clothing, DEF+11 - sells for 180en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from a single target - sells for 100en 4 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 6 required for Hindi - Bow, ATK+36, AGI+3, LUC+3 - sells for 560en Conditional: Kill with Volt Lymph: 80% chance, sells for 20en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en The real Etrian Odyssey starts here. In a password game you're fighting these no matter what, but for the first event you're likely to come across, little bit mean there huh game? It's a cute reference since in a non-password game you recover 10HP if you say yes, no fight there at all. Still, so long as Sonia doesn't take damage she'll be just fine. That is the wombo combo of this enemy, especially since we don't have any real armour to speak of. Venomflies are back and they want you! This is a callback to a very nasty event in EO1 at the start of the game, and if you're on a password save, the only way to avoid this event is to never go into this room. Yeah, makes you wonder if a password game is even worth it. Venomflies got a very nasty upgrade. Their poison was single target in 1, here it's AOE! This makes them incredibly vicious and high priority targets to take out!  You feel your bodies crack! I would like you to be zapping! Frailty doesn't reduce the enemy's resistances by much at all this early, but I'll max this skill eventually and want Hart to do something early on. Oh hey Sonia doesn't have enough health to survive-  Oh that's a lot of blood... No need to be particularly in worry, I'm here with- oh it's over. 3rd fight and I'm exp desynced. While Aleks does have a negative speed weapon, since it's still very early, she can get just enough to be faster than +0 Hart. But later on as Aleks gets more AGI and skill speed, Hart will be outspeeding her in pretty much all cases.   Well better to use it than not... Ugh, I need to find a way to avoid that. But who was that long haired saviour? Ah, hello, just looking out for newbies. Everybody gets one. Bye. The mineral water that flows here is crystal-clear and shimmers beautifully in the sun. You stop for a while to enjoy its brisk refreshment, then resume your journey onward. Neat! Ugh, if there's nothing worsened than an animal, it's a cold animal. Woodmai HP: 45 STR: 6 VIT: 7 TEC: 6 AGI: 7 LUC: 6 Level: 2 Exp: 84 Skills Shell: Doesn't use a body part. Reduces all physical damage by 50% for 5 turns. Has a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Husk Shard: 50% chance, sells for 6en. 1 required for Green Leaf - Clothing, DEF+9, AGI+1 - sells for 110en 2 required for Amud Staff - Staff, ATK+18, TP+18 - sells for 130en 3 required for Husk Shard - Headgear, DEF+5, TP+5 - sells for 90en THIRTY required for Maimai Bat - Staff, ATK+37, TP+10 - sells for 420en Conditional: None Considering there's 4 enemies on this floor, we got pretty lucky encountering only half of them. Woodmai just kinda sit there and don't do much, so you should take them out last. As you can see with the drops we need THIRTY to get an alright stave, gonna be a waste of my time. However, due to how often you'll encounter this drat thing throughout the stratum, it's pretty likely you'll get this long after it's useful. Woodmai are the other trash mob I was talking about. Some of their turns will be spent drawing out the battle instead but it won't matter too much at this point in the game since they go down pretty easily.    Three, three hits to death, ah ah bleh... Who heals the healer. Why game. Just why. Our levels won't be exciting for a while, Eleanore is 2 levels from an actual attack, Aleks picks up Iceshot, the last of the three, and Hart will get Torpor next level. Yeah the gang up situation still happens in this game since enemies decide who they want to attack at the start of the turn instead of on their turn. The next game would fix this issue but you'll have to deal with enemies potentially really hating a certain party member on a given turn. That's the area we need to map. Not hugely exciting and has some questionable events, but at least it can be done in one go.  Ah! Made it back safely, I see. The guard's voice is cheerful as he looks over your progress on the map. After looking at your map, the guard's cheerful voice emanates from his helmet. I'd say your mission to create a map of the Labyrinth's 1st floor is a success. The Minister will grant you citizenship to High Lagaard and full access to the Labyrinth. My part is done. You may go on from here, but I suggest your report to the Minister first. The guard finishes his speech and steps aside, allowing you to reach the stairs back to town. You may go back to Lagaard now or continue exploring the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. I'm glad that's over and out with. Going in such an elongated path was nervelacking. Nervewracking, and yes, it's weird, but I'm getting used to this. Especially when you act normal! Our first exploration was a roaring success! Good work everyone! Exactly, Alastor, it was hard, but it was my pleasure. I am looking forward to the napster.  The maps the game gives you always have something wrong... and gotta paint under the stairs because I'm not a goddamn SAVAGE. Next time we'll get some armour and properly explore the first floor!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2021 02:11
|
|
|
Common Passives Along with all the various skills a class has, all of them have a variety of common passives that you have to scroll past every time you want to use SP. Unlike EO1, where some classes got some of these skills, every class now has each of them, letting you choose what you want on them. It's not hugely exciting, but it's still worth a look. HP Up  A HP boost might not seem important, but with how useful armour is in this game, you tend to have a lot more to work with, and a ~50% boost is drat nice. Of course this is amazing for Hexers getting to 999HP but also works great on vaguely tanky classes that don't care about the other passive stats like STR Up or AGI Up, like Protector or War Magus. Dark Hunters love it too to survive various Bait hits, as do non-Loyalty Beasts, though they have other passives to go for if you want.TP Up  But the star of the show is definitely this skill, double your TP stat? Why the gently caress not!!! Pretty much every class wants this due to more expensive skills being thrown around, and for some classes like Alchemist, it's practically required! Some like Troubadours and Survivalists don't really care about this all too much, since you also need to invest a good amount to get worthwhile amounts. Can't put one point for that 10% boost like before, so they're both definitely lategame options, but definitely don't turn your nose up, these are two very nice passives to have.STR/VIT/TEC/AGI/LUC Up  Next up are some weird ones, for the most part these are only really point sinks that you take to get other skills. They are useful if you're gonna go all out, 10 points of STR never hurt, but various equipment can also do such a thing while you invest elsewhere. Should definitely stop when you do reach the skill you want and then continue later if you wish, though some classes don't have that option, and if you have a skill that requires, say, AGI Up 7, do you really need to put in those last three points? I would definitely recommend going for HP Up or TP Up first, but it can be worth filling these out later on, especially for classes that aren't particularly varied. As for the specifics, obviously STR Up and TEC Up are nice to get on the specific classes that use it, especially if they don't need much else, like Ronin and Alchemist. VIT Up doesn't make or break defensive classes, they prefer the armour and accessories, but Protectors and Beasts might as well get them. AGI Up and LUC Up are a little harder to recommend since their benefits aren't immediate. 10 extra LUC to inflict and resist ailments doesn't really amount to much, so only take it if you have to, while AGI can help but if you don't go before the enemy you've wasted your time. Easy to ignore on the molasses classes. But yeah, only stuff to grab at the end of the game, unless you need it as a prerequisite, but still important to get.Esc Up  Now for one point, an escape boost. Eh, okay? Unlike later games it's not massively difficult to run away, it's nice to get this on someone who you can depend on to run if need be, but it doesn't work when you're trapped by FOEs and is otherwise pretty whatever. Take it if you want.Chop/Mine/Take Chop innate to: Survivalist, Dark Hunter, Alchemist, War Magus Take innate to: Survivalist, Medic, Troubadour, Hexer, Gunner Mine innate to: Landsknecht, Survivalist, Protector, Ronin  It's gathering time, for your gathering party, completely ignore these otherwise. Sure you could put a point in these to get some items but they nerfed the cash you can get from gathering and you would prefer not to get into the gathering ambushes while you're out and about anyway. Just use the Survivalist for your gathering needs, they're not that useful for much else. While the Beast's skill is neat, it requires more to unlock, they can't reduce the encounter rate and their low AGI means they can't run from ambushes as much as they'd like.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2021 00:18
|
|
|
Landsknecht Can equip: Swords, Axes, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Shields How the mighty have fallen. Ah, excuse me, I'll be saying that a lot as we go over each class. Landsknechts were pretty good attackers in 1, they could mix between line clearing swords and heavy single target axes, they were great in all situations, if you planned properly. Just send them at the enemy and do work, and that's still the case in 2, except they don't do as much damage, their skills got nerfed a bit too hard, they have godawful TP for how much their skills cost and unlike in 1, Ronin are available from the start and it's so hard recommending them over Ronin. They can take some hits and have some interesting utility, but some of the big powerhouses from 1 did not transition smoothly. Oh god, EO2's class balance is sure something. Everything good from EO1 got nerfed into the ground, and oh boy Landsknecht did not survive the beating from the nerfhammer. It's really hard to recommend using this class when Ronin is better than them in almost every single way. Rarely has a class in the series been completely and utterly outdone by another class in the same game, but EO2 Landsknecht is the biggest textbook example. Now you might compare these stats to how they were in 1 and go, wait a minute, they're pretty much the same at level 99, what's the big deal? Well that's the problem, I've included the level 99 stats for a fun comparison, it is practically impossible to reach there, since you can only increase the level cap past 70 when you retire. And it increases by 1. So you get to level 71 and retire. So you get to level 72 and retire, repeat for hundreds and hundreds of hours because it takes so much exp to get to that point, since you're going through every single level every single time. So level 71 is the acceptable limit and you can see how much more mediocre a lot of classes are. Still, stats did get scaled properly so 99 is the cap for (nearly) everything, but the Landy's skills got reworked as well so the damage output just isn't as impressive. In any case, the stats here mean the Landy is a pretty beefy, pretty fast class. It does above average in every aspect except TP, which it beats out the Ronin by ONE POINT. That's kinda pathetic and the main issue with exponential skill levels is TP pretty much always increases, and skills cost a lot more than they did in 1. This makes Landys pretty okay in most aspects but they run out of steam quickly. They sit solidly in the middle of overall stat averages, so they're as exciting as they seem. TP Up is pretty much a must to ensure that Landsknechts don't run dry and don't need to develop an Amrita addiction to keep going. That stat passive should be one of your first priorities when you get around to boosting their stats. They'll also get a nice hefty defensive bonus out of HP Up, which is a must if you plan on having them use War Cry. Maxing out STR Up is an absolute must in order to keep their very middling damage competitive. The rest of the stats are basically take it or leave it. VIT Up can be okay, but it won't help much if you're using War Cry. If you're using Axes, don't even bother with AGI Up, it's worthless there. Not that Axes are that worth it in this game.Common Passive Unlocks STR Up: Lv1: Brawn, War Cry AGI Up: Lv1: Hypercut Here's just a quick thing so you can see what passives you need to invest in for specific skills. It's usually nothing extravagent, especially because 1 point doesn't really amount to much in this game, but the skills can sometimes be very good. War Cry was amazing last game, not so much this game and Brawn is pretty hard to use, while Hypercut isn't anything special, so, uh, invest in a Landy's passives when you fancy, there's no real rush.Swords/Axes Swords Unlocks: Lv1: Cleaver; Lv3: Tornado; Lv5: Allslash, Hypercut, Blazer, Freezer, Shocker, 2-Hit; Lv7: Riskcut; Lv8: Counter Axes Unlocks: Lv1: Deathaxe; Lv3 Silencer; Lv5: Brawn, Lifeaxe, Blazer, Freezer, Shocker, 2-Hit; Lv7: Stunner; Lv8: Counter Passive  The mastery skills are much simpler this time around, there's no kind of variation, they are all trap skills, with Healer being the exception, of course. Because they boost damage by a tiny amount, invest as much as you need and don't go any further, waste of time. Lv5 is when most of the good stuff gets unlocked, so feel free to stop there. Due to how Landys can't really invest in both trees as effectively, you can only stick to one, but some useful skills require investing in both. The Chasers give Landys some unique utility that doesn't get outclassed in damage by the Ronin, somewhat, while Counter is a passive Bait so can be useful. Not really worth all the extra SP to unlock it, but it's something. As for which tree to invest in, it's Swords. Axes weren't very useful in 1 outside of Crush and both them AND Landys have been nerfed since then, so it's a really sad state of affairs. The sword skills were still nerfed, of course, with Allslash being the worst hit, but we'll get to that in a moment, sigh. For both trees, Riskcut and Stunner are poo poo so stop at Lv5, there's really no point going further. Yet another gutting, and the beginning of the end. Mastery skills used to be worth something in EO1. Then they got heavily nerfed and started an ugly trend of being nothing more than point sinks that uh, never really ended in the series. Better than masteries in EO3 I suppose where the damage boost only affects regular attacks and nothing more. Eugh. And yes, Axes really aren't worth bothering with in this game. Go with Swords, they're just far better. For you EO1 veterans, no, it's really not worth hybriding in this game. All the Axe skills are completely terrible this time around, so it's really not worth the effort to pull something like that off this time. And if you're thinking why not just use Axes for when you're using Chasers... it's really not worth it at all. Weapons in 2 have their attack power divided by 3 when going through the damage formula, and the gap between Swords and Axes isn't that big, so that's a very miniscule damage boost you're looking at there. Chasers already need a specific party setup to get the most out of, and dealing with the hassle of being locked out of Sword skills is really not worth a tiny damage boost. Not only that starting from EO2, weapons have their own speed modifiers as well. And Swords come with a massive speed boost while Axes come with a big speed penalty. So Axes are really not worth using in this game! Once you grab all the skills you uh, might as well finish off their skill build by maxing out the mastery of the weapon you're using. Hey, what are you gonna be using that SP for, Riskcut?Counter Prerequisites: Swords Lv8, Axes Lv8 Has a chance of countering physical damage, even if damage was blocked. For conditional drops, solely uses the equipped weapon to determine damage type. Passive.  Here's a good skill you'll never get to. You shouldn't invest in Axes, so getting it to Lv8 to unlock this is such a waste of SP, along with getting Swords past Lv5. Still, what you have is good, even if it's just an "oh, neat" moment that you can't rely on. Unfortunately you need the Landy to be targeted AND then have it activate for it to even work, so it's definitely a poor man's Bait. It'll happen less likely than you think, especially since it doesn't work for elemental damage, which is everywhere lategame. It's an alright passive I suppose. An effective 35% damage reflect against physical attackers, but it's a very low priority skill to pick up. A small little thing. If a Protector defensive nullifies an attack, Counter will still deal the full amount of damage it would have dealt to the Landsknecht. Not a huge thing, but it's kind of neat I guess.2-Hit Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, Axes Lv5 Normal attacks have a attack of hitting twice. Passive.  Great, this is back. It has a slightly higher chance of proccing than in 1, but putting 10SP into this is such a waste considering normal attacks are pretty whatever and Landys struggles to stand out as it is in the damage department. No. Regular attack boosts were trash in EO1, and they're still trash here. I mean take it if you want, but this is like the last thing you should be investing in if you even pick it up at all. It's harder to make arguments for taking regular attack boosts as the series goes on, because the gulf between regular attacks and damage skills just gets bigger and bigger. Not helped by imbues no longer boosting damage from 2 onwards, which was a huge nerf to regular attacks.Cleaver Prerequisites: Swords Lv1. A single target Sword attack. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Boy oh boy that's a lot of random numbers, huh. You can see EO2 skills in action here, it starts off pretty bad, then shoots up in all aspects past level 5 until it becomes pretty good. Except all attacking skills do this so it makes this pretty mediocre. Every aspect changes at each level specifically so I have more work to do and for no other reason, like skills look completely different from 1 to max level that it's such a hassle to jump through 9 hoops in order to make something good. Anyway, enough grouching, it's Cleaver, it's as exciting as it was last game, both Tornado and Allslash do more overall damage than it, but it's one saving grace is that it does the most damage to a single enemy out of all the sword skills, if you don't invest in any axe skills. That's its one saving grace, and it's not a great one, but that's one more than it had in the last game! This is technically the "best damage skill" in the Swords branch by virtue of dealing the most amount of damage out of all of them, but it's really not worth investing in this one at all. Why? Oh just take a look at the next skill.Tornado Prerequisites: Swords Lv3. A single target Sword attack with splash damage. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Oh hey it's Cleaver but more overall damage. Sure, okay, against a single target Cleaver does slightly more damage, but Landys are pretty ineffective against single targets anyway, so what does it matter. Unlike the last game, it's not a worse version of Allslash but it depends on how lucky you are. This time these skills are in contention and the difference is mostly minimal. For 5% less damage you get a ton more crowd control. Nobody bothers with Cleaver because that 5% less damage will really not make or break anything, and it's just far better for dealing with randoms, and Tornado is generally agreed to be the best skill in the Landsknecht's aresenal. "What about Allslash?" you EO1 vets may ask. Oh ha ha ha haaaaaa... *sobs*Allslash Prerequisites: Swords Lv5. A multi target Sword attack to 2-4 enemies, cannot hit the same enemy twice. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  How the mighty have fallen. This was THE skill to beeline in 1, it did have a bit of investment to reach as well, but since it's much easier to get to in this game... that means it's much, much worse. No matter the level it'll always do 2-4 hits, whereas last game it became 3-4 at the last level. It's also 40% weaker, so with the overall lower power level, this skill struggles to sweep through enemies. Because the chance to roll 2 hits is so likely, if you want to have a decent chance of at least doing SOME damage to a third enemy, Tornado is your best bet, but when this skill hits 4 times, it really helps the rest of the party clean up. It's still... usable, but gently caress me, going over this skill is so goddamn depressing. Holy poo poo this skill got gutted. And gutted to uselessness really. This is pretty much a trap skill now, as Tornado is just far better for a Landsknecht to use. Just look at that atrocious TP cost! You'll be running your Landsknecht dry in randoms by spamming this! To further illustrate how bad this is, a level 10 Allslash will hit 2.67 enemies on average. Yeah. And the average damage dished out is equal to 400.5%. When Tornado can consistently dish out 415% damage in total if there are at least 3 enemies on the field. Absolutely not worth it, and as much as it pains me to say it, you should completely ignore this skill.Hypercut Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, AGI Up Lv1. A single target Sword attack. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  W-Woah, so fast! That's its only interesting aspect, it's a weaker but faster Cleaver against a single target for less investment. Like wow, whatever. If you only go one path, then Landys have SP to spare, so it's really not a big deal. But if you are spending SP on axes then, uh, why are you getting this skill as well to save on Cleaver, when axes are better than this skill? Like yeah it's fast, and that's something a few skills try to differentiate themselves, but EO isn't really a series about going before the enemy, so they're usually pretty pointless. Landsknechts already have a huge speed boost anyways when using Swords, so this skill is kind of redundant really. I guess if you're that desperate to snipe a particular enemy in a random encounter? Not worth a pickup to be honest.Riskcut Prerequisites: Swords Lv7. A single target Sword attack that increases in damage the lower the user's HP. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Here's another skill archetype, ones that do a cascading amount of damage depending on the user's HP. It's relatively easy to set up with pain floors, but there's only one skill like this that's at all useful BECAUSE it doesn't use this godawful scaling. Like wow, if you have your Landy at 1HP they do less damage than Hypercut. This is the issue with some Lv5 skills, they scale similarly to a L10 skill, but just... stop halfway and are worse for it. Sometimes they scale properly, but when they dont... WHAT IS THE loving POINT??? Welcome to DS era Etrian Odyssey. Where you will constantly be baffled at how any of this garbage went through. This skill is straight up worse than Hypercut in every way. A conditional damage skill at its maximum potential is somehow worse than a loving basic damage skill. Great skill design there! As insult to injury, it's SP efficiency is even worse than Hypercut's, as you need to spend 1 more SP than you would in Hypercut's prerequisites to unlock this skill!Deathaxe Prerequisites: Axes Lv1. A single target Axe attack. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  After all the riveting swords skills, here are the riveting axe skills. Compared to Crush, the go to axe skill in the last game, Deathaxe has comparable power but due to lower Landy stats and no real weapon mastery, it does less damage in comparison. It's fine in single target conditions, but considering it does barely more damage than a max level Cleaver, at the cost of making you slower and less accurate, is it worth the tradeoff? Well there's another axe skill that's stronger, even if it has its own downsides, so up to you. I guess this is one of the better axe skills? The ones with additional effects aren't exactly worth using, so this is probably one of the better ones if you don't choose to go with Brawn.Silencer Prerequisites: Axes Lv3. A single target Axe attack that has a chance to inflict Head Bind. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Here's some "utility" for your Landy, a skill weaker and slower than Cleaver but can inflict Head Bind. Hey, those are useful, but inflicting ailments and binds is now influenced by your LUC compared to enemy LUC, only slightly mind you, base rate is still very important. Since Landys have below average LUC, they don't help this skill much and it's better to rely on someone else to inflict binds, there's a bit of choice in this game at least. Now if you do miss your first bind, you becomes more likely to land your second and on attempt, so it's more likely than you think, but also seems like a waste of a Landy's time unless you're going for Ecstacy strats or whatever. Binds are also not as easy to land in this game on the big fights due to lower bind susceptibility multipliers in 2 compared to EO1. I don't think it's worth it unless you are that desperate to make use of a Dark Hunter's Ecstasy skill.Brawn Prerequisites: Axes Lv5, STR Up Lv1. A single target Axe attack. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Alright, here's a Lv5 skill that scales properly! Oh, it makes you go last in most cases, that's not great! Yeah this has the strength behind it to make Landys do some pretty alright damage, they just have to wait for everyone else to deal damage first, so you finish off the last of the enemy's HP, wasting the higher power of this skill. Up against bosses, yeah it's great, though going dead last is usually a bad idea due to stuns and ailments and the like, or dying before you can get it off. It's pretty risky, but maybe that's what can make this class even slightly interesting. Pretty much the strongest Axe skill. You'll have to pick between this and Deathaxe, depending on which downsides you want to deal with, lower damage or even lower speed. A Survivalist with 1st Turn can easily deal with the speed penalty this skill has but uhhh, that means you're using both a Survivalist and Landsknecht on the same team, which is a horrific idea in this game. The reason being that both of those classes suck rear end.Lifeaxe Prerequisites: Axes Lv5. A single target Axe attack. Decreases in damage the lower the user's HP. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  So this is a skill that gets worse the lower your health is... for some reason. On a class that is pretty good at taking hits, on a weapon that makes you slower and more likely to take damage before you attack, that when it fulfills the requirements is the weakest axe skill. ????????????? gently caress off. Just gently caress off. This is literally worse than every single Axe skill, why would you take this garbage?Stunner Prerequisites: Axes Lv7. A single target Axe attack that attempts to inflict Stun. Axe skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Moving on from... that, we have another questionable skill. Again, axes slow your Landy down and they have above average AGI, so they're not likely to go before the opponent, especially since it doesn't have a great speed modifier either. It has a really good infliction rate and no enemy is immune to Stun, but there are far, far better ways of doing this than using a slow, weird skill. And that was all the axe skills! Boy... they're really not good still, mainly because most of them are from the last game, where they also weren't good! Funny that. Really not worth it. Axes come with a big enough speed penalty that it's unlikely to see the Stun go off a lot of the time due to the Landsknecht being outright slower than their target. Yeah, they made this skill even worse than it was in EO1 due to mechanics changes. Funny how those can screw certain skills over.Blazer/Freezer/Shocker Prerequisites: Swords Lv5, Axes Lv5. A single target Fire/Ice/Volt attack on an enemy that was just dealt that respective damage. Sword/Axe skill, uses the Arms.  Now for some real interesting skills. Chasers finally get off the ground in this game compared to whatever they were trying to accomplish last game. At max level, you can dish out a lot of damage, especially if an enemy is weak to that element. HOWEVER, while this is really nice utility, it's quite the investment, so it better be good! Also because there's no multihit elemental attacks, you're limited to 4 chases on a single target if you're using an all element team, which is a poor idea due to how fragile they can be, or 9 chases from party wide attacks against multiple enemies, which, hey, does more damage than Allslash at least! It's something I'll try since our Landy will be sword locked, but it'll take quite a bit of time and quite the team composition for slightly higher damage from a mediocre class. Not recommended, but can work. Also yes, at the first 2 levels, there's a very small chance your Landy won't even follow up the attack! Great!!! Chasers went from being conditional damage attacks in 1, to what we know Chasers in the series today. Smack a target with an element, and they'll be hit with a follow up of that same element. And this time, multiple follow ups can happen as long as there are multiple triggering attacks. Though you aren't guaranteed to get multiple follow ups, and the chances of getting more follow ups go down the more successful follow ups you have. If you're looking for a reason to take a Landsknecht, this is pretty much the main selling point. Chasers can output a ton of damage... which unfortunately requires lining up the party with multiple Alchemists, Ronin, and Gunners. Outside of those specific parties, Chasers aren't worth it, and by extension, Landsknechts altogether.War Cry Prerequisites: STR Up Lv1. Increases the user's ATK and decreases the user's DEF for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  Okay, we've ditched Hell Cry and focused on the good buff. Due to how tanky Landys are, War Cry is very helpful in making their damage even remotely useful... is what I would say in EO1 where it was amazing! In this game it's complete trash due to how much it ruins your DEF, halving it compared to last game where your DEF reduction actually got better as you invested in it. It has a great boost to STR, so if you're able to make use of it before you die, great! It's better to just use a Bravant or even a Troubadour's Bravery or War Magus's Warmight. Because there's a few ways to get around the awful DEF drop, I find there's really no need to use War Cry, but then I also find no need to use Landsknechts, so what do I know? Oof. You pretty much need this skill to deal with the Landsknecht's middling damage, but taking 50% more damage really puts a dent in the Landsknecht's defenses. They also changed how damage buffs work in 2. Instead of affecting their attacking stat directly, they now increase the final damage dealt by a certain amount, and that would be the standard that would be followed for the rest of the series. As for how much this increases the Landsknecht's overall damage by since this is self cast only, it increases it by -12%/-7.2%/2.4%/16.8%/36%. Yeah, the first two levels actually decrease the overall damage the Landsknecht can do. And for self-damage buffs, it's better to let the buff wear off entirely before reapplying it, otherwise you'll decrease your overall damage output further if you try to reapply it on the last turn.Unbound Prerequisites: None Removes binds from a single target. Heal skill, uses the Head.  Oh poo poo, Arm Heal got an upgrade! You could nearly call this a skill now. It does have some utility, having other ways to remove binds can be useful depending if your healer is also bound, but there's a few obvious issues. You can't use this skill if you're head bound, surprise, surprise, and if your healer has a head bind, so will your Landy, most likely, due to their lower LUC. Also your Landy could just attack instead while someone else in support heals binds with skills or Theriaca As. It's a much better skill than before, but it's still bad. If you do take this skill, it's really not worth leveling beyond 3, as being fully bound isn't exactly common in this game, and dispelling 2 binds at once is more than enough in a lot of cases. Could be a handy backup in case you're out Therica As I suppose.All Out A multi target Sword/Axe attack, cannot hit the same enemy twice. Sword/Axe Force Skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Last up is the Force Skill, they're very powerful, but because they take a while to charge, you usually don't see them during a regular outing, unlike Boost. They're also ridiculously powerful and you can easily cheese bosses by grinding Boost beforehand and absolutely humiliating them with the right ones. We won't be doing that. Much. But how does the Landy's hold up? Well, it's fast and does a lot of damage. And that's it. It's as interesting as the Landy itself, it's a perfectly fine class, but it's outclassed by a lot of different classes and doesn't do anything very, uh, classy. It got nerfed while others got buffed, the class disparity in this game is one of its major issues. And that's a real shame cause this class was pretty drat good, but now it's decidedly... average. You don't want to be average in this game. All Out is okay. Nothing particularly remarkable, but it is their strongest damage skill, and you might as well use it whenever it's up. As for the Landsknecht themselves, as you can see, they went from being a pretty good class in EO1 to near the bottom of the barrel in EO2. While some classes fared a lot better than in 1, Landsknecht wasn't one of them and I'm sad to say that this isn't even the worst of it.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
Edda's Arrival Phwaaaah! We finally made it, High Lagaard!!! Huff, huff, oh thank god, if this tree was gonna be the same size on the horizon for the fourth day in a row I was gonna murder everyone. Same... Stiff upper lip everyone~ for it is the day~ we meet our guild~ or rest and wait~ Not... gonna... make it... Don't worry babe, I got you. Good thing you're still so light, eh? I am going to sleep for forty days and forty nights. Now where should we go?~ Hmm?~ A squirrel~ Oh hey, you guys made it. Not that I was waiting for you lot or anything. It was sis that was worried. Yeah. Just her. Of course you're here first... GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I knew Cheese wouldn't let me down! Where have you been?! I've been so worried about you idiots!!! Still not a huggy person, erk, so crushing! What were you so worried about. ...how long have you guys been here? Wow you lot finally made it, I knew you'd be along soon enough, gahahaha! Certainly took your sweet time, nice to see everyone in one piece. While being late is honourable, I will make an exception this time because I really missed you! No, seriously, you were acting like we died! When did you lot get here??? Uh... well... it was kinda... Two months. TWO MONTHS! How could you take so long? We thought you HAD died! ...WHAT??? I thought I was keeping track of the time pretty well... We did get a little sidetracked along the way, drat Armoroad. You guys came straight here? Liana said no distractions... not even the pretty coastal place. And you see the results. Well it was definitely worth it~ Aah the stories we could weave of our adventures, they could fill a whole book~ One time we found ourselves in a place called Bollywood- Riveting. Get unpacked you lot, we've got a labyrinth to explore. Oh what?! We just got here, we've been walking all day! Then we'll start tomorrow! There's no better time to start then as soon as possible! You must be registered as soon as possible too, we need your half to complete our guild and get the paperwork sorted! That I do not need to read! Ugh, fine. Paperwork does sound fun... Ah, is it you? Then you must be here to explore the Labyrinth, I assume. Guild Edda... yes, the legendary explorers who saved the town of Etria. My revisionist history travelled faster than I thought~ Tell me about it. Well, you're welcome to use the name you're already know under... I'm sure many explorers here would be eager to sign up with your guild. Or, you could change the name and go incognito. It makes no difference to me. Either way, explorer, I must record the formation of your guild on this 1st of Emperor.  It's perfect. The gently caress's a Nidhogg? Nothing much, what's the Nidhogg with you? Hehehe... OW! Very funny, dear, we'll stick with our original name and get unpacked. Come along, we can rest and plan from there. Karin didn't even make it that far. Zzzzzzzzzz... Oh yes... I have something for you, since you led Guild Edda in those days. It's in honor of all that Edda accomplished. You're worth of it. I expect that you'll achieve the same level of renown here in High Lagaard. Ah dammit tossing this into the ravine didn't work, I can't get rid of this crap ever since it touched the pearl! Maybe if someone else picked it up... hup! I say it is time for brunch! Honourably! Very well~ So long as it's not made from Crabapples, it's all we could find the last few days~ Prepare for a surprise. Hmm? Someone left this nice little crown here. It feels cursed in some way, like it could talk. But that would be preposterous... though I would not mind such a thing. And what was that group going on about? Nidhogg? Interesting... Huh? You're from Edda? You saved the town of Etria? Hmmm... ohhh, yes, of course! Even I've heard of you! But I don't know much beyond your name... well, I'm sure you're no different than my other guests! Bahahaha! Lagaard has lots of inns, but my place is the best! You'll fit right in. Try to get along with the other guilds! Ah, we've made it. I'm... glad... Woah there. Huh, drat, you really are light. I'll be fine to carry everything upstairs. Mmmmmmmmmmm... eat shield... Thanks, chum, I'm fine to explore the town, I'm used to long hikes. Besides, wanna become as familiar with this place as Etria. Man it's weird seeing those two be so friendly to each other. I myself will sit the gently caress down and enjoy some music~ It's been about three hours and I'm getting withdrawal~ Alright you lot, get settled! We're heading into the labyrinth tomorrow! Know something interesting? It seems Edda, the ones who saved Etrian, are here... wait... that was you!? Wow... haha, my apologies! You're a hot topic of conversation around Lagaard lately. This is Lagaard Hospital, where most explorers end up sooner or later. In addition to treating wounds, we provide medicine and other supplies to Sitoth Trading. If you should be injured in your journey, don't hesitate to see us. Uh, right, I was just asking where the bar was, I imagine that's where everyone else has gone. Getting a new sword sounds like a nice idea though, now where would it be. Oh there it is, let's- ah, sorry! Oh, she just kept walking... why doesn't that guy just look where he's going... Huh...? Oh! You must be... you're from Edda, right? Did you change your name? Well, I'm still a big fan! Oh, let me explain how this store works. Well... first of all, my father owns the shop. Him and his staff make equipment in the back, and I sell it to you explorers. I'm just an assistant, but I'm always here! Don't forget! Got any axes? ...what do you mean I'm the first person to ask that?! Axes are great! Hmm? Hello squirrel. Ugh, there you are, sidetracked as usual, I see. Come on, the bar is this way. Alright fine, I'll come back later, let's get- GAHHHHH!!! Hmm? Woah, you surprised me! Aren't you a cutie. Hehe... Stop fraternising with the weird amount of animals this place has. A lot of them don't like squirrels for some reason. What've yeh decided to call yerselves here? Not that I really care, but... yeh should go see the Minister at the Duke's Palace first. He'll lay out the rules for yeh. No back-talk! Just do as I say! I'm only getting a drink, I'll go to the fancy place later. May I borrow this chair? Don't touch me. Eyyyyyyyyyy, Lavvyyyyyy, ya made it!!! This place is full of weirdos, but I'm parched. I'll get you something, but Liana said be a dear and accept the mission at the Palace. She even said pretty please. ... ... fiiiiiiiine. You know, even my legs get tired too. No they don't you weird, endless machine. Those guys are pretty loud, heh, typical tourists. Though they look like they're on the start of a grand adventure. I believe I recognize you... you were once known as Edda, weren't you? Yes... you carry a different aura than other explorers. You were in Etria, yes? Oh, but I have not introduced myself. I am Minister Dubois, the Duke's faithful servant. My duties range from managing the citizens to overseeing exploration of the Labyrinth. Before you begin exploring, you must become an official citizen of Lagaard. You must pass a test of our own devising in order to register as a citizen. Uhuh... yeah... hmm, really... yes, yes, I'll take the mission, get me outta here! Hmph, there's a guy with no appreciation for this place. Ahh, soon I'll start my encyclopedia here... what heaven. Hmm? Alright, alright, ye blackmailin' bastards I'll join a guild! And ye're not getting any more info outta me! Ugh, that took forever, but at least I'm done. Hmm, where the hell am I? Excuse me? Where's the pub from here? Hmm? A what? A pub! The place of drinks! Ah yes, quite a fascinating place, Stickleback, see you might think it was based off a hedgehog, but actually the original owner just had a very course and hairy back. Oh, no kidding? No, wait, where is it? Give me directions! Well, if you want to find it, all you need to be is lost. Farewell. The hell did he mean by- oh wait it was right behind me. He could've just told me that... Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! You remember that I'm just a sword? I don't get drunk anymore. Ah, you're back, here's your pint. Ahhhh, finally, that was a hell of a day. I met some right weirdos you know, wonder if I'll see them again. No matter, cheers!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
Yeah I'll count the PQs, even if I don't want to, because it means I'll need to LP them to cross every game off the list. Just kidding! Haha, unless...?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2021 21:13
|
|
|
Part 3: The Second And... Last? Beautiful and Sublime Lands Alright, I'll have a look at this, thank you. Hmm... it's fine enough, sure you couldn't add some colour to it? No. I hereby name you explorers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and citizens of High Lagaard. As I mentioned earlier, you have but one goal. Climb the Yggdrasil Labyrinth and discover the lands said to lie in the skies above. I expect great thing from you from here on out, members of Nidhogg. Ah, I nearly forgot. Take this token of the Duke's esteem, and keep up the good work.  Well, it seems that you've begun your exploration of the Labyrinth in earnest. We support explorers in whatever ways we can. You are free to keep whatever you find there, or sell it to Sitoth Trading. That should do for your initial orientation... do you have any questions? Yes, where is the manshun you are having for- Ah, wait, first... about those items and monsters you encounter in the Labyrinth... we ask that you file reports on them here. We have lived in Yggdrasil's shadow for some time, but there is much we don't know. Any scrap of information you can bring back may be of use. The official guard corps are posted, of course, but they are not tasked with exploration. What we need is data on the Labyrinth's monsters, the items they drop, and your equipment. We will save these records, which should help the guard corps with their task. Adding to our store of knowledge about the Labyrinth is every explorer's duty. Good luck.  That old geezer doesn't /2 talk, eh? If he gives us money, he can talk as much as he wants. You get used to it, I've created a small page on what you've described. Look good to you? Woah that drawing is an exact match, that's some talent!  So for whatever reason they decided that to 100% this game you should unlock all the gear as well. As you've already seen from the unlocks, that's not an easy, or interesting task, you can imagine how bad it'll get later. There's never much reason to 100% any EO game, we only do it because... well, I dunno actually. Why DO we do it? And why am I gonna do it for this LP? Ah gently caress!!! New to this game is the Gear Registry which... Yeah. Thought unlocking all item drops was a pain? Now you have to unlock all equipment as well! Seeing all monsters and item drops is much less of a hassle in comparison as if you're missing an item drop, you just hunt down the monster. And if you're missing a monster entry, the monsters are mostly grouped by Stratum, so it's feasible to find a place to search. Gear on the other hand doesn't give nearly as many hints on top of being a huge grind, which means this part is easily the biggest roadblock in 100%ing EO2. Thankfully this nonsense did not last past this game, as it was dropped instantly in EO3, and wasn't even a requirement in the game's remake. 100%ing EO games isn't usually too much of a hassle. It's really just making sure you complete the post-game on top of seeing everything. There are a few bottlenecks here and there but it's not usually too much more demanding than the amount of effort it takes to kill the post-game superboss. Unless you're playing a DS era title in which case the bottlenecks are loving massive, like getting the drops to make the Shinryuu Sword in 1, the loving Gear Registry in 2, and killing 3's post-game superboss! (Yes that last one deserved its own mention, just trust me on that one.) Extremely glad that the Gear Registry was not brought back in EO2U for authenticity reasons, even though it'd be a much easier ask in that game.  Truthfully, I'm not sure how I feel about explorers spending so much time in the Labyrinth. Injuries are frequent, and it's our job to patch them up. It would be best if you could avoid getting hurt at all. Ah, that's much better, figured you'd be working here as soon as you could. obviously, gotta clean up any mess you lot get into... It's only 100en per item! We've got space, so use it as much as you want! You can store up to 99 items, however consumables don't stack and each individual item eats up a slot. The payment happens when you store an item, not when you take it back, so make sure you have some money on hand if you really need that bag space. Sorry, but I have to check. Where did you even put it? I dunno, I grabbed it without really thinking when you were gonna kick it out of the duke's hand! Oh... sorry, but I don't think this is the permission I'm looking for. Once you have permission, I can sell you some special items. They're really helpful! So get permission, then come back and show me, okay? A-Are you sure you don't have it...? Maybe it's buried in all the stuff you're carrying? I mean, I was sure you had finished the training mission, so I thought... sorry! I really, really wish I could sell you this, so I have to nag you about it. Are you absolutely sure you don't have permission? It was at the bottom, under a... swimsuit? Hey, you never know! Swimsuits would've been very helpful in the hot springs quest in EO2U. Don't ask. Like this Warp Wire. It lets you come back to town from the Labyrinth at any time. When you plan to enter the Labyrinth, you should always make sure you have one.  Falcatta, requires 1 Rat Needle - ATK+20 - One-handed sword whose weight is in its tip. Green Leaf, requires 2 Rat Needles, 1 Husk Shard - DEF+9, AGI+1, sells for 110en - Clothing covered in hard shells. Definitely don't leave for the labyrinth without two! Yes you heard me, last game was mean, but it never took your Warp Wires from you. This game isn't so nice! Also hey, we can see what we else we need for an item when we've met one of the prerequisites. Other games you can get away with only having one if you make sure not to be forgetful. Actually, no, he means "three." The Wind Doesn't Draw Heroes Of course most of the guild would be here. Better order some expensive wine for our first successful exploration. Better tell us all about it, yeah? ...any danger behind doors? Now that you mentioning it... I will also take some fancy wine, Earl Grey, right? That's tae ya daft oval office! And it was nice and quiet a moment ago... Before you get too comfortable, there is a noticeboard here of people's problems, we best get to solving them! I get a lot of requests here, and I put them all up on that bulletin board over there. Usually it's stuff like, "Pick this up" or "Defeat that." Pretty drat lazy bunch, if yeh ask me... but the reward is usually well worth the trouble. So it's a great way to pick up a little something here and there. Got it? You can take Quests here in the bar, which are optional jobs or requests. There are many types of Quests, each with its own reward. Select "Accept quests" from the menu to see the details. "Reward is well worth the trouble." Yeah I beg to disagree. On the other hand, like Rea said, you get to interact with Cass a lot during these and he's the best part of EO2 questing, so it's not all bad. He's definitely a lot more fun to interact with than Valerie from EO1. It was my first taste of death... I would rather ignore it entirely. Ahh... well, all I can say is, take it slow. If yeh die, it's curtains for yeh. The Labyrinth's huge, but it'll keep. Take it easy, and go at your own pace. Ah some money as a reward... poor imbues. Ah, yeh'll take the quest, then? Great, great, good to hear it. This one's from the restaurant down the way. The man there's in powerful need of Rock Water. It's bracing stuff, but yeh can only find it in the Labyrinth. Yeh don't have to go too far in, mind. Should be able to get some on the 1st floor. Just bring back some of that water and the job's done. G'luck! ...Is that water in the physical form of a rock, or water from a rock, or water on a rock, or... (Don't worry, I'm doing a bit, I'm not that absent-minded. Just mostly.) Are you organizing your guild wisely? Make sure you divide the party's duties evenly. You may also choose to form specialized team. A main team, one to gather items, and so on. That's all the advice I have for now. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. We could definitely use a gathering party, but it is imperative we find the right candidate, so be on the lookout. Alright, I'll find one in no time at all, just you watch! But it's not like one's gonna walk right past. Ah, excuse me, I need to gather some breakfast. Hmm... that guy... have I seen him before...? Well back to looking for a gatherer! Can you gather items for us? Sigh... Byeah. Did you sign up a good crew? Woodland Ruins There's a lot more dialogue in this game compared to before, so we're finally getting into the second exploration. Possibly one of the biggest improvements to the series to add more life to the game. Town dialogue now updates after every floor instead of just after you finish a Stratum. Adds way more life to the NPCs and town you regularly interact with, and unlike in 1 everyone has something new to say instead of the guildmaster being doomed to talk about making a good crew over and over. The games just get more and more dialogue-heavy as they go on. Except EO5, that walked it back a noticeable amount. Signs are meant to be kicked! At least let us read it first! A warning is written on it to explorers who challenge the Labyrinth: "Do not disturb the monster in the hall! Your curiosity will be your undoing!" It seems one of your predecessors wrote this warning... you cannot grasp its meaning, but you resolve to keep it in mind as you press onward. You've been in the labyrinth before, any idea what fearsome creature this could be? Well when you're by yourself, anything is fearsome, so I'll tell you if I see it, cause I'll kick its rear end this time!!! I am the viewing of something! Even for me it takes a moment to figure out what you are saying... You crane your neck to see a hole in the tree, just above your reach. It's difficult to tell, but it seems that a gleaming jewel is inside the hole... a jewel like that would make a worthy souvenir of this trip. I can gallop up there in just a- oh you're already halfway up. Mine, mine, mine, mine! Eleanore reaches into the hole and gropes around... it seems that a hard, jewel-like stone is inside the hole. Eleanore firmly grasps the stone and pulls it from the tree. Oh I thought it was a shiny new book. You can have it. Mmm, my pleasure! If you do this event at night you'll be placed into an encounter with 3 Crawlers, which is not a battle you want to get into when you're starting out! What the- the only mention of this I've found is in your LP seven years ago, how the hell do you remember this poo poo??? Woodmai are so nice to see because they don't kick our rear end. Ahah, there it is! Time for a rematch, bitch!!! It barely reaches my knee, how did this thing nearly kill you? Mole HP: 51 STR: 8 VIT: 8 TEC: 5 AGI: 8 LUC: 7 Level: 3 Exp: 123 Skills Claws: Uses the Arms. Deals 120% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Earth Nail: 40% chance, sells for 8en. 1 required for Kalinga - Axe, ATK+21 - sells for 160en 5 required for Spike - Axe, ATK+33, +0 speed - sells for 220en Soft Fur: 45% chance, sells for 6en. 1 required for Hide Gage - Gloves, DEF+4, VIT+1 - sells for 80en 2 required for Jerkin - Light Armor, DEF+10 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hard Vest - Clothing, DEF+11 - sells for 180en Conditional: None These were the first monsters we encountered last game, but here they're not as scary since you can't fight as many of them initially. They definitely hurt, but if we focus on them we can take them out no issue. They only use Claws when on low health, it's not really worth mentioning the enemy's AI for the most part, it's very basic, like their one skill they often have. They can use it at high health, but only 10% of the time. Moles are basically slightly stronger trash mobs, but not as scary in EO1 since they don't really group up until later. The level mechanic is gone so that's not beefing them up either. Oh yeah, enemy AI got redone in this game, so a lot of the issues that plagued them in 1 are gone, though some oddities did slip through. The most notable thing about monster AI in this game is that Atlus switched off monsters basically being state machines using data tables (seriously wtf, that only works for games with very simple AI, like Doom, it doesn't work in an RPG), and instead rewrote the AI system to use their proprietary FLOW scripting system, which became the standard for both monster AI and, starting with EO3, event scripting in the series. It eliminates most of the really serious errors like "Primevil uses a non-existent skill."  Don't think, just kick! Mmm, auto, I've missed thee. The secret to healing classes is investing in the mastery skill to keep your healing cheap and more potent. Obviously not a huge issue for a class like War Magus, but I want to get Salve sooner, though I'll get Warmight before that. Enjoy healing passives being more valuable than higher levels of the active skills while it lasts, it basically goes away with EO4.   It is the very surprising that this is the faster. I didn't even know my body could move side to side like this. Let's never mention it again. Eleanore could use the slightly higher DEF, but she's not using TP just yet, so Sonia can use Viper more. It doesn't actually inflict anything because I'm heading for Climax for the most part, but hey it does more damage than her regular attack!   GAHHHHHH gently caress!!! You think that can stop me, huh, I'll kick your rear end! Literally all of your bones are broken, do not move! Crawler HP: 90 STR: 12 VIT: 10 TEC: 5 AGI: 8 LUC: 10 Level: 4 Exp: 152 Skills Web: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Arm and Leg Bind on the entire party. Has a 25% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Small Nail: 70% chance, sells for 14en. 1 required for Nail Whip - Whip, ATK+19 - sells for 130en 1 required for Steel Pin - Headgear, DEF+5, TP+5 - sells for 90en 1 required for Green Boot - Footwear, DEF+6, AGI+2 - sells for 120en 1 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en Conditional: None If you're unlucky on your first venture, you could encounter this monster. It will loving obliterate you, and it is always the first thing you go after, even Venomflies. Thankfully if it can't kill Eleanore in one shot, then we're past the point of it killing anyone, and if it goes for Web you got lucky. With Alastor's quick healing we're not in much danger, but it'll get complicated when it shows up with other enemies. Crawlers are basically the floor bullies of the first floor, and my my they're quite the toughie! Just look at those beefy stats in comparison to the previous 3 trash mobs! Definitely take them out first or they'll paste your party into the ground. The only saving grace is that they have a 25% chance of wasting their turns using Web instead of smacking your party. They also serve as a slightly harsh introduction to binds, though thankfully they can't really capitalize on your party being bound. And if this enemy, or any other encounter is too tough for your party to currently handle? Well there's no shame in running. Feel free to use the escape command whenever your party is in trouble, or you think they're about to get into trouble. Making sure to live to fight another day is a skill that will help you survive a lot longer in the Labyrinth and helps avoid getting a paid vacation to the game over screen. The binds are just salt on the wound, this thing has no business being this strong, especially given that it could theoretically be the first monster you encounter. At least Great Lynxes are saved for the later parts of B1F in EO3.  Hmm, don't have the ability to pick something off the ground, but I could use a small snack. Hrrk, desire to eat grass... stronger than influence over him... noooooooooooo! Funny dialogue inspired by this wonderful artwork by Huckebein on the EO LP Discord, the first artwork for any of my LPs and this is my nineteenth one! Ah that's kinda depressing.1F A1 Take Point Ambush Chance: 1% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Tiny Bloom. 70% chance. Sells for 25en. 1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en 2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en 3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en Sour Fruit. 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en Green Nut. 5% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked Anyway, here's gathering spots, they've been nerfed a fair bit from last game, but they are easier to utilise at least. Due to the Survivalist's Stalker skill, they can easily reach any gathering spot in the game without any encounters and can farm a full pack with little issue. Though there's a few wrinkles to this now, the money you get from gathering has been reduced slightly, and most of the spots are pretty out of the way to stop you easily grinding materials. It's still worth it, but there's other money methods that are faster when you get the setup. Also, this is the introduction of gathering ambushes, each time you gather there's a chance a nasty enemy, or gaggle of enemies will blindside and gently caress you up. You can get around this by training your gathering group so they aren't so fragile, something that's easier to do later on, or just admit to this eventuality and try to run away. It kinda sucks to have to reload from a save and gather again, but it's also not a big deal due to how quick it is to get back, just be luckier next time! Sadly, gathering ambushes are here to stay. I'm not a fan of them, personally, especially in fixed-party games like the story modes of the Untolds and both Persona Q games. They unnecessarily punish you for taking advantage of a system the game puts there and demands that you use for important consumables. As mentioned before, they're even worse in EO games where you're stuck with non-gathering characters. As for the first gathering point you can find in the game, hot drat this floor has good ones! These are items you want to get asap due to how incredibly useful they are. Well, Nectars are a little expensive this early, such is life without a Medic, and the oils are completely useless, rip imbues. Also have you wondered why the various ailment gas items aren't very useful in letting you net conditionals? They're based on level 1 Hexer skills, in a game with exponential scaling, without a later upgrade with a better infliction chance. NEVER use the Gas items, they are absolute dogshit. Oof. Gathering was a great way to make money in EO1, and now it got hammered. It's still a viable way of doing so, but the primary moneymaking meta moved onto... something different for this game. You'll still need to gather from these to make unlocks, which is the most important part of them now. Definitely get some Tiny Blooms as Nectars and the Thericas are easily the most important consumables to get unlock. The importance of having death and disable dispels cannot be understated here. The rest aren't great. If you knew how god tier the imbues were in EO1... yeah that's sadly no longer the case in this game, the oils are not worth it outside of conditional drops. Also the big nerf, ambushes. In EO1 you just had a chance to find nothing. That got replaced with a monster encounter which is flagged as a guaranteed blindside. Which is basically just Atlus doing a sledgehammer nerf while giving you the middle finger. It's also a huge nerf to gathering on your normal team, as well, if your gathering team gets ambushed you can just reset. An annoyance, but not a big deal. But if you took gathering skills on your main team and got ambushed while you were a good portion through a floor? Yeah this just adds in another wrinkle your main team just really does not want to deal with. Last thing you want is to wipe because the RNG said gently caress you. This is the last game where Nectars are easy to get, even if they're more expensive individually. Trust me, you'll miss it.  Eventually this drat toxin will work... Still, we are having the easy times, I am gladding we are cohesing as a group.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2021 20:45
|
|
|
Fresh Blood and Darkness  But after passing through an old ruin and entering a hall, you feel a strong presence... Was this what nearly killed you before? I can give it a good kick for ya. Hmm... nope! Never seen it before in my life. You peer into the next hall and witness a dreadful monster sitting in the room's center! You wonder, though, if it might be wounded... it doesn't seem to budge from its position. You ask yourself if you are confident enough if your skills to challenge the creature. If not, you muse, it might be best to walk away as quietly as you came... We will worry about such a monster later, but since we're close to the entrance... hmm... yes, I see... Ohoh, good eye, I'll clear this out in no time!  Woah, what's this shortcut doing here so early? Last game the first one we found was the FIFTH FLOOR, otherwise you had to walk the entire length of the stratum if you wanted to get anywhere. It was one of my biggest issues with the game, aside from a variety of other things. The shortcut design thankfully got much better after EO1. It was just dire in that game. Ridiculously long stretches of walks just to reach a specific destination, oy. All hail the holy shortcut, savior of players from tedium. And with motherfucking arrows, I can also label them properly. Ah, bliss. We can beat it! No we can't! That's 3-2, cause Sophia doesn't count, we win! I love democracy.  Actually we can't beat this- URK At least leave a body behind for me to fix! Gashtor HP: 300 STR: 17 VIT: 17 TEC: 17 AGI: 17 LUC: 17 Level: 9 Exp: 0 Skills Fangs: Uses the Head. Deals 150% Cut damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Paralysis. Has a 50% base infliction chance, a 100% accuracy modifier and a 150% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops None Conditional: None Surprise, surprise, this enemy that teaches us that maybe you should avoid these floating orange balls of death, is something to be avoided because it will completely annihilate you. Now with some cheese you can Force and Viper this thing down pretty early, otherwise 300HP is a lot to chew through when you do like 10 per hit. One saving grace is it takes 5 turns to kill you, so we'll try and properly beat it up later. The Gashtor basically serves as a soft demonstration to the signature mechanic of the Etrian Odyssey series, the FOE. There's also a shortcut nearby so you can immediately get back to where you were in case this thing causes a wipe after you learn the very harsh lesson that FOEs are not to be trifled with. It doesn't even move around either just so you can see how it functions in the dungeon. Oh what's that? You're a seasoned FOE killer from the EO1 or EO3 days or so and think you can take these things? Your enthusiasm is appreciated but let me just tell you this right now. DO NOT gently caress WITH EO2 FOES! They are on an entirely different league of deadly compared to the FOEs in the rest of the series! They will all be happy to feast on the delicious 5 course meal you send their way when fighting them! Take note of the EXP it gives, by the way. This isn't going in well, so since it cannot be chasing, we should be leaving. At least some of us are sane. Aww, fine, I can slay it later, I'm sure. In case the sheer overkill damage they deal to you didn't hammer it in, the pathetic damage you deal and the barely visible dent you put in their health bars should probably tell you that fighting FOEs at first sight is a bad bad idea! Woodland Ruins You turn and see a lone guard jogging in your direction. You guys are explorers, right? Yeah, I've seen you before... what are you doing back here? What is you talking ab- OH, the quest we accepted. Why, I was so distracted by Cass's wide and plump neck that I completely forgot about it! After telling him of your current errand, he nods and begins to speak. I know just the place, in the southern area. It looks like a dead end, but you can't miss it. You thank the guard and begin anew your search for the spring. I was gonna do the quest after reaching the second floor, cause I'm really not in a rush, so I didn't know the game told you about it. There's quite a few quests where the game goes "wrong way idiot", but they're not all listed on the Gamefaqs maps, especially this one. Huh. I didn't know this either. There isn't really a text dump available for EO2 to reveal these kinds of things to us, sadly. 1F C3 Take Point Ambush Chance: 1% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Sour Fruit. 70% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en Tiny Bloom. 25% chance. Sells for 25en. 1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en 2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en 3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en Green Nut. 5% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked One other negative about gathering is the variety of spots is really, really boring. On the dedicated floor, one spot has one item as the most common one, and the other spot is the opposite. Any additional ones throughout the stratum just tweak the numbers, maybe make the 5% drop 25% instead. Thoroughly predictable and uninteresting. It does make item hunting for unlocks easier, but uh, you're never really told which points are the best to gather from. It's just something that you either have to figure out or you just think all gathering points are basically the same. In short not a well communicated mechanic. Most players don't even realize there are different rates for different nodes throughout this series. Oh and this point really gets the short end of the stick. Tiny Blooms are easily the better item to be going for than those discount field skills.  Oh hey you finally landed something. I did?! Uh, well, of course, as expected of Sonia Slicer, ohohohoho! Up those stairs is my mortal enemy, I'll win this time!!! I guess we are to be going in that way. Here's a new floor! I only did this to remove last floor's aggro, back down we go.   Ooh, wonder if I could shoot webs from my mouth? That's not how it works.  Next level... Eleanore finally gets an attacking skill. Also like with Viper, Torpor will be pretty ineffective until we actually put levels into it. Vast Lands Spreading in the North  Ugh, warping is some dark magic... But at least we finished the first floor! We should have a- hmm? It's that guy!!! Do do doooooo, lots of materials for the guild I mostly like. I am needing to resting so will go to the inn. I'll go to the bar, get the taste of grass out of my mouth... Very well, we shall reconvene with the rest of the guild momentarily. Where's Eleanore off to? Heyyyyyyy, mister material! Did you find all that in the labyrinth? Huh? Me? Uh, well yeah, it's what I do. Alright! ALRIGHT!!! We're looking for someone like that for our guild, wanna help us? Uh, don't get so close... I mean, I could, but I have another guild I do this for, so I'm not really interested. See ya. Ah, wait, don't go... uhhhhhh... we'll pay you! ...r-really? Do guilds like that... exist? Of course! You seem really skilled, here's some cash upfront and we can sort the rest out later, okay? ...are you crying? N-No! I'm just surprised. Sure, I'll help you out! ...are you crying?! I'm just... so... happy! M-Me too! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Kalinga, requires 1 Earth Nail Nail Whip, requires 1 Small Nail - ATK+19 - A whip tipped with monster nails. Amud Staff, requires 2 Husk Shards - ATK+18, TP+8 - The crystal on its tip acts as a magical focus.  Hard Vest, requires 3 Soft Fur, 1 Bug Wing Jerkin, requires 2 Soft Fur - DEF+10 - Body covering made from the fur of forest beasts. Steel Pin, requires 3 Husk Shard, 1 Small Nail - DEF+5, TP+5 - Hair clip made from a forest bug's claws. Hide Gage, requires 1 Soft Fur - DEF+4, VIT+1 - Easy-to-use gloves that prevent slipping. Oh, hello! It's so good to see you again! How is your equipment? If you have any problems, I'll see if my father can fix it. He always says that the key to victory is good equipment! So please take good care of it! Cripes, now I'm imagining an EO with equipment durability. Horrifying. Why don't you get up to your room and change those clothes? You should relax once in a while! Walk around town! Life's not all about exploring. So you've reached the next floor... I see. Well, congratulations. Just don't forget that the Labyrinth is a very dangerous place. Payment, huh? That, ahem, is what she said. I'll pay yeh in drinks, howzat? I'll pay you in silence. I think money will be fine, we do require your service after all. If you could get some spring water for this quest, I would appreciate it. On the bottom right, you can't miss it, unless you are missing. Right, uh, thanks. Weird feeling being wanted, I'll be back in a flash! Heh, by yourself stalking the labyrinth, sounds like an adventure. One he's familiar with, too. Listen, though... you're a tiny fish in a big pond. There's a lot of other explorers in the world out there. But if yeh want to get stronger, I've got some advice for yeh. Don't die! Got it? Haw haw haw! I see you've reached the 2nd floor... good, good. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Most explorers underestimate the Labyrinth and slink out of High Lagaard in shame. Then, too, many explorers vanish into the Labyrinth, never to return. Under no circumstances forget the ease with which the Labyrinth can claim your life. That's all the advice I have for now. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. Ah, that looks good, thanks a lot! as if i'd trust them to clean up the mess they make with this. In a rarity for the series, we're done with this floor. No secret area, no revisiting another part from another floor. We're done! Not too often you're truly done with an earlygame floor on the first visit, but that's actually the case here. And unlike in EO1, some of the nonsensical unlock triggers, such as a passage only opening up when you reach a specific floor, or one opening up when you examine a specific wall, are now gone from this game, and the rest of the series. If you have to do something to unlock a passage, it's now much more obvious, like a quest trigger or something. Wonderful! You may yet have what it takes to explore the Labyrinth. I hope you can discover the floating castle before this old body collapses. Good luck. It seems that water from some natural source has found an outlet, creating a small stream. You take a moment to enjoy its cool, refreshing taste... it's a sensation like no other. After draining your flask, you fill it with the water flowing from the spring. I've got a new guild counting on me, this is my chance to not mutter to myself while doing these tasks and being weird! ...like I'm doing right now. Hmm.  We've got our gathering party, so it's time to grind them on bosses to give them exp and nice gathering skills. Or I could use an exp cheat, either works.  It's like I'm not even there! Now outside of getting pasted by gathering ambushes, we're set for the rest of the game. At max level, any tile with a danger value of 4 is now 0, because the game rounds down, which is most of the tiles in the game! But of course we still have that one issue...  Why do I hear boss music...? Ah gently caress. Raflesia HP: 220 STR: 20 VIT: 15 TEC: 12 AGI: 12 LUC: 15 Level: 16 Exp: 831 Skills Pollen: Uses the Arms. Attempts to inflict Poison on the entire party. Has an 50% base infliction chance, deals 28-42 Poison damage and has a 100% speed modifier. Freeze: Uses the Arms. Deals Ice damage to a single target, with splash damage, with a spell power of 40 and damage multiplied by 105%. Has a 99% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 100% 100% 150% 0% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Huge Petal: 30% chance, sells for 24en. 1 required for Wildflower - Collar, DEF+38 - sells for 450en 1 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en 2 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 3 required for Hide Aspis - Heavy Armor, DEF+12 - sells for 325en Conditional: Kill with Slash damage Gum Vine: 50% chance, sells for 30en 5 required for Briar Whip - Whip, ATK+42, VIT+1, AGI+1 - sells for 520en This is a monster that we won't be encountering until the end of the stratum, but surprise, here it is to kick your rear end. If you can beat this, then you'll get a nice chunk of exp and some early drops. But of course you need other drops for later items and you're blindsided and thus likely in a dangerous situation. An annoying wrinkle to gathering, but with how low the chance is, it's not a massive deal, especially because a team of gatherers is good at running away if nothing else. Yeah this is basically just Atlus giving you the middle finger. And if you get really unlucky, you'll get wiped immediately. Oh and if you're coming from a later game where gathering ambushes got a pretty heavy nerf, gathering ambushes in this game don't function like those. In later games ambushes are just a guaranteed blindside with the floor's standard encounters. In EO2 however? Atlus specifically crafted a set of "gently caress YOU!" encounters for each and every single gathering point in the game. On top of every single one of those being guaranteed blindsides. Some enemy formations being impossible to see outside of gathering ambushes as well. So gathering ambushes in EO2 go well beyond an inconvenience and are straight up designed to cause party wipes! Basically, never gather with your main party, only do it with a dedicated gathering team if you don't want to lose a lot of progress!  Still, it's very likely to just attack on the first turn, so you'll be able to run away with 4 people next turn. Ro only survived due to his higher level, I did not put any armour on him, because I'm doing this to get money to buy armour!  Nectar, requires 1 Tiny Bloom - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending Shock Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - Weapon oil to change its element to volt. Blaze Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - Weapon oil to change its element to fire. Freeze Oil, requires 1 Green Nut, must be restocked - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - Weapon oil to change its element to ice. Ward Chime, requires 1 Sour Fruit - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - Its repellent chime decreases the encounter rate. Guard Sole, requires 2 Sour Fruits - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - Insoles that lower the damage sustained from trap floors. Therica B, requires 3 Tiny Blooms, 1 Bug Wing - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - Serum made from moth venom to restore a comrade's status. Therica A, requires 2 Tiny Blooms - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target, sells for 100en - Mixture of forest ingredients to remove a comrade's bonds. We need a few runs of this if we want to bring some Nectars along. Otherwise you can wait to grind money later, it's not a big deal. I'll be doing this a fair bit since I'll be outfitting 12 characters instead of 5, but such is the LP life. Nectars are more expensive in the first two games but thankfully don't need to be restocked like in the later games. While it hurts for the earlygame, I honestly preferred that over making them a cheap restockable. But yeah, bring Nectars along if you can, deaths basically stop exploration trips cold and Nectars let you keep going in spite of those. You're welcome. Wha-?! I have yet to finish one glass, how did you do that so quickly? Well, well, look who's back. And yeh've got the Rock Water. It doesn't look like much, but I s'pose even this is a blessing from the Labyrinth. We're a small town here, and I'spect we'd lay over and die if it weren't for Yggdrasil. Another job well done, all of yeh. Here's the reward. The first of many wonderful "rewards". Anyway since that's done we can access the quests we unlocked from reaching the second floor. Didn't know that was a thing either! I believe it's just this quest that bottlenecks the rest of the quests in the game. Which is probably why that had a guard nag you about the wrong direction, as you can't do any other quests if you don't get this little tutorial quest done. Later quests only bottleneck their own quest lines instead of every single quest from a later floor.  There's a craftsman been here for a dog's age. He's a mite odd, but drat good at his job. He makes clothes from animal skin, but it's a tough needle that can pierce them hides. Shouldn't be too hard to find a beastie that'll drop the Long Pins yeh need. G'luck!  Yeh know Sitoth Trading, of course. The dry goods store just out front... exactly. Never seen Sitoth myself, as the man's obsessed with his job. He never leaves the workshop. Nah, this one's from his girl Abigail. She wants to help yeh lot out by making new weapons. How can yeh refuse a girl like that? I put it up straightaway, but... well... to be honest, I wasn't listening too close. Yeh'll have to go ask her what she needs.  I haven't got much details for yeh, but it sounds like they need a strong landsknecht. Other'n that, the Duke's men seem a mite... recalcitrant about the whole affair. Ahh, but I'm sure they pay well, and that's what counts, innit? But don't get all puffed up just because yeh're the man they're looking for! Ooh, ooh, I'm recalwhatever. Recalcitrant: a person with an obstinately uncooperative attitude. Not heard such a word since my time with the- Obstintater? Whazzat? C'mon, don't let me down now. Come back with a landsknecht that yeh think can do the job, all right? I'm counting on yeh! Regardless, seems like you need a bit more adventuring experience to be accepted. Not like I need anything of the sort, o-of course. Ack, fine, I'll be back fer this! Sure game, encourage early players to train up a Landy, what can go wrong? It is recommended to still have one of each class for a variety of reasons, but you can see how they slowly phase out this kind of thinking later in the series. Oh boy. These kinds of quests are kind of infamous in the playerbase, but not for the reasons you'd think. Just don't take these quests until you are ready to instantly clear them right away, just trust me on this! Not only that, but there's actually a hidden level requirement you have to reach to get the maximum reward. In this case, the game really wants a level 10 Landsknecht. So if you want the best rewards, you'll have to leave these quests in the backlog. Whew! I'd never made a request with Cass before, so I wasn't sure if anyone would take it... my father's very busy, so I'll have to give you the materials list myself. Umm... here it is. What we need is... 1 Bug Wing and 1 Bent Twig. Once you have the materials, sell them to me. The reward is on top of the sale price.  Did a couple more runs to fill out our bag space and upgrade everyone from loving Tweed. We can reach 2F without a single encounter if you're lucky, so that's nice. Lots of doors, Lily told us to be wary, I don't believe she's wrong... You seem to be edging more now. I don't think that's the right wording, but keep trying. I can feel it... the presence of that which nearly slayed me. I will have my revenge! I mean, I can just look over slightly and see the massive deer, though not ones I'm familiar with. Be careful everyone, I have heard tales of these deadly Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens from Juthro, we should not- FOE? FOE! FOE! FOE! FOE! FOE! Democracy is still in effect. Sigh... I figured this would happen, I can only heal you so much. A Sudden Gust of Wind that Calls for Death  Hmm, well, we're fighting this thing, so let's help Eleanore with her revenge. ...never seen this before in my life. Then what were you talking about before??? Furyhorn HP: 420 STR: 18 VIT: 18 TEC: 16 AGI: 18 LUC: 16 Level: 8 Exp: 0 Skills Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Panic. Has a 30% base infliction chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 75% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Deer Hide: 25% chance, sells for 203en 1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32, +40 speed - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None Now for the first definitively FOE you could accidentally walk into and get slaughtered. You can see that it's slightly stronger than the Gashtor and will obliterate multiple people at once. You can't see the path they take unless you walk it yourself, so take your time and try not to end your exploration early by running into an FOE, they're much better avoiding compared to last game. They're still worth fighting later on, but only to get their drops, since as you can see, no experience. Furyhorns are where the FOE related kid gloves start coming off. For one, they actually move around. And secondly, they will slaughter you even harder. Where you had at least 5 turns to escape from the Gashtor, you only really have around 2 to run from a Furyhorn. And in some cases that will be impossible and the only thing you can do is to accept your death. Also another global change to FOEs other than beefing them the gently caress up, FOEs in EO2 no longer give out experience points! (Reverted in EO3 onwards.) They're basically obstacles to be avoided, not monsters to fight! You basically can't go toe-to-toe with an FOE until a long while after you first encounter them as they will gladly gently caress your poo poo up! In short, only fight FOEs when you absolutely have to, it's just not worth it otherwise. They're a complete waste of time that will gladly pummel you until their last breath in the process. Extremely big step up from their equivalents in EO1. Wait until they get the ability to panic the entire party.  Another monster to exact my reve-GRK! I am thinking we are the hosed.  No worries, I'll pop it to snooze! ...yeah we're boned. If only this was avoidable. I hate you all. Once Again Until the Day of the Challenge Darn, looks like my ironman ended quicker than I expected, sucks, but what can you do? With EO2 over, guess I can move onto my next LP, Pokemon White 2! Ah, if only it were that easy. In case the Gashtor didn't hammer it in, Furyhorns will harshly teach you the lesson that FOEs are not to be trifiled with! Especially in this game when FOEs are easily at their strongest in the entire series! é
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2021 20:46
|
|
|
Part 4: Dodging for Deer Life Woodland Ruins So, what have we learned? Fear the deer... Now we have some directionings to choose. Left! ...uh, I don't know why, still getting used to this new nose.    My work here is done! But you didn't do anything... CHA-CHING Upon closer inspection, there are a number of shining coins lying amongst the roots. Could another explorer have dropped them? You are tempted to retrieve them, but you have to wonder about the circumstances. Oh, uh, that's not a lot. Here, all yours. Please do not pick random things off the ground, that could have been a trap. They should be of the more lukertive variance. You pick the coins out from the tangled roots of the trees. Their total worth is 100en... a careless adventurer must have simply dropped them here. Heartened by the lucky find, you return to your investigation. Woah, 1/5th of a Nectar, so generous! A slight callback to EO1's triple Mole ambush event. Only this time we don't get attack. Lotta Etrian Odyssey 1: Opposite Edition going on here, huh? Can't believe this monster didn't listen to me! Are we not of the same kindling? Because you're a Ragelope, they're Furyhorn, different species. That makes sense. 2F D4 Mine Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Amazonite: 70% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en 7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en 5 required for Paint the town blue Aragonite: 25% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en 5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en 7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en Garnet: 5% chance. Sells for 100en. 1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en Mine. Now there were a lot of bad accessories last game, but the ailment/bind resist ones in this game are super good, 50% is pretty crazy for one slot and really helps against certain enemies. They won't always be useful, but it's worth sacrificing the slot to help out, since you won't miss the helmet or shoes. It's not always necessary if you have a burst strat, but it's still drat good. STR and TEC stacking through various equipment is also a cheeky way to make some classes less poo poo and big classes even bigger. Oh nice, we're really getting to the good poo poo now! This is why you still want gathering parties despite the nerfs to gathering. While they do provide a decent amount of cash flow, the real benefit is the unlocks! And the gathering unlocks in this game can be really drat good! Accessories also got a lot more powerful starting with this game. Just look at those stats and effects! Base infliction rates from enemies are really high in this game, so a status accessory can help a ton! You can stack 2 of each to gain immunity to that disable as well, but be warned. Unlike EO3 through EO2U, armor is actually really drat good in this game, so while you can accessory stack, it's not a good idea to do so outside of some specific strategies. If you don't get a rush of happiness from seeing a character's damage stat go up, then we can't be friends. Oh for- what did we JUST talk about? Lily did say to look around doors... It's not a massive deal if you do run into an FOE, but if you don't flee first turn, someone's probably getting pasted. Also this is when we should talk about getting screwed because you can't flee! I turned to the right to face the FOE coming towards me and when I fled I moved one step back. You can see how that might be a problem if an FOE is coming towards a wall when it runs into you, so you turn to face it... and now your back is against the wall. And since you can't move one space back to flee... you're just loving screwed. This is when in-battle warp skills are useful, but otherwise you better kill the opponent. I know I'm gonna get screwed by this eventually, so let's see if we'll die from it! And this is another thing that elevates EO2 FOEs above the rest of the series. A big change made in 2 was that you turn to face the FOE when you run into it. This means it's much easier to get cornered by simply making bad movements compared to EO1 and 3 where you can only get cornered by letting an FOE jump in on a battle. All you can do at that point is to fight your way out, or to accept your death. EO2 can be one of the more brutal titles in the series for that very reason. But as for the reason why you turn to face FOEs is because sidestepping can possibly cause you to break the FOE system by running into an FOE while facing a weird direction, so that was basically their bandage solution to that issue. They properly fixed it by EO3 by making it so that you face the direction you were actually moving in if you run into an FOE avoiding cornering issues entirely. And by EO4 the FOE system got a complete overhaul so it was completely impossible to get cornered in battle by any means. In the den of so much prey I can't hunt, such a weird feeling. It is fine to be admitting you are the frightened.  Wonder what exciting prize is this far out of the way- aw, rocks. You know I can sense your emotions, stop getting excited for grass to eat!2F E1 Mine Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Aragonite: 70% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en 5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en 7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en Amazonite: 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en 7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en 5 required for Paint the town blue Garnet: 5% chance. Sells for 100en. 1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en Exciting stuff. Note that the ambush chance has increased from last floor, because why not? The deeper you go into a Stratum, the more likely you are to get ambushed at item points. Take care not to wipe to the wildlife there.  Hyah! You could really work on your singing voice!  Шокирует! I am thinking I need the ears of plugs.   Holy divine water that hurts! But it seems like I will survive. Since it was going after Aleks in the turn order, then oh baby you know it was going for Poison. And then this is the best thing a Crawler can go for. Scary fights, but we're doing alright. Woof, these encounter formations are pretty brutal early on. Already they're sending the heavy stuff after you. At least level correction is gone, I don't want to think how much more bloody this game gets with that in place. Ah, a cute little animal. I will be shooting it. Wait, wait, wait! Don't worry little guy, we're not gonna hurt ya. You can barely make out a squirrel-like animal in the shadow of a large plant. The rodent doesn't seem to fear your party, and it chirps brightly as it approaches. It seems as though it wants you to pet it. You wonder if you should oblige the creature... Hmm, I'm not sure we should trust this creature, it is of the labyrinth. In that case why should we trust you? I slay many creatures, but it means you appreciate the gentler ones. Agreed, I'm gonna bring him back with us, he'll be called Conker! Ah, hey, that tickles, what are you- ah, the pack! You reach out to the small animal... but it takes the opportunity to run up your arm and onto your body! From there, it jams its head into your backpack and runs off with something in its mouth. You hurriedly rummage through your pack to see what it was the thieving rodent stole... it was a Warp Wire, one of an explorer's most essential tools! It's too late for you to catch the animal by now... you sigh, and move on with your journey. Well at least we know squirrels are evil. Bah, it's a good thing I always pack two, just in case. Come now, let's get moving everyone. Conker... Hehe... suckers. Though next time steal something that wouldn't screw them over too much, okay Ymjdnjdnfj? But otherwise, good work- uh, what, really? ...sigh, fine, good work... Conker. Welcome to EO2, enjoy your stay! Eheeheeheeheeheeheeee! Just you wait until EO5, where they put in squirrel enemies that can burn your Ariadne Threads in battle.  How many of these drat dirty deer are there?  Oh god I feel this twice over! Gonna need to reduce the connection more strategically.   So Atlus is being a little generous in letting you get a Warp Wire to replace the one they just stole from you. They will not be this generous again, so always, ALWAYS carry two wires. This is mainly useful in case you forget to buy one, I've got it ingrained in my mind over something unimportant like my little sister's birthday, but if you're really worried getting screwed over in an event, have three. Thankfully this is the only game where it's notorious, there's a lot less squirrels in later games. Also, wow, it nearly took two floors, but Eleanore has an actual attack. She'll be using it a lot because Kienzan or Midareba take a WHILE to get to. The sheer power move of Warp Wire dickery. You kind of have to admire some of the sheer gutpunches this game comes up with! I have to wonder who came up with the idea of screwing with the players' lifelines like that, it's just so gloriously jerkish! At least they're being generous in this instance so you know to look out for future instances without being punished too hard. I'd say "if you don't carry two Ariadne Threads into the Labyrinth, then we— Wait I already did this joke," but unfortunately my LPs mean that I am extensively on the public record as not having followed my own advice. And the Ronin's slow start is one of their few balancing factors.  A quick rest and recovery is necessary, and then we shall return unto the night, mwahahahaha. You wanna be slayed or what? That's most of the optional parts of the floor explored, now onto the next part to get distracted by. Seriously this floor is loving short if you gun it.  Ahah, this is the one that I must take revenge on! Of course it was the big cacti rather than the deering that nearly killed you. Cactoid HP: 90 STR: 13 VIT: 10 TEC: 7 AGI: 8 LUC: 9 Level: 7 Exp: 314 Skills Needles: Uses the Arms. Deals 60% Cut damage to a single target 2 times. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Cactus Pin: 45% chance, sells for 14en. 1 required for Wakizashi - Katana, ATK+25 - sells for 180en 3 required for Spike - Axe, ATK+33, +0 speed - sells for 220en Cactus Log: 40% chance, sells for 17en 1 required for Green Boot - Footwear, DEF+6, AGI+2 - sells for 120en 2 required for Nail Glove - Gloves, DEF+6, STR+1 - sells for 150en Conditional: None A pretty whatever enemy since it's like a Crawler, but wasn't encountered last floor, so isn't that scary. It'll only go for Needles past half health and having a Fire weakness is a bad idea with the cookie cutter team. Honestly, both this and Crawlers aren't that threatening anymore, and we'll have no problem against them from now on. These are basically the muscle of floor 2, but as long as you weren't running from every battle, they shouldn't be too bad to deal with. With a properly outfitted party, even Needles shouldn't OHKO from full HP. They also don't get placed in any scary formations on this floor so they aren't too troublesome. These things got upgraded to FOEs with an actual discernable gimmick in EO2U! Exciting. Oh sweet salty christ, no. Not that I hated being on the receiving end of all these gut punches back in my EO2 LP, but I gotta say there's something surreally funny about watching those happen to someone else in their LP.  I think we're in a bit of trouble here! Don't worry, we can put them to sleep. Oh it didn't work. What a surprising!  Well thanks for the res, let us get the gently caress out of here! Affirmative. Ugh, all I wanted to do was show off this fun little locked door, and the new icon associated with it! But unfortunately this hell corridor has some very nasty encounters and our team isn't the tankiest, so getting 2HKOed by Crawlers can quickly turn into a terrible time. Since there's no level correction, enemies can remain scarier for longer, especially if they come in groups of 3 or, shudder, even 5. Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff. That is an... interesting way to smell the ground. He's still getting used to knees. J-Just don't look. It seems that the path continues beyond the wall... you search for a way past the wall, but the forest is too thick and it seems to be no use. Even if you could climb the wall, the branches are too high for you to reach. If only you had someone nimble enough to jump to the high branches, you could cross... Maybe in my old body, but not this time. Well we have an eager chap who could help us with this. Ro? No, the other one, Lagaan? He needs to join us for some wine, I always remember names after a glass... Yeah, anyway, let's make this quick before monsters come. Boy, if there's something that was needed in the sequel, it sure would be class exclusive shortcuts??? Yeah sure game, encourage players to bring a Survivalist, they're sure to be impressed! Now there are good rewards behind these... most of the time. But they definitely get a little annoying later on. There's in fact another class exclusive shortcut on this floor we can't reach yet, and it loving sucks! Yeah you basically need 1 of every class in your guild to see everything in the game at some point. Some of it unlocks some nice treasures, but sometimes larger content, such as quests, gets locked off without a specific class available to you. I think they did this to make it so that players have more varied playthroughs compared to one another, but this is a little strict, and later games would make it so specific classes can influence how some events or quests play out, but you're never really locked out of content entirely without them. But the way to the path is blocked, and there seems to be no way to walk through it. Just as you had despaired on passing the forest wall, the dark hunter present speaks up. With one stroke of the whip, the dark hunter latches onto a thick branch on the other side! If you use the whip as a line, you may be able to make it over the wall! Let us slay some treasure, ohohohoho! We haven't known each other that long for you to be doing impressions. Look, if I am to lug her dead body around, might as well have some fun. Back to town... Wakizashi, requires 1 Cactus Pin. Aww, how come she gets a whip but I don't get a new katana? Because her's is free and you got one at the end of the last floor, remember? I DID?! I don't even want to think about how you managed to use my whip to get this. There, there, poor thing. Right, back to where we were so RUDELY interrupted. There is writing engraved here, but it seems ancient and utterly unlike anything you recognize. What the writing could possibly mean is beyond you... but it's apparent that a spell of some sort has been cast upon the stone monument. Perhaps someone who has studied mystical texts would be able to penetrate its meaning... The grouchy guy should be knowing of this long dead words. The lettering is understandable, but I don't recognise it from any of my widespread reading. Like this part here... "Le Grille", what the hell is that? You strain your eyes and discover that it's some sort of emblem engraved into a rock. A shining gem is embedded in the emblem's center... you are certain beyond a doubt that magic is present in that emblem. As the rest of you debate on how best to reach the gem, the gunner pushes you aside. With a single, well-aimed shot, the gunner hits the gem and activates the spell! The nature of the magic seems to have been wind-based. You can barely remain on your feet as the spell draws you to the other side of the wall! The spell's effect will wear off with time. Now is your best chance to cross the wall. Class specific shortcuts only check for one specific class, even if you would think another class would be perfectly capable of dealing with the obstacles detailed in these flavor texts. As simples as- Whazzat? Can't hear you over this gale! I think she said pimple as. Such funny vernacular. You're one to talk! WHAT?  Stop it. Welcome to the free club. Hrrrrmmmmmm. Again, you got a free weapon last floor, stop moaning! Okay, back on the main path again, now we can finish the floor in- ooh, there's something over here.  Not the biggest fan of this, but I can heal my own wounds quickly enough. Lots of room for sprites, so we can get some trickier encounters that stay relevant due to no level correction. Still, some enemies will always be scarier than others, so we'll be fine with 3 frontliners to spread damage around. Sprite sizes actually do influence how encounters are designed and the game checks them to see if enemies can be summoned to battle. FOEs on the other hand, don't give a poo poo and will gladly delete some enemies to make room for themselves if they want to join in on a battle. Though I have no idea if model sizes have a similar influence on these mechanics in the 3DS games. Unfortunately, you won't see the introduction of enemy rows until EO4, which sucks. Enemies having rows offers a lot of extra ways to make encounter groups way trickier. I heard that Edda had come to the Grand Duchy. Would that happen to be you? Actually we're- Thrilled to meet such an avid fan! ...uh, yep, that's us. Edda. Real strong guild from, uh, Etreant? You nod your assent, and the guard gives you a fascinated look before continuing. That's wonderful! To think a guild that famous would come to our Labyrinth! Obviously impressed, the guard tells you that he wishes to help with your investigation. He offers your choice of a weapon or medicine for your adventure. Either is 1000en. His offer does seem tempting. The first bonus for a password game since the Town Medal/Crown. Yeah it's not a lot, huh. This harkens back to a similar event on B3F for a weapon that is expensive and not that impressive, or medicine you won't get for a while. For the first game's case, the Soma wasn't available outside of quests until B17F, while this offers a Theriaca BX, which won't be available to buy until 27F WHAT THE gently caress GAME. So yeah, we'll get the medicine when we get the money. And then never use it. Just in case. A password game isn't all gut punches. Sometimes you get bonuses like these! Well the weapon is a complete ripoff (It's a sword so don't bother if you aren't using a Landsknecht, War Magus, or Protector) but the medicine is a FAR better deal! Grab that one if you can, it can be especially handy for the first boss fight. I could always be using a newer gun. Firstly, you just got one, what is with you people, secondly, we do not have the money for such a thing. We shall return as, uh, Edda, as the medicine is mighty tempting. You consider lying to him, but realize that no words can take the place of real money. I see... well, I'll be here for a while, so come back if you change your mind. The guard watches you leave. What would you do without my nose, eh? It's my nose, actually, and how you're able to keep your senses with my physical attributes is something I've yet to figure out!   Weird amount of hidden areas you'll probably walk past pretty easily. Fine enough loot I suppose, Hart is the squishiest right now, so he can have this.  drat agile cactus! Now that is a sentence.  You always looking so surprising when you working. Because I am! My singing is terrible...  Slowly but surely we'll get somewhere. I'll actually skip on Climax for now to get Ecstacy, that's more immediately useful, but I will finish off Viper first. And then Bait and then- god there's so much. Ronin are way simplier. If you're not interested in killing FOEs, skip Climax altogether, it's rather limited use outside of that. Also Climax won't do a drat thing if you aren't even strong enough to fight an FOE in the first place, so putting it off for later is a wiser move.  Excellent work team, another floor completed and we only nearly died twice. That better be the ending of the deering. There's a little section in the corner but otherwise 2F is done! Since there's no shortcut the line through this floor is pretty short, but there's a good reason for that. Those empty uncolored in tiles. Must. Resist. Commenting.   Will I have to jump in front of every animal you want to shoot, Aleks??? At least it's giving off less suspicious vibes than the squirrel. But after a second of meeting its eyes, it looks to the north, as if directing you there. A second growl indicates that it wishes you to go there and it faces you once again. You can travel the northern path indicated by the beast or continue on your way. Game, the beast will stop us going ahead, what are you on about. Before you can draw your weapons, a figure appears... I've slayed worse humans than you, come at me! Put that away you whip happy harpy! The good-natured protector notes your confused expressions before continuing pleasantly. Since you're new to the forest, I thought I should teach you about something useful. With this, the man points to a mysterious shaft of light in a hollow to the south. It has the useful function of teleporting explorers from the entrance back to here. All the guilds make use of it when we explore the forest. You should do the same. There's no trick to it, just touch the light. Then you can come here from town in a flash. Oddly convenient, who made them? For what purpose? And can they fix my problems? Ah... who made them, you ask? I'm afraid no one knows the answer to that one. The man called Flausgul gazes at the Geomagnetic Pole, his long hair blowing in the wind. That reminds me... eventually, you'll encounter what we call a Geomagnetic Field as well. It's even more mysterious. It can teleport you from town to the Labyrinth and back. Things like that are good to know if you're going to explore the forest. While the protector speaks, the black beast you encountered before walks up to him. Gah, I knew they were in conspiramancy with another! I want one! Aha... excuse me, but Kurogane is here for me. Flausgul calls the beast's name, and walks away... you can activate the Geomagnetic Pole as he instructed, or ignore it and continue your journey. Holy mother of checkpoints! Now we won't have to walk the enter length of the stratum to get to where you left off. Now granted, since you can only have one active at a time, it can be a hassle getting around on revisit, but the game is also pretty good at shortcuts and the battles are super easy. That's why 2F was so short, letting you get to where you need to go mostly painless. Mostly. Already a huge improvement from EO1's level design. Not only are there more shortcuts, but you can have a singular checkpoint active at all times that you can quickly return to. Poles are one way trips though, as you can't exit through them. Like Flausgul said, Geomagnetic Fields still exist in the game and function like they did in EO1, being a 2 way entry point for the start of each Stratum. フロースガル... I would say that is quite the achievement. This exploring stuff is harder than I thought, we need a break, let other guild members explore. I am happy to be shooting, but could use some refining relaxing. I will not rest until I have my revenge, but some light reading would be fine. Sure, do whatever, I'll be back soon enough. Vast Lands Spreading in the North Spike, +0 speed, requires 3 Cactus Pins and 5 Earth Nails. Och, ye better keep that drat thing away from me, I hate axes. Ah here you are, we require your services, I will gather everyone in the bar. Atlus has tried multiple times to make axes and axe-like weapons worth it, and they just...never can. My father went to market the other day to buy me a new dress. I thought I might wear it in the shop to show it off, but it does get dusty in here. Maybe you can come back this weekend and I'll wear it then! That was fast! I didn't think you had it in you. Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. You just don't look that strong... I was worried. But at this pace, I think you'll do great things! Good luck up there, children! Well, I might not look particularly muscular, but that's why everyone has their own role. I even have the knack for numbers, but I don't want to brag as such and- yes, yes, I'm coming. You there! Could you please lend me a hand and clear the area? If you could please excuse us, we need to get through here! Another adventurer down in flames, eh? yes they always leave such a mess, but that's what i'm here for. Phew... thank you. Yet another explorer who got badly injured in the Labyrinth. Even experienced explorers can run into trouble if they're ambushed by monsters. Remember that during your own journeys. Occasionally, you may encounter other guilds in the Labyrinth. There's a man from the guild called Beowulf who's always very supportive for beginners. Naturally, Guild Beowulf isn't the only guild you can expect to meet in your travels. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. Is that right? Kurogane is his name? We sound pretty alike. Oh, you mean that's the literal translation. I suppose it works better in natural tongue. Mmhmm! Chatty with animals, eh? Crivens! How long have you been there?! Ugh, if you must know, they're more trustworthy. I'm going. Flausgul and Kurogane were mistranslations. It was supposed to be Hrothgar and Wulfgar, fitting in with the Beowulf theme. This was corrected in the remake. Though your job as explorers has only just begun. The Grand Duchy maintains a guard corps presence in the Labyrinth, but it is small. Just like this town... it's a shame the explorers can so easily outmatch the guards. Perhaps we should look to the guilds when recruiting new members of the guard corps. Either way, we will need your explorer's strength to proceed with our investigations. Thank you for assisting us. I'm expecting great things from you all. Yes, yes, we could talk for hours, you and I. But I am here for the mapping boy, the one who is always here. Ugh, I remember names better when they have good necks to go with them. Riiiiight, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Logan, by the way, I'll take the map and... tweak it. Yes, yes, you do that young one. But first, it is time to explore! Man all these towns near trees really need to work on their "weak guards" issues. Though Dubois brings up an interesting factoid, this town is actually pretty small. Which stands out compared to all the other towns in the series which are considerably larger than Lagaard. Eh, to get my true revenge, we must go higher, and faster! How many revengences does one person need? Eh? Yeh want to move up even faster...? Don't be daft! The Labyrinth isn't a playground! I give yeh credit for having guts, but don't overdo it! Know yer limitations, and take it slow! G'luck out there! Cass's advice can pretty much apply to any EO game. Don't overextend, and know when it's time to retreat and to live for another day. Hmm, figured this would happen. Well something to take a crack at. Now hold on, there's more than five of us in this guild and while I appreciate everyone has slotted into their own work here, there is much to be done. So I shall remain in the party and we'll take on the new challenges. Alreeeeeet! Time teh give some fannies a real smashin'! Uh, metaphorically, right? I don't fancy getting too close myself... Fine. You will be bubbling partner in the back for sure. Ugh, my epic tale needs to start sooner rather than later you know! Agreed, you will not enjoy the sweeter delights of life with me serenading the innkeeper. i'm fine just in the hospital, honestly Now, now, you'll all get a proper crack at it, it's a big guild and it is sure to get bigger. But we must acknowledge that some will wait longer than others for their share. Besides, if you wish, we can wait until you are ready to fight this monster. Oh joy I have that to look forward to, it seems. I'm just here for the food. Man, last LP was so much easier, 9 party members, boom 2 parties. Now with 11, soon to be 12, I've gotta figure things out. And so this will do for now, we'll keep Aleks and Alastor because they're new classes, while we need Holly, Logan and Corinth for various tasks, that's the main reason they were chosen. Fret not, every member will get two full floors to explore, split into three groups with some wildcards that'll fill the last slot. That'll be the Beast for stratum 2, but you'll be voting in what order the guild will be appearing, as well as boss voting and all that when it comes up, simple enough. Can't imagine trying to figure this out in games with a larger number of classes. Haha. Large character casts will get super hard to juggle and balance in pretty much any media. Fortunately on the narrative LP side of things, most EO games don't tend to have too many classes outside of 2U and- oh god Nexus has 19 classes? Good thing we're not LPing that! ... Yeh know the huge monster in the northern clearing on the 1st floor? Well, some stupid blighter took a poke at it. It's usually calm, but now that it's been riled... it's attacking anyone who comes near. Bad news, that one. Lotta people think the beastie needs killing, so there's yer job. And if you can't hack it, yeh've no chance of reaching the floating castle. Go get 'em, and g'luck! We haven't improved that much since it clobbered us last update, so we'll be tackling this quest, eh, later. But I wonder who would be stupid enough to rile up that beast? Chances are unless you have done a lot of grinding or are resorting to cheese strats, the Gashtor will still kick your rear end. Like Cross said, best save this one for later. By the way, killing it in advance doesn't count. If you've done that, taking this quest will revive it and you'll have to kill it again. Maybe we can wait a bit to tackle that, uhhhh, how about this quest? It seems pretty... what's with that large crate of... oof... it's so heavy... gahhhhhh... Oh, it's that one yeh're after? The Duke's guards went on a mission in the Labyrinth... yer job is to bring them food and other supplies, but I warn yeh--it's a damned heavy load! I s'pose yeh could divide it up equally, but there's a wee problem with that. If someone carrying the stuff dies, the monster will scarf it up lickety-split. So yeh can't let a single man die until yeh've delivered the goods, understand? The guards're up on the 4th floor. Careful with that stuff, all right? Permission to let them starve for a few days. Granted. I can carry the whole box meself, but fiiiiine. So you've seen how much I've been dying on the second floor, so now that you've reached the third floor, here's a quest that requires you to keep the entire party alive until halfway through the fourth floor? The gently caress? We'll put this off for a while as well, and next time, try out our new team in the fun third floor, I'm sure nothing bad will happen! I'm not sure why this quest is placed here, it's 1 floor too early. Fortunately this quest only checks to see if anyone is dead after a battle is finished, so if you revive them before then, you won't fail the quest. That being said you're better off taking this quest later, as even if you think you're a hotshot who can prevent your party from dying... the game has other ideas, for reasons that will become very clear later.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2021 12:36
|
|
|
Survivalist Can equip: Bows, Light Armor, Clothing How the mighty have fallen. Wait I said that last time. Well it's still true, Survivalists were amazing last game, being a mix of offense and support, they could be at the front and tank some hits, or deal hefty single target damage from the back. However, like the Landy, they got nerfed pretty hard, meaning they're just mostly support with a couple of attacking options, I guess. And of course they're still great to use for a gathering party, but compared to how amazing they were before, this is probably the biggest L in the series. Thought Landsknecht had it rough? Just take a look at the Survivalist in this game, holy poo poo. They were by far the best class in EO1 and completely overpowered, so some nerfs were in order. Instead of a few small taps or even a smack, Atlus opted to bludgeon the poor class until there was nothing left. It's really hard to recommend the use of this class when the Gunner exists. Though the Survivalist at least has some selling points. Whether those are worth taking up what's essentially an empty party slot otherwise is up to you. Hell even their gathering capabilities got nerfed due to the overall gathering nerfs. My god Atlus, were you trying to nerf this class, or were you trying to delete it? Compared to last game, the Survivalist has the worst drop in overall average stats, they were 2nd and now they're 7th. They exceed in AGI, no one else outmatches them, but aside from HP, their stats are all quite below average. They still have alright VIT at least, so they can take some hits and support that way, but their STR is outclassed by basically everyone you'd expect, like hey, they still have more STR than an Alchemist or Troubadour! That's not an accomplishment. If you intend on actually using a Survivalist, maxing out STR Up is by far the best thing you can do for them. It won't completely offset their horrific damage output, but you might as well stave off the worst of it. Their defensive stats also took a big hit in the transition from EO1 to 2. The game says they can operate on either line in EO2, but while this was true in EO1 as they and the Dark Hunter had similar durability, that's really not the case in this game. They can technically go up there sure, but they'll be smacked around harder than all of the dedicated front liner classes, and there's really no benefit to putting them on the front lines other than to really fill out that 3/2 formation, but it's really not worth it. Common Passive Unlocks AGI Up: Lv1: Velocity; Lv3: Ambush, Baitstep; Lv5: Sagacity TEC Up: Lv3: Sleeper, Number, Poisoner Alright, bit more investment into these skills, but it can be worth it. You will want to get Velocity since it leads into 1st Turn, an amazing support skill. Ambush and Baitstep are useful support moves but Sagacity is pointless if you level up Ambush enough, and because Survivalists are so fast, putting points into AGI is a little pointless. For whatever stupid reason you need to level TEC Up to get to the LUC influenced ailment skills, so you then need to invest in LUC Up to make them at all useful. Since they do paltry damage, have bad infliction rates and Survivalists, of course, have bad LUC, you won't get any use out of these. Hard pass. I suppose you may as well invest in HP Up and VIT Up if you really insist on having them up there. If you insist on using their disabling skills, may as well invest in LUC Up. AGI Up is redundant outside of prerequisites, as they are already very fast and Bows give them a huge speed boost. TP Up is always a good pickup though.Bows Unlocks: Lv1: Trueshot; Lv3: Sleeper, Number, Poisoner; Lv5: 2-Bolt; Lv10: Apollon Passive  Another gutting, this was a 50% boost to Weapon ATK last game, now it's a paltry boost that makes using Bows so much worse. None of these skills are really all that great, the ones that were, Multihit and Apollon, were nerfed and just don't do as much damage as before. You could max this out for Apollon, but in those 3 turns it takes to go off, someone else on your team will have done way more damage than it overall, so maybe go as far as level 5. An 11% damage boost is not going to salvage their damage either, but you might as well invest in it after finishing off their build. They have so many terrible skills that they'll have SP to spare to spend in whatever they want. And they're still not a good class when all that's done. At least Bows give a sizeable speed boost???Ambush Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3 Unlocks: Lv5: 1st Hit Increases chance of preemptive strikes. Does not work on guaranteed blindsides. Passive.  Ah, at least this skill is still here. Ambush is amazing lategame since it gives you a breather against terrifying enemies and because preemptives are checked before blindsides, this skill is as if you invested in both of them, very worthwhile. However, the game is a bit cheeky with these numbers since this is added onto the final preemptive chance, which is capped at 25%, making the last level completely pointless. You're likely to have a good preemptive chance anyway if you're using a Survivalist since the formula takes into account the highest AGI and the highest LUC in a party, so even putting 3 levels into this skill might be a bit much. 1st Hit is still bad, so don't feel like you need to max this out, but it's still a great lategame skill to grab. Fun fact, you could stack these if you had multiple Survivalists in EO1 to get a guaranteed preemptive strike in nearly every single battle. And considering how strong they were in that game, that was far from a terrible idea. Sadly no longer possible since the chances are now capped at 25%. May as well pick it up when finishing off their skill build. Unfortunately the existence of guaranteed blindsides dampens the effectiveness of this skill a bit. At any rate, you have a 5% chance of getting a preemptive on average without this skill, so level 4 is as high as you should take this. Heck you might better off leaving it at level 3.Sagacity Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3 Unlocks: Lv3: 1st Hit Decreases chance of blindsides. Does not work on guaranteed blindsides. Passive.  Great, this is back. Due to how good Ambush usually is, Sagacity doesn't have much of a place, especially since you need to invest even more into AGI Up to get to it, which is pretty pointless for this class. The blindside formula is a little friendlier to Sagacity, since it's a reduction from the final chance, meaning level 5 is useful to drop a blindside all the way to 1%, the minimum. Also it being based on the enemy's AGI and LUC means it's less in your control, so this skill can help with a surprise screwing. However, because of how good Ambush is, even at a lower level, it's really not worth it. If this actually worked on guaranteed blindsides, I'd heartily recommend this as a pickup. (Well, as heartily as I can considering this is the Survivalist we're talking about here.) Unfortunately it does not, and Ambush helps with dealing with normal blindsides anyway. Even then blindsides average out around a 7% chance on average, so a 1 or 2 points in this skill is enough to send those all the way to the minimum most of the time.1st Hit Prerequisites: Ambush Lv5, Sagacity Lv3 Chance of user acting first for a turn. Passive.  Back again, I see. Well considering Survivalists are still the fastest around... what is the point of this? What situation requires this weak support class to go before a fast enemy that doesn't already have their skills go first anyway? Considering how much you need to invest to unlock this, this is a super no. I cannot think of a possible use case for this skill, when Survivalists are already fast, and none of their skills really need priority. The ones you'd want to have priority already have them anyways!Trueshot Prerequisites: Bows Lv1. A single target ranged Bow attack. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.  Well isn't this looking familiar? Some mediocre damage from a mediocre class. This skill is, again, completely outclassed by Multihit, though it's a much closer race than before, especially if the targets for Multihit end up dying. Otherwise yeah there's no reason to use this, it was alright last game, but after nerfs to overall damage, even if this skill is stronger than it was before, it's still not worth using. There is no reason to invest in this when the next skill... exists. That's a way to describe it I guess. Even as an earlygame nuke, it's not worth it as Survivalist damage is not good. Just keep investing into Bows to unlock the next skill if you insist on giving them damage dealing capabilities.2-Bolt Prerequisites: Bows Lv5. A multi target Bow attack to 2 enemies, does not redirect if original target dies. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.  How the mighty have fallen. gently caress, I keep saying that, but it's so true! Multihit was one of the best skills in the game since it added a third hit at level 10, doing so much damage overall, 375%. This hits 250% along with coming from nerfed Bows and nerfed STR. It's so disappointing how much they murdered this skill, since it means Survivalists are forced to support because their attacking options are so bad. But it's also the best skill they have against bosses, BARELY outdamaging Trueshot. God I'm so loving depressed. So. This is their best spammable damage skill. If you can really call it that. They gutted Multihit's damage by 1/3rd and as a result, it's complete poo poo now. But Survivalists don't have any better options for dealing damage, so they're stuck with this. At least it's faster than it was in EO1? Really the thing that gets me about the Multihit nerf is that a few other classes in this game actually have better versions of the EO1 version of Multihit now! My god Atlus, stop! Stop! It's already dead!Sleeper/Number Prerequisites: Bows Lv3, TEC Up Lv3. A single target ranged Bow attack that attempts to inflict Sleep/Paralysis. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.  So you've decided to go full support with your Survivalist, here's why it's a bad idea. These are level 5 skills that get cut off halfway, so everything about them is bad, Survivalists have middling LUC, really don't need 3 points in TEC (???) and while landing an ailment early in a turn is helpful, if you don't land it, your Survivalist just wasted their turn with PITIFUL damage and did nothing to support the team. Truly a puzzling skill when other classes do these ailments way better AND multi target, letting you roll multiple times at once. There is utility in Sleep or Paralysis, but it's really not from this class. I guess if you lack a Hexer... no, it's not even worth it in that case. Just skip these skills.Poisoner Prerequisites: Bows Lv3, TEC Up Lv3. A single target ranged Bow attack that attempts to inflict Poison. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.  Same as before, very not useful, but hey Poison is no longer bugged and capped at 255! Maybe this skill might've gone past that if it didn't get stopped halfway. Now admittedly this skill has some use BECAUSE it deals extra damage, so it becomes the strongest skill your have if it lasts a fair while. Hexer's Poison does 295 damage to every enemy buuuuuuuuut comparing any class to a Hexer is unfair. This is still a poo poo skill, but if you can land the Poison, congrats, your Survivalist is contributing with damage. I guess if you lack a Hexer, it can be a way for Survivalists to chip in some damage. Of course if you do have a Hexer, don't bother with this skill at all. At any rate once your target is poisoned, just switch to spamming 2-Bolt.Apollon Prerequisites: Bows Lv10. A single target ranged Bow attack that is fired on one turn and lands two turns later. If the user is incapacitated on the landing turn, it will not hit. Bow skill with Stab damage, uses the Arms.  Okay, phew, at least Apollon is still good. It did get nerfed slightly, but is still very strong, even if it has a couple of issues, like everything else we've seen so far. Maxing bows was way more useful in the last game, so doing so again for little results is a real pain, since you then have to fully invest in this skill to make any use out of it, so it'll be a while before it pays dividends. Due to having 42 STR at level 70 instead of 68 in EO1 also hurts this skill a lot, so it's 3 turns for something that's not massively impressive. A fair numbers of classes will easily outdamage you in that time, even Poisoner will, though that has to land first turn. Also it no longer Stuns opponents, which is a problem since it always landed first on the turn, even if the infliction rate was never that high. Overall it's still fine, but a far cry from its previous iteration. Might as well get this since it's the Survivalist's best damage skill. Only a 20% damage reduction (as well as the lack of level 15 skills, but every class lost those) but the removal of the stun hurts since that was a very nice insult to injury moment in big fights since you'd be spamming this skill often. Here, well might as well spam it since it's the only way to get something resembling damage out of the Survivalist.1st Turn Prerequisites: Slowstep Lv5. BUGGED: Game does not check success rate, making it 100% at all levels. Forces the targeted party member to act first. Buff skill, uses the Legs.  Okay, phew, at least 1st Turn is still good. Man, am I a parrot? An amazing skill that gives the Survivalist incredibly unique utility in most situations. The bug persists between games, somehow, and let you save 4SP then and 7SP now, along with 7TP, just incredible. Of course you need to invest in some super bad skills to reach this, especially because the bug also applies to Slowstep, wasting 4SP you would've saved otherwise, and Velocity is a pretty pointless buff. Also it has the fringe case of not helping you out of a dangerous situation if your legs are bound, but that's pretty rare. This skill is completely worth it. Heh, the exact same bug from EO1. Anyways, 1st Turn is the main selling point of the Survivalist and probably the only reason to really take this class. With that said, it's a much harder sell in this game compared to EO1. For one, 1st Turn in EO1 wasn't attached to a glorified empty slot. It was a class that had a number of other things that it could be doing as well. Here, it's the only worthwhile thing a Survivalist can do. Not only that, speed mechanics were hosed in 1, being heavily inconsistent which 1st Turn dealt with. Here... they're still hosed, just in a different way. But speed is more consistent amongst classes now, and a bunch of skills are faster to cast, making this a bit redundant. There are still quite a few slow skills in the game this will work on, so it can be useful for bypassing speed penalties. But if you really don't need this skill, then you don't need the Survivalist.Slowstep Prerequisites: Velocity Lv3. Unlocks: Lv5: 1st Turn BUGGED: Game does not check success rate, making it 100% at all levels. Forces the targeted party member to act last. Buff skill, uses the Legs.  Uh, what is the point of this skill? When would you ever want to use this? Like going before or after an enemy is usually not a massive deal in most cases, but going first is often preferable. If there's a use for this, I can't think of it, and frankly I don't want to know. It's such a shame that you need to waste so much SP into this skill to unlock 1st Turn, it doesn't deserve it. ESPECIALLY since you should only ever put one point into it for that weird fringe case you'd need it. But of course not, still you've seen a good chunk of a Survivalist's skills, so it's not like they're hurting for SP. Acting last can have strategical uses. Like putting up a buff after an enemy wipes it, or instantly curing a disable after an enemy inflicts it. Though such situations are uncommon, so don't expect to get that much use out of this skill. You'll have to invest in it to unlock 1st Turn at any rate.Baitstep Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv3. Increases the user's evasion and provoke rate for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Legs.  This is an interesting buff that can have its uses, but of course, it has to have some issues. Survivalists could tank pretty well last game and this is somewhat the case here, they have middling HP and VIT so they can take some hits, but if you use this against a big group of enemies, you're getting pasted. Considering how you will always get targeted past level 7, the evasion increase does not scale to compensate, 21% is not that much and the last level just increases the TP and speed modifier, for a class that is usually going first anyway! UGH, this could've been a great option, but dodgetanking has always been a suspect playstyle due to how scary enemies are and this is not the way to go about it. Fun fact, in the Japanese release of this game, all evasion boosts were bugged. They were accidentally coded as accuracy decreases. So a max level Baitstep would make a Survivalist 21% less accurate while not providing any evasion at all. Whoops! If you want to dodgetank, play a different game. That playstyle becomes more viable in the later EO games, but not this one due to how accuracy works. It also doesn't help against AOEs, which there are plenty of late-game. Skip this one entirely.Velocity Prerequisites: AGI Up Lv1. Unlocks: Lv3: Slowstep Increases the user's AGI for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Legs.  Another suspect skill, you're putting points into AGI Up for Ambush and then 3SP into this to lead into 1st Turn, how much more drat AGI do you need??? Your Survivalist will be going first in most cases and will definitely go first out of your party, so what possible reason could you need to boost yourself M O R E. The cap for stats is 99, remember. Why. If it wasn't for the fact that this is needed to unlock 1st Turn, there would be absolutely no reason to even take this skill. More AGI does grant more accuracy and evasion, but it doesn't help that much.Patrol Reduces damage from damage tiles. Field Skill.  These skills have always been a little weird, if you have a healer, damage tiles have never been much of an issue, and using Revenge strats basically requires your Hexer to be at 1HP, so that doesn't help with it. A Guard Sole is a level 2 version of this skill, so if you need reduction that bad just use that and save your SP. Being able to ignore them entirely is nice, but I've never cared much, heal before you get into an encounter you fool! Damage tiles still deal percentage based damage in this game, so this can be a nice way to cut down on that. You'll start seeing those by Stratum 2, so if you insist on picking up this skill, do it by then.Stalker Reduces danger value of tiles. Field Skill.  This is a very important skill for gathering parties and not much for anything else because of how ridiculous it is. This reduces the danger value of tiles by a certain amount and at max level, because the game rounds down, any tile with a value of 4 or less are now 0. Which is, uh, most of them. Max this skill out and you have free range of the entire floor, it's an amazing skill to reduce any escape RNG as you reset to a gathering spot from a gathering blindside. But for your main party, battle everything you can, no getting out of it! Fantastic for a gathering party since this is basically a turn off encounters button due to how encounters work in this game. For your main party, this is a bit of a questionable investment since you're heavily cutting down on your exp intake this way.Foesense Reveals all FOEs on the floor. Does not reveal invisible FOEs. Field Skill.  The map skills last game either only worked in a radius, or only worked as long as you stood still. Thankfully they were rolled into 1 pretty alright skill if you refuse to use the excellent Gamefaqs maps, since knowing where FOEs is always handy. However, it doesn't work on invisible FOEs, ones that could really use a skill for, and becomes pretty pointless once you've mapped the floor. Save your SP and look online, it's not cheating I swear! If this actually worked on invisible FOEs like such skills do in the later EO games, I would say this skill is worth a pickup. It does not, so you should skip it. FOE movement patterns in this game aren't particularly complicated.Airwalk Increases the entire party's evasion for 5 turns. Force Skill, uses the Legs.  ...t-that's it? Just an evasion boost? Even its speed modifier is pretty rubbish compared to other Force Skills, what the gently caress. Okay, an evasion boost is pretty nice, but enemies are usually pretty accurate so it's not a massive buff. It also doesn't affect enemies with 200% accuracy but that's a pretty rare occurrence. Like, yeah, you'll use it when you get it, but it really needed something else to be at all useful, and that describes this class in a nutshell. Surely the next class is good, right? RIGHT?! Yeah this is the worst Force skill in the entire game, my god. It was even worse in the Japanese version thanks to the evasion bug. Halving your party's accuracy for 5 turns, hooray! Oh and despite not increasing speed at all, this is classified as a speed buff. So any speed debuffs will remove the effects of this skill. Yeah. You might think this is a good defensive buff despite that, but the problem is this Force skill is completely outdone by the Protector's Painless Force skill, since everything this skill affects, that skill affects as well. And that doesn't eat up 1/3rd of your buff slots to boot. How the mighty have fallen indeed. It pains me to even say it after all the praises I sung for EO1 Survivalist, but it must be said. This class is completely awful and has very little redeeming value outside of 1st Turn. And if you don't need that skill, you don't need this class. Fortunately, this was the absolute worst of the nerfings, so we can only go up from here. The question is, how high can we go now?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2021 12:37
|
|
|
Part 5: Stalking Stalkers   A gem as beautiful as your eyes... eh, her's are pretty brown. If you're using a gathering party, get used to resetting a lot. Hey, better them than your main party, right?  Matchlock, requires 3 Lymph and 3 Amazonite. Venom Ring, requires 1 Bug Wing, 1 Amazonite - Poison Resist Up 50% Leg Guard, requires 1 Amazonite - Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - Gear that helps keep the legs from being bound. Luck Beads, requires 1 Aragonite - LUC+10 - Its well-polished gem is said to bring luck. Apt Piece, requires 1 Garnet - TEC+5 - Aids in the user's concentration. Power Ring, requires 1 Garnet - STR+5 - Mysterious ring that awakens inner strength. Always nice to have as early as possible, you get one hell of a haul from new gathering points that that don't need restocking, unlike some later games! +5 STR/TEC accessories available this early in the game, jesus. Holy gently caress look at all those stat boosts this early! And this is just the 3rd floor, too! God, +10 LUC this soon would be a godsend for inflictors in a non-EO5/N game after the DS era. (It ain't too great in this game, +10 LUC is about a 10% increase at best in a game with harsh resistance stats.)  Nothin' like a reet battle in the mornin'! I feel stronger already! It's been five minutes. And somehow it's working... Exp cheats make the world go round! Considering how the games are meant to be gone through with a singular 5 man party, I couldn't imagine doing an LP with 1 of every class without EXP cheats. ...Well, you can easily do that in this game, but it comes at the cost of not being able to raise up alternative party members until the second stratum, which is what I had to do if you read that old fangled LP. Still, if you're concerned about playing legit, level grinding is far from a problem in this game after a certain point. (Other types of grinding on the other hand... gently caress the gear registry.) The Duke's men are looking for a strong landsknecht. It occurs to you that the landsknecht in your party may be the man they're after. When you have a spare moment, return to the bar! A man, eh? I-I-It's just what's written on the request, please don't crush me... Something the quest doesn't mention in the slightest is better rewards depending on level. Level 6-9, nice, is an extra 50en, while level 10+ is an additional 100en. By the time we get to level 10, that amount of money is nothing, but might as well get it. Just submit this quest as soon as you're able, tbh. Only 50 en minimum, jfc. Okay I'm going to go and say this now that a player would most likely run into an issue with these quests here. Do not take any "class + level check" quests until you are ready to turn them in right away! There's a rather infamous issue with every single one of those quests where they inefficiently check your party state after every single step taken. Even though it's completely impossible to level up outside of battle. That combined with the other many code inefficiencies in this game, causes the game to lag like a motherfucker while exploring the Labyrinth. Instead of walking continuously down a row of tiles, you'd pause for like 1 second after every tile. And yes, it feels very awful to play. If you happened to take the quest, don't worry, rejecting it at the bar will return the game speed to normal. And if you're still experiencing some slight lag in certain places despite having no such quests, don't worry. The game just does that sometimes due to inefficient coding. There's sadly nothing you can do about those instances, but they won't slow down your game as much as these quests do. I was having it on out of curiosity and didn't notice a huge amount of difference, since this game and OBS in tandem are already a little laggy, but for future quests where you could have them active for much longer and in areas that are a bit resource intensive, you definitely wanna leave these at the bar.    Warabide, -5 speed, requires 15 Rat Needles and 7 Amazonite. As for what our new members will be doing, since this is the exponential nightmare, we need to invest in skills for them to be any good. For some classes that have a lot of skills you want, since the early game is easy enough, you can grab a few for variety and then invest in them, but for some, like Landy and Survivalist, you should head straight for them and jack them right up. However, you can only do that to an extent since the TP cost will rapidly outpace your pool. So find a happy medium and then finish it off later when you have more to work with. Holly will go Tornado into eventually getting the chasers to work, that'll take a bit. But she doesn't have anything else to do! Logan will do pretty pathetic damage with 2-Bolt until he can get Apollon, but we'll be getting 1st Turn and Ambush before that, he won't be on the front lines for very long. For Alchemists, you should focus on one or two elements depending on what your team is missing, though you should basically ignore Ice, it isn't very good, but we'll be taking it for a little bit. We'll head for Analysis pretty much immediately and then Megido. Very simple. Now to be off, everyone ready? Yes, of course, though there is an outstanding request to take care of. Always the Duchy's lapdog, eh, lassie? He is quite the secutarian, right, back buddy? Don't touch me.  Didn't encounter many Hedgehogs on 2F, so have to take a minute to finish this worthless quest.   Cool.  What I need yeh to do is get 3 materials for the hunting horns those guards carry. Yeh've not seen it? They blow on the thing to communicate or when they're in trouble. The more explorers that flock to this town, the more guards yeh see. Think yeh'll sign up? Anyway, yeh can get the Red Shards they need from one of the Labyrinth critters. G'luck! Woodland Ruins   I'm h-helping! Sure you are. Quick little check on the disparity of classes. Alchemists are kinda unfair this early. It won't last. You can make them last, it just involves cramming Amritas down their throats relentlessly. Or just treating them as an empty slot during explorations, which seems kind of a waste for a party slot. The series isn't just about FOE and boss fights you know, the exploration is a significant part as well. It seems the path continues beyond the wall... while you consider different ways to get past the wall, the survivalist points upward. Above the wall, a high branch juts out invitingly. The survivalist nimbly jumps between the trees, landing directly on the branch! With your survivalist's help, you fasten a rope to the branch so the entire party can cross. Nimble little oval office, eh? I could be doing that if I was wanting to. I just do not wanting to.  Nice upgrade, but it will barely help. oval office! Language... There is writing engraved here, but it seems ancient and utterly unlike anything you recognize. As you take turns examining the writing, you can hear your alchemist mutter something. The strange language begins to ring, as the gem in the center shines brightly. It appears that your alchemist can read whatever is written here! You can now use the activated monument to teleport to the other side of the wall. I still don't know what Le Grill means, why does it appear so often? They're not all winners, I just want the money. If you're wondering if these barriers are worth the reward, the answer is... sometimes. A lot of time you get junk for something that demands a specific party composition. Now fer the proper fanny smashin'! What're yeh getting all marroon fer? J-Just not used to these words, not exactly used in the Grand Duchy... also... you're really... close. Now, now, while it's easy to do, enough teasing the lad, we need to be on full alert in this forest.  Horny. Snnrk, so serious! Redhorn HP: 158 STR: 15 VIT: 11 TEC: 8 AGI: 10 LUC: 11 Level: 10 Exp: 425 Skills Charge: Uses the Head. Increases the user's damage by 110% for 5 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier. Horns: Uses the Head. Deals 200% Stab damage to a single target. Has a 50% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 75% 75% 150% 150% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Red Shard: 35% chance, sells for 15en. 1 required for Kodachi - Katana, ATK+37 - sells for 270en 1 required for Nail Glove - Gloves, DEF+6, STR+1 - sells for 150en 5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2 - sells for 350en 7 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en 3 required for Sounding the call Conditional: Kill with Fire damage Red Horn: 80% chance, sells for 26en 1 required for Tarbarzin - Axe, ATK+46, Type: Fire - sells for 560en New floor, new monsters. Redhorns show that Charge strats are different compared to last game, they're a slight buff for a few turns, meaning they can do a lot of damage. Despite being a 5 turn buff, the Charge AI is still flag based, so it'll alternate using it every other turn so it's not slamming you with Horns for 4 turns in a row. This means their AI is two lines long, but with elemental weakness and not doing anything first turn, means you shouldn't have too much trouble taking them down. This thing got upgraded to an FOE with a pretty dumb gimmick in 2U! Charges are no longer glorified telegraphs. They... sorta increase damage. Not by a notable amount, but it's there. These things are basically a soft tutorial on the defend command. They can hit super hard and possiblly OHKO a party member. But if you defend, you'll reduce 30% of that damage (it's not half, that doesn't happen until EOU), taking what would be a 220% damaging attack down to 154%, likely suriving what comes your way. And after it uses Horns, wail on it! Oh yeah...Redhorn AI Script posted:If flag 0 is not active, cast Charge. (Targets self.) Activate flag 0. Yeah Cross wasn't kidding about the AI being super short. Oh ho, now that is an air of malice! Yet yeh're grinnin' a bunch. So are you! The monster in the depths surpasses your current skills... fighting it means your death! Not all monsters have strength proportional to the level of the Labyrinth they inhabit! Sometimes it's best to leave these demons be... this, too, is a form of strategy. Observe the monster at your leisure and continue on your journey, mindful of your skills. Even from this distance it's still massive! Let's avoid that, please!!! I am not in the best of belief we will... So regular FOEs will keep kicking our rear end for a while, so here's an even stronger one that'll mince you up in seconds flat! Not that the deer weren't already doing that, but this is a similar introduction as EO1, so the same strat works, right? Nonononononononononono! Yeh can't hold me down, noodle arms, chaaaaaarge! Your funeral. Ah poo poo, here we go again... Stalker HP: 1200 STR: 20 VIT: 25 TEC: 20 AGI: 25 LUC: 20 Level: 18 Exp: 0 Skills Amputate: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Scythe: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target with 50% splash damage. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 75% 100% 125% 50% 125%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 15% 25% 3% 20% 3%Drops Scythe: 80% chance, sells for 389en 1 required for Sensui - Katana, ATK+55, STR+2 - sells for 1,020en Conditional: Kill within 1 turn Harvester: 100% chance, sells for 1,280en Required for nothing If you can cheese this early, you can get a nice katana upgrade, but otherwise avoid the gently caress outta these things, so completely not worth your time. We'll be back in like 20 updates for the conditional, mainly because I'll forget about it for a bit. You need to head straight up from the entrance to go past it, going to the other side of the room doesn't work. Though how are you to know that first time? At least the similar room in EO1 worked both ways. Red FOEs are back, and just like in the first game, they denote the strongest FOE in the stratum. And considering how beefy EO2 FOEs are, you really want to avoid these at all costs! Just look at those sky high stats, 4 digit HP already! It's almost as strong as the Stratum boss, so yeah, you won't be killing this thing for a long while!   So, what have we learned? Strong idiots die young. Who you callin' dead? But, uh, sorry Logan... It's... fine, I guess, we tired it out, so let's get moving. And so a skinship was forming. Friendskin? Whatever. After 3 steps it pauses for 1 turn and you can slip past it.  My attacks won't do much, so blow 'em up, grumps! I'd rather not. I can do plenty with low yield barrages. Roller HP: 87 STR: 10 VIT: 13 TEC: 10 AGI: 12 LUC: 11 Level: 9 Exp: 266 Skills Rolling: Uses the Legs. Deals 115% Bash damage to a single target. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Gum Hide: 15% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Shell Wart: 25% chance, sells for 12en. 1 required for Briar Whip - Whip, ATK+42, VIT+1, AGI+1 - sells for 520en 5 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en 7 required for Kurodachi - Katana, ATK+46, Type: Ice - sells for 580en Conditional: None Elemental vibe check, except not really since it only slightly resists Cut in this game. Can be annoying at lower health when it keeps going for Rolling, but we won't encounter that many at once for now. These things are uhhh... well they only resist cutting attacks so uh. Yeah I got nothing, they're basically a trash mob. Later games would actually make them resistant to all physical instead of just Cut.  Alr-right, don't look at it, a simple puzzle, you can solve this. Wonder why it acts differently to the previous one. Some Stalkers only aggro if you're literally in front of them. Easy enough. Not all FOEs of a specific kind act the same, as the FOE AI handler determines behavior based on the specific FOE entity, not the enemy type they represent. Though starting from EO2, FOEs of a specific kind will generally behave more consistently depending on what type of enemy it is, so you can usually sus out which FOE you're trying to avoid. Where in EO1, the deer FOE could have entirely different behaviors depending on where they were placed.  Pretty bug. Time to smash! A menybug is a refining symbol, I will be taking its carcass. Ladybug HP: 81 STR: 10 VIT: 11 TEC: 9 AGI: 22 LUC: 20 Level: 8 Exp: 222 Skills Blink: Uses the Legs. Increases all opponent's AGI by 200% for 5 turns. Has a 200% speed modifier. Summon: When by itself with an AGI buff, summons Raflesia to the battlefield. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Bug Nail: 30% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Culverin - Gun, ATK+35 - sells for 240en 3 required for Kodachi - Katana, ATK+37 - sells for 270en Bug Shell: 25% chance, sells for 12en 1 required for Color Boot - Footwear, DEF+8, AGI+3 - sells for 140en 5 required for Pure Vest - Light Armor, DEF+17 - sells for 230en Required for The item trade II Conditional: None Alright, an enemy with something vindictive to it! Ladybugs are a right pain due to their high AGI and the relative inaccuracy of your party. Be sure to take it out before anything else and absolutely go all out if it's by itself, since it will summon a Raflesia under a few scenarios. If it's by itself when it blindsides you, it has a 50% of summoning, but if it's by itself without an AGI buff, then it can either cast Blink, attack or just summon a Raflesia, though that's rarer. In any case, Raflesia aren't FOEs so they'll mess you up a bit but you can fight them off fine enough compared to 1F, but you'd rather not fight them very often, so take out these bugs quick. These enemies are extremely dangerous! Sky high AGI, and they can double it, making them and any allies even more evasive! If they're by themselves, either snipe them fast, or run! You don't want to be dealing with a Raflesia this early, and your party likely won't be strong enough to survive an encounter with one. If they aren't by themselves, kill them first so they can't make everyone else more speedy and evasive, which also denies their summoning. They also mark a change in a certain design decision, as in EO1, enemies that could summon other enemies summoned the same kind as them. That's not always the case here, as enemies are capable of summoning different types now. These things choose to summon the strongest monster in the stratum, so you can't just laze your way through the Labyrinth, or you'll end up as a delicious 5 course meal for a flower. He notices you and begins to speak. Need any help? You look like explorers--you looking for something? Well we've found one on these, but wanted to confirm... You tell him about your quest relating to the hunting horn and await his reply. Ahh... well, there are some monsters on this floor that carry Red Shards. Good hunting! After relaying this information, the guard returns to his post. Is he a lookout of some sort? You walk away from the guard, rededicated to your task. That told us nothing. I would doubt he has fought those large beasts. Well Cass doesn't tell you where to find them, and the drop rate from the Redhorns isn't super high, so there's a good chance you'll miss out on those by this point. Nice of them to give pointers if you need help I suppose.   To put it in perspective, Holly's side Tornado hit does the same damage as Logan's 2-Bolt, he is mainly here for benchwarming for now. I'll max out 2-Bolt eventually, but we should get moving to utility more than anything.   AWW FOOOOOK YEAH!!! Not... used... to... hugs... Ahh, a respite from the nightmare that is my waking life. ...do... do you want to talk? Good stuff from chests for once, you could almost pretend the Landy is good when they get a boost like that! And having a Sleep or Lure Bell on hand, which we'll unlock soon enough, are just so nice to ignore whatever FOE related puzzle before you. They'll be more useful later on. oval office! Well we found out what it does if we don't kill it immediately, good work everyone. Defend command! She would have barely survived with 2 or 3 HP in that case!  Noooooope. Mmm, it seems pretty doable. Burst down the Cactoid on turn 1, defend on turn 2, heal up whoever got smacked afterwards, and take out the Redhorn at your leisure. Sometimes you should take out the weaker enemies first to avoid unnecessary incoming damage, as Holly would have survived a big hit while defending, but not a bonk from the Cactoid after that. Deaths like that can be rather humiliating.  Well that oil would be hinting at something, except imbues are terrible and trying to use them against FOEs is an additional terrible idea. Anyway, nice shortcut, cause floor is kinda long. It's such a shame a mechanics change ended up as an omega nerf for imbues for a good portion of the series until they got buffed later. In EO1, imbues boosted your basic attack damage, which scaled off your TEC stat. But now all it does is add an element to your basic attack, and does absolutely nothing else. Meaning that TEC's importance on physical attackers got drastically lowered in this game. (Oh, don't cry out for TEC. It has no need for your mourning after this game.  )   Well hello again, please explain quickly, Holly will not stay in one place for long. You said... you're from Nidhogg, right? Could you hold off on that door for now? The man looks at your party each in turn, a troubled expression on his face. Hmph, we're at this already. I can't explain why. Just go ask the Grand Duchy... you'll understand then. The protector remains in place, blocking the door with his head hung low. It seems that he won't let you pass just yet. You should return to town and visit the Duke's Palace for an explanation. Very well, we shall step back, away from the door... and there's monsters right behind us. Yow! It's an ambushing!  If you know you're gonna trigger something that forces you to move afterwards, make sure that step won't trigger an encounter. Oh wow, I forgot this quirk actually existed in the first two games. Forced movement from cutscenes actually add onto your encounter radar, so it's possible for a bit of jank like that to happen. EO3 fixed this by making all relevant tiles tied to moving around in a cutscene or talking to people have a danger value of 0, making it so that nothing gets added onto your encounter radar. And later games took it further by disabling the radar in "safe moments" (Mostly cutscenes, though there are a few other story moments that tie into that.) We'll take a slight diversion to get healing bullets, we don't need all the ailment recovery just yet, before we head back on the Richochet grind. Ze healing leaves little time for ze hurting. You can come here all you like... I'll keep repeating myself. Go ask the Grand Duchy. If you still want to go past here after hearing what they have to say, I won't stop you. It seems that he won't let you through for any reason until you have returned to town. You should inquire about the matter at the Duke's Palace. Fortunately there's a shortcut right nearby, so getting back here after reporting to the Duchy won't take too long. Some interesting trees around here... though while there's not too much, those are quite some trunks. If we're quite finished, I have the need for some delightful linguini.3F E1 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Bent Twig: 65% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I 3 required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en 5 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1, +5 speed - sells for 440en Hard Root: 30% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en 3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en Log: 5% chance. Sells for 150en. Required for nothing. Usually Chop points are the least interesting, but hey there's some good stuff here. Okay two bows and a stave is whatever, but new whip, r-right? Tag yourself, I'm the log that literally unlocks nothing. zzz Phew, we were running out of TP towards the end, mainly because Landy and Alchemist can be a little expensive, but we've explored a good chunk of the floor.
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 03:36 on May 7, 2021 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2021 03:05
|
|
|
Beautiful and Sublime Lands ... ... ... ... LET US THROO'! Oho! You there! You're the ones from Nidhogg, are you not? Excellent timing. I have a boon to ask of you. I tell you now, it's a very dangerous mission. I won't force you to do it. But if you're willing to help this old man... perhaps you wouldn't mind hearing me out. I believe we would benefit from this boon, ohohoho. Oh, you know that meaning as well? A number of the guard corps have gone missing over the past few days. We have guards and medics posted around the first Stratum to support new explorers, you see. However... yesterday, when the shift was over, ten of them did not return. I fear something very bad is happening near the Labyrinth's entrance. Normally, it's a mission I'd reserve for a guild like Beowulf or Esbat. But I think I can entrust this one to you... Wonder why the Edda guild aren't taking this, haven't heard from them for a while. ...who? Let it motivate you to someday surpass those sterling guilds! Now, go... find out the source of the disappearances and save the guards! Oh, yes... here, take this. It's a Lure Bell. All guards carry one with them at all times. If you see an enemy that's too much for you, you can stop its movement or lure it to you. It won't work on every monster in the Labyrinth, but it still comes in handy. We only have one left, alas. But you can make these from Bell Steel. If you want more Lure Bells, you can chop for this material on the 3rd floor. I'm relying on you. Make me proud! Yeh think these'll work on Hart?! Let us be testes it! Testing. And I could go for a drink as well... Yadda, yadda, yadda, Lure and Sleep Bells work on most FOEs within 3 spaces to either make them come to where you triggered it and stunning them, or just stunning them on the spot, either are quite nice to have since you want to dodge fighting these wastes of space as much as possible. Though you can see why they don't return in later games, they're not strictly necessary. Red FOEs have one more attribute that makes them stand out other than being telegraphed as the strongest FOE in the Stratum. FOE items and skills like these don't work on them. You'll have to rely on your smarts to get past those. Incidentally, according to the EO2U dev blog, these items and the equivalent FOE skills were added in as an attempt to make the Labryinth more interactive. Such as giving players more ways to deal with FOEs. On paper I could see where they were coming from but in practice... people didn't use these. It was just easier to memorize the patrol paths, and these FOE manipulation tools could end up screwing up a patrol path hard if used wrong, making a section harder to get past, not easier. But the spirit of the concept carried onto EO4 once the series made the jump to the 3DS, as FOEs in those games could get more complex mechanics tied to their behaviors to create Labyrinth puzzles. Also it was for the best they moved away from the simplified orange fuzzy ball system, as trying to do anything more complex with it resulted in jank. Oho? You're approaching me? I can't knock that bell from your hand without getting clozzzzzzz... Oh wow, these are really effective on him. ...hm? It put him to sleep but not me, it's a wonderful respite! Give it five seconds. i was hoping it would last longer All these bell noises are making it hard to read! Land sakes, that was fast. That was bigger than I thought. Hm... you did get three, though. Well then, here's the reward. Nice work, all of yeh. Alright, money!  Bullwhip, +40 speed, requires 2 Gum Hides and 3 Bug Wings. Culverin, requires 1 Bug Nail, ATK+35 - A small, easily concealable firearm. Wing Leaf, requires 1 Gum Hide and 4 Bug Wings. Nail Glove, requires 1 Red Shard and 2 Cactus Logs, DEF+6, STR+1 - Sturdy gloves woven with small metal fragments. Color Boot, requires 1 Bug Shell, DEF+8, AGI+3 - Brightly colored sandals that reduce strain.    Let me in! Let me iiiiiiinnnn! There is a somewhat resigned undertone to Flausgul's words. Go on, then. I'll leave the matter of the missing soldiers to you. I have other things to do... He seems to be addressing this last to the beast beside him as he moves away from the door. One more thing... a little free advice. The reason why all those soldiers went missing. It's because a herd of deer are running amok in there. The area's choked with enemies. Never let your guard down and avoid combat whenever you can. With these last words, Flausul and his companion walk away. You can continue through the door and face the chaos within, or return to town to prepare. Nothing you do will prepare you for what's inside. How could you know from here? I'm sure it's not that bad. Oh. Oh dear. This is quite the gently caress. Oh god oh man oh geez, what the hell is this? Ugh, the smell! My head's swimming, I-I-... how are you two so calm?! I am all too familiar with this scenario, the sights and the smell, I could tell from the moment we set foot on this floor. Same here... as a... lumberjack. The ground is stained crimson with blood and corpses are stacked on the field. The bloodcurdling sight reminds you of the mission you accepted at the Duke's Palace. You agreed then to find the soldiers who never returned from their posts in the forest. The gruesome open grave before you may be the final resting place of those very soldiers. A sudden roar from the east of the room startles you. You know now what caused this slaughter. You suppose you are obliged to check the area for survivors, though your hopes are dim. The monster to the east remains still. You see a side path leading into the forest. If you're to check the side path, you must defeat the monster or find another way. Your options are open... you only wish you understood just what they were. One thing is certain: this is a fearful monster, and your victory is by no means certain. Well. That escalated a lot faster than in EO1. Pretty sure it took a lot longer for any serious bloodshed to start happening in that game. Maybe I can just ignore it and the whole situation will disappear, hahaha... gah! Don't you dare laugh at all this. We need to get to the bottom of this and let the dead rest in peace. Show them some drat respect! Wow, how are you getting him to be so talkating?3F B1 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Bell Fruit: 60% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Sleep Bell - Item, Lv1 Slumber, stuns non-red FOEs within 3 rings for 4 turns - sells for 150en 1 required for Lure Bell - Item, Lv1 Luring, non-red FOEs within 3 rings will move to the user and be stunned for 4 turns - sells for 150en Hard Root: 35% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en 3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en Log: 5% chance. Sells for 150en. Required for nothing. Here is the only gathering point for Bell Steel, so don't forget this, they're pretty useful! These items are fortunately not restockables, so once you have the Bell Fruit, you can completely ignore this point for the rest of the game. How do you make actual bells out of a fruit...?  Ugh, starting to wonder if this crown is making me a more inviting target. But I won't take it off... Spinnin' Cunter!  Affected FOEs will flash when selecting these items, so make use of them when you can, this is the only time you have to use them, but there's plenty of later times when we could. And the times you would like to use them... you can't because they used red FOEs for those moments. Also another reason why FOE manipulation tools barely saw much use, the situations you actually wanted them for didn't let you use them. Greetings, you are safe now. Waugh...! Oh... a-are you e-explorers? Judging by his uniform, there is little doubt that this is one of the missing guards. You tell him of the mission you took at the Grand Duchy and ask if he survived the attack. I'm saved... I'm saved! Thank you! Yes, I was a member of the investigation team. My comrades... they were all slaughtered by that herd of deer! Well it's still alive and kicking, but there's probably a secret passage, we were a little preoccupied. You tell the soldier the fate of that monster and how to return to town safely. You're a lifesaver! I'll make sure to put in a good report for you when I get back. The soldier stumbles to his feet and staggers to the exit. Your mission is complete! Return to town and report to the Duke's Palace. Heh, at least we were able to save somebody. ...uh, hallos? Your turn to go through the passage.  Now let's get teh cuntin' this oval office! Not exactly the right verb, but I cannot stop you. Nor won't, ohohohoho! Maaaan, why do we keep doing this?Furylord HP: 580 STR: 20 VIT: 20 TEC: 16 AGI: 20 LUC: 16 Level: 9 Exp: 0 Skills Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Confuse. Has a 30% base chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 75% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Deer Hide: 40% chance, sells for 203en 1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None Alright, as you'd expect the Furylord is a stronger Furyhorn, which doesn't matter since the latter still kicks our rear end anyway. It's just a plot obstacle with +2 in STR, VIT and AGI and a higher Deer Hide chance, but if you beat one you can beat the other. Though there is one proper difference...  Please stop trying to kill us all. Alreet, fine, this way. We get two Furyhorn spawn just to really hammer home you should not be fighting this early, though the second Furyhorn is forced to head up since it can't move otherwise, meaning it doesn't enter the battle until turn 6. It's only during this mission, so feel free to come back and kick its rear end later. It's basically the game forcing you to use the Lure Bell for its tutorial. Chances are you won't survive this encounter if you try to take it on headfirst. Since we are so close, might as well find the stairs. A note informs you that the Grand Duchy has temporarily closed the way ahead. It seems there is a task yet to be completed for the Grand Duchy before you may proceed. I mean, I can just step o'er this... If you did I would report it! Narc. Sheesh, a lot of roadblocks already.  Oh there were the monsterers behind us. So why wasn't I healed for this battle? Well since we were low on TP I was just gonna warp out after seeing the blocked stairs... but the space I moved back to was an encounter, so we're definitely heading back! Beautiful and Sublime Lands  Why does Logan never let me submit my own reports and maps... I heard all the details from our man. You did well indeed in rescuing him! He has given us an extensive debriefing on what happened in the Labyrinth. Marvelous work. Please accept this token of the Grand Duchy's gratitude for saving his life. I'm the one in the guild that likes money, thanks. Dooon't buy me an axe! Which reminds me... I mentioned the report the guard filled on the events that transpired. According to him, the cause of so many monsters appearing in the first Stratum... was, in fact, the work of another monster! The Grand Duchy is issuing an official mission to resolve this crisis. You have contributed much to the matter already, so I will not force you to take part. However... no, it's nothing. You did well.  So long as we don't get too close... You know drat well half of the guild is going to punch it in the face. My punches are in the long ranges. I cannot thank you enough for going back to rid the forest of this threat. Allow me to explain fully. As you have heard already, powerful monsters have been appearing in the first Stratum. The cause seems to be that the king of beasts, called Chimaera, has settled on the 5th floor. It is Chimaera's roar that draws monsters from the upper floors down to the first Stratum. Once we defeat this Chimeara, we eliminate the roar that lures such terrible fiends downward. It is a serious crisis, make no mistake. We must destroy this Chimaera, king of the beasts!  Tshirovha, requires 7 Aragonite and 5 Shell Warts Iron Glove, requires 5 Gum Hides and 1 Amazonite  With the king of the beasts as our first main opponent, we've got a fair bit before that point, and we'll only die to most of it. Next time! I hope you're all ready for a bloodbath! Whose blood? You'll see.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2021 03:06
|
|
|
Part 6: The Eyes Have Blindsides Woodland Ruins We went through a lot on this floor, so it's time to leave it behind and head on.  Alright, now that I'm ready and at a safe distance, check this out! Now yer speakin' me language!  That is looking the painful. It is! Oh god, it's like I'm undead, ohohohoho! Meh, I've had worse. If you want to fight a Raflesia, then you'd best kill it quick before it quickly kills you. Freeze is only brought out if Pollen isn't used, so it's not as common, and also isn't AS deadly. I can only attempt this because of all my Fire power. There's honestly no need to be in a rush to kill it, as its drops don't give that much of a headstart. Neat. There's one last room on 3F to visit, but you best be prepared. St-St-Stalkers on both sides... Good for not immediately running away, I guess. We could kill these cunts nah, but, uh, I dinnae wanna!  You just head straight down to get these two chests, nothing to worry about. Oh, how do you get back out of this room? Well I've never tried it, so I'll just say it's impossible and move on! Generally some FOE trap rooms are one way and basically scream "use a Warp Wire" to get out. Granted you could fight your way out, but good luck doing that with EO2 FOEs, let alone red ones! Holly can carry that with one arm... of course. Phew... thanks! You're a strong bunch...! The desk was my daughter's, but it's too small for her now. We bought her a new one. I couldn't lift it myself, so I didn't know what to do. My husband is out looking for ingredients in the Labyrinth. Good thing you showed up! Is it true you've already made it to the 4th floor? Wow, that was really fast! I've been hearing more people in the shop talk about you. You're an amazing guild! I'm proud just to know you! Oh, I mean... sorry! I shouldn't say things like that. Umm, I've got some cleaning to do... feel free to look around the shop! You've got me all blushing here, but I still need to know of all the secondhand bookstores around here! sleepy but thats normal Hm...? You look tired. Are you all okay? You may know your way around the Labyrinth, but that won't help if you get exhausted. Don't hesitate to return here and rest at the inn, or to come see us if necessary. But it's best not to get injured in the first place. Just don't get hit and you'll win every time. But I dunno... I've seen my share of guilds, and yeh don't seem like much to me. Find that floating castle and maybe I'll change my tune! Haw haw! I wonder what guild has been talking about us? A girl with a sword from the Ed-whatever guild, she said we were very honourable for taking on all these quests. And then she tried to fight me. Yeah... this quest should be right up yer alley. There's a well-loved family in this Duchy, and their gran isn't doing so well these days. She's a kind old bird. Lost her man a few years back--he was popular in the corps in his day. Every time I saw them, they put a song in this wicked old heart of mine. I don't think she's long for this world, and her family wants to give her a memento of gramps. They tell me there's a certain flower he gave her when he proposed. Thing is, I've looked it up, and it only grows in the Labyrinth. They say it's on the 5th floor. A soothing, pale flower... think yeh could fetch it for the old girl's sake? We're all counting on yeh! Is the game giving these quests a floor early so they add some difficulty with you forgetting about them by the time you reach that point? Another issue with EO2 quests. The distribution timing kind of sucks and is all over the place. From EO3 onwards this mostly ceased to be an issue. I just want an adventure already. Hmmhmm! There's no need to report here every time you return to town. Although... part of my job is to advise explorers like you, I suppose. Well, here's a tidbit for you, then. It's obvious, but most explorers tend to forget it. Are you aware that each enemy in the Labyrinth has a specific affinity? Swords, axes, arrows, spells... if you find an enemy's weakness you can do even greater damage. Combat in the forest will be much easier once you use your mind as well as your weapons... that's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. Too bad the games don't exactly keep track of weaknesses until 4. You just have to go off of damage number comparisons. And I guess be on the lookout for Analysis activating if you have an Alchemist. I've seen better. That's what we're researching! Ugh, how many drat Yggdrasil Labyrinths are there, and why does one of them have "space cop" scribbled next to it?! I've only been inside with the guard corps protecting me, but I was struck by its beauty. High Lagaard has its own charms, of course, but it's nothing like the forest interior. Even before my time, the forest has protected High Lagaard. It's almost a guardian to this nation. Perhaps you'll find the land of the gods at its peak, rather than a mere floating castle. I'll be interested to see the outcome. Grabbing my dingaling when I'm alone in the forest. See it's funny because it's one of seven thousand words for penis.  Sleep Bell, requires 1 Bell Fruit - Item, Lv1 Slumber, stuns non-red FOEs within 3 rings for 4 turns Lure Bell, requires 1 Bell Fruit - Item, Lv1 Luring, non-red FOEs within 3 rings will move to the user and be stunned for 4 turns Wood Bow, requires 1 Bug Wing and 1 Bent Twig, ATK+27 - An everyday bow made of the forest's branches. Required for The item trade I Targe, requires 2 Bug Wing and 1 Hard Root, DEF+9 - Shield that protects the user's shoulder joints.  I know the color red causes issues with image compression but seeing basically instances of red words look like they're being smudged out is oof. I can't even blame the bad font like last game! I'll put it on the show floor today, so please have a look. It's my father's masterpiece! Oh, yes! I left the reward with Cass, so you can collect it at the Stickleback Bar. If I need anything else, I'll leave a request for you all on the notice board! Maybe I should get a bow, I could look pretty- oh... a squirrel. There you are! Where the hell have you been? Come on, you've got some food to gather. Nope. What do you mean, "nope"?! I have this new guild I'm working for. Who actually pay me. And maybe even like me. WHAT?! You are blood bound to serve me. Don't you walk away! Make me. What- but- you- GAHHHH! Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of your actions. ...shut up, sis. Ah, excellent, thank you for being the in-between, have a glass on me. ...everything okay? ...you know what? Yeah. It is. Hey there! Great work! Sorry to give yeh all the runaround. I've heard the whole story! Ahh, quit yer whining and take the reward! Haw!  Oh, uh, if you want me to help with this I can- Woah now, sit down and have a brew! Put your feet up for a change, that's what the rest of the guild is for. Yeh must know what the score is by now. Yes, another request from Sitoth Trading. I don't want to muck up the details of the quest, so yeh should ask around over there. Need one of them Pure Vests, uh, definitely fer someone pure like me. Wonderful! I'm still trying to get used to asking strangers to do our work... I'm glad that you're so eager to help us. Oh, right! The materials we need. That's 1 Metal Hull and 5 Bug Shells. Just like last time, once you have them, just sell them to me. Oh! A customer! Sorry, I have to go, I'm counting on you! Welcome, sir...! Evenin', I'm here to peruse your axes again.  "Now?" Have we met before? Who cares about that, I want that amazing medicine he has. Where did you even get that?! Now we shouldn't rush, perhaps the sword is more useful. Though taking a look at it, it seems pretty rubbi- Here's the money, thanks for the sword! Who saw that coming?~ It's an honor to meet any members of Edda. Have a pleasant journey! The guard leaves the area with a smile, happy merely to have met you. You, too, elect to return to your journey through the Labyrinth.  I finally remembered to go back to this guy now that we have the ca$h. Don't buy the sword, it's garbage. Well, it's a slight improvement, but the Boar Spear we get FOR FREE on THE NEXT FLOOR is much better.  You'd have to be an idiot to think the weapon is a better deal! Meanwhile, this heals all status for all allies and isn't available to buy until 27F, what the gently caress. If anyone asks why I like this game so much, it's because there's dumb poo poo like this popping up constantly. How did no one notice this??? Anyway, back to your regular exploration. For the record, Therica BXes are distributed through quest rewards and chests so this isn't the only time you get one before post-game. It's just 27F is when they become farmable. That is the cheatings! Only bugs can flying! The airborne beasts rests its wings atop the high rubble towering before you. The rubble is stacked high and seems impossible to climb over. It is natural, you reflect, that the forest denizens can reach areas that you cannot. If you are to continue, you must understand this well and pay attention to your surroundings. You hold your breath as you leave, so as not to alert the monster to your presence. Slaveimp HP: 152 STR: 17 VIT: 17 TEC: 17 AGI: 17 LUC: 17 Level: 16 Exp: 0 Skills Flight: Uses the Arms. Deals 50% Cut+Fire damage 4-5 times at a 50/50 chance, respectively. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Heal: Uses the Head. Heals an ally by 110HP. Has a 100% speed modifier. Aura: Uses the Head. Increases damage dealt by all allies by 150% for 5 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 125% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 25% 35% 25%Drops Glue Hide: 20% chance, sells for 126en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None New to the series is Flying FOEs, ones that come in a cool blue and patrol around places you can't reach. This is a bad introduction to them since Slaveimps are absolutely pathetic, they're comparable to Redhorns, who we don't have much issue with anymore. Flight also does pathetic damage and they won't use their other skills until a later time, there's a reason they're so weak after all. We could fight them now, but we'll do so later and they're easy to dodge, so I don't see the point. Getting through the floor will be more difficult, so I'd rather save the TP. Oh hey, here's a new mechanic. FOE types. You saw orange and red FOEs before but the color didn't mean much other than signifying power. Here these signify different ways they can trip you up on the field. Flying FOEs can ignore walls entirely making them pretty tricky to get past if you aren't paying attention to the map. Slaveimps are absolutely pathetic and you could kill one right now with most parties. Not much of a reason to do so unfortunately due to the lack of EXP, so it's just less of a hassle to avoid them. Now normally EO2 FOEs are to be avoided until you are heavily ready to take them on. That's not the case with flying FOEs for whatever reason. All Flying FOEs can easily be taken on when you come across them with a lot less prepwork. I'm assuming it was because they thought it was easier to get caught out by them so they made those FOEs weaker to give more of a fighting chance. Looking closely, you can see that he's a soldier of High Lagaard. That's quite the load you've got. Must make it hard to fight the monsters. I-I-It's not heavy at all! Yer legs are shakin', noodle arms. After you tell him your tale, he nods in understanding. Supplies, huh...? Well, the men are stationed in the southern area of this floor. After thanking the solder, you considered your next move. You have the opportunity to complete the quest by going to the southern area. Another instance of "wrong way, idiot", but to prove how 2cool4school I am, I will explore the entire floor with the load even if it's a pain in the rear end.  What the gently caress is that? Oh, too scary for the mean vampire? Evil Eye HP: 130 STR: 17 VIT: 14 TEC: 9 AGI: 12 LUC: 12 Level: 13 Exp: 506 Skills Glare: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Paralysis on a single target. Has an 25% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier Tackle: Uses the Head. Deals 200% Bash damage to a single target. Has a 50% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Glue Quill: 30% chance, sells for 16en. 1 required for Short Bow - Bow, ATK+34 - sells for 270en 1 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 2 required for Warhammer - Stave, ATK+41, HP+10 - sells for 370en 3 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en 5 required for Plume Boot - Footwear, DEF+11, AGI+2 - sells for 350en Conditional: Kill with non-physical damage Gem Eye: 70% chance, sells for 27en 1 required for Carp Sword - Sword, ATK+43 - sells for 440en Man, this game was great before these fucks showed up. Evil Eyes are less annoying when you encounter them with other enemies, since they have a guaranteed blindside otherwise and have a 50/50 chance of pasting someone into the ground with Tackle. Hey, don't we have a quest where we fail if we finish a battle with a dead party member? When they're under half health they have a chance of using Glare, but that's the least threatening thing they can do, they're always ready to make you waste a Nectar or be the number one priority to take down. gently caress these things!!! Ahaha! Believe it or not, this is actually the less dangerous formation to encounter these monsters in. You see, here's a mechanic that wasn't used in any other game, guaranteed blindsides for random encounters. Certain encounter formations are always flagged to start off the battle as a blindside, and there's absolutely no way to prevent it. The Survivalist's blindside passive? Useless! Fortunately these mostly get used for formations where there's only 1 monster in them but they can be a rude thing to run into. Evil Eyes are a very rude introduction to the guaranteed blindside mechanic, because chances are, they'll kill someone with their free turn. Just look at their STR stat and how their skill deals double damage. And given how money isn't exactly free flowing right now, chances are you don't have a Nectar to revive someone who inevitably died to these things. Kill them first unless you want more blood spatters on the grass floor.  He is always so smiling when dead. Thankfully we can leave the mole and revive Alastor to continue the quest, but UGH.  In here, quickly! Bloody dinos! They were always so eager to interrupt me... lumberjack work. Yes I think we get it by now. That there is a Raptor, which is stronger than the Gashtor, which can still kick our rear end, so we'll be waiting a bit longer to tackle this one, it'll chase you down though!  Thankfully an Evil Eye's regular attack is pretty manageable and we can take it out in one turn. It will not always be this easy. 4F A3 Take Point Ambush Chance: 5% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Green Nut. 55% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked Sour Fruit. 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en Tiny Bloom. 20% chance. Sells for 25en. 1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en 2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en 3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en Unlike last game, the gathering points you find on later floors to their introduction tend to be very similar, but also very boring. It's fine, I don't read them either!  Well that's annoying, but we're fine to face a Raflesia every now and then, we'll be seeing them as regular encounters soon enough.  FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK Ah, the classic EO experience. Such beauty to my eyes.  And that was an optional part of the floor, and it seems they intended for you to take this path later since the encounters are pretty rough compared to the proper path. Now to never use the Theriaca BX, just in case. Short Bow, +0 speed, requires 1 Glue Quill and 2 Bug Nails. Kodachi, ATK+37, requires 1 Red Shard and 3 Bug Nails - Katana that's as flexible as a short sword. Rough Hat, DEF+8, TP+8, requires 1 Glue Quill and 2 Gum Hides, sells for 120en - A hat of layered beast fur for high defense.  Snails and bugs working together, oh the horror! The bugging is very nice in the golding, do want. Kingmai HP: 96 STR: 12 VIT: 12 TEC: 12 AGI: 12 LUC: 12 Level: 11 Exp: 390 Skills Mucus: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Arm and Leg Bind on a single target. Has a base 75% infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 75% 100% 100% 100% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Metal Hull: 30% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Royal Claw - Claw, ATK+47 - sells for 420en 1 required for Pure Vest - Light Armor, DEF+17 - sells for 230en Required for The item trade II 3 required for Gladius - Sword, ATK+35 - sells for 280en FIFTEEN required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en Conditional: Kill with Ice damage Iron Shell: 70% chance, sells for 22en 1 required for Kurodachi - Katana, ATK+46, Type: Ice - sells for 580en Snail... II! Slightly annoying binds but there are way deadlier enemies on this floor that you need to prioritize. They can come in large packs with Woodmai but that also isn't a big deal, and you want to see it because it gives you a nice chunk of exp. It's nice to get a breather every now and then! Not that notable. If you're coming from the later games where themed enemies working together is an actual game mechanic, that's not in this game. EO3 is the one that introduced that.  Accessories are good so we'll be making use of this later.  I will plunge you into the depths of health! While Salve doesn't have much kick to it due to lack of healing multipliers on a War Magus, it's pure laziness on my part to grab it for less Cure usage. We'll be going for Warmight after this, we'll need it!  Normally I would advocate fer fightin' these fools, but even I cannae be hosed. That's the spirit.  Ugggggh... this better wash off! 4F D2 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 10% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Hard Root: 60% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en 3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en Bent Twig: 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed (+10) - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I 3 required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en 5 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1, +5 speed (-5) - sells for 440en Log: 15% chance. Sells for 150en. Required for nothing. Again, nothing exciting aside from a higher ambush chance, gently caress that noise. Indeed, it seems this floor has been going pretty smoothly so far, we're nearly at the supply quest destination. I hope nothing will-  He is always so popularizing. I am like TWO STEPS AWAY, would you kindly gently caress off??? You better be carrying a lot of Nectars if you're using a War Magus, but at least Logan can quickly revive him, Survivalists are good for something at least. Introducing guaranteed blindsides with enemies that can one shot you while also having the quest where you can't have anyone die take place on the same floor is such a glorious dick move. Coming closer, you can make out footsteps and speech. You have found the band of guards that you sought! One of them spies you. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he begins to speak. I heard a group of explorers signed up to bring us supplies. Please tell me that's you... Here's yer drat food, I promise I dinnae take much. We really must work on your people skills. It is all accounted for, I have... different preferences. You tell him the story, and he gently smiles before relieving you of the goods. I knew it! Thanks, guys. We can stay here much longer now that we've got these... After receiving their gratitude, you walk away, relived to be free of your burden. I wasn't sure how long I was gonna last... they were way too heavy. Perhaps you should work on those noodle arms. You're one to be talking, cannelloni boy! ...hmm, close enough. I'm more of a farfalle guy. Greetings, I take it you're with the other lot?  Oh...! You must be Nidhogg, right? I heard that many guilds were sent to defeat Chimaera. But I must tell you, Beowulf has already ascended to the fifth floor to challenge it. You see... some time ago, they lost many of their comrades to the king of beasts. The remaining two decided to press on in the hopes of defeating the monster someday. But if they couldn't do it with five, I don't see how they'll manage with two... The guard shakes his head worriedly. Beowulf's leader, the one called Flausgul, is an amazing man. I only hope the worst is not about to befall him... The guard looks up into the forest again anxiously. If you would challenge Chimaera, you must hurry and pursue Beowulf to the 5th floor. Sounds pretteh serious. Let's go! Pah, idiots, what's the point in throwing away your life for revenge? The dead don't care, they're dead. Agreed, if you must do such a thing, at least have it be for the undead. Please, Nidhogg... look after Beowulf... The guard's voice is small and plaintive, and his gaze does not waver from the forest sky. You must hurry and pursue Beowulf to the 5th floor. That's a good chunk of the floor done, but it's quite the journey from the 3rd floor, so we're pretty worn out. Kurodachi, requires 1 Iron Shell and 7 Shell Warts. Royal Claw, ATK+47, requires 1 Metal Hull - Made from modifying and sharpening a hard shell. Gladius, ATK+35, requires 3 Metal Hulls - A simple short sword designed for piercing. Pure Vest, Light Armor, DEF+17, requires 1 Metal Hull and 5 Bug Shells, sells for 230en - Clothes with hard plates woven inside. Required for The item trade II We've unlocked our first claw for the upcoming Beast and they work pretty similarly to katanas, having high ATK, though very slightly slower and less accurate. They can definitely dish out damage if they want, but due to a wide variety of factors, cough Loyalty cough, it's a lot easier to use a Ronin and focus on the more defensive aspects of a Beast. Something to expand on later. My father and I are both so grateful! I've already put it on the show floor, so please take a look. I left the reward with Cass, so you can claim it from him. Thank you sooo much. If I have another request, I hope you'll be the ones to help!  I heard that lot never leaves the place. The forest'll take them if they don't look out! The main thing though, is yer reward, right? Here yeh go, and thanks a lot!  Welcome back. How was the armor they worked up? Well, I s'pose you'll find out soon enough. Here you go! Thanks again! Maybe you should put it on to stop dying all the time. And deny my chance of death? Absolutely not! There's still a chunk of 4F left, but we'll finish that up along with trying to find Chimaera next time.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2021 01:06
|
|
|
Protector Can equip: Swords, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Shields How the mighty have fa- wait, this class is still good??? Well of course, just because the enemies don't overwhelm you with level advantage doesn't mean you should shirk on defense! Well you kinda can actually, this game rewards you using busted classes to wipe out strong bosses in a few turns, making support not a great option. Most of the skills from the previous game work as well in this one and some of the wonkier skills actually got better, making a Protector an incredibly useful member. HOWEVER, they are very SP hungry and aren't very useful in offensive teams, and mainly shine later on when enemies become very scary, almost required, even! They barely do anything aside from defend and they are no longer tied for the highest STR in the game, so they don't hit very hard, but when they shine, oh boy do they. Wait, a good class that actually got buffed in the transition to EO2? Say it ain't so! Well for a given definition of good, as Protectors themselves didn't have too much to offer in 1 while at the same time being mandatory for a few key fights. Here, they're not even a lock for most parties since you have a ton of other defensive tools to facetank the things they were previously used for in this game. And offenses got heavily buffed in this game, allowing players to end fights before they would really need the defenses. Still, if you choose to go with a Protector, they're very capable of performing what's asked of them in their job description. Oof that STR is a little hard to look at, but they have the second best stat average in the game, and since the best average is a meme class I'm scared to use, I think the Protector wins out overall. They have, of course, the best VIT and low TEC and AGI, but they also have great LUC, even if it only helps against low LUC enemies, as well as great HP. Their TP is middling which can be an issue on longer stints, since they're a bit useless if they can't defend, but they're usually fine in boss fights, where they matter the most. Overall, a very standard spread, but it's for the best. Okay not everything about them got buffed. Their STR took a very hard hit, so Smite spamming isn't really a great thing to do in their downtime anymore. You could try buffing it up if you really want them to spam Smite again, but you're honestly better off using an actual damage dealer class instead. HP and VIT are fantastic stats to increase for them to make them basically ubertanks. And they'll also appreciate TP increases to be able to spam their defensives more often. TEC doesn't really do much for them aside from increasing their evasion against TEC-based attack slightly, and they're already fairly bulky enough to facetank a bunch of things instead of dodging them. LUC isn't an ideal stat to raise either for the same reason, as the evasion increase is miniscule. AGI is completely and utterly worthless to increase on them, as all of their important defensives have priority, making their low AGI a moot point.Common Passive Unlocks HP Up: Lv1: HP Regen; Lv3: Riskwall TEC Up: Lv1: Refresh; Lv10: Antiall VIT Up: Lv1: Fortify A relatively even spread, aside from TEC Up, that is a massive pitfall going for Antiall, probably one of the biggest trap skills in the game. Anyway, it's good the requirements for everything else are pretty low due to how much SP you don't have to spread around, Refresh lets your Protector do something else with their life, depending on team composition, while Fortify isn't too useful but can be comboed with other good skills, so up to you. Don't think about STR Up, I know you want to, but it's too hard to bear, just invest in TP Up instead. And LUC Up will only help you avoid stuff better, not that useful. ...oh, AGI Up? LOLShields Unlocks: Lv1: F. Guard, B. Guard; Lv3: Antifire, Anticold, Antivolt; Lv5: En Guarde; Lv7: 1 Guard; Lv10: Smite, Antiall Passive  A lack of weapon mastery means the Protector should stick to its lane and it's alright as a passive. You'll want to max it out due to all the amazing skills on here, and 1 Guard, while Smite gives them SOMETHING to do. Overall, 10/10 would max again. Unlike in EO1, this now covers all damage types, so it's now a very nice overall defensive boost. Unfortunately like EO1, it still doesn't boost Smite's damage, but you still have to max it out to unlock it.Aegis Prerequisites: HP Regen Lv5, Riskwall Lv5 Gives the user a chance to be automatically revived at 1HP. Does not activate if killed by Instant Death. Passive.  Oh hey this is back in another suspect scaling, this skill can be absolutely amazing if it works, but if it doesn't you've got dead SP and a dead Protector. If it does work and your Protector is the only one left at 1HP, then it's not very useful either. It has a much heavier investment compared to 1 and HP Regen is a terrible skill to fully invest in for this, so, sure, you'll actually be at 8HP when it works, happy now?! One level can offer results, but this game isn't as brutal that you'll go drat, if only the best defensive class in the game wasn't dying so much! This skill was a questionable investment in 1, and it was stronger there. Here it's a bit weaker, and there's not much of a reason to take this I'd say. Really doesn't help you have to burn 5 SP on a really crappy skill to get this. Your Protector shouldn't be dying so much when they're a fairly beefy class, and this just provides a safety net for an area they're really unlikely to fail in. If you absolutely insist on picking it up, make sure it's one of the last things they learn.En Guarde Prerequisites: Shields Lv5 Chance of reducing incoming damage by 50%. Passive. Now this is a little better, very easy to unlock, especially compared to last game, and due to Provoke and Fortify shenanigans this is something that you can reasonably activate often. 50% can be a lot later in the game and flipping a three sided coin each attack can add up pretty fast, honestly. It's not a must have skill and maxing it out is painful, but an early point can help massively improve survivability, you know, if you're lucky. En Garde on the other hand got buffed. Now it provides an effective 20% increase to the Protector's HP. Not a bad pickup for later, especially since its unlock requirements are no longer as strict.HP Regen Prerequisites: HP Up Lv1 Unlocks: Lv5: Aegis Restores the user's HP at the end of the turn. Passive.  ?????????????????? If you want Aegis, yes, with gritted teeth. If you don't want Aegis, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 7 HP restored per turn. Not 7%, 7 HP. Well, this skill isn't quite as bad as it looks, as there are some applicaitons for it. It does stack with the War Magus' Regenall, and that 7 HP per turn is fairly strong in the earlygame! That's around 14% HP recovered per turn there, giving them a ton of bulk. And resting is now a viable option since it only takes away 5 levels, and can now be done at any time, so you can have your Protector dump this skill for more useful ones. Unless you really want Aegis I guess. Past the early-game, it's complete crap and the only reason to take this is to unlock Aegis, which isn't an amazing skill.Riskwall Prerequisites: HP Up Lv3 Unlocks: Lv5: Aegis BUGGED: Lv2 of initial threshold is slightly worse, oh no! Reduces all damage by a certain amount depending on user's HP. Passive.  A bit of levels into HP Up and you've got another great passive that is easy to max and when combined with Shields, gives you an 18% reduction before you've even started! And it gets better as you get deader! Admittedly the last threshold is kinda useless in most cases, but can let your Protector hang on just a little bit longer to receive that juicy Salve. Once you get your initial defenses up and before you spend 15 floors on the Anti skills, this is a good pick. If you're wondering why that bug is there, that's actually related to a very deep rabbit hole I'll dive into later, as that sort of writeup is really not fit for a class overview. This stacks multiplicatively with Shields, causing it so that a healthy Protector with max level Shield and Riskwall starts off with a 17.2% damage reduction, effectively increasing their HP by 20%. And as their HP gets lower, it can increase to to a whopping 35.2% damage reduction, effectively giving them a 54% increase to their HP! It's a very nice defensive boon that gives more and more as the Protector loses HP, making them harder to kill. Very easy skill to unlock and invest in, and a very worthwile pickup.Smite Prerequisites: Shields Lv10 A single target Shield attack that attempts to inflict Arm Bind. Shield skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Ah this juicy skill is back and has some real nice numbers behind it, especially since shields offer more DEF this time around, letting you hit harder than ever! Ah, just kidding. Unfortunately Protectors have 32 less STR at level 70 than before so these numbers try to compensate but fail miserably. Still, your Protector literally has nothing better to do when they don't need to defend, so sure whatever, let me just go drink in the corner. Also the Arm Bind chance is alright with their higher LUC, but don't count on it. Do not be fooled by that high damage modifier. The Protector's STR got utterly gutted in this game, and STR has a massive effect on damage, so Smite's damage output just tanks to terrible levels. And Shield DEF no longer has an impact on Smite's damage in this game, so that's another hit to its damage Smite got. Not a great investment unless you really have nothing else left for the Protector to take.F. Guard/B. Guard Prerequisites: Shields Lv1 Unlocks: Lv5: A. Guard Reduces physical damage dealt to the front/back lines for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.  My bread and butter is back! Though does that make one bread and the other butter? I'm referring to F. Guard, of course, I don't think I used B. Guard once, since there's barely any situations you might need it. F. Guard is just so easy to spam and it's even better than before as well as activating multiple times! That last part doesn't really matter, either the attack hits your entire party, which will activate this skill 3 times, or it'll hit the party randomly, so your back row could get pasted. In any case, this was amazing then and it's amazing now, you'll use this skill in basically every fight, max it asap! ...alright to give some credit, due to back row damage reduction, 30% in this case, it does make B. Guard pretty good, but you want 3 people up front to spread damage around, making defending 2 members, your Protector usually not one of them, not a compelling concept. These skills were overshadowed by Defender in the previous game, but Defender is gone now, so these are now the Protector's bread and butter skills. These skills got some very heavy buffs. Not only are the damage multipliers stronger, the skills can now activate multiple times on the same character! However, the buffs in question also include making these skills RNG based. The multiple activations aren't guaranteed to proc, and every time they do proc the chances of them activating again go down. Still, F. Guard is a very powerful defensive, if not the most powerful defensive, and probably one that will be seeing the most use. As for B. Guard, it's usefulness was shaky in 1, but it can be understood why it existed in that game. The back row wasn't targeted as often, but the defense increase it provided was nearly miniscule, so a skill to protect that row was understandable, even if it doesn't see use thanks to Defender. Here... well um, the back row got changed to reduce damage by 30%, and like in the other EO games, it's not targeted as often, so you really don't need this skill, as it's pretty redundant with the protection the game provides. B. Guard can easily be ignored without too much fuss in this game thanks to the buffs to the back row mechanics.A. Guard Prerequisites: F. Guard Lv5, B. Guard Lv5 Reduces physical damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.  Defender... look at how they massacred my boy. What a great skill in the last game, no wonder it got the smack, A. Guard can be useful, but since it can't protect the entire party, or indeed some of the party if one member gets tagged multiple times, then it's not as effective as just maxing out F. Guard and leaving this and B. Guard to rot away, you are short on SP afterall. I'd say the skill barely justifies the investment, it can be useful, but Defender this is not. RIP Defender. It got turned into All Guard, and honestly, it's not too great. It requires too much investment to snag, and it's significantly less reliable than F. Guard, and it can't even protect a full party from an AOE physical attack. F. Guard is pretty much their best skill that covers most situations just fine.1 Guard Prerequisites: Shields Lv7 Reduces physical damage dealt to a single target for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.  Eh, another wonky skill that has its uses and drawbacks. It's difficult to have a single party member targetted 10 times, after all Protectors have the Provoke skill. Survivalist Baitstep? Snrk, yeah for sure man. It can be very useful in making sure a specific target survives the turn but what about everyone else? Why not use F. Guard? Or hell, A. Guard, they offer better overall protection, but there are situations when this is useful. It's not a big an investment as A. Guard, so maybe go for it, but it's a hard sell regardless. For those of you that have played the later EO games, no this isn't a redirection skill. It's just damage reduction for one party member. Before you get any ideas, this doesn't work with a Loyalty Beast, as Loyalty has priority over Protector Shield skills for some unfathomable reason. I'd say this is a hard pass, as F. Guard covers more people while only having a tiny bit less damage reduction. And as insult to injury, maxing out F. Guard takes up less SP than maxing out 1 Guard.Antifire/Anticold/Antivolt Prerequisites: Shields Lv3 Reduces Fire/Ice/Volt damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.  It's SP sink time! Compared to last game where you could leave all 3 anti elem skills at level 5 due to a very useful bug, boy you cannot do that this time. Now you can leave these skills at level 8 for most of the game since most elemental attacks you want to block are party wide and that's all good, but there are some attacks you need to max it out so you don't get completely pasted, especially if you want to heal your party as these skills are no longer bugged! You can max them and nullify all aspects of an attack, have it protect you as many times as you want AND you get healed to boot! You will spend half the game levelling these skills up, but they are some of the best skills in the game, so you have to, no further questions. The Antielemental skills now nullify attacks and their secondary effects when they absorb damage, so feel free to max them out. Actually, you basically have to max them out, as they're very unreliable at protecting the entire party even at levels 8 and 9. However, you won't need these for the maingame too often, as not too many enemies have access to elemental attacks, and throwing down a Mist can be enough to deal with those if you really need the help. By post-game... mists are still really good for dealing with the usual culprits you'd want these skills for, so they're not actually must-haves for those specific portions of the game. Though obviously having these maxed by then is a huge help. For the main game you can focus on leveling F. Guard and max out these skills at your leisure on the way to post-game. Or ignore them entirely if you don't plan on tackling post-game, up to you.Antiall Prerequisites: Shields Lv10, TEC Up Lv10 Reduces elemental damage dealt to the entire party for the entire turn or if the user dies. Shield skill, uses the Arms.  Oh, uh, wow, that was a mighty fall, almost got whiplash. Antiall is an absolutely godawful skill due to two big reasons. Firstly, what the gently caress are those prerequisites, WHY WHY WHY would you EVER max out TEC Up on a PROTECTOR????!!!! It does nothing for them, it's only good for Refresh since that has some utility, but you also need to max Shields as well? For a skill that doesn't protect the entire party from an attack. What the gently caress were they thinking, there is never a case when you'd want this over using the proper Anti skill, since any enemy that has multiple elementals do so in a nice, standard pattern. Or you just block the scariest one and deal with the others. There is one very very late exception, but this skill will NOT SAVE YOU FROM THE NIGHT OH GOD anyway don't use this garbage, good grief. Antiall is a terrible skill, skip it entirely. Sure you're saving some SP compared to maxing out the other 3 Antielemental skills which takes 33 SP in total compared to spending 25 SP to max out this skill. So you're basically saving 8 SP for a skill that can't even protect your entire party from an elemental AOE, which is what you'd want it for. You don't encounter too many elemental attacks from random encounters, and most FOEs and bosses in the game have access to only one element, so you're better off using the single Antielemental skills instead of Antiall even in those use cases. There's precisely one boss fight in the game where this skill would be genuinely useful, but said fight is very easy to get past and is not worth wasting a whole 25 SP for. (Note this is different from the one Cross is talking about, and in that fight this skill is abject garbage.)Fortify Prerequisites: VIT Up Lv1 Increases the user's physical defense for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  Oh hey it's this skill again. It's alright, I used it a couple of times in the last game for a few specific, solitary, challenges, but it doesn't really offer much that F. Guard doesn't. It does have some use now that Provoke isn't bugged garbage. That skill also works like Fortify, so I guess if you stacked them you'd be a physical machine, but that works if they solely target you, which isn't always the case. Anyway, it's alright, but again most of these skills sound neat, but of course Protectors do not have SP to spare. Now that a specific non-existant skill no longer completely and utterly overshadows this skill, is this worth taking? To be honest, not really, for the exact same problem it wasn't worth taking in 1. There are still other skills that make this one redunant. Two of them in fact, and the Protector is already super bulky in this game.Provoke Unlocks: Lv3: Parry Increases the user's physical defense and chance of being targetted for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  Ah now this is much better! Before, Provoke was only a multiplier to the relatively small chance of being targetted, since we don't know exactly how it all goes down, so it looks like it has barely any effect. Here, the results are obvious, past level 7, every single enemy is drawn to you. That could be good, but also very bad, so pick your battles wisely. This doesn't affect AOE attacks, but any single target attack will land right on your face. And that's fine due to Fortify basically being built into this skill, so it's advisable to max it to combine with Shields and Riskwall, and yes, you can combine this with Fortify and Parry to really make a tank, but of course 5 enemies could just wreck your face before you can do anything, so maybe don't do that. Big investment, but can provide big results. Now that Provoke isn't bugged garbage, it's a great earlygame skill. To go briefly into how enemy aggro works in this game, most of the time the AI will tell the enemy to use "a standard targeting routine", which makes it so that the enemy has a large chance of targeting the party member with the highest current HP in the front row, a decent chance of targeting the party member with the highest current HP in the back row, and a small chance of going after someone random. The AI can also tell the enemy to go after a specific target, which overrides every aggro effect and completely ignores the effects of Provoke and Baitstep. However "standard targeting" routines will be overridden by Provoke's chances, and since it's a 100% aggro rate at levels 7 and above, it'll always redirect the enemy's fire in those cases. Well, not quite. There's an additional condition required for Provoke to work. The attack in question must be a single target attack. Splash target, random target, and other such attacks are entirely out of the question and ignore this skill. And you'll be seeing more of those as the game goes on, causing this to fall off past earlygame. But in the earlygame, you'll be seeing plenty of single target skills, so this can be a good way for the Protector to defend the rest of their party during that time. Oh and since Fortify is basically built into this skill despite having a weaker defense boost, there's little reason to take Fortify. Note that targeting routines are decided at the start of the turn, so it'll take until next turn for Provoke's aggro effects to kick in. Comboing it with the Survivalist's 1st Turn is a complete waste since AI routines are decided before that skill activates as well.Parry Prerequisites: Provoke Lv3 Nullifies all physical damage for the entire turn or if the user dies. Buff skill, uses the Arms.  Now we're playing with power. In the right circumstances this skill is incredible, you effectively ignore all physical attacking enemies for a turn and let your team clean up, but of course outside of that situation it's not that great. Firstly this practically needs to be paired with Provoke, and of course it only works for physical damage. You also don't need to invest in it that much since, like with 1 Guard, there's no way you'll be attacked physically 20 times in one turn, also it, again, doesn't work for AOE attacks. Well, it will nullify one of the AOE hits I guess, but yeah situational, that's what makes it incredible. This skill also makes Fortify redundant, since it nullifies physical damage entirely. However since it only protects the Protector, this means that this skill only really helps the party if you combo this with Provoke. And once Provoke starts falling off in usefulness, this skill does as well, since Protectors will likely want to move onto spamming F. Guard by then. If you do end up taking this skill, you don't need to max it out. A few SP or even only 1 point is fine, as even with Provoke active, Protectors shouldn't be targeted that often, and they have a decent amount of bulk to survive a few stray hits in the earlygame.Refresh Prerequisites: TEC Up Lv1 Removes ailments from a single target. Cannot dispel Petrify. Heal skill, uses the Head.  Well Protectors can't heal anymore, thank goodness, but they can now remove... most ailments. Since it's single target it's not as useful as it could be and your Protector should be using F. Guard or something instead but it can be something different. Obviously not necessary on a team with a Medic or War Magus, but if you don't feel immediately threatened and don't want to use a Theriaca B for some weird reason, sure why not. Well, it's only 6 SP to take, but it being single target really makes it not super appealing. If you have a Medic or Gunner, you really don't need this skill. Also, Therica Bs basically do this skill's job better, as they cost no TP, no SP, and can actually cure Petrification. I mean this skill might be nice to have in emergency situations in case you run out or forget to pack Therica Bs, but even then I'd consider it a low priority grab.Flee Chance of escaping battle at start of turn. Can warp to previous floor if one was visited during the current trip. Coward skill, uses the Legs.  Huh. Okay. This skill is weird, but hey, guaranteed escape at max level I guess? The most important aspect is the warp part of this skill works even if an FOE corners you, which prevents any kind of escape otherwise. That's, uh, that's about it, it's pretty useless outside of max level since you can never rely on it, but escaping isn't hard to do and also getting cornered by FOEs is only done by casuals and LPers, so whatever, r-right? This may seem redundant with EO2's naturally high escape rates, especially once you factor in Esc Up. However it does have a use in that it can rescue the party if they get cornered by FOEs, which can happen frequently in this game due to the revised FOE mechanics. Do note that the warp component has to activate for this skill to rescue you from such situations, as the escape rate is disabled there.Painless Nullifies all damage, ailments or binds for the rest of the turn. Does not affect buffs, debuffs or dispels. Force Skill, uses the Arms. Oh hey the only skill without an image because, well, that's everything that it does. Painless is one of the best Force skills, since you can activate it every other turn if you fancy burning loads of Axcela IIs. You might need to to get past certain enemies with terrifying skills that will kill you if you don't PUSH THIS PANIC BUTTON RIGHT THE HELL NOW!!! So yeah, big fan, really easy to rely on and make you complacent. One of the best Force skills in the entire game by far. Guaranteed invincibility for 1 turn is one of the most powerful effects in the game, especially if you're in the post-game. (And you can activate this more frequently if you stuff Axcelas down their throat.) By post-game, the Antielementals and this skill are the main selling points to take this class, and it makes for a fantastic panic button. Especially since this is one of the few ways to deal with some mechanics at certain post-game bosses. Thankfully the Protector got through unscathed, might've become better actually, but it was already a great class last game. Sure it's weaker and some of its skills are wonky, but when you're not spending all your SP on the Anti skills, they have some great tools and make my life much less of a headache when you don't vote in a healer AGAIN CUT ME A BREAK ALREADY! The Protector's overall usefulness thankfully did not get hammered into the ground like with the Landsknecht and the Survivalist, and I'd say they're simultaneously better and yet not really a must-have like in the last game. While the Protectors are overall a better class than they were in 1, they aren't a mandatory pickup like in 1 since you have more options to cover up your party's defensive holes. Though if you do choose to take one along, they can really be a huge boon to the party, increasing their survivability greatly.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2021 01:06
|
|
|
Holly and Lavin: Sword or Axe Hmmmmmmm... Hmmmmmmm... ... I'll take this Kalinga, please! One Carp Sword, thank ye! HMM?! Oh, heh, nice little sword there. Reminds me of my younger days when I foolishly dabbled in such things. Now of course I stick to the much stronger axe. Ugh, yeh cannae have fun with axes, I noo that from me... lumberjack days. Swords are teh way to go! I understood like half of that, where's your accent from, Caledonia? And why did you hesitate saying lumberjack? Well me family says we're from the sunken islands of North Gaul, where we have a long tradition of fightin'- ah, wait, why am I tellin' yeh all this??? Stupid axehead with a pretteh face! Oh, sorry to tell you, cute sword stooge, but I'm already taken! Call meh cute again and I'll take yer head! You wanna go?! OCH, YE WANNA GO?! Um... What?! My father says anything you break in the shop will be broken a second time on your head... ... ... Wanna get a drink? If yeh're payin', pretteh boy, then this cute stooge will oblige. Alright, once we're drunk we'll prove who's better through combat, just how gran used to train me! Now yer speakin' meh language!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2021 01:08
|
|
|
Part 7: Running From Raptors Woodland Ruins Time for the hardest part of the earlygame, reaching the checkpoint on 5F before running out of TP. It's gonna be a close one. Any steps forward can be meaningful progress. More experience, and more knowledge of the map can make your next trips go further and faster.  Battings, nine o'clock. Are you doing this on purpose?   Was the triple backflip dodge really necessary? Apparently this game didn't get the memo that encounters should be reduced around FOEs, I had three within 15 steps of each other. I actually went and checked the game maps, and it turns out the whole "encounter rates tend to be lower in FOE infested areas" originated with EO3. In the first 2 games, FOE patrol zones tend to be just as dangerous as the rest of the floor. Interesting how many series staples truly got established in that entry. It's a weird bias you can have in these games, I didn't notice it at all in EO1. If I didn't get an encounter I was like of course I didn't, but if I did get an encounter then I like that's unlucky. Never crossed my mind I was just wrong lmao. All these years later, and sometimes EO1 and EO2's collective jank still surprise me. Neat. Neat! Neet! Okay enough of that. This corridor patrolled by a Raptor has class exclusive shortcuts, so better have them or you're trapped! Or a Warp Wire. But it is immediately apparent that doing so will be no simple task. A monstrous, grey spider whose web is strong as steel waits for you there... the metallic strands are spun far and wide. You wonder if there's any way through. After each member tries, your landsknecht steps forth valiantly. The spider has fled, but you are powerless to cut its steely web and move forward! The landsknecht raises a sharp blade and brings it down with a wild cry. The tough fibers are chopped in two, and the nest begins to fall apart! Thanks to your landsknecht, you push through the brush and reach the passage beyond. Indeed game, only a Landsknecht is strong enough to cut a steel web. We're really keeping up the pretense of landsknechts being physically stronger than ronin, huh? I know the class gating is done for gameplay reasons, but the flavor text they went with to justify these can get pretty    The spoils for you. Was nae issue for the strongest in yer guild! Hmm?! Don't drop your book in the fireplace. More defense is always a good thing. ...Man, it feels so surreal to say that after several Etrian Odyssey games of armor being pure crap. Just as you are about to take your first step, a rabbit darts past your legs into the path. You gape in horror as the leaves attack the rabbit, devouring its meat in an instant! It seems the plants are not only carnivorous, but vicious as well. You blanch after the gruesome sight, but your war magus steps forward fearlessly. The war magus produces a vial and applies the purple liquid from it to your bodies. It seems the salve will mask your scent, making it safe to walk down the path! You will have to suppress your gag reflex, but you may now continue down the hidden path. Always felt to me like the whole "war magi are dark arts witches/wizards" thing was underutilized, both in this game and its remake.  All yours, friend. Uh, thanks, it suits me. Do you always carry a vial of that stuff around? It's very useful in repelling people. This is most unrefining! While the smell is a pain, I also wouldn't mind having more of this stuff. +12 DEF on a piece of non-body armor? What is this!? And a 3 TP increase to boot, geez! The future is now, old man.  The other two hidden paths require a Protector and a Ronin, so we'll be back when we have the 5F and 6F party. Hopefully we can get there without wasting more Nectars... Checkpoints are always on floors 3 and 5 of a given stratum, but it's much appreciated after how 1 starved you of shortcuts sometimes. Also lets you reach the boss a lot more easily instead of having to wade through all 5 floors of a stratum. Anythin'? Weird trees that kathy might like, nothing interesting for the map.  Thank god we're nearly done, I'll be hearing Logan's yelps in my sleep. You just need the plushy bed like mine.  What a terrifying presence that could kill me ten times over, hohohohoho! Ah, sweet sanctuary. There's a little bit of 4F we skipped because we're out of TP with basically everyone, but getting here is so nice.  Seems to be all anyone is talking about now... One of my guests told me about it, and I know they'd never lie. It gave me a real scale to hear about all those different types of monsters mixed together! Are you sure you'll be okay? Don't overdo it... you can't explore if you're dead! He always sounds so disappointed! can't imagine why How are things going? I'd say your careers are taking off nicely. The inn's owner came by here the other day for a scheduled checkup on her daughter. She told me you were some of the better explorers staying with her. But you should still be careful and look after yourselves. It's a new sword... made of a super-dense metal... urrgh... No issue for me, the strongest in our guild. Hrm, I'm pretty sure I could've kicked it in position. As our endless healed fractures show, you overestimate my leg strength. Wait, no! Oh... I'm sorry... you didn't have to... I-I didn't mean for you to... w-well, thank you very much for helping me. I didn't have any idea how to move that thing. *sigh* I shouldn't do this to customers, or they'll never come back... I'm really sorry! W-Well, I'll be cleaning up, but just call me if you need something! Boar Spear, requires 5 Red Shards and 5 Aragonite - Sword, +15 speed. Btw, most swords have +20 speed, so equipping this is making Holly slower, but it really isn't that big a deal. When the bad weapons come up, I'll definitely mention them. Gotta love those pointless differences. Be careful, though. I hear there's quite the beastie up on that floor. This one lot nearly got wiped out by the thing, before they were saved by another guild. And I'll tell yeh, they knew what they were about. The fiend was just too strong. If yeh're planning to go up against it, be careful. I don't like to hear about guilds dying! Hmmmmmmm?! ...yes, yes, it's your turn to join the party. Ah, what a debut we will have! We will be requiring the slashy woman, but your turn will be aftering.  The guards are actually being nice and talking to me! Usually they'd ignore me or call me names... Oh goody a depressing backstory. I got this request from one of the Duke's guards. Quite the gentleman, that lad. He waxed eloquent about all this guild had done for him... and judging by his description, he can only have meant yeh. The young guard over at the Duke's Palace can tell yeh more about the job. Get going!  Oh hey, Gerson was drinking with that guy earlier. Who? Yeh want to hear the details anyway, eh? I knew yeh wouldn't be satisfied... all right... there's a geezer lives far from the main ciy, name of Chapman. More commonly known around Lagaard as Braggart Chap. His story is that he was an explorer once, but no one believes it. Insists that there's a spring that collects the moon's tears. Swears up and down he saw it. Nice story, sure, but this is Braggart Chap. I doubt the man's been as far as the 5th floor. But if yeh're going to chase tall takes, I won't stop yeh. Just don't get your hopes up.  i hope they're in twisted, gnarled shapes Guh! You're as stealthy as death itself, ohohohoho! Apparently, the trees in the Labyrinth have been withering abnormally. He wants yeh to find the cause. I dunno much about it, but it sounds pretty serious. Check in at the hospital to get more details. G'luck! Not well enough for this one. Hrmmm... They say you've even reached the 5th floor. If so, take even more caution than before. There's a fierce monster at the 5th floor's end. Don't take it lightly, or you'll regret it. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. It must be someone from the guard corps. Please wait here. I found him! Or, well, he found me, he initiated the conversation! Does that make us friends?! I dinnae think that's hoo it works. Huh? Don't you remember me? Oh... I guess we all look the same with our helmets on, haha. I'm one of the guys you brought those supplies to in the Labyrinth... remember? Yeah, exactly! Well, I've got another favor to ask of you. The roads of High Lagaard are decorated with a beautiful mineral called Amazonite. Some roads are in need of repair, and we were going to fix the, but we don't have any Amazonite left. It's usually no problem to get some more, but we're pretty busy now, so could you help out? All you have to do is Mine at an item point in the Labyrinth. Once you collect five chunks of Amazonite, just take them to Cass at the bar. If you don't have any questions, I'll get back to work now. Hope to see you soon! Beware of that place, I've heard too many stories of explorers losing their lives there. I'm sure you'll be all right. Just... use extreme caution. If it's about the quest, I'm terribly sorry, but could you come back tonight? It's a personal request, so it wouldn't be fair to go over it while I'm on my rounds. Now then, I have work to do. I hope to see you later. Huh. I know the Labyrinth had time-gated stuff, but I didn't realize NPCs in town did so too. Seems... odd, given that an inn rest is completely effortless compared to in the Labyrinth where an inn rest would be more effort to get to. Not surprised the rest of the series mostly didn't use this mechanic again. Fine with me, I never sleep, hohohohoho. you were definitely snoring when you were hanging in the rafters It's called meditating! Ahem. We've been getting strange reports from explorers and guards about the matter... have you seen it, too? Parts of the Labyrinth are withering away unnaturally. I hope I'm overthinking it, but I'm afraid I'm not. There must be some reason behind it. No one's too worried about it yet, but it could lead to some very serious circumstances. I'll turn over whatever data you collect to the Northern Academy. Oh, I guess I should explain that they're an organization of healers across this hemisphere. But to get the ball rolling, I need you to verify a few specific instances for proof. There are currently clusters of trees on the 5th and 6th floors that are withering away. I think samples from three areas should be sufficient to begin. Oh, just to let you know, this request has nothing to do with the hospital or the Grand Duchy. I don't want to spread rumors without evidence to back them up. Please keep this a secret. Once you have the samples, can you turn them in at the bar? I'm counting on you! And with that Derek has probably more dialogue than most EO1 patrons. There's 5 spots to observe trees between 4F and 8F and you get a nice chunk of cash for finding more than you're supposed to, so we'll have this quest for a fair while. And with the lengthy town visit, get used to these, we've got to get a new team ready to explore 5F!    Hindi, requires 7 Long Pins and 7 Bug Wings. We need Eleanore for a shortcut so she's back up to par, though since it hasn't been long she's just going for Kienzan/Midareba. I did go a little overboard with Lily's Front Guard, she can only use it 3 times, but there's really not much for Protectors to go for this early and it'll be great for FOEs and Bosses if you're going for short, nuking fights. kathy has her eternal point in Revive and is gonna max Healer to make Cure and Salve cheap and powerful! Since I have item drop cheats I'll ignore Scavenge, but would highly advise you grab it early, it's literally free money. If you can't cheat (or just choose not to), absolutely grab Scavenge if you can. It's broken as hell in this game and makes things so much easier and much less of a headache.  Ah, you've returned before they did to pick me up. Hmmhmmhmm. I even took the scenic route. Four, five... yes, that's all of them. I'm still shocked yeh knew that guard so well. Can't forget yer reward of course. I'll be counting on yeh! Exciting quests! Some of the flavor text can be pretty interesting, but wow I absolutely do not miss doing quests in original EO2. A Sudden Gust of Wind that Calls for Death  You look almost disappointed. Well I don't mind getting a little more injured! less work for me at leastGashtor HP: 300 STR: 17 VIT: 17 TEC: 17 AGI: 17 LUC: 17 Level: 9 Exp: 0 Skills Fangs: Uses the Head. Deals 150% Cut damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Paralysis. Has a 50% base infliction chance, a 100% accuracy modifier and a 150% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops None Conditional: None I guess we should easily crush this FOE while we have an incredibly powerful team. If you know what to spec for, then you can get very powerful very quickly, I'm just spreading out skills just for some variety. Two healers might seem overkill, but Alastor is much faster with those heals, and can do other things, whereas kathy will remain in the back row for probably the entire LP. It also means we can't die. Atlus wouldn't solve the "if you know what to spec for, you can get powerful very quickly" problem until...what, EOU? I think that's the earliest instance of them realizing that significant TP cost increases at important skill levels would discourage rushing the most powerful skills, at least somewhat. Gashtors are basically the starter FOE. Strong enough to destroy you on the first fight, but later on when you're more powerful, they're pretty manageable. Is generally the standard pattern for FOEs in the EO series, though going toe to toe with most other EO2 FOEs requires more effort to pull off compared to other EO games.  HIYAH! Nice to cross off a revenge, now when we get to the next stratum, I can cross off a lot more! I don't want to knowing how many there are. The danger to travellers is no more, and all may pass this point without fear. Your quest is complete. When you have the time, go to the bar and report your work! By the way, once you complete this quest, that Gashtor is permanently dead. It's one of the few FOEs that never respawns.  The guards were chuffed to see how strong yeh were! The Explorers Guild isn't just here to explore that Labyrinth, yeh know. Sometimes yeh'll have to pitch in and help around town, so come see me now and again, eh? Ahh, yes, the reward. Here yeh go, and I'll be counting on yer help again soon! they're a little bitter, but mix in some cocoa powder and it goes down a treat.  4F B4 Mine Point Ambush Chance: 10% Ambush Encounter: 40% Raflesia x1, Hypnowl x1 40% Hypnowl x3 20% Raflesia x1 Amazonite: 60% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en 7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en 5 required for Paint the town blue Aragonite: 25% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en 5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en 7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en Garnet: 15% chance. Sells for 100en. 1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en There's one last floor to this stratum, but there's a couple things to finish on 4F. This is the only gathering point on this floor that ambushes you with Hypnowls, which are found next floor. Bit annoying, but it's nice and close to the Pole. Dodging dinos already, what an adventure, heh. This FOE is such a pain to actually get around from this side that I considered just killing it. I'm pretty sure that's a behavior some EO players have. Puzzle or just walking around them is too much of a pain in the rear end, so just kill the FOE to save themselves the trouble. Which can work in most EO games but uh, due to how strong EO2 FOEs are, that's almost always a bad idea in this game unless the FOE in question is a flying one.  Wah, that light magic burns! It's just a healing paste... You look around and find that one of the trees nearby has turned grey. Upon closer inspection, it seems almost as if it's turned to stone. Just then, kathy lets out an astonished cry. ahh. they're hosed. awesome. The affliction has spread! Many of the trees around you have changed color. You now remember the quest you accepted at the hospital. You agreed to investigate the abnormalities found on trees within the Labyrinth. You note down your current coordinates, and leave the area of strange trees.  Hey, get behind me, don't get close to those weird things! i just wanna stroke them... There are five tripwires lain, and all but one will set off the trap. It's a simple snare, but a difficult one to see through. As you give up on the trap, one by one, your ronin waits for a chance to step in. Once the way is clear, the ronin sits in a meditative position and closes both eyes. ...... The ronin's blade lashes out, slicing one of the tripwires! Before you can blink, the blade is back in its sheath, and the trap lies exposed to all. Thanks to your ronin, the trap has been destroyed, and you may proceed down the trail. Wowzings, how did you know which was the ones? You'd be surprised how many books I've read feature this as a puzzle.  Creepity creep. Oh no, five Annettes. A 50% Arm Bind resistance can be very helpful for your big, physical attackers, or even some insurance for your Protector, so we'll store this for later, most accessories are worth keeping! You can also stack multiples for complete immunity. Granted Arm Bind resistance isn't really needed right now. Suddenly, arrows from all directions, piercing the ground near your feet! It seems that the hidden passage is riddled with traps. As you contemplate how to pass the traps, your protector pushes you aside and steps forward. The arrows become little more than a nuisance against the protector's raised shield. You may now follow the protector and pass the forest wall. I'll take the lead! Makes a change...  And that's all the class shortcuts we'll be encountering for a while. They can be a little fun, but it is a pain being a member down if you decide not to grind one of each class in the game, you can see why we never see these after this game. And later ones have way worse requirements! But hey, that's all of 4F done, that was quick. Good grief +12 DEF on a mere shield, and this early on, are you all seeing this!?  Horn Mace, requires 7 Red Shards and 3 Hard Roots - Stave, -3 speed. Slice Whip, requires 15 Metal Hulls and 3 Bent Twigs. And +20 HP this early that you can fit into your weapon slot! (And most staff users don't care too much about the Staff's attack power all too much.) Good grief, they're just piling on the defensive options! We're up and onward now, completely done with 4F! new floor, new cuties. Well to each their own, but it is quite fun finding new denizens on new floors. Heh, the great adventures start here. Though, are we forgetting anything? Got the Warp Wire, so don't think so. We should be very fining with this party! ...what do you mean they already left??? That's what my nose is telling me, let's kick 'em when they get back. Ahem, so I was only planning on having Eleanore back in the party for the 4F shortcut, she was gonna tag out with Juthro and then we'd explore the new floor from there. Except I completely forgot and she'll be in the party for the entire floor. Whoops! As an apology to Prexot for forgetting their character, Juthro will be in the boss fight, and will be doing the stratum clean up and 6F as planned. Anyway, we have a new monster. Cube Gel HP: 114 STR: 13 VIT: 14 TEC: 13 AGI: 15 LUC: 14 Level: 14 Exp: 427 Skills Acid: Uses the Arms. Deals 75% Untyped damage to a single target, healing the user by 50% of the damage dealt. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 50% 50% 50% 200% 200% 200%Disable Vulnerabilities 150% 150% 150% 150% 150% 150% 150% 150% 150% 150%Drops Gel Core: 25% chance, sells for 13en. 2 required for Warhammer - Stave, ATK+41, HP+10, -3 speed - sells for 370en 2 required for Hell Claw - Claw, ATK+61, Type: Fire - sells for 1,210en 5 required for Tabarzin - Axe, ATK+46, Type: Fire - sells for 560en Conditional: Kill with Stab damage Fiber Hide: 80% chance, sells for 25en 1 required for Plume Boot - Footwear, DEF+11, AGI+2 - sells for 350en Aw yeah, freakin elemental weak enemy baby. Even with the physical reduction, Acid doesn't heal enough for it to actually stall you. You'll also have some kind of elemental damage, surely, making these a complete non issue. In EO2U, gel enemies in general got reworked to focus on "uses nasty skills on death" as a gimmick. Cube gels, if I remember right, threw out a physical damage debuff on death, which is...yeah, pretty nasty. Ah, Gels. They're kind of weird and annoying. Resists all physicals and can restore their own HP, but they don't have much HP. Also any elemental and ailment will shut it down. So odd. 5F D1 Take Point Ambush Chance: 10% Ambush Encounter: 40% Hypnowl x3 40% Raflesia x1, Hypnowl x1 20% Raflesia x1 Tiny Bloom. 50% chance. Sells for 25en. 1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 10-16HP, TEC depending - sells for 500en 2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en 3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en Sour Fruit. 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Ward Chime - Item, Lv2 Stalker, reduces danger values by 33% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 2 required for Guard Sole - Item, Lv2 Patrol, reduces damage tile damage by 40% for 50 steps - sells for 200en 3 required for Poison Gas - Item, Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage - sells for 450en Green Nut. 15% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Blaze Oil - Item, Lv1 Blaze, imbues the target's regular attacks with Fire damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Freeze Oil - Item, Lv1 Frost, imbues the target's regular attacks with Ice damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked 1 required for Shock Oil - Item, Lv1 Shock, imbues the target's regular attacks with Volt damage - sells for 250en, must be restocked And now you can see that throughout a stratum a gathering point will barely change and just gets worse to gather at the higher you go due to nastier encounters. Close to the pole, but it doesn't matter, the first one you find in a stratum is the one you'll go to whenever you need it. Who? you stop that Hypnowl HP: 108 STR: 13 VIT: 14 TEC: 21 AGI: 14 LUC: 14 Level: 15 Exp: 571 Skills Powder: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Sleep on the entire party. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 150% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Feather: 25% chance, sells for 13en. 1 required for Volcanic - Gun, ATK+43 - sells for 370en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 2 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Sensui - Katana, ATK+55, STR+2 - sells for 1,020en 7 required for Carp Sword - Sword, ATK+43 - sells for 440en 10 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1 - sells for 440en Conditional: None Gah, these fuckers. If we're finding a Petaloid-like enemy this early and they were a massive pain, you can imagine this is an even bigger pain with some stronger monsters around. Definitely need to be taken out asap but thankfully they are pretty fragile. If you want consistency, you can equip your Gunner or Medic with a Bird Stare, but we won't need to use those kinda strats... yet. These got shuffled into the 2nd Stratum in EO2U for fairly good reason, I think. Ahahaha what the hell? Hey say hi to Petaloids in owl form! AOE 80% base infliction rate, what the poo poo. Yeah easily one of the most dangerous enemies in this stratum due to how they let other enemies pound you down so easily! Also Torpor doesn't work on these enemies if you were using that strategy, so don't try that. Use Poison instead if you have that. Guess it didn't get much from just suckling on your shield. He gives a start as you approach, then smiles and addresses you. No need to be afraid, though you never know what could be lurking, hohohoho. Please do not giving him sheer heart attack. Ah! A group of explorers, I see! What are you after? You fill him in on the details of your task, and the guard expresses his bewilderment. A flower? But... this floor is filled with flowers. No way. Oh! Maybe I know the one you mean. I think it's in the southeast region of this floor. You thank the guard and return to your search. The guard is another "wrong way, idiot", but this is an immediate dead end so it's not a big deal to ignore him. This item can be handy for the upcoming boss fight. The thin, grey trees are twisted in a way that seem to call out to you. You think back to the doctor's words and take an instinctive step back. What could this disturbing tableau mean? You note down the coordinates of the strange trees and leave the area. no hope for them Thankfully the Raptor does not come into the room. Hmm... hmhmhm. Am I might be sinking? You're not that short! Looking carefully at your surroundings, you notice something odd on the ground. ...it's moss! Even through your thick-soled boots, it was evident how soft the ground was. But why would moss be growing in a place like this...? As you ponder this question, you see water seep to the surface, creating a small pond. The moonlight's glow hits the water, making it seem like a thing alive... Suddenly, you remember the quest you undertook in the bar. The tear of the moon that Braggart Chap asked about... you feel certain that the "moon's tear" he spoke of is this very water. You decide to coax the water into a container and stow it in your bag. Now that was a sight to behold, heh. I've seen fancier. Map design is my passion.  Zzzzz... oof! Hey, what gives, I was dreamin' about a world without doors! Now ain't this a winning combination. Thankfully no blindside, but that was just a regular hit that did a massive chunk to my tankiest unit. Anyone hit by Tackle while asleep will loving die. Case in point for Hypnowls being dicks, encounter formations like these! Hope you have Nectars!  Thankfully with two healers we'll be just fine. 5F B7 Mine Point Ambush Chance: 5% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia Aragonite: 40% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Luck Beads - Accessory, LUC+10 - sells for 200en 5 required for Boar Spear - Sword, ATK+37, STR+2, +15 speed - sells for 350en 7 required for Tshirovha - Axe, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 410en Garnet: 35% chance. Sells for 100en. 1 required for Power Ring - Accessory, STR+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Apt Piece - Accessory, TEC+5 - sells for 200en Amazonite: 25% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, Poison Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, Leg Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 800en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en 7 required for Warabide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2, -5 speed - sells for 450en 5 required for Paint the town blue Don't get distracted by this amazing gathering point, look to the left! ah, this is heavier than i... I got it, I got it. Nice +50HP a floor before we unlock it. That's nearly double our HP right now, way more than new armour could reduce by. What is with all these defensive increases, holy poo poo!? Got nothing to worry about when you're behind me, heh. As much as I would love to be slowly whittled away by these things, I'll be more willing to fight 5 stacks when we have party wide attacks. Another one of these blasted things. I cannot imagining dragging Lily through one of these. i could always put her to sleep I see you raising your stave! It won't get past my shield! With how thin Sleep Gas is, I don't see any other way. We're about halfway through the floor, no need forcing the push to the end, there's a deceptive amount to go. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm trying to fix it... Hmm, you're lucky I'm so forgiving. Well to make it up, want to beat up the horror amalgamation coming up soon? Bitchin'. Back alrea--what?! Yeh got the moon's tear? Is this a joke? Blimey... I guess even Braggart Chap tells the truth sometimes. ...haw! I was so surprised, I nearly forgot yer reward. I'll be sure to pass the word onto old Chapman! I don't really think much of paralysis, in either the player or enemy hands, but if you know it's coming, this is a nice way of trying to prevent it. Volcanic, requires 1 Feather - Gun, +3 speed This is the first gun with a positive speed modifier, but since most guns with negative modifiers are just +1 instead, having +3 isn't a big deal.Warhammer, requires 2 Gel Cores and 2 Glue Quills - Stave, ATK+41, HP+10, -3 speed Plume Boot, requires 1 Fibre Hide and 5 Glue Quills - Footwear, DEF+11, AGI+2, sells for 350en - Feather-covered boots that increase defense. Hide Plate, requires 2 Feathers and 3 Gum Hides - Heavy Armor, DEF+22, sells for 310en - Armor made from layered beast fur. Bird Stare, requires 1 Feather and 1 Amazonite - Accessory, Sleep Resist Up 50%, sells for 800en - A necklace that guards against drowsiness. Definitely want some of these later, since there are... other enemies aside from Hypnowl that sleep ya. And good morning, next time there's a first stratum to clean up, shouldn't take too long I hope.
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Aug 9, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2021 15:46
|
|
|
Dark Hunter Can equip: Swords, Whips, Light Armor, Clothing How the fallen have mightied. Dark Hunters were perfectly fine last game, they had some utility, though they preferred swords to dish out more damage. Since they were a mediocre class, Atlus decided they needed a buff, and boy did they get it! Dark Hunters are one of the best classes in the game, they have great utility in both weapons, you can go swords or whips with little issue, though I would recommend sticking to one, and they have great ways to make bosses easy as hell and very sad. They step on the Hexer's toes, which is dangerous to do in this game, so some aspects like binds and poison aren't as useful, and they're not amazing in regular battles, having ZERO attacks that are multi-target. But some of the skills of this class are just incredible and they fit into most teams super well. So you've seen a few classes that got mega nerfed. How about mega buffed!? And boy oh boy, Dark Hunters went from a rather okay class to completely and utterly broken! It's another textbook case of EO2's wild class balancing, as while you have utterly terrible classes, you also have completely bonkers classes on the other end of the spectrum. Oh hey this seems familiar, because this was basically their same stat line from before, they were pretty balanced overall, like the Landy, so there wasn't much to fix. Their TEC took a massive hit though, they had the second highest before, even if they never used it, but have slightly higher HP and TP, so overall I'm very happy with it. Common Passive Unlocks STR Up: Lv5: Ecstacy TEC Up: Lv1: Unbind Oh now this is nice to see, barely any requirements aside from ones you were gonna do anyway. One point into TEC Up for Unbind is a fair trade, though it depends if you need that skill, since Dark Hunters usually have a lot to do. Unbind leads into some nice passives, so it can be worth it for one point of TEC. You want to max out STR and Ecstasy is practically a requirement for Whip builds, so yes please! While Swords don't take much advantage of binds, they can still use Dominate so it just means they're doing other things afterwards that's not Ecstasy. AGI and VIT Up can be useful since they like both of them, and LUC Up has some fringe use of very slightly increasing bind and ailment chances, not much though. Since they have good HP and TP, can be worth making them better, but you have a fair bit of freedom in what you want to focus on. Since they're a damage dealing class, STR Up is always a good investment to take. Some of their skills can get rather pricey, so they'll appreciate TP Up later down the line. While all classes will appreciate more durability, Dark Hunters will get a lot of mileage out of HP Up if you intend on making heavy use of their Bait skills. VIT Up can be another nice way to beef them up to take hits so they can deal counter damage. TEC doesn't really do much for them, so you can ignore that one. I'd say AGI isn't great for them either since they're already a super fast class with Swords and especially Whips providing massive speed boosts. LUC boost could be handy since thier LUC is terrible and it has a decent amount of influence on infliction rates. But don't bother taking LUC if you're trying to boost up their defenses against ailments, as they have skills that are far more effective at dealing with those.Whips/Swords Whips Unlocks: Lv1: Viper; Lv2: Shackles; Lv3: Cuffs; Lv4: Gags; Lv6: Climax; Lv8: Ecstacy, Bait, Magibait Swords Unlocks: Lv1: Hypnos; Lv2: Nerve; Lv3: Mirage; Lv4: Drain; Lv6: Petrify; Lv8: Bait, Magibait Passive  Another mediocre weapon investment, but as always which one to choose? Well, both, because the bait skills are loving amazing, but which to focus on? Whips has the best overall use, but Swords makes a good case for itself too. If you're using a Hexer then it's probably best to go swords since they work better with poison and binds, but oh no you're slightly less useful than the most busted class in the series, how terrible. Ecstasy and Climax are amazing but also require some setup, meaning you're relying on the other skills at the start of a fight, so you don't do the big unga bunga damage until later, unless you have Dominate ready to go. Swords are mostly unique, though Hypnos is godawful compared to the Hexer's version, Paralysis is never great, Mirage has bad numbers, but Drain and Petrify are pretty top tier. So it's relatively even, depends on your party setup and what your want your Dark Hunter to do, they're incredibly flexible and even their bad skills still work wonders if there's no alternative, since they have alright stats and don't purely rely on damage like other, worse, classes. Even at their worst, Dark Hunters can still help in a variety of ways. Whips and Swords were on equal footing in 1, though Swords edged out Whips a bit since they dealt more damage. Here it's all about the Whips! Whips are so goddamn broken in this game, with having access to Ecstasy and Climax. Not only that, binds also got changed big time. They were easier to land on bosses in 1, but bosses would use different body parts instead of wasting turns using skills from a bound body part. Not so in this game onwards. Everyone will gleefully waste their turns trying to use skills from a body part that's bound, so binds got hugely buffed in that aspect and are basically on par with ailments in being hard disables. However FOEs and bosses are overall more resistant to binds to make up for that. But landing one basically gains your party a lot of momentum. Swords aren't bad and a Dark Hunter can still contribute heavily with them, but they are considerably less effective than using a Whip.Antisick/Antibind Prerequisites: Unbind Lv3 Increases user's resistance to ailments/binds. Passive.  Neat. Little more SP to invest for my liking, but still neat. Since allies have a 100% resistance to everything, lowering it to 20% for the infliction formula will help a crapton. It depends if you think you need it, usually you can rely on Theriacas to just get you out of the jam immediately and most of the time it's not the end of the world if your party does get tagged, but having someone who will very rarely get tagged to then help everyone else is very nice. Still, because it's just neat to have in most cases, investing in TEC Up, then Unbind, then 5 points into these makes it not a stunning investment, but Dark Hunters will have some SP to spare. Just some. Up to you if you invest in one or the other, binds can be deadly, but also not, while ailments are usually annoying but nothing too dangerous. If you're playing the Japanese version of the game, do not take these skills! While they do work on the Dark Hunter, they also affect your enemies, making disabling them way harder! Anyways, they're very nice defensive pickups since the Dark Hunter's LUC is pretty bad, opening them up to getting disabled. Oh and remember tha ailment resistance affects everything that aren't binds. So Instant Death and Stuns are affected as well. Though you won't be seeing too much of the latter in this game, as only 2 enemy skills in the entire game can Stun. How much you take in these is up to you. Maxing them out might be a bit dicey, but a few points in them should be alright. I'd say if you had to invest in only one, to pick up Antisick, as binds aren't typically game ending, but ailments are far more dangerous and capable of leading to a party wipe since they're capable of hard disabling your party and preventing them from doing anything at all, while you can still use items and other such actions while bound.Viper Prerequisites: Whips Lv1 A single target Whip attack that attempts to inflict Poison. Whip skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Alright, first attack and it's... eh. Now this is pretty amazing early game since you can be dishing out like 160 damage by level 4 but after that it's not that impressive. It'll be the main whip skill you use when Ecstasy and Climax aren't around because if you land the poison it'll do the most overall damage, but otherwise it's kinda whatever. Still, it's a short and sweet skill to invest in that fails horrendously in stacking up to the Hexer's Poison, but such is life as an inflicter in EO2. Ooh, talk about a massive buff. This skill only being 5 levels gives a much more compelling reason to pick it up. This is gonna be one of the Dark Hunter's bread and butter skills, as you can be dealing double damage for 6 SP and 8 TP, so by level 4 they can hit randoms really hard in the earlygame. Unfortunately that's about the best they'll be contributing to those, as they don't really have access to AOEs and the such, but hey, that's what your other party members are for!Shackles/Cuffs/Gag Prerequisites: Whips Lv2/Lv3/Lv4 A single target Whip attack that attempts to inflict Leg/Arm/Head Bind. Whip skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  There's a lot of binds to go around in this game, 3 classes have access to the full set and depending on team comp you can either use them in tandem or stick to just one set. Dark Hunter is in the middle of infliction rates but also does damage as well. It's mostly negligible since the whole reason you're using these is to shut something down, and that's very useful for specific enemies. Like always, Leg binds aren't that important, while Head and Arm usually depends on physical or magical attacks, so if you're gonna invest in these skills... you'd use a Hexer, BUT the latter two are usually safer bets. Of course you don't want to max all 3 skills, that's a huge waste of SP, but they do have their uses. Since you have a lot more options in this game, it's entirely possible for even a Whip DH to skip them entirely, especially since Dominate is just... so loving good. Dark Hunters don't really have the SP to max out everything here easily, so I suggest only going with 1 or 2 binding skills, if you go with them at all. Dominate completely overshadows these skills and Viper is already good for damage, but if you wish to be less cheesy, I recommend taking Gag or Cuffs as Shackles isn't too great. Don't worry too much about overlapping with a Hexer, as disables are hard to land on the big enemies, and multiple attempts at landing a disable are always good.Ecstasy Prerequisites: Whips Lv8, STR Up Lv5 A single target Whip attack that deals significant damage to fully bound enemies. Whip skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Alright, now we're talking, at face value this skill seems as bad as it was last game, since fully binding an enemy is no mean feat, however Dominate makes that requirement a breeze, you should never use this skill without it. After all, what else is your DH gonna do when an enemy is fully bound? Viper? Of course this requires having Dominate in a fight, which can make bosses a bit too easy, while also being ridiculous overkill for regular enemies, so it might not mesh with certain playstyles. You've gotta make sure you wanna use this as well, since it's quite an investment, not just the SP, but also your Force. It's definitely worth it though, goddamn this skill is good. In the right circumstances. This skill was garbage in EO1 since it was basically unusable due to how hard it was to fully bind an enemy. Now, Dominate exists and it's one of the most broken skills in the entire game since you can nuke an enemy for 750% damage afterwards! The baits have higher damage potential, but a fully bound enemy won't do much, and that's the perfect time to hit them with Ecstasy!Climax Prerequisites: Whips Lv6 A single target Whip attack that inflicts Instant Death if an enemy is below HP threshold, healing user by remaining HP. Will always miss if enemy is above HP threshold. If enemy is immune to Instant Death but under HP threshold, deals regular damage. Whip skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Phew, that's a lot of specifics, but that's because this skill is so loving dumb. Any enemy that isn't IMMUNE to Instant Death has, in essence, less than half health at max level. What a ridiculously easy requirement, but of course it's only useful on certain enemies. Firstly, most bosses are immune to Instant Death, probably because of this skill, while regular enemies are usually dead from a full assault if they're just above half health. Therefore this skill works best, and amazingly so, on the 2 bosses not immune to ID, as well as E V E R Y FOE. Yep, if you've got this skill, every FOE has effectively less than half health, which is RIDICULOUS! Not that it's too amazing, FOEs don't give exp, again, probably because of this skill, and there's no reason to fight them once you've gotten their drops, but still, I'm just nitpicking, god this skill is loving insane. The accuracy modifier is only for the regular attack the Dark Hunter uses if you use this against an immune enemy. For the instant death component, it can't miss ever once the enemy falls under the proper conditions. And here's yet another broken skill! Climax is basically an FOE deleter since it basically makes FOE fights half as long. There's only one FOE it doesn't work on, and it's a fairly easy to deal with quest enemy. And FOEs in this game are possibly some of the strongest FOEs in the entire series, so being able to cut down the fight length is way more helpful than it would be in any other EO game. Heck it can allow you to bypass some FOE roadblocks more easily, and it makes farming their drops a lot easier. It's a great skill, and you should max it out. Not to mention it can make farming certain bosses really easy, considering that killing bosses gives you massive benefits in this game. Do be warned, this skill doesn't really allow you to take on the FOEs in the first place. If they can crush your party long before you get them to half HP, this skill won't be able to do a drat thing, so it doesn't let you punch way above your weight class.Hypnos/Nerve Prerequisites: Swords Lv1/Lv2 A single target Sword attack that attempts to inflict Sleep/Paralysis. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  That was some cool whips, so let's see what swords have to offer. Torpor is such an insane skill that Hypnos has little use unless you're not using a Hexer. Like, Sleep is nice, but only one target isn't great. Paralysis also isn't great since it doesn't really do much, I've never been a fan of it and was one of the few sword skills I didn't use last game. Like they can be useful and using ailments is the whole reason for going swords, but if only they were more impressive. Still, the damage is good and the extra tag is nice, something you can use early game at least, especially if you get a good Sleep off and waste an enemy's turn. In EO1, ailment resistance was coded as 1 stat, so there was very little reason to ever invest in a disable that wasn't the best one. Now every single ailment has their own resistance stat, so there's actual reasons to invest in multiple disable skills. However if you plan on having your Dark Hunter really contribute to random encounters, I highly suggest having them invest in Petrify for that and spam that. Though that's not going to work so well in big fights, so that's what these skills are for. These are gonna be the Sword Dark Hunter's bread and butter skills against FOEs and Bosses (assuming they're not spamming the baits anyway.) As for which one to go for, Sleep is more of a hard disable, but will wear off the instant the target takes damage. But Paralysis isn't entirely reliable, though it's far more likely to last longer on average. I'd recommend investing in Nerve for big fights, as the damage amp component from Sleep can't be easily capitalized in this game either, while making it so an FOE or boss has a chance of losing half of their turns on average is a more enticing benefit. Wait a few more games for sleep bombing to be more viable.Mirage Prerequisites: Swords Lv3 A single target Sword attack that attempts to inflict Panic. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Alright, Mirage is usually different since Panic is quite the good ailment to just hand over to the player, so I'm sure it- ...oh no. It's one of THOSE skills, a level 5 skill that scales like a level 10 skill but stops halfway for no reason. Well Panic is useful but not with that infliction chance, damage is trash, everything about this skill is trash. Nothing else to do but completely ignore it. Confusion in 1 was a rather powerful, but dicey ailment to use. Not only was it hard to inflict, it sometimes made enemies more dangerous as they could be attacking more often with Confusion active on them. From this game onwards, skills start to get vastly more powerful than regular attacks, so the downside of Confusion causing enemies to attack you barely starts to matter, so it's an ailment that's always a strong one to land. Unfortunately, this skill is complete and utter crap, so it's not really worth using this no matter how powerful Confusion is. Unfortunately, outside of the Hexer's Force Skill, this is literally the only way in the entire game to inflict Confusion. So uh, that ailment might as well not exist for players. Talk about a heavy nerf!Drain Prerequisites: Swords Lv4 A single target Sword attack that heals the user by damage dealt. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Now here's a level 5 skill that scales PROPERLY, Drain is great for your frontline DH, it really adds to their survivability and is a great skill to just spam with little issue. Quick to invest in and while it doesn't do amazing damage, it's a nice tool for most of the game, especially giving your Medic or War Magus less headaches in earlygame healing. Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job goddamn done gently caress yeah. This skill can be nice to spam to give the Dark Hunter some more survivability at the cost of dealing less damage and not being able to lock down their enemies. It'll make the DH less of a priority target for healing, which can take some stress off of your healers or whoever is thinking of tossing a Medica to a given party member. Whichever basic Sword attack you take is up to you, but most aside from Mirage aren't bad choices.Petrify Prerequisites: Swords Lv6 A single target Sword attack that attempts to inflict Petrify. Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Now here's the main event, Petrify is the same as last game, so enemies hit by it will stick around for the rest of the battle, but it still has amazing utility, and not a bad infliction rate for what it does. It also has some cool power behind it, so even if you don't land it, it's still one of the strongest hits a Sword DH can do. Otherwise it's mostly useless in Boss and FOE battles and might be a bit much for various regular enemies, but landing one is still a great feeling, might as well, right? This is pretty much gonna be the Dark Hunter's best basic attack skill to spam in normal battles, as Petrification can be great crowd control. A chance to instantly take out random encounters can help greatly, especially if your party is hurting for AOEs or other disables. However, unlike Climax, this skill isn't too great against FOEs and bosses, as FOEs are heavily resistant to this, and almost every single boss is immune to Petrification. Use Hypnos or Nerve against those instead.Bait/Magibait Prerequisites: Whips Lv8, Swords Lv8 Counterattacks physical/magical damage dealt to the user and those adjacent to user. Will still occur even if incoming attack is blocked. Whip or Sword skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Holy poo poo this skill got one of the biggest buffs in the series. Before it was Sword locked, only had the physical version and the adjacent counter did around half damage on average. These skills require a higher investment, sure, but are also incredibly powerful if you know what's coming. Obviously you need to max them to make them at all useful and position your DH in the middle of a front row of 3, but if you get 3 counters, that's 1200% damage in one turn jesus loving christ. Also they still work even if an Anti skill or Painless blocks them, letting you do offense AND defense in one turn? Just incredible. But of course it's most effective against the right enemies, most magical attacks are party wide, but physical ones are a little harder to come by. And of course you need to survive the hit, but at least you don't need to take the attack to fully counter it. Even if you only use one weapon, you have to invest in the other mastery for these, they're just too good. By far the best skills in the Dark Hunter's skillset, whether you go with Whips or Swords. And this skill isn't particularly unreliable as long as you know how the enemy works. As long as you plant your Dark Hunter in the middle of the front row with a 3/2 formation, even a single hit towards the front row will cause a 400% damage counterattack! Which is significantly more than any of the basic attacks in the Whip or Sword branches. You'll definitely want to grab these eventually, as the Dark Hunter can just utterly shred any poor enemy that activates multiple counters. And you'll be seeing plenty of AOEs as you get farther into the game, so these skills just get more powerful as the game goes on.Unbind Prerequisites: TEC Up Lv1 Unlocks: Lv3: Antisick, Antibind Removes binds from a single target. Heal skill, uses the Head. Hello again Unbound but called differently for some reason. Like with the Landy this skill is barely useful, you've seen the DH's kit, they have better things to be doing, but I guess you can use it. It's better to just go to Antisick/Antibind and more or less ignore this skill, but maybe if your Arm is bound it could be good? Oh poo poo, then it'd just be Arm Heal! NOOOOOOOOO!!! If you do take this skill, 3 points at most is all I would put into here for the same reasons I listed under Unbound for the Landsknecht. Dark Hunters are pretty fast, so they can be a fast unbinder I suppose, though Therica As would be a better investment that doesn't require you to spend SP or TP.Racket Lures non-red FOEs in a certain radius to tile used and stuns them for a set duration. Field skill.  Uh, okay, these skills are sometimes helpful but using the items instead of wasting SP is generally preferable, especially since you never want to invest in these skills too much, so it's a lot of TP initially for not much result. You do want to avoid FOEs in this game so there's definitely utility, but I don't think it's worth it, I will show all the ways to avoid FOEs, I don't wanna fight them either! There are parts of the game where FOE luring is required, but you can do that with items, and Dark Hunters themselves will never be required to do that. There is one part in the first stratum where this could be helpful, but outside of that particular situation you can probably just use the item instead.Dominate Inflicts Head, Arm and Leg Bind on a single target. Force skill, uses the Arms.  So here's like half the reason to use a Dark Hunter. This is one of the best offensive Force skills in the game, mainly because it will always work. Because of its insane infliction rate, only <1% resistances can avoid this, and there are none, lowest is 3%, so this skill will always, ALWAYS fully bind an opponent. Combined with all the other offensive tools in this game, this lets you get off some incredible strategies, and it's useful in regular boss and FOE fights to give you a breather for a few turns. Like all Force skills, you can't fire them often without plenty of Axcela IIs but this is one that you should really think about for lategame and postgame use. Of course it ties into Ecstasy beautifully and even Climax so you can take down FOEs with little trouble. Oh hey, say hello to one of the best Force skills in the entire game, if not the best one! While the 1% speed modifier basically ensures the Dark Hunter will move last when casting this skill, Dominate basically ensures any poor enemy that gets hit with this won't be doing anything for a turn since disables can't be recovered from on the turn they're inflicted, and possibly longer depending on how long the binds stay on for. The higher the enemy's level is, the longer it takes for them to recover from a disable on average, so this skill gets even more powerful as the game goes on! If you combo this with a Survivalist's 1st Turn, you can guarantee 2 turns of lockdown since the enemy won't be able to do anything on the turn the Dark Hunter casts this, though this comes at the cost of putting a Survivalist in your party. This skill is also why people prefer to use Whip Dark Hunters. While Sword Dark Hunters can still use this Force skill, an enemy that's locked down will highly be unlikely to attack while they're tied up, making the Baits rather useless while that's going on. With Whip Dark Hunters, you can nuke them down with Ecstasy, but Sword Dark Hunters have no such powerful skill to abuse, basically leaving those variants of Dark Hunters twiddling their thumbs while the enemy is tied down. And Axcelas make this skill flat out broken, essentially keeping an enemy locked down forever whenever all the binds fall off. Do keep in mind it's best to cast this when an enemy has no binds on them, as it won't override previous binds and the longer a bind stays on, the higher chance it has of wearing off. Man that was fun to talk about, Dark Hunters got ridiculously buffed compared to last game and it shows with how nutty some of their skills are. Sure, some of them aren't great, but I really wouldn't call any of them outright bad. Uh, okay, Mirage is bad because it's missing 5 levels, but that's really it. It pales in comparison to Hexers in some aspects, but they're the most broken class in the series, oh no, how could this class be slightly worse in some aspects! There's always room for a Dark Hunter and they can focus on specific skills that make them incredible under the right circumstances, but circumstances can be made pretty easily, so it's really not a big deal. Several absurd buffs to this class took them from rather mediocre to outright broken. It's not too hard to slot one in your party, and they're easily the 2nd most broken class in the entire game. The 1st is the Hexer, but we'll talk about them later.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2021 15:58
|
|
|
Not dead, just lazy, so let's kick things back into high gear by voting on who will be fighting Chimera! Firstly because I'm a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt, Juthro will be partaking in this fight guaranteed and will be spamming Bravery, most likely. You're welcome.But otherwise, Vote for three others , the top 4 voted will join him though this won't affect who will be exploring the 2nd stratum, big fights are separate votes to those. Also since it's still pretty early and most of our guild can still only do one thing, I won't list their specifics, it's early enough that you're free to vote for anyone, with how many ways you can upend this game and make it incredibly easy, I always have an out in case I get a less than average party.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2021 16:05
|
|
|
Voting is closed! Corinth: 4 Lily: 3 kathy: 3 Sonia: 2 Hart: 2 Holly: 2 Aleks: 2 Logan: 2 Alastor: 1 Well that's a pretty even spread for 4th place, so I used a site to roll a d5, and it gave me a 2, so Hart will be joining Corinth, Lily, kathy and Juthro to take on the first boss! What the hell is this team...
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2021 13:30
|
|
|
Part 8: Cheesing the First Woodland Ruins Alright, rest of 5F to go, though it won't take long to get back to where we were.  Nice. please don't talk, it makes the bleeding worse If you didn't fancy gathering ambushes or ladybird summons, then 5F is when you actually properly fight Raflesia on occasion, so you better have a strat for it. The strat is we're stronger than those previous times and now it's not massively dangerous. Right, so a proper run down on these things now that the party is at level. They're kind of tanky assholes and can smack your entire party with damage. Consider these a check on your party's strength. If you can't handle these, you won't like the boss fight one bit.  After you. Well there's nothing behind this door, so I do not see what the fuss is about. You just got lucky... At least you're always covering our backsides. You'll notice there's an FOE behind me, and if you've been mapping properly you could see how not to get pinned by it. Ooh, this looks like one of my book covers! Looking carefully, you can see small flowers, of a soothing pale hue. They remind you of the quest you agreed to at the bar. The old lady, and the memento of her late husband. This could be the flower that Cass told you about. It's your choice to pluck the flower or walk away. A flower as beautiful as your neck- er, eyes. my lack of sun gives me a pale view on life. As you crouch down to reach for the flowers, monsters appear from within the bush! It seems to be a chance encounter, but no less deadly for that!  What fun. We also don't want to hang around in this battle for too long. Ahaha, a forced blindside. Good thing these things don't do much other than force sleep, otherwise the dreams these things'll give you will turn into nightmares.  Gah! Did you just bonk my head??? well i gave you a remedy but a quick smack gets the blood pumping again.  A forced encounter of three enemies that can keep you locked down for multiple turns is in the path of an FOE. Thanks, game. EO2 is probably the most mean spirited games in the entire franchise, and this is only scratching the surface. Ugh, shortcuts are just doors that you can't see. I am beginning to wondering if this is a childhood traumer.5F E6 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 5% Ambush Encounter: 100% Raflesia x1 Bent Twig: 45% chance. Sells for 30en. 1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I 3 required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en 5 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1, +5 speed - sells for 440en Log: 35% chance. Sells for 150en. Required for nothing. Hard Root: 20% chance. Sells for 35en. 1 required for Targe - Shield, DEF+9 - sells for 150en 3 required for Horn Mace - Stave, ATK+45, HP+20 - sells for 440en  Another equipment we unlock next floor, that's neat. If only I bothered with gloves...  Nearly got out of a treasure area without an encounter, but that never happens. Little scary but remember that Sleep overrides Poison, so that's nice. Getting hit by a Raflesia while asleep is not. Bit of a nasty formation there if you don't get things under control right away. Getting hit by a lot of things while asleep is generally not pleasant. You look around carefully and notice spots of blood on the forest floor. The trail of blood continues down a path to the north, ending at a turn to the east. A wounded explorer may be there... You ponder whether to follow the trail of blood and see if anyone is stranded at its end. Puppy! Hey, hey, don't run off where I can't protect you. Unless there's a door down there, in which case you're on your own. you're not very good at this protecting thing. You don't wanna know what I've been through. Those cute monsters... the amount of flour on my books... Let's not be letting her get too far away. Oh, but childhood trauma is the most interesting. It neatly explains your entire character. The black beast Kurogane, always at his master's side, is here with blood-matted fur. Though he's on the verge of collapse, the beast remains on its feet, gazing westward. Ah! kathy, help puppy! hmm, that's a lot of blood. most i can do is dull the pain. When he notices you, he extends his hand, revealing a parchment in his mouth. It turns out to be a map of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. It must have been Beowulf's... The charted territory ends abruptly at the nearby hall. Its muzzle free of parchment, the beast gazes into the forest and gives a yelp. It is a bark filled with the sadness of losing something precious... That is how you come to grasp the fate that has befallen Guild Beowulf. The place where the map ends is the Chimaera's lair...  Well, we must avenge the young lad, but it will not bring him back. It is a shame we were not quickened. Dunno if we could've stopped him, my shield can only do so much. Ah, the guild that helps you in the 1st Stratum being wiped out. A proud tradition, and by "tradition" I mean "EO3 did it again in a really convoluted way and then EO4 dropped it."  Definitely want to unlock this! We'll see what's through that bottom left door in a moment, but let's check out the boss room, just as soon as I fix a couple of things... bloody wolves can't draw that well.   Ohohoho, delightfully devilish. I can just about be seeing it. Is this something you've foughten before, Ele- Ello- Ellana? Close enough, dear, but, hmmm... never seen it before in my life! then how did you reach the next stratum? I was on the edge of death, don't remember! Helpful. Back to town we go then.  3 Sour Fruit and 1 Huge Petal required for Poison Gas - Lv1 Poison, 15% base infliction chance, 20-30 damage 5 Gel Cores and 1 Red Horn required for Tabarzin 7 Feathers and 1 Gem Eye required for Carp Sword - ATK+43 - One-handed sword that tapers to a point. 1 Huge Petal required for Wildflower - Beast Armor, DEF+38, sells for 450en - Defensive necklace made from a giant petal. 3 Huge Petals and 2 Gum Hides required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12, sells for 325en - Small shield reinforced with beast hide. Now you might notice the next boss has a conditional for killing it with poison damage and you unlock the gas just beforehand, so no brainer right? Well no, as you can see the gas items are completely useless because, damage aside, you have a 3% chance of landing it before LUC barely affects it. Dunno why they bothered making them so bad. Gas items suck so much rear end in this game. And that poison damage is pitiful. I know that items shouldn't be too powerful, otherwise they obsolete skills and give no reason to spend SP in them, but come on! They don't have to be this pathetic! As it stands they're just ways to get conditional drops if you lack the proper skills in the party. It takes a long, long time before gasses start becoming actually useful, let alone as viable as standard infliction skills. You nearly finished training, Juthro? We are about the finish the floor. Hell yeah. Excellent work! Aha... so this is the memorial flower, is it? That's dainty, that is. Oh, I knew it would be small, I'm just surprised yeh found it in that great big Labyrinth. I'm sure it'll bring the old girl joy. Here's yer reward. I'll be counting on yeh! Quests are so worth it. Next game... next game the pain finally stops there... Well I guess you get Cass dialogue in this game, which is far more riveting than Valerie's dialogue at least?   Behind door number 15 or whatever is two Raptors guarding a Bird Whip, a nice upgrade before the first boss that we'll unlock next floor. What's the strategy to get past these two? I dunno, just run through and try not to die, worked for me. Basically use an FOE item to stun them. That's about it. They aren't red FOEs so that bypasses them easily. Otherwise run past and hope they don't hunt you down.  And with that, we just need Juthro up to everyone's level and max out Bravery. gently caress, what do I go for after Bravery... Health? Health. Oohoohoohoo! Good choice! Hey what if Prevent Order from the later games was an even stronger skill? That's Health right there.  Yeh beet yer heiney I do! Perhaps one day I'll understand what you're saying. Come with me now. I'll leave the store with the rest've yeh and be back before long. Slash them up for me! I assume that's what she's doing, right? Don't touch me. All right, I'm back. I saw the hodgepodge lot they'd gathered... what a sorry crew! Yer one trumped them all put together! Haw haw haw! I don't know what they're up to, but sit tight. They should be done soon. Ah, here we are. So, what was the big deal? I put meh... lumberjack skills teh use for the rookies. Just kick a tree down, it's faster! ...they had yeh teaching swordplay to the green recruits? Haw haw! Well, good job, whatever yeh did. I'm sure the Grand Duchy appreciated yer skills. Here's the reward. G'luck, and keep up the hard work!  The accessory is nice but this quest was only finished this late since Holly switched out of the party at level 9, and of course I have to get the full reward. Thankfully you get the Power Ring no matter what, but if your Landy is level 6-9, you'll get 50en and if they're 10+, you get an additional 50en, loving woohoo. Super not worth getting all those levels if you're not using a Landy, so just take the ring and shove them back in the guild for when you need another shortcut. Also totally worth all the system lag if you didn't bother to cancel the quest and actually carted around the class forced to be trained.  you know you want to Ugh, but the Duchy's door is really big and spooky. Fiiiiine. I had wondered why you'd never entered that building. Remember when yeh took yer landsknecht to the Grand Duchy? Seems they were well impressed. They've got a job in the offing they want yeh to be part of. Fame comes quickly, doesn't it? This time it's a protector they're after, to help fight off a pack of beasties. How do I know about the job, yeh ask? Like I said last time... the Grand Duchy trusts me now. It's all thanks to yer fine work that the Duke's men recruit from the Stickleback Bar!  Well then, follow me. The rest of you, mind the store. I don't want a break-in while I'm away! I was only going to be taking a few snackings! Thanks for staying! I admit, that looked like a hearty bunch of protectors. But don't worry. Yer one was clearly the strongest, just yeh wait and see! If yeh've time to sit a spell, why don't yeh relax here? Business here is slow today, and I hate maundering around the place by myself. Haw! Ahh, there yeh are. The work went well, did it? Glad to see yeh're not hurt. I brought a friend back. Heh, well, he followed me for food. Here I thought you and Holly were coming over to visit me at the Duchy... With all the monsters in the Labyrinth, yeh can count on more jobs like this. Anyhow, thanks for taking care of this one... I'm always counting on yeh lot!  Similar verse, same as the first. Kinda. See, since I got 100en for my level 11 Protector it looks like it's using the same requirements, right? Well, no, documented nowhere else except for the JP wiki, you get extra money depending on your Protector's Shield Mastery, not level, so 100en for Lv3 or 200en for Lv5+. Since this is the first time I've heard about this, I didn't go for the max reward, and honestly you don't need to invest in Shields that much this early, I only did so I can pivot to the Antiskills whenever I need to. This fuckin game man. Yeah turns out some of these quests also do skill checks which was loving news to me when Cross asked what got these extra rewards and I looked into things more! How deep does the EO2 iceberg go? Oh this would make for an excellent bonding exercise when we get our new furry friends. Ugggggggghhhhhh... Worst quest in the game, already? How lovely. The first game had you spend 5 days in the labyrinth and it was also miserable, but thankfully you had a healing spring and a small back and forth with no encounters. We don't have either of those here, but at least it's only 3 days. Still, it's a pretty awful quest you can't really attempt very early, so we'll come back to this later, I'd want the full guild anyway since I'll do some guild bonding like I did last LP. Though it'll be changed a little to account for less days. Anyway, ignore, ignore, ignore! "Hmm, yes. Clearly the problem with the first game's version of this quest was that it could easily be cheesed by staying in the spring room.  " A Sudden Gust of Wind that Calls for Death This is the party we should've had for the entirety of 5F, but hey, with nothing else to do, let's kill some FOEs finally, they won't be impossible walls forever, but you wish they weren't such a waste of time to fight! As a refresher:Furyhorn HP: 420 STR: 18 VIT: 18 TEC: 16 AGI: 18 LUC: 16 Level: 8 Exp: 0 Skills Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Panic. Has a 30% base chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 75% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Deer Hide: 25% chance, sells for 203en 1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None This won't be much health to chew through with some good defenses, a lot of healing, Bravery, and elemental weakness. A well timed Step can throw all this out the window, but we should be fine, right? Confusion is a far worse ailment to be hit by than Paralysis, so this thing can end up ruining some strategies if you aren't careful. Furyhorns got a rather substantial buff from the Ragelopes since they can confuse and smack multiple party members at the same time now. Furyhorn actually hate front liner classes, and will target specific classes if they can on the first turn (Landskenchts, Protectors, Dark Hunters, Ronin, or Beasts.) After that they try to slam party members that aren't Confused. And if I see ya discs tryin' to make any quiet moves... I'll break the board in two.  You won't make a counter outta me, ahahahaha! Been five minutes and he's already stabbing me in the back... I am thinking we will be the okiedokie. you will be once i clean up this mess. Can't enjoy victory without a little pain. Especially from your allies!  Die monster! You don't belonging in this world! Ohohoho, gah! Well, you're not wrong. This could be going better.  Don't worry, soothe your mind with my mus- or shoot yourself in the head, either way. it is one way to cure yourself I've gotten too into the habit of keeping everyone alive at the end of a battle because, remember, you do not get any exp from FOEs. This does mean we can grab their drops and avoid them forever, and you can do some suicidal rushes without worrying about missing out on experience. But it's not particularly fun. Making FOEs not pay out any exp had some rather unfortunate consequences on people's playstyles. Namely that any incentive to kill them was completely and utterly gone beyond their unique drops and that avoiding them was basically the correct move 100% of the time. That and well killing an FOE resulting in no rewards is not exactly fun to see. Like did you even see the drop rate for their unique drop? You have to kill an average of 4 Furyhorns to get 1 Deer Hide. That is 4 kind of tough fights where you get absolutely no experience. As someone who got these without drop cheats, lemme say uh, it's kinda demoralizing! And nearly every FOE in the game have bad drop rates for their uniques, not just those deer. Which results in the game basically telling you that you wasted your time and effort killing these tough enemies if you didn't snag their main drop. If you're gonna take away the exp payouts, at least make the item drops guaranteed. Alright, let's see if this fight goes bette-  These old bones aren't good for dodging... He does some of this on purpose. ...well since the RNG is gonna need a bit of a shake let's go fight something else. A bizarre and rather infuriating quirk of the DS era was that you and an FOE running headfirst into each other wasn't a guarnateed neutral start like in the 3DS era. Instead it actually rolls for preemptives and blindsides there, meaning that you can just get blindsided even if you and the FOE approached each other on seemingingly equal grounds.  Ahhh, much better.  Ooh, rigour mortis. ffsRaptor HP: 600 STR: 22 VIT: 22 TEC: 22 AGI: 24 LUC: 24 Level: 15 Exp: 0 Skills Fangs: Uses the Head. Deals 150% Cut damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Paralysis. Has a 50% base infliction chance, a 100% accuracy modifier and a 150% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 125% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Brass Fang: 30% chance, sells for 248en 1 required for Hell Claw - Claw, ATK+61, Type: Fire - sells for 1,210en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None Slightly tougher than a Furyhorn but I've never respected paralysis in this series and no splash damage means this is technically an easier fight. It's a stronger version of the Gashtor. Once you have the stats to take this thing on, it's basically the same fight. You just can't get an easy preemptive on these without FOE items. Gods, earlygame FOEs in the early EOs are just...so bizarrely simplistic.  Can you reviving her, Alas? ...you blinked twice, does that mean no? F.Guard is great, but it doesn't help the backline getting oneshot. And no, B.Guard doesn't count cause I'll never use it.  So, uh, we ready for the boss yet? I'll go with ohhhh myyyyyy no. Furylord HP: 580 STR: 20 VIT: 20 TEC: 16 AGI: 20 LUC: 16 Level: 9 Exp: 0 Skills Step: Uses the Legs. Deals 80% Cut damage to a single target, with 75% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Confuse. Has a 30% base chance, a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 75% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Deer Hide: 40% chance, sells for 203en 1 required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23 - sells for 500en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None Next up is the Furylord, don't forget it! Or do, getting 100% in this game is loving miserable. Gear Registry: "Muwahahahahahaaa!" The Furylord is just a beefed up Furyhorn. If you tried to fight it during the guard rescue mission you'd also have to deal with 2 Furyhorns but no such thing happens after the mission is complete. It's rather unremarkable considering the buildup the game does for it, even if it's small. Wait, Step is (i)cut(/i) damage?  Best way to avoid illusions is to focus on a point in front of you. Even at early levels Health is still a 40% reduction in infliction rates, it's pretty great!  hey. hey. hey. you dead? You know he is. always good to make sure That is on me for not using Alastor, drat Medics are slow. So that was fun. Are we ready for the last FOE in this stratum with a dependable team like this?  Hahahahaha. The only other thing to do is to get the last of the equipment. Red FOEs will basically destroy you. You should probably save these for when you reach the next Stratum.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2021 00:32
|
|
|
  Just need a couple more Gum Vines as well as like 10 more drops for the Maimai Bat... thankfully by the stairs you can encounter 3 Woodmais pretty consistently. Let's check out all our new loot! 5 Bent Twigs and 10 Feathers required for Beast Bow, +5 speed. 1 Deer Hide and 3 Glue Quills required for Hide Armor - Light Armor, DEF+23, sells for 500en - Armor of boiled, hardened fur. 1 Brass Fang and 2 Gel Cores required for Hell Claw - Claw, ATK+61, Type: Fire, 98% accuracy, sells for 1,210en - A claw left by an envoy of Hell. 1 Gum Hide and 2 Huge Petals required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1, sells for 420en - Clothes of hardened fur, with a short waist area. 5 Gum Wines and 1 Shell Wart required for Briar Whip - Whip, ATK+42, VIT+1, AGI+1, sells for 520en - Created from the vines of a gigantic flower. 30 Husk Shards required for Maimai Bat - Stave, ATK+37, TP+10, sells for 420en - Mage staff created from durable shells. Phew, that's everything we can get before the boss, definitely some nice stuff though it'll get quickly outclassed by anything you unlock on 6F, like the Briar Whip we already have an upgrade to. While I prefer the HP boosting staves, I grinded for it so dammit I'm using the Maimai Bat! 30 materials. Why. And no, this isn't a bizarre case of a mega grind. There are several pieces of equipment that require similar grinds throughout the game.quote:
Do you see why people hate this loving thing and are glad it never returned in any of the later games? Also is like Sitoth the literal only equipment store in all of Lagaard or something? Why does the Duchy care that much about what wares they have? But with nothing else to do, are we ready for Chimera? Well technically, no, with ordinary methods we'll get out poo poo pushed in and be forced to grind a bunch of levels, but this game has far from ordinary methods, and you guys voted in just what I needed. Though it's early enough in the game that I can just Force push my way past anything so I wasn't worried anyway! Scarlet Rain   Good start. Don't rush me! With my shield, take all the time in the world. I would prefer if you didn't take too long though, this is not my element. I'm the one with elements here, we'll be just fine. drat we're screwed Chimaera HP: 1400 STR: 22 VIT: 22 TEC: 22 AGI: 18 LUC: 20 Level: 18 Exp: 21,000 Skills Blaze: Uses the Head. Deals Fire damage to a single target, with splash damage, with a spell power of 47. Damage multiplied by 110% for initial target and 100% to adjacent targets. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 1% speed modifier. 2-Hit: Uses the Arms. Deals 55% Bash damage to a single target 2 times. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Pile: Uses the Legs. Deals 65% Stab damage to a single target, with 70% splash damage, and attempts to inflict Poison. Has a 50% base infliction chance, deals 80-120 Poison damage, has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 10% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 125% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 10% 20% 0% 25% 0%Drops Brute Tail: 60% chance, sells for 776en. 1 required for Shadow Bow - Bow, ATK+58, STR+2, HP+10, +5 speed - sells for 2,380en, must be restocked 1 required for Beast Tail - Whip, ATK+65, VIT+2, LUC+2 - sells for 2,310en, must be restocked 1 required for Amrita III - Medicine, heals the target by 999TP - sells for 20,000en, must be restocked Conditional: Kill while Poisoned Brute Wing: 100% chance, sells for 30,000en. 1 required for Zamiel Bow - Bow, ATK+181, STR+10, HP+40 - sells for 231,000en, must be restocked. First boss is a real menace due to pretty high stats and a bit more HP. Fenrir, for comparison, had 1200HP and you could change the fight's difficulty with level difference. Here, there's no such luck, either you get strong enough to survive... or cheese it through Poison or Force skills. Since we have Hart, and cannot do any damage outside of Corinth's level 1 elementals, we'll be going the Poison method. You'll want to end the battle quickly anyway due to the many Slaveimps, though it'll take quite a few turns for multiple to enter battle. That seems a bit ironic considering what we said about them earlier, but, well... Here's the first real challenge of the game! Can you succeed where the Beowulf guild failed? If you want to avenge them, you'll have to work hard to accomplish that! Chimaera is a big battle of attrition and it is very easily capable of destroying unprepared parties. It doesn't start off particularly dangerous at first, only using 2-hit and regular attacks at the battle's start. But as its HP gets lower, it'll throw in Blaze for more coverage on your party, and then Pile which essentially instantly kills your party members if the poison lands. Unless your HP is high enough, you aren't surviving a Poison at this point. A Troubadour's Health buff is a fantastic way to counter that skill. And if you have access to any Ice attack, use them at this point! You need all the damage you can get! Chimaera by itself can be rather fearsome, but there are a few more wrinkles in this fight...Slaveimp HP: 152 STR: 17 VIT: 17 TEC: 17 AGI: 17 LUC: 17 Level: 16 Exp: 0 Skills Flight: Uses the Arms. Deals 50% Cut+Fire damage 4-5 times at a 50/50 chance, respectively. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Heal: Uses the Head. Heals an ally by 110HP. Has a 100% speed modifier. Aura: Uses the Head. Increases damage dealt by all allies by 150% for 5 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 125% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 25% 35% 25%Drops Glue Hide: 20% chance, sells for 126en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en Gum Hide: 95% chance, sells for 11en. 1 required for Wing Leaf - Clothing, DEF+13, HP+5 - sells for 200en 1 required for Sherwani - Clothing, DEF+20, VIT+1 - sells for 420en 2 required for Bullwhip - Whip, ATK+32 - sells for 260en 2 required for Hide Aspis - Shield, DEF+12 - sells for 325en 2 required for Rough Hat - Headgear, DEF+8, TP+8 - sells for 120en 3 required for Hide Plate - Heavy Armor, DEF+22 - sells for 310en 5 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 Conditional: None They still have pathetic damage and HP and defenses, but that's because they're in this battle, they have a good chance of giving Chimaera that attack buff and then will just attack, or heal if Chimaera is injured. You don't really want to be diverting resources to fighting these, after all the ones on the map all die if Chimaera does, and it'll take until turn 4 and then turn 7 for them to reach you, so you have a little breathing room to setup your strategy. Chimaera isn't too difficult with some good defenses, it'll use Blaze after certain HP thresholds and then a chance to use its other attacks, with a higher and higher chance of using Pile. Due to a somewhat low Poison chance, especially if you use accessories, outside of Blaze and with some alright defenses, Chimaera doesn't do a whole lot. Until it gets Aura, after that you're in trouble. Chimaera isn't just a big combat exam against a major enemy, it's also testing how well you deal with other factors such as external threats. If you were wondering why Slaveimps had that name and were rather pathetic FOEs, this is why. Their true purpose is to serve as Chimaera's minions and support it in battle. If your party's damage output isn't great, Heal will be a big setback. And Aura will basically cause Chimaera to be capable causing a game over very quickly. Flight isn't a lot of damage, but it can help Chimaera get kills or finish off weakened party members. So how do you deal with these Slaveimps? Any FOE items or skills you have on hand will do a lot buy you time. These Slaveimps fly over impassible tiles, so you can't just walk over and snipe them before the fight begins. You'll have to lure them out to do that. Stunning them or luring them to a faraway spot can do wonders for buying you time. Because not only do they make Chimaera tougher, you essentially have to deal 152 more damage to clear them out, and that's about 11% of Chimaera's HP for each Slaveimp. Unlike Fenrir in the first game, Chimaera stays put, so you have all the time in the world to plan out and deal with the Slaveimps before you engage with the big beast. But once you do, any Slaveimps on the field will try to rush towards the battle as soon as they're able to.  Well Provoke didn't really work, so no Bravery to start with. Yes, Juthro is my second tankiest unit here so you know this team is a wild one. Still, even with the boost, Corinth won't do that much with a tier 1 level 1 spell, but in fairness most of the team is here for moral support.  Still, you can see that against Lily, Chimaera is doing sweet gently caress all that kathy immediately heals, so I wasn't really worried about dying, but with Hart out of TP and a big boost via the Slaveimp, let's try this again.    Come at me, fool! Kick... kick... no, uh, poison... poison... So that I wasn't here for ten thousand years I did have to rest Hart to go all in on Poison. I was trying to avoid that but it was the only way I was gonna get through this fight. If not, a Bravery boosted Eschaton would've probably done the trick, but Hart is back to his Torpor and bind build after this fight, so it was a necessary evil. However, even at max level, it's still a 21% base infliction chance and there's no guarantee it'll stay on for long. Gotta love EO1/EO2 disable mechanics. Poison is a very easy way to cheese the fight, but it's very RNG dependant. If all else fails, well you can grind out Force I guess. For one, if the Alchemist's TEC is high enough, 1 Eschaton can instantly kill Chimaera.  i'm helping Cute effort.  See, you need to focus on torturing, not kicking! Oh it did not like that!  It secretes a similar kind of venom, how much could it really hurt- HOLY poo poo! Oh. So this is the power I now wield. gently caress yeah. ...huh. Well, I'm glad to not have to use this drat gauntlet as much. Ah, uncapped Poison is a sight to behold. This is at max level, so it's about as good as it gets, but ~300HP each turn will carry on for a long, looooong time. That was 20% of its health, and with Health making Pile a non-issue, we can just wait it out and try not to die to Blaze. After the first game where Poison was straight up poo poo, it flipped right around to broken in this game. Even in big fights, 300 HP worth of damage can be huge, because enemy HP pools in this game are easily the smallest compared to any other game. Damage numbers in EO2 tend to be very small, so for those of you used to later games where you casually dumped out 4 digit damage, this is actually massive for EO2 standards. Probably the equivlant of a certain venomous skill in EO4 I would say, for those of you familiar with that game. Being a form of nearly completely fixed damage pretty much either brings it to useless or broken with no in-between depending on the game. Also it's kind of weird, but Pile is also a skill that actually does more damage to its adjacent targets more than the initial one. Not sure why but that's just the way it is.  Ah, geez, I gotta cool this down somehow! Cause, yeah, Blaze will gently caress us up. If you see how hard Chimaera is hitting right now, I'm pretty sure you can math out that 50% more damage would be a game over for Cross. He's gotta take it down fast before Aura becomes a factor!  do your best You're welcome! Gack! Because we're doing so much Poison damage, it keeps going to the next stage of its health, so that was two Blazes in a row, tanked wonderfully by our Provoked Protector.  Gah, I am not used to such little health! So long as it means I'm not dying again. We better finish this up quick, we've got a turn of the attack buff, but after that the imp will heal 110HP and undo a lot of progress. Still, what are the chances that Poison has stuck around this long? Once the first Slaveimp has entered the battle, the clock is really ticking. And killing them will only help you so much, because there are several more on the way. If you aren't close to killing Chimaera, I'll be blunt, you're probably doomed.  Haven't seen that much blood in a while... What a story! What can I say, I'm a bit of a lucky bastard when I need to. Still, Poison didn't do all the work, just 99% of it. Corinth did enough uninterrupted Bravery damage across these turns to nearly shave an entire extra Poison turn. Juthro meant that Pile was a complete non-issue, and thank god Lily could actually survive a Blaze at full health, which she was at the end of the turn because while kathy is slow, she's great for preparing for next turn. Very happy with how well everyone contributed. Or, well, weren't very heavy while Hart/Sophia carried them all across the finish line. Chimaera can be a very tough wake up call as to what this series in general expects from you. Good playing and management is pretty much paramount to succeeding in this series. You can probably imagine how much tougher this fight would have been if Cross didn't have access to a max level Poison.   pathetic And that's a wrap. To compensate for no exp from FOEs, bosses now have... way too much exp, they overcompensated since Fenrir gave out 1800. And since we got the conditional... ehehehe... it gets better! That was not a typo in Chimaera's infobox. Chimaera genuinely gives out 21,000 experience points! The Raflesia, the toughest enemy in this Stratum, only gave out 831. Yeah, while FOEs giving out no exp was a response to how much people grinded on them in the first game, they just moved all that exp to bosses and it just resulted in people farming bosses to grind. And yes bosses give out mountains of exp every kill, which makes EO2 one of the easiest games to grind in. Even though EO2 is possibly the most mean spirited game in the series, it also does plenty of things to utterly shatter its own game design. The world of Etrian Odyssey 2 is certainly a land of contrasts. Oh and getting the conditional drop is a very big boon, as you'll see in a bit. Gotta love how Atlus then went in the complete opposite direction in EO3, and made FOEs give too much EXP, while bosses don't give enough. Again. Excellent work there, my kicking companion! Huff... huff... I did most of the work! But you pulled off the chants pretty well for a beginner! I just imagined the steps I would make for my illusions. i had a fun time, what a lovely ugly amalgamation Not how I'd put it, but with support like that I can't complain. Heh, you're also welcome. This adventure is just beginning... though I can't say the same for... Well done! You have defeated the loathsome Chimaera! A sense of accomplishment wells up within you, as a beast's howl reaches you from far away. The howl nags at you... it seems familiar somehow. If you can remember what it is, you can try returning to the place where it emanated. he seems fine for now, but we might not make the trip to him Agreed, let's find what Flausgal taught us, he deserves that much. Here's all of 5F, quite a long floor, with quite the wall at the end, but we're ready to move on. The real Etrian Odyssey starts here If this is your first EO LP you're reading, or your first experience with EO in general, he's serious. Chimaera may have been tough, but the game has even stronger obstacles in store for you. Can you handle the heat? Though to the rest of you more familiar with the series, I'm sure you already knew he was being serious in the first place. Ever-Scarlet Forest    That's warm. My burning adventurer's spirit and the thick heated air. Yowch! i can only treat external burns Before, I wouldn't like this heat, now it's pretty comforting. Though I could cool myself down by- I thought you were gonna stop doing that!!! Steamy. Indeed, the very ground is boiling, I wonder what would cause such a thing... the red leaves are my first thought, but they seem fairly average... At least I'm not going to cook for long, heh! The violet light rises from the center of the room, surrounded by poles. You think back to the protector Flausgul's words... the Geomagnetic Field he spoke of must be this light! You consider touching the pole of light to see how it works, though you could also move on. A good feeling when you've cleared a stratum, though it is a little more rewarding last game since you went through the entire thing. Still, not gonna complain about more checkpoints! But before we go back, we do have an urgent matter. Geomagnetic Fields function just like the last game. And unlike poles, these are permanent 2 way checkpoints. At least you're still fine, r-right? Not for long... There was a lonely beast here with pleading eyes before. Upon your return, you see the beast standing here unchanged, like a bronze statue. He seems to sense that his long-time enemy has been defeated and wears a peaceful expression. Kurogane barks quietly in thanks, and paws his collar as if offering it as a gift. Satisfied at last, Kurogane falls to the ground, as if entering a deep slumber... And so he shall return to the forest. Not always a happy ending, but if we get stronger, we can make sure this never happens again. you weren't cute, but i hope you sleep well If you come back here later, long after Kurogane has passed away, there's actually alternate dialogue:quote:After defeating the Chimaera on the 5th floor, you enter a dead end at the forest's edge. You recall that before it was the endpoint of a trail of blood you discovered... As you follow the trail to its conclusion, you discover a beast lying on the ground. It is Kurogane, the Beowulf member you encountered before. He seems to be dead already... You bow your heads and pray that Kurogane's noble soul may rest in peace. Taking one last look at the deceased, you notice his collar lying loose on the ground. Some mysterious force impels you to reach for it and take it back to Lagaard with you. Though you still get that key item either way. You guys go and get some rest, I'll finish this up. There's somewhere we gotta go first... I've heard that Chimaera is no more. Allow this old man to thank you with all his heart for your exquisite work! Well done, well done! On the Grand Duchy's behalf, I present you with this reward. Kinda not used to missions just ending without much fanfare. Hey, we got a lot of money at least. That should cover all the supplies that was needed to get past the 5th floor and Chimaera. Though... heh heh heh... Its leader was very affectionate with beasts, and trained them to fight against monsters. You hold the collar he used in his training routine. With that, perhaps you too can tame wild animals and teach them to fight with you. Why don't you try inducting a beast into your guild? Puppy... This was preventable and due to our own weakness. Therefore we will induct these two Beasts into the guild to always remember what we could not do. 'ere 'ere! They look like fun to wrestle with! I wouldn't recommend it, but then I have much to learn with working with animals. Fluffy coats are good on beds, but this is fine too.  Purrrrrrrrrr! Hehe! Hey! Where are you two going?! Thankfully Beasts are unlocked nice and early, and we'll be using both Rajah and Loopy throughout the next stratum, buuuuut it's a shame this class is so poo poo. It's why we have two, Loopy will be going full into Loyalty and become a very glassy cannon, while Rajah will avoid that skill entirely and be a mediocre tank. Oh well, it's a perfectly fine class, but it has a lot of small issues and one very big issue, as I go into full detail in the class writeup. At least we now have the full guild! Unlike the last game, you actually get the unlockable class at a reasonable time. And grinding one up isn't too much trouble, as a battle with Chimaera should bring it up to par. Chimaera starts its respawn timer right away, so you can rest at an inn for 2 weeks to bring it back for another go. Too bad Beasts has its own fair share of issues.  Those guys seemed a bit down, wonder what happened in there? Well least I can do is sell thi- HOLY poo poo! Now for more imbalance, because I love this dumb game so much. Not only can you crush everything in your way with broken classes and ridiculous Force skills, bosses give out tons of exp and have very easy conditional drops that sell for ludicrous amounts, we will not have money problems for the rest of the game. And hey, it'll take a few more kills, but here's a bow they were expecting you to buy much, muuuuuuch later. Because of this bow, Survivalists can actually be a force to be reckoned with, but I don't fancy grinding that myself. Still, the choice is there if you want it. Oh yeah, what about the regular drop?1 Brute Tail required for Shadow Bow - Bow, ATK+58, STR+2, HP+10, +5 speed - Its arrow can pierce anything imaginable. What the making GBS threads gently caress!? Yes, that conditional drop sells for a ridiculous amount! Just look at the fund difference in those screenshots! Money troubles can be an issue to deal with in the first part of the game, but the moment you lay your hands on a boss's conditional drop (they all supply a ridiculous amount of funds), money is basically no object for the entire rest of the game! Especially if you gun for the rest of the boss's conditional drops. And unlike in most other EO games, there's no downside to doing so. Boss drops are not mutually exclusive in EO2 (which EO3 would change back), so you can snag every drop at once from a boss. This is pretty much why gathering fell out of favor as the best way to make money. Why risk a weak team and wasting time wiping to an rear end in a top hat flower, when you can just get far more money from poisoning the first boss!? The only downside is that Poisoning Chimaera is RNG dependant but uh. There other ways to make a lot of money too. Back at last... Yeah... It was a fun time, heh, but still... huh? who are- Beasts incoming! I'm ready to fight! Don't you dare!!! Hmm! Hmhm! What are they...? Uwah! Hey get off her- gah! Heh! Mmhm! They're licking you both... heh... how sweet of them What happy additions to the guild, did you come to make us feel better? Hahaha, they are really fluffy! I guess we shouldn't, bleh, feel so bad about the end of one adventure, when we have new ones just beginning! But I really need to get this now slobbery armour off me... Purrpurrpurr... Ehehehehe! Well, we could stay for a bit longer... Next time, the next stratum begins! It's a game
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2021 00:32
|
|
|
Beast Overview Welcome to the final class of the game, where all bets are off. Every game has some kind of meme class, whether it's Farmers or Bushi, or perhaps Hexer from the last game, there's a class where you look at it and it makes you go... okay? Beasts are meant to be more offensive Protectors but have a lot of weird skills, a passive that might be one of the worst designed skills in the series and pretty good offensive utility that requires said godawful skill. The main issue is that you don't take that skill and get an alright defensive class... which is worse than a Protector, or you take the skill and go all in, becoming the glassiest of cannons. Neither works that well, this class is so strange, it feels like it was added in last minute and since it's the only unlockable class in the game, it might well be. Let's get stuck in. Here's the only unlockable class in this game. Fortunately you unlock this class super early, right after beating the first Stratum boss, so it doesn't have the exact same problems as Ronin or Hexer. Unfortunately what's behind the lock isn't great. Why? Oh just read on... Here's the first weird thing, to see how well each class fares, I've been ranking them by how their stats compare to the other classes. Then I take all those ranks and create an average, just out of curiosity. Beast is number one, it has the best overall stats out of all the classes in the game, best HP, second in STR and VIT, third in LUC, the worst TEC oh no, and decidedly average everything else. That means this class is great, right? RIGHT??? Well we'll get to that, but on paper Beasts have everything they need for greatness. Beasts can be built one of two ways. An offensive tank hybrid. Or taking Loyalty. Why these 2 builds? Oh you'll see in a moment. As for stats you want, HP and TP are good builds. TEC can be ignored entirely as +10 to that awful TEC stat won't fix it. STR is really good no matter which build you go with, so you'll want to max that out. VIT is an odd one. If you're going with the hybrid build, you'll want to max it out. If you're going with the Loyalty build, VIT is completely useless to invest in, and HP is the only defensive stat they can really use.Common Passive Unlocks HP Up: Lv3: Autocure VIT Up: Lv10: En Garde TEC Up: Lv5: Fetch LUC Up: Lv5: Fetch Ah, one useful skill out of three, sounds about right. Fetch invests in two stats Beasts really don't care about and you can just use Survivalists from base instead for gathering. It's kinda cool that it rolls the gathering skills into one, but it's not worth it. En Garde is pretty alright on defensive builds and Autocure would be pretty great if it was per turn instead of per battle, but both are basically useless if you pick up Loyalty which is, oh yeah, up next.Loyalty Unlocks: Lv1: Doze Off; Lv2: Preen; Lv3: Bristle; Lv10: Rampage BUGGED: Uses the ally's defensive stats and buffs instead of the user's, treated as recoil damage and thus ignores damage reduction and nullification skills. Gives the user a chance to take damage for an ally, can activate multiple times per turn. Takes priority over any damage mitigating or nullifying skills. Passive.  What the loving gently caress were they loving THINKING with this skill??? On the face of it it seems fine, a passive 1 Guard that when combined with a bunch of defensive buffs, can be a great shield for the party. But of course there's two HUUUUUUUUGE problems, due to a bug it doesn't use its impressive VIT and various defensive buffs, instead it uses the allies. So that squishy Gunner trying to use a Charge shot? All you did was replace their HP and died in their place, it makes the Beast into an incredibly fragile unit due to the high activation rate at high levels. And when AOEs get thrown around more by the enemy, guess what the Beast can do? They throw themselves in front of every goddamn hit and ignore all the wonderful unique defensive skills they have, making them completely useless. Preen and Bristle are pretty alright skills if Loyalty didn't ignore their DEF reduction aspect, so instead you get their ATK reduction and Provoke rate, respectively. Second issue, and this is an important one: IT GOES BEFORE FRONT GUARD OR ANTI ELEM SKILLS, so even on the all out offense build, you can't even get them somewhat protected by those skills. Up against the biggest and baddest enemies, when you'd want to Rampage all over the place, they instead die to the dragon breaths even if the rest of the party has that attacked nullified or to the various physicals AOEs that get thrown around lategame, that you love using Front Guard on. That means due to their below average AGI, they might not even get an attack off, they'll just take a full hit from a postgame enemy and immediately die. What is the loving point of them then??? Well, you can ignore this skill completely and become a discount Protector because you can't get Preen, Bristle, or hell even Doze Off. It is staggering how this skill forces you into two different builds, completely at odds with what the class is supposed to do and make them mediocre in BOTH aspects. What an absolute shame. And this is the first loving skill!!! THIS SKILL, IS loving poo poo! And it really brings the class down! It's very rare that's the case because most lovely skills can just be ignored, no need to waste SP on that garbage after all. Not Loyalty, ohohoho boy! It has several issues that makes it even more poo poo than a standard bad skill. For one it's a mastery skill. You want those particular skills, you gotta take this, there's no way around it. It's a passive that can't be toggled off either so you can't take it back outside of resting the SP out. There's also the fact that Loyalty is this class's core mechanic, several things were designed to work with it. Except not! It's completely and utterly bugged. I have more specifics on this skill in a Jank Odyssey writeup, but the gist of it is that the damage redirection a) happens way too late and b) is coded as recoil damage, breaking several interactions with all these skills. This also means that by ignoring Loyalty, you are met with an incomplete and half baked class. And if you do take Loyalty, the class design is at complete odds with itself due to the sheer anti-synergy the bugs introduce! This is why HP is the only defensive stat that matters for Loyalty builds. The Beast's VIT is completely useless on Loyalty procs. Not only that, you basically have to do 2 separate builds with this class. Taking Loyalty or ignoring it since those 2 builds are completely at odds with each other as Loyalty turns the Beast into a ridiculous glass cannon, while the other build gives you a tank with several missing tools for actually tanking. And no matter what you do, you are left with a very incomplete and mediocre class, if not really terrible in the Loyalty build's case. Now there is a way you can make Loyalty work. It scales with your party's defenses, but most classes in the game aren't exactly on the beefy side, but there are a few that are. Just stuff all those slabs of beef into your party and suddenly Loyalty becomes very strong as with even more defensive buffs they won't die. What's the problem with this strategy? Doing this setup requires going with a party that focuses heavily on defense instead of offense and tanking their damage output greatly! It's way more efficient and far less effort to just go with an offensive party of some kind where with this strategy you have to put in a lot of effort just to make the skill functional. And that doesn't even fix all the anti-synergy issues this class has. It's just a bandage over a far bigger problem. As such we're not gonna be writing this overview with that specific strategy in mind, as it's very unlikely most players will even go for it. If you're doing a challenge run, be my guest but that's pretty out of scope for this LP and if you're doing one, you don't really need our help and already know what you're getting into. Alternatively run a solo Beast and literally no other party member. Or 5 Beasts. Suddenly all of Loyalty's issues go out the window because there is no party to defend, or the party is full of Beasts that can actually use their stats while reaping the benefits of the defensive skills they can actually use. But uh again, that sort of thing is out of the scope of this LP.Autocure Prerequisites: HP Up Lv3 Unlocks: Lv5: Autoheal Restores the user's HP by a certain amount after each battle. Passive.  Now for a defensive build this is a pretty great skill that gives you a nice chunk of scalable healing at the end of each tu- oh, it's at the end of every battle? WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT THEN??? You're gonna invest 10 points for a skill that gives you like 50HP at the end of each BATTLE? Just use Cure, it's super cheap and heals for way more, and chances are if you have Loyalty you'll be dead at the end of a two turn battle anyway. Still, it has one positive point, and it's the skill it unlocks. A more selfish version of Patch Up for less return. It does stack with Patch Up so whether you want to take this is up to you, though I'd consider it super low priority. Especially if you took Loyalty to max level and are frequently left with a dead Beast.Autoheal Prerequisites: Autocure Lv5 Unlocks: Lv5: Tenacity Gives the user a chance to recover from any ailment at the start of a turn. Separate chance to the standard Recover Chance. Passive.  Now this is much better, gives the Beast a great chance of recovering from any ailment since it's in essence a second recovery roll. Since they have great LUC, it's very likely they'll shrug off ailments after one turn, which is very nice for a tank. Of course, if you have Loyalty, dying also cures ailments, but what this skill unlocks would actually help with that build, so it can be worth picking up in both. Just a shame about Autocure. Keep in mind it doesn't work on binds, but it does work on Petrification! Which isn't a huge upside as only 5 enemies have access to Petrification in the entire game. Still, being able to get right back into the action is a really good passive to have. Though non-Loyalty Beasts will see significantly more value from this since they won't be dying all the time.En Garde Prerequisites: VIT Up Lv10 Gives the user a chance to reduce incoming damage by 50%. Does not stack with Loyalty. Passive.  So if you were wondering why I didn't mention this skill when talking about Loyalty... well there it is, god could you imagine how good this class could be if all the multipliers and defensive buffs actually WORKED with Loyalty? But for defensive builds this is pretty darn nice. Would've been nice to combo with Bristle but oh well, stuff to dream about. Of course, this skill works well when it actually activates and outside of Loyalty there's no real way for the Beast to attract hits so it won't work as well as a 1 Guard Protector, but you've invested ten points of VIT Up, might as well use this! This skill would be loving amazing with Loyalty IF IT ACTUALLY WORKED WITH IT! As a result, ignore this entirely if you're using Loyalty, it won't help one single bit. For a tank build, it's really good though. It effectively increases the Beast's HP by 38%. This is also a big reason why this class is so weird. Just look at how at odds the skillset is with each other! All this anti-synergy is just disgusting!Tenacity Prerequisites: Autoheal Lv5 Gives the user a chance to be automatically revived at 1HP. Can activate multiple times per battle, stacks with Loyalty and cannot activate if the user was killed by Instant Death. Passive.  Finally, something that actually works with Loyalty. This skill is pretty great if your Beast is dying a lot and pretty useless otherwise. Still, the fact that it can proc after every death if you're lucky enough is pretty drat good, but it's also pretty bad when it doesn't activate, since reviving a Beast for it to then die immediately isn't a great feeling. The best way to keep on Rampaging and that's not saying a lot. This is pretty much the only defensive skill you can even get with Loyalty builds, and it's probably the only worthwhile one since your Beast will be dying all the drat time. Might as well mitigate that the best you can! Outside of Loyalty builds, probably take it or leave it. Your Beast will be pretty tanky but this could be handy to have on the off chance they die from a stray Loyalty proc if you have that at a low level.Maul Unlocks: Lv5: Devour A single target Claw attack that increases in damage the lower the user's HP. Claw skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Wow look at all those numbers. Unfortunately this type of skill is back and it's still hard to justify, especially on Loyalty builds where it'll rarely get the chance to be this low in health, and Rampage is better. This can work on more defensive builds, but there's better skills to use, like the one this skill unlocks! Can be worth throwing out if you find yourself at low health, but due to the free flowing of Salve II and it not being worth maxing means you're better off doing something else. This skill isn't quite hard outclassed by others like some other skills of these types are but it's still outclassed in practice. Loyalty builds should be using Rampage instead, while tank builds can be using Devour or Bodyslam. 25% HP is a very dangerous threshold on tank builds, and on Loyalty builds, you're either dead or you're not dead. There is barely any inbetween. And again, Rampage exists, so please use that instead of making your Beast's existence even more miserable than it already is.Devour Prerequisites: Maul Lv5 A single target Claw attack that heals the user's HP by a percentage of damage dealt. Claw skill with Bash damage, uses the Head.  Now for a tanky build, this is a pretty great skill. Due to the Beast's high STR it'll do a nice chunk of damage and, indeed, heal a fair bit. For Loyalty builds, this will absolutely not offset the amount of damage you'll take, so don't even bother. Otherwise this move is kinda whatever, since it doesn't really heal that much, but for keeping topped off and for a slight investment that can ease your healer's load, it's pretty nice. A pretty strong utility skill for tank builds, as dealing damage and healing yourself at the same time is a really strong effect. And on a supportive class this can really extend their survivability. But on Loyalty builds? Trust us when we say that the lifesteal does not make up for the sheer amount of HP they will lose from Loyalty procs. Or deaths they will run into.Bodyslam Unlocks: Lv5: Rampage A single target Claw attack that attempts to inflict Stun. Claw skill with Bash, uses the Arms.  ...what is this scaling?! Truly this is the meme class, but that does mean when fully invested Bodyslam is a drat good skill, hitting hard and striking fast. Of course, this is outshone by Rampage, but for defensive builds this is a great move to spam if you don't fancy doing anything else. Of course you'll need to wait to use this, it is absolutely godawful early on, but quickly becomes an excellent skill. Since it doesn't require HP tuning like Maul or the suicidal Loyalty like Rampage, this is the best overall skill this class has, which says a lot, but the Stun chance coupled with high LUC is actually pretty dependable. Definitely something to work towards, you'll want this skill nice and early. From levels 1 through 5 it's straight up worse than a regular attack, and it's barely better at level 6. But past that point is where the skill starts getting good. What the gently caress is this scaling!? Keep in mind Etrian Odyssey does not tell you the specifics of the skill data, we're pulling this out for you, so chances are a player who invests in this will likely see that this skill is crap and not invest in it further. What the gently caress is this class!? Anyways if you're using a tank Beast build, this is your best damage skill in its toolkit. Deals decent damage and could possibly lock enemies out of a turn. Assuming their Claws don't weigh them down anyways.Rampage Prerequisites: Bodyslam Lv5, Loyalty Lv10 A multi target Claw attack to 3-6 enemies, does not redirect if original target dies. Claw attack with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Alright fine, you want the suicidal Loyalty build, what does it get you? Well, okay, it's the best attacking skill in the game. Yes, it outpaces Midareba and Richochet, but is MUCH harder to use than those since you usually don't get off more than two of these in a battle before you're paste on the wall. Theoretically you do incredible damage with this skill, but accuracy and the chance of only doing 3 hits at max level really hamper this skill's effectiveness. It can outdamage all other skills, but will it? Will it really? Loyalty is just such a fundamentally terrible skill that warps everything associated with it that even at this class's best, it's still hard to use and can explode in your face at any moment. I just can't recommend this, good as it may be, and that's the biggest shame of this class. If you maxed out Loyalty, you might as well snag this. It's the best attacking skill in the game, and you might as well embrace the glass cannon nature of your pet since they're going to be dying a whole lot due to Loyalty. At max level, taking into account the lowered accuracy, it deals a whopping average damage of 546%! (Without the accuracy penalty, the average damage increases to 728%.) Extremely high for a non-conditional damage skill! Then again Loyalty gives it a condition of "hope your Beast doesn't loving die." It would be an amazing skill if it wasn't attached to Loyalty, but it is and rarely does being associated with a terrible skill bring down another skill! God, what the poo poo is this class design!?Claw Unlocks: Lv5: Wildcut A single target Claw attack. Claw skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Uh, yep, you are reading this right, this skill gets stronger, but also gets slower and less accurate the more you level it up. What the gently caress is the point? I feel like I'm asking that a lot with this class, just use Bodyslam instead, hell use the skill this one unlocks, I dunno why they would make a bland skill worse the more you want to use it, they were just throwing everything at the wall and yes, haha, very funny, but stop making this class bad!!! Well this isn't something you see too often in an EO game. A skill actively giving reasons not to max it out beyond raising the TP costs. You'll have to decide where to stop, but if you want Wildcut, you'll need to level it up to 5. This feels like an experiment that didn't work because SP is already a precious resource, so knowing how to carefully distribute it is already an important skill for players to learn. And skills are already competing to gain SP, so there really didn't need to be more reasons to drag a skill down. Or they thought a Beast having access to Cut damage was really really scary.Wildcut Prerequisites: Claw Lv5 A multi target Claw attack. Claw skill with Cut damage, uses the Arms.  Oh hey Wildshot but better, how you doing. This is clearly supposed to be a finishing off skill with that godawful speed modifier, and it does work well in that regard due to pretty high power and good Beast stats. Otherwise kinda whatever, line wide Cut damage is definitely interesting and useful against 5 enemies at once, but if you can't finish the enemies off your party will have to awkwardly kill them off at the start of the next turn and you'll probably want to use Bodyslam instead to secure the kill. Or Rampage if you're suicidal, yadda yadda. Still one of the more useful and unique skills of this class. A 1% speed modifier. Did somebody think giving the Beast access to Cut damage was really scary or something? What's with this skill and Claw? Anyways it's the only true AOE skill they have so pick it up if that's something you want your Beast to be dishing out. It's one of the few physical AOEs in the game but it won't be able to take out random encounters before they act.Bristle Prerequisites: Loyalty Lv3 Increases the user's physical and elemental defense, and reduces their damage output for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  So for the other Loyalty skills, you were probably wondering if you could only invest in the mastery skill, just a little bit, and just ignore the higher activation and Rampage. And yes, you can do that, but there's a few problems with this, firstly the activation chance, even at the lowest level you'd like, 3, is still annoyingly high. Secondly using these skills in conjunction with Loyalty activating is pointless because it ignores the best part of them, the damage reduction for Bristle is FANTASTIC, and for a more defensive approach the lower damage is kinda whatever. But if Loyalty activates that huge damage reduction doesn't matter at all and the 1% less damage you'll take from a level 3 Loyalty is all that'll matter. You're using these skills praying that Loyalty never activates at all, and that's a huge problem with the 3 skills early in this tree, so it's less of a headache to just not bother with them. When Loyalty doesn't activate, hot drat these skills are pretty darn good, but 1/3 times that's not gonna be the case. And that just sucks. Are you sick of me talking about how bad Loyalty is yet? More amazing skills that are just utterly tanked by how loving poo poo Loyalty is! Once again, the anti-synergy on display here is just utterly horrifying! Which is a shame because this is the strongest defense buff in the game! But Loyalty ignores all of it! And even on tank builds that took a bit of Loyalty to unlock this, 33% of the time it won't matter! And this is completely useless for Rampage builds since the last thing you want to do is reduce Rampage's damage, which is the only redeeming thing about max level Loyalty, and the defense buff will be ignored 75% of the time!Preen Prerequisites: Loyalty Lv2 Increases the user's physical defense and provoke rate for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  Now for the next Loyalty shackled skill, Preen is pretty great for when you want your tank to be a tank, but if you've only got Loyalty at level 2, there's a 31% chance that you'll technically use this skill but take 2% more damage, making this skill completely useless in those cases! If you're able to combine Preen, Bristle, En Garde and even Wildwall, you can see how this class could've been an amazing tank. But there's always that hanging spectre of death that will completely screw everything up and act as if you didn't invest in those skills at all. This is the only way outside of Loyalty for the Beast to properly draw aggro and help protect the team and it's not a great defense increase, admittedly, and has the godawful passive associated with it. So again, it's just easier to ignore it entirely and go full Rampage or not pick Loyalty at all. Like Cross said, combining all of these defensive skills could have made for an amazing tanking class. But once again, Loyalty induces anti-synergy, so these skills have extremely questionable usefulness. With max level Loyalty, Preen's basically in effect all the time anyways, and on tank builds you have to hope Loyalty doesn't activate to get the most out of this since the defense buff doesn't activate in those cases. The defense buff is also pretty bad, so it's not even a must have even if you're trying to ignore Loyalty. It does have one specific use in the post-game at the very least, but that's about it.Wildwall Nullifies all STR-based attacks for the entire turn or if the user dies. Buff skill, uses the Arms.  Ah, a Parry that can nullify STR-based elemental attacks for some reason, rare that they are. Combined with Preen, this is a great way to really shut down any physical attacker for a turn considering Loyalty doesn't gently caress everything up, but it's also something you don't need to level up all the way. It's rare you'll take 10 hits at once, let alone loving 20. Of course, without Preen, and indeed Loyalty, this skill isn't very dependable since there's no way to guarantee the enemy will attack you, so it's best to use a Protector for this strategy. See how with most skills with this drat class there's always a freaking asterisk? Ah, what could've been. Suffers from the same issues Parry does, in that it'll fall off as the game goes on since it's pretty tied closely to Preen. And it doesn't even work with Loyalty, so that bit of usage is completely thrown out the window. At best it's a one point wonder. Just imagine just how powerful this class would have been if Loyalty wasn't horrifically and utterly bugged!Roar Attempts to inflict Fear on all enemies. Curse skill, uses the Head.  Yep. They were having a loving laugh with this class lemme tell ya. Still, wonky infliction rate aside, this is a drat good skill at max level when combined with high LUC. Pairs very nicely with a FEAR TREE Hexer and can also just shutdown enemies pretty effectively, especially when combined with Bodyslam. Holy poo poo a good skill where I don't have to UM, ACTUALLY and mention Loyalty in any way. ...poo poo What the loving poo poo is this scaling. Did they forget to design levels 1 through 4? Just max it out as soon as possible if you're grabbing it. AOE Fear is pretty okay crowd control, but it can be paired up nicely with a Hexer if you're using their Fear skills. A high priority if you're using a Fear Hexer. Can be taken or left in the dust if you're not.Saliva Restores HP to a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Uh, right? Due to a lack of a healing boosting passive and any TEC to really speak of, this is a pretty pathetic heal, but can be a way for a defensive build Beast to heal other party members...? Just use Devour, it has much better utility, and leave the healing to the actual dedicated classes toots. Still, if you don't have a healer for some reason... No Healer, the worst TEC stat in the entire game out of all the classes, yeah pass. Just have them throw out a Medica or something if you need your Beast to be healing someone else. And if they need to heal themselves, Devour can do that while also chipping away at their enemies at the same time. Or they can gobble down a Medica if they really need a lot of emergency healing.Doze Off Prerequisites: Loyalty Lv1 Restores the user's HP and puts them to Sleep. Heal skill, uses the Head.  Again, what? Stop being such a loving weird class! Still, this does combo with Autoheal and is a very cheap heal, but Devour is again way more useful, you should have a dedicated healer, and also this requires Loyalty and being asleep when that activates is a BAD loving IDEA, so maybe don't. ...Why? It's a fast healing skill and Autoheal can Purge off the Sleep next turn but uh. Use an actual healer. Or an item. Devour is also there too to deal damage and heal at the same time. Oh and in case you had any ideas, no, Sleep resistance or any form of ailment resistance will not prevent the Sleep from happening, as it's guaranteed and pierces immunities. Recovery buffs do work so there's that. It has one possible use in the post-game, but Preen can also do that and is just a better skill all around.Howl Lures non-red FOEs in a certain radius to tile used and stuns them for a set duration. Field skill.  God this class has so many skills... can be useful but I prefer saving SP for other skills, even if that's a hard sell with this class, and using items instead. Fighting FOEs is a bad idea, so can definitely be useful to avoid them! Oh hey more FOE field skills. Take em or leave them. Though most players opt to leave them.Growl Stuns non-red FOEs in a certain radius for a set duration. Field skill.  Gets both FOE skills like the Troubadour, so can offer some nice utility like that class, but this class is pretty confused enough, maybe don't add more chaff to it? Ah who cares, I don't care, let's end this already. Right so instead of repeating my commentary on these skills yet again, let me drop a bit of trivia on you. These skills were an attempt to make Labyrinth explorations more interactive. Players could use these to interact with FOEs to make their trips more easy. However, these skills were frequently ignored outside of certain sections of the game that forced you to use them. Not only do FOE items exist, but learning FOE behaviours isn't particularly hard, and avoiding them is pretty easy once you've got their patterns down. Not only that, Red FOEs are probably the ones you'd want to avoid the most but these skills don't work on them, limiting their usefulness further. And yet another downside is that depending on the FOE navigation puzzle, you might gently caress up the patrol routes if there are groups of FOEs by using these skills and make it completely impossible to get through that part without killing them. In short, these mechanics were basically failed experiments. These were dropped entirely starting from EO3, and instead they opted to make puzzles involving FOEs more involved once the 3DS era of Etrian Odyssey came around to add more interactivity to the Labyrinths.Fetch Prerequisites: TEC Up Lv5, LUC Up Lv5 Allows the party to gather from Chop, Mine and Take points a limited amount each day.  This is unique, but since you're putting investment into two pretty mediocre passives for this, it's just easier, and takes around the same amount of SP, to use the Survivalist's skillset instead. Going with a team of 5 Beasts is not as useful and you don't want these skills on your actual Beast, so heavy skip, even if it's a fun novelty. This is an interesting idea in theory but in practice it plays out the exact same way as investing in all of the gathering skills on a Survivalist. TEC and LUC aren't particularly stats the Beast cares about. And in a gathering party? Beasts are locked off at the start of the game so you can't really make a party of Beasts from the get-go, and Survivalists have actual field skills they can use to reach gathering points easier that Beasts don't have access to. And due to the skill tree design, you don't get the payoff from this skill until later in comparison. A Survivalist can gather from 3 different gathering points with 3 SP, but it'll take the Beast 11 SP for them to do so. Just stick with a Survivalist gathering party.Salivall Heals and revives the entire party and dispels all status ailments. Does not remove binds or Stun. Force skill, uses the Head.  Oh thank god it's nearly over. Salivall is a worse H. Touch since it has a limit to its healing, but it's still a really nice OH poo poo button that falls off in the lategame. It's basically the same skill otherwise so you'll use it if you have it, but it's otherwise a mediocre and confusing cap to a mediocre and confusing class. It's basically a worse H. Touch, what else is there to say? The base healing is pretty big though so it's not all bad and should cover your party for most of the game, even if by late or post-game it stops being a full heal. Throw it out whenever you need it and it's up. Folks. What the gently caress did we just read??? If everything worked out like it did in my dreams then the Beast would be a wonderful defensive class with some fun utility that makes it different enough from the Protector, better healing and defensive measures with a lack of elemental mitigation. And honestly that's fine, because the various offbrand and offensive skills this class has is actually pretty nice. But then Loyalty comes and fucks it all up. So either you ignore it entirely, which ignores the great skills of Rampage, Bristle and Preen, becoming a worse Protector in the process, or you go all in and die to anything that deals any modicum of good damage. It's such an awful rock or hard place to be in and I hate it, I really do, this isn't a bad class, per se, it's a very interesting experiment that can go horribly wrong at a moment's notice, and you don't need that kinda stress in your life. At least the remake fixed them, but anyway, that's enough of us rambling, it's on with the main event! loving finally, what a journey these classes have put us through... Beast could have been an amazing class, but due to programming shortcuts being taken, it's among the bottom of the barrel instead. Trying to make Loyalty work takes a ridiculous amount of effort to pull off, and at that point you could have completed the game more easily and faster with a better party. And if you don't take Loyalty you just have a pretty middling generalist class. What a shame, it has a pretty decent toolkit that's heavily undermined by one terrible skill causing a weird split in skill builds. So instead you have a unit that's pretty mediocre all around. It's astounding how one skill, one skill, completely undermined a class's design.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2021 00:46
|
|
|
Well that was a loving trip... anyway, new stratum and a new vote for who will be exploring most of it. We have the 5F team to explore 6F, but we'll need the divide the 12 members in 3 teams of 4 to explore 7F-12F. Simple, uh, right? In any case, here's how everyone is shaping up. Or will shape up when I level them for being in the party. Holly: Starting off a little awkwardly with bad skill Tornado, but will start focusing on Chasers as more members delve into their elementals. Bit of a slow burn, but should be fun! Lily: I can keep ignoring the anitskills for now, right? She'll focus on Provoke and Parry for now and generally keep everyone alive. Max level F.Guard is kinda good! Logan: Also starting off awkwardly with bad skill 2-Bolt, but will soon come into his own with exploration utility. 1st Turn will be very nice. Sonia: Always hard to start with an EO2 Dark Hunter, we'll get arm binds and Climax rolling, along with Viper for damage, Baits to come later. kathy: all the healing plz, guess I should work towards Purify and CPR. But Salve II... Corinth: He's shown how, uh, wonderful level 1 tier 1 spells are so he should probably get better ones before we head for Megido. Juthro: What do you do with a Troubadour after Bravery, anyway? After Health I can go... Nihilo? Sure. Eleanore: With Kienzan obtained it's Midareba time and that's about it. Ronin, everybody! Hart/Sophia: Working on Torpor again along with head binds, yes I'm avoiding Poison and Revenge until later. Aleks: I'm not a pussy so it's Charged element time, babyyyyy! Oh wait I should get Richochet first. Siiiigh. Alastor: Warmight and Salve II and then maybe Cursecut, not much else really. Rajah: Will not get Loyalty, will get Devour and Wildcut. Vote for which three you'd like Top four will be featured first, then the next four, then the next four. The 5th slot, or wildcard, for this vote will be both Beasts, focusing on Loopy first for fun Loyalty, but I'll have a different wildcard for whatever team Rajah is voted for.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2021 01:05
|
|
|
Voting is closed! Logan: 5 Sonia: 5 Aleks: 3 Rajah: 3 Will do 7F-8F Hart: 2 Holly: 2 Eleanore:1 Juthro: 1 Will do 9F-10F kathy: 1 Corinth: 1 Alastor: 0 Lily: 0 Will do 11F-12F JeffRaze posted:So how usable would Beast be if points into loyalty did literally nothing? Just a point sink, no screwing yourself. 3/4 skills locked behind Loyalty are great, and only Rampage actually works with Loyalty, so it would make the Beast into a much better tank! Alas, that is not the case.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2021 22:19
|
|
|
Update 9: Everything tastes like burning You're, uh, sticking pretty close, eh? Mmmm. So it's time for the second stratum, and Beasts. Due to not having much equipment, what they do get has pretty inflated stats and you can use accessories to make up the difference. So we'll stack STR boosts on our Loyalty as it doesn't matter what their defensive stats are. They're honestly not that bad when things work out, but we'll be seeing the issues as we go. Also since last update was a little long, we've got some new dialogue to see! Oh joy. Time to work with Beasts. It's so strange how the colors change on the different Strata. Yet it's the same tree all the way up... it's beyond me! Makes you wonder what other trees and dark lords are hiding up there. Wait I just realized, how does that work? Are these some special everred kind of trees in the 2nd Stratum or something? Not "up there," necessarily—in fact, it's in a different game—but have you seen the poo poo in Armoroad's Yggdrasil? They say you've reached the next Stratum! Congratulations. Tell me, are the trees in this new area really on fire? If so, the temperature must be a lot higher in that region of the forest. Keep yourselves hydrated, watch your body temperature and... oh? The rumor isn't true? I see. It's a good thing those trees aren't really on fire--it could be a serious health issue. Even so, you should be careful. Red is a very strong color. Stare at red things for too long, and you may experience impaired vision or nausea. You're fine for now, but I'm concerned about long-term exposure. Be careful out there. I'm done seeing red, personally. ominous That's so, so amazing! Congrats! People ask me all the time about you all... Like "What weapons did they just buy?" or "Can I get some armor just like theirs?" I always tell them the truth. It's not your weapons or armor that make you so great! Even though we'd sell a lot more equipment if I stayed quiet, it wouldn't be right... My father agrees, too! We both think being honest is more important than being rich! So go ahead and shop here as much as you want! No, I am thinking that being rich is bettering. You always say that, though. Don't tell Napier about this. I heard the place is filled with burning trees! How do the critters there survive? Eh? It's not true? Ahh, I see... the trees are red, but they're not on fire... hmm. Anyways, the Nidhogg Guild is getting to be famous now. But don't get a swelled head! I'll be counting on yeh... G'luck! Yeh guys are on fire. Literally! Ah- hey, you said you put it out! But it made my cape nice and warm... I do wonder what it would be like to go through a Stratum where being on fire was the natural state of things. Cass's bizarre "are the trees on fire" bit makes more sense when you realize that Lagaard is, to my recollection, extremely cold year-round, and deathly so when winter rolls around. I'm not sure there's a temperate enough time of the year for the trees around the city to turn auburn.  Yer job is to bring them some ingredients, but there's more to it... oh, so yeh wanna know? Yeh'll have to talk to the lad at the hospital. Yeh know where it is, right? Well, g'luck to yeh! Pop over and see what they want, chum. No problem, buddy.  He's famous in the Grand Duchy, Lord Gascoyne is. He's got a powerful love for animal hide... not that I blame him, what with the bitter cold we see in winter, but the man's obsessed. His mansion's full to bursting with furs lining the walls, the floors, even the ceilings! It's men like him I'll never claim to understand... Ugh, that guy, never seen his face when he visits the Duchy since he's covered head to toe in fur. Wonder if he's related to Aleks... Anyhow, our Lord Gascoyne went into the Labyrinth to hunt for new kinds of fur... says he found a rare beastie no one's ever seen before. Naturally, he wanted the hide. But no matter how fast he ran, this monsters just wouldn't be caught. He had a nasty spill while giving pursuit, and banged himself up pretty badly. But that hasn't dampened his desire for that hide one jot. And that brings us to the quest on the board now. G'luck out there! The monster should appear on the 6th floor. Don't forget to bring back the hide! back so soon? Can't get enough of Medics apparently. Who's the guy covered in fur over there? Oh, did they not tell you the details at the bar? Well, remember when you found the Pale Bloom some time ago? Our current medical research is based on the same flower. Since it was you who were the ones that started us down this path... I wanted you to be the ones to help us finish it. Now, we're all set as far as flowers, but there are other things we need as well. And they can only be found in the Labyrinth. So I need you to retrieve them for us. We need one Mint Leaf. I've heard you can find them around the 6th floor. Once you collect it, just sell it to Sitoth Trading. That's all we need to finish the medicine. It'll come in real handy during your journey! Well, take care out there! What's the second Stratum like? They say it's an autumn-covered forest. I'd like to see it... but stay on guard. The monsters there aren't in the same league in the first Stratum. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. Should be just fine if one of- oof! Okay, okay, you're up first. Yaya! Bah... Hmm? Yes, I was just filing in the maps for the first stratum, uh, sir. The forest of red trees... yes, I know it. It took us several months to discover. Legions of guards fought pitched battles against monsters before we made it that high. It was a difficult period in High Lagaard's history. And now your guild has reached it... mmm. In those excursions, we would abort the mission when we lost over half the team. But you overcame all obstacles with a team of only five. That in itself shows your strength. I expect great things from you. A Sudden Gust of Wind that Calls for Death  Gotta be a knack to this... Be the leaf!Stalker HP: 1200 STR: 20 VIT: 25 TEC: 20 AGI: 25 LUC: 20 Level: 18 Exp: 0 Skills Amputate: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Scythe: Uses the Arms. Deals 200% Cut damage to a single target with 50% splash damage. Has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 75% 100% 125% 50% 125%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 15% 25% 3% 20% 3%Drops Scythe: 80% chance, sells for 389en 1 required for Sensui - Katana, ATK+55, STR+2 - sells for 1,020en Conditional: Kill within 1 turn Harvester: 100% chance, sells for 1,280en Required for nothing Last thing to do before the new stratum is to take on an enemy weaker than Chimeara with the Hexe- I mean, team that beat Chimeara! We'll have to come back later anyway to get the conditional for the codex, because that's fun. Stalkers don't have much to them other than eviscerating you if you don't pass their stat checks. Red FOEs are generally best saved near the end of the Stratum or once you've reached the next Stratum. I've never liked "kill on the first turn" conditionals, it feels a lot more like arbitrary time-gating on filling out bits of the Item Compendium.  I can only do this for so long... Give me, uh, a little while. With our current damage output we could do this in around 20 turns, or we could speed it up a little.  Well I don't need both arms to play music...  i'll get 'em next time... Well Juthro would've died to Amputate's splash damage anyway. It has a bigger chance of using it when below 25% health and if it doesn't use it, then it activates a flag to give it an even bigger chance of using it. Always fun looking through the AI files, though I'll only bring them up when there's something interesting going on, otherwise I'll just skim, but there is one passage in particular that's funny: if it's 2 turns past turn 25, 79% chance of using front row Scythe, 21% chance of using back row Scythe. What an interesting routine that most people have never seen, guess they don't want you to stall it! why 25 turns. what the hell was that a typo or something? EO2 switched from controlling AI through binary tables like EO1 (shudder) to Atlus's FLOW scripting system, probably more well-known amongst romhacking types for being used in every Persona game from P3 onwards. Later games will actually use the fact that they can script out AI in a programmatic fashion to a much greater extent, but in EO2 everything—even bosses—use really simple behavior patterns. In the process of poking at Persona Q2, though, I actually learned that the FLOW scripting system actually has support for multiple functions within a given compiled script. All of the EO games, from 2 on, just never use it for AI, which is why it took me by surprise when I decompiled PQ2's largest enemy AI file and found not just multiple functions, but multiple functions dedicated to custom targeting types used only for that boss! I dunno, I find it interesting to see how different teams within Atlus use the same tool in different ways.  1 Scythe and 5 Feathers required for Sensui, +5 speed. Not that necessary since we'll unlock a better katana in the next stratum soon enough, so speaking of next stratum, let's go to it already! Ever-Scarlet Forest Noticing your presence, it prepares to flee. You suddenly remember the quest you undertook at the bar... 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. I must be obtaining that fur! It won't be an easy critter to catch. Perhaps we should use a Sleep Bell? where's the fun in that We could stun this quest FOE to quickly catch it, or we could chase it around half the map.  Well I can't block that. i don't believe you tried Bigcap HP: 132 STR: 16 VIT: 16 TEC: 15 AGI: 16 LUC: 15 Level: 17 Exp: 599 Skills Mold: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Poison on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance, deals 52-78 Poison damage and has a 100% speed modifier. Spores: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Paralysis on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 0% 0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Open Cap: 50% chance, sells for 21en. 1 required for Stud Coat - Light Armor, DEF+26 - sells for 720en 1 required for Fungus Jet - Accessory, Paralysis Resist Up 50% - sells for 2000en 2 required for Milk Staff - Stave, ATK+48, TP+10 - sells for 830en TWENTY required for Milk Maul - Stave, AK+65, HP+15 - sells for 1,530en 1 required for Smithy Thompson's request I Tiny Bloom: 20% chance, sells for 25en. 1 required for Nectar - Medicine, revives the target to 1HP - sells for 500en 2 required for Theriaca A - Medicine, LV5 Unbind, removes all binds from the target - sells for 100en 3 required for Theriaca B - Medicine, LV8 Refresh, removes all ailments from the target - sells for 100en Conditional: None Lots of new enemies to go over and we start with a mediocre one since they're only threatening if they land Mold. That's a 39% chance so it'll happen every now and then, but they're also weak enough that you can kill them before it can be an issue. I guess it's here to teach you about more ailments, though it's super weak that it's pretty much a trash mob.  Hmph! You will just be getting them the next time. Good start to the Beast showcase, but I'm sure that miss was just a fluke. Anyway, I'm just gonna rip the bandaid off and get max level Loyalty to show why that's a really bad idea, even if Rampage is oh so good. Beasts do incredible damage for this part of the game, but they're incredibly slow and because of Loyalty, Loopy has a 3/4 chance of taking a hit with squishy defensive stats multiple times before he can deal very nice damage. Still gotta wait a level to actually get Rampage, this better be good! I'll go make the funeral preparations. Just solemnly shaking my head over here. uh, there's a ghostly pumpkin behind you What a ridiculous statement, as if I could believe something could sneak up on- bloody nora! A bizarre monster suddenly appears right before your eyes! You wonder how it could have come so close without you sensing it at all. Take heed! There seem to be monsters in this forest that do not appear on your map! Hm? Hmhmhm? Agreed, I can't sense any kind of malice or any real presence from it. Is it alive? Ugh, the thought of this being behind a door... I think invisible FOEs are pretty rad and stops you from just going into autopilot and looking at the bottom screen when you've finished your map. We'll try and beat it up in a moment, but we have something to chase still! Honestly it's kind of a rather underutilized concept and something that could afford to be used more to give a reason to keep an eye on the top screen in some places. It's only used fully in 2, and for certain types of FOEs in the 3DS games. Aha! That sounds like a dead end. Big bird! Big feathers! Fluffy pillows!!! Your animal killing lust really is quite something. Moa HP: 144 STR: 16 VIT: 17 TEC: 16 AGI: 36 LUC: 34 Level: 19 Exp: 774 Skills Rush: Uses the Legs. Deals 135% Stab damage to the entire party. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 120% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 150% 100% 100% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Tail Quill: 55% chance, sells for 31en. 1 required for Bird Whip - Whip, ATK+51 - sells for 680en 2 required for Madfa - Gun, ATK+55 - sells for 870en 2 required for Quill Arm - Gloves, DEF+11, VIT+1 - sells for 400en 3 required for Shell Boot - Footwear, DEF+12, AGI+1 - sells for 420en Conditional: None Oh goody an enemy that hits the entire party after you get Beasts, thanks game. Moas will definitely do a big chunk of damage, but they're also pretty fragile, so a good round of smacking should sort them. Let's see how this first turn goes. Oh. Oh wow. I just realized how unfavorable the enemy roster is to Beasts right after you get them. Not a great showcase of a new class's... strengths. Or perhaps it is the perfect showcase for Beasts. Take these things down fast unless you want to be AOE'd down.      that was a lot of hits you took for us, have this as a reward You're not helping! Still, kinda worrying how eager he was to do that... He was taking the full brunting for such a delicate flowering like me. We've only known him for a day, did we make that good an impression on him? What a lonely time you must've had... So Loopy took 4 hits of Rush and died, both of the attacks from Aleks and Juthro missed and I was planning on healing him at the end of the turn, but that obviously didn't happen! Probably one of the worst turns I've ever had playing this series. The only fragile member we have is Aleks, but you can see how that didn't really matter, Loyalty is a huge pain against certain enemies and party wide attacks only get more frequent from here! Welcome to the Beast experience. It's like blindly tanking partywides with Hit-Taker in EO2U, except instead of blaming yourself, you can blame God, by which I mean the game's RNG. We've chased the creature all this way, better brace for a tough fight! it was a bit hard to tell before but this is a lot smaller than i was expecting...Fleehog HP: 414 STR: 16 VIT: 17 TEC: 15 AGI: 34 LUC: 32 Level: 18 Exp: 0 Skills Claws: Uses the Arms. Deals 120% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 150% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops None Conditional: None Quest FOEs sure are something, they have a fair bit of HP but that's about it. Really nothing to worry about, I only make these because I might as well. Quest FOEs in this game are usually beefed up verisons of regular mobs. That's it. The funny thing about the Fleehog is that its skill comes from the Mole, not a Hedgehog. Error or last minute change? Would Sonic be a Fleehog? He is quite adept at that, given his speed. Sonic the Fleehog.  I think we'll be just fine, look at that damage! But there's a downside, being based on a Hedgehog has doubled the number of enemies weak to Bash in this game, from 1 to 2, so we'll never see such a thing again. Hell yeah EO2.  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. Almost a wasting to be handing this over. 6F B3 Take Point Ambush Chance: 1% Ambush Encounter: 60% Poseidon x1 40% Bigcap x5 Mint Leaf. 70% chance. Sells for 65en. 1 required for Medica II - Item, heals the target by 200HP - sells for 200en 1 required for Charm Gas - Item, Lv5 Provoke, Provoke Rate Up 70%, DEF Up 12% - sells for 700en Mugwort. 25% chance. Sells for 70en. 1 required for Metopon - Item, LV1 Erasure, dispells 1 buff from a single enemy - sells for 100en 3 required for Blind Gas - Item, Lv1 Blinding, 15% base infliction chance - sells for 450en 3 required for Labyrinth stew Tri-Fruit. 5% chance. Sells for 175en. 1 required for Fire Jar - Item, Lv5 Fire, deals Fire damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked 1 required for Ice Jar - Item, Lv5 Ice, deals Ice damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked 1 required for Volt Jar - Item, Lv5 Volt, deals Volt damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked It's new gathering point time, wow! Definitely some useful items, Medica IIs can be a godsend for teams with not much healing and I'm sure the other items are good or whatever. Like last stratum, Poseidon is a dangerous enemy we'll see on later floors, but it won't murder you as much as Raflesia, so that's a relief. Now then, we skipped a chunk of this floor chasing after this thing, so let's backtrack a little! Medica IIs are worth the unlock so go after those if you can. The Jars are mediocre, but at least they're level 5 versions of the items instead of level 1?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2021 17:23
|
|
|
  Heh! It's weak to electricity, just like me. Mystue HP: 180 STR: 23 VIT: 17 TEC: 12 AGI: 15 LUC: 17 Level: 20 Exp: 764 Skills Breath: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Petrify on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 125% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 75% 75% 0% 0% 150%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 0% 100% 100% 100% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%Drops Rock Shard: 40% chance, sells for 27en. 1 required for Kora - Sword, ATK+50 - sells for 820en 1 required for Stud Coat - Light Armor, DEF+26 - sells for 720en Amazonite: 20% chance, sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Glove - Gloves, DEF+10, VIT+1 - sells for 380en 1 required for Venom Ring - Accessory, increases Poison resistance by 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Bird Stare - Accessory, increases Panic resistance by 50% - sells for 800en 1 required for Leg Guard - Accessory, increases Leg Bind resistance by 50% - sells for 800en 3 required for Matchlock - Gun, ATK+46, STR+3 - sells for 530en 7 required for Warubide - Katana, ATK+39, STR+2 - sells for 450en 5 required for Paint the town blue Conditional: Kill with Stab damage Holed Rock: 85% chance, sells for 39en. 1 required for Shard Mace - Stave, ATK+60, TP+10 - sells for 1,880en Statues are dicks. If it's below half health, it has a 75% chance of trying to petrify one of your party, and that's pretty rude if you don't have many Theriaca Bs. Otherwise they're a pain to kill without Volt damage, thankfully Aleks can 2 shot with level 1 Voltshot, but without anything like that it'll take a minute. Thankfully if you leave them alone and focus on other enemies you don't have to worry about getting tagged, but otherwise ugh, screw these guys. These things also don't use standard targeting and hate your back row and will gun for them instead, so be aware of that. Also hi, here's your introduction to Petrify. Statues are dicks! Funnily enough, EON basically replicated this enemy and its gimmick exactly, except as an FOE, and party-wide instant death instead of petrification, 0% damage vuln to all of the physical types, and a weakness to ice instead of volt. Frilzard HP: 138 STR: 16 VIT: 17 TEC: 15 AGI: 34 LUC: 32 Level: 18 Exp: 580 Skills Clawing: Uses the Arms. Deals 100% Cut damage to a single target. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100% 100%Drops Soft Horn: 40% chance, sells for 18en. 1 required for Broadaxe - Axe, ATK+53 - sells for 780en 3 required for Tachi - Katana, ATK+51 - sells for 790en THIRTY required for Sting Whip - Whip, ATK+64, VIT+2, AGI+2 - sells for 1,350en Collar Fur: 35% chance, sells for 22en. 1 required for Muffler - Collar, DEF+59, HP+20 - sells for 1,460en 2 required for Petal Coat - Clothing, DEF+24 - sells for 640en Conditional: None And then on the flipside there's a nice, easy fodder enemy. You're reading that right, Clawing is just a slightly less accurate regular attack, I don't get it either. Check out this AI too: If HP is below 99%, cast Clawing. (Targets the party member with the lowest HP.) This does mean they'll try and finish something off if they're slightly damaged, which can be pretty rude, but that's the extent of their trickery. Another trash mob to help ease you into the 2nd Stratum. In the same battle as the Mystue. I'm getting mixed messages here. Sometimes, I want to just go up to EO1 and EO2's designers, present them with stuff like the Frilzard, and ask "why?" what is it boy, logan fell down a well? This is fine, too, though I prefer being at the back. Good enough for me.  Hrmph. Lowest HP will be Loopy like 99% of the time. Means everyone else stays pretty healthy! 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. That does look the tastying. 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, Loopy takes a taste of the flowing honey. It melts on Loopy's tongue, permeating their tired body and relieving all tension! Reericious! I wonder where he learns these odd words, the Guildmaster? ooh a pretty mix of red and gnarled grey  Fuh! Language. Trigourd HP: 780 STR: 27 VIT: 27 TEC: 27 AGI: 27 LUC: 27 Level: 21 Exp: 0 Skills Pain: Uses the Head. Deals Fire damage to the entire party, with a spell power of 35 and damage multiplied by 105%. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and an 80% speed modifier. Whisper: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Curse on the entire party. Has a 25% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Curse Bone: 25% chance, sells for 390en. 1 required for Mirage Rod - Stave, ATK+50, TP+50 - sells for 4,780en Gourd Head: 25% chance, sells for 380en. 1 required for Pumpkinhat - Headgear, DEF+15, TEC+2, TP+10 - sells for 1,820en Bendy Tool: 90% chance, sells for 37en. 1 required for Headdress - Headgear, DEF+12, TP+3 - sells for 380en 1 required for Blind Gas - Item, Lv1 Blinding, 15% base infliction chance - sells for 450en 3 required for Fancy Coat - Clothing, DEF+28 - sells for 1,030en Conditional: None The start of the pumpkin trio. These guys are assholes, but I love them, even if we can't fight them with what we've got! They don't have too much health compared to the strong enemies we've been fighting recently, but unless you have some charged elementals, you'll be doing sweet gently caress all to them. Now yes you can solve all your problems with Poison, but there's other damage sources you could use as your team starts forming properly. But really, what are the chances you could find something next floor that lets you easily control the amount of untyped damage you're dishing out? Pish posh. Anyway, it doesn't do much Fire damage, but it'll still sting, and Curse can be a pain if you're trying a nuking strat, but for a first encounter, the main puzzle is finding a way to kill it. Trigourds are a bit of a wake up call in that you can't just rush into every FOE battle and expect to see results. Though you'll have to play around to see what damages them if you're playing the game blind, as the game doesn't provide weakness info in the game outside of seeing Analysis activate.  Gah, shot through the hearth! This is going nowheres. Agreed, I don't want to go on a boring adventure like this, heh.  very carefully ...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? Hmm? This... this looks like a dirty old rag. Why would he...? 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! Wasn't this supposed to be a Pole Stone? Ack! I was hoping you wouldn't notice my mistake. Between map fixing and quest transcribing I'm stretched a bit thin! Ohhhh, fancy writin' fer a fancy boy, hahaha! 2 Open Caps required for Milk Staff 1 Rock Shard required for Kora, ATK+50 - Its tip is angled for greater destruction. 3 Soft Horns required for Tachi, ATK+51 - Designed for large, arcing swings. 1 Soft Horn required for Broadaxe, ATK+53 - A precision axe with a chiseled blade. 1 Tail Quill required for Bird Whip, ATK+51 - A whip covered in sharp bird feathers.  1 Collar Fur required for Muffler 1 Rock Shard and 1 Open Cap required for Stud Coat - Light Armor, DEF+26 - Metal pieces are wedged in it to deflect blows. 2 Collar Fur required for Petal Coat - Clothing, DEF+24 - Outerwear made of forest plants sewn together. Looks good on you two. Purrrrr! Ayeaye. It will barely help. They overcompensate a little for Beasts not being able to equip other armour since the Muffler is a 20 DEF increase from the Wildflower we unlocked technically last floor, as well as +20 HP. Of course for a Loyalty Beast it doesn't make too much difference, but every little helps...  You in the okiedokie? Oofah! ...just about, how you holding up, Lily? Hrmmm... we won't last long like this "I really need more Theriaca Bs" I say as I use two in one fight.   2 Tail Quills required for Quill Arm.   You in the okiedokie? Well actually I feel like *bleurgh*  Getting a foothold on the new monsters on this floor, so let's finish it up already. If you have a Troubadour, now would be a very good time to max out Health. 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. Hmhmhm... I'm one to be cautious, but I'm also hungry, let eat! 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... suddenly, Juthro screams out! You spin to see what happened. Two saplings hidden in the grass spring up to catch Juthro's leg, locking it in place. Gah, bloody traps! Gah, bloody mushrooms! Gah this bloody floor! Okay I'm done ranting. 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 Juthro free. But the saplings sprung up with such force, Juthro's foot was injured in the process.  you should live Ah, well, can't be too annoyed at a simple, yet effective, trap like that. Very interesting. There's an FOE puzzle down there, so let's put it off for a bit.  Don't be looking so glummy, chummy, it is what he wants to do. i'm sad this idiot keeps giving me more work  A +2 DEF increase, oh yeah, frickin' content baby!  Gah! Why are birds falling from the sky?! Ruhroh!  This ways! Well that was terrifying... Use it or lose it. If both Moas had used Rush on the second turn we would've been loving dead and there was nothing I could've done. Nice reminder that this game will gently caress you up given the chance. The Beast died there, but that was actually an instance where Loopy saved the entire party as no Loyalty procs would have led to a game over. I guess it's good for something after all, even if the cost is a dead pet. Little difficult showing how I dodged two invisible FOEs on the map, but the path I took says a lot, grumble, grumble. Bah bah bah. There a sheep behind there? Hopefully not, the only sheep I've heard of are the size of tall cliffs and live on tall cliffs. There's half the floor missing, but I'm sure it's nothing important.  Yatah! Nice little shortcut, and a little trick of purposefully getting an encounter on the earlier side of a shortcut. Oh yeah, now that we have a moment, you might have noticed I've been missing here and there. I've been cutting a good chunk of it out because it's being a right pain, but it's something to expect if you take the quick way out of killing Chimeara and end up on this floor a good few levels lower than you're supposed to. Not because of level difference, but because you haven't invested in skills as much, as well as their base accuracy, and you'll have a lower AGI, those two factors end up mattering quite a bit. In comparison to the old EO2 LP, I'm four levels lower, and due to the overall boost of the enemy's LUC, you'll be missing a lot more at the start of a new stratum. Oh yeah, welcome to the main mechanic of EO2. Accuracy. Where it barely mattered in 1, missing is very common in 2, so get used to it. Later games would strike a better balance. You can try climbing a nearby tree to reach it or give up and leave it be. As you have guessings from my character, I am actually an expert tree climbing! Uh, sure. Aleks finds a strong branch and uses it to shimmy up the tree. The sack is further from the tree than it looks. Aleks nearly slips trying to reach it. No one in your party had any way of knowing, but this is no normal tree... its sap is harmful to animals and Aleks's body turns red all over with a painful rash! Still, at least you caught the sack that Aleks dropped, so its contents are yours to keep.  What's redder, your face or the rash? Urk, most unbeffitings for a lady. This is a rare chop item, and you wouldn't know this, but you'll need it for a quest later, so it's a good idea to store it. I'll get another one, so hey, free money!  Quick rest at town, not because we'll be doing 7F, there's a newly voted team for that, but because there's a bit extra to 6F. Sigh... t-thanks Well I'm not as quick as I used to be. Reduces Fire damage by 50%, stack them for a near immunity, but what are the chances we'll need to fight a horrendously strong fire breathing monster?  See, we can handle this team just fine when they don't kick my rear end!  Heh. Someone's happy to complete the floor. One of us has toos.6F B7 Take Point Ambush Chance: 1% Ambush Encounter: 60% Poseidon x1 40% Bigcap x5 Mugwort. 70% chance. Sells for 70en. 1 required for Metopon - Item, LV1 Erasure, dispells 1 buff from a single enemy - sells for 100en 3 required for Blind Gas - Item, Lv1 Blinding, 15% base infliction chance - sells for 450en 3 required for Labyrinth stew Mint Leaf. 25% chance. Sells for 65en. 1 required for Medica II - Item, heals the target by 200HP - sells for 200en 1 required for Charm Gas - Item, Lv5 Provoke, Provoke Rate Up 70%, DEF Up 12% - sells for 700en Tri-Fruit. 5% chance. Sells for 175en. 1 required for Fire Jar - Item, Lv5 Fire, deals Fire damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked 1 required for Ice Jar - Item, Lv5 Ice, deals Ice damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked 1 required for Volt Jar - Item, Lv5 Volt, deals Volt damage to a single target, with a spell power of 43 - sells for 300en, must be restocked That's all of the floor for now! Why is there a gathering point in a hidden area of an optional part past the stairs? EO2, baby! At least it's pretty safe? Only 1% ambush chance. Hey, you're staying at the Flaus Inn, right? 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! Ah yes I have seen her a few times. Doubt she'd ever approach a seasoned hunter like me, though. We should be near the top by now, surely. Hey, why don't yeh ever bring me back something from the Labyrinth? Oh, yeh know... like a fruit that looks like a diamond, or a golden egg... something rare! 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! Money doesn't buy happiness, but it really helps. 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! Ah yes, apparently she's out of this stew we're polishing off. Leftovers? ...this cold slop is worse than the rashings I've had today. I'll pass on the details since I need some sleep, but lay it on me. I'm assuming you mean me... well I need to clear up this map anyway. Please tell me the wolf didn't draw this. Er-hem... Hear me out, because we have some real problems right now. Have you 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! 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! Ugh, that mush shouldn't be called stew- ah h-hello, I mean, uh, mmmmmm, have you been making more, cause something smells good! 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! What? Don't you believe me? Can't you tell by how beautiful I am now? Bahaha! Hmm... you don't look so good. Are you tired? Exploring while tired can be risky. Take frequent breaks to maintain your stamina. You always ask me this, but this is how I look. 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. Hey I made it far into the labyrinth with none of those things! Uh, I'm just here to get the new map- 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. 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. But this old man has rambled on long enough... here is the hard information you need. The Duchess's document say that ingredients for a miracle cure are in the second Stratum. I would ask that you help us obtain those ingredients. Oh hey, Ro, there a mission for us? I think so... I'll tell you the details later, I'll take the map you finished. Hmm, you seem to visit the Duchy a lot. It's none of yer business! We beatin' up some fannies in this mission?! I hope not... 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 Nidhogg... will you help the Duke's daughter and myself? 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. I have the map he made. Watch for enemy movements, and avoid battle as much as possible. Well I guess I can copy this over, get an early start. May I escort you to the meeting hall, madam? Yer on thin ice, bucko. Heh, but ye meh. See ya guys, guess I'll get some resources. Uh, I was just here you daft old cu- 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. Next time, we've got a massive beast to die against. Sounds like a pain. Or a delight if you're watching from the sidelines! Unlike what will quickly become business as usual, where you've got a massive beast to send to its death. I'm very funny.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2021 17:24
|
|
|
Medic Overview Can equip: Staves, Clothing Okay obviously this class has fallen, these guys were RIDICULOUS in the first game, with one of the best skills in the series that reduced all damage by up to 85%, as well as being damage dealers on the front lines and healing a crazy amount on downtime. Of course they got hit with the nerf bat and completely lost Immunize, got their STR reduced to pathetic levels, but they can heal with much greater potency, maybe even too much. Not bringing a Medic last game was a miserable, and expensive, time, but now there's a few more options making them not as necessary, though they absolutely have their uses. They'll never reach their previous heights, but it's fine they don't. Also they have Scavenge which gives them bonus points. Medics were absolutely asking to be nerfed since they were a master of all in the previous game. Ridiculously good DPS, even outclassing the Landsknecht at DPSing, and causing several enemies to lose their turns in the process! Along with making your party invincible on top of being a great healer. Pretty much the most broken class in the entire game, and the nerfs it got were pretty much deserved. Unlike Survivalist, they got off a lot easier, though now they're no longer a must have in the party. And their overall usefulness in this game is debated by some since their nerfs really do hurt. Still, not a bad class to bring along if you want some defensive support, but they're competing against the War Magus in regards to the healing department, and that class is generally considered to be a better healer since they're much faster due to the way this game handles speed. OOF, that's a big hit in STR, down from 53 last game, as well as the loss of ATK Up to make that even beefier. At least it's better than a Troubadour? Pretty bad VIT as well, as well as lower AGI and HP. Second best TEC and TP which helps healing a lot since the former impacts the healing formula, but most stats don't really matter since Medics will never really attack, they just hide in the back row and keep everyone else alive. Higher LUC gives them better stun rates with uhhhhhhh Caduceus? Never mind then. Yeah, the Medic's STR got utterly gutted. And as insult to injury, they no longer have access to ATK Up, which tripled their STR in the last game! Yes, really. It made them an absurd DPS class. STR Up is pretty much the replacement for ATK Up in this game and uh, +10 STR really doesn't compared to 3x STR. If you really want to experience the glory days of offensive Medic again, I suppose you could take it, but don't expect STR to be an effective investment for them. Their defenses are even more poor than they were in the last game, so putting them on the front lines isn't a good idea unless you want to see them get pasted, and investing in VIT doesn't really offset the damage they'll take that much. But if you really want to have a front line fighter, you'll have to invest in that along with HP to give them way more survivability. Unfortunately neither AGI nor LUC are great investments as well. You'd think a fast healer would be a good idea, but staves essentially set the Medic's speed to the near absolute minimum, so AGI doesn't have much of an effect. And LUC just doesn't do all that much. As for stats that are good investments, TEC increases the potency of their healing by quite a bit. They'll also really appreciate any boosts to TP they can get, as some of their strongest heals can get very expensive. And HP boosts on a backliner will always be appreciated, though pick that one up after getting all of their important skills.Common Passive Unlocks TP Up: Lv10: TP Regen STR Up: Lv10: Caduceus TEC Up: Lv 10: TP Regen VIT Up: Lv5: Caduceus OOF, those are some heavy investments for some TRASH skills, TP Regen requires half the investment but still recovers the same, absolutely pathetic. Caduceus can hit hard with a 300% ATK Up and pretty okay STR and EO2 Medic has neither of those, and both STR and VIT are low enough that putting lots of points into them is a massive waste for an SP hungry class as this. Now granted you can max out TP Up and maybe even TEC Up, but even then TP Regen is nowhere near worth it. Ah crap now I don't have anything to talk about when I get to those skills.Healer Unlocks: Lv1: Patch Up, Cure; Lv3: Cure 2, Salve, Unbind, Refresh; Lv5: Cure 3, Revive; Lv6: Salve 2; Lv10: Salve 3, Phoenix Increases healing from non-fixed sources. Passive.  Ah, the classic, Healer is a great skill that you want to max out asap, not only does it have most of your good skills, especially Salve and Revive, it's as if you're levelling those skills at the same time. Due to the exponential growth this skill is pretty bad to begin with, but you want to beeline to Revive, so it quickly gets good fast. Since this is applied at the end of the formula, it boosts your healing skills by a lot but can also make them overkill territory. I guess that's fine, since you can save SP by not investing in other skills but it definitely adds to the Medic's reputation. Without this skill, each point of TEC adds on 0.625% to the healing multiplier. This caps out at a 61.875% boost to healing at 99 TEC. With a max level Healer, each point of TEC adds on 0.96875% instead, capping out at a 95.90625% boost at 99 TEC! Pretty hefty, though if you're going to be using the best healing skills, you won't be seeing Healer come into play much at all. Still, a very good skill to invest in as your Medic's main job is... healing. What else are they gonna do in this game, DPS? You'll want to max this one out earlier than their healing skills, as you don't want to invest too much in their weaker healing skills if you can help it.Patch Up Prerequisites: Healer Lv1 Restores a certain amount of HP to the entire party at the end of each battle. Unaffected by Healer. Passive.  Hm, no. This was a bad skill before and it's still bad, since it just doesn't heal enough to sink points into. Like wow, 12%? Just use Cure outside of battle, it'll be not a lot of TP for way more healing, you want to be properly ready for the next fight and this skill won't cut it. Pass the gently caress over. A fairly unchanged skill. Could be good for sustain, but it's ultimately not a huge priority to grab. If you really want it, wait to grab the Medic's important skills before doing so.TP Regen Prerequisites: TP Up Lv10, TEC Up Lv10 Restores a certain amount of the user's TP at the end of each turn. Passive.  What the gently caress is this garbage??? Not only do you need to heavily invest to unlock this skill, it's identical to the last game's also terrible skill??? Did they think this was a great reward at the end of the game? 5 TP is NOTHING, especially with skills that are pretty costly. What a waste, though getting TP and TEC to 10 might not be a bad idea. This skill is even worse than it was in EO1. Sure, it only needs 5 SP to max out this time, and the prerequisites are something you'll want to pick up, but the TP costs for the Medic's skills are way higher than in the previous game, making -5 TP per skill essentially not a great return cost when skills can cost around 30 TP. And TP Up mostly deals with any TP issues anyways.Scavenge Additively increases drop rates. Stacks with itself. Passive.  Now we're playing with power. Last game had some terrible drop rates that could be increased... at a cost, since the game checked drops in reverse, so if you increased rates too much, the first drop would never, well, drop. No longer the case, thankfully, this skill is insane and 2 users will make even the craziest drops actually obtainable without a million resets or a few cheats here and there. Will definitely recommend, though of course you need to have them on your team against the most dangerous enemies for this to work as well, which can make for... interesting team comps. Still, in the regular game, this just boosts your cash flow by a crazy amount and will also annoy you with constant item discard. Always get. Holy moly, what a buff! In the first game it was not that great, being only a 30% boost, oh and it was multiplicative. So it didn't do that much for low drop rates. The lowest drop rates get in this game is 10%, meaning that 1 max level Scavenge boosts drop rates to 51% at the minimum! And up to 92% if you have 2 Scavenge users, which is absolute overkill. This skill basically destroys the concept of random drops, and it's great. The closest thing to a downside this skill even has is that it causes your inventory to get filled up very fast during explorations, so you're gonna have to toss a lot of junk out depending on how much supplies you brought along for that trip. Oh, and if you really like the idea of having this skill around, but don't want to cart around a Medic, don't worry. There's an even better class that has access to this, with even more reason to take this skill, heh heh heh.Cure Prerequisites: Healer Lv1 Unlocks: Lv3: Salve Restores HP to a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Here's the basic bitch skill for your basic bitch needs. Cure is, well, exactly what you expect, the worst healing skill, but that lies its usefulness. Of course you're gonna use it a fair amount at the start of the game, but it still has its uses later on for out of battle healing and it'll scale pretty well with Healer so it stays effective longer. You only need to get it to level 3 to unlock Salve later on, but it works perfectly fine. And since there's not much to talk about we can go over the healing formula, previously only Healer affected the base heal, so at max level you were always going to get the same results. Now it's [Base Healing * (160 + UserTEC) / 160] * Mastery Bonus, so there's a bit more variety, the central part can vary between 1-1.62 depending on the user's TEC, 1-99. So even level 1 Cure goes from a 54 heal with 1 TEC and level 10 Healer to an 88 heal with 99 TEC. Obviously it gets more impressive with later skills, but it can make a big difference, another reason why levelling up healing skills isn't that useful, since the numbers balloon into overkill pretty quickly. This can save on SP, but if you don't fancy working it all out, just max Salve II and you'll have no issues. Your basic healing skill. Take it and you'll save a lot of money from splurging on Medicas. You'll be using this quite a bit throughout the earlygame, but past that point you'll want to move onto the higher tiered healing skills. The main reason to even use the weaker healing skills past that point is so that they're faster and more likely to heal your party members before something bad happens. Unfortunately, that's not how this works in practice in this game. Because the Medic is a very slow class due to being forced to use staves, the speed modifiers of their skills don't really do all that much for them since the Medic will be at near minimal speed no matter what you do. The earlygame is pretty much the only time they matter, but after that point, they're pretty much always going to move last, so you'll have to be preemptive with your Medic's heals, which will be more effective with stronger heals. By the way, when starting out, I highly suggest spending your Medic's starting 3 SP like this: 2 on Healer, and 1 in Cure. The reason for that is simple. A level 1 Medic with a level 1 Cure heals for 40 HP with their current stats. With their starting TP pool, they can use it up to 10 times, so that's a total of 400 HP they can heal the party with before running out of juice. However if that TP cost of 3 increases to 4, that reduces the number of times they can use Cure to 7, which only heals for 43 HP each at level 2. Reducing that total potential heal from 400 to 301 HP. Not a great deal, and at the start of the game, 40 HP heals already cover a whole lot. And that extra SP in Healer won't affect healing any bit, but it gives the Medic a bigger head start to unlock their better healing skills. Granted you should probably level Cure up to 3 at some point to get access to Salve.Cure II Prerequisites: Healer Lv3 Unlocks: Lv4: Salve II Restores HP to a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Healing... 2! For a bit more TP you can have quite a bit more healing for a little less speed. Cure 2 probably won't see much use in battle since Salve will definitely be more effective by that point, but it'll be a great topper out of battle. It'll heal between 200 and 326 at Healer 10, TEC depending and you can see why I didn't list all these values, we'd be here all day. It's a big improvement right out of the gate and also shows how long you can wait to actually use this. You need to invest a little more into it to get Salve II, but that's a skill you'll be using for the rest of the game so I think it's worth it. Of course, you can max these skills out if you want fast and mad heals, but for single target it's not really worth it, their main use is their out of battle utility. Your midgame healing skill. If you play your cards right, you can gain access to this skill as early as level 3 while still having access to Cure. Granted, it's complete overkill at that point, and really hefty on the TP pool. But having access to this can help with the later parts of the 1st Stratum and its boss. By midgame you'll see this used occasionally, but you'll likely be breaking out Salve 2 more since multitarget attacks start getting more common there. So level this up enough to unlock Salve 2, and feel free to ignore this skill afterwards. The next one is what you really want for your single target healing needs!Cure III Prerequisites: Healer Lv5 Unlocks: Lv5: Salve III Restores all HP to a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Healing... 3! This one is a little tricky to recommend since it starts off pretty bad, but since you should probably max this out for Salve III, for the few times you'll need that OH poo poo button, it makes Cure III a much more interesting prospect. Until you max it out, it's still worth using Cure II outside of battle to heal someone, it'll be slightly cheaper, but a full heal can be very useful on your tankier party members. This requires a bit of timing to use correctly, which I'm dumb as poo poo about, but can be pretty alright. You'll still want Salve III anyway. Pretty much the best single target heal in the entire game. There's pretty much no reason not to take this and make use of it in the late and post-games. At max level, it's only 4 more TP than a max level Cure 2, but will always fully heal the target. This makes it an incredible value heal, as while Cure 2 can get up to high healing values, the Medic would need to be at like 99 TEC or so to do so. Meanwhile you can grab this skill way before then, and if you invest in HP Up for your classes, their max HP pools will get very high, which will never outpace the healing from this skill. With that being said, while you'll want to max out this skill, that's mainly to unlock a much better skill for them, which will see far more use. Still, Cure 3 is a pretty good skill to have in the Medic's back pocket. Also something you've likely noticed is that the prerequisites for the higher tiered healing skills don't even require the lower tiered ones at all. Resting a character also got changed form being usable only at level 30 and beyond and subtracting 10 levels, to being usable at anytime and only subtracting 5 levels from the user for a full SP refund. This means that Resting a Medic is extremely optimal, as they'll have plenty of SP to spare in other skills, as there's basically no reason to ever use Cure or Cure 2 once you can make use of the best healing skills. It's a really weird aspect of the first two DS games where certain skills basically exist just to be obsoleted, but hey that's just how things play out here.Salve Prerequisites: Healer Lv3, Cure Lv3 Restores HP to the entire party. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Ahh, these skills were amazing last game, relatively cheap and spammable, great way to keep your party alive, because enemies did a lot of damage and were very scary. This is somewhat the case here, but to counter their spamminess, Salves now have pretty extortionate TP costs, which is a bit rough, but because of their still great utility, it's still worth using them. If you crunch the numbers, healing everyone with Cure is 3TP cheaper overall when both skills are level 1, but you're paying the extra TP for the utility of doing so in battle. And Cure would be level 3 but whatever you know what I mean. Because there's only 5 levels, it's pretty easy to max these skills out if you have all the Amritas in the world, since having a moderate Salve will be more TP efficient so you're not using a maxed Salve II for the smallest of booboos. If you have the resources you can max them out if you don't want to really think about it, there's no kill like overkill! In the first game, you could get away with only making use of Salve instead of Salve II, as Immunize lowered damage heavily to the point where big heals were complete overkill. Immunize is gone now, so that's no longer an option. This is now strictly an earlygame heal. While very good at that point as AOE healing is always welcome, past the earlygame you'll want to use the higher tier Salve skills instead. In fact when you see the skill data for the next skill, you'll understand why there's absolutely no reason to use this over Salve 2 and 3, and why you may want to consider resting your Medic to put those spent SP elsewhere.Salve II Prerequisites: Healer Lv6, Cure II Lv4 Restores HP to the entire party. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Now we're talking, if you want a healing skill to last you all game, then get this sucker to level 5 and watch the TP disappear... just like that! At, let's say 50 TEC and Healer 10, this skill heals 463 HP to the ENTIRE PARTY which is a little nuts and will be mostly what you need for a wide chunk of the game. Salve III can pick up the slack, but it depends if the extortionate TP costs are worth it. That's the main issue with these skills, 48TP is not a massive deal in later games, but if you need to chug an Amrita every time you want to use this skill, then it might be just a weeeeeeeeeee bit expensive. Still, the utility is pretty much unmatched, but if you don't need all this healing why are you paying so much for it? Considering Medics don't really do much else and are pretty helpless when Head Bound, sometimes it might seem they're more trouble then they're worth, but it depends how much healing you need. Maybe don't get hit? And say hello to your midgame healing skill! Heals twice as much as Salve, for only 60% more TP at max level! Also, take a look at the speed modifiers. Yeah, for whatever reason, the Salve skills all have the exact same speed modifiers at every level, meaning that the higher tier Salves are basically just straight upgrades, and you have very little reason to use the earlier versions other than cheaping out big time on TP costs. Which aren't remotely an issue once TP Up is maxed out. So take as much as you need, then ditch it all for the hotness that is Salve 3 when the time is right.Salve III Prerequisites: Healer Lv10, Cure III Lv5 Restores all HP to the entire party. Healing skill, uses the Head.  The last healing skill is also an interesting one. SEVENTY FOUR TP??? You'll be using this after you max it since it's an upgrade from Salve II, but it's a hard sell before then. This skill has its uses in the very OH poo poo postgame and your Force Skill is basically this skill for free, as well as another skill. Hopefully you'll need all this healing and you can find the happy medium between using this skill and Salve II, but I suppose TP isn't a crazy hard resource in the postgame. This is the main draw to using a Medic, so you'd better find it useful. Salve 3 is pretty much the best healing skill the Medic gets access to, and pretty much their best selling point, as War Magi do not get access to this skill. And at max level, it only costs 2 more TP than a max level Salve 2. It's a fantastic deal and there's basically no reason to use anything else unless you're an ultra cheapskate with TP. Max both this and TP Up to be able to use this a whopping 7 times before they need to refill. More if you opt for TP increasing accessories. So, how do you get the most out of your Medic with this? Their speed is so low that they'll almost always move last. Well, you just spam this skill, even if your party is at full HP. Because Medics are so slow, they can't really react to much. How players got around that was just proactively using their healing skills, and undoing the damage the enemy does in the same turn. Other skills only get used if they absolutely have to be. Yeah it's an incredibly one-dimensional playstyle, but it's really the most effective one they can really do. While Medics did deserve to get nerfed, the way Atlus handled that nerf ended up making them have way less options than they did in the first game, and I'm not really a fan of it. They're still fairly usable, just don't expect this class to be a particularly exciting one to use.Revive Prerequisites: Healer Lv5 Unlocks: Lv10: CPR Revives a single target to a certain HP amount. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Oh sweet salvation. Revive is such a wonderful skill to get early and will save you so much Nectar money. Later on it becomes less effective when Nectar IIs become all the rage and it never heals by a fantastic amount, so it's not a great skill to max out. This is one of the skills a Medic has over a War Magus, along with Salve III, and considering there are plenty of successful teams with a War Magus and not a Medic shows how relatively unnecessary this skill can be. It's still super useful when you have it and one big use is reviving a Hexer to 1HP to continue where they left off. Will I be abusing that? OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, but really this skill is a way to save on Nectars outside of battle and something to use if you have TP to spare in battle, so it's still incredible utility, but mainly for the early game, let's be honest. One of the other big selling points of the Medic, as War Magi completely lack the capability to revive people without using Nectars. Unlike in EO1, you can pick this up far earlier, making it much more usable and allows it to compete with the lower tiers of Nectars. It's great to pick up early on as it saves a decent bit of money from being used on Nectars, and you'll want to max this out for a fantastic skill. Granted at max level it doesn't do a whole lot, though unlike later games, the heal can be boosted to an okay amount. A level 1 Revive can be used for Revenge strategies if you have a Hexer in the party. But even then, if you want to abuse that skill, you can just use Nectars instead for a low HP revive, so it's not too much of an issue.Unbind Prerequisites: Healer Lv3 Unlocks: Lv5: Freedom Removes binds from a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Well this skill hasn't changed much, I'm surprised it's not 10TP more expensive like everything else. If you're not using Theriaca As then this works fine, though you will need to get this to level 5 for Freedom, even if removing 3 binds at once isn't very useful due to how rarely it happens. And if it does happen your Medic has been tagged as well, remember, they can't free themselves from a Head Bind... without a Theriaca A. Also make no mistake, this is completely unrelated to the Dark Hunter's Unbind or the Landy's Unbound. Can't see why you would get confused. Bizarrely enough levels 2 and 4 provide absolutely no benefits and just serve to make the skill slightly worse. So uh, save enough SP to skip past those levels before investing in this skill, I guess? Like with the other unbinding skills, level 3 is the sweet spot, as getting hit with multiple binds isn't too common in this entry of the Etrian Odyssey series.Freedom Prerequisites: Unbind Lv5 Removes binds from the entire party. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Well this is nice, but has very niche uses. Firstly, Theriaca AXs are way easier to throw around and don't require a slight SP sink, and like before you shouldn't go past level 3, since if your ENTIRE PARTY is fully bound... uh how's your Medic doing? Fully bound too? Well colour me surprised. Also you're about to die anyway so I really don't find this skill useful, when the game fully binds you, you know you're about to get hosed up. Now Theriaca AXs only heal one bind, and in the case of multiple binds, prioritises Head, then Arm, then Legs, which isn't that amazing, so this skill has some use in comparison, but it's admittedly not much. While one person being tagged with multiple binds at once isn't particularly common, multiple party members being tagged with a bind is something you'll see more often. So investing a bit into this skill can be a great boon. That being said, you won't see them all the time, so I would say level 3 is the sweet spot here if you invest in it at all. And like with Unbind, levels 2 and 4 just make the skill worse, so if you want to go for levels 3 or 5, just save enough SP to skip past to those thresholds.Refresh Prerequisites: Healer Lv3 Unlocks: Lv5: Purify Removes ailments from a single target. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Here's something funky, very similar to last game though the ailments got shuffled slightly, with Panic being at 7 instead of 3, in any case a Theriaca B is a level 8 Refresh so it's probably better just using that instead, but if you get tagged with multiple ailments, you're gonna need Purify, since Theriaca BXs are a little late. Of course this skill is great for Petrify, there's only 2 ways to cure it after all, but if you want to save just a little SP and use Theriaca Bs for the last 3 ailments, you can just move on to Purify. A pretty big nerf from before, but it's up to you if you want this or the item. Disables are very debilitating to be hit by, so being able to clear those quickly is a must. This is the only ailment dispel skill in the entire game that can purge Petrification, so you'll likely want to get it up to at least level 8. Whether you get it up to 9 or 10 to decrease the cost is up to you, but the Medic isn't exactly starving for TP, so I don't really recommend it. Or you can stuff your pack with Therica Bs instead. Up to you.Purify Prerequisites: Refresh Lv5 Removes ailments from the entire party. Cannot heal Petrification. Healing skill, uses the Head.  Alright now we're getting back to a regular skill again, Purify can be very useful since there will be a fair few times you'll get tagged with multiple ailments, but it's not a necessity, depends what ailment you get hit by after all, and your Medic won't be very useful if they get tagged and can't do anything either. Theriaca BXs are very late items but can also cure Petrify, so this skill becomes pretty redundant by that point, but you can get a lot of mileage before then. It's pretty expensive, especially if you're curing less than 3 party members, but such is the price you pay for convenience. Oof, a bit on the pricey side, but getting this up to level 4 is a very handy tool for the Medic since Theriaca Bs got nerfed to be single target in this game. Whether you get it up to 5 is up to you, but disables are way more debilitating than binds, so you'll want to get those off ASAP. Like with Refresh, whether you get it up to max level or not to save on TP is up to you, but I'd advise against it unless you really have some SP to spare, or you're running less than a 5 man party at which point saving all the TP you can is a must.Caduceus Prerequisites: STR Up Lv10, VIT Up Lv5 A single target Staff attack that attempts to inflict Stun. Staff skill with Bash damage, uses the Arms.  Look at how they've massacred my boy. Last game, when your Medic wasn't doing a million other things, they could stay at the front and whack the monsters as much as they wanted, but since their STR took a big nerf AND they no longer get a 300% ATK Up, investing similarly will not give the same results, not even close. Adding 10 STR will give them 42 at level 70, which is still PATHETIC, and the numbers from this skill compared to last game are pretty similar, aside from the speed modifier, so it doesn't in any way compensate. Now with that increased speed modifier, you could actually see the Stun effect in a lifetime, but it's expensive, doesn't do enough to justify the investment and needs a lot of SP to actually become even slightly passable. Gonna skip the gently caress over this skill and make my Medic completely beholden to head binds. Sigh... Holy poo poo how the mighty have fallen. In the last game it was a fantastic way for a Medic to spend their non-healing turns, which they got a lot of thanks to Immunize making the party almost invincible. But this skill barely does any damage in this game thanks to the Medic's laughable STR stat, and level 10 STR Up barely helps with this skill's damage output. Do not be fooled by the high damage modifier. STR is one of the biggest factors of damage, and the Medic barely has any to make this skill deal a noticeable dent in enemies. Oh and thanks to the new speed mechanics, you're not likely to see the Stun come out either. Ignore this skill entirely, it's nothing but a shadow of its former self.CPR Prerequisites: Revive Lv10 Gives the entire party a chance of living one lethal attack at 1HP for 5 turns. Buff skill, uses the Head.  Ah, this skill again, CPR is a pretty amazing skill... when it works. That's always been its issue, there are some times when this skill will shine like a beacon, but if it doesn't work, that's a lot of TP and SP you just wasted and you'll look like a real idiot. It can create some real good cheese strats and let you pull of some dumb stuff... if it works. Still, even having some of your party survive a deadly attack instead of none of them can be pretty amazing. Or you'll just die next turn anyway. It's a harder sell since Revive isn't a great skill to max out and dying in a boss fight is usually not a big deal due to better checkpoints in this game, so if this delicious coinflip cheese sounds like fun, well I can't really stop you. Another big selling point of the Medic. CPR is an amazing safety net in case something goes horribly wrong, which is likely to happen in a game like EO2. It can't protect against the likes of Petrify or Instant Death, but having a chance to save a party member from a stray lethal attack can be a huge momentum saver. And believe me, you'll be seeing a lot of that later in the game, so anything to mitigate that can be a huge help. A few things to be aware of when using this skill. This is not an endure! This is an on the spot revival, so any party members saved by this skill will lose any buffs or debuffs they had at the time of dying. Make sure to refresh any buffs they had afterwards.Phoenix Prerequisites: Healer Lv10 Sacrifices the user to fully heal and revive the entire party and removes one random bind. Healing skill, uses the Head.  From the outset this skill seems a bit questionable, it doesn't mention what it fully does, if it just fully healed your party like Salve III, then it would be bad. But it's, in effect, a spammable Force skill, which is pretty nuts, minus the full ailment heal. Sacrificing your Medic might seem strange, but it can be worth it if they won't be immediately useful after fully healing everyone. Since the level only increases the base heal, there's no point investing in it much, the speed modifier is barely a factor and you hopefully shouldn't use this skill much so the TP cost doesn't really matter. It's a weird, but good skill. This skill may look very questionable, but it's a fantastic panic button. While it shouldn't be used if none of your party members are dead, it's a massive undo button for when things get really bad. Being able to revive multiple people at once is a huge boon, helping your party get back on their feet more easily. Sure you'll lose your Medic in the process, but in a situation where multiple party members are dead, Salve 3 spamming wouldn't have done much to save them, and really, what else can your Medic do in this game? And think about it this way. Nectalls are fantastic items. Reviving a Medic is essentally converting a Nectar into a Nectall, which is a fantastic deal. It's an incredibly cheesy panic button if the time comes for it, salvaging situations that shouldn't be salvageable otherwise. With that said, you may want to leave this skill at level 1, as it doesn't scale too well, and the chances of using this multiple times per battle is slim. And if you have to use it a ton... you may want to rethink your strategy. Do be warned, the one bind it decides to clear is random per party member. And it can end up selecting a bind that said party member doesn't even have. Like attempting to dispel an Arm Bind when they have nothing but a Head Bind. So don't rely on that aspect too much.Patrol Decreases damage tile, uh, damage for a certain number of steps. Field skill. Same as the Survivalist's skill, can be useful but since you have a Medic on the party, just heal everyone before battle and use Guard Soles if you really want to save TP. Or go all the way and not need to Salve before battle, due to how expensive those skills can be, it can be worth it. This might be the only time I can recommend these skills. This can be a nice way to cut down on how often your Medic has to heal the party whenever damage tiles get involved, though it's not strictly a necessary skill to have. Can make certain floors much less annoying, and the Medic can have a large amount of SP to spare if they've rested their lower tier heals away.H. Touch Fully heals and revives the entire party and dispels all status ailments. Does not remove binds or Stun. Force skill, uses the Arms.  And finally, a great Force skill. Don't panic seeing that skill name, H. Touch is actually amazing in this game and is absolutely fantastic as an OH poo poo button, it can combo pretty well with CPR as well if you fancy, but you have to be mindful of how slow it is. Not removing binds can be a slight pain, but usually they're not a big deal and this can be a way of just not using Salve II if you're low on TP and near the end of the floor, it's brilliant and will be a great crutch later on. Hey, so what if Phoenix had absolutely no downside at all? You get this skill. Phoenix was already a strong panic button, and this one is even better. Mostly. It doesn't remove binds, but Phoenix's bind removal was unreliable anyways, so meh. A great way to salvage a bad situation, assuming the Medic has their Force ready. Which admittedly won't be too often due to how the Force mechanics work, unfortunately. Unless you opt to use Axcelas. Medic doesn't have any fancy tricks this time around, unfortunately, Immunize was wiped from existence and Caduceus can let the Medic do something not involving the head, but was indirectly nerfed in so many ways it's not worth it. War Magus does a good chunk of the Medic's skillset while having other utility, while also not having Healer, Revive and Salve III, which can be a dealbreaker. You don't have to use a Medic, which is wonderful to say after last game and they're not the most busted class in the game, but they still have incredible utility and sometimes you just need a fuckton of healing to make your life easier. While the Medic was completely overpowered in the first game and deserved to be nerfed, the way they got nerfed made them a little too one-dimensional to play, though they're still a fairly effective class to bring along. Not all parties need one this time around, especially with the War Magus competing for the healer slot on a team, but the nerfs thankfully did not utterly kill them like the Landsknecht or Survivalist. So bringing one along isn't a huge setback, and they can contribute a lot to a party despite the changes they went through.
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Jul 6, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2021 17:25
|
|
|
Update 10: Foul Thorns Underfoot  I like how warm this place is, but looking after two animals is, well... I see their furs as long term investings. Don't let them hear that! Pfeh. Purr... It's time for 7F, which we can reach without a single encounter if you're lucky. And our main Beast is here, gonna be a right bloody tank even if the best defensive skills aren't accessible to him. Oh well. A tank that dies right away is doing its job correctly, right? Ugh. Hm? Hmmmmm....  Oh wow that is a problem. You have no ideas. Gigaboar HP: 180 STR: 23 VIT: 17 TEC: 12 AGI: 15 LUC: 17 Level: 20 Exp: 805 Skills Bullrush: Uses the Legs. Deals 150% Bash damage to a single target, with 50% splash damage. Has a 90% accuracy modifier and a 200% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Steel Fang: 40% chance, sells for 30en. 1 required for Iron Claw - Claw, ATK+64, STR+1 - sells for 990en 2 required for Long Bow - Bow, ATK+52 - sells for 770en 2 required for Beast Tail - Whip, ATK+65, VIT+2, LUC+2 - sells for 2,310en 3 required for Snow Axe - Axe, ATK+66, Type: Ice - sells for 1,690en Beast Hide: 35% chance, sells for 34en. 1 required for Hard Aspis - Shield, DEF+14 - sells for 450en 2 required for Plate - Clothing, DEF+27, VIT+2, AGI-1 - sells for 790en 3 required for Volunteer Service II Conditional: None Tired of the Moa kicking your rear end? It's back, in splash form! In case you breathed a sigh of relief that your Beast didn't tank this hit and die, well they'll still die anyway, but aside from these things being a little chunky, they're not too crazy. Hopefully you don't encounter too many at once! More AOE hitting enemies, and essentially another version of the Moa. Or a bit of a weaker version. Perhaps we should start keeping a funeral count for poor Loopy to put a Loyalty Beast into perspective? Before anyone asks, I ain't counting! Never met a boar I didn't hate. Ask me about the loving Babirusas in EOU... That's a nice chunk of cash. For me to poop on, cause we're rollin' in it from Chimerea! As an aside, since we haven't done the 4F quest of wasting 3 days of our time (we'll get to it very soon) it means we haven't unlocked the next quest, which has you help the guards map 7F and 8F. Again, we'll get to that pretty soon, but it does mean we miss naturally encountering the guards while exploring the floor. Thankfully there's another EO2 LP that's free real estate, so here's what the guard's map would unhelpfully show us! Does this count as a weird Frankensteining surgery grafting of 2 LPs by this point?  No worry, my speed will get you back in- oh come on! There are times when Aleks is better off reviving someone than our speedy Survivalist. Unfortunately she's usually busy dealing lots of elemental damage, so to Logan it usually falls to. Firstly, trees, secondly, gathering, thirdly, thorns? Hrmmm...7F D6 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 60% Poseidon x1 40% Bigcap x5 Red Root: 70% chance. Sells for 70en. 1 required for Self Bow - Bow, ATK+56, STR+2, AGI+2, +15 speed - sells for 1,440en 2 required for Pumpkinhat - Headgear, DEF+15, TEC+2, TP+10 - sells for 1,820en 5 required for Snake Whip - Whip, ATK+, STR+2 - sells for 1,680en 5 required for Fire Beads - Collar, DEF+62, STR+2 - sells for 1,580en 1 required for Toward a cozier inn Hardwood: 25% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Flame Leaf - Clothing, DEF+30, TP+10, Ice Resist Up 10% - sells for 1,550en 5 required for Milk Maul - Stave, ATK+65, HP+15, -3 speed - sells for 1,530en 1 required for Toward a cozier inn Red Pine: 5% chance. Sells for 250en. 1 required for Quid pro quo Easy gathering point to get to, nothing too crazy though. Didn't we just get a collar that is now being immediately replaced? Weird, but okay.  Wait, you two, that's not a plant! Yeep! Gah! Fangleaf HP: 201 STR: 19 VIT: 20 TEC: 22 AGI: 17 LUC: 17 Level: 21 Exp: 879 Skills Binding: Uses the Arms. Attempts to inflict Arm Bind on the entire party. Has a 50% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Thorn: Uses the Arms. Deals 165% Bash damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Blind. Has a 90% base infliction chance, a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Moving Eye: 35% chance, sells for 33en. 1 required for Madfa - Gun, ATK+55 - sells for 870en 1 required for Bite Piece - Accessory, Blind Resist Up 50% - sells for 2,000en 5 required for Battle Axe - Axe, ATK+65, STR+2, VIT+2 - sells for 1,480en 1 required for Labyrinth stew Bendy Tool: 30% chance, sells for 37en. 1 required for Headdress - Headgear, DEF+12, TP+3 - sells for 380en 1 required for Blind Gas - Item, Lv1 Blinding, 15% base infliction chance - sells for 450en 3 required for Fancy Coat - Clothing, DEF+28 - sells for 1,030en Bent Twig: 25% chance, sells for 30en. 1 required for Wood Bow - Bow, ATK+27, +20 speed - sells for 170en Required for The item trade I 3 required for Slice Whip - Whip, ATK+38, STR+2 - sells for 370en 5 required for Beast Bow - Bow, ATK+39, STR+1, +5 speed - sells for 440en Conditional: None Annoying, but not too bad. Fangleaf are pretty tanky and are very, very likely to inflict Blind. Their main scare is arm binding, pretty much everyone gets shut down from that. They'll be pretty deadly when combined with other enemies, but also not a huge deal to not go after immediately. It's a 49/51 to what it'll go for, but will go for Thorn more often as it gets lower in health. Fangleaves by themselves are guaranteed blindsides, but there's not a whole lot they can do to you, so solo Fangleaves are just an annoyance at best. They can be deadly when paired up with other enemies provided they're strong enough to capitalize on the Fangleaf's disables. There's always environmental hazards when I'm out slaying... Yay it's damage tiles again. These are more dangerous compared to last game, not because they do more damage, but because Salve is way more expensive. They're also way more prolific, but have their one use we'll go over soon enough. Remember tha damage tiles are percentile based in the first two games. Ask me about the cosmic revelation I had when I first stepped on a damage tile in EO2U, and it was automatically colored orange on the map.   Let's cut our losses, eh? So long as you are never making me wear the drabby feets. An encounter on the tile I was gonna get the treasure and warp out with... anyway Guard Soles are one of the ways to mitigate damage tiles, but it's only 40% reduction for 50 steps which requires quite a few of them. Best to invest into Patrol proper, or just suck it up and still use Salve even if you can't spam it like before. Later games switching to fixed damage makes damage tiles much easier to tank, but not so in this one. You'll really want mitigation of some kind unless you want to be walking around at 1 HP. At least they can't kill you.  1 Steel Fang required for Iron Claw 1 Moving Eye and 2 Tail Quills required for Madfa - Gun, ATK+55 - A firearm capable of firing huge bullets. 2 Steel Fangs required for Long Bow - Bow, ATK+52 - This bow's large size lets it deal greater damage. 1 Beast Hide required for Hard Aspis 1 Bendy Tool required for Headdress - Helmet, DEF+12, TP+3 - Headpiece made of boiled and linked plant leaves. 1 Bendy Tool and 3 Mugworts required for Blind Gas - Item, Lv1 Blinding, 15% base infliction chance - A dark gas that blinds all enemies. Another nice haul, eventually we'll stop unlocking all these lovely gas items. And just in case you thought your Beast wasn't doing ridiculous damage, here's one with 20 more ATK than the first claw we unlocked, and 1 more STR, cause why not. Due to how the EO2 damage formula works the weapon ATK increase is far less than it sounds. You generally want to prioritize armor upgrades instead of weapons in this one. It's like around +1 or 2 STR here. I know, for those of you familiar with most other EO games, your world has been turned upside down. Glad you agreed to join us, but I'm surprised you could take such a cursed thing off your head. It hurt like hell but I managed it, ohohohoho, what a great little trinket. Because I don't fancy going around a damage tile ridden floor with no healer AND a Loyalty Beast, I've made the important decision of changing my wildcard slot for Alastor, since he was one of the least voted. Also the Town Crown is nice, but I do want some actual DEF in that slot, so fare thee well. RIP to all the potential RIPs we could have seen this update. Ugh, we could go straight through! But my feet... Hmm! Good doge. Already I feel so much better having an actual wall of a class instead of, well, *gestures wildly* Harrumph. Coward.    Going the longer way round means more encounters, but you should be grateful for the exp! Looking closely, you can see that it's red amber. Could the tree's sap have seeped out and hardened? Amber normally solidifies under ground, so it seems out of place but valuable nonetheless. You can carve out the amber and take it with you, or give up on it and leave the area. Ah, a sparkle as beautiful as your eyes. Purr, purr. Guess I'll do all the work then... You pry the tip of your weapon into the amber's edge in an attempt to extract it. But when about half the mass has been scraped out, you hear an odd sound and turn to meet it. You gasp as you see a monster standing there, roaring menacingly at your party! You belatedly hear something squealing at the tree's roots. It seems that the tree was serving as a sanctuary for the monster's young... the monster has marked you as a predator of its children! You cannot avoid battle now!  While I would be liking the amber, we'll be putting it back! Bit too late for that, time for more orphans! Tortmail HP: 206 STR: 25 VIT: 20 TEC: 14 AGI: 17 LUC: 18 Level: 24 Exp: 992 Skills Armor Up: Uses the Arms. Reduces all physical damage on the user by 50% for 5 turns. Has an 80% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 75% 75% 125% 125% 125%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100% 100%Drops Armor Hull: 35% chance, sells for 44en. 1 required for Broadsword - Sword, ATK+60 - sells for 1,230en 1 required for Fancy Coat - Clothing, DEF+28 - sells for 1,030en 1 required for Shell Boot - Footwear, DEF+12, AGI+1 - sells for 420en 1 required for Metopon - Item, LV1 Erasure, dispells 1 buff from a single enemy - sells for 100en 2 required for Breaker - Claw, ATK+65, 120% base accuracy, +3 speed - sells for 1,020en Conditional: Kill with Bash damage Armor Bone: 75%, sells for 69en. 1 required for Godhunter - Gun, ATK+66, AGI+2, 120% base accuracy, +3 speed - sells for 1,920en Well at least we're not blindsided, we'll see these enemies next floor but Tortmails are your usual element check, nothing too special. They'll always lead off with Armor Up, making them a right pain for physical parties, and then just attack, attack, attack. Thankfully lot more elemental options in this game, so these enemies aren't as annoying as they were last game. They're annoyingly durable if you lack elements, but even a Gunner can take em down pretty fast. Otherwise, get annoyed for the amount of time it takes to kill them I guess? Use your imagination. That's one of the main aspects of the series after all! These things are a completely different enemy in EO2U, but you probably could've guessed that. They're all the way in the 5th Stratum in that game, for some reason!  Grrrrr! While Aleks and Rajah continue to miss, at least we have Viper to speed things up. This is one of the events where it's a shame there's no text after the fact, what happened to the amber you chipped off? What about the babies? Are they gonna die? Who knows. Hmm? Hey, don't go that way, listen to me! Dammit! Aww... This game has plenty of rude moves, with plenty more to come. I love it. It is an Etrian Odyssey game on the Nintendo DS. 1 Armor Hull required for Broadsword 1 Armor Hull and 3 Tail Quills required for Shell Boot - Footwear, DEF+12, AGI+1 - Sturdy, lightweight long boots. 1 Armor Hull and 1 Mugwort required for Metopon - Item, LV1 Erasure, dispels 1 buff from a single enemy - Neurotoxin that neutralizes an enemy's stat boosts. Going to be getting more fractured unlocks as I keep heading back after running out of Salve TP, but hey Metopons are nice to have to slap down a buffing enemy. Would've been nice for Chimeara... lol why does it only use level 1, that's so bad Tha' aye's still movin'! Stop squidging it!!! Welcome back! How'd it go? That innkeeper lass is scarier than a forest wolf, eh? Her husband must be a brave one to deal with a woman like her... and don't tell her I said that! Let's see now... ugh! She feeds this rubbish to her guests...? Some things man was not meant to know, eh? Well, much as I don't want to touch that foul stuff, I s'pose I should go deliver it... Here's yer reward. I'm counting on all of yeh! Don't have a need for these just yet, so they're basically money for now. Purr, purr! Showoff... Looking at the map, we've still got a chunk to go for the floor, but if we went through the top passage we'd reach the stairs very quickly. We'd walk through a bunch of thorns, but we'd reach the pole and an easy checkpoint to then explore the rest of the floor at our leisure. Very recommended. I won't do that because I'm a bit bonkers and there's not much left to this floor anyway. But it is basically optional. Not sure why they did it that way, but hey, most people won't complain! Odd bit of map design. I guess they thought damage tiles were bigger obstacles than they were to players in practice. That is a big monke. Well nothing to do now except kill it. This guild is crazy... Redwood HP: 810 STR: 29 VIT: 29 TEC: 27 AGI: 29 LUC: 27 Level: 22 Exp: 0 Skills Poison: Uses the Arms. Deals 100% Bash damage to a single target and attempts to inflict Poison. Has a 25% base infliction chance, deals 48-72 Poison damage, has a 100% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 125% 100% 50%Disable Vulnerabilities 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 10% 50% 10%Drops Sharp Nail: 30% chance, sells for 350en. 1 required for Shida - Katana, ATK+67, STR+2 - sells for 2,060en 5 required for Pain Aspis - Shield, DEF+37, STR+30, ALL Resist Down 50% - sells for 75,000en Blood Hide: 25% chance, sells for 410en. 1 required for Pale Round - Shield, DEF+18 - sells for 1,120en 5 required for Pain Aspis - Shield, DEF+37, STR+30, ALL Resist Down 50% - sells for 75,000en Beast Hide: 90% chance, sells for 34en. 1 required for Hard Aspis - Shield, DEF+14 - sells for 450en 2 required for Plate - Clothing, DEF+27, VIT+2, AGI-1 - sells for 790en 3 required for Volunteer Service II Conditional: None I'm not crazy, but you might think I am! There's a few FOEs we can take down when we encounter them, not many mind you, but this is one due to how relatively non-threatening it is. Now of course it could paste us into next week, especially with those stats, but it can only do it one party member at a time. I have a pretty offensive party, so I can be a bit reckless, and since you don't get exp from FOEs you don't have to worry about keeping everyone alive. So let's go nearly die. WELCOME TO DIE etc. etc. Also why did they call the White Ape "Redwood," that's bizarre. Oh and don't get excited seeing the Pain Aspis here, sure you need these drops but there's a 3rd material we need that's... postgame. This game's fuckin' wild yo. Not that +30 STR would make a Protector deal damage anyway. This is a trick that would later be pulled in EO4, of all things! That game gates your access to gear made from boss conditionals by making them also require 6th Maze enemy drops to buy. Y'know, since the en cost—in a game with severely nerfed conditional drop sell prices—wasn't enough. Oh poo poo we're doing this already? Right it's an FOE with single target attacks. If you can chain revive you've basically won. Otherwise who they go after is basically dead meat if their stats aren't high enough. Not too threatening, the weakest FOE in the stratum basically.  Grah! That's the slaying spirit! And so the pasting begins. Could probably use more HP on our units it seems.  So those are my insides... well have fun! I was definitely sweating by this point, but I'd done enough alpha strike damage that I was gonna be fine, you know, if my drat hits landed. Big if. Well that wasn't so badman, right mans? Right. People who care about synched XP bars are sighing in relief that EO2 FOEs can't possibly screw those up.    1 Sharp Nail required for Shida, -5 speed. 2 Beast Hides required for Plate I'll kill another 4 of these drat things later, but let's move on and ignore Redwoods, they're not aggressive. Thought I saw something shiny, ah no matter. Better not be going senile. I'm following the online maps too closely and went the long way around for no reason!   1 Armor Hull and 3 Bendy Tools required for Fancy Coat. And that was one trip because using two Salves for damage tiles is all we get. I can't avoid them sometimes!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2021 23:01
|
|
|
  Hehe! Amazing what you can put out when you actually land it.  Here's the Redwood lair, but since the second one patrols the top row only we won't go anywhere near it.  Son of a- Phew, we barely held in there, right Sonia? Ah bugger. 7F A4 Chop Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 60% Poseidon x1 40% Bigcap x5 Hardwood: 70% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Flame Leaf - Clothing, DEF+30, TP+10, Ice Resist Up 10% - sells for 1,550en 5 required for Milk Maul - Stave, ATK+65, HP+15, -3 speed - sells for 1,530en 1 required for Toward a cozier inn Red Root: 25% chance. Sells for 70en. 1 required for Self Bow - Bow, ATK+56, STR+2, AGI+2, +15 speed - sells for 1,440en 2 required for Pumpkinhat - Headgear, DEF+15, TEC+2, TP+10 - sells for 1,820en 5 required for Snake Whip - Whip, ATK+, STR+2 - sells for 1,680en 5 required for Fire Beads - Collar, DEF+62, STR+2 - sells for 1,580en 1 required for Toward a cozier inn Red Pine: 5% chance. Sells for 250en. 1 required for Quid pro quo Ugh treasure and ugh gathering. They can't all be winners. Ain't this going swimmingly... Hmph. Not to worry, we can probably reach the stairs. Not a big floor, but I was definitely one step away from an encounter. Phew! You can see how much you skip by coming from below and yeah the treasure isn't that worth it, but you'll need to explore this floor anyway, so might as well! Now that is some intense heat. You're looking a little worse for wear over there? Well half due to the immense pressure coming from the center of the floor, and half due to this terrible guide the Radha gave us. Makes me despair just looking at it. Blech! I will murder whoever draws these "helpful" sections one day.  slain that lizard yet? No... but I'm itching to! If it's the source of the stratum's heat then us beating it now would be quite the tale. So what's this I hear about yeh reaching the 8th floor? Did yeh meet that lizard? Whaddya mean, "What lizard?" Don't yeh know?! It's a huge beastie that shoots fire! How could yeh miss it!? Maybe it's just a rumor. Well, I was taken in! I hear about the thing destroying guilds all the time! I don't know what's going on in there, but yeh'd better watch yerselves. Better to be cautious than to be dead! G'luck! Nice chunk of quests that won't take long. I'm seeing if we could get a level 20 Medic before the end of the stratum (we won't) but the next step of Volunteer service won't unlock yet so no rush or whatever. If I have one more serving of that drat lunch... Come now, I might have no tastebuds due to atrophy, but it goes down a treat. Seems she's got an important guest, and she wants to keep him happy with some tasy fruit. Though after that Labyrinth Lunch, I'm not sure I'd eat any fruit she brought me... As always, yeh can get the details over at Flaus Inn.  we'll need that guy again I thought about summoning him with a bell, but he recoiled in horror from the idea. That makes two who aren't fans of those. Yeh lot should know him. He works at Sitoth Trading. He's asked for any guild to collect materials for his next piece. Go to the shop and ask him what he needs. G'luck!  Ugh, I'll go grab my stuff. You should always keep your tools close at hand. Yeh're in the same profession, so yeh're rivals in a way, but yeh have to put that aside now. Anyway, the lot of them were ambushed as soon as they set foot on a certain floor. Most of them escaped with their hides, but their alchemist weren't so lucky. So they're asking if they can borrow yer alchemist. Don't let yer fellow explorers down! Have fun on your trip, son! Shut up dad, you're not my real mom. Yeah, that one doesn't look half bad. I'm sure the other guild will be pleased. All right, follow me to where the other guild is waiting. The rest of yeh, stay here. ... All right, I delivered yer alchemist safe and sound. Their mission starts soon. We'll just sit right here and wait for yer friend to come back, shall we? Let's hear a few war stories, eh? I know yeh must have some good ones! Drink up, friends! Haw haw haw! Well, this one time, at band camp... Back. What a waste of time that was. Back, are we? So yeh killed the beastie, but yeh nearly died trying...? Well, here's what the leader of that other guild had to say... "I appreciated your help, and we'll return the favor someday. In the meantime... train harder." What a tosser! Haw haw haw! Here's yer reward. Yeh better not lose against that lot!  Due to my lack of caring, we didn't get the best reward for that quest, since the money reward changes slightly depending on what skills your Alchemist has. If you have the Fire skill you get an extra 300en and if you have the Flame skill you get another extra 300en. It's still pretty early on and since I'm going for Megido at the moment I didn't fancy investing in Fire Up Lv5 and Fire Lv5 to unlock Flame to get a paltry 300en. It's nice if you were already going for this skill, but uh, whatever. I've got a VIP staying here who wants to sample our meals between jaunts in the Labyrinth. He's simply mad about hunting! He wants the meal delivered to his camp on the 4th floor today. Trouble is... we're low on the Labyrinth Lunches, so I decided to send him some fruit instead. And I heard an explorer say he'd found the most delicious fruit in his travels. I don't know much about it, but he assured me it would make a great meal for my guest. I want you all to find the fruit and deliver it to the VIP on the 4th floor! He said the fruit should be around the southeast area of the 8th floor... I think. Oh, but he also said once you pick the fruit from the tree it starts to spoil at once. You'll have to deliver it before it goes completely rotten! I know you won't let me down! A vegetable from the 9th floor to be delivered the day after on the 6th floor, got it. Close enough... EO2 had quite a few "backtrack through the Labyrinth" quests and I'm not sure why or what they really add to the game. And no you can't use the Geomagnetic Fields for these. Hello, children! Could you lend me a hand again? I just need someone to care of those dishes, thanks! Gah, this meal again, it's everywhere! Let me sleep! Huh? You've really never had this before? It's one of our best-selling meals. We call it the Labyrinth Lunch. My husband came up with it! I can make it myself, if you want, but to be honest, I don't think that's such a good idea. Why? Oh, well, you know... Bahahaha! I'm gonna kick Salamox's rear end! Nae, I will! As more people explore the Labyrinth, we make breakthroughs in science and medicine. Just the other day, we found a plant there that actually eases a fever in humans. But there are so many different plants and herbs, and we don't know what many of them do. If we could do research on them, it would advance the cause of medicine worldwide. But to that research, we need explorers to bring us samples of these plants. We need their help to cure wounds... but so many of them are wounded trying to help us. That's the circular situation I'm in now. I hate to see anyone get hurt, but... I know it's asking a lot of you, but I'd like you to continue exploring the Labyrinth. I never noticed how much dialogue freakin' Derek has. I miss when Derek was kind of incompetent in the first Trauma Center. Man, I haven't played a Trauma Center game in fuckin' forever. Does he only come out when we're not here? He says he's too busy to come out, but I think he's just shy around people. Isn't it weird for someone like him? Hee hee! Oh, I need to give you his list! He asked for 1 Fluorite and 1 Open Cap. You can get them from the Auburn Thicket. Just sell them back to me once you collect them! We're counting on you! I need something for lizard slaying! Huh? Oh, Sonia... your clothes are torn! Come here and let me fix it. There you go! All better! Hee hee... I'm good at mending clothes and things like that. I'll be over here, so call me when you're ready to check out! How thoughtful, now I'm properly dressed! Heh, sure. How delightfully blunt. Grr! Hrmhrm! Ahaha... it was only a joke. Don't take it so personally. I heard your next destination is the 8th floor to collect a Fire Plume from the Salamox. There's no shame in running from a monster that strong. Survival is your first priority. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. I don't think you'll have much of a chance to run if you get into a battle with that thing. I would be the telling you but then I would have to be the shooting. Please don't threaten my boss! High Lagaard is somewhat remote and difficult to reach from anywhere else. We have been considering how to deal with the influx in new residents. We need new roads, housing, and food sources... so many things to consider. We didn't expect Lagaard to become the boom town that it is now. But you have been abroad. Have you any suggestions as to how to deal with these issues? I realize that exploring is a full-time job, but if you should think of something, tell me. I expect great things from you. If you want to develop a town... open a restaurant. Nah, that's sounds stupid. Anyway, despite what these walls of text might make you think, we haven't done that much exploring, 7F is pretty small, so let's go fight a large salamander! The obviously correct choice involves sailing. Hmm, what is that? You remain vigilant for some time, but the sound does not reoccur. You can't be certain if it's hiding from you or waiting for a chance to strike. Part of you wants to leave the room now, and part of you wants to proceed with caution. Slashin' time, baby! Hrm! Apparently scared by your drawn weapons, the source of the noise flees deep into the forest. You sheathe your weapons and look around. Something has fallen to the floor. The unseen creature must have dropped it. You stow away the unexpected bounty in your bag. Ah, a fruit as tasty as your neck. You are not the wrong. We only need one of those for the jar items I'll never use, so neat! Bats. I can deal with bats. Their wings shred like pa- eek, why does it breathe fire?! Firezard HP: 165 STR: 19 VIT: 20 TEC: 18 AGI: 20 LUC: 19 Level: 23 Exp: 741 Skills Breath: Uses the Head. Deals Fire damage to a single target, with a spell power of 35 and damage multiplied by 150%. Has a 99% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Fumes: Uses the Head. Deals Fire damage to the entire party, with a spell power of 30 and damage multiplied by 80%. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 0% 150% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100% 100%Drops Green Hide: 30% chance, sells for 23en. 1 required for Flame Whip - Whip, ATK+62, Type: Fire - sells for 1,070en 1 required for Fire Wall - Accessory, Fire Resist Up 30% - sells for 1,500en 7 required for Zanmatou - Katana, ATK+62, Type: Fire - sells for 1,480en Green Tail: 25% chance, sells for 25en 1 required for Fire Beads - Collar, DEF+62, STR+2 - sells for 1,580en 3 required for Flame Leaf - Clothing, DEF+30, TP+10, Ice Resist Up 10% - sells for 1,550en Conditional: None Either damage to one or damage to all. The Direwolf last game worked exactly the same, but the Firezard is too weak to really do much of note. It doesn't even soften you up for other enemies, so it's a relief that they're here. Wizard trash mobs basically. Magic casting enemies in general are weak because they too have their damage halvved by the magic formula. They just do partywides in EO2U.  I should be throwing up the raining bow instead, bleh! Grrrrrr! Who fell down a well? Sorry, I don't speak beast. ...oh, right, the scythe wielding maniac behind us. I haven't been decapitated yet, ohohoho! Razekings spawn in these small nooks as you walk past and chase you for a fair while. Can we take it on like we did the Redwood? Haha, no. While we're next to it I needed to fix this hot mess. Much better! We'll dive in here! It'll be safe... amongst the... thorns. Sigh. Yelp! Never slain something like that before. I have been wanting the snaking skins. Garauchi HP: 162 STR: 19 VIT: 19 TEC: 18 AGI: 38 LUC: 36 Level: 22 Exp: 741 Skills Taillash: Uses the Legs. Attempts to inflict Head Bind on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifer. Corrode: Uses the Head. Increases physical damage taken by the entire party by 130% for 5 turns. Has a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100% 100%Drops Ruby Shard: 35% chance, sells for 28en. 1 required for Stain Gage - Gloves, DEF+13, STR+1 - sells for 750en 2 required for Gara Rod - Stave, ATK+63, HP+10 - sells for 1,250en 5 required for Snake Whip - Whip, ATK+66, STR+2 - sells for 1,680en FIFTEEN required for Self Bow - Bow, ATK+56, STR+2, AGI+2 - sells for 1,440en Conditional: Kill with Volt damage Ruby Scale: 80% chance, sells for 41en. 1 required for Horn Plate - Light Armor, DEF+33, VIT+2, Volt Resist Up 10% It's a support enemy that isn't very dangerous if there's nothing to support. We only care about head binds for healing, but Corrode can be a real fucker combined with a Moa or Gigaboar. Otherwise not that big a deal, if you kill the dangerous attacker first then they're just gonna sit there, especially cause it's a 50/50 what they'll go for, so you'll probably get lucky and only get bound! Not much to em. Just ignore or take em out first depending on how much your party loves their heads.  Ugh, this gel is melting my clothes off and reducing my defense! ...I was only joking, Logan, you are too easy to teas- urk! That's technically karma but it screws me over too. Viper is my main way to kill Tortmails...  Much better. That chest contains a Nectar II, which we need to hoard excessively since we won't unlock it for a fair while. At least we'll get a few dotted around here and there. Mmrph. No muzzling the doggy, we need him for the bites! With a bunch of damage tiles and no TP on our healer, that's how we're heading back. Man, remember TP recovery? Good times. Could be worse. Could be forced to work with EO4 Amritas. Now that's jibblie inducing!  2 Ruby Shards required for Gara Rod, -3 speed. 1 Green Hide required for Flame Whip - Whip, ATK+62, Type: Fire - Red whip imbued with the power of flames. 1 Ruby Shard required for Stain Gage.  I lived, bitch. 8F A6 Mine Point Ambush Chance: 3% Ambush Encounter: 60% Poseidon x1 40% Bigcap x5 Fluorite: 70% chance. Sells for 70en. 1 required for Fungus Jet - Accessory, Paralysis Resist Up 50% - sells for 2000en Required for Smithy Thompson's request I 1 required for Arm Guard - Accessory, Arm Bind Resist Up 50% - sells for 2,000en 1 required for Bite Piece - Accessory, Blind Resist Up 50% - sells for 2,000en 1 required for Warp Stone - Item, Lv1 Return, warps user to the last Geomagnetic Field - sells for 100en 3 required for Godhunter - Gun, ATK+66, AGI+2, 120% accuracy, +3 speed - sells for 1,920en 5 required for Battle Axe - Axe, ATK+65, STR+2, VIT+2, +0 speed - sells for 1,480en Red Ball: 25% chance. Sells for 75en. 1 required for Breaker - Claw, ATK+65, 120% accuracy, +3 speed - sells for 1,020en 1 required for Fire Wall - Accessory, Fire Resist Up 30% - sells for 1,500en 1 required for Bash Wall - Accessory, Bash Resist Up 30% - sells for 1,500en 3 required for Zanmatou - Katana, ATK+62, Type: Fire - sells for 1,480en 5 required for Katzbalger - Sword, ATK+63, STR+1, VIT+1, +15 speed - sells for 1,550en Blood Rock: 5% chance. Sells for 200en. 1 required for Life Belt - Accessory, HP+50 - sells for 1,000en 1 required for Quid pro quo You might've wondered why I didn't go straight for Salamox but we need to explore this whole floor for the quest, so might as well. Also so we can unlock Life Belts, which are great defensive items for quite some time, as well as something we'll be doing pretty soon. Also there's just a lot of stuff to unlock, so this is pretty helpful to find. Life Belts are ridiculous defensive accessories to have this early. That's a ridiculous amount of defense this early.  How do these birds keep getting the jump on us?! Oh, was I meant to be on the lookout? gently caress you, game. Still, nice chunk of the floor done and some armour we won't get until next floor. Neat! Now for Salamox... This labyrinth sure is interesting sometimes... The open area formed by the scarlet forest feels as though it's warmed by a furnace. You can sense a terrible aura drifting to the room's entrance from beyond the trees! Have a care! Fighting in this area will surely lead to your deaths. Be on your guard! T-T-That is some heat! It is like all of my comforting feathery blankets in one, which would be most uncomfortable! Well, are we ready? Hrmmm... No, not ready to die, where's your faith doggy?  The red FOEs of even numbered stratums are elemental kings that will absolutely gently caress us up. It'll be quite a while before we fight these, but they're passive and are pretty easy to dodge. No, the real danger is the massive black ball of death guarding the way to the Fire Plume. We need to lead it around the loop and- whoops my finger slipped!  GAH! No one said it'd charge towards us! It's breathing in deeply! Too hot! Too hot!!! Bark bark bark bark bark! Well bugger.  It's good thing we have the Edda guild here, looks like they'll take up the mantle and finish the LP for us! ... Alright fine we'll do the stupid 3 day quest, train up and then do this properly. Sheesh. Great excitement. Doing a quick check of the Salmox's stats and the skill it just used, the amount of overkill it applied is quite sad. Like normally when a post-game fight overkills a low leveled party, it's like 18-20x the overkill, but here it's only 4-5x, which is rather pathetic meaning that when this thing is fought at the proper point, the magic attack will basically be nothing. God why does magic in EO2 have to suck so much rear end?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2021 23:02
|
|
|
Part 11: Three Day Fun Alright, rub this on you and you'll blend right in. So that's why you bathe twice a day, thought you were weird like El. It is most strongly. You get used to it, geh, mostly. Before we do the 3 day trip there's a few things to do quickly, won't take a moment. Keen senses to still notice us. Hmph! You have noted the locations of numerous withered trees, as the doctor requested. This should be sufficient data. Report back to the bar at your earliest convenience. What if there's more trees on further floors? Best not think about such things. Its smooth bark and odd branch structure would make it difficult to climb. But looking up, you can see a perfectly sized fruit daring to pluck it. You weigh your options. Pluck the fruit, or walk away? Sure let's walk away from this required item for a quest. No sarcasms in this happy guild! My previous climbing skilling is not for this type, how about it Sonny? Mmm! Uh, never been called that before, but sure. Break a leg! As leader of the party, Sonia was chosen to climb the tree and pick the fruit. The fruit's skin is a shining yellow sheen, and it emits a pleasing aroma... you remember now about the quest you accepted at the bar. You agreed to fetch a type of fruit from the Labyrinth. The fruit in hand can only be the one the innkeeper requested! But you have the nagging feeling there's something else relevant about this fruit... Oh yes... as soon as you pluck it from the branch, it will begin to spoil! You resolve to head for the 4th floor before the fruit spoils, angering the VIP. A thud breaks the reverie... Sonia fell from the tree and landed badly!  I'm okay! You got the lucks... Uh, sure game, let's get to 4F! A lack of encounters from your Stalker gathering party is very nice for this quest. Engaging gameplay. Ah, the feeling of no longer burning my lungs with each breath. I miss it. You don't want to delay this quest too long since it'll be soon time for Chimeara to respawn and make things annoying as hell. I still don't think we could take it on in a regular fight lol.  Different guild, same results... Annoyingly placed FOE can piss off and we beat it easily even though I forgot to heal off thorns! Ahem. Also kill this one, you'll see why in just a moment. Killing this FOE is key to cheesing the ever loving poo poo out of this quest. Greetings, we have acqui- You approach them, but they block your way with their weapons. Halt! If you have no business past this point, we must insist that you turn back." You show them the fruit you're holding and tell the guards about the request. After considering your words, the guard relents slightly. All right, I'll see that he gets it. Now be on your way. Wait... maybe you should take half of it, as proof that you completed your duty. The guard pulls out his hunting knife and slices the fruit in two equal pieces, giving you one. You thank the guards for their hospitality and decide to not overstay your welcome. Giving you half the fruit seems very weird to me from a "giving the rich guy the fruit he wants" perspective, but what do I know? Back with half a rotting fruit, great use of our time. Ooh something smells good. drat, what took yeh so long? Let's have a look at that fruit... eeeuuh! That stench! Don't put that on the table! It'll stink up the whole place! That's the reek of evil, it is! I've gotta get rid of it before they condemn the place! How'd yeh carry it all that way!? Yer reward's on the table. Take it and get out already! "Requests where Cass gets upset at the end" are my favorite genre of quest. The hell did they all bring back, a Durian?  Oh yeah we found some dead trees. we're working on it Welcome back! So what was all that about? Something about withered trees...? It does sound pretty strange that they'd all wither that way. But it's no big deal, is it? It's not like everything'll rot away... will it? Hmmmmm. Truth to tell, I've never once understood what that man goes on about. Oh well... the quest's done, so here's yer reward. Come back anytime!  Woo, not worth it. Still, this is a passive quest that's really easy to complete so might as well. Right that's enough convenient preamble, let's get going. Right, I believe that's everything in order, excited for the camping trip? No. That's the spirit! Your task is to stay on this floor for 3 days, defeating as many monsters as you can. Will your items and stamina last that long...? You now have 3 days remaining. Ugggggghhhhhh... okay so this isn't too bad compared to the five days of absolute tedium last game. There's a few differences, this is earlier in the game so the encounters are easier, but there's no fountain or 3 tile wide no encounter section to hide in. The secret area on the east side of the floor has a lower encounter rate compared to the rest of the floor and any Evil Eyes you encounter will be with other enemies, so there's no blindsides. Otherwise just cheese the entire quest with Stalker and if you don't need to train slightly before Chimeara, or you'll cheese that too, don't bother fighting anything. Like the 5 day quest we'll have some fireside chats with the guild, though it'll be 4 per conversation instead of 2, oh well. Let's get going. "Hmm, so the problem with the quest was that so it could be cheesed. Let's get rid of no encounter zones and fountains and force the player to do it the intended way." The end result is still a quest that sucks major rear end. The whole killing things is just flavor text, all the game cares about is that you travel on the floor for 3 days. At least it's not 5 days? Still have to walk 2160 steps, but 9 uses of a level 10 Stalker can make it as painless as it will get. Thankfully this quest never returned in later games. Unless you count the remake of EO1, in which case it's mitigated considerably in Story Mode. Classic Mode? Lol get hosed. Don't worry, I brought a sleeping bag and a pillow, I'm ready to look at this exciting gameplay! And yeah this took me like 15 mins sidestepping against the wall to reduce lag while watching a speedrun. Not the best way to spend an evening, but at least this quest is outta here. "Reduce lag." I want you all to read those words and then realize this is within the context of EO2, a DS game, we're talking about here. God this game's back end is so bad. Alright, let's set up camp and we'll take it in turns to guard, like mentioned. Uh, are you really going to stay awake the entire time, Ro? I'll sleep when I'm dead. Oho! My kind of gentleman! Good night everyone, have fun you four.First Night Meh. Heh, you'll be a great conversationalist I'm sure. At least we are getting it the over with. like i could sleep in this mess ...are you gonna watch us this whole time? I'll be here and there, don't let me disturb you, had enough of this sharing backstory nonsense last time. He doesn't seem to like his previous guild that much. He is having the point, we should be opening each other up. i'd rather you didn't Who wants to go first? I love stories! You look like you have a heck of a story to tell! I do, but no. I... have fears to conquer. But it takes time. ah your gauntlets, you always look at them with such sadness, and i've seen better explosions from a firecracker Geh... I suppose I'm not very subtle. But it's true, I don't like using these, though to protect the ones you love, your family, your country, needs must. Oh you are from the Apen Warrings. Ahhh, one day wars will be foughting over me. Apen! I knew I recognised your outfit from somewhere! Heh, my older sister loved dressing up in uniform and guarding doors for me. Ah, yeah, the secret's out... it was one hell of a war, mainly the hell part, but we had to to survive. again with the hands, though you cover them with gauntlets the blood still remains... Y-You've killed people too? That I was not the expecting! uh, well, yes? in a manner of speaking, you can't save everyone in my profession... especially when they die because your supposed better screwed up during treatment and you couldn't fix their mess in time That, uh, would make sense, yeah. ugh... it always feels like i can't rely on anyone else, i've gotta come in and help them... well i guess i don't mind You do like to order the pack properly. Pretty sure you've snuck in a few corrections to Logan's maps too. Ahaha! He was most the upsetting when that happened! i don't like doing it sometimes cause i feel like a right busybody, hopefully you guys can step up to your roles... one person i can think of in particular ...what?! Grr, I'm trying, okay! It's just really hard to work through this trauma. Of doors. Yes! Come on, we all have irrational fears, I know it's dumb, but... well my siblings took the wrong approach to helping me prepare for this. I know I'm letting the team down! Ah, p-please don't be getting the upsetting, we are all here to helping, we work together as one! yeah i'll moan a bit but it is my job to pick up any slack, i don't want anyone to die Heh, thanks guys. If I want to have an epic adventure written about myself then I've gotta work on some character growth. Could be worse, could be scared of cabbage. GAH! I am not the scared of it! And Holly's waving it in my face is not the proving! you're just too picky, especially since you don't know what fancy means Heh, it's nice to have a goal, but it's pretty obvious you don't know what it is. That it may the be, but I do not care, I will restore my family's good naming no matter what! And if I must leave behinding the cold food and the scratchy blankets that was most of my young then so be it!!! Oh now it makes sense. As someone who lost everything, I get it. But you shouldn't cling to such outdated ideals. Hrm, I supposing, but I will not let my ancestors down! so long as you don't go for our furry friends You have no way of knowing the hour, save by the sun's light fading and rising. Still, you have little choice but to remain until the next guild arrives to relieve you. You have 2 days remaining. Good morning, everything work out alright? From my perspective it looked like a group hug. Not that I wanted one, sniff. Second Night We will be on guard, hyah, HYAH! You'll scare me half to death shouting like that. And what's wrong with that? Not everyone wants to die. Though it is inevitable! True, it would be very interesting to discover how you two would die. I don't want to know, I just want my body back to make my own choices! Hey, I thought we were getting along well enough? Well you're keeping clothes on at least. Ugh, I still can't believe you nearly did it in front of everyone in the bar! I was getting too warm and it was getting in the way, honestly I will never understand what's the big deal, I've never worn clothes, you have your natural fur. Yours was always much longer. We don't suffer well in these cold climates. A small little girl especially so. And what's wrong with that?! Well for one thing they're harder to bite. Please be careful with how you word things, old man. Otherwise you might actually convince some idiots that you're a creeper rather than a wannabe vampire. Wannabe vampire??? Oh here we go... Of course I'm not! Everything about me screams vampire, how could I not be? Well you lay it on a bit thick, I've read plenty of novels and you seem to hit literally every trope, including the contradictory ones! Well except the sparkling... Oh yes that old posh, the ancients had very vivid imagination. Well, uh, I only sparkle when I want to. Do not push me further, or you will pay the price! Ooh, what, what? Oh don't encourage him, you're too gulliable. Says the girl that thought stealing my horns would work! Pfft! No way! That would be quite the sight... W-What?! There's no way I would ever- ah dammit, fine, we all know our minds have merged. Ugh, I wanted to be a pretty antler lady but when he started charging towards me I panicked and said... something, I don't know what, it's hazy for the both of us. You've turned so red you might burn my skin, ohohoho! Well I can kinda get it, I've dreamed of all sorts of extra features to make me stronger in battle. Anything to stop you dying so easily. Come now, it's only been twice this week. Three times, you wanted to test your mettle against me and I kicked you so hard you forgot about it. Ah, it is around the time I should be reminding you not to do that again, kathy's making me. ...ah poo poo. I really don't remember that. Well no matter, just means I wasn't strong enough! I'll take it better next time! Oh for- do you actually have a death wish?! No, I just wanna be the strongest there is. What's wrong with that? Dying before that. And what's wrong with that??? Honestly I'll be fine, one day I'll be so strong that I can fulfill my dream and arriving just in the nick of time to save everyone. And I'll be making a badass pose and everyone will hoot and holler and shout "ENTER" over and over. Oh I can't wait! Riiiiight... well this has been an eye opening experience for everyone but the sun is nearly here, let's get everyone up. Someone doesn't want to share with the class. Can never get a read on that guy. The only indication I've ever gotten of his life is when Hart asked him to count some money, drat deer couldn't wrap his head around it. Juthro went pale and then ran off! Well now I'm even more interested! Killed a lover for money? Stole from a great king?! Ooh, I'm gonna squeeze it out of him right now! Ah poo poo he heard me... You'll never catch me alive! If you can make it through the day, your quest will be complete. Visions of returning to town and collapsing onto a soft, comfortable bed tempt you. You have 1 day remaining. How the hell is a bard so slippery? Huff, huff, oh hey Ro... wanna catch him for me? No time for that now, on with the quest! Third Night Ugh, drat beasts are supposed to be watching but they're just curled up asleep. And you two aren't much better! But they're so soft and cuddly... Wake meh up when there's summat tae kill... Purr... Zzz... Siiiiigh. Well if a dark lord shows up you better be ready! We won't be able to see much in this light. That's fine, yaaaawn, we have some candles in the pac- gah! What was that for??? Woah yeh sliced that candle reet in half! Hm? Yeep! Ah, sorry, sorry, can't help it, it's instinctive at this rate. It's... well, I've hated candles ever since my childhood, I was in my mansion and needed the toilet, but a bat had gotten in through the window. It went to attack me and I smacked it with my father's whip that was hanging nearby. Unfortunately I hit it into a candle and it caught on fire. Scared the poo poo out of me. Wow that is... a specific trauma. Well hopefully we don't find any of those, eh? That sounds spooky! Wah!!! Ah come on it was just meh fingers on yeh neck! Don't frighten the poor thing, he looks like he had a traumatic enough childhood. Hehe... Hmm? I had nothing of the sort! Don't lump me in with all these crazy people that decided they wanted to benchpress a tree to get over something! I just don't feel the need to put myself at risk, I have my life's work to think about. Oh right yeh little book of maps and notes, how can yeh properly document somethin' if yeh terrified of it? You're acting like I'm scared of everything. Well, uh, I'm not afraid of you, all big talk and no brain! Ooh, look who finally got some baekbone! But I know what yer weak teh. How about, uhhhh, this...? ...why you are pinning him against a tree like that? W-w-what?! You're so c-close and your ha-hands are-! What yer so scared of, I'm just strokin' yer face and lookin' in yer pretty little eyes. Aha, yeh-yeh are scared! Are you sure it's not just him...? Anyway, why are you trying to prove a nerdy cataloguer is nervous around girls? I could've told you that. I'm n-not! There yeh are again! Quit lying already and face yer fears! It's the only way ye'll ever get o'er them! Grr... alright, fine, I'm scared of these large, patrolling dinosaurs and freaky birds and house sized salamanders we're up against, but I'm n-not gonna back down from them cause I want to learn about them. Help this guild out... and-and... gaaaaaah! Woah! Ooh a reversal. So, uh, why are you pinning her against a tree? Should I be concerned? Oi oi! Growl! Hey now, this might be important. Go on then, Cube Gel legs... what ya gonna do now? Ah, wait, I didn't mean for this... but... but you can't talk to me like that when you're lying to everyone! I've seen you in the Grand Duchy plenty of times, and I know someone like you isn't sightseeing! Lumberjack! Hah! You don't know how to use an axe, I've been watching you! Uh, wait, not like that! Hmm, he makes a fair point. And this is very entertaining, so what now? Heh... worked somethin' out have yeh? Well if you wanna noo... then yeh'll hafta maek meh, noodle boy! Gah, stop with the name calling! I'm sick of it! I will do when yeh stop being them! Pasty face! Knee-knockin' chicken! Yeh couldn't hit the broad side of a barn without yeh goggles! I think you're going a bit far with this... You-you... so abrasive... so lacking in tact... but you know, I met a nice girl in the Duchy who gave me some good advice and... and I won't take any more of this, I'm gonna stand up for myself and make you regret ever crossing me you... you loudmouthed, stupid sounding, idiotic... oval office!  ... A-Ah, no, that was wrong of me, I shouldn't have- mmmmmmph?! My tent. Five minutes. Aha! Hmm! Wha... what just happened? Guess she likes it when you stand up for yourself. Also calling her a- uh, best not delve into that. The sun's gonna rise soon, so you better... ah dammit I share a tent with her, you better not mess up my stuff! Yeah... I'll, uh... yeah... Purr... Hehe! Well that was exhausting... huh, you guys are pretty comfy. Hehe, I'm glad that you two are so friendly, I don't think I could've come around to working with animals if it had been anyone else. ... ... ...wow, Holly is saying "Och!" a lot, but if I can just tune them out then maybe I can just close my eyes... for a few... zzzzzzz. Ahhhhhh... Mmmmmm... Your harsh, three-day ordeal is finally complete! You may return to town or continue exploring. Either way, you have much to be proud of. gently caress you game! The feat of wasting a lot of time. A proud accomplishment indeed. Heuh? Wha? What happened, I was taking a nap. Nice and simple, just how I like it. Did you all have a good night? Fook yeah! It was very fun, right Logan? Yep. Oh yeah. Sure was. Hoo boy. Wowzers. Yessir. Rowr! Gahaha! It's nights like these when I hate my amazing hearing... And there we go, thank gently caress that's over with, probably one of the worst quests in the series, but with Stalker and running away from everything, it's not as soul draining as the 5 day quest. You'll be unsurprised to hear that, unlike the EO1 quest showing up in EOU again, this quest is not in EO2U at all. Gracious, yeh're back! You look sore all over. I told yeh this one would be hell. On the other hand, the Nidhogg Guild is on everyone's lips now. Yeh lot are famous! And of course, there's this other reward on top of that. Take it, and enjoy yer rest!  A nice reward at least, but you can see why I tried to put this off for as long as possible, yeesh. Oh yeah, now we can do the mapping quest or whatever. Life Belts aren't bad I guess but really not worth the task the quest puts you through. surprised logan isn't all over this quest, is he unwell I sense dark forces brewing. Nah, he just seems... happy. He... hehe... heeeee. 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! I am here as Logan's replacement since he can't stop smiling weirdly at Holly, someone who only drew ire from him before. I can only guess what has happened. Oh they fuckin'. 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. Own 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. 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 yout shoulders. I hope that will be the last time I have to do that dumb quest. Next time, we'll finish our mission, but I wonder what's occurred these past three days...? Huff, huff, drat this heat. But we've finally made it... It's not that warm you big softie. It is this dishonourable culprit that is causing our leader such distress! Mmm, the tales that will be told for this feat, let's put our plan into action~ It's here. Salamox. Let's kill it. I'm going to kill Salamox.
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Nov 3, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2021 23:02
|
|
|
Part 12: Revenge is a dish best served bullshit I am a genius!  Okay, uh, while you do that I'll just back away slowly. We'll see Poseidons on 10F but because they always go for Charge on the first turn, you have two chances to run away, so them wiping your gathering party is low. If you somehow fail that then yeah you're loving dead, but such is EO2. EO2 giveth away, EO2 taketh. Oh, hey, sauroposeidons. They're trivial to deal with in EO2U, because of blast grenades.  20 Open Caps and 5 Hardwood required for Milk Maul, -3 speed. 5 Red Roots and 1 Green Tail required for Fire Beads. 3 Green Tails and 1 Hardwood required for Flame Leaf - Clothing, DEF+30, TP+10, Ice Resist Up 10% - Pyrexic clothes that guard against the cold. Pretty tame unlocks from this stratum's Chop points, especially since the Red Pine is for the one quest and that's it. But I'll be a bit cheeky and also unlock all the Mine items as well, even though I usually wait until I finish the floor before I do so, if you noticed. It'll make the next part of this update MUCH MORE INTERESTING! Why would you want gear for your beast that burns them when enemies are near? The flavor text for equipment is so weird sometimes. Beast armor tends to have a lot more defense. Except due to Loyalty's mechanics the defense boosts are loving useless! Basically just pick the thing with the best secondary stats. (Dear god no, it is one game too soon for that loving bullshit!) If you are ignoring Loyalty, then get the best one you can obviously. 1 Armor Bone and 3 Fluorite required for Godhunter, 120% accuracy, +3 speed. 2 Armor Hull and 1 Red Ball required for Breaker - ATK+65, 120% accuracy, +3 speed - This claw cuts as well as smashes enemies. Before we see the ridiculous accessories we get from the Mine points, I should highlight these weapons, for the slow and inaccurate Gunner and Beast, these are very nice upgrades, being +24% more accurate and getting the Gunner out of the negatives for speed. Unfortunately you can't keep them for too long, the next +accuracy weapon for Gunner won't be unlocked for 10 more floors, but they come pretty consistent after that, while Beast gets pretty screwed, the next weapon like this for them is postgame. Oof. Still, these are very useful considering the game vaguely tells you about one positive, while never telling you about the other. I wish I had "accuracy up" guns in EO2U... Don't you love entirely unexplained mechanics? These ones are smaller fries but there are some boss fights that become infinitely harder if you have no idea how they operate. (Quite a few from EO4 come to mind here.) 1 Fluorite required for Arm Guard - Arm Bind Resist Up 50% 1 Fluorite and 1 Open Cap required for Fungus Jet - Paralysis Resist Up 50% - Made after analysis of paralyzing fungal spores. Required for Smithy Thompson's request I 1 Fluorite and 1 Moving Eye required for Bite Piece - Blind Resist Up 50% - Piece made by hardening a carnivorous plant bulb. 1 Red Ball and 1 Green Hide required for Fire Wall - Fire Resist Up 30% - Lessens the damage taken from fire attacks. 1 Red Ball required for Bash Wall - Bash Resist Up 30% - Dampens the damage taken from strike attacks. 1 Blood Rock required for Life Belt - HP+50 - Assists in circulation of the bodily humors. 1 Fluorite required for Warp Stone - Item, Lv1 Return, warps user to the last Geomagnetic Field - Magnetic rock that takes the user to the last used Field. Phew, lot of good stuff from one little point, eh? You can look at this list and see some nice resist accessories, see the Warp Stone and laugh, and not even notice the seemingly small boost the Life Belt gives. OBJECTION! The Life Belt is one of the best defensive items in the game because of how it's better than any piece of armour that reduces incoming enemy damage by less than 50HP and the fact that it's stackable. THREE TIMES! Well stacking twice is usually fine since if you become a brittle sponge it's not that useful, but HP stacking is just a good strategy in this game and is very helpful in certain, cheesy, strategies. Later on we'll get armour that can reduce incoming damage by more than 50, but by then we'll get an upgrade to this item. Everyone will have a Life Belt and having high HP numbers is pretty nice, which also gives the Medic a hidden buff as they can now use their overpowered healing! Now then, onto the reason I unlocked these at this point... I'd probably debate the usefulness of the HP advice at this point. This isn't EO3-2U. Like sure, one accessory could be useful. But due to EO2's multiplicative damage formula, and defense functioning as a divisor, you will notice the lack of a defense stat very quickly. Wear some armor, but don't go stark naked with a bunch of accessories. +150 HP will not mean much when you are taking like 200 extra damage or so due to a lack of armor. Alternatively, you're about to abuse a rather infamous strat. In addition to the inherent nerf of being unable to stack accessories in EO2U, life belts ate another severe nerf in that their HP boost was dropped from 50 to 20. In a game where enemies deal much more damage and your characters have much more HP. I imagine it was both a nerf to how strong they were in the original EO2, and also a nerf to how strong equipment HP boosts were in EOU. Also within that pile of unlocks was the Fungus Jet, which we needed for a quest. Hmm? Did I bring you something important...? Well, I assume so in that comically large pile. When a smithy puts his heart and soul into a piece, it ends up with mysterious powers. Just by holding it, you could become faster, or stronger, or who knows what else! My father and everyone in his crew pray for your safe return when they make equipment. I know they'll protect you in the Labyrinth, so please use them! Thank you again for all your help! You'll take any other requests I have, right? Oi there, welcome back. Yeh lot did another bang-up job! Haw! Excellent work as usual. Here's yer reward! We gonna need this? I prefer being still and unable to move, thank you, so it is not needed for our preparations. You say it's returned? Yeah we were just behind that up and coming guild but because someone let them go ahead, they got the kill. They asked nicely! I was not going to say no! Shouldn't take long anyway, we have bigger fish to fry. Oh, a river system higher in a tree? It would not surprise me~  I guess I should stick in my lane... Just before we get to the main reason Edda is back, let's actually fight Chimerea properly since these guys are a few levels higher and can actually dish out damage. Except Gerson, rip.    Nothing about it! How's your vigour?~ Could be worse, so something to improve! Nice little comparison as well as showing how Hexer's can contribute pretty easily with Revenge even without damage tiles, but we'll get to the full extent of this in just a moment. After all, Troubs have more than one HP boosting skill, right?  Doof! Tough little thing aren't you? Aww, those flames looked pretty painful... Because of how much damage we're doing, like with Poison strats it gets locked into doing Blaze pretty predictably, letting Gerson take the heat!  Well, that's a pain, Bijejefjfd, avenge me, blehhhhh! On it! Flaming squirrel throw! A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing much to worry about! Such interesting adversaries even after all this time~ I was starting to get close to 10k, oh noes, so if I'm gonna get some extra cash, might as well make it interesting! Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Yes, good, let my fallen furry comrades fuel my power! Note: no squirrels were harmed in the making of this LP, I've been generous to them so far! The time that we can harm squirrels will come. But that day is not today.   Huff, huff, that is some temperature. You sure about this, Cheese? Yes, let's kill it. Well if that's what they want, how can I say no? It would be a great honour to fight with my friends! Should I partake in a great tale of heroics and foolishness? You're drat right I will!~ Gahahaha! Alright guys, let's bring home the bacon and take this monstrous lizard down! Alright ladies and gents, it's time for the big event, where the EO2 LP takes down Salamox when you can first encounter it. As you can see from my stats, I'm doing this at a similar level to the main guild and no fancy equipment, just 150HP more Cheese and something I haven't gone over whatsoever. It's just that easy. ...I've created a monster. What have I done? Salamox HP: 4,100 STR: 85 VIT: 80 TEC: 65 AGI: 75 LUC: 55 Level: 65 Exp: 0 Skills Breath: Uses the Head. Deals Fire damage to the entire party and attempts to inflict Leg Bind. Has a spell power of 75, damage multiplied by 130% and has a 100% base infliction chance. Has a 95% accuracy modifier and a 50% speed modifier. Tail: Uses the Legs. Deals 250% Bash damage 3-4 times at a 20/80 chance, respectively, randomly to the entire party. Has a 35% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Bloodcry: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Curse/Instant Death on the entire party. Has a 50% base infliction chance and a 150% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 0% 150% 75%Disable Vulnerabilities 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 10% 20% 0% 25% 0%Drops Flame Bone: 85% chance, sells for 6,201en. 1 required for Levantine - Sword, ATK+151, Type: Fire - sells for 155,000en 1 required for Soma III - Medicine, LV1 Salve 3, fully heals the entire party - sells for 20,000en, must be restocked 2 required for Megido Gun - Gun, ATK+189, TP+30, Type: Fire - sells for 278,000en, must be restocked Conditional: Kill with Fire damage Flame Puff: 100% chance, sells for 30,000en. 1 required for Agneyastra - Gun, ATK+202, STR+5, Force Gain +5 - sells for 331,000en, must be restocked Here's the full extent of what we're up against, this is an honest to god postgame superboss, something we should be tackling in Part 42 not Part 12, yet here we are. Let's win in 3 turns. If ideally pulled off, this enemy should be no threat at all and should be nothing more than a DPS dummy. Barring really extreme RNG manipulation, I do not know of any way to kill Salamander early in EO2U. I'm sure there's a way, but boy is it probably complicated.    You shall not pass! This is my ultimate rhythm! Hey, hey you, come here for a sec, my sword wants a word. Super Soaker Headbutt Mega Slash! Hey, wait, why does Crusade's status message mention status ailments? None of its components do that.  Eh, needs more work. I fight for my friends, face my full power! Oh drat that is some almighty stuff! Where did you even find that curse? Maybe I should've worn that crown we got from Etria too~ I've seen my share of cursed items and trust me, it only worked for them due to an overflow glitch.  More... MORE!!! Not so sure about this, but I'm in this deep, so what if I'm complicit?~  DIIIIIIIIEEEEEE... ... ... uh, woah, that was a real power trip. I'll say! You absolutely blew me out of the water and for that I will not forgive you, but now I have a new goal and for that I will forgive you. Yeehaw, what a rush! I don't feel like I gained much from that, but it sure was nice to look at. Let's get home and tell everyone, I wanna do this again sometime! Ah, postgame superbosses don't give exp. Thanks, game. So what the hell just happened? Well we pulled through due to Revenge being one of the most ridiculous skills in the series and Force skills being some of the most ridiculous skills of the series. Of course I haven't shown off Force skills because you get just a few points for doing certain actions in battle, it's much easier to wait until you get Axcelas and really start having fun. But of course if you want to grind them out beforehand, you're gonna see some crazy poo poo. Using Painless, Gerson protected everyone from dying horribly from Breath on the first turn, Simone fully bound Salamox with Dominate and Wagner increased everyone's ATK and DEF, but most importantly HP with Crusade. Doesn't matter what your current HP is, your max gets boosted, which can also be stacked with Stamina to get ridiculous HP pools. Aryll was here for moral support, the 5th slot is flexible, you may want to bring a Gunner to stun the enemy for a turn with Riot Gun, but I was keeping with the OGs for this fight and it worked out fine. And oh yeah, Revenge, (MaxHP - CurrentHP) * SkillPower, so it scales ridiculously quickly and can cap out at around 2500, which if you notice is 60 loving % of Salamox's HP. By landing a pretty good hit on the first turn and then a real nuke on the second turn, you can outspeed and KO Salamox easily enough on the 3rd turn since it's very likely to be fully bound on the 2nd turn. I believe I outsped it since it was using Breath, you can always bring a 1st Turn Survivalist to ensure the kill, but I didn't have any issues even with a negative speed modifier on my weapon. I hope I've proven how easy it is to do this strat and why I obviously won't use it with Sophia/Hart that much so that this isn't the dullest LP on the forums. Still, what fun, but it's time to move on. We'll see the Edda guild later on, they'll have some interesting builds to show us, but for now, our 3 days is up. A safer setup would be waiting to use Dominate on turn 2 since disables can't wear off until 2 turns later after the infliction turn. You'd need another copy of Painless or Riot Gun to pull that off. Theorycrafting this strategy years ago was pretty interesting. At the time no one pulled it off but knowing how absurd some of EO2's tools back then made it a distinct possibility in my mind. Theorycrafted with some other goons back then, and I finangled a bit and it took a few tries, but a successful kill was eventually had. The main question being answered was really "how can I kill this boss in 3 turns?" Since any longer would be throwing the kill into the whims of RNG. Though from my experience people love to see the games being dominated more often than not, so no need to worry too much about making things dull, ha ha! You'll be unsurprised to hear that Revenge Curse's math is significantly different in EOU, and EO2U basically shattered it further by making it heal the party based on the damage it deals. This is also an extremely good example of why Dominate was turned into an extremely high base chance to inflict the three types of binds in EO2U, instead of a loving vulnerability-piercing guaranteed infliction what were they thinking. A strat like this would've required extreme RNG manipulation to land an early head bind were it not for Dominate. Man you should've seen it, I think Cheese gets stronger the more we love and cherish them, how ironic, right? Well that's lovely, but you seem to be missing a couple things. Did it drop anything we could sell so we don't have to eat Crabapples AGAIN, what about the Fire Plume?! Oh yeahhhhhh, shiiiit. Well, that's my bad, aren't I a stinker? I love you! gently caress you!!! I love you too!  1 Flame Bone required for Levantine I can barely hold what these squirrels pestered me for 3 days about but I wonder how much it'll- HOLY poo poo! We'll fight Salamox properly in the postgame to get its conditional, we wouldn't use the gun it dropped anyway, but yeah your Gunner becomes insane if you grind for the Agneyastra. You know, not that this game needed to be broken further. The scary part is that the conditional drop snags you something rather game shattering, even if you wait till post-game to buy it. Three days of my life I'm never getting back, least we can resume dying to giant lizard. It would be nice if it was not torching my lovely coat any more. I'm not gonna die here, I've got so much to live for! Nice to see getting badonked gave you a purpose in life, a tale as old as me, ohohohoho. Ehhh... He seems more exhausted than pained, as if he wants nothing more than to take a rest. Once he realizes you are here, he wearily waves to you and approaches your position. Good morrow, you look like me after a nap. Hey... are you the guys the ones the Grand Duchy sent? Thanks heavens... we came to map this place, but the monsters were too much for us. I've got part of it done... hope it helps. Sorry about any mistakes... I was so tired... The guard pulls a parchment from his bad and hands it to you. There should be another guard up on the next floor... tell him I've gone back. Good luck. The guard leaves as unsteadily as he came, heading for the Labyrinth's exit. You stare at the guard's map, unsure whether to trust it or to double-check his work... drat this magic parchment fusing these together... A comparison of what their map would've shown us had we done the 3 day quest earlier, they really like drawing walls around chests, huh? It's fun to compare how the game automatically fills in your map from game-to-game, you can really feel the individual differences in mapping logic change as the design team is rotated. Note that the series never ever cares about how you aesthetically do things on the map when it comes to map checks. The minimum it asks for are that walls have walls drawn and the same goes with floors. Checks or doors or other similarly wall-y objects? Game doesn't care how you map, put a wall or don't put a wall, it's up to you. The one time the series actually penalized for more than that (namely painting in water tiles in a certain title counted as giving those areas floors when they counted as having no floors) got people pissed off, so probably for the best they're pretty lenient with map checks otherwise!  His triple flip dodges are so unnecessarily... how are you up, dog? I should be getting some doggy statues for my mansion. There are some blank spots... but these areas are currently inaccessible, so no harm done. You painstakingly create a copy of your current efforts, in case the original should be marred. The Grand Duchy should be able to conduct safer explorations with the map you have made. After you finish copying out your work, you place it in your bag and decide to move on. To complete this quest, you will need to map both floors. Only then can you report back. If you have not yet mapped both floors, you must carry onward and complete your map. Not too bad finishing 7F but we can't finish the quest with the amount of 8F we have available right now, so it's back to dying to Salamox! Your search comes up empty. The plume is somewhere else. This is eerie, we weren't gone for that long, but did someone slay that terrifying monster? That would make them just as terrifying! I think we should count our blessings, but who knows when it'll come back! Hmm... I've heard these big monsters keep coming back, it's positively sacrilege, ohohoho! Only you would liking that thought...   Ahah here it- gah, gently caress, that's hot! Duh! This game isn't that mean enough to make you warp out or fight Salamox, there's a one way shortcut outta here. ...That's more consideration than I'd have expected from an early EO game. Looking around, the small, open area seems to be completely barren, even of shrubbery... Yet even here, something seems familiar near the tree growing in the clearing's center. An unmoving arm... splayed legs... in the Labyrinth's context, it makes a grim scene. You take his pulse and confirm that he is gone from this world. His armor marks him as a guard. Much too late to do anything for him, a shame. It is a sight you never get- wait, are those... watch out everyone! Glancing up at the tree, you suddenly notice an unmistakable set of claw marks. By the time you realize something is here and stand to face it, it is too late! There is a thud from behind you as a giant monster leaps from the tree! The monster has honed its claws and teeth on the tree... you have no choice but to fight! This place is weird, why were deer hiding in a tree? Less asking, more the killing! Actaeon HP: 213 STR: 26 VIT: 20 TEC: 14 AGI: 17 LUC: 19 Level: 25 Exp: 1,062 Skills Deathorn: Uses the Head. Deals 150% Stab damage to a single target. Has an 85% accuracy modifier and a 100% speed modifier. Neigh: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Fear on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 100% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 150% 100% 100%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Drops Steel Horn: 35% chance, sells for 49en. 1 required for Vine Bow - Bow, ATK+59 - sells for 1,130en 1 required for Horn Plate - Light Armor, DEF+33, VIT+2, Volt Resist Up 10% - sells for 1,670en 1 required for Charm Gas - Item, LV5 Provoke, increases the user's physical defense by 12% and provoke rate by 70% - sells for 700en 10 required for Ice Musket - Gun, ATK+68, STR+2, Type: Ice - sells for 1,610en Conditional: None Claws and teeth, huh game? We'll see these deer next floor so here's a little taster. I forgot they had an actual damaging attack cause they usually died before they could go for it, they only have a chance to use Deathorn if they don't use Neigh, with the chance increasing the less health they have. But, uh, they're not particularly tanky and not that common either. Looks cool though! I think events like this make it clear that they come up with the event text before assigning an encounter to them, because this is far from the first mismatch of the series like that. Actaeons can kinda hit a bit hard if you let them but they're pretty unnotable otherwise. The fear can be annoying to deal with though.  Gaaaah, why are these deer shooting bats from their mouths that also shoot bats from their mouths??? ...eh? You can trust his map and continue exploring, or retrace the guard's steps. Eh, I'll allow it. Aside from putting a wall before a chest again, this map seems harmless but we'll see how reliable it is when we get to that point. Anyway feels like we've been on 8F for about three days, so let's finally move on, eh? A note informs you that the Grand Duchy has temporarily closed the way ahead. It seems there is a task yet to be completed for the Grand Duchy before you may proceed. We could be rounding this single rope. Unfortunately we have a narc in the party. drat right. Ugh! Guess we'll hand this back first, it is starting to burn a hole in the bag.
Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Mar 23, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2021 02:56
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:25 |
|
|
  Simply amazing work. I've half a mind to ask you to train our own guard corps! I assume you were able to avoid contact with the Salamox? There's no shame in fleeing from it. Cough cough cough. Take your time, build your strength, and challenge it when you have more experience. It's more than enough for our purposes that you were able to bring back the plume! As a reward for your excellent service to the Grand Duchy. I present you with this. Wow, I... totally needed that. The game raelly does not expect you to pull off something rather nuts like that so there's no acknowledgement at all, sadly. In EO3 and 4 they do acknowledge such feats, but that's namely because they have a New Gam Plus feature and this game doesn't, so those cases are more easily accounted for. Though EOU onwards sadly went back to not acknowleding early kills of strong plot enemies. 7 Green Hides and 3 Red Balls required for Zanmatou.   5 Ruby Shards and 5 Red Roots required for Snake Whip. Just before we finally moved on to a new floor, I did want to confirm that you couldn't finish the mapping quest with just this section on 8F so I stepped on most tiles and gained a couple levels, might as well be a little prepared for the next boss. And yeah, nothing, so on we go! And back we go because we reached a new floor! It's so stupid whenever they do this, game development man. Some of the pacing really could afford to be better because it's annoying to basically rush through an already explored floor and have to go back immediately. It's one thing where an odd playstyle just naturally leads to that happening, but EO2 is not really a game where they figured out proper roadblock pacing and it gets really annoying! The one I was talking about the other day? Nasty thing, breathes fire? Ring any bells? I know yeh've seen it! Yeh think its tail grows back after it's cut, like a regular lizard? I made a bet with one of the patrons, yeh see... if it does, I win! C'mon, yeh can tell me... the tail grew back, right? Spill it! Haw haw haw! So aggressive, but I'll admit to being curious myself. Heh, we'll find out eventually, but wonder who killed it. Maybe the recently cheerful Protector I see in here a lot would know. Ooh, what does the furry guy want? I don't think you should get so associated with that guy. Ahhh, that one, eh? It's from that odd duck of a nobleman... remember him? Lord Gascoyne, him who was so keen on that animal hide. His wound's all closed up, but as soon as he went back to the Labyrinth, he got a real scare. Looks like the monsters from the higher floors are heading below to the lower ones. He 'spects if they're heading downward, eventually they might reach the town. He's asked the Grand Duchy for help, but yeh know the guard corps... he needs yeh lot! So yer job is to stop those monsters from getting any closer to good ol' Lagaard. Right now, they're s'posed to be around the 10th floor. Go and show them what's what! 10F, got it! Bit early for this quest, but it helps to be preemptive with this stuff. The quest distribution also needed more work at this time. More for me? Heh, you love it really. Ohhh... right, that quest. Haw! It must be tough to be so famous, eh? It's another one from that old bat of an innkeeper. They're looking to remodel the Flaus Inn, and they need some building materials. Yeh can hear the rest of the story at the inn. G'luck! Ah yes, kathy posted this earlier before crashing to sleep. Wonder what they've been up to. She won't tell me! Ahh, yeh're here. This request was addressed to yeh from the start. Who's it from? Oh, right... the doctor at the hospital. He said something about not being able to make it, so he'll send someone else in this place. Oh, right... he left a note. It asks yeh to go to central Lagaard at the time specified here. The note reads "Meet at 8 PM in the central city." Massive blocks is my speciality! Kicking them is mine. Not with these legs!!! Cass probably told you most of it, but basically, we're planning to renovate the inn. I know the Labyrinth has some good stuff, so I thought we might use that... listen carefully, because here's the list of what we're looking for. 3 Red Roots and 2 Hardwoods. Got that? I think you can get them all on the 10th floor. No problem for you, right? When you have all of them, just bring them to the bar and the carpenters will collect them. Now then, off with you! Again with 10F, like yeah we technically can, but we can just get those from the 7F point as well. ah no, that's my bedhead, and those two usually look that filthy Hey didn't you go to bed like 3 hours ago? more than enough, i'm busy Well, okay, but we'll take that bath! I'm sick of him making me sleep outside! You sure get a kick out of exploring. That kind of life isn't for me, but... is it really even for you? Every time I see you you're all scratched and bruised up! That's fine for men, but I don't know if that's any way for a lady to behave! Someone with all those scars would have a hard time finding a husband!  Ah... extremely old fashioned dialogue. And no, the game doesn't check for your portraits' genders nor any other properties of them. She says this regardless of your party makeup. Which has a ton of other issues I refuse to speak on. For the best, later town dialogue tended to be more entity neutral when bringing your party into the subject. Sigh. EO2U reworded the final lines, if you're curious. I don't know if the actual Japanese lines are different, but at the very least, Atlus USA realized that's kind of a lovely thing for an ostensibly friendly town NPC to say. Every time I see you, you're all scratched and bruised up! You're going to get scars like that, you know. I'm sure you boys don't mind, but you girls need to watch out! I don't know much about explorers, but I do know that people look at a girl's battle scars differently than a boy's! Still kind of a dumb sexist sentiment, but it's...less bad. Always sound so disappointed. we both are, you're always in here How is your journey going? You've been in the second Stratum for a while... oh, you're up to the 9th floor? I must say, I'm surprised. Always be on your guard, though. The Labyrinth is filled with danger. Don't neglect your health. Oh, my dad wanted me to tell you something... hee hee... he said he feels more energetic when he knows he's making things for you! He's always asking my opinion to make sure he makes it perfect, just for you! You're always in my prayers. Don't overdo it, and good luck in the Labyrinth! How sweet, so long as you keep my whips in check, I'm a happy customer! How about you? Uh, well, it's nice he put custom dampeners on my gauntlets... You're staying at the Flaus Inn, aren't you? Have you met the owner's daughter? She's a pretty one... weak, though. If you should meet her, be kind to her. That's all the advice I have for you. Never underestimate the Labyrinth. Yaha! Purr... She seems pretty lonely with just her Beasts to talk to. Well like I stay for long... Yeah, uh, do you know much about love- Ah, but you know so much more about the Labyrinth than myself. I doubt I could tell you much. All I can suggest is not to overstrain yourselves in trying to find the floating castle. That's all for now. Good luck, explorers. Tenth floor, right. But hey, means we get to slay them instead! Hmhm! You gulp, remembering the quest you accepted at the bar. Those monsters are heading for the Labyrinth entrance, and you must stop them. The client believed they were still on a higher floor, but they must be on their way down! Their descent through the Labyrinth will lead them inexorably to Lagaard! There isn't a moment to waste. Ready your weapons and defeat them at once! Three quest FOEs, so this probably won't be too bad. Let's see what they are.  I am not with the best energy for this! Hmm, I think if we go here then we should be able to funnel them through and wear them down...Spectre HP: 702 STR: 29 VIT: 23 TEC: 15 AGI: 19 LUC: 20 Level: 28 Exp: 0 Skills Breath: Uses the Head. Attempts to inflict Petrify on a single target. Has an 80% base infliction chance and a 125% speed modifier. Damage Vulnerabilities 75% 75% 75% 0% 0% 125%Disable Vulnerabilities 100% 0% 100% 100% 100% 0% 100% 0% 100% 0%Drops None Conditional: None Pretty great Bond film, haha. Quest versions of Mystues, so they can be a pain if you, say, have one source of elemental damage, but so long as you don't get caught out by the quest's weird wording and bring lots of Therica Bs, you'll be just fine. We'll be here for a little bit. I've never seen any James Bond movie. Because these FOEs are of the gargoyle archetype, they are the only FOEs in the entire game immune to instant death. Everything else? You can use Climax on them. Nothing else interesting to say other than it's a beefed up Mystue. Deal with this as you would do those. You fail the quest if they reach the stairs, so stand here and you can take them on one by one, they thankfully don't join in. See, this game is nice when it can be. A bunch of tower defense FOE style quests can be cheesed with this method. Park your butt on the critical path and wait for them to come to you. Simple as that.  Phew, I need a ten thousand year nap after that! Paper Alastor: The The N64 Paper Mario is a better game, by the way. In the absence of the intruders, a welcome silence can be felt throughout the floor. Through your quick work, you have prevented the encroaching threat from reaching Lagaard! You may report back to the bar at any time. Gah, where did she come from?! Eep! I'm one of his assistants. He asked me to help you out on this quest. You are the ones who documented Grey Bark Disease, aren't you? Oh sorry... it's the name of the malady affecting the trees withering in the Labyrinth. We reported your findings to the Northern Academy. Unfortunately, they refused to accept our research, even with plenty of documentation. They told us "further study is needed"... but if we wait, the disease will spread! We'll have to go into the Labyrinth and pinpoint the reasons for this phenomenon. If possible, we need to take a sample to convince those hard-headed doctors. We're headed to the south of the 9th floor. It's spreading there... we might find a clue. I'll be tagging along, so lead the way into the Labyrinth! Uh, right well, we have a couple things to do but the next party will be happy to take you on. Probably. It's best to trigger the 8PM introduction of Angie before you forget cause you can do whatever the hell you want and you'll forget she's there until you reach that specific point of 9F. I know I did! The real annoying "come to a location at this time" quests are the ones that are massively far off from an inn sleep or nap. Fortunately there aren't too many of those in this series but the ones that exist just add on some needless annoyance. Heh, you look exhausted. So many statues... That good-for-nothing guard corps is worse than useless... I ask yeh, why does the Grand Duchy even keep them around if they can't protect the city? Still, thanks to yeh, our town is safe. And the Grand Duchy trusts me even more! Haw! Well, here's yer reward! Come by and have a drink sometime, why don't yeh?  Alright, with all that done, are we finally ready to explore 9F with a new team of 5? Uh, no, cause there's this event I forgot! The Gamefaqs maps are 13 years old and not perfect, but they're useful enough that I don't mind, but I won't be blindly following them as much! Rule of thumb is to just check every dead end and corner. Though now that I've got access to event scripts, we could theoretically know exactly where all the events of a floor are. In EO3 and beyond. EO1 and 2 use a different format and their scripting is different so I don't know all of this game's events. EO2 is definitely the most neglected of the EO games, so I can't say I'm surprised the old resources aren't the best. Still, that's kind of disappointing. It seems ancient... vines are choking the thick trunk and a scarlet veil is drawn over it. As you follow the path of the twisting vines, you spy a large, violet fruit. The fruit seems ripe... if you step forward, you might be able to reach it. It's awfully tempting... so much so that you wonder if you should leave it alone. Well I am the tallest... I don't recognise the fruit, so uh, good luck. Sonia, at the front of the party, walks forward and reaches for the fruit. It's large and plump in Sonia's hand, and seems to be very juicy. Sonia cleans the fruit with a bit of cloth and bites into its soft skin! The taste... it's incredibly bitter! Rather than spit it out, Sonia forces the bitter fruit down. Judging by the reaction, you make a mental note not to try the fruit for yourself. But you hadn't realized that it's commonly used in medicine! Sonia regains health! Ugh, and here I thought it was a blueberry. Ooh, would like to be trying whatever that is. Neat, could be helpful when first exploring the floor, if the first party slot needs it of course. Some of the AOE healing events in later games can be a bit too overly helpful, but at least they're a lot more useful than "only 1 party member benefits" which in practice tends to not do all that much. Knock knock. Who's there? It's me, with the required materials! ...I guess this is just who I am now.  Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Dec 1, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2021 02:56
|
|